Superhero Tuesday: The Shadow Knows

Have you ever been reading a comic and it suddenly occurred to you that the character was a total rip off of The Batman.  I'm sure it happens all the time, but the big secret that you don't know is that The Batman owes his entire existence to The Shadow.

"Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of Men, The Shadow knows."

The Shadow is a collection of serialized dramas, originally in 1930s pulp novels, and then in a wide variety of media. Details of the title character have varied across various media, but he is generally depicted as a crime-fighting vigilante with psychic powers posing as a "wealthy, young man about town". One of the most famous adventure heroes of the twentieth century, The Shadow has been featured on the radio, in a long-running pulp magazine series, in comic books, comic strips, television, serials, video games, and at least five motion pictures. The radio drama is well-remembered for those episodes voiced by Orson Welles.

The Shadow was the original millionaire playboy who spent his nights solving crimes and fighting crime.  The Shadow uses twin black automatics.  Batman used to carry a gun.  

Batman had a sidekick.  The Shadow had operatives, a driver, a communications network, and could cloud men's minds.  Batman had silly gadgets and a cave.

The Bat may have borrowed heavily from The Shadow, but he was watered down.  The sad thing is that Batman's preeminent villain was inspired by Shadow.  That's right folks.  The Joker, who in modern times has become ubiquitous, was inspired by a one shot villain called The Grim Joker.

In 1938, Steven Slon became the writer of The Shadow Radio Show starring Orson Welles. Though credited for bringing the character "Shrevie" into the show, his most influential episode is perhaps The Laughing Corpse. Slon's script introduced the listeners to a mad chemist who injected his victims with a poison that induces laughter before death. Batman's villain The Joker is believed to be inspired by this episode. It should be noted that The Joker made his comic book debut in the spring of 1940, only a few months after the show aired.

I need you all to remember that " the weed of crime bears bitter fruit, crime does not pay, The Shadow Know"