Saturday, May 20, 2017

The Shadow Knows! by Berni Wrightson



Chicken or the egg time---the ad in Kamandi #2, or the fanzine cover? hhhmmmm.....
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6 comments:

  1. Britt ReidMay 21, 2017 at 8:32 PM

    Actually, it was Wrightson's "tryout" piece for The Shadow assignment...and he got the job!
    But...Berni had to drop it because he was already on Swamp Thing, and wasn't fast enough to pencil and ink two bi-monthly books!
    Wrightson suggested his Studio associate Mike Kaluta, and the rest is history!
    Wrightson did ink an issue over Kaluta's pencils, and helped out with other artists on a couple of other issues when Kaluta ran late.

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  2. Cap'n's ComicsMay 22, 2017 at 7:30 AM

    Thank you....thankyouverymuch! Yeah, I always thought The Shadow #3 was a beautiful book

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  3. Dave RyanAugust 8, 2021 at 11:50 PM

    I love this 1-page sample of Wrightson doing THE SHADOW. I remember it from KAMANDI issue 2 (Jan 1973), but I'm sure it ran in many other DC titles that month.
    I'm glad that Kaluta had his run on the book, though, in 1-4 and 6, and covers on many others. Kaluta was actually fired from the book for being way behind schedule on every issue he turned in, and only did covers after that for the most part.
    I also love the less appreciated stories drawn by Frank Robbins, and issues 10-12 drawn by E.R. Cruz. O'Neil gave the series great consistency, regardless of the artist changes.

    Check out also JUSTICE INC. from the same period, adapting the Avenger pulp stories by O'Neil, issue 1 drawn by Al McWilliams, and issues 2-4 a rare collaboration between O'Neil and Jack Kirby!

    The only other O'Neil/Kirby story I'm aware of is RICHARD DRAGON KUNG FU FIGHTER 3.

    O'Neil and E.R Cruz did another one-shot collaboration in SHERLOCK HOLMES # 1 from DC, out about the same time as THE SHADOW 12.

    I'd love to see all these collected together in one hardcover. Hey, a guy can dream, can't he?

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    Replies
    1. Cap'n's ComicsAugust 9, 2021 at 10:14 PM

      Amen. I'm still pining for the Talon graphic novel by Steranko. Speaking of whom, Steranko's try-out page was also incredible

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    2. Britt ReidAugust 10, 2021 at 8:02 AM

      Though the Kaluta DC Shadow stories have been reprinted numerous times in numerous languages, the Robbins and Cruz ones have never had English-language reprints!🙄

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    3. Cap'n's ComicsAugust 10, 2021 at 2:27 PM

      Four years later on this comment thread, and all I got is thanks again! Great to hear from you, by the by

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