BITS AND PIECES

Openers:  "Wait a minute, now.  You're saying you want us to deal with a pig problem?" Leonard said.

We were sitting in the agency office, just me and Leonard along with an economy-sized woman in a colorful flower-patterned muumuu and house shoes.  She looked as if she might take a bite out of your ear.  She had thick and bright false teeth and in my view wasn't afraid to use them.

"It's a hog.  Sizable.  Keeps attacking the family." the woman said.  "My kids, three of them.  Another one, Sharoline, doesn't live at home, so she's pig-free.  I hardly knew her father.  I was pretty wild once.  Used to drink a lot.  But that's a different story, and you don't want to hear about that."

She paused, perhaps hoping we did want to hear about it, but we offered no encouragement.  I found a fly on Brett's desk to watch.  The  moment passed for her story.  The fly had had its moment as well and flew off.

She said, "All the kids are afraid of Porky.  That's what we named him.  One time, Porky humped my leg like a dog.  I had to let him finish because he wouldn't let go.  He was kind of soothed afterward, so I was able to escape with a wet leg and all of me still intact.  Big as he is, wonder he didn't push me down.  but he's quite agile and can stand on his hind hooves.  He was more of a shoat then.  He put on some weight since that lovesick moment.  I bet that son of a bitch tops lout at four hundred ;pounds.  He still gives me the love eye when he catches me hurrying from the house to the pickup.

"The kids go to catch the school bus or come home on it, they got to run like wild horses to keep Porky from getting to them.  Goddamn bastard ate my daughter's cat, Tulip.  And that cat was sizable and a scrapper.  Seen Tulip whip a good-sized dog once.  But that hog ate old Tulip like she was an ear of corn.  Sometimes, to get the kids on the bus, Baby Darling, my youngest girl, owner of the cat, also the fastest of the kids even though she's short-legged, will put herself out there first and run around the house, old Porky following.  That gives the other kids time to run to the bus, and then Baby Darling will beat it to the bus just before the driver closes the door.  She's a brave little scamp."

Hatchet Girls by Joe R. Lansdale  (2025)

Thus, Hap and Leonard are hired to catch and pen a psychotic 400-pound hog whose meanness stems from a steady diet of meth -- not the easiest job they have ever had.  Before they were finished, one house was wrecked and both were beaten and tired.  But both soldiered on because Hap and Leonard, as usual, refused to give up, not knowing what dangers would stem from this little incident.  Soon they were facing in-bred criminal idiots, an East Texas meth cartel, crooked cops, stupid cops, indifferent cops, and a gang war, as well as the Hatchet Girls, so named because of the weapons of choice they used to torture, disfigure, and dismember there victims before setting them on fire.  And Hap and Leonard are not getting any younger and are facing changes of their own in their lives.  Danger, suspense, excitement, humor, racism, sex, corruption, and good ol' down home stupidity combine with truly evil deeds to make this another great entry kin this series as Hap and his wife Brett and Leonard and his fiance Pookie face off against their most dangerous enemies ever.

Incoming: 

