Maybe the reason I like Quality's KEN SHANNON is because it's so similar to the many great OTR detective series I also enjoy like RICHARD DIAMOND, YOURS TRULY, JOHNNY DOLLAR and ROGUE'S GALLERY. The lovely Reed Crandall art in some installments doesn't hurt. This early story isn't by Reed, though, and our hero doesn't yet show the bizarre jawline that made him so visually distinctive. This almost looks like the Bob Powell studio to me. Some good digs at early TV in this "episode."
Prior to this, the only Shannon stories that I'd read were illustrated by Crandall.
ReplyDeleteThis one was better scripted than those. It's got the right voice, and moves in the right world. (A great many writers confuse the detective genre of Chandler &alii with the mystery genre of Christie &alii, to unsatisfactory effect.)