History Radio / TheShadow

* AndKnowingIsHalfTheBattle: The show sometimes offered in-character advice on how to properly operate and maintain a coal-burning furnace after an episode was over. This rather shamelessly combined this with ProductPlacement, as the program's sponsor was a coal company.

* ElectronicTelepathy: In the radio show, Lamont frequently instructs Margo to keep "the shortwave radio" tuned to a specific frequency--presumably this is his telepathic "distress beacon."

* BadassInDistress: A lot of early episodes of the radio show, too, most dramatically in "[[Recap/TheShadowRadioS01E18 The Society of the Living Dead]]", where he was trapped in a mausoleum quickly filling up with water, with only a dead man and a nearly-dead man for company. Only the timely arrival of the police saved him.

''The weed of crime...bares bitter fruit''.

----

It is an adaptation of the wildly popular pulp fiction series, ''Literature/TheShadow'', which premiered in 1931. This popularity led to a radio series in 1937, initially starring young up-and-comer Creator/OrsonWelles. While the general format of the magazine series--a do-goofing ProtoSuperhero went about by night, fighting crime, while posing during the day as a RichIdiotWithNoDayJob--was retained, the stories were greatly altered to fit the format of a half-hour radio drama. Lamont Cranston, one of the Shadow's many aliases, was made his SecretIdentity. The army of agents was replaced with "constant companion" Margo Lane, who became The Shadow's loyal sidekick, GirlFriday, and ''possibly'' girlfriend, although this was left deliberately ambiguous. Most famously, the Shadow was not merely a MasterOfDisguise who was good at hiding in the dark, but could actually become [[PerceptionFilter invisible]] by clouding people's minds!

This popularity led to a Shadow radio series in 1937, initially starring Creator/OrsonWelles. The stories were greatly altered to fit the format of a half-hour radio drama. Lamont Cranston, one of the Shadow's many aliases, was made his SecretIdentity. The army of agents was replaced with "constant companion" Margo Lane. And most famously, the Shadow was not merely a MasterOfDisguise who was good at hiding in the dark, but could actually become [[PerceptionFilter invisible]] by clouding people's minds!

For the ComicBook series, see ''ComicBook/TheShadow''. Not to be confused with the FairyTale "Literature/TheShadow" by Creator/HansChristianAndersen.

* ZombieApocalypse: One happens in Dynamite #24 and #25, caused by the BigBad of the two-parter.

The Shadow began in 1930 as the host/narrator of a RadioDrama anthology series, introducing stories adapted from the Street & Smith PulpMagazine ''Detective Story Magazine.'' Announcer Frank Readick buried himself in the role, chilling the airwaves with his haunting laughter. Intrigued, magazine buyers began asking for "that Shadow magazine." Not ones to pass up a profit opportunity, Street & Smith commissioned magician turned writer Walter Gibson to create the first story for their new magazine starring and named for the mysterious Shadow.

First published in April 1931, and continuing for 325 novels, ''The Shadow Magazine'' was hugely influential in the creation of other pulp heroes, and eventually the ComicBook [[ProtoSuperhero superheroes]]. The pulp Shadow, although established as the same person as the radio announcer in the first issue, was a [[TheChessmaster Chessmaster]] who used a small army of agents and informants to [[BatmanGambit manipulate]] both [[GambitPileup criminals and the police]], until the final confrontation, when he would take a direct hand.

* MeaningfulName:
** Ms. Jean Harsh is a harsh criminal. No points for subtlety.
** In ''The Romanoff Jewels'', [[spoiler:Frederick Froman]] is one. [[spoiler:He picked the name "Frederick O. Froman", due to "F.O. Froman" being a SignificantAnagram / SdrawkcabName for "Romanoff" -- he was actually a scion of the Imperial family.]]

** The pulps Shadow had something similar: The Shadow had deliberately lost himself in the jungles of South America long before becoming The Shadow, where he ended up being the "white god" for a native tribe, the Xinca. He learned the language, and eventually brought two Xinca back with him as servants once he resumed his true identity of Kent Allard.
*** The show "The White God" from the 1937 Goodrich summer season is inspired from this story.

