Image Comics reviews 8/17/22 – Do a Powerbomb #3, Undiscovered Country #20

The Last Shadowhawk #1

Shadowhawk was one of those early Image titles that never really connected with readers like some of his counterparts like Spawn, Youngblood, WildCATS or Savage Dragon. Still, there was some charm in Jim Valentino’s Batman meets Punisher spin on a superhero vigilante.

This story, written by Valentino and Brian H, is a oddity. It wants to celebrate Shadowhawk while he’s getting beaten to death by the son of one of his archenemies. It’s an inglorious fate for a hero, even one as hard-edged as Shadowhawk. And it’s not terribly exciting a read for anyone who still had a soft spot for the character.

Artist/Plotter Phillip Tan largely sticks to double spreads for this issue, which is over-sized due to the plethora of variant covers. Tan’s artwork can be enthralling in some instances while in others it’s hard to follow requiring additional focus to determine what’s playing out on the page. This is more of the latter. Federico Blee’s colors are fine with nice sheen on the silver portions of the armor contrasting against all the blood.

This is a joyless issue seemingly done so Valentino doesn’t have to ask the question of when Shadowhawk is coming back. Longtime fans probably won’t love the treatment of the character and newcomers won’t be encouraged to revisit the back issues to see what all the fuss was about either.

Rating: 5 out of 10

Photo Credit: Image Comics