The Shadow: Year One #7 Review

Is this an origin story that’s starting to get a bit too long? Or should fans still be picking this up? Read on to find out.

The official description from Dynamite:

Margo’s solo attempt to locate Big Gun Massaretti lands her in the hands of her crazed ex-lover. Danger looms high above the streets of old New York as The Shadow attempts his most daring rescue ever! Meanwhile, an intrepid reporter inches ever closer to uncovering The Shadow’s guarded secrets…

There’s a lot that our hero know, but it’s time that we, his audience, get to know more about him. That’s the basic goal of this volume and thus far the creative team has not only been proven capable but they’ve crafted something that deserves to be remembered long after it concludes.

Matt Wagner begins the festivities with a rather text heavy first few pages, but the tension therein is genuine as a particular sidekick gets a lesson in peril. The author has an honest grasp of this pulp icon and I have to say after a slew of issues and knowing that this will come to a close, I hope I get to read more of his literature. Especially in regard to The Shadow. There’s a particular sequence that shows the connection between Lamont Cranston and Margo Lane that should garner some praise, and not by just me but also my fellow fanboys and fangirls who have been following these exploits.

In an issue that saw deepening connections, Wilfredo Torres really stepped up the visual quality to meet the demands of the text. That’s not to say that the previous outings have not been given the same amount of attention, but in the seventh book of this series he got to stretch his legs. It’s a vibrant, stylized and coherent play of characters, backgrounds and more importantly memorable scenarios. In short: sit back, relax and enjoy because it might just surpass the work done in previous jaunts.

The Shadow: Year One #7 is a stand out success and one of the reasons why I love picking up comics. Highly recommended.

4.5/5