Review - The Shade 2

James Robinson's Starman is arguably one of the more important comics to come out of the 1990s. In it the golden age hero-scientist Ted Knight, Starman, passes the torch to his reluctant artistic son Jack Knight. What follows is both a reinvention of a golden age hero and the creation of an all new hero for a modern age. Along with Starman, Robinson reintroduced another golden age character, the shadow manipulating Shade. An immortal that straddled the line between good and evil, he became one of Jack Knight's greatest allies, and one of Opal City's greatest protectors. But his history has always been kept in shadow (pun intended). Until now.

Robinson returns to Opal City with The Shade, a 12 part mini-series that will finally bring The Shade's origins to light (god, these puns). Last issue someone put a price on The Shade's head and sic'd Deathstroke the Terminator on him with rather dismembering results. This issue picks up with The Shade having evidently used a decoy to get Deathstroke off his scent as he begins investigating the mysterious figures who have put the price on his head. After some goodbye's with his local allies (and lover) The Shade is off on what is sure to be a globetrotting adventure.

James Robinson has taken some heat lately for some mediocre to bad DC stories, and there was a lot of speculation of which Robinson was going to turn up for this particular series. At this point its pretty clear Robinson is bringing his Starman-era A-Game to the table. You can really tell he's comfortable with these characters, and the sort of story their tied up in. The Shade is a likable know-it-all, sure in his actions, and new character Will Von Hammer has a sarcastic gunman streak I can't help but love. The story is definitely starting to delve into The Shade's past, with run ins with other shadow based meta-humans. I'm not sure if these are characters that have appeared in DC comics before (I suspect not), but I'm honestly curious about them.

Art-wise the book is rock solid, if not quite as experimental as the Starman glory days often showcased under the deft pen work of Tony Harris (who provides the covers for this mini-series). Cully Hamner has an almost animated style of artwork that is both at once colorful, but also moody. I like it.

So two issues in and already I'm hyped for this series. Its really great to see James Robinson back in the zone where it concerns the characters that made a name for himself. Can't wait to see where it goes. EXCELLENT.

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