Shaman's Tears was a comic-book series created by Mike Grell and published by Image Comics.
The comic starred Joshua Brand, the son of a half-Sioux father and an Irish mother, who returns as an adult to the reservation he ran away from as a child. Discovering he mystically possesses the powers of all animals and the Earth itself, he becomes the protector of the planet.
The book often dealt with ecological and animal rights issues.
Shaman's Tears contains examples of:
- Animalistic Abilities: Joshua has the power to call on the abilities of any animal.
- Animal Stereotypes: Animus and Blazon are a lion and wolf Blood respectively. They are also rivals, playing into the enmity between cats and dogs.
- Animal-Themed Superbeing: See above.
- Artificial Animal People: The Blood (later known as Bar Sinister) are artificially created human/animal hybrids; each designed to have specific traits from the animal side (wings on the bat hybrid, Prehensile Tail and feet on the monkey hybrid, et cetera). The evil corporation that created them felt justified in treating them as possessions as they had a court ruling stating that they weren't human — merely a higher form of animal — and therefore do not have human rights.
- Badass Biker: Joshua Brand.
- Badass Native: Joshua Brand.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Josh's friend Thom seems like a nice person when we first meet him. Issue #2 reveals that he's selling Medicine Hat Reservation horses to poachers and is jealous of Joshua being chosen for the Sun Dance. After he is mutated by Circle Sea's chemicals he outright tries to kill Joshua but T.C. being in danger causes him to snap back to his senses.
- Borrowed Biometric Bypass: A guard mocks Animus while sticking his hand in his cage. Animus tears off the man's hand which he then uses to open the lock on his cage and escape.
- Cannibal Larder: Joshua Brand and Jon Sable find a cannibal larder full of the remains of missing homeless people in the lair of the nestlings in the sewers under New York City.
- Child of Two Worlds: Joshua Brand's father was half-Sioux and his mother was Irish. His mixed heritage made him feel like an outsider growing up and is why he left Medicine Hat Reservation.
- The Chosen One: Joshua Brand is the chosen one of Wakan Tanka, the Great Spirit of the Sioux; selected to be her champion and defend the balance of nature.
- Cool Bike: Joshua's classic Indian Chief motorcycle.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: General Patrick Pending, CEO of Circle Sea.
- Disposable Vagrant: In #5 - 8, Joshua Brand and Jon Sable team-up to hunt down a pack of monsters living in the sewers that has been preying on the homeless of New York.
- Evil Poacher: The first criminals Joshua Brand stopped after gaining his powers were poachers who were stealing wild horses from the Indian reservation to sell for pet food.
- Genetic Engineering Is the New Nuke: The Blood a.k.a. Bar Sinister (who later got their own short-lived series), a group of genetically engineered, super powered human/animal hybrids.
- Hot God: Wakan Tanka, the Great Spirit of the Sioux who grants Joshua his powers, usually takes the form of an incredibly sexy Native American woman when she manifests.
- Human-to-Werewolf Footprints: Not a werewolf but another form of transformation. When Jon Sable is tracking Joshua Brand through the sewers, he is confused when Joshua's footprints change from boots to moccasins. This is because Joshua has magically transformed into his costumed identity.
- Hunting the Most Dangerous Game: The Nesting Ones do this to Jon Sable in #8; giving him a gun and a single bullet to make things 'sporting'.
- I Just Want to Be Special: Thom Broadarrow is intensively jealous of Joshua Brand, and thinks the powers of Wakan Tanka should have been his.
- Inhumanable Alien Rights: Bar Sinister were a group of genetically uplifted animals. The evil corporation that created them felt justified in treating them as possessions as they had a court ruling stating that they weren't human.
- Justice by Other Legal Means: Joshua Brand is unable to arrest the Corrupt Corporate Executive for various crimes because the victims (genetically engineered lifeforms) are not technically human. So he instead arrests him for violating the Endangered Species Act after he realizes one of the genetically engineered constructs was created using the DNA of a black-footed ferret.
- LEGO Genetics: The Blood (later known as Bar Sinister) were artificially created human/animal hybrids; each designed to have specific traits from the animal side (wings on the bat hybrid, prehensile feet and tail on the monkey hybrid, etc).
