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The Shadow Scrapbook
Purchased in 1979 at Pulp Con in Dayton OH. this book is autographed by Walter B. Gibson/Maxwell Grant and Anthony Tolin. The book is in good condition very rare and collectable. The autographs are extremely rare.
162 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1979
30 people want to read
About the author
Walter B. Gibson
636 books85 followersWalter Brown Gibson (September 12, 1897-December 6, 1985) was an American author and professional magician best known for his work on the pulp fiction character The Shadow. Gibson, under the pen-name Maxwell Grant, wrote "more than 300 novel-length" Shadow stories, writing up to "10,000 words a day" to satisfy public demand during the character's golden age in the 1930s and 1940s.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
November 26, 2012
In what was, for most of the people I know, the “Dark Ages,” my little six-transistor radio could pick up KSFO in San Francisco on a good night. That was significant because KSFO used to have an hour-long program at 10:00 PM in which they played back-to-back some old radio programs. I was born at the tail-end of radio and the beginning of television. So, I was amazed to discover how wonderful some of the old shows were. My absolute favorites were: Black Museum (Orson Welles), Sgt. Preston of the Yukon (Paul Sutton), Gunsmoke (with William Conrad), Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons (Bennet Kilpack), The Bickersons (Don Ameche and Frances Langford), and, of course, The Shadow (the Orson Welles episodes, especially). It wasn’t until much later that I discovered the novels and even later when I rediscovered the character through the Dark Horse Comics. I even have a VHS tape of The Shadow Strikes (a very poor adaptation that was originally, I believe, a serial).
So, if you know a character in multiple forms of media, you’re very likely to be intrigued by a coffee table book written by its creator. Walter B. Gibson, who wrote 1,440,000 words (24 novels of 60,000 words) in 10 months as Maxwell Grant, did a wonderful job of describing the process of writing novels for Street & Smith’s The Shadow magazine, reminiscing about collaboration on the radio shows, sharing about the comic strip and later, comic books, and providing a few notes about the film versions (not the Alec Baldwin one). In addition, there is a three-page list of the novels as published in order and a nine-page listing of the radio episodes (complete with original air dates, stars, and scriptwriters).
Those nine pages are treasure, but to get a better picture of the overall value of the book, add a never-before published novel (The Riddle of the Rangoon Ruby), a chapter about the codes used in the mystery novels (Gibson was an expert on stage magic and codes, having written several books on the subject), a radio script that was reconstructed by Gibson, and the original comic strip story. And, of course, it wouldn’t be a “coffee table” book without some nice color reproductions of covers and some terrific pen and ink sketches from the magazine stories.
The Shadow Scrapbook is a marvelous resource for writers to gain inspiration, fans to reminisce, and pulp historians to archive. It will certainly have me searching for new materials. It was hard to categorize for my virtual shelves because it offers such a variety of material, but I'm very happy I discovered it.
So, if you know a character in multiple forms of media, you’re very likely to be intrigued by a coffee table book written by its creator. Walter B. Gibson, who wrote 1,440,000 words (24 novels of 60,000 words) in 10 months as Maxwell Grant, did a wonderful job of describing the process of writing novels for Street & Smith’s The Shadow magazine, reminiscing about collaboration on the radio shows, sharing about the comic strip and later, comic books, and providing a few notes about the film versions (not the Alec Baldwin one). In addition, there is a three-page list of the novels as published in order and a nine-page listing of the radio episodes (complete with original air dates, stars, and scriptwriters).
Those nine pages are treasure, but to get a better picture of the overall value of the book, add a never-before published novel (The Riddle of the Rangoon Ruby), a chapter about the codes used in the mystery novels (Gibson was an expert on stage magic and codes, having written several books on the subject), a radio script that was reconstructed by Gibson, and the original comic strip story. And, of course, it wouldn’t be a “coffee table” book without some nice color reproductions of covers and some terrific pen and ink sketches from the magazine stories.
The Shadow Scrapbook is a marvelous resource for writers to gain inspiration, fans to reminisce, and pulp historians to archive. It will certainly have me searching for new materials. It was hard to categorize for my virtual shelves because it offers such a variety of material, but I'm very happy I discovered it.
February 23, 2014
Before The Shadow: The History And Mystery Of The Radio Program, 1930 - 1954 by Martin Grams this was the book to get your info from. And it did deliver information enough about the books, comics & radioprograms. It even contains some newspapercomic tales and some scripts for radio programs. For me it was the first source of info about the phenomenon called "The Shadow".
February 5, 2016
Everything you would ever need to know about the Shadow. Exceptional reference book for this pulp character. Highly recommended
May 4, 2018
The Shadow Scrapbook is a MUST HAVE for any fan of The Shadow. Written by the man who created The Shadow back in the 30s, this is a tell all of the whole history of the Shadow up until 1979, when the book was put out. There are also several articles by Anthony Tollin, a very knowledgeable super fan of The Shadow, who has been re-printing the original pulps since the early 2000s.
This was a great book for Shadow information and so much fun to read. Walter Gibson also gives you a never before published short story, The Ragoon Ruby!
If you love the classic Shadow, you NEED this book. Simple as that.
This was a great book for Shadow information and so much fun to read. Walter Gibson also gives you a never before published short story, The Ragoon Ruby!
