The Shadow Now

The Shadow (Dynamite)

by David Liss, Colton Worley (Artist), Tim Bradstreet (Artist)

Having spent decades in the east to rejuvenate himself, the greatest pulp hero of them all, The Shadow, returns to New York in modern times. Lamont Cranston seeks to resume his old life, and his heroic alter-ego is ready to stand once more as an enemy to evil. But while he slept, his foes have remained vigilant, and the most dangerous man that The Shadow has ever faced prepares to rise once more... with his wicked progeny by his side! It's the shocking beginning to a new era for the Shadow! David Liss Writer Commentary: "The Shadow is, without doubt, one of the coolest pulp characters of all time, so I was thrilled to get a chance to add something to the legend. While we are working within the long and storied tradition of Shadow adventures, I think we're also doing something original with this character, and that's always a great combination. (Colton Worley's) art is stunning, and a perfect fit for our neo-pulp tone. This story is dark and moody, which I think a Shadow story should be, but I think we're also portraying a very human and fallible version of the man behind the mask. Fans who have followed The Shadow in comics over the years are going to be very interested to see how we run with what's come before this."

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Crime, Mystery, Action, Fantasy, Sequential Art

144 pages, Paperback

First published December 30, 2014

About the author

I am the author of thirteen novels, most recently The Peculiarities, a historical fantasy out in September 2021. I've also written numerous novellas and short stories. My previous books include A Conspiracy of Paper which was named a New York Times Notable Book and won the 2001 Barry, MacAvity and Edgar awards for Best First novel. The Coffee Trader was also named a New York Times Notable Book and was selected by the New York Public Library as one of the year’s 25 Books to Remember. Several of these books are currently being developed for television or film. I have also worked on numerous comics projects, including Black Panther and Mystery Men for Marvel, The Spider and Green Hornet for Dynamite, and Angelica Tomorrow.

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bringing The Shadow to modern times was a mistake. The many references about him being an out of touch old fogey got tedious real quick. The Shadow belongs in that noir time frame of the first half of the 20th century.

Colton Worley's posed, painted, photograph art made it so much worse. Every panel was full of stiff manekin figures. The panels didn't flow at all. It was like looking at a series of too dark vacation photos. The art was so dark you couldn't make out some of the panels. This book was so boring and that's the opposite of what The Shadow should be.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I'm a fan of The Shadow, both the old pulp books (have them all!) and the radio show. This update didn't play well for me, especially the supporting characters. It just wasn't working at all, and the story itself didn't make a whole lot of sense.

I did like the artwork, though. That part was very well done.

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5*
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Shadow has returned from the east after rejuvenation and now poses as his grandson, Lamont Cranston. His old adversary, Shiwan Kahn, escapes from prison and soon starts to assert himself amongst the criminal families. The Shadow begins a campaign to bring Khan to justice and back behind bars.

I liked the premise of the story but the execution didn't do anything for me. The characters seem very flat especially the Shadow whom I didn't connect with at all and didn't really care if he survived or not. Visually, lots of the panels are quite eye catching but the consistency is not good with detail being very hit or miss, especially towards the end. Personally it's not a style that worked for me but others may enjoy it.

['kris Pung · Rating 2 out of 5]

Throw in a super predicable plot and bad art that was to dark that's hard to make out what was happening and you have all the makings for a "meh" book.

[Ben A · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting take on bringing the Shadow into 2015, complete with new agents and new villains alongside some old ones but I really wish that the story had been better served by the art.

[Randal Silvey · Rating 3 out of 5]

"The pundits call it terrorism, but there's no political agenda here. I call it something else. I call it crime. And that makes it my business."

[Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.]

Lamont Cranston is The Shadow, a hard boiled vigilante with the ability to cloud men's minds and see into the hearts of evil-doers. If he doesn't like what he sees there he will put you down with two fists full of hot lead. Old school. REAL old school. The Shadow has been cleaning up crime in all manner of media since the 1930s. Radio dramas, pulp novels, comic books, comic strips... you name it. Jump to The Shadow Now, written by David Liss (Black Panther: The Man Without Fear, The Spider) with art by Colton Worley (Miss Fury, Jennifer Blood, The Spider).

The Shadow is back in modern day New York after spending the last several decades rejuvenating himself in the east. His privately funded secret agency "Shadow Network" has been operating in his absence. Cranston is ready to resume his old life and take to the streets as The Shadow. However, a brief visit to his incarcerated long time archenemy, Shiwan Khan, sets in motion a plot that will unravel the entire Shadow Network and put The Shadow on the run.

