The Shadow #7 - The Night of the Beast.

Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon. 

***

I admit it. I've always wanted to live on the 51st floor of a skyscraper that, officially, has only 50 floors.

That's because I want to be like the Shadow, and that's the sort of thing the Shadow would do.

Sadly, there are no 50 storey buildings in my native city. So, I shall have to settle for living on the first and second floors of a building that only officially has two floors. Surely such a ruse cannot fail to fool the dregs of the criminal underworld.

But that brings me back to the Shadow's short-lived 1970s DC series.

As we all know, it started off being drawn, with great style, by Mike Kaluta. However, after less than half-dozen issues, Michael Wm left the strip and it was handed over, for three issues, to the ever-popular Frank Robbins before ER Cruz was set loose on it.

There's one thing we know about Frank Robbins and that's that his style always made everything look like it was set in the 1930s, even when a story was set in the 1970s. So, just how did that style cope with drawing the 1930s themselves?

Lamont Cranston and his lady friend Margo Lane are watching a play starring Broadway goddess Morag Mayne who bears no resemblance at all to Katharine Hepburn, when who should appear but a malformed simpleton called Pile?

Before anyone can react, Pile swings in on a rope and makes off with the lovely Morag.

But it's mere moments before Cranston's transformed himself into the Shadow and gives chase.

Sadly, Shads isn't the only one giving chase, because so are a couple of hoods who see-off Pile, in the street outside, before the Shadow shows up and sees them off.

That excitement over, the man of mystery sets about his investigations, discovering Morag was, until recently, the girlfriend of local mobster Joey Lyce. Now, it's clear Lyce wants her rubbed out before she can tell the feds all the dirt she has on him, while Pile was out to save her from the wrath of Joey.

Thus it is that, while the Shadow and Morag are snogging in her apartment, the still-living Pile reappears, sends the Shadow flying and, again, abducts Morag, this time heading for his former home in an abandoned brewery.

But the Shadow's not the only one in hot pursuit, as Joey and his men also descend upon the site.

Obviously, this results in plenty of shooting, punching and needless laughing and, at the end of it all, Joey's been decked by the Shadow, while Pile, already mortally wounded by Joey's men, is accidentally killed by Morag, using the gun Pile himself gave her. Oh, the bitter irony of it all.

Denny O'Neil's tale's not a complex one. In fact, it's basically a hodgepodge of 1930s cliches, with a large chunk of The Hunchback of Notre Dame flung in but it has an irresistible sense of style, keeps moving and is a painless read which allows Robbins to do what he does best, which is avoiding drawing things that look new.

The reality is that, when I first encountered the pair's take on the strip, in the summer of 1975, I was very taken with it, to the degree that I felt compelled to buy their other issues of it. From this, I can only conclude the duo must have got something right and I will still contend that that's a great cover by Frank.

So, yes, it's true. Under the right circumstances, even Frank Robbins' work can appeal to me.

But a thought's just re-entered my head. One which struck me, way back then. The Shadow wears a scarf and a hat and has a sidekick called Harry.

When he first appeared, Tom Baker's Doctor also wore a scarf and a hat and had a sidekick called Harry.

Was this pure coincidence or was there a long-unacknowledged influence going on?

I don't know.

But the Shadow probably does.

March 25th, 1981 - Marvel UK, 40 years ago this week.

Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon. 

***

Tragedy struck the world, this week in 1981, when Doctor Who fell off a radio telescope and turned into Peter Davison.

That's right. It was the week in which Tom Baker's final episode on the show was broadcast, ending his seven-year run in the part, thanks to the serial Logopolis.

40 years later and I still defy anyone to explain that regeneration to me.

In the real world, things also got decidedly surreal, as Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs was rescued by Barbados police, following his kidnapping in Brazil.

On the UK singles chart, the 1950s returned with a vengeance, as Shakin' Stevens' This Ole House hit the top spot, forcing Kim Wilde's uber-1980s smash Kids in America to settle for being Number Two.

