DC COMICS
WRITER: Matt Sturges
ARTISTS: Tom Derenick, Wayne Faucher
COVER: Mario Alberti

Nightmaster, Blue Devil and the rest of Shadowpact battle armies of warriors in another dimension. The story reads like a fantasy novel-- which is both good and bad. There is a liveliness and sense of adventure in this comic with heroes battling monsters in exotic settings. But there is also an excess of detail, making it difficult to tell what is happening, why these creatures are attacking and what this mysterious new world is. In the middle of the story, we get a shock revelation about the monster hounds that have been hunting the Shadowpact.  It is a clever plot twist but it is so overly-long and involved, it just slows the story down. The other details about Nightmaster and Nightshade's new powers further complicate matters. The fact that the entire tale takes place in some other dimension also makes it harder to connect with the protagonists.

The art is a bit cruder than usual but it still looks pretty powerful. On the whole, this comic tells a good story. It is just hard to tell what is the point of the story. Are the Shadowpact even protecting the Earth anymore? Perhaps this issue is a sign that Shadowpact should return to its roots as a superhero comic with magical trappings. Or maybe it should just turn itself into a full-fledged fantasy title.

It gets a decent three stars out of five.