The Shadow is a fictional character created by Walter B. Gibson in 1931 in a semimonthly series of pulp magazines. The first story was titled "The Living Shadow". The character is one of the most famous of the pulp heroes of the 1930s and 1940s -- made most famous through a popular radio series in which The Shadow was originally played by Orson Welles. The Shadow has also been featured in comic books, comic strips, television, and at least seven motion pictures. Still, The Shadow is most highly regarded for its radio years, in which pulp crime fiction received perhaps its most compelling broadcast interpretation. The Shadow is a 1994 motion picture based on the character of the same name created by Walter B. Gibson in 1937. ... the sadow by Hans Christian Andersen (original text) IN very hot climates, where the heat of the sun has great power, people are usually as brown as mahogany; and in the hottest countries they are negroes, with black skins. ... Look up shadow in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The Shadow-Death from Nowhere cover This image is a book cover. ... is the 196th day of the year (197th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Condé Nast Publications Inc is a worldwide magazine publishing company based in New York City. ... In comic books, first appearance refers to first comic book to feature a character. ... Walter Brown Gibson (September 12, 1897-December 6, 1985) was an American author and a professional magician best known for his work on The Shadow. ... Alice, a fictional character based on a real character from the work of Lewis Carroll. ... Walter Brown Gibson (September 12, 1897-December 6, 1985) was an American author and a professional magician best known for his work on The Shadow. ... This article is about inexpensive fiction magazines. ... Pulp magazines, often called simply the pulps, were inexpensive text fiction magazines widely published in the 1920s through the 1950s. ... This article includes a list of works cited or a list of external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ... A comic book is a magazine or book containing the art form of comics. ... This article is about the comic strip, the sequential art form as published in newspapers and on the Internet. ... For other uses see film (disambiguation) Film refers to the celluliod media on which movies are printed Film — also called movies, the cinema, the silver screen, moving pictures, photoplays, picture shows, flicks, or motion pictures, — is a field that encompasses motion pictures as an art form or as...

Even after decades, the unmistakable introduction from The Shadow, intoned by announcer Frank Readick, has earned a place in the American idiom: "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows!" An idiom is an expression (i. ...

The haunting theme song, played on an organ, was "Le Rouet d'Omphale" (Omphale's Spinning Wheel) by Saint-Saens. Charles Camille Saint-Saëns (IPA: [ʃaʁl. ...

Background

The Shadow's birth as a furtive crime solver was practically an accident. Beginning July 31, 1930 [1], "The Shadow" was the name given to the narrator of Detective Stories (James LaCurto and, later, Frank Readick), a radio show whose plots were drawn from the pulp magazine of the same name. The magazine was published by Street and Smith, and the company aimed the radio program at boosting the magazine's circulation. However, listeners found the announcer far more compelling than the stories -- and began asking newsstands for copies of The Shadow Magazine, though it did not exist. Year 1930 (MCMXXX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display 1930 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Street & Smith book department in 1906 Street & Smith or Street & Smith Publications, Inc. ...

Recognizing the demand and responding promptly, Street and Smith commissioned Walter B. Gibson to begin writing stories of The Shadow. Using the house pen name Maxwell Grant, Gibson wrote a reported 282 out of 325 Shadow books over twenty years: a novel-length story twice a month (1st and 15th). He initially fashioned the character as a man of villainous elements who used them to battle crime, clad in black and working predominantly after dark, burglarizing in the name of justice, and terrifying criminals into vulnerability before he or someone gunned them down. The first book produced was The Living Shadow, published April 1, 1931. Walter Brown Gibson (September 12, 1897-December 6, 1985) was an American author and a professional magician best known for his work on The Shadow. ... Maxwell Grant was a pen name used by the authors of The Shadow. ... The Living Shadow is the first pulp magazine story to feature The Shadow. ...

The Shadow was a noirish anti-hero in every sense, likely inspired by mentalist Joseph Dunninger, a friend of Gibson's. This still from The Big Combo (1955) demonstrates the visual style of film noir at its most extreme. ... In literature and film, an anti-hero is a central or supporting character that has some of the personality flaws and ultimate fortune traditionally assigned to villains but nonetheless also have enough heroic qualities or intentions to gain the sympathy of readers or viewers. ... In parapsychology, a Mentalist, as opposed to a psychic, is defined as someone who is believed not only to be able to read information mentally, but also to alter that information. ... Joseph Dunninger (April 28, 1892- March 9, 1975), known as The Amazing Dunninger was one of the most famous and proficient mentalists of all time. ...

