Shadowman (comics)

Shadowman is a fictional comic book character from Valiant Comics who first appeared in May of 1992. Shadowman continued strongly with sales of 300,000 books a month until 1996 when Acclaim Entertainment, which bought Valiant for $65 million, started a new series under the Acclaim Comics banner.

The second series (spelled "Shadow Man") was equally as popular and featured the Shadowman from the wildly successful video game franchise which Acclaim produced. The second series stopped in 2002, when Acclaim shut down its comic book publishing division in anticipation of a bankruptcy filing after suffering heavy losses from video games such as BMX XXX and losing its sports game licenses. Valiant Entertainment are the current owners of the Valiant catalog (including Shadowman).

Shadowman has had his likeness transferred to many other mediums including trading cards, posters and a best selling video game franchise. The first Shadowman video game has sold more than two million units to date.

Shadowman was created by industry legends Jim Shooter (former Marvel Editor in Chief) and David Lapham.

Valiant Comics

The VALIANT comic book starred Jack Boniface as a jazz-playing voodoo-themed superhero from New Orleans. Jack was bitten by a voodoo creature of the night who posed as a woman named Lydia. The bite somehow altered Jack's body chemistry. During the night, he became more aggressive and restless. Feeling the urge to hunt "demons", the criminals who preyed on the innocent, he adopted a costumed identity of Shadowman. At first we are unsure if he has any powers, and his battles with the evils of the night are enhanced by the fact that he is seemingly normal if slightly crazy. As the series progressed we learn that he in fact gained enhanced strength and reflexes.

During the "Unity" crossover, Shadowman fell in love with Elya, a pterodactyl pilot from 4001 A.D. During their time together, she revealed that Jack would die in 1999. This discovery proved to be something of a double-edged sword for the character. The knowledge that he could not die until that date gave him confidence and determination to overcome seemingly impossible odds. On the other hand, it led Shadowman to take incredible risks.

During the day Jack does not feel the urge to hunt evil but his escapades at night don't always wrap up by morning. On more than one occasion during the day he has been forced to ask himself "What would Shadowman do?". Of course, he "is" Shadowman but during the day his aggressive nature and devil may care attitude are much less pronounced.

When Jack has the day to himself he still finds his Shadowman persona interrupting his life. The bruises from his fights and his lack of sleep prevent him from achieving his goal of becoming a famous jazz musician and hinder his relationships. He must also deal with the fact that he is wasting the remaining years of his life (which will end in 1999) fighting evil. But when night comes the urge always proves too strong.

