Final post of 2021

ON THE AIR: March 10, 1940

"You will laugh, but not from joy.  You will laugh and the laugh will be the laugh of death."

Three scientists.  A spurned partner.  Death comes in a small box.  Laughter, but not the laughter of The Shadow.  At least not until good triumphs over evil.  End your year with Lamont, Margot and Shrevie while listening to "The Laughing Corpse".  Cheers

"Death Sits Down" page 5

"The Master needs you."

Last one for today...

I love seeing originals that were considered throwaway art.  You can see how Lovell patched the figure at the top right of the illustration.  I would love to peel that away and see what he considered unsuitable for publication.  A peek behind the curtain, so to speak.

Now this is The Shadow

 Edd Cartier (natch).  This is a true classic image of our hero and there is no doubt who this is! 

Hmmm...

 Is this The Shadow or some other crime fighter.  Either way, I thought I'd share.

A future Christmas wish...

 ...or just an everyday wish.  Would love to hear the whole soundtrack the way Goldsmith composed it.  I listen to the original way more than I probably should.  This and the Star Trek The Motion Picture scores are a couple of my favorites.

"Death Sits Down" page 4

"Moe?"

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"Chief o' Police doesn't like these union agitators anymore'n we do."

Well looky here...

 I didn't realize I had another Darwyn Cooke illustration stashed away.  Maybe I should get more organized...

Lovell yesterday, Kinstler today

 Everett Raymond Kinstler only worked on one issue of The Shadow, "The White Skulls".  He is best known as a portrait painter who ended up painting the official White House portraits of Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan.  From "The White Skulls" to The White House.  Not a bad journey.

Joe Kubert does The Shadow

 He also did the cover to issue #9 of DC's 70s run. 

"Death Sits Down" page 2

"Sure you are...

...commie."

How about a little Darwyn Cooke

 One of those sketch covers from back in the early days of Dynamites run.  Nice to see Mr. Cooke's take on The Shadow.

A little Lovell goodness

 Would love to have gotten this in the mail.  I have no idea when this was done but it looks to be well after his run on The Shadow came to an end.

Eric Canete does The Shadow

I really love Eric's art.  He has a fun, fluid style that works well with the Kaluta model of The Shadow.
 

"Death Sits Down" page 1

Hoboken, 1936

Just reminiscing about one of the cooler things to come out for The Shadow

 I still love my reproduction "The Shadow Club" pin.  I think they did a fantastic job recreating it and if they ever produce a similar pin for Doc Savage I may have to get it.

Marc Laming does The Shadow

prep

finish

I am unfamiliar with this artist but it's a very nice rendition of Margo and The Shadow.

Let's add another Cartier piece

This is the header illustration (I don't know if they used the term 'splash page' for the pulps) of The Rackets King.  The two Cartier illustrations from posts on the 23rd and the 25th were from this novel.

"Death Sits Down"

 And so we start a new two parter with artwork by Mark Badger.

Merry Christmas from Under the Blue Light

 Here's hoping all of you agents are enjoying a fun and relaxing Christmas Day. 

It's tough hanging out in strange houses at Christmas

 Invariably someone goes gunnin' fer Shadow Claus.  Hope everyone is having a much more relaxed day than our hero seems to be.

Not The Shadow but from the time period...

 Alex Raymond, Flash Gordon's creator and an inspiration to many of the medium's great artists.  This was A Christmas Carol, from Saturday Home Magazine in 1935.  It almost looks like Lamont and Margo singing in the snow.

"Death's Harlequin" page 25

"That call's for me, I'm afraid.  Treat my name well, will you?"

"Better than you have, I think.  Bon voyage, Cranston..."

Steve Rude does The Shadow

 The prelim...

The finish.  Classic pose for our hero.  Although I can't recall him crawling down a wall like that, just up.  Makes sense, though.

ON THE AIR: March 3, 1940

Spectral voices drive men to fall to their deaths from a new bridge being built.  Since this is a surviving episode I won't give any more away and let everyone sit back with a hot cocoa or other beverage and listen to this tale from 1940, "Death on the Bridge".

The Night Before Christmas: A retelling

 'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Only one creature was stirring, it was a louse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;
The children were nestled all snug in their beds;
While visions of Shadow Club pins danced in their heads;
And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter's nap,
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.
The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow,
Gave a lustre of midday to objects below,
When what to my wondering eyes did appear,
But a ‘31 Chevy with our presents in the rear,
With a weasely driver (such a slovenly slob),
I knew in a moment we were being robbed.
More rapid than dark eagles our rescuer came,
And he laughed, and shouted, and called them by name:
"Now, Fingers! now, Squint! Your time is at hand!
Return your ill gotten booty and silently stand!
Christmas is for families and people who care,
here is a bit of wisdom with you I will share."
But before our hero could finish his thought
The vile thieves drew gats they probably hadn’t bought!
His eyes—how they burned, like twin pieces of Blue Coal there!
His hands flashed like lightning and twin guns he brought to bear!
Flame flashed from the smokewagons amid that silent night,
And the smoke, it encircled his head like a wraith, oh such a sight ;
The crooks lay bleeding and fearful in the snow,
When the black cloaked savior spoke “Of this I know...
The Weed of Crime bears bitter fruit, Crime doesn’t Pay!”
And with those words of wisdom he was on his way.
But from the mists that shrouded our quaint little lane
We heard one thing more though not very plain.
From out of that dark and inky black night

"Merry Christmas to all and to crooks a good fright!"

