Cartoonist Cathy Malkasian's graphic novels are known to be crafted with layered, affecting allegory and metaphor, and Shadows of the Sea is no exception. In this story, shadows become characters themselves, weighed down with painful truth. They cannot be released until their owners acknowledge, reflect, and heal. Charged by the magic of the "mudder" sea, the shadows reveal the loss Doris and Stanwick have been carrying -- a husband and a child -- and sets them free at last.