Mystery in Blue - a pulp mystery by Gertrude E. Mallette

If you follow my posts, in my recent post about Terry Carvel's Theater Caravan ( ), I mentioned that the back cover of the dust jacket for that book listed some career girl books by author Gertrude E. Mallette.  When I saw that on the back of the book, I didn't think much of it, other than to look at the titles and their descriptions.  But when I did a search online and discovered that she also wrote this particular book, which I already had in my collection, I was pleasantly surprised!  I bought this book because I stumbled across it online and the title reminded me of the first Connie Blair mystery, The Clue in Blue.  So, I picked it up on a lark.  Once I learned the same author wrote a series of career girl books aimed at teen readers, I decided I should probably read this book and see what it was like! 

Set in World War II, Mystery in Blue is the story of Kerry Owen, a young career woman who has set out on a path to become a first-rate secretary.  After working at the district attorney's office for some time, she is re-assigned to a new job at the engineering firm of Gerard & Gerard, Inc. - which is owned by Napoleon Gerard and his son, Remy Gerard, both of whom are well known to Kerry.  She grew up with Remy, getting into trouble with him when they were kids.  She always knew his father to be a bit of a tyrant, which resulted in his nickname, "Old Emperor Gerard."  But it had been a number of years, and after high school, Kerry studied at the local university, while Remy went on to MIT and later served in the war.  Kerry is not surprised that Mr. Gerard does not recognize her, and she manages to impress him immediately with her skill and efficiency (although he certainly does not let her know that!).  Kerry also has to deal with Mr. Stickover, the office manager who manages to make it clear that he is more important to the office than she is!  Then there are the other men in the office - Mr. Allen and Mr. Grove.  And there's also that former secretary, Miss Bowen, who not only avails herself of Kerry's office when she is out to lunch, but she also makes it clear that Remy is HER man!

The mystery becomes apparent right away when a particular file is missing, and no one is able to find it.  Remy and Mr. Stickover (referred to as "Mr. Stick" by the men in the office, because of his tall, lean stature) seem very concerned about the missing file, and they tell Kerry to keep an eye out for it, and if it should turn up, get it to them right away.  Then stranger things begin to happen, as Kerry's stenograph pad disappears from her desk drawer, only to turn up later on the floor in the corner of the room.  Add into the mix a strangely coded note that Miss Bowen says she might have left in Kerry's office, as well as a stolen briefcase that contains some very important blueprints, and you've got yourself a war-time mystery of espionage and spies! Kerry is faced with the dilemma of sifting through all of the conversations she overhears, the odd actions she sees in the people around her, and the clues that she finds in her own stenograph book to determine who is the spy in the office and who is trying to undermine and steal the plans for the government project.

I give the author credit for appearing to use valid engineering terminology and coding for the story, as when Mr. Gerard first tests Kerry by given her what appears to be a strange equation (Joists 2x6 O P No 1 Com 16" oc), which she easily interprets as "the joists are to be of two-by-six-inch lumber, Oregon pine, number 1 common, and set sixteen inches apart on center" (p. 9).  As I know absolutely nothing about engineering, I can only assume this is a correct interpretation, as it certainly seem logical!  What I do know is that the metes and bounds legal description that Kerry later gives in the book to a telegraph operator is an actual way of describing property: "Beginning at a point north fifteen degrees, thirty minutes, ten seconds west, and from thence eighteen hundred and twenty feet et cetera" (48-49).  Having dealt in real estate law for enough years now, I easily recognize that type of description for real property.  And finally, that coded message of Miss Bowen, "Setono Circle RT 3: 60L2 R5" (122) turns out to have a very clever solution that definitely helps Kerry figure out exactly who is doing what in the office.  

There are several unexpected twists in the story regarding a couple of the characters - Kerry's (and the reader's!) impression and expectations of those characters are completely turned on their head by the end of the book.  This is not a bad thing though, as the reader realizes they were misleads intended to make Kerry (and the reader) believe one thing, while something else entirely was going on.  And Kerry's intuition and quick-thinking also serve to ferret out someone who is impersonating a federal officer, which serves to bring the mystery to a resolution for everyone involved.

The book was originally copyrighted in 1945, but the edition I have is the 1958 Berkley Edition.  I love the cover art for this edition, as it is definitely reminiscent of the Connie Blair book with the similar name.  The author, Gertrude E. Mallette.  I had a little difficulty learning about Ms. Mallette, as I found numerous sites that listed her books, but I could not find any biography of the author.  I did, however, come across a website that provided some history about Moraga, California that gave some interesting insight into Ms. Mallette's life (Moraga History).  It reveals that Gertrude E. Mallette "was an author of children's books and a writer for the Oakland Tribune newspaper.  She and her friend, Alberta Hortense, had worked together to plan a home for orphaned boys using land that Alberta inherited from her father.  Gertrude is credited with being responsible for the design of the original Hacienda de las Flores, and she and Alberta are said to have built the first story of the building.  Sadly, it appears the orphanage had to close when state inspectors found no male nurse on duty for the boys, and the two women turned it into a ranch.  In 1929, after the stock market crash, they were forced to sell the property.  Certainly some fascinating details about the author's life (and it also confirms the name "Gertrude E. Mallette" is not a pseudonym, but her actual name).

This book was originally written three years prior to the release of the first Connie Blair mystery, The Clue in Blue, so I'm looking forward to reading that particular mystery to see how it compares to this one other than in name (especially since Connie herself could be considered a career girl who gets into the advertising industry).

RATING:  9 slips of pink paper out of 10 for a different type of career girl mystery with enough twists and turns to give you whiplash!

The Phantom Lady - a Graphic Mystery Classic

I picked this book up earlier this year at the Florida Antiquarian Book Fair down in St. Petersburg.  I don't often pick up pulp novels, but the title of this one caught my eye.  "Phantom Lady" happens to be the name of a Golden Age comic book character who debuted back in 1941 in Police Comics No. 1.  She was a rich socialite who created a secret identity to fight crime by using a special light that could "shoot" darkness at her opponents, momentarily blinding them.  She was later acquired by DC Comics and incorporated into a team called the Freedom Fighters, which originally hailed from an alternate Earth where the Nazis won World War II.  I loved the concept, and I loved the character.  So, when I happened across this book at the Book Fair, I could not say no.  I had to have it.

 

The Phantom Lady is a murder mystery written by William Irish, which is a pseudonym used by Cornell Woolrich (Dec. 1903 - Sept. 1968).  This book was originally published in 1942, but this Graphic Mystery Classic edition that I have was published in 1955 (and, sadly, it is abridged, so I'm not really sure what parts I missed out on).  Interestingly, this book was made into a film in 1944, directed by Robert Siodmak and starring Franchot Tone, Ella Raines, and Alan Curtis (but judging from the description of the movie, it appears there were some changes made to the story).  In any event, I was anxious to read the story based on the taglines on the back of the book:  HIS WIFE? Now she lay dead, murdered! HIS MISTRESS? She was ready to die to save him from the electric chair! THAT LOVELY BARROOM PICKUP? She holds his fate in her teasing hands.

The mystery centers around Scott Henderson, an unhappily married man who wants a divorce so he can marry his mistress, Carol Richman; however, his wife refuses to give him the divorce, seeming to revel in her husband's unhappiness.  One fateful night, Henderson plans to take his wife out to dinner and the theater before begging her once again for a divorce, but she refuses at the last minute.  He calls Carol to ask her to go, but she is not home. So, Henderson sets out on his own, winding up in a nondescript bar sitting alone at the bar, drinking away his sorrows.  Until the mysterious woman appears.  And the two agree to an anonymous evening together.  Henderson takes her to the restaurant where he had reservations.  And he takes her to the theater, where she becomes quite the spectacle by wearing the same exact hat as the main star in the play.  They go their separate ways, and Henderson returns to his apartment to discover it is filled with police - and a very dead wife!  

