Short Lived Comic Series #35 - Pyschoblast (First Comics)

Now here's a comic series that I do not remember coming out back when it was first published.  At the time, I was buying titles from First Comics (such as Whisper and Evangeline), so I likely saw house ads for this series; but it apparently did not strike my fancy at the time, so I never gave it any thought and let it disappear from my mind altogether.  The series debuted in July 1987 (the first issue featuring a November 1987 cover date) and lasted only nine issues, ending in March 1988 (its last issue sporting a July 1988 cover date).  The series was written by Steven Grant, who was also the creator and writer of First Comics' Whisper series, as well as countless other series for Marvel, Malibu, Dark Horse, Image, DC, Chaos, BOOM!, and any number of independent comic companies.  

 

Psychoblast (quite the unusual name!) is not only the name of the title character, but it is also a term (in fiction, at least) to describe a massive, concentrated mental energy attack.  Back in the late 1800s, the word was actually used in certain scientific realms in reference to a "germ" or "cell" relating to the development of the mind or psyche, but it is now obsolete.  Grant manages to take that term and utilize it for Brian Burke, a young man we first meet as a drifter, working in a church as a janitor.  Taryn St. Jude has been sent to find Burke, unaware that the person who sent her on that mission has a secret agenda.  By the end of the first issue, Brian and Taryn find themselves running from some military men, and when all hope seems lost, Brian suddenly unleashes a psychic ability that not only changes his appearance (giving him that blue and silver costume and the lightning bolt over his left eye) but also allows him to, literally, crush his opponents with one hand - albeit a very LARGE hand!

 

The first story arc encompasses the first three issues, as readers learn a bit about Brian's powers - how they pretty much come into play only when Brian himself is unconscious, meaning that "Psychoblast" is an entirely different being that shares Brian's mind!  Readers also find out that the military men chasing Brian are working for a mysterious woman who has mental powers of her own - but they take their toll, aging her quickly, and she requires fresh human psyche to pause that aging process and give her vitality - and she wants Brian because she believes his psychic powers are the answer to her staying young forever.  Grant gives us one heck of a battle of the minds, as well as the startling revelation that this villainous vixen is not Brian's mother (as we are originally led to believe through visions experienced by Taryn), but actually Brian's sister, Arrabella, who supposedly died six years prior (but, let's face it - no one in comic books ever says dead, do they?).

 

The remaining six issues of the series delve more into Brian's origin as "Psychoblast" and his integration into the New Order - with a team of powered individuals known as Transmuter, Phaseshift, Interface, and Anomaly.  From the get-go, however, the reader can see this is no ordinary super team.  These characters are at odds with one another, and one in particular (Anomaly) believes himself superior to the rest, especially Psychoblast, and the tensions between them ultimately results in some pretty powerful psychic battles. Along the way, we meet a research scientist named Caren Price, who inadvertently leads the evil D.S.X. Machina to Psychoblast's location - and a series climax that reveals their connection and the true extent of Psychoblast's mental abilities!

 

This is, by far, anything but a "super hero" series. Psychoblast is a reluctant hero, as Brian does not know how his powers work, how to trigger them, and more than anything, how to keep this alternate personality from coming out and destroying everything and everyone around him.  D.S.X. Machina is a villain without restraint, who kills civilian and hero alike, leaving very few of the main cast alive by the end of the ninth issue (although, oddly enough, Caren survives the killing blast D.S.X. sends her way, hinting at a potential future story that readers never got to see, as i is clear Caren has some powers of her own and some secrets that never get revealed).  The battles are less about good vs. evil and more about survival and coming to terms with the circumstances of the life one is given.  Grant, as he did with the Whisper series, provides readers with a character-driven saga, and although we only get nine issues and just the tip of the iceberg regarding Brian's origins and Psychoblast's powers, it is easy to get drawn into this world and want to see where the characters are headed.

 

The art in the series is provided by Robb Phipps (pencils) and Al Vey (inks), with some assistance from Karl Story and Jim Bauer in a couple of the later issues.  Phipps and Vey also drew all of the covers.  Since there are only nine issues and no change in artists during that time, the art remains consistent for the entire run, which was a nice change of pace for me.  In today's comics, with so many rotating artists and writers, sometimes within the same storyline (one of the biggest mishaps of this kind was DC Comics' Thriller series, which lost the original artist and writer, and it changed the entire tone and course of the series, leading to its early demise), it is jarring to me when the art style changes mid-stream.  This kind of artistic consistency helps develop the characters, settings, and stories in the reader's mind without having to pause and adjust to another creator's interpretation of those same characters and settings.  Phipps and Vey had some usual imagery to work with, considering the amount of psychic displays that took place throughout the nine issues, but they did an amazing job bringing them to life with a sense of realism for a very fictional idea.

 

Sadly, the series did not even survive its first year, likely due to low sales (which plagued a lot of independent titles in the late '80s and early '90s), which is a shame.  I think the series had a lot of potential, and there were plenty of sub-plots developing that never got to see fruition.  I wonder what comic fans would think of the character today, if Grant were to revive Psychoblast and continue the series today (nearly 40 years later...)?

 

RATING:   9 giant glowing hands in the sky out of 10 for giving the comic world a unique character and creative concept that, unfortunately, never had the chance to reach its full potential.

Shadow Acres - a Magnum Gothic novel

This is my first time reading a Gothic novel by Frances Y. McHugh, who wrote a number of Gothic tales back during this period for various publishers.  This book was first published in 1967 by Arcadia House, and the edition I own is a later paperback printing from Prestige Books under their "Magnum" line.  I could not find anything out about this particular author so unsure if McHugh is the author's actual name or simply a pen name for someone else.  In either event, the story turned out to be a fairly good read, albeit a mixture of murder mystery and Gothic.

 

Shadow Acres is told from a first-person point-of-view, narrated by the main character, Reda Randall.  McHugh opens the story in the "present," so to speak, as Reda is thinking about the events that took place at the great house known as Shadow Acres, wondering if everything that transpired was a result of her action or inaction.  Her reverie is broken when her fiance, Bryan Sedgwick shows up, ready to take her out for a night on the town.  Through her conversation with Bryan, the reader learns of Bryan's cousin, Greg, and his father, Gregory, as well as a bit about his and Greg's grandfather, the first Gregory Sedgwick.  Slowly, McHugh reveals a bit more about the drama that has led these characters to this point - the fact that Reda was once engaged to Greg, but when he was found with a scantily clad woman in his college dorm, she broke off the engagement, he left the country, and she eventually fell for Bryan.  It is obvious from the start that Reda and Bryan's relationship has some issues - Reda is a talented pianist who is wanting to perform with her music school orchestra, but Bryan does not want her to follow that path, fearful she will do the same thing to him that his aunt (who was an actress) did to his uncle (left him for her leading man!). 

 

The mystery begins when Reda is preparing for a party she and Bryan are to attend, when she is summoned to Shadow Acres, which is hours away from her NYC apartment.  The elder Gregory Sedgwick will not take no for an answer, and so Reda sends her regrets to the hosts of the party, leaves a message for Bryan who is supposed to pick her up, and takes the train to Shadow Acres.  Upon her arrival, late at night, she finds the house quiet.  No one answers the door, which she discovers to be unlocked.  Her fear mounting, she enters the house - and finds her fiance holding a gun in his hand ... and in the library behind him, Gregory Sedgwick is lying dead on the floor with a gunshot wound to his head!  Second later, Greg, who was believed to still be in South America, walks in the door, claiming he looked through the window and saw Bryan kneeling over their grandfather with the gun.  Reda and the reader are left to wonder - who killed Gregory Sedgwick?

 

McHugh plays it coy, as the identity of the killer is not obvious by any means.  In fact, as the story progresses, we learn that growing up, Greg was a bit of the wild boy, the rebel, while Bryan was always the obedient, good boy.  Bryan seems to be the obvious suspect, but clues begin to spring up that point to Greg as the killer.  It isn't until a large flower pot falls (is dropped?) from the roof above Reda (pp. 85-86) that we start to see some of the Gothic elements creep in.  Not three pages later, our poor heroine is knocked pretty hard in the back of the head (p. 89), which is the result of a stone taken from Greg's rare rock collection.  It is obvious someone is out to hurt, or possibly kill Reda, but the question is - why?  To whom is she a threat?  There is also the growing tension between Greg and Bryan, as Bryan grows jealous of Greg's attention toward his fiance, and Greg believes Reda is not truly in love with Bryan but still in love with him.  If all of this is not enough to drive a poor girl crazy, then what is?

