Bitter Fruit: wrapping up Archie's Shadow comics

My series "Bitter Fruit" ran for 12 installments on this blog, ultimately detailing the contents of all eight issues of Archie's 1964-65 Shadow comic book; obviously, I named it after the 1930-50s Shadow radio program phrase: "the weed of crime bears bitter fruit!"

1. "The Shadow vs. the RXG Spymaster!!"
2. "The Eyes of the Tiger!"
3. "Shiwan Khan's Murderous Master-Plan!"
4. "Margo Lane's Honeymoon!"
5. "Shiwan Khan's House of Horrors!"
6. "The Princess of Death"
7. "The Diabolical Dr. Demon!"
8. "The Human Bomb!"
9. "Menace of Radiation Rogue!"
10. "The Incredible Alliance of Shiwan Khan and Attila the Hunter!"
11. "The Shadow Battles... the Brute!"
12. "The Shadow Versus: ...Radiation Rogue, Dr. Demon, Attila the Hunter, the Insidious Elasto and the Diabolical Dimensionoid in the Game of Death!"

What exactly was I hoping to accomplish by looking back at the series? I suppose my interest came primarily from being a fan of the Shadow radio program and having heard in a few places how Archie's Shadow was one of the worst comic books of the 1960s. As I noted in the first review, I read each story for the first time as I reviewed it (I composed each paragraph after reading a page or more of the story). My hope was to discover either:

A) Archie's the Shadow wasn't nearly as terrible as people claimed!

Or:

B) Archie's the Shadow is terrible - but in a fun way!

It probably comes through at least some of the time during my reviews - I tried to either make light of the proceedings or attempt to find something good about the comic. But never mind my hopes... what is my final judgment of the Shadow#1-8?

It is a textbook example of a bad comic book series.

First, take our protagonist... please!

As a fan of the radio program, I'm used to the Shadow being Lamont Cranston, "well-to do young man about town," an amateur sleuth who secretly fights crime as the Shadow by "clouding men's mind so that they cannot see him." Instead, this comic book version of Lamont Cranston is a wealthy playboy who owns a bank and museum and is secretly an agent of the US government (originally the Secret Service, later changed to C.H.I.E.F.), but extra-secretly is the Shadow, with the power to cloud men's minds so that they cannot see him, read men's minds, erase memories, plant hypnotic suggestions and fabricate elaborate illusions; plus, he carries a variety of special gadgets, from his multi-purpose Shadow-Gun to boots which let him fly.

I think "wealthy man who is secretly a super hero" is a sufficient hook for a super hero book; the secret agent material adds almost nothing to the series, except to occasionally give Lamont superiors who send him on assignments. The series was incredibly inconsistent in using the Shadow's powers; he almost never seems to think of the appropriate time to become invisible or read his foe's mind. The addition of gadgets in later issues only make his Shadow powers superfluous - instead of "remembering" he has powers to get out of a bind, he "remembers" he's carrying a gadget which is precisely suited to resolving the problem.

The Shadow's greatest hurdle in these issues is that he doesn't struggle; he has allies, powers and gadgets beyond reckoning, but no personal troubles. His money offers no burdens, his secret agent and super hero work never interfere with his own desires, he can solve any problem without needing someone else's help (even if he has to mind-control someone into dying, re: "the Brute") and he treats his supporting cast as (at best) nuisances who get in the way of his work. Which brings me to...

If a hero is as rich as their supporting cast... Lamont Cranston is a pauper.

But who does make up the Shadow's supporting cast? There's his chauffeur Shrevy up above, along with his secretary Margo Lane, both familiar characters from the radio dramas. Further, Lamont's superior intelligence agent, Weston, is another person heard on the radio. Beyond that, Lamont had agents of his own (in "the Brute," at least) to gather intelligence. None of these characters know Lamont is the Shadow (even though Margo held his confidence on radio).

Lamont cares about his friends to the extent that he'll save them from his foes; however, he also erases their memories and manipulates their actions (re: "the Human Bomb") when it suits his needs. It isn't clear why Margo or Shrevy care for Lamont beyond their duties as his employees. Lamont treats them as subordinates. But the supporting cast's lack of impact on the series could be mitigated by the use of antagonists.

Every good hero deserves to fight the same villain every month?

Out of 8 issues, only one doesn't feature an appearance by Shiwan Khan. In 12 stories total, the Shadow battles Shiwan Khan 7 times; Attila the Hunter, Radiation Rogue and Dr. Demon each twice; the Human Bomb, Dimensionoid, Elasto and the Brute each once. He's also allied with Princess Lua in one story and pit against her in another; plus, there's a vast collection of minor thieves and spies.

Shiwan Khan was the only villain who originated in the Shadow's pulp novels; he appeared four times within two years, yet developed a reputation as the Shadow's greatest foe, even though the Shadow had made more than 300 novels by the time of the Archie comic. Using Shiwan Khan demonstrates the creators had some interest in the character's published history, but I don't see why he needed to be in 7/8 issues; surely the Shadow had other pulp villains who were worth revisiting? Although many other villains were introduced in the comics, usually they served as an accomplice to Shiwan Khan and were eventually betrayed by Khan.

Because the Shadow is repeatedly shown as exceedingly capable - with a gadget to stop anyone - it's hard to imagine his enemies giving him any real difficulty. Even the Brute, the one foe who overcomes everything the Shadow throws at him, is ultimately defeated by the Shadow's mental powers. Some of the Shadow's enemies do have ideas about evading his powers, such as wearing special goggles (Dr. Demon) or painting eyeballs on their eyelids to fool the Shadow (Khan, in "Radiation Rogue"). However, the Shadows powers and gadgets ultimately win out and the villains are often at each other's throats; even when the stakes are high (Khan having nuclear weapons in "Master-Plan"), the Shadow sleepwalks his way through their schemes. And boy, such schemes...

But I haven't even started on the plotting, such as it is.

