Up Goes the Curtain - a Penny Parrish book

I picked up this book at Atlanta Vintage Books when we went through Atlanta this past summer going up to Kentucky to visit my Dad.  Having done community theater, I have grown rather fond of reading stories about the theater (such as the Mary Perkins, On Stage newspaper strips, the Carol Page theater stories, Terry Carvel's Theater Caravan, and the Backstagers series for young adults).  So, when I saw this cover, I did not hesitate to buy the book.  I have heard the author, Janet Lambert, mentioned in various book groups to which I belong, but I've never actually owned or read any of her books.  I had always assumed her books were simply young adult romance stories, but this book definitely proves me wrong.  This story was clearly based on Lambert's own experiences, both on Broadway as an actress and as an Army wife (both of these elements playing a large part of this story).  And what surprised me even more is that this book, while having a stand-alone story, is actually part of a series - the fourth book in a series of novels about Penny Parrish (with three prior books being published in 1941, 1942, and 1943 respectively, and two more after this book being published in 1947 and 1950).  Knowing this, I'm more than likely going to track down the other books in the series to see how the character evolves over the course of the decade in which the books were published.  (NOTE - Lambert also wrote series about Tippy Parrish, who is Penny's younger sister, as well as other characters, suich as Parri MacDonald, Candy Kane, Dria Meredith, etc.)

 

Up Goes the Curtain actually contains two separate stories, although Lambert does intertwine them a bit. The book opens with Penny excited about her part in an upcoming Broadway play (her background sounds very similar to that of Carol Page - spent a summer in a stock company training, went to New York, and finally lands a part in a play (p. 10), and, just like Carol Page, she makes a vow that not matter what, she will succeed, so she does not have to return home (p. 12)).  But, since the rehearsals do not begin for three weeks, Penny decides to visit her family, who are staying at Fort Knox, Kentucky where her father and brother are stationed, which begins the mystery that surrounds a young woman named Marcia McMain (what is with the alliteration in names?  Penny Parrish?  Marcia McMain?), who is being escorted to Fort Knox by Terry Hayes, a young man that had previously shown an interest in Penny. Penny is somewhat taken aback by Terry's attitude towards her, but it slowly begins to dawn on her that since Terry is serving in the military, perhaps the woman was a job - perhaps he was actually keeping tabs on her because she was a spy!  (What she does not know, but what the reader does learn thanks to a point-of-view switch to Penny's brother and his wife, who are fully aware of the situation, is that the woman is indeed a spy, and it is Terry's job to flush her out in the open!)  Of course, a lot of miscommunications ensue as the family tries to convince Penny to stay out of it, but Penny is determined to prove her theory - and, of course, she ultimately does through a fateful night at a movie theater when she witnesses the exchange of a note between the woman and a young serviceman.  Penny is able to get a hold of that note, and its contents end up giving the Army everything they need to capture the woman and her accomplice, as well as to foil the damage these spies intended to do.

 

The second half of the book features Penny's return to New York with her sister-in-law (whose name just happens to be Carrol), where they stay at the lavish multi-bedroom apartment Carrol had inherited from her family.  A young woman by the name of Letty, whose husband also happens to be in the military and fighting overseas, joins them in the house, keeping Carrol company while Penny begins her rehearsals and eventually opens the show.  And, in yet another similarity with the Carol Page series, Penny ends up having difficulties with a stage manager who seemingly dislikes her, going out of his way to make things difficult for her - but she eventually learns the truth behind his gruff attitude, and the two develop a friendship of sorts.  In addition (like Carol Page), she happens to personally know the big-name actress who is headlining the play, and because of that, the other actors try to get in her good graces - all except one actor, Miltern Wilde (what a name!), who makes every effort to upstage Penny in every scene they share.  Penny's courage grow, however, to the point where she turns the tables on him one night when he purposefully steps on her toe, causing it to bleed, and she steals the scene from him, getting a thunderous ovation (p. 157) that leads to her gaining his respect.

 

The book ends on a rather sad note, with Penny receiving news that a young man she knows was shot down in a plane over Germany, and it is uncertain whether he survived or not.  There is also uncertainty regarding her growing friendship with the stage manager, and no resolution whatsoever about her feelings for Terry Hayes.  Instead, the book ends with Penny putting on her makeup for another performance of the play, sighing to herself, "It doesn't matter about me - the show must go on" (p. 189).  That ending alone is enough to make me want to hunt down the next book in the series to see where Penny goes from here. 

 

While I had a bit of disappointment in the fact that entire book was not focused on the theater, I did rather enjoy that spy/mystery part in the first half of the book.  The second half that did feature the theater - well, I wish we could have gotten an entire book on that, so the reader could get more fleshed out characters and feel more of the drama and tension among the cast.  As it is, we only get touches upon each of the characters, and I, as the reader, do not really know enough about them, nor spend enough time with them, to really care about how they interact with Penny and how she treats them.  I will be curious to see if any of the other books in the series follow Penny's acting career.  Definitely not a bad read, and one that has me curious enough to read more.

