The Shadow - versus the Light, in: Snowblind - R.A. Wonsowski

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Panel 1 - Night, 1945.  An early prototype of the Gakona HAARP Field (under construction) in the snowy fields of arctic Alaska.  Army Watchtowers are also visible under the eerie glow of the aurora borealis.  Outside the chainlink fence, foreground, The SHADOW crouches over the near frozen corpse of NIKOLA TESLA, who has a gunshot wound to the stomach.  The SHADOW has already pulled one of his nickle-plated pistols.

CAPTION:  The General got he wanted from Tesla and threw him away like so much refuse.  Vengeance must be had...

OFF-PANEL:  But not by you!


Panel 2 - The SHADOW, shielding his eyes with his arm, is bathed in intense white light.  It's so bright, all color is washed out, everything is just outline.

OFF-PANEL:  Oh, yes...I can read your mind.  A side effect from my time in Roswell.

OFF-PANEL:  You short-sighted thug.  I could end the war tomorrow, with one well-placed blast from this nearly operational Lightning Field.  World peace achieved through Tesla's genius.

SHADOW:  ...General?

OFF-PANEL:  Yessss...


Panel 3 - same as Panel 2, but with a pov shift.  SHADOW is foreground, still shielding his eyes, still bathed in intense white light.  Levitating in the air via a crackling brassy, steampunk looking antigravity harness, floats the GENERAL.  He is fit for nearing 60, white crewcut hair, wearing his US Army dress uniform and a long, olive-green duster.  The duster is open, revealing a 1,000,000-candle arclight powered by Tesla-coils attached to the harness.  Everything looks makeshift, cobbled-together, but barely visible in the blinding wash of light.  He is holding handles and switches in his fists that control his apparati.

GENERAL:  Fight me!!!

CAPTION:  "I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will never walk in shadow."  John 8:12

The Shadow - Where Evil Lurks - J.D. Coughlan

Panel 1: Overhead view of a dark alleyway. A young couple is being mugged by two street toughs. One of them holds a gun. They are unmasked. The couple is afraid. (Note that this whole page takes place in the Shadow's original 1930s setting.)

SHADOW (CAP): It is easy to see evil when evil chooses to reveal itself.

Panel 2: An apartment building. One of the muggers from the first panel stands at the open door, handing over some cash reluctantly to a shady looking landlord. A depressed woman clutching a small baby is in the background.

SHADOW (CAP): But while it is easy to think of good and evil as a simple matter, such things are rarely black and white.

Panel 3: Out on the street. The landlord is handing some money to a couple of gangsters who grin smugly.

SHADOW (CAP): When one considers the larger picture -- what turns good to evil -- it can threaten to overwhelm.

Panel 4: A fancy office. The gangsters show a briefcase full of money to a greedy businessman type. He looks delighted.

SHADOW (CAP): The machinations of this world can crush upon those who seek to do good, but fall with apathy and regret before those who truly turn the wheels. And they cannot, within reason, be blamed...

Panel 5: The businessman from before, in his office, behind his desk, prepares to light a fat cigar. It is now dark.

SHADOW (CAP): Because who knows where to even begin?

Panel 6: Same as above, but now the businessman lights a match for his cigar, illuminating the Shadow behind him.

SHADOW (CAP): The Shadow knows.

END OF PAGE

The Shadow – In: The Chest from The Tomb of Forgotten Evil – Shaun Richens.

PAGE ONE – 6 PANELS.

1.1

Wide panel. Int. A dockland warehouse at night. Rain lashes past the open windows as lightning breaks across the black canvas of the evening sky.

A group of four gang members in dockworker gear carry a huge and ornate chest. A fifth member, the LEADER stands by screaming orders at them as he smokes a large, fat cigar.

LEADER:

Hurry up you worthless weasels. We ain’t got all night to load this up.

THE SHADOW (O/P):

Actually chaps I’d rather you placed that beautiful chest on the ground.

1.2

Page wide. Reveal shot of the SHADOW. He stands on a steel beam that runs across the warehouse roof. His balance is perfect, his coat and scarf blow in the strong night breeze. His arms rest crossed over his chest, his hands inside his coat holding onto the handles of his pistols, ready to draw them if needs be.