The series was initially written by Robert Bernstein (issues#1-3, stories #1-6), later by Jerry Siegel (issues#4-8, stories #7-12). I don't know what the workings of Archie Comics would have been at the time - did they use full scripts or "Marvel method?" How much involvement did the editor have over the finished product? Actually, I don't even have the writing credits because Archie didn't supply any; the Grand Comics Database claims Bernstein & Siegel wrote these comics, but they don't explain where their source of information came from.

Under Bernstein, the series was an average secret agent comic book where the author was seemingly forced to make his protagonist an old pulp hero. In Bernstein's last issue, the transition to super hero was made complete; perhaps it had something to do with Bernstein's departure? Perhaps Bernstein's stories were originally written for a secret agent comic but were rewritten to include uses of the Shadow powers and appearances by familiar pulp characters?

By the time Siegel arrived, the series was a super hero extravaganza. Siegel, as co-creator of Superman, really ought to have been up to the concept; after all, at the time he had 25+ years of experience writing comic book, most of them super heroes; he'd worked for every major publisher and self-published. He was not only one of the fathers of the super hero genre, he was one of the fathers of comic book storytelling - full stop! And yet, one wouldn't assume the Shadow#4-8 were written by an experienced professional. The storytelling is so crude it could have been published in 1940, when the medium was young. At times, Siegel's storytelling suggests he has contempt for the very comic he's been hired to write (see the image at the top of this post). The last two issues are filled with smarmy dialogue suggesting the writer can't believe he's wasted 25+ years writing forgettable nonsense for children. And this led to...

The series struggled to extricate the hero from dilemmas without resorting to contrivances.

Even under Bernstein, the Shadow would seemingly forget his powers, especially his trademark power - to become invisible - and thus ignore obvious solutions to his problems. Under Siegel, the situation worsened as the Shadow would use his powers in ridiculous ways (the porcupine-man illusion from "Radiation Rogue") or spring out a variety of gadgets, most of which were not properly set up in advance. The Shadow's Shadow-Gun, belt buckle ray beam, "weakness gas," spring-loaded boots and jet boots would appear as the Shadow needed some quick means to get out of a problem. Other villains have an Achilles heel which isn't brought up until the Shadow exploits it (as in "Game of Death," above). I submit that when the protagonist has vast mental powers and sleuthing abilities, he shouldn't need a deus ex machina to overcome every obstacle. Even if I could forgive the short-cuts in plotting...

Artwork was, at the best of times, functional.

The GCD identified the artist of the first three stories as John Rosenberger; Paul Reinman drew all of the covers and the stories from the fourth on up. Initially, I was very pleased to have a little Reinman art because he demonstrated a minor Kirby influence. However, looking back, Rosenberger was the most consistent artist in terms of panel-to-panel continuity. When Reinman became the artist, important events kept happening off-panel and the lines of perspectives between characters and objects were skewed (such as the size-changing house in "Game of Death"). At times, Reinman could be quite stylish, but for a man of his experience (he'd been in comics almost as long as Siegel), there's no excuse for the quick short-cuts he would take in storytelling (unless it was to match the short-cuts Siegel was making in the plotting). It seems as though Reinman was trying to work outside his limitations, perhaps penciling/inking more pages than he was comfortable with; Kirby had the talent to take on multiple assignments at once without suffering too much (depending on who finished his art), but Reinman seems to be cast adrift on the Shadow, becoming sloppier as he goes (such as the above sequence where the missile's location relative to Dr. Demon changes between panels). Perhaps a good inker could have saved some of Reinman's dignity. But even then...

The series' dialogue becomes increasingly erratic as the book continues.

In my ignorance of the process around how these comics were made, I wonder how much of the awkward dialogue came about because the artists weren't delivering what the plotter asked for. Perhaps the plotter's stories weren't paced properly for the artist, perhaps the plotter forgot certain details he'd intended for the artists to employ. Whatever the reason, dialogue in latter issues of the Shadow is practically at war with the images on the page. In the above sequence from "the Brute," the villain suddenly emits gas to counter the Shadow's gas attack. The Brute had not previously been seen carrying gas cannisters and thus the script has just one panel to establish the Brute has gas and it works to counter the Shadow's. Also, the Brute has to climb out of the pit, all in a single panel!

"The Brute" also has some of the laziest scripting, such as the panel which establishes the location of one scene as "you-know-where" when the audience does not, in fact, know where the scene is set. It's a clumsy attempt at the ingratiating style Stan Lee employed in his scripts, but only serves to highlight how little interest the scripter has in telling the story.

In conclusion

The greatest value of Archie's Shadow is to illustrate how many things can go wrong with a comic book. Between these eight issues, you can find failures in just about everything shy of lettering and colouring. It stands as a curious artifact from the period where Stan Lee, Jack Kirby & Steve Ditko were challenging the cliches of the medium while most of their peers were simply clueless.

But is this one of the worst comic books ever made? Not exactly... it is entirely readable. I think a large part of why this comic book developed its reputation is because when the 1960s comic book revolution was occurring, it was stuck in the past; further, it put the Shadow into a ridiculous spandex costume, which no self-proclaimed Shadow fan could sit still for. But heck, the silly tights weren't the worst thing about this comic, as I've observed. The Shadow would eventually star in a number of well-received DC comic books from the 70s to the 90s, then return for the current Dynamite series; he's lived down this blip in his career rather well. As to Siegel and Reinman ...well, some people still give them grief for their other, better-known Archie super hero comics, which have also been called "worst of the 60s" or "worst of all-time." The best thing we can say about Siegel & Reinman is: no one talks about this particular side trip in their otherwise-respected careers.

Bitter Fruit#12: "The Shadow Versus:...Radiation Rogue, Dr. Demon, Attila the Hunter, the Insidious Elasto and the Diabolical Dimensionoid in the Game of Death!"

Greetings! This is the final review in my series "Bitter Fruit," an examination of Archie Comics' 1960s Shadow comic books, featuring the famous pulp hero as a spandex-wearing super dude. Today we're looking at the final issue, the Shadow#8: "The Shadow Versus:...Radiation Rogue, Dr. Demon, Attila the Hunter, the Insidious Elasto and the Diabolical Dimensionoid in the Game of Death!" is our overwritten title; check out the cover:

As with issue#7, the Shadow is featured in the left corner. The villain on the cover is evidently Elasto, who seems to have elongation powers and frequents haunted houses. It's interesting to note he's wearing the same clothing colours and white hair as Superman's foe Mr. Mxyzptlk. The Shadow doesn't seem too upset about being grabbed by an enormous hand; perhaps a speech balloon could have made this "action" seem a little more interesting.

