REAL NAME: JACK BONIFACE
ALIASES: Shadowman.
ABILITIES: Travel between Liveside and Deadside; Disappear into Shadows; Enhanced Strength and Endurance; Shadow Scythe.
KNOWN ASSOCIATIONS: Alyssa Myles; the Abbetors; Jaunty; Persephone; Punk Mambo; Doctor Mirage.
Jack Boniface is the Shadowman, guardian of the realm of the living from the creatures of the the Deadside. His allies in there are Jaunty, a talking monkey trickster spirit, and Persephone, the embodiment of the realm of the afterlife.
Jack is bonded to the Shadow Loa, a voodoo spirit that grants him superhuman abilities. It was Sandria Darque who first joined her lover Marius Boniface to the Loa, cursing his descendants. She did so after her brother, Nicodemo (later, Master Darque) attacked them when she was giving birth. The baby didn't survive.
Jack was born in Louisiana, after his father, Josiah, had supposedly died fighting Master Darque. His mother died in a car accident, and Jack left his hometown, never learning of his inheritance.
Years later he returned to investigate his parents past; and, dissapointed in what he found, threw away a talisman his mother had given him, that was actually keeping Jack hidden from both his enemies and the Abettors.
The Abettors are a group of occult guardians whose mission is to guide Shadowman. They've had some new recruits recently, such as the talented Zaya, who lost her parents to a creature called the Chauffeur.
Currently, at the head of the organization seats Alyssa Myles. An apprentince under Dox, who briefly mentored Jack, she stepped up after his death. An expert in eldritch blasts and summoning, Alyssa is a powerful mambo, having been taught by her granny from an early age; she's also a respected leader. Alyssa and Jack are in a romantic relationship.
Master Darque took advantage of Jacks's vulnerable state after killing his father in a fit of loa-driven rage, and chained him under the curse of the Magpie. It would take the help of Punk Mambo and Ninjak to free Jack, and imprison both Master and Sandria Darque in the pocket dimension of the Ring of Solomon, known as Soulside. Even then it was five years before Jack came back from the Deadside.
The recent string of gruesome murders in New Orleans leds G.A.T.E. to believe there might be some otherworldy elements involved, but with the sinkholes situation going on, there were no agents available to investigate. Punk Mambo informs Gen. Capshaw that there are gollems in town, and asks G.A.T.E. to sod off--!
OTHER DETAILS: Bosou Koblamin is the Shadow Loa, the breaker of chains, a powerful loa dedicated to freedom.
recommended reading
RESURGENCE TIE-IN
SHADOWMAN:
SOUL EATERS
