In the very next chapter of Luceno's adaptation the issue of Kent Allard is brought up. It seems to be a mixture of Howard Chaykin's "Blood & Judgement" version of The Shadow's history and Gibson's actual history. The whole opium trade and such are not my favorite way to view this character and I also have a problem with my hero being a true villain until he is redeemed. In the Chaykin series Lamont Cranston was the drug lord and Kent Allard was the man who was brought into the insanity. In this book Allard is the bad guy and Cranston leaves so that he can distance himself from the evil that is in this man. But the world changes and when there is no control over the sanctity of our hero then we are the true victims of the almighty dollar.
Don't get me wrong, if there were no history of The Shadow then this would be very interesting and completely acceptable. The movie & book deserve some leeway since they had so many different source materials to draw from.
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I agree. Frankly, I want a hero who's a hero. I don't mind the Peter Parker flawed archetype, but I want noble, selfless and verging-on-asexual[!] icons who live to help others. It may not be realistic, but that's how I like 'em! The Shadow, to my mind, is BEYOND selfishness and evil.
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