 

It is the fire in Reda's room, set while she is sleeping, that begins to turn the tide.  Someone places a burning cigarette on her bed, locks her windows, and leave the room, looking the door behind them!  Poor Reda is nearly killed, if it weren't for the fortunate timing of Greg, rescuing her through her second story window.  Is Greg really the killer, and simply covering his tracks by appearing to rescue her?  Does Bryan want her dead, jealous of her returning feelings for his cousin?  Could it be one of the servants - John or his wife, Agnes - who, for unknown reasons, want Reda out of the picture?  Or is there someone else in the house - someone whose shadow Reda saw on the outskirts of the woods one night ... whose footsteps she heard in the rooms above her when John and Agnes were both downstairs ... whose connection to the house and the family could spell ultimate doom for Reda?!

 

No credit given to the cover artist, but it is a beautifully rendered scene, with Reda running away from the house.  Interestingly, the artist breaks from the tradition of having an upper floor window lighted, and instead, chooses to have a lighted window on the first floor (likely to coincide with the murder of the elder Gregory Sedgwick taking place in the library on the first floor).  The depicted scene is extremely dark, with the only real color being the design on her dress, her pale skin, the light in the window, and the dark green grass leading up the hill to the house.  There's no doubt this cover sets the dark mood for the story contained within.  The Arcadia House cover from the original publisher definitely gives the book a more "murder mystery" feel to it, which supports Lori A. Page's observation in her critical study of the Gothic novels of this period that publishers got to the point where they took previously published works, slapped a new cover on it, and called it "Gothic" (The Gothic Romance Wave). 

 

While I would not say this is one of the best Gothics I've ever read, the story was enjoyable enough that I would pick up more of McHugh's books. 

 

RATING:  9 rare bluestone specimens out of 10 for a tale filled with suspense and mystery, with plenty of secrets and misdirects to keep the main character (and the reader!) guessing. 

Samantha Wolf Mysteries, Book Twelve - The Mystery at Ocean Side

This twelfth book in the Samantha Wolfe Mysteries series, written by Tara Ellis, appears to be the last.  It was first published in 2022, which was four years ago, and I'm not finding any indication that another book was solicited or even hinted at by the author.  In today's market, a 12-book run is not bad; however, I can't deny my fondness of ongoing series (such as Nancy Drew, which has been ongoing for more than 90 years at this point!).  That being said, if this book is to be the final Samantha Wolf mystery, then Ellis did a bang up job of going out on a high note.  The mystery is creative, the new characters engaging, and the danger just enough to give the book some suspense.  Plus, Ellis does something surprising with the narrative form of this book - after 11 books written in the present tense, Ellis offers readers a break with this final mystery, as it is written completely in past tense!  As soon as I starting reading the first page, my mind immediately picked up on the difference - it was a smooth read without that initial jarring I usually felt when reading present tense tales.  I thought perhaps this first part would be a flashback, and she would switch to her standard present tense narrative, but nope.  Ellis maintained the past tense narrative throughout the entire book, making it the easiest read of the series!

 

That being said, The Mystery at Ocean Side introduces readers to Sam's new neighbor, Tanner Hobbs. He and his father have just moved to Ocean Side for two reasons: one, Mr. Hobbs has taken a new position with the same company who employs Mr. Parker (the father of Sam's best friend, Ally); and two, Mr. Hobbs has inherited the land in Ocean Side known as "Hobbit Hollow" - where an old resort owned by Tanner's grandfather burned down years ago, and the residents of Ocean Side believe is haunted by the ghost of the one person who died at the time.  Sam and Ally, and their brothers (Hunter and John, respectively), find young Tanner to be a bit off-putting, but gradually he warms up to the teens, and soon all five of them are camping with Mr. Hobbs on the land he has inherited.  Sam is excited at the prospect of exploring and, maybe, catching a glimpse of the so-called ghost.  Of course, the haunting of Hobbit Hollow is not the only mystery afoot.

 

Ellis throws in a bigger mystery involving the death of Mr. Hobbs' father and his Will.  It seems he left most of the land to Mr. Hobbs, but a small island just off the coast he has bequeathed to a woman named Stephanie Davis, who arrives in Ocean Side with her daughter, Alayna, to claim her inheritance!  Hobbs is taken by surprise, especially when Mrs. Davis claims to have no knowledge of Hobbs' father and no understanding of why he would leave her the island.  Sam senses there is much more here than meets the eye, and even though she has promised her parents not to get involved in any more mysteries, she cannot help herself.  She offers Tanner her help, and before you can blink an eye, Sam and the gang are assisting Tanner in his search for the truth - a search that leads them to a small cabin located in the woods of the Hobbs' property, where Tanner finds a journal left there by his grandfather.  A journal that has a number of drawings, all of which are clues to help Tanner "right a wrong" done generations ago!

 

It's a well-crafted mystery with fun clues, and while the culprit sort of comes out of left field (no one even knows this person exists until half-way through the book!), it is still an enjoyable read.  The missing treasure, the heart-breaking backstory, and the climactic confrontation with a gun-toting villain whose greed sees him threatening young teens without a second thought are all part of this dramatic story, and, of course, Sam's quick thinking is what manages to put the clues together to reveal the location of the long-lost treasure.

 

I'm kind of disappointed to see this series reach its end.  While it was not necessarily my favorite must-read series, it consistently offered decent mysteries with main characters that evolved and matured as the series progressed, gradually adding to the supporting cast (adding Hunter and John, as well as Cassie, along the way), and I though the addition of both Tanner and Alayna in this book would have offered some fresh blood into the series for future stories.  Who knows?  Two years passed between books 11 and 12, so perhaps sometime in the near future, Ellis will get inspired to revisit the world of Ocean Side and share another Samantha Wolf mystery with her fans.  If not, at least she can rest easy knowing she gave readers a solid 12-book series that is worth the read.

 

RATING:  8 plush armchairs with stuffing hanging out of 10 for offering up one final mystery for Samantha Wolf to solve, filled with ghosts, treasures, and wills - all the makings for a great story! 

Dorothy Dixon Solves the Conway Case - the third Dorothy Dixon Air Mystery Story

And so we come to the third book in the Dorothy Dixon Air Mystery Stories.  After an introductory story in which Dorothy earns her wings and captures some thieves (Dorothy Dixon Wins Her Wings) and a follow-up tale in which she foils the plans of some smugglers (Dorothy Dixon and the Mystery Plane), I had hopes that we would have yet another challenging adventure that Dorothy (and, yes, Bill Bolton returns once again - poor girl cannot seem to have her a story without him!) would have to weather - and when I say weather, I mean it (see below)!  Author Dorothy Wayne (better known as Lt. Noel Sainsbury, Jr.) seems to rely on a number of the same tropes as this third book in the series features many similar scenes that we saw in the first two books - although, Dorothy does finally shine as the quick-thinking sleuth and strong leader we all knew she could be if given the chance!

 

Dorothy Dixon Solves the Conway Case opens with our young aviatrix doing what she loves most - flying her plane, Will-O-The-Wisp (or "Wispy," for short) with her best friend, Betty, along for the ride. The only problem is, they are flying in the middle of a rough storm, and good ol' Wispy is running extremely low on gas.  Thus, Dorothy is forced to find a place for an emergency landing in the torrential downpour while flying over a dark area of forest!  Leave it to Sainsbury to put Dorothy in dire danger from the very first page - this type of situation definitely catches the reader's attention from the get-go. Of course, Dorothy, being the hero of the story, manages to set the plane down safely, and she and Betty make their way through the storm and find a secluded house (gee, it seems like each of these mysteries involves a secluded house in some form) where they think they will get shelter.  But, alas, fate has other plans - instead of a welcome party, the girls peer in the window to find a young man tied to a chair, while two other men are questioning him harshly about something (hmmmm, this also seems to be a recurring theme in this series - someone being held captive in the secluded house).  And so, the mystery begins!