Thus, the mystery really begins, as the police accuse Henderson of the crime, but he insists his innocence, trying to convince them of the woman that is his alibi.  Only, he doesn't know her name.  And he can't really remember her features, other than her dark clothes.  And that hat - that ostentatious orange hat.  He leads the police to the bar, but the bartender remembers no woman.  Henderson takes the police to the restaurant, but the maitre d' and the waiter only remember him - no woman.  Finally, they go to the theater, where no one remembers the woman.  Henderson believes he is going crazy, and despite his insistence that the woman exists, he is tried, found guilty, and sentenced to the electric chair.  And so the countdown begins (and each chapter is actually headed by the number of days left until his sentence is carried out...)

Irish (Woolrich) gives readers a rather tense murder mystery that builds increasingly strong as the day draws closer to the execution.  The police detective in charge of the investigation eventually tells Henderson that he believes he is innocent, but cannot prove it.  His mistress stands by his side the entire time, believing his innocence.  His best friend, John Lombard, comes all the way back from South America to help find this mystery woman and prove Henderson's innocence.  But the closer they get to the truth, the worse things become - especially when one witness throws himself in front of an oncoming truck, another witness breaks his neck falling down stairs, and a third witness is thrown out the window of her high-rise apartment.  When the day of the execution arrives, the author gives readers some great excitement as a trap is laid for the mysterious woman to reveal herself, and the true murderer is revealed at last!

The story is a little hard to get into at first, as the opening chapter attempts to be mysterious by not specifically identifying Henderson or the mysterious woman, and the writing is a bit awkward.  But as that initial evening proceeds, the writing smooths itself out and you start to become invested in the characters, particularly when Henderson arrives home to be confronted by the police detective and his men.  From that point forward, you can't help but want to know exactly what did happen and whether this mysterious woman was real or just a part of Henderson's imagination.  Irish (Woolrich) definitely keeps the readers guessing, and while the ultimate reveal is a surprise, there are portions of it that don't make sense (since the author does give us some scenes from the killer's point of view - before we know this person is the killer - and the explanations of what took place and how/why Mrs. Henderson was killed and how the killer tried to cover his/her tracks do not match the scenes we read earlier).  I suppose the author was simply wanting to keep the killer's identity a surprise, but it gave me a sense of bait and switch, since we read scenes earlier that don't match the final revelation.

Otherwise, this was a great story, and readers do get a nice payoff in the end.  I'm going to have to check out the movie to see just how much difference there is between the book and the film.

RATING:  8 glasses of scotch untouched by water out of 10 for a murder mystery that will keep you on pins and needles, waiting to see if the protagonist really is innocent or not!

Barbie Lane and the Mystery of the Egyptian Museum - a Triple Nickle Book (No. 5)

This is a book that I had been searching for high and low for a number of years.  I honestly cannot recall when I first stumbled across this, but I think it was when I was doing a search on Amazon for "Barbie" and "mystery" to find some of the old Random House books published about Barbie (the doll) solving mysteries.  I had never seen this before and knew nothing about it, but the title and cover art caught my interest.  Of course, at the time, the book was listed as "unavailable" on Amazon, so I started expanding my search to eBay, Abe, etsy, and other sites.  I later learned from some of the online book collecting groups to which I belong that these Triple Nickle Books are a sought-after item and not easily found.  Apparently the publisher also put out some Power Boys novels in this format, as well as books about Wild Bill Hickok and Davy Crockett.  Well, after several years of combing through auction sites and scouring through used bookstores, I finally found a copy on eBay last year and was able to get it at an unbelievably great price!

Barbie Lane and the Mystery of the Egyptian Museum is the first (and only!) mystery in the Barbie Lane series.  The book identifies "Lucy Carlton" as the author, but I'm guessing that is likely a pseudonym.  I'm unable to find any information about an author by this name, even connected with this book, and since the Powers Boys stories published by Triple Nickel (which, apparently, are unrelated to the later Powers Boys series published by Whitman) were also written under a pseudonym, this seems a likely assumption.  The story itself is 63 pages in length, with twelve chapters with an illustration at the head of each chapter and a few small illustrations scattered throughout the story. The chapters are relatively short, but the pages are formatted with two-columns, like you will find in magazines.  As such, the story moves at a pretty quick pace, and similar to the Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, and other children's series books of that time, each chapter ends with a cliffhanger to encourage the reader to keep on reading and find out what happens next.

Barbie Lane is a sixteen-year old redhead whose father, Richard Lane, is a "celebrated freelance photographer" (p. 2).  The inside front cover introduces readers to the main character with the tagline: "Meet Barbie Lane!"  Describing her as "the most adventurous teen-ager you've ever known," the introduction explains that Mr. Lane "takes his brave daughter with him ... and the red-headed girl finds herself in the midst of more exciting mysteries than you could imagine."  Surrounding the introduction are a number of line drawings of Barbie's head, which in many instances are very reminiscent of the original Barbie doll (leaving one to wonder if the artist used the doll as a model of sorts, particularly considering the doll and this young sleuth share the same first name).  The illustrations are signed by "Mort Leav" (more on him below).

 

As the book opens, she and her best friend, Joan Webster, who is a year younger, are on a bus headed to Collins City to join Mr. Lane for a vacation.  Mr. Lane is actually there to photograph a new Egyptian exhibit set to open at the Collins City Museum of Art, and Barbie and Joan are anxious to see the exhibit.  As fate would have it, the bus has a slight mishap, and the girls find themselves in the small village of Milltown.  Visiting an antique shop, the girls run into Mr. Wilson, a fellow passenger on the bus - and this is where the strange events begin to take place.  A wiry, red-haired man comes storming out of the back, pushing his way past the girls, losing a button in the process (p. 5).  Then Mr. Wilson accuses Barbie of stealing his wallet, which is later discovered by the shop owner on the floor beneath an old spinning wheel (p. 7).  Because of this delay, the girls miss their bus and have to contact Mr. Lane to come get them.  When he picks them up, Mr. Wilson joins them on the ride to Collins City, as that is where he is heading.  The girls ask excitedly about the exhibit, and Mr. Lane reveals rather reluctantly that it may not open due to some trouble at the museum - which prompts Mr. Wilson to warn him about "the Curse of Rama-Khan!" (p. 10).

The mystery immediately ramps up, as the girls discover that certain artifacts have been stolen from the museum, despite the fact that the museum has been locked up tight, and only a few people have access, all of whom are thoroughly trustworthy.  The girls begin to observe mysterious events, such as Mr. Wilson pushing a veiled woman in a wheelchair; the red-haired man from the antique shop hanging around town; and strange shadows and noises in the museum.  When the girls get accidentally locked inside the museum overnight, they discover how the criminals have been getting in and out to steal the artifacts, and they also learn why the criminals have been vandalizing the left hands of various statues and mummies!  It's actually a fairly interesting tale, and the author throws in a couple of surprising twists (although careful readers will easily spot one of the villains pretty early on).  The author does have the villains manhandle the two girls rather roughly, putting them in some very precarious situations - but, as with any good sleuth, some pure luck and fortunate coincidences lead them to safety and a satisfaction resolution. 

