Blackhawk - a novel based on the DC Comics characters

The 1970s and 1980s were the decades when I was just getting into comic books as a kid, and while my growing love of the medium expanded by leaps and bounds, my knowledge of all the non-comic merchandise being put out there was very limited (remember, this was pre-Internet days!).  Thus, just like I was unaware of the two House of Mystery novels by Jack Olsek (The House of Mystery, Book 1 and The House of Mystery, Book 2), I was also unaware of the William Rotstler novel from the early 1980s based on some DC characters that were acquired from Quality Comics.  While I am not really a fan of war comics or war stories, this book was passed on to me by my friend, Kevin, after he finished reading it.  So, since it was a gift, I figured it was time to sit down and read it.

 

Blackhawk was originally published by Quality Comics and first appeared back in 1941 in the first issue of Military Comics.  The character and team was created by Chuck Cuidera, with assistance from comic legend Will Eisner, along with Bob Powell.   The character has seen a number of iterations through the decades, and his origin (and even his real name) has changed as well.  Author William Rotsler, as he states in the book's Afterword, stays pretty close to the original story in Military Comics No. 1.  The main character is an ace pilot who is shot down over Poland, and while trying to reach the house of his brother and sister, he witnesses the Germans bomb the house, killing both of his siblings.  He vows vengeance on Von Tepp, the man responsible for their deaths, and he sets about building a squadron of men to take on the Nazi forces and find, and kill, Von Tepp.  Assuming the name "Blackhawk," he gathers a rag-tag team of men to form his team:  Andre, a French pilot; Olaf, a Swedish pilot; Stanislaus, a Polish fighter; Hendrickson, a Dutch flyer; and a Chinese man skilled in karate, who they refer to as "Chop-Chop."  

 

I had expected there to be one story within the book; however, Rotsler wraps up the tale of vengeance against Von Tepp within the first half of the book, and the second half is spent with the team rescuing a female British agent known as "Bluebird" and working to take out a WarEagle machine terrorizing England.  From what I can gather online (since I never read any of the Blackhawk comics from either company), the story of Blackhawk's search and ultimate revenge on Von Tepp stay pretty true to the comic tale.  In the comics, they track down Von Tepp in France, where he is holding one of Blackhawk's men hostage.  Blackhawk sends a note demanding the release of his man, so Von Tepp orders his execution along with two other captives, including an English nurse.  The Blackhawks arrived in time to save the captives, capture Von Tepp, and take him back to Blackhawk Island where Blackhawk challenges his adversary to a one-on-one aerial duel.  Both planes crash, and Von Tepp is killed in a volley of bullets.  The book maintains most of these story elements, with slight variations - there is only one other captive being held by Von Tepp (the nurse), and Von Tepp is killed during a physical fight after the planes crash, and he is pushed back against a sharp piece of metal that pierced his heart, leaving him dead.

 

The other two adventures - the rescue of Bluebird and the take-down of the WarEagle - are more fast-paced and read like your typical war stories. And while the Blackhawks are a team, the stories are definitely focused on Blackhawk himself (who, curiously enough, is never identified by any real name - it seems no one, not even his own teammates, know his true identity), who turns out to be the hero of every story.  His men serve him faithfully and rarely, if ever, question his command or his orders.  Again, war stories are not really my cup of tea, so I had to force myself to read page after page to ultimately finish the book.  The writing itself is not bad by any means, but the stories simply did not interest me that much.

 

 The cover art is provided by Romas Kukalis, a Canadian artist, who is well known for his cover art for science fiction and fantasy novels.  Some of his early work apparently included illustrations for Creepy, Eerie, and Heavy Metal magazines, before he moved on to painting book covers for publishers such as Ace, Berkley, Del Ray, and others.  His cover for this novel depicts not only Blackhawk and his men firing off against an unseen enemy, but it includes a lone female figure standing right beside Blackhawk.  The scene does not actually occur anywhere in the book (as the females rescued by the Blackhawks do not take an active role in fighting the enemy during the stories), but is merely a representation of the characters and action.

 

 In my research online after reading this book, I discovered Blackhawk has had much more exposure than I realized - not only the various comic book series and this novel, but there was also a serial back in the 1950s starring Kirk Alyn; there was a radio series, voided by Michael Fitzmaurice; there was even a limited edition G.I. Joe doll of Blackhawk in 2002, complete with various uniforms!  Apparently, in the 1980s, Steven Spielberg had plans to adapt the comic into a movie, but the project was scrapped; later, in 2018, Warner Bros. tried again, with Spielberg once again attached to the project.  In 2022, a script was confirmed to have been written for a film; however, with the new Gunn-driven DC film universe, it's unlikely that film will see the light of day.

 

For those who love war stories and war/military comics, this book is probably a great read.  For me, it was somewhat tedious, and I had to force my way through it to finish it.  There were hints in the Afterword that this was to be the first in a series of novels, but no other Blackhawk novels were ever published.

 

And, ah, yes, before I forget, I should mention that Rotsler did provide some Easter Eggs in the story for comic fans.  The name of Blackhawk's benefactor, who helps finance the planes, provides their secret island, and keeps them informed with secret military information is named "Levitz" - obviously after Paul Levitz, a major player at DC Comics during the '70s and '80s, as both an editor and writer.  The name of Levitz' firm in the book is "Levitz, Cuidera, and Dillin" - a tribute to Paul Levitz, Chuck Cuidera (Blackhawk's creator), and Dick Dillin (who provided art for Blackhawk in both the Military Comics series by Quality, as well as Blackhawk's own series).

