Many of the most successful movies each year are based on comic book characters, such as Superman and Batman. But what was the influence for modern comic book characters? Here, Daniel Boustead explains how it was the influence of the pioneering characters of Dick Tracy and the Shadow.
Promotional Image for the CBS Radio series The Detective Story Hour. The program included the Shadow.
The Comic and Pulp Magazine characters in the 1920s were stale and lacked depth. The Shadow, which was first a radio show, then a Pulp Magazine Novels star helped introduce innovations that are still found in comics to this day. The Dick Tracy comics also provided succeeding comics with some important literary character traits. The pioneering work of Dick Tracy and the Shadow creators would influence the work of Detective Comics (DC) and Marvel Comics. Dick Tracy and the Shadow were the epitome of comics because they served as the catalyst and provided the parameters for so many comics to follow.
Comics in the 1920s
Zorro, which was created by Johnston McCulley for pulp magazine’s All-Story Weekly in August of 1919, followed the same plot, literary, character conventions, and character traits of the swashbuckling heroes of old like Robin Hood, Don Quixote, Scarlet Pimpernel, The Three Musketeers, and Cyrano de Bergerac([1]). The literary trope of a superhero leading a double life was established first in 1905 in the book The Scarlet Pimpernel, which was based off a 1903 play of that same name (9). Science Fiction character Buck Rogers, which was created by Phillip Francis Nowlan in August 1928 for pulp magazine Amazing Stories, followed the same literary, character, and plot devices that were found in works such as those by Jules Verne, Edgar Rice Rice Burroughs, and H.G. Wells ([2]). The big comic star of the day, Popeye the Sailor Man, which was created by E.C. Segar, and first appeared in the newspaper comics on January 17, 1929 was largely a cutesy, silly and innocent work ([3]). Had Dick Tracy and the Shadow not been created there would not be the comic book fan conventions, movies and multi million industry that we see now.
The Shadow
Dick Tracy and the Shadow introduced three important elements that are found in superhero comic book characters right to this day: sometimes superpowers, graphic violence, and grotesque villains. This was not previously seen in Zorro, Buck Rogers, or Popeye. Also, these three elements (more often than not) dealt with earth-based subjects rather than what Buck Rogers’ interplanetary adventures covered.
The Shadow’s unique legacy in the history of comics is critical to understanding the development of comic characters to follow. The Shadow first appeared on the radio on August 2, 1930 on a program called Detective Story Hour and then appeared in pulp story magazine novel form in April 1931, with the very first story issue entitled The Living Shadow (4). This was written by Walter B. Gibson, who would use the pen name Maxwell Grant ([4]). In print, film, and radio, the Shadow’s consistent superpower is a master of disguise and stealth ([5]). In 1937 in the Shadow Radio Show (during its fourth season), the Shadow was given the power to “cloud men’s minds so they cannot see him” ([6]). The exact date the Shadow was given this superpower was September 26, 1937 (5). In contrast, in pulp magazine’s novels the Shadow gets out of dangers by using his stealth, his .45 Caliber Pistols, and the occasional magic trick (6). In the radio version, his power to “cloud men’s minds so they cannot see him”, allows him to hypnotize people instantly so that he can move as an invisible shadow. The Shadow (in the radio version) can hypnotize people so they can forget things, and he can command them to perform certain acts. The Shadow used this power to force a criminal to write a detailed account of his past crimes. He accomplishes this task by using a fire opal ring known as a girasol (7). This enables him to focus his hypnotic abilities ([7]). The radio show Shadow’s introduction of his superpower in 1937 predated Superman, and in turn influenced the rise of Superman, who would first appear in comics on April 18, 1938([8]).