• "Luke Adams" (Bill Crider), Apache Law:  Showdown.  The fourth and final book in this paperback western series about Mitch Frye, the reluctant half-Apache sheriff of Paxton, Arizona.  "Trace Beaumont once saved Mitch Frye from drowning.  Now Trace has shown up in Paxton and wants to renew the friendship.  Trouble is, Trace is now a gunslinger wanted for a string of murders, and Mitch is a lawman.  But Mitch doesn't have a ,lot of time to worry about his old friend -- he's got other things on his  mind.  A ruthless gang that he threw out of town is coming back to tear the place up and get their revenge on Mitch.  And there aren't a whole lot of folks willing to stand by him and help him face the gunmen down.  It looks like Mitch has no choice but to accept Trace's help.  But he'll always be wondering why Trace came to town in the first place.  And whether he 's more likely to be shot by the gang...or by his friend"
• Kevin J. Anderson, editor, Star Wars:  Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina.  From 1995, the first Star Wars tie-in anthology, with sixteen original stories; authors include Anderson, Kathy Tiers, Timothy Zahn, Jerry Oltion, and Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens.
• Piers Anthony, With a Tangled Skein.  Fantasy, Book Three of the Incarnations of Immortality series.  "When the man Niobe loved was shot, she learned that she had been the target, in a devious plot of the Devil's.  Hoping for revenge, Niobe accepted a position as one of the three Aspects of Fate, only to find that Satan's plots were tangled into the very Tapestry of Fate.  Now the Evil One was laying a trap to ruin Niobe's granddaughter  Lura, who threatened his plans -- and he had tricked her son into Hell."
• Andrea Camilleri, Excursion to Tindari.  An Inspector Montalbano mystery.   "A young Don Juan is found murdered in front of his apartment building early one morning, an9=d an elderly couple are reported missing after an excursion to the ancient site of Tindari --  two seemingly unrelated cases for Inspector Montalbano to solve amid the daily complications of life at Vigata police headquarters.  But when Montalbano discovers that the couple and the murdered yon=g man lived in the same building, his investigation stumbles into Sicily's brutal "New Mafia", which leads him down a path more evil and more far-reaching than any he has been down before." 
• John Dickson Carr, The Unexpected Instinct.  The final collection of fourteen early stories by Carr, dating from 1921 to 1935, many long forgotten and never reprinted.  Also included is  a newly discovered Sherlock Holmes pastiche, a playlet written for the 1950 Mystery Writers of America awards ceremony by never performed.  The stories include mystery, historical adventure, fantasy, and satirical tales.  A  must for any serious John Dickson Carr fan.
• Nikki Erlick, The Poppy Fields.  Speculative fiction.  "Welcome to the Poppy Fields, where there's hope for even the  most battered hearts to heal.  Here, in a remote stretch of the California desert, lies an experimental and controversial treatment center that allows those suffering from the heartache of loss to sleep through their pain...and keep on sleeping.  After patients awaken from this prolonged state of slumber, they will finally be healed. But only if they are willing to accept the shadowy side effects."  Not my typical cup of tea but it is this month's pick for Erin's Family Book Club, so we'll see.
• John Farris, Sharp Practice.  Thriller.  A psychopathic killer stalks and terrorizes Annie Ramsdell, who is haunted by a man she cannot remember but cannot forget.  Considered a classic of the genre.
• Alan Dean Foster, The Spoils of War.  Science fiction, Book Three of THE DAMNED.  "After millennia of relentless war, the union of alien races called the Weave was on the verge of winning a decisive victory -- thanks to their new allies from Earth, who in a mere handful of centuries had proved masters of combat.  But then the birdlike Wais scholar Lalelelang  found disturbing evidence that humans might not adapt so easily to peace -- that natural human aggression would next be turned against the Weave, unless they were once again confined to fight among themselves.  When her field research revealed the existence of a secret group of powerfully telepathic Humans called the Core, it looked as if Lalelelang would be the first victim in a n=ew war between Humans and  their allies.  But just as her fate was sealed, a lone Core commander took a chance on her intelligence and compassion, gambling the fate of Humanity on the possibility that together, they could find an alternative to a galaxy-wide holocaust."
• Raymond Z. Gallun, The Best of Raymond Z. Gallun.  Science fiction collection with thirteen stories.  Gallun was a popular early science fiction writer who published  most of his 120 stories between 1929 and 1942, including recognized classics as "Old Faithful" and "Davey Jones' Ambassador."  His writing was rough, but his plots were fast-moving and his stories were often full of original ideas.  Gallun is essential reading for anyone wishing to get a good view of science fiction at that time.
• Guy Gilpatrick, Glencannon:  Great Stories from The Saturday Evening Post.  Collection of 21 humorous stories about the irascible Scottish ship's engineer who sailed through more than seventy stories, 1929 -1947 -- all but six of which appeared in SEP.  Glencannon stands alongside Tugboat Annie, Alexander Botts, and other characters who made SEP required reading for much of the Twentieth century.
• Martin H. Greenberg, Carol-Lynn Rossel Waugh, & Jon Lellenberg, editors, The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (expanded edition).  Eighteen new Sherlockian tales of detection, suspense, and fantasy.  Authors include Anne Perry Stephen King, Edward D. Hoch, Peter Lovesey, Michael Gilbert, Lillian de la Torre, Dorothy B. Hughes, John Lutz, and Bill Crider.   Come. Watson, the game's afoot!
• Carl Hiaasen & Bill Montalbano, Trap Line.  Thriller.  Before he went solo, Hiaasen wrote three novels with fellow reporter Montalbano (no relation to the Camilliri character above).  "With its dozens of outlying islands and the native Conchs' historically low regard for the law, Key West is a smuggler's paradise.  All that's needed are the captains to run the contraband=.   Breeze Albury is one of the best fishing captains on the Rock, and he's in no mood to become the Machine's delivery boy.  So the Machine sets out to persuade him.  It starts out by taking away Albury's livelihood,  Then it robs him of his freedom.  But when the Machine threatens Albury's son, the washed-out wharf rat turns into a raging, sea-going vigilante."    Drug lords,  crooked cops, and homicidal marine lowlifes, oh my.
• Stephen Graham Jones, The Long Trial of Nolan Dugatti.  Horror novella.  "If drinking mercury from a thermometer didn't kill him, maybe spray  painting in an unventilated garage would.  Or so Nolan's father thought.  One inspired yet failed suicide attempt after another, each with a note to his son -- with only a hint of accusation.  But as Nolan sits in an empty office building, the last customer service employee for a nearly obsolete video game, those many suicide notes come back to haunt him.  As do the levels of the game that no one plays anymore.  And now a homicide detective is on the phone.  Maybe his father was right when he wrote that he was teaching Nolan  not to give up.  But there's no cheatcode that's going to get Nolan through this."  Also, Night of the Mannequins.  Horror novella.  "One last laugh for the summer as it winds down.  One last prank just to scare a friend.  Bringing a mannequin into a theater is just some harmless fun, right?  Until it wakes up.  Until it starts killing.  Luckily, Sawyer has a plan.  He'll be a hero.  He'll save everyone to the best of his ability.  He'll kill as many people as he needs to so he can save the day.  That's the thing about heroes -- sometimes you have to become a monster first."  Also, Zombie Bake-Off.  Horror  novel.  "There's not much rumbling during the Recipe Days show at the Lubbock Municipal Coliseum -- except for stomachs that is -- until the professional wrestlers arrive early for their Saturday night matches.  Chaos ensues when the home cooks are overrun by Xombie, the Hillbillies, and Jersey Devil Jill.  They're not everyone's idea of family fun...especially when the rowdy wrestlers descend on the free donuts brought for the security tram -- and are turned into brain-eating zombies.  The night's main event starts early with undead wrestlers squaring off against kitchen divas and soccer moms.  And as the contagion spreads, the few survivors armed with  mixers, booth poles, and a Zamboni, must fight to keep their heads on straight -- and off the menu."  Jones, a true original, is one of the brightest stars on today's horror scene.  But somehow I have always had trouble getting into his novels, but once I am in there, the ride is exhilarating.
• Stephen King. Hansel and Gretel.  Children's book.  The fairy tale retold and presented with paintings by Maurice Sendak originally created for the Humperdinck opera of the story.
• Emily St. John Mandel, Station Eleven.  The Arthur C. Clarke award-winning novel and the basis for the 2021 HBO miniseries; the book was also nominated for the National  Book Award, the PEN/Faulkner Award, and the Bailey's Women's Prize for fiction.  "Kirsten Raymonde will never forget the night Arthur Leander, the famous Hollywood actor, had a heart attack onstage during a production of King Lear.  That was also the night when a devastating flu pandemic arrived in the city, and within weeks, civilization as we know it came to an end.  Twenty years later, Kirsten moves between the settlements of the altered world with a small troupe of actors and musicians.  They call themselves the Traveling Symphony, and they have dedicated themselves to keeping the remnants of art and humanity alive.  But when they arrive in St. Deborah by the Water, They encounter a violent prophet who will threaten the tiny band's existence.  And as the story takes off, moving back and forth in time, and vividly depicting life before and after the pandemic, the strange twist of fate that connects them all will be revealed."
• Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Velvet Was the Night.  Historical noir.  "Mexico in the 1970s is a dangerous country, even for Maite, a secretary who spends her life seeking the romance found in cheap comic books and ignoring the activists protesting around the city.  When her next-door neighbor, the beautiful student Leonora, disappears under suspicious circumstances, Maite finds herself searching for the missing woman -- and journeying deeper into Leonora's secret life of student radicals and dissidents.  Mexico in the 1970s is a politically fraught land, even for Elvis, a goon with a passion for rock 'n' roll who knows more about kidney-smashing than intrigue.  When Elvis is assigned to find Leonora, he begins a blood-soaked search for the woman -- and his soul.  Swirling in parallel trajectories, Maite and Elvis attempt to discover the truth behind Leonora's disappearance, encountering hitman, government agents, and Russian spies.  Because Mexico in the 1970s is a noir, where life is cheap and the price of truth is high."  Moren-Garcia is one of the best writers working today.
• Will Murray, Secret Agent X vs. Dr. Death.  Original pulp superhero adventure novel.  "UP FROM THE GRAVE!  The world believed Doctor Death deceased.  The clinically insane super-scientist and occultist determined to throw civilization back into the Dark Ages would trouble mankind no more.  Yet when the disbanded Secret Twelve, originally organized to defeat Death, started succumbing to violent, malevolent forces not of this world, authorities suspected that the former Professor Rance Mandarin still lived.  And schemed.  Rising to meet the5 challenge was the Man of a Thousand Faces, known yet unknown as Secret Agent X.  But the man of mystery had never before faced a foe possessing supernatural powers.  Could X alone defeat the past master of zombies, elementals, and even more dire creatures?  Or must he seek out allies as mysterious as he?"  Of course he must.  Murray brings alone other pulp heroes such as the Moon Man, the Griffin, and the Cobra for the ride.  Great fun!
• Andre Norton, Exiles of the Stars.  Science fiction, the second book in the Moon Singer sequence, and a sequel to Moon of Three Rings.  The Free Trader starship Lydis is making a rub to the planet Thoth, carrying incense for the great temples of Kartum, when a civil war lands her in a battle of ancient powers and nameless evil, with a Forerunner treasure at its heart.  The crew seems normal until you look closely at two of its members:  Krip Vorlund, a man who walks kin a body not his own, and his pet, a four-legged beast hiding the mind of Maslen the Moon Singer, a woman whose esper powers can save them all -- or bring them to eternal destruction." Also,  Mirror of Destiny.  Fantasy, part of the Five Senses sequence.  "The King's lottery has determined that Twilla, young orphaned apprentice of a renowned wisewoman, must marry --  but only the wedded can survive the terrible fate awaiting those who penetrate the primeval forest.  Altered  by a talisman of great power, she escapes her unwanted lot -- joining a commander's tragically blinded son on a remarkable journey from peril to peril.  For they are the chosen who must rescue the vanquished of an ancient war of magicks...and shape the destiny of a bloody, disputed land."
• Joyce Carol Oates, Double Trouble.  the latest from Hard Case Crime: a collection of two novels (Star-Bright Will Be with You Soon and Soul Mate) plus two short stories -- all originally published as by "Rosamond Smith."  A companion volume is slated to appear later this year.
• Terry Pratchett, Nation.  A juvenile science fiction novel.  "When a giant wave destroys his village, Mau is the only one left.  Daphne -- a traveler from the other side of the globe -- is the sole survivor of a shipwreck.  Separated by language and customs, the two are united  by catastrophe.  Slowly, they are joined together by other refugees.  And as they struggle to protect the small band, Mau and Daphne defy ancestral spirits, challenge death himself, and uncover a long hidden secret that literally turns the world upside down."
• Robert J. Randisi, Cold Blooded.  A Dennis McQueen mystery.  "NYPD Detective Sergeant Dennis McQueen has his hands full with a very bizarre case.  A series of dead bodies has been found, all frozen -- killed  by various methods, but disposed of in the same manner.  Just a coincidence, or is there a serial killer at work?  Thing8s heat up when McQueen is sent to investigate a body found in the rubble of a fire and meets FDNY Fire Marshal Mason Willis.  Willis is investigating it as an arson, but the medical examiner's report makes it obvious that this is a case for McQueen  McQueen and Willis have no choice but to work together.  Will even the combined efforts of the NYPD and the FDNY be able to stop the killer...or killers?"
• Alistair Reynolds, Pushing Ice.  Science fiction.  "2057.  Bella Lind and the crew of her nuclear-powered ship, the Rockhopper, push ice.  They  mine comets.  But when Janus, one of Saturn='s ice moons, inexplicably leaves its natural orbit and heads out of the solar system at high speed, Bella is ordered to shadow it for the few vital days before it falls forever out of reach.  In accepting this mission, she sets her ship and her crew on a collision course with destiny -- for Janus has many surprises in store, and not all of them are welcome..."
• "J. D. Robb" (Nora Roberts), Glory in Death.  The second book in the bestselling near-future Eve Dallas mystery-romance series, which now totals 62 novels and 11  novellas.  "The first victim was found lying on the sidewalk in the rain.  The second was murdered in her own apartment building.  Police Lieutenant /Eve Dallas had no problem finding connections between the two crimes.  Both victims were beautiful and highly successful women.  Their glamorous lives and loves were the talk of the city.  And their intimate relations with men of great power and wealth provided Eve with aa long list of suspects including her own lover, Rourke.  As a woman, Ever was compelled to trust the man who shared her bed.  But as a cop, it was her job to follow every lead...to investigate every scandalous rumnor...to explore every secret passion, no matter how dark.  Or how dangerous." People whose judgment I respect love these books.  I have read the first book in the series and thought it was okay but no great shakes.  I have a number of others buried on Mount TBR, so I'll read a few more and see if I catch the fever.
• Tom Robbins, Wild Ducks Flying Backward:  The Short Writings of Tom Robbins.  A collection of articles, essays, observations, poems, lyrics, stories,  critiques, and whathaveyou from the best-selling cult novelist who passed away last year at 92.  He should have lived forever.
• John Scalzi, Fuzzy Nation.  Science fiction, a reimagination of H. Beam Piper's 1962 novel Little Fuzzy, the first of three novels about the popular golden-furred aliens.  There have also been five other novels by other writers about the Fuzzies, mainly* sequels or novels set in the same universe.  Scalzi's novel should be considered a "reboot," taking the general storyline and plot elements of the original book, and "adding new elements, characters, and events."  Because Scalzi is Scalzi, I'm sure Piper's many fans have forgiven him and, most likely, approve.
• Mary Stewart, Three Novels of Suspense.  Omnibus volume containing the romantic suspense novels:  Madam, Will You Talk?, Nine Coaches Waiting, and My Brother Michael.  Stewart was one of the authors who popularized this genre and all three books are considered classics.  There was a time when you could not toss a cat at a paperback spinner rack and not hit a Mary Stewart  novel.
• Jason Starr, Gotham:  City of Monsters.  Original tie-in novel of the television series set in the Batman universe.  "Having escaped Arkham Asylum, Hugo Strange's monsters stalk the streets, spreading chaos, fear, and death.  Herself a victim of the madman's experiment, Fish Mooney seeks to retake her place at the top of the underworld.  Street thief Selena Kyle covets a place at her side.  Overwhelmed by this crisis, the city offers to pay a bounty for the creatures -- dead or alive.  Though no longer a cop, [James] Gordon nevertheless proves to be the most skilled at bringing these superhumans to justice, some in body bags.  Yet even he may not be able to stop the most bloodthirsty of the monsters."