 

Aside from that, Rotsler has Blackhawk utilize a "small sabotage device called a fire pencil [which was] the size of a small fountain pen..." (p. 106).  I found this interesting, because it immediately brought to mind those "pencil bombs" that Mildred Wirt referenced in the 12th Penny Parker mystery,  Voice from the Cave.  I had never heard of these before reading the Penny Parker book, and now here they appear for a second time in this Blackhawk novel!  An interesting coincidence...

 

RATING:  6 twin-engine Grummans out of 10 for a novel filled with plenty of wartime action, dramatic battles, and heroic last-minute saves - a definite compliment to the comic stories upon which the book is based. 

Harlequin Gothic Romance Series No. 32012 - Castle Malice

"The bizarre incidents kept mounting until she had no choice but to unmask the source of evil" (cover blurb)

 

This 12th novel in the Harlequin Gothic Romance series is the second and final volume written by Marilyn Ross (W.E.D. Ross).  While his last novel was set in the 19th Century, this book is set in the present.  Further, both the story and the cover art are a strong reminder just how much these Gothic tales are like reading grown-up Nancy Drew mysteries - dark, foreboding mansions, hidden passages, repeated attacks on the protagonist, and long-kept secrets that must be uncovered before the heroine can find her happily-ever-after.  Thankfully, Ross knows how to write a strong protagonist that does not easily fall under the spell of the men around her and who can think for herself (although, let's face it, she ultimately winds up in a desperate and dangerous situation by the end that reveals the true villain of the story!), which makes for great stories.

 

Castle Malice is the tale of another young heiress who inherits a fortune from a distant relative and must travel to Europe to claim her bequest.   As with so many Gothic tales that have come before, that distant relative died under mysterious circumstances, the house our protagonist is to inherit comes with dark secrets, and someone is determined to get the heroine out of the way in order to take the property for themselves!  In this case, Trudy Stone, a young woman from New York, travels all the way to a small village on the Italian Riveria after receiving a letter from her aunt's attorney informing her that her Aunt Julia passed away, and Trudy is her only heir.  But she arrives by train to the lonely station (gee, sounds very much like poor Victoria Winters from Ross' other series of novels) to be met not by the attorney as she expected, but by Dr. Carl Redman, who whisks her away to the home of his employer, Benson Steiburn, and his lovely daughter, Sylvia - whose grand castle (known as "Castle Malice" by the townspeople because of its horrid past) is located right next to the villa Trudy is to inherit.  She soon meets their other neighbor, aging actress Lena Morel and the young reporter who is penning her biography, Tom Clarendon, as well as Adrian Romitelli, a con man who everyone says was taking advantage of Trudy's aunt.  With all of these characters, the stage is set for a deadly mystery to be played out...

 

As always, Ross manages to build up the suspense as Trudy finds some very strange things are happening at Castle Malice.  First, she awakens to find the likeness of her dead aunt's face on the pillow next to her; then, she comes face to face with ghostly masked swordsman that supposedly haunts the castle; next, she is locked in an underground tunnel that connects the castle to her aunt's villa; later, she is nearly killed as she chased down the stairs of the villa and chocked by the swordsman; and at a town festival, she finds herself trapped in an alley, facing certain death at the hands of a cloaked madman.  All of these "foibles," so to speak, could easily be seen in a Nancy Drew mystery novel, just perhaps with the threat-level lessened a bit.  But, like Nancy, Trudy fights back and refuses to be intimidated by the masked man.  She does not believe in ghosts, and she knows that a living, breathing human is behind all of her attacks.  In fact, she realizes whoever is after her is likely the same person that killed her aunt, anxious to get their hands on her inheritance - you see, her aunt did not outright bequeath Trudy her great fortune; rather, she merely gave it to her while she lives, and upon Trudy's death, it passes to another.  The only problem is, that "other" heir is unknown, as it is sealed in a second Will that cannot be opened until Trudy's death.  Which leaves everyone wondering - who inherits after Trudy?

 

It's a great mystery, and readers will likely go back and forth (like Trudy does in the story) trying to figure out who is the one with enough reason to get rid of our poor protagonist.  Is it Mr. Steiburn, who wants to tear down the villa and build a museum to house all of his art treasures?  Is it Adrian, who willingly admits he was Julia's friend and confidante solely for the money she gave him?  Is it Carl, who shows Trudy attention, while at the same time seems to have a love affair going on with the very married Sylvia?  Is it Lena, who claims to have been Julia's best friend, yet was completely left out of the deceased woman's Will?  Or is it Tom, who has no money of his own and who everyone believes has latched onto the aging actress solely to get the money from writing her story?  All of them have motives, all of them have means, and all of them seem to have opportunity with each incident - until Trudy learns that one of them did NOT have opportunity, and perhaps she has been trusting the wrong people.  And when that one person turns up dead of a supposed suicide, Trudy realizes she is next!

 

Unfortunately, like his last book, Ross builds up the story, gets you completely involved in the characters and plot, and then, instead of a very dramatic revelation at the end and a page-turning final battle, Ross wraps up the story in just four short pages, with very little climax at all.  It is somewhat disappointing that the endings to his stories feel so rushed, when the rest of his work is so engaging.

 

I would be remiss if I did not point out Ross' obvious Easter Egg to his most popular series.  I think in pretty much every book he wrote, Ross manages to weave in the phrase "dark shadows" (which fans easily identify as his most recognizable works, based on the 1960s television show), and he does not fail with this one.  In this case, it is in Trudy's dreams, as she has a sleep "filled with gliding phantoms and abrupt appearances of the masked swordsman from out of dark shadows" (p.166). 

