Doubling Up

- Nick Martorelli

One of the first comic books I remember reading was Superman #9 from 1987. Superman goes head-to-head with the Joker, who has come to Metropolis for a change of pace from dealing with Batman. Over the course of the issue, the Joker employs a robot duplicate of Superman, kidnaps Lois Lane and hides her in a lead-lined coffin, and taunts Superman on audio frequencies that only he can hear. The issue’s cover is a headshot of a laughing Joker wearing the Superman costume, with the text asking “Guess who’s In Metropolis?!” This issue made such a strong impression on my seven-year-old self that I would often use my action figures to re-create the story, with Wonder Woman standing in for Lois and GI Joe taking all the other speaking parts. Even now, thirty years later, it remains one of the best single issues I remember having as a kid.

I always wondered how he got his hands on

the costume, which the issue does not address.

Shortly after I graduated from college, I decided to purchase as many Superman issues from this era as I could find, filling the holes that existed in my childhood collection. Flipping through longbox after longbox thrilled me as I scanned the tops of the bagged and boarded issues for both the issues numbers I was missing as well as incredible covers I had never seen before. And as I tracked down the first appearance of Gangbuster and Superman’s fight with Booster Gold, I routinely passed over any issues I already had.

But one day in the comic shop in the local mall, I found a copy of Superman #9, the laughing Joker in the Superman suit, leering at me from the bin of dollar comics. I picked it up (against my usual policy of no duplicates), and the flipping of its pages made me wonder where my Super Powers toys had ended up. This book was in much better condition than my old, much-read, well-loved copy, and I spent the dollar to bring it home and add it to my fledgling collection. I put it in the box with the copy from my childhood, unwilling to discard the older in favor of the newer, and promptly forgot about this first duplicate in my collection.

Years later, I bought a run of Superman comics that included this issue. (Third copy.) When the trade paperbacks collecting this era were released, I bought the story again. (Fourth copy.) Comixology ran a sale on classic Superman stories (fifth copy), and I found it once again in a 25-cent bin. (Sixth copy.) From not wanting any duplicates in my collection, I went to purchasing the same issue six times in a variety of ways.

So why have I bought this story so many times? Sure, some of them were super-cheap or included in a larger lot. Ease of digital reading and recoloring of the trade paperback could be cited as a factor. I have also given away copies of the single issues to friends who have expressed interest in my sincere appreciation of Superman, and I always point people to this story.

What could be mere bands of nostalgia connecting me to this issue are in face much deeper resonances than I had imagined as an impressionable seven-year-old. At the end of the issue, Superman explains to Lois Lane how he was able to beat the Joker. The Joker had assumed that Superman was nothing but punches and muscles and assumed that he would be much easier to outwit than Batman. But Superman explains that the Joker had forgotten that Superman was also clever and intelligent, and had misjudged the Man of Steel based solely on his appearance. From there, Superman says, it was easy to outwit him. This explanation resonated so strongly with me, a young, overweight boy with glasses, that it fully cemented my love of comic books in general, and my appreciation of Superman in particular. Is it any wonder I collected every instance of this artifact that I could find?

Since breaking my prohibition about duplicates in my collection, I’ve purchased series in both single issues and collected editions (Astro City), collected editions and digital issues (Matt Wagner's Trinity), single issues and digital issues (The Spectre), and even single issues, collected editions, and additional copies of single issues (The Shadow Strikes!) All of these series were important to me when I first read them, and having these physical object represents my emotional attachment to the characters and series. I'll continue to buy these series in subsequent printings, and although I still have the issue in at least 4 places, if I see Superman #9 in a dollar bin, I will certainly give it a good home.

What about you? Any series you have bought multiple times, or any issues you buy every time you see them in a dollar box?

The Shadow Strikes!

- Nick Martorelli

One of my favorite fictional characters is The Shadow, the pulp and radio hero from the 1940s who "knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men." The character’s popularity peaked decades before I was born, and while the 1994 film starring Alec Baldwin failed to reignite as much interest as the producers hoped, it was my first introduction to this mystical hero who could "cloud men’s minds so that they cannot see him." The movie led me to pursue the character in other mediums – novels, old time radio shows, movies, and, of course, comic books.

In 1989, DC Comics began publishing a series called The Shadow Strikes! that many people, myself included, regard as the definitive version of the character. The series was set in the 1930s and included a few adaptations of stories from the original magazine. Almost all of the issues were written by Gerard Jones, with the majority of the art from Eduardo Barreto, followed by Rod Whigham. The series ran for three years until the series was canceled when the rights to the character moved from DC to Dark Horse.

Cover of The Shadow Strikes! #1

Over 31 issues, plus annuals and cross-overs, the creative teams told some of the best Shadow stories of his history, as well as redefined crucial aspects of his mythology. Initial story arcs saw The Shadow facing off against the mad monk Rasputin and teaming up with fellow hero Doc Savage. The Shadow confronted his arch-nemesis Shiwan Khan in a three-part story before traveling to Chicago to take on the mobsters of the 30s. The largest storyline of the series is a 7-part adventure where The Shadow and his assembled agents confront Shiwan Khan. The series concludes with a two-part origin story for The Shadow, incorporating the character’s backstory from the original novels while also introducing new elements and details.

As I learned about The Shadow and read other comic books based on his adventures, I started to see what makes The Shadow Strikes! work so well when some other series about the character do not. Instead of framing all the stories around The Shadow himself, writer Gerard Jones constructs his narratives around The Shadow’s agents, those people whom he saved from harm and recruited during his crusade for justice. This change to the storytelling structure of the book allows Jones to focus his stories around the very-human people working for The Shadow, following Margo Lane as she tries to atone for the sins of her past, and Harry Vincent as he falls in love with Margo Lane. Anchoring the book with the "normal people" means that we, the reader, are on the adventures with Margo and Harry, thrilling as they (we) get involved in car chases and gunfights, hoping that The Shadow will come to our aid to save us. And when he doesn't, Harry and Margo are resourceful people capable of taking care of themselves.

Even more importantly, this structure allows Jones keeps The Shadow as a mysterious figure looming in the background, affecting the lives of ordinary people he has recruited. The Shadow stays hidden and behind-the-scenes of his own comic book, allowing him to function as a force of nature, a terrible spirit of vengeful justice. There are some characters that can be diminished when too much is known about them, and The Shadow Strikes! never reveals too much about the title character. He remains a mysterious figure behind a wide-brimmed hat, just as he was in the original novels by Walter B. Gibson.

There are many other comic book adaptations of The Shadow, including a recent run from Dynamite comics that ran 25 issues. Some of them have good writing, many of them have fantastic art, but all of them are principally about The Shadow himself. But no other series takes the same storytelling approach as Gerard Jones, focusing on the people drawn into the web of adventure that The Shadow weaves. Jones remains faithful to the spirit of the original creation of The Shadow, while simultaneously injecting new ideas and a new energy into the decades-old mythology of the character. Who knows if we'll ever see a classic character adapted this well again?