Thursday, September 2, 2010

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?

21 comments:

  1. Dude we have the pretty much same freaking review. I even said the same thing about this being the best mini DC or Marvel has put out this year. And yeah, we called it. WE X, WE! :P

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  2. Yeah, once I posted these two reviews I went over to see what you had to say about these books, and I was pretty impressed by how alike our reviews were! I must really be starting to rub off on you! :D

    I don't know WHAT you're talking about with this, "WE" business... :P

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  3. Or maybe my biased views are rubbing off on you! :P But nah, I'm pretty surprised at how similar those were.

    Haha, You know EXACTLY what I'm talking about with this WE business. When actually it was MY Idea, I'm just giving you credit :P

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  4. "When actually it was MY Idea, I'm just giving you credit" *thinks to self* So JT has finally lost his mind... Oh well... :D

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  5. Lol, Well if I've lost my mind we know who to blame, since we're all different personalities of him anyway. All hail the Arl! :p

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  6. HA!!!! I want to say something about that, but I'm not gonna... yet!

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  7. Lol and when are you saving it for then X? :P

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  8. Lol what the hell does that even MEAN?! :p

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  9. HA! I'm a man of mystery. Or nonsense... Probably a combination of both. Anyway, the very NIGHT you mentioned the Arl, he posted something here for the first time in MONTHS! That just furthers my theory that you and the Arl are one and the same! :P

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  10. Lol I saw that. And I'M not the ARL, YOU are the ARL. Or you may be the the new Flemeth, I think you know based past conversations who Flemeth would be.... :P

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  11. No, the Arl isn't ME, he's the Bizarro version of me! :P

    Hmm, no, I don't think I do know who our Flemeth would be... I'll have to think on that one...

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  12. Is he Bizarro because we LIKE him? :P *runs* Oh, speaking of Arl, I got that Morrigan thing, it's like 2 hours long and doesnt really solve much in terms of Morrigan.... I'd only get it if ya have extra money to spend and don't mind.

    Haha, who do I dislike enough to be Flemeth? You should KNOW this X :P

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  13. WE?!?!?!? :P

    Huh, that kind of sucks. I gotta say that's disappointing to hear. Since I doubt I'll be getting it, maybe I'll let ya spoil it for me!

    Ohhhh... Yes, now I know who you're talking about. Nevermind! :D

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  14. LMAO, yes, we as in everyone except you :P We just decided not to tell ya.

    Lemme know, I only beat it with one guy but someone else spoiled the other endings for me.

    Haha I figured you would :P Oh and speaking of that game, the big Spider wasn't even all that Spider looking, it just had 8 legs, and it was pretty easy to beat, then again I was like at level 38.

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  15. I knew there was more going between you and the Arl than meets the eye... Should I start calling you Arl JT?

    Yeah, you know what, with Fallout 3 getting here probably Monday(although I WISH it would arrive tomorrow!)and me having to study for a test and start a boring English paper, I honestly can't see myself playing that expansion anytime soon(if ever), especially with you saying it wasn't all that great. So if you want to spoil the game for me, go ahead. Who showed up, what happened, where did it take place, etc. Leave out NO details my spoilerific friend! :D

    Yeah, I'd say that by level 38 you were probably strolling through the Darkspawn like they were nothing!

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  16. Haha, only if you want me to lay waste to your Kingdom at night then hightail it like a bitch... man that Arl was such a punk. Then when you FINALLY find him he tries to talk his way out of it.... hell, just call me Teryn JT. Lol

    Alright dude, no problem. So it starts with you and your Dog, at Flemeth's looking for Morrigan because a woman was spotted there. Basically you talk to the dog and say whether you wanna go after Morrigan cause you love her, wanna kill her, want answers, etc. You go in and meet some Elf broad that's a Warrior that's also looking for Morrigan cause she stole some sacred elf book. You team up, go see the Mages, team with some neurotic bookworm Mage, then yo go find the mirror that broke in the Dalish Elf origin if you played that, so if you're Dalish it adds to the story, although I was human. So once you find them you have to find some magic lights or something, ya find those, then go to find Morrigan. You fight the big spider thing and some little Dragons, well... 8 foot ones, not the HUGE ones, beat those, find Morrigan who's about to disappear in the Mirror. You can ask why she wanted the kid or why she abandoned you if you didnt give her the kid. From there you guys talk and she says she's leaving, you can either A. Go with her and disappear into somewhere, B. Tell her goodbye with a kiss and she leaves, C. Just blow her off and walk away, D. Stab her, and she falls back into the mirror so you aren't even sure if she's dead or not.

    The Main thing is she tells you that Flemeth isn't Dead, and she isn't Human, she's something, but we never find out what. And you get something for beating the game but I didnt sit through the credits to unlock it, but if I do play it again I'll let you know what. That's about it in a nutshell....

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  17. I was actually surprised that Howe even fights you in the game. With how cowardly he came across, I half expected him to run off without drawing a weapon. And with how much you love the Arl, I didn't want your rank to be higher than his! :P

    Wait, you beat the game but didn't bother to collect whatever the special item was?! Weird... Thanks for the rundown though. It sounds interesting I guess. Kind of sucks that it sounds like Morrigan doesn't show up til the very end though. Plus the fact that the ending seems so ambiguous is kind of lousy. I was expecting a more definitive ending.

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  18. :P I HATE the Arl and you KNOW IT!!! ARGHGHHG :P haha, I'm the Treacherous Teryn baby!

    I also wanted an ending and not a possible lead in to a new character in a new game, ya know? And yeah... I actually was impatient and skipped the credits, then it put me back before the big spider fight... which annoyed me so I turned it off.

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  19. "I HATE the Arl and you KNOW IT!!!" Suuuure you do... :P

    Yeah, the whole appeal of this expansion was the fact that I thought the story was going to end. Definitively. I guess not.

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  20. Haha I do, with every fiber of my being! :P

    Exactly dude, I figured "I gotta get this and end the story right!" But it didn't really end anything... it just happened...

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