Shadowland #4 – Review

by Andy Diggle (writer), Billy Tan (pencils & inks), Victor Olazaba (inks), Guru eFx (colors), Joe Caramagna (letters)

The Story: Izo’s band of heroes race to stop Daredevil as Elektra makes her move.

What’s Good: One of the big problems that the main Shadowland series has had has been finding its identity.  It seems divided on whether to approach this as a standard Marvel event or as a Daredevil comic.   The result has been that as an event, it feels strange and off-kilter while, as a Daredevil comic, it’s a failure.

The good news is that with this issue, I feel like I finally have a clear picture of what Shadowland wants to be, as the book finally settles into being just another Marvel event.  It seems the comic has given up on any loftier aspirations and has more or less given up pretending to be a Daredevil comic.  While this does make for a mediocre comic, at least it means that the book is far less confused and messy than it has been, even if it is a little straightforward.  Certainly, I feel that reader expectations can properly adjust as well.  Shadowland, with this issue, gives up on even attempting to be like the Daredevil comics of old; it’s a Marvel event comic that’s dedicated to getting the character, and the universe, to a particular point.  At least, now, we can know what we’re getting.

If you like action, there’s a lot of action this month and all of it is done fairly well.  Action scenes are fluid, dynamic, and exciting.  A lot of this is due to Billy Tan, who continues to do surprisingly solid work on this comic.

Weekly Comic Book Review’s Top Picks

DS’ Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: Brightest Day #11 – It was a thin week with few bright lights. I’ll pass the crown to Brightest Day #11, because parts of it were working well.

Most Anticipated: Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #5 – With all those comics out there that get published every 2-3 weeks, it feels like it’s been a dog’s age since the last issue, so I’m pretty pumped about Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #5.

Other Top Picks: Other Top Picks: Green Lantern #58, The Thanos Imperative #5

Dean’s Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: American Vampire #7 – It was neck-and-neck between this and Taskmaster #2, but I’m giving the tiebreaker to Scott Snyder’s book because he is doing a cool story in the context of something bigger than a 4-issue mini.  I love how Snyder is tying in all the material from his first story arc in a pre-Hoover Dam Las Vegas to create a big-picture vampire book.

Most Anticipated: Hack / Slash Annual 2010: Murder Messiah – I loved the first story arc of Hack/Slash since it moved to Image and am eager to see what tale we get in this oversized annual.  Anyone who loved 80’s horror/slasher movies should give this a try.

Other Top Picks: Unwritten #18, Amazing Spider-Man #645, Invincible Iron Man #31, Strange Tales #1, Tomb of Terror #1, Irredeemable #18

Alex’s Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: Secret Six #26 – Though American Vampire gave it its best shot in a fairly thin week, Secret Six’s mix of Savage Land type madness, Bane badassery, and an ending that had me hungry for next issue was ultimately enough for me to give it pick of the week status.

Most Anticipated: Thor #616 – Was there any doubt?  I’m really glad that I’ve not had to wait a full month between issues, because I absolutely loved Matt Fraction and Pasqual Ferry’s debut issue and have been dying to see where they go with Thor.  I really think this is going to be one of the best reads at Marvel and I’m expecting this issue to further substantiate that.

Other Picks: New Avengers #5, Batman: the Return of Bruce Wayne #5, Shadowland #4, Green Lantern #58, Invincible Iron Man #31, Superman #703, The Unwritten #18