Infamous:  Today marks the 137th birthday of Adolph Hitler, failed artist and human being.  Born in Braunau am Inn, Austria-Hungary, he was an early German nationalist and avowed racist.  It's hard to imagine a person rising from such beginnings to become a national leader, much less one responsoible for the deaths of millions, but hatred has no bounds.

Here's a song from Glenn Miller and His Orchestra, with vocals by Tex Beneke and The Modernaires, written  by Irving Berlin in 1941, dedicated to the Fuhrer.  Any application to our present situation is purely coincidental.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4IUesQQKKQ

Two years later, America's secret weapon was revealed -- a certain member of the family Anatidae with a speech impediment.  Hitler did not stand a chance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7vb89c6pQY

420:  Today is also 420 (pronounced four-twenty), a counterculture celebration of cannabis consumption, especially smoking around 4:20 PM.  In U.S. notation, April 20 is marked 4/20.

Sadly (or not so sadly), I am quite un-hip (is that still a phrase?)  I have never smoked marijuana, or eaten an Alice B. Toklas cookie, or even a gummy.  I have also never used drugs or psychedelics.  I am a very boring person -- happy, but boring.  So I am not one to discuss the drug culture in any way.

To kick things off, here's a 1930s anti-marijuana clip, complete with hep cats and jive dancing, explaining that marijuana use will lead to murder, rape, dead teenagers, and sexual experimentation.  Gasp!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6NzN_u4Rnw&list=PL_T1X5PCI5Bp0Koar1kKT_JsC9IX6auXT&index=11

And, from 1933, here's a classic marijuana exploitation film, starring no one you have ever heard of because, I assume, they all ruined their lives with weed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxFKziRdvto&list=PL_T1X5PCI5Bp0Koar1kKT_JsC9IX6auXT&index=10

And Gertrude Michael singing "Marihuana" (1934).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzKqI8Lw_fY&list=PL_T1X5PCI5Bp0Koar1kKT_JsC9IX6auXT&index=6

And a PDF of Cornell Woolrich's After-Dinner Story, a collection of six tales, including the classic "Marahuana" (first published in Detective Fiction Weekly, May3, 1941, and sometimes reprinted as  by "William Irish").

https://www.fadedpage.com/books/20200949/html.php

I Think This Is a Joke:  Auto-correct walks into a bar, and the batman says, "Why the log fence"

All  Aboard:  From 1917, with Harold Lloyd, Bebe Daniels, and Snub Pollard.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6QxKDBwBcA

Oy Como Va:   Tito Puente, the flamboyant master of Latin jazz, with one of his signature hits.  It is impossible to listen to this and not be happy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZQh4IL7unM

Florida Man (Politics Edition):  Kevin Cichowski of Palm Coast, who is running for governor of Florida, has been arrested for battering two elderly people inside a home during what appeared to be a domestic dispute.  Cichowski hit one victim with a cane and threw a cell phone at another, and allegedly had a gun, according to police.  One of the victims was bedridden.  According to one victim, Cichowski had threatened to kill the two multiple times and said he would kill law enforcement if they interfered.  While taken to a detention facility, Cichowski mad a suicidal statement and was then place in protective custody under the Baker Act.  He was previously arrested in 2024 for domestic battery, domestic battery by strangulation, and false imprisonment.

The political hopeful had previously run for Palm Coast mayor in 2021.

There is no word on whether this arrest will affect his current campaign, but this is Florida, so who knows?

Good News:

• Chicago has turned all public school IDs into library cards        https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/chicago-turns-all-public-school-ids-into-library-cards-to-boost-student-access/
• Four groups work together in a massive effort to save a beached whale     https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/group-works-together-to-save-humpback-whale-after-it-became-stranded-on-australian-sandbar/
• Restaurant owners scrap Easter plans to honor a dying man's last wish https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/restaurant-owner-shelves-easter-plans-to-fulfill-dying-mans-last-wish-to-feed-his-hospice-nurses/
• Alaska court ruling saves America's largest rain forest from logging        https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/americas-largest-rainforest-safe-from-logging-thanks-to-alaska-court-ruling/
• Young girl saves brothers from burning home       https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/12-yo-girl-called-a-hero-for-running-into-burning-home-to-save-brothers/
• Applebee's worker shelters fifty people from on-rushing tornado https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/applebees-manager-praised-for-life-saving-organization-as-tornado-barreled-towards-them/
• And, because we all need a bit of joy, this aquarium seal loves his rubber duckie https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/aquarium-shares-video-of-harbor-seal-playing-with-his-rubber-duckie/

HYMN TIME

The King's Blues Club, with their take on Psalm 91.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUiyYZ_2Rpc

THE SPIRIT #1 (APRIL 1952)

The Spirit is private investigator Denny Colt, created by comics legend Will Eisner, and first appeared in as a feature (dubbed "The Spirit Section") in a tabloid-sized newspaper insert distributed by the Register and Tribune Syndicate newspapers on June 2, 1940.  The original comic strip lasted until 1952.  Since then, new and reprinted adventures of the character have appeared from at least nine different publishers.  In addition to various comic strips, The Spirit on television and in film; both a planned animated film and a radio program never materialized.  In  2011, the media website IGN ranked The Spirit as 21st of the Top 100 Comic book Heroes of all time.

While trying to apprehend the mad scientist Dr. Cobra, Denny Colt falls into a state of suspended animation and is pronounced dead.  Colt wakes up after being interred in Wildwood Cemetery and begins his career as a crime-fighter with the blessing of Police Commission Dolan.  Having been declared dead, Colt uses his anonymity to create The Spirit, and establishes his headquarters underneath his own tombstone.  He has no supernatural powers but he is an expert at hand-to-hand combat and has peak mental and physical powers.  His costume -- such as it is -- is a business suit and fedora with a blue domino mask and blue leather gloves.  Although he meets many beautiful women in his adventures, his main love interest is Commissioner Dolan's daughter, Ellen.  His assistant is a  small Black cabdriver named Ebony White, depicted in a cartoonish stereotypical manner.  (Ebony is an off-putting character for many, but was surprising popular with Black readers -- despite his physical appearance,  he was resourceful and respected by all, and came across as "a combination of Tom Sawyer and Penrod, with a touch of Horatio Alger hero, and color didn't really come into it."

The Spirit was innovative in both concept and execution and has been a major influence on the industry.  Even after Eisner had ceased most of his work on the comic,  The Spirit retained his unique artistic style and use of color, lettering, and background.  Later writers for the comic included Jules Feiffer, Jack Cole, Manly Wade Wellman, William Woolfolk, and Klaus Nordling.  Later artists included Lou fine, Jack Cole, Jerry Grandenetti, Wally Wood, Dave Berg, Jules Feiffer, and James Dixon.

One of The Sprit comic book incarnations came from Fiction House, which published five issues of reprint adventures in 1952-3.  Their first volume included:

• "The Case of the Counterfeit Killer"  A man claiming to be Denny Colt suddenly appears in Central City, demanding the remains of his family inheritance.  There is no way to prove that he is not the original Colt.  Then the imposter turns up dead and Commissioner Dolan is arrested for embezzling the proceeds of the Colt estate.  This one was scripted by Jules Feiffer and drawn by James Dixon.
• "The Curse of Claymore Castle"  The Spirit journeys to Scotland Yard on the trail of an international swindler and enters Claymore Castle on the isolated Scottish moors, where he encounters an abandoned bride, a *vanished ape, and "the jewels of destiny."  Written by Klaus Nordling and again drawn by James Dixon.
• "The Plot of the Perfect Crime:"  For his entire life, young Marvin had been accused of things he did not do.  He grew up bitter and hard and had only one desire -- to actually commit the perfect crime and never be blamed for it!  Marvin actually kills a man and gets away with it but he is -- caught, convicted, and executed for a crime he did not commit -- killing two men.  Written by Feiffer and drawn by Dixon.
• And, "Panic on Pier Eight"  A  big North City mob is moving in on the waterfront.  One of The Spirit's agents is killed, with a mysterious note in his pocket signed "The Ancient Mariner."  The Spirit heads to the waterfront just as a violent mob instigates a dock war.  To stop the war and to capture the ringleaders, The Spirit has to solve  maritime riddle.  Written  by Nordling and drawn by Dixon.

