The Shadow Apreciation Thread [Archive]

sonnylarue

09-30-2008, 10:24 AM

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b7/TheShadowComic01.jpg

Kaluta's version was the first one I fell for...

http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u5/thaoworra/shadow_dc_chaykin_1.jpg

I really enjoyed Chaykin's Mini

http://www.skyseastone.net/nuadha/hand/shadowSteranko.jpg

But I equally love Steranko's

NeverWanderer

09-30-2008, 05:35 PM

I was introduced via the movie, and I always wondered if there were actual comics out there. I'ma have to check some of these out (if I can find them).

Though, is it just me or does that Chaykin cover seem... gimmicky? I mean, the art's nice, and there's no indication of how good the writing might be, but the cover itself just seems like the sort of thing most people today would point and laugh at as a stereotype. Instead of a Shadow story, it just looks like the Punisher in a trenchcoat.

Again, I'm not saying anything ill of the story -- I've never read it -- but it's interesting to me that, if it wasn't for Howard Chaykin's name, most people probly wouldn't even get past the cover.

sonnylarue

09-30-2008, 07:29 PM

Jeffery Longmont

09-30-2008, 08:11 PM

NeverWanderer

09-30-2008, 09:36 PM

the mini, and the dc monthly that followed was a classic late 80's early 90's series.

after chaykin (who created the yin-ko life kent allard/cranston had before comming back from the far east) andrew helfer and kyle baker were fantastic.

i did love the original pulps when i was a kid in the 70's, but they are very dated.

REally!

Because that was some of my favorite stuff from the movie.

I mean, is the Chaykin series just the Shadow running around shooting people? Or does it have that same sort of spooky mystical atmosphere from the flick?

sonnylarue

10-01-2008, 09:23 AM

Anyone ever read Philip Jose Farmer's 'The Adventure of the Three Madmen' short story? Or the appendix in the back of 'Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life'? Very cool interpretations of the character. Farmer is a MUST for anyone who has an interest in the early 1900 heroes.

yep. as much as i love alan moore and the league of extraordinary gentemen, i find it hard to believe he wasn't at least inspired by farmer's wold newton universe.

sonnylarue

10-01-2008, 09:23 AM

REally!

Because that was some of my favorite stuff from the movie.

I mean, is the Chaykin series just the Shadow running around shooting people? Or does it have that same sort of spooky mystical atmosphere from the flick?
read the shadow's wiki entry.

Jeffery Longmont

10-01-2008, 10:01 AM

yep. as much as i love alan moore and the league of extraordinary gentemen, i find it hard to believe he wasn't at least inspired by farmer's wold newton universe.

See, what's funny is, after reading, League and Tom Strong, I did some research and turned up Farmer. That's one of the big reasons those stories are so great, they are rooted in the best source material.

And you just went up a few points in class for knowing what I was talking about. Haha

sonnylarue

10-01-2008, 10:58 AM

See, what's funny is, after reading, League and Tom Strong, I did some research and turned up Farmer. That's one of the big reasons those stories are so great, they are rooted in the best source material.

And you just went up a few points in class for knowing what I was talking about. Haha

i saw farmer speak at a small peoria sci-fi con in the mid 80's.

Dr. Hackenbush

10-01-2008, 12:19 PM

Crud. I thought this was about the radio show. I liked the radio show.

sonnylarue

10-01-2008, 12:23 PM

Crud. I thought this was about the radio show. I liked the radio show.

me too.

feel free to talk about all things shadow here, even the sucky archie comics version , if you must.

as much as orson welles gets all the glory for the radio show, bill johnston and bret morrison were better Shadows .

orson was just being his usual great self.

Dr. Hackenbush

10-01-2008, 12:40 PM

me too.

feel free to talk about all things shadow here, even the sucky archie comics version , if you must.

as much as orson welles gets all the glory for the radio show, bill johnston and bret morrison were better Shadows .

orson was just being his usual great self.

I'm going to agree with you here. I like Orson Welles but he was by far the hammiest Shadow.

sonnylarue

10-01-2008, 01:00 PM

I'm going to agree with you here. I like Orson Welles but he was by far the hammiest Shadow.

well it was the mid 30's, so i always give the pre 40's radio dramas a pass when it comes to being hammy.

i think otr's prime in terms of quality acting was 1945-1955.

Jeffery Longmont

10-01-2008, 01:20 PM

I like Orson Welles but he was by far the hammiest Shadow.

Oh, John, next time Fraction is on the show, ask him to do a Shadow impression!

sleep

10-01-2008, 01:52 PM

Instead of doing another WB with Matt Fraction, do one with Orson Welles at various stages of his career.

sonnylarue

10-01-2008, 04:50 PM

i think matt can only do the 70's-80's drunk orson

NickT

10-05-2008, 01:45 PM

The Chaykin mini was good stuff. At some point I want to try some of the old(non-comic) stories that have been collected, but I'm going slowly through my Doc Savage one so that might take a while :)

Will

10-05-2008, 03:37 PM

http://www.skyseastone.net/nuadha/hand/shadowSteranko.jpg

But I equally love Steranko's
How was Steranko's interior art for this?

