Matt Wagner delivers a dynamic two-gun version of The Shadow for his much lauded Shadow origin series in 2015.
The Shadow routinely carried two .45 guns. That said, he wasn’t opposed to a rifle or machine gun, now and then.
Matt wrote this excellent series, and illustrated most of the covers, each one a frame-worthy rendition of the classic pulp character.
When DC brought back The Shadow after a long absence from comics in 1973, Mike Kaluta drew the now genre-defining early issues, and ultimately illustrated a beautiful graphic novel for Marvel years later.
Mike is also a big fan of the double-barreled look as well.
Color version and the more dramatic black and white version as a variant cover.
Who knows what evil…? Mike Kaluta knows.
The Shadow is acknowledged as the inspiration for Batman, and when DC acquired the rights to the character in 1973, they “crossed-over” twice.
Shadow Pulp Cover Re-creation (original by Graves Gladney, 1940), 2007
2020 is a double for anniversary for the legendary man of mystery, The Shadow.
The character was first introduced 90 years ago, in 1930 as the mysterious narrator of the radio drama, Detective Story Hour, which tied into the classic pulp magazine, Detective Story Magazine.
(Listeners, however, kept asking their newsstand dealers for “that Shadow detective Magazine”, so by the following year, the management team at Conde Naste smartly fleshed out the character and gave him his own mag, It rapidly became widely popular and successful.
By 1940, with the boom in comic books in full swing, The Shadow and some of his pulp “superhero” compatriots entered the four-color fray with their own comics. So it’s an 80thanniversary for the character’s appearance in comic books format as well.
Thomas Gianni, who sadly passed away a few months ago, loved pulp characters and the great pulp cover paintings.
Here, he recreates a classic, originally painted by the amazing Graves Gladney in 1940.
A talented artist and a terrific guy, I will miss chatting with Gianni, which was always an enjoyable moment when our paths crossed.
Much more on The Shadow, and the great Shadow artists in the next few weeks of posts, as we celebrate his amazing history.
Graves Gladney was one of the great pulp cover artists, as evidenced above.
The Shadow blasts his way into comic books in 1940.
Thomas Gianni’s brother Gary drew a few Shadow series for Dark Horse in the 90s, and created all three pulp-inspired covers for Hell’s Heat Wave.
