I was withholding any judgement regarding The Shadow reboot coming in the new book by James Patterson and Brian Sitts, which is due for release July 13. But after reading Steven Thompson‘s review at Forces of Geek, well…
Thompson writes:
You know, I’d love to be able to give The Shadow an unqualified rave review and maybe get a quote from me in some of its marketing or a blurb on the back of its inevitable sequel. The problem is that I can’t.
It’s a bit of a mess, actually. Quite an entertaining mess in its own way but a mess nonetheless.
Be forewarned that Thompson (and he warns you, also) has spoilers in his review. So if you’re waiting to read the book without knowing the details, avoid his review.
When Condé Nast announced last July that it planned to have Patterson revive The Shadow, I had my doubts. And after reading Thompson’s review, those doubts appear proved right: Condé Nast has no understanding of the character of The Shadow, and maybe no interest in understanding it.
Make no mistake. When the cover of this book says, “Crime has a new enemy,” it’s talking about Maddy, not The Shadow. Lamont is a major character but he’s not the center. The same with Margo.
So why are they there? If Patterson and Sitts wanted to write a sci-fi novel about a young girl developing various superpowers and using them to better her world, how did they go from that to The Shadow? Neither the pulp Shadow nor the radio Shadow would be among the first hundred or so characters to pop into my mind to go along with that initial premise.
And if you absolutely felt the need to use The Shadow, why go out of your way to change him so much that he really isn’t recognizable as The Shadow any longer? Only a few of the names are the same by the end of the book. Change those and you have all new characters.
That opening section? Man, now that really was The Shadow! Really made me look forward to a nice, atmospheric noir adventure by Patterson set in the 1930s. But, of course, that was never the idea.
I truly doubt we will ever see a proper adaptation of The Shadow, Doc Savage, The Avenger, or any of the old Street & Smith pulp characters coming from Condé Nast.
It’s a shame since there is so much potential in those hundreds of novels and stories. The groundwork has already been set; the characters already fully developed.
All that’s lacking is someone at Condé Nast recognizing — and caring about — the riches that they have in their archives.
