THE SHADOW SCRAPBOOK (1979)

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The latest addition to the collection, a first edition of Walter Gibson’s THE SHADOW SCRAPBOOK. Here’s the title page, signed by Gibson:

Gibson, on his writing days (which produced 282 +/- of the 325 SHADOW issues (plus comics) that Gibson, as Grant, penned):

I was turning out first drafts at a rate of four pages an hour, each page running over 250 words. That meant a little over thirty pages in an eight-hour day, or better than 8,000 words. At that rate, I could finish a 60,000-word story in less than eight days, but I never wrote one that mechanically. Usually I was slow in warming up or took a few too many breaks, so I felt lucky if I got beyond twenty pages on the first or second day. But once the story was rolling, & didn't care about the hours. With a few breaks, _ would work up to ten or even twelve hours a day, hitting as high as forty or even fifty pages.

I generally started around nine o'clock on the morning of the first day but seldom worked steadily until five or six o'clock. I might take the afternoon off and finish my stint in the evening; or go out in the evening and put in a few hours after I came in around midnight. In the latter case I wouldn't begin my second "day" until about noon, which would push the third "day" even further ahead. A few more hours of extra work would push the following "day" still further on, and there were times when I slept so late that I didn't start until early evening but kept going until the following dawn.

The whole book is available via The Internet Archive; stoked to have a physical edition –the signature makes it even more wonderful. Will add more from it as I peruse and read.

THE LIVING SHADOW / THE SHADOW LAUGHS

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Yesterday and today being two very very good mail days:

Both are the first hardcover edition Ideal reprints of the first SHADOW story – THE LIVING SHADOW (originally published in THE SHADOW MAGAZINE No. 1, April 1931) – and the third – THE SHADOW LAUGHS (originally published in THE SHADOW MAGAZINE No. 3, October 1931), from 1935 and are in stunningly good condition. My shelves, they sing - and will sing even louder next week: just found the second Ideal reprint, THE EYES OF THE SHADOW, (THE SHADOW MAGAZINE No. 2, July 1931), which will complete the trifecta.

links/2023w09

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lenticular power action punch gateway(?)

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While I haven't quite decided the exact moment my current action figure acquisition mania took hold, I've narrowed it down to two likely culprits, both thanks to McFarlane Toys (though Mego's new Universal Monsters line was, probably, just as complicit): first, the Superman / Batman hybrid figure from one of my favorite Elseworlds, SUPERMAN: SPEEDING BULLETS (which opened mine eyes to the beauty of McFarlane's line of DC Multiverse figures) and then their relaunch of the SUPER POWERS line; it was the latter, especially, that kicked me into what I can only describe as a synthesis of gotta-have-it frenzy and "pick it up if it intrigues me" self-curatorial methodology of mass-produced modern plastic sculpture (Daredevil and Spidey Marvel Legends; random Batman and Superman McFarlane variants – though I do have the entirety of the THREE JOKERS line; the Neca Universal Monsters line; and the occasional Mego purchase - '62 Herbert Lom Phantom being the latest) and vintage acquisitions of both the "I've missed you come back to me (in carded, beautiful form)" – original Super Powers Superman (and Supermobile!); an (incoming) trio of Mattel's '84 SECRET WARS figures (those lenticular shields still fascinate); Playmates's Dick Tracy line; etc – and "I've never had you and now I must" – vintage Dick Tracy toys, comics, books, and especially Big Little Books (including one which is on its way but that I'm not going to get too excited about until I hold it in my hands); Universal Monsters lobby cards; Shadow pulps and related ephemera; and movie serial memorabilia) varities: I need more shelves (and curtain rods).