The Shadow Double-Novel Pulp Reprints #47: 'The Living Shadow' & 'The Black Hush'

Before we get to the actual stories, there's a two-page essay, 'In the Beginning' by Anthony Tollin which gives us some information about how The Shadow got his start.

'The Living Shadow' was the first written The Shadow story. It appeared in the 'The Shadow: a Detective Magazine' in 1931. The cover, by Modest Stein, depicts an ominous-looking Chinese man casting a shadow. This review is for the copy that appears in The Shadow Double-Novel Pulp Reprints #47: 'The Living Shadow' & 'The Black Hush'. According to Will Murray, whose 'Interlude' is between the two stories, this is the first reprint of 'The Living Shadow' as it originally appeared. All other reprints are based on the 1934 hardcover reprint, which had been revised and updated. Please keep that in mind if something I note here is different in your copy. (It's been decades since I've read my Bantam paperback with the cover that has The Shadow grinning like a homicidal maniac while both of his guns are blazing, so I don't recall any differences.)

The story is told in third-person, from several viewpoints, the better to keep The Shadow mysterious. 'The Shadow' is what young Harry Vincent decides to call the stranger who prevents him from committing suicide. In return for his life, Harry gets to swear absolute obedience to his savior and gets a new job. (I'm too cynical and suspicious to swear absolute obedience to anyone, so that part of The Shadow's recruitment methods puts me off.) Harry is sent to a nice room in a nice hotel, the Metrolite, and given instructions over the phone. The instructions are meant to seem innocuous to eavesdroppers, but Harry knows how to interpret them. His assignment is to watch the man in the next room. What seems pretty dull at first leads to a noteworthy night and a switch in rooms for Harry. How sad for a man named Steve Cronin that Harry accidentally finds (and keeps) what Cronin was looking for.

Harry nearly gets killed in New York City's Chinatown, but his next assignment in Long Island seems quieter. Sure, Harry is supposed to be getting information about the murder of millionaire Geoffrey Laidlow, but there's no reason to believe the killer is hanging around.

NOTES:

Chapter II. Although the story uses the term 'Negro,' which was politically correct in 1931, I suppose readers of the period would find it odd if the black chauffeur hadn't been addressed as 'Boy' in dialog. The man's dialect errs in having him call Harry 'you-all,' because that's a plural term.

Chapter VII. Here Harry meets another agent of The Shadow, insurance broker Claude H. Fellows. Mr. Fellows had given his boss the same name in his own mind. Besides giving Harry instructions, Fellows explains what happened when he tried to find out about Jonas, a man with an office in Twenty-Third Street, to whom Mr. Fellows had been instructed to send a letter.

Chapter VII: The token Wu Sun, Wang Foo's old friend in California, sends with his messengers is called the token of Hoang-Ho.

Chapter XVI: $600 in 1931 is worth $9,576.67 in 2020, according to dollartimes.com.

Chapter XVIII: The building where Fellows drops off messages for 'B.Jonas' is described. We also learn how Fellows became one of The Shadow's agents.

Chapter XXIV: The Shadow makes use of Radio Station WNX.

Chapter XXVIII: Look here for methods crooks have used to try to find out who The Shadow is when he's at WNX.

The Shadow's first outing in print is full of action, color, and mystery. While I guessed a few things ahead of time, there were several surprises. Readers will have to put up with some of the racist language of the time, but otherwise it's easy to see why the first issue sold out. Poor Harry Vincent is lucky he doesn't wind up in the hospital or dead. There's a thrilling and deadly car chase. One never knows when someone will turn out to be The Shadow in disguise. Luckily for us, coded messages from The Shadow get translated. Love the way The Shadow gets around. If I were a crook, he'd certainly make me nervous!

The only thing lacking for me in this story is Margo Lane. I do recommend it for mystery lovers.

After this story there's a short biography of Walter B. Gibson, 'The Man Who Cast The Shadow'.

'Interlude' by Will Murray: Here we learn that the cover for "The Living Shadow" was re-used from a 1919 issue of 'The Thrill Book'. Hey, it had a shadow, right? (Walter Gibson was still writing the story when he was told to have a Chinese angle in it.) Mr. Murray also talks about where the pen name "Maxwell Grant" came from. Because I'm a fan of Wizard detective Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden, I was interested to learn that one of the magicians Gibson knew was Harry Blackstone. Old fans of The Shadow probably know much of what Gibson had to say about how he came to write The Shadow and influences that shaped the character, but I didn't. We also learn that the second story for this reprint volume was chosen because 'Black Hush' sported the George Rozen cover that is probably the most reprinted image of The Shadow. Although Mr. Murray doesn't state which issue of "American Heritage" used that cover, I have it. It was the volume 44, issue 4, July/August 1993 issue. (Pages 37-49 contain 'My Life In Crime: a personal overview of American mystery fiction' by Lawrence Block. Gibson/Grant isn't on his list of the best American mystery writers.)
Enjoy the information about the contest with clues as to attributes of The Shadow, not all of which were used in the stories.

The Black Hush was the 35th of The Shadow adventures to be published in 'The Shadow Magazine'. I'm reading it in THE SHADOW #47 reprint by Sanctum Books, which paired it with the first adventure, The Living Shadow. (According to 'Interlude' by Will Murray in that reprint, this story was chosen for its cover by George Rosen.) One way to tell how popular The Shadow had become is to note the number of illustrations. 'The Living Shadow' has only one, even if it does take up the top halves of two pages. 'Black Hush' has one that's full page, three that are almost full page, one half-page, and three bust portraits, one each for the principal villains.

Regular supporting character Detective Joe Cardona of the New York City Police is on the premises for our opening crime. He doesn't prevent it, but he does come up with a theory. The Shadow doesn't think he's correct. (Neither did I.)

The Black Hush causes all electrical items to fail and the sound level to be reduced. If this were a horror story, I'd be suspecting ghosts. Because this is a non-paranormal mystery, there will be a more rational explanation. We get to know who many of the persons behind the Black Hush are while The Shadow and his agents (Clyde Burke the reporter, Burbank the hidden contact, Rutledge Mann the investment broker, and Harry Vincent the man of action) have to work it out. Clyde gets to share Harry's 'designated damsel in distress substitute' role in this one. Even so, Harry has the worst time. At least he gets to be brave in the face of deadly threats.

How The Shadow foils the various attempted crimes after the first one is mighty fine action, but a couple of scenes will not be good for readers with a terror of falling. (If you, too, saw the first 'The Incredibles' movie, you might hear Edna Mode's voice declaring, 'No capes!' as The Shadow's cloak gets blown about in one of them.)

Note: In chapter XXII, Harry is referred to as a 'bimbo'. If, as I was, you think of 'bimbo' as slang for rather stupid and/or promiscuous woman, you might be as surprised as I was to learn that it was originally slang for a man.

I loved the way The Shadow took out the last two villains. I also hang my head in shame for not figuring out one of the secrets before it was revealed. This adventure would make a good movie if handled correctly.

If you're interested in reading The Shadow adventures or like pulp fiction in general, you should enjoy this reprint. ( )