Reading Room: DOC SAVAGE & THE SHADOW "Case of the Shrieking Skeletons" Conclusion

When Last We Left Our Heroes...

Art by Stan Manoukian and Dave Stevens

The plot's a bit convoluted, but you can re-read it from the beginning with Part 1 HERE, Part 2 HERE, and Part 3 HERE.

Right now, all you need to know is that Doc Savage and The Shadow have been taken prisoner by an alliance of Nazis and gangsters who are using genetically-modified humans turned into giant monsters who then deteriorate into shambling skeletal zombie-like creatures.

But holding the Man of Bronze and the Master of Darkness is another matter...

Writer Steve Vance tossed in a kool Easter Egg...Professor Reinstein himself, and the "secret government project"!

If you're a fan of a certain Star-Spangled Avenger, you'll recognize the scientist's name!

Professor Reinstein did receive a position at a government facility where he perfected his formula...

 But Professor Reinstein's legacy lives on...

Reading Room: DOC SAVAGE & THE SHADOW "Case of the Shrieking Skeletons" Part 1A

It's the team-up tale too big for just one blog to host...

..combining the two greatest heroes of the 1930s in a horror-themed story just right for the Halloween season!

And who would know more about shadows...than Lamont Cranston?

The tale continues tomorrow, at our "brother" blog Crime & Punishment™!

This never-reprinted tale from Dark Horse's The Shadow & Doc Savage #1 (1995) came out just as the ill-fated Shadow movie starring Alec Baldwin hit movie theaters.

Written by Steve Vance, penciled by Stan Manoukian, and inked by Vince Roucher, it's actually a pretty good combo of the two series' characters and storytelling styles.

Reading Room: CAPTAIN MARVEL "The Bat"

In the 1960s, including a "bat man" in your comic was a guarantee of high sales...

...even if he was a villain!

You'll note that the cover for the never-reprinted Captain Marvel #3 (1966) has a slightly different color scheme for The Bat's costume that mimicked Batman's design even more closely...

DC Comics' (then National Periodical Publications) lawyers noticed it too, and quickly filed suit for copyright and trademark infringement!
When The Bat reappeared in the very next issue two months later, he was both re-named "The Ray", and recolored!

Note: DC had acquired the rights to Quality Comics' Golden Age characters in the 1950s, including The Ray, but had not utilized most of them either in new stories or reprints as they had with Plastic Man and Blackhawk, so they couldn't go after MF Publications for trademark infringement.
(As it turned out, they also let the copyrights lapse, so almost all the Quality Comics heroes are now  Public Domain!)
Written and inked by Carl Hubbell, penciled by Leon Francho.
Though the story mentions an earlier encounter between The Bat..er, The Ray...and Captain Marvel, it's never been shown either in flashback or as a standalone tale!
We'll be presenting more of the FIRST Silver Age Captain Marvel's never-reprinted adventures, so bookmark us!

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Reading Room: HELL-RIDER "Night of the Ripper" Conclusion

When Last We Left Our Hero...

Art by Ross Andru and Harry Rosenbaum

Brick Reese, stopping by his secretary's apartment to pick up some paperwork, encounters a beast-man who shreds the woman's neck with his claws.

As Hell-Rider, Brick tries to stop him, but the creature is too strong for the biker super-hero.

The next day, Brick meets with old friend Jack Samuels and his brother, mens' club owner and amateur scientist Selwyn Samuels., who offers condolences for the secretary, who had worked for him before joining Reese's firm.

Selwyn offers Brick a lucrative commission to submit to tests of the experimental drug Reese was injected with in VietNam (and gave him super-strength and regenerative abilities), hoping to enhance it's potency to help mankind.

During the testing period, the Ripper creature strikes again, killing three more women, all of whom work for Selwyn at his club!

Brick wonders if there's a connection between the Ripper and Selwyn Samuels...a connection involving the experimental drug...

Oops!

This never-reprinted tale from Skywald's Hell-Rider #2 (1971) was scripted by Gary Friedrich, penciled by Ross Andru, inked by Mike Esposito, and grey-toned by Bill Everett.
Unlike the first issue, where the characters were linked in one crossover plotline, this issue's tales were standalone stories.
#2 had another Hell-Rider story as well as tales featuring The Wild Ones and The ButterFly.
We already presented the second ButterFly short HERE and HERE, and we'll be running the remaining shorts on this blog over the next month.

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