The Secret Squadron: The Shadow

The Shadow has had a long and diverse life in comic books, starting in 1940 as a newspaper strip and then Street & Smith (also publishers of the pulps) published 101 issues, from 1940 to 1949. Then Archie had their turn, but it's more of an embarrassment than anything else, as The Shadow bears little resemblance to the character we know and love. Then DC Comics picked up the flag with wonderful art by Kaluta in 1973, then Dark Horse in 1993 and now Dynamite in 2012.

Below is a chronological gallery of the Shadow comic books in my collection. Unfortunately I don't have a single one from the Street & Smith run. But I have everything else, except for some Dynamite variants. As a rule, if the image has the Secret Squadron logo, it was scanned from my collection. If not, the images were lifted from the Grand Comics Database (thank you!), as 99% of my collection is Near Mint and it seemed redundant to scan the whole thing -- except for the Archies, those are Fine or less, and I'll get around to scanning them.

I also added the few non-US editions I have, from Brazil, Spain and France. These are fun curiosities to see, I think. Enjoy! This is going to be a looong post :)

Archie

The Shadow (1964-1965, 8 issues)

DC Comics

The Shadow (1973-1975, 12 issues)

Below, the 9 issues of the 1974 Brazilian edition by Ebal, of which I'm missing #2.

"As Maiores Aventuras do Sombra"
(The Shadow's Greatest Adventures)March, 1982

Here is an oddity, a very small Portuguese black and white comic, by Clube do Cromo, also a reprint of the Kaluta series. Issue #2 is announced in the back cover, but I could never find it. Notice the conspicuous absence of The Shadow on the cover. Date unknown.

The Shadow (1986, mini-series, 4 issues)

Ediciones Zinco, Spain, collects #1-4

The Shadow (1987-1989, 21 issues)

Below, three issues of the Brazilian edition by Abril. Not sure if more were published.

The Shadow Strikes! (1989-1992, 32 issues)

Dark Horse Comics

The Shadow - In the Coils of Leviathan (October 1993 - April 1994, 4 issues)

This "Dark Horse Tip Sheet" was offered in an issue of "Previews", a Diamond Distributors' catalogue from where clients and retaiers can order their comics. The publication, containing single-page advertisements for upcoming Dark Horse comics, was glued to the larger and thicker magazine. I had removed it, hence the torn spine.

The Shadow (June-July 1994, 2 issues, ties in with the film)

"The Shadow - La BD du Film"
(Dark Horse France, hardcover, 1994)

The Shadow and the Mysterious 3 (September 1994, one-shot)

The Shadow - Hell's Heat Wave (April-June 1995, 3 issues)

The Shadow and Doc Savage (July-August 1995, 2 issues)

Ghost and the Shadow (December 1995, one-shot)

Dynamite

The Shadow (2012, ongoing)

Dynamite have the habit of issuing several different covers, which is a nightmare for the completist (but excellent business for them, I imagine). These are the regular issues and variants I have, but I'm still missing a few.