The final page of the book (p. 64) is actually a letter column, similar to what you would find in old comic books or some magazines.  I was surprised to see this, particularly since the letters all refer to either Triple Nickel Books in general, or specifically to other books (such as the two Power Boys books).  Only one of the letter-writers is identified by age (15-years old), raising the question as to whether the other writers may have been adults, or they simply did not include their age when sending their letters.  Since the cover to this particular book has "No. 5" just below the title, it makes me believe this was the fifth Triple Nickel Book published, and that regardless of the main character in the story, the books were simply numbered in the order of their publication.  There is a Davy Crockett book, Danger from the Mountain, that is identified as No. 2, while another titled The Adventures of Davy Crockett has No. 1 on the cover.  I've been able to see the cover to The Life of Wild Bill Hickok, and it shows No. 3 on the cover.  Since I've never seen either of the Power Boys books, I can only assume one of them might be No. 4, and perhaps the other is No. 6. I did notice on the Davy Crockett and Wild Bill Hickok books, they are labeled "For Boys" on the cover, while this book is labeled "For Girls."  They were certainly making it clear the audience they were targeting for each story!

The inside back cover is an advertisement for all of the "Brand New Exciting Triple Nickel Books" available for purchase, including the two Davy Crockett stories, the Wild Bill Hickok tale, and the two Power Boys mysteries.  At the bottom is a preview of titles that were to be "Coming Soon!" - a second Barbie Lane mystery titled The Riddle of the Glowing Marble; a third Power Boys adventure, and a third Davy Crockett story.  I know the Barbie Lane book was never published, so I'm guessing the other two likely never saw publication either (although I could be wrong).  I have to wonder what that second Barbie Lane story would have been about, as I can't imagine a glowing marble making a very exciting mystery!

While the artist is not specifically given credit in the book, the illustrations are all signed by"Mort Leav."  This leads one to suspect that it is referring to Mortimer Leav (1916-2005), who drew comics back in the first half of the 20th Century (including Sally O'Neil, Policewoman stories for National Comics).  His history with comic books can be seen in the illustrations in this book, as the scenes depicted are either heavy on the action or scenes that find Barbie and Joan in some dangerous position.  The cover painting is not signed, so I have no way of knowing if Leav did the art for the cover, or simply for the interiors.

Triple Nickel books are very hard to come by.  Some research online reveals that the Triple Nickel line of books were published by Solomon & Gelman in the 1950s, and they were labeled as "Triple Nickel Books" because they only cost 15 cents.  The back cover to the book guaranteed the stories were "the finest in wholesome adventure novels for boys and girls," and even went so far as to set forth the members of an advisory board who allegedly supervised the writing and editing - a university dean, a director at the National Hospital for Speech Disorders, and consulting psychologist!  Apparently they wanted to make sure parents were fully satisfied that these stories were safe to read.  This could possibly stem from the fact that around this time, the mid-1950s, a psychiatrist by the name of Frederic Wertham was on a warpath against comic books, campaigning for the books to be censored, as he claimed the stories and art encouraged bad behavior in children, leading to juvenile delinquency.  A Congressional inquiry was even begun into the matter, which led to the formation of the Comics Code Authority, which would monitor and censor comics to ensure the material did not depict overt scenes of violence, sex, and other "harmful" things.  Perhaps by advertising the advisory board on the back of their books, Solomon & Gelman were hoping it would help sell the books!

 

Sadly, these pulp-style mysteries for juveniles have faded into obscurity, and while I finally saw a second copy of this sell on eBay recently, they are definitely few and far between.  I did enjoy the story and only wish more had been produced.  

 

RATING:  9 old abandoned sewer tunnels out of 10 for a fast-paced, fun mystery and a great new sleuth that sadly didn't get to experience any more adventures!

The Satan Sleuth #3 - Devil, Devil

The third and final entry into The Satan Sleuth series of novels is probably the most gruesome of them all - and I'm not just referring to the blood and gore content.  This series, from the very beginning, has been one filled not only filled horrific acts of violence, but with psychological terror as well.  The criminals have been brutal and sadistic, and Philip St. George has been surprisingly creative and vicious when meting out justice to the perpetrators.  Author Michael Avallone definitely pays wonderful homage to those classic pulp tales of mystery, suspense, and horror of the past, rolling them all into one with each of the three books in this series.  It's just a shame this was the final book in the series (whether that was the author's choice or the publisher's choice, I have no idea), as The Satan Sleuth is some of the finest pulp fiction I've ever read.

Devil, Devil takes Philip St. George on a journey into the true depravity and duplicity of human nature.  It all starts with the beheaded bodies of young females being found throughout New York City, each body carved with markings of the devil.  The police are baffled, and only one FBI agent is willing to believe this is the work of a cult of devil worshipers.  St. George is on the outside of the whole thing until a reporter reaches out to him, revealing her own connection to the coven of thirteen men and women who have been performing hellish ceremonies and rituals for some time - all led by the alluring and bewitching Sister Sorrow.  She goes to St. George for help, but before she can reveal the location of the meetings, she mysteriously drops dead of cyanide poisoning - without any indication as to how!  Since the death of his wife, St. George has dedicated his life to eradicating evil in whatever form it takes, and he once again dons his Satan Sleuth persona to search out this Sister Sorrow and put an end to these ritualistic murders.

Due to the nature of this story, there is more sexual content (not actual sex mind you, but descriptions of the naked form), as the rituals are performed while the participants are naked, and even poor St. George, when he unwittingly has the tables turned on him and finds himself tied naked on a sacrificial altar.  Avallone's writing is provocative without being explicit, leaving much to the imagination, while at the same time making it very easy to picture the bodies, particularly those of Sister Sorrow and St. George (who, as can be assumed, has all the features of a god).  I do give Avallone credit for not being biased - he offers up male and female descriptions equally, which is rare, since most male authors focus more on the female form than the male.

In true pulp style, Avallone offers up the horror of the deaths ... the mystique of the rituals and alleged witchcraft ... the mystery of finding Sister Sorrow ... the action and adventure of stopping the Satanic cult ... and the sexuality of the men and women in the story.  Basically, everything that made pulps so popular in the early part of the 20th Century is present and accounted for in this one story, making is a real page-turner.  It's also an interesting commentary on society and people who are so easily led away by promises of power, beauty, and unrealistic dreams.  As the story reveals, the members of the cult are theatrical agents, newspaper men and women, architects, artists, magazine editor, engineers, actors, and other professional men and women.  These are not poor, confused people who think the cult will help them rise above their circumstances - these are people who have already reached an apex in their lives and still want more, no matter the cost.  Definitely a level of truth to that in the real world, that's for sure...

A well-written, captivating story that ends with a statement I think anyone who reads this series can agree with - Philip St. George was alive.  Long live the Satan Sleuth!  (Hmmmm, this would make a great comic book series for Dynamite Entertainment, who publishes such comics as Vampirella, Ash vs. the Army of the Dead, James Bond, and other titles that are so similar in theme and genre ... someone needs to suggest it to them!)

RATING:  9 penthouse balconies perfect for cult ceremonies out of 10 for a terrifying tale of just how depraved mankind really can be!

The Art of the Pulps - an illustrated history

This was a book I first saw at Barnes & Noble some time ago, and I considered buying it.  Instead, though, I added it to my Amazon wish list and decided to think on it some.  That was several years ago.  Every now and then I would look at it, intrigued by the beautiful art of those old pulp magazines - from heroic to horrific, from sci-fi to strange, from damsels in distress to dangerous villains.  Those old covers featured pretty much any thing you could possibly imagine in your mind's eye, bringing them to life in such vivid ways, it's no surprise they sold so well back in the day.  But alongside the beautiful art, the book provided the history of those beautifully painted covers.  Well, this past Christmas, I received the book as a present, and I couldn't have been happier!  After years of looking at it, I finally had it in my hands and could actually read it.

