DCU Comic Book Reviews

SHADOWPACT #17

Part One Of Darkness and Light:  Protégés

November 2007

Written by Matthew Sturges

Pencils by Doug Braithwaite

Inks by Doug Braithwaite

Cover by Doug Braithwaite

Synopsis

In Gotham City, Shadowpact are battling zombies.  Enchantress tracks down and defeats the voodoo priest who summoned the zombies, thinking that would end it, but for some reason, it doesn’t work.  Just then the Warlock’s daughter (aka Laura Fell) arrives and instantly destroys all of the zombies.  In the Breed Building, Doctor Gotham asks the Sun King for a trustworthy aide.  The Sun King agrees and creates someone from Doctor Gotham’s very thoughts.  At the Oblivion Bar, Enchantress is upset at the recklessness shown by Laura in her attack on the zombies.  Laura suggests that if her actions upset her, Enchantress should train her.  Nightmaster agrees.  Meanwhile, Shadowpact enters the Nightshade Dimension but can’t seem to leave.  In Gotham City, Devon attempts to find a woman to feed to the Sun King.  In the mist woods, Enchantress tries to teach Laura by telling her that she needs to believe in herself and embrace her power.  In the Oblivion Bar, Laura is upset at Enchantress when Devon sits down next to her.   

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

This book is strange in the way it handles the ongoing stories.  In one sense there is a strong continuity as characters and ideas continue onward from month to month.  In this issue, we get a mention of Strega, a character who appeared in the first issue and we get the return of Laura Fell as well as Eddie, the new owner and bartender.  So, in a way there is a strong sense of time passing in a linear fashion, with each event building on top of each event.  Yet, we also get moments in which plot points tend to disappear or are simply forgotten for the sake of moving forward.  Take for instance the battle in Chicago which ended with Nightshade and Detective Chimp in the Nightshade Dimension along with half of Chicago’s buildings and people.  But we get nothing at all in this issue to suggest the resolution to the problem.  We also get Zauriel as part of the cast, but his lack of chemistry with the others seems to have been forgotten.  For that matter, Laura had been strangely absent from the book for awhile but makes a sudden reappearance. 

Part of the shift can be explained by the arrival of a new writer.  While Sturges’ style his similar to Willingham’s so there isn’t a drastic shift in tone, there is an obvious difference solely based on the emphasis of the characters being featured.  This is not a bad thing; the team is large and we should get more involved with all of them.  The only fault that I could consider of this book is that Sturges jumps around a bit too much, introducing a lot of ideas but at the same time trying to juggle some of Willingham’s plots that he left behind.  In some cases it works (like the Doctor Gotham section) and other times it just looks like a placeholder (the Blue Devil scene).  While it is commendable that Sturges didn’t forget Blue Devil completely, it is still frustrating that what seemed like a major plot development has taken a back seat.  But I have to credit Sturges for tying the Laura and Devon sequences together; it should be interesting to see where this leads. 

ïPREVIOUS	Main		Page	NEXTð

Home ●  Blog ● Who Are We? ● Site News
Alive and Well since April 16, 2006

 DC Universe Reviews.  All Rights Reserved
  Characters, trademarks, brands are property of DC Comics

For problems or questions regarding this website, please contact our kindly webmaster.
Last updated: 08/06/11.