Dark Horse Comics; $5.99 each

Lamont Cranston vs. Hunter Rose. The Shadow vs. Grendel. Good vs. Evil.

The initial description alone was enough to make it the crossover with the best potential in years. But once you have potential, you have to actually live up to it.

Good thing the driving force behind it is Matt Wagner, the creator of Grendel, who recently has also been writing The Shadow.

This mini-series more than lives up to its potential. It’s a clear-cut battle between good and evil (though it’s a hard-edged good vs. a sometimes charming evil).

Of course, it’s not surprising that Wagner’s crossover of his long running creator-owned character Grendel with the iconic pulp hero The Shadow is thoroughly enjoyable. After all, as much as he created Grendel, and he really put his stamp on the Shadow’s legend during his run on The Shadow: Year One at Dynamite.

No, what’s almost astonishing is just how seamlessly this story works.

Wagner has taken Grendel out of the modern era and put him head-to-head with The Shadow in 1930s New York. And the results have been just spectacular, beginning with the art, which may be among Wagner’s best (and yes, that’s saying something).

The 48-page format of each issue allows the story to play out at a natural – though very fast – pace, and it gives the story a bit of the physical weight and impact it deserves.

If you haven’t picked up this mini-series – and there is a collected edition as well – you should definitely do so if you enjoy either character. You won’t be sorry.

– J.C. Vaughn