** In the original pulps, the mooks are terrified because the ungodly terror that can blend in with the shadows is shooting them full of holes and laughing like a madman while doing it. That is, when he's not [[ParanoiaFuel doing it to them in the guise of just about anyone...]]

** The Pulp Shadow had a number of these as well: Cranston, Isaac Twombley, Henry Arnaud, Fritz the janitor at NYPD headquarters, "Monk" Thurman... the pulp Shadow was such a MasterOfDisguise that he could pass for anyone within reason.

* PoliceAreUseless:
** The police in the Shadow radio dramas are almost hilariously bad at their jobs when they're not being racist Irish stereotypes or dirty cops. Commissioner Weston, the head honcho, almost never listens to Lamont and Margo's ideas even when it's obvious that Lamont's been right in his "cuckoo theories" time and time again. He never figures out the "how" or "why" of the crimes unless Lamont indirectly or directly helps him, and he's always arresting the wrong people until the very end of the story. In fact, without the Shadow, Weston probably couldn't catch anyone.
** Somewhat averted in the pulps, where the police, while they can't hold a candle to the Shadow, are usually at least minimally competent (especially Joe Cardona), and Weston, though often befuddled, at least realizes and appreciates when Cranston hands him a good idea.
* ProtoSuperhero:
** One of the most influential of the era, to such an extent that both Batman's creator and ''Batman himself'' (in an in-Verse crossover story) acknowledge The Shadow as their inspiration.
** Though there was [[https://theshadowstrikes.tumblr.com/post/151112760466/the-shadow-the-ridiculous-archie-comic-series a weird period in the 1960s]] where the Shadow was presented as a full-on superhero, cape, mask, pirate boots, and all.

* PunchClockHero: Harry Vincent starts out as one in the pulps -- the entire reason he joins on with The Shadow as an agent was out of gratitude for The Shadow saving him from suicide, as well as being set up in a cushy apartment. At first, fighting the good fight against crime doesn't factor into the picture.
* PunchClockVillain: David Tholbin in ''The Romanoff Jewels'' counts as one. He's joining in with Froman and the Czarists solely for two reasons -- for [[MoneyDearBoy an astronomical amount of money]] and a chance to court Betty Waddell. [[spoiler:It doesn't keep karma from catching up to him.]]

* RealLifeWritesThePlot: The very first Shadow novel, ''The Living Shadow'', originally had no Chinese characters involved. However, Street and Smith, trying to get the first issue published as soon as possible (to capitalize on the popularity of the radio character) but also hoping to contain any possible damage should ''The Shadow Magazine'' be a failure out of the gate, recycled a cover from a 1919 issue of their detective stories magazine. This showed a Chinese man cowering from a menacing shadow. Walter Gibson, once he was aware of the intended cover, quickly rewrote his story to include a Chinese connection.
* ResurrectedForAJob: Downplayed. The Shadow can't bring people fully back to life, but he can keep them from crossing over for a short while, usually long enough to get information or, in one case, land a plane.

** On the radio show, Lamont Cranston, amateur criminologist, "wealthy man-about-town". In the pulps, there was a ''real'' Lamont Cranston, whose identity the Shadow had borrowed while the man was out of the country on an extended tour. This caused a bit of a problem when the real Cranston suddenly returned. In later stories, the real Cranston sometimes assisted the Shadow in pulling off a "two places at the same time" gambit.

