Shade Master's first appearance
Shade Master is supposedly Hooded Justice's successor. He appears throughout Volume 4 as an anonymous helper, assistant and tipster to various heroes. However, Shade Master has also shown himself to sometimes be in conflict with the heroes' goals and he has thus far fought and conflicted with Rorschach, Nite Owl I and even Cellophane Spectre. Shade Master is a recluse and does not talk much. Despite this generic "badboy" act there have been subtle hints to a funnier side of him, leading some characters to speculate that he is the late Ben Kovacs in disguise.