Enjoy.

https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=24494

FORGOTTEN BOOK: SURVIVAL ZERO!

Survival Zero! by Mickey Spillane (1970)

"They had left him for dead in the middle of a pool of blood in his own bedroom, his  belly slit open like gaping barn doors, the hilt of the knife wedged against his sternum.  But the only trouble was that he had stayed alive somehow, his life pumping out, managing to knock the telephone off the little table and dial me.  Now he was looking up at me with seconds left and all he could do was form out the words, 'Mike...there wasn't no reason.' "

The dead man was Lippy Sullivan, a hard-luck character who had gone to school with Mike Hammer before he dropped out in the ninth grade.  He had Hammer had met up again when they bother served in the Army, then Lippy went back to his anonymous life in New York City.  Hammer had gotten him a job two year ago checking our groceries in a wholesale warehouse.  That was the last time Hammer had heard from Lippy...until the phone call.  It was strange because Lippy had to have memorized Hammer's phone number, and Hammer had changed the number more than a year ago, so Lippy had had to have gotten Hammer's new phone number at some time and memorized it.  Why?

Lippy had lived in a fleabag rooming house and had nothing worth stealing, yet his room had been professionally tossed.  Again why?  In Lippy's dying words, "There was no reason."

The police are willing to go through the motions, but just barely.  They are too busy with other, more important, cases, such as the gangland slaying of a major mobster and the unidentified man found mysteriously dead on the subway.   The government is keeping it quiet, but the unidentified man has died from a new and virulent pathogen, engineering and smuggled into America fifteen years before by the Stalin regime and held in abeyance until the time was right; the pathogen had the potential of destroying the entire country.  Because the plot was Stalin's and because all records of it had long been erased, the current Russian government is working desperately and secretly with Washington to stop it.  All anyone knows is that the virus will probably be released within two weeks.  In order to avoid widespread ;panic, officials are working to prevent news of the plot being released.

Meanwhile, Hammer discovers evidence that Lippy might have been a pickpocket.  Wallets of very ;prominent people, emptied of cash, have been found in the trash near Lippy's  apartment.  This lead Hammer to a powerful mob boss, a sexy actress, a wealthy business mogul and his oversexed assistant, and eventually, to the Russian plot.  Beautiful women thrown themselves at him, and killers try to kill him, but he's Mike Hammer, confident in his arrogance, able to withstand threats, as well as the passions of sexy women, without damaging his sense of masculinity.  

The end, of course, is violent, with only Hammer standing alive.

A male fantasy, where what needs to be done is done and the hell with all the rules in an ultimate libertarian world populated with the likes of James Bond, Jack Reacher, Parker, Quarry, endless action-adventure heroes a la The Executioner, and all the other literary characters who will stop at nothing to achieve their goals.  This is the world where many of us fantasize about, where the bad guys get their due.  Where you have a secret button on your car that will fire a rocket ad the jackass who must cut you off.  Where your co-worker, who is trying to stab you ion the back, gets his comeuppance.  Where the woman who would not give you the time of day suddenly sees your intrinsic worth.  Where all of your fantasies play out and you become the hero of all your stories.  Where success is yours must because you are you.  Sometimes I think it is in this fantasy world where the ultra-right wing currently resides.  It's a nice, comforting, place to live for a while,  but ultimately, you have to go back to the real world.

Spillane was a deceptive writer.  Because of the male fantasyland he created, many people tend to overlook his talent and pure narrative power.  But there is a reason why he was one of the most successful authors of his era.  Survival Zero! was the eleventh published book in the Mike Hammer saga.  After this, Spillane retired Hammer for 19 years before returning with 1989's The Killing Man.  during that interim, and throughout his writing career, Spillane continued experimenting with the character, writing partial manuscripts and notes, which were completed and edited with Spillane's permission by his good friend Max Allan Collins to provide fifteen additional novels, a graphic novel, and numerous short stories.

Any story about Mike Hammer, whether by Spillane alone or in collaboration, is highly recommended by this fanboy.

SUSPENSE: THE HANDS OF MR. OTTERMOLE (DECEMBER 2, 1948)

Gas-lit, fog-enshrouded London is in the grip of terror due to a series of brutal, random murders.  A relentless police inspector is obsessed with unmasking the predator.  The tale has a twisted and powerful ending.

Scripted by respected mystery writer Kendall Foster Crossen and based on Thomas Burke's 1929 short story, this version features Claude Rains and Vincent Price, with Lou Krugman, Ben Wright, Raymond Lawrence, Alec Harford, and Paul Frees.

In 1949, a panel of mystery critics selected "The Hands of Mr. Ottermole" (The Story-Teller, February 1929) as the best mystery story of all time;  thirty-five years later, the Mystery Writers of America named it one of the four best suspense and mystery tales.  The FictionMags Index indicates the story has been reprinted at least 38 times since its original publication.  The story has also been televised several times, most notably on Alfred Hitchcock Presents, featuring Theodore Bikel and Rhys Williams.

Thomas Burke (1886-1945) was a British author best known for his stories about the poverty-stricken Limehouse District of London, collected in such books as Limehouse Nights, Twinkletoes:  A Tale of Limehouse, Whispering Windows:  Tales of the Waterside (also published as  More Limehouse Nights, East of Mansion House, The Pleasantries of Old Quong (also published as A Tea-Shop in Limehouse), and Night Pieces:  Eighteen Tales.  He also published nearly two dozen works of non-fiction, many of them about London and its environments.  In contrast to many of the tales of orientals and the "yellow peril" popular at the time, Burke showed a particular respect for his subjects.  The Limehouse of Burke's time -- with its crime, sex, and violence, is long gone, but can be relived through his stories.  Time has also blunted the effect of "The Hands of Mr. Ottermole," but it still remains a chilling and effective tale.

Enjoy this classic tale.

https://archive.org/details/TSP481202

SHORT STORY WEDNESDAY: UP IN SMOKE

"Up in Smoke" by "Tigrina" (Edythe Eyde)  (according to the copyright notice, this was apparently published in an unknown fan or amateur publication  in July 1949 -- or perhaps just written on that date; the actual date of copyright is 2001 for the anthology Rainbow Fantasia:  35 Spectromatic Tales of Wonder, edited by the author's friend, Forrest J. Ackerman; no further publication known)

It's 1947 and immature and petulant Carolynne Devereaux has just started her college career, meeting her "newest and best" friend Zelda Troyer only two weeks before.  Carolynne is 17 and is no longer a baby; she should be able to do what see likes, including smoking cigarettes.  After all, she had been smoking for the last three months of the elite Finishing School for Gentlewomen before her recent graduation!  But her parents object to her smoking in no uncertain terms, saying that smoking is immoral, un-Christian, bad for one's health, and could lower one's resistance to worldly wickedness.  They had even gone so far as to threaten to take away the car they gave her for graduation, making her promise to give up that wicked habit.  Carolynne resented this because, as stated, she was not a baby!

While driving through town with Zelda, who was two years older than Carolynne and oh-so-sophisticated, Carolynne borrowed an unusual cigarette from her friend, bright red in color and strangely shaped.  Zelda explained that they were made specifically for her by a mysterious man known as Morloq (rhymes with "Warlock").  The red color of the cigarette matched Zelda's dress perfectly.  Zelda need to order more cigarettes, so the two stopped at Morloq's odd establishment: "Morloq -- Cigarettes and Perfumes of Distinction."

Morloq welcomed the two to his shop with its display of individually shaped and colored cigarettes.  He offered to show them around the shop, including a back room where he kept his perfumes, where each scent was rare and bottle in unique containers.  One wall held intricate and delicately beautiful bottles that Morlock forbid them to touch because they were so fragile.  Carolynne was particulaly attracted to one -- a strange white cloisonne container.  While Carolynne relaxed in a chair, *sipping a small glass of a rare Asiatic liquor Morloq had offered the two, her friend went with Morloq to the front of the store to order her cigarettes.  Carolynne could not resist examining the white bottle. accidently dropping it to the floor.  Luckily the bottle did not break, but the top came off.  Was that a faint, whote  mkist that came from the bottle, exiting through th8e window?  No, it must have been Carolynne's imagination, spurred on  by the rare liquor.  Carolynne replaced the bottle where she had found it and sat back in her chair just as Zelda and Morloq returned.  Before leaving the shop, Carolynne ordered perfume for herself, and was told it would take several days to prepare.

That Saturday, her perfume was ready and Carolynne and Zelda returned to the small shop.  Morloq gave Carolynne a strangely pleasant black cigarette while he went to the front of the shop to wait on customers.  Zelda went with him.  This particular cigarette had a strange effect on Carolynne.  Suddenly she found herself standing in the middle of the room, all her senses sharpened, but at the same time she was still seated in the chair.  Carolynne was insubstantial with a pale string connecting her standing self to her seated self.  She could float in the air.  When Zelda and Morloq returned to the room, they were carrying large fans and could see the insubstantial Carolynne.  Morloq took a knife and sevred the cord between the ethereal Carolynne and her physical self.  Morloq and Zelda began waving the fans, drawing Carolynne closer to the open white cloisonne bottle.  Morloq explained that Zelda was his aide, bringing victims to him and that the Egyptian god Og Manankh, the Imprisoner of Souls, demanded souls be brought to Him.  When Carolynne dropped the bottle a few days  before, she released an important soul that could never be recaptured, so Carolhnne -- despite having a soul of lkittle depth and character -- would have top replace it.  The black cigarette was a means to release Carolynne's ka in order to be trapped in the bottle.  And -- whoosh! -- Carolynne was sucked into the bottle.

