MONSTER SOCIETY OF EVIL "Epilogue: Mr Mind LIVES!"

The saga of the Monster Society of Evil didn't end with Mr Mind's death...

...because, like almost all great comic book villains, the little SOB had an ace in the hole...

When DC revived the Marvel Family (after putting them out of business almost 20 years earlier), instead of rebooting the series, the creatives had arch-villain Sivana freeze them (and himself, accidentally) in "suspendium" to explain why they hadn't aged!

After an earthquake hits the museum, Billy/Captain Marvel digs out the museum-goers...

I'm including the next page just because it's a classic example of the kid-friendly "violence" the original series specialized in...

Though Cap stops Mr Mind's plan, the cunning worm escapes...

Despite writer Denny O'Neil and artist CC Beck (Cap's original Golden Age artist who was still going strong) promise in DC's SHAZAM! #2 (1973), the explanation became a running gag as Mr. Mind would escape just before telling how he survived certain death, until SHAZAM! #31 (1977)...

...where writer E Nelson Bridwell (who was DC's resident "continuity fanatic" counterpart to Marvel's Roy Thomas) and penciler Kurt Schaffenberger (who had worked on Fawcett's Marvel Family titles from the mid-1940s until they were cancelled in 1954) finally told the story!
Note: there are no footnotes in these SHAZAM! tales referencing Captain Marvel Adventures #46 (1945), where Mr Mind met his (supposed) demise!
Why?
1) when SHAZAM! #2 was published in 1973, there were no reprints of the Monster Society of Evil serial...nor any Captain Marvel stories in print due to the terms of the DC/Fawcett lawsuit!
2) When SHAZAM! #31 was published in 1977, DC had reprinted some of the Fawcett Marvel Family stories, but had already perceived reprinting MSoE would be problematic due to the racist content of several of the chapters!
(Of course, this was before the Direct Market and comic book stores in almost every city/town/village!)

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Reading Room: THE SHADOW "Night of the Avenger" Conclusion

When Last We Left Our Heroes...

Art by Mike Kaluta

Somebody is assembling enough arms and men to form a small army.
Who?
A team of assassins lead by Smitty, one of The Avenger's aides, attempts to kill The Shadow.
Why?
Margo Lane, aide and confidante to The Shadow attempts to kill The Avenger.
Why?
Clues lead both The Shadow (and his aides) and The Avenger (and his aides) to a lonely stretch of New Jersey beachfront where a massive weapons cache is discovered.
When the two groups meet, each believes the arms depot belongs to the other, and...

In the 1970s, both Marvel and DC revived pulp characters whose paperback reprints were selling very well.

Marvel licensed Doc Savage, and DC grabbed both The Shadow and The Avenger.
Due to the fact Marvel had trademarked The Avengers,  DC's Avenger book was titled Justice, Inc. (the name of The Avenger's organization.)*
The Shadow lasted 12 issues, Justice, Inc. only 4.
While some of the 1970s Shadow run have been reprinted in book form, this issue has not.
*Similarly, when a comic based on the British TV spy series The Avengers was done in the late 1960s, it was called John Steed & Mrs. Peel!

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Reading Room: THE SHADOW "Night of the Avenger" Part 1

Recipe for mayhem; take two heroes, add one arch-villain...

...mix with assorted aides and assistants, stir, and serve HOT!

Tomorrow...

Action!

Suspense!

Secrets REVEALED!

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Reading Room: THE BATMAN & THE SHADOW "Who Knows What Evil--?" Conclusion

When Last We Left Our Heroes...

Art by Mike Kaluta

While tracking a group of counterfeiters, The Batman is saved by an expert marksman who shoots a criminal in the hand who was about to plug the Darknight Detective.
The wounded criminal runs into a dead-end alley...and disappears...with only a mocking laugh to indicate anyone had been there!
A clue from the crime scene leads the Caped Crusader (as Bruce Wayne) to Tumbleweed Crossing, where he meets another visitor...Lamont Cranston, a scientist investigating the water supply, which is loaded with minerals and would be perfect for matching the government's formula for the ink used in printing...money!
Believing nearby abandoned cliff-dwellings would be an ideal base of operations for the counterfeiters, The Batman is ambushed as he heads there, but an antique autogyro distracts the gunmen long enough for the Cowled Crimebuster to capture them.
As he nears the ruins, The Batman speculates about the identity of the mysterious laughing marksman in the autogyro.
Could he be...?

This appearance in Batman #253 came between the first and second issues of The Shadow's bi-monthly Bronze Age run at DC, back when comics actually came out on schedule.
It was a nice tip-of-the-fedora to the long-believed idea that the pulp character was a primary influence on the creation of the Caped Crusader. (A fact confirmed by Shadow historian Anthony Tollin HERE.)
Denny O'Neil was also writing The Shadow comic, and this issue's cover artist Mike Kaluta, who had already done a number of wonderfully-moody Detective Comics and Batman covers, would come to be the definitive Shadow artist for all versions of He Who Knows What Evil Lurks since. (much as James Bama's version of Doc Savage is the iconic one all others have been based upon)

We'll be presenting the other Batman story featuring The Shadow HERE, and the Shadow/Avenger team-up HERE!
And, if you want to see a REALLY strange version of Lamont Cranston, be here next week, when the purple and green costumed version makes his debut!
(Yes, you read that right! Purple and green costumed version! And you can blame Batman for that...)

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Reading Room: THE BATMAN & THE SHADOW "Who Knows What Evil--?" Part 1

Less than half of The Shadow's Bronze Age appearances have been reprinted in hardcover or trade paperbacks!
Two of those were appearances in Batman. which will never be reprinted due to licensing issues, so we'll re-present them here for your entertainment.

We'll find out what the Caped Crusader discovers, and toss in some other kernels of knowledge, tomorrow!

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