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With the overflowing amount of cross over events from various comic companies flooding the shelves, the people have cried out for help in keeping up with the many-issued-madness! Well, that call has been answered by two guys who have answered a call or two in their lives! Infinite Man and Aron Fist are here to save your sanity and hopefully save you from picking up that really crappy tie-in book that has absolutely NO REASON to exist!  So sit back and check us out as we give you the SHADOWLAND SHAKEDOWN on just about everything pertaining to this event, while we also try to figure out why DD has gone off the deep end!

***CAUTION: This Review Contains Spoilers!***

Daredevil #508
Publisher: Marvel
Writers: Andy Diggle & Antony Johnston
Art: Robert De La Torre
Cover: John Cassaday

This issue is the other side of the Shadowland #1 coin.  It is a reaction to the brutal slaying of Bullseye.  More specifically, it is the reaction of the law offices of Nelson & Blake, Matt Murdock’s friends.  Foggy Nelson is convinced that Kingpin is ultimately pulling the strings behind this mess.  Foggy and Dakota go to confront their friend, but are denied access by Daredevil’s right-hand man…err…woman, White Tiger.  When they leave, they are attacked and their car is overturned by a group of ninjas clad in black.  Not the pajamas that Lord Daredevil’s boys run around in.  Meanwhile, Double D and his boys are rooftop hopping, stopping crime in their city.  They own Hell’s Kitchen.  Later, Daredevil has a breakdown; a fit that lets us know that maybe he’s not the one in the driver’s seat of his recent actions.  To leave us hanging, we’re dropped into a conversation about current events between Master Izo and a certain lady in red.

The ongoing series keeps the ball rolling towards the next issue of Shadowland, and it’s a great read.  Tag team writers Andy Diggle and Antony Johnston do what they do best: keeping Daredevil on everyone’s “must read” list now and over the last several months.  Robert De La Torre keeps it looking oh, so dark and delicious! 4/5 – AW.

Shadowland: Bullseye #1
Publisher: Marvel
Writer: John Layman
Art: Sean Chen
Cover: John Christoper Tyler

“Bullseye: Dead on a Rival”

Bullseye is dead.  New York City Mayor Jameson said that Bullseye was a murderous menace and it should have been handled by the court system and not some costumed vigilante.  He also made it clear that not one dime of the tax payers’ money would be spent on a service.  That declaration got the Hell Riders motorcycle gang in an uproar.  They were under the assumption that Bullseye was their friend, and he was an honorary member of their gang.  They stole a priest.  Stole a reporter (Ben Urich).  Stole Bullseye’s body from the morgue.  Stole some flowers.  Stole a senior citizens tour bus full of “mourners.”  They also blocked off Hell’s Kitchen Park to hold the service.  Urich is ever the sneaky sneak, though.  He “accidentally” dropped his notebook full of all the details where Daredevil could find it.  The party was crashed and everybody was kung fu fighting!  The Hell Riders that were left standing now take up residence in Shadowland.  One more thing…there was a young man by the name of Dennis Deaver that was also along for they crazy ride to plan a funeral with the Hell Riders.  Dennis Deaver was  no ordinary young man.  He could see and speak to dead people.  Yes, Dennis Deaver is like the Ghost Whisperer without the boobs.  He could see and speak to Bullseye.  He also listened…and obeyed….

I’m not at all happy that Bullseye is dead.  Eisner Award winning Chew scribe John Layman gives the the world’s deadliest assassin a pretty good send off.  It’s entertaining and is sprinkled with bits that will make you laugh if your sense of humor is twisted enough.  Sean Chen’s art was pretty good to look at, too.  For a story that I never wanted to see told, these guys produced something that you should pick up.  If you don’t think this issue is important for you to keep up with Shadowland, consider this…the funeral was broken up by Lord Daredevil and the Hand.  Bullseye was never put to ground.  Hmmm…. 4/5 – AW

Shadowland #2
Publisher: Marvel
Writer: Andy Diggle
Art: Billy Tan
Cover: John Cassaday & Laura Martin

With the fallout from Shadowland #1, Daredevil’s friends are pretty much worried that he’s finally lost it. It’s at this point that Kingpin comes in and lets Luke Cage and Iron Fist know that they (including him) need to save Hell’s Kitchen from Daredevil. So later he takes it upon himself to call upon a spirit of vengeance called the Zugaikotsu Warrior to aid against DD. While this is going on, DD’s closest friends Misty Knight, Shang-Chi, Colleen Wing, along with Luke and Danny, try to talk some sense into him, but he’s not going to see things their way. It’s during this meeting that things go completely wrong when there is a breakout in the dungeons, and DD thinks that his friends were there to distract him, not knowing that they had nothing to do with it. That doesn’t stop him from ordering his Hand ninja to attack them and to take them dead or alive.

The story is moving pretty quickly, and it seems as if Diggle is wasting no time in supplying us with plenty of ninja action to keep us satisfied. Even the bit of lengthy dialog during DD’s “intervention” still moved well, but I’m thinking that the most important part of the book was DD’s convo with Tarantula, only because he showed a bit of doubt and a more rationalized viewpoint of their situation. Billy Tan’s artwork was decent throughout the issue, though at one point Kingpin looked like Uncle Fester from the Addams Family. Two issues in and Shadowland is coming along pretty good, let’s hope Diggle keeps it up. 3/5 – IS

So there you have it, ladies and gentlemen.  All is good in Shadowland, and all is safe for you to spend your hard earned coins on so far.  See you again real soon, as next time we will be taking a look at Daredevil #509 and Shadowland: Blood on the Streets #1.

Infinite Speech
infinitespeech@comicattack.net

Aron White
aron@comicattack.net

***A big thanks to Decapitated Dan for his mad scientist skills on the logo!***