Because of the effort involved in getting out two stories every month, a number of guest writers were brought in to do occasional stories to lighten Gibson's work load. One of these was Lester Dent (who wrote the Doc Savage stories). Lester Dent (b. ... Doc Savage is a fictional character, one of the most enduring pulp heroes of the 1930s and 1940s. ...

Character evolution

The character evolved over his lengthy fictional life. In print, he wore a slouch hat and a black, crimson-lined cloak with an upturned collar (while in later comic books and the movie, The Shadow wore a crimson scarf around the lower part of his face). He also skulked in the shadows using his skill at concealing himself -- at first. In due course, and in his most famous incarnation, The Shadow became an invisible man who supposedly learned "while traveling through East Asia ... the mysterious power to cloud men's minds, so they could not see him." For other uses, see Asia (disambiguation). ...

In part, that new incarnation was born of necessity; radio's time constraints made it difficult to describe The Shadow in hiding and nearly invisible. Some believe the Shadow was a hypnotist, as explicitly mentioned in at least a few radio episodes; others^{[citation needed]} contend that the Shadow could manipulate Qi. Because radio was not a visual medium, audiences found The Shadow's invisibility easy to accept.^{[citation needed]} Hypnosis, as defined by the American Psychological Association Division of Psychological Hypnosis, is a procedure during which a health professional or researcher suggests that a client, patient, or experimental participant experience changes in sensations, perceptions, thoughts, or behavior. ... For other uses, see Qi (disambiguation). ...

Character universe

In print, The Shadow was born Kent Allard, a famed aviator. During World War I, Allard was both a flying ace and a spy who fought for the French, and known by the alias of The Black Eagle ("The Shadow's Shadow"), although later stories claim his alias was The Dark Eagle ("The Shadow Unmasks"). After the war, Allard sought a new challenge, and decided to wage war on criminals, rather that simply remain a pilot or return to the military (also revealed in "The Shadow Unmasks"). He faked a plane crash and Allard's death in the South American tropical jungles. He then returned to the United States, arriving in New York City and adopting numerous identities to cloak his return. South America South America is a continent crossed by the equator, with most of its area in the Southern Hemisphere. ... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ...

One of these was Lamont Cranston, "wealthy young man about town." In fact, Cranston was a separate character; Allard frequently disguised himself as Cranston and adopted his identity (see the stories "The Shadow Laughs" and "The Shadow Unmasks"). While Cranston traveled the world, Allard assumed his identity in New York. In their first meeting, with Allard/The Shadow in bed recovering from wounds, he threatens Cranston, saying that he has arranged to switch signatures on various documents and other means that will allow him to take over the Lamont Cranston identity entirely unless Cranston agrees to allow Allard to impersonate him when he is abroad. Cranston agrees. The two men sometimes meet in order to impersonate each other (see Crime over Miami). Apparently, the disguise worked well because Allard and Cranston bore something of a resemblance to each other (see "Dictator of Crime.")

His other disguises, utilized for undercover work, include businessman Henry Arnaud, elderly gentleman Isaac Twambley, and Fritz, a doddering old janitor who works at Police Headquarters in order to listen in on conversations.

For the first half of The Shadow's run in the pulps, The Shadow's past and identity were ambiguous, supposedly a deliberate move on Walter Gibson's part. There were numerous hints throughout the early pulps, long before Gibson created The Shadow's Kent Allard identity, that The Shadow was hideously disfigured. In The Living Shadow, a thug claims to have seen The Shadow, and thought he saw "a piece of white that looked like a bandage" when he tried to see The Shadow's face. In "The Black Master" and "The Shadow's Shadow," the villains both managed to see The Shadow's true face, and they both remarked that The Shadow was a man of many faces with no face of his own. It was not until the August 1937 issue of The Shadow, "The Shadow Unmasks," that The Shadow's true identity of Kent Allard was revealed.