 

The cover artist is not identified, but the scene is taken from pages 54-55, where Trudy is exploring the underground tunnel and gets trapped within the dark maze after someone locks her in there.  The artist manages to capture Trudy's fear nicely, and even accurately depicts her wearing the "light blue cotton-knit dress that was flattering to her blond good looks" (p. 54).  The scene could also easily be translated over to a Nancy Drew book (The Hidden Staircase, perhaps, or Old Attic, or even Blackwood Hall).  In fact, comparing this with Rudy Nappi's art on The Clue of the Dancing Puppet (published in 1962), Trudy here seems to be a mirror version of Nancy from that cover!

 

This is the first Harlequin Gothic to list the author's other works in the series in the front, just opposite the title page (identifying book 11, Shadows Over Briarcliff as other "Books by Marilyn Ross" in the line of Harlequin Gothic Romance titles.  The book also has a dedication by Ross to his "good friends Dot and Bill Swangren."  Research reveals a rather unexpected Nancy Drew connection, as Dorothy "Dot" Swangren was, at one point, a secretary at Wellesley College - which, coincidentally enough, is the very same college from which Harriet Stratemeyer Adams graduated back in 1914!  And fans of Nancy Drew are well aware of the Stratemeyer connection to that series, which reminds us that this truly is a very small world, after all!

 

RATING:  8 battered red clown hats out of 10 for a great mystery filled with plenty of twists, proving Ross is a master at Gothic suspense.

Jane Withers and the Phantom Violin - the third Whitman Authorized Edition

This third, and final, Whitman Authorized Edition to feature actress Jane Withers is so far removed from the previous two books - the title character, while referenced in the book as "an actress," is completely and utterly different than the version featured in the previous two books.  Thus, for three stories claiming to star the same person, the characterization in all three books, as well as the tone of the overall stories, are completely different.  Obviously, the fact that three different authors wrote the books plays some part in the variation; however, one would think if Whitman was going to produce more than one book on a particular actor or actress, they would put some effort into keeping the character consistent throughout the stories.  This was clearly not the case for poor Ms. Withers.

 

Jane Withers and the Phantom Violin was written by Roy J. Snell, who wrote a number of books for young readers.  His books were mostly aimed at boys, but he did write eighteen books advertised as "Mystery Stories for Girls," or sometimes as "Adventure Stories for Girls."  A number of those books featured a color in the title (such as The Blue Envelope, The Purple Flame, The Crimson Thread, and so on).  As far as I can tell, this book was the only "Authorized Edition" that Snell wrote for Whitman, although he did write three books from the "Fighters for Freedom Series" for Whitman.  I have heard a lot about Roy J. Snell over the years, but I believe this is the first books I've ever read that was written by him.

 

As indicated above, the Jane Withers of this novel, who is at one point identified as "an actress" (p. 206), is quite different from the Jane Withers portrayed in the previous two books.  In fact, the Jane Withers of this story is but one of three main characters, and so she shares the spotlight with her character's two friends - Greta Bronson (a gifted violinist) and Petite Jeanne (a young French gypsy girl).  The story alternates between the three girls, with the point of view shifting often, particularly when Jeanne separates from her friends to join her gypsy family as they travel the area to perform for locals.  The story takes place in Michigan, on the shores of Lake Superior.  Jane, Jeanne, and Greta are staying on an old wreck of a ship on the shore line of Isle Royale (which, by the way, is a real island in the Great Lakes, just northwest of Lake Superior).  The girls also make their way over to Greenstone Ridge (also a real location!) on the island, which is where the "phantom violin" comes into play - literally.  Greta is the first to hear its soft notes being played, but Jane also eventually hears it, leading the girls to seek out the "phantom" who is playing the instrument.

 

The mystery does go beyond just the phantom violin; there is also a strange black schooner that the girls see around their wrecked ship, as well as a diver who seems to be searching for something under the water around their ship.  In addition, there is a poacher on the island who is none too happy with the girls' interference with his attempts to bag a wild moose for its antlers.  On top of that is the isolated cabin deep in the woods, where a plane is seen dropping off a person.  Is it a victim of foul play or something else?  And, probably the most important one of all to Jane, Jeanne, and Greta is the possible "barrel of gold" they believe to be buried somewhere on the island.  The girls definitely have plenty to keep them busy, and unlike most children's series books, the mysteries do not eventually connect - they are all completely separate, and the one (the black schooner and diver) is left unsolved.  As Snell writes at the end, "Just who the men were on the schooner, with the diver on board, will probably never be revealed ... No one ever found out just who they were" (p. 247).  Very odd to leave something open-ended like that.

 

The story contains some very unusual names for the characters (although, perhaps for the time, the names were not as odd as they seem now).  Greta Bronson ... Swen Petersen ... Percy O'Hara ... Mr. Van Zandt ... Bihari (one of the gypsies) ...  definitely not very common names by any means.  Snell also uses some lyrics from "a half forgotten poem" (p. 180) titled Snow-Bound: A Winter Idyl, by John Greenleaf Whittier, a poem first published back in 1866.  On top of that, Snell also has Greta recognize the notes of "Intermezzo from Cavalleria Rusticana (p. 139), a one-act opera from the late 1800s.  Snell's use of real locations and actual poems and musical compositions gives the story a bit of grounding so as to not make it too overly fantastic and unbelievable.  

