The Shadow vs Doc Savage
I finished the first issue of the Nostalgia Ventures reprint of The Shadow last night, and I'm still on the fence about whether I like them or not.
The two stories were Crime, Insured and The Golden Vulture. The first is noted in an essay by series and consulting editors Anthony Tollin and Will Murray as the most thrilling adventure of The Shadow penned by Walter B. Gibson. The second was a test drive for Lester Dent, who won his job writing the Doc Savage pulps based on its merits.
I guess I'm showing my early reading preferences when I say I prefer Doc Savage to The Shadow. Perhaps it's because Dent's hero traveled to exotic locales and faced extreme challenges so over the top and yet so believable that you couldn't help admire and enjoy them. Crime, Insured deals with a rogue insurance exec. Contrast this first experience with The Shadow against the first Doc Savage tale I read, which the Golden Press release of The Man of Bronze published in 1975, where Savage deals with assassination attempts by Mayan warriors and a secret cache of lost gold. Is it any wonder I'm leaning toward the latter?
However, despite my hesitation I'm looking forward to reading (and re-reading) more of these pulp classics as Nostalgia Ventures comes out with new issues. There's a certain cachet to the reprints, which offer the original illustrations and pulp covers. It's almost impossible not to geek over them, which you can see on this "coming attractions" page.
So, I'm giving The Shadow more than a sporting chance. Next up is issue 2, which collects The Chinese Disks and Malmordo. TCD is a sequel to The Living Shadow, bringing back the villain from The Shadow Magazine #1. M is the last book Walter B. Gibson wrote during his original tenure as The Shadow writer. He left due to contract difficulties and only briefly returned before the series ended when Street & Smith closed shop in 1949.
This personal wayback with the Doc Savage reprints and my introduction to The Shadow will fill in the gaps in this year's book challenge as I work my way through my long list of unread books. And I'm already seeing the effects on the current WiP, where I'm juggling characterization and plot. The opening pages on the book take a scene from close to the climax, which I'm using as a teaser before tackling the metaphysical pros and cons involved in resurrecting a death goddess.
The two stories were Crime, Insured and The Golden Vulture. The first is noted in an essay by series and consulting editors Anthony Tollin and Will Murray as the most thrilling adventure of The Shadow penned by Walter B. Gibson. The second was a test drive for Lester Dent, who won his job writing the Doc Savage pulps based on its merits.
I guess I'm showing my early reading preferences when I say I prefer Doc Savage to The Shadow. Perhaps it's because Dent's hero traveled to exotic locales and faced extreme challenges so over the top and yet so believable that you couldn't help admire and enjoy them. Crime, Insured deals with a rogue insurance exec. Contrast this first experience with The Shadow against the first Doc Savage tale I read, which the Golden Press release of The Man of Bronze published in 1975, where Savage deals with assassination attempts by Mayan warriors and a secret cache of lost gold. Is it any wonder I'm leaning toward the latter?
However, despite my hesitation I'm looking forward to reading (and re-reading) more of these pulp classics as Nostalgia Ventures comes out with new issues. There's a certain cachet to the reprints, which offer the original illustrations and pulp covers. It's almost impossible not to geek over them, which you can see on this "coming attractions" page.
So, I'm giving The Shadow more than a sporting chance. Next up is issue 2, which collects The Chinese Disks and Malmordo. TCD is a sequel to The Living Shadow, bringing back the villain from The Shadow Magazine #1. M is the last book Walter B. Gibson wrote during his original tenure as The Shadow writer. He left due to contract difficulties and only briefly returned before the series ended when Street & Smith closed shop in 1949.
This personal wayback with the Doc Savage reprints and my introduction to The Shadow will fill in the gaps in this year's book challenge as I work my way through my long list of unread books. And I'm already seeing the effects on the current WiP, where I'm juggling characterization and plot. The opening pages on the book take a scene from close to the climax, which I'm using as a teaser before tackling the metaphysical pros and cons involved in resurrecting a death goddess.