Project Shadows #1 is a comic created by Marcel Dupree and Vinz El Tab, written by Guido Martinez with art by Dildeep Singh. A team of very skilled people undertake missions for a secretive organization. In this issue we are introduced to the team and are given a glimpse of their abilities in a potentially familiar world. The team in question is made up of six people and five of them are women. The members of the team are Black Bishop, Vanquish, Null, Mirage, Range, and a man called Holes. They all have powers that relate in some way to their codename; Mirage for example can create illusions. We don’t get the best look at the different characters due to there being so many but we get a nice snapshot of their various personalities and how they interact. The story starts off hot with them in the middle of a mission and we get to see a bunch of action and all the powers on display. There is a significant amount of world-building here with connections to other series being shown. The violence is bloody with a splash of gore. The dialogue is straightforward and conversational and it never gets wordy. This is an exciting debut for a team with enough variety in characters and the world to make you feel right at home; especially if you’ve read Warbound or Black Bishop. This issue also contains Stargazer Part 1: Falling to the sky, a comic about a woman dealing with powers she didn’t ask for.

            The art for Project Shadows has a gritty look to it; not the smoothness one normally sees in modern comics. This style choice assists the storytelling as this is a rough, in the trenches type of team. This isn’t a brightly colored comic; everything is at an average level except for things like lights. The locations here change but they are private facilities so they maintain the gray, bulky, and electronics in the walls look they tend to have. This team is made up of quite a few tough types so overall they don’t show too many emotions; what they do show comes across clear because the faces are well-drawn. We do get to see some strange eldritch looking creatures here. The action scenes flow well and get bloody and show gore. There is a decent amount of projectile combat. The outfits are mostly combat-oriented but they seem a bit more revealing than they should be. Three of the women show considerable cleavage and one is not wearing pants.

“Is this worth reading?”

Yes.

“Would I like this?”

If you like team-based stories starring mostly women with rough combat and involving undercover work and mysterious groups this is for you.

“What would this comic’s film rating be?”

R. Blood and gore.

“Could I get a quote from the comic?”

“If what is said about him is true, whoever took him out deserves praise.”

 

Digital Link: https://nosleeppress.gumroad.com/l/kmhicg

Kickstarter Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/845090602/project-shadows-1/description

Indiegogo Link: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/project-shadows-1/x/26236710#/

***IN-DEPTH COMIC STATS BELOW***

Probably Contains Spoilers

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Actual Pages(not counting covers and credits): 30

Violent Pages: 19, for 63% of the comic

Sexy Pages: 0, for 0% of the comic

 

**The levels below aren’t necessarily maintained throughout the whole comic, but they were definitely reached**

 

Violence Level – 3

“Wasn’t no tussling at all.”

“Sometimes you gotta hit somebody.”

“I’m getting charged with how many counts of assault?”

“This was a tournament arc.”

“All my life I had to fight.”

 

Gore Level – 5

“The only thing leaking out your face is tears.”

“Looks like somebody spilled some ketchup.”

“Might need to soak that up with a bath towel.”

“That isn’t supposed to be outside the body.”

“This is a slaughterhouse.”

 

Death Level – 4

“And everybody lived happily ever after.”

“We might have gone to a couple funerals.”

“It just LOOKS like a serial killer was here.”

“Yeah this was a tragedy.”

“Think Gettysburg.”

 

Porn Level – 1

“Everybody kept their clothes on.”

“I guess it was too hot for a bra.”

“Sometimes you got to let everything air out.”

“This is like late night Cinemax in the early 2000’s.”

“Oh. This is porn.”