THE SHADOW Conclusion

When Last We Left Our Hero...

Shiwan Khan plans to destroy most of New York City with a prototype nuclear bomb while the President of the USA and several other high-ranking foreign dignitaries are in town for a conference.

Once they are dead, Khan will order his mind-controlled minions to rise up and seize control of the dead politicians' countries, reestablishing the Mongol Empire!

However, The Shadow has tracked Khan to his hidden lair, and is about to show the Last Descendant of Genghis Khan that the Weed of Crime Bears Bitter Fruit...

None of the above is shown in the movie...except Khan being stabbed by a knife!

Instead, The Shadow confronts a machine-gun wielding Farley Claymore and drives him insane, as shown HERE!
Note: the knife in the comic is not the sentient Phurba which The Shadow and Khan fight to mentally-control!

Shiwan loses the contest...which causes him to lose concentration and allowing the cloaked Hotel Monolith to appear to everyone...

The guy with the glasses who's writing notes is Dr Roy Tam, who The Shadow saved at the beginning of this story, and whom Cranston consulted about the radioactive coin Khan gave him!
Here's how it played out in the movie...

And now, let's return to the comic, with a finale not in the film...

You did know the bartender was Lamont Cranston, right?

(Go back to the second panel of the first page in Part 1, HERE, and look carefully.)

Reporter Clyde Burke, who received the notes from the witness/financial reporter, is also one of The Shadow's agents, though he's usually digging up info for his secretive boss, not helping to hide it!

Support Crime and Punishment

Visit Amazon and Buy...

The Shadow

Movie Novelization

by James Luceno

Paid Link

THE SHADOW Part 3

Who Knows What Evil Lurks in the Heart of Shiwan Khan?

Well, that sequence (which is not in the movie) covered the major plot points pretty well.  

Let's just go along for the ride...

We showed a hypnotized Margo Lane shooting at Lamont Cranston and hitting a mirror (in his home, not outdoors at the site of the Hotel Monolith) in the previous chapter HERE.

The movie's version of this scene has both similarities and differences...

In the movie, Farley Claymore survives until the finale, when The Shadow invades Khan's lair...

We'll wait, but only until tomorrow, when we present the cataclysmic conclusion!
Note: IMHO the reveal of the cloaked Hotel Monolith was more impressive in the movie.

Support Crime and Punishment

Visit Amazon and Buy...

The Shadow

Collector's Edition

(with kool extras not available anywhere else!)

Paid Link

THE SHADOW Part 2

When Last We Left Our Hero...

Shiwan Khan, last descendant of Genghis Khan, arrives in New York City to carry out his plans to rule the world.

Sensing a kindred spirit in The Shadow, he offers the cloaked crimefighter a chance to become his ally.

Meanwhile, The Shadow, in his alter-ego of Lamont Cranston, has met the lovely Margo Lane, possessor of the ability to read the thoughts of He Who Knows What Evil Lurks in the Hearts of Men and daughter of atomic scientist Reinhardt Lane!

The Shadow (as Cranston) seeks out Dr. Roy Tam, whose life he saved earlier, to find out about a coin given to him by Khan...

In the movie, Margo isn't at her father's lab when Khan's troops attack, the attackers aren't wearing armor, and the attacker who commits suicide to prevent revealing Khan's location does so by deliberately letting go of The Shadow's hand...

In the movie, Margo is phoned by her already-captured and hypnotized father and brought to Khan's lair...

When offered the chance to do the movie adaptation, Michael Kaluta (along with co-writer Joel Goss) created a new framing sequence involving reporter Clyde Burke, one of The Shadow's agents in pulps and comics (who does not appear in the movie).

(You'll also note some scenes that are separate in the film are combined in the comic, though whether that's due to the fact they were working from an earlier version of the screenplay or Goss and Kaluta's idea is unknown)

Kaluta ignored the movie's production design for costumes, sets, and props and used his own versions of the characters, not trying to make them match the actors' likenesses, as most movie adaptations do.

In fact, the character designs give us the feeling it's a continuation of his classic 1970s DC Comics run!

The only concession to the movie was making Margo Lane blonde instead of brunette.
Note: When Khan appeared in the 1970s DC Comics series, he was illustrated by ER Cruz, not Kaluta!

Join Us Next Monday as We Continue...
The Shadow
Ha ha Ha ha Ha ha Ha ha Ha ha Ha...

Please Support Crime and Punishment

Visit Amazon and Buy...

The Shadow

Movie Novelization

by James Luceno
Paid Link

THE SHADOW Part 1

30 years ago today, this film was released to movie theatres...

...with this tie-in comic with a script adaptation by Joel Goss and Michael Kaluta, and art by Michael Kaluta.

The movie's version of the scene was somewhat different...

Here's how the scene played in the movie...

Be Here Tomorrow for Part 2 of...
The Shadow!

Plus commentary and behind-the-scenes revelations!

Note: the opening sequence involving Lamont Cranston's time in Tibet is not in the comic adaptation...

...although whether that's because Goss and Kaluta were working from an early version of the script, or, equally-likely, Kaluta felt it didn't fit his idea of who The Shadow was!

In addition, the end of the bridge fight features a "dolly-in" of a full-body shot of The Shadow without a cloak!

That's because the cloak was to be animated, as it was when he appeared inside the Hotel Monolith during the film's climactic confrontation!
The animated cloak appears in Taylor Dane's "Original Sin" video promoting the movie at 4:20...

Obviously, animating a tracking shot was more difficult than the non-moving shot at the Hotel Monolith!

Support Crime and Punishment

Visit Amazon and Buy...

The Shadow
Collector's Edition
(with kool extras not available anywhere else!)
Paid Link