Valiant Entertainment has revealed its plans for Andy Diggle’s Shadowman #1, which kicks off a new ongoing series beginning in March.
From the press release, we learned:
The long-awaited return of Valiant’s supernatural icon that begins this spring with the introductory story arc “FEAR OF THE DARK” will soon spiral into “DEAD AND GONE” – an epic exploration into the true power and impact of the Shadowman legacy across the ages, from World War II all the way back to dawn of mankind, with all-star artists Shawn Martinbrough (Thief of Thieves, Black Panther), Doug Braithwaite (X-O MANOWAR, Journey into Mystery), and Renato Guedes (BLOODSHOT SALVATION), debuting a new Shadowman of times past in each issue!
Then, just in time for Halloween, the battle for the legacy of Master Darque erupts into civil war as the factions of New Orleans’ occult underground vie for control of his earthly remains…and the untapped power they contain…in “RAG AND BONE,” an all-new jumping-on point featuring the return of high-octane artist Stephen Segovia!
Sprinting from “FEAR OF THE DARK” to “DEAD AND GONE” and onto “RAG AND BONE,” Jack Boniface’s return to the frontline of Valiant Universe will follow in the footsteps of X-O MANOWAR and BLOODSHOT REBORN to present the ultimate Shadowman saga ever told.
Debuting in March 2018 is Shadoman #1, which kicks off the Fear the Dark story arc.
SHADOWMAN (2018) #1 (“FEAR OF THE DARK” – PART 1)
Written by ANDY DIGGLE
Art by STEPHEN SEGOVIA
Cover A by TONCI ZONJIC (JAN182001)
Cover B by RENATO GUEDES (JAN182002)
Interlocking Variant by JUAN JOSÉ RYP (JAN182003)
Shadowman Icon Variant by TRAVEL FOREMAN (JAN182004)
Glow-in-the-Dark Brushed Metal Variant by TONCI ZONJIC (JAN182005)
$3.99 | 32 pgs. | T+ | On Sale MARCH 28th
Don’t fear your demons… Fight them! Orphaned as a child and raised on the margins of society, Jack Boniface never knew his place in the world. Until he discovered it waiting for him…in a darkness far older than the reign of men…
Unbeknownst to him, Jack was fated to become the next in a long lineage of Shadowmen – mortals bound to violent voodoo spirits of immense power – that could safeguard our world against incursions from realms beyond. For years, he struggled to control the loa’s murderous urges – a battle he eventually lost.
But now, after years of self-imposed exile, the man once known as Shadowman is returning home to sharpen the weapon within…and unleash a reckoning on the evils of our world that will soon send shockwaves through heaven and hell alike…
This will run for three issues, which will be followed by the Dead and Gone arc.
SHADOWMAN (2018) #4 (NEW ARC! “DEAD AND GONE” – PART 1)
Written by ANDY DIGGLE
Art by SHAWN MARTINBROUGH
Cover A by TONCI ZONJIC
Cover B by DAVID MACK
Interlocking Variant by DAVID LAFUENTE
Shadowman Icon Variant by DAVE JOHNSON
$3.99 | 32 pgs. | T+
For years, Jack Boniface believed that he knew the true story of the Shadowman loa – the true story of the curse inside him. He was wrong.
For the first time, Jack Boniface is about to discover the long-hidden history of the supernatural power that became his birthright… Unmoored in time and space, the loa is about to reveal its untold dimensions…and now, the last defender of the wall between our realm and the Deadside is falling backwards through the astral void, finding himself face to face with his forebears across the centuries – from the paranoia-addled alleyways of 1940s New York to the fire-scorched plantations of the Civil War…all the way back to the primeval height of the African savannah in 40,000 B.C.!
In the shock-inducing aftermath of “FEAR OF THE DARK,” master storyteller Andy Diggle leads a rotating cast of superstar artists – including Shawn Martinbrough, Doug Braithwaite and Renato Guedes – to reveal the full scope and power of the Shadowman mythos…and how three of its forgotten champions stoked its earliest embers…with a legend-fueled odyssey into eons past as “DEAD AND GONE” tells all!
Shadowman #4 will arrive on June 20, 2018.
The year of Shadowman will wrap with Rag and Bone, which will begin with issue #8, and is set to debut in October.
For some men – like the sadistic necromancer Nicodemo Darque, whose eternal conflict with the Boniface family’s lineage of Shadowmen was bound in blood nearly two centuries ago – the true path to power lies beyond death… And even the last relics of their earthly remains can become a doorway themselves…
As Shadowman returns to New Orleans with a revelatory new understanding of the immense abilities within himself, he won’t have long to adjust…because a war for control of the ultimate magical artifact – the bones of Master Darque, his old arch-nemesis – is about to erupt out of the underground and into the harsh view of day!
On one side: The Brethren, a society of wealthy and powerful occultists obsessed with Darque’s resurrection and ushering in a millennia-long reign of darkness. On the other: Shadowman’s old allies from The Abettors…and Darque’s own sister, Sandria, who would like nothing more than to grind her brother’s bones to dust…
The endless cycle of death and rebirth stops here as Shadowman and the Darque clan usher in the reckoning they’ve waited ten lifetimes to achieve – with massive repercussions for the future of the Valiant Universe – as high-octane artist Stephen Segovia returns to heed the call of “RAG AND BONE”!
For those of you who are Shadowman fans, do announcements like this make you excited for what is coming?
For the rest of us, events like ComicsPro (which is closed to the press), give us a greater understanding of just how far out events, story arcs, and creative teams are set, and no matter how much grousing and gatekeeping you do, companies may not be in a position to change things midstream as easily as one might think.
