The Black Bat #1
Written by Brian Buccellato
Illustrated by Ronan Cliquet
Colored by Matt Lopes
Lettered by Rob Steen
Covers by J. Scott Campbell, Joe Benitez, Ardian Syaf, Billy Martin and Marcos Martin
Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: May 1, 2013
Cover Price: $3.99

The Black Bat #1 is Dynamite’s latest offering into the awesome selection of pulp comics they’ve been putting out recently. Of all the heroes that are in their stable, The Black Bat is the least recognized. BY FAR. Will it matter?

Writer Brian Buccellato, who’s been killing it over at DC on The Flash, brings us the story of The Black Bat. Now, I have to admit, I knew nothing about this character and a quick Wikepedia search didn’t really help much either. So, I went in not knowing what to expect. And, as is most oftentimes the case with the Dynamite pulp line, I was VERY pleasantly surprised. Buccellato introduced me to a character I’d never heard of and made him seem like an old friend that I was visiting again. This is just a very well written comic from start to finish. Buccellato gives us just enough of the origin of The Black Bat to satisfy, and at the same time, leave us wanting more. For once, I’m glad to see that they first issue of a series is NOT the origin story, that’s told through some cleverly places flashbacks, but just an all-out, great crime solving, thug-beating story. Very impressive.

The Shadow #12
Written by Victor Gischler
Art by Giovanni Timpano
Color by Ivan Nunes
Letters by Rob Steen
Covers by Alex Ross, Sean Chen, Tim Bradstreet and Francesco Francavilla
Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: April 24, 2013
Cover Price: $3.99

The Shadow #12 is yet another great entry in Dynamite Entertainment‘s pulp hero dynasty. What this company has done with near 100 year old heroes and mystery men is simply amazing. It also doesn’t hurt that they have a fantastic creative team for this book, either.

Victor Gischler goes above and beyond this issue. First off, his dialogue between LaMont Cranston and Magot Lane is straight out of a 1930’s movie. Cranston is high and aloof and Lane is the hopelessly in love girlfriend that’s trying to get him to spend at least ONE uninterupted dinner. From there, Gischler takes The Shadow right into “super hero” mode, which is fantastic. The Shadow’s inner monologues are fun, but sort of creepy. You’re still not sure exactly WHAT kind of hero that he is, and that’s really entertaining for the reader.

Shadowman #6
Written by Justin Jordan
Art by Patrick Zircher, Lee Garbett and Neil Edwards
Color by Brian Reber and Guy Major
Letters by Rob Steen
Covers by Patrick Zircher and Dave Johnson
Valiant Entertainment
Release Date: April 3, 2013
Cover Price: $3.99

Welcome to my first review of a Valiant Entertainment comic! I present to you the delightfully dark Shadowman #6. Set in New Orleans, Louisiana, it really draws on that creepy voodoo-like vibe that one feels when they visit ‘The Big Easy.’  But it’s not just drawing on the world as we know it, Shadowman also reveals to us a world that we are completely unaware of in our mundane lives. We are shown the Deadside, a parallel universe of horrific nightmares that seeks to break down the tenuous barriers that separate our two dimensions from one another.

First off, we have Jack Boniface as the new Shadowman, having had his powers bestowed upon him by a loa (keeping with the regional theme of voodoo). His current (and ongoing) job is protecting our world from the Deadside. And while he may still be learning about his new abilities, he is being kept quite busy dealing with a group called the Brethren. We learn that these powerful Brethren are desperate to restore a necromancer named Master Darque to our world, which would bring about untold horrors and destroy our very existence. Then we have a very mysterious, tattooed gunman who is working a different angle against the Brethren at the behest of an old, almost forgotten, local deity named Baron Samedi. But this demi-god is in negotiations with Master Darque–negotiations that could prove troublesome for the Shadowman. Though, as with every underworld deal, not everything is as it seems.

Red Team #1
Written by Garth Ennis
Pencils by Craig Cemak
Colors by Adriano Lucas
Letters by Rob Steen
Covers by Ryan Sook, Howard Chaykin, & Russ Braun
Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: February 6, 2013
Cover Price: $3.99

Dynamite Comics’ new series, Red Team, is a classic “dirty cop” mini-series that focuses on a team of elite detectives. The Red Team was formed to deal with the worst of the worst criminals. Which eventually brings them to Clinton Days, a drug dealing, pimping, child pornograph-ing murderer. Days eluded and frustrated the team for almost two years with a mix of clean crimes and fancy lawyering. He finally pushes them too far by killing a cop. The group decides the only way to get Days off the streets is with some vigilante justice.

Writer Garth Ennis takes the Red Team down a slippery-slope storyline. The concept is a proven winner spawning well-regarded and highly rewatchable television series such as The Shield and movies like Training Day. Cops are bound by the law to bring criminals to justice, not justice to the criminals. But once this group crosses that line, they realize that they are phenomenally good at it and it won’t be the last time they murder somebody. However, we already know that the team screws up somewhere along the line: the core of the story occurs in an interrogation room.

The Shadow Special #1
Written by Scott Beatty
Art by Ronan Cliquet
Colors by Mat Lopes
Letters by Rob Steen
Cover by Alex Ross
Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: December 26, 2012
Cover Price: $4.99

The Shadow Special #1 is a really fun read. It’s not life-changing or Earth-shattering; it’s just a fun book to read. And what more can you ask for?

Scott Beatty turns in a very entertaining story, that delves into the past of LaMont Cranston and his life before becoming The Shadow. It’s part mystery, all action-adventure, and reminds me of a comic that I would’ve read about 10 years ago, but in a GOOD way. It’s fun from start to finish, and there’s some GREAT period stuff in this issue. It’s also very adult in nature. Now, I don’t mean it’s full of nudity and cursing, but the subject matter is very dark and might not be suitable for younger readers. That being said, this is a great book to check out if you want to start reading The Shadow. It’s a taste of what you get every month in Shadow comics, so rather than pick up an issue of the monthly title, give this a try and see if it’s something that you’d like to read.