The Art of the Pulps takes a look at the complete history of the period of pulps, from its inception at the end of the 19th century to its heyday in the early 20th century, to its "demise" in the mid-20th century.  Edited by Douglas Ellis, Ed Hulse, and Robert Weinberg, this oversized hardcover is chock full of covers of many, MANY pulp magazines that were published throughout the decades.  After a brief foreword by F. Paul Wilson (who is probably best known for his "Repairman Jack" novels) and an introduction by Douglas, the book offers up 12 glorious chapters of pulp art, each chapter focusing on the many facets of pulp history - from adventure to detectives ... from westerns to sci-fi .... from sports to romance ... from horror to fantasy.  Just about every genre imaginable was published in pulp form.  There's even a chapter that focuses on the "heroes" of the pulp era, including The Shadow, Doc Savage, and others; and, less we forget, there's a chapter that shares some of the history of those spicy pulps that many people automatically picture when they think of "pulp" magazines - super-sexy covers with very scantily clad women (and in some instances, bold, in-your-face nudes!  The book concludes with a chapters that look at the famous artists of the pulp era and the famous writers from that time.

I will admit, I skimmed some of the chapters that discussed genres for which I have no interest - westerns and sports being the top two.  Now, that's not to say I didn't pour over the art on the covers showcased therein - but the actual history given, I ignored (no offense to Ed Hulse or Michelle Nolan, who authored those chapters).  But as for the other chapters?  I read every word, soaking in not only the gorgeous, painted covers, but the detailed history shared by the authors of those chapters - and I learned quite a bit that I did not know about pulps!  For instance - did you know the man who originally got Atlas Comics (later renamed Marvel Comics) was originally a publisher of pulps?  Nope, neither did I!  And did you know there was a pulp magazine (Spicy Mystery Stories) that featured a cover advertising a story about the "Bat-Man" - in February 1936, some three years before DC Comics would premier its own "Batman"!  Nope, I definitely didn't know that one.  And even more surprising (for me, at least) - did you know that a number of famous authors had a hand in writing pulp stories - Arthur Conan Doyle, O. Henry, Jack London, Raymond Chandler, H.P. Lovecraft, Robert Heinlein, Max Brand, Edgar Rice Burroughs, among others?  I certainly did not!  This book offers up a wealth of information that I otherwise would have never known, and for that, it was well worth the money.

But, let's face it - it's really the art that is the major draw for the book.  The amount of covers reproduced in this book is awe-inspiring.  I'm not sure where they were able to get such beautifully preserved copies of these books to scan the covers (unless they were not so great and were photo-shopped to clean them up), but they are so absolutely gorgeous, you can't help but spend quite a lengthy time staring at each page, wanting to soak up every detail of every cover.  The All Story magazine ... Blue Book magazine ... Mystery Story magazine ... Black Mask ... Gun Molls ... Bull's Eye Western Stories ... Smashing Western ... Flying Stories ... Sky Aces ... Fight Stories ... Knock-Out Magazine ... Lover's Magazine ... Thrilling Love ... Thrilling Mysteries ... Dime Mystery Magazine ... Marvel Tales ... Ghost Stories ... Weird Tales ... The Secret 6 ... The Spider ... Capt. Hazzard ... Dan Dunn ... Jungle Stories ... Hollywood Nights ... Tattle Tales ... and so, so, SO many others.  I could keep looking at this book for weeks on end and probably still never take it all in.  

So many talented artists ... so many surprising authors ... and so much care was taken to put this book together.  Pulp historians Douglas Ellis, Ed Hulse, and Robert Weinberg deserve some very high praise for the effort they put into making this book as perfect as it is.  It truly is a wealth of information and reference, and based on the back cover blurb, it has over 400 "rarely seen pulp covers and original illustrations."  I just went to a local comic convention this past weekend, and there was a dealer there who specialized in pulp magazines - so I spent quite a bit of time at his booth, looking over all of his magazines, smiling to myself as I recognized not only titles that I had never even heard before before reading this book, but characters and even some of the covers (the prices, on the other hand, were something I did not even want to look at!).  This book has been an eye-opener, and it has also piqued my curiosity with some of the obscure titles (such as Gun Molls, a short-lived magazine in which women were the protagonists in the stories), and I've begun a search to find some of those issues at some reasonable prices that I can afford!

If you area fan of pulps, or even if you are just curious about the cover art (as I was), then this book is a MUST HAVE!

RATING:  10 damsels in distress out of 10 for doing such a wonderful job of preserving this era of stories and art for future generations - may the pulp live on forever!

Domino Patrick: Daughter of the Domino Lady

I first discovered "Domino Lady" in the comic books published by Moonstone some years ago.  I have purchased and read all of the comics published about her, and I've picked up and read the several books starring the pulp heroine.  Recently, Moonstone published an anthology about Domino Lady's daughter, Domino Patrick, set some twenty years after the adventures of Domino Lady herself.  I recognized a few of the authors (Mel Odom, Trina Robbins, and editor Nancy Holder), so I figured it had to have some good tales in it.  And I was right!

Domino Patrick: Daughter of the Domino Lady has ten short tales about the adventures of Domino Patrick, a private investigator in Los Angeles.  While she has her mother's beauty and charms, as well as her mother's love for adventure, Domino Patrick does not don a costume and mask to fight crime; rather, she has earned her P.I. license and helps people out within the confines of the law (well, to a certain extent).  She has her own contact within the police department, and she has definitely learned how to use her womanly wiles, just like her mother, to help district and defeat the hard-nosed criminals of California and beyond.

The stories vary in length, style, and subject matter.  From blackmail and strip clubs to wild west theme parks and sabotage to mobster daughters on the run and secret, forbidden relationships that end in death, Domino Patrick faces them all.  Some of the stories are told from first-person point of view, while others are third-person, and the final story, guest-starring the Green Hornet, is told from a mixed POV - Domino's side of things are told from third-person, while Green Hornet's portions are first-person (and, surprisingly enough, it does not make it more difficult to read).  Honestly, none of the stories are bad - they are all engaging in some form or fashion; however, I will readily admit that I definitely liked some more than others. 

"Number One with the Bullet" by Trina Robbins is probably my favorite of the bunch.  Not only is Domino hired to provide protection to an up-and-coming singer who is being stalked, but the story provides a very interesting mystery of who killed the stalker?!  When the woman stalking the lead singer of the band winds up dead at her table in the middle of a crowded restaurant, it's up to Domino to figure out whoddunnit.  There's a lot of drama going on - the back-up singers are upset the lead singer is leaving them; the lead singer has fallen for a local band boy with the intent of starting a new career with him; and the singer's manager is hellbent on making sure she doesn't lose her money-making client.  Lots of motives and lots of means, but only one of them did it - the question is, which one?

"The Education of Domino Patrick" by Colin Harvey comes next in my line of favorites, as it is a very different kind of story.  A teacher at a private school commits suicide, and his wife is confident that a fellow teacher persuaded him to do it.  It seems her husband discovered the other teacher in a compromising position with a female student, and to protect his career and the girl's reputation, he badgered the woman's husband until he killed himself.  So, Domino goes undercover as a substitute teacher to uncover the truth - but what she finds is something far different than what the widow could have ever suspected - a truth that, in the 1960s, would have had dire consequences for all involved.  It's actually a touching story of love, from a number of different angles, and how that love can affect those left behind.

"Everyone Knows It's Windy" by Tim Lasiuta is a fun story, probably one of the shortest in the book, but definitely Domino in style all the way.  While shopping at her favorite clothing store, Domino faces down a crew of thieves who have been holding up a number of shops in the area.  Only, this time, they have to face Domino and her unique style of bringing down the bad guys.  This story features a bit of humor along with the obligatory fight scenes, and it's brief and to-the-point, so that Domino can get on with her day.