The next day the entire college was talking about Carolynne, who was found found wandering downtown, completely devoid of intelligence.  No one could understand what happened, least of all her parents.  Why, they said, she didn't even smoke.

Edtythe Eyde (1921-2015) was an actress, editor, songwriter, and active science fiction fan.  She created the first known lesbian publication in  North America, Vice Versa (nine issues, June 1947 through February 1948).  Writing as "Lisa Ben," she began publishing regularly for The Ladder. the first nationally distributed lesbian magazine    Also as Ben, she recorded a number of songs, often sapphic takes on well-known pieces; she had a very sweet voice.  The early lesbian organization Daughters of Bilitis proclaimed her "the first gay folk singer."  Active in science fiction fandom since 1941 under the name "Tigrina," she was an early member of the Los Angeles Science Fiction Society, eventually becoming that group's secretary.  She gained som0e notoriety proclaiming her interest in satanism.  As Tigrina, she was known to nave published at least four fantasy stories (two of them in collaboration with Ackerman) and three poems.  She has been lauded as an important pioneer in the lesbian movement.  She was inducted in 2010 into the National Gay and Lesbian Journalists Association Hall of Fame.  Despite her acclaim, when she died at age 96, her death was unannounced and no obituaries published.

Forrest J. Ackerman (1916-2008) was known as "Mr. Science Fiction."  A writer, editor, and collector of science fiction memorabilia, Ackerman founded Famous Monsters in Filmland magazine and named and wrote the origin story for the comic book character Vampirella.  He was also responsible for bringing the German juvenile series Perry Rhodan to America.  He had over 50 cameos roles in science fiction movies.  Ackerman in person was bright, charming, and open.  (He and Kkitty once broke into a sppontanious rendition of "42nd Street" at a convention, earning her lifelong approval.)  He edited a number of science fiction anthologies, many of them filled with creaky and minor stories of the past, and many with gimmicky titles such as Martianthology, Womanthology, and Ackermanthology.  Rainbow Fantasia:  35 Spectromatic Tales of Wonder collects stories that mention a color in their titles: black, gray, smoke, brown, purple, violet, blue, green, yellow, golden, orange, red, scarlet, white, and rainbow -- a pretty weak basis for an anthology.  The stories range from pretty good to clunky and amateurish.  A noble, albeit unfocused, attempt.

"Up in Smoke" is an amusing, predictable, and far from great story.  Its main interest is in the author.  Still, it may be worth the few minutes of your time to read it.

OVERLOOKED TELEVISION: RANDALL AND HOPKIRK (DECEASED) - EPISODE 1: MY LATE LAMENTED FRIEND AND PARTNER (SEPTEMBER 21, 1969)

Created by British television writer Dennis Spooner (The Avenger, Doctor Who, Betgerac, The Baron), Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) ran for two seasons (26 episodes), and was syndicated in the United States as My Partner the Ghost.  The series concerned Jeffrey Randall (Mike Pratt, a popular screen and television actor and songwriter), who is a successful and somewhat seedy private investigator, and his friend and partner Martin Hopkirk (Kenneth Cope, Coronation Street, That Was the Week That Was, Carry On at Your Convenience, Carry On Matron), who is killed in a supposed hit and run accident.  When Hopkirk's ghost later appears to Randall, he learns that his partner's death was actually murder.  The two -- man and shade -- go off to solve the murder, aided by Randall's secretary Jeannie Hopkirk (Annette Andre, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, The Saint, Wuthering Heights) who was also Hopkirk's widow.

The show was remade in 2000 with an ampersand -- Randall & Hopkirk (Deceaed) -- and starred Vic Reeves, Bob Mortimer, Emilia Fox, Tom Baker, and Charlie Higson (13 episodes).

At the end of the pilot episode of the original series, we learn that Hopkirk cannot return to the grave.  At least not yet.  It will take about a hundred years for him to do so.  So the partnership of Randall and Hopkirk lives on.

This episode was scripted by Ralph Smart (Danger Man, The Adventures of Robin hood, The Adventures of Sir Lancelot) and directed by Cyril Frankel (School for Scoundrels, Don't Bother to Knock, The Witches).  Also featured in the pilot episode are Anne Sharp, Frank Windsor, Delores Mantez, and Dave Carter.

Enjoy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDA6c0smJFE&t=5s

PLAYING FOR CHANGE

Playing for change is a multimedia music project, founded in 2002, featuring musicians and singers from across the globe.  The idea began when one of the founded, Mark Johnson, heard sidewalk singer Roger Ridley performing "Stand by Me" when he was in Santa Monica.  The project features mostly street singers and musicians performing much-loved and influential popular songs.  The project has also gathered many top name stars to appear in their videos.  A small film and recoding team travel to over fifty countries to record musicians outdoors (their first mobile recording studio was powered by golf cart batteries), then the individual recording are edited into one final piece.  The name of the project stems from the fact that sidewalk musicians are normally playing for change, and the fact that, as a universal language, music can break down social and political barriers and bring about needed change.  In addition to its "Music Around the World" videos, also records individual and groups doing solo songs.  A Playing for Change band was formed with a number of these artist, playing to sold out audiences throughout the world.  In 2007, a separate non-profit Playing for Change Foundation was formed to create music and art schools for children around the world; thus far there are fifteen such schools, usually in underdeveloped countries.

The music and the joy are absultely infectious.

"Everyday People" -- with Jack Jackson, Jason Mraz, Keb' Mo', Yo Yo Ma, and many others...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-g4UWvcZn5U

"Stand by Me" -- the Playing for Change Band live in Brazil, with Grandpa Elliott, Clarence Bekker, Jason Tambo, Tula ben Ari, Roberto Luti, and others

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-g4UWvcZn5U

"What a Wonderful World" -- all  kids (including Grandpa Elliott and Jason Tamba, both kids at heart , all amazing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddLd0QRf7Vg

"Lean on Me" -- with Renard Poche, Roberto Luti, Niki la Rosa, Grandpa Elliott, Clarence Bekker, Saritah, Titi Tsari, and many others 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiouJsnYytI

"What's Going On" -- with Louis Mhlanga, Clarence Bekker, Titi Tsira, Sara Bareilles, Vasti Jackson, the Novi Sad String Trio, and others.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEp7QrOBxyQ

'I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking for" -- this one will tug at your heartstrings; recorded in honor of the International Day of the Disappeared, it features Roopak Naigaonkar, Marta Kurakina, Daniel Lanois, Inara George, Shereita Lewis and Rosalyn Williams, Olivia Ruff, John Cruz, the Sosha Choir, Hala al-Saddar, Rebal Alkhadari, Chris Pierce, and others -- including the mothers, wives, and sisters of the Disappeared  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJsWWTpagUQ

"Down by the Riverside" -- featuring the late Grandpa Elliott, with Nick Cavazos and Oscar Castro, Nevena Reljin and Mirjana Dragonic, Washboard Chaz, the Choeur de Grace, Keb' Mo', the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, and others 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQ1gHm8v3ek

"Mona Ki Ngi Xica" -- with Paolo Herman, Raul Tolingas, Alana Alberg, Bonga, Torcuato Mariano, 
Yuri Da Cuhna, the Daande Lenol Percussions, and others; the title means "The Child I'm Leaving Behind," written by legendary Angolan artist Bonga; it became an anthem for revolutionaries fighting against colonial rule.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MA8LuZXTYo4&list=PLC122061BDC373B4B&index=9

"Riders on the Storm" -- with John Densmore and Robby Kreiger (original members of The Doors), the Lakota Drum Group, Lukas and Mikah Nelson, Sierra Ferrell, Don Was, Izzan Jaa, Aaron White, Foo Fighter Rami Jaffee, and others; a tribute to Ray Manzark and Jim Morrison

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSiuMgKmiyk&list=PLC122061BDC373B4B&index=1Izzzx

 "Oye Coma Va" -- with Carlos Santana and Cindy Blackman Santana, Tito Puente Jr., Manuel Perez Selinas and Jose Valdes Teran, the Al Harben Brothers, Cory Henry, Estevinson Padilla Valdes and Carlos Cassiani Shimarra, Chouloute Minouche, and others

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJZW8U9bbmM&list=PLC122061BDC373B4B&index=17

"When the Levee Breaks" -- with John Paul Jones, ZStephen Perkins, Susan Tedeschi, Derek Trucks, and others

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LH0-WXUFY2k&list=PLC122061BDC373B4B&index=18

"Iko Iko" -- with Doctor John, Grateful Dead members Bill Kreutzman and Mickey Hart, Ian Neville, Donald Harrison, George Porter Jr., TPOK Jazz, and others

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwMuRu6m_aY&list=PLC122061BDC373B4B&index=24

"The Weight" -- with Ringo Starr, Robbie Robertson, Marcus King, Roberto Luti, Larkin Poe, Mermans Mosingo, Char, John Cruz and Hutch Hutchinson, Robin Moxey, Ahmed al Harmi, Rajeev Shrestha, Lukas Nelson, Sherieta Lewis and Roslyn Williams, and others

vhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ph1GU1qQ1zQ&list=PLC122061BDC373B4B&index=35