- Little Bit Beastly: All of the Bar Sinister, with the exception of Animus, are mostly humanoid with rather downplayed animal physical traits.
- Magical Native American: Joshua once he is granted mystical powers.
- Meaningful Name: two of the villains (who are in the business of patenting hybrid human-animal life forms) are named "Patrick Pending" and "Regus Patoff". Yes, "Pat Pending" and "Reg. US Pat Off", if you missed the pun.
- Mercy Lead:
- In #3, Pending and Pattoff give Joshua a ten second head start before sicking the Blood on him.
- In #8, the Nesting Ones give Jon Sable a gun with a single bullet and a very short head start before setting out to hunt him through the sewers.
- Mix-and-Match Creatures: Thom Broadarrow is exposed to the Circle Sea mutagenic compound and is transformed into a composite of a dozen different creatures found in his taxidermy shop.
- Mother Nature: Wakan Tanka, the Great Spirit of the Sioux, who grants Joshua his powers. When it manifests, Wakan Tanka usually takes the form of a sexy Native American woman.
- Mugging the Monster: A street gang attempts to mug Joshua Brand while he is meditating in Central Park. As Joshua has the power to call on the abilities of any animal, this ends badly for them.
- "Not Illegal" Justification: Joshua Brand is unable to arrest the Corrupt Corporate Executive for various crimes because the victims (genetically engineered lifeforms) are not technically human. So he instead arrests him for violating the Endangered Species Act after he realizes one of the genetically engineered constructs was created using the DNA of a black-footed ferret.
- Nubile Savage: Wakan Tanka, the Great Spirit of the Sioux who grants Joshua his powers, usually takes the form of a sexy Native American woman when she manifests.
- Pineapple Surprise: Jon Sable pulls this trick in #8: yanking the pin out of one of the grenades on a bandoleer worn by one of the nestlings as he flees their sewer lair.
- Rival Turned Evil: Thom Broadarrow was a childhood rival to Joshua Brand. He was always jealous of Joshua, especially when Joshua got the girl they both wanted, then abandoned her to leave the reservation; something Thom never managed. When Joshua returned to the reservation and was granted the power of Wakan Tanka, Thom thought it should have rightfully be his. His jealousy ultimately led to the accident that transformed into a monster.
- Seeking Sanctuary: In the Bar Sinister miniseries, Bar Sinister are fleeing from the NYPD and take refuge inside a burnt-out cathedral and claim sanctuary. This results in a drawn-out siege situation as various law enforcement agencies argue about jurisdiction, and considerable media attention as it is debated if their claim to sanctuary should be honoured. Lieutenant Westin, the police officer in charge, even mentions Victor Hugo and compares the situation to The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
- Tears of Blood: Joshua Brand cries tears of blood when he triggers his powers (hence the title). The three tears are transformed into three streaks of war paint running down his cheek in his superpowered form.
- Teen Pregnancy: Sadie got knocked up by Joshua when they were teens. He left because he didn't want to be tied down to anything at the reserve. When she and Josh meet twelve years later, the first thing she does is punch him out.
- This Means Warpaint: Joshua's transformation into his superpowered form involves him crying Tears of Blood that then transform into Tribal Face Paint.
- Too Dumb to Live: A guard mocks Animus while sticking his hand in his cage. Animus tears off the man's hand which he then uses to open the lock on his cage and escape.
- Tribal Face Paint: Joshua Brand acquires tribal face paint when he transforms into his superpowered form.
- Vision Quest: Joshua undergoes the Sun Dance ritual after being granted his powers in an attempt to understand them.
- Weather Manipulation: One of Joshua's powers. He most commonly uses it to create rain.
- What Measure Is a Non-Human?: Pending and Patoff are able to justify their actions by claiming that the Blood are not human—merely a higher form of animal—and therefore do not have human rights. This forces Joshua to come up with a Justice by Other Legal Means solution.
- White Gangbangers: In #6, a gang consisting of two white guys and a black guy attempt to mug Joshua Brand in a Mugging the Monster moment.