We open on the title page and I suppose I should comment again on the title: some of you will recall we met Dr. Demon in issue #4, Radiation Rogue in issue#5 and Attila the Hunter in issue#6. One assumes we're about to meet Dimensionoid and Elasto; I do hope we may finally go one issue without Shiwan Khan! We open on a typical scene in Manhattan: a green alien is raising his fists at a New Yorker while the Shadow swings from... uh, above, upon a rope. We can only see the alien from behind, but the Shadow doubts he's a real alien because he uses "his fists, instead of some fantastic weapon," which is dubious logic. Perhaps he's a very strong alien? More to the point, it's an alien! Shouldn't this be a big deal?

As the alien backs the New Yorker into an alleyway, the Shadow's voice interrupts him and mentions the man being menaced is Peter Jordan, a wealthy heir. The Shadow enters the alleyway on foot, so you might wonder why he was riding a rope on the title page. As the Shadow explains to Peter he heard about his life being threatened in the newspapers, the alien pulls out a bolo (aha! we have "some fantastic weapon" at last!) and waxes poetically about its noise being a "symphony of doom!" The Shadow uses his hypnotic powers to make himself seem dazzlingly brilliant, blinding the alien so he misses the Shadow with his bolo. He could have simply become invisible, but this works too. However, Peter Jordan suddenly pulls out a gas gun and knocks the Shadow out with its fumes. The alien unmasks himself as someone named "Miguel."

Miguel wants to unmask the Shadow, but Peter kicks him in the hand, demanding he be left alone. A waiting car pulls up and an accomplice helps carry the Shadow aboard as they make way to "Destination K." As they drive, Peter muses about how the Shadow's "every fibre will be exerted in the defense of me, his secret opponent!" They end their trip at "an isolated vast estate on Long Island." A waiting security guard reminds Miguel to keep away from the fence because it's electrified; I wonder what this says about Miguel's intelligence? Peter wants to appear "manhandled," so he pays Miguel $1,000 in cash to punch him. This satisfies Peter who tells Miguel to leave with the truck while the truck driver helps carry the Shadow into the estate.

Within the estate's briefing room, the Shadow's still-slumbering form is brought before Radiation Rogue, Dr. Demon, Attila the Hunter, Elasto and the Diabolical Dimensionoid. Peter brags about how he's succeeded where they failed. Wait, what? Who are Elasto and the "Diabolical" Dimensionoid? And why are Radiation Rogue & Dr. Demon reappearing alive when they were last seen supposedly dying (Dr. Demon leapt from a castle to his death, Radiation Rogue was crushed under a wall and had only a brief amount of hours left anyway). Yes, it's an old cliche of the serial to have villains return from seeming death, but at least we had an explanation for Attila the Hunter's survival; if Radiation Rogue & Dr. Demon survived their deaths, then Shadow wasn't doing his job at the time to let them go.

Peter soon qualifies his statement, recalling only three of them have fought the Shadow before but "two of you thirst to achieve that distinction." Peter has agreed to pay each villain $1 million dollars, but he's arranged a "Game of Death" (starring Bruce Lee) wherein only the man who defeats the Shadow in battle can remove his mask, but Peter will be accompanying the Shadow throughout the game. Peter refuses to explain his motivation in all of this. Elasto then interrupts, declaring "I, the insidious Elasto, hate myself!!!" Dang, an emo super villain! He turned up at least 30 years too soon! Elasto regales all assembled with his origin: he was an FBI scientist exposed to a chemical explosion in his lab; the explosion split his personality so that his "evil nature" causes him to commit crimes; in a flashback, we see him rob a jewelry store, then burst into tears and apologize for it.

Peter asks the Dimensionoid about his motivation: the Dimensionoid reveals he's from the 13th Dimension and can reshape his rocky body into any form. He wants to join "the Fiends of Garnn, a cabal of ultra-villains" in his home dimension and destroying the Shadow is his initiation stunt. Peter declares the game has begun and soon the Shadow wakes up in a laboratory within the estate. Peter pretends to be afraid so the Shadow won't suspect him. The Shadow notices a painting of Radiation Rogue and recalls how the villain died; suddenly, Radiation Rogue bursts through the painting. Boy, he loves a good entrance!

The second chapter begins as Radiation Rogue takes off his right glove to unleash his radiation. However, the Shadow grabs the discarded glove to protect himself... wait, how does that work? How did he get past Radiation Rogue running at him with a bare radioactive hand, grab the glove, then turn to face him? Again, fight choreography is not this title's strong suit. Even with the glove, Radiation Rogue is still able to release enough radiation to weaken the Shadow, but the Shadow manages to kick him into a wall and knock him unconscious. He leaves Radiation Rogue lying behind a machine, gambling its lead parts will shield he and Peter from the radiation.

The Shadow tries to escort Peter out of the estate, but Peter claims he has the power of "super-intuition" and suggests they follow one of his hunches. This, naturally, leads them into another trap as a chute opens up from... something. One panel they're on solid ground, the next they're... falling? ...down a chute. Ugh. They land inside an arena filled with wax statue spectators. Attila the Hunter enters with a battle axe in hand and attacks the Shadow. The Shadow tries to trick Attila with the illusion of a guillotine, but Attila's having none of it. "Only a coward would hide behind magical weapons! Can you not fight like a man?" Attila asks. The Shadow agrees and instead pulls out a whistle and adjusts a dial so its "destructive vibrations" will destroy Attila's axe. In other words, it's a typical Shadow solution to a problem: pull a gadget out of nowhere. Attila grabs a mace to continue the fight, but Peter intervenes and quickly knocks out Attila. This surprises the Shadow, but Peter pretends to faint to maintain his charade of being timid.