 

Now, as for the story itself ... well, Snell actually recycled a book he had previously written in his own "Mystery Stories for Girls" titled - you guessed it! - The Phantom Violin!  Originally published by The Lee & Reilly Co. in 1934, the story in this book is identical in nearly every word to the original Snell novel published nearly a decade prior - the only changes are in the name of the main character (in the original novel, it was Florence Huyler; in this book, that name is changed throughout to Jane Withers) and in the title to Chapter XVIII, which is shortened from "At the Bottom of the Ancient Mine" to simply "The Ancient Mind."  Otherwise, all of the title chapters, the character names, and the words in the story are exactly the same as the original version.  This re-use of a previous story predates the Stratemeyer Syndicate's recycling of The Tolliver books for Bobbsey Twins stories by nearly 40 years!  It certainly leads one to wonder if there are other examples of authors re-using earlier stories for later publications, simply changing names to lead readers to believe they are new stories...

 

The interior illustrations are once again provided by Henry E. Vallely, who provided the art for a number of the Whitman Authorized Editions, including the previous two Jane Withers books.  His art is truly beautiful to look at, and the illustrations add so much more to the stories - it makes me long for the days when children's series books featured interior illustrations.  I wish today's books offered interior art, because for me, this adds something extra to the book (and when the story itself is not all that great, the illustrations can help make the story bearable!).  The end pages, thankfully, do not spoil anything for the story as some have done for other Whitman books; rather, Vallely gives readers a dramatic scene where Jane, Jeanne, and Greta are facing a horrific storm in a small boat, taken from Chapter XXVI where the girls are escaping the old ship wreck before the storm tears it apart (p. 232).

 

The story is a bit disjointed, with so many small mysteries, it basically jumps from one to the other and then back again.  In addition, the constantly shifting points of view can be a bit jarring, as you grow used to one character, only to get switched out to another one, and then another one, and then back to the first, to the point where you never really feel like you get to know any of the characters.  That being said, it is not an overall bad read - just not one of the better reads, and definitely the weakest of the three Jane Withers mysteries published by Whitman.  It also leaves me wondering if I want to read any other Roy J. Snell books...

 

RATING:  6  large, crippled loons out of 10 for at least trying to create a spooky atmosphere with mysterious music in the dead of night and a dark schooner with unknown assailants coming and going.

The Summer of the Great Secret - the second Romney Marsh story

I honestly cannot recall where I got this particular book - I think, perhaps, it was a book my friend picked up at a library book sale at the library where she works (but I cannot guarantee that).  However this book came to be in my possession, I can say it was the title that caught my attention.  Obviously, based on the publisher (Collins), I knew it was going to be a British publication, and, therefore, the story was likely to be set in England (and it was).  The edition I have is from the early 1960s, but a little research online reveals the story was first published back in 1948 - which does explain some of the questions I had regarding the girls' complete lack of knowledge regarding film making in the story.  I also discovered that this book is actually the second in a series of stories by author Monica Edwards (I'll get more into that later...)

 

The Summer of the Great Secret reads almost like a mish-mash of various series book stories.  It's a story about a girl's love of horses and an accident that leaves her unable to walk and possibly never ride again; it's also the story of a group of smugglers who are accidentally revealed by two young girls playing around on an old, weathered shipwreck; in addition, it's the story of a town excited about a film crew coming to make a movie in their sleepy little village; if that weren't enough, there's also a short tale of a haunted house; and it's the story of a mysterious greasy man whose true intentions are suspect.  While these four stories may sound completely unrelated, author Monica Edwards manages to weave them all together in one somewhat enjoyable story.  (No, it's not the most exciting book I've ever read, but it does have some good moments and fun adventures in it, and the movie making scenes remind me much of the Moving Picture Girls books.)

 

The main characters in the book are Tamzin Grey and Charissa ("Rissa") Birnie, best friends who share a love of horses and a sense of adventure.  While swimming in the bay, they decide to jump off the wreckage of an old ship that had long ago come to rest on the shore - but Rissa accidentally falls through the deck into the level below, where the girls unexpectedly find boxes of liquor and perfume!  Realizing the ship was being used as a hiding place for smugglers, the girls soon learn that the smugglers are none other than men in the village with whom they are very familiar.  They promise to keep the secret, even from their own parents, and soon become messengers of sort for the criminal fishermen.  While this story is developing, readers learn that Lesley Frampton, a friend of Tamzin and Rissa, is out west, recovering from an injury that has left her paralyzed.  Lesley is set to come back for a visit, and she is anxious to see her pony, Cascade, who now belongs to Tamzin.  Ultimately, it is this visit and Cascade who give Lesley the fire to walk again!

 

The book weaves back and forth among the various plots, an an incident with a car being caught in the high tide leads to the girls meeting a movie producer - a producer who comes back to their small town because his film studio wants to do a movie there.  Tamzin's father, who is the town vicar, is called upon as a historical advisor for the film, and Tamzin, Rissa, and even Cascade are all given parts in the film!  Of course, while all of this is going on, the authorities have also come to town, looking to smoke out the smugglers.  Tamzin and Rissa keep their word and say nothing (which is a bit on the unbelievable side, as the authorities do not take any action against the girls, even though both admit they know the smugglers, but will not give up their names - in the real world, they would tell or face some severe consequences!).  Along the way, a "greasy man" as Tamzin describes him comes to town looking for information on the smugglers - his identity, and his fate, are ultimately revealed to be something less than stellar by the end of the book.  (And why is it that villains are never described as handsome or beautiful; they are also greasy with horrific facial features?)

