There’s nothing like a story with great world-building. A story where every detail of the world feels tangible and intriguing, beckoning you to lose yourself in the panels and making you forget about the real world around you for a brief time. Valiant Beyond: Tales of the Shadowman #1, written by AJ Ampadu with art by Sergio Monjes, has world-building on that level. It introduces a new version of Shadowman who’ll instantly captivate you as part of the “Valiant Beyond” initiative from Valiant Comics and Alien Books, which reboots the Valiant Universe with new versions of their characters.
This premiere issue is a travelogue of sorts, introducing us to Shadowman and this gothic world he occupies. We follow Shadowman from his home (Castle Nocturna, forever enshrouded by fog and surrounded by a moat filled with alligators), across the Twisted Forest and the Blood Desert to Shambhala, the Dead City, and that’s just the first third of the book!
Artist Sergio Monjes brilliantly captures the bleak eeriness of the shifting landscapes, making the whole book feel like taking a ride through a fever dream. Shadowman is visually striking, with his chalky skull-like visage resembling a Houngan Voodoo priest. When he walks, the bottom of his cloak, which is split in sections, looks like ebony tendrils that elongate from the bottom half of his body in every direction like massive spider legs.
The book is steeped in voodoo and jazz and why not? This dark foggy world lies right outside New Orleans, ground zero for voodoo magic and great jazz. The city’s encased in a mystic barrier that protects it from the terrors of the world outside, but Shadowman wields a magic scythe that cuts through the shield like warm butter. The only drawback is that once he’s within the barrier, his powers are greatly diminished.
Valiant Comics
Writer AJ Ampadu populates the book with fascinating supporting characters, both human and anthropomorphic, including Shadowman’s advisor (familiar?) Thelonious, a cat who seems to be crafted from shadows, with a dark wispy frame, glowing eyes that change color with his mood, and a thick Cajun accent. He’s like a creepier, more malevolent version of Salem from Sabrina the Teenage Witch. There’s also the simian mayor of Shambhala, a dashing chap who’s always busy but still manages to squeeze time in for Shadowman’s occasional pop-ins.
New Orleans is a stark contrast to the “Deadside”, its buildings and streets bright and colorful. Some of those streets are running red though, because a Jack the Ripper-like serial killer prowls the streets of the city, killing victims and eluding capture, and only Shadowman can stop him. Why? Because the killer also wields magic, an especially nasty type of demonic magic. One harrowing scene in the book, where the killer reveals the true nature of his powers to Shadowman, is so chilling that Shadowman’s shocked by it, and Shadowman has plumbed the darkest corners of the abyss. It’s a gut-wrenching scene that you won’t soon forget.
This book feels wonderfully big, it feels like the beginning of something epic and massive, like reading the first chapter of “Dune” or one of those old (but great) Stephen King novels like The Stand. If the other books in the Valiant Beyond line are as good as this one, they’re going to have a great future ahead.
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