The Shadow carries Peter out of the estate, but Peter "accidentally" calls out aloud, attracting the attention of Dr. Demon and his henchmen (I guess the henchmen weren't invited to the briefing room). Dr. Demon and his men are all wearing goggles to shield their eyes from the Shadow's powers and he has a ridiculous weapon: "der Targorang rocket!" The Shadow dodges the rocket by activating the springs in his boots (which he used last issue), but the rocket is trained to follow him wherever he goes. Thus, the Shadow activates air-jets in his boots so he can fly (because I guess he can do that now), lands on the rocket in a totally-not-suggestive image and alters its direction so it'll hit Dr. Demon.

Again, we have some terrible fight choreography. Dr. Demon sees the rocket flying towards him and orders one of his men to detonate the rocket immediately. One would think the explosion would kill him because its already so close, but instead the next panel shows the rocket exploding in the sky somewhere past Dr. Demon. One also wonders why Dr. Demon's henchman didn't simply detonate the rocket while the Shadow was riding it. At this, Dr. Demon and his henchmen transform into "real Shadow-Men," ink-black creatures who can drain "bodily energy" by touching the Shadow. However, the Shadow presses a button on his belt buckle and it emits a light which dissolves the "Shadow-Men." Does this mean Dr. Demon and his men are dead? As is often the case with the Shadow, I'm left asking, "what happened?"

The Shadow's boots are damaged (when did that happen?) so he can't fly over the fence, which Peter points out is electrified. Suddenly, the Dimensionoid appears and transfoms into a giant "destruction-ball." The Shadow and Peter hide behind the estate as the Dimensionoid plows into it, destroying the building. Does this mean Radiation Rogue & Attila were killed? Also, the building suddenly seems much smaller - the perspective in these panels is horrible. The Shadow runs to Dr. Demon's gadgets and fires a "flame-missile" at Dimensionoid, but the villain hollows out his middle to dodge the attack. Transforming into a wheel, the Dimensionoid tries to run over Peter, but the Shadow hypnotizes him into assuming a form which just so happens is "the one shape" which will send the Dimensionoid back to the 13th Dimension, "never to return." Uh, whatever.

Peter starts talking about his intuition again and the Shadow agrees to follow (because it worked so well before), leading them into the ambush of Elasto! Mirroring the cover, Elasto increases his hand size to crush the Shadow, all the while declaring how he abhors violence and pities having to use his power against the Shadow.

We now enter the final chapter. As Elasto mentions he has "unlimited stretching abilities," the Shadow challenges him to stretching himself "as high as the ionosphere in Earth's upper atmosphere." Because super villains operate on fairy tale logic, Elasto agrees and then decides to overachieve, stretching above the ionosphere until he runs out of oxygen; he quickly reverts to his normal length and collapses from oxygen deprivation. Peter again offers to guide the Shadow and leads him into a swimming pool, then through a tube-exit on the bottom of the pool. When they emerge on the other side of the estate's fence, the Shadow finally reveals he knows Peter is his enemy and has known since Peter defeated Attila in combat.

Peter now finally explains his motivation: he's extremely bored and thought having the Shadow battle all these criminals at his side would be exciting. The Shadow declares "You're sickening! You'd better see a psychiatrist!" However, Peter pulls a gun on the Shadow and threatens to kill him, but the Shadow merely laughs. Having looked into Peter's mind, the Shadow knows he can't bring himself to murder anyone. The Shadow simply walks away as Peter finds he's right: he can't pull the trigger. Peter muses the Shadow has won the game of death (but like Bruce Lee, this is his final performance).

Hooray! We made it through an issue without Shiwan Khan!

This issue was again created by Jerry Siegel & Paul Reinman. What does this issue get right? Seeing so many super villains (none of them Shiwan Khan) is a nice change and the Shadow's ultimate solution to the matter, simply reading Peter Jordan's mind to see he's not a killer, is nicely executed.

What does this issue get wrong? Pretty much everything else. Again, the Shadow's gadgets appear and disappear as the plot demands. Perspective, action and sequential storytelling in general is abysmal. Characters are simplistic, dialogue is dull. Other than that, how was the show, Mrs. Lincoln?

This issue features yet another "Adventures of the Shadow" text story. The last entry broke off as Lamont Cranston entered Weston's cottage and found himself looking "into the face of Death." It turns out he's facing an "Oriental" with a gun. Weston is now described as an agent of the American Secret Service, the first agency he was linked to, rather than C.H.I.E.F. (which was made into a major plot element in issue #5, then forgotten). The Oriental turns out to be Shiwan Khan. Since Khan is a Fu Manchu rip-off, the author indulges in ripping off Sax Rohmer's famous description of Fu Manchu: "Visualize, atop the mighty physique, a huge bald head with an enormous cranium. See, crafty, squinting eyes glaring madly out of a cruel, harsh face..." etc. Shiwan Khan demands to learn everything Lamont knows about the Shadow, and there the story ends.

Next time: I'm done reviewing the issues, but I'll soon be back to discuss the series as a whole; what went wrong? Is it, ultimately, as bad as people claim? You may already know the answers.

Bitter Fruit#11: "The Shadow Battles... the Brute!"

Welcome back to the penultimate entry in "Bitter Fruit," my story-by-story exploration of Archie Comics' 1960s Shadow comic book series wherein they transformed our hero into a spandex-clad super hero. Let's get right into it with the cover of the Shadow#7:

Note the top left corner no longer contains an "Archie Comics" label, instead placing an image of the Shadow within a triangle. This presumably helped customers thumbing through a spinner rack locate the title, but also meant the comic received no extra promotion from the Archie label. Next, check out our presumed villain the Brute: he wears a set of sunglasses with white frames and a red shirt with with a laced front. Who does he remind you of?

Woozy Winks, right?

I'm also entranced by the Brute's headphones. He won't even hear the Shadow's attack over the Sinatra blaring in his ears! Finally, I wonder how high the ceiling in this laboratory is; evidently it's high enough for the Shadow to crouch atop a desk and swing a giant lamp over the head of someone who's about 8 feet tall.

The opening splash page is very similar to the cover, only now the Brute's glasses and headphones are brown and clearly connected together. The Shadow indicates his hypnotism doesn't work on the Brute; perhaps the sunglasses are the issue? The blurb at the bottom right has some terrific garbled language: "See what astonishingly happens?"

