- Shadow Prophet
- Available through
- Written by Anne Delseit
- Illustrated by Marissa Delbressine
- Edited by Annie Lahue
The Great Prophet Godo has a place for everyone in his perfect society… so long as you aren’t a failure. Itshou is living a diligent and sheltered life when she suddenly finds herself denounced and marked for exile. While her beliefs are shaken to their very core, a chance encounter with a childhood sweetheart derails Itshou’s banishment and puts her on the path to political uprising. Now facing down the same forces she once trusted to protect her, Itshou must untangle the web of lies at the heart of her city and unmask the Shadow Prophet.
So has anyone else heard about this Webtoon thing? Cuz, while I was aware of it, I don’t know that I was… AWARE… of it. Not until one Marissa Delbressine slid into my direct messages and told me to take a look around, & and maybe give her little online comic a try.
For anyone interested in the kind of “Big Brother” (no, not the reality TV show) story that’s probably a little more relevant now than we’d like, here’s a little something for ya. Written by Anne Delseit, Shadow Prophet is an ongoing webcomic about a young lady named Itshou who, until very recently, had no clue just how little she knew about the world. The clues start to add up amidst emergency news broadcasts from the “Head of Security & Information” warning citizens of impending doom at the hands of the dreaded rebel instigator… Vero.
Delseit lets the story move at its own pace, never pushing anything but seeding sweet reveals throughout her narrative. Layered within the modern manga-styled slice-of-life tale of a girl in love with a fella- Ryuichi, a highly placed government intelligence operative who’s a little too obsessed with whether or not Itshou is taking her pills- lies a story very much in tune with George Orwell’s 1984. And just when you think you’ve got a handle on where the story is going, you get to the next chapter and find out you were very… so very… wrong.
Picking up the illustrating duties, Marissa Delbressine maintains the level of unique everydayness that comes with the aforementioned slice-of-life tale. Itshou is the sheltered ingenue, almost annoyingly clueless to everything not directly in front of her. Ryuichi is the ultra-shady government spook, with his finger on the pulse of pretty much everybody… especially his young girlfriend Itshou. Delbressine’s art holds to the story’s tone and setting, delivering beauty & elegance on one hand, contrasting it with gradually revealed edges & hints of horror.
If you enjoy manga tales of everyday people discovering just how unreal their world is (generally just before it collapses in on them) this story could be your next Great Read. Hop over to Webtoon and check out Shadow Prophet. For Godo.
Final Score: 10/13