 

This time around, Dorothy uses her own ingenuity, rather than relying on Bill Bolton, to rescue the young man - and Sainsbury, to his credit, gives her the quick thinking needed to get the men out of the house so she and Betty can rescue the captive man.  He turns out to be George Conway, and once untied, he and Betty form an immediate attraction; but Dorothy does not give them time to think about that, as she calls in some aid in the form of Bill Bolton, who brings along Terry Walters to help him refuel Dorothy's plane.  It is at this point we get some of the story about George Conway and the mystery surrounding his father and why so many people are interested in George, that small house his father left him, and a book titled Aircraft Power Plants.   None of it makes sense to George, but Dorothy suspects it all comes down to money in some form or fashion.

 

Sainsbury spends in inordinate amount of time on Dorothy and Bill's tramp through the woods, as they try to escape the men with guns who are after them (mistakenly believing Bill is actually George Conway!), and chapters are spent on their running in the rain through the wooded forest and up a dangerously steep cliffside (that, conveniently, Terry had previously hiked and found a secret way to climb up the side of it).  He eventually gets the duo to a cabin in the protected woodland area, which is inhabited by an old man named Abe Lincoln River "known to the world at large as Ol' Man River, but to his friends he's Uncle Abe" (p. 160).  He takes an instant liking to Dorothy and Bill and helps them out of a number of tight situations through the rest of the book.  

 

What the reader must realize is that Uncle Abe (or Ol' Man River, if you prefer) is a character that is a product of the time when this book was written. From the moment his is introduced as "an ancient, white haired negro" (p. 152), to the dialect he is given by Sainsbury (i.e., "Lordy, Lordy, you chillen is sho' 'nuf half drown'. But we's gwine ter fix date sho' nuf in a jiffy" [p. 154]), it is clear he is an over-the-top stereotype of how African-Americans were portrayed in the early part of the twentieth century, particularly in literature.  The references to Uncle Abe as "the old darky" (p. 156) and even the self-proclaimed "ol' niggeh" (p. 161) must be read in the context of the time, with an understanding that such terms, while not appropriate today by any means, were not considered in same way back in 1933 when this book was published.  Uncle Abe is a lovable character in the story, and he has no problem standing up to the white landowners who try to bully him into revealing Dorothy and Bill's whereabouts. In fact, without Uncle Abe, the two heroes would never have been able to sneak their way into the great house on the hill, rescue their friends, and reveal the crooks for who they are!

 

Sainsbury once again keeps his story real by integrating non-fictional locations into the book, such as references to "Route 124," a road "from Poundridge Village that runs to South Salem..." (p. 96).  Some quick research reveals that New York State Route 124 (called "Salem Road") is a nearly 5-mile road that connects Pound Ridge to South Salem, running through a forested area, just as it is described in the book.  And since the previous books have made it clear the Dixons and Boltons live in New York, around the tip of Long Island, then this area would not be far-fetched at all as a place where Dorothy is forced to land while flying.  There is also an interesting reference to "Bull" Durham (p. 78), but not the one from the real world.  In the story, Bull Durham is Terry's cousin, Ed Durham, who played football for the Lawrenceville university team; in the real world, however, Bull Durham was a baseball player who played for various teams in the first decade of the twentieth century.  While not a direct reference, it was probably a subtle homage to the sports hero.

 

Something else I found interesting is the author's use of the Bible in the story.  At one point, Uncle Abe is telling Dorothy and Bill how he came to be there in that cabin in the forest, and he says, "De Good Book say, 'Him what has, gits, and him what ain't got nuffin' gits dat nuffin' tak'n away'..." (p. 165). This is a paraphrased version of Matthew 13:12, which says, "For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance; but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath."  This statement was made by Jesus to his disciples, just after telling the parable of the sower and the seeds.  Commentaries on the matter indicate the verse is referring to spiritual awareness: a man who has a desire to learn more about God and to do His will shall see his knowledge and understanding increased, but those who refuse to listen and believe will have what little understanding they may have had taken away.  Sainsbury takes the verse to refer to Uncle Abe and the comfort he lost with his previous master in the South to the lonely, impoverished existence he now lives.

 

While the adventure and danger are kept at a high level throughout the story, the mystery itself is somewhat subdued and not a major portion of the story; in fact, its solution is done "off-screen," so to speak, and we learn of how Dorothy uncovered the whereabouts of the missing patents owned by George's father from the crook's cook, who helped Dorothy, Bill, and Uncle Abe when they snuck into the great house in order to rescue their friends.  I found that to be somewhat of a let down, as I would have loved to have seen (or, rather, read) Dorothy's making the big find in the presence of George Conway and all of her friends.  I supposed Sainsbury may have been running out of room, so he had to wrap up this adventure so as to not exceed whatever page count or word count restrictions he had for the book.

 

Before I end this post, there is one scene at the end that had me scratching my head.  After everything is wrapped up, Dorothy and Bill take a test run in her plane in order to test one of Conway's patents - and after spending more than 100 hours straight in the air without refueling once, the plane comes in for a perfect landing.  What is unexplainable is that when the mechanics open the door, they find "side by side, grimy, worn, unkempt, were Dorothy Dixon and Bill Bolton, sleeping like children!" (p. 247).  How in the world did they land the plane if they were both fast asleep?  I did a search to see if there were automatic pilots in the 1930s that could have landed a plane, but it seems the first successful, fully automatic landing did not occur until 1937, some four years after this book.  Thus, we are left with one mystery that will never be solved...

 

RATING:  8 faded blue flannel shirts with matching overalls out of 10 for a mystery that has very little flying and lots of running, sneaking around, and climbing!

A Zebra Mystery Puzzler #27 - The Whispering Cat Mystery

First, there was a Devil Mask.  Next, there was a Golden Skull.  Then came the Green Lama.  And now, with book 27 of the Zebra Mystery Puzzler series, readers get the latest mystery involving television reporter Terry Spring.  This is author Ronald Joseph Goulart's fourth entry into the series, writing under the pseudonym "Josephine Kains," and he offers up a wonderfully fun tale of misdirect and red herrings set in New Orleans, Louisiana during the famous Mardi Gras festival.  In fact, I was loving the story so much, I finished the book in less than one day!  I rarely do that with any adult mystery (usually only happens with children's series books, which are much easier reading), but I love Goulart/Kains' characters so much, and I got so wrapped up in figuring out whoddunit in this mystery, that I literally could not put it down until I finished that last chapter!

 

The Whispering Cat Mystery once again opens not with our amateur sleuth, but instead with the psychic visions of Willa Farrway, the young "witch-woman" who lives near the Louisiana swampland on the outskirts of the wealthy Cullen family property.  The visions of the whispering cat were getting stronger, almost overpowering her, and she had yet to figure out what they meant.  Meanwhile, a man makes his way through the mists covering the swamps, finally reaching the cemetery, where he makes his move.  Now, as with Kains' other books in this series, the second chapter shifts the scene to Terry Spring and her friends, cameraman Janiero Chavez and producer Jess Berkeley, as they wrap up another on-the-scene story.  Soon enough, they receive their next assignment - a mini-documentary on the psychic girl who has been helping New Orleans' finest solve some cold cases.  Is she really psychic, or is she a talented fraud with insider information?  Terry and her crew intend to find out.  But the question on Jess's mind is:  will they get involved in yet another murder?  (Well, this is a Zebra Mystery Puzzler, so what do you think?)

 

Kains spends the first half of the book in set-up, as usual, introducing readers to the various players in this drama.  Laura Daventry Cullen is the wealthy socialite, who pretty much has her hand in everything in the area, and who married her jock of a husband, Chip Cullen, for unknown reasons.  Marcus Keaton, Laura's first love, has never gotten over her and has turned to the bottle for comfort.  Chip Cullen is trying to put together a spectacular jazz show for Mardi Gras, but he is frustrated with how tightly his wife is keeping those purse strings.  Jake Gossage is the local news celebrity who takes an instant liking to Terry - and also warns her to tread lightly around Willa Farrway's psychic abilities, as Willa is a personal friend of Laura Cullen, and bad publicity for Willa could result in bad consequences for Terry!  But Terry is not one to be intimidated, and she will only report the truth, whatever that turns out to be.