* RoguesGallery: The Shadow usually faced a lot of one-shot villains who always got killed off at the end of the adventure where they were featured. However, he did manage to get a gallery of recurring enemies, especially once he branched out into comic books (including several mini-series across different publishers and even crossovers with the likes of Franchise/{{Batman}}).
** The most notable recurring foe that the Shadow had in the pulps was [[EvilCounterpart Shiwan Khan]], who made a total of four appearances there and also made a number of appearances in the comic books and was the main villain in [[Film/TheShadow the 1994 film]]. Others who made multiple appearances in the pulps were [[SinisterMinister Voodoo Master]] (three), The Prince of Evil (three), The Wasp (two), "Diamond" Bert Farwell (two), Isaac Coffran (two), Steve Cronin (four, two times acting as TheDragon to Farwell and Coffran, respectively), and King Kauger (two, one as the story's unseen mastermind). The Shadow also fought the criminal organization known as the Hand (no, not [[ComicBook/{{Daredevil}} that]] Hand), with him defeat one of the group's five "Fingers" across different stories, and another collective called the Silent Seven, a conspiracy of underworld criminals which sought to control a violent crime wave in New York City.
** Among the one-shot villains in the pulps, we have Gray Ghost, Blue-Face, Five-Face, Zemba, Gray Fist, Silver Skull, Red Envoy, Red Blot, Dr. Z, the Blur, and the Cobra, plus a host of others.
* SavedToEnslave: At least some of the Shadow's agents are persons whose lives he saved.
* ScarfOfAsskicking: The Shadow's red scarf is probably his most iconic visual element. The film gives Alec Baldwin a prosthetic nose every time he dons it so the Shadow's gigantic beak pokes out over it.
* ScoobyDooHoax: Innsmouth was supposedly founded by a cult of Deep One worshipers, who mated with the locals and made them rich. [[spoiler:In fact, they're submarine-using smugglers dressed up as Deep Ones.]]

* SecretIdentityIdentity: Lamont Cranston in most other adaptations, although it only comes into play when he returns from his journeys abroad.
* TheShadowKnows: Despite being the TropeNamer, the trope (which is about literal shadows) doesn't appear in the series.

* ShroudedInMyth: The Shadow has this reputation in-universe. His true identity in the pulps is Kent Allard. But there's a body inside the plane that Kent Allard crashed in...

* StealthExpert: The pulp version didn't have invisibility, instead being a master of disguise and able to hide in shadows.

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: In the sixth Shadow novel, ''The Death Tower'', a DirtyCop tries to launch an APB for the Shadow after the Shadow eludes his trap. The next chapter immediately begins with the cop's superiors rescinding his order, as they point out the Shadow's ''only'' physical descriptors are wearing a black hat and cloak. Not only is this vague, but it could lead to many cases of MistakenIdentity of normal people who happen to be wearing the same clothes. They also remind him that plenty of other criminals have claimed to be the Shadow before, meaning they're not even sure if the man the cop fought was even the real Shadow to begin with.
* ThisIsMyNameOnForeign: In ''The Shadow 1941: Hitler's Astrologer'' graphic novel, the Nazi officer Col. Friedrich Wolff is revealed to be a renegade Russian army officer named Ivan Fedorovich Volko.
* TwoFistedTales: The Shadow was one of the great pulp characters.
* UnscrupulousHero: The Shadow has no problem gunning down criminals (or worse, like arranging for them to be institutionalized and lobotomized), intimidating people he saved into being his informants, or even defrauding and impersonating a rich man to keep up the "rich playboy" act. This was used less frequently in the radio versions of the stories but criminals still often met their ends here.

* YellowPeril:
** Shiwan Khan, one of the Shadow's recurring villains, as well as a number of one-shot villains.
** Subverted as well. The pulp Shadow has Asian allies.
** On at least two episodes of the radio show, the "obvious" Chinese villain turned out to not be the episode's killer (though in both cases he was guilty of other crimes). In one of those episodes, "Bones of the Dragon", Cranston is in Chinatown visiting friends.
** Subverted in the very first pulp: [[spoiler:the Chinese villain turned out to be a white man in disguise.]]
** This was done actually exceedingly sparingly in the pulp novels when compared to other pulps of the time. John Nanovic, the editor for ''The Shadow Magazine'' throughout the bulk of its run, did not want "ethnic" villains in the hopes of expanding the magazine's readership and so discouraged Gibson from employing such villains unless there was a story or plot reason.

