Wednesday, December 17, 2014

WHAT EVIL LURKS IN THE HEARTS OF MEN - THE SHADOW KNOWS !!!


Who Knows What Evil Lurks in the Hearts of Men...The Shadow Knows!

This Shadow series is set in the 30s, in a good and traditional treatment of the character, faithful to the pulp version. The Shadow uses powers of invisibility & "The power to cloud men's minds." Fantastic pulp for the imaginative soul!


DC Comic's The Shadow ran 12 issues. Written by Denny (Batman) O'Neil & Michael Uslan and drawn by Michael Kaluta, Bernie (Swamp Thing) Wrightson, Steve (Vampirella) Hickman, Howard (Cody Starbuck) Chaykin, Frank (Invaders) Robbins, Frank (Judomaster) McLaughlin & ER (Savage Sword of Conan) Cruz. Covers were illustrated by Michael (Madame Xanadu) Kaluta, Frank Robbins & Joe (Sgt. Rock) Kubert!  

The Shadow #11 had a crossover with Justice, Inc.'s The Avenger (from the creator of Doc Savage.) Later, DC would publish publish further adventures of The Avenger & Justice, Inc. 

One my favorite comic book covers, The Shadow #1!
 

The Shadow #1  Who Knows What Evil Lurks in the Hearts of Men?
"The Doom Puzzle"
Includes a story about the creation of the series, starring the Shadow and Dennis O'Neil, as well as the solution to the code on page 4 of the main story.


The Shadow #2  Who is..the Freak Show Killer? The Shadow Knows!
"Freak Show Murders"

The Shadow #3  Behind the Grey Prison Wall Lies...The Kingdom of the Cobra!
"The Kingdom of the Cobra"
In Back Issue magazine #10, Michael W. Kaluta gives pencil & ink credits to himself & Bernie Wrightson.

  
The Shadow #4  Death is Bliss!
"Death is Bliss"
Chapter 1 (10 pages), Chapter 2: "Grave Secret!" (10 pages); In Back Issue magazine #10, Michael W. Kaluta says about the inking in this issue, "On the splash page to issue #4, there is a truck barreling across the page. The license plates on the front bumper of the truck have got each artist's name and little page numbers to tell what pages they worked on."

 The Shadow #5  
"Night of Neptune's Death"
Frank Robbins cover & artwork, a great nostalgic feel to his work. 



The Shadow #6  Night of the Ninja!
"Night of the Ninja"

 The Shadow #7
"The Night of the Beast"
Cover & art by Frank Robbins.

The Shadow #8  Night of the Mummy!
"The Night of the Mummy"
Frank Robbins cover & art. 


The Shadow #9  Night of the Falling Death!
"The Night of the Falling Death"
Written by Michael Uslan with Frank Robbins art.
Joe Kubert cover!


The Shadow #10  Night of the Killers!
"The Night of the Killers"
E.R. Cruz art through issue #12.


The Shadow #11  Hero Fights Hero when the Shadow Meets the Avenger!
"The Night of the Avenger"
Michael Uslan script with E.R. Cruz artwork.
Michael Kaluta cover!

The Shadow #12  The Night of the Damned!
"Night of the Damned" 
E.R. Cruz art. 



DC Comics would also follow up with further adventures of The Shadow by other creators, few left the mark this series and the ones by Howard Chaykin did.   


The Shadow showed up in Batman #253, sporting a moody Michael Kaluta cover. Denny O'Neil wrote the interesting tale.



Jim Steranko did a terrific series of paperback covers for The Shadow, published by Pyramid Books. The Shadow was the very first pulp hero I read in my younger years, so I do have a fondness for Lamont Cranston.
The Weird Adventures of the Shadow by William Gibson vintage hardcover edition!
 
The Shadow movie was good, oddly enough played by Alec Baldwin. I enjoyed it and would recommend it.  
Archie Comic's The Shadow started well, but turned away from the mystique!

  
Live Large My Friends!

Thank You!
   


 




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