Legend of the Shadow Clan #5 Review


The conclusion to the first volume is here, but does the story wrap up in a way that does justice to the concepts before it?  Read on to find out.

The description from Aspen:

The mystery of the LEGEND OF THE SHADOW CLAN is finally unveiled!

Ancient truths of the Shadow Clan are shockingly revealed in the pulse-pounding, epic finale! The Himura family must band together for the first time ever in their attempt to restore the honor of their lineage, and more importantly–in order to survive the bloody vengeance of the Ghost Clan!

The final part to this opening story arc has arrived, and the good news is that despite a few minor hiccups the creative team sticks a very solid landing.  It’s not perfect by any stretch of the imagination but it’s sure to please followers as they await the return of the Himura family in 2014.

Writer David Wohl pens the script and the author does a magnificent job tying up enough loose ends to make the final pages feel certainly satisfactory. The beats followed in this chaotic journey brought our protagonists through some fascinating situations, but I found myself a bit less engaged or even a little displeased with some of the brief altercations.  The problem here was the pacing and I’ll be frank, I feel like this ending could have been expanded a bit more into either a double-sized issue or perhaps this outing could have been used as a lead in to a sixth release.

Cory Smith handles the art and the pencil strokes on display are up to the challenges brought forth by the narrative.  The illustrator convincingly builds this world full of modern ninjas and phantom lineages while making these absolutely outlandish concepts, on a visual level, wholly accessible.  There were some instances where the lines came off a bit too chaotic but trust me when I saw these did little to hinder an already enthralling body of work.

Legend of the Shadow Clan #5 is a good comic book that brings this first volume to a somewhat fitting albeit slightly mishandled close.  Recommended.

3.5/5

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