Shade, the Changing Man

Shade, the Changing Man told the story of a fugitive from the militant planet Meta in another dimension. Shade (whose full name is Rac Shade) was powered by a stolen "M-vest" (or Miraco-Vest, named for its inventor) which protected him with a force field and enabled him to project the illusion of becoming a large grotesque version of himself.^[2]

The character was the first Ditko had created, or helped to create, for a mainstream publisher for many years. Prior to rejoining DC Comics, Ditko had worked on characters such as his Mr. A. title. Shade was a return to mainstream superheroics, although Shade indicated no connection with the DC Universe. Michael Fleisher scripted the series based on Ditko's plotting and art.

His series ran for eight bi-monthly issues in 1978 before its sudden cancellation in the wake of the "DC Implosion", a contraction of DC's line that saw a third of their books axed right before the September releases. A ninth extra-length issue, featuring the debut of a new Ditko character called the Odd Man, was produced, but was published only as a part of DC's Cancelled Comic Cavalcade in 1978. A revised version of the Odd Man story appeared in Detective Comics #487 (Dec. 1979-Jan. 1980). Both stories were published in The Steve Ditko Omnibus Vol. 1 (2011),^[3] a hardcover collection of Ditko's DC work.

After this, Shade was adopted into the DC Universe and made a brief appearance in the Crisis on Infinite Earths miniseries as well as becoming a regular character in Suicide Squad.

 

Rac Shade is a secret agent from the Meta-Zone dimension who is framed for treason and sentenced to death. Through various events, Shade spends time on Earth trying to clear his names, but is met with resistance from the Meta-authorities at each point. Shade's former fiancée Mellu Loron seeks revenge against him for causing an explosion that crippled her parents. Her mother, operating a mechanical monster called the Supreme Decider (or Sude) had other plans.

The Metans have an outpost on Earth called the Occult Research Center (O.R.C). The center was run by Wizor, assisted by Leno. Mellu ran it for a time. The O.R.C. operates by telling the absolute truth about Meta, something the public tends to laugh off. When Mellu desires to kill Shade, the fact that other, more violent, criminals released in the freak accident during the prison riot that freed Shade become priority, annoys her greatly and causes her to leave the organization.

When Dr. Sagan shows Mellu videotape evidence that Shade has rescued her from a deadly part of the Zero-Zone called the Area of Madness, she changes her mind about Shade, in spite of having been the one who had ultimately captured him.

In the final issue, President Olon's hands are tied in regard to the treason charge. Even though he considers Shade innocent, until his death sentence is overturned in court, he is still under a death sentence as Col. Kross gathers evidence in his defense. With all of these on his side, Shade leaps into the Zero-Zone and is swallowed by the Area of Madness.

Shade later joins the Suicide Squad, but has second thoughts, leading Lashina to manipulate him into helping her under the pretense of returning him to the Meta-Zone.^[4] However, she betrays him and several of his friends are killed by Parademons and the Female Furies. Darkseid appears and settles the conflict, returning Shade home.^[5]

Shade, the Changing Man
The third iteration of Milligan's Shade (center), with Kathy (left) and Lenny, taken from Shade the Changing Man #50; art by Brian Bolland.
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics, Vertigo
First appearance	Shade the Changing Man #1 (July 1990)
Created by	Peter Milligan and Chris Bachalo
In-story information
Alter ego	Rac Shade
Notable aliases	Troy Grenzer
Abilities	Can use his Madness Vest to warp reality to his will

In July 1990, six months after Shade's final appearance in Suicide Squad, Shade was revamped by Peter Milligan and Chris Bachalo, becoming part of the so-called "British Invasion", alongside Neil Gaiman's Sandman and Grant Morrison's Animal Man.

