WORLD OF MONSTERS: THE SHADOW KNOWS! (PART 1)

Wednesday, November 6, 2024

THE SHADOW KNOWS! (PART 1)

When DC Comics acquired the rights from Condé Nast (from previous owner Street & Smith) to the world's most famous radio crime-fighter THE SHADOW, they hired then free-lancer Denny O'Neil to helm the project as writer and editor.

In an interview (COMIC BOOK ARTIST #5, Summer 1999), O'Neil commented on how it happened:

"[DC publisher] Carmine [Infantino] called me up one day and asked me if I wanted to edit some books and I’d be paid for it. I said, “Sure.” I was a freelance editor which I think meant that they got an editor’s service without having to pay for the benefits. I wasn’t officially on staff and paid so much per book. As I look back, I was probably one of the worst editors in history. I had no idea what the hell I was doing. We had really good luck with some of the projects — The Shadow somehow came out very well despite my slipshod attitude."

The next step was to select an artist. Eight months earlier, DC had announced the new series with a full-page house ad in their November titles. The art was by Bernie Wrightson and -- based on that -- it was assumed it would be Wrightson illustrating the book.

However, it was Jim Steranko who was at the top of O'Neil's list. Steranko had thoroughly covered The Shadow and other pulp heroes in his book, THE STERANKO HISTORY OF COMICS (Supergraphics, Vol. 1 1970) so he was well-familiar with the character. However, he demanded too much creative control over the stories and consequently was passed over. Not long after that, Pyramid Books hired him to paint a series of covers for their reprints of Maxwell Grant's (Walter B. Gibson) Shadow novels.

Other artists were considered were Jim Aparo and Alex Toth. Then, Wrightson's name came up.

In an interview with THE COMICS JOURNAL (March 22, 2017), he explained:

"…I was up to my ears in Swamp Thing, and foolishly thought I could handle two books at one time… I was penciling two pages and inking a page and a half a day. I thought it would be a breeze. Swamp Thing’s bi-monthly and I’ll fill in the other month with The Shadow. Only it didn’t occur to me that I was taking the whole two months to do the book. So I did the sample page and I think I was even slated to do the first issue of The Shadow… And I came to my senses, fortunately, before ever starting on it. And just said there was no way I could handle two books. So I stuck with Swamp Thing. It’s more in my line."

Wrightson then suggested Mike Kaluta. Interviewed in BACK ISSUE #10 (May 2005), Kaluta commented on how he got the job:

"I was sitting with my friend Steve Harper, and Denny came in with Steve Skeates. While making small talk, I asked what was up, and I remember Denny said they were contemplating who would draw The Shadow. I asked, 'Well, who would you want?' Denny said, 'Oh, Jim Aparo, but he’s drawing everything else.' Harper started nudging me on the side, saying, 'Ask him if you could do it.' So I asked, and this may be the Hollywood version, but as I recall, Denny held up his hand, palm out towards me, and said, 'Wait a second.' He got up, left the room. We waited three or four beats, then he came back and said, 'Okay. It’s yours.'"

There were a couple of problems, though. First, Kaluta had no knowledge of The Shadow's background except who he was. Secondly, he had yet to draw a full-length comic story.

"When [Shadow fans] figured out it wasn’t Bernie but me [doing the book]," Kaluta remembered, "packages arrived mysteriously at my door from all over the country. There were tons and tons of character information, covers of the pulp magazines, and other visual information that kept flooding in. So I sat like a spider in my studio as the Shadow reference piled up."

As it turned out, O'Neil and Kaluta collaborated on a fantastically well-done book that lasted for 12 issues, from October-November 1973 until August-September 1975.

Posted today are the first two of them, sans ads.

THE SHADOW

Vol. 1 No. 1

October-November 1973

On-sale date: July 12, 1973

National Periodicals Publications, Inc. (DC Comics)

Editor: Dennis "Denny" O'Neil

Cover: Michael Kaluta

Story: "The Doom Puzzle!"

Pencils: Michael Kaluta

Inks: Michael Kaluta

Colors: Jerry Serpe