Review: Shadowland Blood on the Streets

Misty Knight, Silver Sable and the Shroud investigate the deaths of several mobters who may have been murdered by the Hand, all while Paladin lurks in the background. 
 

The Good   

Johnston's got the right kind of terse dialog cadence that's appropriate for a street-level vigilante tale like this. Like a good crime story, this was something you could just enjoy for the color and the flavor of the dialog, especially in Misty Knight's dealings with the mobster and Sable's play-by-play of her infiltration of the strip club. Alves art was suitably dark and down-to-Earth as well, reminding me in some good ways of Mike Deodato and Doug Braitwaithe.

The Bad   

It's sort of the nature of the beast when it comes to this kind of thing, but you're probably going to ask how relevant it is to see an entire mini-series about how Shadowland's affecting these third-stringers.  I also can't help but think that the Shroud sticks out a bit in the company of these characters. His powers seem a bit out of their league and he could definitely use a redesign. His outfit's looking pretty dated in comparison to all these heroes who've gotten more than a few revamps.

The Verdict - 4/5 

I haven't gotten to actually read the central Shadowland mini-series, but all these tie-in specials and minis have actually been quite good. This is a great complement to the Bullseye one-short and, really, the whole crossover in general, because this story's really about the effect Daredevil's heel turn is having on New York as a community.