"Menage a Trap" by David Boop is the longest of the stories in this collection, and it is the last story in the book (probably due to its length). This is the story that features a team-up with the Green Hornet and Kato, as Domino Patrick travels to Detroit at the request of newspaper man, Britt Reid, who wants her to help him uncover the identity of the Green Hornet (and, of course, she has no idea Britt is actually the masked vigilante!).  It's all a test to see just how secure his secret identity really is, and as Domino goes about trying to unmask the green-cloaked man, she slowly becomes aware that nothing is what she thought it was.  As can be expected, the two eventually team-up to battle the mysterious Mr. X in a climatic battle in the harbor that leads to the destruction of a bridge, the capture of a number of Mr. X's minions, and a friendship borne out of adversity between two next-generation heroes.

There are six other tales within the book, all of which have their own good qualities to them and are worth the read.  I hope this is not he last we see of Domino Patrick, and hopefully Moonstone will publish more stories about this luscious P.I. (maybe even a team-up with her mother, the Domino Lady herself!).

RATING:  9 old, beat-up photo albums out of 10 for good, old-fashioned pulp-style stories with another strong female lead - because, let's face it, we can never have enough strong female detectives out there!

The Satan Sleuth #1 - Fallen Angel

They say you shouldn't judge a book by its cover - but in this instance, I'm asking you to not judge a book by its name.  I honestly cannot say how I came across this series.  I don't recall where I first saw it, or what made me look into it; all I know is that once I decided to try and find this series, I was surprised at just how difficult it was to locate all three books!  One would think this is some best-selling rarity that everyone is after (although, more likely, it was simply a series with a low print run, thus making copies harder to find).  After a lot of searching, I was able to locate books 2 and 3, but finding the first book took a lot longer.  But, as always, patience offers its reward, and I came across a copy in fairly good condition on eBay for a price I was willing to pay.  So, once in hand, I figured I might as well read it and see whether it was worth the purchase.

"The Satan Sleuth" is a three-book series written by Michael Avallone.  Avallone was a prolific author who wrote a number of movie and television tie-in books, one of which is a book I would LOVE to find - the original novelization of Friday the 13th Part 3 in 3-D (not the later, revised edition written by Simon Hawke).  Published in 1974 and 1975, "The Satan Sleuth" tells the adventures of Philip St. George, whose wife is brutally mutilated and dismembered by a cult of Satan worshipers - which leads to St. George adopting an alternate persona to not only go after the group of individuals who killed his wife, but to begin a crusade against any and all like-minded people who choose to use Satan, the supernatural, and the unknown as a shield behind which to commit the most heinous atrocities against mankind.  This first novel, Fallen Angel, provides readers with the gory details of just what led St. George to abandon his carefree, millionaire lifestyle to don a cloak, wear a cross, and take up the weapons needed to send the sick, twisted minds of cultists and Satan worshipers to the very hell they claim to serve.

The prose is very much pulp style, with little dialogue and more focus on the characters inner-motivations and their actions.  It is definitely dark and morbid, and while Avallone does not go into explicit gory detail with the ritualistic murder of St. George's wife, the description he does provide is more than enough to create horrific images in the reader's mind - enough to make him or her immediately sympathize with St. George and encourage him on his newfound crusade.  Definitely not for the weak of heart!  Yet, at the same time, without the horrific nature of the crime, St. George's motivation would be lacking.

The book is divided into three subtitled parts - "Fallen Angel," "Devils From Hell," and "The Redeemer."  Each section is basically an act - "Fallen Angel" describes the descent, of St. George learning about his wife's death - seeing it - and then making the decision to do what the police cannot.  "Devils From Hell" provides readers with a glimpse into the four killers - three men and one woman - and the consequences of their actions (for three of them, anyway).  "The Redeemer," the final act, is the climactic showdown between St. George a/k/a The Satan Sleuth and the Wolfman (not literal), the leader of the cult who took his wife from him.  I gotta give Avallone credit, he definitely knows how to use irony, as St. George picks off the killers one by one, putting them in the ultimate torturous situations, saving the best for last.  But the question is - how far is St. George really willing to go to avenge his wife?  Once he answers that question, it sets the stage for the rest of his life!

In a way, this is a much darker version of Dan Curtis' television series, Kolchak: The Night Stalker.  And what's interesting about that is that the Kolchak TV show ran from 1974 to 1975, the same exact years this series was published. Makes you wonder exactly what was going on in American society at that time, that such dark, supernatural stories such as The Satan Sleuth and Kolchak would be written for consumption by the public at large!  Although neither series lasted long - Kolchak lasted one season, and The Satan Sleuth only lasted three books.  Perhaps the timing was off, because I could easily see The Satan Sleuth as a television series today, and it would likely do pretty good (particularly since today's television seems to allow much more graphic violence to be depicted than back in the mid-70s when the series was published).

"Fighting for reason and right against the Devil and his disciples" is what the tagline reads on the front of this first book.  And it's a pretty accurate description of what's inside, although the four killers turn out to be only playing at devil worship - none of them actually believe (which, in my mind, makes what they did all the more terrible, because it simply goes to show just how depraved and twisted their natural being is that they could do what they did for no other purpose than just for kicks!).  We'll see what the second and third book hold in store and whether The Satan Sleuth actually faces down true supernatural or the Devil himself!

RATING:  7 tarot cards left at the foot of the stairs out of 10 for providing fans of mystery, crime, and supernatural with a different kind of dark knight detective!

Ravenwood - The Complete Series

Back in October of 2013, I started watching a new television show called Ravenswood.  It was spin-off of the already running Pretty Little Liars show, but Ravenswood was darker and moved into supernatural territory, which is what caught my interest (no, I never watched Pretty Little Liars - not my kind of show).  In any event, I absolutely loved the show, got all caught up in the stories and characters, and BAM - when he last episode aired on February 4, 2014, the news came out that the show had been cancelled!  UGH - I was ticked off, to say the least, because the show did not resolve all the stories (although I read later that some of the characters moved on to Pretty Little Liars to give some closure).   I have kept an eye out, hoping that the show would come out on DVD, but it never has.  The reason I say all of this is because during my time of searching for any DVDs or books of the show, I happened across this particular book.  I had not realized there was a pulp character of a similar name as the TV show, and since this book contained all of the stories written of the character back in the day, I bought it.

Now, here we are are about four or five years later, and I have finally gotten around to reading Ravenwood: The Complete Series.  Obviously, the book has nothing whatsoever to do with the television show, and the only similarity is the supernatural element to both.  This Ravenwood is the name of a private investigator (and Ravenwood is his only name, as the stories never reference any first name) who grew up under the tutelage of Oriental philosophies, studying the teachings of Yoga, and learning from his mentor, known only as the Nameless One.  Ravenwood is gifted with an unusual insight that not only provides visions (for which he often comes to the Nameless One for clarity in understanding), but he seems to have an uncanny sixth sense of know where he is needed, when he is needed, and who needs him before even they do!  What is truly unique about these stories is that in each instance, there appears to be some kind of supernatural enemy seeking to destroy someone Ravenwood is trying to help, but in every instance, Ravenwood, with the help of his own supernatural insight, proves the culprit to be as human as you and me.

