| Shadowman | |
|---|---|
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Valiant Comics |
| First appearance | X-O Manowar #4 (May 1992) |
| Created by | Jim Shooter Steve Englehart David Lapham Bob Layton |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Jack Dominique Boniface |
| Team affiliations | Secret Weapons |
| Partnerships | Archer & Armstrong |
| Notable aliases | Shadowman |
| Abilities |
When the Darque Power fills Jack Boniface, he has the following abilities:
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Shadowman is a fictional superhero who appears in comic books published by Valiant Comics. The character debuted in Shadowman #1 (May 1992), and was created by writers Jim Shooter and Steve Englehart, artist David Lapham and inker Bob Layton. Shadowman appears in his own series as well as numerous other Valiant comics and also stars in the Shadow Man video game franchise by Acclaim Entertainment.
Shadowman is a lineage and four characters have taken up the mantle thus far in the comics and video games. The most popular is Jack Boniface. A jazz musician, Jack Boniface nearly died one night—attacked by something out of a nightmare. By fateful chance, he escaped. Just a murderous madman with a sick flair for horror, Jack told himself later. Jack recovered. But since that terrifying experience something has changed. Now, when darkness falls, a feeling comes over him, the urge to find demons who defile the night—his night—and cast them out. Jack was always a night person, but since the attack, he thrives at night. He feels strong, wild…and violent. Unaccountably, he sees better in the dark. Jack begins to roam the streets after dark. He comes across a brutal wife-beater…a gang of muggers…a knife-wielding psycho. Demons. The night is full of demons. Jack puts each of them down hard. He’s not sure how. He was never a fighter. But, at night, he has absolutely no fear…and therefore, no limits. He improvises. He’s spontaneous. Unpredictable. It’s all jazz and he can play. By day, Jack is his old self again. But more and more he lives for the night, longs for the night.
Since his introduction, Shadowman has been a key character in the Valiant Universe and has been among the most popular characters created in the last 25 years selling over 5.3 million copies to date with 80 issues published. Shadowman comics have been translated into a number of languages including German,[1] Italian,[2] Spanish, Norwegian, Filipino and Chinese[3][4] among others. Shadowman is so tied to the city of New Orleans that New Orleans mayor Sidney Barthelemy officially proclaimed January 17 as “Shadowman Day.” [5]
Shadowman has also had great success in video games, selling over 2 million copies and garnering an IGN rating of 9.1/10 for the first game.[6] Shadow Man also garnered a 93% rating for N64 Magazine, the same score as N64 favorites Donkey Kong 64 and Mario Kart: Double Dash.[7] Shadow Man was named one of the “Top 20 Black Characters in Gaming by BET.[8] IGN.com named Shadow Man the N64 game of the month for August 1999.[9] And IGN.com also named Shadow Man one of the three most important Black characters on the N64 saying "Shadow Man is one of the strongest, most uncompromising characters in any game on any platform." [10] The Shadowman video game was released around the world and translated into a number of languages including German, Russian, Mexican, French and Italian among others.[11]
Contents |
Shadowman debuted in 1992 as a flagship title in the Valiant Universe and quickly became one of the industry’s most popular comic books. After just one year in publication, Shadowman was selling over 100,000 comics books a month. By its second year, Shadowman was outselling long-standing industry stalwarts from Marvel Comics and DC Comics including Batman, Iron Man, The Fantastic Four, The Incredible Hulk, Captain America, Thor, Ghost Rider, and even the Justice League of America.
Shadowman continued strongly with sales in the hundreds of thousands of books per month (ultimately selling more than 5 million copies altogether) until 1996 when Acclaim Entertainment, which bought Valiant for $65 million, started a new Shadowman series under the Acclaim Comics banner. Acclaim focused on adapting Shadowman for video games. In preparation for the leap to video games a new more action oriented Shadowman took up the mask in comics. The second series of comics (spelled Shadow Man) featured the iteration of Shadowman that would gain huge popularity in the successful Shadow Man video game franchise.
In 1999, Shadow Man was released on the Nintendo 64, PlayStation, Dreamcast, and PC formats to a tremendous critical and commercial response. The game is one of the video game industry’s most acclaimed, garnering a rating of 9.1/10 on the prestigious IGN website. Acclaim launched a third Shadowman comic book series in conjunction with the highly anticipated sequel to the first Shadow Man video game. The sequel entitled Shadow Man: 2econd Coming was a hit and a third game in the series began development. The sequel, Shadow Man: 2econd Coming was released in 2002 as a PlayStation 2 exclusive. In all the Shadow Man franchise has sold over 2 million copies and grossed close to 100 million dollars in revenues making it one of Acclaim's greatest success stories. The series proved so popular that Nintendo released a special Shadow Man themed limited edition N64 console that has become a sought after collectible. In 2006, a campaign was begun by fans to make the Shadow Man series of games available for download on the Nintendo Wii system.
