New reveals, new alliances.
Creative Staff:
Story: Cavan Scott
Art: Corin Howell
Colors: Triona Farell
Letterer: Andworld Design
What They Say:
Gina’s spent her whole witch-life searching for answers and a family to replace the one she lost. As her first spy mission for MI666 comes to a head, she is faced with a brutal choice between the two that may have dire supernatural consequences for all of England. Lines are drawn, alliances broken, and the face of her enemy is finally revealed.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Shadow Service started off a little wonky for me in some ways as it took a bit of time to get a handle on the approach, the characters, and the magic with how it operated here. Cavan Scott is a solid writer to say the least and over time we’ve gotten into the book with what it’s doing even as it adds more weirdness to it. This issue ups the ante in what’s going on in a really engaging way which Corin Howell delivers really well. I’ve liked their design work on this series from the start and the strangeness of the magic and creatures from beyond definitely make for a good reason to check out the book in general if that’s something you’re interested in.
This issue feels like a game-changer in what’s actually going on here and it shifts the way that Gina is aligning herself. And rightly so, if everything is above board. The opening deals with the creature that had attacked them at the end of last issue and it really is a delight to watch because it’s basically a creative paint creature that they have no real way to stand against. It’s only luck, that turns out to be assistance from an unexpected person, that saves them. For Hex, however, he’s still intent on taking Quill off the board because of the threat he represents and Gina is key to doing that, even if she still struggles with it to some degree because of her longstanding relationship with him. And we as readers get to understand him a bit more with a prologue in this issue that shows him about a decade earlier as he fell into this world of darkness and then eventually to help someone else.
With Gina tasked with finding Quill, her first approach has her checking on Anthony only to see him dead and involved with paint, which clears up how they were saved as he was actually attacking them. Quill makes such a strong impression – even admitting the bond the two have prior to all of this – that he’s basically able to get her to switch sides and help him against the larger threat out there in the form of those that have blackmailed and forced him into working for them. It’s a rough unfolding of events from there with the way she tries to do right only to have Hex and his group lean on them and attempt to take him out. It does appear, as more dialogue reveals, that Hex may be behind on the reality of the situation in a big way and has stepped into things very, very, badly.
In Summary:
Shadow Service has been a really interesting series in how well it’s grown along the way. With a convoluted start that took a couple of issues to find its groove with me, this installment again shows the assured nature of what Scott is putting to the page as it upends our view of things nicely and it all makes sense and works well. Howell’s artwork continues to be a delight and I really enjoy the creativity they get to work with when it comes to the supernatural design of things, such as the paint creature or the incident from a decade earlier with how it all looks. I’m definitely curious as to what’s next, and how long this series intends to run, as it has a good sense of moving toward telling a complete story as opposed to an ongoing story.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 15+
Released By: Vault Comics
Release Date: December 23rd, 2020
MSRP: $3.99