Meanwhile, the UK album listings saw no change at their summit, thanks to Adam and the Ants' Kings of the Wild Frontier fending off a strong challenge from Status Quo's Never Too Late and the Who's Face Dances which entered the chart at Two and Three, respectively.

Spider-Man's having to contend with a Kraven who's out to prove to his girlfriend that he's still a man.

The dinosaur skeletons on that cover tell me this tale takes place in a museum.

Either that or Stegron's back.

The Hulk's currently being attacked by Russian fighter jets. Jets which he's in the process of destroying.

And it looks like the White Tiger's getting seriously perforated by Gideon Mace and his men.

I think this is the one in which Tony Stark receives a full five minutes of self-defence training from Captain America which enables him to launch a James Bond style raid on somewhere or other.

I assume this is to do with Justin Hammer having sabotaged his armour to make it kill a visiting dignitary.

The Defenders are still in Asgard, and the Dazzler's still heading towards her major singing conflict with the Enchantress.

I know not what Captain America's up to in his own strip but I do know the tale's called The Sins of the Fathers.

I've no idea what's going on on that cover but I suspect it's Star Trek related, as I'm moderately confident it's not connected to either Conan or Weirdworld.

However, I'm afraid that's all the light I can shed upon this issue, as the internet's woefully short on info about it.

2000 AD - February 1983.

Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon. 

***

February 1983 seems to have been, mostly, a month of massacres in various parts of the world. Being the peace-loving soul I am, I was, therefore, clearly, going to have to seek refuge in the world of television.

And it was within that cathode ray wonderland that we found a historic moment unfolding, as US comedy-drama M*A*S*H reached its last-ever episode. One which set a record, as that land's most-watched TV episode of all time, thanks to an audience of 125 million people.

With viewing figures like that, the cinemas were probably empty but, still, the silver screen soldiered on and gave us such fare as Videodrome, Local Hero, The King of Comedy and The Sting II.

Of those movies, I've only ever seen Videodrome and Local Hero, neither of which hugely floated my boat although Local Hero did, at least, have a catchy theme tune, even if I did have to sit all the way through the entire film to finally hear it.

On the UK singles chart, Men at Work kicked-off February at Number One with Down Under but, soon, they were displaced by Kajagoogoo's Too Shy which then had to make way for Michael Jackson's Billie Jean, the song which finally cleared up all misunderstandings, by making it clear the chair was not his son. I don't know about you but hearing that was certainly a load off my mind. 

When it came to UK album performances, the first three-quarters of the month were dominated by Men at Work's Business as Usual, until the last week of February saw Michael Jackson's Thriller hit the top spot after already having spent 13 weeks on the chart.

No doubt, the galaxy's greatest comic was getting an audience of comparable size to that of M*A*S*H but just what was that audience being served up?

It was, as usual, being served up Robo-Hunter, Harry Twenty on the High Rock, Judge Dredd, Rogue Trooper and Tharg's Time Twisters.

It seems someone was a Steely Dan fan, as one of the Dredd episodes was called Pretzel Logic.

Then again, one of the Robo-Hunter tales was called Play it Again, Sam.

But, even more then-again, you probably didn't need to be psychic to have already spotted the adventures of Sam Slade might owe more than a little to the cinematic career of Humphrey Bogart.

For nostalgia buffs, it appears that pages from the comic's very first issue were reproduced in shrunken form.

And, as if that wasn't enough, we even got the chance to win a trip to Disney World!

March 18th, 1981 - Marvel UK, 40 years ago this week.

Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon. 

***

This week in 1981 wasn't exactly thrilling. The only major news going on that I can see was military dictator Augusto Pinochet being sworn in as President of Chile for another 8-year term, which was nice for him but, possibly, wasn't such good news for everybody else.

