The Shadow: Year One #1 page 5

 

"<Even the oceans will not sway my justice!>"

The Shadow: Year One #1 page 4

 

"<Y-you... you are Ying Ko... th-the Shadow of Doom!>"

The Sunday Comics: The Shadow Comics "One Small Bier!" page 4

 

"You guys a'been gettin' too big for your boots"

Avenger Saturday presents: "The Iron Skull" paperback

 This reminds me of Steranko's "Charg, Monster" cover.  Very pulpy, indeed.

ON THE AIR: December 29, 1946

 I guess if The Shadow of the pulps were The Shadow of the radio then many of these tales would be over much quicker.  Lamont is kind of a milk sop at times.  He can't even bowl in this episode.  The Shadow of the pulps would never be caught as easily as this version does.  Still, if this weren't The Shadow, it would be a passable Nick Carter or Sam Spade type of episode or any other detective/man of action type OTR program.  Sit back and listen to "The Shadow of Suspicion", the last episode of 1946.

The Shadow: Year One #1 page 3

 

"<Do you know... who I am?!>"

The Shadow: Year One #1 page 2

 

"<...it...it laughed!>"

The Shadow: Year One #1 page 1

 

"<Tren.  Gods protect us... it... it's horrible!>"

The Shadow: Year One

 Okay, let's start a looooong journey with Matt Wagner's "The Shadow: Year One".  This is a ten issue series that does a pretty decent job of working out the earliest adventure of The Shadow with one glaring error.  Yep, he works Margo Lane in right from the beginning.  Oh, and that damned scarf!  Both of these are conceits to a modern, casual audience.  Still, this is an enjoyable re-imagining of our hero and his assembling of his army of agents and also how his tales came to be recorded and disseminated to an eager post war, Depression era public.  Wonderfully clean art by Wilfredo Torres and colors by Brennan Wagner and, in this case, covers by Alex Ross.  I hope you enjoy this epic trek with me.

"Blood & Judgment" part Four page 28

 

"...God help the guilty..."

The Sunday Comics: The Shadow Comics "One Small Bier!" page 3

 

"You say there's just one dwarf, Mrs. Warren?"

Avenger Saturday presents: "The Glass Man" paperback

 Okay, I can get behind this cover.  The overall blue palette, the simple yet effective use of the fading multiple image and a fairly intense portrait of The Avenger himself.  This is a keeper.

ON THE AIR: December 22, 1946

Well, this is a fine how do you do!  Making an artist the villain!  Why, the very thought makes me want to ki... er, heh, I mean to say it makes me a little upset. No way an artist would ever...  Well, you make your own judgment after listening to "The Fine Art of Murder".
 

"Blood & Judgment" part Four page 27

 

"--and it's time to further rid the world of its vipers--"

"Blood & Judgment" part Four page 26

 

"--as a Paladin of Shambala, I have avenged my fallen comrades--"

"Blood & Judgment" part Four page 25

 

"Da--ooonf!"

"Blood & Judgment" part Four page 24

 

"GA-HUHH--

 

GA-HUHH--

 

GA-HUHH--

 

GA-HUHH"

Steve and Tim talk all things The Shadowed Circle with Art

 Check out this new interview with the two main men behind The Shadowed Circle on Art's Reviews.  This is their second sitting with Art.  If you want to listen to the initial podcast, click here.

Check out his interviews with Will Murray, as well.

 

"Blood & Judgment" part Four page 23

 

"Stand where you are--

--FREEZE, Mayrock--"

A PSA in support of The Shadowed Circle, an update

 Wow!  Agents have really stepped up to the plate for this Kickstarter campaign.  As of this posting there are 90 supporters who have pledged $8,228 to produce this project and fund the magazine well into the future.  It's great to know there are so many fans willing to keep The Shadow going in the 21st Century with this new magazine.

The Sunday Comics: The Shadow Comics "One Small Bier!" page 2

 

"A dwarf?  That's Big Stuff, the gardener."

Avenger Saturday presents: "The Blood Countess" paperback

 

Okay, I like this one.  The female figure is a bit too static but the bat and the fact that The Avenger is apparently trying to fend off an attack and save the damsel feels more pulp than some of the earlier paperbacks. 

ON THE AIR: December 15, 1946

 Sometimes blondes don't have more fun.  Just take the case of Julie Frazier.  What?  You don't have any idea of what I'm talkin' 'bout?  Then take a listen "Murders on the Main Stem" from December of 1946.  It's a good old fashioned detective mystery without any (mostly) mystical overtures or haunted houses or zombies or... well, you'll see.

  Oh... Happy Friday the Thirteenth.  Apropos for the month of Halloween.

"Blood & Judgment" part Four page 22

 

D-D-D-- 

D-D-D-- 

D-D-D-- 

DADDDDDDDDDDDDYYYY!!

"Blood & Judgment" part Four page 21

 

BLAM!

A PSA in support of The Shadowed Circle

 Good day, agents.  In case any of you were unaware there is a Kickstarter campaign that went live yesterday.  It is to help fund The Shadowed Circle for the foreseeable future and I thought some of you may want to give it a look-see and maybe help out with keeping this magazine going.  I'd love to think that The Shadowed Circle could be a long lasting touchstone for fans of The Shadow along with Doc Savage's The Bronze Gazette.  Take a look here and see what the crew has to offer.

"Blood & Judgment" part Four page 20

 

"You're gibbering, Cranston-- hysterical--"

"Blood & Judgment" part Four page 19

 

"--I had never been more terrified in my life--"

"Blood & Judgment" part Four page 18

 

"That feral, bestial glint in your eyes--"

The Sunday Comics: The Shadow Comics "One Small Bier!" page 1

 

"Take the case of Big Stuff..."

Avenger Saturday presents: "The Death Machine" paperback

 

Hmmm.  Nothing nice to say about this one.  Nope, nothing at all.

ON THE AIR: December 8, 1946

 This episode aired 17 years before my birth and I've wondered... did my 10 year old father sit in front of the radio and listen to "The Devil Takes a Wife" as it first made its way over the airwaves?  Since he passed away before I was four I will never get to know if he was a fan of The Shadow or just another one of those Zane Grey kinda kids.  I like to think that he was listening to this and the other episodes long before I got to.

"Blood & Judgment" part Four page 17

 

"...I remember every little thing as if it happened only yesterday--:

"Blood & Judgment" part Four page 16

 

"Cranston..."

"Blood & Judgment" part Four page 15

 

AROOOOOOOOOOOO

"Blood & Judgment" part Four page 14

 

"Where is your master, innocent ones?"

"Blood & Judgment" part Four page 13

 

"Lighten up, you two-- now!"

The Sunday Comics: The Shadow Comics "One Small Bier!"

 Let's start a new tale from the original "Shadow Comics" with "One Small Bier!".  This issue is from December 1946, coincidentally the same time that our most recent "On The Air" episode, "Makeup for Murder", aired.