The Shadowed Circle #5 - Steve Donoso, ed.

The fifth issue of THE SHADOWED CIRCLE is here, and as usual, this journal devoted to the iconic character The Shadow continues to be outstanding. First of all, I love the front cover by Joe Booth. It’s as good a Shadow painting as I’ve seen in a long time and perfectly captures the feeling of the pulp, right down to the wear and tear along the edges. Booth also provides a couple of pieces of interior art that are excellent, as well.

Editor/publisher Steve Donoso has put together a fine group of articles about The Shadow. Some highlights for me:

“Shadow—and Substance, Part 2” by Dick Myers continues his examination of The Shadow’s organization, how it’s put together, functions, and is paid for. This is fascinating stuff to a long-time fan. Myers’ article was written a number of years ago but is being published for the first time in THE SHADOWED CIRCLE.

“Walter Gibson’s Mysterious Shadow Sabbatical” by Will Murray takes a look at an unexplained gap in Walter B. Gibson’s prodigious output of Shadow novels. Murray knows as much or more about The Shadow and Walter Gibson as anyone alive today and always produces great articles.

Speaking of Murray, Steve Donoso’s review of his latest book, DARK AVENGER: THE STRANGE SAGA OF THE SHADOW, is top-notch and highlights the differences between this volume and the fondly remembered THE DUENDE HISTORY OF THE SHADOW MAGAZINE that inspired it.

“Street & Smith’s World’s Finest” by M.J. Moran takes a look at the early novels featuring The Shadow and Doc Savage, focusing on their similarities and also their very distinct differences. Moran makes some interesting points that may run counter to the general impressions of long-time fans such as myself who have read extensively from all eras of the two series. But when you stop and think about it, he’s right.

In “The Shadow—Strange Creature in Black—The Comic Book Years: Part 2”, Todd D. Severin takes a look at some of The Shadow’s appearances in comic books that I actually remember this time around: the 1953 parody in MAD Magazine (I actually read this in a MAD paperback sometime in the early Sixties), the Archie Comics version (I bought some of these new and remember being unimpressed by them, even though I knew little or nothing of the character at that time), and the fantastic DC comics run in the Seventies by Denny O’Neil, Michael William Kaluta, and various other hands (I bought these new off the spinner rack as well and loved them, although like the change in artists from Kaluta to Frank Robbins was a real shock, an impression seemingly shared by most of the readers).

All the articles are good, but those are the ones that stood out most for me. As always, I sat down and read this new issue from cover to cover. I can’t imagine any fan of The Shadow not loving THE SHADOWED CIRCLE. I give it my highest recommendation. You can subscribe to it or buy back issues on the publisher’s website or pick up individual issues from Amazon. Next time around will be the first themed issue, devoted to The Shadow’s part-time agent Myra Reldon. I don’t know much about this character, so I’m very much looking forward to it.