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===Creation as a distinctive literary character===
[[File:Shadow Death From Nowhere.jpg|thumb|upright|left|''"Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?"'' The Shadow as depicted on the cover of the July 15, 1939, issue of ''[[The Shadow (magazine)|The Shadow Magazine]]''. The story, "Death from Nowhere", was one of the magazine plots adapted for the legendary radio drama.]]
Recognizing the demand and responding promptly, circulation manager Henry William Ralston of Street & Smith commissioned [[Walter B. Gibson]] to begin writing stories about "The Shadow" Using the [[pen name]] of [[Maxwell Grant]] and claiming the stories were "from The Shadow's private annals" as told to him, Gibson wrote 282 out of 325 tales over the next 20 years: a novel-length story twice a month (1st and 15th). The first story produced was ''[[The Living Shadow]]'' published April 1, 1931.<ref name="Anthony Tollin"/>
Gibson's characterization of The Shadow laid the foundations for the [[archetype]] of the superhero, including stylized imagery and title, sidekicks, supervillains, and a secret identity. Clad in black, The Shadow operated mainly after dark as a vigilante in the name of justice, terrifying criminals into vulnerability. Gibson himself claimed the literary inspirations upon which he had drawn were [[Bram Stoker]]'s ''[[Dracula]]'' and [[Edward Bulwer-Lytton]]'s "The House and the Brain
Because of the great effort involved in writing two full-length novels every month, several guest writers were hired to write occasional installments in order to lighten Gibson's workload. Those guest writers included [[Lester Dent]], who also wrote the [[Doc Savage]] stories, and [[Theodore Tinsley]]. In the late 1940s, mystery novelist [[Bruce Elliott (writer)|Bruce Elliott]] (also a magician) temporarily replaced Gibson as the primary author of the pulp series (he wrote #'s 306 through 320).<ref name="BruceElliot">{{Cite web|title=The Shadow in Review |url=http://www.spaceports.com/~deshadow/reviews/shadow321.html|website=Spaceports.com |access-date=2008-02-02}}</ref> [[Richard Wormser]], a [[Publisher's reader|reader]] for Street & Smith, wrote two Shadow stories.<ref>p.28 Wormser, Richard & Skutch, Ira ''How to Become a Complete Non-Entity: A Memoir'' 2006 iUniverse</ref> For a complete list of Street and Smith's Shadow novels (and a list of the reprint editions), see the [[List of The Shadow stories]] article.
===A new beginning at Belmont Books===
''The Shadow Magazine'' ceased publication with the Summer 1949 issue, but Walter B. Gibson wrote three new "official" stories between 1963 and 1980. The first began a new series of nine Shadow mass market paperback novels from [[Belmont Books]]. In this series, The Shadow is given psychic powers, including the radio character's ability "to cloud men's minds
The other two Gibson works were the novelettes "The Riddle of the Rangoon Ruby", published June 1, 1979 in ''The Shadow Scrapbook''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://adventurehouse.com/shop/product/shadow-scrapbook/|title=Shadow Scrapbook – Adventure House}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://public-library.uk/ebooks/80/22.pdf|title=The Riddle of the Rangoon Ruby}}</ref> and "Blackmail Bay", published February 1, 1980 in ''The Duende History of The Shadow Magazine''.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=http://www.shadowsanctum.net/history/history_images/duende_shadow_fc.jpg
===Literary sequels and reboots===
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A sequel, ''Empire of Doom'', was published in 2016 and takes place seven years later in 1940. The Shadow's old enemy, Shiwan Khan, attacks his hated adversary. Doc Savage joins forces with The Shadow to vanquish Khan in a Doc Savage novel written by Murray, from a concept by Dent.
