The Shadow 187 Shiwan Khan Returns

SHIWAN KHAN RETURNS was originally published in the December 1, 1939 issue of The Shadow Magazine. Once again Shiwan Khan presents a threat to the entire world. He has the power and the drive to rule the globe and only one man can stand in his way: The Shadow! This is the second in the famous "Shiwan Khan" series of four pulp novels. If you're going to read any of them, it would be advisable to read them in the proper order. The complete set of four consisted of:  09/15/39 THE GOLDEN MASTER  12/01/39 SHIWAN KHAN RETURNS  03/01/40 THE INVINCIBLE SHIWAN KHAN  05/15/40 MASTERS OF DEATH As you'll remember from the first novel, Shiwan Khan, descendant of the great and powerful Ghengis Khan, has the amazing power to control the minds of others. In "The Golden Master" he accomplished this by means of lights. Lights which hypnotized his victims and created a mental link with their mind and his. Once under his control, Shiwan Khan used his mental slaves to acquire a large number of military aircraft and munitions. Thankfully, after a harrowing battle, The Shadow bested him, leaving him for dead. Or was he...? Nope, Shiwan Khan wasn't dead. He returns in this story, mean as ever. As sinister and evil as he was in the first story. But, why had Shiwan Khan returned to America this second time? This time, it's to bend the minds of important scientists to his will. To control their minds, and mentally force them to create new inventions which could be used to further his own warped plans of world conquest. But his method of mind control is different this time. The Shadow broke Shiwan Khan's mental link of blinking lights in the first novel, so in this story Shiwan Khan comes up with another even more diabolical method. He uses rhythmic sounds to create a sympathetic vibration between his mind and that of his victims. His ability to bring anyone under his remote hypnotic suggestion means that no one in the world is safe from his evil control! And, as in the first Shiwan Khan novel, our evil mastermind isn't happy unless he abducts a beautiful young white woman and subjugates her mind to his, convincing her that she's really someone else. She becomes a different person, an Oriental beauty who follows Shiwan Khan's every order. She becomes his moll as well as his faithful servant. It the first story, it was Beatrice Chadbury. In this story, she is Marjorie Cragg. Marjorie Cragg is a vocalist with a beautiful contralto voice. She comes to Shiwan Khan's attention because her uncle is the eccentric inventor Howard Felber. Felber is currently inventing a strange new vehicle, an experimental motor car that Shiwan Khan has use for. So Shiwan Khan puts Felber under his hypnotic control, and gains the strange all-wheel-drive vehicle. And while he's at it, he takes over the mind of young Marjorie Cragg as well. Marjorie owns a strange ten-stringed harp, known as an aeolian harp. It's a self-playing harp; when the harp is placed in a breeze, the air currents themselves play it. Shiwan Khan uses the strange melodious instrument to project his thoughts into her mind. Once under his complete control, she becomes a different person. She becomes Princess Dunyazad, and does whatever Shiwan Khan desires. Howard Felber isn't the only inventor that Shiwan Khan controls. There's an old fellow named Clifford Maybrell who designs air-cooling systems. Shiwan Khan has him designing some special gigantic fans. Richard Orlio invents diving equipment. He is putting his beryllium bathysphere to the use of Shiwan Khan. And chemist Hiram Bixley has developed a poisonous and inflammable gas. Now that he's under Shiwan Khan's control, the terror gas is now also possessed by the evil mastermind. Federal agent Vic Marquette considers this gas to be the most powerful weapon ever designed for warfare! It must be kept from Shiwan Khan at all costs! The Shadow really has his hands full battling against such a powerful foe. First he has to make his way through the hoards of Afghans that Shiwan Khan has brought to America with him. Yes, invincible killers of the sort that stalk the Khyber Pass provide a true test for The Shadow. Luckily, The Shadow has plenty of help on hand. As for the New York Police, Commissioner Ralph Weston, Inspector Joe Cardona and Detective Sergeant Markham all take part in the action. Federal man Vic Marquette shows up in the last quarter of the novel, to assist as well. Washington lawmaker Senator Releston is mentioned, but doesn't actually appear. As for his own agents, The Shadow is assisted by Burbank, his trusty contact man, Harry Vincent, long-time agent, Clyde Burke, reporter for the New York Classic, Moe Shrevnitz, cab driver extrordinaire, Rutledge Mann, investment banker and Jericho Druke, huge African. Dr. Rupert Sayre, The Shadow's personal physician, doesn't show up, but his place is taken by a Dr. Phillip Buffton, a nerve specialist. Yes, there's plenty of help on hand for The Shadow. And he needs it! Parts of this story were appropriated for the 1994 Shadow movie, as were parts of the other three, as well. In the movie, Shiwan Khan's headquarters was in the Hotel Monolith. That's where he keeps his lair in this story, too. Marjorie Cragg spends her time as Princess Dunyazad in luxurious quarters on the thirtieth floor of the hotel, as does Shiwan Khan. In the movie, Shiwan Khan kept the hotel invisible to outsiders, by means of his mental control. That's not the case in the original pulp story, though. The Hotel Monolith is abandoned, but quite visible to all. Professor Orlio's beryllium bathysphere should ring a bell to those who've seen the movie. In the movie, it was smaller and contained a bomb. In this story it is larger, and can hold a man inside. But this story does provide the original inspiration for that part of the movie. There's one scene that I remember from the movie that jumped to mind as I read this story. Afghans throw a spear at The Shadow. It skims his ribs, the pointed shaft bundles the black-clad fighter's coat along with his cloak, actually pinning him to the wall. In the movie, this happens when The Shadow is invisible, and only his shadow appears pinned to the wall. He steps away from the wall, becomming visibile, leaving his cloak and shadow behind. In the pulp novel, he also pulls free, leaving his cloak behind. The movie scriptwriters had to make modifications to the story to fix the screen, but they obviously did their homework. A couple points of interest. We know from long experience that The Shadow is a master of many languages. Here's another one to add to the list. The Shadow speaks Pukhtu, the native language of Afghanistan. Seems that The Shadow is a master linguist. Although The Shadow lacks many of the powers of Shiwan Khan, he is learning. In this story, he practices one of Shiwan Khan's tactics of mental concentration on Commissioner Weston. He constantly keeps his mind fixed on one point while he gazes at Weston. The influence finally takes full effect and Weston unknowingly cooperates, ordering an investigation that The Shadow wants. Yes, The Shadow is learning more powers, here! As in the first Shiwan Khan story, it's only at the very end that the two super foes actually meet. In chapter twenty-two they finally come face to face. There's another titanic battle, and this time Shiwan Khan escapes. In the first novel, it was assumed that he had died at the story's end. This time, there's no doubt... he will return! You've really got to read this one. Find out what happens when The Shadow falls under the mental domination of Shiwan Khan and can't be roused from his trance. See him find the hidden lair of the evil master. Watch as he finally is able to free the scientists from their hypnotic bonds, and release Marjorie Cragg from her mental prison. And thrill as The Shadow keeps the ultimate poison gas from falling into the hands of the world's most powerful supervillain, Shiwan Khan. This story gets my top recommendation. It's a great story that's tough to put down. Shiwan Khan is the ultimate challenge for The Shadow. Of course, it is his magazine, so we know our hero will win out. But reading the story to find out how makes for a thrill a minute!