What are everyone's favorite older heroes, villains, and amazing tales?
I'll start with one of my personal favorites. The Shadow. I love that while the entire character as we know him was created almost accidentally and out of convenience, The Shadow went on to be a cornerstone of Americana and proved the inspiration for some more modern heroes.
I honestly have a soft spot for a lot of the pulpy stuff written in the early to mid 20th century, but especially for The Shadow.
Oh, The Shadow knows there's been a lot inspired by him.
The Phantom, The Ghost Who Walks, was the first of these types of characters I became aware of. He came out after Shadow but still in the 1930's, and had some of the trappings of Shadow but some of modern heroes. I like how all his enemies think he's immortal, because he comes back even after being obliterated, but it's really just a mantle getting passed down. It's a simple explanation, but a clever ruse, because it makes enemies think twice about just killing him. Too bad he looked so goofy.
Someone at Bethesda is clearly a Shadow fan. In F4 there's a Silver Shroud radio show, costume, tommy gun, and a quest where you have the option to speak as the Shroud (campy 30's radio show dialogue). The villains you talk this way to will come to the conclusion that you're completely insane, of course.
Curse your eyes, you named both of my favorite pulp heroes! The Shadow was the pre-cursor and inspiration for a lot of later heroes/vigilantes, such as Batman. And, if memory series, The Phantom was the first to wear an eye mask that whited out the eyes completely. It's too bad that The Phantom movie wasn't as good as it could have been or that The Shadow movie wasn't as well-received as it should have been because I enjoy the both of them thoroughly.
Lets not forget about Doc Savage, the Man of Bronze and his Fabulous Five. They were the first real "heroes' I ever came across and they fueled my passion for heroic adventure of all kinds ever since. I think i heard at some point a movie with the Rock attached is being worked on. If it happens they better do this story justice or they'll have to contend with my fury!
[CENTER][URL=http://www.nodiatis.com/personality.htm][IMG]http://www.nodiatis.com/pub/2.jpg[/IMG][/URL][/CENTER]
I love The Shadow and the movie wasn’t bad for its time but it did get a bit too campy at times. I remember one scene near the end of the film where there is a time bomb that’s going to go off and he’s running up the stairs, then for no reason he pauses and stares into the camera while it dramatically zooms to his face.
Um... You don’t have time to pose Mr. Cranston, you literally have a ticking time bomb to deal with.
Fighting a psychic Genghis Khan sounds much cooler on paper than it was on screen. I’d love to see a better interpretation of the character in a new film.
I think if they did a movie with the version of The Shadow in the recent Shadow/Batman comic crossover, that would be spectacular. I highly encourage anyone to read it.