Shade the Changing Man Vol. 1: The American Scream [Paperback]

Peter Milligan (Author), Chris Bachalo (Author)

Book Description

Series: Shade the Changing Man | Publication Date: December 1, 2009

Shade is back in this new printing of the groundbreaking Vertigo trade from writer Peter Milligan. Collecting the first six SHADE issues, beginning with Kathy George's encounter with Shade's arrival on Earth from his home dimension of Meta – in the body of her parents' killer. From there, Shade and Kathy journey into America's collective unconscious to find the evil known only as The American Scream.

These are the classic Vertigo stories written by Peter Milligan, so if you've been digging the acclaimed writer's work on GREEK STREET and HELLBLAZER, be sure to pick up this new printing of Milligan's earlier work!

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This collection of the first six issues of Milligan's Shade, The Changing Man tells the story of Rac Shade and Kathy George. Shade has come to Earth from his home planet, Meta, to suppress Earth's bubbling insanity, which has created an "area of madness" between it and Meta. Unfortunately, Shade finds himself in the body of an about-to-be executed serial killer, Troy Grenzer, and then in the company of Kathy George, the daughter of Grenzer's last victims. Shade and Kathy take off on the run across an America where everyday fantasies and obsessions are taking physical form. They throw themselves headlong into the heart of Shade's mission to control this madness. Milligan uses this far-fetched, pulpy premise mostly as an excuse to explore America geographically and thematically. He devotes an entire issue to the JFK assassination, eloquently riffing on the event's national trauma. In the volume's penultimate episodes, Hollywood runs amok, as movies come to life and actual casting couches chase starlets. Through it all, Shade and Kathy try to understand their own personal confusions. They are well-rounded, empathetic characters: Kathy's haunted by death, and Shade's just learning about Earth and America. They are perfect ciphers through which Milligan can operate. Bachalo and Pennington's expressionistic artwork and surreal tendencies perfectly complement Milligan's story, which veers from the real to the very unreal extremely quickly. This collection, while not for the faint of heart, shows just how far the superhero genre can be taken with honesty and wit.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

When mainstream comics publisher DC Comics began to essay edgier fare in the early 1990s, one of its more daring titles revamped a genuinely loopy character created in 1977 by comics legend Steve Ditko. Shade, the changing man, comes to Earth from the dimension of Meta to fight a spreading madness that threatens both worlds. When he arrives, he is trapped in the body of an about-to-be-executed serial killer. While escaping, he is aided by a young woman--the daughter of the killer's last victims. This book reprints the first six issues of the refurbished series, which on its face is every bit as absurd as Ditko's '70s silliness. But writer Milligan uses the outlandish premise for social commentary. The madness pops up in distortions of American culture, so that, for instance, all the conspiracy theories about JFK's assassination are equally true. Milligan and artist Chris Bachalo proceeded to more accomplished, higher-profile work, but these earlier collaborations already show a pair of talented creators reveling in the freedom the publisher gave them. Gordon Flagg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Paperback: 168 pages
• Publisher: Vertigo (December 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 140120046X
• ISBN-13: 978-1401200466
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 0.4 x 10.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #504,945 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Waiting for more, October 6, 2007

By 

Babytoxie (Dallas, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shade the Changing Man Vol. 1: The American Scream (Paperback)

SHADE, THE CHANGING MAN: THE AMERICAN SCREAM collects the first six issues of the 1990 Vertigo comic series. There's a lot of history behind that character, so let's travel back just a bit. Shade, the Changing Man was one of my favorite DC titles from the late `70s. Created by Steve Ditko, it featured the adventures of Rac Shade, fugitive from the planet Meta. Shade's M-Vest surrounded him with a distorted energy field that gave him the appearance of a giant monstrous being, resulting in some truly weird visuals from Ditko. Unfortunately, the series was quickly canceled as a result of the DC implosion, and aside from some appearances in Suicide Squad, Shade was mostly forgotten.

In 1990, writer Peter Milligan and artist Chris Bachalo resurrected Shade as part of the Vertigo lineup, and while there was an initial attempt to link this character to Ditko's version in issue #1, it seemed like more of a nod to knowledgeable readers, rather than an honest attempt to fully integrate the two. Still, the connection is there, and as the story progresses, the two versions merge further, to where I eventually had no problem accepting this series as something of a continuation of Ditko's version. Yes, it's more of a "reimagining" (blech), but it's a good one.

This version of Shade is still from the planet Meta, but his mission is to battle a form of actualized chaos, referred to as "the madness", which trickles into our reality from another dimension. Shade's actual body floats comatose in the dimension of madness, wearing the M-Vest. With the vest, he is able to project his consciousness into the bodies of Earthlings, but his work gets off to a rocky start as he inhabits the body of Troy Grenzer, a murderer who is being put to death in the electric chair. Shade uses his reality-warping powers to escape the prison with the initially-reluctant assistance of Kathy George, the daughter of a couple murdered by Grenzer. As Kathy begins to realize that her parents' killer is no more, she accompanies Shade on his journey to battle the force of madness that inhabits America's collective unconscious: The American Scream.

Millgan's work on these first six issues is very good. In fact, the two-part "Hollywood Babble-On" is a prime example of what made Vertigo comics so great in the `90s. While his hang-up on the death of JFK and its implications for American society are a bit overdone, it's a minor quibble. Chris Bachalo's art, especially inked by Mark Pennington, is superb. While I'm just fine with Bachalo's later, more cartoony style, this early work is excellent. I'm hoping there are more Shade trade paperbacks on the way. I mean, 70 issues in the series, and only one trade? Step it up, DC...

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Scream and Scream Again, July 25, 2004

By 

Kevin Killian (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Shade the Changing Man Vol. 1: The American Scream (Paperback)

Too bad they didn't go all the way back too the 70s and show the beginning of Shade, the Changing Man, but we are still grateful to see Shade in his 90s re-invention via the sterling work of Peter Milligan, who is sort of like the Greil Marcus of the comic world--filled with grim and fascinating re-caps of the "old, weird America." The striking thing about the AMERICAN SCREAM storyline is, I think, still the characters Milligan gives us, the tormented Shade and the incredibly generous, if haunted, Kathy.

Lenny remains one of the most original characters in comics, although in the greater world of culture outside she would be regarded as a stock figure, the hip, take no prisoners almost-lipstick lesbian. Hooray for Milligan for bringing us actual, literal change in panel after panel, page after page, and long live our "man on the inside," Shade.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good start to an awesome ride, March 30, 2004

By 

David M. Rogge "drogge" (San Jose, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Shade the Changing Man Vol. 1: The American Scream (Paperback)

I have to admit, I've been an admirer of Peter Milligan for a long time --- his sense of literacy and character is (to me) beguiling.

Shade TCM was one of his longest running US comics - and revivies a classic Steve Ditko character most impressively. In this collection (which covers the first six issues, rather than the first arc sadly) we get introduced to Rac Shade (from Meta, via the Area of Madness), the Madness Vest, Kathy and the American Scream. Issues dealt with here include the death penalty (an anachronism to Europeans), JFK's assassination, Hollywood and hippies. These all seem very dull, jaded targets - but Milligan adds more value than can easily be conveyed. It's a good mixed bag, but the series really took off later in it's 70 issue run.

Hopefully, this will sell enough (on the back of X-Force/X-Statix) to make more volumes appear - if not, look for issues 45 to 50 "A Season in Hell" - the finest moment of this series.