Shadowland (2010) # 3

Cover Date: November 2010; Publication Date: September 2010

Writer: Andy Diggle; Artist: Billy Tan; Inker: Victor Olazaba w/ Billy Tan; Letterer: VC's Joe Caramagna; Colorist: Christina Strain & Guru EFX w/ Hannin & Dalhouse; Assistant Editor: Tom Brennan; Editor: Stephen WackerEditor-In-Chief: Joe Quesada; Cover Artist: John Cassaday

In the Shadowland dungeon, Jake Lockley - actually the vigilante hero Moon Knight - is fighting the Hand's ninjas. Fighting with him is the Spirit of Vengeance, Ghost Rider, who has been sent by the Kingpin to free Shadowland's prisoners. The ninjas are defeated and the prisoners freed, giving Moon Knight the opportunity to ask Ghost Rider what he's doing there. When Blaze replies that he's been played, Lockley asks the obvious question: "How the hell could someone else make the Spirit of Vengeance dance to his tune?" That's exactly what Blaze aims to find out for himself. Ghost Rider drives back into the underground tunnels, leaving Moon Knight to investigate the Shadowland operation.

Inside the Shadowland throne room, Daredevil, his ninja followers, and his lieutenants (White Tiger and Black Tarantula) are fighting a group of heroes that had come to talk sense into Murdock: Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Colleen Wing, Misty Knight, Shang Chi, and Spider-Man. Daredevil is confronted by both Iron Fist and Shang Chi, and with a surprising increase in strength and skill Daredevil is able to defeat them both. Spider-Man attempts to stop Daredevil, but is set on fire by another of Daredevil's aides, Typhoid Mary. The fight is stopped by the Punisher, who blows through a wall and gives the heroes the opportunity to escape. When they get outside, they see the citizens of Hell's Kitchen rioting in the streets.

Meanwhile, at Fisk Tower, Lady Bullseye tries to tell the Kingpin that he is playing with fire by summoning the Ghost Rider to do his bidding. There is a reason the Hand has not summoned the Zugaikotsu warrior for centuries and the Ghost Rider will be coming for Fisk. The Kingpin tells her that he's planned on Blaze returning; the scroll that summoned him also protects Fisk from the Ghost Rider. If he wants to be free of the spell, he will have to destroy the source of the Hand's magic. He will send the Ghost Rider to destroy the Hand, and when they are gone he will step in to pick up the pieces. At that moment, the Ghost Rider arrives at Fisk Tower and rides his bike up the side of the building.

Back at Shadowland, Daredevil is told that it was the Ghost Rider who freed their prisoners. Murdock knows that the heroes will return, and decides that the Hand needs better fighters. He then has an idea and tells Mary to bring a shovel to find their new champion - unaware that Moon Knight is watching from the rafters. In a nearby cemetery, Daredevil and Mary exhume the grave of Bullseye, who Daredevil killed days before. Using the magic of the Hand, he will resurrect Bullseye to be his greatest warrior. Their grave-robbing is interrupted by Elektra, who has come to join Daredevil's crusade.

The next day, in Harlem, the heroes are recuperating from their fight with the Hand. They now realize that Daredevil should never have been able to defeat either him or Shang Chi in combat. They are then joined by Master Izo, the monk who steered Daredevil toward taking over the Hand. Realizing his mistake, he tells the heroes that Daredevil has now become the vessel of an ancient demon, the Beast of the Hand, who hungers for the complete end of humanity.

THE ROADMAP

Ghost Rider's part in the crossover is continued in Shadowland: Ghost Rider # 1. He returns to the main series in Shadowland (2010) # 5, which was the final issue of the event.

CHAIN REACTION

Shadowland continues into its third chapter, wherein heroes fight ninjas and...well, that's pretty much it.

I hate to say it, but this series is boring me to tears. There's just no life to these characters, they're all just cardboard cut-outs there to advance the plot from point A to point B. I don't understand it, because Andy Diggle is a much better writer than this - his runs on Thunderbolts, Hellblazer, and the Losers were fantastic. The writing fails to make me care about what's happening to the characters, especially Daredevil. Murdock should be the heart and soul of this series, but his characterization is just as bad as the others.

The scripting is really poor, too. Daredevil does nothing but scream ridiculous declarations, while the heroes have some unbelievably stupid lines. For example, Shang Chi sitting with his head hung down and saying "I am no longer the master of kung fu..." Really, that's just awful. Or when the Punisher breaks through the wall and says "Kung Fu this." It's like they're starring in a 1980s Sylvester Stallone movie.

Even more problematic is the artwork by Billy Tan, who draws one of the worst fight sequences I've seen in recent years. Daredevil's fight against Iron Fist and Shang Chi has terrible choreography with actions failing to lead into one another. When you're illustrating a fight sequence, especially one involving martial artists, its absolutely imperative that there is a fluid transition between panels. The worst example in this issue again involves Shang Chi, when Daredevil grabs his arm and spins him around...or something, it's hard to tell just what's going on in that panel.

The only part of this issue that I think is actually successful is the subplot with Ghost Rider and Kingpin. I love how Diggle makes the Spirit of Vengeance the powerful force of nature he should be in every appearance. The Kingpin's explanation of how he's manipulating Ghost Rider is well done and leads in perfectly to the Ghost Rider tie-in comic. It's rare that a tie-in is actually important to the main event series, but that's exactly what the Ghost Rider one-shot is, essential to the story. But this part of the plot only gets six pages, and no matter how good they are they can't make up for the absolutely dire pages surrounding them.

Shadowland fails not just as a big event but as story as well. Ghost Rider doesn't show back up until the last issue, which means I won't have to suffer through reviewing the next issue.