Shadow Walk

by Mark Waid, Shane Davis (Illustrations), Max Brooks (Text)

As I Walk Through The Valley Of The Shadow of Death... Is the Shadow of Death a metaphor or could it actually be a real place? Three separate paranormal incidents over the last century, in a valley near modern day Iraq, seem to give credence to these claims. But when satellite photos taken over the area hint at a dangerous new energy source, the U.S. decides to send in a Special-Ops team to locate and extract it before it can fall into enemy hands. Led by John Raines, a deadly soldier who has been rotting in Guantanamo accused of allegedly killing his entire platoon after entering the very same Valley years prior, they head into dangerous territory to battle a roster of demonic creatures with little chance of survival. Armed with with two arcane artifacts as their guide and protector - they will find out once and for all if the road to Hell has just opened up on Earth. Written by Mark Waid (Daredevil, Kingdom Come) from a story by Waid, Max Brooks (World War Z) and Legendary producer, Thomas Tull, this high-quality graphic novel is designed and penciled by Shane Davis (Superman: Earth One), inked by Mark Morales (Siege) and colored by Morry Hollowell. (Wolve rine: Old Man Logan)

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels

128 pages, Hardcover

First published December 10, 2013

About the author

Mark Waid is an American comic book writer widely known for shaping modern superhero storytelling through influential runs on major characters at both DC Comics and Marvel Comics. Raised in Alabama, he developed an early fascination with comic books, particularly classic stories featuring the Legion of Super-Heroes, whose imaginative scope and sense of legacy would later inform his own writing. He first entered the comics industry during the mid 1980s as an editor and writer for the fan magazine Amazing Heroes, before publishing his first professional comic story in Action Comics. Soon afterward he joined DC Comics as an editor, contributing to numerous titles and helping shape projects across the company. After leaving editorial work to focus on writing, Waid gained widespread recognition with his long run on The Flash, where he expanded the mythology of the character and co-created the youthful speedster Impulse. His reputation grew further with the celebrated graphic novel Kingdom Come, created with artist Alex Ross, which imagined a future DC Universe shaped by generational conflict among superheroes. Over the years he has written many prominent series, including Captain America, Fantastic Four, Daredevil, and Superman: Birthright, bringing a balance of optimism, character depth, and respect for comic book history to each project. Waid has also collaborated with notable artists and writers on major ensemble titles such as Justice League and Avengers, while contributing ideas that helped clarify complex continuity within shared superhero universes. Beyond mainstream superhero work, he has supported creator owned projects and experimental publishing models, including the acclaimed series Irredeemable and Incorruptible, which explored moral ambiguity within the superhero genre. He later took on editorial leadership roles at Boom Studios, guiding creative direction while continuing to write extensively. In subsequent years he expanded his involvement in publishing and digital storytelling, helping launch online comics initiatives and advocating for new distribution methods for creators. His work has earned numerous industry awards, including Eisner and Harvey honors, reflecting both critical acclaim and enduring popularity among readers. Throughout his career Waid has remained a passionate student of comic book history, drawing on decades of storytelling tradition while continually encouraging innovation within the medium. His influence extends across generations of readers and creators, and his stories continue to shape the evolving language of superhero comics around the world today through enduring characters imaginative narratives and thoughtful reinventions of familiar myths within popular culture and modern graphic storytelling traditions.

Reviews

[Jack Bumby]

"Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil - 'cause I am the baddest motherf*cker in the valley!"

I see the low Goodreads score for this and I do understand it - objectively, it is terrible. The characters are all cardboard cut-outs, things happen and scenes change out of nowhere, it's weirdly religious, it's ridiculous, the dialogue is abysmal, and it's just extremely unpleasant. But it's also really over-the-top and takes itself completely seriously, and it's difficult not to respect that.

Basically, 'the valley of the shadow of death' is a real place and it's in Iraq. Inside this microclimate exist all kinds of terrifying monsters and creatures straight from your worst nightmares and hell itself. It begins with the team being recruited, and you very quickly learn that with these characters, development is going to be at the bottom of the list. But they are fun, especially Father Adam Tucker (the closest we have to a protagonist) who goes into battle wearing his armoured battle vestment when everyone else is in biosuits.

These cool characters get into some very interesting situations, and the action is good. It just doesn't hold together. I kept thinking I'd skipped pages, or missed a line that explained why that happened, or why that character acted that way. It could have easily been twice the length, and it could have taken it's time and been something truly memorable. As it stands, there are some memorable ideas within.

The art itself is gorgeous, or at least as gorgeous as it can be when you're looking at a curtain made out of human remains. But there are some great double page panels (though there's a weird habit of the pages changing orientation).

The closest comparison I can draw is to 1997 'Event Horizon'. And from that you can guess if you'd like it or not. When the remaining soldiers were fighting Lucifer himself at the end, I'd already decided that I liked it. It just isn't very good.

[Buroak]

Shadow walk
I should start off by saying that this is a genre of graphic novel that I typically shy away from. No, when it comes to graphic novels I much prefer the swashbuckling super hero variety over the horror sci-fi sort, but I purchased "Shadow Walk" as a gift to lure a friend into the genre.