The Shadow had an entire network of agents who helped him in his fight against crime. These included:

• Harry Vincent, his most trusted associate whose life he saved when Vincent wanted to commit suicide in the first Shadow pulp;
• Moe Shrevnitz, a cab driver who doubled as his chauffeur;
• Margo Lane, a wealthy socialite;
• Clyde Burke, newspaper man;
• Burbank, a radio operator who maintained contact between The Shadow and his agents.
• Cliff Marsland, a wrongly-convicted ex-con who is able to infiltrate criminal gangs due to his crooked reputation
• Dr. Rupert Sayre, The Shadow's personal physician
• Jerich Druke, a giant, immensely-strong African-American
• Slade Farrow, who worked with The Shadow to rehabilitate criminals, and one of the few who knows The Shadow's true identity.
• Miles Crofton, who sometimes piloted The Shadow's autogyro
• Rutledge Mann, a stock-broker who would collect information
• Claude Fellows, the only agent of The Shadow to ever be killed in the pulps (he died in "Gangdom's Doom")
• Myra Reldon, a female operative who preceded Margo Lane. In stories set in Chinatow, she would adopt the alias of Ming Dwan.

Though initially wanted by the police, The Shadow also worked with them and through them, notably gleaning information from his many chats with Commissioners Ralph Weston and Wainright Barth at the Cobalt Club (unlike the movie, Barth and Cranston were not related in the pulps). Weston believed that Cranston was a rich playboy who dabbled in detective work. Another police contact was Detective Joe Cardona, who was active in many Shadow books, and a capable officer. Harry Vincent is a character in The Shadow stories. ... Margo Lane is a character in The Shadow stories. ...

The Shadow also faced a wide variety of enemies, ranging from crime kingpins and mad scientists to international spies and super-villains, many of which were predecessors to the rogues galleries of numerous super-heroes. Among the Shadow's few recurring foes were Shiwan Khan, The Voodoo Master, The Prince of Evil, The Wasp, Diamond Bert Farwell (who appeared in the first Shadow pulp), and The Hand (a confederation of five criminal masterminds). Some of the numerous one-shot villains The Shadow fought included The Red Envoy, The Death Giver, Gray Fist, The Black Dragon, Silver Skull, Malmordo, The Red Blot, The Black Falcon, The Cobra, Zemba, Levautour, The Black Master, Five-face, and The Gray Ghost. The Shadow also battled collectives of criminals, such as The Silent Seven, The Brothers of Doom, and The Hydra. While The Shadow would often kill underlings and henchmen, it was common throughout the pulps for the main villains to be killed either by the police or by the story's proxy hero (usually a young man, occasionally a woman, who was victimized by the villain in some way, or merely caught in the middle of a scheme. In many pulps, the action would revolve around the proxy hero, with The Shadow himself operating in the background.)

The radio series limited the cast to The Shadow and Margo Lane (created specifically for the radio series), because it was believed that the abundance of male agents would make it difficult to distinguish between characters.^[1] The Allard backstory was also dropped for simplicity's sake. The Shadow was only Lamont Cranston, and he had no other aliases or disguises. Clyde Burke and Moe Shrevnitz (known only as "Shreevy" in the radio series) made occasional appearances, but were not agents of The Shadow. Shreevy was merely an acquaintance of Cranston and Lane.

Radio program

The Shadow was long believed to have debuted on radio as a program in its own right September 26, 1937, on the Mutual Broadcasting System. But the character actually premiered in September 1931, on CBS, as part of the hour-long The Blue Coal Radio Revue (named for the show's sponsor), featuring Frank Readick -- the "Shadow" announcer of Detective Stories -- as The Shadow, and playing Sundays at 5:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. The stories also appeared on Thursday nights for a month, when Love Story Drama (another Street and Smith creation) took the Thursday night slot -- but also featured occasional portrayals of The Shadow. is the 269th day of the year (270th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Mutual Broadcasting System (1934 - 1999) was a radio network based in the USA. The ancestor of Mutual was the Quality Network, founded in 1929 with four radio stations: WLS in Chicago, WOR in New York City, WLW in Cincinnati, and WXYZ in Detroit. ... Year 1931 (MCMXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1931 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the broadcast network. ...

Blue Coal had a long relationship with the Shadow, moving the radio series to NBC in October 1932 with Readick playing the character on Wednesday nights now. Two years later, NBC ran the stories on Mondays and Wednesdays, both at 6:30 p.m., with LaCurto taking occasional turns as the title character. Three years later came the beginning of the half-hour drama radio buffs have remembered so well, with the then-unknown Orson Welles as The Shadow, the show moving to Mutual, and the famous catch phrase now in full play accompanied by the strains of an excerpt from Opus 31 of the Camille Saint-Saëns classical composition, "Le Rouet d'Omphale". This article is about the television network. ... Year 1932 (MCMXXXII) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link will display full 1932 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article includes a list of works cited or a list of external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ... Charles Camille Saint-Saëns () (9 October 1835 – 16 December 1921) was a French composer, organist, conductor, and pianist, known especially for his orchestral works The Carnival of the Animals, Danse Macabre, and Symphony No. ...

