Issue(s): Marvel Preview #21 (Shroud story only)
Cover Date: Spring 80
Title: "Walk a crooked mile!"
Credits:
Steven Grant & Mark Gruenwald - Writer
Steve Ditko - Penciler
Steve Ditko - Inker
Ralph Macchio - Assistant Editor
Roy Thomas - Consulting Editor
Lynn Graeme - Editor

Review/plot:
This Shroud story was a minor holy grail for me for a while. I already had the main Moon Knight story from the Moon Knight Special Edition reprint series. And thanks to that Moon Knight story, this issue is usually not very cheap, and paying those prices just for a Shroud back-up feature didn't seem very economical. But for a little while i had it in my head that Roger Stern wrote the story, and since Stern briefly used the Shroud in his Avengers run, and i think made the first connection between the Shroud's darkness powers and the actual Darkforce Dimension that several characters (Cloak being the best known, but in Stern's story it was Blackout) are associated with, i wanted to see if Stern maybe first made that connection here. In fact, Stern just writes a single page text introduction of the Shroud in this issue (and no mention of the Darkforce). When i found out that Stern didn't really write this story, i lowered it on my want list priority for a while, but then i raised it back up again when i found out via this article that this was meant to be the first part in an ongoing series about the Shroud by Steven Grant and Steve Ditko. I wound up covering two stories intended for that series in Marvel Comics Presents #54 and Marvel Super Heroes #7 and figured i ought to go back and get the first part, and was lucky enough to find a battered copy that couldn't demand 'early Moon Knight' prices.

Since i wanted this issue for completionist purposes, i didn't have any real expectations about the quality. But Steve Ditko does some really nice things with shading for this black and white story.

And the story is relatively important for the Shroud, setting up the scenario that he uses for a long time going forward, where he poses as a crime boss in LA so that he can take down crime from the inside. He starts by taking over the gang of the Crooked Man, a truly Ditko-ish villain. Among the Crooked Man's employees are Cat and Mouse, a burglar and pick-pocket, respectively, who will remain associates of the Shroud going forward.

Shroud tells the Crooked Man that he wants to join him.

But the Crooked Man doesn't trust the Shroud, so he sets him up to be arrested by the police. But Cat and Mouse develop a loyalty to him and save him.

Shroud then leads the police to the Crooked Man's place. He knocks the Crooked Man out and leaves him for the police.

It seems like the police detective Lt. Berg was being set up as a repeat character, which would make sense if the Shroud was going to have a status in an ongoing book posing as a crime boss.

It's a little unclear to me if Cat and Mouse are in on the Shroud's scheme or just think that he's trying to take over the other crime gangs.

Shroud uses his darkness powers more in this story than the other two Ditko Shroud stories i linked to above, and it's said that his control of his powers is getting stronger.

I wonder if there was a minor difference of opinion between Mark Gruenwald, who co-writes here and who had the Shroud use his powers pretty extensively during his Spider-Woman appearances, and Ditko and maybe Steven Grant, who maybe wanted to emphasize the character's pulp hero nature rather than his super-powers.

I can see why this series didn't go anywhere, especially in comparison to the Bill Sienkiewicz Moon Knight story also in this issue, but it's kind of a shame because the Shroud's powers work really well with Steve Ditko's style, and Ditko was doing some really nice work. I've said in the past that Ditko works best when he's doing abstract things, like Dr. Strange's mystical stuff, but with this Shroud story he is able to use shadows and light to create interesting panels in a grittier setting. And i do like the idea of the Shroud operating as a crime boss. That said, i actually like the way things worked out, with the Shroud's having the status of someone posing as a crime boss without us actually getting stories about him going after this and that gang every month.

Quality Rating: C

Historical Significance Rating: 2 - first Cat and Mouse. Shroud begins posing as a crime boss.

Chronological Placement Considerations: Marvel Team-Up #93-94 show the Shroud in his crimeboss status quo, with Cat and Mouse. That story had May-Jun 80 cover dates but was pushed back in publication time because of placement considerations for Spider-Man and Spider-Woman. So this story has to be pushed back as well (but not as far back as Spider-Woman #13-15, which take place before this new set-up).

References:

• We learned the Shroud's origin in Super-Villain Team-Up #7.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A