A tremendous roster of legendary creators have worked on Shadowman characters and storylines including current Marvel Comics Editor-in Chief Joe Quesada, former Marvel Comics Editor-in-Chief Jim Shooter, Sin City co-director Frank Miller, Garth Ennis, Rob Liefeld, Barry Windsor-Smith, Jamie Delano, Steve Ditko, David Lapham, Rags Morales, Fabian Nicieza, Jim Starlin, Bob Layton, Jimmy Palmiotti, Walt Simonson and Ashley Wood among many others.
Over 80 Shadowman comics have been published to date, selling more than 5 million copies. Shadowman also guest starred in a number of Valiant comics, most notably Unity and Unity 2000. Acclaim shut down all comic book publishing in 2002 in anticipation of a bankruptcy filing of its parent company after suffering heavy losses from its licensed sports video games. Valiant Entertainment are the current owners of the Valiant catalog.
Shadowman has had his likeness transferred to many other mediums in addition to comic books and video games including trading cards, posters, apparel, jewelry, lithographs, high end collectibles and more.
Fate fixates on musician Jack Boniface one night as he plays his saxophone for a packed jazz bar deep in the heart of New Or-leans. A successful musician and hopeless romantic, Jack dreams of a record deal… but until then is happy to realize that a beautiful woman named Lydia has been coming to the bar every night to watch him play. That night they leave the bar together.
They go to her place where they drink and start to make love until Jack begins to feel funny. As he succumbs to the effects of the drugs in his drink, he falls asleep believing this is his last moment on Earth. In the morning he wakes to find Lydia gone. Jack seems to be fine except for a strange mark on his neck, realizing he was an intended victim.
Later that night, Jack stalks the streets compelled by an urge to hunt Lydia down and take revenge. He finds a discarded carnival mask on the street and, inexplicably drawn to it, picks it up.
Jack hears the cries of a woman being assaulted in a back alley. Investigating the screams, he sees a man who is twice his size and has two huge knives drawn.
He attacks the man. He finds that he has almost supernatural abilities – he is quicker and stronger than his opponent – and the would-be criminal bolts.
Jack’s housekeeper Nettie, a voodoo practitioner, senses the change in Jack. She explains that something evil in the night ripped open the doorway to his soul. Now, whenever shadows fall, his soul comes out, takes over... and goes hunting. “In Voodoo talk, ‘shadow’ means soul,” Nettie says. “You the Shadowman.”
Nettie feels the presence of a “Loa,” or spirit, named Bosou Koblamin in Jack. Bosou has become Jack’s “Maît-tête,” the Loa who stands for him. Nettie tells him that some ignorant people think Bosou is evil, but that it’s not true. “He has fire in him, yes, but it’s rage against evil.” Bosou isn’t “riding” (possessing) Jack. Just helping him.
Nettie makes Jack a shirt—something proper, she says, for the Shadowman. It has the image of his soul stepping out and three spikes of light piercing the darkness—just like Bosou’s three horns. It’s Jack’s destiny, says Nettie. Even if it doesn’t fit in the world he believes in.
Putting on the mask, Jack roams the streets until he comes across two thugs trying to rob an old man. Jack finds himself strong and fast, taking the robbers down with ease. The night is his. It’s his job to rid the night of those who defile it. Now he understands…
Dead bodies start piling up in New Orleans but these dead bodies have been reanimated and are found running, ranting, and raving with blood pouring from their orifices before they collapse and die. The public dubs them “Bloodrunners.”
Jack looks into the deaths with his friend Marty, who double crosses him and takes Jack to a fearsome albino necromancer named Master Darque, the man behind the Bloodrunners. Darque turns the Bloodrunners on Jack, but Shadowman takes over and he escapes.
In the escape, Master Darque takes some of Jack’s hair, and with it is able to resurrect one of the fallen men as a zombie and send him after Jack. With Jack’s hair, even more sinister magic is possible…
Jack begins to wonder where he ends and Shadowman be-gins. At night, when the spirit takes over, Jack is fearless and powerful. His newfound supernatural abilities grow with each passing night.
Jack was never a fighter, but now he finds himself prowling the night and protecting the city. The spirit within him is making Jack into a hero… but during the day, when Jack is his regular self, he worries.