Welles did not speak that signature line -- Readick did, using a water glass next to his mouth for the echo effect. But Welles did make a credible Shadow, two years before his notoriety as the mastermind of Mercury Theatre on the Air's production of War of the Worlds. The Mercury Theatre was a theatre company founded in New York City by Orson Welles and John Houseman. ... For other uses, see The War of the Worlds (disambiguation). ...

After Welles left the role for a career in the cinema, The Shadow was portrayed by such actors as Bill Johnstone, Bret Morrison (the longest tenure, with ten years in two separate runs), John Archer, and Steve Courtleigh as Lamont Cranston/The Shadow. The radio show also introduced female characters into the Shadow's realm, most notably Margot Lane (played by Agnes Moorehead among others) as Cranston's love interest and crime-solving partner (the character was eventually integrated into Gibson's pulp novels). Lane was described as Cranston's "friend and companion" in later episodes, although the exact nature of their relationship was left unclear. In the 1994 movie, Margot's name was spelled "Margo." However, early scripts of the radio show clearly show that the character's name was spelled "Margot". Bret Morrison (1911 or 1912 -- 1974) was an actor best known as the voice of The Shadow, old-time radios mysterious crusader for law and order. ... John Richard Archer (8 June 1863—July, 1932) was a British race and political activist. ... Agnes Robertson Moorehead (December 6, 1900 – April 30, 1994) was an Oscar-nominated American character actress. ...

Once The Shadow joined Mutual as a half-hour series, it did not leave Sunday evenings radio until December 26, 1954, outlasting the magazine that gave birth to it: The Shadow Magazine ended with the summer 1949 issue, although Gibson wrote three new "official" stories between 1963 and 1980. Gibson started off a short series of updated Shadow novels for Belmont with Return of the Shadow under his own name, followed by The Shadow Strikes, Beware Shadow, Cry Shadow, The Shadow's Revenge, Mark of The Shadow, Shadow Go Mad, Night of The Shadow, and Destination: Moon. The Shadow had mental powers in these books, to cloud men's minds so he effectively became invisible, to conquer pain, etc. is the 360th day of the year (361st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1954 (MCMLIV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1949 (MCMXLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1963 (MCMLXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar). ...

Comic books

Cover to The Shadow #1, November 1973. Art by Michael Kaluta.

The Shadow has been depicted in comic books several times: Image File history File links TheShadowComic01. ... Image File history File links TheShadowComic01. ... For other uses, see November (disambiguation). ... For the song by James Blunt, see 1973 (song). ...

• A comic strip by Vernon Greene in 1938.

• Street & Smith published their own comic line for awhile and this included a Shadow Comic that lasted 101 issues between 1940-1948.

• The next comic was the short-lived comic put out by Archie Comics under their Mighty Comics line. At first, the Shadow depicted was loosely based on the radio version (but with blonde hair), but in the third issue was turned into a camp superhero by Jerry Siegel.

• The most acclaimed depiction was the 1970s Shadow comic written by Dennis O'Neil and initially drawn by Michael Wm. Kaluta (issues 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6), published by DC Comics. Of interest to pulp fans is issue 11, which guest-starred another pulp-fiction character The Avenger.

• The Shadow also appeared in the DC Comics' Batman #253, published in November 1973. In it, Batman teams up with an aging Shadow and reveals that the Shadow was his "greatest inspiration." A year later, in December 1974, Batman again teams up with the Shadow, and it is shown how the Shadow saved Bruce Wayne's life as a boy.

• In the late 1980s, another DC reincarnation was created by Howard Chaykin, Andy Helfer, Bill Sienkiewicz, and Kyle Baker, in a miniseries and sequel ongoing series. This version brought The Shadow to modern day New York. While initially successful, this version was not popular with "Shadow" traditionalists, because it depicted The Shadow using Uzi submachineguns and rocket launchers, as well as featuring a strong strain of black comedy throughout. It was canceled after an issue in which the Shadow's head was transplanted onto a robot body.

• In 1988 O'Neil and Kaluta (with inker Russ Heath) returned to the Shadow with the Marvel Graphic Novel "Hitler's Astrologer" set in 1941.