* AnimalAssassin: Appears in "Garden of Death"; not surprising since it was a staple of the pulps.
* ArbitrarySkepticism:
** In "The Shadow over Innsmouth", the Shadow initially expresses disbelief about fish-men and ancient gods. Margo reminds him that they've seen strange things before.
** Justified in the radio show, because he considers his powers entirely scientific and easily reproducible by anyone willing to put in the effort, so he looked at the supernatural with a jaded eye.
* AxeCrazy: [[spoiler:Doctor Foster in "The Nursery Rhyme Murders." He kills people based on Nursery Rhymes]]
* BadassInDistress:
** The Shadow himself, briefly, in ''The Romanoff Jewels''. Also briefly in ''Green Eyes''.
** Surprisingly, this happened not infrequently in his pulp outings.
** A lot of early episodes of the radio show, too, most dramatically in "[[Recap/TheShadowRadioS01E18 The Society of the Living Dead]]", where he was trapped in a mausoleum quickly filling up with water, with only a dead man and a nearly-dead man for company. Only the timely arrival of the police saved him.

* CacophonyCoverUp: In ''Gangdom's Doom'', gangsters set up a fake riveting crew on a skyscraper under construction to cover up the sound of machine guns being fired at street level.

%%* TheChessmaster: The Pulp Shadow.
* CoatHatMask: One of the earlier examples of this trope.

* CrossOver: ''The Shadow Over Innsmouth'' is... [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin a crossover with]] ''Literature/TheShadowOverInnsmouth''.
* TheCowl: The Shadow represents a darker take on hero work and works, well, in the shadows.
* DarkIsNotEvil: Author Walter B. Gibson designed him to be a hero with villainous characteristics.
* DirtyCommunists: Mostly averted in the novel ''The Romanoff Jewels'', as one group of villains (the ones that the Shadow was originally chasing) were actually Czarist. The other villains, while Bolshevik, are acting not so much on political principles as much as good, old-fashioned ass-covering (the Bolshevik baddie was a man charged with guarding the titular jewels, and wants them back solely to avoid the... unpleasant... results of failure, and is not picky about who he has to kill or torture to get them). Their ruthlessness, however, would put them in this camp, if Communism had anything substantially to do with the plot.

* DisneyVillainDeath:
** The Voodoo Master has one, retroactively, in his first appearance. He was supposed to die, but Gibson, the editors, and more importantly, the readers loved Dr. Rodil Mocquino so much that Gibson retconned his death just so he could face off against the Shadow again.
** This is the fate of [[spoiler:the Light]].
* DoomyDoomsOfDoom: Over a dozen of the pulps had "doom" in the title. "Bells of Doom", "The Golden Doom", "[[RhymesOnADime Room of Doom]]"...
* DuelingMessiahs: The Shadow vs The Light. Both think they are fighting the good fight, but they have their differences: The Shadow knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men and judges them not by their thoughts or desires but only when they put that evil into action. The Light seeks to purge all who have tainted souls, even if they are innocent of actual wrongdoing.

* EvilCounterpart: "Revenge of the Shadow" featured a man who had learned the same trick of hypnotic invisibility, now trying to pass himself off as the real Shadow.

* GenreRoulette: The pulps could have The Shadow in one story going after gangsters, the next fighting cackling [[MadScientist mad scientists]], then quasi-mystical descendants of Genghis Khan. It was that sort of title.

* GoodIsNotNice: Although completely good, the pulp Shadow frightens his own agents and demands unquestioning obedience. The effect of this on the agents is explored in the DC comic series.

* GunsAkimbo: The pulp Shadow's weapons of choice were twin Colt 1911s.

* IShouldWriteABookAboutThis: The final page of "The Shadow over Innsmouth" has Creator/HPLovecraft make a comment:
-->'''Lovecraft:''' A shadow? In Innsmouth? I like that.

