I have to say I have been pleasantly surprised with the Warrior Cat comics as of late.
I had gone into A Shadow in RiverClan reluctant, because usually, I always have an issue with the comics, be it either the stories are lackluster or the art is not very impressive. But it seems like the team has been making efforts to improve on both of these features. The stories get to be longer, standalone stories rather than chopped into three separate books. The art style is greatly improved and the colors they use for the pages in these books are quite beautiful.
And lately, I have loved the stories they have been telling with these. I did not expect Mudclaw of all characters to ever get a comic dedicated to him. While somewhat important to the plot of New Prophecy, I kind of figured him to be one of those one-time antagonists that the authors have basically all but forgotten about as time has gone by. So when I found out this comic was going to explore his feelings and motivation for leading his political coup, I was eager to read.
Mudclaw is a rare instance of moral ambiguity in Warriors. People to this day debate whether he should've been the leader of WindClan, especially when seeing what Onestar became as the series went on. I think this book did a good job illustrating Mudclaw as an understandable, but ultimately flawed character.
On one hand, this book shows Mudclaw's experience, his dedication to his Clan, his reasoning for feeling like Onestar was merely being a puppet to Firestar. On some scenes, you really do feel for him. Suddenly being demoted when you don't even know why would certainly suck.
However, despite this, Mudclaw is not perfect either. The illustrations perfectly capture that while he is saddened by Tallstar's passing, he still ultimately leaps at any opportunity to throw around leadership, he considers himself above menial warrior work, and he is unreasonably petty in some scenes - such as deeming a newly-appointed Ashstep a poor deputy for making a mistake on the first day of her job. It shows that he does feel guilt for the coup, but that he ultimately thought that the ends would justify the means and that his Clan would prosper.
And I love that.
The Hawkfrost stuff drags a bit of the plot down for me, but that is kind of due to the fact that Hawkfrost's plan was pretty odd to me even in the original text, so it feels almost unfair to judge the book for it. And hey, I am happy in both books Hawkfrost is getting some spotlight, especially since he is used so little in the actual books, despite being a final antagonist.
The ending also feels a little bit rushed, (SPOILERS): with Mudclaw basically accepting Tallstar's explanation and his untimely death almost immediately and helping Onestar out (SPOILER END) but it also was a nice ending and a good explanation for why Mudclaw ultimately ended up in StarClan despite many thinking he deserved to be in the Dark Forest or cat... Purgatory, or whatever.
Overall a very neat book, and I am eager to get my hands on a copy of Nightstar's book that is coming soon!