The Shadowcast #13 - James Patterson's THE SHADOW Reboot

In today's Shadowcast: James Patterson reboots 'The Shadow' with the elegance of a quadriplegic ballerina.
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[@bryanhaddad7826]

I was in the Detroit airport on layover and was wandering through the bookstore. A boy about 11 yo paused on the Patterson Shadow. He looked at the cover, looked inside and walked away. His reaction may have been different had he seen a red scarf and twin .45s. A potential young fan lost.

[@worldcomicsreview354]

"To write for boys is really to write for adults. The boy who detects the slightest hint of condescention, of talking-down, will throw the thing aside at once. Any parts he comes upon that he does not understand, he will simply pass over, assuming it is something the author knows and he doesn't" - Charles Hamilton, creator of Billy Bunter et al

[@Ironcaster]

He had a character with established powers and chose to invent new powers for a character that modern audiences are largely unfamiliar with.

[@ethantoise4073]

That would imply that he wrote it. All Patterson novels are ghost written

[@t.r2603]

Walter B Gidson: The Shadow is partially a magician, that is to say he uses slight of hand and illusions to cast fear onto his enemies and move without detection. James Patterson: The shadow is a magician...you know, like Harry Potter!

[@The_Mighty_Fiction]

In fairness, the radio show plays a little more with the psychic gimmick, as does the movie adaptation, although I feel like he's _ludicrously_ overpowered in that one (to the point where in the end, out of the clear blue fucking sky, he suddenly pulls TELEKINESIS out of his ass). I go back and forth on it, to be honest. On the one hand, it makes the movie look kind of cool (I'm thinking of a particular scene where his shadow gets caught and pinned to the wall and he sort of 'climbs' out of it). On the other, it can be a little too much of a plot convenient solution if it's used too heavily. It works if its treated as a kind of mysterious martial art rather than an actual superpower, I think. That said, _this_ book sounds like fucking garbage.

[@t.r2603]

@@The_Mighty_Fiction When he starts friggin Animorphing into a cat i called bullshit. Whats worse is Razor doesn't understand: This may be shit to Shadow fans, but is perfectly up their with YA novels and is the reason i quit reading them. If they turn this into a movie they will try desperately to court the Tumblr/Twitter crowd and then its good by old school shadow fans, hello shitty toxic crowd here to claim they were always shadow fans, despite having never heard a single radio show or picked up a single pulp.

[@The_Mighty_Fiction]

@@t.r2603 A cat? Seriously?! ...fuck's sake.

[@The_Mighty_Fiction]

@@t.r2603 I'd prefer an of-the-period version myself but if there had to be a modern day reboot, I actually had a loose outline idea that passes the torch. -One of the Shadow's descendants, a professional confidence trickster with a pocketful of aliases and underground contacts, somehow finds out about his connection with the Shadow, maybe discovers his gear, maybe is somehow lured to the last of the Shadow's agents posing as a 'mark' who tells him the story of his legacy. -Meanwhile, he puts himself on the radar of an up-and-coming career politician, maybe discovers a dangerous secret and an attempt is made on his life. -As he hovers on the brink of life and death, the undying Shadow comes to him, leads him through visions of his criminal past, perhaps cryptically hints at a connection with the politician, and finally gives him a stark choice; redeem himself by taking on the mantle of the Shadow and continuing his eternal crusade against evil, or die. -Naturally, he chooses to live, merges with the spirit in his visions and becomes ...the SHADOW. I've always liked 'visionquest/rebirth' sort of origins and this one retains an element of the supernatural while still having some ambiguity about whether it might just have been the trauma of a near-death experience.

[@scottcarroll9201]

To be honest, after reading about 60 of the Gibson Shadow novels so far, it's unclear at times whether The Shadow actually has superpowers or not. The way he blends in to shadows and avoids detection even when mere inches from someone could certainly be considered supernatural. Also there are instances in the novels where he has shown superhuman strength and speed. There's also the way he can alter his facial features. Whether he's doing it by muscle manipulation or changing the perception of others, it's still beyond the realm of human ability.

[@lucascoval828]

That Patterson excerpt not only sounds juvenile but has that Post-Whedon, "modern" snark. The Real Shadow excerpt makes me want to read those pulps.

