With the announcement that Mark Waid and Max Brooks would be collaborating on a pseudo-religious sci-fi graphic novel, fans of apocalyptic ensemble pieces drew in a collective sigh of anticipatory glee. At this year’s New York Comic-Con, Legendary released a 12-page preview of Shadow Walk.
The storyline of Shadow Walk revolves around a paranormal location somewhere in the Middle East. You know that valley of the shadow of death that religious folks tend to walk through while not fearing evil? Well, apparently it’s a real place. The protagonist of the story, a military hard-ass by the name of John Raines, is commissioned by the U.S. government to lead a special operations team into said shadowy valley to locate and secure a potentially game-changing new power source. What ensues is this:
This:
Some of this:
And a little bit of this:
Based on this interview with ComicBookResources.com, the graphic novel will explore areas of religious mythology, science fiction, and old fashioned splatter-movie horror. It’s complex territory to cover, but Shane Davis—one of DC’s go-to artists—appears to be up to the challenge. He’s brought some superhero gravitas to the characters while simultaneously introducing the sci-fi world to the unholy spawn of vampire bats and Rancors. It’s scheduled for release in December of this year—just in time to stuff that special someone’s stocking with demons and automatic weapons.