This page is under construction!
Warning:
The following page features reviews of the first 10 Shadowman comics. If you're a big Shadowman fan and have not read all of these issues, chances are I'll probably spoil some surprises somewhere along the line... if this is the case, I strongly recommend you skip this section!
 |
Issue #1 - March 1997 "Deadside" - Part 1 Writer:
Garth Ennis Story: The story begins with the gruesome autopsy of Jack Boniface (the previous Shadowman), before switching to a bustling gathering of gangsters; as a poor sap is interrogated, he warns the onlookers that his brother has hired Zero to take them all out. Sure enough, Zero turns up and annihilates everyone in the blink of an eye. Watching the carnage are Nettie and Jaunty; she is suitably impressed, and keen to find a new Shadowman, but Jaunty has his doubts. During the argument we learn that Jaunty, Nettie's Deadside spy, has screwed up big time. Not only did Nettie and Jack Boniface get killed (Nettie holding herself together with voodoo), he also allowed Tommy-Lee Bones to escape from Deadside. In the Wild At Heart, a sleazy backstreet bar run by Josey, Zero orders a vodka, asks for his bear, and begins to stare deep into the bear's eye. Josey explains to an onlooker Zero's life entails eating, sleeping, and looking at the bear. Through the eye, Zero spies the Deadside gates. Hurtling along in a Dodge Charger comes Tommy-Lee Bones and his sidekicks Toss, Jawbone, and Eighball. They get stopped by a Cop, Toss wondering if anyone has pinned the Bonoface murder on them, but the Cop is more interested in pedalling drugs. Tommy-Lee disposes of the cop and his partner, before driving their car into a nearby crowded bar. Tommy-Lee Bones is back in town.
|
 |
Issue #2 - April 1997 "Deadside" - Part 2 Writer:
Garth Ennis Story: Back in the Wild At Heart, as Josey tries to force beer down Zero's throat, Nettie and Jaunty appear and are subjected to a barrage of bullets. Meanwhile, the Tommy-Lee posse continue to hurtle onwards, disposing of more police in their wake. Back in the bar, Nettie propositions Zero, her and Jaunty doing their best to convince Zero to sign up as the new Shadowman. Nettie explains what Deadside is, and that, as Shadowman, Zero can move freely between the two worlds. Zero agrees. During this interlude, Tommy-Lee Bones has taken control of the Police Station and disposed of anyone wearing a badge. As he's deciding whether or not to let the prisoners out of their holding cells, he gets a whiff of something - someone, somewhere, is using magic. In a backroom at the Wild At Heart, Josey listens to Jaunty's life story as ex-Voodoo Priestess Nettie rips open Zero's chest and implants the Shadow Mask (accompanied by baby-like screams from the assassin). Tommy-Lee Bones and his posse crash into the bar (again), determined to find out who is raising a new Shadowman. As Zero emerges from the back room, he begins to take out Tommy-Lee's henchmen, before coming face to face with the man himself. Tommy-Lee rips out Shadowman's heart and the assassin collapses to the floor. Spin on it, says Tommy-Lee.
|
 |
Issue #3 - May 1997 "Deadside" - Part 3 Writer:
Garth Ennis Story: Zero wakes up in front of the Deadside gates, as Jaunty breaks the terrible news to him. In the bar, as Tommy-Lee gets his hand burned by Zero's bear and, as the posse recovers, Josey's testicles (and how they should be be removed) become the focus of attention. Tommy-Lee discovers that the bear is actually Zero's Deadside link-up, and that he has 'embraced the shadow' like no-one before him - though Nettie hasn't told Zero exactly what that means. Nettie and Jaunty review the procedings; Nettie needs Zero back in Liveside to stop the Tommy-Lee posse; Jaunty is fed up with being told what to do, wants to teach the Shadowman a few tricks, and goes Deadside to guide Zero along. As Zero gets his first glimpses of Deadside, Jaunty explains that everyone goes there when they die, and that Zero is now un-dead. Suddenly, Zero's little brother Luke appears, and we are treated to a flashback of the horrific car crash which killed his parents and younger brother. We also learn that the bear is called Mikey - for obvious reasons. Back in the bar, Josey tells Tommy-Lee about the night Zero first came into town, and that Josey became a middle-man for Zero's assissin service. In Deadside, Zero comes to terms with being able to remember his past life, but not actually feeling any emotion toward it. Jaunty explains how Zero recovered from the car crash, and that, in his comatose state, he got his first glimpse of Deadside - a trick by Nettie to ensure that Zero would want to return there. As the knife draws closer to Josey's throat, Zero realises that he went into the coma a College Student studying English literature, but emerged as a killer. And the reason for that was Nettie.
|
 |
Issue #4 - June 1997 "Deadside" - Part 4 Writer:
Garth Ennis Story: As Tommy-Lee deliberates over the best way to kill Josey, Shadowman enters with Jaunty in tow, and informs the posse that they'll be returning to Deadside. Another gruesome fight ensues, Jaunty intervenes, and pays the price by having his head removed. Nettie arrives, and as Jaunty explains about Zero's coma, they see the Tommy-Lee posse speed away, having left Zero for dead. Nettie advises Shadowman to use fire against them, to burn the flesh and banish their spirits. Tommy-Lee realises he neglected to kill Josey and heads back to the Wild At Heart, only to find Shadowman stood in his path. Zero leaps over the car and the posse crashes headlong into a stationary wagon, flames engulfing their corpses. They 'die'. Back inside the bar, Zero demands answers from Nettie, and she reluctantly explains how she whispered to him during his coma and taught him how to be a killer. Zero resents being a pawn - or soldier, as Nettie puts it - and tries to quit. Jaunty, now complete with a head stuck on by sticky tape, joins Zero. In a not too distant graveyard, Jack Boniface rises from the grave with a little help from Nettie. Cold, confused, and with eyes sewn shut, Nettie informs Jack that he's been broaght back using a voodoo spell, and will be dead pretty soon. There is only one thing that can save him. The power of Shadowman.
|
 |
Issue #5 - July 1997 "Nothing is True" - Part 1 Writer:
Jamie Delano |
 |
Issue #6 - August 1997 "Nothing is True" - Part 2 Writer:
Jamie Delano |
 |
Issue #7 - September
1997 "Nothing is True" - Part 3 Writer:
Jamie Delano |
 |
Issue #8 - October
1997 "Nothing is True" - Part 4 Writer:
Jamie Delano |
 |
Issue #9 - November
1997 "The Buzz" - Part 1 Writer:
Jamie Delano |
 |
Issue #10 - December
1997 "The Buzz" - Part 2 Writer:
Jamie Delano |