Thu 27 Aug 2026
Pulp Hero Diary Review: MAXWELL GRANT – The Eyes of the Shadow.
Posted by Steve under Uncategorized[3] Comments
MAXWELL GRANT – The Eyes of the Shadow. Bantam H4056, paperback original; 1st printing, August 1969. Reprint of the original novel that appeared in The Shadow Detective Magazine, April/June 1931.
#2 in series. Harry Vincent and Claude Fellows are back on the scene again, helping Bruce Duncan fulfill the conditions in his uncle’s will, rewarding friends of a Russian nobleman. These friends are being methodically eliminated, however, and the Shadow’s assistance is needed to nab the criminals responsible.
As in a comic strip, dialogue is used to explain too much of the action, with many machinations of the plot designed only for the reader’s benefit and revelation, Better writing than last time (reported on here), but this is not as interesting a story.
Lamont Cranston appears for the first time. The use of television, as a new invention, is also worth pointing out.
Rating: **
August 30th, 2026 at 2:32 am
It took several books into the series before Gibson knew exactly where he wanted the Shadow to go. I would say Gangland’s Doom was the first recognizable Shadow novel in the series.
August 30th, 2026 at 1:04 pm
I have very fond memories of those first few Shadow novels, but I think they’re mixed in with a strong sense of nostalgia for where and when I read them. I’ve never tried to reread them. 1933-38 is the strongest era in the magazine’s run, although there are still plenty of good ones to be found in the late Thirties/early Forties.
August 30th, 2026 at 4:27 pm
I’ve read only a few from the first five or so, one from the mid-1940s, and that’s about it. I suspect I missed most of the good years. By the rime the reprint edition got around to those, my interest in hero pulps had somehow withered away. (It didn’t stop me from buying them, though.)