* JokerImmunity:
** Completely averted. Whether he kills them directly (the pulps) or tricked them into killing themselves (radio show), the Shadow never ''lets'' his enemies live. If the villain survives to the end of the story, he's coming back for a sequel in which he will be killed.
** Played straight at least for Rodil Moquino, the Voodoo Master. In two of his three clashes with The Shadow, he seemingly dies, but is back for another round. The Shadow makes sure he's dead the third time.
** The Japanese agent in "The Fire of Creation" appears to escape, leaving the Shadow with the load of worthless rocks ([[spoiler:actually uranium]]) before UsefulNotes/WorldWarII breaks out. The comic's epilogue shows him enjoying life in Hiroshima a few years later, then there's a really bright light in the sky...

* MasterOfDisguise: The pulp Shadow had several identities, including the one usually considered his alter ego, Lamont Cranston. Cranston was a real person, and the Shadow could fool people who knew Lamont, with something like LatexPerfection.

* PerceptionFilter: In the radio series. Notably, the Shadow achieved this by "clouding men's minds," and so did not have to worry about many of the usual problems with this power. Although he did have to avoid cameras, and sometimes more exotic methods of exposing him were used.

** A lot of early episodes of the radio show, too, most dramatically in "The Society of the Living Dead", where he was trapped in a mausoleum quickly filling up with water, with only a dead man and a nearly-dead man for company. Only the timely arrival of the police saved him.

** In DC's Neil\Kaluta comics he also had "The Shadow never fails!"

* {{Invisibility}}: The Shadow's primary superpower. Nominally, it was just a side effect of his great skill at hypnotism- he was just "clouding men's minds" so they wouldn't notice him, and he could use hypnosis for other things, too. But some adaptations (particularly the later seasons of the radio series) prefer to have him only use the invisibility. In the pulps, he had no powers at all, merely very high skill at stealth and disguise.

Not to be confused with the FairyTale "Literature/TheShadow" by Creator/HansChristianAndersen.

* AccompliceByInaction: In Dynamite #23, the Shadow calls out [[spoiler:the White Tiger]] for being so focused on his own survival that he turns a blind eye to the suffering of others.
* AntiHero
** The Shadow of the radio series is a LighterAndSofter version of this, at least during Orson Welles' tenure. He was much more moral overall and never directly killed anyone, but still often manipulated villains into killing each other or themselves. Once Welles left the role, however, later actors played him as a straight-up hero.
** The Shadow of the Creator/DynamiteComics (written by Garth Ennis, of course) is recast as a full-blown SociopathicHero; UsefulNotes/WorldWarI spy Kent Allard floated into UsefulNotes/{{Shanghai}} one day and used his skills to become an opium kingpin, only to be abducted by Buddhist monks who specialized in turning the foulest of villains into forces for justice; he then killed every ranked criminal in the city and used their resources to re-invent himself in New York as RichIdiotWithNoDayJob Lamont Cranston. This version of the Shadow is an AxCrazy LaughingMad ''psychopath'' who kills for the sheer ''joy'' of it, and makes no pretense of heroism; by killing evil-doers he at least has the pretense that SmitingEvilFeelsGood. Hell, his motivation throughout "The Fire of Creation"(which takes place in [[UsefulNotes/SecondSinoJapaneseWar Japanese-occupied China]]) is that he ''knows'' that the MacGuffin [[spoiler:(weapons-grade uranium) will be used to create nuclear bombs, resulting in the UsefulNotes/AtomicBombingsOfHiroshimaAndNagasaki]]. He just likes to point out that they ''really'' have it coming for the Rape of Nanking.
--->'''The Shadow:''' Soldiers of Nippon! Cowards! Butchers! Rapists! Desecrators of China! I know you scum of old, I know what evil lurks within your craven hearts! You slaughter peasants and their women, and you call yourselves '''men?!''' You hoist infants high on bayonets, and you call yourself '''soldiers?!''' You rabble! You motherless pigs! Come try your steel on me! Heh. Heh, heh, heh... Heh heh ha ha ha ha ha...! Ha! Ha! Ha ha ha ha! ''[pissed-off soldiers then charge right at [[spoiler:his "clouded" image -- into a minefield -- and are blown to paste]]]'' HAHAHAHAHAHAA '''HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!'''

** In Dynamite #24 and #25, despite his own mystic powers, the Shadow is convinced there's a rational explanation for the ZombieApocalypse. [[spoiler:He's right.]]

