It’s been a while Comic Attackers, but Infinite Man and Aron Fist are back to give you the SHADOWLAND SHAKEDOWN!! So welcome to the Double K.O. Edition, as we’ve got some good issues to review along with a couple that aren’t fit to line a gerbil cage. Infinite Man and Aron Fist will continue to save your sanity and hopefully your wallets from grabbing some crappy tie-in. Just sit back as we give you just about everything pertaining to Marvel’s Shadowland, and we’re a bit closer to finding out why Daredevil has gone off the deep end!
**CAUTION: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS**
Shadowland: Daughters of the Shadow #1
Publisher: Marvel
Writer: Jason Henderson
Artist: Ivan Rodriguez
Cover: Jorge Maese
Colleen Wing is about to pull the covers back on a massage parlor operation. The owners bring over immigrant women, but keep their passports and force them into slavery, doing “work.” Colleen frees the women and tells them to head to the coffee shop, where the police are waiting to keep them safe. The owners call the cops. They run a legal business and Colleen can’t just go barging in. Colleen is removed from the scene, but no charges are pressed against her. Later that night, Daredevil sends Colleen a message. He knows mysteries about her mother. He lures Colleen to Shadowland by spilling some of those secrets, and then asks her to play for Team Hand. Joining Daredevil’s cause would enable her to bring the massage parlor owners to justice. Will Colleen Wing, the once longtime partner of Misty Knight, enter a new partnership with Lord Daredevil and The Hand?
In my opinion, this series is the best of the Shadowland tie-ins so far. Jason Henderson is writing an intriguing tale that makes perfect sense as to why it is a tie-in. Also enjoyable is the art. Ivan Rodriguez can draw quite the saucy little redheaded samurai in white spandex and sneakers! These guys made me so interested in the character of Colleen Wing that I read the history and origin piece in the back. That stuff is usually lame and boring filler crap that makes the Nomad backup story in Captain America look entertaining. Colleen Wing has her hooks…err…sword in me, and I can’t wait to see what happens next month! 4/5 -AW
Shadowland: Moon Knight #1
Publisher: Marvel
Writer: Gregg Hurwitz
Artist: Bong Dazo
Cover: Francesco Mattina
In Shadowland #2, we saw Moon Knight (as cab driver Jake Lockley) get himself caught and thrown into Daredevil’s prison. The first of this three-issue Shadowland tie-in tells us how that plan came about and who put him up to it. Before that happens, however, we see that Daredevil wants Moon Knight for reasons that we don’t know. Daredevil summons the help of some John Constantine type dude. This guy decides to get at Moon Knight as best he knows how – through his pride. Moon Knight is the ONLY avatar of the Egyptian god, Konshu…until now. This dude finds a guy with eyeball-zapping powers, who we assume is Moon Knight’s brother, to become another avatar of Konshu. Calling himself Shadow Knight, he challenges Moon Knight to face him. Moon Knight’s long time, on again off again girlfriend, Marlene, has some pretty big news to share, too.
You mean to tell me that after thirty plus years of origin flashbacks, Moon Knight all of the sudden has a super powered brother? I’m really not buying this idea. I’m not really even seeing the point of having this Shadow Knight plot twist. Moon Knight was put on a mission to get himself into Shadowland. Mission accomplished. This could have been a one-shot, as it explained why he got himself caught by the Hand in the first place. He’s in. The main book can take it from here. If they wanted us to know what was going on in his life outside of Shadowland, THEY SHOULDN’T HAVE CANCELED HIS ONGOING SERIES, DAMMIT! This story is just as whacked out as Moon Knight’s brain. 2.5/5 -AW
Shadowland #3
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Artist: Billy Tan
Writer: Andy Diggle
Cover: Billy Tan
Daredevil gone crazy? The Kingpin controls the Ghost Rider? Hand ninja helping little old ladies across the street? Okay, that last part didn’t happen, but Shadowland is getting a bit crowded and Daredevil has had enough. While Ghost Rider and Jake Lockley (Moon Knight) are ripping through Hand ninja in the dungeons, a battle royal has erupted upstairs in the main hall. Daredevil assumes that the heroes’ visit was a distraction for Ghost Rider to attack, and has ordered his ninja to kill his former allies. During the fight, Iron Fist notices that DD’s skills have greatly improved and realizes that this may not be his friend Matt Murdock. Everyone is caught off guard, though, when an explosion blows a huge hole in the wall, and as the smoke clears the Punisher (Not Frankencastle either!) steps in. Reminding everyone that no matter how good your kung fu is, it really doesn’t trump a big ass gun!
This was an action packed issue that was pure comic book fun! A huge brawl and explosions, and as usual plenty of ninja action for those of us that enjoy that sort of thing. Now in all of this mayhem, Andy Diggle has balanced out the progression of the story well, especially with the realization that DD may not be himself body and soul. There’s also the Kingpin, who has been lurking in the background with Lady Bullseye, watching things unfold. He’s used Hand black magic to summon the Ghost Rider, also known as the Zugaikotsu Warrior (yeah, who knew?), which I actually think is pretty cool on Diggle’s part to add a brand new twist to the story. The only thing that is bothering me is that I was correct when it came to Bullseye and how his demise would be handled. There was a small hope that I’d be wrong and the story would go another way. Now, with two issues left in Shadowland, it seems like it’s all about to hit the fan, and so far the core title is pulling all of the weight. 3/5 -IS
Shadowland: Elektra #1
Publisher: Marvel
Writer: Zeb Wells
Artist: Emma Rios
Cover: Sana Takeda
Master Izo tells Elektra to go help Matt. She bitterly refuses. The action then cuts to later. The Hand ambushes her and delivers a message to Elektra from Lord Daredevil. That message? Scram! She bitterly refuses. They fight. Then it cuts to Elektra in a crowd of people, watching the battle between Daredevil and Bullseye on a TV screen in a NYC store window. When Daredevil kills Bullseye, Elektra says, “Thank you.” Then a few seconds later she says, “Yes.” It then cuts to Elektra climbing a wall of snow and ice.
What the hell is this crap!? Seriously! I paid four bucks for that!? The art in this thing was horrible, too! With the exception of Shadowland: Daughters of the Shadow, the Shadowland tie-ins have been nothing but a joke and a waste of our hard earned money so far.
Daredevil was getting an event revolving around him. It was supposed to be awesome. So far, the big picture has been a HUGE disappointment. Do yourself a favor and PASS on the one-shot, Shadowland: Elektra! 0/5 -AW
So there you have it, the good with the horrible and the decent issues in between. Shadowland’s core title seems to still be a decent read, along with only one of the tie-ins holding any interest. We’ll be back with more of the SHAKEDOWN soon enough, Comic Attackers, so rest easy knowing we’re taking the hits for you!
Aron White
aron@comicattack.net
Infinite Speech
infinitespeech@comicattack.net
Disagree with you 100% on the Elektra one-shot. Thought it was great!
And Colleen Wing is HOT!!
It didn’t add anything to the Shadowland experience. The only thing that was good about it was that Master Izo called Elektra a cow! That was funny.
HOT WING!
lol @ “HOT WING”!
The Moon Knight story seems really suspect and like an excuse to just toss something out at a later date. The overall Shadowland tale is pretty good but something is missing that I can’t quite put my finger on.
“Massage parlors” and The Hand…Hmmm