 | #004 "The Red Menace"
Vol. 1, No. 4 Published: 11/01/31 Submitted: 04/17/31 as "The Shadow and the Reds" Author: Walter Gibson Review date: Aug 16, 2002 |
THE RED MENACE was originally published in the November 1931 issue of The Shadow Magazine. As you might suspect, "Red" refers to the communists. The Russian royalty had been overthrown in 1917 and the communists had taken control of the country. In this story, the Czarists are the good guys and the communists are the bad guys. And the worst of them all is the Red Envoy, a sinister figure who hides his hands within thin red silk gloves and wears a crimson mask that covers the upper half of his face.
It's the return of Berchik, the messenger of the late Prince Samanov, whom we met in the second Shadow novel EYES OF THE SHADOW. In that story, he was empowered to give all his master's wealth away. And he did so. But communist agents now want to capture him, torture him, and wrest from him the name of the man who received the jewels. Also returning from that story is Bruce Duncan, the man with the jewels. He returns to aid The Shadow defeat the powers of the Red Envoy.
The plot of this story is two-fold. Communist agents under the control of the Red Envoy are out to get Price Zuvor, who has escaped Russia with all his wealth and now lives in New York. They are also out to get the secret plans for an aerial torpedo being designed by Professor Arthur Whitburn in his secret laboratory on Death Island. Only The Shadow can thwart the evil plans and defeat the Red Envoy!
This story was only the fourth Shadow novel ever published. And as such, much of The Shadow mythos had yet to be created by author Walter Gibson. But we again meet Claude H. Fellows, the insurance broker and contact man for The Shadow. Fellows is doomed to die in the next story, GANGDOM'S DOOM. This is the last story in which he survives as an agent of The Shadow.
We also meet again Harry Vincent, the agent who was first introduced in the opening pages of the very first Shadow novel. Harry is not yet the accomplished agent that he will become in future novels. But it's in this story that he meets his one true love, Arlette DeLand. Before he had met The Shadow, Harry had been in love; but the girl whom he adored had married another man. Since then he had been woman-proof. Or so he thought until he met Arlette. They fall in love, even though she's an agent of the Red Envoy. She saves his life; he saves hers. And at the story's end, she leaves him because she's not worthy. But she promises to return. Unfortunately, Walter Gibson never wrote that story.
This story shows us the office of B Jonas again. The Shadow uses the curtained room as a temporary sanctum, as he sits beneath a shaded light and goes over information received from Claude Fellows. Part of the time, he writes his thoughts down in pencil, not the more familiar pen with the disappearing ink. But other times, he pulls out the fountain pen and writes in ink that slowly fades as it encounters the air.
It's interesting to note that The Shadow is ambidexterous. When he writes his thoughts on paper, he starts writing with his left hand. Then switches to his right. He alternates hands, writing much more quickly that way. It's something I don't think I've seen mentioned before.
In this story, The Shadow controls the powers of hypnosis. He puts one man in a trance and forces him to write a complete confession of his misdeeds. Even when The Shadow has left the room, the man completes the series of hypnotic commands given to him by The Shadow.
Also seen here is the method of communicating secret messages by means of emphasized words. Words over the phone or over radio station WNX. A few words, stressed at intervals, could carry complete instructions. Harry Vincent receives messages from Claude Fellows and The Shadow in this manner.
We meet Lamont Cranston in this story, but here he's described as young and energetic. Not the middle-aged and somewhat lethargic millionaire we later come to know. He wears the famous girasol ring; the fire opal with a secret in the base. The stone springs back upon a hinge, revealing, in the base of the ring, a gold surface upon which is engraved a seven-pointed star. This is the symbol of the Seventh Star, a secret order of Royalist Russia. At some point in his past, The Shadow has been a member of the group whose members numbered only the most trusted nobles of the czarist regime. Oh yes, The Shadow's amazing linguistic abilities are shown off here, as he speaks flawless Russian.
Another first, is the appearance of "The Devil's Whisper." This is the strange substance that The Shadow rubs on his thumb and third finger. When he snaps his fingers, there is a flash of bright flame and a sharp explosion. He uses it twice in this story. The first time, it produces a flash of light, a puff of smoke and a hissing noise. The second time is produces the more familiar flame and explosion. As mentioned in previous reviews, this substance really does exist, and Walter Gibson's knowledge of it comes from his magical background. It fits well into the Shadow's arsenal.
The only familiar characters in this story are Lamont Cranston, Harry Vincent, Claude Fellows, Burbank and secret-service agent Vic Marquette. Joe Cardona or Commissioner Weston do not appear, nor do any of The Shadow's other agents. But as mentioned previously, this was an early story and things were still coming together.