Green Lantern (vol. 1) #76-89 (Neal Adams art)

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In Brightest Day, In Blackest Night... These frequently reprinted Green Lantern/Green Arrow stories from the early ‘70s are both a harbinger of things to come in American comics and a dead end. As sales for DC’s Green Lantern fell, young writer O’Neil, influenced by ‘60s liberal politics, decided to have superheroes confront real social issues of the time, including racism, political corruption and capitalistic exploitation of workers. O’Neil compared Green Lantern to a policeman, accustomed to unquestioningly accepting the status quo. Green Lantern is clued into social ills by the newly radicalized superhero archer Green Arrow, whom O’Neil revamped into a contemporary Robin Hood. O’Neil thus started a trend of "relevant" comics that quickly faded. Nor have these stories aged well. Influenced by magazine illustrators, Adams’s art was acclaimed at the time for its realism, but now seems to glamorize naturalistic subjects. Though professing to portray moral complexities, these stories make their "real life" malefactors as purely evil as standard costumed villains. O’Neil vividly characterizes his two heroes, but they still lack true depth.

The Shadow Meets the Batman

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Download Batman #253



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A bit of trivia possibly for those old enough to recall hair metal in the 1980s, Danger Danger released their first CD with a Shadow look-a-like on the cover. I thought I'd throw this question out as I don't know the answer, but does anyone know the story behind why the band chose a Shadow clone for their album art? Are they big fans of the character? Please share this information if you know.

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Special surprise bonus download: Through Supergraphics, Jim Steranko published the magazine Comixscene (retitled Mediascene and finally Prevue), which began as a folded-tabloid periodical on stiff, non-glossy paper, reporting on the comics field. It evolved in stages into a general-interest, standard format, popular culture magazine, running from 1972 through 1994. In its later years, it was criticized for doing double duty as a catalog for Steranko's retailing business, particularly its erotica. There's an article in this issue of Mediascene #36 called "The Great Pulp Heroes and Villains," which ties in nicely with the Shadow.


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Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? Dept. In the mid-1970s, DC Comics published a critically acclaimed, 12-issue series (Nov. 1973 - Sept. 1975) written by Dennis O'Neil and initially drawn by Michael William Kaluta (#1-4 & 6). Faithful to the pulp-magazine and radio-drama character, the series guest-starred fellow pulp fiction hero The Avenger in issue #11. The Shadow appeared in DC's Batman #253 (Nov. 1973), in which Batman teams with an aging Shadow and reveals The Shadow as his "greatest inspiration". In Batman #259 (Dec. 1974), Batman again meets The Shadow, and we learn The Shadow saved Bruce Wayne's life when the future Batman was a boy.