Maxwell Grant Books In Order

Publication Order of Shadow: The Master of Darkness Books

Publication Order of Norgil Books

Publication Order of Short Story Collections

Maxwell Grant is a shared pen name used by the writers of The Shadow stories, originally used by the American writer and professional magician named Walter Brown Gibson. Walter was also the first writer hired by The Shadow’s publishers, Street & Smith, to chronicle the adventures of the series. When Walter began working on the first novel of the series, the publishers asked him to come up with a pseudonym to show on the cover page of the book. There were many reasons for creating the pen name, including giving the liberty to the publishers to hire multiple authors for writing the stories without creating any confusion in the mind of the readers. Walter Gibson was writing only nonfiction work at the time when he has approached by Street & Smith and asked for the creation of the pen name.

As he was also looking for a pseudonym for beginning his career in the field of writing fiction, he thought he could come up with a single name for both the purposes. Eventually, he adopted Maxwell Grant as the pen name. Walter took the name from a couple of magic dealers whom he knew at that time, Maxwell Holden & U.F. Grant. Four other authors have used this pen name besides Walter Gibson for writing the Shadow stories. They include Theodore Tinsley, Lester Dent, Bruce Elliott, and Dennis Lynds. Theodore Tinsley has written 27 Shadow tales from 1936 to 1943; Lester Dent has written just one story in 1938; Dennis Lynds has penned 9 stories from 1964 to 1967; Bruce Elliott has written fifteen Shadow stories from 1946 to 1948.

There is a comic book series by the same name published under the banner of Dynatie Entertainment, which depicts a character who goes by the name of Maxwell Grant. This character is depicted as a journalist, who finds success in uncovering the Shadow’s identity. But, instead of exposing him, he offers to chronicle the adventures of the Shadow. Walter Gibson was born on September 12, 1897, in Germantown, Philadelphia, US; and died on December 6, 1985, in Kingston, New York, US. He was a well-known magician and author of pulp magazines, comic books, novels, children’s fiction, mystery books, comic strips, etc. As an author, Walter was particularly popular for being the creator and the initial & main writer of the famous pulp fiction character named The Shadow. He was also the first writer to use Maxwell Grant as the pseudonym for writing the stories revolving around The Shadow.

In all, Walter wrote 282 stories of Shadow out of the total 325 released by Street & Smith. Most of these stories were published in the publisher’s magazine called The Shadow, which was quite popular during the 30s and 40s. Walter used to write up to 10 thousand words every day to meet the demands of the public during the golden age of the character. Apart from this, Walter has authored a few books in the Biff Brewster mystery series during the 1960s. Author Walter was married to Litzka Gibson, a writer by profession, and lived with her in New York. Before venturing into the field of writing, he completed his graduation in 1920 from Colgate University. While in university, Walter was a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon. Following his graduation, he worked as a reporter for several newspapers in Philadelphia. He even wrote crossword puzzles for The Evening Ledger and The North American.

In 1928, Walter got the opportunity to edit MacFadden Publications’ True Strange Stories. To do so, he used the nom de plume of Walter Scofield and had to commute back & forth to New York. In 1931, Street & Smith came across his crime fiction work in the Detective Story Magazine and approached him to produce The Shadow’s first print format. Until then, the character was just a popular voice featuring in radio drama. Walter worked to create all the characterization and mythos of The Shadow along with the alter ego named Lamont Cranston. Other than his writing commitments, Walter featured as a character in one of Paul Malmont’s novels. Additionally, he has appeared as a protagonist alongside Orson Welles in Max Allan Collins’ 2005 book of historical mystery.

The Shadow series penned by author Maxwell Grant is comprised of a total of 334 stories released between 1931 and 1978. It features a large cast of characters and takes place in various cities of the United States. The debut book of this series is entitled ‘The Living Shadow’. It is the first book to introduce the central character called The Shadow. Initially, it is depicted that The Shadow knows what evil lurks in men’s hearts, but no one seems to be having any idea about him. He dresses in all black and makes mysterious appearances in the dark. The Shadow has the knack of giving a hard time to those involved in illegal and/or criminal activities. It is mentioned that he has a large network of informers, who secretly pass vital information to him and help him stay one step ahead of the law and the police.

The Shadow follows his own rules to fight against crime. His typical mocking laugh becomes a terror sign to the guilty all over Manhattan. Many volunteering crimefighters join him in his attempt to punish the guilty and provide justice to the innocent. With the support of his loyal crimefighters, The Shadow locks horns with a master criminal, who proves to be too much. The brilliant criminal’s sharp mind makes The Shadow have a hard time dealing with him. Just before the master criminal is about to outmatch him, The Shadow succeeds in hunting him down.

Another mind-blowing installment of this series is known as ‘Double Z’. It was published in 1932 and features the lead characters in the roles of Joel Caulkins, The Shadow, Double Z, Philip Farmington, etc. The book opens by showing that Joel Caulkins and Philip Farmington get killed one after the other by a brutal killer named Double Z. Joel Caulkins was a reporter working in New York Classic. Just when he was about to reveal the identity of Doule Z, he was murdered. After murdering Joel Caulkins, Double Z takes the life of Philip Farmington, an international banker and a millionaire, by poisoning his cigar. Double Z commits many other murders and before taking the life of each of his victims, he sends a warning note to them to prove that he is a man of his words. When the police are not able to catch Double Z, they decide to take the help of The Shadow, who is more than willing to take up another challenging case involving a cunning murderer.