For all of us, the worlds of voodoo, mystic arts, necromancy, and more have always been mysterious and intriguing for human beings. Voodoo is often considered to be wicked and something that people should avoid.
But Valiant Comics has given this technique a fresh spin by introducing Shadow Loa, a superhero with the powers of an ancient and incredibly powerful voodoo spirit. Shadowman is the living’s defense against the nefarious world of the dead. But how did a regular New Orleans kid become a superhero in an instant? Let’s see what we can find out, shall we?
Shadowman: Who is he?
Shadowman or Jack Boniface is a superhero from New Orleans possessing the powers of a great voodoo spirit. He protects the world of the living known as the Riverside, from the world of the dead known as the Deadside. He works together with the Abettors, who is a powerful occultist group, to find against demons and the evil necromancer Master Darque.
Master Darque is the most powerful necromancer in the world and Shadowman’s number one nemesis. Eventually, Master Darque tricked Jack to become his slave, serve him in the Deadside and force him to become a new figure known as Magpie. Unbeknownst to Jack, who thought he couldn’t escape from Darque’s escape, he actually could. He is then rescued by Ninjak and Punk Mambo, who also happen to be two other prominent heroes in the Valiant Universe.
Shadowman: Origins
Born as Jack Boniface, Shadowman was first introduced in the issue of Shadowman #1 in May of 1992. He first appeared in the issue of X-O Manowar #4 before getting his very own series. Created by writers Jim Shooter and Steve Englehart, and artist David Lapham, Shadowman is a prominent character in the Valiant Universe. The series was again rebooted in 2012 by Valiant Entertainment, due to its immense popularity. His character is so popular that New Orleans Mayor Sidney Barthelemy even proclaimed 17th January 1993 as “Shadowman Day”-pretty cool, isn’t it.
Shadowman is a lineage and has been passed down Jack’s bloodline for many years, with him taking up the mantle as the host after his father. But how did it all come to this? Shadowman #1 opens with the scene of Jack’s parents Helena and Josiah in a supposed argument where Josiah must leave his family for the greater good of the world. Cue in, an attack by the world of the dead, led by an evil necromancer known as Master Darque. Josiah falls in battle while subsequently killing Master Darque as well (or so it seems).
Dox, a member of the Abettors, who is a powerful occultist organization dedicated to fighting against Darque, goes to find a pregnant Helena but she has already fled and is nowhere to be found. Fast forward to the present and we see a grown-up Jack, back in New Orleans and working at La Nouvelle Orleans Museum of Culture. Jack meets up with Dave Burke at the museum, who’s shown waiting for him in front of a display of voodoo masks, no doubt a nod to the New Orleans culture and the voodoo spirit who powers the hero.
Jack calls himself a Jack of all trades, which is a smooth pun there. Mr. Burke hands Jack documents about his parents containing information he has been trying to find for 3 years. This is where we find out that Jack had been raised in foster care, since Helena’s death in a road accident. Helena had told Jack that his father was a great man and had given him his talisman when he was 10 years old, which he was to never part from. But what Jack finds in the envelopes are arrest records of his parents, containing charges of homicide, arson, robbery, and much more.
Devastated, Jack believed that his mother lied to him, and throws away his talisman, without ever knowing of its supernatural past. With the talisman gone, Jack is now prone to the danger of being detected by Master Darque and his demons, but obviously, he doesn’t know.
Somewhere in the city, two police officers, come across a gruesome scene of bloody torn up bodies and fall prey to Mr. Twist, a demon, sent by Master Darque to capture Jack, who then possesses the officers and has Jack arrested (while the poor dude was just walking down the street, minding his own business). Jack comes face to face with the possessed officers’ true faces and is flabbergasted.
They drive him out to a remote place and in an attempt to run away, he is shot in the back. This unleashes the Shadow Loa spirit, later revealed to be named Bosou Koblamin- which accepts Jack as its new host, reciting the names of his ancestors and the previous hosts of the spirit, as it becomes one with Jack. Jack makes his official appearance as the Shadowman enters with a killer phrase – “I’m not something you see every day. I’m the last thing you’ll ever see. I’m Shadowman.”
