PulpFest

A Few Psychos: The Villains of THE SHADOW

With over 300 novels, decades of radio adventures, and multiple movie appearances, The Shadow has faced down more evil than any other pulp hero. Robbers! Killers! Thieves! Con men! And . . . Psychos? Join Tim King on Friday, July 28, at 9:40 PM for a night of “Psycho Bingo” as he showcases a few of the nemeses of The Knight of Darkness.

A hero is defined by his villains. Voodoo Master? Sure. Benedict Stark, The Prince of Evil? Of course. Shiwan Khan? Inevitably. But there are many, many other high quality psychos in the pulp adventures of The Shadow. Tim will use forensic psychology in a fast-paced look back at some of the more dastardly, manipulative, sociopathic antagonists of The Dark Avenger. How are psychopathic villains different than others? Are their actions predictable or preventable? How does The Shadow deal with evil, remorseless psychotic villains? (Hint: it starts with a 4 and ends with a 5). If you love The Shadow, and you want to sneak a peek into his secret archives and get inside the methods and motives of his adversaries, then this is the talk for you!

Tim King is a career Intelligence Officer with training and experience in forensic psychology — the application of psychology to the criminal justice system. He presented at PulpFest 2015 and contributed an essay to Anthony Tollin’s Sanctum SHADOW reprint #103 entitled, “Spycraft and The Shadow.” He is not a psychologist or medical doctor, but he recently stayed at a Doubletree by Hilton. And he is adamant that The Shadow’s greatest female Agent was Myra Reldon, not what’s-her- name.

(George Rozen replaced his brother Jerome as THE SHADOW cover artist in 1931. He went on to become The Shadow’s most renowned cover artist, while his brother branched out into the more prestigious fields of advertising and slick magazines. Selling cover paintings — such as this one for the July 1, 1934 issue of THE SHADOW MAGAZINE — to a wide variety of pulp magazines, including CAPTAIN FUTURE, DR. YEN SIN, THE PHANTOM DETECTIVE, THRILLING ADVENTURES, WAR STORIES, WESTERN ACES, and WINGS, George remained active in the pulp magazine industry through the Second World War. Following the war, his illustrations appeared regularly on paperbacks from Popular Library and Ace Books.)

PulpFest Returns to Pittsburgh!

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