[The Shadow 33] • The Living Joss

THE LIVING JOSS was originally published in the July 1, 1933 issue of The Shadow Magazine. Kwa is the living joss. His name is never to be spoken by unbelievers. His sinister power reaches out from the confines of New York's Chinatown, to deal death to his enemies. And promises death to the one man who can stop him... The Shadow! This is another of the early Chinatown stories that are so beloved by readers of The Shadow. The Shadow's first visit to Chinatown was in the very first pulp magazine story "The Living Shadow." He was to visit there nearly forty more times during the eighteen-year magazine run. This story is the sixth of those visits that readers were privileged to enjoy. In many of the Chinatown stories, the treatment of the Chinese was even handed. There were good Chinese, and bad Chinese. The Shadow even had a Chinese agent in Dr. Roy Tam. But Dr. Tam does not appear, here. In fact, he wouldn't even be introduced to the series until two years later in "The Fate Joss." This is not one of the even-handed Chinatown stories. There are no "good" Chinese in it. In a most politically in-correct story, all the Chinese are evil. All are slinky, yellow-skinned creatures that are barely considered human. Most are either dwarfish, spidery beings or ugly, hulking brutes. This is definitely a story that shows it's age, and reflects the unenlightened times in which it was written. It is also a thrilling, mile-a-minute adventure that whirls the reader along on one of the most exciting Shadow novels written. There's plenty of action and enthusiasm to this story. The Shadow is nearly all-powerful. His gunshots always hit their intended target. He always exits his amazing battles triumphant. And his mind ferrets out clues that the sharpest police minds miss. The story revolves around Kwa, one of the most powerful foes that The Shadow has ever met. Whispers in Chinatown tell that Kwa has returned! Kwa, known as the Living Joss! An idol of amazing power that has come to life! Who is this strange being; the most insidious plotter who has ever dwelt in New York's Chinatown? We first meet him seated, a cross-legged form clad in a gold-threaded Oriental jacket in a hidden lair deep in mysterious Chinatown. His venomous face is the most evil visage ever seen. Bulging eyes, a twisted nose, thick, puckered lips, and sharp, jutting teeth; these are the features of Kwa's countenance. Kwa claims to be a living joss - a living demi-god of the Chinese people - a deity in human form. His followers are a secret body who keep their beliefs to themselves. If his claims are true, he would be a power greater than that of any tong. He would have superhuman power which he could direct against nonbelievers. But, on the contrary, if his claims are false, he could undermine the tongs. If he is a pretender, he can stir up fanatical underlings to a fever pitch and plunge Chinatown into new wars from within. So, either way, Kwa is a serious threat. Kwa is engaged in a scheme to make millions and extend his power drastically. It involves five men who are involved in a stock swindle. Westley Hartnett is an attorney who blocks the crooked scheme; he must die. At his home, the lawyer is attacked by a strange creature. Like a human spider, it throws its long arms and legs about the attorney's body. Westley Hartnett utters a choking gasp and falls dead, killed by one of Kwa's evil minions. More deaths are decreed by Kwa. The president of the Huxley Corporation, Blaine Goodall, is next. Doom is due to strike again, this time by a horrible car crash from a tall bridge into the deep ravine. And there will be more! Kwa's agents are not all Chinese. He enlists the aide of down-on-his-luck playboy Hugo Urvin. Urvin is the son of a wealthy family, but his gambling has led to a need for quick funds. And Urvin isn't too particular about how he gets them. So when he's contacted by Kwa, he quickly agrees to do the bidding of a new master, one who will pay handsomely for his services. Since Hugo Urvin is a member of the society set, his job is to spy out secrets of New York society and reveal the weaknesses of the five men that Kwa is targeting. Raising a scrawny, long-nailed hand, the hideous monster gesticulates and reminds Urvin, "Never" - the crackling voice became insidious in tone - "repeat the name of Kwa. You are not one who can safely pronounce the title of the Living Joss!" The tentacles of Kwa reach out from Chinatown through his agents such as Hugo Urvin. The method is devious. The man takes a tour bus to Chinatown and visits a small Buddha temple. There he will receive a secret message from Kwa. He is given little curio with hundred-dollar bills folded about it. There is a double-thick sheet of wrapping paper which peels apart. A message is written therein. Then, in a short period of time, the paper containing the message disappears in a smokeless flare. Some sort of a magician's flash paper, with a chemical timer. Apparently these bus tours of Chinatown