SHADOW MAN: REMASTERED from Nightdive Studios releases for PC next week, returning players to the dark and foreboding land of Deadside and the role of haunted protagonist Michael LeRoi. The classic title originally released for PC, PlayStation, Nintendo 64, and Dreamcast in 1999. However, the franchise itself began way back in 1992, with Shadowman #1 (from writers Jim Shooter and Steve Englehart, and artist Mike Manley) debuting under the Valiant Comics banner.
That’s a lot of history and lore to catch up on, so let’s get you up to speed and ready to get “dead-ed” when the game drops on April 15 and the new SHADOWMAN comic on April 28!
For millennia, the Shadow Men were a line of powerful African warriors who fought the legions of darkness attempting to invade our world from the dreadful lands of Deadside. In modern-day Louisiana, a down on his luck Michael LeRoi becomes the latest to carry the moniker, placing the fate of our world, Liveside, on his shoulders as he battles the enigmatic and sinister Legion and his army of demonic serial killers.
Dramatis Personae:
●Michael LeRoi: The game protagonist, Michael LeRoi, is a 32-year-old college dropout with a penchant for gambling. After a series of events involving $20,000, a supernatural being known as a Bokor, and a drive-by shooting, LeRoi found himself an alcoholic amnesiac, working as a hitman. The voodoo priestess known as Mama Nettie finds Michael and uses her supernatural powers to implant him with the Mask of Shadows — thus turning him into the titular Shadow Man!
●Mama Nettie: A mysterious, centuries-old Voodoo Priestess who created the Shadow Mask; Mama Nettie is Michael’s go-to guide for his new role as Shadow Man, offering advice, direction, and occasionally, a warm bed to the latest in the line of Voodoo warriors.
●The Shadow Man: The Shadow Men were a line of African warriors with supernatural powers whose duty was to protect their tribe from threats emanating from the realm of Deadside. The brutality of the European slave trade nearly wiped them out. Thanks to Mama Nettie and her creation, the Shadow Mask, the powers of the “Walker-between-the-Worlds” can be passed down to whoever has the honor of wearing the mask. The wearer gains spectacular powers and the ability to traverse dimensions.
●Deadside: A terrifying realm of shadow and darkness dotted with lakes of blood, Deadside is inhabited by all manners of supernatural beasts, including zombies and pale-skinned Deadsiders.
●Legion: The primary antagonist of the game; it’s not entirely known exactly what Legion is; they are the prime recruiter of The Five and dead-set on conquering the world of the living. Their appearance may change, sometimes showing up as a rather nondescript middle-aged man in a colorful suit, other times looking like a giant worm, but their purpose is always the same: invade Liveside with an army of the dead.
●The Five: Every arch-villain needs a crew of cronies, and Legion has recruited quite the cast of nasty, wicked individuals to carry out their bidding. History’s most legendary murderers have been turned into demonic, supernatural beings, leading the attack on Liveside in-person. Marco Cruz, Milton Pike, Avery Marx, Victor Batrachian, and of course, the most iconic slayer of them all: Jack the Ripper.
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