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 THE AMAZING SECRET ORIGIN OF BURBANK - CHAPTER 5
BURBANK'S BIG BLAST!
Burbank, who takes his name from botanist Luther Burbank, is The Shadow's quiet-voiced contact man. His role is to facilitate communications among agents, and he probably knows more about The Shadow than anyone.
Although he is described as being “not a man of action, but one of endurance,” there were times when Burbank left his hidden station to take an active role in a Shadow adventure.
In “The Key” (#55, June 1, 1934), The Shadow goes out of town, and Burbank is placed in charge of all active agents. “When emergency demanded, Burbank served as he now was serving. Instead of making calls to the deserted sanctum, he was issuing orders in The Shadow's stead.“
In “Masters of Death” (#198, May 15, 1940), The Shadow tells Burbank: "'Order all agents off duty. Immediately after delivering such instructions, prepare for an active assignment of your own.' It was an absolute reversal of The Shadow's usual process, but Burbank showed no traces of astonishment."
"CRIME, INSURED!"
Burbank's finest hour came in “Crime, Insured” (#129, July 1, 1937, cover pictured below left), one of the best, if not the best, novels of the entire Shadow pulp series. In it, two supercriminals named Bradthaw and Strampf kidnap nearly ALL the Shadow’s agents,  saving contact man Burbank for last. The agents are heavily guarded and kept under watch.
Then, in a chilling scene set in The Shadow's secret sanctum, a private line rings. When the Master of Darkness answers, a voice on the other end of the line identifies himself as “Burbank,” but The Shadow immediately knows it’s an impostor! The Shadow realizes his entire organization has been compromised, but he has no idea where his agents are being held. Then -- according to Bradthaw and Strampf -- The Shadow is killed.
Strampf demands information, so the agents decide to stall by "revealing" details of The Shadow's organization which the criminals already know -- but time begins to run out, and even the agents start to believe their chief really is dead. With The Shadow's fate uncertain, and the life of every agent at stake, the captive Burbank decides to make a desperate attempt to get a message to his chief -- assuming The Shadow is still alive... |
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THE FINAL REPORT
And so, with the help of his trusty contact man, Burbank, The Shadow defeated Bradthaw and Strampf, and rescued his agents from certain doom -- but what happened when Inspector Joe Cardona finally arrived on the scene? How does 10-2-1 figure into the puzzle? And what do "The Dancing Men" have to do with all this? Cue mocking laughter...
Reader, it's time for the senses-shattering conclusion of the amazing secret origin of Burbank, featuring a once-in-a-lifetime, history-making climax that every COMIC BOOK fan will remember for as long as they live -- an electrifying shock that will rock PULP fandom to its foundations!
This incredible surprise has been teased on this site for months now. Can it possibly live up to all the hoopla and hype? To be safe, we should probably try to lower expectations a bit. Instead, we make the following promise: Comic book fans! Pulp fans! SHADOWFANS! You’d better grab something. Hold on, and hold on tight! Because I guarantee you... you’ve never seen ANYTHING like this!
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