were quite the thing back in the 1930's and 1940's. It gave customers a thrill to see the Orient up close and personal. The 1949 B-movie "Boston Blackie's Chinese Venture" is a good one to watch, if you'd like to see a typical Chinatown tour of that era. Of course, by 1949 things were much tamer. This 1933 story paints a wilder picture of the Chinatown tour. The Shadow really has his job cut out for him, here. He must battle the Chinese hoards that Kwa sends against him. He must discover the agents such as Hugo Urvin who have insinuated themselves into polite society. He must uncover the hidden lair of the living joss, and penetrate to the heart of the evil mastermind's headquarters. And he must meet the sinister Kwa in mortal combat. And all in a story of less than 44,000 words. The Shadow does all this with very little assistance. He does call in two of his agents, Harry Vincent and Clyde Burke, for some minor work. And the police, headed up by Detective Joe Cardona, are of some assistance. But most of the story involves The Shadow in his black-cloaked identity. The Shadow does get to use a lot of different disguises, in this story. He appeared in at least seven different disguises, by my count. He appears as a calm-faced gentleman in a restaurant booth, who overhears two plotters talking. Later, he is a solemn-faced Chinaman standing in Chinatown. And at least four other times, he follows Hugo Urvin at he takes a Chinatown tour, each time he's disguised differently. Unfortunately, the actual act of donning the disguises is never described. I always liked those other stories that described how he created a disguise for his features. The Shadow also appears in his oft-used disguise as Lamont Cranston. Usually, when The Shadow take on the Cranston disguise, we assume that the real Cranston is out of the country, but we never know the specifics. I always appreciate it when author Walter Gibson tells us what the real Cranston is up to. And in this story, he does. We're told that the real Lamont Cranston is hunting elephants in the wilds of Nigeria! A nice touch. There are a few familiar characters who show up in this pulp mystery. Lamont Cranston's two servants, Richards the valet and Stanley the chauffeur, both appear. And both are blissfully ignorant that they serve someone other than their true master. Also in this story are two familiar policemen, detective sergeant Markham and Inspector Timothy Klein. There are a couple interesting things worthy of note in this tale. The Shadow owns a powerful foreign car that has a right-hand drive. Or maybe it's owned by the real Cranston; it's never made clear. But it does exceed a speed of one hundred and ten miles per hour in one exciting chase. That's pretty fast even by today's standards; imagine how fast that would have been to those living in 1933! In the Buddhist temple, the living joss Kwa is summoned by striking a gong. But the strange thing is that the gong is soundless. The gong is struck, but no sound emanates. Yes, Kwa appears on his throne in a puff of incense vapors. That's pretty cool! At the end of the story, we are told that the gong is covered by some clear rubbery substance on it's brass face. That explains the soundless part, but it's never explained how Kwa is called from the silenced gong. One of those mysteries of the Orient, I guess. Another point of interest is the appearance of the devil's whisper. In other stories, it was a strange explosive. The Shadow would smear two separate pastes on his thumb and finger. A finger snap would create a flash of light, a puff of smoke and an explosive clap of thunder. In this story, though, it's a little different. The Shadow has two vials of powder; one grayish, the other black. He mixes the powders and pours a strange liquid on the powders. Within moments, there is a terrific explosion. In this case, it was used to open a sealed door. This seems to be an early version of the devil's whisper, before Gibson came up with a consistent way of describing it. Even though this is a Chinatown story, there is no mention of the name by which the Chinese know The Shadow. No mention of Ying Ko. That's because in this early story, Walter Gibson had yet to invent that part of The Shadow's background. It would first be mentioned in "The Fate Joss" two years later - the same story that introduced Dr. Roy Tam to pulp readers. This story gets my strong recommendation. It's easy to get caught up in the story and find your bedtime has long passed. Just wait until you follow The Shadow down the narrow, musty passages under the streets of Chinatown. And witness the evil Kwa release the purplish vapors of death upon all who dare enter his sanctuary. There's no way you can put the story down until you see the resolution to these thrilling events. The early Shadow stories are undeniably the best. And this is definitely one of them. Plus it's a Chinatown story, which makes it rank even higher among the other Shadow pulp novels. Read this one; you will enjoy it. Trust me!