THE SHADOW #13
Chris Roberson (w)
Giovanni Timpanol (a)
Alex Ross, Paolo Rivera, Tim Bradstreet, Francesco Francavilla (c)
4 regular covers will be shipped in equal ratios
FC • 32 pages • $3.99
A grisly string of random murders has left the authorities baffled, but The Shadow believes there is method to the killer’s madness. At each crime scene, eyewitnesses have spotted the spectral figure of a woman in white. Is “The Light” behind the murders, or a victim’s lost spirit? The Shadow must unravel the mystery before the killer strikes again!

When asked on Twitter if this would be longer than the upcoming “Light” arc, Roberson said he didn’t plan on going away anytime soon. This is great news for Shadow fans. Roberson has handled the cast of Masks well, but his Shadow writing stands out. The writer mentioned he particularly enjoyed writing the character in our interview last month (click here for that).  It will be interesting to see what Roberson brings to his first arc. He has written a lot of great stories and comics, but I’ve been particularly impressed with Masks. Having Chris Roberson continue on with the pulp characters will be something you can’t miss. What do you think about the news? Will you be tuning in for The Shadow vs. The Light?

Cody "The Thorverine" Ferrell, Chris Roberson To Write The Shadow Ongoing

In the upcoming Thor: The Dark World Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje will portray duel roles as Algrim the Strong and Kurse. The actor sat down with MTV to discuss his role(s) and the Marvel Universe. Akinnuoye-Agbaje is best known to audiences as Mr. Eko in the hugely successful, yet often baffling, LOST.

He will initially be playing the role of Kurse, a Dark Elf, who is then transformed into Algrim The Strong, a being far stronger than even Thor himself. Not much is known in how the two characters will look or act but we do get some bits of information from Akinnuoye-Agbaje himself. He even mentions the fact that his character might be sticking around for future MCU involvement, sounds good to me!

Check out the video below and find out just what Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje has had to go through to bring the two characters to light.

Can’t see it in your location? Not to worry!

Akinnuoye-Agbaje said, “Kurse is very animalistic. He’s got these horns, so what I did was try to go with that flow so my movements were very much like an animal. You had to contort your body and your head ‘cos I’ve got these big horns my head. It was a great ride.”

With Kurse/Algrim The Strong sharing villain duties with Christopher Eccleston’s Malekith The Accursed, questions have been asked about Thor’s half brother Loki. Akinnuoye-Agbaje reassured fans, “He gets his fair share, me and him as well. The great thing about Kurse, he’s having it with everybody. Loki has some amazing fights in this, everybody gets their shine. I won’t tell you what really happens, but there’s some great surprises.”

Akinnuoye-Agbaje also hinted that he may be penciled in for some more Marvel films. “We’re talking about that. Obviously Marvel is a great family that I’m happy to be working with. We had a great time, so I’d love to continue that relationship”, he said.

When asked about a possible appearance in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy film, Akinnuoye-Agbaje brushed that off. “I’m not talking about anything yet. I’m just talking about having a really good relationship with Marvel”, he added.

What would you like to see from Algrim/Kurse? Let us know in the comments below!

———————————————————————————————————-

Thor: The Dark World takes place after Thor and The Avengers, with Thor fighting to restore order across the galaxy. An ancient race, Malekith and the Dark Elves, have other plans. The film is currently set for a 8th November, 2013 release.

wolverinept, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje Revails Details Of “Thor: The Dark World”

Nick Spencer throws long time readers for a loop in this issue.  There are plenty of classic scenes referenced, and many of them are turned on their head.  It’s fun to see him reference these events, as it makes these few years of reading pay off.  But I pity the newbie reader trying to figure out what is going on.  Hell, I’m sure a few long time readers don’t know what is going on.  The similarities to the original team of students is a fun parallel, and it will lead to some fun encounters in the future.  Spencer quickly establishes the voice of each character, giving the reader a basic understanding of who they are.  We don’t know much, but enough to understand their actions.  The other school that they attended is still ambiguous, which I call a fault.  In LOST, we knew a little bit about The Others, which made us fear them that much more.

Spencer has tweeted that #25 is going to be called “Season Two,” which means this current arc is going to go out with a bang.  Spencer is leading up towards all sorts of big reveals, but this issue is slightly worse because of it.  This is the problem with this series. It’s still one of the most ambitious books on the stands, but it needs time to be great.  Much like Invincible Iron Man, you need to read the entire arc to get a clear understanding of what is going on.  And since trades come out twice a year, the single issue reader can feel a little cheated.  I have always compared this series to LOST, as it’s the only thing in any media that Morning Glories reminds me of.  LOST had a few episodes like this.  Where big revelations made us rethink thing we had seen that season, but it didn’t answer any questions.  These episodes can be frustrating in the short-term, but help the big long-term payoffs.

Joe Eisma’s pencils have improved drastically over the course of the last few years.  His great work on facial features continues with this plethora of new characters.  While a few of the characters have similar body shapes, he gives them enough differences that the reader can quickly tell who they are.  Eisma is one of the few pencilers who is best suited for quieter issues.  With this entire issue being talking heads, Eisma is in comfort zone.  The look he gives Irina near the end is a great work of subtlety.  The reader can’t tell what  Irina is feeling, making her next few lines that much more surprising.

Morning Glories is one of those hard books to review.  The reviewer doesn’t want to give the plot away, but that is a big part of this job.  Bottom line, old fans will like this book, and new fans will want to catch up as soon as possible.

Morning Glories #21 gets 3.5/5.

MrComicBook, Morning Glories #21 Review