Saturday, February 15, 2020

The Shadow Annuals

The Shadow had an impressive publishing run from 1931 to 1949.  One mystery to me is why there were only 3 Shadow annuals published over that stretch of time?  I don't have an answer yet but will keep digging.  Here's a brief look at the 3 Shadow annuals.

The first The Shadow Annual published in 1942.  It featured a cover of The Shadow in the guise of Lamont Cranston.  It featured the following Shadow stories:  The Living Shadow, The Ghost Makers, and The Black Hush.  It was 144 pages, and based on what I can find, Graves Gladney was the artist for the cover.



The second The Shadow Annual published in 1943.  The cover states, "A selection of the best Shadow novels."  It contained the following Shadow stories:  The Voodoo Master, Hidden Death, and The Gray Ghost.  I've not found a difinitive answer to who the cover artist was.  I've seen the artwork attributed to George Rozen, Modest Stein and Graves Gladney.



The third and final The Shadow Annual published in 1947.  The stories in this issue are:  No Time for Murder, Toll of Death, and Murder by Magic.



As I find more information on these three Annuals, I'll be sure to update this article!!!