Shadoweyes Review

Title:Shadoweyes
Artist/Writer: Ross Campbell
Publisher:SLG Comics
Website:www.shadoweyes.net
Price: $14.95

The Story

Shadoweyes from SLG tells the story of a young girl, Scout Montana, who longs to be a superhero. She lives in the sprawling futuristic city of Dranac where its citizens are crammed together into tiny spaces. Think of an urpan sprawl that is stacked upon itself many times rising into the night sky. The underbelly of this behemoth crawls with gangs, vigilantes, and is strewn with trash, making the landscape bleak and harrowing to those that venture forth.

Unexpectedly, Scout is transformed from a young girl into a blue creature with superhuman powers, perfect for maneuvering in the tight spaces of Dranac and meeting out justice for the poor and oppressed around her. This new life poses difficulties all its own however, as she soon finds she is unable to return to her human form and is now an outcast from her friends, family, and society. Scout embraces all of this, taking up this mantle…but how long can a young girl last in the viscous and cold world that is the city of Dranac?

Review

Shadoweyes was a bit of mixed bag for me. I loved a lot of things about this comic, but had some issues with others. One of the greatest things about this comic was the art. I personally very much enjoyed the black and white tones with the stark black border. This really helped set the bleak mood of the landscape that these characters live in. The art seems very much influenced by Manga, but not so much that it overpowers the comic, which can happen for me in some other comics I’ve read. The city itself is its own character here and is wonderfully done. The cyberpunk feel really comes off well and Campbell did a great job of showing just how tightly crammed these people are living. It felt like a futuristic rendition of the slums of Rio de Janeiro with its buildings being built higher and higher and people packing into every living space they can find.

I also enjoyed the overall design of Shadoweyes. The comic had some great shading with the black and white art that sets it apart from some other black and white comics I’ve seen. Like I mentioned before, I really liked the black pages that the panels were set in instead of the usual white space. It really added to the look of the piece and helped set the tone of the comic. The lettering was also well done with the use of bold words and shaded colors to help punctuate the piece. It read very much how I’d imagine these people talking.

The character design as a whole was another good aspect. The main protagonist of the comic is eerie, menacing, and the kind of thing one finds in nightmares. It was good and spooky. Many of the supporting cast members stood out like the brooding Noah, manic Sparkles, and confused Kyisha.

That being said, the issues I had were more with the writing side of things. I really didn’t care much for the main character of Scout as I found her to be rather whiny. It was just hard for me to connect with her as she spent most of the comic in a “woe is me” sort of funk. Also, while the main protagonist was pretty creepy, I wished it was used more in the story. Their climactic battle was more of a footnote and was a bit more like a slice of the story rather than the whole pie.

There was also very little in terms of explanation for this major change from young girl to supernatural being. While we might be able to make the jump that in this futuristic land of filth mutations are bound to happen, it was a jump that just didn’t sit well. I wish Campbell would have spent some more time exploring why there was this sudden change, rather than just expecting the reader to go with it.

Conclusion

While I enjoyed some parts of this comic, I realize that it wasn’t a good fit for me. I do think though this comic would resonate very well with young teens, especially girls, an excellent thing since there aren’t many comics geared for that demographic. I could totally see some of the kids I work with getting into this comic as they too see themselves as young urbanites surviving a bleak landscape. I would worry about giving this out to just any kid though, as there are some rather adult tones, with topics that include transgender teens, gang violence, and some mild language.

One great thing about the publicity side of things is that the official site of Shadoweyes has been putting up chunks of the comic. This would be a great way to test the waters to see if this comic is for you. Check it out.