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Hello everyone!
And welcome to a new episode of MajestiComic.
A few weeks ago, we made a video about the original Shadow Man, Jack Boniface.
We told you all about how he was a musician who became possessed by a voodoo spirit, and
how he was two separate people living in one body.
What we didn't tell you in that video, though, that he is not the only person to bear the
name Shadow Man.
IceQ asked us in the comments if we could make a video about Jack Boniface's successor,
Michael LeRoi, and that's what we are going to do today.
This video is for you, and for Puffy the Destroyer, who was looking for a video about Mike LeRoi
and ended up learning about Jack Boniface instead.
Now, whichever Shadow Man you prefer, we've got you covered!
As you know from our previous video, Jack Boniface's Shadow Man was originally a creation
of Valiant Comics.
When Acclaim Entertainment bought out Valiant in 1996, though, the company decided to create
a different Shadow Man.
Created by writer Garth Ennis and artist Ashley Wood, this version of Shadow Man was darker
and grittier, and focused more on the voodoo and magic aspects of the story than the first
version.
This version also featured a new Shadow Man, who took up the mantle after the death of
Jack Boniface.
Shadow Man, Volume 2, introduces us to Michael LeRoi, a thirty two year old man who used
to study English literature, but dropped out when he lost all of his money gambling.
Left with no other options, Mike became a taxi driver in his hometown of New Orleans,
which, it turns out, was the catalyst for changing every single thing about his life.
One night, when he was driving his taxi, his passenger was killed by a shooter in another
car.
The man left behind twenty thousand dollars' worth of cash in a briefcase, and Mike decided
to keep this for himself.
He was not the only one in his family struggling with personal and financial problems: his
brother, Luke, needed an operation as well.
Mike spent the money on the operation for his brother, but even though his intentions
were good, karma still caught up with him.
Shortly after he took the money, the men who killed his passenger began to pursue him,
saying that the money had originally belonged to them.
Not knowing what else to do, Mike sought the aid of a bokor, a voodoo sorcerer with incredible
powers of black magic, some of which include the ability to create zombies, and to use
mind control on the people who become their slaves.
They can also create talismans and spells for protection, and this was what eventually
saved Mike from a gruesome death at the hands of the gang that was pursuing him… even
if it could not save his family.
A few days later, Mike and his family were driving to dinner, and noticed that a car
was following them.
When they reached a traffic light and had to stop, the gang inside that car began to
shoot, and Mike's entire family was killed, then and there.
Mike himself was protected by the bokor's magic, but this is something that would torment
him for the rest of his life.
A year later, Mike awakes from a coma and has no idea who he is or was.
Having nothing to hold on to and nothing to live for, he spends all of his time drinking
at a bar, until the same bokor who helped him before, found him, and turned him into
his slave.
Using his powers of black magic, the bokor turned Mike into a zombie who had no choice
but to do his bidding, and nothing else in his heart or mind to convince him to do otherwise.
Mike worked as an assassin for the bokor, who called him "Zero," because that is
the amount of things he had that made his life worth living.
Soon, though, Mama Nettie, presumably the same voodoo priestess who helped the original
Shadow Man, Jack Boniface, to embrace his powers and become the hero that he was, came
after the bokor to seek some revenge of her own.
She was able to break the bokor's hold on Mike by implanting a voodoo artifact in his
chest called the Mask of Shadows.
This Mask of Shadows could only be wielded by one man at a time, and it turned its wielder
into a Shadow Man, an African voodoo warrior who was responsible for protecting our world
from the afterworld known as Deadside.
This Deadside is a spiritual plane where, according to voodoo lore, everyone goes when
they die.
However, it is also the place where many evil spirits live, waiting to wreak havoc among
the living.
After the mask was implanted in his chest, Mike regained his old memories of his family
and his life, even though he often wished he hadn't.
Working under the instruction of Mama Nettie, Mike embraced his destiny as Shadow Man, and
gained a bevy of new, supernatural abilities such as immortality, increased strength, speed,
and agility, and the ability to shoot a Shadow Gun, through which he can channel the power
of death and send shrieking wraiths at his enemies to cause massive destruction.
A few years later, Mike is tasked by Mama Nettie to use these powers, along with a strong
connection to his brother that now resided in Deadside, to stop the spirits of five serial
killers from bringing about the Apocalypse.
These serial killers, one of whom was the infamous Jack the Ripper, were trying to power
what they call the Dark Engine, which would unleash armies of evil spirits into the world.
In the end, Shadow Man is able to destroy the Dark Engine as well as Legion, a multi-souled
entity that is essentially the devil, but not without a price.
Even though the threat to the living world is over, Mike cannot find his way back to
it, and is trapped in Deadside forever, where he embraces his position as its new ruler.
This version of Shadow Man is very popular among fans, as it is the version featured
in Acclaim's Shadow Man video game series beginning in 1999.
Which Shadow Man do you prefer, though?
Mike LeRoi?
Or Jack Boniface?
Let us know in the comments, or on the poll on the screen!
Be sure to subscribe to the MajestiComic channel for more origin stories like this one, and
check out our forum at www.majesticomic.com to discuss more topics in the realm of comics!
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Thanks for watching!
Until next time.
Bye!
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