"All Along the Watchtower" -- with John Cruz, Ivan Neville and Cyril Neville, John Densmore, Warren Haynes, and others

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UHHc7POovg&list=PLC122061BDC373B4B&index=44

"Bring It Home to Me" -- with Roger Ridley, James Gadson, Tony (Eiji) Hayashi, Reggie McBride, Roberto Luti, the Sassi De Matera Strings, Grandpa Elliot, Char, Alice Tan Ridley, The Havana Horns, and Karl Denson; this is the last song roger Ridley and Grandpa Elliott sang together be=fore their unfortunate passing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLa_J4CcHZU

"One Love" -- with Jimmy Buffett, The /Coral Reefer Band, Tula, Vusi Mahlasela, Roberto Luti, Mermans Kenkosenko, Sinamuva, Martin Machapa, the One6ness Choir, the Exile Brothers, Keb'  Mo',  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94mRU-ZGOsk

"St. James Infirmary" -- 15-year-old River Eckert

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0AIt4BaE04&list=PL-x8Ol1-UMGu7v1CZoUJu0FHoJet2Yfok&index=17

"Weary Blues" -- the California feet Warmers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yez29hXBjuY&list=PL-x8Ol1-UMGu7v1CZoUJu0FHoJet2Yfok&index=49

I'm a bout eight months early for this one, but what the heck.  "Low Down Dirty Christmas" -- Grandpa Elliott, Titi Tsira, Tula Ben Ari, Clarence Bekker, and other members of th8e Playing for Change Band took a break from their Brazilian tour some twelve years ago to record this original song outside in Sao Paolo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eI-Tdu_eYQg&list=PL-x8Ol1-UMGu7v1CZoUJu0FHoJet2Yfok&index=94

"Better Man" -- Keb' Mo' recorded this song on his back porch in 2007

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6cX61oNsRQ&list=PL-x8Ol1-UMGu7v1CZoUJu0FHoJet2Yfok&index=113

"Guantanamera" -- with over 75 Cubans musicians, including Carlos Varela, Diana Fuentes, Equis Alfonso, Grupo Sintesis, La Pasion, Gabino Jardines and Eva Grinan, Reinado Elosegui, Louis Bonfill, and Aymee Nuviola 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blUSVALW_Z4

"La Bamba"  -- with Alberto Manuel De La Rosa, Los Lobos, Andres Cslamaro, La Marisoul, Baby Black Ndombe, and others

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5dkwQY-_tk

Music is universal.  Would it be wonderful if peace and understanding were also?

HYMN TIME

 The Peasall Sisters.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tg1CyWSJ7E4

SLAM-BANG COMICS #7 (SEPTEMBER 1940)

 Slam-Bang Comics was a short-lived anthology comic book from Fawcett that lasted a mere seven issues, from March through September 1940.  It featured adventure tales and action characters, including a few long forgotten superheroes.

• Zoro, the Mystery Man.  Not to be confused with the "bold renegade who marks a Z with his blade," although this Zoro carries a sword in a golden sheath.  He looks like a dandy, with a red bolero jacket, a wide golden sash, a bow tie, and a debonaire mustache.  He is "steel-strong of body and diamond -keen of brain."  He is dedicated to defending the down-trodden and bring evil-doers to justice.  And he has a pet cheetah, evidently named Cheetah.
• Diamond Jack, a magician who possesses an all-powerful diamond ring, which he uses to defeat a green dragon in the lost civilization of Tarya.  the Trayans have eternal life and their beautiful queen barely wears a revealing top to her va-va-voom outfit.  When Diamond Jack defets the green dragon, the entire civilization turns to dust.  C'est la vie eternelle!
• Jim Dolan, hard -hitting editor of Daring Detective Magazine, goes undercover in a prison to catch a killer.
• Lucky Lawton is a fast-shootin' cowboy who travels with his dog, Pal.  In this episode, Lucky rides into the midst of a "fuming" range war.
• Hurricane Hanson, the captain of the Surprise, an allied raider disguised as a tanker (which given what we've learned during the current Administration, might be a war crime) "comes face-to-face with the deadly Kazilian high-seas menace."
• The Foreman's Revenge, a two-page text story.  Jim Rockwell (not the television detective) is a furnace man at the Illinois Steel Company's main plant.  He crosses swords with the plant's venal foreman, Stanislaus Wojinsky.
• Mark Swift, a young student, travels with his teacher, Rodney Keant.through the centuries in the Time Traveler, a marvelous history-spanning machine.  they end u meeting Napoleon Bonaparte...and danger!
• The War Bird is Captain Sharp, an allied war ace.  Here, he fights his arch-enemy, the Baron Bruht, in a deadly air battle.
• Lee Granger, Jungle King.  Is there anything else that needs to be said?  Well, no.  Except that Eric, Granger's lion buddy, understands and can speak English, and reveals a nasty plot to kill a girl reporter.  This one may have been written by Manly Wade Wellman (although the character was created by Bill Parker) and may have been drawn by Jack Binder -- emphasis on the word may.

Of them all, Lee Granger appears the most enduring, appearing in eleven issues of Golden age comic books, but all the characters are no pat of the dust of history.

Nonetheless, an interesting compilation.  Enjoy.

https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=97922&comicpage=&b=i

FORGOTTEN BOOK: TYLER CROSS: ANGOLA

Tyler Cross:  Angola, written by Fabien Nury, with art  by Bruno and colors by Laurence Crook, 2019; originally published in French in 2014.

To supplement their line of cutting edge crime novels, Hard Case Crime began publishing a series of graphic novels and comic books in 2017, some original and some reprinted from foreign sources.  As with their novels, the Hard Case Crime graphic novels re amazingly varied and uniformly entertaining.  I've read 22 of the (by my count) 34 graphic novels thus far published and am hoping to read the reminder this year.

Tyler Cross :  Angola is a follow up to the earlier Tyler Cross: Black Rock, which Hard Case published the year before.  Tyler Cross is a 1950s criminal for hire who would fit right in to a Quentin Tarantino movie -- tough, ruthless, unforgiving.

When what appeared to be an easy job goes wrong, Cross is caught and sent to the Louisiana State P:ententiary in Angola, a maximum security hellhole surrounded by swamp and infested with cruel and psychotic guards and corrupt and venal officials.  To make matters worse, a price has been put on Tyler's head by the Sicilian mob, many of whose members are Tyler's fellow prisoners.  Tyler survives beatings, torture, and attempts on his life, eventually making a desperate bid for freedom, but escaped prisoners are invariably caught and killed.  Tyler has an additional purpose other than mere escape:  those who betrayed him and set him up for arrest must pay.  Any resemblance to Richard Stark's Parker not coincidental; the author acknowledges Parker an an importance influlence.

A violent, uncompromising graphic novel with effective, blocky artwork by "Bruno" (Bruno Thielleaux), which provides a pared-down cinematic feel to the story.

Nury is a popular French comic book artist and screenwriter, perhaps best known for his graphic novel The Death of Stalin.  At least one further adventure of Tyler Cross has been published in France, taking the anti-hero to Miami.  I'm hoping it will also be released in English  by Hard Case Cri/me. 

Recommended for those who like their comics dark and gritty.

BUCK ROGERS IN THE 25TH CENTURY (NOVEMBER 7, 1932)

 Buck Rogers, the creation of author Philp Francis Now, after which Rick Yager took over the writing dutieslan, made his debut in the August 1928 issue of Amazing Stories with a novella titled Armageddon 2419 A.D.   At that time, he was simply Anthony Rogers, a world War I veteran born in 1898.  While investigating an abandon=ed coal mine in Pennsylvania, Rogers was trapped by a cave-in and was exposed to radioactive gas, which placed him in a coma, waking 429 years later, to an America conquered by the Han (evoking both the Chinese and the Hun).  A sequel, The Airlords of Han, was published the following year in the March issue of the magazine.  The two stories were combined in 1962 to form the novel Armageddon 2419 A.D.,  by which time Anthony Rogers had long been known in popular culture as Buck Rogers.

Buck Rogers began his comic strip life on January 7, 1929, and continued until July 8, 1967.  It  is believed that newspaper syndicator John F. Dille gave the character his new first name to in= honor of then-popular cowboy star Buck Jones.  Nowlan scripted the strip through 1939. after which Rick Yager took over the writing duties; others writing the strip before it closed included Ray Russell and Fritz Leiber.  The artwork was originally handles by Dick Calkins and Russell Keaton, followed  by Rick Yager, and later, George Tuska.  The strip was revived from 1979 to 1983.  Over the years there have been ten different comic book titles about the character from various publishers.  In 1933 and 1935, Buck appeared in booklets from the Kellogg Cereal company, and in twelve Little big Books from 1933 to 1943.  Over the past 48 years, Buck Rogers has appeared in numerous novels, short stories and gaming tie-ins, as well as in video, role-playing, and board games.

A ten-minute Buck Rogers film was produced for the 1933 Chicago World's Fair, and was later shown in department stores to promote Buck Rogers merchandise.  A 12-part serial film featuring Buster Crabbe was released in 1939, later to be edited into three distinct feature films.  A half-hour television series appeared in 1950; three different actors played Buck during the run of the series (Eva Marie Saint was one of the two actresses to play Wilma Deering) -- only one episode of the series is believed to have survived.  Buck fared much better in the 1979-1981 NBC television series starring Gil Gerard (although an actors' strike halted filming during part of 1980).  The original pilot for the series was released as a theatrical film six months before the show itself premiered.

