The Shadow #2
Written by Garth Ennis
Art by Aaron Campbell
Colors by Carlos Lopez
Letters by Rob Steen
Covers by Alex Ross, Howard Chaykin, John Cassaday, Jae Lee, and Ryan Sook
Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: May 16, 2012
Cover Price: $3.99

The Shadow #2 is, to put it bluntly, a mystery. But, a really FUN mystery. Filled with action and adventure, if you liked the first issue, you’ll love the second. It’s Garth Ennis and Aaron Campbell at their best.

I have to wonder what made Garth Ennis take this assignment? Does he have a love for the character? Did he want to prove something to himself by writing a licensed book? Did Nick from Dynamite throw tons of cash at him? Who am I to say? But whatever the reason, I’m sure glad he did. I can’t imagine anyone else writing this series. It’s not too over the top on blood and guts like a lot of Ennis books are, but I’m sure that’s because of the nature of the project. It does have enough edge to it to make it feel deadly serious, and not just another watered-down version of a pulp hero. The pacing is perfect, it speeds up when it needs to and slows down and gets into the heavy story beats when you need them. Something that I LOVED about this issue was that it’s SO full of story. This isn’t something you’re going to read in 5 minutes and forget about in 10. This is a comic that your actually going to get $4+ of entertainment out of.

The Shadow #1
Written by Garth Ennis
Art by Aaron Campbell
Colors by Carlos Lopez
Letters by Rob Steen
Covers by Alex Ross, Howard Chaykin, John Cassidy & Jae Lee
Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: April 18, 2012
Cover Price: $3.99

When reading The Shadow #1 you’re going to have a lot of different opinions. It’s not a comic book you read once, bag and board, then file in a short box never to be read again. No, you’re definitely going to want to leave this one out.

Artist Aaron Campbell is great, but maybe not here. And I don’t mean that his art isn’t great in this book, I mean that his art isn’t great FOR this book. The Shadow is a character of mystery. GREAT mystery (and that’s putting it mildly). But, anyone who’s followed Campbell knows that he’s a very detailed artist. And while that’s great on the pages and panels that The Shadow doesn’t appear on, when he shows up, he’s a little TOO detailed. So detailed that it takes away the air of mystery that The Shadow NEEDS. He makes great use of inks to hide some detail on The Shadow’s face, but the parts that ARE exposed are very detailed.

Dark Shadows #1
Written by Stuart Manning
Script by Aaron Campbell
Colors by Carlos Lopez
Letters by Troy Peteri
Covers by Aaron Campbell, Francesco Francavilla
Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: November 2nd, 2011
Cover Price: $3.99

I came into this comic fresh. I had heard of Dark Shadows before, but was not familiar with it, and had never seen the TV show or read any of the previous comics. After reading this, that might change.

Writer Stuart Manning does an incredible job introducing the world of Dark Shadows to the reader, yet still leaving PLENTY of mystery and intrigue to the imagination. I really felt like I was reading some old Tomb of Dracula issues. Very creepy atmosphere without crossing the line into full blown horror. Having the book set in 1971 is an interesting twist, as it never really plays into the story. In fact, you don’t really even notice it. Not even in the fashions or hairdos. What you get is lots of great set up and a great shock ending that makes you really anxious for the next issue. Great story all around.

Green Hornet: Year One #4
Written by Matt Wagner
Art by Aaron Campbell
Cover by John Cassaday
Dynamite Entertainment
Price: $3.99
Release date: July 2010

When I was a kid and the FX Network first started they would show the classic episodes of The Green Hornet and I would watch every single one of them. I looked up the Green Hornet back then. Well now our favorite green hat hero and trusty sidekick have their own comic series, Green Hornet: Year One.

I love this series because it tells the origins of these two characters and how they first started fighting crime in the streets of Chicago. Green Hornet: Year One #4 focuses on not only the Green Hornet and Kato taking on the mob in Chicago, but on Kato’s origin as well.