The Shadow radio show and pulp magazine novels also had graphic violence. The November, 1931 Shadow pulp magazine novel issue entitled “The Red Menace” contained a masked villain called The Red Envoy, who murdered everyone in his path to get secret plans for an aerial torpedo, before he is defeated by the Shadow (4). In one of the novels the villains used a device called the “Silent Death” which was an electric ray machine that could deal death on a massive scale (4). In the Shadow radio show entitled “Death from the Deep” (from 1937 to 1938 summer seasons) a villain named Vinton shoots around the inside of a Submarine thinking he has killed the Shadow but has no success because the Shadow is invisible (10). The level of violence in the Shadow would influence future superhero comics to come.
Dick Tracy
Dick Tracy did not have any superpowers, but he was a master detective in the style of Sherlock Homes. Dick Tracy was created by Chester Gould and first appeared in the comic section of the Detroit newspaper Sunday Mirror on October 4, 1931 (11).
The world of Dick Tracy was filled with graphic violence. In the October 17, 1931 issue of Dick Tracy, Big Boy’s minions killed Dick Tracy’s girlfriend Tess Truehart’s father, Emil Truehart, in front of Dick Tracy and Tess Truehart during a robbery at the Truehart residence (12). In 1934, villain Doc Hump experimented on humans and dogs by injecting them with rabies (13). In the November 11, 1934 issue the villain Doc Hump planned to unleash a dog on a captured Dick Tracy only to have the dog turn on him (13). He tears his throat out, killing him instantly (13). On the May 21, 1935 issue Dick Tracy uses a hose to pump car exhaust fumes into a cave in order to flush out villains Cutie Diamond, Zora Arson, and her brother Boris Arson (14). Cutie Diamond and Zora Arson run out of the cave with their guns blazing - to which Dick Tracy and his partners killed them (14). Boris Arson hid in the cave behind a wall of stone and mud until Dick Tracy fired a machine gun into a hole in the cave where Boris Arson was, and the bullet caused a fatal wound in his bullet proof jacket, which killed him (14). In 1936, Chester Gould introduced the costumed criminals the Purple Cross Gang who committed many murders (15). In 1937, the character of the Blank (real name Frank Redrum), whose face was shot off earlier, was cruel to criminals who rejected him simply because he was too ugly (15). The Blank would murder those that got in his way, tying criminals under a car so that they would die from carbon monoxide poisoning and throwing criminals out of a car going 50 miles per hour (15). He also threw criminals out of an airplane while he laughed manically at their suffering and death as they crashed through a barn (15).
Villains
The universe of Dick Tracy also had many grotesque villains. On February 25, 1932 the Dick Tracy comics introduced the disfigured villain of Broadway Bates with his pointed nose (16). The character would influence Batman’s the Penguin which first appeared in Batman comics in December 1941 (17). On May 7, 1934 Dick Tracy comics introduced the frightening character named Doc Hump (13). Doc Hump had a bald, humped shaped head and was an evil mad scientist who would influence the design of famous Superman villain Lex Luthor (15). Lex Luthor would first appear in the Superman comics in April, 1940 (18). On October 21, 1937 Dick Tracy comics introduced the first repulsive villain known as the Blank, because he had a semi-opaque cheesecloth to cover his face (19). The Blank’s countenance would influence Batman super-villain Dr. Death, who would appear in the Batman comics in July 1939 (20). The Blank’s grotesque appearance would also influence the most famous Batman villain of all, the Joker, which first appeared in the Batman comics in April 1940(21). Dick Tracy’s villains influenced other comic writers to create their villains to look grotesque because it was artistically viable and commercially successful.
Legacy
On March 30th, 1939 Batman hit the newsstands, and it was heavily influenced by Dick Tracy and the Shadow (22). Batman co-creator Bill Finger said: “My first script was a take-off on a Shadow Story. I patterned my style of writing Batman after the Shadow” (23). On October 14, 1941 William Moulton Marston’s DC comic character Wonder Women appeared, which had plenty of graphic violence and grotesque villains (24). Marvel Comic’s Spider Man hit the newsstands in August 1962 and was heavily influenced by Dick Tracy and the Shadow’s graphic violence and grotesque villains (25). In Spiderman, there is an ugly villain named the Chameleon (26). The X-Men were also swayed by the legacy of Dick Tracy and the Shadow when it hit the newsstands in September 1963 (27). Magneto (appearing in X-Men) was very menacing in his appearance (28).
