Shadowman is a

fictional Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places that are imaginary, or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent with history, fact, or plausibility. In a tradit ...

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, ...

who appears in comic books published by

Valiant Comics Valiant Comics is an American comic books, comic book publisher. The company was founded in 1989 by former Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Jim Shooter along with lawyer and businessman Steven Massarsky. In 1994, the company was sold to Acclaim E ...

. The character debuted in ''Shadowman'' #1 (May 1992), created by writers

Jim Shooter James Shooter (born September 27, 1951) is an American writer, editor and publisher for various comic books. He started professionally in the medium at the age of 14, and he is most notable for his successful and controversial run as Marvel Comi ...

and Steve Englehart, and artist

David Lapham David Lapham is an American comic book writer, artist, and cartoonist, best known for his work on the independent comic book '' Stray Bullets''. Career David Lapham started his career in 1990 as a penciller at Valiant Comics. He went on to wo ...

. Shadowman appears in his own series and

video games Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This feedbac ...

, as well as numerous other Valiant comics. Shadowman is a lineage and four characters have taken up the mantle thus far in the comics and video games. The series protagonist is Jack Boniface. Since his introduction, Shadowman has been a key character in the Valiant Universe and has sold over 5.3 million copies to date, with 80 issues published. Shadowman comics have been translated into a number of languages, including

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

, Italian, Spanish, Norwegian, Filipino and Chinese, among others. New Orleans mayor Sidney Barthelemy officially proclaimed January 17, 1993 as “Shadowman Day.”

Publication history

Original Valiant continuity

''Shadowman'' debuted in 1992 as a flagship title in the Valiant Universe. After one year in publication, ''Shadowman'' was selling over 100,000 comics books a month. Shadowman would go on to guest star in a number of Valiant comics, fighting alongside other heroes in the Valiant Universe, most notably "Unity" and "Unity 2000".

Acclaim continuity

''Shadowman'' eventually sold more than 5 million copies in total before Acclaim Entertainment bought Valiant for $65 million in 1996 and started a new ''Shadowman'' series under Acclaim Comics. Acclaim also published ''Shadowman'' video games. In preparation for the leap to video games a new action-oriented Shadowman took up the mask in comics. The second series of comics (spelled '' Shadow Man'') featured the iteration of Shadowman that would gain huge popularity in the successful Shadow Man video game franchise. In a similar manner to the original iteration, the hero fought alongside other characters in the Acclaim Comics Universe, notably

Unity 2000 Unity is an 18-issue crossover story published by Valiant Comics in the summer of 1992. It was conceived by Valiant's Editor-in-Chief, Jim Shooter, who wanted to revolutionize the crossover concept in comics. The ''Unity'' story was serialized in ...

. People who have worked on ''Shadowman'' characters and storylines include

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Comics'' in ...

Editor-in Chief

Joe Quesada Joseph Quesada (; born January 12, 1962'' Comics Buyer's Guide'' #1650; February 2009; page 107) is an American comic book artist, writer, editor, and television producer. He became known in the 1990s for his work on various Valiant Comics books ...

, former Marvel Comics Editor-in-Chief

, Frank Miller, Garth Ennis, Rob Liefeld, Barry Windsor-Smith,

Jamie Delano Jamie Delano (; born 1954) is an English comic book writer. He was part of the first post-Alan Moore "British Invasion" of writers which started to feature in American comics in the 1980s. He is best known as the first writer of the comic book s ...

, Steve Ditko,

Rags Morales Ralph "Rags" Morales () is an American comic book artist known for his work on various books for DC Comics, including ''Identity Crisis'', ''Countdown to Infinite Crisis'', ''Batman Confidential'', and The New 52 reboot of then Superman-centric '' ...

, Fabian Nicieza,

Jim Starlin James P. Starlin (born October 9, 1949) is an American comics artist and writer. Beginning his career in the early 1970s, he is best known for space opera stories, for revamping the Marvel Comics characters Captain Marvel and Adam Warlock, an ...

, Bob Layton, Jimmy Palmiotti, Walt Simonson and Ashley Wood. With issue seven Bob Hall took over writing chores and continued as the primary writer on the book until the first "Shadowman" run ended with issue 43. Acclaim shut down all comic book publishing in 2002, in anticipation of a

bankrupt Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...

cy filing of its parent company after suffering heavy losses from its licensed sports video games. ''Shadowman'' and all other Valiant properties were sold to Valiant Entertainment.

Powers

Valiant Comics

As Shadowman, Jack possesses paranormal strength, endurance, agility, and reflexes, night vision, regenerative healing, gliding capabilities, depleted fear, and other voodoo powers.

Valiant Entertainment

Possessee's hosted to the Shadow Loa have a great many expanded upon abilities. The natural physical enhancements & psychological reinforcements that come with being Busou Kobalamin's host remain paramount, but are also complemented by a host of other powers which accommodate them. Such as necromancy, afterlife traversal, shadow & darkness manipulation on top of mastery over the deadside and it's monstrous denizens.

In other media

Film

In 1999, Acclaim Entertainment was approached by rapper/

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), lit ...

Ice Cube An ice cube is a small piece of ice, which is typically rectangular as viewed from above and trapezoidal as viewed from the side. Ice cubes are products of mechanical refrigeration and are usually produced to cool beverages. They may be p ...

with a pitch to make a feature film. Acclaim declined this offer, as they were focused on the success of the video game franchise. In June 2017, it was reported that Valiant Entertainment had hired

Reginald Hudlin Reginald Alan Hudlin (born December 15, 1961) is an American film screenwriter, director, producer, and comic-book writer. Along with his older brother Warrington Hudlin, he is known as one of the Hudlin Brothers. From 2005 to 2008, Hudlin was ...

to direct a film adaptation, and also co-write the screenplay with Adam Simon.

Web series

Shadowman appears in the web series '' Ninjak vs. the Valiant Universe'', portrayed by Damion Poitier.

Video games

In 1999, ''Shadow Man'' was released on the

Nintendo 64 The (N64) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo. The successor to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, it was released on June 23, 1996, in Japan, on September 29, 1996, in North America, and on March 1, 1997, in Europe and ...

PlayStation is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a di ...

, Dreamcast, and PC. A sequel, entitled '' Shadow Man: 2econd Coming,'' was released in 2002 as a

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on ...

exclusive. In all the ''Shadow Man'' franchise has sold over 2 million copies and grossed close to 100 million dollars in revenue. Nintendo released a ''Shadow Man'' themed limited edition N64 console. Both games focus on the Acclaim Comics version of the character, Michael LeRoi.

Music

In 2015, heavy metal band A Sound of Thunder released a concept album entitled ''Tales from the Deadside'' based on Shadowman. The album was released on compact disc, vinyl, and digital formats. The album features original artwork by Bob Hall and Roberto de la Torre. A limited 7 inch vinyl picture disc for album tracks "Tower of Souls" and "Punk Mambo" was also released in 2015.

Collected editions

References

External links

World of Black Heroes: Jack Boniface (Original) BiographyWorld of Black Heroes: Re-Imagined Jack Boniface BiographyWorld of Black Heroes: Mike LeRoi Biography
{{Jim Shooter 1992 comics debuts Valiant Comics titles Comics characters with superhuman strength Comics adapted into video games Comics by Steve Englehart Comics characters with accelerated healing Fiction about Louisiana Voodoo Fictional characters from New Orleans Fictional characters with superhuman senses Valiant Comics superheroes