S.H.A.D.O.W.

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After the fall of the Third Reich, Wilhelm Kantor, the Nazi SS officer and reincarnation of the Egyptian sorcerer Tan-Aktor, disappeared along with a cache of gold, occult artifacts, and genetic secrets the Nazis learned from Kal-Zed, der Übermensch (see Superior). With these resources, Kantor intended to achieve what Hitler failed to accomplish: conquer the world with the combined powers of science and sorcery. Although he was a high-ranking Nazi, Kantor cared little for Aryan dogma. His awareness of previous incarnations (many of which were not Aryan) gave him a broader perspective. He was interested in power, not ideology. So his new organization would be based solely on power and control. Racial or cultural superiority would be second to his superiority over all humanity.


Kantor adopted the identity of the Overshadow, the mysterious master of the Secret Hierarchy of Agents for Domination Over the World, or SHADOW. Working in secret, he began recruiting lieutenants to make up the Penumbra, SHADOW’s “ruling” body, answerable entirely to him. He also used the secrets plundered from Nazi laboratories to ensure the loyalty of his organization. Kantor set up hidden laboratories in South America where he cloned himself numerous times. His plan was twofold: first, he created a new, physically ideal version of himself and used secret arcane rites to transfer his consciousness into this new body.


He also kept clones in reserve, hidden in facilities around the world. Now he was in control of his cycle of “reincarnation,” and would never face capture or death. The Overshadow also produced legions of clones lacking his personality, will, or drive, programmed instead as the perfect loyal soldiers of his new empire. With Overshadow at the summit and his utterly loyal clones at the base of SHADOW’s pyramid of power, the Penumbra could not lead a revolt against their leader.


By the early 1960s, SHADOW began its operations. It faced opposition from the newly-founded AEGIS, the Freedom League, and Overshadow’s ancient foe, Heru-Ra, reincarnated as the superhero known as the Scarab. Plots by individual members of the Penumbra were uncovered and foiled. Overshadow himself was occasionally killed in the spectacular destruction of SHADOW facilities, but he always returned, apparently unharmed. Tan-Aktor had secured himself a new sort of immortality.





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