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The Shadow (Dynamite) #2
The Shadow Volume 2: Revolution
The Shadow has always known what evil lurks in the hearts of men... until now! When his mystic powers fail, the original masked crime-fighter travels the globe alongside his sidekick, WWI ace pilot Miles Crofton, on a bloody search for answers. From Nepal, where the Shadow's efforts to reconnect with his spiritual masters leads to a confrontation with opium smugglers, they travel to the frontlines of the Spanish Civil War in pursuit of arms dealers and a would-be dictator. Who is the maniacal El Rey, who plots to rise from the debris of war as his battle-ravaged nation's supreme ruler? And how will the Shadow dispense justice when he discovers that a former flame is El Rey's brutal enforcer, the Black Sparrow? Hard-boiled crime novelist Victor Gischler raises the definitive pulp hero to new heights of crime noir glory! Collects the complete six-issue comic book storyline from The Shadow #7-12. Bonus material includes an extensive cover gallery featuring an all-star assembly of Eisner Award-winning artists such as Alex Ross, Francesco Francavilla, John Cassaday, and Darwyn Cooke, plus Tim Bradstreet, Michael Golden, Jack Herbert, and Sean Chen.
156 pages, Trade Paperback
First published August 6, 2013
About the author
Victor Gischler
374 books418 followersVictor Gischler is an American author of humorous crime fiction.
Gischler's debut novel Gun Monkeys was nominated for the Edgar Award, and his novel Shotgun Opera was an Anthony Award finalist. His work has been translated into Italian, French, Spanish and Japanese. He earned a Ph.D. in English at the University of Southern Mississippi. His fifth novel Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse was published in 2008 by the Touchstone/Fireside imprint of Simon & Schuster.
He has also writes American comic books like The Punisher: Frank Castle, Wolverine and Deadpool for Marvel Comics. Gischler worked on X-Men "Curse of the Mutants" starting in the Death of Dracula one-shot and continued in X-Men #1.
Gun Monkeys has been optioned for a film adaptation, with Lee Goldberg writing the script and Ryuhei Kitamura penciled in to direct.
Gischler's debut novel Gun Monkeys was nominated for the Edgar Award, and his novel Shotgun Opera was an Anthony Award finalist. His work has been translated into Italian, French, Spanish and Japanese. He earned a Ph.D. in English at the University of Southern Mississippi. His fifth novel Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse was published in 2008 by the Touchstone/Fireside imprint of Simon & Schuster.
He has also writes American comic books like The Punisher: Frank Castle, Wolverine and Deadpool for Marvel Comics. Gischler worked on X-Men "Curse of the Mutants" starting in the Death of Dracula one-shot and continued in X-Men #1.
Gun Monkeys has been optioned for a film adaptation, with Lee Goldberg writing the script and Ryuhei Kitamura penciled in to direct.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
July 20, 2018
I was very disappointed to see Garth Ennis did not continue his run. Victor Gischler comes on board and somehow confuses The Shadow with James Bond. The Shadow is now traveling the world, righting wrongs and bedding women every chance he can get. In the main story, he heads to Spain during the Spanish Civil War and uncovers a plot to overthrow both sides complete with Bond villain, El Rey, and hench(wo)man, Black Sparrow. The stories aren't bad, they just seem out of character for a street level vigilante.
July 21, 2013
To much of an attempt to "humanize" the Shadow for my tastes.
It's OK when you have Cranston be the playboy millionaire with an attitude, but, for me, the Shadow should remain a mystery even to the readers. This set of stories attempts to show a more "down to earth" Shadow, even having him quip a few jokes and admit a few fallacies.
Nope, that's not the Shadow I know.
It's OK when you have Cranston be the playboy millionaire with an attitude, but, for me, the Shadow should remain a mystery even to the readers. This set of stories attempts to show a more "down to earth" Shadow, even having him quip a few jokes and admit a few fallacies.
Nope, that's not the Shadow I know.
March 27, 2021
A good installment in the series, only marred by the authors reprehensible ignorance and moral equivalency about the opposing sides in Spanish Civil War.
August 31, 2017
Too much interior (and exterior) monologue. Too much dialogue not appropriate to the time in which this is set. Too much slang. More Gibson needed, less Lamont Cranston and Margo Lane. Some of the art fantastic.
July 24, 2014
More reviews (and no fluff) on the blog http://surrealtalvi.wordpress.com/
This trade paperback graphic novel features the collection of comics 7-12 as well as several cover variations.