 

RATING:  7 large cokes with lots of ice out of 10 for an unexpected combination of war, spies, theater, and drama - like getting two books for the price of one! 

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!

Freedom Agent a/k/a John Steele, Secret Agent - a Gold Key comic

Back in 1963 and 1964, Gold Key comics put out two comic books starring an American spy by the name of John Steele - a secret agent who initially went by the name "Freedom Agent."  Both comics had stories written by Paul S. Newman and drawn by Giovanni Ticci and Alberto Giolitti.  They both featured beautifully painted scenes on the covers, which scenes also appeared on the back cover without any title, logo, or taglines.  Now, these comics should not be confused with the other "John Steel" (without the additional "e" at the end of his last name), who was a British spy and whose stories appeared in issues of Thriller Picture Library in the early to mid-1960s.  Gold Key's John Steele is an all-American spy who is fighting the enemies of the United States, whether it be behind the Iron Curtain or high in the mountains of the Himalayas.

The first issue to be published was titled Freedom Agent, with a cover date of April 1963.  The indicia at the bottom of page one indicates this is issue 1 and states it is "[p]ublished quarterly by K.K. Publications, Inc."  I find it odd they would give a publication schedule for the book, when it was a single issue that had no subsequent issues published (at least, not under the name Freedom Agent).  Not sure if more issues were planned, but they were scrapped when this book did not sell well, or if that language was simply used in the indicia for all of Gold Key's comics, regardless of whether it was a one-short or a series.  In any event, this first issue contains two stories - "The Giant Makers," a 15-page tale about a scientist behind the Iron Curtain who has developed a serum that can increase the size of animals; and "Escape From the Top of the World," an 11-page tale about a mysterious 'fireball' that crashed into the Himalayas that could be a dangerous weapon.  In-between these two stories is a 4-pager titled "Behind Enemy Lines: The Heavy Water Raid," which tells the World War II efforts to prevent the Germans from developing any atomic weapons.  I'm not sure of the purpose of the 4-page historical account, unless it was to give readers a dose of reality between the action stories of John Steele.

The first story is highly fantastical, since it is pure science fiction to think that a serum can be developed that would change the size of animals and humans.  But Steele is sent into an unnamed area behind the Iron Curtain to retrieve the scientist who created the formula, and he ends up becoming a guinea pig for the experiment - causing him to grow into a giant!  Of course, this gives him the needed strength to overcome the soldier and help the scientist escape; yet, the scientist is killed by a crashing helicopter, but lives long enough to give Steele an antidote before dying, taking the formula for the serum with him.

The second story is a bit more grounded, as Steele is sent to Tibet to discover what the mysterious 'fireball' is.  He has to sneak into the country and utilize disguises to get close to the object, which turns out to be a small space satellite.  Steele manages to take out the guidance and radio systems before he is nearly caught, and he has to claw his way to the top of one of the mountains (at 18,000 feet up!) in order to be rescued by an American plane.

The second comic Gold Key published was the self-titled John Steele, Secret Agent, which came out in December 1964.  Interestingly, neither the indicia nor the cover give an issue number for the comic, nor a date, and the indicia merely says this comic is "[p]ublished by K.K. Publications, Inc." without indicating the frequency.  Perhaps by this point, more than a year after the other issue hit the comic racks, the publisher realized it was better to leave out the publication frequency in order to avoid any problems if no further issues were published.  Like its predecessor, this comic features two Steele tales - "The Unseen Foe," a 14-page story about invisible saboteurs; and "Double for Danger," a 13-page story about impersonating a dictator to prevent a dangerous alliance.  The comic also features another 4-page "Behind Enemy Lines" historical account, this time titled "Blow Up the Bridge," which details the mission to destroy a rail bridge to prevent supplies from reaching Germany during the war.

As with the first comic, the first story in this issue is a bit sci-fi in nature.  Steele finds himself sent on a mission to uncover how enemy agents are creating havoc and stealing top secret information without anyone seeing them - not even on camera!  Steele, of course, uncovers a plot to displace American agents from England by the use of enemy spies dressed in specially treated material that makes them "invisible" except under infared light!  The story sounds like something right out of a James Bond film.

The second story is definitely more realistic, as Steele dons the disguise to take the place of a dictator of a small country, to keep them from allying themselves with China.  He must fool the dictator's brother, who seems very involved in the scheme to ally with China, and when Steele's cover is nearly blown, it leads to an explosive escape in which the brother is forced to gun down the dictator - but was it Steele or his own brother that he kills?  It's actually a pretty great little tale, fast-moving  and an adventure that would actually make for a great plot of a movie.