 

The book is illustrated by Anne Bullen, who provides 19 internal line illustrations (nearly one for every chapter).  Bullen is known for illustrating books about ponies, but she and her husband also bred ponies.  Her illustrative work was mostly for Collins.  She did the full colour dust jackets for the first four books by Monica Edwards, but I can't be sure she provided the art for the edition that I have (1963), as the book gives no credit to the cover artist.  Apparently, though, Edwards was not overly thrilled with the humans in Bullen's illustrations, and after The Midnight Horse, published in 1949, Edwards' books were illustrated by a different artist.  (Anne Bullen, Artist)

 

The book has gone through several editions over the years, and with it, the cover art has changed (although three out of the four covers focus on Tamzin and her horse, Cascade - the fourth book features the smuggling aspect of the story).  My edition, the first cover shown above, has both Tamzin and Rissa - Tamzin wth her horse, Rissa with her bicycle. Another edition features the two girls with Cascade, with another has Rissa with a chestnut colored pony.  The later, paperback Armada printing has Tamzin and Rissa coming out of the boat with one of the smugglers helping them up onto the wharf.  

 

Now, with respect to the series of which this book is a part, it turns out Edwards wrote fifteen books in a series of novels about "Romney Marsh."  The first book, Wish for a Pony, was published in 1947 (one year before the original publication of this one), and features Tamzin and Rissa in their first adventure.  As the series progresses, the characters age and are joined by other new characters, and by book fifteen, the stories become much more mature in nature (as the last book deals with one of Tamzin's friends becoming blind and having to deal with the emotional trauma associated therewith).  Apparently the stories are based upon real people in Edwards' life (Tamzin's father being based upon Edwards' father, who was a reverend) and the locations were very real, simply renamed.  While this story was somewhat enjoyable, I don't know that I will actively seek out the other books in the series - if I happen across one, I might pick it up if the price is right; otherwise, this is not a series for which I am anxious to read all the books.

There is one horrible thing that occurs in the book that I simply could not overlook.  One of the smugglers, Jim, has a cat in his home that gives births to kittens.  He offers them to Tamzin and Rissa, and while Rissa declines, Tamzin agrees to take the one tiger-colored kitten.  The remaining kittens?  Well, Jim tosses them out into bay and drowns them all!  I could not believe such a thing would be written into a children's story.  Researching the matter online, it seems back in the day this was a fairly common practice to keep the population of unwanted, stray kittens and puppies down.  I just cannot even imagine such a thing!  Definitely did not raise my opinion of this book by any means... 

 

RATING:  7 cat-related advertisements for fertilizer out of 10 for managing to mix smugglers, ghosts, filmmakers, and sleazy criminals into one story and keeping it coherent enough to read!

Street Wolf - a Blackthorne Publishing comic mini-series

The year was 1986, and I had been reading and collecting comics for just seven years.  I had only discovered the joy of comic book stores a few years prior, having spent my early years of collecting buying comics off the spinner racks at local convenience stores or on the magazine shelves in Waldenbooks and B. Dalton in the mall.  My fascination with direct market books (those comics marketed solely to comic stores and not sold in regular stores, by independent companies such as Pacific Comics, Eclipse Comics, First Comics, and countless others) was growing, and I was picking up any number of books from these companies that caught my eye.  I can remember seeing this particular book on the shelf, but as it did not have a female lead (of which nearly all the books I was buying had), I passed on it.  Besides, at the time, I had never heard of Blackthorne Publishing, and I was nor sure about the quality of their books.

 

Fast-forward nearly 40 years later (I cannot believe I'm actually writing that!!!!), and while on vacation recently, I happened across all three issues of the Street Wolf mini-series for just fifty cents each - so I said, what the heck. By this time, I was aware that Blackthorne Publishing was a small company that tried to fill the gap when Pacific Comics went under; however, Blackthorne was known more for their newspaper strip reprints, as well as their countless licensed 3-D books moreso than any original material.  Street Wolf is one of their few original series published, and after reading it now, I have to wonder if they might have survived had they published more quality work such as this.

 

Street Wolf is the name given to Nathan Blackhorse, who is a vigilante of sorts, waging a one-man war against crime in a "violent city" (unnamed in the three-issue series).  Writer Mark Wayne Harris does not open up with any origin story, and in fact, over the course of the three issues, readers learn very little about Blackhorse.  We see that he is an expert in martial arts and that he is well-versed in hand-to-hand combat.  We also discover that his mother passed away, but he refuses to talk about his father.  Other than that, Blackhorse is a mystery, which gives the character and the stories a certain mystique that leaves you wanting for more.  In the first two pages of the first issues, we are not only introduced to Street Wolf himself, but also to Joyce Prescott, a newspaper reporter intent on writing a story about the famous (or infamous, depending on who you ask) local hero.  Prescott quickly learns that Blackhorse has no interest in glory or fame, and he does what he does for the sole purpose of helping others.  In fact, she learns this first hand by the end of page five after he rescues her from being attacked by some thugs.  

 

The story follows Prescott as she pursues Blackhorse, her goal changing from getting a story to simply getting to know the man.  This is where we learn about his mother dying while he was just a young child, and he reveals to her (and the readers) that he was adopted by a woman named "Rose Tyler."  Now, I have to stop for a moment here, because when I read that name, I chuckled, since "Rose Tyler" was the name of the first companion Doctor Who encountered when the British television series started up again back in 2005 (nearly 20 years after this book was published!).  That's a funny coincidence - unless Russell T. Davies happened to read this comic and was inspired to name his first companion after Street Wolf's adopted mother!  (Yeah, I know, the likelihood of that are ... well, next to nothing!)

