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Review: Batman/The Shadow #5

By Philip Schweier
August 23, 2017 - 04:33

Batman is dying, stabbed through the chest with Stag’s quasi-mystical knife. Despite massive blood loss, all it takes to get Bruce Wayne on his feet is an exo-skeleton to keep him propped upright, and provide him with all the necessary fighting moves to take on a gaggle of Stags. Hopefully, he doesn’t tear the fragile stitching keeping his innards inside.

Thankfully, he’s got The Shadow on his side, as the two need to rescue Harry Vincent and Margo Lane. Harry and Margo were two of The Shadow’s key agents back in the 1930s. Amazingly, they’re still alive. Perhaps I should pretend this series is set in the 1970s, to allow for that immense leap in logic.

But Margo and Harry are only a diversion – something to occupy Batman and The Shadow while the Joker and Stag go plundering Shamba-La, the mystical Asian city where The Shadow learned the ability to cloud men’s minds.

Some of my fellow Shadow fans have commented in the negative regarding the artwork, but I find it stylish in the same manner as the much-revered Mike Kaluta Shadow of the 1970s. Not that Rossmo is emulating Kaluta, but I think both have a style that works. Where Rossmo fails is not in his rendering style, but in his depiction of The Shadow. It seems to Rossmo, The Shadow is simply a guy in hat and long cloak; a common super-hero. He fails to add and maintain the layer of mystery that has captivated Shadow fans for decades.

Rating: 5/10

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12