Masks II #8
writer: Cullen Bunn
artist: Eman Casallos
Publisher: Dynamite

Have you ever, been invited to a party, but got there late?   When you eventually get there, everyone seems to be way more sociable than you, you are two or three drinks behind everyone else.  The conversations have started, finished and people tend to get louder as they drink more.  You try to catch up, but you never do, resulting in you sitting on the couch, shaking your head at the chaos in front of you. If this has happened to you, you will know exactly how I am feeling about this book.

This issue sees the conclusion of the series as the time flung twisted versions of the masks try “to put right, what once went wrong” – to paraphrase a certain Doctor Beckett.

Cullen Bunn has being working quietly and competently on The Shadow for a while, so even though this is the only issue of this series I have read, I was still more than a little curious.  As such, I was a little disappointed.  To be fair, it is hard “going to party late”, but in this issue some of The Shadow’s dialogue seems off and the twisted version element, didn’t seem that noticeable.  Still there is a lot going on so Bunn should get some credit for keeping it somewhat in order.

Art is supplied by Eman Casallos who has been doing some great cover work for Dynamite Comics.  It’s a bit of a shame, that his interior work isn’t as detailed as said cover work.  Take The Shadow for example; even before we get to the lack of dynamism in the panels, where is the exaggerated nose that is as much a trademark as the opal ring or the red scarf?

Looking back, I don’t know what I really expected.  I am maybe still a little woozy after my last Dynamite Comics “party” the Swords of Sorrow.  Nor does this issue pique my interest enough to go back and read the whole run, proving that in the case some multi-hero series, hair of the dog may not be the best hangover cure.

[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

Author Profile

Johnny "The Machine" Hughes
I am a long time comic book fan, being first introduced to Batman in the mid to late 70's. This led to a appreciation of classic artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Moving through the decades that followed, I have a working knowledge of a huge raft of characters with a fondness for old school characters like JSA and The Shadow

Currently reading a slew of Bat Books, enjoying a mini Marvel revival, and the host of The Definative Crusade and Outside the Panels whilst also appearing on No-Prize Podcast on the Undercover Capes Podcast Network
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