Review: Project Shadow Breed #5
Project Shadow Breed #5 opens with Marrok and ‘The Old Man’ gathered at breakfast time in the kitchen they share. Marrok is astonished that ‘The Old Man’, heretofore referred to as TOM, has managed to procure that ‘ancient’ form of mass media, the newspaper.  Going through the various new articles, TOM pokes fun at the ‘sketch’ of Marrok in the newspaper over an article detailing Marrok’s attack on associates of the Andrews crime family. TOM laments the fact that Marrok was beaten badly by the Ol’ Big Rig, as he refers to him. Training with TOM, Marrok is dismayed to find that he knows what he wants his body to do though his body seems to have forgotten how to do it.
Following their workout, Marrok comments on a number of young working girls found dead in a particularly bad area of town. TOM is nonplussed, thinking that the string of murders is an unfortunate part of life in that area of town. Not convinced, Marrok resolves to investigate these crimes and stakes out the area. Over the course of several nights Marrok follows the threads of his investigation, eliminating his sources of information along the way as he traces the murders to their source.
Meanwhile, TOM resolves to uncover the true identity of the Ol’ Big Rig who pummeled Marrok in an encounter from a previous issue. TOM visits a bar for veterans and questions the patrons. While most in the bar have never heard of the man, one person says that he is familiar with the person in question. This person informs TOM that the man is known as ‘The Persuader’. The Persuader is a free-lance operator, often brought in to persuade people towards certain actions or testimony. Additionally, although The Persuader has worked for organized crime and politicians; the man at the bar tells TOM that he often works for the CIA. Drunk, TOM returns to the apartment he shares with Marrok. However, he declines to share this new information for reasons that are unclear.
As the separate book arcs of Marrok and TOM come together, the two team up to resolve the mysterious murders that Marrok has investigated over the course of the issue. Working together, they eliminate the threat and capture the perpetrator. The issue ends with an air of mystery. The perpetrator eliminated, both Marrok and TOM are unsure of what is to come and who is the real enemy that awaits them.
This is a solid book with an interesting back story and complex characters. However, I sometimes felt that the complexity of those characters was wasted. A werewolf operative should be able to bring more to the table than a pistol and greater than average strength. Additionally, while I admittedly have not read previous issues in the series, I felt that there were plot holes within the story that could have elevated the book immeasurably if filled. The art is adequate, conveying the story well in a graphic format. However, the art can be one-dimensional at times and the colors do not bring the art to life or contribute to the vibrancy of the world and it’s story. In short, this is a good book that could be much better with more refinement. It is most definitely a worthy read as the plot is interesting and the art, while flawed, does an adequate job in telling that tale.
Writing – 3.25 of 5 Stars
Art – 2.75 of 5 Stars
[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]
Written by: Justin Bartz
Art and Colors by Stefani Magicianshouse
Lettered by: Justin Birch
Story by: Josh Schneider and Justin Bartz
Author Profile
- Nemesis is a poet, writer and author of the upcoming novel The Long Game. He is a writer of science fiction and supernatural thrillers. Besides novels and short stories he writes for UK based ASAP Comics developing new stories for Level 8 and OPSEC. Nem is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and tries to bring those experiences into his writing.
He lives and works out of his home in Riverside, California with his wife and three children. When not writing he enjoys reviewing comic books and graphic novels for ComicCrusaders.com and living the Southern California life with his family.
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