The comics and pulp characters were old and hackneyed in the 1920s. The important innovations of the Shadow Radio Show and the Shadow Pulp Magazine Novels left a lasting legacy on comics. The innovations of Dick Tracy also left a profound effect on comics as well. Dick Tracy and the Shadow would have a lasting legacy on D.C. Comics and Marvels Comics, and so many others to come. Dick Tracy and the Shadow were the comics to end all comics.
What do you think of Dick Tracy and the Shadow? Let us know below.
Now you can read Daniel’s past article on whether World War Two Japanese Kamikaze attacks had more impact than Nazi V-2 rockets here.
[1] Zorro. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zorro.
[2] Buck Rodgers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buck_Rodgers
[3] “Explore the History of Popeye”. https://popeye.com. Accessed on October 23rd, 2020. http://popeye.com/timeline/
[4] Holt, Keith and Severin, Todd D. “The Shadow Mysterious Being of the Night”. The Shadow: Master of Darkness. October 23rd, 2020. https://www.shadowsanctum.net/history/articles/The_Shadow_Pulp_Years-Severin_Holt2.html .
[5] The Shadow. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shadow .
[6] “Radio History of the Shadow”. The Shadow: Master of Darkness. October 23rd, 2020. https://www.shadowsanctum.net/radio/radio.html .
[7] “The Shadow”. www.internationalhero.co.uk. October 23rd, 2020. https://www.internationalhero.co.uk/s/shadpulp.htm .
[8] Superman. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superman
9 The Scarlet Pimpernel. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Scarlet_Pimpernel.
10 “Death from the Deep”. The Shadow: Master of Darkness. November 16th, 2020. https://www.shadowsanctum.net/radio/synopsis/ss-2.html
11 “Timeline-The Chester Gould Dick Tracy Museum”. The Dick Tracy Museum. November 9th,2020. https://www.dicktracymuseum.com/timeline-1 .
12 Emil Truehart. https://dicktracy.fandom.com/wiki/Emil_Truehart .
13 Doc Hump. https://dicktracy.fandom.com/wiki/Doc_Hump .
14 Boris Arson. https://dickracy.fandom.com/wiki/Boris_Arson .
15 Grand, Alex. “Chester Gould’s Dick Tracy and his 1930’s Era War on Crime”. Last Modified April 25th, 2020. Comic Book Historians. Accessed on November 15th, 2020. https://comicbookhistorians.com/dick-tracy-1930s-comic-milestones .
16 Broadway Bates. https://dicktracy.fandom.com/wiki/Broadway_Bates .
17 Penguin (Character). https://en.wikipedia.org/wikipedia/Penguin_(character)
18 Lex Luthor. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lex_Luthor .
19 The Blank. https://dicktracy.fandom.com/wiki/The_Blank .
20 Doctor Death. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_Death_(character) .
21 Joker (character). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joker_(character) .
22 Batman. https://en.wikipedia.org/wikipedia/Batman .
23 Severin, Todd D. “The Shadow Strange Creature in Black the Comic Book Years”. The Shadow Master of Darkness. November 19th, 2020. https://www.sahdowsanctum.net/history/articles/The_Shadow_Comic_Years-Severin.html .
24 Wonder Women. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wonder-Women .
25 Spider-Man. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider-Man.
26 Chameleon (Marvel Comics). https://en.wikpedia.org/wiki/Chamelon (Marvel Comics).
27 X-Men. https://en.wikipeida.org/wiki/X-Men .
28 Magneto (Marvel Comics). https://en.wikipedia/org/wiki/Magneto_(Marvel Comics).
