On the trail of the Society of Magicians, we get a rare outing for Lamont Cranston and his paramour Margo Lane. Of course, as Margo herself recognises, its only a matter of time till he of large nose, wide brim hat and scarlet scarf makes his eventual non-appearance.
Issue 4 of this series continues a holding pattern of sorts, in the battle of chess between the Magicians and The Shadow, one group looking to use the Ultimate Illusion and the latter looking to protect it.
I am torn regarding this book. Normally I do prefer a longer story than quick one issue stories. But there has to be something going on, some level of progression. Cullen Bunn displaying a strong pulp side to his writings, seems to be writing for the trade paperback crowd. You can’t really blame Bunn, this format is used throughout the industry, story compression ahead of story comprehension maybe? Still, I do like the voice used for Cranston; the disdain of the need to be sociable very reminiscent of a certain Bat currently MIA.
Giovanni Timpano continues on art and he produces quite a mix. In this issue he covers standard hero panels, a party and elements of mysticism, displaying qualities in each element. Of course, the majority of the book is pretty standard and that is pretty much the overriding feeling regarding the art, it’s pretty standard.
This second volume of The Shadow is ok. I am not enjoying it as much as the previous volume. Maybe it’s the fact, that in my mind, The Shadow with his powers, should be more than capable to defeat this Society and as such, the big bad doesn’t seem that bad. Whatever the reason, it is by far not the worst book out there, but I would like to see more quality across the board.
[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]
Author Profile
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I am a long time comic book fan, being first introduced to Batman in the mid to late 70's. This led to a appreciation of classic artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Moving through the decades that followed, I have a working knowledge of a huge raft of characters with a fondness for old school characters like JSA and The Shadow
Currently reading a slew of Bat Books, enjoying a mini Marvel revival, and the host of The Definative Crusade and Outside the Panels whilst also appearing on No-Prize Podcast on the Undercover Capes Podcast Network
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