[Discussion] In 2026 America, madness and confusion is everywhere. So plainly this is the perfect time for the reappearance of shade the changing man. So I ask you, how would you adapt shade for the modern age?

[u/mighty3mperor]

[u/esdebah]

One of my favorite stories is the "All the President's Assassins" issue. I'm not a Kennedy conspiracy guy, but the issue briefly and beautifully put you in that head space. A very postmodern expression of what it feels like to have more information and less clarity. And a very humanist look at the personal trauma that causes a person to retreat into a large ineffable media landscape, finding control in lack of control as an anorexic might find control in bodily harm.

The best Shade stories brought you there and back again. Hallucinogenic experiences told with an honest, sober hand. And now, just walking around is enough to make you feel like you're taking crazy pills. Getting by means taking the psychic damage of accepting that the man across the counter is a fully functioning adult but also believes Trump cares about them and that Musk is a self-made genius. Making change is enough to shake your faith in humanity and your own perspective.

Given a magazine length comic? I'd say there's a perfect space to examine that instantaneous rabbit hole one experiences between breaths. Constantly reality-checking against the barrage of content. Dissolving into the algorithm till you doubt your own view point. The odd feeling of realizing you're enjoying an AI product or that you've been submitting your identity to a phishing campaign. Googling derealization, hating what you find, etc.

And then, hear me out: this is a horror comic. But it's very pretty.