The story arc follows the historical events behind the 1930s Spanish Civil War. In it, Cranston trails a fringe group playing both sides of the war: taking arms from both the nationalists and the republicans in order to fund their own coup - a royalist one. Led by El Rey, a masked man with supposed royal blood, and controlled by a female general with impressive fighting skills, The Shadow will have to cross Europe, picking up clues along the way, in order to foil the royalists indiscriminate killing. Although he takes on the insurgents, he gets the distinct feeling that he is in Europe for a different reason: to meeting up with a solider named George Orwell.
The plot is interesting and I appreciated the historical context. I also liked that the authors chose not to take sides (as did the Shadow) and instead gave us a much greater evil than the war. Cranston is, as ever, smooth as his playboy self and effective as The Shadow. The 1930s are well represented here and this isn't as anachronistic as so many Shadow tellings can be. There is a LOT of killing and The Shadow is no Batman - never afraid to shoot everything in sight (or kill the bad guy!).
The illustrations retain the great noir feel without being overly busy. A small niggle would be that I wish they drew the Black Sparrow a bit better - she ended up being rather blocky. But other than that, I enjoyed every page.
The Shadow has always been one of my favorite 'superhero' type characters. Though the story was originally meant for radio (hence, the unusual hypnotism power that made it easier to not have to describe too much when he hides - he can just cloud men's minds), the Shadow survived much more intact over the crazy 1960s, glossy 1970s, and flawed antihero of the 1980/90s. He remains intact her - much to my pleasure.
Received as an ARC from the publisher.
September 17, 2018
I really enjoy the publisher Dynamite Entertainment publishing comics of this pulp hero known as “The Shadow.” The Shadow was a character that was big in the 1930s who was a radio show character. I’m glad our generation get to enjoy the Shadow in this new comic book form! This is volume two of the series and it collects issues 7 through 12. Like volume one I enjoyed volume two as well.
Note this second paragraph has some spoilers; if you want to skip this to the next paragraph feel free to do so. In this book the Shadow finds out the men in the temple in Nepal that has trained him in his shadowy ways has been murdered with the temple burned to the ground. He traveled to Nepal to investigate with a one eye former World War One ace name Miles Crofton flying him there and serving as his loyal sidekick. After finishing up with dealing with a local crime boss name Red Raja the Shadow still does not know about what happen to his old masters. The Shadow then proceed to Europe beginning first at Paris where he also visits the Spanish Embassy and meets a female military officer in charge of weapons procurement name Esmeralda Aguilar. It turns out there is more to her than what appears at first sight since she’s actually a villain name the Black Sparrow and she works under a shadowy villain name El Ray. There’s a twists and turn in the story concerning El Ray and Black Sparrow. The story ends in issue 11 and issue 12 is a stand-alone quick story about the Shadow fighting against some New York robbers.
I love how the story takes place in the past and also takes places in various locations from Nepal in Asia to France and Spain in Europe and New York City in America. I also love how the comics refer to real historical events such as the Spanish Civil War and real political groups and even real historical individuals such as George Orwell. Those who like history and comics will like this historical fiction graphic novel. The illustrations are well done and gives us the feel of the times and place of the story’s setting. There’s a good use of color, darkness and brightness.
Note this second paragraph has some spoilers; if you want to skip this to the next paragraph feel free to do so. In this book the Shadow finds out the men in the temple in Nepal that has trained him in his shadowy ways has been murdered with the temple burned to the ground. He traveled to Nepal to investigate with a one eye former World War One ace name Miles Crofton flying him there and serving as his loyal sidekick. After finishing up with dealing with a local crime boss name Red Raja the Shadow still does not know about what happen to his old masters. The Shadow then proceed to Europe beginning first at Paris where he also visits the Spanish Embassy and meets a female military officer in charge of weapons procurement name Esmeralda Aguilar. It turns out there is more to her than what appears at first sight since she’s actually a villain name the Black Sparrow and she works under a shadowy villain name El Ray. There’s a twists and turn in the story concerning El Ray and Black Sparrow. The story ends in issue 11 and issue 12 is a stand-alone quick story about the Shadow fighting against some New York robbers.
I love how the story takes place in the past and also takes places in various locations from Nepal in Asia to France and Spain in Europe and New York City in America. I also love how the comics refer to real historical events such as the Spanish Civil War and real political groups and even real historical individuals such as George Orwell. Those who like history and comics will like this historical fiction graphic novel. The illustrations are well done and gives us the feel of the times and place of the story’s setting. There’s a good use of color, darkness and brightness.