The story opens in New York at a charity banquet, when waiters suddenly draw guns on the wealthy patrons to rob them. However, the Shadow steps out from behind a curtain and, via hypnosis, tricks the crooks into thinking he's backed up by an army of policemen. The gunmen surrender, enabling the Shadow to contain them until the police arrive. When the crooks are gone, the Shadow resumes his identity as Lamont Cranston and rejoins the dinner.

Elsewhere, we turn to... *sigh* ...Shiwan Khan's island. For the love of mercy, can't we have just one issue go by without Shiwan Khan? Amazingly, the series continues its newfound love of continuity as Shiwan reflects on how he and Attila the Hunter survived the destruction of his submarine by boarding a "shock-resistant survival bubble craft!" Well, that explains everything. I don't think we're going to see Attila this issue, though - he's restricted to a mere silhouette in the flashback. Having run short of funds, Shiwan needs to raise more money and begins by ordering his men to attack each other until only one stands; the last man standing is declared the greatest, so Shiwan gives him a special costume then subjects him the "Growth Ray" (where did this come from?).

The strongman is doubled in size and strength and tests out his power by smashing some of Shiwan's statues of the Shadow. Shiwan dubs him the Brute and supplies him with earphones to provide his instructions as Shiwan will send the Brute to rob locations. The Brute agrees, but being "brutally frank," demands one quarter of the final take (I rather like the "brutally frank" gag, it's like something Stan Lee's early Hulk would say). Shiwan sends the Brute aboard his (new) submarine and tells him to steal trillions; the Brute returns, "And to think my high school annual predicted I'd become a pharmacist!" Okay, now I'm just about convinced the spirit of Stan Lee has infected these proceedings. Days later, the Brute phones up a bank in New York and informs them they're about to be robbed. Five minutes later he bursts in, rips open the bank vault and steals all he can carry.

Next up, the Brute breaks into a beauty parlor and smashes up the Triple-Cross Gang, who run their operations in the back of the shop (who on Earth would trust the Triple-Cross Gang?); the gang surrender their money. Back on Shiwan's island, we see he not only speaks to the Brute via the headphones, but can see through the Brute's sunglasses. However, he's a little annoyed to see the Brute save the life of a child and chides his minion to "stick to infamous skullduggery." The Brute asserts himself, noting he's doing Shiwan's work; he sends the first shipment of Shiwan's loot aboard a rocket aimed at Shiwan's island (where did the rocket come from?).

"Later, at you-know-where..." all right, now we're past the point of Stan Lee-style playfulness and I begin to fear the scripter is just throwing up his hands and refusing to put in his best effort. The Brute smashes into a laboratory, but the Shadow is present! The Shadow orders the Brute to stop and the Brute obeys, but only as a feint; he's immune to the Shadow's mental powers and seizes an opportunity to slap the Shadow in the face. "Why don't you go shadowbox without yourself," the Brute notes, ever the joker. The Brute explains his goggles render him immune to the Shadow's hypnosis. The Shadow tries to smash him over the head with a lamp (as seen on the cover & splash), but the Brute's head is "stronger than even a third helping of garlic bread." The Brute is "ashamed" of the Shadow for ruining a "nice-looking" lamp and kicks our hero unconscious. Later, at Lamont's townhouse, Margo sees Lamont worrying about the Brute, not realizing he's the Shadow. Lamont realizes he'll have to invent some new way of defeating his foe. And thus ends the first chapter.

Our story resumes in "the Shadow's Amazing New Weapons!" The Brute has just sent another rocket of loot back to Shiwan Khan when Shiwan directs him to meet up with two of his men, who have just been ferried to shore from Shiwan's submarine. The two new henchmen, the Titan and Colosso, offer to help the Brute ransack New York. However, the Brute doesn't want their help and starts drowning Titan until Titan agrees to swim back to the submarine; the Brute grabs Colosso and catapults him to the submarine using a tree. Back at his island, Shiwan fumes over Brute's disobedience, but still wants him to collect money.

We turn now to the estate of Cyrus Galloway, a wealthy explorer who's collected many valuable treasures. A television crew visit Cyrus' home and ask if he's worried about the Brute robbing him, but Cyrus claims he has plenty of defenses and will donate $100,000 to charity if the Shadow foils any robberies. Lamont sees this on television and realizes the Brute is now certain to strike at Cyrus' estate, but since their first encounter he's been working on something to use against the Brute. The Brute sees the broadcast on the television set of some locals by peering in their window.

That evening, the Brute invades the estate. Cyrus sends his guard dogs to attack him, but the Brute contains them within a cage he found around the base of a tree. However, the Shadow appears, uttering his mocking laughter (hurrah! I've missed the laugh!). Before the Shadow can land a blow, the Brute steps into a trap set by Cyrus, falling into a pit. The Shadow's "Shadow-Gun" unleashes a spray of "weakness gas," a pink mist which causes the Brute to stop resisting; however, the Brute releases a green mist from his belt to counter the gas. How on Earth could the Brute have prepared for this? What is "Weakness Gas" anyway? This is exactly the type of comic book science which would be mocked a year later on television's Batman program.

The Brute grabs the Shadow and hurls him into Cyrus' crocodile pen, but the Shadow chases the crocs away by hypnotizing them to believe he's a giant crocodile. To get out of the pen, the Shadow uses springs concealed in the heels of his boots to launch him over the fence. Perhaps he bought them from Ant-Man? The Shadow asks Cyrus where the Brute is, but evidently during all of this, the Brute stole Cyrus' treasures and escaped. Cyrus mocks the Shadow's trademark phrase: "This is the Shadow! Ha-haaa-haaaa! Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? Only the Shadow knows! Phooie! Off my property!" He's either channeling the feelings of every Shadow fan writing to Archie to complain about the series, or transforming into J. Jonah Jameson. The Shadow melts back into the darkness, hoping he'll do better the next time he fights the Brute.