[@edwinsolis5710]

It always irritates me when writers just don't give a shit about a character's history, and just slap in whatever story they read about the character. They pat themselves on the back for being more "mature" and "Self aware" yet they're basically just as bad as Silver Age comic writers.

[@stokesa3122]

Just from those few short sentences from the pulp, I have several questions. And not just "who is this guy?" but also "what's the deal with the cane?" And "why is he so nervous?" And "why does he feel the need to walk like a crab? Is it his age or is he just a fuckin weirdo?" All that woven into a simple description of a guy walking up to a house. Masterful. Subtle. Patterson and Co. leave no leeway for any of that.

[@ahatt96]

I work at Walmart and I have to pass by the book section every time I go to clock in. I also bring a Shadow Pulp reprint to read (i can usually get through on in two to three work days). When I saw this shadow book, there was a person, I think a coworker, nearby. I pulled out my shadow story, Tower of Death if I remember right, and I asked them which cover looked better. You know how this ended.

[@bigprobllama]

Ever since I saw the cover of "the Shadow by James Patterson", I was more excited to hear razor's review than read the book itself. Wasn't disappointed!!

[@neddles33]

I really struggled to believe it was an actual licenced product between the cover and the blurb. Totally misjudged.

[@Lieutenant_Dude]

@@neddles33 there’s a reason why you couldn’t put it together. Patterson has not one fucking clue what he’s doing.

[@angusmacfrankenstein7227]

39:00-How can we _not_ be less literate in an age where we regularly send each other messages with LOL, OMG, etc…reminds me sometimes of that guy’s speech in _1984,_ Winston Smith’s pal who was engaged in rewriting the dictionary, bragging that the future limitations of language would limit the ideas of the populace…

[@worldcomicsreview354]

Why do you think Twitter was pushed so hard as the "replacement" for blogs and forums?

[@The_Mighty_Fiction]

_How can we not be less literate in an age where we regularly send each other messages with LOL, OMG, etc…_ Read some books and stop using textspeak after puberty? I mean, it's literal kiddyblah.

[@folderbloat7561]

Every time a bestselling, well established author pinches out a turd of this magnitude, I get more encouraged to keep working at my own books. If these hack frauds can do it, any aspiring writers should just take their shots.

[@Mister-Six]

"Who knows what wokeness lurks in the pages of this book? The Shadow knows. HAHAHAHAHAHA"

[@TheSteveojee]

Lol

[@grobanworldnews4216]

It's okay to have Maddy be in the novel, but she should not be the main character. She should also train long and hard before she masters her powers.

[@sketchstevens5859]

The Shadow was prevalent in the 50s and 60s. My grandma was born in 47 and she remembers her father would listen to the radio show with her and her siblings. On top of that, she was born and raised in rural Alabama. That just shows how popular the character was even when his popularity was "waning". Patterson was definitely lazy with how he handled this.

[@luciussvartwulf6630]

Razor, I want to thank you for this. I've recently been working on my own series of books, currently trying to find people to beta-read them, and then find an editor I can afford, then try and get published. For a while now I have worried that my prose and story aren't good enough. With your one reading of Patterson's "the Shadow," I now have very few doubts as to the quality of my writing. Thank you for lifting that burden from me. I am now certain I can write better than one of Patterson's Proteges in my first drafts than they can in a published book. I now have a bit more faith in myself and may seek an actual publisher rather than go through just kindle. Good luck with your next novel.

[@TVsMrNeil]

I heard the word "pedophile lair" and "power dynamic" mere moments apart from one another, and thought I was listening to prose written by a Tumblr blogger. You can't even avoid reading it in millennial up-speak, because it's so bad. I can't believe this is where we are in the world of entertainment. Then you said his name again, and I snapped back into the reality that this was written by an elderly man, and I momentarily wanted to die.

[@lucascoval828]

Yeah, right there! Tumblr Blogger up-speak! I'll add it to the filing cabinet.

[@The_Mighty_Fiction]

Yes, yes, a thousand times, YES. It drives me to red-eyed pop-veined madness that _evvvvery_ MacBook motherfucker humping the coffee house wi-fi for the past ten years or more has actually been _aspiring_ to write like a fucking CostCo Joss Whedon. Can we get some actual new fucking prose voices, please? Or does _everything_ need to sound like the same snarky-ass passive-aggressive bullshit spat out by that vampire-slaying chick who sounds like Daffy Duck swallowed a fucking harmonica?

