In support of a great Shadow fan

For those of you who miss "The Shadow in Review" have no fear because John Olsen is still at it, just a bit more diverse.  "That's Pulp!" is a great blog where John covers many different types of pulp and serials of old.

http://www.thepulp.net/ThatsPulp/

 Why am I telling you this?  Well, he is once again posting the "Two Minute Mysteries" that were a staple of his old site.  I've been waiting for him to reprint/repost these for many years.  I'm absolutely giddy about this.  So far he has posted three of them and I think it's a fun way to avoid working for a couple of minutes.  Check it out:    

http://www.thepulp.net/thatspulp/category/two-minute-mystery/

What I'm reading now

"Doom on the Hill" by Walter B. Gibson.  Just started it so I have no opinion on where this tale is going.  I like how the reprint is pretty faithful to how this looked on the racks back in the day.  I'll let you know what I think when I'm finished.

What I just finished

After finishing "The Killer" on the plane to Sin City I started the latest Will Murray Doc Savage/The Shadow crossover although I'm not a real fan of Shiwan Khan as he seems to be the default villain for The Shadow.  That being said I enjoyed the book pretty well.  I have to say I prefer "The Sinister Shadow" better as it seemed to deal with our hero much more.  I've always liked the idea of Doc Savage but just can't wrap myself up in his team.  They always struck me as being aimed more for juveniles than being fleshed out as serious adult characters.  Guess that's the aim of some of the pulps.  However, I appreciate all of the research and touchstones Will put into this one and it made for a quick read (even at 425 pages).  A quick shout out to Tim King for being a patron of the pulp arts and commissioning the cover art.

The Master has an assignment for me...

Gonna turn the blue light off for a few days.

Answer to the cryptic message

As you sow evil so shall you reap evil

Not The Shadow but certainly a relative

Thanks to my oldest and best friend for this gift.  Sitting on my desk this morning.

A cryptic message from The Shadow

Fx dtz xtb janq xt xmfqq dtz wjfu janq

Give it a go, agents.

"The defeat of four armed henchman..."

"... by one lone fighter was explained to Cardona's satisfaction."

  Now let Joe explain it to Weston.

Leader of the (pulp) Pack

I really like Alex Ross' cover art for all of the pulp related publications at Dynamite, I just could not get into Masks.  Haven't picked up Masks 2 since the first series was so unappealing to me.  Doesn't take away from the great covers, though.

What I'm reading now

Well, I will be starting tonight.  Looking forward to this one.  Love the old stuff.  Pretty cool cover to boot.

John Paul Leon does The Shadow

Nice alley scene but our hero looks like he's just coming home from a day at the behind the counter of  the local butcher shop.  Well done drawing with some very nice spotting of blacks and great texturing.

Tom Grindberg does The Shadow...

and a few more to boot.

Double Breasted Vengeance

The dapper vigilante emerges from the inky shadows to bring swift judgement to a pair of gangdom's minions.

How things change

  As lurid as the pulp covers were I doubt that Street & Smith would have run a cover like this

to head the story "The Shadow Unmasks" instead of the classic Rozen painting.

  I really like the Alex Ross piece as it portrays (a bit too graphically) what Gibson hinted at in the early novels.  A man without a face!  Maybe it would have looked something like this...

  Still, the original is the one I prefer.

Huge smokewagons!

Kaluta goodness!  I love how the shells are being ejected trailing smoke.  The ink treatment is really sweet, as well.

Brett Booth (no relation) does The Shadow

Not my favorite version, too McFarlane for my liking.  But hey, anything that keeps our hero relevant...

What I'm Reading Now

Well, not right now as I'm typing but, well, you know what I mean.  Piracy on the high seas.  Looking forward to really getting into this one.

As a mongoose whips a cobra...

I've always been a sucker for these bits of promotion.  Made me feel like I was getting a peek inside the inner circle.