Crime Fighting in a Teenage Wasteland in Shadoweyes

Scout lives in the dirty, futuristic city of Dranac, where crime is so rampant that high school students team up to form a vigilane group called Crimewatch. But Scout gets the opportunity to go beyond Crimewatch when an accident makes her able to transform into a strange, blue, clawed, superhuman creature. In this new body she becomes the vigilante Shadoweyes.

In the graphic novel Shadoweyes Volume One by Ross Campbell (Wet Moon, Water Baby), coming from SLG Publishing in June, Scout must learn to exist as Shadoweyes when she finds herself unable to return to her human form. As she is forced to live on the streets and in the shadows, fighting crime becomes her only means to feel a connection to her community. In particular, Scout is drawn to the case of a missing girl named Sparkle, who has been all but forgotten by society. Plus, she still has to deal with best friend drama, reconciling with her mom, dealing with her anger toward criminals, and a mysterious mute girl that she rescued from being buried alive.

Campbell’s themes of alienation, love, and anger infuse Shadoweyes, which is told with Campbell’s distinctive artwork, with rich line work and shading, expressive characters, and dynamic action.

“Shadoweyes is about what happens when you think you have an approach to life figured out but then it gets turned on its head and you find yourself doing unexpected things or being unable to do something you assumed you could,” said Campbell. “It’s about being an outsider in society, whether by choice or being forced to be one against your will because society doesn’t accommodate you. It’s about the transformation of identity both mental and physical. And it’s all of that filtered through being a brooding, giant-footed, blue superpowered creature living in a world full of humans.”