Shadowpact nº 3: Tinieblas y luz

Shadowpact, #Volume 3

by Bill Willingham, Matthew Sturges

In this volume, Zauriel joins Shadowpact, Zatanna and the Justice League pay the team a visit, Blue Devil learns what he must do to save his parents, Doctor Gotham strikes at last and more!

Collecting: Shadowpact 14-19

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Dc Comics, Fiction, Comic Book, Fantasy, Superheroes

192 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 2008

About the author

In the late 1970s to early 1980s he drew fantasy ink pictures for the Dungeons & Dragons Basic and Expert game rulebooks. He first gained attention for his 1980s comic book series Elementals published by Comico, which he both wrote and drew. However, for reasons unknown, the series had trouble maintaining an original schedule, and Willingham's position in the industry remained spotty for many years. He contributed stories to Green Lantern and started his own independent, black-and-white comics series Coventry which lasted only 3 issues. He also produced the pornographic series Ironwood for Eros Comix.

In the late 1990s Willingham reestablished himself as a prolific writer. He produced the 13-issue Pantheon for Lone Star Press and wrote a pair of short novels about the modern adventures of the hero Beowulf, published by the writer's collective, Clockwork Storybook, of which Willingham was a founding member. In the early 2000s he began writing extensively for DC Comics, including the limited series Proposition Player, a pair of limited series about the Greek witch Thessaly from The Sandman, and most notably the popular series Fables

Reviews

[Alex Sarll · Rating 2 out of 5]

For all that I often - and deservedly - slag off DC's New 52, let's not forget that they were producing plenty of terrible comics before the reboot. This team of mystical heroes are written so as to be largely indistinguishable from any other third-string superhumans, and even the asset of Detective Chimp (a chimp in a deerstalker!) is largely wasted by mainly using artists who can't draw chimps.

[John Yelverton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely love this book series with all of its quirkiness.

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

This series has a few interesting things here and there but it's overall disappointing. Characterisation is flat and I know the team has a lot of potential that just isn't used. While I appreciate it's largely not as dark as many other DC magic user titles, the villains don't feel significant. That's partially due to the buildup stretching on too long, and how the main one kills off any others after they're introduced (which doesn't make him more intimidating anyway).

[Will Robinson Jr. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This volume of Shadowpact loses a bit of the luster. The writing by Willingham is still good but the art on some issues was poor and the pacing at times seem all over the place. The plot threads carry over from volumes 1 & 2 easy enough but seem a bit rushed here. The build up to the teams eventual battle with the Sun King is just taking a bit too long. Do not get me wrong Shadowpact offers something a bit different from most superhero teams. I really have been enjoying this deep dive into DC comics' magical side of the universe. You do not get much of that in this volume. I was hoping to learn more about the team's newest member Zauriel but not much gets covered but instead we are just rushed off to the next mission. I still care about what is going to happen to our heroes especially Blue Devil. Some other characters from the DC universe show up towards the end but they are more like cameos. I am hoping we get more of Zatanna in this series especially with her connection to the magical side of the universe. All in All this volume was good just not great.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

That's a bit better. After last volume felt floating and inconsequential, this third volume of Shadowpact gets back on track and gives us some solid storylines featuring the proper debut of Doctor Gotham as he attacks the team, as well as some more subplots bubbling away like Blue Devil's soul and both Zauriel and the Warlock's Daughter joining the team. Matthew Sturges pens the second story in the volume which brings some more character to those who have been lacking, like Enchantress, and sets up the final storyline in volume 4 nicely.

[Timothy Pitkin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I laughed at the idea of someone being able to sue hell to get their souls back but the rest of it was just ok. I do like that Shadowpact are starting to fight Dr. Gotham now more often as this storyline seems to be getting closer to a conclusion.

[Kris · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bad art. Bad dialog. Just bad overall. Occasional pockets of good writing, and some good ideas, but the execution of the ideas falls flat.

[Brannigan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really get a kick out of this team. I’ve been enjoying the story a lot. I only wish there was a little more variety in the storyline instead of the long play.

[Ribrarian Not · Rating 3 out of 5]

Libro de historietas con ISBN propio. Tomo 3/4.

