Shadow Doctor #1
Writer: Peter Calloway, Artist: Georges Jeanty, Colorist: Juancho!, Letterer/Backmatter designer: Charles Pritchett, Publisher: AfterShock
America, like most things, has its good and bad aspects. Those who find themselves categorized under the banner term of “minority” often know all too well just how bad the bad side of the United States can be.
That bad side and what it can lead good people to do is the crux of AfterShock Comics’ latest series, Shadow Doctor. Written by Peter Calloway, the series recounts the life of his grandfather Nathaniel Calloway, who dreamed of becoming a doctor in 1930s Chicago. Unfortunately, Calloway’s status as a Black man hampers those dreams, which leads him to turn to some old friends in the Mafia.
Issue #1 jumps around a lot at the beginning. Further reading reveals this is because the story is memories being told from the perspective of Calloway as he lies on his perceived death bed. While we expect a certain flow when it comes to stories, memories and oral recounts of those memories can be more fluid and fickler.
What makes the issue hit the hardest is a sequence partway through, the moment where Nathaniel tries to secure work and funding to survive in the Great Depression. Hospital after hospital and bank after bank turns him down, each of them hitting harder and harder with the same phrase: “It wasn’t personal.”
Certainly a great number of so-called minority individuals have had that moment in life, the moment when someone turns you down for something beyond your control while claiming their denial isn’t personal. It is a stinging slap in the face, and the pages here nail that feeling to a T.
Georges Jeanty brings his signature art style, which blends the realistic with a somewhat animated/cartoon-like sensibility, honed in the pages of old Dark Horse Buffy the Vampire Slayer comics. It is an intriguing style to see in a book that seems prepared to focus a lot on organized crime and racial issues in America, especially when paired with the somewhat muddled-looking coloring of Juancho. At first, this was a bit off-putting. The faces are not always in focus, and the colors make it a bit harder to perceive some things. Yet it works.
Memories or dreams are not always clear when we try to recall them. Whether it was an active choice or not, the fact that faces are not as clear and things are slightly out of focus works if one considers the memory aspect of the book. This is an old man’s recounting of the choices made in a hard life to his son (and stories his grandson heard), it is not going to be pretty and clear. In that respect, it is easier to brush off feelings about the muddled nature of the art and mentally make it work.
Shadow Doctor hits the mark hard when it comes to the mission of showcasing the worst sides of the American experience next to the promise. It will be interesting to see if it can keep hitting that mark as the series continues.
Dan Grote is the editor-in-chief of ComicsXF, having won the site by ritual combat. By day, he’s a newspaper editor, and by night, he’s … also an editor. He co-hosts WMQ&A: The ComicsXF Interview Podcast with Matt Lazorwitz. He lives in New Jersey with his wife, two kids and two miniature dachshunds, and his third, fictional son, Peter Winston Wisdom.
