The Shadow

News and Notes

/ / News

Entertainment Weekly is reporting Alex Kingston will join Arrow as Laurel’s (Katie Cassidy) mother Dinah Lance, who in DC Continuity was the Golden & Silver Age Black Canary. Kingston’s addition makes the second former Doctor Who companion to join the show in a recurring role (joining John Barrowman as the elder Merlyn)

Comic Book Resources has a first look at The Shadow: Year One and interview with writer Matt Wagner about his take on the classic character

The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that CBS has greenlit the Pilot for a new Beverly Hills Cop television show starring Brandon T. Jackson as Axel Foley’s son Aaron, a cop in Beverly Hills trying to escape his father’s shadow. Eddie Murphy, who is set to produce, would make guest-appearances over the course of the series

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The Shadow Special #1

/ / Comics

the-shadow-special-1-coverSpecials and Annuals for ongoing series are always something of a mixed bag, especially (as in the case with The Shadow Special #1) the one-off issue isn’t connected to the ongoing series or even written aor drawn by the current creative team.

“Veterans of a Foreign War” isn’t a bad story, but it probably won’t be of interest to anyone who isn’t a big fan of the character. Lamont Cranston‘s past catches up with him when he reconnects with a soldier he helped train during the war. Knowing the kind of man Howard Griffin became (and the man Cranston was when he used the name “Kent Allard”) Cranston keeps Griffin far away from Margo as The Shadow investigates the current activities of Griffin and some of his war cronies.

Much of the oversized issue deals with flashbacks of Allard and Griffin meaning the story limits the amount of time The Shadow appears, at least until the last few pages when Crantston takes his vengeance on men he once called brothers. It’s a little pricey at $5, but fans should enjoy themselves with this glimpse into Cranston’s past before he could look into the hearts of men. For fans.

[Dynamite Entertainment, $4.99]

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Masks #2

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masks-2-coverWith New York City now a police state controlled by corrupt new government of gangsters known as the Justice Party, The Shadow, The Green Hornet and Kato, and The Spider find themselves overwhelmed by the enhanced technology the criminals have gotten their hands on to keep control of their city.

Issue #2 also introduces the Green Lama and Black Bat who begin to fight back against the oppressive new government as well. The story of the young artist on the wrong side of the government’s new oppressive regime continues as well foreshadowing, I’m guessing, the eventual birth of a new Zorro.

I thought the first comic worked in trying to throw all these characters together in an unusual situation that required them to work together. Masks #2 isn’t quite as good, forced to rely more on fleshing out a story than just introducing the concept. There’s far more talking about doing something than actual action, and some “necessary” awkward introductions among the heroes take up way too many panels. Hit-and-Miss.

[Dynamite Entertainment, $3.99]

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Masks #1

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masks-dynamite-1-coverDynamite Entertainment’s idea to combine as many of their characters together as possible in the crossover Masks is an interesting, albeit it odd, idea. The Shadow, The Green Hornet and Kato, and The Spider all work together to stop the rise of “The Justice Party,” a group of criminals who have wormed their way into office and are turning New York City into a fascist police state.

Over the course of the comic several other Dynamite properties will be introduced as well including Black Bat, Miss Fury, Black Terror, the Green Lama, and (perhaps most perplexing) Zorro. When you get to the point where you are forcing Zorro into a late 1930’s fascist alternate reality of New York you have to wonder why Dynamite stopped there and didn’t decide to throw in Robocop, Red Sonja, Vampirella, Army of Darkness, and John Carter as well.

Cliff Roberson, whose work I very much enjoyed on his his pair of Fables mini-series centered around Cinderella (Fables are Forever, From Fabletown with Love), makes the bizarre plot work – at least for an issue.

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The Shadow #8

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the-shadow-8-coverWith his business in Nepal complete, Lamont Cranston slowly makes his way home with his pilot Miles through Istanbul and Rome bringing him to the streets of Paris where the interest of The Shadow is piqued by the murder of an elderly French couple, the Spanish Civil War, and the beguiling Major Esmeralda Aguilar of Spanish Military Intelligence.

After an exciting night with the major, Cranston returns to his investigation leading him to stow away on a cargo ship full of gun runners making its way from France to Spain. When the gun runners are ambushed while unloaded their cargo The Shadow makes it out of the port by the skin of his teeth, eventually rejoining Miles in Barcelona where fate leads him to the real reason behind his arrival – George Orwell.

Writer Victor Gischler does a good job setting up several pieces of a larger mystery without giving us, or The Shadow, a clue as to the true purpose of his journey to Spain. I’m not as fond of Aaron Campbell’s art as Herbert‘s work from last month’s issue but it’s not enough to stop me from coming back to see how this story plays out. Worth a look.

[Dynamite Entertainment, $3.99]

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