 

Harris did not shy away from writing about very controversial and sensitive topics when he wrote this series.  The stories address child prostitution, drugs, street gangs, and corrupt men who will kill to keep their power.  There are some horrific moments in the series (such as when a young boy who witnesses a crime is murdered by one of the gang members in order to prevent him from going to the police!), and there are no punches pulled.  In this aspect, the series reminds me a lot of Max Allan Collins' Ms. Tree series, which ran from 1981 to 1993 through four different publishers - but which was never afraid to tackle some of the most topical issues of that day.  Thus, Street Wolf could easily be considered a contemporary of Ms. Tree, addressing a lot of the same issues and not shying away from the gruesome nature of the real world.

 

The villains in these stories are true nasty pieces of work, and with the exception of one, they all get their just desserts in the end (although not always by Blackhorse's hand).  The one villain who does not face justice is one that has a direct connection to one of the main character - a rather shocking connection, I might add, that sadly never gets a follow-up.  Perhaps if the series had come back for a second run, we might have gotten to see how the characters would have reacted when faced with this villain's true identity - but, alas, we never got that chance.

 

The art and cover for the books are provided by Dennis Francis.  Francis seems to have had much more of a career in comics than Harris, having worked at Continuity Comics, DC Comics, Eclipse Comics, Valiant Comics, and, of course, Blackthorne Publishing.  Francis' work on Street Wolf is outstanding - the black and white art in the book is not extremely detailed, such as George Perez' or Phil Jimenez' work, but it is gritty and fits the mood of the book perfectly.  Francis also did work on a number of 3-D books for Blackthorne, as well as his own created comic, Starlight Squadron.  

 

It's a shame Harris and Francis were never able to continue this series.  I think it gave readers a nice break from all the typical super-hero fare of the day, and it provided engaging stories with characters who felt real and for whom you immediately developed an affinity.  But, as with so many comics from the '80s and '90s, Street Wolf had its five minutes of fame and is now relegated to the fifty-cent and dollar back issue bins at comic shops and comic conventions.

 

RATING:  8 bouncing basketballs out of 10 for a comic filled with hard-hitting stories and heart-wrenching moments, and a lead character that outshines the likes of Marvel's Punisher and DC's Vigilante.

The Captain's Lady - a Zebra illustrated gothic

It's been over a year since I read my first Zebra Illustrated Gothic (Summerhaven), so I figured it was about time I give another one of these a try.  As anyone who reads this blog knows, I've been reading the Zebra Mystery Puzzlers for some time now, and these Zebra Illustrated Gothic novels were published around the same time (the end of the 1970s), and based upon the illustrations in each series, it would appear Kensington Publishing Corp. used the same artists for both the mysteries and the Gothics. It's funny, because I've been reading so many of the Zebra Mystery Puzzlers, in which the illustrations have clues to "whodunnit" in the mystery, I found myself inspecting each of the illustrations in this book, wondering if there were any clues as to the mystery within Elswick Manor (and, of course, there were not!).

 

The Captain's Lady was written by Rachel Edwards, which was a pseudonym for Brenda Castle (who also wrote under the name "Georgina Ferrand").  Castle was quite the prolific author of romance novels between 1973 and 2010, and she managed to sneak in a few Gothics, such as this one, along the way.  The story opens much like the start of Dark Shadows - in fact, it felt almost as if I were reading a version of the show when the author has the main character, Elinora Vernon, reflecting that she was "going to a place she did not know, to people had not seen" (pp. 6-8) in order to be a governess for a young child.  Gee, sound familiar?  That is nearly a mirror image of the opening scene to the first episode of Dark Shadows - except, instead of Victoria Winters riding on a train bound for Collinsport, Maine, we have Elinora riding in a stagecoach on her way to the small England town of Elswick.  Both young woman move into a dark foreboding mansion that overlooks the ocean, with waves crashing down on the rocks below.  The author here even makes reference to a "Collingford Inn" (p. 6) that certainly sounds a lot like "Collinsport Inn" from Dark Shadows!  Now, there are no vampires, werewolves, or witches in this story, but there is certainly the threat of a ghost called "The White Lady" that haunts the great manor.

 

Edwards a/k/a Castle provides readers with a haunting tale of passion and horror as Elinora is pursued by two very different men, all while trying to protect the young child she is tutoring.  The question is, from whom is she protecting Prudence? Is it from the girl's guardian, Captain Gideon Lang, a former seaman who is said to have once loved Prudence's mother before she married another man?  Did he really kill the girl's father and is now after her inheritance, as Prudence believes?  And what about Reid Sterling, the rather all-too-forward man of the world who has somehow wormed his way into the Manor as a guest of the Captain?  Are his advances towards Elinora sincere, or are his intentions less than pure? What hold does he have over the lord of the manor?  Then there is Elsie, the housekeeper's daughter.  Elinora cannot help but notice the relationship between her and the Captain is much too friendly for a lord and his servant.  Is there a more personal relationship between the two?  And one cannot overlook the west wing of the great house, which has been closed off ever since Captain Lang purchase the manor some ten years ago.  Why does Elinora keep seeing lights from that part of the house, and whose face is she seeing in the upstairs window?  Everyone tells here there is no one there, but Elinora knows what she saw.  What dark secret is being kept within those darkened halls...?