• From 1989 to 1992, DC published a new series, The Shadow Strikes, by Gerard Jones and Eduardo Barreto. This series was set in the 1930s, and returned The Shadow to his pulp origins. The series featured The Shadow's first team-up with Doc Savage, another popular pulp hero. The stories in this series 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 11 of The Shadow Strikes, the Shadow even teams up with 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 town where the Martians land in Welles's 1938 radio broadcast of The War of the Worlds.)

• Dark Horse Comics published two mini-series based on The Shadow character: "In the Coils of Leviathan" (spanning 4 books) published in 1993 and collected with a new Kaluta Cover in October, 1994, and "Hell's Heat Wave" (spanning 3 books) published in 1995. These series were written by Joel Goss and Michael Wm Kaluta and drawn by Gary Gianni, covers by Kaluta on "... Coils..." and Gianni on "... Heat Wave". A stand-alone collection of Shadow Short Comic Book Stories was published in 1994 as "The Shadow and the Mysterious Three", again written by Joel Goss and Michael Wm Kaluta with Stan (Manoukian) and Vince (Roucher) taking over the drawing chores over Kaluta's layouts. Stan and Vince, best known for their French Album Comic Series " Vortex", also did the cover. A two-issue adaptation of the 1994 movie, The Shadow, was adapted from the script by Goss and Kaluta and drawn by Kaluta from cover to cover. Dark Horse also published another team-up between The Shadow and Doc Savage in 1995, Covers by Dave Stevens.

Vernon Greene was a cartoonist known for illustrating various comic strips and comic books. ... Year 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Street & Smith book department in 1906 Street & Smith composing room circa 1905-1910 Street & Smith bindery in 1910 Street & Smith or Street & Smith Publications, Inc. ... Archie Comics is an American comic book publisher known for its many series featuring the fictional teenage Archie Andrews, Betty Cooper, Veronica Lodge, Reggie Mantle and Forsythe Jughead Jones characters created by Bob Montana. ... Mighty Comics Group, sometimes referred to as Archie Adventure Series and Radio Comics, refer to the attempt(s) by Archie Comics to revamp and publish superhero (and non-Archie) comics in the mid-1960s. ... Jerome Jerry Siegel a. ... The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, also called The Seventies. ... Dennis Denny ONeil is a comic book writer and editor, principally for Marvel Comics and DC Comics in the 1970s, 80s, and 90s, and Group Editor for the Batman family of books until his retirement. ... Michael William Kaluta, or Mike Kaluta, (born August 25, 1947) is an American comic book artist. ... DC Comics is an American comic book and related media company. ... This article refers to the fictional character. ... Howard Victor Chaykin (born 1950 in Newark, New Jersey) is an American comic book writer and artist famous for his innovative storytelling and sometimes controversial material. ... Bill Sienkiewicz in Gijón, Spain. ... Kyle Baker (born 1965 in Queens, New York City, United States) is an American writer and illustrator of comic books as well as an animator. ... Gerard Jones is an American writer, born July 10, 1957 in Cut Bank, Montana, raised in Los Gatos and Gilroy, California. ... Eduardo Barreto is an artist who has worked in the comic book industry. ... Doc Savage is a fictional character, one of the most enduring pulp heroes of the 1930s and 1940s. ... “Einstein” redirects here. ... Amelia Mary Earhart (24 July 1897 – missing 2 July 1937, declared deceased 5 January 1939) was a noted American aviation pioneer, author and womens rights advocate. ... Charles Augustus Lindbergh (4 February 1902 – 26 August 1974), known as Lucky Lindy and The Lone Eagle, was an American pilot famous for the first solo, non-stop flight across the Atlantic, from Roosevelt Field, Long Island to Paris in 1927 in the Spirit of St. ... DAVE ACKERMAN HAS WOOLY SOCKSJohn Llewellyn Lewis (February 12, 1880 – June 11, 1969) was an American leader of organized labor who served as president of the United Mine Workers of America from 1920 to 1960. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Jake Greasy Thumb Guzik (May 20, 1886-February 21, 1956) was the financial and legal advisor, and later political “fixer”, for the Chicago Outfit. ... This article includes a list of works cited or a list of external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ... For other uses, see The War of the Worlds (disambiguation). ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Doc Savage is a fictional character, one of the most enduring pulp heroes of the 1930s and 1940s. ...

Films

The character has been adapted for film numerous times. This article is about motion pictures. ...

