Review - Unseen Shadows: Tales of the Forgotten

Fallen Heroes is a set of novels by Barry Nugent getting the comic book treatment. It's got a wide variety of characters, characters who could always benefit from some quality backstory. Unseen Shadows saw this need and ran with it, publishing Unseen Shadows: Tales Of The Forgotten, a series of tales that each look at some of the characters from the property.

Unseen Shadows: Tales Of The Forgotten features four stories. "Historia" is written by Richmond Clements, illustrated by Alex Moore and lettered by Paul McLaren. "Stolen" is written by Corey Brotherson, illustrated by Cormac Hughes, colored by Vicky Stonebridge and lettered by McLaren. "Fight or Flight" is written by Brotherson, illustrated by Jorge Oliveira and lettered by McLaren. Finally, "The Immaculate Abortion of Dina Leigh" is written by Cy Dethan, with illustrations by Valia Kapadai and lettered by Nic Wilkinson.

Dr. Kathryn Munroe is introduced in the first story, which is a crime noir story set in a well-to-do university. It's something of a whodunnit among the students that features medieval torture devices, SWAT teams and a bunch of students as suspects. The second story follows Ben Ashodi (The Hand), a man with a penchant for fighting crime and looking good doing it. He's dealing with a group of hooligans named the Mohocks, trying to make a difference with a member who needs help.

The third story is a brief little sparring tale, showcasing the ability of Victoria Sullivan to fight demons. Finally, "The Immaculate Abortion of Dina Leigh" is probably the most gruesome of all those included. Bob Kelsey is in way over his head when it comes to a strange woman with a strange scar. Finally,

The stories are all pretty interesting on their own. "Historia" has the detective feel, while "Stolen" has more of the superhero feel. "Fight or Flight" is really something of a brief interlude of sorts (but still packs a punch), while "The Immaculate Abortion of Dina Leigh" is very existential in a way. All stories are packed with dialogue and will obviously be well-received by fans of the graphic novels.

Fans new to the property will also find the characters intriguing, as they all have their quirks. The stories tend to move towards investigating something or another, presenting a unifying theme that ties the entire book together. Make no mistake though--these are four different stories written by three different writers.

The art is equally as varied as the writing. Both "Historia" and "The Immaculate Abortion of Dina Leigh" have the most unique artistic styles, relying on unique lines and shading effects to have a stronger impact. "Stolen" and "Fight or Flight" look somewhat similar in the technique used for illustrations, as both feature more fully-rendered characters.

Unseen Shadows: Tales Of The Forgotten is an interesting series of one-shots. There's not really one thread that runs through all the stories, but there's enough to grab onto that makes the book flow fairly well. It's worth checking out if you're a fan of Fallen Heroes. If you've never heard of the property before, it's still got enough that it merits a read.

You can get more information about Unseen Shadows: Tales Of The Forgotten at the book's website. The book should be available now.

Comments

  1. Hey Jonathan, many thanks for the review and glad you enjoyed Tales of the Forgotten.

    In terms of Fallen Heroes although it is in the process of being adapted as a comic it is actually a prose novel as explained here (http://unseenshadows.com/fallen-heroes-the-novel/ ).

    All the best

    Barry

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