Harry Houdini: The Man Who Inspired Superheroes
March 24 marks the 150th birthday of the master magician, illusionist and escapologist who inspired the Shadow, Batman, and the very idea of the superhero.
BY ROY SCHWARTZ
POSTED: MAR 24, 2024 10:00 AM
Famed magician Harry Houdini was one of the 20th century’s biggest celebrities, and remains a global household name to this day. His impossible feats of death-defying escape, otherworldly mystique and the popular legends woven around him have inspired hundreds of books, movies, TV shows and comics, and even pinballs and videogames, plus countless other appearances and mentions.
Houdini’s daring reputation, along with his muscular physique and real-life adventures exposing con artists, made him more myth than man, and an important evolutionary milestone in the idea of the superhuman.
In honor of his 150th birthday, here’s a look at the man behind the legend, fact vs. fiction (the former being stranger, in his case) and how he helped inspire the idea of the superhero.
HARRY HOUDINI WAS BORN ERIK WEISZ ON MARCH 24, 1874, IN BUDAPEST.
Houdini’s Long Shadow
There are quite a few events and tribute shows planned for Houdini’s 150th around the world, but perhaps the most interesting is the book launch of Houdini’s Last Handcuffs, a fantasy novel by Charlie and Cheryl Young inspired by their childhood in 1950s New York.
Their father, Morris Young, was a magic enthusiast who as a teenager had seen Houdini perform and met him. In 1961, he coauthored with Walter B. Gibson the highly influential Houdini’s Fabulous Magic, now in its fourth edition.
The same Walter B. Gibson, a magician in his own right, had ghostwritten for Houdini himself. In 1921 the experience inspired him to create, under the penname Maxwell Grant, a pulp magazine adventurer who had “Houdini’s penchant for escapes, with the hypnotic power of Tibetan mystics”—the Shadow.
The Shadow, in turn, helped inspire a number of superheroes, most notably Batman. Batman’s cocreator Bill Finger was also inspired by Houdini, making the master magician both a direct and indirect influence on the caped crusader.
THE CREATOR OF THE SHADOW, WALTER B. GIBSON, HAD ALSO GHOSTWRITTEN FOR HOUDINI.
- Mar 25, 2024
- 2 min read
Book Review: "Houdini's Last Handcuffs"
by Charlie and Cheryl Young
HOUDINI'S LAST HANDCUFFS is a masterful ghost story for adults! Rather than terrify, however, this mystical journey is one of joy, wonder and the magic of childhood.
Drawing on their real youth in a rambling, book-filled New York City apartment, the writing team of Charlie Young and his sister, Cheryl, mix the facts of their actual magic-loving father, who once met Harry Houdini, with the fantasy of summoning back the master magician and escape artist of the early twentieth century. Their dad, Morris N. Young, really did coauthor the 1953 book HOUDINI'S FABULOUS MAGIC (reissued by Vine Leaves Press in 2023) and the magician really did live in a nearby townhouse.
In this novel, the magician materializes on Halloween in 1958 before the youthful eyes of Cheryl and Charlie and their good friend, David, when they attempt to summon Houdini’s spirit. The netherworld apparition explains his theory about why he’s returned: the kids must help him fulfill a last task, a trick of tricks, an epic psychic phenomenon.
The authors do a terrific job of combining key elements, like their eccentric youth among the famous, theatrical entertainers and magicians who came to visit their parents. They include the strange fact of Houdini’s request upon his deathbed that his wife, Bess, hold a seance each year in an attempt to reach him “on the other side.” Lastly, the book rest on everyone’s childhood dream of being called upon to solve a mystery that’s beyond the imagination of adults.
Mixing fantasy with fact to create a spooky, clever mystery for adults is no small trick, but one these authors conjure with panache.
You can also find this review on Goodreads.
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THE FALCON, THE WOLF AND THE HUMMINGBIRD a historical novel
BLISS ROAD, a memoir
WINTER LIGHT, a novel
THE WIND THIEF, a novel
GROWING GREAT CHARACTERS, a resource for writers
#books #novels #houdini #magic #booksonmagic #fiction #reading #booksonmagic #charlieyoung #vineleavespress #bookreview
- Mar 24, 2024
- 1 min read
Today is the 150th anniversary of the great magician and escape artist. The launch of our novel was timed to coincide with the event, though books are traditionally released on Tuesdays hence you will see Houidini's Last Handcuffs appear on March 26th.
