Jibaro Death original

This piece will be up for auction in July, I believe.  I really wasn't all that thrilled with this cover when I saw it as a pulp.  But the original is really very nice.  Great composition and color.  Too bad the printing was so poor back in the pulp era.

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Murder Every Hour

Love this cover. Simple and direct, I only wish the background weren't green. This is a straightforward murder mystery with a trademark Walter B. Gibson twist. If you would like to read a review of this 1935 tale, click here.

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The League of Death

Very cool title that is let down by the cover art. Perhaps with a better rendering this layout could have worked, but I doubt it. Just too clean to bring up the image of The Shadow striking from the inky blackness. Alas, not everything can be a masterpiece. If you want to read a pretty thorough review of this 1941 tale, just click here!

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The Chinese Primrose

Wow, I don't think we could get away with a cover such as this in today's politically correct atmosphere. Green skin? The nearly "Ming the Merciless" look to the face and the long fingernails? Heh, gotta love it though. The interiors were done by Earl Mayan, not my favorite artist on the series but there is a charm to his work. If anyone wants to read a review of this story from 1941, check it out here.

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Second Chance

The frigid night grabbed Jake by the back of the neck and wouldn't let go. Turning up the frayed collar of his thin jacket seemed to make it worse. 'What's taking him so long?' he thought to himself. 'Standing out here and keeping an eye out for... what? Al just said to keep my eyes peeled but he wouldn't say for what.'

"Jus' make sure nuthin', and I mean nuthin', gets by youse", Al growled before he picked the lock on the dark brownstone. Turning as he entered he hissed "Nuthin'!"

Jake had no idea why he was here. Nancy was home all alone except for their newborn son. 'I should be home, not out here. I've never done anything like this before. I'm a writer. Why did I let him talk me into...' A crash from the upper window broke Jake's reverie and he started toward the front door when an eerie sound stopped him cold in his tracks. A laugh was crawling up Jake's spine as he backed toward the sedan parked just out of the glow of the streetlight. The sound wasn't quite human, maybe not even a laugh at all. Maybe...

A flash of light momentarily lit up the room and then a second flash followed by a crash. Silence took over the house for several moments, moments Jake couldn't move, couldn't breathe. Finally the door creaked open and Jake Somerville could see the gagged face of his cousin Al. As he began to move toward the door out of familial loyalty he felt an iron grip on his shoulder and froze. He turned his head to the left and saw a black clad hand with a fiery ring on the third finger glowing faintly.

"Go home, Jake Somerville. Never walk this path again or your son will know his father only through the bars of a cell." The voice turned Jake's blood to ice and he felt like he may pass out.

"But I can't leave..." he started to stammer only to have the sound of sirens cut through the frigid November air.

"Your choice. The weed of crime bears bitter fruit, Jake. If you stay you will find that crime does not pay." And with that the grip was gone and the sound of laughter mixed with the sound of the sirens growing louder. Casting one last glance at his cousin Jake slid over the hood of the car and climbed inside. Turning the engine over he floored the gas pedal and drove straight out of the high end neighborhood that he didn't belong in and all the way to the home he never should have left.

Pulling up to the rundown apartment building where his family was waiting inside, he turned off the engine and slumped in the seat. He still had no means of taking care the two most important people in his world. Out of frustration he pounded the dashboard, hard enough to pop the glove compartment open. Leaning over to close the door his eye caught a package that hadn't been there before. Grabbing the envelope Jake leaned back in the bench seat. A gasp escaped his lips as several thousand dollars spilled onto his lap. On top of the unexpected bonanza lay a white business card with the name Clyde Burke and a phone number to the New York Classic.

Breathing hard as his mind tried to grasp all of the this, he all of a sudden stopped breathing altogether as the sound of eerie laughter seemed to surround him and then fade to silence. Gathering up the cash Jake ran into the apartment building calling for Nancy. He may not know what the future held but he had been given a second chance and there wasn't even the shadow of a doubt that he wasn't going to let it slip away.

Gems of Doom

This cover shows the infamous suction cups, although they are describes as being much smaller in the stories. This cover was also shown as one of the pulps in the newsstand on the cover of "The Wasp Returns" which I posted here. If one should want to read a review of this novel, click here.

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Charg, Monster

As a young man I would have preferred the Steranko cover to the original. Sexy woman in peril, The Shadow himself challenging a rampaging metal monster. What's not to love? Now as a middle aged illustrator I can only say that my tastes have changed and prefer the symbology of the original cover art. Seeing the smokewagon bursting into our faces with the famous ring in all of it's glory, can there be any doubt that The Shadow will prevail? None at all. Well, for a review of this rousing tale, click here.

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Things that I covet update

Melody over at The Cobalt Club provided us with an image of a Mexican Fire Opal. I doctored up the original ring from here to see what The Shadow's ring might truly have looked like.

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A new Shadow figure

Go Hero is soliciting a new "action figure" of The Shadow. Looks pretty good, although I'm not a proponent of the red scarf in any of the incarnations. It looks like the .45's are silver, not a fan of that, either. However, I'm intrigued. May lay out the $99.99 for this one.

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Mox

This cover from "Mox", while tattered, is pretty cool. Apparently this story was originally titled "Mystery Scent". I believe the editors made the right choice in changing it. If you want to read a short review of "Mox", by all means click here.

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The Wasp Returns

This is one of those rare repeat appearances of a villain, in this case The Wasp. There have been a few but not many. I do like this cover though. Using the newsstand with an older cover of The Shadow Magazine, "Gems of Doom", prominent is fun. Shameless self promotion, that's pure pulp at it's best. If you are so inclined, you can check out a review of this issue here.

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Realm of Doom

The final chapter of the "Hand" story arc, this one featuring "Thumb" Gaudrey. This ties up what turns out to be a nearly unrelated series, where the others really had nothing to do with each other. Unfortunately, this seems to have been a lost opportunity. From my standpoint, one that could be reworked for pretty cool series of short stories that end up being tied into Shiwan Khan or maybe Doctor Rodil Mocquino. Anyhow, if one wants to read a review of this tale, click here.