The Gray Ghost

The Shadow brings down another villain.  Or does he?  Is this really a ghost?  Well, I'm sure we all know it's not but back in the day this cover would have been a great pull for any fan of The Shadow or even just the action pulps in general.  Want to know more about this tale?  Either pick up the reprint from Sanctum Press or check out this review.

Felipe Navarro does The Shadow

Nice design.

A thought

  I have been wondering what could be the reason for The Shadow's fight against crime.  I know the explanation that he left espionage to focus on cleaning up the criminal element at home is the accepted reason but there has to be something driving him personally (I would think).  Something from his past, before the war, that scarred him and made him able to wake up every day for decades and put his life and the lives of his agents on the line to bring about the demise of crime.  I wouldn't expect it to be the same as Bruce Wayne and the death of his family.  Would it be the way he was raised?  Similar to Clark Savage, Jr?  Were his parents able to instill a sense of  nobility in him?  Perhaps his parents were criminals and he vowed to make sure no child would be raised in such an environment.
  I found a 16 year old chat discussion that started as a examination of his real face and found this comment.

"I once saw a documentary on World War I (on PBS I think) and it spend quite a bit of time on the
effects of gas warfare. At least one of the gases used would literally destroy the face. Photographs
were shown of veterans with large gaping holes where their nose and mouth should have been. Special masks had to be made for these people to give the appearance of a normal face. Otherwise, the victims would wrap their faces up in a scarf or some other kind of cloth. I believe the term for these people were "men of no faces" or "men of hollow faces". These people were generally kept out of the public eye, but most people of the twenties and thirties were aware of their existence. The Shadow was created in the early Thirties and Kent Allard was a WWI vet. References to "grotesque hollowness" and such makes me wonder if this was Walter Gibson's original motivation the Shadow's war on crime. Who knows......."

  I would really like to know if there has been an accepted version of what drives this avenger in such a single minded way.  Yes, I know he was a pulp character created to really just entertain people but I'd like to think that hidden away in some trunk in an attic somewhere lies a notebook written by Walter B. Gibson with the never before seen origin of our hero.

Just a thought.

New clew for the rest of the week

What could it be?  Who knows...

Steve Scott does The Shadow

I like this for the most part.  I never think that The Shadow's mouth should be shown, makes him less mysterious.  However, the most glaring problem with this piece is what's not there.  WHERE'S THE DAMN RING!!!!!!!  Ahem, sorry for that.

Temple of Crime

An action packed cover with The Shadow getting the upper hand (as it should be).  Gangsters and Egyptian gods... what more could one want in the Fall of 1941.  Wish the smokewagon were a bitter more imposing and that the interior had more gloom but those are minor quibbles.  I have yet to read the tale but this review has me anxious to get to it.

More of a clew

Hope this helps out, agents.

Dave Kendall does The Shadow

Or is it The Spider?  The bits of crazy hair make it look less like our hero and someone else's favorite pulp character.

Michael Golden does The Shadow

One of my favorite comic artists.  Not one of my favorite renditions of The Shadow.  It's alright and well done but I would love to have seen this done the way he was portraying Dr. Strange back in the day.

New clew

Ah, probably too easy.

Realm of Doom

No guesses on this one so here's the cover.  Not one of my favorites other than the large profile shadow of The Shadow.  I'm sure the split in the sign with the red bus coming through is very integral to the story.  As you can guess from my comment I have yet to read this one.  I like the colors used on the cover just not the fact that there is no real action involved.  If I weren't a fan of this magazine the cover certainly wouldn't entice me to pick it up.  Here's the review of this, the fifth "Hand" novel, from The Shadow in Review.

A bit more of a clew

I'll check back tomorrow to see if this helped.

New clew

Back to the clews, agents.

The North Woods Mystery

Gotta love the slouch hat on our cover character.  Is it a cute little clew as to who is brandishing the rifle in the very nicely rendered canoe?  I look forward to reading "The Shadow in Canada" as John Olsen ranks it in the top ten novels.  If you want a preview of this thrilling tale of The Shadow, check out this review.

Reflect on this clew

Good luck.

The Death Sleep

Excellent cover.  Very representative of The Shadow and how he is feared by the underworld.  The colors are rich and really make this art jump out at the reader.  That makes it even better that it was the introduction to this story.  I really enjoyed it as Tony was kind enough to reprint this tale.  I recommend that you can't go wrong with "The Death Sleep".

Finally, back to the clews

Sorry for the haphazard manner of posting these clews but some family issues have kind of taken more of my time than I thought.  That and I can't shake this illness.  Why has The Master forsaken me and not overnighted a bit of that elixir my way?  Maybe Doc has something sitting in his lab...

The Yellow Door

Well rendered cover (although I hate the little book just tacked onto the cover).  I agree, Agent T, that I don't like seeing my hero injured.  I know it happens but there are just too few chances to show The Master of Men in full color staring out at his agents/fans.  Show him nursing his wounds or being shot inside the magazine!!!  Anyhow, I like this cover well enough simply because George Rozen handled the paint so well.  I haven't read this one so I have to rely on this review to inform me. 

Back to the clews

What I wouldn't give for some of The Shadow's famous purple elixir.  Been fighting this flu bug since I boarded the flight home last Thursday.  My way of apologizing for the erratic posting lately.

Death In The Crystal

At least the title of this tale is on the cover.  I can't even comment on this atrocity.  This review says the tale is a bit better than the cover.  Don't know if that is saying much.  Still, Walter B. is the author so it can't be horrendous.