[@shinobi-no-bueno]

@@The_Mighty_Fiction I like you now

[@The_Mighty_Fiction]

@@shinobi-no-bueno Well, that's a relief. There's me thinking I'd angered one of the schoolgirl-violating tentacle gods.

[@synthisyde]

I can't wait to see what actual fans of The Shadow are able to create once it falls into the public domain.

[@angusmacfrankenstein7227]

My question is: “In a world where Will Murray exists and is (presumably) still writing books, why did Condé Nast tap the James Patterson Machine?” I’m a weird kind of pulp fan. It’s in large part due to lack of availability in Middle-of-Nowhere, USA, so I’ve only actually read a couple of the original _Shadow_ novels-I’ve read more _Avenger_ (nope, not Marvel!), _Doc Savage,_ and _Spider,_ pulps with a smattering of others-but recently, I’ve read Will Murray’s _Doc Savage/Shadow_ crossover adventures, and Murray’s _The Duende History of the Shadow Magazine_ (because I’m the kind of guy who _really_ likes commentary tracks!) and I’d really like to read more _Shadow_ stories! Based on Murray’s pulp work-I think he’s a great one-man nostalgia band in the sense that he knows and uses the voices of the authors he’s honoring! And when I heard about the Patterson novel, I spent a fun-filled afternoon, reading and learning about the Patterson Machine, and having a good, hearty, bitter, ironic laugh about it! My conclusion after reading was the question with which I started this post! I understand Patterson and Bill Clinton just released another novel! Now I wonder what memorable line Clinton might give us if he were questioned at a heated press conference: “I DID NOT HAVE relations with a typewriter or word processor-but every word is ours!” Not quite done listening to this analysis, but it sounds like a good one, and I’ll finish soon!

[@threadmiser4914]

There are places online that have surprisingly good repositories of pulp, so that's at least one good thing otherwise stranded pulp fans have going for them.

[@mrhaze9450]

I know what I'm watching now thanks for the video razor

[@sheriemahoney1947]

Please Conde Nast - go back to the drawing board on this. On the plus side we got another great cast from Razor!

[@urchinblues7928]

I bought the audio version the day it came out. One minute In where the shadow goes on about how in love he is with Margo, I knew that who ever wrote this didn't know dick about "the Shadow".

[@braininajar_collection]

I preordered this book. Read it in one day. Then promptly returned it to Amazon. Utter garbage! Thank goodness, Will Murray just released a book called Master of Mystery: The Rise of The Shadow. And a new fanzine called The Shadowed Circle just came out. The fans are doing the best work!

[@markmarderosian9657]

Agreed! Both are great.

[@zackkilgore528]

So what’s the deal with putting pulp heroes in the Future? Modern day settings at least make some sense but really The Shadow and Doc Savage need to stay in the 30s

[@worldcomicsreview354]

"He sailed out and found an undiscovered island... in an age when every inch of the Earth is photographically mapped daily." (Also the Chinese government coincidentally discovered an ancient record that said it belongs to them)

[@DIEGhostfish]

Trying ro replicate the whole Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd century cartoon just with a different detective?

[@scottcarroll9201]

Totally agree. There are certain characters that just don't transport well. The Shadow belongs in the 1930s battling mobsters. Similar to the way that Indiana Jones belongs in the 1930s battling Nazis and Sherlock Holmes belongs in Victorian London battling Moriarty. When you take Indiana Jones and put him in the 1950s with aliens it's bullsht. And taking the Shadow and plunking him down in young adult novel is a complete misread of the character and his fans.

[@DIEGhostfish]

@@scottcarroll9201 The Shadow would fit fine in the modern day. Much like the 30s we've got commie street gangs attacking people. And Basil Rathbone WW2 propaganda Sherlock Holmes was plenty fun too.

[@The_Mighty_Fiction]

@@DIEGhostfish Yes, but that modern day BBC 'Sherlock' is homoerotic hipster bullshit that's oddly managed to age even more rapidly than the original. That show is _garrrrrbagggge._

[@Jekyll_Jackal]

Agents of The Shadow reporting for duty!