 

A painting of a black cat, one paw raised, seems to be Willa's way of releasing her visions - if they keep coming, then she paints them on canvas in the hope it will finally give her some understanding.  Only, this cat will not go away.  Not even when Chip Cullen's dead body turns up in Willa's living room one night, having been strangled by a lady's scarf.  A scarf that belongs to one Jennifer Claxton, the fashion editor for the local news, who was seen that very morning wearing the same scarf while having a rather heated discussion with the deceased.  But she is not the only one with a grudge against Chip Cullen.  Marcus blames him for stealing Laura away from him.  Willa has always been at odds with him, as he never believed in her abilities.  Laura was tired of him, blaming him for her brother running away a year or so ago.  So, which one of them finally did him in?  Or did Laura's brother return home and end his brother-in-law's life?  Although the local law tells her to stay out of it, Terry Spring is on the case, and before too long, she discovers a second body - one murdered long before this one, but whose death is directly linked to the current murder.  And as far as that whispering cat goes?  Well, let's just way that when Terry finds the location of that cat, it reveals quite the story...

 

Goulart/Kains must be given credit - he knows how to throw out those red herrings to keep you guessing as to the killer's identity.  One very obvious clue on the cover art had me believing it was one person, until nearly 3/4 of the way through, when another character made a passing comment that immediately contradicted an earlier scene - meaning my first suspect was wrong, and this was, indeed, the real culprit.  Plus, there was a certain cat scratch that gave the killer away, since Willa's pet cat has a tendency to scratch anyone except Willa, as Chavez quickly learns on their first visit to Willa's home.  Thus, the ultimate solution is not extremely difficult to figure out, but it's all in the fun of getting there that makes the story so enjoyable.  Plus, the whole Mardi Gras parade and chase scene had me remembering the Hardy Boys / Nancy Drew television crossover, "Voodoo Doll," which aired in February 1978 and introduced viewers to the "new" Nancy Drew (Janet Louise Johnson) during a Mardi Gras-themed mystery in New Orleans.

 

And speaking of Nancy Drew, I cannot get over how much Terry and her friends remind me of Nancy Drew and her friends.  Terry, obviously, is the Nancy Drew character, while Chavez takes on the Bess persona (loves food and is always falling in love) and Jess is the George of this series (being more health-conscious and even sporting a boy's name).  The three always work well together in solving mysteries, and Goulart/Kains even plays on the old series book format of referring back to previous mysteries (check out page 15, where Jess reminds Terry of "that witchcraft business in Grimshaw and the voodoo island thing and that haunted out out on the West," which refer to Devil Mask Mystery, The Curse of the Golden Skull, and The Green Lama Mystery, respectively).  This only adds to the fun of reading these books!

 

With no credit given to the cover artist, I have no clue who painted the scene; however, there are two major clues on there - one of which is a misdirect, while the other is definitely a giveaway for the killer.  The internal illustrations, though, are once again provided by Sanford Hoffman, who has provided interiors for at least seven of these first 27 mysteries.  His line art is always so beautifully rendered, and for some odd reason, I love the fat that he outlines most of his scenes with a thick black line, which is sometimes broken by a character or piece of scenery that "crosses the line," if you'll pardon the pun.  One of the illustrations (p. 140) is a bit weird, though, as it is supposed to depict Willa's own drawing of an unusual coffin she sees in her latest vision; however, based on Hoffman's representation of that drawing, how could Willa not immediately recognize it for what it actually is?  (And it clearly points to the killer's identity, which is why I'm not about to reveal what it is here!)

 

Twenty-seven books into this series, and I have not really been let down yet.  Sure, some are better than others, but none of them have been down right awful, and while a few have been pretty easy to figure out early on, they are still great reads, and I look forward to the remaining 33 books left in the series!

 

RATING:  9 pretty little faded roses out of 10 for throwing in a bit of ESP without letting it overpower the story or be used as a cop-out for solving the mystery! 

Will the Real Carolyn Keene Please Stand Up - the Lives of the Creators of Nancy Drew

When I stumbled across this on Amazon.com, I was not sure if I really wanted to buy it.  After all, there are already a number of books out there about the "creators" of Nancy Drew - ones that focus on the Stratemeyer Syndicate itself, others that focus on Mildred Wirt Benson, and some that focus on the evolution and impact of the character, Nancy Drew.  Did I really need another one?  And I had no knowledge of the author, Christine Keleny, other than the brief information provided on Amazon about her.  So, I debated back and forth, but I finally listened to that insistent voice in the back of my mind that kept saying, "if you want all things Nancy Drew related, then you must have this," and I bought it.  Took me a bit before I finally picked it up and read it, but now, I can honestly say, I am so thoroughly glad I bought it, because this book is not just another analytical study of the individuals who created and wrote Nancy Drew - no, this book is actually a well-written, well-researched prose biography of the three people who had the most influence in the character of Nancy Drew - Edward Stratemeyer, his daughter Harriet, and his young ghostwriter, Mildred Wirt!

 

Will The Real Carolyn Keene Please Stand Up gives fans a fresh new look at the history of Nancy Drew's creation. For a character that has been around for nearly 100 years, with new stories continuously published over the course of those nearly ten decades, Nancy Drew has had plenty of books look at her creators, her longevity, her enduring appeal, her pop icon status, and just about every other aspect you can think of as it relates to the girl detective.  Authors like Melanie Rehak, Michael G. Cornelius, Carolyn Carpan, Bobbie Ann Mason, LuElla D'Amico, Emily Hamilton-Honey, Geoffrey S. Lapin, and many others have offered so much insight over the years with books, essays, and countless hours of research on the subject of Nancy Drew and her creation; yet, surprisingly, in all of that time, not once has there ever been a historical look at those creators told in a prose, biographical fashion.  Until now.  Author Christine Keleny (Christine Keleny Books) is not only a writer, but she is also an editor, book designer, and publisher, whose works cross into historical fiction, mystery, adventure, and memoir.  This particular book, while offering well researched biographies on Stratemeyer, Adams, and Wirt-Benson, is also infused with a certain level of historical fiction - since a lot of the conversations and character-thoughts expressed throughout the book are not necessarily factual - but based on everything we knew about these three, they very well could be!

 

Keleny opens her book in the most obvious place - the now-infamous 1980 trial that resulted from the lawsuit filed by Grosset & Dunlap against the Stratemeyer Syndicate and Simon & Schuster over the rights to Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, and the numerous other series G&D had been publishing for the Syndicate for more than half-a-century.  An aging Harriet Stratemeyer Adams is on the stand, being questioned regarding the creation of Nancy Drew and the books' original author, which sends Adams on a trip down memory lane ... a trip that the reader gets to follow as we turn back the pages of time to 1887, when a young Edward Stratemeyer is striving to become an author, feeling it in is veins, despite his father's and brother's attempts to dissuade him to pick a more steady career.  The book progresses at a fairly fast rate, as we jump ahead one, two, three, or even more years at a time, following Edward as he meets his wife ... as he begins selling his stories ... as he has two daughters ... as his books become so popular he creates a syndicate of writers to help him get his ideas into book form faster.  We read how the twentieth century saw a huge rise in the success of his children's series - The Rover Boys, The Bobbsey Twins, Tom Swift, Ruth Fielding, and many others, eventually leading to 1927 and the publication of The Hardy Boys.  This, as we all know, led to his creation of a companion series for girls, a girl detective that only one person could write - a young ghostwriter who had taken over the Ruth Fielding series for his Syndicate - Mildred Augustine Wirt.