THE SHADOW:

That chest neither belongs to you nor your employers. Now you know who I am and what it is I can do. I give you all the chance to see the sun rise.

THE SHADOW:

Simply leave.

1.3

Cut to the four gang members as they bend over to put the chest on the floor.

NO COPY

1.4

The four-gang members file out past the shocked leader, who stands wide eyed and mouth a gasp holding his still lit cigar in hand.

GANG MEMBER:

Sods this. That’s the bloody shadow.

1.5

Close up on the gang leader who simply shrugs.

LEADER:

Ya know what take the blasted chest. They don’t pay me enough to deal with this.

1.6

Close up on the shadow.

THE SHADOW:

Well that’s a turn up for the books.

The Shadow – MK Stangeland Jr. Presents “Say What?!” Featuring: The Shadow! – MK Stangeland Jr.

(6 Panels)

Panel 1: THE SHADOW knocks a gun out of a gangers hands.

TEXT BOX: Imagine if…

THE SHADOW: Denied!

Panel 2: THE SHADOW punches a nazi in the face.

THE SHADOW: NEIN!

Panel 3: THE SHADOW holds the body of a recently slain ally in his arms. He shouts to the sky.

THE SHADOW: NOOOOOOO!

TEXT BOX: THE SHADOW ‘NO’s!

Panel 4: Three police officers are near a dark allyway.

TEXT BOX: Meanwhile…

LEAD OFFICER: Be on the lookout, boys. I think we might have an interloper.

OFFICER 2: But all I see are the shadows.

Panel 5: Some kind of natural progression from PANEL 4.

LEAD OFFICER: Exactly. And I saw the outline of a schnoz I’d recognize anywhere.

OFFICER 3: You don’t mean…?

LEAD OFFICER: That’s right…

Panel 6: Emphasis on LEAD OFFICER’s face.

LEAD OFFICER: THE SHADOW’S NOSE!

(END PAGE)

(*Rimshot*)

The Shadow - The Darkness in Apartment 3C – Simon McDonald

PANEL ONE
An establishing shot of a New York apartment building. It's 1933, midday. The sun is beaming down on the six police cruisers parked out front. Uniformed cops are mulling about outside. There's a media presence, kept at bay by police tape.

 

CAPTION

The daylight means something.

 

PANEL TWODetective Lemonski - new character, don't go Googling - is trudging up the narrow staircase. Dressed like a 1930s cop would be. There're beads of sweat on his brow, a grimace on his face.

 

CAPTION (1)

I was thinkin' this before I knew the victim.

 

CAPTION (2)Don't get many calls durin' the day.
The scum saves its worst for when the lights're out.

 

PANEL THREE

Lemonski has reached the third floor. A door marked 3C is open. There's a cop presence up here too, all ashen faced.

 

CAPTION (1)

Lot of blue, so I know this is a cut above my usual fare.

 

CAPTION (2)

I'm thinkin' it's a city official. Maybe the mayor.

 

PANEL FOUR

Tight on Lemonski's face. Despite the murder scene and the sweat on his face, there's a hint of a smile.

 

CAPTION (1)

I'm thinkin' that wouldn't be so bad.

 

CAPTION (2)

A case t'make my name.

 

PANEL FIVE

Inside the apartment there are four corpses tied to chairs. They are all wearing The Shadow's iconic garb. And each has suffered a double-tap to the chest.

 

LEMONSKI

Aw Christ.

 

CAPTION (1)

Yeah.

 

CAPTION (2)

The mayor would've been better.

The Shadow - Due Reward - Grant McLaughlin

1 - Night.  Establishing shot of Gracie Manor, the Mayor of New York's official residence.  There are few lights on within.  The night is dark and stormy.  A moody and atmospheric time.

MAYOR (from within manor): No!

2 - Interior.  Worm's-eye view.  We are now inside the manor.  Frame the shot to show a crumpled letter lying on top of other, unopened mail in the foreground and the mayor running in a panic up the entryway stairs in the background.  Most of the letter should be unreadable, but a few choice words like "bribes", "kickbacks", "graft", and the like should be decipherable.