Skipping over the plethora of Buck Rogers toys produced (usually some form of ray gun, space gun, or water pistol, or cast-iron figures), we come to the the radio show.

Buck Rogers, the first ever science fiction radio series, aired Monday through Thursday as a 15-minute program on CBS Radio, beginning on November 7, 1932.  In 1936, it ran on a Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule until May of the year.  Mutual Radio brought it back for a three-day-a-week schedule from April to July 1939, and then as a half-hour Saturday program from May to July 1940.  Finally, Mutual revived is as a 15-minute weekday program from September 1946 to March 1947.

The episode linked  below is the very first episode of the CBS radio program.  Here we learn of the origin of Buck Rogers and meet his companions Dr. Huer and Wilma Deering, as well as experience a whole bunch of pseudo-scientific gobbledegook.  We also get to meet Popsicle Pete, a shill for frozen= treats on a stick.  Buck Rogers was probably voiced by Matt Crowley, who was also a voice for Dick Tracy, Jungle Jim, Casey Crime Photographer, Batman, and Mark Trail.  Adele Ronson was most likely the voice of Wilma, and Edgar Stehli the voice of Dr. Huer.

Enjoy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luvboLC6y3U

SHORT STORY WEDNESDAY: BY MOONLIGHT

"By Moonlight" by John Gregory Betancourt (first published in I, Vampire:  Interviews with the Undead, edited by Jean (Marie) Stine* & Forrest J. Ackerman, 1995; reprinted in The Horror Megapack:  25 Modern and Classic Horror Stories, edited by John Gregory Betancourt, 2011)

A gimmick story which, although an entertaining rest, careens off the trick and fails when lone examines the gimmick.  The gimmick also precludes a deeper examination of various plot points which would have otherwise been more interesting.

In brief, it is sometime in the mid-Nineties 6and Tucker Anderson has returned to the abando=n=ed family farm where he was raised.  His father, whom he has not spoken to for over fifty years, has died and Tucker has decided to pay one last visit to the place.  Tucker had left the farm in 1944 for the army.  While on a plane returning from the bombing of Dresden, he was shot down by German artillery. and was captured after parachuting to safety.  He and a number of other prisoners found themselves locked in a railroad car by his captors; one of the prisoners had an untreated broken arm which had become infected and would probably kill him.  Late at night, when all were asleep on the moldy hay in the railroad car, the injured man kicked out in his sleep and woke Tucker.  Tucker moved away to a dark corner of the car so the unconscious man would not kick him again.  Then the door to the car opened and a dark figure entered.  It went to the injured man and bent over him.  Tucker then saw the creature -- it could not be considered a man:  "He had eyes that glowed like a cat's, only red, and fangs like a snake.  Blood covered his face and hands,  As I watched, a long thin white tongue licked it from his lips and chin."  The creature looked at Tucker and Tucker felt himself go numb.  Then there was a lapping sound at his throat...

When Tucker regained consciousness, the railroad car was empty, the door opened, and allied bombers were striking the camp.  He ran for safety to the nearby woods.  There he stayed, catching small animals for food.  His reflexes were sharper, he was able to mesmerize the animals into some sort of trance, the blood tasted good and nourished him.  He was able to mesmerize local households, rendering the people unconscious, allowing him to steal soap, a razor, clean clothes, and money.  then came the day when the blood lust was too powerful and he killed a five-year-old boy, burying the corpse in the woods.  At first he was horrified by the deed; later, not as much.

Tucker spent five years in Germany before using his mesmerizing powers to return to America.  There, he called his mother on the telephone; she hung up after curing him for playing such a cruel joke as pretending to be her dead son.  He never saw or spoke to her again.  She died in 1979.

Tucker never understood why or how he became a vampire, and never met another vampire -- although he felt that a number of historical mysteries could be explained if a vampire were involved.  For a while, he gathered a coterie of followers around him but was never able to turn any of them into one such as himself.  Now at 60 (actually more like seventy-ish, according to the internal framework of the story, making his age a glaring error that should have been caught in editing) and looking like he was in his mid-thirties, Tucker is examining the slowly decaying ruin that was his childhood home.

Okay.  HERE COMES THE SPOILER!  

Tucker finds his father's false teeth.  The canines are unusually long and sharp.  He examines those teeth against his own in a dusty mirror, and they are exactly the same size and shape!  Tucker realizes that his father was a vampire.  It was not the vampire who% had bitten him during World War II that had turned him.  Tucker had been a vampire all along, inheriting the trait from his father.  The only difference being that Tucker's blood lust while hiding in the woods had awakened that part of him, while his father's blood lust had never been awakened.  In another life, perhaps, Tucker would not have turned.  He could have had a normal life, perhaps gotten married and have children, and have aged normally as his father had.

Okay.  Why the hell did his father have false teeth made with the long, sharp, serpent-like canines?  Dunno.

There's a lot to unpack here, and the more you look at the gotcha at the end of the story, the more questions you have.  Tucker's experiences in the war, surviving in Germany, and his life thereafter would have made great fodder for a far more ambitious story.  But, as it is, we are left with a 1950s-style comic book plot one could drive a truck through.

Still, an interesting story if you squint.

John Gregory Betancourt is a popular science fiction and fantasy writer who has published a number of novels and short stories in various media franchises.  He founded a literary agency with George Scithers and Darryl Schweitzer and the three relaunched Weird Tales magazine.  In 1989, he founded Wildside Press with his wife, Kim; they entered the POD (Print on Demand) market nine years later, greatly expanding their catalog with both original works and reprints of out-of-print and out-of-copyright works.  He is an active editor of anthologies.  His writing career has taken a backseat to his publishing and editing work, although one hopes he will eventually return to original fiction.  John Clute has stated that Betancourt's "skills are greater than his achieved work might lead one to assume," which "given his clear intelligence and ambition, could change at will."   

*Jean Stine on the cover jacket and the Library of Congress catalog; Jean Marie Stine on the title page and copyright notice

MANDRAKE THE MAGICIAN: 12-EPISODE SERIAL (1939)

Mandrake the Magician and his assistant Lothar battle the evil criminal the Wasp, who is trying to steal a newly-developed radium energy machine -- and we all know that bad things will happen if bad guys ever get ahold of radium energy machine!

Mandrake the Magician was a popular comic strip created by Lee Falk  (who would go on to create the comic strip The Phantom) in 1934 and would continue for 79 years, ending in 2013.  Some historians consider Mandrake to be the first comic strip superhero.  This 12-part serial was the only authorized Mandrake film ever produced (there was an unauthorized Turkish film in then 1960s); at least four other films were attempted but were unproduced.  A Mandrake radio show ran non the Mutual Broadcast Network for just over 14 months in the early 1940s, and a Mandrake television show mad it to the pilot stage but no further.  Mandrake had better luck in animated television, appearing as a character in at least three series.  A Mandrake musical play was produced in thee late Seventies.  The character has also been the target of numerous parodies.

Warren Hull, who has also played the Green Hornet and the pulp hero the Spider in films, stars as Mandrake the Magician.  Al Kikume, a Hawaiian-born actor who had a long carerr both playing native roles (Tarzan the Fearless, Jungle Girl, Perils of Nyoka) and as a stuntman, took on the role as Lothar, Mandrake's assistant.  Forbes Murray (whose lengthy career consisted of mainly uncredited roles) is the scientist who has invented the radium energy machine.  Eye candy in this production was provided by Doris Weston (The Singing Marine, Delinquent Parents, Chip of the Flying U) as Murray's daughter Betty.  The Claw was played by Edward Earle, who has an astonishing 452 acting credits on IMDb, including East Lynne,  Scattergood Baines, and The Harvey Girls; of course, thee Claw also had a secret identity, which was obvious from the get-go but was revealed as a "surprise" in thee last episode.

The episodes were directed by Norman Danning and Sam Nelson, and were scripted by Joseph F. Poland, Basil Dickey, and Ned Dandy.

Here's everything you could ask for in a 1930's serial -- thrills, danger, excitement, suspense, cliffhangers (eleven of 'em!), and some pretty stiff acting!  All twelve episodes are here.  Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCO0aAqSZpU&list=PLL3oll31FNtKednhdpIObwuQICV00qOX8

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MERLE HAGGARD! (AND A NOD TO AN AVIATION PIONEER)

You really didn't think I'd let this day go by without mentioning it is the 136th birthday of Dutch engineer and aircraft designer Anthony Fokker, he of "Yeah, but these Fokkers were Messerschmitts!" fame, did you?

Anyway, on to Merle Haggard, born this day in 1937, and one of the most influential and most-loved country singers of our time.

Over a career that spanned five decades, Haggard had 38 number one hits on the country charts.  His signature song, "Okie from Muskogee," was considered by some to be an anthem for the "silent majority" of the time and helped usher a plethora of patriotic-themed country songs; Haggar later said (in 2003) that he had different views back in the 18=970 and that he was "dumb as a rock" when he wrote that sone.