Was it in full color like the cover or was it black and white with Grey tones? That cover looks dynamite.

sonnylarue

10-05-2008, 03:56 PM

How was Steranko's interior art for this?

Was it in full color like the cover or was it black and white with Grey tones? That cover looks dynamite.

no interiors, that was a paperback reprint cover of one of the original pulp stories.

unlike the current pulp reproductions they didn't do any interior illustrations ,

theyt were just skinny paperback novels.

still steranko did many shadow covers, and occasionally tours with them

sonnylarue

10-05-2008, 03:58 PM

The Chaykin mini was good stuff. At some point I want to try some of the old(non-comic) stories that have been collected, but I'm going slowly through my Doc Savage one so that might take a while :)

i think the shadow pulps hold up slightly better than the doc stories

Will

10-05-2008, 04:12 PM

no interiors, that was a paperback reprint cover of one of the original pulp stories.

unlike the current pulp reproductions they didn't do any interior illustrations ,

theyt were just skinny paperback novels.

still steranko did many shadow covers, and occasionally tours with them
Ah, gotcha.

Thanks John.

Jeffery Longmont

10-06-2008, 09:16 AM

i think the shadow pulps hold up slightly better than the doc stories

Yeah, I think you're right. I'm stoked to read the O'Neil/Kubert comic I got at Mid OHIO Con though!

tooms

10-10-2008, 08:29 PM

read the shadow's wiki entry.

Wait a second... Chaykin put the Shadow's head on a robot's body?

That sounds nothing like Chaykin's work... ;-)

Is the character in public domain now?

sonnylarue

10-10-2008, 10:21 PM

Wait a second... Chaykin put the Shadow's head on a robot's body?

That sounds nothing like Chaykin's work... ;-)

Is the character in public domain now?

nope conde nast (who own street and smith publications) own the shadow and doc savage

Jeffery Longmont

10-11-2008, 06:35 AM

Wait a second... Chaykin put the Shadow's head on a robot's body?

And the world is richer for it. Haha

Myles Griffin

10-13-2008, 08:57 AM

I've always been a fan of The Shadow. I remember being a kid digging through the back issue boxes at the local comic shop and coming across the following and nearly having a heart attack:

http://www.shadowsanctum.net/comic/comic_images/shadow_dc_batman_and_shadow-co_253.jpg

Who has the rights to The Shadow these days as far as the comics are concerned? I remember Sam Raimi said he was going to do something with the character, but it's been a while.

Jeffery Longmont

10-13-2008, 06:27 PM

Who has the rights to The Shadow these days as far as the comics are concerned? I remember Sam Raimi said he was going to do something with the character, but it's been a while.

Conde Nast has the rights, a company with exciting publications in all over the great topics: Fashion and lifestyle, Home, Bridal, Family, Golf, and so much more!

Sam Raimi wanted to do the Shadow movie, but instead ended up doing DARKMAN, a Shadow-type character. He claims to be zeroing in on an actual Shadow movie, but his schedule looks pretty full with the next (what is it, 5?) SPIDER-MAN movies.

There are lots of neat articles on the publication history of the Shadow, but it really doesn't get better than O'Neil for me.

On another note, anyone seen that serial series? It's hilarious! I'm about half-way through it, and I'm bust'n a gut here.

Myles Griffin

10-14-2008, 10:21 AM

sonnylarue

10-14-2008, 10:53 AM

Haha Thanks for the update!

I knew about the Darkman bit, but I was referring to his 2007 announcement on doing The Shadow among other pulp heroes adaptations. They had it up on Aint It Cool at the time.

i remember that story too, but have seen nothing since.

hope it's not like the john carter/princess of mars rumors , that went nowhere.

Arion

10-14-2008, 12:34 PM

Myles Griffin

10-15-2008, 08:39 AM

That's just classic.

There's two, perhaps three meet-ups between the two characters floating about somewhere. I think there's two issues of Batman and one Annual. Or something to that effect.

chazbot

10-15-2008, 02:55 PM

I love listening to the Orson Welles radio version of The Shadow. That's really the strongest connection I have to the character never having read any of the pulps or comics.

Myles Griffin

10-15-2008, 08:04 PM

I love listening to the Orson Welles radio version of The Shadow. That's really the strongest connection I have to the character never having read any of the pulps or comics.

Listening to Orson Welles do anything is particularly amazing. Have you heard his Dracula?

sonnylarue

10-15-2008, 08:58 PM

There's two, perhaps three meet-ups between the two characters floating about somewhere. I think there's two issues of Batman and one Annual. Or something to that effect.

good stories too, for the 70's.

Myles Griffin

10-16-2008, 07:13 AM

good stories too, for the 70's.