The new series still took place in the DC Universe: John Constantine turned up for a three-issue story arc, Death of the Endless appeared in a subtle cameo in issue #50 and Shade appeared with a group of other Vertigo characters in 1999's one-shot Totems. The comic departed quickly from its origins. Milligan and Bachalo reinvented Rac Shade as a red-headed lovelorn poet sent to Earth to stop a growing tide of madness from consuming the planet, his M-Vest becoming a Madness-Vest capable of warping reality. Working from Brendan McCarthy's character designs, Bachalo created a distinctive look for the comic, distinguishing it from the character's other DC Universe appearances. The original series was retconned as a story that Shade made up to amuse himself while traveling to Earth (left unexplained was his stint with the Suicide Squad).

Milligan killed Shade off several times during the series, bringing him back each time in a different form: a woman; a black-haired madman; a red-haired, emotionless mod; and a bedraggled, unshaven obsessive.

The series employed concepts which were at times controversial and distinct from regular DC titles (for example, JFK's assassination and transgenderism). To distinguish these more 'adult' themes in Shade and other titles, DC created the Vertigo imprint in 1993. Shade became one of the initial Vertigo titles starting with issue #33.

Shade sold steadily for Vertigo and maintained a cult following. The title lasted 70 issues before being cancelled in 1996.

In 2003, a special one-off story by Peter Milligan and artist Mike Allred was printed as part of Vertigo's 10th anniversary celebration.

In 2004, the first six issues of Shade were reprinted as a Vertigo trade paperback.

In August 2010, Hellblazer #268 featured the return of Shade, the Changing Man, this time as a supporting cast member for John Constantine in a series of storylines written by Milligan.

According to the Absolute Crisis on Infinite Earths hardcover book, the events of the second series originally took place on Earth-85 in the DC Multiverse before its destruction.

In 2011, Shade was featured in Geoff Johns' Flashpoint miniseries and its spin-off miniseries Flashpoint: Secret Seven (written by Peter Milligan) as the leader of the Secret Seven.^[6] After Flashpoint as part of The New 52 (a reboot of the DC Comics universe), Shade appears as one of the lead characters in the first story arc of Justice League Dark, a new title written by Peter Milligan^[7] and drawn by Mikel Janin.

 

• An alternate universe variant of Shade appears in Kingdom Come.

• An alternate universe variant of Shade appears in JLA: The Nail as a member of the Outsiders.
• An alternate universe variant of Shade appears in Flashpoint: Secret Seven. This version is a member of the eponymous group.^[8][9]
• Two original incarnations of Shade, Loma and River Johnson, appear in the Young Animal titles Shade, The Changing Girl and Shade, The Changing Woman.^[10][11]

The original Steve Ditko series is collected in The Steve Ditko Omnibus Vol. 1 (2011).^[3]

The Vertigo series is being collected into trade paperbacks:

• Volume 1: The American Scream (168 pages, collects #1-6, 2003, Titan Books, ISBN 1-84023-716-3, DC Comics, ISBN 1-4012-0046-X, DC version resolicited 2009, reprint, Titan, December 2009, ISBN 1-84856-500-3)
• Volume 2: The Edge of Vision (192 pages, collects #7-13, DC Comics, November 2009, ISBN 1-4012-2539-X, Titan Books, January 2010, ISBN 1-84856-501-1)
• Volume 3: Scream Time (176 pages, collects #14-19, DC Comics, July 2010, ISBN 1-4012-2768-6)

The Young Animal series is collected into three trade paperbacks:

• Shade, the Changing Girl Volume 1: Earth Girl Made Easy (144 pages, collects #1-6, DC Comics, 2017, DC Comics, ISBN 9781401270995)
• Shade, the Changing Girl Volume 2: Little Runaway (168 pages, collects #7-12, DC Comics, 2018, ISBN 9781401275457)
• Shade, the Changing Woman (168 pages, collects #1-6, DC Comics, 2019, ISBN 9781401285708)

• Shade appears in a self-titled episode of DC Nation Shorts, voiced by Benjamin Diskin.
• Shade makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox.
• Shade appears as a character summon in Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure.^[12]

• Shade, the Changing Man at Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on May 19, 2017.
• Pete Milligan interview