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unladylike's review
3.0
This series has been on my to-read list for so many years, but it's hard to find. I've finally been able to use InterLibrary Loan to order the trades to my library, but I'm not super impressed.
The cover art reminds me that I love those early Vertigo covers more than almost anything since, so that's great. This was one of the first series to launch with that publishing imprint (which has now been swallowed into the main DC universe) which also made such legends as Sandman, Hellblazer (John Constantine), The Invisibles, and other quirky stories filled with lots of woo-woo and written by white guys from the UK. So it comes as no surprise that the writing by Peter Milligan is similarly ambitious and plagued by flowery purple prose. Sure, in comics, [good] purple prose can be enjoyable and feel like it's elevating the medium at times. But between the repeated poetic phrases and themes amidst a corny 80s sci-fi plot involving an amnesiac alien whose real body is connected to something called the M-Vest (M always stands for Madness in this book), I was rolling my eyes and setting this down quite a bit while saying out loud, "Well shoot, this is just boring."
I'm still giving it 3 stars and continuing through the series in hopes that it improves (as did Sandman and Invisibles) and by considering it in its historical context.
The cover art reminds me that I love those early Vertigo covers more than almost anything since, so that's great. This was one of the first series to launch with that publishing imprint (which has now been swallowed into the main DC universe) which also made such legends as Sandman, Hellblazer (John Constantine), The Invisibles, and other quirky stories filled with lots of woo-woo and written by white guys from the UK. So it comes as no surprise that the writing by Peter Milligan is similarly ambitious and plagued by flowery purple prose. Sure, in comics, [good] purple prose can be enjoyable and feel like it's elevating the medium at times. But between the repeated poetic phrases and themes amidst a corny 80s sci-fi plot involving an amnesiac alien whose real body is connected to something called the M-Vest (M always stands for Madness in this book), I was rolling my eyes and setting this down quite a bit while saying out loud, "Well shoot, this is just boring."
I'm still giving it 3 stars and continuing through the series in hopes that it improves (as did Sandman and Invisibles) and by considering it in its historical context.
brandonadaniels's review
2.0
A disappointing start. Im a fan of both creators, and it’s interesting to see some of their early work, but it was still a bit more of a slog than I expected. The story is quite repetitive and dense. You can feel the influence of early Vertigo authors at play, but it doesn’t fully come together. Shade doesn’t make a true appearance until a few issues in and his back story is yada yada’d away as if the story had been compressed the whole time leading up to it. Bachalo’s art is unrecognizable and pretty uneven. I’ll stick with it in hopes that it finds its footing soon.
hellsfire's review
3.0
Listen to my review on V for Vertigo, Episode 109 at http://vforvertigo.blogspot.com or on iTunes.
robin_dh's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
dantastic's review
3.0
An alien named Shade wins up in the body of a killer while he's being executed in the electric chair. Shade and Kathy, daughter of two of the killer's victims, go on a strange odyssey and combat the American Scream...
When people talk about British comic writers, Peter Milligan is usually an afterthought after the big three of Moore, Gaiman, and Morrison. While Shade isn't my favorite of Milligan's work, it gives hints as to what he's capable of.
Alan Moore's run on Swamp Thing lead to a lot of British writers getting work reviving some of DC's forgotten characters. Milligan ended up with Shade, an old Steve Ditko character, and put out a book that consistently competed with the Doom Patrol as one of DC's weirdest books.
My plot summary doesn't do the book justice. The weirdness level is high and Milligan works JFK, Hollywood, and a lot of other distinctly American things into the mix. It's a fun ride even though I'm not quite sure what happened in parts. I'm giving it a 3, partly for nostalgia reasons and partly because I know it only gets better from here.
When people talk about British comic writers, Peter Milligan is usually an afterthought after the big three of Moore, Gaiman, and Morrison. While Shade isn't my favorite of Milligan's work, it gives hints as to what he's capable of.
Alan Moore's run on Swamp Thing lead to a lot of British writers getting work reviving some of DC's forgotten characters. Milligan ended up with Shade, an old Steve Ditko character, and put out a book that consistently competed with the Doom Patrol as one of DC's weirdest books.
My plot summary doesn't do the book justice. The weirdness level is high and Milligan works JFK, Hollywood, and a lot of other distinctly American things into the mix. It's a fun ride even though I'm not quite sure what happened in parts. I'm giving it a 3, partly for nostalgia reasons and partly because I know it only gets better from here.
mschlat's review
3.0
On the one hand, this doesn't feel weird enough. This is (like early Sandman) a pre-Vertigo reimagining of a minor DC character, and Milligan is clearly in the superhero genre with Shade going up against a "big bad" who manifests in different ways across the US. There are obvious callbacks to the original Steve Ditko series, and Shade's friend (Kathy George) feels like a character who is only halfway realized; half of her is a tragic (yet funny) character dealing with massive personal loss and mental issues, while the other half is there to give Shade a reason "to keep on going". It is, at least in this early volume, much more standard than Gaiman's early Sandman issues.
On the other hand, an early "villain" (or manifestation of the American Scream big bad) is a giant head of John Kennedy formed from the concrete of Dealey Plaza who goes around yelling "Who killed JFK?" and swallows people whole. So, maybe there's enough weird. Or more accurately, the overarching plot is not weird but all of the notes within the plot are.
The Bachalo/Pennington art is usually good, occasionally confusing, and almost always on the edge of being too scratchy for me. And while I often like Milligan, this is another example of a British author working for DC commenting on the troubles of America, and I'm not sure Milligan does it better than Moore or Gaiman.
As I start this reread, I recall better days ahead for this title. I hope that's true.
On the other hand, an early "villain" (or manifestation of the American Scream big bad) is a giant head of John Kennedy formed from the concrete of Dealey Plaza who goes around yelling "Who killed JFK?" and swallows people whole. So, maybe there's enough weird. Or more accurately, the overarching plot is not weird but all of the notes within the plot are.
The Bachalo/Pennington art is usually good, occasionally confusing, and almost always on the edge of being too scratchy for me. And while I often like Milligan, this is another example of a British author working for DC commenting on the troubles of America, and I'm not sure Milligan does it better than Moore or Gaiman.
As I start this reread, I recall better days ahead for this title. I hope that's true.
indeedithappens's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Infidelity, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Abandonment, Animal death, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Rape, Body horror, Car accident, Confinement, Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Cursing, Grief, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexual violence, Death of parent, Dementia, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Sexism, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Police brutality, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, War, and Torture
sisteray's review
5.0
Whacked out and beautiful. It fully embraces its zany psychedelic psychosis -- unashamed and unabashed. If you are stoked to be along for Milligan's absurdity then this comic rewards and rewards.
kabukiboy's review
5.0
One of my favourite series when it first came out I recently set about a re-read. It's still awesome and sadly this volume is still particularly relevant.
sans's review
3.0
I'm waiting for my brain to reset. This...this was a lot to take in. Definitely need to be in the mood for this level of mind fuckery. I'm going to go read Chamber of Secrets now. Or Grayson. Something easy or fun. Maybe some fluffy fanfic. IDK but it'll be a while before I start Shade vol 2.