 

Oh, and we cannot forget the White Lady, the ghost that the villagers say haunts Elswick Manor.  Elinora is just one in a long list of governesses who have come and gone, and despite warnings from the villagers, Elinora is determined to stay.  After all, she does not believe in ghosts.  But young Prudence is insistent the White Lady is real, and that the ghost is determined to kill her!  The longer she stays in the house, the more Elinora begins to realize there is something dangerous going on within its walls.  Danger lurks around every corner - is it really the ghost of Prudence's mother come back to exact revenge; or is the culprit very much alive and hoping to steal a fortune by taking the girl's life and blaming it on a ghost?  Edwards a/k/a Castle sets up a great mystery.  Although fans of Gothic tales will pretty much guess what is going on long before the reveal in the final chapters, it is still a great read with some engaging characters and perfectly-paced suspense.

 

There is no signature on the cover art, so it is not possible to say who painted the cover.   It is definitely one of the better Gothic covers I've seen, with poor Elinora shivering as she looks back at the terror-filled Elswick Manor.  The barren tree limbs, the ocean waves crashing against the cliff side, and the rolling fog around the mansion blend together to create a scene that would give anyone goosebumps!  There is also no credit given to the artist who provided the interior illustrations, which is a shame.  The black and white illustrations throughout the book are so wonderfully rendered, filled with exquisite detail, they nearly come alive off the page!  From the rendition of the towering manor on page 17 to the scenes of the interior of the great house on pages 43, 62, and 83 (shown to the right, here), the artist manages to bring life to the words on the pages, and one can easily picture themselves there in the manor with Elinora!  The final illustration, a drawing of the White Lady terrorizing poor Prudence, it truly frightening - I did not show it here, as I do not want to spoil it for anyone who wants to read this book.  That face is straight out of a horror movie!

 

One thing I did find extremely odd about this book was the transition from Chapter 10 to Chapter 11 - or, to be more accurate, the complete lack of transition.  In fact, the last sentence of Chapter 10 does not even end; rather, it carries directly into the first line of Chapter 11:

She reached it just as Prudence did.  They both stared down at it as it was washed to and fro against

 

Chapter Eleven

 

the sands by the gentle movement of the incoming tide.  The bloated and distorted features of what was once a man lay face upwards... 

(pp. 176-77).

 

I have to say, I have never in my life seen a book that starts a new chapter in the middle of a sentence.  I am unsure if this was intentional on the part of the author or the publisher, or this was merely a printing error, or what.  In fact, the end of the first paragraph in Chapter 11 seems more like the ending point of Chapter 10, because the second paragraph of Chapter 11 has a bit of a time and spatial jump, going from the rocky beach to the parlor of Elswick Manor hours after the body was found.  I'm aware there are other editions of this book (I believe it was later re-published under the Linford Romance Library line of books in the 1990s), so I wonder if those editions have this same transition, or if it was corrected.

 

In any event, The Captain's Lady turned out to be a wonderful read, and I'll certainly be keeping my eye out for any more of Brenda Castle's Gothic novels under whatever pseudonym she chose to use!

 

RATING:  9 coarse kerseymere gowns out of 10 for pure Gothic suspense in the vein of Dark Shadows

 

Kay Tracey Mystery Stories No. 1 - The Secret of the Red Scarf

The year was 1934.  The Ruth Fielding series saw her last book published, while the Dana Girls and Beverly Gray both had the first books in their respective series published.  That year also saw the start of another new Stratemeyer Syndicate series - the "Kay Tracey Mystery Stories," written by Frances K. Judd (which, of course, was a house pseudonym used by the Syndicate).  Having finished the complete Penny Parker series, and having read the first four Dana Girls books, our book club decided to branch out and try another series, and Kay Tracey won the vote!  It has been quite a number of years since I had read the Kay Tracey series, so re-reading this first book was nearly like reading it for the first time.  And, quite frankly, I was a bit surprised at how little I enjoyed the book (as I do not remember disliking the series when I first read it).

 

The Secret of the Red Scarf introduces readers to Kay Tracey and her supporting cast, but the book reads much as if this were not the first book in the series (and, in fact, there are mentions in the story that Kay has solved other mysteries, although they are not identified).  This first book in the series was outlined by Edna Stratemeyer Squier and ghostwritten by Elizabeth M. Duffield Ward, who wrote more than 70 books for the Stratemeyer Syndicate (including books in the Radio Girls, Outdoor Girls, Ruth Fielding, and Billie Bradley series, as well as the entire Blythe Girls series).  Ward also wrote a number of books under her own name, apart from the Syndicate.  While I have the Outdoor Girls, Ruth Fielding, Billie Bradley, and Blythe Girls series, I have not read any of those (with the exception of one Outdoor Girls book set in Florida, which was written by Howard Garis and not Ward).  Thus, this is my first taste of Ward's writing, and I have to say - I'm not overly impressed.