If you love the classic Shadow, you NEED this book. Simple as that.
January 19, 2016
This book may be a little hard to find, but it's definitely worth the effort for any fan of the Shadow. It's subtitled “The complete story behind the mysterious shadow of pulp magazine and radio fame compiled by his chief creator.”
The first chapter is Introducing the Shadow, which is about the history of the Shadow. It's filled with information and lots of the original illustrations from the stories. As part of this is a listing of the Shadow pulp novels.
The second chapter is a very interesting one about how Walter B. Gibson actually wrote the Shadow novels, the most interesting part being about how he outlined his work in advance.
The third chapter is about “Evolution as portrayed in the covers of the magazine,” complete with a lot of black-and-white illustrations. This is followed by a chapter showing some of the covers in color.
The next chapter is about the Shadow and his agents, again with some of the original illustrations of the agents. This is followed by a chapter on Illustrating the Shadow. Then, there's an original short Shadow story entitled “The Riddle of the Rangoon Ruby.”
Next is a chapter about the radio version of the Shadow, and then some illustrations of some pages from a Shadow comic, followed by a listing of the Shadow radio episodes. This is then followed by a chapter on Writing for the radio episodes and includes the script to the Death House Rescue episode.
The Shadow on the Silver Screen is covered next, and then there's a chapter on the Shadow comics, then on on the Shadow comic strip with a number of the original strips being included.
Next is a chapter on various codes found in Shadow stories, and then a chapter about codes on some of the covers of the Shadow pulps. Rings and Things for the Shadow Collector is next, and then a short section on Gibson himself.
As can be seen, there is a lot of good material in this book.
The first chapter is Introducing the Shadow, which is about the history of the Shadow. It's filled with information and lots of the original illustrations from the stories. As part of this is a listing of the Shadow pulp novels.
The second chapter is a very interesting one about how Walter B. Gibson actually wrote the Shadow novels, the most interesting part being about how he outlined his work in advance.
The third chapter is about “Evolution as portrayed in the covers of the magazine,” complete with a lot of black-and-white illustrations. This is followed by a chapter showing some of the covers in color.
The next chapter is about the Shadow and his agents, again with some of the original illustrations of the agents. This is followed by a chapter on Illustrating the Shadow. Then, there's an original short Shadow story entitled “The Riddle of the Rangoon Ruby.”
Next is a chapter about the radio version of the Shadow, and then some illustrations of some pages from a Shadow comic, followed by a listing of the Shadow radio episodes. This is then followed by a chapter on Writing for the radio episodes and includes the script to the Death House Rescue episode.
The Shadow on the Silver Screen is covered next, and then there's a chapter on the Shadow comics, then on on the Shadow comic strip with a number of the original strips being included.
Next is a chapter on various codes found in Shadow stories, and then a chapter about codes on some of the covers of the Shadow pulps. Rings and Things for the Shadow Collector is next, and then a short section on Gibson himself.
As can be seen, there is a lot of good material in this book.
March 27, 2022
I am giving up on this one. I just can't seem to write a review I like. Instead a few general comments
1. Given that the main author of this book also wrote most of the original novels we can presume that it is a fairly authoritative volume.
2. It does clarify that Lamont Cranston and The Shadow were two separate people, no matter what the radio show might have you believe.
3. The book is heavily illustrated, with both covers and interior illustrations from the magazines. There is even a section showing many covers in colour.
4. Listings are included for all of the magazines and for the radio show. Quite handy for keeping track of which novels and shows you have in your library. At the back a listing of the Belmont paperbacks is included as these were new stories, credited to Maxwell Grant but written by Denis Lynds, save for the first one which was written by and credited to Gibson.
5. There are mentions of The Shadow in other media.
6. The book is rather dismissive of the version from Archie Comics in the mid 1960s. Can't say I blame them much for that. Not the best version I have seen. It came out in the midst of the superhero boom, and they tried to make him into one. Ah, no, not a good idea. I admit I enjoyed it but what does a eight or nine year old know about these things.
All in all, this is an excellent volume for any aficionado of The Shadow. Happy reading.
1. Given that the main author of this book also wrote most of the original novels we can presume that it is a fairly authoritative volume.
2. It does clarify that Lamont Cranston and The Shadow were two separate people, no matter what the radio show might have you believe.
3. The book is heavily illustrated, with both covers and interior illustrations from the magazines. There is even a section showing many covers in colour.
4. Listings are included for all of the magazines and for the radio show. Quite handy for keeping track of which novels and shows you have in your library. At the back a listing of the Belmont paperbacks is included as these were new stories, credited to Maxwell Grant but written by Denis Lynds, save for the first one which was written by and credited to Gibson.
5. There are mentions of The Shadow in other media.
6. The book is rather dismissive of the version from Archie Comics in the mid 1960s. Can't say I blame them much for that. Not the best version I have seen. It came out in the midst of the superhero boom, and they tried to make him into one. Ah, no, not a good idea. I admit I enjoyed it but what does a eight or nine year old know about these things.
All in all, this is an excellent volume for any aficionado of The Shadow. Happy reading.
April 5, 2008
Great for fans of this vintage radio/pulp action hero!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews