"You, Robeson, no!"
Monday, September 30, 2024
Sunday, September 29, 2024
Saturday, September 28, 2024
Saturday's random pulp cover: Doc Savage Magazine: "The Lost Oasis" September 1933
Doc taken captive! His Fab Five hoping he can break free from the chains so that he can free them (I suppose). Couldn't they all join in and break Doc loose? I think I'd consider firing them at this point.
Labels:
art,
covers,
Kenneth Robeson,
Lester Dent,
pulps,
Walter Baumhofer
Friday, September 27, 2024
Thursday, September 26, 2024
Wednesday, September 25, 2024
Tuesday, September 24, 2024
Monday, September 23, 2024
Sunday, September 22, 2024
Saturday, September 21, 2024
Saturday's random pulp cover: The Spider: "The Scourge of the Black Legions" November 1938
Let's stick with The Spider (Master of Men!) for a second consecutive week. Again, a giant hand and not only one but three damsels in distress! My, so much going on in this cover. I wonder if the story lives up to the cover art.
Friday, September 20, 2024
ON THE AIR: October 24, 1948
Ah, the old gimmick. Getting a coffin for someone not yet dead. In fact, it's for the customer himself. Why is he planning to be dead by sundown? You'll have to tune into "The Drum of Obi" to find out.
Labels:
art,
Bret Morrison,
George Rozen,
illustration,
Maxwell Grant,
radio,
The Shadow,
Walter B. Gibson
Justice Inc. #1
Let's look at the original Justice League. Street & Smith's templates for The Bat-Man, Superman and, uh, Clayface (as a hero?). Stay tuned for the entire 6 issue run that Dynamite Comics published in 2014. Let's call it a revisit on the 10th anniversary of the gathering of three of the pulps greatest heroes.
Thursday, September 19, 2024
Some thoughts
I have to say that I really appreciated the effort that Matt Wagner put into this re-imagining of The Shadow's "shadowy" beginnings.
I feel that he melded not only the pulps and radio traits of this most important character but also the 1994 film and Howard Chaykin's "Blood & Judgment" mini series. He didn't slavishly stick with any one version but didn't ignore any of them.
Did it all work for me? Of course not. I'm a purist and I've always wanted to see an exploration of his ties to Russia. He was an agent of the Czarist regime and received his (first) ring from the Romanoff collection. It has the sign of the Seventh Star engraved in the base. Yet the only time that a decent investigation of this has been done was in "The Shadow Strikes". However, this is also at least half about Margo. This is a total slap in the face to Walter's version. She was shoehorned in as a reaction to the radio programs popularity and the confusion the public had with the whole Lamont Cranston persona not being his actual identity. So a girlfriend is provided. But since this is the tact that Wagner takes, he makes the most of it. I have had to get used to the idea that my thoughts are not necessarily the way all creatives see The Shadow. (Just look at the egregious take that James Patterson and Brian Sitts foisted on us) But back to the story that Matt crafted. He was able to explain the Maxwell Grant angle, reintroduced a couple of forgotten characters that Gibson created just as background. And the villain? Yep, straight up a variation of the '94 movie version of Khan. Dr. Zorn, another of the disciples of the Tulku. Someone who used the mystic powers of the Orient. Don't get me wrong, it worked. And the fact that he manipulated gangsters was great. And the link to the underworld that Margo had. Well written, Mr. Wagner. Wednesday, September 18, 2024
Tuesday, September 17, 2024
Monday, September 16, 2024
Sunday, September 15, 2024
The Sunday Comics: The Shadow Comics "Terror in the Bayou" page 6
"Oh, Lamont... Lamont!.."
(Straight out of the radio show. She was always calling The Shadow by his name and only a couple of villains caught on. Why he kept her around is beyond me.)
Saturday, September 14, 2024
Saturday's random pulp cover: The Spider: "Laboratory of the Damned" July 1936
The Spider sure encounters a lot of giant hands threatening helpless young women. This almost looks like he's shooting a web a la Peter Parker: The Amazing Spider-Man. Excelsior indeed, Stan!
Friday, September 13, 2024
ON THE AIR: October 17, 1948
Feel like taking mounting a horse for a nice ride? Take a listen to "Dead Man's Ride" and you may rethink your Lone Ranger urges.
Labels:
art,
Bret Morrison,
George Rozen,
illustration,
Maxwell Grant,
radio,
The Shadow,
Walter B. Gibson
Thursday, September 12, 2024
Wednesday, September 11, 2024
Tuesday, September 10, 2024
Monday, September 9, 2024
Sunday, September 8, 2024
Saturday, September 7, 2024
Friday, September 6, 2024
ON THE AIR: October 10, 1948
Double cross? Triple cross? A man who hires an assassin to bring about his own death? Does The Shadow prevent such a misguided action? Tune into "A Mask for Murder" and find out for yourself. You may be in for a surprise...
Labels:
art,
Bret Morrison,
George Rozen,
illustration,
Maxwell Grant,
radio,
The Shadow,
Walter B. Gibson
Thursday, September 5, 2024
Wednesday, September 4, 2024
Tuesday, September 3, 2024
Monday, September 2, 2024
Sunday, September 1, 2024
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