Monday, July 16, 2012

Groove's Faves: "The Night of the Killers!" by O'Neil and Cruz

Here's another reason Ol' Groove loved DC's Shadow during the Groovy Age! Denny O'Neil's take on Bonnie and Clyde vs. the Shadow from The Shadow #10 (January 1975), gorgeously illustrated by the criminally underrated E.R. Cruz.


















Why, oh, why did DC never put Cruz on a Batman mag? Sheesh!
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7 comments:

  1. AnonymousJuly 16, 2012 at 10:25 AM

    Thank you,Mr Groove!
    I like the art of Mr Cruz.
    The Sherlock Holmes-story and then the tales from the House of...-books were the first works of Mr Cruz I saw back in the Groovy Age.
    /Mr Anonymous

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  2. BobJuly 16, 2012 at 10:53 AM

    Boy did that make my day! The finest evocation of the Shadow was the O'Neil Shadow. I lived for that book -- and while I think Kaluta was the best of the illustrators, I also loved Robbins and Cruz!

    You know, I just turned 50 this weekend. I can't believe how long ago all of this was...

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  3. AnonymousJuly 16, 2012 at 4:48 PM

    I think E. R. Cruz was and is the most enigmatic of the Filipino comics artists. Even the mid-'90s "Philippines Invasion" issue of COMIC BOOK ARTIST didn't shed any light on who he is, or what he did before or after his work for DC's mystery titles of the '70s. Is he still living? Alex Nino is, and so if Frank Redondo, but we've lost Nestor Redondo, Alfredo Alcala, and Tony DeZuniga.

    Chris A.

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  4. hobbyfanJuly 17, 2012 at 10:06 AM

    I bought that issue 2nd-hand a number of years back. Great story.

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  5. AnonymousJuly 17, 2012 at 4:27 PM

    Well, I learned that Eufrenio R. Cruz worked in Filipino komiks from 1958-1970, then worked for DC and other U.S. publishers throughout the '70s. When DC's mystery line folded Cruz went into animation (like many of his other Filipino contemporaries) in the early '80s, churning out storyboards and the like for schlock Saturday morning fare. A sad swan song for so many of that nation's talents (until the next generation came in, like Leinil Yu, and struck gold with mainstream superhero titles).

    Chris

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  6. MichaelJuly 18, 2012 at 9:58 AM

    Been following this blog for some time but never found a need to comment, until now that is.

    To my great shame, I've only recently been introduced to The Shadow. I recently watched the 90s Alec Baldwin movie, a movie whose execution / story was rather lackluster despite some excellent touches, and yet my interest in The Shadow as a series grew. After that I watched The Missing Lady, available for streaming on Netflix, a charming film that's quite good!

    So naturally, I was quite pleased to see The Shadow appear on this blog and I absolutely enjoyed every word, line and page of this issue. In today's world of glitzy, hyper kinetic super hero blockbuster movies, The Shadow may not be viable on the big screen but the idea works really well in print. I hope to see more issues in the future.

    Thank you for sharing it!

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  7. macsnafuJuly 20, 2012 at 1:01 PM

    ER Cruz did indeed have some interesting, even compelling artwork, but at the same time, there was a certain polish, or distance to it that made it seem strange and unworldly. Cruz on the Batman would have been interesting, but he may have been more suited to The Phantom Stranger, I think.

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Special thanks to Mike's Amazing World of Comics and Grand Comics Database for being such fantastic resources for covers, dates, creator info, etc. Thou art treasures true!


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