Ravenwood was created and written by Frederick C. Davis, who was quite the prolific author of pulp stories back in the day - from Operator #5 to Hazzard to Moon Man to numerous others.  His character of Ravnwood, Stepson of Mystery (yeah, not really sure what the whole "stepson" is supposed to mean) appeared in only five stories in the pulp magazine Secret Agent "X" (March, April, June, August, and October 1936 issues), and this book collects all five of those stories.  Each story has five chapters, the this collection introduces each story with a short blurb that I have to wonder whether it was used to advertise the tales back when they were originally published.  And honestly, after reading them, I'm surprised the character did not endure longer.  The stories are well written, are extremely creepy in their own way, provide some very intriguing mysteries, and are definitely filled with plenty of action.  It seems the stories have every element a fan of pulp fiction would enjoy - but, for whatever reason, poor Ravenwood disappeared after this fifth story was published in October 1936.

"Murder Shrine" features a cursed Buddha that holds a secret treasure.  Someone is trying to get their hands on that treasure, but people are dying from an ancient curse surrounding the sealed idol.  "Pawn of the Serpent" involves a case of stolen identity, a deadly blackmail scheme, and a mysterious handshake of death associated with the venom of a deadly mamba snake.  "Crucibles of the Damned" deals with a cursed graveyard, a double-crossing criminal intent on stealing a fortune in gold, a missing husband, and the mysterious deaths of anyone who dares go into the cemetery of doom. "Master of the Living Dead" finds Ravenwood investigating a tragic accident, a missing director, a mystical beetle, and a man who is determined to find the secret of returning life to the dead.  And last, but not least, "The Phantom Juggernaut" tells the tale of a deadly car with no driver that seems to have set its sights on one particular family, killing them off one by one, and Ravenwood has only a short time to find a way to stop the juggernaut before it kills again.

A cursed Buddha ... a handshake of death ... a cursed cemetery ... bringing the dead to life ... and a car without a driver ... all of these seem to be supernatural or mystical in nature, with no possible explanation; yet, Ravenwood manages to sift through all of the unseen and untold and discover the truth of what is really going on and who is creating these manufactured horrors.  The stories are thoroughly engaging and fun to read, and the only thing I drawback I can mention is that each story recites Ravenwood's origin (of how, as a young boy with is parents over in the mountainous crags of Burma, near the forbidden Tibet, his father saved the Nameless One from an attacking tiger, so the Nameless One vowed to always protect his family; when his parents died from a ravaging plague, the Nameless one came to claim the young boy and teach him; as an adult, Ravenwood returns to the States, and the Nameless One follows, forever bound to his ward...) in the same manner, often in the same words.  I realize this was likely done so that a new reader who picked up an issue of Secret Agent "X" for the first time could know how Ravenwood gained his mystical insight, but reading the stories one after another like I did in this collection, it became a bit repetitive and detracted a bit from the stories.  Otherwise, I can say in all honesty that I loved the stories (and can imagine this as a television series - the stories hold up over time and could be placed in modern times just as easily as they are in the 1930s).

The cover art used for this collection is rather odd, to say the least.  I can't imagine this was ever actually used for any Ravenwood art; rather, it appears to be a rip-off of the Phantom of the Opera art (if you go online and look for Phantom art, you will see the Phantom is drawn pretty much identical to the evil villain portrayed on this cover).  Not sure where the publisher got this art, as there is absolutely no credit given for the cover artist or from where the art was reproduced.  There is, however, on the inside a frontis piece of pencil and ink art that provides an image from one of the stories ("Crucibles of the Damned" - once again, no credit given to the artist or where the art is taken from), leaving me to wonder if the original pulp stories had illustrations to go along with the prose stories, or if this drawing was specifically done by someone for this collection.

Fans of mystery, supernatural, or both will definitely enjoy these tales - highly recommend!

RATING:  9 small, leather-bound books ragged with age out of 10 for suspenseful supernatural stories that will definitely keep you turning page after page!

Domino Lady: Gentlemen Prefer Domino Lady

The sultry pulp crime fighter returns in Moonstone's latest anthology, featuring stories that team-up the sexy Domino Lady with some of the greatest pulp heroes of yesterday.  To date, I have enjoyed nearly all of Domino Lady books and comics that Moonstone publishing has had to offer.  With adventures that take place in the late 1930s and into the 1940s, Domino Lady must confront crime without the aid of cell phones, computers, tasers, and all of the other technological gadgets that today's crime fighters have.  Domino Lady must simply use her wits, her fighting skills, and her feminine wiles to defeat the bad guys - which makes for some really great reading!

Gentlemen Prefer Domino Lady offers up eight short stories in which Ellen Patrick dons her alter ego persona to fight the villainous mafia, saboteurs, killers, and other sundry bad guys alongside some of her contemporaries, such as the Black Bat, the Phantom Detective, the Green Ghost, Zero, Secret Agent X, Ravenwood, the Woman in Red, as well as "the ladies of pulp."  Each tale, written by a different author, places Domino Lady in a set of circumstances where she either requires the aid or must assist one of these pulp heroes, and together they fight a common enemy.  In some cases, the characters have teamed up with Domino Lady before (either in comic form or in prose form), and in those cases, readers get brief references to those prior tales.  In other cases, Domino Lady is meeting the characters for the first time, although there are comments made that the heroes have heard of each other but never had an opportunity to meet.  Regardless, the team-ups prove fortuitous for them and very unfortunate for the villains!

"Ladies' Day," the first story, is by far my favorite.  A day at the salon turns into a cat fight when Madame Orchid and her henchmen show up, determined to get to the owner of the salon.  But it's unfortunate for them that not only is Ellen Patrick at the spa, but several other women who happen to have connections with some other pulp heroes - such as Jean Moray (the assistant to I.V. Frost) and Myra Reldon, otherwise known simply as "Ming" (an assistant to the Shadow).  Playing on the misconception that women are the weaker sex, these women work together to take down all of the hired thugs, as well as the ruthless Madame Orchid, leave the police the simple job of cleaning up the mess...

"Zeromino" was a bit more sci-fi than Domino Lady is used to, as the man she teams up with, Zero, has some very strange powers.  The story was alright (fairly comic book-style in nature), but it was not one of my favorites.  Zero is after a man who claims to have become immortal, and along the way, Domino Lady becomes embroiled in his mission.  Through pure mishap, Zero's powers are transferred to Domino Lady, who must figure out how to use them and stop the villain of the story.  I much prefer the more down-to-earth stories for Ellen Patrick to conquer, so this one missed the mark.

"Red-Handed" guest-stars the "Woman in Red."  I am familiar with the writer of this story, Bobby Nash, who I actually met at DragonCon some years ago.  I have enjoyed his other stories (both of Domino Lady and other characters), so I went in with high hopes on this one.  I wasn't disappointed.  Nash introduces readers to Peggy Allen, a police officer who never seems to garner the credit that her male counterparts do.  However, when she dons the red outfit, she fights crime in a way the police force won't allow her to.  She and Domino Lady are a force to be reckoned with in this story,   When an informant of Domino Lady turns up dead, and Allen and her partner are investigating the death, it turns to Domino Lady and the Woman in Red to track down and ultimately capture the criminal mastermind behind the death.

"My Date with Domino" is a fun little story where Secret Agent X and his assistant, Betty Dale, cross paths with Domino Lady while investigating a cache of weapons that could cause more than their fare share of destruction.  The trio must somehow destroy all of the weapons before the criminal gang they are hunting cause the disastrous "C-Day" event!   The banter in this story is a lot of fun and definitely made me smile as I read it.

"Blind Date" (another "date"?) features the team-up of Domino Lady and Ravenwood.  I have heard of Ravenwood before (I actually have a book that collects all of his tales), but I haven't read any of his adventures as of yet.  So, this story was a nice introduction to the character for me.  The two pulp heroes are after the same man, but for entirely different reasons,  The story alternates perspectives between Domino Lady and Ravenwood, so the reader not only gets to follow both characters are their separate tasks, but also allows the reader to become better acquainted with both characters throughout the course of the story.

