CRYPT OF SHADOWS No. 1, December 2022 |
Far more engaging, and perhaps a storyline which should have been enlarged so as to populate the entire comic book, Chris Condon’s “Down Came The Rain” shows plenty of promise in its initial presentation of Spider-Man and the Human Torch’s unsuccessful infiltration of Siodmak Pharmaceuticals. Boasting a couple of jump scares and a pulse-pounding foot-chase, as well as an amusing appearance by the badass Elsa Bloodstone, it’s highly like many readers will have wished Fran Galan was tasked with pencilling much more than just seven pages – especially when a fast-recovering Peter Parker hints at an insanely-tense fistfight that happened off screen just before this printed escapade begins.
Rounding off Issue One of “Crypt Of Shadows” is the disconcertingly downbeat “Endless Slaughter In The Infinite Swamp” by writer/artist Adam Warren. Essentially a tale-long, no-holds barred gorefest between Laura Kinney and Man-Thing, this ultimately wearisome battle appears to have been contrived simply so the freelancer can repeatedly sketch Wolverine gratuitously slicing through Ted Sallis’ alter-ego without a care in the world for millions of years; “And that, you see, is how the ultimate predator became a vegetarian for the rest of her biologically immortal life.”
Perhaps therefore this comic’s biggest highlight surprisingly lies in Al Ewing’s well-penned linking narration starring the Master of the Mystic Arts’ dead brother, Victor Strange, and a bevy of grotesque undead creatures. Well-drawn by Ramon Bachs, these splash-pages provide an intriguing introduction to each of the anthology’s yarns, and just like Condon’s contribution, probably make the audience wish editor in chief C.B. Cebulski had given this element much more ‘screen time’ rather than include some of the other more sedentary storylines.
Writers: Chris Cooper, Chris Condon & Adam Warren, and Artists: Ibrahim Moustafa & Fran Galan |
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