The Heart of Shadows by Marco Cosimo d’Amico, Laura Iorio & Roberto Ricci

Luc is a frail child who’s afraid of anything and everything, no thanks to his Italian grandmother and her dark bedtime stories. So when he disappears from his bedroom one night, everyone fears the worst. Has he been kidnapped? Did he run away like his sister once did? 

Little do they know, Luc has travelled to a mysterious land filled with monsters and strange creatures named Shadows and is about to embark on a terrifying journey around the world where he must learn to conquer his fears if he ever hopes to return home. 

Accompanying him on his journey is the mysterious Uomo Nero, the bogeyman from the nursery rhymes his nana used to sing to him…

Format: ebook
Narrator: n/a
Perfomance: n/a
Story: 🌑🌑🌑

On the strength of the artwork alone, I would give this a solid 5. I love scary+ugly+kawaii character designs and this has many in abundance. The dark tones perfectly matched the mood of the story and the brighter, colorful sections felt joyful and full of life

The plot, which is all about FEAR, imaginary or otherwise, is not exactly new but the authors were still able to put enough twists and tweaks to make it feel somewhat different from other stories offering similar fare. But even with that bit of difference, overall, I felt the delivery lacked oomphed and while I liked the Uomo Nero, El Cucuy and the other Shadows, it was hard to feel sympathetic towards the humans because they were not that likable. 

I think the weakest part might be middle part where they went on a journey all over the world visiting shamans and seers which didn't seem to have much effect on Luc since he remained a scaredy cat throughout almost the entire comic. I felt his enlightenment couldn't come soon enough and when it did happened, it suddenly ended. The authors left the conclusion open.

Anyway, I wasn't really into the Chosen One part of the story, I was more interested in the Shadows, their land, their society and why they have to nullify themselves. It would have been nice if Luc spent more time in the land of the Shadows or maybe scratch Luc and just have the Uomo Nero and the other creatures going about their business. This is me hoping for another comic about the Shadows. 

The Heart of Shadows is suitable for all ages. It is an enjoyable enough story with lovely illustrations. I think some readers would enjoy it even more for its themes. For me, it didn't really blow me away but I liked it.

P.S

I received a copy of The Heart of Shadows from Europe Comics via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. 

SOUNDTRACK

Boogeyman
Motorhead
Rock n' Roll

You know everybody's scared,
Everybody better beware
Scared of spiders, scared of rats,
Scared of being crossed by cats
Scared of everything that moves,
Scared of things with cloven hooves

I ain't scared, live my life allright
I ain't scared, to stand and fight
I ain't scared, 'cos I believe
Ain't scared, to wear my heart on my sleeve
Ain't scared to show my hands
But I'm scared of the boogeyman

You can't boogie with the boogeyman,
You can't boogie with the boogeyman,
You can't boogie with the boogeyman,
You can't boogie with the boogeyman,
Hold out any way you can,
But don't mess with the boogeyman

He's hiding underneath your bed,
He's hiding inside your head
He's hiding behind your eye
He be there until you die
Ridin' shotgun in your new transam
Slide over for the boogeyman

[Chorus twice]

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