The Shadowcast #14 - THE DEATH TOWER
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- Опубликовано: 5 окт 2021
- We continue our review of The Shadow pulps with the deathtrap-laden classic: THE DEATH TOWER, and review 'Walter B. Gibson and The Shadow', a biography of the Dark Avenger's mysterious creator!
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Thanks for doing this Razor. Hoping they re-release the pulps. I've been trying to hunt down the first 10 pulps. Wish sanctum books released them in order.
Agreed I myself missed out on a few that I really would have wanted to read and add to my own collection.
@@ghostwarrior3878 Cheapest place to find them is on eBay. Amazon's prices are super wonky on the Sanctum reprints.
I'm not even super interested in the shadow but it's still entertaining to listen and see how enthusiastic Mister Fist is about the subject.
First time listener I thought I recognized his voice.
@@thephoenixhasflown congrats
That part about Walter B. Gibson chronicling his life so diligently has given me a great idea about my own writing practice. I find when writing and setting the scene it's not always easy to imagine. However if you practice it in your own life by taking note of all that's around you, then writing that on the page for your story would become so much easier. Thank you razor for sharing that from that book and thank you for the shadowcast. I love every episode and may it grow more agents for our beloved hero.
Cool! Like a diary? I kinda do that. Always writing cool stuff that happens to me, or ideas I have. But nothing full length like a story, I should try that sometime.
We need to bring back Radio Plays
I'm a new Shadow "recruit" brought into the world of pulp and The Shadow by your vids.
LOVE your Shadow content, and I've been eagerly waiting on this new installment - keep 'em coming!!
Also, I purchased the first 3 pulp story reprints online (still awaiting delivery) but I've also been listening to the old radio show here on YT - is it just me or do those old radio episodes very Batman-esque?
Well, he's mentioned before that Batman very heavily "borrowed" from The Shadow
Shadow content? YEEESSSSS!
Watching your shadowcast vids makes me want to invest in the pulps. Thank you Razor. God Speed
Razorfist, I wanted to personally thank you for turning me on to The Shadow pulps and comics. I had always liked the look and concept of the character, as well as the visuals from the '94 movie. But I had no idea of the extensive history until I saw your videos on your main channel back in 2018. Since then, I've bought a bunch of the Sanctum reprints, The Shadow Strikes series, Death of Margo Lane, the Year One series and The Shadow: 1941. And damn man, you couldn't have been more right. This character has become one of favorite, if not my favorite, characters ever. Many nights have been spent not being able to put these books down before bed. I could go on and on, but I just wanted to say thanks again, man.
Aside from the Shadow, I'd like to also thank you for turning me to Elric and Solomon Kane. Got the recent graphics novels for Elric, the Fortress of the Pearl novel, and the Savage Tales of Solomon Kane novel. All awesome reads, and I would've never known without your recommendations. Keep up the stellar work, bro.
main reason why I got into pulps was that I wanted something to read that held my interest. I love novels and light novels, since you recommended pulps I started looking for ones I could read as a PDF. So far I found the whole Doc Savage series and have been going through those. I have listened to a few of the Shadow radio shows and have enjoyed them and your rendition of "Double Z" made me look for more pulp audio books. Maybe Sanctum would do so in the future or have already done so.
Razör, Thank you for introducing me to this whole world of The Shadow pulps I didn't even know about. I've been mostly listening to the radio show in podcast form while I've been at work, it's amazing.
Early into my deepdive into The Shadow, I asked my dad (both my parents are both alive, in their 60s) if he knew anything about The Shadow, and he dismissively had no idea what I was talking about. oh well, I guess. But a few weeks after that I halfheartedly asked my _mom_ if she had ever heard of The Shadow. She just looks and me, leans in, and goes *_"The Shadow knows..."_*
_She knew more about him han I did at that moment._ It felt like I was learning a secret Illuminati handshake or something! Now I'm listening to the same radio show SHE listened to when she was a kid. I keep forgetting my mother is the one with _taste,_ but I will never forget _that moment_ we shared. Thank you for that.
I'd love if you talked about the PSA/Ads they kept in the show, and how spooky/relevant they are today. *Specifically, At the end of "Dead Man's Ride"* there's this fantastic monologue by the narrator that starts with *"In it's highest meaning, American citizenship implies respect of the dignity of Man: Man the Individual [...]"* The whole thing is fantastic and really worth sharing! It's from the dang 40s and it's exactly what needs to be heard/said today. Spooky yet empowering and hopeful.
Other ads are about parents being involved in the education of their children and the awareness of the curriculum, maintaining the sanctity of the vote by being an informed voter, not driving when you're tired, and just being a 'good american' valuing individual freedoms. It's just so engaging hearing this near 100-year-old advice foreshadowing the future.
