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The year was 1930. To boost sales of their Detective Story Magazine, pulp publishers Street and Smith decided to sponsor a radio program where an announcer read stories from the magazine.
Rather than referring to him as "the guy who reads the stories," a man at Street and Smith's ad agency suggested naming him The Shadow.
Soon customers began asking for a pulp magazine of that name.
No such magazine existed at the time -- but Street and Smith knew an opportunity when they saw one, and quickly decided to created just such a title.
In time The Master of Darkness recruited numerous agents, among them the mysterious Burbank.
Little is known about Burbank, other than the fact that he is an "old friend" of the Master of Darkness, and that his mission is to facilitate communication among agents.
The Shadow copyright Advance magazine Publishers, Inc./ The Condé Nast Pubs.
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 REPORT 22:
Pulp artist EARL MAYAN
After Shadow pulp interior artist Edd Cartier was drafted into WWII, his roommate, EARL MAYAN, took over the book. Mayan, pictured right, used to photograph himself in the slouch hat, cloak and scarf to use as references for drawing his version of the character.
Mayan said the most important thing at all times was ACTION. With title-page illustrations especially, he favored action, mood, or horror -- anything to stir the reader. Below is a collection of some of Mayan's work for interior of the Shadow pulp magazine.
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 BONUS SPLASH PAGE!
Pictured right is one of the most famous Shadow pulp covers ever, showing the Master of Darkness and a bizarre living skeleton reading "The Book of Death." It's from issue #238, painted by George Rozen. You've probably seen it a dozen times before.
Did you ever wonder what was beneath that famous cover? Here's the answer -- an action-filled splash page showing The Shadow falling into a trap door, illustrated by the one and only Earl Mayan!
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QUIEN SABE WHAT EVIL LURKS?
LA SOMBRA!
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