The Shade (USA) di J.Robinson

[Azrael]

Exclusive First Look at Tony Harris' Cover for THE SHADE #11

[Azrael]

In "The Shade" #10, Starman's most elusive opponent continues to hold the spotlight comfortably, supported by tour-de-force visuals and the sheer force of his dry wit and acerbic personality.

Writer James Robinson's plot for "The Shade" #10 is nothing special. Imprisoning gods is never storyline that ends well for the wardens. None of the bones of this story are new, but Robinson fleshes it out and makes it worthwhile and Frazer Irving continues to do a knockout job with the art.

Irving's panel-to-panel transitions in "The Shade" #10 are unusually strong for painterly sequential art, and he also takes some interestingly successful risks with page and panel composition. Most of this issue is The Shade tied up in a chair and sassing his captors. This is a scenario ripe for visual boredom, but Irving makes all the scenes electric and beautiful.

He colors the entire issue in the flattering, complementary forest greens, amethyst pinks, sea blues and fiery orange-reds. This limited, uncluttered palette echoes the traditional colors of the Egyptian gods. Irving also bathes the entire issue in blazing sunlight hues. In many panels he pulls off some unusual silhouetting of figures through color and light instead of shadows. Intentional or not, it's a nice reminder that The Shade is out of his element.

To support Robinson's script, Irving also plays with color and proportion. When The Shade is untied from his chair, he ceases to be colored green, foreshadowing his eventual escape. When The Shade says one of his best lines, insulting Miles St. Aubrey, he looms large, looking down at his opponent. Their relative statures are not absolute but symbolic. It's a clever visual representation of verbal domination and feels completely organic to the scene.

The Shade and his captors fence with words, and the resulting back-and-forth sparring reads like a well-written play set in a drawing room. Robinson has a gift for dialogue and character. One of the best aspects of Robinson's prose is that he pays attention to the rhythms of speech. Words that characters emphasize are bolded and ellipses are used to convey pauses.

Well-equipped verbally, The Shade endears himself to readers and reveals his mind and character through his conversation instead of his actions. This is unusual in a superhero comic, but it makes a lot of psychological sense. The Shade's powers afford him maximum defensive skills and little need for offensive action. In this issue, deprived of his powers, The Shade's intelligence and wit shine. It is a pleasure to read and anticipate what dry remark he spits out while tied up. It is a further and even greater pleasure to watch him play his enemies. It's like being at a dinner party in which the bored, brilliant host despises his guests, scattering scathing ripostes like party favors, except in this case the host is our anti-hero and the guests are his harried captors.

It's a party that will leave the reader feeling satisfied, with a visually stunning finale. Reading "The Shade" #10 is a most refreshing and delightful time. It's a shame that the series is coming to an end after two more issues, and our time with our urbane, world-weary host will soon be past.

4 su 5

Da CBR

[Azrael]

Exclusive First Look at the Variant Cover for THE SHADE #12


Below, take an exclusive first look at the issue's variant cover by Frazer Irving!

[Clod]

qua Irving è irriconoscibile

[Azrael]

qua Irving è irriconoscibile

Vuoi dire in "meglio" vero?

[Clod]

a me piace anche il suo stile solito, ma anche questo non è male

[Azrael]

Preview: THE SHADE #11

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[Azrael]

The series takes a step closer to its end the the penultimate issue of THE SHADE.
The Good
This issue is so deep and so thought provoking and oh, so very interesting. I've fallen in love with the Shade. The language, humor, dialogue -- everything about the way he's written in this issue is just superb. I really, really enjoyed seeing the complexities of his character come to the surface in this issue.

We've known from the very start that this was to be a 12-issue series, so to see issue #11 feel like one step closer to the end is kind of a bittersweet feeling. First, I'm definitely sad being so close to the end of this series. However, I do think that it's important to recognize the way Robinson is closing out this book. It feels one step closer to the end of the issue. You get a sense of closure reading this issue that I feel is really important to the overall story. While it doesn't feel like the end of the series, it does feel like the end of an arc.

There's a great moment towards the end of the issue where The Shade reflects on himself for a moment. He outlines his flaws and goes over the things he's learned along his journey. You get a sense that this was a very important story for him -- and this moment of self realization is just perfect. This is as important story to the Shade as it was for any fan of his character. It's a story that provided a lot of growth and evolution for the Shade and I'm glad his character was given the opportunity.