The Shadow Strikes (1937) & International Crime (1938)

The movie The Shadow Strikes was released in 1937, starring Rod Larocque in the title role. Larocque returned the following year in International Crime, although in this version "The Shadow" was merely a radio gimmick.

The Shadow (1940)

A serial produced by Columbia Studios starring Victor Jory premiered in 1940. The Black Tiger is a criminal mastermind who is sabotaging rail lines and factories across America, and Lamont Cranston must become his shadowy alter ego to uncover the fiend and halt his schemes. DVD front cover for The Adventures of Captain Marvel, one of the most celebrated serials for both Republic Pictures and of the sound era in general. ... Victor Jory (November 23, 1902 – February 12, 1982) was a Canadian actor. ...

The Shadow Returns (1946)

Low-budget motion picture studio Monogram produced a trio of films in 1946 starring Kane Richmond: The Shadow Returns, Behind the Mask and The Missing Lady. Richmond's Shadow, in fact, wore a black face-mask similar to the type worn by the serial hero The Masked Marvel. The Masked Marvel was a fictional superhero originally published by Centaur Publications. ...

The Shadow (1994)

Poster for The Shadow

Main article: The Shadow (1994 film)

In 1994, the Shadow was recast once again in a big-budget feature film, The Shadow, starring Alec Baldwin as Lamont Cranston/The Shadow and Penelope Ann Miller as Margo Lane. This time, Cranston was written as a disaffected veteran of World War I who drifted through Asia and ultimately became a brutal warlord and opium smuggler, until he was kidnapped by a Tibetan order of monks and brought to their monastery. A tulku, their leader, recognizing the power of harnessing Cranston's inner darkness, reformed and trained him to use that darkness against evil rather than for it. Cranston then learned how to confuse and control the minds of others, particularly how to become invisible except for his shadow. His nemesis in the film was an evil warlord and fellow telepath named Shiwan Khan, the last descendant of Genghis Khan, played by John Lone. Shiwan Khan is characterized by his witty remarks made toward the Shadow, such the odd conversation concerning a tie from Brooks Brothers and his response to being called a barbarian, "Thank you. We both are." Their struggle eventually ended when Cranston threw a mirror shard into Khan's head; surgery saved his life, but it removed a small but critical piece of the front lobe of his brain, and thus the source of his telepathic powers. Though the storyline provided a certain logic to the old radio hit's suggestion that Cranston learned his dark art in East Asia, the film was a box office bomb that never came close to launching the new franchise planned for it. Image File history File links Shadowpost. ... Image File history File links Shadowpost. ... The Shadow is a 1994 motion picture based on the character of the same name created by Walter B. Gibson in 1937. ... The Shadow is a 1994 motion picture based on the character of the same name created by Walter B. Gibson in 1937. ... Year 1994 (MCMXCIV) The year 1994 was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal by the United Nations. ... The Shadow is a 1994 motion picture based on the character of the same name created by Walter B. Gibson in 1937. ... Alexander Rae Alec Baldwin III (born April 3, 1958) is an Emmy- and Academy Award-nominated, and Golden Globe Award-winning, American actor. ... Penelope Ann Miller (January 13, 1964) is an American actress. ... Margo Lane is a character in The Shadow stories. ... “The Great War ” redirects here. ... For other uses, see Asia (disambiguation). ... A warlord is a person with power who has de facto military control of a subnational area due to armed forces loyal to the warlord and not to a central authority. ... This article is about the drug. ... This article is about historical/cultural Tibet. ... Monastery of St. ... In Tibetan Buddhism, a tulku is the reincarnation of a lama or other spiritually significant figure. ... For other uses, see Evil (disambiguation). ... Telepathy, from the Greek τῆλε, tele, remote; and πάθεια, patheia, to be effected by, describes the hypothetical transfer of information on thoughts or feelings between individuals by means other than the five classical senses. ... This article is about the person. ... John Lone (尊龍, pinyin: Zūn Lóng), (born October 13, 1952 as 吳國良) is an Asian American actor. ... Cleopatra is the biggest box-office bomb of all time. ... i eat poop alot A media franchise is an intellectual property involving the characters, setting, and trademarks of an original work of media (usually a work of fiction), such as a film, a work of literature, a television program, or a video game. ...