Jack is confronted by Master Darque who wishes to recruit Jack, in return offering to make his deepest desire a reality. All he has to do is wish it so. Before he can speak a decision, Jack is knocked out. The next day he learns that a music agent wants to sign him.
He also seems to be getting more powerful with each Bloodrunner death. The next day, Jack hears his song on a car radio for the first time. Initially ecstatic, he soon feels the urge to run and realizes that he belongs to Darque.
With the help of the Loa, Jack overcomes Darque’s power. He finds himself among hun-dreds of Darque’s followers assembled in the Louisiana bayou. Thankfully, it’s night… As Shadowman, Jack disrupts the ritual before Darque can complete it but Darque still claims the lives and energy of the hundreds of people gathered, giving him enough power to last for years. But now he has found a true nemesis in Shadowman.
Steven J. Massarsky, one of the original co-owners of Voyager Communications, the parent company of Valiant Comics had strong connections to the music industry (for a time he managed the Allman Brothers Band among others) and used these connections to convince popular musicians to appear in Valiant Comics. Among these musicians was Aerosmith who guest starred in Shadowman #19. In the book, Master Darque creates a voodoo doll of Steven Tyler and trades Jack Boniface (Shadowman) Tyler's soul for an as yet unnamed favor.
Series Creative Staff Information (Volume one): The following is a list of those who contributed to the creation of the series. When repeated, only last names will be used.
0: (note-this issue was released after the series had begun) Bob Hall, writer & pencils/Tom Ryder, inks/Hall & Ryder, cover.
1: Jim Shooter & Steve Englehart, writers/David Lapham, pencils/Joe Rubenstien, inks/Lapham & Bob Layton, cover.
2: Shooter & Faye Perozich, writers/Lapham, pencils/Ryder, inks/Lapham & Ryder, cover.
3: Perozich, writer/Mark Moretti, pencils/Charles Barnett III, inks/Lapham & Ryder, cover.
4: Shooter & Lapham, story/Shooter & Perozich, script/Lapham, pencils/Ryder, inks/Frank Miller, cover.
5: Shooter & Lapham, story/Shooter & Layton, script/Lapham, pencils/Paul Autio, inks/Walter Simonson, cover.
6: Shooter & Moretti & Steve Ditko & Don Perlin, story/Hall, script/Ditko, pencils & cover/Gonzalo Mayo, inks.
7: Hall, writer/Jose Delbo & Perlin, pencils/John Dixon (cartoonist)John Dixon, inks/Perlin & Stan Drake, cover.
8: Hall, writer/Yvel Guichet, pencils/Dixon, inks/Guichet & Layton, cover.
9: Joe St. Pierre, writer and pencils/Dixon, inks/Layton & St. Pierre, cover.
10: Hall, writer & pencils & cover/Dixon, inks.
11: Hall, writer & pencils/Tom Mandrake, inks/Hall & Ryder, cover.
12: Hall, writer & pencils/Dixon, inks/Hall & Ryder, cover.
13: Jorge Gonzalez, writer/Guichet, pencils/Dixon, inks/Guichet & Randy Elliot, cover.
14: Hall, writer & pencils/Dixon, inks/Hall & Dixon, cover.
15: Hall, writer & pencils/Dixon, inks/Hall & Ryder, cover.
16: Hall, writer & pencils/Dixon, inks/Hall & Dixon, cover.
17-18: Hall, writer & pencils/Dixon, inks/Hall & Bob Wiacek, cover.
19: Hall, writer & pencils/Dixon, inks/Hall & Ryder, cover.
20: Perlin, writer/Mel Rubi, pencils/Autio, inks & cover.
21-23: Hall, writer & pencils/Dixon, inks/Hall & Ryder, cover.
24: Hall, writer & pencils/Ryder, inks/Hall & Ryder, cover.
25: Anthony J. Bedard, writer/Rags Morales, pencils & cover/Elliot, inks.
26-28: Hall, writer & pencils/Ryder, inks/Hall & Ryder, cover.
29: Hall, writer & pencils/Ryder, inks/Hall & Layton, cover.
30-32: Hall, writer & pencils/Ryder, inks/Hall & Ryder, cover.
33: Hall, writer & pencils & cover/Ryder, inks.
34: Hall, writer & pencils/Ryder, inks/Hall & Ryder, cover.
35-36: Mike Baron, writer/Robert Hand, pencils/Dixon, inks/Hall, cover.
37: Hall, writer & pencils/Ryder, inks/Hall & Ryder, cover.
38: Hall, writer & pencils & cover/Ryder, inks.
