Happy Halloween

Boo!

Last clew of the week

Have a good weekend, agents.  Don't forget to "Fall Back" Sunday morning.

The Time Master

Boring cover but one that probably generated a lot of excitement. There are a couple of nice head studies here but as a cover it ain't very well conceived.  I haven't read this one and at the rate I'm going it may take the Time Master to give me enough spare time to get to it.  Click here if you want a preview.

Hodgkins does The Shadow

Nice rendition of our favorite pulp hero.

Henry Flint does The Shadow

Reminds me of Bill Sienkiewicz's run on the 80's comic.  Fun drawing, just not my idea of the Master.

Give this a shot...

or ten.

Declan Shalvey does The Shadow

This looks like it could've been in one of the pulp stories.  Really like this one.

The Isle of Doubt

But there is no doubt that this is a cover I really go for.  Great hand cover with a nice ring prominent.  I haven't read this story so I guess I'll rely on this review to help me get a handle on this cover.  It's from 1933 so it must be great.  Looking forward to this one, for sure.

Thanks, Ralph

Another fun little item to add to my dusty shelves in the secret sanctum.

Friday's clew

Hope you can put your finger on this one.

Ian Culbard does The Shadow

That nose looks a bit like Chester Gould's Dick Tracy.  This would be a fun look for an animated series for the man in black.

The League of Death

Ick.  This is a very unappealing cover.  Just poorly done.  Not sure what went wrong with this one but I just don't like it.  Let's check out this review to see if the story is at least worth reading, shall we?

Mike Mignola does The Shadow

Would really love to see Mike do at least a short story of The Shadow.  I've been a fan of his for quite some time and his Gotham by Gaslight tale of The Batman is one of my all time favorites.  Ah, what could have been (and maybe could be?).

Geof Darrow does The Shadow

A little too cartoony for my taste.  However, this I like...

A deadly clew

You'll get this clew chop-chop!

David Lloyd does The Shadow.

David was the artist on Alan Moore's "V for Vendetta" so he's well versed in the look that would best fit The Shadow.  Just wish he'd gotten the nose right.

The Hand

The first of five loosely connected stories surrounding the five digits on a hand.  The first tale, "The Hand", deals with "Pinkey" Findlen whose crime specialty is... check out the cover... blackmail.  As the stories come out one only has to refer to this handy (heh) cover to figure out the next nefarious criminal enterprise.  The cover itself is only so-so.  Kinda flat and a bit boring.  Still, once one figures out that this foretells future stories it's kind fun.  I have read this story and found it satisfying.  If you haven't read it check out this review to see if you want to move it up your reading list.

Gary Frank does The Shadow

I like this one a lot.  No action but feel that the single eye conveys is well done.  Cheers to Mr. Frank on this little sketch.

Per your request, Agent T

I guess I'm giving you a hand on this one.

Pat Broderick does The Shadow

I remember Pat's run on Firestorm back in the day.  This is a fun and stylized take on our hero.

A head scratcher of a clew

Or not.  Only The Shadow Knows...

A Kubie does The Shadow

Rick Veitch is a Kubert School graduate (woo hoo) who worked on Swamp Thing, which was co-created by Bernie Wrightson who inked the third issue of The Shadow penciled by M. W. Kaluta.  The circle of life...

The Chinese Tapestry

I love these kinds of covers even if they aren't the most artistically appealing.  It has a ring so that makes it a wonderful cover, in my opinion.  I haven't read this but look forward to a Chinatown story set in San Francisco in 1935.

Jock does The Shadow

Another artist I'd like to see do more with The Master of Men.

Hmmm... what could this be?

Yeah, maybe this is too easy.

Biz duz the Man in Black

I would love to see what Simon Bisley would do in a full painting of The Dark Eagle.  Kinda like his Batman work.

The Book of Death

I agree with you Bill, one of the greatest covers of all time.  Not just for The Shadow Magazine but all pulpdom.  I have always wanted to read this one but have yet to make it that far in the series.  Still, as great as this cover is I think The Black Hush may be the most iconic.  Of course, I fully expect to be called on this one.  But wow, what an awesome painting!

James Jean does The Shadow

Would be cool to see his finished rendition like one of his "Fables" covers.

Back to the clews

Classic.

The great Joe Kubert does The Shadow

I know I've posted this before but Joe was a great teacher and inspiration to me.  It's fun to see him tackle my favorite character.

The Shadow in Review... update

I contacted John Olsen and his reply is below.

Hi Joe...

Comcast has stopped providing personal web space to its customers.  They hosted my web site until... well, yesterday.

I doubt if I'll put up the site on a different web host.  Of course, never say never.  But I reached my main goal, which was to read and review each Shadow story, and then to re-read them all and update the reviews after I had the "big picture" of the entire Shadow saga.  So putting back up the web site isn't a high priority for me.

It was fun while it lasted!

I hope that he decides to put the site up at some point and if so, I'll certainly let everyone know.

The Shadow in Review... RIP?

A few years ago (or maybe a decade ago?) John stopped posting the 5 Minute Mysteries.  Now it appears he has just stopped publishing the site.  This was one of the, if not the, best site for The Shadow.  Very in depth reviews of all the pulp adventures.  I don't know why this has happened but it is a sad day in the community.  Here's hoping the site will return.  I'll certainly let you know when I find out.

The clew is in the cards

Okay, maybe too much info.

The Shadow by Dick Giordano

The long time inker of Neal Adams was also quite an accomplished penciller and worked for many years as an editor at DC Comics.

Murder by Moonlight

Horrible cover (although there are worse ones, if you can believe that!) but Agent T remembers it as a good story.  If it's good enough for one of The Shadow's most loyal agents then it must be good enough for you, me or the man off the street.  Was it good enough for Mr. Olsen of The Shadow in Review?  Check out his opinion here.
This tale was previously reprinted in "The Weird Adventures of The Shadow" in 1966.  I did read this when I found it at my local library in the late 70's or maybe early 80's.  I have to admit that I really only remember Grove of Doom and that is because I've read it more than once.

Another Tim Sale version of The Dark Eagle

This would make a great letterhead for some stationary titled  "From the desk of The Shadow".

More clew for yew

Okay, your request has been granted.

The Shadow by Sam Hart

I like to think that this is the last image a dying gangster sees after encountering The Shadow.

The Shadow by Bob McLeod

Was never really a fan of Bob's work but I truly do love this piece.  He did The Shadow justice.  Wish the image weren't so blurry...

Last clew for the week

Sorry... must be done.

Another by Alan Davis

I like this one better than the one I posted previously.  Moodier, even if it is basically the same drawing.  The shading technique makes this one more appealing.