Aliens are a tough sell in the Shadow universe, because of the implications to the wider world. Just killing this one leader doesn’t wrap stuff up, and it it introduces a new question. The usual question is supernatural based, but now it is going to science fiction. No suspense, just bad writing.

I’m absolutely certain this is the first ever piece of Shadow/Far Out Space Nuts fan fiction. I doff my hat to you, sir.

Had The Shadow gone on another 10 years, the opening would be, “The Shadow, Lamont Cranston, a man of wealth, on a trip to India obtained the power to cloud men’s minds so they could not see him. Now he devotes his life to righting wrongs, protecting the innocent, and punishing the guilty. Recently, while touring an experimental coal-powered space craft with the lovely Margo Lane, and her friends Ruth Buzzi and Bob Denver, the latter accidentally pushed the “launch” button when the penultimate asked him to push the “lunch” button. Join us now as the Shadow continues to right wrongs and protect the innocent… in SPACE! … while hoping to some day find his way… home.

Thanks for your interpretation of the “died like a man” line. It seems obvious now that you say it, but at the time all I could think of was, as you say, masculine courage and virility. I still think it’s unintentionally hilarious.

Couldn’t agree more, Dave. “Human” would have been a more effective choice for the reasons you mentioned.

By the way, when Lamont says “he died like a man,” I don’t think the meaning is supposed to be “he died like a prime example of masculine courage and virility,” but rather “he died like a human” — i.e., he wasn’t immune to bullets. It’s kind of a grim statement, although the actor didn’t really deliver it in a very grim manner (and the line would have worked better with the word “human,” regardless of the actor’s delivery).

Glad you liked it, Mark.

I’m glad I got a chance to listen to this, David. It was a lot of fun!

Alas, my work as a letter carrier had no bearing in choosing this episode. I mentioned in my original message that I had this episode on a collection called The Lost Shadow (or some permutation of that) as a kid and, as you guys know, you had to live off physical copies of old time radio shows in those days. As a fan of Bester’s stories and novels, I was especially drawn to this episode, corny as it may be, because it was such a curveball compared to the American episodes I was more familiar with at the time.

Thanks again! I hope you guys (and the rest of the MORLS community) enjoy this one!