Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Crossover Covers: The Shadow/Green Hornet: Dark Nights

In this mini-series by Michael Uslan and Keith Burns, the Shadow and his agents join forces with the Green Hornet and Kato in Spring 1939 to rescue President Roosevelt from the clutches of Shiwan Khan. Roosevelt was given a silver bullet as a child by Britt Reid's great-uncle John, a Texas Ranger (aka the Lone Ranger.) The Shadow has an office in a building that also contains offices for the Hidalgo Trading Company (from the Doc Savage novels), Timely Comics Group (the company later known as Marvel Comics), Nick Carter P.I., Benson Industries and Justice, Inc. (from the Avenger pulps), and Supersnipe Ltd. (from Supersnipe Comics, a comic book published by Street & Smith.) In Ron Fortier and Jeff Butler's comic book Sting of the Green Hornet, which takes place in 1942, the Hornet meets F.D.R. and an unnamed Shadow for what is clearly the first time. This, combined with the death of the Shadow's agent Cliff Marsland, places this story in an AU.

6 comments:

  1. I don't suppose this would be the same set in the same universe as Masks? That would also be another first meeting between the Shadow and the Green Hornet.

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  2. There's no reference to the Shadow and the Hornet having met before in Dark Night, so they're probably not in the same universe. As I said recently on the Wold Newton Family group, Dynamite has a very loose approach to continuity between their titles. The Spider is active in different eras in MASKS (the '30s) and CODENAME: ACTION ('60s) than he is in his own series (Art Deco-influenced 21st century.)

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  3. I remember you saying that about the Red Sonja/Vampirella/Dejah Thoris miniseries. Still, it would be nice if you could tie some series together even if not in the CU.

    In the Sixties I know they published The Spider novels slightly altered to be contemporary. Which seems weird to me. It never bothered me when works are set in a different era.

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  4. Is that Fu Manchu on the cover of #3? Not to mention what looks like FDR and Tesla on #4 . . .

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  5. That's Shiwan Khan on the cover of #3, not Fu Manchu. You're right about FDR and Tesla.

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  6. That does make more sense, thanks.

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