39-42: Hall, writer & pencils/Ryder, inks/Hall & Ryder, cover.
43: Hall, writer & art.
The reimagining of Shadowman in the Acclaim universe, also known as Shadowman V2 made some drastic changes to the Shadowman universe. The first four issues called "Deadside", which were written by Garth Ennis and drawn by Ashley Wood set a much darker tone to the series and moved it away from sci-fi to a more Voodoo magic/mystical setting with horror elements. But that would change however, as other writers and artists progressed the story, somewhat disrupting the story line and the vision Ennis had for Shadowman, which was that of a zombie hitman. Therefore there are many inconsistencies between issues 1–4, issues 5–15 and issues 16–20, with the last issue ending in a cliffhanger.
The Deadside story arc starts with an autopsy of mutilated body of Jack Boniface, who (as we later find out) was sadistically and somewhat humorously butchered by four dead men who have somehow escaped from Deadside. From this we know that Jack Boniface didn't die from jumping off of a skyscraper like it was speculated in the last Shadowman issue in the original comic (Even though, it has been stated it was an alternate universe, as stated in Unity 2000). Nettie too has been injured by the dead men, she was barely able to escape death, but was reduced to a skeleton, forced to stay alive by using voodoo. Nettie also stars as a much more menacing and manipulative character, not to mention her newfound distinguishing accent. As the story progresses we are introduced to Jaunty, an Irish skullheaded serpent wearing a top hat, who is Nettie's eyes and ears in Deadside. We are also introduced to Zero, a black man who works as a hitman for a local barman and struggles with the fact that he doesn't remember his past; excluding five years after his awakening from a coma and running away from a hospital. All Zero has left after his awakening is a tattered teddy bear and a seemingly inborn knowledge of killing. Once the new characters have been introduced and old ones reintroduced. The story centers itself on Zero and his unwilling yet unavoidable fate of becoming the next and true Shadowman, as well as rediscovering his past and Nettie's connection to him. Not to mention the four dead men on the loose wreaking havoc.
New to the series is the concept of Deadside, a place where everyone goes when one dies. which would be later fully explored in the video games. Deadside plays a big role since after becoming the Shadowman, Zero (or Michael LeRoi as we find out) when mortally wounded has the ability to return from the dead (Deadside) and therefore cannot be killed, unlike the Shadowmen before him.
The first issue of Volume 2 was released on March 1997 and ran for 20 issues before being succeeded by Volume 3, with final issue being released on October 1998.
Volume 3 sees Shadow Man going back to his roots of the first four issues but more so because of the release of the Shadow Man the game.
Volume 3 saw the release of only 6 issues, with the last issue being published on December 1999.
Creative Staff Information: The following is a list of those who contributed to the creation of the series. When repeated, only last names will be used.
Volume 2:
1-4: Garth Ennis, writer/Ashley Wood, art and cover.
5-13: Jamie Delano, writer/Charles Adlard, art/Wood, covers
14-15: Delano and Dick Foreman, writers/Adlard, art/Wood, covers.
16-18: Serge Clermont, writer/Klayton Krain, pencils and covers/Jason Temujin Minor, inks
19-20: Clermont, writer/Krain, pencils and covers/Charles Yoakum, inks
Volume 3:
1-2: Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, Writers/Matt Broome & Ryan Benjamin, pencils/Sean Parsons, inks
3: Abnett and Lanning, writers/Criss Cross, pencils/Don Hillsman, inks
4: Abnett and Lanning, writers/Benjamin, pencils/Sal Regla, inks
5-6: Abnett and Lanning, writers/Broome, pencils/Regla, inks.
Acclaim released the Shadow Man video game in November 1999 on the PlayStation, Nintendo 64, Dreamcast, and PC. A sequel, entitled Shadow Man: 2econd Coming was released for PlayStation 2 in 2002, following the events after the destruction of the Cathedral of Pain. The events of the first game were loosely adapted into a single issue of Shadow Man volume 3. The comics ceased publication shortly after. Note that the comics and the games seem to be set in separate continuities.
Among its fans, Shadowman counts Ice Cube who went so far as to approach Acclaim Entertainment (when they controlled the title) about mounting a feature film.[12] Acclaim rebuffed the approach as they were focused on the success of the Shadowman video game franchise. Others linked with the role include Will Smith, DMX and The Game.
Aerosmith appeared in Shadowman issue #19 as an integral element to the plot. Shadowman fans themselves, the band attended the Chicago Comic-Con to sign issues for fans. The issue became one of the biggest selling Shadowman comics.