*(Bret Morrison is my favorite so far. The first time I heard the Orson Welles version I couldn't shake how much he sounded like The Brain. _'It's Margo and The Brain. It's Margo and The Brain. One is a genius, the others Miss Lane.'_ lol)
Finally! My favorite.
I have become TOTALLY addicted to the radio show episodes. I can't stop listening and I think I'm getting to a point where I just need to pick up some books!
YAAAS!! Definitely needed a throwback after the CRINGE-FEST Patterson "wrote".
Coming home to this is serendipitous.
Death traps are always fun, and the pulps having plenty is one of the reasons I love em
Great to see it back up
I loved the old fashioned radio plays, and listened to damn near all of them (years ago, don't remember much about each individually) with my dad. The shadow is a cool hero. I love the idea of telepathic invisibility and the weaknesses it can have, and I am enjoying the pulps a lot as it goes on.
Thing I like the most is that he's not going to pussy foot around giving justice. Pair him up with the Joker and the Joker would be dead in some ironic fashion. As you said in your pulp video "right is right, wrong is wrong", and having a hero who works to end the threat to innocents is pretty inspiring, especially as he helps the innocents along the way
I love how in the shadow/Batman (or Batman/the shadow, can’t remember.) shows the joker laughing, then the shadow out laughs him.
I need to see a comic or story, where the shadow kills joker. Or Atleast. Scares joker into staying away from him.
I like how the shadow is kind of this tollman. It’s like if you want to live as a criminal then you better be willing to survive a visit from the shadow I just really like that concept because more often than not he is the guy that will bring justice to the most hardened criminal.
At a garage sale, I bought a box set of shadow novels that are collections all I know is it was a Canadian release and was and this is in one of the books I cant wait to dig into that
So, you've got me covering ground on The Shadow. You got me covering Solomon Kane. You got me to cover Elric.
Are you going to do a Dive video on Lee Falks The Phantom, and Doc Savage, to help get people started on them?
I second this!
Hopefully second time is the charm. And it will still be a damn good night tonight.
Thank God for this! Anything to distract me from the sour taste of my team getting eliminated from further postseason play! And I can't think of anything better than a new installment of The Shadowcast -- thanks, Razor'!
The agent's death affected him enough to go after the mob of another city, he's one of those rare men that instead of sobbing get's the job done. Palermo definitely seems more diabolical; one thing is whacking somebody, but he went creepily far with the body just for fun, those oriental affectations of his sure went further than fashion... I remember the pulp mentions Burbank as the gyro pilot. Great story and episode. The Shadow is my type of escapism, is a world much like our own, with the difference that all criminals no matter their position have equal chances of getting what they deserve. One unrelated thing I'd like your thoughts on, Raz0r, I bought the first Conan bande dessinee and I must say is disappointing tbh, the disneyesque artwork of queen of the black coast is unfitting to say the least, and having read the pulps I found the adaptations kinda woke and omiting events from the original while making emphasis in unimportant stuff that's just implied, and a couple of obvious continuity errors. Is the second book better in adapting the real thing, or is like that too?
This is back when writers understood men of action. Just look at the reactions to losing a member of the team in Black Sunday vs Munich. In Munich they start doubting everything and getting in touch with their feelings, in Black Sunday it only hardens the main character's resolve.
Huge fan of the Shadow. Started when I was 8 when my grandfather got me the record 33 1/3 from the Coca Cola Christmas Giveaway. It got me hooked. Played the record of the radio program until it was worn out.
Greetings fellow agents, and nice to see another video, this'll be good that's for sure
I've just become interested in The Shadow after the recent pulp video.
These sound like good audiobook substitutes.
Inpired by Razor, I've been rereading my collection of Shadow pulps and acquiring new ones. I've been a fan since I was 11 when I bought Hitler's Astrologer at my local comic shop. Then I moved on to the superb Shadow Strikes DC series. So far I've amassed about 60 of the pulps, either in Nostalgia Ventures form or the Pyramid paperbacks. I'm looking forward to the Shadowcast on The Romanov Jewels. In my opinion some of the best Gibson stories involve The Shadow getting trapped and facing overwhelming odds. The Romanov Jewels features just such a situation.
I'm reading Quetzal at the moment. It is fantastic. Easily one of the most thrilling Gibson stories I've read so far. It open with the Shadow being attacked on a passenger plane by five assailants. The plane crashes in the Sonoran desert and it's nonstop action from there.
The Shadow resonates with me because I see stupidity in evil. The fact that a man does evil to benefit himself is a dumb idea that in the end, leave them with nothing. To me, serving others and living a fullfilling life is where intelligence lies. I love when the Shadow mocks those who think that they can get away with hurting others. He's the symbol of the potential in the human being to serve justice as a first, it's all the Shadow ever talks about. It's the redemption story that doesn't seek revenge for what was done to him, but seeks forgiveness for what he has done, is evil realizing how dumb it was and turning itself to serve good. Like Tulku said in the movie:
You know what evil lurks in the hearts of men, for you have seen that evil in your own heart. Every man pays a price for redemption; this is yours.