* BadassBoast: In Garth Ennis's run on the comics, the eponymous character gives a retort to Margo Lane's concern
-->'''Margo:''' But there could be an '''army''' waiting for you...!\\
'''The Shadow:''' Then God have mercy on their souls.

* BeardOfBarbarism: Buffalo Wong from Garth Ennis's run on the comics has a big, messy BeardOfEvil.
* BeenThereShapedHistory: The Shadow sometimes crosses paths with historical events and figures. For example, the MacGuffin of the Dynamite arc "The Fire of Creation" [[spoiler:is uranium-235 that gets used in the atomic bombs dropped on Japan.]]
* BeneathSuspicion:
** The true identity of the Light from that arc of the Dynamite run? [[spoiler:A hospital nurse, who Margo has a close encounter with.]]
** The killer in Dynamite #21 is [[spoiler:an elderly washerwoman]] who no one would look at twice.

* CanonImmigrant: Margo Lane, created for the radio series, eventually showed up in the pulp stories as well.

* CheapCostume: In ''The Shadow: Year One'' from Dynamite Comics, Lamont Cranston is attending a party when he sees Margo Lane being abducted by gangsters who plan to throw her off the roof. Not having his Shadow accoutrements with him, he is forced to improvise a mask out of his dress scarf, and rely upon his mind tricks to do the rest.

* ColdSniper: Danny Bricker in "The Silent Avenger"

* DangerouslyCloseShave: In ''The Shadow One-Shot 2014: Agents of the Shadow'' from Dynamite Comics, Cliff and Clyde interrogate a gangster by replacing his barber while he is getting a shave. Cliff holds the razor against his throat while commenting how he has never done this before till the gangster tells them what they want to know.

* DeathDealer: In ''The Shadow'' #0 from Dynamite, the Shadow takes on a group of stage magicians. One of them attacks the Shadow by flinging razor edged playing cards at him.

** Used in DC's Neil\Kaluta and Jones\Barreto comics.

* FemmeFatalons: In ''The Shadow: The Death of Margo Lane'' from Dynamite Comics, [[DragonLady the Red Empress]] has razor-edged decorative nail sheaths that she uses as her primary weapon. When she attempts to slit Margo's throat, the Shadow shoots her in the hand; destroying most of her hand.

* GoryDiscretionShot: In issue #4 of Garth Ennis's run on the comics, the Shadow and co. encounter a village that has been massacred by the Japanese. There are plenty of male corpses, but the females... All we get to see are the horrified reactions of two characters.

* HeKnowsTooMuch:
** In Dynamite #8, a seemingly ordinary couple is killed. Their deaths are widely dismissed as just another murder, but the Shadow knows they chanced on something that the murderers were trying to hide.
** In Dynamite's the Light arc, the first victim of that murderer doesn't match the profile of the subsequent victims. After some investigation, the Shadow concludes that he must have known something about the Light that she didn't want to get out.

* HorrifyingTheHorror: Despite the Shadow's TerrorHero ways, in Dynamite's Special #1 he has a disturbed look when he learns just what his old comrade has been up to.

* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: In Dynamite's the Shadow #6, the Shadow remarks that a DeathRay is "sort of thing you'd read in some dime store magazine".

* MutualDisadvantage: In #7 of the Dynamite comics, the Shadow and Red Raja, having trained under the same old masters, NoSell each other's supernatural powers. They end up settling things in a SwordFight.
* NotMyDriver: In ''The Shadow'' #100 from Dynamite, a wealthy gambler leaving his club with his poker winnings discovers that his driver is not really his driver when his car turns into a deserted alley. A few moments later, he is murdered and robbed.

** Lamont Cranston, amateur criminologist. In the pulps, there was a ''real'' Lamont Cranston, whose identity the Shadow had borrowed while the man was out of the country on an extended tour. This caused a bit of a problem when the real Cranston suddenly returned. In later stories, the real Cranston sometimes assisted the Shadow in pulling off a "two places at the same time" gambit.

