The Shadow Strikes (1937) stars Rod LaRoque as The Shadow., a man with mysterious powers that he acquired in Tibet. In the radio drama, which debuted in 1937, The Shadow was an invisible avenger who had learned, while “traveling through the Orient,” “the mysterious power to cloud men’s minds, so they could not see him.” This feature of the character was born out of necessity: time constraints of 1930s radio made it difficult to explain to listeners where The Shadow was hiding and how he was remaining concealed. Thus, the character was given the power to escape human sight. Voice effects were added to suggest The Shadow’s seeming omnipresence. To explain this power, The Shadow was described as a master of hypnotism, as explicitly stated in several radio episodes.