On Shiwan's island, Shiwan receives a rocket from the Brute containing Cyrus' treasures. Back in New York, the Shadow's belt-buzzer sends him a signal. Since when has he had a "belt-buzzer?" the Shadow's agent 29-F (since when does the Shadow have agents? he did in the original pulps but hasn't in these comics) has spotted the Brute heading toward the government's "super-secret Futuro-Lab." The Shadow is aware Futuro-Lab is the home of "Project Z," a device which can transmute objects into diamond or gold. If the Brute had simply gone there first, he could've given Shiwan a lifetime of riches!

Just as the Brute reaches the room where Project Z is found, he discovers the Shadow waiting behind the door. The Shadow activates another device from his belt, the "power-beam," which knocks the Brute to the floor. Next, the Shadow draws his Shadow-Gun (boy, where does the author dream up these names?) and it fires electro blasts (not gas?) at the Brute. However, the Brute activates a paralysis ray he finds in the Futuro-Lab and uses it to paralyze the Shadow. Seeing this, Shiwan orders the Brute to unmask the Shadow. However, the Brute refuses; he's not interested in knowing who the Shadow is and challenges Shiwan to solve the problem on his own.

The Brute leaves the Futuro-Lab, offering yet another brilliant jab at the Shadow as he departs. However, from overhearing the Brute's conversation with Shiwan, the Shadow realizes where the Brute's orders are coming from. Rigging up his "hound-mike" (what?), the Shadow transmits a perfectly faked copy of Shiwan's voice to the Brute and orders him to the "Jewel Museum" (again, the author has no imagination). When the Brute arrives at the Jewel Museum, the Shadow pulls out a special whistle whose "supersonic" note shatters the Brute's goggles (so why didn't the Shadow lead with this weapon back at Futuro-Lab?). Now the Shadow is able to hypnotize the Brute and starts to work on him, but the Brute is, once again, faking; he kicks the Shadow over a ledge into the river (the museum is on the river, apparently). The Brute was also wearing contact lenses to shield his eyes from the Shadow, plus has a spare set of goggles. Hey, if the Shadow can just keep inventing new gadgets as the story goes along, I suppose it's only fair.

The Shadow slows his descent to the raging waters below using "compressed air jets" in his boots' soles. How does he have room in his boots for his feet with all the balderdash and malarkey being used as lining? By the time the Shadow returns to the museum, the Brute has departed. The Brute's next location is Lamont Cranston's own townhouse, where only Shrevy and Margo are present to meet the attack! Shiwan sees this and orders the Brute to kidnap Margo, to which the Brute complies. As the Brute races across New York on the rooftops, attracting a crowd of onlookers, Shiwan orders him to kill Margo Lane for making a fool of him. The Brute refuses this order because Margo is "too pretty!" Instead, the Brute hijacks a yacht and heads to sea, intending to collect his 25% from Shiwan Khan then live with Margo.

Lamont arrives at his townhouse to find a wounded Shrevy, who explains how Margo was kidnapped. Lamont promises to alert his "friend" the Shadow. Soon, the Shadow is following the Brute's yacht from his own speedboat. It seems his earlier power-beam left a radioactive trace on the Brute, enabling him to locate the villain again (then why did he need to create the false Jewelry Museum trap earlier?).

Now for the final act, "the Showdown on Gargoyle Island!" The Brute's yacht pulls up at Gargoyle Island, a poor man's Easter Island where the statues have horns. The Brute, no longer wearing his goggles, is set to meet Shiwan Khan and receive his 25% here. Shiwan arrives via helicopter and presents the Brute with his quarter - only per his exact words, "one quarter!" The Brute is furious, but Shiwan pulls out a shrinking ray which he claims will render the Brute smaller than a flea. Fortunately for the Brute, the Shadow appears and covers Shiwan Khan's face with his cape, causing him to drop the shrinking ray. The Shadow then turns his Shadow-Gun on Shiwan, projecting "blinding total darkness" (because I guess it can do that too) to keep the villain from finding his weapon.

The Brute decides to move in and kill Shiwan, but the villain drops a grenade in the direction of the Brute's voice. This kicks up some debris which knocks out the Shadow, restoring Shiwan's sight and enabling him to flee back to the helicopter. To save himself, Shiwan notes one of the Gargoyle Island statues has been damaged by the grenade and will topple on Margo, crushing her. Margo isn't unconscious, so I'm unclear as to why she can't get out of the falling statue's path. The Brute is torn between his desire for revenge on Khan (plus access to Khan's fortune) and saving Margo's life. The Brute chooses to save Margo, but as he grabs the statue he finds his strength is ebbing away; suddenly, he clutches his chest and collapses.

By now the Shadow has recovered and turns with Margo to examine the Brute. The Brute shrinks in size to normal; it seems the Brute's powers suddenly wore off (why?) and the strain of holding up the statue was too much for his heart. Margo asks the dying Brute what his real name is; he answers Victor Hess. The Shadow promises to bury the Brute in the USA, which is a nice gesture. Then he remarks "it's appropriate that one of the world's most grotesque villains should perish on Gargoyle Island" which is less nice of him. The Shadow steers Margo back to New York in the yacht. Then, the Shadow enters a "pseudo-sewer-lid" on a deserted street, opening some sort of passage to the "Shadow Operation Base" which lies beneath his townhouse (because I guess the townhouse didn't have enough gimmickry? secret passages, training rooms with live lions, crime lab and so forth?). The Shadow notes he has machines his base to record message from his agents, but has come to deposit the shrinking ray weapon in his trophy room. The Shadow muses that the Brute must have removed his contact lenses and goggles to impress Margo Lane because he was able to hypnotize him on Gargoyle Island; it was because he was being hypnotized that the Brute chose Margo over Shiwan! Well, that's just... he claims he was "too weakened" to have saved Margo himself. Whatever you have to tell yourself to sleep at night, Cranston... you sent that man to his death. Also, you failed to capture Shiwan Khan (again) and recover all the treasures, money and devices the Brute stole.

