That was a joke issue, right? I'd believe it if it was 1993 and not 1987.
Nope, it was a part of a story-arc in which some villain decapitates the Shadow. In this issue the Shadow's agents fits his head to a robot body. That issue made Conde Nast demand DC to cancel the title. When the later title started, "The Shadow Strikes!", the stories took place in the 1930's like the pulp novels and DC's 12 issue run during the 1970's.