September 13, 2015
This was better than volume one, but the dialogue nearly killed it for me. I just don't hear the Shadow saying thins like "that guy", "the stuff he told me", or, God help me, "my bad".
September 30, 2016
This was nowhere near as good as volume one. The Shadow was a frightening, mysterious character there. Here, he just comes across as a generic vigilante.
December 31, 2025
This is broken into 10+ pieces. The first is the best. It all plummets after that. The writing is atrocious. Current slang written in the wrong time period. Is there no editor to catch such mess?
After the first part the artwork dunks below the writing. Endless poses and rotten storytelling.
Why can't the artist learn to draw consistent facial features. It ain't hard. I see there is a ton of tracing, including Orwell, but even a bad artist should try to get similar likenesses from panel to panel.
I'm lost as to a writer who thinks Orwell changed the world. Books that influenced, but basically forgotten today are not world changers. Frankly, the stance has me wonder if the writer is a student who just graduated high school.
The last pages of a separate story are pretty bad. The girly artwork is bad and even further removed from Gibon's writings. The color makes it all worse.
Bottom line: I don't recommend this book. 3 out of ten points.
After the first part the artwork dunks below the writing. Endless poses and rotten storytelling.
Why can't the artist learn to draw consistent facial features. It ain't hard. I see there is a ton of tracing, including Orwell, but even a bad artist should try to get similar likenesses from panel to panel.
I'm lost as to a writer who thinks Orwell changed the world. Books that influenced, but basically forgotten today are not world changers. Frankly, the stance has me wonder if the writer is a student who just graduated high school.
The last pages of a separate story are pretty bad. The girly artwork is bad and even further removed from Gibon's writings. The color makes it all worse.
Bottom line: I don't recommend this book. 3 out of ten points.
October 10, 2024
This is not just here, but in most modern stories about The Shadow, the character lacks development, and it makes him an amalgamation of other pulp heroes like Batman or James Bond, and it drags the whole story down. 🫠🫠🫠
⭐️⭐️
⭐️⭐️
September 26, 2017
It's a shadow book. It's not bad, it's not great.
November 8, 2017
Not mind blowingly great but still goodgood fun in the vein of pulpy noir.
November 23, 2018
The art was nice with the covers being particularly stunning. The story of globe trotting and getting involved with the Spanish civil war seemed a tad out of place but was fun enough.
April 2, 2020
Vast improvement over the first volume, this actually gives the Shadow a little weakness. It's like Superman, he's super strong but he can't be everywhere at once.
Someone is profiting for war and the Shadow isn't about to sit on the sidelines. It's a shame that the cover spoiler an antagonist, as they aren't introduced that was so it could have been a very clever surprise. Never understood why marketing do that, there are lots good covers including variants that they could have chosen.
Someone is profiting for war and the Shadow isn't about to sit on the sidelines. It's a shame that the cover spoiler an antagonist, as they aren't introduced that was so it could have been a very clever surprise. Never understood why marketing do that, there are lots good covers including variants that they could have chosen.
October 24, 2024
More adventures all around the world. I liked the old-fashioned flavor of it.
September 6, 2016
Since discovering The Shadow through cassette tapes back in the '70's, I've considered myself a moderate Shadow fan. I bought some of the old pulps to read more, and really enjoyed that dark, but positive atmosphere of this do-gooder. The art in this graphic novel captures the tone of those old Shadow stories quite well.
This book is mostly set in the 1930s, during the Spanish Civil War. Lamont Cranston (aka The Shadow) poses as a potential funder of arms to the various powers-that-be, but The Shadow has plans to infiltrate and dispose justice.
It's an interesting story, and author Victor Gischler does a nice job of keeping some mystery about this man. But not enough...! I recognize that there is sometimes a need or desire to, shall we say, 'humanize,' or at least keep human, a figure with special powers (The Shadow has mystic powers that allows him to cloud men's mind, and to see in to their hearts). But when every masked, hooded, or in some way cloaked figure gets 'outed' so easily by a dame, it cheapens, more than humanizes, the hero.
I also happen to have a personal dislike for a particular modern colloquialism ... but when I read a story, set in the '30's, and a character, after accidently bumping in to another character says, "My bad," I cringe, shake my head, and am completely removed from the setting and mood that was established. There's just no reason for this.
But these are relatively minor points to what is otherwise and engaging, solid set of stories in this book, mostly faithful to the mood of the early pulps and radio stories.
The art by Aaron Campbell, Jr. and Jackson Herbert is solid and fitting to the era and the story.