"Kill the Lady Goodbye" takes Ellen Patrick and her date, David King, to New York, here King's father is missing and he must take control of his father's family business - a well-known carnival.  At the same time, the Black Bat is on the trail of a big-time crime boss, who seems to have taken over the King Carnival.  Needless to say, the paths of Domino Lady and the Black Bat cross, and with these two acting in concert, it's only a matter of time before the criminal element is wiped out of the carnival (with a surprise twist relating to an inside job at the carnival!).

"Dame Sinistre" gives the spotlight to the Green Ghost, as he must rescue a good friend's daughter who has been kidnapped as part of a supernatural experiment to draw an evil entity known as Leonox into this world.  His alter ego happens to be on a date with Ellen Patrick when the drama begins, so it goes without saying that Domino Lady gets dragged into the mix.  The story is completely told from the Green Ghost's point of view, and Domino Lady is simply along for the ride (and nearly gets sucked into the ritual sacrifice designed to bring Leonox into this world!).  It's an okay story, but again, the strong supernatural side of things just doesn't really fit with my idea of Domino Lady.

"Call in the Stuntman" is the final offering in this anthology, and it guest-stars the Phantom Detective.  In this story, Domino Lady has found the evidence that will exonerate a well-known and beloved actor that she knows to be innocent of the crime for which he is being tried (being a spy for the Nazis!).  But on the very day the evidence is to be revealed that will prove his innocence, a costumed pirate swoops in and slices the actor's throat open, killing him!  Domino Lady is determined to bring the culprit to justice, as is the Phantom Detective, who happened to be on the scene when the murder took place.  Together, they track down the criminal known as "the Stuntman" to a studio where, in a truly theatrical battle, he appears in the Phantom Detective's own costume, resulting in a battle between the two "Phantoms," leaving Domino Lady to figure out which one is which!  I did enjoy this tale, which involved more detective work and felt very much like an episode of a television show in book form.

The editors of this anthology, David Boop and Kim Perisin, chose well with their bookend tales - the first and last stories are definitely the two best ones in the book.  None of the ones in-between are bad, but some are definitely better than others.  The one thing I was disappointed in, however, is the amount of spelling errors throughout the stories.  With two editors, I would have expected little to no misspellings; yet, there are enough errors that after a while, it became a glaring defect in the book and took me out of the story.  It just confirms my belief that "editors" in today's book market are more about marketing then actual editing of the books.  Otherwise, fans of pulp characters and Domino Lady in particular should enjoy this anthology for what it is.

RATING:  8 posh French restaurants on the Sunset Strip out of 10 for giving readers eight prime examples of why gentlemen really do prefer Domino Lady!

It Rhymes With Lust - a PS Artbooks Picture Novel

I truly do enjoy supporting the independent comic book companies, and quite frankly, they put out some of the best comic material on the market these days.  DC and Marvel have become so boring, rehashing the same stories and same material over and over by different writers and artists.  But the indy publishers put out a lot of fresh stories and unique characters - and in some cases, they re-release some vintage comics that truly deserve recognition.  This small graphic novel I stumbled across in Previews, and since I have come to appreciate a lot of the older works and pulp styles, I picked it up.

It Rhymes With Lust is written by Drake Waller with art by Matt Baker and Ray Osrin.  Baker is probably best known for his work on the golden age stories of Phantom Lady, but he also did work on Canteen Kate and other books back in the day.  (And the writer, "Drake Waller," was actually a pseudonym for Arnold Drake and Leslie Waller, who wrote the story together.)  It Rhymes With Lust was originally published by St. John Publications as one of its "picture novels," which was an early form of graphic novels, featuring comic stories published in a format that was more the size of an old Reader's Digest or TV Guide.  PS Artbooks republished this comic in its original format, and even reprinted the original front and back covers inside!

The story centers around Hal Weber, a newspaper man who arrives in Copper City just in time to witness the funeral procession of Buck Masson - and to catch a glimpse of his old flame, Rust Masson, the widow of the deceased man.  (And, as you can see, the title of the book comes from the sultry woman's first name - which, it should be pointed out, is also a play on words, since this vixen is a villain of the worst kind, whose actions could very well bring about the destruction of Copper City!)  It turns out, though, that Buck is not a very strong-willed man - before long, he's chasing after both Rust and her step-daughter, Audrey Masson.  He longs to help Audrey put an end to her step-mother's plans to completely take ontrol of Copper City, but he can't help himself every time he comes in contact with Rust, and he finds himself helping her with her plans to take out all of her competition!  Hence, it is his "lust" for these women that could prove his downfall.

The story is an interesting twist, as it is usually the male lead that is the hero of the story, with all confidence and strength to stop the crime and protect the innocents; yet, in this tale, Drake and Waller provide readers with a weak-willed man who allows his carnal desires dictate his actions.  It is the strong-willed and determined step-daughter who stands firm in the story and who is the catalyst that finally gets Hal to do the right thing for the city and its citizens.  For a story that is over 70 years old (it was originally published back in 1950), it still holds up well, particularly in today's world where people are clamoring for more strong female leads!

And Matt Baker's art - WOW! Literally, there's no other word I can think of that can truly describe the beauty and artistic talent on display in this picture novel.  Baker's art is tremendous - from the superb, life-like expressions of his characters to his "faded" backgrounds to keep focus on the action going on in the forefront of the panels, Baker provides a beautiful, cinematic feel to the story.  Every panel flows to easily into the next, and the reader can literally SEE the action as it happens - whether it's Rust slapping her daughter in the backseat of the limousine to the climactic scene at the mine. There is intensity in the emotions, in the action, in the story itself that keeps the reader hypnotically drawn into the tale, page after page, and leaving you (ME!) heaving a huge sigh of relief when you reach that final page.

 

Reading this picture novel makes me wish more of the pulp stories from back in the day had been published in this format, rather than just as prose novels!  

RATING:  9 copies of the Copper City Express out of 10 for re-presenting a unique and visually exquisite pulp tale for today's readers to enjoy!

The Return of Sexton Blake - New & Classic Crime Stories

"As brilliant as Holmes, as daring as Bond, the Jack Reacher of his day returns!"  The tag line on this cover of this magazine size collection of stories and comic tales definitely tries to draw in fans from detective, spy, and action genres - but after reading the stories in this special edition, I have to say - whoever came up with the tag isn't really far off from the truth!  To be honest, I had never heard of "Sexton Blake" prior to seeing this magazine advertised in Previews some months ago, but being a fan of detective stories, pulp-style tales, and comic books, I thought I'd give this one a chance.  Glad I did!

The Return of Sexton Blake is the perfect "jumping-on" point for people like me, who have never heard of the character and what to know more.  The magazine opens with a publishing history of Sexton Blake, written by Mark Hodder.  The history is much more extensive than one would think - with the first Blake story having been published in December 1893 in a cheap penny dreadful  ("cheaply produced newspaper-format weeklies," as described by Hodder) called The Halfpenny Marvel.  The author and creator of Sexton Blake was Harry Blyth, under the pseudonym of Hal Meredeth.  A year later, Blake stories began to appear in another one of those dreadfuls called Union Jack.  Because Blyth had sold his rights to the character when he was paid for the first story, the publishers of these dreadfuls were able to publish multiple stories of Sexton Blake by various authors.  Blake evolved over the decades, going from stories in those penny dreadfuls to having his own weekly booklet called The Sexton Blake Library, with each issue featuring its own novella-length tale.  Blake, who started out similar to Sherlock Holmes, eventually became more like James Bond.  He was featured in his own comic strip, and even had a multi-episode serial on BBC (which, according to Hodder, failed miserably).  With the television show a failure, that seemed to mark the end of Sexton Blake - until 2014, when Hodder (yes, the author of the article) authored the first sanctioned Sexton Blake story since 1978.  And now, here we are in 2021, and it appears there is yet one more attempt to breathe new life into Sexton Blake for new fans (which, I guess, would be me!).