The Bad
I'm not going to lie and say that the art in this issue didn't bother me because it absolutely did. Here's the thing about the last few issues of THE SHADE: they've been a little bit complex, even for someone who has been reading and reviewing every single issue. Robinson has been dealing with big concepts and big character development for The Shade. He's forced the character to take a good, hard and long look at himself and analyze himself from within. There are a lot of abstract concepts he is dealing with in this issue, and that's why I have such a problem with the abstractness of Frazer Irving's art in this issue. I think it makes things harder to understand.

The Verdict
This is going to be such a great book once its collected. It will be interesting to see what the reading experience is like when you are moving from one artistic style to the next, and it's definitely something I am looking forward to. While I can't say that the art in this issue was my favorite in this series, I will say that this is one of the best written issues of THE SHADE thus far. It feels like the perfect penultimate issue, the way it closes up the final arc but doesn't quite give the reader closure on the series as a whole. I definitely recommend that new readers start this series from the beginning -- it's really worth it.

4/5

CVine

[Un Fumettaro]

Exclusive First Look at the Variant Cover for THE SHADE #12


Below, take an exclusive first look at the issue's variant cover by Frazer Irving!

sta variant è di Gene Ha

[Clod]

ahhh, mi pareva infatti

[Azrael]

In "The Shade" #11, James Robinson and Frazer Irving wrap up the Celestial Pharaohs storyline with metaphysical knots and visual fireworks. Irving's splendid artwork alone justifies picking up this title. Robinson's writing is still fresh, but this penultimate installment of "The Shade" is slightly weaker than previous issues.

In his showdown with the Celestial Pharaohs, The Shade proposes, and then disposes, like Man and God in one. Robinson's resolution of conflict through a mystical deux ex machina is unsatisfyingly neat, given that even The Shade doesn't understand what he's doing or how he's doing it. The mythology of the Celestial Pharaohs as "Bad Librarians" is similarly muddy at the end of the issue.

This underdeveloped plotting is served with some heavy-handed characterization. Up until now, Robinson has mostly shown rather than told readers about The Shade's moral development. There was no need for The Shade to reflect out loud to the reader about his journey. A "lessons learned" or "how far I've come" moment is nice, but "The Shade" #11 lacks subtlety, and well, that's un-Shade-like.

Despite these flaws, "The Shade" #11 is still a pleasurable, worthwhile read. Robinson is too talented with phrasing and dry wit for it to be otherwise. The Shade gilds even his moralizing comments with Oscar Wilde-like witticisms and casual dismissals, and maintains his typical weary charm and charisma. There's a delightful exchange between The Shade and his Irish buddy Silverfin at the end of the issue that is more satisfying than any plot threads being tied up.

Robinson also drops in cameos of English superheroes Beaumont, Sunny Jim and Knight and Squire. Kudos to Robinson for resurrecting them -- of course they would turn up for this fiery London shindig, yet their appearances felt delightfully unexpected. Touches like these give Robinson's work a classic, Silver-Age feel. It's hard not to admire Robinson's knowledge of comics history and history in general, and the dignity and reverence with which he approaches it.

It's also tough to criticize Robinson's storytelling in "The Shade" #11 because the most loosey-goosey, disbelief-unsuspending elements of his script are the same mystical elements that afford Frazer Irving the chance to show off an extraordinary artistic imagination. Irving has a surrealist, even abstract image vocabulary for Robinson's otherworldly scenes. Even more impressively, he keeps the transitions between worlds easy to follow. His distinctively intense color palettes shift between settings, but remain consistent within scenes. Against these backgrounds, the inky, swirling tendrils of Shade's powers have never looked more attractive.

This is Irving's last issue on "The Shade," and he has surpassed himself, especially in his page and panel composition. Beaumont's helicopter drop looks as easy and miraculous as a cat landing on its feet. The opening panel has a helicopter framed as if it's going to collide into the next panel, and each panel falls into the next, as Beaumont falls too, down an unorthodox, well-proportioned page of successive diagonals. The dark gloss of Beaumont's boots is in harmonic counterpoint to white silhouetted soles. An iconic heart pops in contrasting red on his chest, looming larger with each descent. The open sky drops into light as Beaumont falls into the farthest reach of the flames, the camera's gaze zooming in as the minutes lengthen and the distance to the ground shortens. It's moving and incredibly well done.

"The Shade" #11 has some uneven storytelling, but the good parts are too good to pass up, and the ending leads smoothly into what will be another "Times Past" installment and final issue.

4/5

CBR

[Azrael]

Preview: THE SHADE #12

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[Corto Maltese]

Preview: THE SHADE #12

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[Arzak]

TP senza ombra di dubbio

[Clod]

ma nella variant,

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?