Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?
George W. Bu..., oh, I mean, um, The Shadow of course!
Finally a commission where I get to draw a face (well, at least part of a face). Not to say that I don't love drawing Spider-Man or any other masked character. I love finding personality in the way I draw the masks. But still, it's nice to show that I can actually draw pretty nice faces once in a while.
I was delighted that Rick Foster commissioned this The Shadow piece. I've written in a previous post how much I love the 1970s The Shadow comic by Denny O'Neil and Mike Kaluta. I also have quite a bit of interest in the classic pulps from 1930s. Part of that interest comes from the interesting continuity of the character. The Shadow's alter ego is presented in most media and even most of the pulps as Lamont Cranston. The Shadow, however, is a master of disguise and he takes on numerous identities, including that of his agents. In the pulps it is established early on that Lamont Cranston is not the true identity of of the Shadow, but is one of his agents whose identity he uses most frequently. His true identity is Kent Allard who was a World War I fighter pilot who waged a war on criminals after
the war was over. Interestingly enough, very little of the other media out there uses this true continuity, almost always referring to the Shadow as Lamont Cranston. This of course, leaves a great source of material, that is largely untapped.The Shadow is such a cool character. I am amazed that he isnt' more popular in the modern era, as the character's appeal is dark, broody, and violent, very much in the trends of today. Perhaps it's the timeline in the past that is harder for some to pick up on. I for one would rather The Shadow remain a character of the 1930s, as there is so much style and fodder for great fiction in that very interesting era.
3 comments:
gyroscopicThat's a funny one, except that G.W.B is Evil in another form
I'm certainly no fan of GW, spideyfan. I am, in the classic definition of the term, a liberal.I believe the government's role is to serve the people, not to rule them. I don't know if I would call GW evil, but that's not a term I'm really comfortable throwing around because when it's done it's usually with the intent of stoning. I think he's what you get when you have someone whom never got any hugs growing up and whom grew up with a sense of entitlement and never had to struggle for survival. He's detached from the reality that most people live with.
My little quip, which I want to be careful about because I don't want to polarize support for my art along political lines, was satirizing Bush's "crusade" against "evil". It's not exactly the most sober and responsible way for a leader to present themselves. The shit talking doesn't do anything but placate the voters whom want to hear that sort of thing. But it's not necessary to do so to take a course of action. Talking trash is never necessary for responsible leadership. You can take action, without polarizing people based on talk. GW has talked the talk where he hasn't been able to walk the walk.
I never had seen this character, but let me tell you something, he has the appearance of the classic western offender, don't you think???
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