One thing you could always count on wth writer/artist Howard Chaykin’s stories were the appearance of his gorgeously stylized Femme Fatales, and his 1984 DC Mini Series revamp of THE SHADOW didn’t disappoint!
I’d already been quite familiar with Chaykin’s work from his awesome AMERICAN FLAGG! series and CODY STARBUCK strips in Heavy Metal, and from these, knew that I could expect to see what he was best at: Extreme Violence, Gratuitous Cheesecake and a heaping helping of Noir thrown in for good measure!
Now, the Shadow strip was filled from page to page with lovely ladies, from Preston Mayrock’s lady loves and agents, (even a tough as nails police detective falls victim to The Shadow’s charms), but the one reigning Sex-kitten that flies miles above the rest of them is the invention of the deliciously ditsy and HELLA sexy MERCY MAYROCK!
Our story finds The Shadow on the hunt to find Preston Mayrock, an aging billionaire who’s been killing former agents of the Shadow to draw him out. It seems he’s dying of cancer and wants The Shadow to take him back to the mystic village of where he believes they can transfer his brain into a healthy young clone of himself. And as an added incentive to make them do his bidding, he’s got a Nuclear Missile in his possession which he’ll set off if he doesn’t get his wish!!
Now, Mayrock thinks he’s got his master plans all uner control, but not only has his sexy trophy wife Mercy been “getting it on” with his clone for years, she’s got an even CRAZIER plan in that she has a DEADLY infatuation with the Shadow, and her ultimate fantasy is to get down with him as the nuclear bomb devastates the city! We readers were like “WHOAA! beautiful, ditzy, conniving…and BATSH*T insane!!!”How could you EVER come up with a more interesting character!!!
Upon recently re-reading THE SHADOW series, Mercy seems horribly dated because she was supposed to be a “modern girl”, and was depicted wearing the latest fashions and sadly, this was the 80’s! Look at that image above of her in those new-wave glasses, gads, could anything look more “Cyndi Lauper”?! But MAN, dress her up in a sexy teddy compete with the garters and stockings, and you’ve got Chaykin drawing what he does best, this is pure, timeless BABE-NESS!!!
THE SHADOW Mini-Series was so successful, it garnered a new monthly title written by Andy Helfer and illustrated by Bill Sienkiewicz, but without Howard Chaykin at the wheel, it always seemed to be missing something. Chyakin’s masterful style of Violence, Sex and Film Noir really was what MADE the Shadow work, in my opinion…and there’s no greater example fo ALL THREE of those qualities in Mercy Mayrock…a REAL “Dame to Die For”!
Mercy Mayrock
The Shadow: Blood and Judgement
By Howard Chaykin
