About the Webmistress

In the summer of 1994, I was a teenager living in the city of Edmonton (in Alberta, Canada). At my local library I came across the movie adaptation of a character I had never heard of: The Shadow.

As I read it, I found myself drawn into an amazing world of this crime-fighter. The author (James Luceno) had certainly done his research, and peppered the book with details of The Shadow's personal history, his army of agents, and his mode of operation. The more I read, the more I became fascinated; my imagination was sparked. This Shadow was far different than any crimefighter I had ever come across at this point in my life. He was an anti-hero: dark, unconventional, possessed no superpowers (apart from the power of his mind), and no special gadgets. He even had outside help!

Needless to day, I was officially addicted.

The movie itself only added to that addiction, and I wanted to know more about The Shadow. I went through movie magazines and library indexes, and learnt that he existed long before I was born. He was everywhere: pulps, radio, comics, and movies. I began to collect the comic books, then radio shows on cassettes, movie memorabilia, and pulp reprints.

In 2001, I launched a website to share what I had learnt about The Shadow to like-minded people around the world. I planned for it to be a one-stop reference all things about this character. If you had told me back then I would still be adding new information to this site 20 years on, I wouldn't have believed you. But then again here we are. It has been quite a journey. And though I will be stepping back from Webmistress duties at the end of 2021, my journey with The Shadow will still continue as he will constantly surprise me with his influence on pop culture long into the future.

The Webmistress