In 2020, James Patterson Entertainment and Condé Nast Entertainment announced a new series written by [[James Patterson]] and Brian Sitts. The arrangement also includes potential screen
==Character development==
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As depicted in the pulps, The Shadow wore a wide-brimmed black hat and a black, crimson-lined cloak with an upturned collar over a standard black business suit. In the 1940s comic books, the later comic book series, and the 1994 film starring [[Alec Baldwin]], he wore either the black hat or a wide-brimmed, black [[fedora]] and a crimson scarf just below his nose and across his mouth and chin. Both the cloak and scarf covered either a black double-breasted [[trench coat]] or a regular black suit. As seen in some of the later comics series, The Shadow also would wear his hat and scarf with either a black [[Inverness coat]] or [[Inverness cape]].{{citation needed|date=April 2020}}
In the [[radio drama]] that debuted in 1937, The Shadow does not wear a costume because he is invisible when he operates as a vigilante, a feature born out of necessity. Time constraints of 1930s radio made it difficult to explain to listeners where The Shadow was hiding and how he remained concealed from criminals until he was ready to strike, so the character was given invisibility, meaning the criminals (like the radio audience) only knew him by his haunting voice. The actors used their normal voice when the hero was in his civilian identity of Lamont Cranston and effects were added when he became invisible and acted as The Shadow, his voice now having a sinister and seemingly omnipresent quality. To explain this power, radio episodes regularly said that while a young man, The Shadow traveled around the world and then through the Orient, where he learned how to read thoughts and became a master of [[Hypnosis|hypnotism]], granting him "the mysterious power to cloud men's minds, so they could not see him
=== Background ===
In the print adventures, The Shadow is '''Kent Allard''', although his [[secret identity|real name]] is not revealed until ''The Shadow Unmasks'' (1937). Early stories explain he was once a famed aviator who fought for the [[French Third Republic|French]] during [[World War I]], known by the alias the "Black Eagle" according to one character in ''The Shadow's Shadow'' (1933). Later stories revised this alias as the "Dark Eagle
As the vigilante called The Shadow, Allard hunts down and often violently confronts criminals, armed with Colt .45 pistols and sometimes using magician tricks to convince his prey that he's supernatural. One such trick is
The Shadow's best known alter ego is '''Lamont Cranston
The Shadow's other disguises include: businessman '''Henry Arnaud''', who like Cranston is a real person whose identity Allard simply assumes at times, as revealed in Arnaud's first appearance ''The Black Master'' (March 1, 1932); elderly '''Isaac Twambley''', who first appears in ''No Time
In ''Teeth of the Dragon'' and later stories including ''The Golden Pagoda'', The Shadow is known in Chinatown as '''Ying Ko''', often fighting the criminal [[Tong (organization)|Tong]].
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In the 2015 [[Altus Press]] novel ''The Sinister Shadow'' by [[Will Murray]], The Shadow masquerades as celebrated criminologist '''George Clarendon''' of [[Chicago]], a past member of the Cobalt Club and long-time friend of [[New York City Police Commissioner|Commissioner]] Weston.
For the first half of The Shadow's tenure in the pulps, his past and true identity (outside of his Cranston disguise) are ambiguous. In ''The Living Shadow'', a thug claiming to have seen the Shadow's face recalls seeing "a piece of white that looked like a bandage
In the radio drama series that premiered in 1937, the Allard [[secret identity]] and backstory were dropped for simplicity's sake. The radio incarnation of The Shadow is really and only '''Lamont Cranston''' with no other regular cover identities, though he does adopt disguises and short-term aliases during some adventures. The radio version of Cranston travels the world to "learn the old mysteries that modern science has not yet rediscovered" ("Death House Rescue" in 1937). Along with learning skills and knowledge in Europe, Africa, and Asia, he spends time training with a Yogi priest, "Keeper of the Temple of Cobras
===Supporting characters===
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==Comic books==
===Bibliography===
* ''[[Batman (comic book)|Batman]]'', #253, #259 (crossover appearances published in 1973 and 1974, respectively)
** 'The Shadow: Blood and Judgment'', 1–4, May–August 1986▼
* ''The Private Files of the Shadow'', 1989 (graphic collection reprinting the first six issues of the 1973 series, with one new story)
