DCU Comic Book Reviews

SHADOWPACT #18

Part Two Of Darkness and Light:  Separations

December 2007

Written by Matthew Sturges

Pencils by Tom Derenick

Inks by Wayne Faucher

Cover by Tom Derenick

Synopsis

In the Oblivion Bar, Laura Fell, the Warlock’s Daughter is sharing a drink with Devon, the protégé of Doctor Gotham, who is hoping to seduce Laura for her magic.  Before Laura falls under his spell, the Enchantress interrupts.  She breaks up the duo by assigning Laura work to further her knowledge of magic.  In Gotham City, Devon returns with a different girl, which he offers as a sacrifice to the Sun King.  In the Nightshade Dimension, Ragman, Nightmaster, and Nightshade encounter believers of the unbound.  In Gotham City, Enchantress and Detective Chimp investigate the death of a young woman, which may be part of a series of murders.  They determine that someone with powerful magic is the culprit.  Elsewhere, Devon and Laura enjoy a night together.  Later, Doctor Gotham confronts Devon for failing to bring a sacrifice to the Sun King for the past two days.  After Gotham leaves, Devon decides he needs to take care of Gotham and Shadowpact at the same time and he’ll do it with Laura’s help.  

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

This issue certainly suffers from middle-child syndrome, in that the basic story plot has been introduced but not resolved.  It is still good stuff, but it feels incomplete because there is no beginning or end.  Basically, Sturges used this episdoe to put the pieces of the Gotham/Devon plot together for the finale and to make sure everything is linked together in some way.  So, Detective Chimp and Enchantress are investigating a series of murders committed by Devon, who is dating Laura and using her to take down the team investigating him.  I love it when a plan comes together.  I also like it when a writer has crafted a good plot, which, at the moment, Sturges has shown he has done.  Granted, I thought the brief scene with the police woman pretending to arrest Devon was a groan-inducing moment, but it still worked overall.  It should be interesting to see all of the strings get tied up into a knot. 

Hey, look, it is Detective Chimp.  I realize that in team books it is difficult to get everyone involved in all of the stories, but it seems like DC has been missing of late.  His presence in this issue is welcome, not only because I like him, but because he might be part of the finale. 

Speaking of not being able to get all of the characters into every story, it feels like Blue Devil has dropped off the face of the Earth.  There was a big build-up to his trial and getting out of his pact with the devil and then that particular plot line was just dropped.  Last month I think we only got a page or two and this month Blue Devil is completely missing.  I hope this means that once the Doctor Gotham story is finished, Blue Devil will become front and center.  But, I suppose, we shall have to see. 

At this point, I shouldn’t mention this because Sturges is the new writer on the book and as been for several issues, but I miss Willignham’s humor.  There was something about the way he approached the team and the book that I enjoyed.  That is not to say Sturges is doing a bad job; it is just the approach is different and I liked Willingham’s offbeat humor. 

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