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| Cover Artist: John Cassaday |
Original Price: $3.99
Title: Untitled
Writer: Andy Diggle
Artist: Billy Tan
Inker: Victor Olazaba
Letterer: VC's Joe Caramagna
Colorist: Christina Strain
Assistant Editor: Tom Brennan
Editor: Stephen Wacker
Editor-In-Chief: Joe Quesada
Artist: Billy Tan
Inker: Victor Olazaba
Letterer: VC's Joe Caramagna
Colorist: Christina Strain
Assistant Editor: Tom Brennan
Editor: Stephen Wacker
Editor-In-Chief: Joe Quesada
SYNOPSIS
Outside the temple in Hell's Kitchen, now renamed Shadowland, cabbie Jack Lockley is beginning his investigation into the disappearance of all criminals and cops now that the Hand has taken control. Lockley is secretly the vigilante Moon Knight, and his plan is to be taken captive by the ninjas.
Outside the temple in Hell's Kitchen, now renamed Shadowland, cabbie Jack Lockley is beginning his investigation into the disappearance of all criminals and cops now that the Hand has taken control. Lockley is secretly the vigilante Moon Knight, and his plan is to be taken captive by the ninjas.
Elsewhere, Iron Fist and Luke Cage are in Fist's
soup kitchen discussing Daredevil's murder of Bullseye and whether they
should step in and stop their friend from making any more mistakes.
Surprisingly, the Kingpin and his bodyguard Lady Bullseye come through
the door and suggests an alliance between them to drive the Hand out of
Hell's Kitchen. The Kingpin tells them that eventually, they're going to
have to take down Daredevil themselves. Meanwhile, inside his Hand
temple, Daredevil tells his aide Black Tarantula that they need
reinforcements - all costumed heroes are invited to join the Hand.
In the penthouse of Fisk Tower, the Kingpin
prepares a magical ritual using an ancient scroll stolen from the Hand.
He plans to summon the Zugaikotsu warrior, one of the Hand's most
ancient of enemies, and use him as a weapon against Daredevil. Fisk
completes the spell, and a moment later the windows of his office are
blown out by the demon warrior, who wants to know why he has been
summoned. The Kingpin answers "what else...vengeance."
Back in Shadowland, Daredevil gives an audience to
his former friends: Cage, Iron Fist, Shang-Chi, Misty Knight, and
Colleen Wing. The heroes attempt to talk Daredevil out of what he's
doing in Hell's Kitchen, but he refuses to listen even when Spider-Man
arrives to join the discussion. Down in the Shadowland dungeon, Moon
Knight is in a cell next to several captive SWAT officers. Using a
regurgitated lock pick, Lockley escapes his cell - but before he can
free the others, he hears a motorcycle engine. The Zugaikotsu has
arrived, and it is actually the Ghost Rider. Daredevil is informed that
the dungeon is under attack, which causes him to believe that the heroes
have plotted against them. He orders his ninjas to take them, dead or
alive!
The ramifications of Kingpin's spell are revealed in Shadowland: Ghost Rider # 1.
REVIEW
Ghost Rider makes his grand entrance in the Shadowland crossover, and while his arrival is handled well the crossover itself just isn't clicking with me.
Ghost Rider makes his grand entrance in the Shadowland crossover, and while his arrival is handled well the crossover itself just isn't clicking with me.
I think my biggest problem with Shadowland is that
it just doesn't feel important; no matter how hard Marvel tries to sell
it as a major event, it doesn't have the epic feel that such an event
should have. It seems to me that this was a normal Daredevil story that
Marvel inflated into a crossover event just to publish an army of
tie-ins. So, what should have been a deeply personal story for Daredevil
is turned into a cash grab for characters who really have no business
in the story. And, as much as I hate to say it, Ghost Rider is one of
those characters. I'm not sure where the idea that Ghost Rider is a
"street level" hero came from, when he's spent the last few years
fighting against Satan and angels.
But at least Diggle gives Ghost Rider an
appropriate internal reason for showing up in Shadowland. Normally,
Johnny Blaze wouldn't care about what Daredevil's doing (and why should
he, he has bigger concerns), so having the Kingpin force him to take
action was a good move. It also plays into a larger theme for Ghost
Rider, with him being manipulated by an evil force once again, though
that's more a concern of the Ghost Rider tie-in issue.
Another problem I have with this series is the
artwork by Billy Tan. I'm not sure what happened to Tan, I loved his
work on Ed Brubaker's Uncanny X-Men run but his work here is...well,
it's just boring. The characters have no life to them, the
fight scenes are badly choreographed, and there's just no pizzazz. A
story like this, for these characters, would be aided greatly by an
artist who could establish mood (which is why Alex Maleev and Michael
Lark were so great in their Daredevil runs). Tan draws it like any other
superhero story and it just sucks the life right out of Diggle's story.
I also hate how artists these days can't decide on a uniform look for
Ghost Rider's hell-cycle; Tan's bike looks nothing like Clayton Crain's
in the tie-in. Where are the editors at moments like this?
Shadowland has really disappointed me so far, and
if Ghost Rider wasn't part of the cast I wouldn't bother to pick up the
remaining issues.
Grade: C-
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