Who knows what evil lurks in the heart of men? Well, if “Crossed” is any indication, Garth Ennis knows.
Written by Garth Ennis
Illustrated by Aaron Campbell1938: The Shadow returns in a tale of blazing action and deadly intrigue, as a night of carnage on the New York waterfront plunges the mysterious vigilante into a conspiracy involving the fate of the world itself. As storm clouds gather across the globe, American Military Intelligence meets with a certain Lamont Cranston, determined to beat a host of spies and assassins to the greatest prize of all… but what that might be, only the Shadow knows.
Garth Ennis’s previous works, such as “Preacher,” demonstrate that he can truly have an expert grasp on characterization when the situation calls for it, but that talent is not readily apparent in this first issue. Ennis seems to be interested in making the title character seem as dark and mysterious as his name implies through his dialogue and his use, or misuse, of his powers, but it is like a bad magician’s trick – all smoke and mirrors that the reader is easily able to see through. So far, it seems that The Shadow only exists to be mysterious, and that his only goal is to impress his associates with his forbidden knowledge, whether he is in costume or not. Despite his signature internal monologue at the beginning, it is hard to believe that the protagonist has any interest or drive, and it seems like his violent actions and games of intrigue are done… well, just because. This is fine for a mysterious antagonist or secondary character, and even a protagonist so long as another major character has that human connection with the reader, but there’s no one like that in this issue, and the comic truly suffers for it.
The main reason characterization is so very necessary for this issue to work is that this comic has very little action in it. This is not to insinuate that a comic needs violence and explosions to be good; the comic is just generally devoid of anything “happening.” There is one scene where The Shadow does what one normally expects to do – shoots some thugs – and the rest is a whole bunch of talking. People talk about what happened some years ago, they talk about the thugs that were shot, they talk about recent activities underground, and they talk about what they are planning to do about it. That’s about it. Aside from the admittedly well done six pages of action, nothing in particular happens in this issue besides a few character beats that miss the mark. The dialogue, while wholly pulpy, is dull, and makes the conversations seem to last forever – something that one would never expect from an Ennis comic in particular.
Joining Garth Ennis is Aaron Campbell, perhaps most well known for illustrating Matt Wagner’s “Green Hornet: Year One,” and other Dynamite Entertainment titles. Much like his work on that book, Campbell is putting out some solid work on “The Shadow.” Campbell works best in the darkness – the shootout scene in this particular issue is visually striking, and reads with ease. His layouts aren’t overly complex, but keep a steady variation in order to keep the reader interested in what is going on. Likewise, the ending scene on the balcony is aesthetically pleasing, with a sultry tone that fits the mixture of banter and serious discussion going on between The Shadow and Margo. The middle section, inside during the day, is not quite as solid; the panels read well, and the characters are expressive enough, but Campbell’s pages don’t seem to pop without adequate lighting, or a lack thereof. Still, Campbell is an incredibly underrated artist, and certainly isn’t slouching in this issue.
There just is not much to say about this first issue. It isn’t even that terrible; it is just a boring comic, and one that will probably be easily forgotten after reading the stack of whatever else was purchased this week. It may, however, be worth a second chance – as mentioned before, the one instance where things actually happened was rather well done, and if the action kicks up a notch or three in the issues to come, it will certainly be worth checking out. Until then, though, this debut should probably be left alone, unless you want that excellent Jae Lee cover.
Final Verdict: 4.5 – Keep it on the shelf, but maybe come back next month.