New Shadow Movie

On December 11, 2006, the website SuperHero Hype reported that director Sam Raimi and Michael Uslan will co-produce a new Shadow film for Columbia Pictures. Siavash Farahani will write the screenplay. Raimi tried (and failed) to gain the rights in the late 1980s, which resulted in his now-famous 1990 feature film, Darkman. December 11 is the 345th day of the year (346th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the American opera singer, see Samuel Ramey. ... Michael Uslan is the originator of the Batman movies and was the first professor to teach Comic Book Folklore at an accredited university. ... The Columbia Pictures logo from 1993 to the present Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. ... The 1980s refers to the years from 1980 to 1989. ... Year 1990 (MCMXC) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1990 Gregorian calendar). ... Darkman is a 1990 film film directed by Sam Raimi that was based on a short story he wrote and paying homage to Universal horror films of the 1930s. ...

TV Series

Two attempts were made to make a television series based on the character. The first in 1954 was called, obviously, The Shadow, starring Tom Helmore as Lamont Cranston. The second attempt in 1958 starring Richard Derr was called The Invisible Avenger, which compiled the first two unaired episodes and was released theatrically instead. This film was then re-released in 1962 as Bourbon Street Shadows, with additional footage meant to appeal to "adult" audiences. Year 1954 (MCMLIV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Richard Derr (born June 15, 1918 in Norristown, Pennsylvania; died May 8, 1992 in Santa Monica, California) was an American film and television actor. ... Year 1962 (MCMLXII) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Influence

• Some argue that The Shadow birthed much of the concept we have come to know as the modern superhero; such characters as Batman and The Green Hornet reference Lamont Cranston's alter ego. Both characters operated mostly by night, and the Green Hornet in particular operated outside the law, insinuating himself into criminal plots in order to put an end to the activities of master criminals. But whereas The Shadow carried a real gun, the Green Hornet carried only a lightweight pistol that fired non-lethal gas and, later (on a short-lived television version) a retractable electronic ultrasonic "sting" used mostly to cut through thick barriers. While Batman briefly carried a pistol in his first few years, he quickly abandoned the use of firearms altogether; his creators are alleged to have feared that giving the character a side arm would make him resemble the Shadow too greatly; many comic historians consider it more likely to have been the desire on the part of the publisher to tone down the violence used by the character in his early adventures. ^{[citation needed]}

• The Shadow later inspired another radio hit, The Whistler, whose protagonist likewise knew "many things, for I walk by night. I know many strange tales, many secrets hidden in the hearts of men and women who have stepped into the shadows. Yes, I know the nameless terrors of which they dare not speak," and whose calling card -- a short, almost macabre whistle -- was at least as familiar as The Shadow's famous opening line. Interestingly, former Shadow Bill Johnstone once portrayed the Whistler.

• In 1981, The Shadow became one of the acknowledged influences for V, the title character in V for Vendetta. ^{[citation needed]}

• Science fiction writer Philip José Farmer depicted the Shadow as part of his Wold Newton family of interrelated fictional characters.

• In the Sin City novella "Family Values" a crook says Dwight "thinks he's The Shadow" upon discovering his two .45 pistols.

• Batman: The Animated Series introduced a character called the Gray Ghost, in an episode called "Beware The Gray Ghost", who bore a striking resemblance to the Shadow. In the episode, Bruce Wayne is partly inspired by the Gray Ghost to form his own persona of the Batman. There was an issue of The Shadow pulp magazine titled "The Gray Ghost".

• The Disney cartoon character Darkwing Duck has many traits in common with the Shadow, such as a similar costume (wide-brimmed fedora, suit and cape), an overly dramatic entrance speech, and a secret identity by the name of Drake Mallard (perhaps a play on Kent Allard).

• The computer game "Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars" has a unit called "Shadow Team" dressed in black, with folding red wings, carrying two pistols and having stealth abilities.

• An analogue of The Shadow, the Green Hornet, and The Spider, also shows up in Warren Ellis' Planetary series as a member of Doc Brass' (Doc Savage) group of superheroes.

• In the video game Luminous Arc the character Mel, a young-looking Witch who has a soft spot for old comics, television shows and serials utters the line, "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? Master Mel knows! Hahahaha!"

• In Mad Magazine in the 1950s, The Shadow was spoofed as "The Shadow'" (the apostrophe because the name was short for "Lamont Shadowskeedeeboomboom"). In the story "Margo Pain" gets The Shadow' into predicaments--fights with gangsters, musical instruments (including a piano) dropped on him, etc. At the end of the story The Shadow' tricks Margo into going into an outhouse surrounded by dynamite--and, outside, he pushes the plunger down!

• Two regular criminal organizations in Marvel Comics, HYDRA and The Hand, share the same name as organizatons fought by The Shadow.

