The Return of the Pulps!
The Shadow is back in a new series of officially licensed, pulp-sized trade paperbacks. These re-print editions featuring unabridged text and the original illustrations are the result of a partnership between Sanctum Productions and Nostalgia Ventures. Each volume reprints two original stories from The Shadow Magazine as well as complementary articles. Volume six of the series features “The Shadow’s Justice” from April 15, 1933, and “The Broken Napoleons” from July 15, 1936.
“The Shadow’s Justice” is a tale straight out of 1930’s crime noir thrillers. A wealthy, but dying old man named Houston Bostwick has arranged for his estate to either go to his son, Carter, who is returning home after a ten year absence, or to his ne’er-do-well nephew Drew Westling, should anything happen to Carter. Just one catch, the bulk of Bostwick’s money has been carefully hidden and he’s left clues for his son or nephew to find it, if they are worthy. Westling has gotten himself into debt with a racketeer named Hub Rowley. Hub intends to make sure that Carter never makes it home and the money passes to Westling, whom he intends to extort as much of the wealth as he can. He sends one of his men down to Cuba to hire local thugs to kill Carter before he can get on the ship home. Only the timely intervention of the Shadow, with the twin .45’s blazing, saves Carter.
The action moves from Cuba, to New York, and finally to rural Wisconsin, as Carter uses a note from his now deceased father to track down the clues and the hidden wealth. But Hub Rowley and his men are not far behind and they don’t intend to give up either. It is one of the Shadow’s agents, Harry Vincent that really has the starring role in this story as he meets Carter in Wisconsin and accompanies him on his quest. Vincent was introduced in the very first Shadow story, “The Living Shadow” in 1931. The Shadow’s appearances are brief and deadly as he pops up long enough to blast assorted goons with his guns before disappearing into the night. In this early tale he does make use of master of disguise skills, appearing as one of the Cuban thugs that he had killed the night before.
The story is briskly paced with loads of lead flying throughout the tale. There’s lots of intrigue although some of it was predictable (although some was quite surprising). All in all a solid Shadow story.
“The Broken Napoleon’s” showed that the Shadow wasn’t just about killing criminals but also about trying to rehabilitate them and make them useful members of society. A former criminal, Curt Sturley, is recruited back into a life of crime by Butch Drongo, a crime boss who wants the engineer’s help in pulling off a bank job. Sturley agrees when Drongo gives him a Napoleon gold coin, broken in half. Sturley wants to know the source of these “broken Napoleons” and learns of a man nicknamed, “The Vulture.” When Drongo is quickly killed, Sturley becomes the new boss but the Shadow has other plans for Sturley!
This story relies much more on intrigue and mystery than the first story. Why is Sturley so determined to find the source of the half coins? Who is the Vulture? What are his plans? The story abounds with characters with great hood nicknames like Knuckler, Sneak, and Deek. The dialog, particularly between these hoods is truly fascinating, almost as if they are speaking in another language with their terminology and slag. Less action than in “The Shadow’s Justice” but still an enjoyable tale.
These pulp reprints are extremely well-produced with great care taken to reprint both the stories and the artwork to look as good as the day they were first published over 70 years ago. On top of that…they are a LOT cheaper than trying to buy the originals as you get two stories for a mere $12.95, a fantastic deal! Be sure to check out the Nostalgia Town website at www.nostalgiatown.com for this and all the rest of their fantastic pulp reprints. Their great site not only feature the pulp reprints but collections of old time radio shows and TV shows on CD and DVD. This is a fantastic site for pop culture nostalgia buffs!
