Shadowland #3

Shadowland #3(of 5): Writer: Andy Diggle. Pencils: Billy Tan.

Review: This issue starts off with Ghost Rider tearing through the Shadowland dungeons, which ruins Moon Knight's plans of sneaking into the dungeons to see what Daredevil's plans were for the many prisoners he had collected. Meanwhile, Daredevil and his army of Hand ninjas are battling against the super-heroes who had gone to try to talk Daredevil out of his recent actions. While the Hand ninjas are treated like the cannon fodder they are, Daredevil is able to MORE then hold his own against the heroes, displaying several super-powers, such as super-speed and enhanced strength. With the outcome of the battle very much in doubt, the heroes are saved by the surprising arrival of the Punisher(!?!), who blows a hole in DD's Shadowland castle and provides the heroes with a way out. With the heroes gone, DD sits in his throne chair and decides that his ninjas were not up to the task of dealing with the super-heroes who were pestering him. From there, DD realizes that he can resurrect Bullseye(!)to serve as a loyal champion of the Hand. DD and Typhoid Mary head to the graveyard and dig Bullseye's corpse up and are soon joined by Elektra(!!), who appears to offer her services to her long-time friend/lover. Later on, the heroes who fought against DD get together at Iron Fist's headquarters and try to decide what they should do about DD. Before they can come up with anything, Master Izo climbs in a window and tells the gathered heroes that DD had been possessed by the Snakeroot, a group of powerful mages who secretly ran the Hand. This issue ends with Izo telling the heroes that the Snakeroot were preparing DD to become the vessel of their dark lord, the Beast of the Hand.

What I Thought: I should just take what I've said during the past two Shadowland reviews and paste it here, because it pretty much applies. This mini-series is the best mini-series either Marvel or DC has put out this year. Hands down. Andy Diggle's story has been amazing, Billy Tan's art has been beautiful, and everything about this mini has been nearly flawlessly executed. I will admit that the reveal with Bullseye didn't really surprise me, I've been calling that since the final scene of Shadowland #1(right JT? :P), and I am a TINY bit disappointed that DD's actions are now going to be blamed on the Snakeroot... I liked the way DD had fallen from Grace(that's an old DD storyline reference by the way), and I would have liked to have seen DD's actions purely his own, as opposed to having been influenced by evil mages... But that's a very little gripe. This mini-series is amazing, and you're doing yourself a grave disservice if you aren't following it.

Score: 9 out of 10.Hey, aren't you supposed to be a weird monster or something, Punisher?