[@torshec8634]

The Dynamite Comic run and this cements my feelings that the dang rights should be in worthier hands.

[@The_Mighty_Fiction]

Or at the very least that Conde Nast desperately need to drop some dead weight.

[@cliffnpaige2009]

About. Damn. Time. Thanks, Razor!

[@ericchung3177]

I know your pain, and I'm so sorry you had to sit through like 200 chapters of Lamont being sodomized.

[@RavenHouseMystery]

Thank you so much for reviewing the James Patterson book for us. I had my concerns and your review seemed to confirm them to a more painful degree. You sir are a true friend to all us Shadow fans.

[@Galahad_Du_Lac]

It sounds like he’s just a wizard in this version.

[@timepoet77]

Or a bad version of Doctor Who

[@Metatarsus0]

I found this book in B&N, cracked it open to a random page, saw the writing, and tucked it back away on the shelf--hopefully to never be seen again.

[@vaughanb1963]

I've been waiting for you to dig into this! Actually got into trouble at work because I kept "forgetting" to put this book on display

[@threadmiser4914]

As someone who discovered the character from the 94 movie, I don't mind the clouding men's minds thing. I did find it utterly bizarre that he just figured out fucking telekinesis by the end of the film, but I shrugged it off at the time. As I learned a bit more, I found I I really like the idea of the more tame "power" of the pulps/radio where he's just really sneaky and can maybe have a little bit of Nosferatu Obfuscate going for him. He's still a badass with an excellent outfit and plenty of guns.

[@michaelkikle3018]

Razor, my boy, I’ve watched your new video on your other channel three fucking times in two damned days. You have me so interested in pulp stories, right now, I’m starting to read them, and beginning to work on my own. I need more exposure to them before I start writing, though, to make sure I get the texture of this type of tale down right. Hope you can give some pointers. Appreciate you, my dude. God bless you. Love your channel.

[@mrreese120]

One day I was in Target walking by the book section, and I saw the James Patterson book was 30% off the original price. That still was no incentive for me to buy this book. I'm glad I waited for your review, because I won't waste my time on this. I'll rather stick to the Pulps.

[@nicholastosoni707]

I should get a copy just to take a magic marker and write "ARSE PISS" and other obscenities over every page.

[@Ryan_Thompson_Guitarist]

I bet all of my guitars that the 'ruler of the world' was Shiwan Khan. Safe to say, I still have them all

[@scottcarroll9201]

Razor have you read Quetzal? I've got about 60 Shadow novels under my belt at this point, I'm halfway through Quetzal, and it's definitely one of the most thrilling I've read. It opens with The Shadow being attacked on a small passenger plane. He whips out his 45s and starts smoking his attackers one by one, the plane crashes in the Mexican desert, and the story doesn't let up from there, it's nonstop action. It's paired with "Washington Crime" in the Nostalgia Ventures reprints. Washington Crime is a pretty pedestrian Gibson novel if I'm honest but Quetzal is superb.

[@CrashWeezerman]

The Shadow could actually work well in a cyberpunk setting if it was written by someone who knew anything about cyberpunk or The Shadow.

[@timepoet77]

Well, it wouldn’t be Howard Chaykin.

[@worldcomicsreview354]

Swaggering corporate boss in a humid, neon-lit hellscape is checking his electromail on a monochrome CRT, built into his beige desk. Ubiquitous surveillance protects him from any potential attackers even getting near the building, let alone him. Suddenly, a mocking laugh from behind the filing cabinet...

[@michaelmacleod6517]

I don't want to even see, much less hear about another one. lol. There was so much wasted potential that it hurts. Every bad decision was made to have the novel come to light and that's very telling. Jeffery Deaver and Anthony Horrowitz got it right with James Bond, and surely Conde Nast couldn't do the same with The Shadow? I would have taken a Kareem Abdul-Jabar adaptation and it would have been profoundly better. Crossing my fingers that Conde Nast scraps futrue endeavors and goes right back to the drawing board. They should feel very ashamed right now.

[@heroesytumbas]

Nice! Had been looking forward to your Death tower episode.