From what I can gather online, all four stories were written by Paul Newman (not the actor!), and the art was by Giovanni Ticci and Alberto Giolitti.  Although uncredited in the issues themselves, the art is consistent throughout all four stories, making me believe the same artists worked on them all.  The art is nice - nothing super-spectacular, and far from detailed (many panels have blank backgrounds), but there is no strange style to it, making it an easy read.  The action sequences are a bit stiff at times, but over all, I would say the art fit the stories fairly well.  And with only 11 to 15 pages to work with, Newman's stores move along quickly, with little space for deep characterization.  Thus, we learn literally nothing about Steele's past or about any of the supporting characters other than what is necessary to fit the story.  And, with only two comic books featuring this daring spy, we are destined to never know anything more about him...

The cover art is beautiful, and I'm glad Gold Key publishing the full, clean paintings on the back of each issue - unobstructed by the title, the Gold Key symbol in the upper left-hand corner, or the taglines on each issue.  They would make great poster art - I just wish I knew who did the art.

Not anything spectacular, the if you enjoy spy or adventure stories, then these two John Steele comics would likely give you a good read.

RATING:  7 giant chickens, rabbits, and mice (oh, my!) out of 10 for taking not one chance, but two, on a non-costumed, non-super-powered hero.

The Best of Jane Bond - a Collection of Mike Hubbard's Female Spy

Up until I bought this collected edition, the only two people I knew with the name "Jane Bond" were the managing partner at the law firm where I work and the series of parodies written by Mabel Maney (parodying James Bond).  So, imagine my surprise when I was paging through a recent Previews, looking at the comics coming out soon, and came across a book titled The Best of Jane Bond.  Needless to say my curiosity was awakened, and I wanted to know more.  Was this Jane Bond perhaps a lawyer, like my boss?  Or a spy, like the Maney character?  As it turns out, she is [was] a spy for a fictional organization known as Worldpol (which makes me think of a home appliance every time I read that name...).

The Best of Jane Bond collects five of the super spy's stories, which were originally published in the British periodicals for girls, Tina and Princess Tina back in the 1960s and early '70s.  Based upon information provided in the introduction to this book, as well as what I could find online, it seems Jane Bond appeared in the British title, Tina (February 25, 1967 through September 16, 1967), and then that title merged with Princess, forming the newly titled Princess Tina.  The Jane Bond strip ran in Princess Tina from September 23, 1967 through February 28, 1970, after which, the character made a few appearances in a Princess Tina Giftbook for Girls, a Princess Tina Annual, and a Tammy annual.  She appears to be one of the few strictly adventure stories in those publications, as they normally featured mystery stories, horror tales, and schoolgirl related stories.

Readers only get a very brief introduction to Jane Bond with her first strip, which appears to be the only three-page strip (all the remainder strips are only two pages in length).  The caption merely reads:

Meet Jane Bond, Secret Agent.  As cool as an early morning rose and as deadly as nightshade.  Born in the United States, educated in Italy, dresseed by Zior of Paris - and hated by every crook in the world.

With that caption, we get an image of a very beautiful Jane Bond holding binoculars, while behind her lay a collage of passports, cameras, cash, blueprints, operation files, wallets, and other sundry items that every good spy might need.  That first story opens at the Pasadena Grand Prix in Los Angeles, California, where the driver of Car 13 manages to barely avoid a crash and win the race!  Of course, that car happens to be driven by none other than Jane Bond, super-spy extraordinaire!  Receiving a message from Worldpol headquarters, she gets her next assignment - to locate the western world's greatest scientist, John Simm, and the formula he has been working on!  In this first 12-part story, Jane faces off against a number of hired assassins, a class of deadly female agents, and an oversized dog; but none of them can stop this determined young beauty, and by the end of the tale, she not only finds the missing scientist, but keeps the secret formula from falling into enemy hands.

The next assignment in this collection finds Jane battling wits with the notorious Theodore Leopold, a villain otherwise known as "The Lobster."  Worldpol has discovered Leopold is installing some "very odd equipment" in his house, and it's up to Jane to find out what it is and whether it poses a threat to the free world.  In this 13-chapter story, Jane is forced to deal with some extremely unusual circumstances, the strangest of which is fighting off a gigantic metal lobster being controlled by Leopold himself - all to stop him from releasing a deadly serum that would result in the starvation of millions of people around the world!  From this tale, readers leap right into the next adventure, which is much shorter with only 6-parts, as Jane joins a circus to track down and capture an escaped enemy spy known simply as Konrad.

