In the middle 1960's the superhero ruled! For whatever reason comics took off and superheroes were once again identified with them. Not since the Golden Age had there been so much eager activity to tap into the young audience and companies were popping up all over to meet that craving. Archie Comics was not a newcomer, but they had a very identifiable brand and so when they launched some superhero comics it was unusual. For whatever reason they selected The Shadow to be one of those new superheroes. The Shadow had dominated the 30's pulps and even had some activity in comics. But translating those atmospheric tales to the four-color page was a significant challenge. I can't say they necessarily succeeded. After a single debut cover which evoked the classic Shadow mysteries, the character was transformed into a blonde-haired, blue-suited superhero. This was the Shadow in name only. Jerry Siegel and Paul Reinman eventually took the reins of this project for its humbling seven issue run.
Below are the covers.
Strange stuff indeed. If you'd like a closer look then check out this link to the Internet Archive to read online these memorable is not particularly auspicious comic books. But tread carefully my friends, because the Shadow knows and he's likely not that chuffed about it.
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As I mentioned in your last article on the Shadow a few of these Shadow tales were reprinted in the UK in Alan Class comics and they were really poor even for the Archie superhero comic line.
ReplyDeleteA lot of very strange and "bad" comics were published in the 60's. Trying to take the Shadow and mold him into a superhero was a woeful mistake and not one that any amount of talent can solve.
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