Shadow War Zone #1 – Joshua Williamson, Nadia Shammas, Ed Brisson, Stephanie Phillips; Writers; Otto Schmidt, Sweeney Boo, Mike Bowden/Mark Morales, Ann Maulina, Artists; Antonio Fabela, Colorist
Ray – 9.5/10
Ray: Shadow War is still going strong, but the story is just a bit too big to fit in its main chapters. So now we get this oversized one-shot with four stories by series architect Josh Williamson and three hand-picked writers. Let’s dig into these four chaotic tales of assassin madness.
First up are Williamson and Otto Schmidt on a Black Canary story. Schmidt has drawn Green Arrow extensively before, so it’s not a surprise this looks amazing. This story focuses on Canary being hunted by the mysterious Angel Breaker, who wants her to either join the hunt for Deathstroke—or go down as one of his allies. There are some surprising reveals about the connection between the two women that makes me wonder if we know Angel Breaker under the mask, as well as some great dialogue and action. The way Williamson writes Oracle here makes me want a Birds of Prey run by him. It’s not a surprise this is a great start.
Next up, Nadia Shammas and Sweeney Boo follow up on the recent Williamson/Shammas take in the Villains one-shot. In the aftermath of Ra’s death, this story follows Talia in a flashback to the first time she saw her father resurrected in the Lazarus Pit. It also explores her bond with a close friend (and maybe more) named Amal, who was being trained as her personal guard. When Talia’s recklessness leads to Amal being dismissed, she goes on the run to find her—and finds Mother Soul instead, exploring her past and the truth behind the pit. The story is good, if a little rushed, but the vivid art is the real highlight here.
Ghost-Maker takes center stage in the third story by Ed Brisson and Mike Bowman, in what might be a preview of an upcoming Batman Inc relaunch. He and Clownhunter are trying to keep the assassin Black Spider alive long enough to get information out of him, and Ghost-Maker decides to turn this into a teaching opportunity for his homicidal protege. Trapping Clownhunter in a room with some assassins and the target to protect, he guides him through the fight in a trial-by-fire manner that shows where he and Batman differ—and where they’re all too alike. This team-up is a lot of fun and one of the lighter things Brisson has written in a while—despite all the stabbing going on.
Finally, it’s regular Harley writer Stephanie Phillips and artist Ann Maulina on a short Harley Quinn tale that finds Harley hunted by the League of Shadows—because she was briefly aligned with Deathstroke years ago, when she was mostly proposing monkey-related crimes and getting called out by Gorilla Grodd. This leads to her fighting an army of ninjas in an arcade, with some of the funniest physical comedy in a Harley book in some time. It also has an unexpected narrator trying to figure out if they should recruit Harley for a new project—with a surprise cliffhanger that I’m guessing will play out in the main book.
Overall, four exceptional stories without a real weak link. This is how you do an anthology and an event tie-in and make it count.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
