I had previously written about The Shadow Strikes! story as published by Belmont Books. You can read that article here. In this article I will dive into the character of The Shadow as presented in The Shadow Strikes!
Let me say at the very beginning that I consider the Belmont Books Shadow series to be a different iteration of The Shadow and not as a continuation of the stories from the pulp magazines. I don't say that to diminish these stories because they are interesting and entertaining. However, The Shadow in these stories is quite different than the ones from the pulps and the radio. While there are many similarities, there are also major differences.
The Shadow in the Belmont Books is a man of mystery. He wears the black cloak, the black slouch hat, and the girasol ring. His footwear is described as "...Oriental slippers, designed for the needs of judo and karate..." (page 67). These Oriental slippers allow The Shadow to make no sound as he walks. The Shadow also carries a .45 automatic and keeps a ring of skeleton keys hidden in the folds of his cloak. The Shadow's cloak, hat and ring are "folded into amazingly small size and hidden in their secret places within the clothes" of Lamont Cranston (page 12).
A major difference about this Shadow is that he has to wear the cloak, hat, and ring to become The Shadow. For it is only when he wears these items that he has the full powers and abilities of The Shadow!
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| From page 13 of The Shadow Strikes! |
The Shadow is described as having great muscular control, physical strength, agility, balance and hearing. He has knowledge of many languages (pages 30, 59). He had studied in the Orient with several masters. From the great Chen T'a Tze he learned the ability to cloud men's minds so as not to see him and to hypnotize them (but can only do so when wearing the cloak, hat and ring). Master Chen T'a Tze had also taught him the art of shallow breathing, allowing him to slow down his breathing. The Shadow has "remarkable recuperative powers" and knowledge of Oriental medicine that allows him to quickly recover from physical injury.
Additionally, in the Orient, The Shadow learned "the secret of bearing pain to the point of actually not feeling any but the most intense and sudden pain. It had been the most difficult of the mysteries of Chen T'a Tze for The Shadow to master" (page 82). The Shadow is also able to put himself into a trance-like state of suspended animation that makes him appear as if he had died. Not much information is provided about Chen T'a Tze other than he was a great Master who had trained Lamont Cranston in many ancient mysteries.
Some of the descriptions of The Shadow hearken back to the pulp magazine. His face is not seen but his glowing, burning eyes can be. The Shadow gives his sometimes mocking and sometimes triumphant laugh which chills the blood of the bad guys. The Shadow is also a master of disguise, and in this story he disguises himself as explorer Kent Allard and Phineas Twambley (a disguised used in several of his pulp magazine adventures). The Shadow uses a couple of his well known catch phrases: "The weed of crime bears bitter fruit" (page 112) and "The Shadow knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men" (page 127).
The Shadow's primary alter-ego is Lamont Cranston. As Cranston, he is wealthy socialite business man, amateur criminologist, and close friend of NY Police Commissioner Weston. In the book Cranston is described as having hawklike features, long fingers, and greying blond hair. He has a private office in a Park Avenue building which also doubles as his secret base of operations. Cranston also owns a town house with a private garage. He is a wine connoisseur and has financed Kent Allard's expeditions. This Lamont Cranston seems to be an amalgamation of the Cranston from the pulps and radio show!
Kent Allard is the other alter-ego used by The Shadow. There is a real Kent Allard who is an explorer and adventurer, so The Shadow assumes his identity. To become Kent Allard, The Shadow uses a sophisticated disguise (pages 102-103)! He uses a special dye to darken his hair and combs his hair straight back with no part. If he has time, he will grow a mustache or use a fake mustache if in a hurry. He injects a small wax-like fluid into the skin of his nose to change it from the hawklike nose of Cranston and into the thicker nose of Allard. He uses his great muscle control to change his facial expression to that of Allard's and to walk slightly hunched over as Allard does due to the years of carrying heavy packs on his expeditions. Finally, when disguised as Allard, The Shadow walks with a limp as the real Allard does as a result of a tiger attack while exploring the High Himalayas. This is a clever reversal from the pulp magazines! In the pulps, The Shadow is really Kent Allard but uses Lamont Cranston's identity.
The Shadow of the Belmont Books series is an interesting character that retains some of the qualities found in the pulps and the radio show. However, you can see there's a lot of differences as well. In my opinion, this Shadow was in direct competition with the likes of James Bond and other spies that were popular in the movies and on TV when this series was published. While I enjoyed reading this book I found myself missing the classic Shadow character from Walter B. Gibson's works. I plan on reading the entire Belmont Shadow series and writing about them here on the blog. I hope you found this article informative and entertaining!