Writer David Liss hits the concept right on the nose. It is a pulp story where the good guy packs a pistol in each hand with plenty of mobsters on the streets to provide cannon fodder. At the same time the fish out of water aspect of The Shadow returning to a modern day setting after being out of commission "for decades" makes for some fun without being hammered to death. In fact, the "old meets new" theme presents itself in interesting and organic ways throughout the story. Villainous Khan tracks down his closest living relative to aid in the "family business". Naturally, that relative happens to be a teenage girl with a seriously bad disposition providing further exploration of the theme with a father/daughter generation gap relationship.

This isn't a story about an unstoppable superhero swinging back into town to retake his place as number one crime fighter though. Despite appearing young yet being old enough to find all his former colleagues replaced by their grandchildren The Shadow is not invincible. Liss makes The Shadow as vulnerable as the next guy and if his mind clouding ability is impaired he is in real trouble.

Luckily for ol' Cranston he falls into company with the granddaughter of an old flame who is pretty handy with a pistol herself. The old timers, Cranston and Khan, are swiftly reminded that these are not the old days of damsels in distress either. Each find themselves working with female counterparts that are just as strong, capable, and in some cases, ruthless.

The story drags slightly while Cranston is on the run but once the real conflict begins it is quite intriguing. Liss shows that The Shadow is more than just a gun toting mystic putting the pain to street thugs (he is that, too, of course) but also a strategist able to spin a devious plot of his own. This is where the writing really shines. The pulp influences are brought to the forefront. The Shadow, Khan, and a whole bunch of gangsters all entangled in a game of manipulation. There is just a touch of fantasy and science fiction on the edges but that rarely bleeds too far into the core of this crime story.

For me, the biggest problem with this book is the art. It is digitally painted by Colton Worley and while some of the imagery of The Shadow himself is very striking the book as a whole has an unappealing look. It appears as though Worley may have worked from photographs which is not a technique that I have a problem with per se but in many areas here it is reminiscent of images with Photoshop filters applied. I am NOT saying I believe that is what the artist did. I am saying that the digital painting hits levels of photo-realism that it is unappealing. Perhaps it is the uncanny valley effect at play or perhaps it is just an aesthetic that doesn't work for me. Either way, it took away from the reading experience.

That being said, there are several very nicely rendered panels and pages. The color palette fits the tone and theme of the book with a lot of dark settings mixed with the occasional bold red splash of The Shadow's scarf. In fact, the most bothersome panels in terms of hyper-realism are daylight and brightly lit scenes. When The Shadow is out in costume to bring justice to some dirt bags Worley presents very dynamic and stylized layouts and The Shadow himself is almost always expertly depicted.

The art style and a slightly slow start to the story are the downsides of The Shadow Now. This is an otherwise entertaining modern take on a classic pulp icon. Even rocketing The Shadow forward to modern day New York it still holds true to its crime story roots, maintaining a dark and gritty atmosphere all it's own. Once the plot had me, it was a page turner right till the end with a climax that did not disappoint.

Rated: 3.5 Stars

Check out more of my written reviews as well as audio podcast discussions: GrawlixPodcast.com

[Robert · Rating 2 out of 5]

Decent villain and a good story compromised by not one but two endlessly mouthy grrrrl-power characters spouting modern pc talking points and grinding the story to a halt every time they open their yaps.

[Wayne McCoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

'The Shadow Now' attempts to bring the noir hero forward into the future, and if you squint your eyes a bit and look over a couple things, it works and isn't too bad at all.

After being away for decades in the mystical east learning how not to age, Lamont Cranston returns to New York in a modern age. He attempts to set up a network like he once had using the grandchildren of his former crimefighting partners, including the granddaughter of Margo Lane. This has varying degrees of success. He also runs afoul of one of his old enemies who also has a grandchild in their employ.

Much of the book seems to have the Shadow fumbling around with our modern ways, and seeming to be out of touch and defeatable, but is he really? He's also not a very terrifying Shadow. At least not compared to how he has been in other books. But there is some good setup and doublecrossing in store and I liked it all by the time it was done.

It's written by David Liss with great covers by Tim Bradstreet (among others). The digital art by Colton Worely is something I'm not sure about. It's almost like the painted work of folks like Alex Ross, but there is something about it that feels a little less lifelike at times. Still, I liked the story and I felt like this attempt to bring an older character into the present worked, for the most part.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Diamond Book Distributors, Dynamite Entertainment and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this fun graphic novel.

[Reading Bifrost · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have a collection of all the old radio shows of The Shadow and I was looking forward to a new modern comic, but this was such a disappointment.