** Unique to the various comic books (standalone series and crossovers alike), we have [[DatingCatwoman Black Sparrow]], [[CompellingVoice Dr. Gerhard Zorn]], [[SerialKiller The Stag]], [[LightIsNotGood The Light]], Black Dragon (a one-shot villain in the pulps), [[PlayingWithFire Devil Kyoti]], The Talon, [[EvilOldFolks Monstradamus]], [[EvilGenius Professor Solarus]], and even ComicBook/{{Grendel}} and Shiwan Khan's granddaughter Batu Khan.
* UsefulNotes/{{Roma|ni}}: In the pulp novel "Malmordo", the eponymous villain uses prejudice against "Gypsies" to make it appear as though they're his allies. In fact, they were simply being charitable to what they thought were penniless refugees. The Shadow speaks Romani fluently, by the way.
* SarcasticConfession: In Dynamite #12, when quizzed about his whereabouts the previous night, the Shadow gives the truth: he was at a Chinese brothel. The questioner promptly tells him that he doesn't "have to make up outrageous stories".

* {{Seppuku}}: In Dynamite's the Shadow #6, [[spoiler:the Japanese general does it after the quest to find the "rocks" turns out to be a dud.]]

* ShroudedInMyth: The Shadow has this reputation in-universe. His true identity is Kent Allard. But there's a body inside the plane that Kent Allard crashed in...
* ShutUpHannibal: Margo gives one to the Light in Dynamite #16.
-->'''Margo:''' Now wait '''just''' a second, sister. You're a fine one to talk about '''sin''', running around with '''swords''' and '''murdering''' people. Isn't '''murder''' a sin? Or did that part get left '''out''' of the rulebook you were handed?

* ThrownFromTheZeppelin: In Dynamite #10, one of the conspirators gets cold feet and asks to be excused. He gets it... in the head.
* TiredOfRunning: In Dynamite #17, though it's ''the villain'' who says she's "through running".

* TheUnreveal: In Dynamite's ''The Shadow #0'', Harry Houdini's widow claims to have been told great secrets by her dead husband, which she passes on to the Shadow. All we get is a convenient thunderclap and the Shadow's declaration that she should forget, lest people kill for it.

* WhereItAllBegan: The Dynamite comics' Girasol arc started in New York City, and after travelling the world, returns to NYC for the finale.

* LookBehindYou: How the Shadow distracts a prison guard, so he can knock him out and then probe the mind of a death row inmate about to be executed for a crime he didn't commit.

** The Shadow of the Creator/DynamiteComics (written by Garth Ennis, of course) is recast as a full-blown SociopathicHero; UsefulNotes/WorldWarI spy Kent Allard floated into UsefulNotes/{{Shanghai}} one day and used his skills to become an opium kingpin, only to be abducted by Buddhist monks who specialized in turning the foulest of villains into forces for justice; he then killed every ranked criminal in the city and used their resources to re-invent himself in New York as RichIdiotWithNoDayJob Lamont Cranston. This version of the Shadow is an AxCrazy LaughingMad ''psychopath'' who kills for the sheer ''joy'' of it, and makes no pretense of heroism; by killing evil-doers he at least has the pretense that SmitingEvilFeelsGood. Hell, his motivation throughout "The Fire of Creation"(which takes place in [[UsefulNotes/SecondSinoJapaneseWar Japanese-occupied China]])is that he ''knows'' that the MacGuffin [[spoiler:(weapons-grade uranium) will be used to create nuclear bombs, resulting in the UsefulNotes/AtomicBombingsOfHiroshimaAndNagasaki]]. He just likes to point out that they ''really'' have it coming for the Rape of Nanking.

The radio series was a hit, lasting for decades with several changes of lead actor. The Shadow has also had several ComicBook series, ranging in quality from excellent to terrible, including one from Creator/DynamiteComics, a movie serial, [[Film/InvisibleAvenger a low-budget 1950s feature]],and [[Film/TheShadow a 1994 feature film]]. He has even crossed over with Franchise/{{Batman}} a few times, with the Caped Crusader idolizing him!