 

As one of the members of our book club pointed out - this story was nothing special.  There was nothing particularly different about the title character to make her stand out from all the other sleuths out there at the time; nor was there anything unique or spectacular about the mystery to make it more engaging or more interesting than any of the other myriad of series books on the shelves at that time.  Just like many of her contemporaries, Kay Tracey is a sixteen-year old girl with "light, waving hair that was almost golden in the sun" (p. 4).  She has two best friends (sound familiar), one of whom is Wilma, named after her father, William (gee, is there another series with a best friend who has a boy's name?), and other is Betty, named after her mother Elizabeth (hmmmm, do we know another sleuth who has a best friend whose realy name is Elizabeth?).  Wilma and Betty - funny, as this book was more than 25 years before that first episode of The Flintstones aired, yet they shared the names of the wives from that show! - are twin sisters who grew up with Kay, and the three are inseparable.  Kay lives at home with a widowed parent (in this case, it is her mother), but her uncle Bill also resides with them, and he is a lawyer (wow, that is original - I can't think of any other teen detective who lives under the roof of a lawyer who helps her out all the time, can you?).  Rounding out the cast is Ethel Eaton, a classmate of the girls who seems to have no other purpose than to try and foil every plan Kay has (a nemesis looking to cause trouble for the sleuth - I can hear Lettie Briggs crying out "copyright infringement" right now!).

 

The mystery involves a young boy, Richard Ludlow (referred to by everyone as "Dick"), who is trying to make his own way ever since his sister, Helene, disappeared.  Coincidentally enough (and let's face it, none of these mysteries would ever be solved without the coincidences), the red scarf Kay has on hand for her gypsy costume she is putting together for an upcoming school masquerade is the exact same scarf that Dick's sister wore!  Kay volunteers to help him find his sister, and after he shows her a picture, Kay knows she has seen the girl in town before.  The hunt begins, and it turns out the Ludlow children come from a wealthy family, whose parents are now dead, and a fortune lies waiting for them to claim.  Plenty of fortuitous circumstances lead Kay and the twins to locate Helene, who has been living under a false name while pursuing a career in acting, having run away from home when her father forbid her to take to the stage.  As fortune would have it, Kay strongly resembles the girl, and her gypsy costume and red scarf lead to a case of mistaken identities, which give her the opportunity to not only uncover Helene's true identity, but also reveal the culprit who has been trying to trick her into getting her fortune!

 

Surprisingly, there is only one internal illustration, which depicts a scene from the first chapter when Kay is racing to stop a runaway horse.  It is odd to see a frontis piece that shows a scene from so early in the book; however, considering the lack of exciting scenes in the book, I suppose this was the most exciting one that the publisher could find to be drawn.  The artist is E.A. Furman (1879 - 1965), who illustrated a number of books for the Saalfield Publishing company during the early part of the 20th Century.  In the 1930s, Furman worked part time as a freelance artist while keeping a full time job as a receptionist at a local bank (E.A. Furman, Artist).  I do give Cupples & Leon some credit for the creative cover design, which shows a book opened to a picture depicting a scene from within the book (in this case, Kay in her gypsy costume, peering out from behind a curtain).   It is definitely unlike any of the other series books being published around that time.

 

Despite the mediocre mystery, there were a couple of things about the book worthy of notice.  The poems that were constantly recited by Wilma were not made up by the author; they are lines from actual poems and/or songs - such as the poem on page 12 comes from the hymn, Only Wait; the poem on page 60 comes from an Alexander Pope poem, Windsor Forest; the poem on page 77 is a well-known expression from Sir Walter Scott; the poem on page 115 is from one written by Lord Byron; and so on.  I would be curious to know whether the Syndicate included these in the outline to be used, or if Ward integrated them herself into the story.

 

There is also the subject of Kay Tracey's name.  One has to wonder if the name was not perhaps a nod to the comic strip character that debuted barely three years prior, Dick Tracy.  It is an interesting coincidence (!!!!) that this new young female sleuth comes out with the similar last name to a comic strip detective who was gaining much popularity at the time.  Sure, there's an "e" added into Kay's last name to differentiate it, but c'mon - one does have to wonder...

 

According to Jennifer White's website (Series Books - Kay Tracey), the Kay Tracey series has been republished a number of times.  I have the Books, Inc.paperback editions that were republished around 1960, and while looking through it, I discovered that the story was drastically revised (which would account for the new 1952 copyright date on the inside copyright page).  One of the many revisions included changing Dick and Helene's last name from Ludlow to Corning.  Yes, that's right - that means Helene's name became Helene Corning.  Now, tell me, where have we seen that name before?  Of all the names they could have chosen, they chose "Corning"?  Apparently, all of the other similarities to the Nancy Drew series was not enough, so they thought, "Let's throw in another one, just in case readers missed all of the others!"  

 

Geoffrey S. Lapin indicates the cover art for the Books, Inc. reprints were provided by an artist by the name of "Elaine."   While the cover to this book does not identify the artist, later books in the series published by Books, Inc. have a signature of "ELAINE" (in all caps) - however, there is no way to identify who this artist is.  Some research online does not give credit to the cover artist, nor is there any site that provides information about an artist who signs his/her work with simply "ELAINE."  Even the Stratemeyer Syndicate records at the New York Pubic Library appear to have the color painting for In the Sunken Garden, and it merely states the artist as "Elaine [?]".  Thus, the artist for the Books, Inc. editions is a mystery that, for now, remains unsolved.  Not sure if this Elaine person also provided the line drawings inside the books, or if a different artist assumed that chore.

 

This book was definitely not a great start to this series, and so, I am curious to see how the second book will fare.  It was also written by Ward, but it was outlined by Edna sister, Harriet, so there is a potential for it to be somewhat better. I suppose we shall have to wait and see...

 

RATING:  5 crumpled portions of a torn letter out of 10 for at the very least attempting to cash in on the girl sleuth phenomenon of the 1930s with a new series of mysteries.