For other uses, see Superhero (disambiguation). ... Batman (originally referred to as the Bat-Man and still referred to at times as the Batman) is a DC Comics fictional superhero who first appeared in Detective Comics #27 in May 1939. ... The Green Hornet is a fictional crimefighter created to be the hero of an American radio program that ran on WXYZ (a local Detroit station), the Mutual Broadcasting System and the network known through its succession of various owners as NBC Blue, the Blue Network and the ABC Network from... Alter Ego has multiple meanings: Alter Ego is a game for the Commodore 64 computer. ... Ultrasound is sound with a frequency greater than the upper limit of human hearing, approximately 20 kilohertz. ... A side arm is a small personal weapon that is typically worn on the body in a holster in such a way to permit immediate access and use. ... The Whistler was one of radios most popular mystery dramas, with a 13-year run from May 16, 1942 until September 22, 1955. ... A protagonist is the main figure of a piece of literature or drama and has the main part or role. ... Year 1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link displays the 1981 Gregorian calendar). ... This article is about the comic book series. ... Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ... Philip José Farmer (born January 26, 1918) is an American author, principally known for his science fiction and fantasy novels and short stories. ... The Wold Newton family. ... The animated Batman shoots his grappling gun from a rooftop in a scene from the episode, On Leather Wings. ... Gray Ghost can refer to: Gray Ghost (Boat) the GG class vessel captained by Kevin Mansheim John Singleton Mosby, a Confederate cavalryman and partisan who fought during the American Civil War. ... Beware the Gray Ghost is an episode from Batman: the Animated Series. ... Darkwing Duck is an Emmy-nominated American animated television series produced by The Walt Disney Company that ran from 1991-1995 on both the syndicated programming block The Disney Afternoon and Saturday mornings on ABC. It featured an eponymous superhero anthropomorphic duck with the alter ego of Drake Mallard (voiced... Green Hornet has several meanings: The Green Hornet character, created by George W. Trendle. ... The Spider was the violent, relentless hero of a pulp magazine series produced by Popular Publications from 1933 to 1943. ... This article is about the comic book author. ... Planetary is an American comic book series created by Warren Ellis (writer) and John Cassaday (artist), published by the Wildstorm imprint of DC Comics. ... Luminous Arc(ルミナスアーク) is a strategy role-playing game from Marvelous for the Nintendo DS. Luminous Arc was released in Japan on February 8, 2007. ... Harvey Kurtzmans cover for the first issue of the comic book Mad Mad is an American humor magazine founded by publisher William Gaines and editor Harvey Kurtzman in 1952. ... Outhouse near Crabapple Lake, Washington, United States, with wafer board walls, and a fiberglass ceiling An outhouse, (also known as a privy, kybo, jakes or earth-closet) usually refers to a type of toilet in a small structure separate from the main building which does not have a flush or... Dynamite is an explosive based on the explosive potential of nitroglycerin, initially using diatomaceous earth (kieselguhr) as an adsorbent. ... This article is about the comic book company. ... Baron Strucker, retconned founder of HYDRA, wearing the HYDRA logo on his chest. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

See also

• List of The Shadow stories
• Condé Nast Publications - Owner of The Shadow intellectual property.

// A list of pulp magazine novels featuring The Shadow. ... Condé Nast Publications Inc is a worldwide magazine publishing company based in New York City. ...

Notes and references

External links

• The Shadow Podcast
• The Shadow Knows A 2-hour online documentary from the Dial B for Burbank blog.
• ThePulp.Net's The Shadow page
• The Shadow in The Internet Archive's Old-Time Radio Collection
• OTR-Reviews.com -- Download over 200 The Shadow MP3 Episodes
• Old Time Radio Fans.com -- ten episodes of The Shadow radio show [.mp3]
• The Living Shadow by Maxwell Grant. Complete text of first Shadow story at archive.org
• TheShadowFan.com -- The #1 source for all Shadow related items
• OldRadioWorld.com -- Download The Shadow Episodes in MP3 Format.
• The Shadow: Master of Darkness -- Information on The Shadow in pulps, radio, comics, movies, and memorabilia. Includes fan art, fan fiction, polls, tidbits, and more.
• The Shadow at the Internet Movie Database
• The Shadow in Review -- Reviews of the original Shadow stories, as well as "Two-Minute Mysteries", original short mysteries starring the Shadow
• The Shadow at the National Film and Sound Archive