[@silent_stalker3687]

“Wow I didn’t know James Peterson did the shadow, I thought he was just the psychologist.” That moment you realized Dyslexia is one hell of a bitch. Jordan Peterson and James Patterson mixed up whenever the names are said, for years (2 at least).

[@TheShadowcast]

"Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of Men, bucko? Wash your penis."

[@Galahad_Du_Lac]

@@TheShadowcast Now I want a Shadow movie staring Jordan Peterson.

[@michaelmacleod6517]

@@Galahad_Du_Lac Ben Shapiro for Shiwan Khan

[@worldcomicsreview354]

Wait til you hear about famous skateboarder Tony Hawks

[@kylehyde215CA]

@@worldcomicsreview354 I met a guy with a skateboard named Anthony Hawk at an airport once. Lol Have you heard about his existential crisis?

[@davidhumphrey1040]

I just read The Silent Seven a few days ago, that was a really good one! Maybe next season I'd love to hear you do a review of The Giants of Amsterdam one of the very few that was a pulp, comic and a radio episode. The original radio episode is lost to us, but Grace Gibson (no relation to Walter,) in Australia produced a version of it, which is included in their first volume of The Shadow episodes.

[@heavywestern5943]

Of course this review would happen on episode 13

[@chrisw207]

Screw you for dropping this the minute I have to leave for work. It's been a tortuous day waiting to get to this well deserved massacre. Ugh. That one passage hurts.

[@stevenewton4110]

Another great episode, Razorfist. Such a shame that it had to be about this, particularly. Patterson and his "fiction factory" had a golden opportunity to REALLY reintroduce The Shadow -- in all his pulp glory -- to a modern audience, with the full backing of Conde Nast...and they utterly blew it. I, too, read this literary abortion; unlike yourself, I managed to force myself to read it in one sitting (about 3 hours or so), mainly because I didn't feel that I could bring myself to return to it if I'd stopped for any reason. Your review is absolutely spot-on: the prose is disjointed and juvenile, the plot and world-building is tissue-thin, the characterizations are barely two-dimensional at best, and ANY semblance of fidelity to the source material is almost completely absent, with only the briefest acknowledgement paid to it by the title character himself being a huge middle finger to long-time fans. One can only hope that either Patterson or Conde Nast -- or both -- get the message and rethink their approach for any future efforts (though I won't hold my breath). Anyway -- great review, man! Looking forward to further installments of The Shadowcast!

[@grantbarnes3678]

But hoping for 300 more Raz0r/Grant renditions.

[@LordSquirrelShow]

I'm sure this will be a VERY positive review. Surely sterling passages such as when the Shadow gets pissy about batman will win over all of his old fans, right?

[@CantusTropus]

Even a shit book can have the occasional good line

[@CrashWeezerman]

That actually happens?

[@LordSquirrelShow]

@@CrashWeezerman Lamont basically has a fit about Batman ripping him off. It could have been funny, but it wasn't. It just came off as really awkward.

[@worldcomicsreview354]

There's a comic called The Murder Geniuses where it's revealed that all the various people around the world who trained Batman were actually The Shadow. I can see what they were going for, but it's still stupid. Still I did slightly grin at the bit where the Joker stops laughing, but the laughter doesn't.

[@The_Mighty_Fiction]

@@worldcomicsreview354 Well, that is the difference between them; the Joker is the consistent ruler of every square inch of Batman's ass, whereas in the Shadow's world, he'd be in the ground by the end of the first story. Was, in fact.

[@legendarymonkey6445]

I found this randomly in a Walmart. I was considering buying it but I was hesitant because it's James Patterson. It seems my suspicions were confirmed.

[@thewombat8039]

If I ever win the lottery, I'm buying the rights to the shadow. I'd allow the old pulps to be reprinted, the radio shows to be sold(digitally remastered as well) and gatekeep like a rabid troll with hemorrhoids.

[@shadowknowsjo]

Agent report! Thanks for ensuring that I don’t buy this shit book and waste my time looking forward to it coming up from the states 🤣🤣 Please make a review on Will Murray’s most recent publication. I haven’t got my copy yet, but by the sounds of it it’s the perfect antagonist to this blasphemy of a mass publication.

[@Xaxp]

I saw this on store shelves at my local grocer one day. At first I was excited, until I cracked it open and skimmed through it a bit.

