Shaft #2 Review

Written by: David F. Walker

Art by: Bilquis Evely

Publisher: Dynamite

With Shaft being one of my favorite films of all time and probably the high point of Blaxploitation cinema, I was more than pleased when Dynamite announced an origin story for John Shaft. Even the novels were cool, which gave us what was more or a less a supercool Harlem James Bond. And while the first issue didn’t do much for me, this second one is giving me all the John Shaft I could hope for.

The first issue wasn’t bad by any means and gave us the idea that Shaft is a man who’s always willing to do the right thing even if it may mean he gets burned. But it ultimately lacked the kind of punch I was waiting for. This second issue seems to have taken that to heart and decided that it won’t even dare hold a punch.

This issue begins with Shaft eagerly seeking employment, having given up his career in boxing. After reviewing his records, John is placed as an undercover in a store to catch shoplifters, which he does phenomenally well due to his history of stealing stuff himself. And, as Shaft says, thus begins his history as a black private dick.

This set up is luckily restricted to the first few pages which allows for the rest to be devoted entirely to telling Shaft’s story which unfolds in a really great way. After Shaft catches a thief, he begins dating an employee of the store who seems to be impressed with his ability to catch crooks.  And as their relationship grows, Shaft soon finds himself shoved into some trouble that seems to involve a pimp, a missing hooker, and a group of men who are up to no good.

There’s a lot going on in this issue and upon finishing it I was shocked to see that the issue somehow spans only 20 some pages. The dialogue is rich, the story moves at a great pace, and the inner monologues Shaft make all come together in one hell of a sweeping narrative.

Bilquis Evely’s art is a great throwback to retro comics that grounded themselves in heavy realism and a ton of details. I’m a huge fan of when this is used for darker, crime stories and Evely was the perfect person for Shaft. Even his renditions of New York (specifically Harlem) are perfect and ooze their own personality which is exactly what I want out of Blaxploitation stories. Evely also manages to hit the right level of violence as it’s violent without seeming gratuitous. It instead hits the right note and helps show how Shaft is a man who keeps finding himself in violent situations despite being haunted by violence himself.

The dialogue and art come together in the best way and gives us a very robust and sweeping narrative about John Shaft

David F. Walker has written this issue beautifully and this is a side of Shaft that I’m glad we get to see. While the films exemplified his his super cool, sex machine status; Walker is giving us a man who probably suffers from PTSD and wants nothing more than to do the right thing and stay out of trouble. And I’m for one down with this characterization of Shaft that turns him into a more realistic person instead of a funky cool man of legend.

I can only hope that Walker continues this narrative to finish as the story he’s presented within this issue is one that can easily last the length of the miniseries and hit upon all the proper points of an origin story. It’s easy to see that the Shaft we have here still has a lot of growing up before he becomes the black private dick we all know and love, and I’m all for watching Shaft grow in this miniseries.