I found myself feeling compelled to read "Shadow Walk" before handing it off to my friend after flipping through it briefly in the store. The art drew me in. The first page I came upon showed the team passing through a wall of human flesh. There was something about about this well executed horrific scene that told me I needed to read more.

At home I hunkered down to power read what I anticipated to be a gruesome tale of heroics and religious clichés, but was pleasantly surprised at the lack of both. I found the story very well crafted and the violence fitting for the scenes it was attached to. With regards to the religious symbolism in the story, I am sure I missed the more subtle references but I do not feel as though I missed anything because of this.

Overall I enjoyed this short stand alone story. The back and forth banter between the cast of characters was entertaining and to the point. My only complaint is that I found myself wanting more. I liked the motley crew of characters and wanted more development of their individual back stories. Plus more information on how they were collectively selected for this unique mission would have made the story feel much more complete.

I fully agree with many of the reviews I have read which suggests that this would make a great movie, it will.

In the end this might not win too many new readers to the genre or the creative team behind it but nonetheless this is an enjoyable escape from the everyday.

[Amanda [Novel Addiction]]

Absolutely fantastic!

[Bokoholist]

Alltså. Trea för story och femma för bild.

[Markie]

Interesting concept on fighting against the influence of hell, and what was causing all of that. I enjoyed it well enough, but it isn't something that I would read over and over again.

[Alan]

In complete fairness I think a couple of things have to be pointed out. I am aware of the controversy Waid got himself involved in, but unlike some others this one, on the surface at least, appears rooted in two people's egos.

The other is I would agree that a lot of tropes are mined for this story. Despite some misgiving about the art, I've no idea why Shane Davis seemed to be revisiting 1980s-1990s Image Comics, because I think he is better than that, this is all combined into a well paced and, interesting and entertaining story.

Essentially the actual Biblical Valley of Death has been discovered, and its location is in Iraq. BTW, based of of my limited Biblical knowledge arguably a great many Biblical events or personages are from that country. And, let's just avoid how correct or incorrect my memory might be on some of that. There is no insult intended here.

The U.S. government pit together a squad of specialists on the fly, including a priest, the lone survivor of a patrol that stumbled into the valley and a couple of scientific geniuses (including one, whom by interpretation of her background might be Muslim). The Valley somehow seems to be influencing world events sending all of on the path to Armageddon.

Is the body count high? Of course we've seen this in movies from the original Magnificent 7 to the Dirty Dozen. That doesn't stop Waid from adding some interesting twists to standard readings of the Bible. I don't think offense is intended, it's meant to be entertaining and just enough to make one pause and wonder what did God intend?

If you are a devout Christian some of this might disturb you. If you like television shows such as Supernatural and Lucifer you're likely to enjoy this.

[Jason Spencer]

An interesting graphic novel that never reaches it's full potential.

While it has some really interesting ideas and some corny action lines, I felt the story could have been twice the length. Things happen throughout the plot that aren't properly explained and the characters never really develop. There's literally one page where 5 characters are introduced, simply to be killed off over the next 10-15 pages. Why even bother naming them? Unfortunately this leads to a rushed sense throughout the whole story which is a real shame.

[Brandon Zarzyczny]

I picked up this book after seeing one of the creators on the Nerdist YouTube channel. I picked it up because I liked the guy, the graphic novel sounded interesting, and I liked what I had seen of the art. When I actually dug into it though, I actively disliked the book, and when it was finished I was just really disappointed by it. It reads very disjointed, with it jumping all over the place, and the pace being completely jacked. It felt like there were pages missing, and this was reinforced by the fact the it's very short. It has kind of a cool idea, the character design is interesting, and the art is great and full of action at times, but it's let down by the actual story. The dialogue sucks, the characters are completely hollow, all of the really cool characters are randomly killed off one by one, sometimes without even really being shown. I just don't see the point of creating awesome characters just to kill them off by stupid means every chance you get. The funniest thing about this though, is probably the ending, and while I'll avoid spoilers, the fact that they can do what they did to end the conflict is ridiculous, it would have made much more sense if the whole thing had just been happening in their minds, and none of it was real. I think that one of the other biggest problems with it, is that it takes itself much too seriously. Ultimately I definitely wouldn't recommend this graphic novel, in fact I'd advise staying away especially at the price they're currently charging for such a short story (it's closer to the size of a comic book than a graphic novel).

[Atul Kachru]

Mark Waid. You are better than this. I really wanted to like this, but unfortunately, it is a dud.

The art is fantastic, but the book feels like there are entire sections missing. Disjointed and convoluted, the book is really some of the worst stuff I have seen Waid put to paper.

Kingdom Come, JLA Heavens Ladder, JLA Tower of Babel, Flash, Empire, Irredeemable. Mark Waid has a library worthy of note. I would seek any of those out, and let this one stay in The Valley.

[Richard]

Beautiful. Art, zero character, fabulous creatures, zero character. For all it's pluses there is very little to invest in for the 2 hours or less it takes yo read so for all the PR it got on Nerdist it just doesn't quite cross the line

[Nick]

The single most bad ass graphic novel I have read this year. Wow, this was so freaking awesome.

[Ian]

Boring, unmotivated.