Title: Shadecraft #1
Publisher: Image
Words: Joe Henderson
Art: Lee Garbett
Colors: Antonio Fabela
Published: March 31, 2021
Publisher’s Summary: “Zadie Lu is afraid of her own shadow. She’s a teenager, so she REALLY should have grown out of it by now, right? But something weird is happening in her small town. Zadie could swear the shadows are coming to life. Watching her. Trying to KILL her. But how do you fight something you can’t even touch? And how does all of this tie into her FAMILY, of all things? From the creative team that brought you the Eisner-nominated SKYWARD, writer JOE HENDERSON (showrunner of Netflix’s Lucifer) and artist LEE GARBETT (Captain Marvel). Join Zadie Lu as she ventures into the shadows to face her fears and discovers a legacy she never knew she had.”
Review
Shadecraft lets us know that we were right to be afraid of the dark. The shadows should be feared, as they are much more that they appear to be. Deadly and inescapable, some of these shadows can even talk, and the truth about how they connect to the mundane world is complicated. Young Zadie Lu thinks she is being followed by malevolent shadows. As it turns out, she is not paranoid because strange forces are really out to get her. She is just beginning to find out what is really going on, and it is much worse than the popular kids in high school picking on her and calling her names.
Joe Henderson’s Shadecraft introduces a world where the shadows are the malicious powers that we always suspected them to be. The relatable high schooler Zadie is just trying to survive high school, but she must figure out what other dangers lurk in the dark as well as the relationship she seems to have with the supernatural. The art of Lee Garbett and Antonio Fabela is a shadow-filled spooky delight.
The Bottom Line
High school is bad enough when the jocks and the mean girls hate you, but it gets worse when even the shadows want you dead.