** ''Batman and The Shadow: The Murder Geniuses'', 1–6, 2017 (co-published with [[Dynamite Entertainment]])▼
* ''The Shadow Strikes!'', 1–31, 1 annual, September 1989 – May 1992
* [[Dark Horse Comics]]▼
** ''The Shadow: In the Coils of Leviathan'', 1–4, 1993▼
====[[Marvel Comics]]====
*[[Dynamite Entertainment]]▼
▲
** ''The Shadow: Midnight In Moscow'', 2014▼
** ''The Shadow'', 1–6, 2016▼
** ''The Shadow: The Death of Margo Lane'', 1–6, 2016▼
* ''Altered States: The Shadow'', one-shot, 2015
** ''The Shadow/Batman'', 1–6, 2017-8 ([[Batman]] crossover co-published with DC Comics)▼
* ''The Shadow'', 1–25, 0, two annuals, two specials, 2012–2015
* ''The Shadow/Green Hornet: Dark Nights'', 5 issues, 2013-2015 (crossover with the [[Green Hornet]])
* ''Masks', 1-8, 2012-2013 (featuring the Shadow with the Green Hornet, [[Spider (pulp fiction character)|the Spider]] and other comic book and pulp characeers)
* ''The Shadow: Year One'', 1–10, 2013–2014
* ''The Shadow'', 1–5, 2015
* ''Justice, Inc.'' 1-6 (2014-5) (the Shadow with [[Doc Savage]] and the [[Avenger (pulp-magazine character)|Avenger]])
* ''The Shadow Over Innsmouth'' (sequel to the [[H.P. Lovecraft]] [[novella]] [[The Shadow Over Innsmouth|of the same name]], 2014
* ''The Twilight Zone: The Shadow'', 1-4, 2016 (miniseries featuring a ''[[The Twilight Zone]]'' style scenario)
===History===
====1940s-1960s====
{{More citations needed section|date=July 2020}}
To both cross-promote ''The Shadow'' and attract a younger audience to its other pulp magazines, [[Street & Smith]] published 101 issues of the comic book ''Shadow Comics'' from Vol. 1, #1 – Vol. 9, #5 (March 1940 – Sept. 1949).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.comics.org/series/208/|title=GCD :: Series :: Shadow Comics|website=Comics.org|access-date=25 April 2019}}</ref> A Shadow story led off each issue, with the remainder of the stories being strips based on other Street & Smith pulp heroes.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Benton |first1=Mike |title=Superhero Comics of the Golden Age: The Illustrated History |date=1992 |publisher=Taylor Publishing Company |location=Dallas |isbn=0-87833-808-X |url=https://archive.org/details/superherocomicso0000bent |url-access=registration |access-date=1 April 2020 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/superherocomicso0000bent/page/134 134]–135}}</ref>
In ''[[Mad (magazine)|Mad]]'' #4 (April–May 1953), ''The Shadow'' was spoofed by [[Harvey Kurtzman]] and [[Will Elder]]
During the superhero revival of the 1960s, [[Archie Comics]] published an eight-issue series, ''The Shadow'' (Aug. 1964 – Sept. 1965), under the company's [[Dark Circle Comics|Mighty Comics]] [[imprint (trade name)|imprint]]. In the first issue, The Shadow was loosely based on the radio version, but with blond hair. In issue #2 (Sept. 1964), the character was transformed into a campy, heavily muscled superhero in a green and blue costume by writer [[Robert Bernstein (comics)|Robert Bernstein]] and artist [[John Rosenberger]]. Later issues of this eight-issue series were written by [[Superman]] co-creator [[Jerry Siegel]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.comics.org/series/1859/|title=GCD :: Series :: The Shadow|website=Comics.org|access-date=25 April 2019}}</ref> The change was not well received. "Totally at odds with everything that personified the classic Shadow," ''American Comic Book Chronicles'' says, "Archie's incarnation is still regarded in many quarters as one of the greatest comic book misfires of the 1960s."<ref>{{cite book |last=Wells |first=John |title=American Comic Book Chronicles: 1960–64 |date=2015 |publisher=TwoMorrows Publishing |isbn=978-1605490458 |page=185}}</ref>▼
During the mid-1970s, [[DC Comics]] published an "atmospheric interpretation" of the character by writer [[Dennis O'Neil]] and artist [[Michael Kaluta]]<ref>{{cite book|last1=McAvennie|first1= Michael|last2=Dolan|first2=Hannah, ed.|chapter= 1970s|title = DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle|publisher=[[Dorling Kindersley]] |year=2010 |isbn= 978-0-7566-6742-9 |page=157 |quote =Writer Denny O'Neil and artist Mike Kaluta presented their interpretation of writer Walter B. Gibson's pulp-fiction mystery man of the 1930s}}</ref> in a 12-issue series (Nov. 1973 – Sept. 1975) attempting to be faithful to both the pulp-magazine character and radio-drama character. Kaluta drew issues 1–4 and 6 and was followed by [[Frank Robbins]] and then [[E. R. Cruz]]. Fellow pulp fiction hero the [[Avenger (pulp-magazine character)|Avenger]] guest-starred in issue #11.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.comics.org/series/2105/|title=GCD :: Series :: The Shadow|website=Comics.org|access-date=25 April 2019}}</ref> The Shadow also appeared in DC's ''[[Batman]]'' #253 (Nov. 1973), in which Batman teams with an aging Shadow and calls the famous crime fighter his "biggest inspiration." In ''Batman'' #259 (Nov.–Dec. 1974), Batman again meets The Shadow, and we learn that, in the past, The Shadow saved Bruce Wayne's life when the future Batman was a boy and that The Shadow knows Batman's secret identity (he assures Batman, however, that his secret is safe with him).▼
