Dark Circle Comics 2015
Written by Adam Christopher & Chuck Wendig
Illustrated by Greg Scott
Coloured by Kelly Fitzpatrick
Lettered by Rachel Deering
While away from her friend and protector Detective Nicole Simmons, the Shield made a deal with the clandestine organization known as the Black Seven, led by government agent Walter Chase. She’s protecting her country, just as she always has (or at least she believes she is)—but her missions have taken her far beyond the borders of the United States, all the way to Latvia. While abroad, the Shield battled the “Night Vipers,”
a Russian nationalist biker gang that were terrorizing the people of Latvia, against the orders of her superiors. The battle gained international notoriety thanks to a video of the bloody fight going viral.
The Shield’s identity has now been revealed to the world—but will she be the superhero everyone’s been waiting for or will she be the cause of World War III?
This is one of those series that has so much unlimited potential. Just the fact that we have both the past and present to explore leaves the boys with some great material to work with. Then there’s Greg who is in my opinion one of greatest unknown artists of his generation. This team could take the concept of these past four issues and turn this series into a major powerhouse, more so considering what happened with the recent election for the American Presidency.
This issue does a magnificent job with the then and and now as she begins to learn more and more about who she is and what she’s meant to be. Created in one war and catapulted into another, this one much more universal in nature, never have the people needed a symbol of hope than they do right now. There’s a great message here for that to go alongside some pretty interesting developments with characters, secret organisations and the inherent greed and lust for power that we see play out all too often. I’m totally impressed with the level of storytelling here with it’s layers and it’s possibilities.
Each time I see Greg’s work I marvel at his use of page layouts, his attention to detail and the way he can use backgrounds to really give the story that extra oomph it needs. He’s got a great eye for using page layouts through angles and perspective to control the flow of the story and bring these characters to life so beautifully. The facial expressions and body language here do as much for the characterisation as the words do and that’s nice to see.
I like that this doesn’t finish anything really. It’s a great setup for why she’s in the present day and has given us the idea of what she’s about. It’s also very nicely set up a supporting cast and what she can about now. Wonderful introduction to the character indeed and the story is much more relevant today than you’d at first expect. It’s a great blend of real world espionage, shadow organisations and conflict with fictional characters who step up to combat it. It’s definitely one of those series that needs to come out on monthly basis and have the recognition for it’s strong storytelling.