Once again we have a text feature story, "the Adventures of the Shadow." Last time, the Shadow had met Weston and began interrogating criminals by causing them to believe the Shadow was the Devil; the criminals revealed their master was Shiwan Khan. This time out, the Shadow isn't able to continue the interrogation because the men's minds are guarded against brainwashing; he was only able to get Shiwan Khan's name by flattering their egos. Say, then why has the Shadow been able to hypnotize Shiwan Khan's agents since then with reckless abandon? This is before the Shadow and Khan have even met! Weston asks the Shadow to join the ranks of C.H.I.E.F., but the Shadow declines, instead suggesting Weston recruit Lamont Cranston. The next evening, Lamont goes to Weston's cottage only to look "directly into the face of DEATH!"

As expected, this issue written by Jerry Siegel and drawn by Paul Reinman, according to the Grand Comics Database. I have mixed feelings about this issue. On the one hand, Siegel seemed to having a grand old time writing the Brute's dialogue, but in all other respects, he wrote just another bog-standard super hero story with no sense of style. The uninspired place names and sudden introduction of gadgets as needed speaks to an author succumbing to his inner hack. If every issue of Archie's Shadow read like this, then I would understand its reputation.

Next time: the final issue of the Shadow! To be followed by a look back at the entire series!

Bitter Fruit #10: "The Incredible Alliance of Shiwan Khan and Attila the Hunter!"

We resume my journey into Archie Comics' 1960s Shadow comic book with 1965's Shadow#6. I sincerely hope the cover says it all:

So yes, per the title we're yet again being treated to a Shadow versus Shiwan Khan tale (seriously, he doesn't have to be in every issue!), but with a difference: Khan has allied himself with Attila the Hunter! Wait, Hunter? Not "Hun?" Perhaps a thoughtful copy editor "fixed" Hun to Hunter before it went out the door.

Ah, but as I switch to the title page, the opening caption reveals Attila the Hunter is a descendant of Attila the Hun, just as Shiwan Khan is descended from Genghis Khan! Why, it's a match made for the ages! Perhaps they can join forces with Alexander the Greater and Timor the Lamer! But seeing as Shiwan uses modern technology (like the machine gun, above), why is Attila stuck in the dark ages?

We open near the "New England rock-bound coast" as a storm rages at sea while a lighthouse refuses to shine its light. The spandex-clad Shadow is on the scene, having determined Shiwan Khan is responsible for taking over the lighthouse in the hopes of wrecking a ship with valuable cargo. The Shadow boards the lighthouse using a rifle which fires a grappling hook, but as he climbs up the side of the lighthouse, Shiwan appears above and slices the rope with a knife; the Shadow falls to his death!

On Shiwan Khan's island base, Shiwan wakes up to realize the story of the Shadow dying was all a dream; for those keeping track, this is the second time in Archie's Shadow that a dream sequence has tried to fool the readers (the previous was "Margo Lane's Honeymoon!"). In the room next door to Shiwan Khan, we find our old friend Yukal Torrg dressed as the Shadow. You'll recall Yukal from last month's story, where he impersonated the Shadow in a practice attempt on Shiwan's life, but then made a real attempt at killing his master, so Shiwan sentenced him to death. It's rare to find real issue-to-issue continuity in this series; well done writer (who I assume is Jerry Siegel yet again).

As Yukal nears Shiwan's bed, garotte in hand, he recalls how Shiwan had him before a firing squad when he convinced Shiwan to let him live because by trying to kill him, he'd help prepare Shiwan to eventually destroy the Shadow. Shiwan liked the sound of this. Just as Yukal is near the bed, an alarm goes off because Shiwan placed a protective circle around his bed. Yukal leaps at Shiwan to kill him, but Shiwan handily outfights him, then dismisses him as a message sounds on Shiwan's monitor-alarm.

Over a television monitor, one of Shiwan's men informs his master of intruders on the island. Shiwan assumes it's the Shadow, but as he joins his men in confronting the intruders, he discovers it's the animal skin-wearing Attila the Hunter (all of Attila's men wear normal clothes, it's interesting to note). Attila claims his ancestor was more powerful than Genghis Khan and will destroy Shiwan to prove his superiority. Shiwan begs to differ, declaring "Attila the Hun was a lily-livered weakling! His men did the fighting! Attila took the credit!" Attila retorts, "Genghis Khan fought women and children! His followers did the real fighting!" Perhaps Deadliest Warrior could settle this grudge match?

Shiwan Khan & Attila the Hunter line up on opposite sides with their mobs, ready to battle, when suddenly the aged Lu Kwan walks out of Shiwan's ranks and sounds a trumpet, halting the battle because he's "the wise counsellor to whom even Shiwan Khan pays heed." Great, but why does Attila pay him heed? Lu Kwan points out the Shadow is too powerful for either of them to defeat alone, so why not declare a truce to destroy him? You may recall this brilliant notion as the same idea behind every Shiwan Khan matchmaking effort thus far. Shiwan and Attila agree to join forces to kill the Shadow, then go back to killing each other. They gather their forces together in a dining hall and drink a toast to the Shadow's death, but Shiwan & Attila each secretly anticipate killing each other.

We turn now to Lamont Cranston's Manhattan townhouse as Al Falco, "common thief" breaks into the premises ("you can never have too many antagonists" is the Siegel motto). Finding a steel door with a combination lock, Falco decides to crack it open, certain something valuble must lie within. Amazingly, he succeeds in cracking a lock he hadn't prepared for. This sets off an alarm which Lamont sees in his office, informing him someone's entered the "Survival-Course Room," another feature from last issue! Changing to the Shadow identity, Lamont races the room and can hear screams coming from inside. Is it Lamont's pet lion?

We now begin the second chapter, "the Captive of Terror Island!" The Shadow enters the Survival-Course Room just as Falco is nearly flattened by a giant metal block falling from the ceiling. Automatic machine guns open up from the walls, but the Shadow pushes Falco out of their path; when the lion enters the room, Falco faints; the Shadow scares the lion by creating the illusion of himself as a lion, chasing the lion back into his cage. The Shadow fears Falco may now know Lamont's secret identity, so he carries him outside to the curb then fills Falco's mind with hallucinations, including a giant snake and a Native warrior attacking him. Falco decides for himself that he imagined everything about Lamont's house and departs, although the Shadow could've simply hypnotized him into forgetting all about the Danger Room.

