Dynamite has a full slate of comics that will hit the shelves on new comic day tomorrow. I’ve already talked about Pathfinder: City of Secrets no 1. You can read my thoughts here. Another book that they have hitting the shelves that interested me was The Shadow: Midnight in Moscow No 1. I loved the movie but have never read any of the comics or books that preceded it. I was lucky to get a preview of the book before it hit shelves.

I have to say that I am impressed and feel bad that I’ve missed out on such good storytelling.

I have to confess something up front. I was unaware of who Howard Chaykin was when I started reading this book. I enjoyed it immensely and turned to Google to remedy my ignorance. I was surprised to find out that he had done several things that I had enjoyed in the past and it should come as no surprise to me that I enjoyed this book.

He does an excellent job of bringing in a new reader. I have some passing knowledge of The Shadow but Chaykin makes sure that I never feel lost in this story. He opens up the book in New York city in late December 1949, a time of transitions. His explanation of how the city is now and what is to come goes well with the somber tone of a snowfall on the city and the murder of several guards guards at the federal reserve. We learn that the Shadow has been inactive as of the past five years. This has lead the predators of the city to become more bold. What follows is a series of discoveries that are pretty intriguing. Stark, the man who was robbing the Federal Reserve, has somehow discovered a way to shrink the gold ingots. On top of this, he was thought to be killed when the piles of ingots was toppled on to him at the end of said robbery but has re-emerged at a New Years Eve party that the Shadow is also attending. The final mystery appears on the last page and I won’t spoil it for you here. Needless to say, it has me hooked.

I’ve already mentioned how I really enjoy Chaykin’s writing on this book. his art is also stellar as well. He captures the feel of a transitional time so well. His cityscapes just further reinforce this feeling of things coming to close with that hint of something waiting around the corner. My favorite panel has to be after the robbery is over and the Shadow is heading out to investigate the miniaturized ingots. His cloak is unfurled to reveal an expanse of blackness punctuated by his gloves and his red scarf. Impressive.

Despite having read the book already, I plan on picking it up tomorrow so that I can have it in hard copy as well. If you stop by your local comic shop this week, I would recommend picking up this book. You won’t regret it.