"Norgil the Magician" by Maxwell Grant. NY: The Mysterious Press, 1977. First edition. Jacket Art by Steranko
Walter Gibson was an accomplished magician as well as an author. Under the Street & Smith house name of Maxwell Grant, he created and wrote 282 of the 325 novels about the most famous crimefighter to battle evil-doers in the pages of pulp magazines -- "The Shadow." So in creating his other crimefighting hero, "Norgil, the Magician," Gibson combined his talents as a mystery writer and a leading authority on magic. "Magic and mystery are so closely interwoven," he once wrote, "that it is hard to tell where one leaves off and the other begins."
Stories about Norgil first appeared in pulp magazines such as "Crime Busters" and "Mystery Magazine" during the 1930's and 40's. Each story employs a famous stage illusion as a plot device, and Norgil is a solitary representation of several real-life magicians who made those tricks popular. These long-lost stories are collected here for the first time in book form.
"Norgil the Magician" by Maxwell Grant. NY: The Mysterious Press, 1977. First edition. Jacket Art by Steranko
Walter Gibson was an accomplished magician as well as an author. Under the Street & Smith house name of Maxwell Grant, he created and wrote 282 of the 325 novels about the most famous crimefighter to battle evil-doers in the pages of pulp magazines -- "The Shadow." So in creating his other crimefighting hero, "Norgil, the Magician," Gibson combined his talents as a mystery writer and a leading authority on magic. "Magic and mystery are so closely interwoven," he once wrote, "that it is hard to tell where one leaves off and the other begins."
Stories about Norgil first appeared in pulp magazines such as "Crime Busters" and "Mystery Magazine" during the 1930's and 40's. Each story employs a famous stage illusion as a plot device, and Norgil is a solitary representation of several real-life magicians who made those tricks popular. These long-lost stories are collected here for the first time in book form.