The magazine features a multi-part comic tale called "Sexton Blake and the Terror of Troll Island," written by Bill Henry (whose real name was Chris Lowder) and drawn by Mike Dorey.  The story is very much in the vein of Holmes, insomuch as Blake and his assistant race to Troll Island after receiving a call from someone on the island claiming to be in danger.  Upon arrival on the island, they not only come across a dead body, but they find that the famous writer, Edgar Hollis, has gathered all of his ghost-writers on the same evening.  And that, of course, is when one of the butlers reveals to Blake that Hollis and his ghost-writers plan to kill him that evening!  Blake, of course, works his way through all of the suspects - another body turns up - a murder attempt is made - plenty of dangerous action and cliffhangers - and ultimately, Blake uncovers the truth and gets his man!  The art, in complete black and white, is filled with lots of shadows and shading, keeping the mood of the story very dark, which, of course, fits well with the whole murder-on-a-secluded-island-at-night-in-a-dreary-castle scenario.  It's an enjoyable tale for mystery fans - but what is truly interesting about the whole thing is that when it was originally published in Tornado magazine back in the late 1970s, it was a "Victor Drago" story and not "Sexton Blake"!  

As revealed in the next article in the magazine, by Karl Stock, the publisher known as IPC, wanted to revive Sexton Blake, and Lowder (Henry) and Dorey actually finished the first story, "Troll Island."  However, for reasons unknown (inability to secure the rights is the likely cause), at the last moment, just before it went to publication, the names had to be changed, and so Sexton Blake became Victor Drago.

Now, next in the magazine came a ten-page story starring Sexton Blake titled "The Death and Life of Sexton Blake."  Written by George Mann and drawn by Jimmy Broxton, this brand new comic tale of Sexton Blake features an old ploy - the detective fakes his own death in order to capture a criminal who will reveal himself once he thinks his nemesis is gone for good.  The artist renders Blake in the same fashion as the early comic artists did back in the day, and while not in black-and-white, the story is not told in full color either - instead, it features a duo tone (which I first experienced back when Renegade Press was publishing Ms. Tree comics back in the '80s), which is a process that uses limited use of only one or two colors - in this instance, orange and red.  It is a short story, relatively speaking, but it is fast-paced and filled with plenty of action, which makes you feel like you read a lot more than just 10 pages!

After a brief interview with George Mann, Mark Hodder returns to pen another article, this time focusing on the various artists who drew Blake throughout the years.  There is also an article that looks at the redesigning of "Sexton Blake" for the modern era, and finally, two reprints of stories from Penny Pictorial (1908) and Union Jack (1925).

The Return of Sexton Blake is a well-rounded introduction to the character, providing history, stories both old and new in both comic and prose format, and a look at the evolution of the character through the years.  I definitely felt much more knowledgeable about Blake after reading this magazine, and it definitely whet my appetite for more stories.  I hope Rebellion publishing will offer up more issues like this, with both old and new tales!

RATING:  9 misfired crossbows out of 10 for reviving a detective from the past and introducing him to a whole new world of fans like me!

Domino Lady: Money Shot

I have been a fan of Domino Lady since I was first introduced to the character in the pages of Moonstone Publishing comics.  Created in the vein of The Shadow, Doc Savage, and other "pulp" heroes, Domino Lady has no super powers, nor does she live in a world populated with strangely powered beings. No, Domino Lady deals with the gritty underbelly of society in 1930s' Hollywood.  Domino Lady is actually Ellen Patrick, a high-society, well-loved member of the royal class in California's land of make-believe; and while most of the world considers her only in terms of her beauty and glamour, only her best friend knows that she has an alter-ego that has taken down some of the toughest criminals in Hollywood.  And in this new novel, Ellen discovers just how tough some of those criminals can be...

Domino Lady: Money Shot is written by Bobby Nash, with whom I was not really familiar until I met him at DragonCon in Atlanta in 2019.  I picked up his Nightveil novel, based on the character by AC Comics, and which was a thoroughly enjoyable book. So, I was curious to see how he would handle a non-powered female character and picked up his Domino Lady novel.  It has taken me more than a year, but I finally sat down and read it. And I enjoyed it for two reasons.

First, the story captured the essence of the pulp era. Crime is everywhere, cops are on the take, mafia control the city, and hit men are seeking their targets. Ellen's own father was taken out years ago, which caused her to don the Domino Lady persona in the first place - and while she has taken down a number of crime lords over the years, her work is not done. But, as Ellen, she has finally fallen in love, and possibly, she can have a life for herself outside of the vigilante work she does at night. Everything is perfect - until a day at the beach ends in the death of her fiance and the beginning of a hunt for his killer.  Was it the opposing candidate in the race for governor for the State of California? Or was it someone he had put behind bars when he worked for the state attorney?  Or was it someone on the police force afraid he might out them for being on the take?  Domino Lady will use every means at her disposal to find out who it was and bring them to justice.

Nash doesn't pull punches when it comes to the fights, the chases, and the deaths.  Domino Lady herself faces the grim reaper a couple of times in the story, but she manages to escape its eternal clutches and lives to fight another day.  She takes on hit men, evades cops, and even has a vicious fight with a naked assassin (you have to read it to believe it!), but ultimately she uncovers the truth - and it definitely ain't pretty.  The story provides a satisfying conclusion, but definitely leaves it open for more stories that, perhaps, one day Nash will tell.

The second reason I enjoyed the book is that Domino Lady was not the only star. Domino Lady had 94 pages (13 chapters), so that begs the question - what was in the remaining 111 pages (21 chapters) of the book?  Well, that's where readers get a taste of a character known as The Golden Amazon.  In a reprint of story entitled "Ripper, Burning Bright," author Howard Hoplins (who passed away in 2012), readers meet Violet Ray Brant, the adopted daughter of a wealthy couple who have kept her past a secret from her. But there is something important about that past she can't remember - because from that past, somehow, in some way, Violet gained the power that burns within her.  A power that has a personality and agenda all its own.  A power that is so great, it takes over when she sees people in need, and that's when The Golden Amazon appears!

The story centers around a young burlesque dancer named Belinda, who Violet vaguely recognizes from her past. The Golden Amazon saves Belinda from several thugs who threaten to do unspeakable things to her, and now Violet fears the girl recognized her. When Belinda comes to her for help against the husband who beats her, Violet has to control the urges of the power within her to make the right decisions that will not put Belinda in a worse position.  Oh, yeah, and along the way, Violet must deal with Chris Wilson, a not-so-slick private detective who is working for a secret organization that wants to capture The Golden Amazon and harness her power. And before you think that's all, there's also the little matter of Jack the Ripper, who touched a strange glowing power in the past and was thrust forward into the year 1939, where he has decided to carry on his work. Only now he has an odd power with him ... a power that seems very similar to that of The Golden Amazon ...

Both characters are unique, both worlds are dark and gritty, and both stories leave you wanting for more.  Two great books for the price of one!  I have no doubt we will see more of Domino Lady forthcoming from Moonstone Publishing (although not necessarily by Nash), but I'm not so sure about The Golden Amazon.  Guess it's time to take a trip on the internet and see what I can find out about this new (to me, at least!) hero!

RATING:  9 shiny but deadly .45s out of 10 for hard-hitting, pulp story-telling with strong female leads that make for great reading.