Nor was there much to get excited about on the music scene, with Roxy Music's Jealous Guy and Adam Ant's Kings of the Wild Frontier retaining their Number One spots, on the UK singles and album charts, respectively.

But what of comics? Thanks to recent mergers, Marvel UK suddenly found itself with just three weekly mags.

But, half the number of comics must mean each individual comic must now be twice as good as it used to be.

Right?

This is it!

At last!

The Hulk battles Gog and Magog, in Egypt, with help from the Arabian Knight and his flying carpet.

I'm starting to feel like I'm stuck in a time-loop.

When it comes to Spider-Man, Kraven's current girlfriend's nagging him to come out of retirement and kill the wallcrawler to prove he's a real man. And, like a mug, Kraven's listening to her.

Meanwhile, Iron Man's still teaming-up with the Human Torch, presumably to deal with the Reincarnated Man character they were confronting last week.

Captain America tails Dragon Man back to Machinesmith's lair and discovers the terrible truth about the bald-headed boffin.

The Dazzler's about to come into conflict with the Enchantress in that battle for a singing gig. But, first, the strip takes a diversion to the Avengers Mansion where the Beast and Wasp are squabbling over something or other.

Justin Hammer's still making Iron Man's armour malfunction.

And it would appear the Valkyrie's still in Asgard.

Britain's latest amalgamation of comics hits the shops, and the Enterprise crew hits a brand new mission, as it's sent to thwart a space cloud that's endangering the Andrea System.

Mystery and intrigue are afoot in Tales of the Microverse.

And the Warriors of the Shadow Realm find themselves on the outskirts of a town on stilts.

This is the limit of my knowledge of this issue but I do know Warlock isn't in it, and that can only be a bad thing.

Devil Dinosaur is also not in it.

This knowledge gives me mixed feelings.

Forty years ago today - March 1981.

Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon. 

***

Objects in the rear-view mirror may appear closer than they are.

But just how close do the following comics feel?

And closer to what?

Still feeling dubious about the Yellow Claw, after last month's encounter, the Avengers again invade his not-so-secret lair but, this time, he's taken the Vision captive, for reasons I'm not too sure of.

Fortunately, the fiendish fiend hasn't taken into account the synthezoid's ability to change his weight, or what effect that might have on the aircraft the pair of them are currently on.

Some bloke representing the god of Death shows up, out to deliver Jenna to his master.

However, that bloke finds himself falling for her charms and sacrifices his life to save her.

An act for which she's supremely ungrateful.

Oh, Jenna. You really are a trial, at times.

Hooray! It's another chance for the book to retell Captain America's origin.

Great news for those who haven't read the previous 255 retellings of it.

Oh, dear. Bullseye's back on the loose.

And he's gone completely mad.

Now, he's convinced that everyone he meets is Daredevil.

The problem is, one of them actually is.

And that's the one who's about to smash his teeth in.

Despite the title on the cover, this story's got nothing to do with long-standing Thor-botherer Ego.

Instead, thanks to Reed's attempts to discover the true nature of his son's powers, that son takes possession of a moron who's been annoying the Torch, during a date, and turns him into a man with the power to defeat even the FF themselves!

In the Egyptian desert, the Hulk encounters Gog and Magog, long-entombed villains from an ancient era.

Happily, one of the supporting characters is about to randomly turn into the Arabian Knight, a man with a sword and a flying carpet.

The story with Sunturion is, happily, wrapped up very quickly.

But, far more importantly, we get a reminder of just how Tony Stark met his best mate Rhodey, way back during Iron Man's first adventure, in Vietnam.

I think we all remember that meeting, from when it turned-up in Tales of Suspense #39 and...

...hold on, I don't recall Tales of Suspense ever featuring that encounter. I can only conclude it must have occurred at the same time as Matt Murdock was having his student-days love affair with Elektra.

When Gideon Mace has the White Tiger filled with enough holes to convert him into a teabag, Spidey decides to teach the club-handed villain a lesson or two.