▲During the superhero revival of the 1960s, [[Archie Comics]] published an eight-issue series, ''The Shadow'' (Aug. 1964 – Sept. 1965), under the company's [[Dark Circle Comics|Mighty Comics]] [[imprint (trade name)|imprint]]. In the first issue, The Shadow was loosely based on the radio version, but with blond hair. In issue #2 (Sept. 1964), the character
====1970s====
▲
====1980s====
In 1986, another DC adaptation was developed by [[Howard Chaykin]]. This four-issue miniseries, ''The Shadow: Blood and Judgement'', brought The Shadow to modern-day New York. While initially successful,<ref>"the series sold well – earning an early graphic novel treatment and leading to an ongoing series by Andy Helfer, Bill Sienkiewicz and Kyle Baker". Kiel Phegley, [http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=37084 Howard Chaykin: The Art of The Shadow]. In ''Comic Book Resources'', Feb. 28, 2012, page found 2012-03-30.</ref> this version proved unpopular with traditional Shadow fans<ref>"... Simply for bucks because he has confessed in interviews that he never cared a gram about the character, ''auteur'' Howard Chaykin has taken The Shadow and turned him, in a four-issue mini-series, into a sexist, calloused, clearly psychopathic obscenity. Rather than simply ignoring characters from the Shadow's past, Chaykin has murdered them in full view... And when Mr. Chaykin was asked why he had this penchant for drawing pictures of thugs jamming .45's into the mouths of terrified women, Mr. Chaykin responded that the only readers who might object to this bastardization of a much-beloved fictional character were 'forty-year-old boys'. These comics bear the legend FOR MATURE READERS. For MATURE read DERANGED." Harlan Ellison, essay titled "In Which Youth Goeth Before A Fall", in ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'', August 1986.</ref> because it depicted The Shadow using two [[Uzi]] submachine guns, as well as featuring a strong strain of [[black comedy]] and extreme violence throughout.<ref>Chaykin, in an interview after the book came out, had this to say: "I thought the book was well received by the people I cared about. Comic book fandom is evenly divided between people who like comics in a general way and are fans of comics in general, and then there's an entire spate of juvenilists who attach themselves to the old joke about the Golden Age of comics. 'What's the Golden Age of comics? 12!' There's this tremendous idea that their tastes were formed and refined at 12, and frankly, I'm not interested in supporting that sensibility. By the same token, if I'm going to be doing a mature readers product, I don't feel the need to stand by the standards of a 12-year-old sensibility. I certainly feel the pain of the people who were offended by the material, but fuck 'em. Life is hard all over. I was hired to do a job, and I feel I did a pretty damn good job with the material I had to work with. I'm happy with the work. I know that I antagonize and piss people off, but it's fine. Who cares?" Kiel Phegley, [http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=37084 Howard Chaykin: The Art of The Shadow]. In ''Comic Book Resources'', Feb. 28, 2012, page found 2012-03-30.</ref>
''The Shadow'', set in
In 1988, O'Neil and Kaluta, with inker [[Russ Heath]], returned to The Shadow with the [[Marvel Comics]] [[graphic novel]] ''The Shadow: Hitler's Astrologer'', set during [[World War II]]. This one-shot appeared in both [[hardcover]] and [[Trade paperback (comics)|trade paperback]] editions.
The Vernon Greene/Walter Gibson Shadow newspaper comic strip from the early 1940s was collected by Malibu Graphics ([[Malibu Comics]]) under its [[Eternity Comics]] imprint, beginning with the first issue of ''Crime Classics'' dated July 1988. Each cover was illustrated by Greene and colored by one of Eternity's colorists. A total of 13 issues appeared featuring just the black-and-white daily until the final issue, dated November 1989. Some of the Shadow storylines were contained in one issue, while others were continued over into the next. When a Shadow story ended, another tale would begin in the same issue. This back-to-back format continued until the final issue (#13).
'''Crime Classics'''
1 and 2, "Riddle of the Sealed Box";
2 and 3, "Mystery of the Sleeping Gas";
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13, "Robberies at Lake Calada".
