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 THE AMAZING SECRET ORIGIN OF BURBANK - CHAPTER 1
FIRST CONTACT!
The Shadow is perhaps the most mysterious character in all fiction, but one supporting player in the Shadow series was even MORE enigmatic than the Master of Darkness himself: The Shadow’s contact man -- the mysterious BURBANK.
Almost nothing has been known about Burbank... until NOW, that is. It’s time to reveal Burbank’s name, trace his unknown past, and expose his fantastic spy secrets. Even The Shadow himself once unmasked -- and now, the time has come for BURBANK to do the same. Here we go!
Burbank and The Shadow go way back; back, almost, to the birth of the Master of Darkness. The first Shadow pulp was created to secure publisher Street and Smith’s trademark to the “Shadow” name. When the first Shadow story unexpectedly struck sales  gold, S&S quickly commissioned its author, Walter Gibson, to write three more. It was in these adventures that the author laid much of the groundwork for the series’ remarkable 18-year run, including the introduction of The Shadow’s elusive contact man, BURBANK.
When did Burbank FIRST encounter The Shadow? Within the world of the pulp, The Shadow character was treated as though he was a completely real person. He was supposedly a full-time crimefighter who moonlighted as the narrator of Street and Smith’s Detective Story Hour radio program. And according to Robert Sampson’s superlative Shadow biography, “The Night Master,” the momentous first meeting of The Shadow and Burbank occurred in 1924, at a radio station.
A few years later, The Shadow began his pulp adventures, starting with “The Living Shadow.” According to Rick Lai’s “Chronology of Shadows,” the first agent The Shadow recruited was Claude Fellows, the second was Harry Vincent,  and the third was .... Burbank!
Although the incident is not recorded in any of the novels, Lai theorizes that Burbank joined The Shadow’s war against gangland in December 1929.
Burbank’s first “official” appearance came in Gibson’s second Shadow novel, “Eyes Of The Shadow” (July 1931, cover pictured right). Initially, almost no physical description of the character is given, and precious little information about him is offered. He is referred to only as “Burbank, the wireless operator.”
Most Shadow fans think “Burbank” was the only name ever given for this mysterious character, and believe that Shadow author Walter Gibson never even specified if this was the character’s first, last, or ONLY name. But astonishingly, in this belief, most Shadow fans are completely wrong!
You don't believe me? Then douse the lights, cue the mocking laughter, and tune in to our next amazing report, as we shine a spotlight on Burbank's amazing appellation and write a startling new chapter in the history of fiction's most mysterious character, The Shadow! |
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