[1] While the publication was the publishing house's first detective-fiction pulp magazine in a format resembling a modern paperback (a "thick book" in dime-novel parlance), Street & Smith had only recently ceased publication of the dime-novel series Nick Carter Weekly, which concerned the adventures of a young detective.
The Street and Smith radio program Detective Story Hour was narrated by a mysterious character named "The Shadow.
As a result, Street & Smith debuted The Shadow Magazine on April 1, 1931, a pulp series created and primarily written by the prolific Walter B. Gibson.
The success of The Shadow and Doc Savage also prompted Street & Smith to revive Nick Carter as a hero pulp that ran from 1933 to 1936.
A popular radio show, Nick Carter, Master Detective, aired on the Mutual Broadcasting System network from 1943 to 1955.