A tattooed woman completely shadowed within her own silhouette is an ominous beginning to issue ten of ‘Shadowman: Rag and Bone Part III.†To begin with who knew that Master Darque (one of the most important villains in the Valiant universe) has a twin sister? It seems that Sandria Darque bonded the vengeful loa Shadowman to the Boniface family. And she’s continuing to interfere in Jack’s life by hiding her brother’s dead bones from him and replacing his girlfriend with a double. To top things off he barely steps ahead of a cult who wants to bring Master Darque back to life.
This is some ugly business happening to Jack. He finds out how and why the Shadowman loa became attached to his family’s bloodline and he’s still being used as a tool, this time by Sandria. Meanwhile Alyssa, Jack’s girlfriend is fighting her way back to life. While her magic may not work where she’s trapped, it doesn’t matter. Alyssa is at the level of angry where she doesn’t need magic or a weapon to destroy her enemies. It’s all drawn so well. The artwork is dynamic. The characters look like real black people who you would see walking down the street. It’s all compelling. And powerfully done. The crew, writer Andy Diggle and artists Renato Guedes, Eric Battle et al working on ‘Shadowman’ know what they’re doing.
Then there’s Sandria who’s using Jack to resurrect her brother only to steal his secrets. What does she think is going to happen? Someone like Darque most likely has a plan even in death. After all he controlled the Deadside and made a tool of Jack’s loa. Even to the point of renaming him Magpie. But someone obsessed and blinded by a need for power seems to overlook the obvious. Her brother is not only more powerful, he’s focused. Sandria creates out of chaos, and depends on entities and variables she can’t control. She’s even having a hard time with a depowered Jack. How is she supposed to win? However, the real lesson here is learned by Jack. Finally, after years of rejecting the Shadowman he welcomes this powerful entity. The thing Jack has understood with his encounter with Sandria is that some things should not only be accepted but listened to. You never know what you can learn from. Even your enemies have something to teach you.
This issue is filled with satisfying moments. Most of all when Sandria attempts to dismiss the Shadowman. She seems to have conveniently remembered that he is part of a powerful pantheon that is still worshipped. Her reminding him of that was not to her benefit. It ends on a traditional cliffhanger where you don’t know if by issue eleven Sandria will escape or if the cult called The Brethren will find some way to resurrect Darque. The spell Sandria casted is incomplete, still all the components are there. Overall, you’ll be anticipating the next installment of this series.
At the end of the tenth issue of ‘Shadowman: Rag and Bone’ there’s a preview of a new comic-book series ‘The Forgotten Queen.’ She seems to be as brutal in the present day as in the time of Genghis Khan. Those eight pages will have you rooting for this ambiguous protagonist. The Valiant universe is indeed expanding with promising and intriguing characters. About time.
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