 

Keleny alternates between the various players.  Some chapters focus on Edward, while others look at what Mildred was doing, while others take a look at Harriet and her sister, Edna.  Keleny's story is so well-written, that the reader can visually picture each of the characters as they act and speak on the page, and honestly, this would transition so beautifully into a movie, or even a television mini-series.  Edward, Harriet, and Mildred are all developed far beyond their typical "this is what research tells us about them" found in most books; instead, we get living, breathing characters with emotions, with hopes and dreams, with frustrations and losses, with times of happiness and times of mourning.  Yes, the scenes portrayed throughout the book come from the Stratemeyer Records on file with the New York Public Library ... from the Iowa Women's Archives at the University of Iowa ... from researchers such as Geoffrey S. Lapin (to whom the author credits having done considerable work to uncover Wirt's connection as the original author of the Nancy Drew books) and James Keeline ... and to the descendants of the Stratemeyer family itself ... however, they are expressed through a prose tale that draws the reader in until, just like the children's series that are the subject matter of these individuals, he or she cannot help but turn page after page after page to see what is going to happen next!

 

The one thing I think Keleny does perfectly with this book is acknowledge the fact that there was never just "one" Carolyn Keene.  Sure, Edward Stratemeyer created the idea and the initial outlines for the Nancy Drew series.  Sure, Mildred Wirt (Benson) wrote the original books in the series.  Sure, Harriet Stratemeyer Adams took over the character and molded her into the later image that so many adults today remember her as.  Yet, it was not just one of these three that "created" Nancy Drew; rather, it was the amalgamation of all three - Stratemeyer, Wirt, and Adams - that ultimately defined Nancy Drew and gave her the characteristics and charisma that has helped her endure for nearly 100 years non-stop.  While so many other series fell away, many long forgotten - Nancy Drew is still at the forefront, still recognized as the quintessential girl detective (let's face it - any book, any movie, any television show that features a female detective will always make at least one, if nor more, reference to Nancy Drew).  And this book is the perfect story of how these three individuals, in their own special ways, combined to make (literally!) the world's greatest amateur female detective.

 

Now, for all this praise (and I really did enjoy the book!), that's not to say it's perfect.  It is always a bit off-putting when I come across grammatical errors or misspellings in a published book - and this book had a number of them.  When talking about the gala thrown by Simon & Schuster after they took over publication of the Stratemeyer properties, it states, "[w]asn't Nancy's popularity proven at the gala 15th anniversary party put on by Simon & Schuster for Nancy Drew..." (p. 5).  This was actually referring to the 50th anniversary gala. Later, when we read about Edward acting out a story he is writing, his wife "knew that this roll-playing was important to Edward..." (p. 20).  I believe the author meant "role" playing.  These are only a couple - there are others that could be listed, but it is a reminder that books are no longer edited with precision as they used to be.  While these are small things, and they don't make the book any less readable, they do (for me, at least) present a jarring moment, at which I'm taken out of the story as my mind immediately focuses on the error.

 

As an aside, Keleny does throw in a moment of Hardy Boys history for us, as she gives us a few pages of Leslie McFarlane and his first communications with Stratemeyer (pp. 108 - 114), which ultimately led to his taking on the Hardy Boys books, and later, the first few Dana Girls stories.  There are also moments with members of the Garis family, as well as the addition of Andrew Svenson as a partner of the Syndicate.  Thus, the author gives readers a well-rounded story of everything that was going on in the lives of these three creators, and how it all impacted their work on, and in Harriet's case, her utter devotion to Nancy Drew.

 

Who was the real Carolyn Keene?  Well, once you read this book, I believe you will be in a much stronger position to answer that question, and you will be sparked to delve deeper and do your own research and studies to get a better understanding of everything (and everyone!) that went into creating our favorite teen detective!  Is every word of this book true, and did every thing that is described in this book actually take place the way it is written here?  Probably not.  But that does not in any way lessen this book's value in the annals of Nancy Drew studies, and it certainly should not detract from anyone's enjoyment in reading the story.  

 

RATING:  10 last ditch attempts to sell the Syndicate out of 10 for a well-researched, superbly written story of the lives, loves, hardships, and successes of the three individuals who, in one way or another, created Nancy Drew.

Lucifer Cove, Book 1 - The Devil's Mistress (Virginia Coffman's Thrilling Occult Gothic Series)

"Christie Deeth found a paradise at the cover ... or was it the domain of Satan himself?" (cover blurb)

 

With the Harlequin Gothic Romance series now read, it is time to move on to another series, and this is one that took me quite a while to complete - and surprisingly, it was the first book in the series that was the most difficult to find (in the particular format I wanted), rather than the last, which is usually the case.  But I absolutely fell in love with the cover art and design of the Lancer Easy-Eye editions with the stylized logo and the blue sky over the Tudor style black and white house with the girl in the foreground.  Like with the consistency of cover style for the Harlequin Gothic line, I wanted to complete this series with the same cover format - and I was finally able to get this final book I needed at the end of last year at a price I was willing to pay (I mean, seriously, the prices I have seen copies of this book selling for is outrageous!).  Virginia Coffman (1914 - 2005) was one of the leading Gothic novelists, with more than 100 books to her name, most of which were Gothic romances.  It was her first novel, Moura, published in 1959, that is said to have started the "Gothic Wave" of the 1960s and '70s.  If you are going to read Gothics, then sooner or later, you will likely read one or more of Coffman's books.  More can be found about this author in the University of Nevada, Reno Virginia Coffman Papers.

 

The Devil's Mistress is the first of a six-book series set in Lucifer Cove, a small town nestled in a secluded valley of California.  First published in 1969, the book has gone through a number of printings and has had three different covers.  While the Lancer Easy-Eye editions tout the books as "Virginia Coffman's Thrilling Occult Gothic Series," I found the book to be more mystery than Gothic. That's not to say the book was not a great read; I just did not see that many Gothic elements in the story itself.  The "occult" label is probably a more accurate description of the story.  Lucifer Cove is basically a resort, centered around a hot springs spa that offers its guests their heart's desires.  But, as the saying goes, too much of a good thing ... the resort is place where people go to get away from it all ... to open themselves up to new experiences, where the only rules are that you must enjoy yourself to your heart's content.  Any pleasure imaginable can be found here.  For some, Lucifer Cove truly is a paradise, a dream come true.  For the soon-to-be divorced Christine ("Christie") Deeth, however, the Cove is a place of mystery, unexplained deaths, and temptation that could lead to destruction.

 

Coffman's main character is an auburn-haired beauty who receives an invitation to Lucifer Cove from an unexpected source.  An old heiress had visited her at the clinic in San Francisco, where Christie had been recovering from a mental breakdown.  She had left her husband and two children for a love affair with a younger man who quickly dumped her for the next young beauty to come his way. Her actions, though, had consequences, and she not only faced divorce from her husband, but she lost custody of her two children, and her husband refused to let her see them (gee, sounds like a somewhat current storyline on General Hospital!).  Christie would do anything to see her children again, and when the spinster tells her that spending a few weeks at Lucifer Cove could result in her getting her children, as well as her husband, back, Christie decides to take the chance.  After all, what did she have to lose?

 

The story opens with a slow build, as Christie is trying to locate the entrance to Lucifer Cover, some two hours south of San Franciso.  She happens across a lone man who is heading there, and he shows her the way through the cloudy entrance.  After following a maze of roads, she arrives in the small community, which contains not only the spa and the hot springs, but also some cottages, some shops, and a rather out-of-place temple that would likely fit in back in ancient Rome.  The man knows her name, even though she never told him, and as she gets checked in, she gets the odd feeling that she was expected here for weeks, even though she just made her reservations the day before.  There are plenty of warning signals that something is very wrong in Lucifer Cove, but like any good Gothic heroine, Christie ignores those signs, thinking she can face any problems that come her way.  Besides, Marc Meridon, the man she picked up on the road, and who appears to have an ownership interest in the spa, seems to have taken an interest in her, and she cannot deny the strange attraction she feels for him.

 

Then the woman in the room next to her turns up dead from an apparent suicide.  The guests and employees of Lucifer Cove seem to have more than a healthy respect for Meridon - from everything Christie can tell, they actually fear him.  What kind of power does he have over these people?  And what is up with those strange, glowing eyes that she, and others, can just barely make out in the mirrors that are everywhere in every room of the place?  And are those devil worshipers who attend nightly ceremonies in the temple for real, or is it all just for show, so the woman running it (Nadine Janos) can make some easy money?  And what is up with that cat, Kinkajou, who just seems to appear and disappear, just like Marc Meridon himself?  Strange things are afoot, and the longer Christie stays at the spa, the more she realizes there is a dark power that takes a hold of those who give in to their base desires.  When Christie's almost ex-husband shows up with the family's housekeeper, Christie realizes she must do whatever it takes to get them away from Lucifer Cove before they are sucked into whatever is really going on there!