[[Dave Stevens]]' nostalgic comics series ''[[The Rocketeer (character)|The Rocketeer]]'' contains a
In 1989, DC released a hardcover graphic novel reprinting five issues (#1–4 and 6 by Dennis O'Neil and Michael Kaluta) of their 1970s series as ''The Private Files of The Shadow''. The volume also featured "In the Toils of Wing Fat", a new Shadow adventure drawn by Kaluta.▼
▲In 1989, DC released a hardcover graphic
====1990s====
From 1989 to 1992, DC published a new Shadow comic book series, ''The Shadow Strikes!'', written by [[Gerard Jones]] and [[Eduardo Barreto]]. This series was set in the 1930s and returned The Shadow to his pulp origins. During its run, it featured The Shadow's first-ever team-up with [[Doc Savage]], another popular hero of the pulp magazine era. The two characters appeared together in a four-issue story that crossed back and forth between each character's DC comic book series. ''The Shadow Strikes'' often led The Shadow into encounters with well-known celebrities of the 1930s, such as [[Albert Einstein]], [[Amelia Earhart]], [[Charles Lindbergh]], union organizer [[John L. Lewis]], and [[Chicago]] gangsters [[Frank Nitti]] and [[Jake Guzik]]. In issue #7, The Shadow meets a radio announcer named Grover Mills, a character based on the young [[Orson Welles]], who has been impersonating The Shadow on the radio. The character's name is taken from [[Grover's Mill, New Jersey]], the name of the small town where the [[Martian]]s land in Welles's 1938 radio broadcast of ''[[The War of the Worlds (radio drama)|The War of the Worlds]].'' When Shadow rights holder [[Condé Nast]] increased its licensing fee, DC concluded the series after 31 issues and one ''Annual''; it became the longest-running Shadow comic book series since Street & Smith's original 1940s series.
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The Shadow made an uncredited cameo in issue #2 of DC's 1996 four-issue miniseries ''[[Kingdom Come (comics)|Kingdom Come]]'', re-released as a trade paperback in 1997. The Shadow appears in the nightclub scene standing in the background next to the [[Question (character)|Question]] and [[Rorschach (comics)|Rorschach]].
The early 1940s Shadow newspaper daily strip was reprinted by [[
'''Pulp Action''
1, "Riddle of the Sealed Box";
2, "Mystery of the Sleeping Gas";
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5 and 6, "The Shadow and the Adele Varne Mystery";
7 and 8, "The Shadow and the Darvin Fortune".
====21st century====
In August 2011, [[Dynamite Entertainment|Dynamite]] licensed ''The Shadow'' from Condé Nast for an ongoing comic book series and several
==Films==
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The film combines elements from The Shadow pulp novels and comic books with the aforementioned ability to cloud minds described only on the radio show. In the film [[Alec Baldwin]], as The Shadow, wears a black cloak and a long red scarf that covers his mouth and chin; he also wears a black, double-breasted [[trench coat]] and a wide-brimmed, black [[fedora|slouch hat]]. Contrarily to pulp novels, he is armed with a pair of modified [[M1911]] .45-caliber semi-automatic pistols that for the film have longer barrels, are nickel plated, and have ivory grips. In reality, the prop guns were modified [[LAR Grizzly Win Mag]]s nicknamed "Silver Heat."<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.imfdb.org/wiki/Shadow,_The | title=Shadow, the – Internet Movie Firearms Database – Guns in Movies, TV and Video Games }}</ref> The film also displays a first: Cranston's ability to conjure the illusion of a false face whenever he is in his guise as The Shadow, giving him an appearance similar to the character's physical portrayal in the pulp magazines and comics.
The film was financially and critically unsuccessful.<ref>"[http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1054125-shadow/ The Shadow (1994)]." ''[[Rotten Tomatoes]]''.</ref><ref>"[https://archive.today/20080704145424/http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20186843_2,00.html 20 Worst Comic-Book Movies Ever. ''The Shadow'', Alec Baldwin]." ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]''
===Unmade Sam Raimi ''Shadow'' feature film===
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On October 16, 2007, Raimi stated, "I don't have any news on ''The Shadow'' at this time, except that the company that I have with Josh Donen, my producing partner, we've got the rights to ''The Shadow.'' I love the character very much and we're trying to work on a story that'll do justice to the character".<ref>{{Cite web|last=Rotten |first=Ryan |title= Sam Raimi on Spider-Man 4 and The Shadow |url=http://www.superherohype.com/news/topnews.php?id=6410 |work=Superherohype.com |publisher=Coming Soon Media, ltd. |date=2007-10-16 |access-date=2008-07-28}}</ref>
On August 23, 2012, the website ShadowFan reported that during a Q&A session at
==Game adaptations==
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The Shadow is also one of the inspirations for Disney's 1991–1992 cartoon series ''[[Darkwing Duck]]''.{{citation needed|date=February 2024}}
The 2015 video game ''[[Fallout 4]]'' includes a quest series centered on a character called "
==See also==
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