I was hoping for a grudge, noir looking comic; matching the cover art. Instead, the illustrations look like you’re playing one of those click-though graphic games instead of reading a pulp fiction comic, using computer generated graphics instead of traditional art. While the art was pretty, it didn’t fit with this comic at all. It doesn’t work with The Shadow, modern stories or not.

That plot wasn’t all that great in itself, either. Bringing back his arch enemy Shiwan Kahn isn’t such a bad way of getting The Shadow back in action, but reviving the old days by having multiples of old characters coming back in their grandchildren pushed the story.

The worst part of the comic is The Shadow, himself. The comic tries to humanize his character, but in doing so he loses that strong air of mystery that is essential to the character and the comic.

[Al Gritten · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book combines two of my favorites: The Shadow and one of my favorite novelists, David Liss. All of the books I have read by Liss have been excellent and I knew he had written some comic books, but did not realize he had written for this graphic novel of The Shadow. The book doesn't disappoint - Liss has brought Cranston successfully into the 21st century and given him a worth antagonist: Shiwan Khan, who, while Cranston has not aged, has. Khan is determined to do two things: restore his youth and destroy the Shadow. The art is great and the writing is, as I have come to expect from Liss, outstanding. Loved the plot and he has concluded the book with a tease for perhaps another story line and maybe another graphic novel. Don't want to give any spoilers. If you like the Shadow, I think you will like what Liss and Colton Worley have done to make him contemporary.

[Gareth Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another attempt to bring the Shadow to modern times. Not a bad story for a quick fun read, but certainly not a good Shadow story. The Shadow is portrayed as very grounded and Human here rather than the force of nature that the pulp and Darkhorse comics Shadow is, it doesn't work for me. I found the modern agents and antagonist to be obnoxious and I really didn't care for them either. I did very much enjoy the artwork. It's a dark (perhaps sometimes a little too dark in places) CG style which helps provide a pulp like atmosphere. Definitely the thing I enjoyed the most in this book

Not bad for a quick read. If you like The Shadow and can find it cheap it's worth a go. Not really one that will stick with you long after reading, but better than Dynamites later Shadow output (Im referring to you Simon Spurrier)

[Paxton Holley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Re-read. Originally gave this 4 stars, but I think it’s more of a 3 or 3.3 stars.

The art is cool. The premise is interesting. I don’t know if I love the characterization of Lamont Cranston though. He’s kind of an over bearing jerk. It’s really rough in the first few issues, but evens out towards the end. I do like Margo Lane’s granddaughter.

This is fine, just not as good as I remembered when I first read it back in 2014.

[Matt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not amazing. I feel like the author had a story he wanted to tell, and The Shadow was the only way he could get it to print. It largely misunderstands The Shadow, he turns up and all of his signature competance is gone. The Shadow Knows What Evil Lurks in the Heart of Men except his own agents apparently

[Art · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Shadow in the world of today instead of the 1930s. It was different enough to seem a little fresher. There was some self-parody about the corniness of The Shadow and Khan. The modern characters were not impressed with the old-style speeches and phrasing. The artwork looked more modern. Overall I thought the translation into the present was pretty well done.

[Timo · Rating 1 out of 5]

Second time I tried to read this and again I really really struggled. It just seemed boring and pointless and wrong in all ways.
And the computer generated art was at some points nice to look at and at some points really messy. But some page layouts were nice.

[Sean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe 2.5

[Todd Pinchevsky · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. And I’m a Shadow fan. Either keep him in the early 20th Century, or figure a better way to make him seem like he belongs in the 21st Century. This didn’t do it.

[Online Eccentric Librarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

More reviews (and no fluff) on the blog http://surrealtalvi.wordpress.com/

Make no mistake - this is one very, very, good graphic novel, collecting 6 issues and a complete story arc. Transporting the Shadow's unflinching violence to a modern era setting was always going to be fraught with difficulty; if done wrong, we'd have had a hot mess. But everything about The Shadow Now is top quality - layered story, beautifully laid out and painted panels, and an avoidance of nearly every cliche in the superhero format. It is hard hitting in the right places and none of The Shadow's milieu was jettisoned in the process.

Story: Lamont Cranston returned to the East and performed rejuvenating techniques as the decades passed. When he returns to a modern city, the world has changed but he hasn't. Is he a relic in a much more sober world or can he still help the people of the City? Shiwan Khan hasn't forgotten The Shadow in all the years he's spent in jail; he's aged but has he repented? Or was he waiting for The Shadow's return all along? The Shadow is about to find out as everything he left behind begins to crumble.

