Publisher: Dynamite Comics
Writer and Letterer: David Walker
Art: Bilquis Evely
Colours: Daniela Miwa
Covers: Denys Cowan, Bill Sienkiewicz & Ivan Nunes/Francesco Francavilla/Sanford Greene
Release Date: 7th January 2015

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Forget the 2000 remake starring Samuel L Jackson, 1971’s ‘Shaft’, starring Richard Roundtree, is where people should always get their first experience of the original blaxpoitation hero. In a pop culture landscape so bereft of black protagonists, it is perhaps inevitable that screenwriter and novelist Ernest Tidyman’s creation would be revisited in comics. However, I’m glad to say it wasn’t a wasted opportunity this time, as the final product has exactly what I’d hope for in a decent comic based on an action adventure film character.

1971’s ‘Shaft’ made a huge impact on its release, spawning several sequels, a TV series and forever damning the title song’s performer, Isaaac Hayes, to a lifetime of performing the track twice in each performance (It’s true, I’ve known a few people who’ve been to see Hayes in concert, and they all tell me he used to perform it at the beginning as he walked onstage, and as an encore!) In fact, ‘Shaft’ was such a huge deal, its all the more surprising that so few black cinema heroes have followed in his footsteps. The politics of that situation could fill a library, so I’m not even going to touch them in this review, but it is a shameful situation that is hopefully changing for the better with every day that passes.

This second issue of Dynamite’s new series exploring Shaft’s secret origin sees the younger John Shaft drawn deeper into the world that ultimately shaped him into the “black private dick that’s a sex machine to all the chicks” from the films. In hiding after the events of the first issue, he takes a job uptown as an undercover store detective, which leads to his meeting a girl with a past who indirectly leads him back to Harlem and into far more trouble than he’s known since his days in ‘Nam. There’s plenty of character development, clear narrative progress and slightly less action(but for much higher stakes) than in the series’ debut as we get to know more about the young man named Johnny Shaft before he was ‘Shaft’. Writer David Walker (“Number 13” ) has stated in interviews that he is going more for the Shaft of Tidyman’s novels than of the films, and it shows in the finished work. The Shaft of the comic is more rounded and less of a caricature than he appears in the original movies, although either interpretation could work equally well on a comics page.

I liked this issue a lot, and many times was reminded of classic seventies cinema like ‘The French Connection’, ‘Fort Apache, The Bronx’ or ‘Dog Day Afternoon’ while wondering exactly which techniques David Walker and Bilquis Evely (“Doc Savage”, “The Shadow”) used to evoke that era so well. As a period piece, they have done a fantastic job of recreating that world we all know from grainy thrillers and crime dramas, as well as the blaxploitation genre that serves as their more direct inspiration. I’ll probably be checking this comic out a few more times just to try and identify exactly what they did to bring the 70’s to life, actually.

The art is well suited to the subject matter and story, utilising a 60’s/70’s realist(like that of cover artist Denys Cowan) style by way of more recent artists like Dave Stevens (“The Rocketeer”) and Chris Weston (“The Filth”, “Judge Dredd”). I’m not familiar with Bilquis Evely, but based on what I see here I’ve made a mental note to look out for his stuff next time I’m in the comic shop. The colours, too, by Daniela Miwa (“Doc Savage”), are well realised, with subtle differences in lighting techniques that help distinguish each different location portrayed. We go through a department store, the streets, apartment interiors(with great contemporary decor)and finally into the nightlife of 1970’s Harlem, where ‘shit gets really real’ as one of the characters would (and, in fact, does) say. The clothes and cars, too, look much better for the work Miwa puts in and her contribution as a whole provides another good example of just how integrated the work of line artists and colourists have become to create amazing comic art in recent years.

If I had to buy this month’s issue, I’d be hard pressed to choose between Denys Cowan/Bill Sienciwicz and Francesco Francavilla’s covers. Cowan and Sienkiewicz’s cover is highly impressive, with each artists contribution visible in the final image, which was then coloured by Ivan Nunes. Meanwhile, ubiquitous cover artist Francesco Francavilla’s unique style (which I’ve come to think of as ‘Neon Noir’) is employed to capture the spirit of 1970’s and early 80’s film and TV credit sequences with an image that portrays Shaft at the wheel of a car while using a visual suggestion of cut up technique to cleverly imply motion in doing so. A third cover, by Sanford Greene, will be available on release, but I didn’t get to see that one, unfortunately.

In short, everyone is earning their cheques on ‘Shaft #2’ so I would gladly recommend it to anyone who’s a fan of the genre and of comics in general.

Rating: 4/5.

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PREVIEW ARTWORK.
[Click thumbnail for full size image]

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The writer of this piece was: Jimi Longmuir
You can follow Jimi on Twitter @jimijokk

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