Wednesday, May 31, 2017

Doom on the Hill



Not sure I even had the clew posted before you answered it, Agent T!  Time to get vague with my clews and give you a challenge.  Really like the rendering on this cover but maybe not the composition.

Tuesday, May 30, 2017

Don't let this clew derail you


Back to the clews.  Here's hoping everyone remembered those that gave all for this country and all of us who love living here.

Friday, May 26, 2017

The Whispering Eyes

The finale to the original run.  Strange cover and poor representation of our hero.  Goin' out with a whisper... er, wimper, rather than a bang.

Wednesday, May 24, 2017

Racket Town


At least he's wearing black socks.  Nice cover with action and a fully realized cityscape.  Great colors and rendering make for a solid illustration.  How will The Shadow get out of this one?  I guess I'll have to read this late '37 adventure to find out.

Tuesday, May 23, 2017

Monday, May 22, 2017

Charg, Monster



Classic cover indeed, Agent T.  As you know the ring is what makes this for me.  But, without the ring this could be almost any pulp cover.  It's the little things.

Here's the cover I was first introduced to.  Gotta say I prefer the original.


Thursday, May 18, 2017

More Doc Savage


I know this is a blog for The Shadow but I like to think that the hero pulps and comics have a place here as well.  Although The Shadow will always remain at the top of my hero list I have always been a fan of the Doc Savage character if not his team.  With the possibility of a Doc film I've been wondering who would have made a great Clark Savage Jr. on the big screen.  Not sure if his acting chops would've been enough but Dolph Lundgren sure could have pulled off the look.  Not to mention his reported real life IQ of 160 gives him some serious Doc cred!

The Museum Murders


Not the worst cover in the series but definitely not a classic.  Looks more Ellery Queen than The Shadow.  I'll take Agent T's word for the tale as I have not read this one but based on this cover it would fall way down the list.

Monday, May 15, 2017

The Northdale Mystery


I labored under the misconception for many years that this was Mobsmen on the Spot because of this


At least it's a great little painting.  A little green but...

Friday, May 12, 2017

Have a great weekend, agents.



Don't forget to call your mothers.  And any mothers out there... Happy Mother's Day.

Thursday, May 11, 2017

Never Fear...

Doc Savage is Here!



  I played around with this a bit, added some stuff.  I've always liked the Roger Kastel painting of Ely in an homage of James Bama's famous version.

  I kinda got into a Ron Ely as Doc Savage mood over the weekend and watched the film.  My, my, my... No one had better whine about The Shadow (1994) film ever again.  I knew this film wasn't going to be very good but never expected it to be so bad.  I so desperately wanted there to be something to hang my hat on but there really is nothing.  So campy it was painful.  Monk was unwatchable and the others just kinda were "meh" except I thought Paul Gleason as Major Thomas J. "Long Tom" Roberts was pretty well cast and reasonably acted.

  With the new film being tossed around with The Rock as Doc (which I initially had no problem with) I now fear that the new flick would be an updated comic romp.  I like Shane Black's work but if Baywatch is a hit I would wonder if D. Johnson would push a lighter tone and if the studio would back his desire.  Now, I have heard nothing in this vein but I can truly see something like this happening.

  I just re-watched "Captain America" for the umpteenth time.  I think that movie is a great template for a Doc Savage film.  The tone was innocent yet timely.  The feel was perfect for the times.  Chris Evans, if he weren't already Cap (or Human Torch) would be terrific as Clark Savage, Jr.  Alas, the fans have no control over how a film is envisioned.  Still think a Netflix series or HBO series a la Boardwalk Empire would be perfect for The Shadow.

Easy clew, Agent T



One of the first Shadow pulp covers I ever saw.  Took years before I knew the title of the novel associated with it.

Wednesday, May 10, 2017

Tuesday, May 9, 2017

Tuesday is Clewsday



Trying to make this one fun as the actual cover is, well, not.

Monday, May 8, 2017

Playing with a Colton Worley painting


Found this on Facebook and thought I'd give it a little pulp treatment.  Maybe a bit too bloody on the logo but it made it a bit more garish.  Quick and dirty Photoshop.

The Golden Masks

Classic cover.  The bright colors (and I don't hate the use of yellow in this one) are used so well here.  Agent T may have wanted a longer nose (heh, anteater nose) but I like a more realistic proportions.  Still, I'd take Rozen over Gladney most any day.  This composition really makes it look as though The Shadow is looking right at the viewer.  Great cover.

Thursday, May 4, 2017

Treasures of Death


I like this cover since it shows The Shadow's ability to solve any problem.  It's not very exciting but it is well done and it has a ring on it.  What more does one want?  Oh. yeah, The Shadow himself would be nice.  (and less yellow...)

Wednesday, May 3, 2017

A tale of never growing up


  I wish I could remember the first time I saw Star Trek.  I think it was "Arena" with the Gorn, but I'm not sure.  What I do remember is the friend's house where I often watched Trek (although I can't remember the friend) in Bismark.  This would've been the summer of 1972.  I moved to Butte, MT later that year or early '73, second grade at any rate.  Butte is where my love of Star Trek blossomed.  It was where I found the novelizations of the series by James Blish at the local Ben Franklin store.  There was a used bookstore that carried stills from the show that I bought and pinned up all over my room.  There was Woolworths where I got my Mego figures and the bridge as well as models and that big, ugly phaser toy.  I even got the communicator walkie talkies for my birthday.  But what I really remember was J C Penney.  Second floor.  Boys department.  1975.


  This shirt was my prized possession and has never left my memories.  I had a couple of friends who would build cardboard sets and armed with our model ships and our model phasers and communicators we made up our own adventures.  
  I just ran across this shirt in a trunk and it brought the biggest smile to my face.  My lovely wife had cleaned it and put it away for me a long time ago.  I thought it was lost.  I bring this up because I recently bought the Anovos Season One shirt and have the Wand Company phaser and communicator.


  I haven't grown up.  I probably won't grow up.  Why?  'cause I don't wanna grow up.  Beam me up and Live Long and Prosper.

Tuesday, May 2, 2017

Meanwhile...

  Along with The Shadow, Batman and Star Trek I put The Phantom in my pantheon of heroes.  I used to follow his comic pages adventures back in Butte in the early 70's.  We got this paper every Thursday (I can't recall what it was) and it had color "funny papers" included.  Looked forward to Thursday all week long.  The Phantom was part of that and quickly became my favorite.  I couldn't tell you what the adventures were or who the artist was just that it fired my imagination.


  As time rolled on I found the Charlton Comics and had a problem with the art.  Over time I came to appreciate Pat Boyette and his version of The Ghost Who Walks.  


  However Jim Aparo was my favorite


and Don Newton came in second.


  Just a little side trip through my Legion of Heroes.

Not much more I can give ya


Monday, May 1, 2017