 

"Death's Harlequin" page 24

"This one must live... to tell her story, to the world."

But I don't like eggnog!

 

At least that's what it looks like to me.  Cartier makes the most sedate image impressive.  What a great look on The Shadow's face and the attention to the setting is great.

What could be more fitting for the season...

 ... than The Shadow, in the snow with Nazi skeletons.  Who better to do this type of illustration?  Why Hellboy himself, Mike Mignola!  A Mignola book would be a true treat.  Can I make another Christmas wish?

Callback to the odd days of the "modern" Shadow

I really admire Bill Sienkiewicz and his work.  I loved his renderings of The Shadow but wish it could have been more of the pulp version and not the punk version.  This take on our hero really got out of hand but, hey, it got our guy back into the public consciousness again.

"Death's Harlequin" page 23

"She was prey... and procuress... for your 'Hunt Club'.  She knew you all... and what episodes you would like to keep private."

Cartier scaled some heights with The Shadow

 What a wonderful representation of The Shadow doing shadowy things.  This is the way I see our hero in my head, the way Gibson wrote the character.  A comic book done in this style would be gorgeous.  Probably never come to pass, however.  A nice dream...

Gianni does a card

 I don't have the whole collection.  I wasn't thrilled with what I saw when this set came out but now, of course, I want them all.  Wish the reproduction was better, though.

Dynamite's "The Shadow"

I'm going to have revise my opinion of Dynamite's take on The Shadow.  Did they make him a bit too over the top regarding violence?  Yes, they did.  I think they may have toned it down a bit over the course of the 25 issue series but it was still a concern of mine.  Did they sex up the Margo Lane relationship?  Absolutely.  That is something I didn't care for but nothing to be done about it.  Chaykin started that way back in the 80's and the film pushed it as well.  Was I a fan of the art?  For the most part, no.  Campbell did a pretty decent job but Timpano was hard for me to get through.  Ross' covers as well as some of the others really saved the book from an art standpoint.  So why am I revising my opinion?  Because they brought in some of the lesser known aspects of The Shadow's background.  The Seventh Star.  The Xincan angle with the second girasol.  Yat Soon in Chinatown.  Dr. Roy Tam (not the version from the film) and even his Dark Eagle persona.  Did they handle it well.  Well enough.  I'll never put this series ahead of any of the others but at least they did their research and brought some fun stuff to the table.  I'll give my opinion as I work my way through the subsequent volumes that follow the original 25 issue run.

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"The you are easily duped."

Why not! A third wish for this Christmas season

 I bring this up, probably far too often.  But seriously, would this not have been the best film incarnation of The Shadow?  Isn't there a modern studio that could pull this off?  Toth inspired CG?  Traditional animation?  This is just a beautiful rendition and I think it would find an audience today.  At least that is what I hope.  And I never tire of looking at this and the other Alex Toth images of The Dark Eagle.  A Christmas miracle is what it would take, though.

Another Christmas wish...

 My wish is that this never happened! 

Christmas wish...

 This would be so much fun in the Sanctum.  Alas, I never did find one of these out in the wild so I've never had the pleasure to lose a few quarters to this machine.  Was it fun?  I guess only The Shadow knows!

"Death's Harlequin" page 21

 BAM!

This shadow has a new sanctum to hang in

 I hope this prep sketch enjoys the new digs it now resides in.

Steranko sketches The Shadow

 Fun little sketch.  Appears to be a marker sketch, probably from a convention.  Really nice design.

"Death's Harlequin" page 20

"Number One flees, Cranston.  Await me--"

ON THE AIR: February 25, 1940

 Another lost episode.  So what do I do?  Consult the enormous tome that is Martin Grams' "The Shadow: The History and Mystery of the Radio Program, 1930 - 1954".

This one involves two sunken submarines, a seaweed covered 'banshee' and a scuba diving Lamont Cranston.  Lamont nearly suffocates when the ghost smashes the life sustaining air apparatus, even though Shrevvy was left to monitor the equipment.  Of course, Cranston survives.  The subs are raised and a tour is given to Margot and Lamont.  The ghost reappears and Felix Wolf, the owner of the subs, goes topside to put an end to this ghost tomfoolery.  The ghost is exposed as the designer of the subs, a jealous man who then tries to blow them up but The Shadow stops him and all is right with the world once again.

The Shadow #19 a Jason Shawn Alexander production

I sure hope he has the ability to cloud men's minds 'cause he ain't exactly gonna blend into the Russian snowscape!