Just gonna put my two cents out there. I've been reading the "discussion" on FB re: Dynamite's handling of The Shadow. Bringing our hero "up-to-date" may be a concession we all have to face, but that doesn't mean abandoning who he is down in his core. He was never a maniacal killer who blew villains hands off laughing with glee. Leave that to The Spider and other kill crazy characters, there is a place and fan base for all of that. The whole treatment of sex in these series that this company puts out flies in the face of the characters Gibson created. Don't let me go down that path, it is just something unnecessary to this property. Yes, Wagner got it pretty much right but, in my mind, this greatest of pulp heroes has not been treated correctly since "The Shadow Strikes". What's missing? HE'S A FRIGGIN' GENIUS DETECTIVE, FER CRYIN' OUT LOUD!!!!!!
Yep, Dynamite just thinks he shows up to deal with things in a violent manner. Oh, sure, there's a bit of detection to move the story along but where is the clever twists (and I did say clever) or the great chess matches between equally genius villains? I'll give a bit of a pass that I may be not remembering some things here... but that's kinda the point. What do I remember? What is my lasting image of Dynamite's The Shadow? Violence!! Simply violence. I can't bring myself to reread any of the series (although I did read Wagner's and Uslan's stuff a couple of times) because it kind of depresses me.
I could go on and go deeper but it just ain't worth it. Thank you Anthony Tollin for giving the fans what they want and deserve, the real Dark Eagle.
You nailed it, Joe!
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