Indeed they were, sir. Ok, I did a little digging and found a few fan sites that compiled some crossover The Shadow appearances for those who wanted to track down actual issues:

Batman #253

http://www.shadowsanctum.net/comic/comic_images/shadow_dc_batman_and_shadow-co_253.jpg

Batman #259

http://www.shadowsanctum.net/comic/comic_images/shadow_dc_batman_and_shadow-co_259.jpg

Doc Savage: The Conflagration Man #2

http://www.shadowsanctum.net/comic/comic_images/shadow_dc_doc_savage_2-co.jpg

Doc Savage: The Conflagration Man #4
http://www.shadowsanctum.net/comic/comic_images/shadow_dc_doc_savage_4-co.jpg

Apparently, he also makes an appearance in Kingdom Come #2 along with Sherlock Holmes, The Question, Rorshach (from The Watchmen), and Obsidian. The Swamp Thing (in a fedora and trenchcoat) is holding a drink. The Shadow's further in the background than the other characters.

http://www.shadowsanctum.net/interactive/tidbits_archive/kingdomcome-group.jpg

Whipping Boy

10-16-2008, 05:50 PM

The Shadow!
I love the radio show and forgot about the comic.
(You can find it on itunes for free. Worth the listen when you are road tripping.)

If I have my history correct then you must remember that Orson (can I call him Orson? I think we're tight like that.) never showed up to rehearsal for his radio shows. Someone would stand in for him and take notes. He was doing so many shows that he would have a ambulance take him from studio to studio and he would walk in COLD and do a 30 minute radio show. No pre-read... he would just walk in and do it.
That's just how damn good he was. As I'm sure John can attest to is that you ALWAYS pre-read everything before you put it on the radio.
Not Orson. He could walk in grab a script and knock it out of the park.

Sorry I have been MIA for the last month. Ike kicked Houston's ass!
Please forgive me...

Pulp Messenger

10-18-2008, 10:45 AM

So here's my question for all you Shadow fans: If we mix the pulp and radio continuities a little like Dennis O'Neil did back in '74 with the comics, do you think Margo would eventually marry the Shadow?

I go back in forth on this because Margo seems to be too independent, in fact during The Three Ghosts while talking about a friend getting married she says, "I think she was foolish, Caroline had nearly a million dollars in her own name. She didn't have to marry."

So if Margo only looks at marriage as a form of financial stability, would she and the Shadow sustain a relationship out of wedlock? What if there was a kid? Or if they aren't interested in each other, what's keeping Margo from leaving?

Whipping Boy

01-17-2009, 08:20 AM

http://danoday.blogspot.com/2009/01/shadow.html

Just wanted to share....

sonnylarue

01-17-2009, 09:46 AM

jess nevins wrote a nice character essay about the shadow in brubaker's incognito #1, and will be writing more pulp hero articles for the subsequent issues.

William Joseph Dunn

01-17-2009, 10:14 AM

I thought this was going to be about the radio show.

the first Shadow comics I read regularly were the Sienkiewicz/Helfer ones. originally I bought it because Sienkiewicz was drawing it, at the time I would buy ALF if I heard Sienkiewicz was even inking an issue. I soon liked Helfer stories too (was ever happened to Andy Helfer anyway?) I liked how Helfer focused on the people surrounding The Shadow, I liked the Twitch character, I liked the dark humor that was in the book. I've been saying for awhile now that DC needs to put out an Absolute Sienkiewicz/Helfer Shadow book. it really was a great series. after Sienkiewicz left the book, I kept reading it with Kyle Baker's run. I didn't envy Baker for following Sienkiewicz, but I thought his stuff was great too and it was the first time I saw his work and was a fan ever since.

sometime during the Sienkiewicz run on The Shadow I found the Chaykin mini collected and bought that too. it seemed at the time , Chaykin was hitting it out of the park with what ever he swung at, if I remember correctly he followed up The Shadow with the Blackhawk series? awesome stuff.

once I went to school I found out about the Kaluta and Wrightson stuff. that's another run that I would love to see reprinted and collected. if they did, they need to reprint it in black and white.

I still wish someone would make a great Shadow movie. when they made the one with Baldwin, I could help but think that Gabriel Byrne would have been a hundred times better...he's got the Lamont Cranston nose for christ sake's!
http://www.geocities.com/mikemckiernan/mcbyrne1.jpg

he's too old now for the part though. :/

The Funketeer

01-17-2009, 10:17 AM

at the time I would buy ALF if I heard Sienkiewicz was even inking an issue.

I'd still buy ALF if I thought Sienkiewicz was inking it.

SpecialK

01-17-2009, 10:38 AM

The Alec Baldwin movie was on this morning. I only caught part of it, though.

Armored Dildo

01-17-2009, 12:58 PM

nope conde nast (who own street and smith publications) own the shadow and doc savage

...and Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, Vogue, Wired... Big, old-school publisher still able to hold the tide against the European publishing mega-monsters.

Jeffery Longmont

01-17-2009, 02:20 PM

jess nevins wrote a nice character essay about the shadow in brubaker's incognito #1, and will be writing more pulp hero articles for the subsequent issues.

Yeah, the article was solid, but it was like an encyclopedia entry (which may be). I guess I knew all that stuff and was hoping for something more... I don't know what. Probably isn't a whole lot more to say about the Shadow, he's been around so long. We need some more stories to start up the dialogue again.