Apparently, the publisher had determined that shorter stories would fare better, as the next adventure collected here is an 8-parter in which Jane travels to the freezing regions of the Arctic to stop a group of people blackmailing the world's governments or they will cause a complete meltdown of the icy region, creating massive flooding around the globe.  Jane attempts to infiltrate their ranks, but she is soon discovered and nearly left behind to die when the massive bomb is detonated! Of course, she wiggles her way out of certain doom and saves the day, as always.  From here we move on to her last tale collected in this book, a short 5-part adventure in which Jane finally gets the tropical getaway she's been wanting - only, her vacation takes a turn towards work when she finds she was tricked to going to the tropical island in order to help one of the richest men in the world by keeping his daughter safe.  Needless to say, the daughter is kidnapped, and Jane must do some quick work (in a bikini the whole time, nonetheless!) to save the girl and stop her captors from getting away.

Unfortunately, the publishers did not give credit to anyone involved with the strip during its run, so while it is known Mike Hubbard was the artist, the writer remains unknown to date.  Hubbard's art, though, is magnificent.  His use of detailed backgrounds, shadowing, and perfectly defined faces and expressions makes the strip a fantastic visual experience, nearly thematic in nature.  Since the stories are not lengthy (even the 13 and 12-part adventures do not feel that long), they move along at a quick page, with plenty of action to keep it going - and to keep Jane constantly moving!  In the early strips, only the first panel featured some grey washes of paint, with the remaining panels strictly line drawings.  Later (in the middle of "The Lobster" adventure), the magazine added some red tones to the first page of the story.  Finally, though, Hubbard was able to use his grey washed art for all of the panels in the strip, which gave the story a bit of a darker feel than the simple line drawn panels did.  I can't say I like any variation better than the others, as I think they all added something to the strip, although the red duo-tone pages would have been better had they done both pages with the red, instead of just one.

Overall, a fun read and, by far, this is my favorite "Jane Bond" of all the ones I know!  I'm glad Rebellion Publishing reprinted these tales, and maybe one day, they can reprint the rest!

RATING:  10 spring-loaded fur wraps out of 10 for female spy adventure in the tradition of Emma Peel and Black Widow, with fast-paced, full-filled, action packed stories that are well worth the read!

Her Name is Savage - a Graphic Novel

So, apparently back in 1968, comic book artist Gil Kane (known to me for his work on the Green Lantern series by DC Comics) created, drew, and published a one-issue, digest-sized comic called "His Name is Savage."  The story centered around an espionage agent named Savage who has to stop a crazed villain from starting World War III.  I had never heard of this comic or character (although I had heard of the character Doc Savage, who is no relation whatsoever) when I came across this graphic novel in an issue of Previews not so long ago.  Her Name is Savage! The title caught my eye (since I love hard-hitting female leads), and the cover showing a dark-haired woman jumping out towards the reader, firing her gun with bullet holes shattering what looks to be glass (or perhaps the actual cover to the comic).  She reminded me so much of another favorite of mine (Ms. Tree) that I had to get it.

Written by Katie Batchelor and Shane Riches and drawn by Jesus Antonio Hernandez Portaveritas, Her Name is Savage! is the story of a tough-as-nails female espionage agent known only as "Savage" - and she definitely lives up to that name. While the story opens with her apparently trying to protect an orphanage in the Ukraine, as it progresses, the reader quickly learns that there is much more to Savage's ultimate goal than meets the eye.  Everything she does seems to come back to the Naude family, who have their hands in more illegal operations than one can imagine. Savage has ties to that family, and every move she makes, every action she takes is carefully calculated to bring the head of the Naude empire out in the open. Nothing Savage does is by chance.

Batchelor and Riches give readers a truly wild ride of adventure with this story - every time you think you know what Savage has planned, you (along with the characters in the story) discover that Savage has deeper ulterior motives and that she has been moving people and situations around like chess pieces to achieve her ultimate goal.  But despite that tough exterior, Savage has a soft side (although she doesn't necessarily like it), and she'll do whatever it takes to protect her friends.

I could easily see this as more than just a graphic novel, but as an ongoing series.  The character is strong and likeable, the tales of espionage and danger are certainly stories that would appeal to a lot of comic readers, and the art by Portaveritas fits nicely with Batchelor and Riches' narrative.  In fact, with the writing and art combined, the graphic novel has a very cinematic feel to it - no unnecessary, drawn out back stories; the pages and panels move the story at a fast pace to keep the action going; and while the story itself is constantly weaving this way and that, it is easy to follow and keeps the reader turning page after page.  (And that three-page "origin" story at the end of the graphic novel makes for a nice "post-credit" scene!).  Plus, I have no doubt the writers could come up with plenty of evil villains for Savage to take down (after all, let's face it - the world has plenty of evil men and women in the criminal underworld that need someone like Savage to take them out).

Unshakable. Irrepressible. Undefeatable.  Savage.  She definitely lives up to her name!

RATING:  9 pacifiers left behind out of 10 for a new, strong female lead that without a doubt can carry her own book!