Writer – Denny O’Neil
Artist – Frank Robbins

Some women run hot and some run cold and when it comes to Morag Mayne, she is something else altogether. If there is one thing most can agree on, Morag is beautiful and a woman who drives men crazy. One of those men is the hunchback called Pile who swings down from the rafters of the theatre and kidnaps her right off the stage during the opening night of her latest production. Thankfully, Lamont Cranston sits within the audience and The Shadow is soon after the both of them. In the alley behind the theatre, a third party enters the fray and readers learn that a man named Lyce, Morag’s former paramour and one of the city’s top criminals wants to get his hands on her for she knows far too much for her own good. So it is that the kidnapping by both parties is foiled but it is not the last Margo will hear from them nor the last they will hear from The Shadow. Denny O’Neil and a returning Frank Robbins give readers a cool slice of noir-tinged crime with this tale, one whose damsel in distress is different than the average bird and one can see why she is the fixation of many a man. There is a little bit of tragedy wrapped up in all of it in the form of Pile, the hunchback man who seems to know what people think of him but does his best to please those who might call him friend and to protect the woman at the center of it all. Whether it is love that drives Pile or simply to do good, one can ultimately never know but his is a sad story no matter how short it might be. As for The Shadow, he does what he does best and that is defeating those who dare tread on the wrong side of the law. However, he does get a bit of help from his agents who to be fair, are an essential part of his operation and without them, most of what he does would not be possible or at the very least, would take a much longer time to achieve. Robbins does a great job of the artwork, the man is able to portray the grime and the crime, the horror and the seductiveness of all that lies within the story perfectly. Together with the authors of this tale, they end it all with a good bit of action as Lyce’s men swoop down on Pile and Morag, unaware that they are running toward their own defeat. This was a quickly paced issue and out of the books that preceded it, is one of the best yet.

4 out of 5