The Shadow #7
Written by Victor Gischler
Art by Jack Herbert
Colors by Ivan Nunes
Letters by Rob Steen
Covers by Alex Ross, Darwyn Cooke, John Cassaday & Francesco Francavilla
Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: November 7, 2012
Cover Price: $3.99

The Shadow #7 is a full-out 180-degree turn from the previous six issues, written by Garth Ennis. I know what you’re thinking…but trust me, this is a VERY VERY GOOD THING. Bringing in a brand new writer is always tough, but Dynamite Entertainment certainly picked a fantastic person to take the job.

Brand new author Victor Gischler explodes onto this title with a really solid issue. It’s one that clearly and totally sets up a whole new attitude for The Shadow. Instead of starting off with a giant, sprawling, epic, multi-part story, Gischler offers up an action packed one-shot that delves into the mind and heart of LaMont Cranston, and, as a result, The Shadow. He takes The Shadow back to his roots in Nepal where he was trained and studied under a mysterious group of Monks and where he learned how to cloud men’s minds and see what evil lurks within them. It’s a tale of self discovery and self awareness, and it’s a very entertaining read. Gischler packs more characterization into one issue than a lot of writers do in an entire six-issue story arc.

The Shadow #5
Written by Garth Ennis
Art by Aaron Campbell
Colors by Carlos Lopez
Letters by Rob Steen
Covers by Alex Ross, Howard Chaykin, John Cassaday & Francesco Francavilla
Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: September 19, 2012
Cover Price: $3.99

The Shadow #5 is the penultimate chapter in the first arc of this title, and for me, it’s gone a little downhill since the begining. What started off really strong has kind of petered out a little. Bottom line, the story arc is a little messy and the book suffers for it.

Yes, Garth Ennis is a legend in the comic book business. But, even superstars can slip up now and then. I LOVED the first few issues of this title, it was everything that I wanted it to be. You had The Shadow fighting crime in 1930s New York City. You had ALL the trademark Shadow standards, and it was entertaining beyond reason. Then, Ennis decided to take The Shadow OUT of his element and into a globetrotting adventure ala Indiana Jones, and, it just didn’t work as well as the first few issues. What you’ve got now is a very confusing story, that really isn’t a SHADOW story. You could plop any pulp character in there and it would work just as well, and that’s a shame.

Peter Cannon: Thunderbolt #1
Written by Steve Darnall & Alex Ross
Art by Jonathan Lau
Colors by Vinicius Andrade
Letters by Simon Bowland
Covers by Alex Ross, John Cassaday, Jae Lee & Ardian Syaf
Peter Cannon: Thunderbolt Ashcan
Foreword by Mark Waid
Written & Illustrated by Pete Morisi
Colored by Mike Kelleher
Pete’s Dragon
Written by Steve Darnall
Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: September 5, 2012
Cover Price: $3.99

Peter Cannon: Thunderbolt #1 is probably one, if not THE MOST, original super hero story that you’ll read this year. Hands down, bar none. It’s a great change of pace from the “normal” super hero genre books that are being published right now. In short, pretty sure you’re gonna enjoy this one.

Where the heck has writer Steve Darnall been? I read a LOT of comics, ladies and gentlemen, but I haven’t seen his name in a looooooong time. And that’s a shame. In fact, after an exhausting internet search, I can’t find anything credited to him since 1999. Again, really a shame. I absolutely LOVED this book and so will you. It’s quite different from a lot of first issues, there’s no book length long origin, no “I shall be called THUNDERBOLT” moment, but there are panels and inner monologue that give us small clips and snippets of an origin, and the rest pretty much takes care of itself.

The Shadow #4
Written by Garth Ennis
Art by Aaron Campbell
Colors by Carlos Lopez
Letters by Rob Steen
Covers by Alex Ross, Howard Chaykin, John Cassaday & Sean Chen
Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: August 1, 2012
Cover Price: $3.99

The Shadow #8 is a MUST READ issue!!! That is, if you like awesome comics, which I’m guessing a lot of you do. I really think that I should warn you, though. This is NOT a comic book for younger readers. In fact, I’d say you should be at LEAST 30 to read this comic. Seriously.

Writer Garth Ennis delivers a knock-out issue, coming at you with guns (literally) blazing. In this issue he tells the story that Shadow fans have always wanted to read… as only he can tell it. Yes, some of us know the origin of The Shadow, but it’s never been told quite like this. It’s hard-edged, it’s hard-core, it’s magnificent. It’s comics like this that make you go to the comic store every week. It’s a great read, and not a short one, either. When reading this I was reminded of comics from the sixties, seventies, and even the eighties when word balloons took up more than half the panel. We really get a great sense of who both LaMont Cranston and The Shadow are in this issue, and both answers will surprise you. All in all, another gen from the creative team on this book.

The Shadow #3
Written by Garth Ennis
Art by Aaron Campbell
Colors by Carlos Lopez
Letters by Rob Steen
The Shadow created by William B. Gibson
Covers by Alex Ross, Howard Chaykin, John Cassaday & Stephen Segovia
Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: June 20, 2012
Cover Price: $3.99

You know the great thing about The Shadow #3? IT’S ONLY THE THIRD ISSUE! It’s only the third issue and we’ve gotten SO much story!! I can’t really imagine how this title is going to read when it gets into the teens. So far each installment has been PACKED with information and storytelling, and this issue is no different.

Garth Ennis proves that this is definitely NOT your father’s Shadow. Or, actually, your grandfather’s Shadow. First off, a lot of times foreign enemies are portrayed as helpless stereotypes. Basically the Star Wars Stormtroopers of history. Not so, here. They are portrayed as cunning, smart, and perfectly capable of destroying the United States and whatever else they plan to conquer. That’s the first brilliant part of Ennis’ writing.