Saxophonist Jack Boniface plays jazz nightly in New Orleans, and has recently acquired an alluring new fan. When he introduces himself to her, Lydia immediately charms him, and yet she has something very dark in store for the musician.

Valiant Comics were a pretty big deal in the 90s, but until they were bought by video game publisher Acclaim, and many of their series subsequently adapted as video games, I wasn’t familiar with the characters at all. Shadowman is one I discovered quite late; thanks to the PlayStation/N64/Dreamcast horror action title, named ‘Shadow Man’, which featured a later incarnation of the character.

Boniface is just the current member of the Shadowman lineage in the 1992 series, but the way his entry into the world of the occult hero is handled is less than satisfactory.

Everything that happens seems to occur based on happenstance and coincidence; even the wearing of the mask, or him stumbling upon a serial killer too late to save their latest victim.

It’s not particularly great, and, paired with a cover that is composed in a less than dynamic way, dreadfully coloured, and does a poor job of featuring the comic’s main character (yes, it could be argued that he’s sticking to the shadows), it’s a wonder that it became as successful as it did.

Still, it ticks all of the edgy, faux ‘mature’ boxes that seemed to get comic fans all excited back in the early 90s (1992 me would have loved how grim this was), so perhaps it’s not a surprise after all. It’s also really refreshing to see a comic, particularly an early 90s one, with a pretty much all-black cast too.

The Shadowman mythos greatly expanded as the series went on, and a #0 issue released a few years into the run went back further into the history of the mantle, so perhaps it was just the set up which was underwhelming.

Having picked up numerous issues from the 90s run for dirt cheap at Portsmouth Comic-Con this year, I’ll be sure to find out, and report back, once I’ve caught up with my reading a bit!

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