[@dennissroee4361]

Thank god I didn't waste my money.

[@AdeptusMumbles]

Oh cool, this is great.

[@GrayghostAlpha]

I've been looking for a good hybrid of Pulp and Radio Shadow. Clearly this is not it. Thanks for saving me the pain of reading this... Wow.

[@Ryan_Thompson_Guitarist]

The Belmont books from the 60s are apparently what you are looking for. They're apparently quite good.

[@dansmith3085]

Patterson has a great work ethic, organizing and marketing his publishing empire. That's where it ends, though. I've read several of his books. The absolute best of them are equal to the worst episodes of some below average basic cable cop/mystery show. Most are utterly insipid. The fools at Conde Nast deserve daily beatings for the way they have mismanaged these properties.

[@USSMariner]

29:10 Wait, so it's the same basic conceit as Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century, except *actually* braindead?

[@halslusher6030]

Welcome to how you fuck up "The Shadow" I didnt know until today you were a Shadow fan

[@chickenhawk2253]

I would love to see an episode of the shadowcast review some of the mask comic books.

[@yamiangie]

The only good thing about the book is that I've discovered this podcast.

[@RolfHartmann]

So glad I cancelled my order of this travesty.

[@halslusher6030]

You been Mary Sue'd

[@cliffwoodbury5319]

I would love to see this property as movies/shows.

[@Ryan_Thompson_Guitarist]

The comparison between Walter Gibson's passage vs Brian Sitts' passage is especially amazing considering Walter Gibson wasn't really a fiction writer before writing The Shadow. He was mostly a journalist and a ghostwriter for Houdini. He was picked mostly because he was a blazing fast writer. The fact he could write something with such quality atmosphere and description is amazing. Brian Sitts prior to writing this novel has written at least one book, but his writing style is nowhere near as good as Walter Gibson.

[@MultipleC9]

james pratterson's The Saddow

[@ResidentofCollinwood]

I did actually finish this even though it was so bad, I lost interest so many times in this book, there's no defense for this shit book!

[@jackofallclaws6672]

I wonder if Razor’s going to talk about Watchtower Database’s video on The Shadow’s…”influence” on BTAS.

[@worldcomicsreview354]

There's literally an episode about how young Bruce Wayne grew up watching a "pulp" hero on TV, and Batman was partly inspired by him. Plus they fight alongside each other at the end.

[@jackofallclaws6672]

@@worldcomicsreview354 yeah…and?

[@kylevidauri4869]

Yeah more shadowcast! Btw Razor have you considered making more BattleTech content? I've been watching Tex Talks BattleTech and I'd like so see more 80s mech afficinato content.

[@writersroom3499]

If THIS is the source material for a new film then that would be extremely disappointing. I mean wow.

[@Lieutenant_Dude]

James Patterson took the Shadow and turned it into a grocery store discount paperback aisle book. Fabio should have been in the cover.

[@Calypso694]

Thank god you read this so we dont have to.

[@Ryan_Thompson_Guitarist]

What's interesting about this novel, is that if you own Issue 1 of the Shadowed Circle Fan magazine, an interview with James Patterson reveals that the upcoming Shadow film may not actually follow this novel. A bit of hope for the film yet.

[@Goose-tf9lo]

All I can say is I'm glad I borrowed the ebook from the library. Ugh, magic cat/fireballs what the actual shizz. I was willing to give the I'm your relative from the past plot if there was some actual heart to it. I thought one death would stick and give it some death but she magically reappears... Need an emoji for a kamayhamayha eye roll. Yeesh my only joy from it was that I only invested time and not money on the dumpster fire.

[@AllardRT]

I... am at a loss for words as to how mishandled this IP is. There are two recent crossovers of The Shadow with Doc Savage and those got good reviews from Shadow fans. I haven't read them myself, at least not yet, but one would think that with positive response from the fandom the rights holder would try to get that author on The Shadow reboot as well. Instead we get someone who approaches storytelling the same way Ubisoft approaches game development and receive Everything Wrong With Modern Pop Culture in one short-and-yet-still-painfully-long package. The Shadow deserves better.

[@GigaChadh976]

“Let’s take a character from the past, who functions best in stories set in the past and out him in this gay-ass present.”

