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 THE AMAZING SECRET ORIGIN OF BURBANK - CHAPTER 2
The NAME GAME!
Burbank, the Shadow's contact man, was introduced in 1931, and most fans believe that in Walter Gibson's stories, the character had no name other than "Burbank." But Street and Smith also published British editions of The Shadow, in several different formats and titles, and significant revisions were made in the text of each reprinted story.
Most of the English revisions were made to relocate Gibson's stories to Great Britain. American city names were changed to British ones, and certain character names were altered to make them “more English.” Editors of one English title, “Street and Smith’s Shadow Mystery Magazine” (pictured below left, with its American counterpart shown right), thought the name Burbank was too American, so they changed it entirely, to “Langley.”
What? Langley!? The British Burbank’s name may sound jarring to American pulp readers, but the contact man got off far better than poor Inspector Joe Cardona, whom this magazine rechristened “Officer Benny Goodfellow.” |
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THE THRILLER
Shadow adventures were ALSO reprinted in Britain's The Thriller, a slim, newsprint weekly. Pictured right: "The House of Mox," (Thriller #479, April 9, 1938, courtesy of Anthony Tollin), a retitled reprint of Walter Gibson's "Mox" (Shadow #42, November 15, 1933).
In The Thriller, Gibson's stories were heavily edited for length, and character names were also modified at the editor's whim. Burbank somehow managed to retain his original name, and then some. In these stories, Burbank is identified as... RICHARD Burbank!
England’s Richard Burbank (seen below left, in an illustration from The Thriller) is described as The Shadow’s closest confidante. “I believe I am the only man who knows his tragic  history,” Richard Burbank once said of The Shadow, “for I knew him long before he took the name Lamont Cranston.”
But wait a minute. Isn't it something of an OUTRAGE to give the mysterious Burbank a first name? After all, that's something Walter Gibson never did in the Shadow's American adventures -- or did he?
Back home in America, several of The Shadow’s agents had names which held phonetic clues to their owner’s function in the stories. Agents who needed to contact The Shadow would “see fellows” in the form of a character named “C. Fellows” (Claude Fellows). Agents also knew they could trust “our man,” or at least the character named “R. Mann” (Rutledge Mann). Does the name “Burbank” also have some hidden significance?
Is it possible that The Shadow’s media man takes his name from Burbank, California, the so-called "Media Capital of the World”? Fans of Johnny Cars
on's Tonight Show recall the city as "Beautiful Downtown Burbank." Although many people believe, mistakenly, that the city was named for another famous Burbank, the name actually comes from Dr. David Burbank (below, center), the New Hampshire dentist who founded the city. It seems certain that his likeness influenced Shadow pulp artist Edd Cartier, because Cartier's version of Burbank in "The Green Terror" (Shadow #214, January 15, 1941, shown below right) is a dead ringer for the good doctor! |
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BURBANK UNMASKED
Although most Shadow fans believe Walter Gibson never specified whether Burbank was the Shadow character’s first, last, or ONLY name, this is not the case at all. A close reading of Gibson’s pulp stories reveals the truth. First, in both “The Shadow Laughs” and “The Case Of Congressman Coyd,” Burbank is referred to as “Mr. Burbank,” which means that Burbank is definitely a last name.
Does Gibson ever specify Burbank’s FIRST name? Not in its entirety -- but the puzzle-loving author never presents a mystery without offering a clue to its solution, and the mystery of Burbank's name is no exception. In “The Death Giver," the contact man uses a business card which bears the name “L. Burbank.” Here’s how the name appeared in the original 1933 pulp, and I quote: "At three fifteen..." |
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So, if this business card is to be believed, Burbank’s first name starts with an "L." What could the name be? Who is “L. Burbank”? Unfortunately, we can’t ask the late Walter Gibson, and this reference was the ONLY hint his stories ever provided as to the character’s name and where it may have originated. Is this the part of the article where we take a few educated guesses, then lament that the “Burbank” name’s true origins will probably never be known, and call it a  day? Hell no! This is the part of the article where we MAKE SHADOW HISTORY.
Fortunately for Burbank fans worldwide, Shadow historian and Walter Gibson-confidante Will Murray (pictured left) once discussed the contact man’s creation with Gibson. The information revealed in this discussion is being published here for the first time in any medium. This is not conjecture, this is the definitive scoop, from the ultimate authority.
Burbank’s name WAS taken from a real person, and the “L” on the business card described in “The Death Giver” WAS the actual first letter of Burbank’s real first name. What WAS that name, and where did it come from? Will Murray got the never-before-revealed answer directly from Burbank's creator, Walter Gibson: Gibson named The Shadow’s contact man after renowned botanist LUTHER BURBANK.
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Luther Burbank (1849-1926) was born in Massachusetts, and grew up on a farm as the 13th of 15 children. A pioneer in agricultural science, he developed more than 800 strains and varieties of plants,  including the Burbank potato. Fun fact: All McDonald's french fries are made exclusively from the Burbank potato! I'm lovin' it!
The "Beautiful Downtown Burbank" connection isn't completely off the mark, for Luther Burbank lived in Santa Rosa, California, for a number of years, and many people mistakenly believe the city of Burbank was named for him.
A dear friend of Luther Burbank’s once said of him, “His heart was fathomlessly deep, long acquainted with humility, patience, sacrifice." As we shall soon see, these characteristics make the famed botanist sound very much like what he is: the secret model for The Shadow’s Burbank.
So there you have it, Shadowfans. A seven-decade-old mystery concerning The Shadow and his contact man has finally been solved: Burbank’s real full name is... LUTHER BURBANK!
But wait! One mystery surrounding Burbank’s name still remains: Of all The Shadow’s agents, why is it that Burbank, alone, is referred to by a  SINGLE name? Just as the radio waves which broadcast The Shadow program emanated from a single, powerful transmitter, the clues and mysteries that comprised the Shadow’s world emanated from the singular, powerful intellect of Walter Gibson.
If Gibson only referred to Burbank exclusively by his last name, there must have been a good reason for that. And, as it turns out, there was. According to Wikipedia, “The standard botanical author abbreviation for ‘Luther Burbank’ consists simply of ‘Burbank.’ ”
What this means is that, like superstar entertainers Sinatra, Cher and Bono, Botanist Luther Burbank had attained such stature in his field that in botanical notations referring to him, only ONE name was needed. Walter Gibson recognized the famed botanist’s enormous stature by likewise referring to his doppelganger, The Shadow’s contact man, with one name only... BURBANK! |
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