 

Coffman truly surprised me with this book.  The story was engaging, and I found myself rooting for Christie to get to the bottom of everything, reveal the truth behind Lucifer Cove, and leave (whether with her former husband or a new love interest), never to look back.  But that did not happen.  Coffman presents her characters with choices, and each choice made has consequences, some of which are heavy and others of which are deadly.  In the end, Christie must make a choice between her own freedom and her love of her children, and let's just say the story does not end at all the way I had expected or hoped.  While one may think at first that the events transpiring in this spa are all simply manipulations of some mastermind behind the scenes, Coffman leaves it very much open to interpretation as to whether there is black magic, or even Satanic powers, at work, or whether everything is simply coincidence and the over-active imaginations of already troubled people.  I have my suspicions, particularly about Meridon and Klinkajou - but I'm guessing I will have to wait for future books to reveal those truths (if they ever do at all!).

 

As I said above, the book lacks a lot of the standard tropes that one usually finds in these Gothic novels.  There are no secret passages, no young woman trying to uncover some mystery in the dark house where she finds herself.  There are no two men, both vying for the heroine's affections, with one turning out to be the villain after all.  No ghosts, no haunting sounds, no long-hid secrets to be revealed.  Instead, we get a small community that seems to be controlled by one man, who may or may not be using occult or demonic powers to do so.  There is a scene near the end of the book where the reader is given a rather frightening description of what Christie sees (and which, I believe, gives a very strong hint as to who and what Meridon really is!), but whether that is meant to be what she really saw, or what she only imagined she saw in her heightened state of fear ... well, that remains to be seen in later books (I hope!).

 

Not sure who provided the cover art for the edition I have (the cover depicted first above), but I find that cover to be the most attractive and alluring - even if the artist incorrectly portrayed Christie with dark hair rather than the reddish hair she is described as having in the book.  The spa building in the background, however, is a perfect capture of how it, all the other buildings in Lucifer Cove, are described in the story.  There is even a light on in the second story window, keeping with the tradition of Gothic covers from this era. Another printing of the book (see above, middle) is a bit more Gothic in nature, with the dark, brooding house in the background, the mist rolling in, the night sky; however, I do not like how Christie appears to be standing in grass up to her neck, and honestly, that woman on the cover is not attractive at all!  The third cover (the cover to the right, here) accurately shows Christie with her auburn hair, and it has the spa more accurately painted.  Not sure about the red sky thing going on, unless that color was chosen to match the lettering of the title, or to give readers the color of blood on the cover as an enticement to see what the story inside holds.  I do think the tagline for this edition is appropriate:  "Was he the man of her dreams - or the prince of darkness?"  That question makes one think this is more of a nocturnal romance rather than an "occult Gothic."

 

While not at all the type of story I was expecting, and definitely not a happy ending I'm used to with these Gothics, I did enjoy the book for what it was.  And looking ahead at the description of the next book, it seems the characters do carry over from one book to the next - book two contains a story that centers around Nadine Janos, the devil worshiping priestess who appears a few times in this first book.  With that in mind, I'm hoping Coffman builds upon an over-arching story with each book, so that by the sixth and final book, we will see a satisfying resolution, with all questions answered and the villain either redeemed or vanquished.  Looking forward to see what the next five books have waiting for me when I read them!

 

RATING:  9 black gowns and pointed hoods out of 10 for a completely different kind of Gothic tale hinting at a dark power that could come from the one named in the title of both the series and this first book! 

The Forgotten Star - the First Dig Allen Space Explorer Adventure

This is another one of those series that I normally would not have picked up. I had seen the first couple of books in the series on a number of occasions in antique malls or in used book stories, and I regularly passed them up, as they were not mystery stories - they were stories about space exploration and adventure.  However, as time passed, I found myself curious about them - after all, the main character was a red-headed boy with freckles like me (well, like I used to be a ... ah-hem ... few years ago!).  Plus, the concept seemed somewhat similar to the '80s Tom Swift series, which was also about a young boy and his friends having adventures in space.  So, I picked up one, then another, and soon enough I had the first five of the six-book series.  It was not until recently that, thanks to a good friend, I was able to get that sixth and final book to complete the series, and thus, I was able to start reading them.

 

The Forgotten Star is the first book in the series, which introduces readers not only to Digby ("Dig") Allen, but also to his supporting cast. In fact, we meet the supporting cast before we meet the main character himself!  Our story opens at the turn of the 22nd Century, as a spaceship is shuttling people to the moon, where they will either be vacationing or taking up residence.  Two of those passengers happen to be Jim Barry and his younger brother, Ken, who are heading to join their mother and scientist father who already live there.  Before they reach the moon (and before the first chapter ends), the adventure begins when they are boarded by the Space Guard, who are looking for a stowaway.  As it turns out, the stowaway is none other than Dig Allen, who, coincidentally enough, happens to be hiding in the Barry boys' room.  Dig must get to the moon to begin the search for his missing father, the only relative he has left, and the Barry brothers are only to happy to help him elude capture.

 

What is odd about the entire story is that it is pretty much told from Jim and Ken's point-of-view. While Dig is in the story, the reader actually follows the Barry brothers as they land on the moon, reunite with their parents, meet the young alien Woody who lives with them, are questioned and then trained on space piloting by Sergeant Brool with the Space Guard, and ultimately happen upon Captain Ahab in the spaceship junk yard, where they finally meet up again with Dig Allen.  He and Ahab have been putting together a space-worthy ship that will take Dig out to search for his missing father.  Before they even take off, however, Sergeant Brool contacts the Barrys to inform them that Captain Allen's ship has been found - abandoned and drifting in space!  The mystery then begins: what happened to Boyd Allen, and what does the telegram Allen sent his son on January 15, 2161 (just before he disappeared) really mean?  What exactly is "No. 433," and what are the legends, myths, rumors, and tall stories surrounding it?  Dig, along with the help of his new friends, Jim and Ken, are determined to find out the answers to these questions, and in so doing, find the missing Captain Boyd Allen.

 

The series is written by Joseph Greene (a/k/a Joseph Lawrence Greene, 1914-1990), who created Tom Corbett, Space Cadet prior to his creation of the Dig Allen series.  Greene also did a lot of writing in the comic book field, including a number of titles for DC Comics' All-American books (of which Wonder Woman, Hawkman, Aquaman, Green Arrow, and Superman were just a few).  He also worked on the Tom Corbett, Space Cadet comic series published by Dell Publications, which, of course, were based on his own creation.  He later edited, and possibly was the ghostwriter of, the Tom Corbett, Space Cadet series for Grosset & Dunlap. It wasn't until 1959 that this first book in the Dig Allen, "A Science Fiction Adventure" series was first published by Golden Press (who also published the Kathy Martin nurse stories, the Brains Benton mysteries, as well as the Ellery Queen Jr. mysteries and the Vicky Loring stories).  It is evident that Greene was a science fiction fan himself, since most of his books for young adults were sci-fi tales set in outer space.  The story in this first book goes beyond the mystery of Dig Allen's father and also explores an alien race and their advanced technology (the discovery of which ultimately gets Dig and his new friends from being forever grounded from space travel due to their antics, which violated any number of Space Guard protocols!).

 

The interior illustrations (and possibly the cover art as well, although I cannot confirm that) were provided by Myron Strauss. From what I can gather in researching Strauss, it appears Greene was not the only one with a connection to comic books.  Strauss provided cover and interior art for several comic book series published by Centaur Publications back in the late 1930s and early 1940s.  He later became a teacher at Art & Design in New York, and from what I was able to gather based upon quite a large number of posts online, he was a very popular and well-liked teacher. The illustrations in this book are line drawings, but not your typical black and white; rather, there is a 1/3 page illustration, in addition to the occasional full page illustration.  The illustrations in the first third of the book are a bluish line color, while the second third of the book is done with an orange line color, and the final third of the book has green-line illustrations.  I found this an interesting choice, but I liked it - it gave the book a different feel, setting it apart from the typical series books of the time.

