Writer – Denny O’Neil
Artist – Frank Robbins

An assassination attempt on a man named Bench goes wrong with the interference of The Shadow who then goes on to make short work of the villains. He explains to Shrevvy and Harry that a man named General Sodom wants to kill Bench so that he might prove his worth to the various European warlords while also stopping any attempt at peace. Suffice it to say, this is not the end of it as Sodom takes over a cruise ship named the S.S. Neptune, a boat that Margo Lane just so happens to find herself on. This means that her presence was no accident and The Shadow knew of Sodom’s plans. For his part, the General is still looking to put an end to Bench and comes into contact with the ship carrying the man. That means a hostage situation, negotiation and trade and most importantly, The Shadow doing what he does best. Yet another fun issue from Denny O’Neil and this time, with Frank Robbins in tow who fills in for a missing Mike Kaluta. Up until this point, the book has had a distinct look to it thanks to Kaluta and one would think that nobody could rightfully keep it going but Robbins manages to do quite a fair job of it and it looks great. For those familiar with Robbins, the man’s work is always quite dynamic and lends a real flair to the capes and cowels and it is no different here as he tries to do something a little different and it works quite well. This is Robbins on another level and while it might only be a fill-in issue, it would not have been a bad thing to keep the man on the title on a permanent basis. As for the story itself, O’Neil writes a fast-paced yarn full of action and a bit of intrigue. Sodom is a fairly standard villain, a wannabe dictator who yearns for more and finds at his age that the only thing that will get him more is a big move. As for The Shadow, he is absent for a good part of the book but his presence is felt through his advocates and readers know that it is only a matter of time before he shows himself in a grand fashion as he is wont to do. Altogether, this made for a fun issue, one that featured everything that one would normally like to see in a book such as this but it lacked that extra punch to really put it over the top but still a win and a good read.

3.5 out of 5