"Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?"
Not this guy...
...as demonstrated in this never-reprinted tale from Atlas Comics' MAD clone, Riot #1 (1954)!
Though the writer of this satire of The Shadow radio show is unknown, odds are it was Stan Lee, who was writing almost everything at this point.
The illustrator is extremely well-known...Gene Colan!
This was not the first time The Shadow had been spoofed, since EC's MAD ran their own take on the character in #4 (1953) as shown HERE.
(It was even the cover feature!)
You'll note in this tale "The Shadower" doesn't have the usual cloak, slouch hat, and aquiline nose we associate with the character...
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| Art by Frank Robbins |
In fact, he looks a lot like the Archie Comics version from a decade later...1964...
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| Art by John Rosenberger |
...who, at least initially, was primarily-based on the radio show, but updated to the spy-oriented Sixties!
BTW, if you want more The Shadow stuff, have a look at our current Summer RetroBlog Blogathon participants...
...where we're re-presenting the Dark Avenger's never-reprinted 1970s-created, but 1940s-set adventures featuring art by Frank Robbins and E R Cruz.
AND
...where we began the re-presentation of the never-reprinted, final "Maxwell Grant" Shadow novel from the Swinging Sixties!
