Writer – Denny O’Neil
Artist – Mike Kaluta, Bernie Wrightson

The Shadow interrupts a robbery in progress and as he makes short work of the men, he recognizes one of them and wonders why the man who should be spending life in prison is out on the streets. This leads him to Ainsley Prison and he is not going alone as he has tasks for Shrevvy and Margo Lane so that he might get a more complete picture of the place. Margo is soon discovered as she prowls around the prison undercover in the hopes of gaining some intel for The Shadow and while she does just that, getting captured is a step back. Soon the man himself shows up and begins to penetrate what he knows to be a den of criminal activity, he simply has to prove it and while he does that, Shrevvy goes about planting some explosives which come into play later on during the story. As it is, The Shadow is soon discovered as King Cobra has contacts everywhere and he knows that the prisoner before him is no prisoner at all. Denny O’Neil gets the character of The Shadow quite well and manages to throw in all the little tropes that make him who he is without making the story cheesy, in fact being quite the opposite. O’Neil sets a faster pace for this one than the previous issues though it is just as dark and moody, the man picking locales that gel perfectly with The Shadow’s persona. As for the artwork, Mike Kaluta is joined by Bernie Wrightson in this issue and the two make a perfect pair, the pencils on this book being the best yet. What the two of them do is truly magic and it makes the book not only a good read but a visual feast as well for those who love artwork taken to another level. As the book progresses, it almost becomes like a game of cat and mouse between The Shadow and King Cobra and when all seems like it is lost, The Shadow’s backup plan is put into motion and the explosives are set off. This leads to one final showdown between the two men and when all is said and done, it is The Shadow that crawls from the rubble victorious. There was a lot to love about this book as previously stated and it was good to see Shrevvy and Margo get a few scenes in the book once more, proving themselves integral to The Shadow’s case and to his general mission. The weed of crime might bear bitter fruit always seems to apply when The Shadow involves himself in the doings of criminals and readers would not have it any other way. Excellent stuff.

4.5 out of 5