Any Fans of the DC Shadow Comics?

[Timothy Hunter]

I got introduced to the Shadow via the Alec Baldwin movie which was trying too hard to ape Batman 1989, but it was endearing. Young Alec Badlwin would make a terrible Batman but a brilliant Bruce Wayne.

The first Shadow comic I read was the Chaykin miniseries. I love the artistry and the panel structure of Chaykin's work, but I find his writing convoluted.

The 87 Shadow ongoing I found to be much better.The first six issues with Sienkiewicz might be some of the greatest comic art ever found inside an ongoing. However, much like the Chaykin mini, the writing is overstuffed with subplots.

Contrary to some, I actually think that Helfer's writing get's better once Baker comes along. It seems a lot more focused. The humor was handled very well for a comic book and I think was as consistently funny as JLI, which wasn't all the time, but keep in mind how difficult it is to write humor in an American comic book.

For traditional fans of the Shadow I would reccomend the graphic novel by Kaluta and O'Neil as well as the annual by Helfer and Joe Orlando which is much more conventional than the main series.