 

The back cover of this first book features an ad for "Fiction for Boys and Girls," listing six different series published by Golden Press at the time.  I'm assuming this must be a later printing of the first book, as it lists the entire six-book series for Dig Allen, and it lists more books in the other series that does the back of other books I have in the Dig Allen series. One thing that caught my eye was the listing of three books for the Vicky Loring Stories.  I know for a fact there are only two books ever published in that series (as I have them both); and while the third book, Double Deception, was advertised, it was never actually published, making it another "phantom title" in the series book realm.

 

It should also be mentioned that while you can find all six of the books in this same hardcover, picture cover format, the first two books (at least) were published in paperback as "A Golden Griffon Space Mystery" by Western Publishing Company.  These two paperbacks have completely different cover art, and as I don't own either, I can't say whether they have any interior illustrations.  The first book was also published in a hardcover format with a dust jacket, which dust jacket sported the same cover art as this picture cover edition.  The dust jacket format is not impossible to find, but it is definitely not cheap!

 

On a final note, the author does dedicate the book to "Ellen, Robert, Paul and Stormy" and goes on to say "without whose constant help this book would have been written sooner."  I thought this was a rather humorous dedication, as it seems to indicate that these four (who I am assuming are his children?) kept him busy and did not allow him to write as much, nor as fast, as he would have liked to have written.  However, I have no doubt it was done in loving jest.

 

The book was admittedly not my cup of tea.  I am not a fan of general science fiction such as this, and it took me a bit to get into the story.  However, even I can concede that by the time I made it past the half-way point, and Dig and his friends had managed to find out what "No. 433" meant and made their way, the story picked up its pace and interest a bit, and I found it a bit more palatable.  By the end of the story, I found I did somewhat enjoy it, and while I had doubts as to whether I would continue reading the series, I am now willing to give book two a try.

 

RATING:   6 hollowed-out asteroids with alien civilizations out of 10 for some clearly 1950s' style sci-fi action and adventure with some pretty likable lead characters.

Whitman Mystery Stories - Brenda Starr, Girl Reporter

This is one of the Whitman Authorized Editions that I have been wanting for quite a while.  While I never had the opportunity to read the original comic strip in the newspaper, I do have an edition of the collected dailies and Sunday strips from 1940 - 46 (Brenda Starr Newspaper Strips), as well as the one-issue Dell Comic published back in 1963 (Brenda Starr Comic Book), plus the collected editions of her original comic book series from Four Star Publications and Superior Publishing back in 1947 - 49.  The ones I still don't have are the Charlton Comics series published in 1955.  I have enjoyed reading her adventures, which are outlandish to say the least - this amazingly gorgeous, redheaded reporter that every man loves on sight manages to get in the most unbelievable situations - yet, with her looks and ingenuity, she manages to get herself and those around her out of every scrape and, along the way, scoops the story for her newspaper, the Flash.  So, I was overjoyed when a close friend of mine sent me this book (along with a Sunday color newspaper page featuring Brenda Starr paper doll with outfits!), and I could not wait to sit down and read it.

 

Brenda Starr, Girl Reporter gives credit to the main character's creator, Dale Messick, as the author of the story, as well as the artist for all of the internal illustrations and full color cover.  I think this is only the second Whitman based on a comic strip that I have read, which is actually written and drawn by the creator of the strip (although, there is some question as to whether Messick actually penned the novel or just the plot - more on that later) - the first was a book based on the Boots and Her Buddies comic strip (Boots - Whitman Mystery), the authorship for which was credited to the strip's creator. What I found interesting is that the title page says "An original story based on the Famous Newspaper Strip 'BRENDA STARR'." Thus, I was expecting a brand new story featuring Brenda and her supporting cast. Little did I realize that was not going to be the case.

 

The story begins innocently enough, with Brenda being sent off to the slopes of Colorado (which is funny, since the most recent Zebra Mystery Puzzler that I read was also set on the slopes of Colorado - Murder by the Book) on a mysterious assignment.  She does not know exactly what the story is or what the work will entail - all her editor told her was to go to the newspaper there and ask for Larry Nickels.  When she arrives, she finds the "newspaper" feels more like a posh hotel, and the "employees" seem to do nothing but lounge around and ski all day!  When she asks for Mr. Nickels, she finds he is out on the slopes, and his secretary - Flurry Snow (p. 19 - and, yes, that really is her name!) - informs Brenda that she is to meet him out on the slopes.  Brenda is somewhat nervous, as she is a horrible skier and that fact is proven when she goes out to meet him, but ends up falling backwards down the slope (p. 24).  He rescues her, much to her dismay, and she learns that the "Cloud" (the name of his newspaper) is nothing more than a hobby, and he asked her out there to breathe some real life into his newspaper.  That story turns up pretty quickly, when Nickels points out to her a nearby lodge, described as "a vast, sprawling building with many towers and gables.  Despite its many windows and entrances, it possessed a look of strangeness and complete isolation" (p. 45).  Nickels tells her the lodge is a mystery, because people go in, but not a single soul has ever come out!  Brenda senses a big story, which is only confirmed when Nickels tells her about the man who operates the lodge: "a queer old duck who calls himself 'Professor Squell'" (p. 46).

 

Now, it is at this point, I started to sense something strange as well.  Not about Professor Squell or his lodge, but about the plot itself.  It felt extremely familiar.  So, I pulled out that collection of newspaper strips I had read before, and sure enough, there it was!  The same exact story I was now reading in prose form I had read three-and-a-half years ago when I read those newspaper strips!  Before Brenda Starr had even been published in the newspapers for a year, she was on a plane, dreaming about the blond-haired mystery man who had kissed her on New Year's Eve - exactly as she did on the opening pages of the first chapter of this book.  In fact, the dialogue was lifted straight out of the newspaper strip and used word-for-word in the book.  Now, obviously, a lot of exposition and additional dialogue was added into the book in order to flesh out the story, the characters, and the page count (otherwise, it would have ended up being a very short book, indeed!).  But if you read the book, side-by-side with the newspaper strip panels, you will see that it is literally a full adaptation of the story written and published back in 1941 and not an original tale at all.  Therefore, I'm at a loss to explain why the publisher refers to this as an "original" story based on the comic strip, when it is in actuality an "adaptation" of a story from the comic strip.

 

The story follows Brenda as she watches first Flurry, and then Nickels, go into the strange lodge and never come out.  A reward offered sends quite a few of the men from the village into the house, none of whom ever come out, and before you know it, Brenda is in hot water, being blamed for sending the men to their doom.  So, what else can she do, but go into the lodge?  Meanwhile, reporter Tom Taylor and photographer Pesky head out to rescue Brenda - and thanks to an anonymous warning, Tom knows enough to wear a gas mask before he goes into house, which saves him from the gas that takes control of all who enter - but does NOT save him from the mysterious man who knocks him out from behind.  From here, the story gets even more wild, including a basement laboratory, underground caverns, a room of pirate booty, and an impromptu wedding between Brenda and the "queer" professor who is holding everyone captive under ground.  And while the collection of newspaper strips ends with Brenda, Tom, and Nickels getting out and rescuing everyone, the book goes beyond and jumps into the next storyline involving a missing detective, a mysterious doppelganger, and a secret surprise.  This story moves much quicker than the first and take up only the last few chapters of the book.  Since I did not get to read the newspaper strips for this tale, it was completely new to me.

 

Now, some have speculated that Messick did not actually write the book, but, rather, it was simply ghostwritten as an adaptation of the strips - and since Messick wrote the newspaper strips, she was given credit for writing the book.  Whether this is actually the case or not, I have no idea.  What I do know is that Messick provided brand new illustrations for the book - 19 of them to be exact.  While some of the scenes do seem to mirror those from the strip, there are differences, which provide proof they were not merely reproduced from the art of the strip.  Messick also provides the art for the endpages, which depict the professor's planned wedding to Brenda, with Tom and Nickels standing behind her and Pesky off to the side, down in the caverns. 

