When this 12-issue miniseries started there was speculation from James Robinson himself that we may not be fortunate enough to see the end of it due to sales numbers. Despite those fears, “The Shade” proved to be a witty and sprawling fantasy tale that helped Robinson work his way back into critical acclaim, and apparently had garnered enough of a cult following to justify its continued publishing. As a result, we’re rewarded with a penultimate issue that pays off on a lot of what fans have been waiting for.
Written by James Robinson
Illustrated by Frazer Irving– The Celestial Pharaohs, the secret power behind an ancient cult, are rampaging through London!
– A weakened Shade must stop them, even if it means exploring dangerous new aspects of the shadow dimension from which he draws his powers!
As we open on the 11th issue of “The Shade”, our titular character Richard Swift finds himself up against towering Egyptian titans and seemingly insurmountable odds as they lay waste to the city of London. Seems like good a time as any for The Shade to stop and reflect about how far he’s come, right? This issue is not only about concluding Swift’s battle against a familial conspiracy gone horribly awry, but it’s also about how Swift has grown as a character. The Shade began as a villain in Robinson’s “Starman”, and has gradually come over to the side of a sort of lawful-neutral honor. Along the way, he gains further insight into mysticism and his own power. We watch Swift bring bits of the last 10 issues with him into this battle against the gods, and there is even a very decent reason given for the deus ex machina that has allowed him a snowball’s chance in Hell in this fight in the first place.
At times, this feels like Robinson’s most verbose script yet. Please be aware, there’s a lot of words in this thing. Flowery language is what we’ve come to expect from Richard Swift, but it also serves a very important purpose. Swift has gained the clarity to go from being a man who loves the sound of his own voice to a man of action. The script for issue #11 pays off on that idea by switching from lavish dialogue that can actually seem to muddy the page, to succinct poignancy in its economy of words. The difference actually causes a lingering effect to the reading of certain panels. A breath of fresh air from the wordy affair.
It’s not all existentialism and reflection though. There’s fun to be had, for sure. Robinson provides a bit of the usual brand of wit that his “Starman” characters seem to draw out of him and there are even some London-based cameos that will make the reader grin. (One particular cameo is so obscure and chuckle-worthy that I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.)
If you’re familiar with Frazer Irving’s art, then you know exactly what you’ll be getting in this issue. His work has a starkly colored, moody quality that fits the tone of a supernatural fantasy book quite well. Irving doesn’t amaze with intricately detailed spreads or with inventive layouts, but he creates enjoyable sequential art where the beauty is in the simplicity and the balance of his compositions. Unfortunately, Robinson’s script bears most of the weight of the issue’s storytelling, leaving Irving only a handful of opportunities to give us more than just talking heads. There is something to be said for Irving’s ability to glide the reader through lots of panels filled with back-and-forth dialogue with no confusion, but one would like to see him challenged more.
Still, it’s worth reading an overly wordy script to get the payoff on the themes that Robinson has been playing with. It’s a lucky enough event that Robinson’s miniseries was able to make it to its conclusion. It’s even luckier still, for readers who’ve stuck with it, that this story proved to be worth telling all the way through.
Final Verdict: 8.0 – If you aren’t buying it already, consider grabbing it in trade.
