The Shadow Over Innsmouth

Writer – Ron Marz
Artist – Ivan Rodriguez
Colours – Inlight Studios

With The Shadow Over Innsmouth, Ron Marz creates a fun and quintessential story about the pulp hero.  The tale merges both the character and the fictional Lovecraft town and it does so successfully but with a twist that is essentially needed, for what could The Shadow do against Old Ones or other creatures of the supernatural should he actually be confronted by them?  Coming from Nova Scotia, Lamont Cranston and his companion Diane find themselves in the town and are welcomed at the local inn.  And while they are welcomed, they are also warned about the legends and to stay off of the streets at night.  Of course, The Shadow pays no heed to said warnings and finds himself involved with strange creatures and smugglers.  The artwork featured in the issue by Ivan Rodriguez is nice and clean and perfectly moody for such a tale.  We are introduced to our main protagonists as well as the setting and its history and Marz gives it a natural feel.  It is a familiarity, at least for those fans of horror that know Lovecraft, The Shadow or both, will immediately get and feel comfortable with.  That is probably the main reason the book works so well, as Marz understands both properties and is able to couple them without a problem.  The ending of the book is quite humourous as well with an appearance by Lovecraft himself and is completely appropriate for the story.  Having done such a great job, it would be nice to see Marz work on some other Shadow stories if Dynamite can make it happen.  Great stuff!

4.5 out of 5

Avengers World #10

Writer – Nick Spencer
Artist – Marco Checchetto
Colours – Andres Mossa

The current issue finds the various Avengers teams finally coming back together, almost, as Andrew Forson hits the airwaves to tell the world about how awesome AIM is.  Maria is getting a little frustrated as she cannot seem to get a handle on everything that is going on as so many threats are being made known like the gigantic dragon, Morgan Le Fay’s forces, having to co-ordinate everyone including the newly arrived SPEAR and Euroforce and having her number one target on national television.  The Avengers are doing their best though it hardly looks to be enough and Sunspot and Cannonball arrive back from the future with the teen Avengers in tow.  It is great to see Spencer bringing all the storylines together and starting to tie things up.  While the book has not necessarily lagged, it has felt like quite a long time since the inception of the current tale.  Checchetto’s artwork on the book is absolutely beautiful and he is starting to become one of Marvel’s best pencillers.  Maria had a few good moments, Andrew Forson has turned into one of the best villains around and having Black Knight in the book is a wonderful thing to see.  Morgan Le Fay being back is also great and hopefully she is not out of the spotlight for too long as she has always been a great Avengers villain.  A very solid issue by a very solid team and if Marvel is smart they should put Checchetto on a Black Knight title.

4.5 out of 5