Series Creative Staff Information (Volume one): The following is a list of those who contributed to the creation of the series. When repeated, only last names will be used. 0: (note-this issue was released after the series had begun) Bob Hall, writer & pencils/Tom Ryder, inks/Hall & Ryder, cover. 1: Jim Shooter & Steve Englehart, writers/David Lapham, pencils/Joe Rubenstien, inks/Lapham & Bob Layton, cover. 2: Shooter & Faye Perozich, writers/Lapham, pencils/Ryder, inks/Lapham & Ryder, cover. 3: Perozich, writer/Mark Moretti, pencils/Charles Barnett III, inks/Lapham & Ryder, cover. 4: Shooter & Lapham, story/Shooter & Perozich, script/Lapham, pencils/Ryder, inks/Frank Miller, cover. 5: Shooter & Lapham, story/Shooter & Layton, script/Lapham, pencils/Paul Autio, inks/Walter Simonson, cover. 6: Shooter & Moretti & Steve Ditko & Don Perlin, story/Hall, script/Ditko, pencils & cover/Gonzalo Mayo, inks. 7: Hall, writer/Jose Delbo & Perlin, pencils/John Dixon, inks/Perlin & Stan Drake, cover. 8: Hall, writer/Yvel Guichet, pencils/Dixon, inks/Guichet & Layton, cover. 9: Joe St. Pierre, writer and pencils/Dixon, inks/Layton & St. Pierre, cover. 10: Hall, writer & pencils & cover/Dixon, inks. 11: Hall, writer & pencils/Tom Mandrake, inks/Hall & Ryder, cover. 12: Hall, writer & pencils/Dixon, inks/Hall & Ryder, cover. 13: Jorge Gonzalez, writer/Guichet, pencils/Dixon, inks/Guichet & Randy Elliot, cover. 14: Hall, writer & pencils/Dixon, inks/Hall & Dixon, cover. 15: Hall, writer & pencils/Dixon, inks/Hall & Ryder, cover. 16: Hall, writer & pencils/Dixon, inks/Hall & Dixon, cover. 17-18: Hall, writer & pencils/Dixon, inks/Hall & Bob Wiacek, cover. 19: Hall, writer & pencils/Dixon, inks/Hall & Ryder, cover. 20: Perlin, writer/Mel Rubi, pencils/Autio, inks & cover. 21-23: Hall, writer & pencils/Dixon, inks/Hall & Ryder, cover. 24: Hall, writer & pencils/Ryder, inks/Hall & Ryder, cover. 25: Anthony J. Bedard, writer/Rags Morales, pencils & cover/Elliot, inks. 26-28: Hall, writer & pencils/Ryder, inks/Hall & Ryder, cover. 29: Hall, writer & pencils/Ryder, inks/Hall & Layton, cover. 30-32: Hall, writer & pencils/Ryder, inks/Hall & Ryder, cover. 33: Hall, writer & pencils & cover/Ryder, inks. 34: Hall, writer & pencils/Ryder, inks/Hall & Ryder, cover. 35-36: Mike Baron, writer/Robert Hand, pencils/Dixon, inks/Hall, cover. 37: Hall, writer & pencils/Ryder, inks/Hall & Ryder, cover. 38: Hall, writer & pencils & cover/Ryder, inks. 39-42: Hall, writer & pencils/Ryder, inks/Hall & Ryder, cover. 43: Hall, writer & art.

ShadowMan V2

The reimagining of Shadowman in the Acclaim universe, also known as Shadowman V2 (or Volume 2) made some drastic changes to the Shadowman universe. The first four issues called "Deadside", which were written by Garth Ennis (famous for his "Preacher" graphic novel) and drawn by Ashley Wood (artist of Metal Gear Solid Comics) set a much darker tone to the series and moved it away from sci-fi to a more Voodoo magic/mystical setting with horror elements. But that would change however, as other writers and artists progressed the story, somewhat disrupting the story line and the vision Ennis had for Shadowman, which was that of a zombie hitman. Therefore there are many inconsistencies between issues 1–4, issues 5–15 and issues 16–20, with the last issue ending in a cliffhanger.

The Deadside story arc starts with an autopsy of mutilated body of Jack Boniface, who (as we later find out) was sadistically and somewhat humorously butchered by four dead men who have somehow escaped from Deadside. From this we know that Jack Boniface didn't die from jumping off of a skyscraper like it was speculated in the last Shadowman issue in the original comic. Nettie too has been injured by the dead men, she was barely able to escape death, but was reduced to a skeleton, forced to stay alive by using voodoo. Nettie also stars as a much more menacing and manipulative character, not to mention her newfound distinguishing accent. As the story progresses we are introduced to Jaunty, an Irish skullheaded serpent wearing a top hat, who is Netties eyes and ears in Deadside. We are also introduced to Zero, a black man who works as a hitman for a local barman and struggles with the fact that he doesn't remember his past; excluding five years after his awakening from a coma and running away from a hospital. All Zero has left after his awakening is a tattered teddy bear and a seemingly inborn knowledge of killing. Once the new characters have been introduced and old ones reintroduced. The story centers itself on Zero and his unwilling yet unavoidable fate of becoming the next and true Shadowman, as well as rediscovering his past and Nettie's connection to him. Not to mention the four dead men on the loose wreaking havoc.

New to the series is the concept of Deadside, a place where everyone goes when one dies. which would be later fully explored in the video games. Deadside plays a big role since after becoming "the" Shadowman, Zero (or Michael LeRoi as we find out) when mortally wounded has the ability to return from the dead (Deadside) and therefore cannot be killed, unlike the Shadowmen before him.