Shadowman: The trials of a hero
Shadowman’s legacy began centuries ago when Master Darque’s twin sister sacrificed her own child to summon a voodoo spirit and bound it to her husband, Marius Boniface, to be able to stop her brother. Since then, countless men and women have been the hosts of the spirit, with the same arch-nemesis, Master Darque, with the spirit taking Jack as host after his father’s demise.
After using Darque’s help in finding his father and bounding himself to the necromancer and serving him in the Deadside, Jack finally manages to find his way back to the world of the living. He is rescued by Alyssa Myles, an ally and the head of the Abettors. He then ventures on a journey to find the truth about his powers and the loa spirit and try to free himself from it. This lands him in peril with a powerful loa by the name of Baron Samedi.
What follows is a battle between the two parties and Jack’s allies are clearly overwhelmed. For a second, a summoning ritual performed by Alyssa and Jack’s attacks seem to work in their favor, but Samedi curses Jack’s scythe which allows him to kill Jack, and he dies in front of Alyssa.
If you thought that was a short end to the story of Shadowman, you’re right. Death was not the end for Jack, as his soul slipped back in time and allowed him to latch himself onto the previous hosts of the Shadow Loa and witness their experiences.
He witnessed his great grandfather’s adventures and those of the first Shadowman by the name of Marius Boniface. Fearing his soul would continue to fall through time, and forever be lost, Jack ended up latching onto a tribal warrior who made a pact with the Shadow Loa to save his family and tribe and was the first actual Shadowman. He is then sent to the present and wakes up after his funeral with the immense knowledge of his ancestors and his legacy.
Shadowman: Stalinverse
The Stalinverse is a mass hallucination and fake reality in the Valiant Universe which was put forth on the universe by the cosmonaut Kazmir (because he felt betrayed, so he thought a mass hallucination was the perfect solution). In the Stalinverse, the whole world is occupied by the Soviet Union, so we have Jack who lives in New Orleans prior to the invasion. He holds off the invading army using his spirit powers and is successful in thwarting the invasion and protecting his loved ones but soon the Russian superhumans- Aric and Komandar Bloodshot manage to defeat him and capture him. He is then made into a weapon for the Soviet Union and is used by them till he is eventually rescued when Divinity returns the world to normal.
Shadowman: What makes him so powerful?
Jack’s Shadowman has immense powers due to him being the host of very powerful voodoo spirits, Shadow Loa like lack of fear, enhanced skills, endurance, regeneration, and more.
But not only does he have immense physical powers, but the spirit also grants him many cool supernatural powers that give him an edge over his enemies. He can freely pass between the live side and dead side at will, conjuring portals or using portals created by others. He can also manipulate or summon any unliving entity to follow his orders. He can use these powers to control all sorts of creatures from the dead side. Jack is seen commanding skeletons to do his bidding in a vision of the distant future shown by Eva.
He possesses the powers to alter darkness to perform many mystic feats. He can melt through the darkness to get from one place to another. He can also shape the shadows into different forms, which can be seen by his best formation so far which has been a murder of crows. Although the classic Shadowman was known to be vulnerable during the day and only had powers at night.
He has also used many pieces of equipment throughout the Valiant Universe, like the Shadow Scythe, Shadowman’s amulet, Magpie costume, and Ring of Solomon.
Shadowman: The Hero in various media forms
Resulting in the extreme popularity and success of the video game and the character, Acclaim Entertainment was approached by rapper/actor Ice Cube with an idea to make a feature film. But Acclaim decided to decline the offer because they were more focused on the success of the video game. But in June 2017, reportedly Valiant Entertainment had hired Reginald Hudlin, who was a producer on Quentin Tarantino’s hit Django Unchained, to direct an adaptation, and also co-wrote the screenplay alongside Adam Simon, known for the Haunting in Connecticut. But since then, there have been no updates about the movie, making fans worldwide extremely curious.
The film is said to be in the works and is rumored to be inspired by the likes of Black Panther. Damion Poitier also portrayed Shadowman in the web series Ninjak vs. the Valiant Universe.
In the world of Marvel and DC heroes, Valiant’s Shadowman is a unique concept and celebrates the characters’ New Orleans heritage. Tired of reading about the same heroes over and over again? Give Shadowman a shot. The comic captures the readers interest from the very first volume and keeps you hooked throughout. And with a new revival in April 2021, this is exactly the fresh mystic superhero everyone should be looking out for!