 | #023 "The Shadow's Shadow"
Vol. 4, No. 5 Published: 02/01/33 Submitted: 07/15/32 under the same title Author: Walter Gibson Review date: Jul 13, 2001 |
THE SHADOW'S SHADOW was originally published in the February 1, 1933 issue of The Shadow Magazine. Felix Zubian, is the man who styles himself The Shadow's shadow. Zubian is a thick, square-set man of military appearance. Shoulders erect, his right hand holds a long, thick cane straight beside him. Zubian is a crook of international repute, who has known The Shadow during World War I.
During the War, The Shadow was an aviator in the air forces of the United States. He was called The Black Eagle, because of his penchant for flying at night. He was shot down and became a secret agent within the enemy lines. He located and mapped an enemy air base, escaping at the last moment in a plane of the German air squadron, flying in safety back to the American lines.
With the war over, Zubian knows that The Black Eagle is still alive and has taken on a new identity as The Shadow. He seeks vengeance upon The Shadow because of the difficulties he afforded Zubian in the past. And he also knows that The Shadow must be removed in order for the success of a series of jewel robberies planned by Douglas Carleton.
Douglas Carleton is a tall, handsome man, immaculately attired in perfectly fitting evening clothes. He is one of the most popular young clubmen in New York. He was wealthy in his own right, and is now planning massive crime, with Felix Zubian as his cohort.
Yes, The Shadow must be eliminated. Zubian knows that in order to do that, he must first find out who The Shadow is. To accomplish that, he masterminds the abduction of Harry Vincent and Rutledge Mann. He figures they'll tell him who The Shadow is.
He literally becomes The Shadow's shadow, as he secretly follows Lamont Cranston, and later Henry Arnaud. How will The Shadow maintain his secrets? How will he thwart Felix Zubian and Douglas Carleton? Can Rutledge Mann be rescued from the hideous Chinese torture before the timer releases the huge guillotine blade? Whew!
This story makes reference to the radio show hosted by The Shadow, commenting on how millions of people were held spellbound by his awesome tones. It also refers to the "horror face" of The Shadow. Although it's not described, Zubian gets a full view of The Shadow's true face at the climax of the story, and is so horrified that he falters in his deadly pistol shot. It also refers to a previous adventure wherein a raid was pulled on the Bolsheviks in Moscow and a mob went after the Russian crown jewels. The Shadow thwarted that plot.
A couple points of interest. I've seen reference to the keys that The Shadow carries. Apparently, he carries enough skeleton keys to open just about any door, or so it's been said in other stories. But this story indicates that they are black in color. I've never seen that mentioned before; I always assumed they were normal metal colored keys.
And then there's the girasol ring. The Shadow wears it, but I've never run across a situation where he openly wears it while in the disguise of Lamont Cranston. In this story, he does!
In this story, many of the familiar characters appear. Detective Joe Cardona, Rutledge Mann, Harry Vincent, Lamont Cranston, and Henry Arnaud all have major roles. Burbank, Cliff Marsland and Clyde Burke appear in minor parts.