One of my five favorite comics of all time is Denny O'Neil and Michael Kaluta's 1973 run on THE SHADOW for DC - and owning a piece of original Kaluta Shadow art has long been a dream, a dream delivered via post office this morning:
And very soon it will find its new home in NuSanctum…
Latest addition to my sub-collection of THE SHADOW radio show premia: the extremely rare 1945 (or 1947) Carey Salt ring (right), joining the far-less so 1941 Blue Coal ring (left).
According to the excellent Secret Squadron site:
Carey Salt, sponsors of The Shadow radio program, offered the "Magic Shadow Ring" for only 5c and proof of purchase of any Carey product. It was released in 1945 and again in 1947. The ring was promoted by Carey Salt in commercial breaks and during the Shadow radio show through both the 1945-46, and again in the 1946-47 seasons... "You will find only 1 of these rings for every 20 Blue Coal Rings."
Been in a bit of a collecting lull of late, mostly sticking with new comics releases and the occasional “ok I can’t pass this up” splurge, this sheet of Walter B. Gibson’s memo paper being among them…
Been on a Spectre kick lately, too…
Scratch one off the “comics I must own before I die and even then” list…
With No. 6, DICK TRACY SMASHES THE BOMBING RACKET, I’ve now only one more to go to complete my set of the 1934 Goudy Big Thrill booklets…
And, finally, in “I’m sure I’m now on a list somewhere” additions...
Finally added this piece to my collection of the delightfully strange and anachronistic 1970s Madison SHADOW toys – because every 1930s crime fighter needs a programmed 'computerized' 1970s supercar (the box was split and opened long ago; just glad to have it):
Think I've only a few pieces left to go – a large copter, jet, and costume, IIRC – but here's a shot of this mini-collection inside The Collection as it stands now:
(Who knows what evil revs in the hearts of men?)
Second of my two promotional matchbooks for THE SHADOW radio show, from 1945, joined The Collection today. While this latest procurement has far better and more inventive visuals, the first one still has some of the matches inside.
According to Martin Grams, Jr, in his definitive history of the radio show:
"For DL&W, in the summer of 1945, The Shadow graced the inside and outside of matchbooks... These matchbooks were velvet smooth and sold to Blue Coal dealers in multiples of 500. The price was $3.00 per thousand if the dealer wanted his name, address, and phone number printed on them.To promote the matchbooks, a marketing tie-in was featured in the broadcast of September 9, 1945, titled "The Shadow in Danger" ...
The aforementioned, still-combustible set…
Not sure if there are more variations of them or if I now have the only two variants. If so, very cool. If not, please correct me.
Slightly mortified that, while I amassed most of The Collection in only a few months, there's enough stuff on my overflowing shelves to be considered a lifelong collection – but, as K reminded me, I've had this space and the things populating it in my head for the better part of 30 years. Anyhow, here are a few of the treasures that I’ve added to the overflowing Paintshop shelves this week…
First up, this 1943 Dick Tracy postcard, from part of a set released by Coca Cola to soldiers and their families during WWII. I have a set of the 1942 issues, but these ‘43s are exceedingly rare. No clue what the other ‘43s look like:
Next up, this 1950 Line Mar Japanese tin Superman (in yellow garb - Mighty Mouse meets Fleischer?) wind-up toy, in which the Man of Steel lifts a tank. Not sure if it still works as I don’t have a key (adding one to the list of things to procure) but I am, nonetheless, in love with this little gem:
Continuing the Superman trend, this 1940 Saalfield puzzle, which is, when assembled, a beautiful, full-color piece of early Superman art:
Next, a mid-70s Shadow bagatelle game, from Madison, the same group behind that odd bunch of similarly-branded Shadow merchandise I wrote about a few weeks back. Been looking for this one for a long time.
And finally, a few of the (major) additions to the comics collection. The two issues of SHADOW COMICS are Volume One, issues two and three (Spring, 1940) while the two AMAZING SPIDER-MAN issues are 11 - Ditko! second Doc Ock! - and 31, the start of the seminal “Master Planner” story (need to get issue 32 to complete the story) and the first appearances of both Gwen Stacy and Harry Osborn.
A banner week, to be certain.
Among my most prized pieces in The Collection is this original color guide for page four of Denny O'Neil's second of two Bats / Shadow encounters from the 70s, BATMAN Vol. 1, No. 259, hand-colored by the unsung hero of that era, colorist extraordinaire Tatjana Wood. First picture is the original color guide, second is the page in the printed comic itself.