[Emily Green · Rating 2 out of 5]

Shadowpact: Darkness and Light is written by two of my favorite comic book writers, Bill Willingham, who wrote Fables and companion works to Sandman and Matthew Sturges, who wrote House of Mystery, also one of my favorites. Darkness and Light, however, does not live up to their best work.

Admittedly, this is my first introduction to the Shadowpact, a superhero team in which each member has magic powers. Nightmaster, the leader, does not exhibit much personality in this volume, mostly because he shows no inner conflict. For example, when Blue Devil publicly admits that his powers are a result of selling his soul to the devil, Nightmaster is not even a little bit disturbed. He will not hear of Blue Devil quitting, regardless of the wrongs he has committed. Later, when Warlock’s Daughter, who had been sidelined for being unable to control her powers, performs a dangerous yet successful magic operation, he calmly tells Warlcock’s Daughter that she made the wrong choice. No anger, no frustration, no chastisement. Even at the cliff-hanger ending, when he is trapped in Nightshade’s dimension, he does not have much reaction at all.

While Nightshade might be a good leader because he is so even-tempered, his calm and goodness do not make for good stories. A flawed leader makes for good stories.

Also working against this volume living up to its potential is the overwriting. Part of what makes comic books enjoyable is that each panel relies on both dialogue and illustrations. If either were removed, the reader wouldn’t get the whole story. The brain must do a bit of work to put them together, and the brain work adds pleasure to the reading. However, when the brain must do no work, the story gets boring. We have to do some of putting the story together, or we are not going to care. Too much explanation of action provided in dialogue, for example, slows the story down and makes it less complicated and makes us frustrated with these characters who will not be quiet. For example, after battling the sorcerer villain, Enchantress states, “His [Dr. Gotham’s] escape spell took him away, while leaving me behind.” Now, since we saw Dr. Gotham cast the spell and leave and, in addition, we can see Enchantress standing in the panel, we know what happened. We do not need to be told.

Frustratingly, it is not entirely what the powers of all the characters are. Ragman, for example, seems to just wear an ugly costume. If there is going to be a team full of magic super powers, shouldn’t that be part of the story? Part of what makes it so exciting?

Perhaps the other volumes show the potential for a talking chimp detective, but Darkness and Light did not present a series I am dying to read the rest of.

[Rosa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Shadowpact is a group of DC heroes that deal with the supernatural issues that affect the world. I found the whole concept of Blue Devil taking Hell to court for not fulfilling their part of the bargaining both funny and intriguing. Generally the whole reason that a pact with the devil is a bad idea is because you wont really get what you want, so someone calling out Hell on this just seemed like there were so many places that they could go with this. I was disappointed when it seemed like they copped out by having had his brother sell his soul earlier in his life. I am still hoping that in a later book they will go back to this angle and maybe find a creative way around it. The second part of this volume focuses on Dr. Gotham a wizard intent on destroying Shadowpact for his master. You never really find out who his master is but that may have been revealed in an earlier volume and I didn't know that cause I started with the third volume. I actually found the Blue Devil story more interesting the Dr. Gotham thing, which is probably the more important story line. Half way through the book the art style changed and for some reason that really really threw me. I definitely want to see if I can find more volumes of this storyline because it seems like it could be really interesting (although I always hate it when there is not a single story in a volume of a graphic novel that can stand alone.)

[Colton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Liking this series more as it goes on. Solid characterization and mystical plots make me a very happy reader. The one thing that keeps me from loving it is the shifting panel of artists hired to illustrate the book. Some of the artwork is the cartoonish style that really works, while other issues feature illustrations that are trying to be too realistic or expressionistic. Overall, still a quality read but DC needs to work on the rotating artist problem, since it still exists years after this was published.

[Mark · Rating 2 out of 5]

Though there are some nice moments (Blue Devil's lawyer, for example), one of the things that makes Bill Willingham's stories (Shadowpact, Fables, Jack of Tales) enjoyable is their quirky sense of whimsy... and whimsy is in short supply this time around. Add to that some murky & less successful artwork and, well, I'm hoping the next installment improves or I'll probably give up on the series.

[Declan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good show. But only advanced storylines rather than concluding them.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok, nothing spectacular. Amusing bits with a lawyer trying to sue hell, though.