SHADOW
Real Name: Unrevealed
Identity/Class: Extraterrestrial (Dire Wraith)
Occupation: Field leader of Road Force
Group Membership: Road Force (Crosshairs/Raul Hernandez, Doc/Tyrone Wagner, Napalm/Kate Ashford, Sonic Storm/Peter Drake)
Affiliations: Agent 1 (Tim Mohr), Black Widow (Natasha Romanoff), Captain America (Steve Rogers), Starcorp, Thor (Odinson)
Enemies: Annihilus, Annihilus' insectoid clone army, Dire Wraiths, Immortus (Nathaniel Richards), Wrecking Crew (Bulldozer/Henry Camp, Piledriver/Brian Calusky, Thunderball/Eliot Franklin, Wrecker/Dirk Garthwaite), unidentified green demon army
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: Agent Shadow; impersonated Blastaar, Loki
Base of Operations: Road Force HQ at Starcorp Base in Area 51
First Appearance: (Digital) Harley-Davidson Thor Special#1 (October, 2013); (print) Thor/Road Force#1 (November, 2013)
Powers/Abilities: Shadow had the power to shapeshift into virtually any shape and alter his mass like all Dire Wraiths. He usually posed as a human, but was seen impersonating other humanoids as well. In his true Dire Wraith form he was a male, red-skinned, bipedal semi-humanoid with a barbed tongue that could penetrate a victim's skull.
Shadow used Dire Wraith teleportation technology and a special Harley-Davidson that could shoot prism lasers.
Height: 5'5" (variable); (as Shadow) 5'8" (by approximation)
Weight: 220 lbs. (variable); (as Shadow) 180 lbs. (by approximation)
Eyes: Yellow; (as Shadow) Blue (variable)
Hair: None; (as Shadow) Brown (variable)
History:
(Thor/Road Force#1 (fb) ) - The Dire Wraith later known as Shadow was
sent to Earth by the Dire Wraiths as part of an advanced scouting team.
He was supposed to path the way for the Dire Wraiths' invasion, but
came to admire the human species. Because he had often felt like an
outcast among his own people Shadow warned Starcorp of the attack and
helped them create Road Force to fend off the invasion.
(Thor/Road Force#1 (fb) - BTS) - Shadow was still finalizing a list of possible candidates for Road Force when their special Harley-Davidsons were already completed.
(Thor/Road Force#1) - As the Dire Wraiths invasion fleet fought Thor and the army at Area 51 a general ordered Shadow to finally assemble Road Force because they needed them now before the Dire Wraiths could finish their portals. The general ordered Shadow again to bring his team to Area 51 and attack the portals the Dire Wraiths were setting up while Thor dealt with the largest enemies.
Shadow teleported to Sacramento, California and recruited motocross driver Peter Drake during a race because of his reflexes and unflinching confidence. Shadow teleported him back to Area 51.
Shadow teleported to Orlando, Florida to soldier Kate Ashford and recruited her for her military skills and leadership abilities directly from her garage. Shadow teleported her back to Area 51.
Shadow teleported to Portland, Oregon to recruit fruit vendor Raul Hernandez while he tried to get figs for a customer. Shadow wanted him on the team for his deep sense of duty and tactical expertise. Shadow teleported him back to Area 51.
Shadow teleported to Indianapolis, Indiana to recruit Dr. Tyrone Wagner for his inner strength and compassion after an elderly patient thanked him for all his work. Shadow teleported him back to Area 51.
(Thor/Road Force#1 - BTS) - Shadow got his team their equipment, including their special Harley Davidsons and Shadow led them to a cliff overlooking the battlefield.
(Thor/Road Force#1) - Overlooking the battlefield Shadow apologized to his new team that there was no proper briefing, but he knew that all of them had the ability to improvise. He revealed that an alien race known as Dire Wraiths had infiltrated the Starcorp facility at Area 51 to use their teleportation technology to launch an invasion of Earth. Road Force was going to destroy the four experimental warp engines the Dire Wraiths used to keep their portals open. Road Force blasted their way through the Dire Wraiths and destroyed the warp engines. The explosion temporarily transformed Shadow back into his Dire Wraith form. When Thor pointed this out to his team Shadow explained himself by telling his teammates that he had turned against his own people and had helped Starcorp establish Road Force to stop the Dire Wraiths invasion. Ashford assured Shadow that he had proven his loyalty to them and that Road Force would follow him everywhere. Thor agreed and flew away.
(Thor/Road Force#2) - Starcorp picked up a signal from the Negative Zone that possibly indicated another attack planned by Annihilus.
(Thor/Road Force#2 - BTS) - Shadow asked Thor to join them on a mission to the Negative Zone.