[@worldcomicsreview354]

Mind you, though, can you imagine of of these hacks writing the 1930's? The Shadow would meet every famous person from that time, and doubtles rub shoulders with as many obscure early civil rights campaigners as the author could dig up (and devote whole chapters to). Actually, we should shut them in a room and challenge them to write a story about late Victorian London. Only if they write the words "Conan-Doyle", "Holmes", "deerstalker" or (spit) "steampunk", an alligator gets released. Not one of them would leave alive.

[@filmandpage1138]

I read this book the summer before last, and I loved it. I’m mostly familiar with the shadow through the radio show. I won’t defend the book you did a good job of explaining why you didn’t like it. I also read the second book back in November. Which I really hated. So if you really hate the first book the second book “Circle of Death”, is a million times worse.

[@eagle4347]

Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd century

[@AdarBlu]

39:30 A leotard and a ski mask, a blond sidekick...are we sure someone didn't mix up Diabolik into this?

[@rathraven1313]

Seems James Patterson and Brian Sitts used the plot from Return of Sherlock Holmes (1987) and 1994 Baker Street: Sherlock Holmes Returns.

[@Luminus2]

I've listened to the radio show a bit and I thought the "clouding your mind" thing was some kind of hypnosis or psychic ability.

[@philiprearich3480]

So basically this is to The Shadow what New 52 was to DC. Even possibly serving as a placeholder for future media if anything comes outuvit. Also this book got a sequel called Circle of Death. Looking forward to you covering it whenever that happens.

[@Ryan_Thompson_Guitarist]

I had a quick flick-through of 'Circle of Death' a few weeks ago. It's better than this, but not by much. If This one is 1/10, then Circle of Death is about a 2/10.

[@abrahemsamander3967]

I was thinking about redwall before you mentioned it. I wonder why kids are so much less literate now? Is it common core standards? Reduced attention spans? How can we fix this? Also, you gotta make a redwall vid some time.

[@disconnected22]

Sometimes you can just see the bullshit coming over the horizon.... great review, Razor. That chapter length issue is rife in modern books. Ugh. Saw that the old Shadowcasts are archived on the Internet Archive. Great idea, that site is a good Shadow source.

[@anon9060]

What does yellow peril mean? Was Patterson talking about the Chinese? I don't remember reading anything about that.

[@Ryan_Thompson_Guitarist]

Yellow Peril was when Western cultures believed that Asian culture could pollute and eradicate their own culture. It was mostly in the 30s and the 40s and one of the reasons Asians were typically written as villains in the pulps (The Shadow magazine included)

[@anon9060]

@@Ryan_Thompson_Guitarist ahhh so judging by anime they weren't completely wrong either

[@TheShadowcast]

The Yellow Peril was more a function of the 1870s-1890s. Late-stage Old West, when Chinese migrants were taking labor and laundry jobs. By the '30s and '40s, it was quite the opposite. Asians were being mystified. Cast as super detectives or supervillains. (Fu Manchu and Charlie Chan spring to mind) Almost as if they were supernatural. It was almost like an Asian variant of the 'Noble Savage' myth that still surrounds Native American history. But for some reason, modern historians conflate these two completely separate phenomena as 'Yellow Peril'. The Shadow falls into the latter, not the former.

[@worldcomicsreview354]

@@anon9060 Well yeah but have you seen, say, Thundercats Roar? Even North Korea is making better cartoons.

[@nicholastosoni707]

If you write a novel bad enough that it makes me angry....That is at least _something._ _James Patterson's The Shadow_ commits the mortal sin of leaving me *indifferent and disappointed.* Mr. Patterson and everyone else did not so much phone it in as smoke-signal it in. The damn thing self-destructed at least 1/4 of the way in, and the twist that Sal Negropont or whatever the bloody hell his name is was Shiwan Khan was...a non-twist.

[@tonygriego6382]

I was wondering what your opinion would be on this. I'm glad I skipped on reading it.

[@nathanhousley5060]

It's a James Patterson reboot. You actually think the King of the Ghostwriters actually wrote this?

[@loganross1861]

The more I think about it, the lamer Batman becomes for his no guns and no killing principle.

[@Batman-zy3dn]

Dude, since discovering The Shadow Batman just doesn't have the appeal he used to me. Now I crave a good Shadow movie lol

[@ethantoise4073]

you've obviously never read a Patterson novel, or else you never would've read a Patterson novel.