The trouble is Mace has gone completely off his rocker and manages to kill himself before Spidey can get anywhere near bringing him to justice.

When the X-Men decide to go out for the night and leave Kitty Pryde alone in the house, it turns out not to have been such a great idea, as that's when one of the N'garai finds his way into our world and heads straight for the place.

Fortunately, Kitty's recently been receiving lessons on how to operate the Blackbird - and knows exactly who to point its engines at.

Gabriel's back - and totally oblivious to the fact that he's an android.

Soon, he finds himself in conflict with Thor.

But, along the way, he's picked up a youthful sidekick called Kevin. Can Kevin get him to see the error of his ways?

For that matter, does Kevin even care if he sees the error of his ways?

For reasons I'm struggling to recollect, Llyra's joined the Frightful Four and, for reasons I'm struggling to recollect, they're out to get Spider-Man.

Fortunately, Prince Namor shows up, for reasons I'm struggling to recollect.

Whatever anyone's motives, faced with those heroes, I suspect the quarrelsome quartet are doomed to failure.

March 11th, 1981 - Marvel UK, 40 years ago this week.

Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon. 

***

Don't panic!

I won't but I can't promise the same of Liquid Gold, the band that had thrilled us in 1980, with Dance Yourself Dizzy.

That's because it was on this night in 1981 that they and their song named after this post's opening line were vanquished by a gang of upstarts called Bucks Fizz who finished ahead of them in A Song for Europe and were, thus, selected to represent the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest.

The Fizz, of course, went on to win that contest.

What path Liquid Gold's career took from that point, I could not say.

Something that took a very well-attested course was Britain's ZX81, and Clive Sinclair's ground-breaking computer was released in this very week, back then.

It may have been primitive by modern standards but the ZX81 went on to sell over 1.5 million units and introduced home computing into the lives of many who would have previously never dreamed of dabbling in such things.

Dabbling in the musical legacy of John Lennon were Roxy Music who, that week, hit the top of the UK singles chart, with their cover of Jealous Guy.

However, reigning supreme on the UK album chart were Adam and the Ants, thanks to their LP Kings of the Wild Frontier.

All of which brings back to me that highly popular joke of the time; "How many ears does Adam Ant have? Three. His left ear, his right ear and his wild, front ear."

This is it! Britain's two most exciting comics combine, as Spider-Man and Hulk Weekly teams-up with, erm, Team-Up. If ever a comic was put on this Earth to merge with another, surely it had to be one called Team-Up.

Speaking of which, this issue, Iron Man and the Human Torch unite to tackle Infinitus the reincarnated man. I've no idea who Infinitus is but I assume he's nothing to do with Immortus, a man who was also no stranger to having multiple lives.

Elsewhere, Spider-Man's still tackling those bickering twins who've been turned into the walking menace Fusion by a nuclear accident of the type that could happen to any of us.

And, in Egypt, the Huk would appear to still be having trouble with those other perilous twins Gog and Magog.

He may not be able to make the cover of his own book but, inside, Captain America's still grappling with the gigantic might of Dragon Man.

Meanwhile, Iron Man's still thwarting all attempts by Blizzard, Whiplash and the Melter to rob Tony Stark's favourite casino.

However, I can bring no news of what the Dazzler and She-Hulk are up to.

This is it, tigers, the last ever issue of Valour before it merges with Future Tense.

Does it go out in style?

Too right it does! Conan's wrestling a pig!

Dr Strange and the Sub-Mariner, meanwhile, take on Alaric, the man with the magic sword that no spell can stop.

Tragically, for him, Alaric makes the fatal error of stabbing Subby with it. An act which, for reasons I'm not totally clear about, promptly robs the villain of his magic powers, and seals his fate.

The Warriors of the Shadow Realm are blundering around the back streets, doing something that involves fruit and bats but doesn't involve fruitbats.