The first issue of Volume 2 was released on March 1997 and ran for 20 issues before being succeeded by Volume 3, with final issue being released on October 1998.

Volume 3 sees Shadow Man going back to his roots of the first four issues but more so because of the release of the Shadow Man the game.

Volume 3 saw the release of only 6 issues, with the last issue being published on December 1999.

Creative Staff Information: The following is a list of those who contributed to the creation of the series. When repeated, only last names will be used.

Volume 2:

1-4: Garth Ennis, writer/Ashley Wood, art and cover.

5-13: Jamie Delano, writer/Charles Adlard, art/Wood, covers

14-15: Delano and Dick Foreman, writers/Adlard, art/Wood, covers.

16-18: Serge Clermont, writer/Klayton Krain, pencils and covers/Temujin, inks

19-20: Clermont, writer/Krain, pencils and covers/Charles Yoakum, inks

Volume 3:

1-2: Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, Writers/Matt Broome & Ryan Benjamin, pencils/Sean Parsons, inks

3: Abnett and Lanning, writers/Criss Cross, pencils/Don Hillsman, inks

4: Abnett and Lanning, writers/Benjamin, pencils/Sal Regla, inks

5-6: Abnett and Lanning, writers/Broome, pencils/Regla, inks.

Video games

Acclaim released the Shadow Man video game in November 1999 on the PlayStation, Nintendo 64, Dreamcast, and PC. A sequel, entitled "" was released for PlayStation 2 in 2002, following the events after the destruction of the Cathedral of Pain. The events of the first game were loosely adapted into a single issue of Shadow Man volume 3. The comics ceased publication shortly after. Note that the comics and the games seem to be set in separate continuities.

Trivia

*Shadowman has been linked to numerous stars (LL Cool J, Wesley Snipes, The Game, DMX, Will Smith) and studios (20th Century Fox, Miramax, Brigade) as a potential feature film. Before filing for bankruptcy, Acclaim was close to a deal with Miramax and DMX. The 2006 Steven Seagal film "Shadow Man" is unrelated to the comics or games.

*Shadowman has a successful video game franchise. The first Shadowman video game sold one million copies on all systems, cementing it as a runaway success. This was despite the fact that Acclaim chose to market their Turok games more heavily, and the planned merchandising blitz for Shadowman—including sunglasses and other apparel—was cancelled.

*Steven J. Massarsky, one of the original co-owners of Voyager Communications, the parent company of Valiant Comics had strong connections to the music industry (for a time he managed the Allman Brothers Band among others) and used these connections to convince popular musicians to appear in Valiant Comics. Among these musicians was Aerosmith who guest starred in Shadowman #19. In the book, Master Darque creates a voodoo doll of Steven Tyler and trades Jack Boniface (Shadowman) Tyler's soul for an as yet unnamed favour.

*Shadowman made his first appearance in X-O Manowar #4. Jack Boniface can be seen playing sax in the foreground when Aric Dacia and Toyo Harada enter a bar. This appearance sent collectors into a frenzy making this book very popular. His first appearance in costume is the cover of Shadowman #1.

External links

* [http://www.valiantcomics.com/ VALIANT Comics Fan Site]
* [http://www.valiantfans.com VALIANT Comics message board]
* [http://www.newsarama.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5852 "VALIANT Days, VALIANT Nights - A Look Back at the Rise and Fall of VALIANT]
* [http://www.steveenglehart.com/Comics/Shadowman%201-2.html/ Comments by Steve Englehart]
* [http://www.comics2film.com/ShadowmanArch.shtml] Rumors of a possible Shadow Man movie adaptation
* [http://www.digital-priest.com/comics/shadowman.htm Thoughts on Shadowman by one of the writers of volume 3, Christopher J. Priest]
* [http://www.atomic-studios.com/weimages/featshad.htm An interview on the progress of Shadowman and new writer and artist starting from issue 16]