(Thor/Road Force#2) - Shadow gave a speech to his team that they needed to be more proactive and invade the Negative Zone to stop Annihilus because he feared he would never be accepted and could never forgive himself if any more people lost their lives in extraterrestrial attacks.
Using Dire Wraith technology Road Force and Thor teleported to the Negative Zone and attacked a horde of cloned insectoids. Shadow planned to destroy the cloning mechanism so Annihilus couldn't add any more troops to his forces. Shadow sent Thor to battle Annihilus one-on-one. While the rest of Road Force fought the insectoids Shadow planted the explosives to destroy the cloning mechanism, but Annihilus, who had defeated Thor, confronted him. Shadow took off his helmet and posing as Blastaar claimed the attack was a ruse to get Annihilus to seek vengeance against the Avengers to he could conquer Annihilus' worlds. Annihilus saw through the shapeshifter's disguise because the voice didn't fit, but before he could kill him Shadow's team surrounded Annihilus. Thor knocked out Annihilus and Road Force teleported back to Earth shortly before the cloning facility was blown up.
(Road Force: Wrecked & Ruined) - Shadow received Sonic Storm's emergency call and teleported with the rest of Road Force to the Mojave Desert in Nevada where Sonic Storm, while searching for a missing research team, encountered the Wrecking Crew. Shadow was surprised the Wrecking Crew was so far away from civilization. Wrecker revealed to him that they were hired to find something powerful Starcorp's scientist team was looking for as well. Using his Harley's scanner Shadow found a powerful energy signal nearby and took a shot to reveal a hidden Asgardian temple. Wrecker knocked him out and took the rune stones he was hired to find. Shadow used his shapeshifting abilities to impersonate Loki, who was the Wrecking Crew's boss (see comments). Wrecker handed over the rune stone when "Loki" suggested that they could rule all Nine Realms with the rune stones together, which Wrecker appreciated. "Loki" then sent the Wrecking Crew through a portal to escape from Road Force. The portal actually led right into a cage in the Starcorp Maximum Security Detention Block. Road Force liked the fact that Shadow tricked the Wrecking Crew by pretending to be the trickster god Loki.
(Captain America featuring Road Force#1) - Captain America and Napalm met up with Black Widow and the rest of Road Force at the Lawrence Livermore Lab in Livermore, California where they picked up Agent 1 (Tim Mohr). Captain America asked Shadow to lead Napalm, Sonic Storm and Doc into battle against the creatures attacking San Francisco while Cap, Black Widow and Crosshairs entered the portal to find Immortus' device on the other side and shut it down.
Shadow's crew rode through Oakland-San Francisco Bay Bridge into battle against Immortus' green demon creatures. They saved as many civilians as they could and aided the local police until they were surrounded by the monsters. Shadow ordered his team to form a defensive circle and fight until the end. When the portal closed after Cap's team had succeeded Shadow's team saved people from getting sucked into the closing portal. After the mission Cap thanked Road Force for all the sacrifices they had made to be part of the team.
Comments: Created by William Harms, Cafu & Miguel Sepulveda.
The Road Force comics were promotional comics Marvel did for Harley-Davidson Motor Cycles. AFAIK eight stories exist, but only four of them featured Shadow. These four stories are apparently prequels to the previously published Road Force comics.
Thor/Road Force#1-2 were originally released digitally as Harley-Davidson Thor Special#1-2.
The individual pages of Road Force: Wrecked & Ruined actually appeared in several Marvel Comics published from July to December, 2014.
In Road Force: Wrecked & Ruined Shadow made a wild guess at who the Wrecking Crew's boss was because nothing hinted to Loki except for the Wrecking Crew's past with him and the Asgardian temple housing the rune stones. Maybe it wasn't such a wild guess after all.
This profile was completed 01/03/2020, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 20th anniversary 's celebratory event.
Profile by Markus Raymond.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Shadow should not be confused with:
images (without ads)
Thor/Road Force#1, Cover (main)
Thor/Road Force#1, p12, pan2 (head shot)
Thor/Road Force#1, p11, pan5 (partially transformed into true form)
Thor/Road Force#1, p9, pan4 (Shadow's Harley Davidson, prism laser beams)
Appearances:
Thor/Road Force#1 (November, 2013), William Harms (writer), Cafu & Miguel Sepulveda (artists), Bill Rosemann (editor)
Thor/Road Force#2 (April, 2014), William Harms (writer), Miguel Angel Sepulveda (artist), Bill Rosemann (editor)
Road Force: Wrecked & Ruined (July-December, 2014), Marc Sumerak
(writer), Admira Wijaya & Wellington Alves (pencils), Scott Hanna
(inks), Bill Rosemann (editor)
Captain America featuring Road Force#1 (March, 2015), William Harms (writer), Xermanico (artist), Darren Sanchez (editor)
First Posted: 09/14/2021
Last updated: 11/21/2022
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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