Shadowman by Jamie Delano & Charlie Adlard
Valiant Entertainment (April 5, 2022)
272 pages; $24.99 paperback
Reviewed by Joshua Gage
When the first writer of the Hellblazer series (Jamie Delano) and one of the major artists of The Walking Dead series (Charlie Adlard) team up, readers know that something exciting is going to happen. Taking Valiant’s character Shadowman, these two artists were able to create a solid graphic novel of voodoo and horror in New Orleans that is sure to entertain any horror aficionado.
Shadowman focuses on the character Michael LeRoi, who is suffering visions and hallucinations — or so he thinks. He’s a killer for hire, but he’s being pursued by a haunting dead man named Jack Bonaface, as well as an Irishman who can turn into a giant snake and a woman named Mama Nettie who lives in the swamp. His bartender friend, Josie, is doing what he can to keep Michael alive, but only until Michael realizes what his actual relationship is with Josie and how caught up he is in this chaos. Every page drips with the intrigue and double-crosses of noir literature, all against a background of New Orleans, voodoo, and death.
Delano’s writing and clever plot twists make for an exciting read. On top of that, Adlard’s artistic style seems almost cinematic, so that readers are constantly entertained and rarely bored. While Shadowman isn’t an original invention of either of them, what they do with the character and how they reinvent the story of Shadowman and Mama Nettie is enough to keep any fan of horror graphic novels entertained. This is as strong as could be expected from such industry greats, and readers will certainly enjoy Shadowman by Jamie Delano and Charlie Adlard.
