‘Shaft: Imitation Of Life’ #1 Comic Review (Take 2)

Written and lettered by David F. Walker; art by Dietrich Smith; colors by Alex Guimares.

There’s cool…and then there’s Shaft cool.

That’s right, the bad mutha who’s a sex machine with the ladies is BACK and he’s badder than ever (shut yo mouth! But I’m talkin’ ‘bout Shaft? Then we can dig it).

Following on from the brilliant and beautifully realized mini-series from 2014-15, Dynamite have done it again with this new mini, Shaft: Imitation Of Life.

This is a lean, mean tale of street prostitution, drug lords, violence and general depravity. In other words, an average day in the life of Mr. John Shaft. The series opens with us looking back at some of the roots of what made Shaft who he is and it pulls no punches in the violence stakes. This isn’t your average world of non-consequential, super-hero melee either. There is a real sense of danger and repercussion in John’s world, and returning writer David F. Walker accentuates this sense of dread beautifully. Walker is currently the authoritative writer of John Shaft, it seems, having also been given the task recently of writing the first Shaft prose novel in 40 years. An honor indeed, but David Walker is definitely the man for the job as his John Shaft actually feels like John Shaft.

Shaft 02

Too often when reading adapted material of this kind, the creators take the most easily identifiable traits of the character, but the core of it feels quite empty or unfamiliar. Make no mistake, the main protagonist in Imitation Of Life IS John Shaft; it could be no one else, and we are all the better for it.

The 1971 movie version, starring Richard Roundtree as the titular character, is the most publicly recognized representation of Shaft. Yet the film itself is often dismissed as ‘Blaxploitation,’ an exploitative form of filmmaking popularized in the ’70s  and therefore somehow irrelevant. Created by Ernest Tidyman in his 1970 novel, Shaft played an important role (as did a lot of Blaxploitation films) in highlighting the social conditions in which the majority of African Americans were living at the time. This new mini-series walks in these shoes also and, although Walker’s Shaft shows more nuances to his character than Roundtree’s, his story mirrors that of the world he inhabits.

Hired to find the runaway gay son of a white, middle-class married couple (in a world and time where being gay, white and middle class had very different connotations), John reluctantly takes on the case that of course leads him to no end of trouble. You get the sense the John’s path will inevitably lead him to a far bigger and more troublesome picture, but that’s why you’re along for the ride. Mayhem abounds and very few characters look as cool among it as Shaft.

Dietrich Smith’s artwork is not quite as bold as that of previous series artist Bilquis Evely, but his style is nicely complementary and more than makes up for any shortcomings in his background work. You really feel the city in all its grimy, run-down and neon-lit glory–accentuated by colorist Alex Guimares, who really excels in his rendering of the New York nightlife.

Make no mistake, this is not a comic for kids; this is a world of adults, bad choices, seedy underworlds and righteous fashion. Ernest Tidyman’s creation is in good hands. Such good hands, in fact, that upon finishing the first issue I immediately wanted to go out and find Tidyman’s novels, watch the films again, buy the action figure, and grow an Afro.

How many comic books can claim that?

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