Back on Shiwan Khan's island, Shiwan & Attila have made their plan: knowing the Shadow is friends with Lamont Cranston and secretary Margo Lane, Attila will kill Lamont and Shiwan will kidnap Margo. Uh, "killing Lamont" is quite an undertaking in itself - laying aside these two don't know Lamont is the Shadow, he's an agent of C.H.I.E.F. and has all manner of super-spy resources. Regardless, they depart in Shiwan's submarine for Manhattan. Late next evening, Margo receives a phone call informing her someone covered with bruises has stumbled into the Purple Fox saloon, calling her name. Thinking it's Lamont, Margo speeds to the scene, only to be kidnapped by Shiwan Khan and his men.

Meanwhile, at the Cranston Museum of Art (seriously? he has a bank and a museum now? will he have a water park next issue?), Attila sneaks into Lamont's office (one can never have too many offices). In his office, Lamont is talking into a microphone recorder as he views statues for a new display of "some of the worst villains of all history." These include Nero, Genghis Khan, Attila the Hun, Hitler and Herod. As Lamont inspects Attila the Hun's statue, he describes his "ugly face" and "beady, wild-animal eyes." At this, Attila the Hunter breaks into the office, outraged at Lamont badmouthing a statue of his ancestor (it's not as though the statue could hope to be an accurate representation of the real Attila). Wielding an "electro-blast gun" Shiwan loaned him, Attila shoots Lamont in the back, stunning him. Attila daws out his axe to kill Lamont, but at the last moment refuses, unable to kill a defenseless foe because of his honour. Instead, Attila takes Lamont prisoner.

Shiwan is a little put out to find Attila on his island with Lamont Cranston, but Attila believes "two lures are better than one!" Lamont is thrown into a prison cell. In Shiwan's throne room (throne room?), Shiwan and Attila rest side-by-side on matching thrones. When's the wedding? Well, funny I should ask... Margo is brought before the two villains for interrogation, but Attila doesn't want to harm her - he wants her to be his queen! Shiwan reacts badly to this and decides to propose to Margo himself, urging her to "spurn the braggart and marry me!" They aren't even kings yet, but they're already falling out over a woman. Why, it's almost like the Man Who Would be King... except it's not very good. Shiwan and Attila talk of claiming Margo's hand as though it were the key to ruling the world; fun fact: when you're "king of the world," you can have anyone as your queen!

Being no fool, Margo claims if they face each other in combat, she'll marry the winner. Shiwan agrees and even dons a costume to make him resemble Genghis Khan. Each equipped with swords, the two villains face each other in the courtyard, but it transpires Shiwan's sword contains an electrical charge, enabling him to electrocute Attila by touching him! However, the fight is broken up by... the Shadow?

No, it's Yukal again, fulfilling the day's "practice attack on Shiwan Khan." This is actually a pretty hilarious development; Shiwan is knocked cold, but the ever-honourable Attila rejects Yukal's aid and shoves him out of the arena. Shiwan revives, but Attila refuses to resume the swordfight, declaring they'll wield axes instead. As the axe duel commences, Margo slips away and steals a motorboat, unnoticed. When one of Shiwan's men notices the boat departing he informs Shiwan & Attila, who finally realize they've been duped. They resume their alliance and board Shiwan's submarine to blast Margo's boat out of the water! Meanwhile, Lamont is still trapped in his cell!

We begin chapter 3: "The Shadow vs. the Shadow." Awakening in his cell, Lamont switches to the Shadow... wait, you mean he'd have had his secret identity compromised if Shiwan & Attila had simply the presence of mind to order a full body search of his person? Anyway, the Shadow hypnotizes a guard into believing the cell is full of gold, tricking him into opening the door. The Shadow escapes and wanders freely on the island, telling Shiwan's men he's actually Yukal! An excellent plan... but the Shadow's never met Yukal! How does he know about Yukal wearing his costume and practicing on Shiwan? Anyway, the Shadow claims he's going to follow Shiwan in the hydrofoil for another practice session.

However, Yukal sees the Shadow boarding the hydrofoil and realizes what's going on. Drawing out a sniper rifle, he prepares to assassinate the Shadow, but then decides to let him live, since with the Shadow alive, Yukal has a job, with the Shadow dead, Shiwan would certainly put Yukal to death. There is a sense of weird logic to it, although an even better plan would be to kill Shiwan & the Shadow, then swear allegiance to Attila.

The hydrofoil catches up to the motorboat & submarine, so there's just one thing for the Shadow to do: become Lamont Cranston! ...Wait, huh? He steers the hydrofoil into a collision course with the submarine then leaps away. The hydrofoil destroys the submarine and Lamont swims to Margo's boat; and since he wasn't wearing his costume, his secret identity remains concealed from Margo. Margo muses about how terrible it is Attila died in the explosion, considering he was a man or honour. Lamont, however, thinks both Shiwan & Attila could have survived.

Weirdly, I'm beginning to develop an affection for this comic. Perhaps it's because of the issue-to-issue continuity creeping in; perhaps it's because the Shadow has ceased behaving like a jerk to one and all; perhaps it's the Brian Blessed-like antics of Attila the Hunter warming my heart. I'll be doing a wrap-up post on the series when I'm done, but at this stage I don't think my final opinion will compare to those I read in publications about the series. It's a juvenile super hero comic book from the 1960s... is it really such a surprise it should read like a juvenile super hero comic book from the 1960s?

Once again, Grand Comics Database credits this tale to Jerry Siegel and Paul Reinman (Reinman also on cover); I'm going to be very good at identifying Reinman's art when this is done! This issue also features another "Adventures of the Shadow" text story. This continues the tale of how the Shadow met Weston, agent of C.H.I.E.F. (come to think of it, after introducing C.H.I.E.F. last issue, it's only referred to in the text story of this issue). The Shadow helps interrogate the men who attacked Weston and hypnotizes them into thinking he's the Devil so they'll give up the name of their master: Shiwan Khan!

Next time in Bitter Fruit: The Shadow#7, penultimate issue of the series!