Now that the evil aliens have been defeated, Moon-Boy goes in search of their conqueror, the missing Devil Dinosaur.

Sadly, with the comic's cancellation, I fear we may never get to find out if his quest succeeds.

That's Valour disposed of but how does Future Tense celebrate its last week of independence?

In Star Trek, it turns out the ambassador who was murdered last week faked his own death, for motives I'm not totally certain of.

Needless to say, it all ends happily, with the ambassador in jail, and his planet agreeing to join the Federation.

ROM's out to wreck Brandy's wedding, for no good reason - but then discovers a good reason when he gets there and quickly deducts that her intended is a Dire Wraith!

Conan's not the only one wrestling with a pig, this week, because Warlock's doing it too, as he finally gets to defeat Triax the Terrible.

However, it's not done before the villain's flung Eddie to his death in a sequence strikingly reminiscent of the demise of Gwen Stacy which was also drawn by Gil Kane.

Coincidence?

Or part of a pattern?

Come to think of it, which came first? The death of Gwen Stacy or the death of Eddie?

The Marvel Lucky Bag - March 1981.

Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon. 

***

How many times does your postman ring?

Mine only rings once.

In fact, mostly, he doesn't even do that.

Sometimes, he just knocks on the door and runs away.

But, in March 1981, he was ringing twice.

At least, that's what the big new movie that had just hit our cinemas was telling us.

And it wasn't the only film unleashed that March, because it was also a month which saw the unleashing of the never-to-be-forgotten horror tales Omen III and Inseminoid.

Have two finer thrillers ever been made than that pair?

Yes.

Frequently.

I detect a Paul Gulacy cover for a book that seems to be the first-ever issue, despite being billed as #25.

Going on that cover, I'm certain we'll get plenty of Marvel-style martial arts mayhem.

And it's all drop-kicked-off by the Black Widow, thanks to a tale lumbered with the title I Got the Yo-Yo. You Got the String. I think maybe someone needed to be sent back to Story-Titling School, there.

Next, we get an adventure for someone called Lady Daemon. I don't have a clue who Lady Daemon is but I do know this is both her introduction and her origin.

I suspect it may also be her swansong, though don't quote me on that.

And we close the book with power-packed action from the Daughters of the Dragon, one of whom is Misty Knight.

It is officially never a bad thing for a story to feature Misty Knight.

You begged for it! You screamed for it! You demanded it! And, at last, it's here, the glitterballtastic launch of a brand new comic for the hottest heroine this side of Studio 54!

The Dazzler auditions to become a singer at her local disco but her main rival for the job is the Enchantress. When the Dazzler gets the gig, the Enchantress does what she does best and gets jealous.

And we all know a jealous Enchantress is nothing but trouble.

Howard's black and white mag hits its final issue.

I've nothing more to say of it, as I don't know anything more of it, other than it contains several tales of mallard-based merriment.

I wish I had a pound for every comic book cover that's depicted Ant-Man about to be crushed by a big heel.

And, this time, that big heel's the Taskmaster.

I think that, after all these decades, I've only just grasped that the Taskmaster isn't the same character as the Spymaster.

Anyway, I don't really know what happens in this one.

I do, though, suspect that Ant-Man survives.

Thanks to my delvings into Marvel's UK mags, We've had plenty of talk, of late, about She-Hulk, Man-Wolf and Hellcat uniting to save the Other Realm from destruction.

And here's the comic it's all been sourced from.

Frankly, I'm still none the wiser as to what the Other Realm actually is. 

According to that cover, it's subatomic, which does make me wonder if Psycho-Man shows up at any point.

While minding their own business, trying to protect Project Pegasus from wrong-doers, the Thing and Quasar find themselves flung into an alternate reality where dinosaurs and humans live side-by-side.

It's everybody's worst nightmare, a giant eyeball on a motorbike.

Granted, it's not my worst nightmare but, you never know, it might be the Ghost Rider's.