What I love about The Shadow is his look, his swift justice, the ability to cloud men's minds, the time period and I could go on. And to be honest over the past month I have learned a great deal more from your videos. Great Content! I do however think The Shadow could work in a modern re-telling or continuation because I'm convinced he is a force of dark justice that is beyond space and time. I believe a good name for a story could be THE SHADOW'S SHADOW, unless it has been used. Godspeed!
This pulp is an excellent read in my opinion. I did like that one chapter were he is an absolute ladies man. Also Razor, another fun fact about Ronald Reagan was that he was in a Movie with Margo Stevenson (Smashing the Money Ring), the woman that inspired Margo Lane. I personally believe that Ronald could have pulled it of if The Shadow movie was done in the 40s.
For some reason when you mention The Shadow being set for the time; which is something I completely agree with considering the social and economic situation, I can't help but to mentally jump to the next downturn and start drawing some comparisons to the likes of "Death wish" and "Dirty Harry".
The virgin Batman: retires due to the murder of Robin (The Dark Knight Returns)
The Chad Shadow: decides to dismantle the Chicago mob when his agent is murdered
These get better and better.
Been reading the Shadow's book since the 60's Good to see someone else loves the Great One !!!
First off, thank you for another great episode. I always enjoy these deep dives into the stories and how Walter B. Gibson molded The Shadow into the iconic character that he is. There are a couple of favorite Shadow stories of mine that I hope you will get to someday. I got hooked on the radio shows at a young age, then I got to reading old pulp issues (when I could find them) just in time for the 1994 film. I found the part in Gibson's life when his depressive state was turned around by Blackstone to be very heartwarming.
The other thing I wanted to mention was your video on Embracing The Pulps. A truly inspiring talk, not just about The Shadow, but other pulp heroes who remind us what heroic fantasy should look like. There are so many cool things about The Shadow, but the one thing that I always admire about The Shadow is his fearlessness. He laughs in the face of the most dangerous of villains and makes them fear not the law, but true justice. Too many comic-book heroes today seem to be all about woke politics and protecting certain people from the evils of American imperialism. The Shadow shows none of that. He will bring justice to anyone who tries to harm the innocent and/or destroy our country.
Man, Walter B. Gibson had a good circle of family and friends, really wish the late Robert E. Howard had a similar support group, would have been awesome to see a Shadow and Solomon Kane crossover where they are fighting against a psychotic cult.
Sad end to a great man.
I'd bet Solomon would think The Shadow used black magic and wondered if he was friends with N'longa or something. xD
Both are two of my favorite characters, but I really don't see Solomon working in the XX century, or The Shadow in the XVII century.
Do it like the Conan and Solomon Kane crossover, mysterious magical object brings both together and they work together to stop a bunch of batshit insane cultists. I want to see Solomon appreciate wielding double 1911s, then Shadow and Kane intimidation face off with both not backing down.
@@torshec8634 Yes, but The Shadow operates in a much different way and situations than Solomon and Conan.
@@heroesytumbas And that's where they'll be differentiate, methods and beliefs, always the thing with crossovers, you get to see both the similarities and differences of both men. I want to see the man who saw the what lurks in the hearts of men meet a puritan who has dedicated his life to fight against the Godless abominations and their servants. Good question of "Where does Evil come from?"
I can't really put my finger on when I started to become a fan of Pulps, it was a steady process, it kicked off when I read Conan, after it, it was my liking for more episodic narration of series instead of the "One gigantic epic split into 13 volumes where the end is just a goofy cliffhanger because Netflix wants you to watch them all in one go then flee responsibility when children miss school because of their way of telling stories". And then, two things happen, I read Frankenstein and Tarzan of the Ape, common point? In both case, I discover a side of those characters that I never saw in other versions, The Monster is a tragic being understanding the wrong of his own very existence, the other is a character torned into civilized nobility, and the in your face honesty of nature, far from the monosillabic "Monkes are our friends, goyz!" of his modern counterpart. And after that I told myself "Then what did we miss about other characters? Plus I really start to dig that Pulp stuff!"
And the rest was history.
I'd also like to ad that, even tho I clearly dig the "RazörFist app", the Shadowcast (wich I discoverde thanks for your Pulp video) is probably my favourite part of the "Razörverse". Yeah, it's funny to hear some acid jokes about Clinton, SJWs, Biden and such, but my favourite content of you is the one where you eloquently delve into those alleys made of Noir films, white hat two-fisted justice thirsty vigilante and tragic Eternal Champions.
