CHONG GOT THE HEAD-EXPLODIN' POWERS

Time once again to lift that dusty hatch and lower yourself gingerly into the increasingly malodorous Bargain Basement of Dooooom. For this instalment of our semi-regular celebration of cheapie-box culture, I’m going to look at a mid-1990s DC imprint – Milestone. Most of the Milestone series are worth investigating (and are always, always available for peanuts). But let’s start with SHADOW CABINET.

A wee bit of historical context is necessary here. In 1993, a group of African-American DC creators, in an attempt to counterbalance the overwhelming whitebreadness of mainstream comics, formed their own publishing house. Among said creators were Denys Cowan (penciller of Power Man & Iron Fist, The Question and Green Arrow, among others) and the late Dwayne McDuffie (writer of Damage Control and Dethlok, and later one of the main architects of the DC animated universe). Milestone’s remit was to publish ethnically and culturally diverse comics for an ethnically and culturally diverse audience. As an imprint of DC, it came under fire for its lack of independence, but its emphasis was nevertheless on ensuring that its creators retained the intellectual property rights to their characters – a point of contention that the Big Two had struggled to resolve over the preceding half-century or so.

Of the major Milestone titles, Icon and Hardware were the Superman and Iron Man analogues, respectively, while Static fulfilled the youthfully exuberant Spidey role, and even proved popular enough to star in his own animated series. Blood Syndicate, a book based around a super-powered street gang, brought an uncomfortably visceral, antagonistic edge quite unlike any other comics of the time. But it was the second wave of Milestone, a year after its emergence, that brought my favourite title.

Running for just 17 issues, Shadow Cabinet is, it’s fair to say, a pretty odd little book. We’re not talking Morrison-era Doom Patrol levels of incomprehensibly weird, but there’s a heightened sense of mystery, lack of resolution and a general air of uncomfortable messiness about the whole project. Created by writers Dwayne McDuffie and Robert L. Washington III, and penciller John Paul Leon, the Shadow Cabinet was effectively a superhuman Black Ops agency tasked with morally obtuse missions for unclear reasons by their enigmatic leader Dharma. Cursed/blessed with precognitive abilities, Dharma knew what must be done to avoid unspecified future horrors, and was prepared to do anything, including dupe and sacrifice his operatives, to achieve this. It’s here that the appeal of Shadow Cabinet lies. Even more untrustworthy and dubious than 1960s Professor X, Dharma is a tricky bastard and generally unlikeable arrogant git. His motivations were never clear, and his self-professed wisdom was constantly challenged as he sent his loose collective of operatives into increasingly desperate situations.

A refreshing change from the macho homogeneity of standard superheroics, the Shadow Cabinet boasted an international membership largely consisting of women, led by the ferrokinetic Palestinian soldier known as Iron Butterfly. Other core members included Cheech Marin-resembling stoner shapeshifter Sideshow, the embodiment of Cronenberg-esque body-horror, constantly and often revoltingly morphing his body parts into crab claws, hooves and antlers; shrinking pink-clad jewel thief Iota; living interdimensional portal and walking Magritte painting Twilight; and Plus, twin sisters sharing one energy-manipulating body. Also on the team were Japanese speedster Blitzen and Russian strongwoman Donner, who quietly and unsensationally made their mark on comics history as a same-sex spandex couple long before Apollo and the Midnighter.  

Shadow Cabinet’s sometimes homicidal intra-team conflict, combined with some bizarre and sinister threats, driven by a leader with a decidedly cavalier, nay reckless, attitude toward his team’s survival, make this a compelling, if not exactly Earth-shattering title. JP Leon’s art is sketchy and scratchy and sometimes awkward, and relies on a moody, subdued, even murky palette – but all of this just adds to the general sense of ambiguity and unease. Maybe it’s just me, but there’s something irresistible about a new concept that’s born and dies in only 17 issues, especially one so wilfully mysterious, which sets up and then abandons so many dangling threads. As any Bigfoot-hunting cryptozoologist knows instinctively but will deny till the last breath, the real fun lies in not knowing the full story.

Largely due to marketing and image problems, Milestone’s existence was short-lived, fizzling out of the comic-book world in 1997. The Milestone universe, including the Shadow Cabinet, reappeared to little fanfare in mainstream DC continuity during Duffie’s brief time on JLA. Yet some of this singular universe’s characters have had a new lease of life on TV over the past few years, with the Static Shock show and a number of Milestone alumni appearing in Young Justice.

Finally, it must be noted that the name ‘Shadow Cabinet’ probably sounds a lot cooler and more mysterious to American ears. For Britishers, it just brings to mind Ed Balls.

(originally published on the Big Glasgow Comic Page)