Review: Shade the Changing Woman

Quick Summary

Pros: The entire narrative stands out as something unique. The story has solid character progression from Shade and some tense conflict from unexpected adversaries. Deeper themes and concepts are approached in ways that feel meaningful. The artwork is wonderful and is the perfect complement to this narrative.

Cons: Portions of the narrative are confusing.

Overall: This comic is an excellent continuation of Shade’s story and another solid entry in the Young Animal comic imprint. The volume combines meaningful, nontraditional storytelling with a interesting narrative to keep readers constantly engaged and mentally stimulated. This is then accompanied by some gorgeous artwork that sets the tone for the comic and allows it to be as expressive as possible. Anyone who enjoyed the previous Shade the Changing Girl comics should definitely pick up this book.

Story

Shade the Changing Woman, by Cecil Castellucci, easily lives up to the high expectations established through the Shade the Changing Girl series. At its core, this comic is able to tell a story that has interest and tension all on its own. However, all of this is then enhanced by the atypical way in which the story is broached and the meaningful themes that accompany it. This helps create a well-rounded and rewarding reading experience that also stands out as something unique and different.

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Shade the Changing Woman is essentially a continuation of the lofty ideas and incredibly unique storytelling from Shade the Changing Girl Vol. 2 (Review). The entire collection is a dip into unusual concepts and overlooked ideas that would otherwise go unnoticed in the comic book landscape. Madness, personal psychology, and the linear nature of time are all broached in ways that allow creative storytelling to bloom.

However, Shade the Changing Woman is not just unique for the sake of being different; it also has a wonderful story backing all of this up. Shade’s attempt to return to some sort of life is tragic and forces her to confront uncomfortable truths. This journey of self-reflection then goes on to help make her a better character, which is a satisfying progression to witness. Meanwhile, the return of Megan and a betrayal from Rac Shade give the book additional conflict, which, in turn, adds tension and drama into the mix.

The story here also benefits from the meaningful themes that accompany it. Over the course of this book, drug use, the pain of emotions, the futility of disassociation, and the concept of dealing with trauma from the past are all broached in some way or another. Each concept is handled well and is written in a way that makes it easy for the reader to understand what the author is trying to say. This makes for a meaningful reading experience, one that may offer more than other comics out there.

The only problems with this story are relatively minor and simply involve the occasionally confusing nature of the storytelling. Shade the Changing Woman is intentionally strange and enigmatic, blending past, present, and future in a way that keeps readers on their toes. I found this approach to be interesting and well suited for the Young Animal imprint. However, in some places, the jumps in time make it hard to understand the mental state of the characters, which, then, makes it hard to connect and sympathize with the characters. In most places, this is not a problem but it is troubling when it happens.

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Art

Though the story in Shade the Changing Woman is great, the artwork is every bit as important to the overall appeal of this book. Marley Zarcone’s uniquely stylized presentation of people and places matches the strange nature of this comic. Nearly every page looks great and the specific style places a big emphasis on emotional expression, which allows the artwork to convey more information.

Zarcone’s work is also highly creative in a way that is incredibly important to this specific story. Since a lot of the action in this book takes place in the realm of madness, the artwork needs to reflect the unorthodox structure of this strange world. Zarcone’s work helps with this and makes it easy to imagine how esoteric concepts like madness and insanity can manifest in physical form. All in all, the artwork throughout this collection does a lot to enhance its appeal and is a big part of this comic’s success.

Continuity

Shade the Changing Woman continues Shade’s story from Shade the Changing Girl Vol. 2: Little Runaway (Review) and Milk Wars (Review) (Reading Order).

As of now, Shade’s story ends here and does not continue in any specific comic.

This volume also references stories from another comic book, detailed below:

• The characters Rac Shade, Kathy George, and Lenny Shapiro are all from the Shade the Changing Man series from Vertigo, which is collected starting in Shade the Changing Man Vol. 1: The American Scream.