MAYOR: No...

3 - The mayor bursts into his office, looking towards the painting above the fireplace.  It is on hinges and hangs open, revealing a secret safe behind it.  However, the safe is also open.

MAYOR: No!

4 - The mayor goes up to the safe itself to look inside.  There are maybe one or two dollar bills, but it has been emptied out.  The mayor looks on in horror.

MAYOR: Nonono!

5 - The mayor slouches onto the ground, grimacing wildly and slamming his fist into the ground in frustration.  He looks a right mess.

MAYOR: No!  No!  No!

OFF-PANEL VOICE: That's right.

6 - Reverse angle to reveal The Shadow looking down upon the prostrate mayor!  Partially obscured by the house's many shadows, he stands menacingly, his piercing glare cutting through the mayor.  The mayor is pretty darned scared.

THE SHADOW: The Shadow knows!

The Shadow - Black And Yellow - Niel Jacoby

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Panel 1. In the fray of a swanky Manhattan party, Lamont Cranston, The Shadow, and Danny Rand, The Immortal Iron Fist, have bumped into each other. Cranston should be in a jet-black suit, with a red tie, and Danny should be wearing a more colorful suit that matches his colors, perhaps a dark green suit with yellow accents.

Cranston: AH, MISTER RAND. I'VE HEARD MUCH ABOUT YOU.

Rand: OH, HAVE YOU? I'VE HEARD A LOT ABOUT YOUR EXPLOITS... FROM BACK IN THE DAY.

Panel 2: Rand smiles smugly, perhaps leaning on a table.

Rand: BUT I SUPPOSE WE CAN'T ALL KEEP UP WITH THE TIMES.

Panel 3: Cranston is visibly irritated, and is using his powers of mind control, which should be depicted as subtly as can be.

Cranston: YES, MY TRAVELS HAVE TAKEN THE LION'S SHARE OF MY TIME AS OF LATE
(link)
BUT I HAVE MY WAYS OF KEEPING INFORMED. IN FACT, I'VE HEARD A LOT ABOUT YOUR... EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES.

Panel 4: Rand is using his training to resist the Shadow's mind control, and should be visibly exerting, perhaps sweating, but still trying to keep up appearances.

Rand: AND WHAT WOULD THOSE BE? WOMEN, DRINK, MARTIAL ARTS? WITH MY SCHEDULE, THERE'S A LOT OF TIME TO FILL IN THE DAY.

Panel 5: Rand and Cranston stay staring each other down, each psychically pushing against the other's mental fortitude.

Panel 6: Same POV as panel 5, Rand and Cranston, both shaken, are bidding each other goodbye.

Rand: I GUESS IF WE HAVE NOTHING TO SAY TO EACH OTHER, WE SHOULD START TALKING TO OTHER PEOPLE, WOULDN'T YOU AGREE?

Cranston: I GUESS I WOULD. BUT IN THE FUTURE, YOU SHOULD KNOW I'M NOT TO BE BRUSHED OFF LIGHTLY.

Panel 7: Danny is walking away from the conversation, visibly frazzled, sending a quick text to Luke Cage on his phone while taking a large sip of his drink.

Phone: Luke, check whrevr u can 4 a Lamont Cranston. Library, informants, th works. TTYL.

Why The Shadow?

Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?

The Shadow knows!

When we think of the Halloween season, we think of Frankensteins, Draculas, and Lons Chaney, the classic horror monsters of years past. But I decided to take a different tack with my Halloween pick, choosing another character who can't die and goes bump in the night: The Shadow.

Originally the narrator of the radio show Detective Story Hour, the shadowy figure was given more of a character by Walter B. Gibson, first in pulp novels, then in his own radio show, and by 1940 his own comic strip. Since then, he's had a shaky history in comics, from pulpy period tales...

...to violent tales where the character was relocated to modern times...

...to... this.

And that's just his time at DC. So there's no strict guidelines as to tone, so go wild! And if you want to join in at home, the comments section is open.