Merry Christmas

 The Mistletoe of Death seems a bit over the top for Christmas.  But it is The Shadow after all...

Anyhow, Merry Christmas to all the agents who stop by and I hope you are having a fun day with family and friends, celebrating the reason for the season in the manner that best suits you.

"Fingers of Death" by Steranko

 Another excellent cover from J. S.  A little spicier than the actual tale but pulpy enough to whet the appetite for another adventure with The Shadow.

"Shadowed Millions" by Steranko

This was the first Pyramid paperback I bought and this cover will always have a place in my heart.  It's terrific and very pulpy.

 This one ain't quite up to the first one.  I think H B Jove was trying to spice things up with having women on the covers.  Apparently they never read the stories themselves.  Not a bad cover, just not in the iconic realm of the original from Pyramid.

"Kings of Crime" by Steranko

The eleventh novel reissued by Pyramid features another pulpy cover by Steranko.  The bony hand of Fate/Death offering a loaded hand of murder and mayhem.  The Shadow counters with his own trump card of death.  Death to those who would bring crime and chaos to his city!  I don't even mind the yellow background.  Wonderful cover! 

 The reissue (of the reissue) from H B Jove is nowhere near as compelling or interesting.  Too much information going on in this one.  I wonder if J S had less of a free hand and was being directed more.  This just looks like a committee decided on this layout.

"The Silent Seven" by Steranko

 This is the one!  My favorite cover from Steranko.  This also is one of my absolute favorite image by any artist of The Shadow.  I can find nothing wrong.  The eeriness!  The design/composition!  The technique! The color palette!  All spot on.  This is a truly spectacular painting.

"The Romanoff Jewels" by Steranko

  Another tremendous cover that harkens back to the pulp days.  The Shadow is injured yet he fights on!  The color palette is perfect.  No bright yellows (save for the title) or garish hues used to grab the eye of the casual shopper.  This is how I think of The Shadow when I read the adventures.  This is one of my all time favorite tales so this art really holds a high spot on my chart of great Shadow images.

   It was reissued with this cover.  Very nice but nowhere near as spot-on as the original that Steranko turned in.

 A really moody cover.  The purple shadow screams pulp since with a green palette it just wouldn't happen.  Also, the light source is kind of all over the place.  All of that matters not, since the image is really cool.

"The Red Menace" by Steranko

 Ahhhh, The Red Menace!  Wonderful cover for a really important novel.  This is really great pulp art.  Steranko nailed this one.

"The Crime Cult" by Steranko

 This is the one that came out on stands.  It was switched later for the one that was meant for this story...

... this one.  Like I said on Sunday, I like the top one better.

"Double Z" by Steranko

 Ah, better.  This has the feel of action and storytelling.  The tropes are there.  The one eyed skull.  The smokewagon.  Men of evil challenging The Shadow.  The orange even works.  Yep, I like this one.

"Hands in the Dark" by Steranko

 Nice action scene although it really wasn't in the story.  I always preferred the cover that originally appeared on the Pyramid edition.  Sure, it was a mistake and was meant for another book, but I think it was a much cooler image.

We'll be revisiting this in a couple posts...

"The Black Master" by Steranko

 Not my favorite of his covers but it felt like a respectful nod to the original from 1932.  This could have benefited from a black or dark blue fade at the top of the image to give it more focus and importance.  They get better...

"The Living Shadow" by Steranko

 Let's wind down the pulps with the James Steranko covers for Pyramid and then H B Jove.  The top one is obviously an homage to George Rozen's "Black Hush" cover.  The bottom image seems to be a call back to the Modest Stein recycled painting for the very first issue of The Shadow.

"Zemba"

 If you haven't read this one then you are missing more than just a finger.  This is a classic cover, story and all around great pulp.  This one has a lot of great twists and turns.  I don't recommend you seeking out a review just because it will ruin a top tier adventure.  It was even reprinted by HBJove Books in 1977 with an action packed Jim Steranko cover.

Take a couple hours out of your day and get taken for a ride with The Shadow.

"The Death Giver"

 Classic cover for a classic tale.  John gives it a rousing endorsement...

"This story is just chock full of Shadowy goodness. We get to visit the apparently abandoned B. Jonas office. The Shadow uses his disappearing ink. There's a couple visits to The Shadow's sanctum hidden away... who knows where. The girasol ring... the black cloak... the burning eyes... and one of the most diabolical methods of delivering death in massive doses to the residents of Manhattan that a sinister brain could devise.

This is one of the stories chosen to be reprinted in paperback in the 1970's by Pyramid Books. And it was a good choice. It's a blue-ribbon selection... a story that typifies what is best in The Shadow pulp tales. Read this story. Now."

 The Rozen art was used for Shadow Comics #2 and the story itself was serialized in issues #35 - #38. I'd like to read that series someday.

And the story was considered so good it was reprinted in 1978 by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich publishing (H B Jove, for short) with a very exciting cover by James Steranko.

"The Silent Death"

 What can I say, the early stuff deserves the title of 'classic'.  From the covers to the stories, this is the good stuff.  Super science and The Shadow's extreme form of justice make for delicious pulp goodness.  So good they reprinted it with an awesome Steranko cover.

I really like the purple hue to this bottom version.  Much more menacing and... pulpy.  You can't go wrong with either the Rozen original or the Steranko version.  And you can't go wrong with this adventure.

"Murder Trail"

 Another favorite.  How would you like to open a safe only to be faced with those piercing eyes and a smokewagon aimed between your baby blues?  This is a classic cover for a classic tale.  This one has a zeppelin featured and some baddies from Germany trying to... well, read the story to find out.  A great one, for sure.  And the zeppelin?  Well, too great an image for Steranko to pass up.

"Fingers of Death"

"You wanted wealth - all for yourself. You found it. You pretended death, and therefore you deserved it. It is yours at present. Death to the dead!"

 

 

 

Another great symbolic cover.  This is one I'd love to have as print.  The likeness is pretty much how The
Shadow would look from here on out (at least as Rozen depicts him) and the idea that our hero is a global force for justice is depicted simply and beautifully.  Oh, and it is a terrific tale to boot.

 I also love Steranko's cover art.  The cool blue tones and the menacing stare along with the twin smokewagons... just missing the ring.

"Kings of Crime"

A "hand" cover!  Seems that there was about 10 percentage of the covers that featured the symbolism of The Shadow's hand for a long time.  19 of the first 189 used a variation on this motif.  Three others had a hand (of sorts) but they weren't The Shadow's hand.  This novel also marks the first appearance of The Shadow disguised as "Phineas Twambley."

 

Pyramid's cover...

...and H B Jove's cover design.  Both are by James Steranko.  I prefer the first of his.
 

"The Living Shadow"...

 

From 1931 to 1977.  I think it's time for another update.  I wonder what a Greg Manchess cover would look like...