A lot of what made the Shadow interesting was the innocence of the time in which it was originally set, the 1930s. True to the era of mobsters, the violence was always present and a lot of the Shadow's battles were with his trademark twin guns. He killed without hesitation (unlike e.g., Batman, Superman, The Green Hornet). That easy violence seamlessly translates into 2014 and the underworlds of Russian and Vietnamese mafia. Very few of the 'non kill' heroes could have made the transition work as well as The Shadows does in this story. Recognizing that the violence makes this an adult title, the story is correspondingly very mature.

To bring him into the present, The Shadow work with the descendants of his former colleagues and enlist the aid of others - including Margo's granddaughter. But Khan also has a granddaughter and she is very much of her grandfather's mold. Margo and Batu Khan could have been throwaway cliches but here they are given very modern sensibilities. Margo doesn't fling herself at Cranston's feet and Batu is very much a troubled teen. Each is willing to do what needs to be done but each has their weaknesses, as well. I really have to give kudos to the author and illustrator for giving us fully fleshed female characters who are neither perfect nor cliche love interests. They drive a lot of the story, even more so than The Shadow.

The convoluted plot involves a lot of betrayals and playing deep. Khan isn't a mustache twirling cackling evil foil and the Shadow doesn't always get it right. There are a lot of very bad characters moving around them and somehow everything feels both modern and yet retains the undercurrent of 1930s Shadow. I am very glad the authors eschewed humor to put a bit more realism into the danger. People die, often, and without a second thought. There are no long speeches or evil plans, and punches aren't pulled.

As good as the story ended up being, it is beautifully complemented and enhanced by the art. This is a very cinematic piece, feeling almost like movie stills as with those old "movie in a book" captures from the 1970s. Page layouts are dynamic and I was highly impressed with the quality of everything from the coloring to the painting/lighting to the incredible angles. I was reminded over and over at just how much expertise must have gone into The Shadow Now in order to produce this high a caliber result.

The Shadow has always been one of my favorite characters and it has been a pleasure to see the pulp resurgence in the last few years. I have seen good and bad - serial cartoon 1930s style stories published right next to edgier more modern attempts. This definitely tops all those, even if not set in the 1930s. The change in mise en scene could have been train wreck but it all works so beautifully here.

Highest recommendations. Reviewed from an ARC.

[Daniel · Rating 2 out of 5]

This review originally published in Looking For a Good Book. Rated 2.25 of 5

I really like The Shadow. I listened to the stories on the radio when CBS used to re-run old radio serials, and I devoured the books that I scrounged from used and antique book stores. I even liked the Alec Baldwin film! And Dynamite Entertainment has put our dear Lamont Cranston to the test on many new titles, which I've liked to varying degrees.

But I like this one the least.

There is something almost beautiful about the noir-ish world that the Shadow inhabits in the 1930's and '40's just as Batman's dark world fits him perfectly. Now...take The Shadow out of his world and put him in Batman's crime-riddled dark city, and while it seems like it should fit well, it doesn't.

Author David Liss brings the story down by trying to show us the human side of the character and I question this intent. Lamont Cranston can be human, but his alter ego needs to remain shadowed. The hero is much more powerful (both as a hero and as a figure for the reader) with an air of mystery surrounding him. And quite frankly, this struggle to 'fit in,' to try to understand a world that isn't his (nor should it be), grew tiresome.

The art, by Colton Worely, drove me crazy -- not in a good way. How to describe this...? Photographic/plastic. Each panel looked like a screen shot from a mid-range-quality video game. You know... where the people look like people but with an odd, unearthly, plastic appearing quality. There are lots of shadows and darkness, as you would expect, but there are also lots of strange lighting angles meant to add an air of mystery, but really just make me wonder why the light is coming from that direction.

As someone who enjoys reading The Shadow stories, I was really looking forward to a new look at this classic crime fighter, but was ultimately left very disappointed.

Looking for a good book? The Shadow Now is a graphic novel that struggles to make a Depression-era hero relevant today.

[Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Shadow, mysterious adventurer with “the power to cloud men’s minds” has been away for decades, rejuvenating himself, but returns to New York to renew his fight against evil. Evil pops up on cue in the form of an enemy from his past. This volume collects the full six-issue mini-series. The Shadow influenced many of today’s masked adventurers – Batman, of course, but also other vigilante’s, arguably right up to the Punisher. But do we need a contemporary revival? Liss plays on the fact that the Shadow is a man out of time, but this only accentuates the issue, so the question keeps resurfacing: what is he doing here now? While impersonating his own grandson, did he not at least think to change his name? Could there be a more 1930s moniker than Lamont Cranston? And what’s with the maniacal laughter every time he goes on the offensive? There’s a ruthlessness to the story of gangsters at war that is perhaps intended to pit the Shadow against gritty realism, but it feels like gangsters by numbers. Shiwan Khan, the old adversary, intimidates the gang bosses into cutting him in on their profits, which he uses to build a rejuvenation machine. Cranston begins to play the gangsters off against each other, which makes this feel like a chess game between the two men, with everything and everyone else being incidental. This may be very Shadow-like, but it feels archaic in a modern setting.