Imma gonna just download this now before it gets Yeeted again. Backup the things you love.
Learned about the Dresden Files from a coworker when she lent me thr books. Introduced her to the long moonlight.
If I could write a comic book of The Shadow I would fill it up with all of these things the Batman creators swiped so when people start criticizing that I swiped Batman, I would send them a full dossier of proof showing who plagiarized whom.
You didn't turn me on to this stuff so much as turned me back onto it. I loved a lot of what Dynamite comics did at first )before turning to shit) with pulp revivals. Little quite topped Masks overalls, but the Shadow, Miss Fury, John Carter and Dejah Thoris, the Spider, the Avenger, Green Hornet and more were enthralling. I don't know what happened, but they fell off. Now I'm going back to the good stuff when I can.
look forward to more in the future
I learned about you six months ago and of this podcast through your recent pulp video. Wish i would have learned about this podcast two years ago so I could have started buying the pulp reprints. I've always been interested in The Shadow but never knew a good starting point until now. I recently got in The Living Shadow and loved it. Thank you, this is the heroic escapism I have been craving for years.
Other than him and Lester Dent collaborating to do the Avenger, did Gibson do any other team ups with other writers? I still think him and Mr A would be cool cos I don't know how the Shadow would think of him. Will there be a release date for your new book yet? Looking forward to it. Godspeed!
Walter Gibson collaborated with several people. Most notably, with Blackstone The Magician. Whom he turned into a magical crimefighting comic book and radio detective, not unlike The Shadow.
The editor has assured me the proofread copy will be done in 1-2 weeks. At that point, we'll be able to set a release date!
@@TheShadowcast Sweet. Hearing its more sword and sorcery sounds badass.
Razor thank you, for all the shadow content, man!
I feel lucky finding out about Shadowcast these last few months, after spending all this time being the only guy among my friends liking the Shadow, since I saw the Baldwin film as a kid.
George Clarendon has an active role in Doc Savage/Shadow novel : Sinister Shadow
FUCK YES! I was literally just about to bring the Shadowcast up, again, while I’m moving my trash to the front yard!
Main character from the Dresden Files is named in honor of blackstone and other magicians
Thanks as always Razor as a big fan of the shadow (thanks to you) these always end up making my day. I was really looking forward to this shadowcast this book + the silent seven and the black master I ended up marathoning back to back due to how much I enjoyed them
These really are fantastic.
It seems like every major institution - government, education, the media - is failing us. Part of me wishes that we had our own Shadow to help right the wrongs of today.
How soon can we expect another audio drama? Double Z was purest brilliance!
Best story
So this literally disappeared about 5 minutes ago while I was watching it
Honestly this might be just me but I'd like to see the comic publisher moonstone tackle their hand at the shadow considering they've done other characters the Domino lady and the spider.
And I personally own both series the five issue Domino lady series and the two issues of the spider the artwork is actually really good in the stories are pretty good
Reading The Death Tower now and it's detailed The Shadow and his agents are packing Automatic revolvers in the story. I presume Webley autos
With all the shadow comics I’m surprised Ive never seen the idea of the silent seven or the faithful fifty come back. Seems like you could get a good bit of mileage out of that kind of set up.
The (really, really bad) The Shadow/Batman crossover from a few years ago *allegedly* included The Silent Seven.
But it was clear from reading it that the author had not even read the pulp story. So he just sort of made it all up. Absolutely terrible.
@@TheShadowcast That sounds even fucking worse than it being forgotten.
I wonder if The Silent Seven and the Faithful Fifty were major inspirations for The Court of Owls and their Talons.
A 40 story building definitely qualifies as a tower,some early "skyscrapers" were only 8 stories tall 😂
Next shadow cast, 🪒👊 !!!
Well it stayed this time.
Gyro copters are cool. Simple as
Hey someone correct me if I’m wrong but the copyright for individual pulp novels sunsets after 95 years but ownership of the actual character is different. The individual novels will start hitting public domain in 2026 but Condé Nast will still own The Shadow character in perpetuity as long as they keep using him right?
I'm view #1776 lol Based. Hail Razor and Terran!
Call me crazy, but I actaully prefer this over his political rants. You can tell he actually enjoying himself and is deeply passionate about pulp. I am probably in the minorioty but I don't really care... God speed Razor!
Any recommendations on where to snag these books? Or is it sorta a crapshoot on ebay and the like lol
Wish I could find these books online
Try Bud's Art Books and Adventure House.
Didn't Doc Savage have an autogyro as well?
He did, yes
gray morality = ghey morality lol
Ronald Reagan as The Shadow...
Who knows, what evil lurks in the Heart of the DNC...Reagan Shadow knows!hahaha