Being a Shadow Fan in the 21st Century

[James Trimm]

Being a fan of the Shadow is made kid of interesting by the fact that the Shadow was once hugely popular in almost every media that existed at the time, but failed to make the jump to television and virtually disapeared.

One way this impacts the Shadow is that as a character he remained trapped in the 30's and 40's. However "trapped" has negative nuances which are not fitting here, the Shadow was rescued from being dragged from age to age as other characters have been. BatMan (modeled after the Shadow) likewise created in the 30's and 40's was dragged through the 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's 90's and into the 21st Century, with all of his stories happening "now" whenever "now" happens to be. The Shadow however (with few, failed, exceptions) remains where he belongs, in the 1930's and 40's.

Another unique thing about Shadow fandom is that we are part of a small subculture, many today have never even heard of the Shadow, or may know it largely through the '94 movie. We have all the advantages of a small subculture, and yet all of the advantages of a major fan base, because the Shadow was once HUGE. Once upon a time EVERYONE knew who the Shadow was... so we have hundreds of novels, radio shows, dozens of comic books, etc. It took years of a huge fan base to generate over 200 Star Trek novels, yet here we are with a subculture that has nearly 300 novels available (just over 300 if we count Lynds and the novelizaion of the movie).

[Joseph Booth]

The assessment of a subculture is right on the mark, and that is what I love about being a fan of The Shadow. The nature of a subculture lends itself to the concept of a network of agents loyal to their "master", in our case The Shadow. Just like Walter B. Gibson wrote. I feel more a part of something when it is of a smaller stature than that of, say, Star Wars or Star Trek (and I have been a Trek fan even longer than a Shadow fan). Even the trendy Twilight series. As much as I would love to see weekly episodes on television, I like the fact that I am part of a "shadowy" group who shares a great secret.
Bringing the man in black into the 21st century is a mistake, as evidenced by the misguided Chaykin mini series for DC and the subsequent Helfer/Sienkiewicz/Baker series showed. We see what they have done to Batman and Superman and so many of the heroes of our youth. To update him would be disastrous.

[Burt Barnard]

I agree with the subculture assessment. I do worry that without an infusion from a new movie, our subculture will eventually die out. With a new movie would come more new readers, collectibles etc. and would re-energize the subculture. I worry about this with my other fandom, Indiana Jones. Without another movie, I can see that die off in a few years.
I am really grateful for Anthony Tollin and his reprints. They have definitely has brought some new life (and readers) into Shadow fandom.

[Melvin Creston Williams]

The Shadow is unique. It is this very uniqueness (as with Sherlock Holmes) That keeps him emerging from the shadows from time to time. He may not be always 'visible', but, he is always with us. His "clones" are many, but, The original will never be truly forgotten. The Shadow knows! heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh......

[Melvin Creston Williams]

The small "subculture" is not quite so small as one might think. Shadow fans are scattered throughout the internet, indeed throughout much of the world. The Shadow knows!

[Larry Feldman]

"To update him would be disastrous"

I'm not a big fan of the Helfer/Sienkiewicz/Baker series myself, particularly the silliness towards the end, but that doesn't mean that The Shadow could never be successfully updated. It would be have to be done by a good writer who really understood his nuances. I always felt that Sherlock Holmes could not be updated, but look at the success of the BBC Sherlock series, which is acclaimed by many traditional Sherlockians and Holmesians. If its to be done, it needs to be done right.

Having said that, The Shadow does seem to be linked to the New York City of the 1930s and 1940s, and it is difficult for me to imagine him anywhere or anytime else. Hs Gibson ever written a story with The Shadow in a different city? If so, I haven't come across it yet.

The difficulty with Shadow adaptions, is that its difficult to separate The Shadow of the pulps with The Shadow of the radio, and a blending, to some extent or another, always results, frustrating us pulp fans. Also, no one seems to really be able to depict The Shadow's shadow-blending ablility except Gibson. Even reasonable good comic book adaptions, like the Denny O'Neill and the later Gerard Jones versions, failed to accomplish this. I wrote a letter to Gerard Jones about this during that series, and he confessed he could not think of a way to depict this ability affectively in the medium. Personally, I wouldn't think it would be THAT difficult, but maybe ther is some technical aspect that I don't understand.

[Melvin Creston Williams]

Updating The Shadow would be definitely difficult as he is a creature of Depression Era America. As far as stories in different cities, there are many, as well as stories in different countries. It is possible to make an adaptation of the pulp novels without radio influence, they just need to do an early Shadow tale. But, no one has tried. To date no one has attempted to be faithful to the source material.

[Melvin Creston Williams]

Alas, Gibson's novels have not been taken seriously by the media, especially, the movies.

[Larry Feldman]

Yes, this is my point. Since the general public is more familiar with the radio Shadow than the pulp novels (the the "Who knows..." aphorisms, Lamont Cranston, Margo Lane, clouding men's minds) it would take a film maker of uncommon courage to make a Shadow movie without these elements. It's possible, but I just don't think its realistic to expect it. Who would fund the project?

[Burt Barnard]

I love both the pulps and the radio series. So I would not mind a mixture. I actually like the 1994 movie, which did try and blend the two Shadows. Although, I would like one more towards the pulp Shadow, with perhaps a few elements for the radio fans. Like having Margo as just one of the agents, and having Lamont Cranston as just one of his alter egos. I think someone could do it.

[Melvin Creston Williams]

Yes, it might work if they could make in a way that makes sense.
In the 1994 film for example;
Why were a big scarf if you can change your face?
Why wear an elaborate costume if you can become invisible?
Why carry weapons if your can master telekinesis?
How can New York city officials fail to notice an unlicensed pneumatic tube array on miles of buildings?