"The Night of The Avenger!" page 14

Double Death original art

And here is the painting.

Double Death

I just thought I'd end the year with a cover that ended one of the many years of The Shadow Magazine. Also, because I had recently found a copy of the original painting without the masthead and text. I also thought that it was fitting since so many are flying this time of year and the TSA has come under fire for their use of the revealing scanner. Overall, not a good cover but if you want to read a bit about the story originally titled "The Each Die Twice" by Theodore Tinsley, as always go here to check out a brief synopsis.

Last clew of 2010

A revealing clew for you.

"The Night of The Avenger!" page 13

Death Turrets

What to say, it's a picture. I hope Anthony Tollin doesn't choose to run this cover as the one for his reprint when he gets around to publishing this tale. This was originally titled "House of Doom" and a synopsis can be found here.

"The Night of The Avenger!" page 12

"The Night of The Avenger!" page 11

Clewsday

Let's just get this one out of the way, shall we?

The Golden Dog Murders

I kind of like this cover (well it is a hand cover after all) and think the rendering is quite well done. Not crazy about the generic diamond but I like the dark coloring of the famous girasol. I haven't read this one but I understand the statue is supposed to be a gilded nude female figure with a dog's head. Odd, but intriguing. As long as Tony Tollin continues to publish the reprints I assume I'll bet to this one. Check it out here if you want to read a brief synopsis of the tale originally titled "Blood Sapphires.

"The Night of The Avenger!" page 10

"The Night of The Avenger!" page 9

Merry Christmas

Who knows what goodness lurks in the hearts of men (women & children, as well). Shadow Claus knows. HOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO

"The Night of The Avenger!" page 8

Christmas clew

"The Night of The Avenger!" page 7

The Sealed Box

Quite the cover. Thanks for the background info on this one, Agent T. I can see how this would have been a bit of a "touchy" subject if they had gone ahead with the image as painted. However, I think it turned out just peachy. If anyone wants to read about the story that resided beneath the cover, click here.

"The Night of The Avenger!" page 6

Clew numba two

Monday's clew

Good luck.

"The Night of The Avenger!" page 5

"The Night of The Avenger!" page 4

"The Night of The Avenger!" page 3

"The Night of The Avenger!" page 2

Washington Crime

I like this cover, don't love it. I really appreciate the rendering and the action in this one. However, with The Shadow staring at the viewer, I don't feel the "reality" of the scene. Very nice, though. If you are interested in the story, there is a synopsis to be found here.

Easy clew for your consideration

"The Night of The Avenger!" page 1

"The Night of The Avenger!"

The eleventh story of the legendary twelve issue run.

The Museum Murders

Nothing good to say about this cover. As Agent T states, the decline of the covers begins. Originally titled "Death Treasures" even Mr. Olsen doesn't give it a thumbs up on his review. To be fair, I would say the decline of the covers began two issues before, and the last great cover was "Death About Town" six short months earlier. I wonder how the public felt about this erosion of quality, or perhaps they were like our society today and had just moved on to something else. It may be trite to say but "All good things come to an end".

Monday's Clew

Remembering the Master

I was remiss in noting that December 6th marked the twenty fifth anniversary of the passing of Walter B. Gibson. Without Mr. Gibson there would never have been a Maxwell Grant, Kent Allard, Lamont Cranston, Dark Eagle or Ying Ko. Street & Smith tasked the young writer with getting a couple of tales onto the newsstands so that they would not lose the copyright to the narrator of a radio version of one of their magazines. Who would've thought (I'm sure the editors didn't) that Walter would not only create (yes, I said "create") one of the most popular characters in American culture, but also become one of the most prolific writers in pulps. If not for Mrs. Gibson's little boy, I can say that I would be a different person. There would never have been a Batman, the character that led me to The Shadow. I probably would never have been introduced to OTR. I may never have gone into art since I was driven by a love of comics, which I may never have felt if it weren't for Batman, who wouldn't exist if it weren't for Walter B. Gibson. I know this all sounds like "A Sound of Thunder" but I don't know where I'd be if Mr. Gibson hadn't been given that assignment nearly eighty years ago. I know I wouldn't be sitting in front of my computer making a blog entry for a site called "Under the Blue Light", that's for sure.

The Strange Disappearance of Joe Cardona

I've always liked this cover and thought the inclusion of one of the recurring supporting characters in the title always seemed so cool. Nice execution and great composition. This is one I will finally get to read since it has been reprinted by Anthony Tollin. If anyone wants to read a synopsis of this tale, go here.

Clew for Thursday

"The Night of the Killers!" page 18

Gotta love that autogyro.

Death in the Stars

I like the rendering of The Shadow in this. I wish Gladney had stuck with this look. But he had to go and "humanize" our hero. Don't get me wrong, I think Graves may have been a better painter than Rozen, but not nearly the designer.
As to the story, click here for a brief synopsis.

The new clew

"The Night of the Killers!" page 17

The Python

Interesting cover with the use of the geometric piping behind our hero. The antagonist looks like he could have come from a Doc Savage cover. As this comes from the early years it seems to be a great story, according to the review found here. I look forward to reading this one day.
On a different note, I wonder how much more thrilling these tales would have been if we had been reading them back in the days they were published. The anticipation of a new adventure, very little competition for our attention in the form of television, internet, etc... We'll never know.

"The Night of the Killers!" page 16

"The Night of the Killers!" page 15

"The Night of the Killers!" page 14

Friday's Clew

"The Night of the Killers!" page 13

The Shadow Meets the Mask

Really don't care for this cover. As Agent T points out, rather gory. I can live with the wound in the gut but the angle of the gun looks as if he is shooting the man in the head. I really don't like the Shadow in this one. Aside from his costume it would be hard to tell who he is.
Apparently this was the first of two similarly titled stories. As always, click here for a brief synopsis of this tale.

"The Night of the Killers!" page 12

Agent T, this is, I'm sure, not your favorite.

"The Night of the Killers!" page 11

The Murder Master

This cover always reminded me of "Dracula", with our hero having just bitten the neck of the damsel. A very straight forward illustration that would have hooked me even if I weren't a fan of the magazine. Almost "Spicy Detective Story" in feel. If you want to go beyond the cover and read a synopsis of this story, go here.

"The Night of the Killers!" page 10

Last clew of November

An easy one to get you back into the swing of things.

"The Night of the Killers!" page 9

"The Night of the Killers!" page 8