[@chrisbumface2990]

This turd really didn't deserve an episode on the Shadowcast. But hey what can you do. I've been reading more Shadow recently and I found that he had another alter ego called John Harveson? What is that about? Also really enjoyed your Nightvale book and hope you do some more. Godspeed.

[@austinboucher5286]

Are there any surviving cbs radio mystery episodes featuring frank reddick’s shadow narration?

[@TheShadowcast]

That's one of the more intriguing mysteries of Old Time Radio. Episodes were being transcribed at that station at the time. Yet no one has ever stumbled on a single episode of the 'Detective Story Hour' or 'CBS Radio Mystery'.

[@austinboucher5286]

@@TheShadowcast shame. Reddick’s my favorite shadow VA.

[@austinboucher5286]

@@TheShadowcast what are some surviving episodes of Brett Morrison’s run?

[@TheShadowcast]

@@austinboucher5286 Quite a few. The Gibbering Things. Death is a Colored Dream. Etched With Acid. Any episode from 1943 onward is Bret Morrison. Sadly, very little from after 1950 has survived.

[@Cynidecia]

I hope those rumours of a movie are untrue, but to say the least im doubtful it won't be made at this point. All it will really do is extend the public domain wait time and bury the character into further obscurity.

[@specspiderken1462]

Only people who ever I saw praise this shit was his fan girls who will read literally any shit with his name on it

[@ShredderSensei]

This is so disappointing because new Shadow content isn’t plentiful. Also because I found an article talking about a potential film. If The Shadow just had two crossovers with Batman, I think the IP was in good enough shape to not be altered tremendously. My heart is broke

[@Ryan_Thompson_Guitarist]

I've said a few times that a Batman and Shadow crossover animated film by DC might just be the beginning of a Shadow revival the character needs right now.

[@Galahad_Du_Lac]

Hey man, you new ShadowCast just disappeared.

[@TheAutistWhisperer]

I'm glad I gave that a hard pass.

[@kaitlint3987]

The 2 or 3 2+ syllable words just makes it worse because they're just out of place with the rest of the pov character's supposed thoughts

[@dalerussell5673]

I listened to your review and I thought you went on a little long about how bad the book was. I thought there was no way the book could be that bad. I got the book on audible for one of my free points, and it is absolutely Worse than you had reviewed, if that's possible. This book is not the shadow and it's not good.

[@shinobi-no-bueno]

I only write in second person unreliable omniscience

[@shinobi-no-bueno]

I'm disappointed in the ghostwriters for this... terrible choices made all around SUPPOSEDLY if you read til the end it comes together but fuck that noise

[@davidworkman2329]

I think these negative reviews don't understand how the shadow actually works. I'm in the middle of this novel and I think it's good it holds my attention it's not squeaky it's not old it's updated yes cuz we're updated. We're not in 1937 anymore. So if you don't get it don't read the damn thing. I think this novel is good no matter who wrote it. And I'm looking forward to maybe a sequel. Patterson bashing isn't very attractive people. I think some of the people didn't even read it they just want to be negative and join the bandwagon. They're like human Bots

[@TheShadowcast]

40 minutes of detailed critiques - fully produced and ratified with readings from the book in question - is an odd look for a 'bot'. 'Bot' is a psychological tell. It's your brain being incapable of reconciling the factual criticism it is hearing... with the fantasy world you have created in your head, whereby all of creation tended toward the hour of your birth, and will diminish into tawdry inconsequence after you expire. Your opinion is not divine law. It simply isn't. And the multitudes that mitigate your belief must, therefore, be "othered" in your mind, to better dismiss their rebuke. And so... the term "bot" emerges. Ironically, the review section of this novel on Amazon is full of positive reviews that are exact verbal duplicates of one another, the accounts for which have never authored a review prior to it. You're welcome to your opinion... but the 'bot' phenomenon exclusively arcs in defense of this book, not the other way around.

[@greenman5229]

Did these flop? I hope they did.

[@TheShadowcast]

Put it his way: There has been no sequel after almost a year. And no advertisements for one.

[@TimKirk]

Thanks for the solid review. I'm glad I didn't buy it.