Burbank

Possibly The Shadow's most important agent.  A man who lives in the shadows perhaps more than his boss.  Let's take a look at a few different takes on the man in the headset.

This is how I see him when I read the pulps.  Maybe not in a suit but a faceless agent keeping the vast network connected.  I never felt that he should have a visage but I guess the editors felt differently because...

with the publication of "The Lone Tiger" many of The Shadow's key agents made the cover.  In a way, Burbank has the most generic face so that helps but I still didn't think he should have made an appearance.

Fast forward to the mid 70's and the resurgence of The Shadow thanks to M W Kaluta and Denny O'Neil.  This is when the popular version of Burbank emerged, a look I never understood in context of the character from the pulps but somehow made Burbank more interesting.

And then in 1994 I think they got it right for the most part with Andre Gregory as Burbank.  I loved the tube system and even got on board with the video.  I think this is pretty much a perfect compromise between the pulp and the comic.