Welcome to a brand new edition of Parlay Points, the comic book review blog to the ODPH podcast.

For this entry, we’re at the conclusion (for now) of a brand new team series coming from the pages of Valiant Entertainment. Last year, Book Of Shadows went on an early hiatus after releasing their first 2 issues when Valiant re-shifted schedules. The closing installement hits the local comic shops this week with Book Of Shadows #4 by CULLEN BUNN, VICENTE CIFUENTES, NICK FILARDI, and DAVE SHARPE. The supernatural heroes of the Valiant Universe have come together to fight an ancient evil and last we saw, things were not going well. Let’s take a closer look at this volume’s final chapter, shall we?

Book Of Shadows #4
Creative: CULLEN BUNN, VICENTE CIFUENTES, NICK FILARDI, and DAVE SHARPE
Credit: Valiant Entertainment

*** POSSIBLE SPOILER WARNING ***

Exarch Fane has started “The Dark Feast.”, which presents sacrifices to the Book Of Shadows, a dark an powerful weapon. An evil of this magnitude has caught the attention of Shadowman, Persephone, Dr. Mirage, PUNK MAMBO, and the Eternal Warrior. This has been a great line-up mixing in longstanding members of Valiant with more recent editions hailing from the latest Shadowman series written by Cullen Bunn. With the group splitting up as Shadowman leads Punk Mambo and Persephone into battle against Fane’s army, Dr. Mirage and The Eternal Warrior have entered the Veil Of Death looking for a means to end the Book once and for all. Both plans have not been perfect as Shadowman and Mambo have become possessed leaving an inexperienced Persephone to Exarch Fane alone while the Warrior’s impulsiveness causes an action which unleashes the souls used to write the Book onto the masses, and they are not pleased as to what has happened.

This issue opens up with Persephone running from a vampire-possessed Mabo and Shadowman. Things look bleak until the Shadow Loa (the power source of Shadowman) forces the possession out giving some help to Persephone. Some is the key word as Fane disposes of Shadowman while courting Persephone into being another vessel in handling the Book’s power. When she rejects the offer, Fane unleashes his wrath onto the heroes. Meanwhile, Dr. Mirage and The Eternal Warrior try to handle the lost souls from destroying them. A play is made that proves to be the tipping factor for the heroes, but is it enough? Can the heroes find a way to stop Fane and the Book of Shadows? Can all these personalities work together long enough to save the day? Readers sit ringside as the fight for the Valiant Universe is about to unfold. It’s conclusion provides that answer and also leaves questions to if/when this team will be seen again?

Breakdown: Bunn brings this story to a satisfying conclusion that readers will be pleased with the outcome. This books’ strengths have been the clashing of personalities amongst the heroes. Bunn hits those marks with the interactions between Punk Mambo and Persephone, who might be the standout character from this series. If you’ve read Bunn’s Shadowman, Persephone has been an evolving character since her introduction. This story highlighted her “learnings” as far as becoming a hero. Where that leads is anyone’s guess but this story had a different feel than just being a Shadowman story. The conclusion feels more like “Good Bye” than “The End and hopefully, that is the case here.

Cifuentes brought Fane’s powers to life with ease. The panels showcasing that pop extremely well. The scenario with Dr. Mirage also jumps out to readers as well, due to an excellent job with Filardi’s colors. Featuring the contrast of Light vs. Darkness for the closing battle worked well to connect with readers. Solid final image to close this chapter and series out on.

FINAL POINT: Book of Shadows closes out their debut tale on a high-note, leaving readers with a solid ending. Bunn, Cifuentes and the team cap loose ends off for this eclectic team of heroes. The series is a fun read and one to keep an eye out for at the comic shops.

Hit me up on ODPH social media and let me know what you thought of Book Of Shadows #4. Thanks for reading.

BOOK OF SHADOWS #4 (VALIANT ENTERTAINMENT)

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