I've no news of what happens in this one but it's written by Michael Fleisher, so there's at least some chance it contains cannibalism.

Fifty years ago this month - March 1971.

Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon.

***

Did you know that all that glitters is gold?

I did but only thanks to Led Zeppelin.

I know because they told me so.

Or at least they would have, had I been in Belfast fifty years ago this month. 

For it was in that city, right then, the band performed Stairway to Heaven in public for the first time.

Thanks to them, I also know not to be alarmed if there's a bustle in a hedgerow.

It's advice that's served me well and I have, thus, yet to be alarmed by any bustles I've ever encountered in any hedgerows.

What served Joe Frazier well, that March, were his fists, as he beat Muhammad Ali, on points, at Madison Square Garden, in the scrap billed as The Fight of the Century.

Rather more peacefully, it was also the month in which The Ed Sullivan Show aired its final episode.

As if all that wasn't epoch-making enough, March 1971 also saw the founding of Starbucks, in Washington State.

But comics. What of them?

We get a masterclass in how not to put together a book, as Lee and Buscema cobble together the tale of Janus the Nega-Man by recycling panels from a rejected story Jack Kirby drew before seeking-out the bright pastures of DC.

I'm going to put my neck on the block and say I don't feel it's an experiment that worked.

Gwen Stacy's gone to London to give birth to Norman Osborn's twins, and Aunt May manages to get herself kidnapped by the Beetle who's then foiled by his deadliest foe yet, a swimming pool.

John Romita's pencil also gives us a retelling of Spider-Man's origin.

I do feel this to be one of Spidey's weaker offerings from this era.

Trapped on an alternate Earth, the Avengers unite with the Squadron Supreme to take on Brain-Child, that world's deadliest ankle-biter.

In one of the very first American comics I ever owned, Captain America and the Falcon grapple with a human gorilla.

I cannot deny it, the colours and design of Cap's costume felt, to my innocent mind, like an entry into an almost drug-fuelled wonderland.

New York's lost the use of its eyes and it's up to Daredevil and a bunch of normally sightless people to defeat the culprits who turn out to be the Smasher and his gang.

I'm assuming this isn't the same Smasher as the one who turned up, once, in Spider-Man's comic, as that Smasher didn't seem to have the brains to lead any kind of gang.

Is it another Hulk classic when Bruce Banner finds himself in pursuit of Space Moby Dick while having to survive the lethal ambitions of the Abomination.

If you don't like stories like this, you don't like stories.

Nor do you like space monsters.

Nor the Abomination.

Nor the Hulk.

Or Bruce Banner.

It's another of those Iron Man yarns I've no memory of ever having read, even though I'm sure I must have.

I do know, though, that it features Nick Fury and Zodiac.

As always, I must confess that any story which features either Nick Fury or Zodiac is going to struggle to lodge itself in my mind.

Especially if it's in the pages of Iron Man.

I think this is the one that ends the saga in which Odin's hand is eating galaxies.

If I recall correctly, Hela's got Thor all dead and done for, until her lackey the Silent One sacrifices himself to save our hero.

But I don't care about that. All I care about is Hela's in it and looking as fabulous as ever.

So, that's all the main Marvel comics seen to but what of their distinguished competition?

Is it up to anything thrilling?

Too right it is. Jolly Jack may be being ill-served by The Fantastic Four, this month but why should he care about that? Over at DC, he has two brand-new books out!

In the first issue of The Forever People, not only do we get a guest slot from Superman, drawn as only Jack - and a hard-working correcting artist - can draw him but the main cast arrives on Earth, ready to have a, doubtless, magnificent set of adventures.

Meanwhile, Jack's New Gods also makes its debut.

I've read the plot summary of this issue, on the Grand Comics Database, and I don't understand a word of it.

I do, however, think this might be the issue which gives us the first-ever full appearance of Darkseid.