I really enjoyed this, surprising myself a little by liking it as much as I did (though I don't know why I should have been surprised), and will likely pick up another issue at some point.
Looking for a good book? This graphic novel of a pulp-era hero is right on target and will bring back memories for those already familiar with The Shadow.
This book is mostly set in the 1930s, during the Spanish Civil War. Lamont Cranston (aka The Shadow) poses as a potential funder of arms to the various powers-that-be, but The Shadow has plans to infiltrate and dispose justice.
It's an interesting story, and author Victor Gischler does a nice job of keeping some mystery about this man. But not enough...! I recognize that there is sometimes a need or desire to, shall we say, 'humanize,' or at least keep human, a figure with special powers (The Shadow has mystic powers that allows him to cloud men's mind, and to see in to their hearts). But when every masked, hooded, or in some way cloaked figure gets 'outed' so easily by a dame, it cheapens, more than humanizes, the hero.
I also happen to have a personal dislike for a particular modern colloquialism ... but when I read a story, set in the '30's, and a character, after accidently bumping in to another character says, "My bad," I cringe, shake my head, and am completely removed from the setting and mood that was established. There's just no reason for this.
But these are relatively minor points to what is otherwise and engaging, solid set of stories in this book, mostly faithful to the mood of the early pulps and radio stories.
The art by Aaron Campbell, Jr. and Jackson Herbert is solid and fitting to the era and the story.
I really enjoyed this, surprising myself a little by liking it as much as I did (though I don't know why I should have been surprised), and will likely pick up another issue at some point.
Looking for a good book? This graphic novel of a pulp-era hero is right on target and will bring back memories for those already familiar with The Shadow.
July 25, 2013
The Shadow has the ability to cloud men's minds and control them, but when he meets a man he can't read, it sends him reeling. He travels back to the masters that taught him to try to solve the mystery. This is the first story in The Shadow Volume 2: Revolution.
The second story is a longer arc, and takes The Shadow into the Spanish Civil War, where he meets someone named the Black Sparrow, who seems to have the same abilities as The Shadow himself. He is led to an encounter with El Rey, a power hungry figure who wants ultimate control.
A final story has The Shadow foiling a group of bank robbers in a gritty and hardboiled fashion.
Stories by Victor Gischler are good, taking our hero all over the globe, and allowing Lamont Cranston to occasionally crack wise. This is an iconic Shadow, with his wide brimmed hat and flowing red scarf, and the artwork is impressive. From the full painted covers by Alex Ross to story art by Jack Herbert, Aaron Campbell and Giovanni Timpano. The book features an alternate cover gallery. For a character that's been around as long as The Shadow, the stories seem fresh and never stale.
The second story is a longer arc, and takes The Shadow into the Spanish Civil War, where he meets someone named the Black Sparrow, who seems to have the same abilities as The Shadow himself. He is led to an encounter with El Rey, a power hungry figure who wants ultimate control.
A final story has The Shadow foiling a group of bank robbers in a gritty and hardboiled fashion.
Stories by Victor Gischler are good, taking our hero all over the globe, and allowing Lamont Cranston to occasionally crack wise. This is an iconic Shadow, with his wide brimmed hat and flowing red scarf, and the artwork is impressive. From the full painted covers by Alex Ross to story art by Jack Herbert, Aaron Campbell and Giovanni Timpano. The book features an alternate cover gallery. For a character that's been around as long as The Shadow, the stories seem fresh and never stale.
January 17, 2015
I jumped on this Shadow run with issue #11, so it was nice to finally read what came before that. This is an Enjoyable read. The tone of having Cranston more personality driven, with one-liners & sexual liasons may be controversial with long-time Shadow fans, who prefer a stone-cold, dead serious Shadow, but i found it entertaining, especially in the interaction with The Black Sparrow. This TPB may be geared for the more casual Shadow fan, and yet it is still finely crafted, not slapped together crap.... I liked the Jack Herbert art, in particular. And the extra pages with all the variant Shadow covers is always a winner.
December 23, 2013
"Pulp stories are mature, and that is the quality I liked most about these books. However, I find the first volume better than this one. This has been a let down and the stories are weak. Just have to look forward to Matt Wagner's The Shadow Year One though."
April 28, 2015
I think Victor did a great job especially considering who he followed. The art was superb and the start was great. What's not to love?
April 28, 2016
I enjoyed this one, though not as much as the first volume. I do feel it was worth the read
July 29, 2016
This collection actually feels a bit more like a conventional set of Shadow stories, as opposed to the almost sadistic, fundamentally-unpleasant take on the character in Volume 1.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews