Writer – Cullen Bunn
Artist – Giovanni Timpano
Colours – Marco Lesko
Letters – Rob Steen

The Shadow feels a little guilt-ridden over the death of his friend Harry Houdini and as such, even though he has punished the men responsible, has decided to continue protecting what was his, including his wife and the secret of the Last Illusion. The Society of United Magicians will do what they must until they gain that secret and have called in a ringer, a magician by the name of Ethan Sands so that they might discover and use it for their nefarious deeds. The pace of this book slows down a bit as Cullen Bunn provides a bit of backstory, both for The Shadow and his relationship with Houdini and some history on the Last Illusion and the man who discovered it. This was a fascinating tale that Bunn weaves and one can see why the Society would want the secret to that spell so badly. If they can see it though, so does The Shadow and if there were any men he would not want it falling into the hands of, it would be those very men. Ethan Sands looks to be a dangerous sort of fellow, not someone to be trifled with and many will think twice about it, but when he goes up against The Shadow, it will be quite the battle. One would think that The Shadow being friends with Harry Houdini would be somewhat odd. Still, when looked at, they complement each other quite well as both use trickery to obscure the facts – The Shadow, his identity and Houdini, the truth behind what seems like magical feats. As for the next move, that of the villains to be particular, that remains to be seen as they now know who they face in The Shadow but whatever it might be, it is sure to be dastardly and perhaps worse than anything they have done thus far. So while the issue might have been light on action, compared to the last that is, it does have some compelling words by Bunn and some exceptional pencils by the talented Giovanni Timpano, not to mention the continuing mystery of the Last Illusion to tide readers over until the next book.

3.5 out of 5