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April 26, 2007
Pulp Review: The Living Shadow
Ahhh, The Shadow. The king of pulp heroes as far as I'm concerned. He wasn't the first, but he's my favorite, and for many years he was the number one best seller. Walter Gibson, writing under the name Maxwell Grant (so the publishers could replace him as needed), wrote hundreds of Shadow novels, at times writing two 60k+ word novels a MONTH. That's impressive. No, they're not great literature (whatever that means), but they're often great fun and have some wonderful imagination and plot twists.
This is the very first Shadow story, which came before the radio serial made the phrase "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?" world famous. Strangely enough, the Shadow character actually originated as a kind of weird promotional stunt on the radio, with messages from the mysterious Shadow to his agents going out in code. The publishers, Street & Smith, decided to put out some stories explaining who this Shadow was and tapped Gibson to write them. The Living Shadow shows signs of this awkward beginning, as Gibson at one point works the radio messages into the story as the Shadow uses the radio broadcast to get an urgent message to one of his agents. I'm not sure if the message as written in the book ever went out on the air, but it would be super cool if it did. In the actual reading of the tale, it's a little ham fisted, especially compared to the other, more subtle ways The Shadow communicates with his agents in other scenes, but knowing the history of how the story got written in the first place, it's cool to see the multi-media crossover in action. One can easily imagine how such crossovers might work in the modern media environment with podcasts and Web sites and videogames.
The story itself jumps into things with the Shadow being already established as a mysterious crime fighter with agents all over New York City and beyond. We begin with the famous opening sequence where the Shadow "saves" the destitute and depressed Harry Vincent from committing suicide by jumping off a bridge. Harry, grateful for a new lease on life and a new purpose becomes on of The Shadow's agents and is immediately set to the task of spying on a hotel guest who seems to be involved in something fishy. Gibson handles Harry's baptism into detective work well, as he sort of bumbles along without guidence at first but eventually gets the hang of it as the mystery unfolds (and the bodies pile up). Harry serves as both agent and damsel in distress, and The Shadow has to save him from certain death several times, but he also provides valuable help on the case.
So let's talk about The Shadow. He's only in a handful of scenes on his own, and he remains quite a mystery throughout. In this first book there's no mention of the Lamont Cranston alter-ego or any hint as to where he comes from or why he's so devoted to fighting crime. He does have a tremendous talent for hiding in the shadows, but there's no indication that this is a supernatural ability (that was added later for the radio shows). Mostly we just see his long, slender, and incredibly strong hands at work, whether it be bending iron bars or carefully (and literally) putting clues together. The Shadow's greatest ability, besides his strength and speed and intellect, is his ability to disguise himself to perfection. We see him in a half dozen or so different guises, each one totally different in height, build, accent, and even ethnicity. He even passes himself off as a Chinese man's cousin, fooling the family member for several days. And in the end it is this skill at disguise and trickery that wins the day. I loved the twists and turns this book took in the last couple chapters, and I was honstly surprised on several occasions, and laughed out loud with pleasure at one of the revelations.
It's not a perfectly written and constructed book, but it is a perfect start. I can see how Gibson's tale attracted a following that kept him in a fever of writing for over a decade. The Living Shadow is a great place to start and definitely an inspiration to a would-be pulpeteer like me.
Next time we go to The Shadow's contemporary and, in many ways, polar opposite, Doc Savage. And after that, the monstrous French murderer and precursor to Hannibal Lecter, Fantomas!
Posted by rdakan at April 26, 2007 11:27 AM
Comments
Hey, I thoroughly enjoyed your disassembly of Hitchens' new book on Pharyngula and came over here to thank you for it. Pulp reviews and stuff about comics... I may have to hang out and read awhile! Thanks!
Posted by: RedMolly at May 1, 2007 12:03 PM
Thanks RedMolly! Please, stop by often - always nice to have new visitors. I've posted a little more about Hitchens here too, although I repeat some of what I say on Pharyngula...
Posted by: Rick Dakan at May 1, 2007 01:56 PM