[Ross Armstrong · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a copy from Netgalley for an honest review.

I am a big fan of The Shadow. I own several of the actual books and am aware of the history of the character. This is a graphic novel that brings The Shadow into the modern world. Lamont Cranston aka The Shadow has been meditating and learning how not to age in Shambala and has returned to civilization in the present day. He had his network in place to continue his work led by the grandchildren of a couple of his original agents.
He comes back just as chaos is reigning on the streets of New York with several crime families on the rampage. But when his network is betrayed from within, he finds himself and the granddaughter of Margo Lane on the run and trying to survive the onslaught of his greatest enemy and his family.

The art in this graphic novel is outstanding although it occasionally fails to follow the story flow and can be somewhat confusing.
I did enjoy the story but I really find that every attempt to take the character out of the 1930s and 1940s is rarely successful. It is a character that does not work well in the modern era. His lack of knowledge, in this instance, of modern technology would be crippling to actually being successful. The ending was also very predictable.

[Theediscerning · Rating 3 out of 5]

Give a whole chunk of that third star to the artist behind this book, for the digital painting is almost photo-realistic, and really convincing and striking. But it still doesn't bring The Shadow out of the darkness, and as such he remains a poor lead character for me. With a smart mind and a loud laugh, and that's about it, he's up against an old enemy, and this being pulp a lot of it is old. Which is this book's problem. There's no way it's going to bring something fresh to the table as regards double-crossing baddies and criminal machinations without breaking from decades-worth of ethos, style and ideas. But at the same time the dialogue can read as really dated, and if anything the book tries too hard to resurrect what was old and deservedly in its grave, by going about things with too much respect and admiration and not enough modern smarts. A situation where nobody can really win, then – including the reader.

[K · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed David Liss's The Shadow Now.


It was one of those reads that I would pick up to get a few pages in before bed, though that also means it was one of those books that I, unfortunately, was not hooked enough to be able to get through in one sitting.

The plot is great, though throughout my time read it, I was always left with a feeling of wanted more, that Liss could have done quite a bit more with the scenes.

A great read for some simple pleasure, though it leaves reads wishing there was more to it.

An Advanced Readers Copy was provided by the publisher in return for an honest review.

[Paul Allard · Rating 4 out of 5]

More aventures involving this long-standing comicbook hero

An nice old-fashioned revival of this hero which works for me. The Shadow takes on his greatest enemy and both use descendants to help them along the way, introducing new characters to carry on the tradition.

The writing is engaging and the plot well put together.

I find white writing in black boxes hard to read and there’s quite a lot of that. Although the artwork is good, I’m not a fan of painted art which is what is used here.

Recommended to all comic book lovers.

[Elle Markov · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like a bad dream a villain from the past has come back to try and kill The Shadow. Now The Shadow must work to save New York.

This iconic character with the black/red cape and scarf is out to show the baddies they don't stand a chance against his trusted pistols and wicked skills.

This is definitely a must read for fans of the classic, non-mainstream graphic novels. Plus look at that cape, how can you not like?

Rating 3 out of 5
Read@Book

[Ron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tis now the present day and the Shadow has returned from studying in the Far East. The network he had left in charge of controlling crime has Ben infiltrated by his greatest enemy. The Shadow loses one of his assets, riches, but forms a small counter-strike force that manages to negate the enemy forces. However, Khan has regained his youth and will be sure to cause havoc soon. More fun then some earlier Shadow tales.

[Burgoo · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is all about pulling off a soft reboot. The Shadow is now working in modern times, but there's a lack of courage that makes this less rewarding than it could be.

http://fedpeaches.blogspot.com/2015/0...

[Paul · Rating 2 out of 5]

So far, I have been less than impressed by Dynamite's books about one of my favorite characters.
I will be reading The Shadow, Year One, because itès by Matt Wagner, but I think this will be the last I'll be reading from Dynamite.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Shadow in the modern day. Nice!

[Paxton Holley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very good. I really liked the premise, where The Shadow returns from a 30 year exile to again fight crime.