 

What is odd about these endpages is that, in my copy at least, the pages are reversed in the back.  In the front, Pesky and the professor are on the left side, with Tom, Brenda, and Nickels on the right (which appears to be the correct positioning, based on the smoke drifting overhead); however, in the back of the book, Tom, Brenda, and Nickels are on the left side, while Pesky and the professor are on the right - supposedly looking at each other, but because of the repositioning of the pages, they are looking away from each other!  I wonder if this production malfunction was only in this one printing, or if all copies of this book have this error.

 

Despite the story not being original, I still enjoyed it - Brenda is a fun character to read, and her antics are always guaranteed to bring a smile, if not a full laugh, to the reader's face.  The gorgeous Messick art is only an added bonus!  Rather a shame they did not adapt more of the stories into book form - would have made a great series.   

 

RATING:  8 hats that resemble flipped over pancakes out of 10 for a fun-filled romp in the snow, under the ground, in an Easter parade, and in the clubs of Washington, D.C. - all in a day's work for Brenda Starr, Girl Reporter! 

Curse of Dark Shadows - an original Dark Shadows Graphic Novel

Sixty years ago, a new soap opera premiered on daytime television, and while it only lasted five years for a total of 1,225 episodes, the show has had a legacy that has far surpassed that of pretty much any other soap that has ever aired.  Sure, General Hospital is still on the air; but let's face reality - despite being on the air for 63 years, that show did not spawn a series of books; it did not have board games and models; it did not see various comic book series published over the years; it did not generate enough fandom to warrant audio stories to continue the tales of its characters; it did not generate not one, not two, but three feature films based on the show; and it did not give rise to a fan base that 55 years after the show ended is not only still going strong, but getting stronger with every generation.  Dark Shadows has done that and so much more.  A Gothic soap opera that struggled its first year, it hit its stride when it introduced the reluctant vampire, Barnabas Collins - and from that moment on, history was made.  The show went off the air in April 1971, leaving viewers wondering just what happened to all of the characters on the show.  There have been various continuations, both in book and audio form, that have given fans a taste of what could have been and how the stories might have continued.  Sadly, neither the films nor the updated television shows continued the stories; rather, they simply retold or reimagined the tales already told in the original soap.  So, it is only fitting that with this 60th anniversary, fans should have a special treat - and it's my hope this is only the first of many to come out this year!

 

Curse of Dark Shadows is a graphic novel published by Hermes Press that brings the Collins family and their hometown into the present time.  It's been over 50 years since we last saw the Collins clan, and a lot has changed.  Roger Collins is dead, his ghost now haunting his son, David.  Elizabeth Collins Stoddard is also dead, having left her daughter, Carolyn, with a revelation and request - Victoria Winters, the former governess who was called back in time, truly was Elizabeth's daughter (and Carolyn's sister!), and Carolyn is given the task of finding her and bringing her back home.  Maggie Evans is a grandmother.  And Barnabas Collins ... our ill-fated vampire ... well, it seems he took off back to Europe with Dr. Julia Hoffman, where they finally married and lived out the remaining years of her life.  The only thing that remains the same is the dark shadows that always seem to linger over Collinwood, infecting its inhabitants with terrors that never seem to end.  But Carolyn is working on that.  She has spent half a century trying to find a way to bring Victoria Winters back from the past, and in so doing, putting an end to the curse that has held the family in its sway for centuries...

 

The graphic novel is written by Craig Hurd-McKenney, who has been writing comics since 2000, including a story in the first issue of the the recent revival of Gold Key comics' Boris Karloff Gold Key Mysteries.  This book appears to be his first foray into the world of Dark Shadows, and it is clear he has a love for the show, its characters, and its rich history.  While the story is set in the present, it definitely builds upon everything that has come before - Hurd-McKenney even makes a number of references to events in the television series, citing the actual episodes where they took place.  And the simple fact that he brings Victoria Winters back from the past - well, that puts him right on the top of my list of favorite writers!  Victoria, as portrayed by actress Alexandra Moltke, has always been my favorite character on the show, and it truly disappointed me that they wrote her out of the show the way they did.  Lara Parker (who portrayed Angelique in the show) wrote a Dark Shadows novel that brought Victoria back to the present; and while I enjoyed that story, I have to say, I love the way Hurd-McKenney did it so much better.  I can't say I'm overly thrilled with the characterization of Carolyn Stoddard-Hawkes in her old age; however, having spent the last half-century inside Collinwood, I can't begin to imagine what that would do to a person.  I did, however, like the fact that David was still being haunted by his father's presence - a man he never really got along with when he was alive, so it only makes sense that Roger would still haunt him after he died.  While Barnabas does come into the story, we see very little, if any, of the other supporting cast.  Hallie works in the Blue Whale with her son;  Maggie Evans is a grandmother, and she owns the Collinsport Inn.  But I would love to know what happened to Amy Jennings ... and Quentin Collins ... and Angelique ... and so many others ... perhaps Hurd-McKenney has some more stories rolling around in his head, and we'll get further graphic novels that continue the story (considering the number of sub-plots hinted at throughout the book, he darned-well better have more in the works!).

 

The interior art is provided by "Jok with Gervasio." This is a team of artists that I was completely unfamiliar with prior to buying this book.  It appears they have collaborated on a number of other graphic novels and illustrated books.  Jok is an Argentine artist who has had work published in a number of countries since 1993.  Gervasio is also an Argentine artist, who has worked with Jok in producing some of the "I Survived" graphic novels for Scholastic, as well as some other works.  Their art has a distinctive style to it, and while I can definitely see it as being conducive to darker stories, such as vampire, ghost, and supernatural tales, I must admit that I did not find myself enjoying it much for the Dark Shadows story.  None of the characters bore any resemblance whatsoever to their television counterparts, and perhaps that was their intention.  Thankfully, Hurd-McKenney's story was strong enough to carry me past the art, and it was ultimately still a thoroughly enjoyable read.

 

An added bonus to this book are the character profiles that appear after the story - seventeen pages detailing some of Dark Shadows' greatest characters over the years.  From Adam to Judah Zachary ... from Nicholas Blair to Count Petofi ... from Roxanne Drew to Janet Findley ... from Sarah Collins to Peter Bradford ... and so many more!  Each character is drawn by a different artist - including one by Luciano Vecchio, a wonderful artist that I have the pleasure of knowing through his work on Drumfish Productions' Sentinels books some years back.  And I love that the Victoria Winters depicted in these bios is a much stronger resemblance to the Alexandra Moltke that I so loved from the show.

 

There are a couple of things about the graphic novel that did leave me somewhat perplexed.  For unexplained reasons, page 3 of the story repeats itself (it appears on both pages 7 and 8 of the book).  Then, just a few pages later, page 10 of the story appears a second time, appearing first on page 15 (right after page 9 of the story), and that again on page 17 (right after page 11 of the story).  And if that were not confusing enough, after page 22 of the story, the page numbering reverts back to page 1, even though the story continues without any break (in fact, page 22 and page 1 thereafter contains a 2-page spread of Victoria Winters fighting the Leviathan on Widow's Hill in the past).  I can only assume there was some production issues when the book was put together, because I can't image the creators intended these mis-matched pages on purpose.  Finally, there's the curious misspelling of Quentin's name in the character bios - he is listed as Quentin "Collin," without the "s" at the end of his last name.  This was likely a simple editing snafu.

 

These gaffes, though, did not in any way spoil the story for me.  I still highly recommend the book for any Dark Shadows fan, as it not only brings the show and its characters and mythos into the 21st century, but it gives us fans a long-awaited continuation of the original series.  Big Finish Productions filled that void for a number of years with their audio dramas; now Hermes Press is picking up where Big Finish left off and giving us even more Gothic horror to fill our insatiable need for more Barnabas ... more Victoria ... more Carolyn and David ... more stories of those people who may at times be only shadows in our mind, but who continue to fill the days and nights of our every tomorrow!

 

RATING:  9 empty baby cribs out of 10 for taking the Dark Shadows' lore far beyond that of the original series and crafting a new tale of mystery, suspense, and horror in the tradition set by Dan Curtis some 60 years ago...