Haggard had a difficult youth.  His father's death when Merle was nine deeply affected him.  By age thirteen he was caught stealing and writing bad checks; later he was caught shoplifting and sent to a juvenile detention center.  Then followed a series of escapes and captures.  He escaped from a detention center in Modesto but was arrested for truancy and petty larceny and was sent to another detention center.  After escaping from that one, he was sent to a high security facility for fifteen months, only to be arrested again for beating a boy during a burglary attempt.  At eighteen and newly married, he was caught robbing a roadhouse and sent to Bakersfield jail.  An attempted escape saw him transferred to San Quentin, where he learned his wife was pregnant with another man's child.  At San Quentin, he ran a gambling and brewing operation, was caught, and spent a week in solitary, where he met noted killer and author  Caryl Chessman, who was soon to be executed.  A jail house friend, had escaped, killed a policeman, and was recaptured and was also sentenced to die.  All of this made Haggard begin to reassess his life.  He earned a GED, worked steadily in a prison job, and joined a jail house country band.  Another pivotal moment came when Johnny Cash performed at the prison in 1960 and sang "Folsom Prison Blues."  Twelve years later, and now a country music star, California governor Ronald Ragan granted Haggard a full and unconditional pardon.

Haggard has received 20 awards from the Academy of  Country Music, six awards from the Country Music Association, and the 2006 BMI Icon award.  He was won four Grammys, including a lifetime Achievement Award, and was a Kennedy Center Honoree in 2010.  He has been inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, the Nashville songwriters Hall of Fame, and the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame.  Over his career, Haggard released 66 studio albums, 8 live albums, 26 compilation albums, 84 singles, and 13 music videos.

"Okie from Muskogee"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68cbjlLFl4U

"Pancho and Lefty" -- with Willie Nelson

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoKvUYbGu7A

"Are the Good Times Really Over"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIKUkcNeZfQ

"Sing Me Back Home"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-ofzciulJU

"My Favorite Memory"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-Ys0vTSsTo

"It's All Going to Pot" -- with Willie Nelson

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6c6eUeoa9Q

"Going Where the Lonely Go"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZW8gRR32ts

"I Won't Give Up My Train"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwnHDonqX6I

"Big City"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVQ0eOMY7z4

"Workin' Man Blues"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuaKBLENvfk

"The Fightin' Side of Me" -- withToby Keith

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VJkypo8jcY

EASTER SUNDAY HYMN TIME

Michael Eldridge.

For those who believe, have a happy and meaningful Easter.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGNCIL4uIqY

Also, today is the International Day of Conscience, highlighting the vital role of conscience as a guiding force in achieving global peace.  Thus, many of us have two reasons today for reflection.

DAREDEVIL BATTLES HITLER #1 (JULY 1941)

I have been watching (and enjoying) Season Two of Marvel Television's Daredevil:  Born Again, so I thought I would take a look at the original Daredevil, who burst onto the comic book scene in 1940.  understand that this Daredevil has no relation to the Marvel Comics Daredevil, although this Daredevil --  now in the public domain -- in more recent appearances has changed his name to Reddevil or Doubledare or Death-Defying Devil, hoping to avoid lawsuits from Marvel.

Daredevil was created as a backup story for Silver Streak #6 (September 1940) by Jack Binder.  He was mute named Bart Hill, who as a child saw his father  murdered and himself branded by a hot iron, which- left a boomerang mark on his chest.  He grew up to become a "boomerang marksman," taking up a costume to exact vengeance on evil-doers.  By the following issue, both his name, costume, and backstory had been revamped by Jack Cole, the comic book editor who would go to create Plastic Man.  Daredevil was now Bill Hart and all mention  of muteness was dropped; for five issues, Daredevil would be pitted against Silver Streak's main villain, the Claw; this storyline cemented Daredevil's popularity, and he continued to appear monthly in Silver Streak through issue #17 (December 1941).  Before exiting Silver Streak, the character began his own title, Daredevil Battles Hitler (the official title; it was not intended as a one-off because the cover clearly listed #1; the title was most likely intended to increase sales -- although America has not entered the war, Hitler was the villain de jour; earlier that year in Comic Book Land, Captain America had given Das Fuhrer a well=needed punch in the jaw.)  Issue #2 officially changed the title of the comic book to Daredevil Comics.  Daredevil Comics continued until issue #134 (September 1956), although the character himself was phased out after issue #69, in favor of the supporting characters the Little Wise Guys (Curly, Jocko, Peewee, and Scarecrow) who first appeared with issue #13 (October 1942) -- a fifth Little Wise Guy, Meatball, was literally killed off in issue #15.  Daredevil did make it back to his own title for two brief appearances, in issues 79 and 80 (October & November 1950).

So let's get it on putting Adolf in his place, okay?  The story is divided into seven "chapters," all written by Charles Biro and drawn by Biro, Jack Cole, and Harry Anderson.  The saga brings in many of the comic book heroes from Silver Streak.  In the first chapter, Hitler is planning to invade England.  Winston Churchill asks Daredevil and Silver Streak to keep watch on a mysterious cottage in the Downs.  A rip-snorting naval battle ensues.  We meet Whiz, the Silver Streak's falcon, as well as such baddies as Hitler, Goebbels. Goring, Himmler, Lord Hee Haw. Grand Admiral Raeder, Field Marshal Brauchitsch, Mussolini, and a Nazi fortune teller.

Then, Hitler seeks the Claw's help to aid him and the Japanese to attack Singapore and destroy the British. Daredevil goes undercover to foil the plot.

In Chapter Three, Hitler tries to conquer Africa from within, thereby cutting Britain from her colonial empire.  Daredevil and white hunter and soldier of fortune Lance Hale react.

Dickie Dean, Boy Inventor, has come up with a fool-proof decoding machine, but Nazi agents have stolen it.  Daredevil, Dickie, and Dickie's friend Zip Todd must stop the machine from reaching Berlin.

The penultimate chapter has Daredevil, Cloud Curtis, and the RAF fighting off a Nazi blitzkrieg, ending with an air battle between Cloud Curtis and Reichsmarshall Hermann Goring.

In the final chapter, Grand Admiral Raeder is order to patrol British waters and sink every ship in sight  Daredevil and the Pirate Prince swing into action.  The Pirate Prince is just that -- an old-fashioned sword-wielding pirate with an old sailing ship; the sword comes in handy for "pantsing" Raeder most unceremoniously.

An interesting issue.  but, alas, Daredevil never got to bop Hitler on the jaw as Captain America had done.  **sigh**

Enjoy.

https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=35416

FORGOTTEN BOOK: APACHE LAW: SHOWDOWN

Apache Law:  Showdown  by "Luke Adams" (Bill Crider)  (2000)

This is the fourth (of four) paperback westerns featuring Mitch Frye, the half-Apache sheriff of the small mining town of Paxton, Arizona.  Frye is a former civilian Amy scout for General George Crook, riding with Tom Horn and Al Seiber during the Apache Wars.  After being cut from the army, Mitch drifted into Paxton to get the reward for two killers who had tried to get the drop on him.  Through a complicated series of events, the town's  mayor, J. Paxton Reid, managed to blackmail Mitch into taking the job of ton sheriff, holding a spurious document that could place Mitch under a charge of murder if Reid desired.  Despite chafing at being forced to take the job, Mitch enjoyed the work and was good at it.  Slowly Mitch earned the respect of the townspeople despite being a halfbreed.  The work was n=ot strenuous, mainly involving breaking up fights among drunken miners.  He had a loyal deputy named Alky, and the adoration of Reid's beautiful daughter, Jewel -- although Mitch was careful mot to take tht relationship beyond friendship.

A telegram informed Mitch that the Hayes gang had just robbed a bank in Tucson, killing everyone in the bank before making their getaway.  A posse had been trailing them north, in the general direction of Paxton.   Mitch rode out to meet the posse and, using his tracking skills. soon found the gang.  A gunfight ensued and Mitch managed to get behind the gang and capture them.  The money from the robbery was never found.  At the trial, the gang members were found guilty and sentenced to hang,  but they vowed to escape and to hunt down Mitch.  And escape they did. 

Meanwhile, there was gunfire in one of the town's saloons.  A miner who had had too much to drink lost most of his poke in a card game.  He tried to recoup losses by dealing from the bottom of the deck and was caught.  He then tried to pull his gun and was shot in the shoulder by another player.  The man who fired the gun turned out to be Trace Beaumont, whom Mitch knew while growing up.  While never friendly, Mitch felt obligated to Trace because he had saved Mitch from drowning when Mitch was seven.  Trace wore his guns slung low as a gunfighter would.  He admitted to being a hired gun, but vowed that he had never broken the law, and was now working as a Pinkerton agent.  Trace had planned to leave town soon for business in Tucson but changed his mind after he met Jewel.  Trace's natural charm captivated Jewel, perhaps encouraged by the thought of making Mitch jealous; Jewel's father was impressed by Trace's smooth ways and his claim to be Pinkerton.  Mitch felt there was something off about Trace, but could it only be because of the attention he was paying Jewel?

Now the Hayes gang was most likely headed to Paxton to kill Mitch, and his one deputy -- Alky -- was out of commission due to a bad fall.  Mayor Reid suggested that Mitch deputize Trace and two other gunslingers who had come to town the same time as Trace.  Against his better judgment, Mitch agreed.  The Hayes' were most likely to go after the missing loot from their bank robbery also.  Mitch suspected that one of his three deputies was the unknown "fifth" member of the gang, lone just as eager to kill him as the others in the gang.  Then one of his deputies was brutally murdered.  And Paxton's local bank was flush with cash from a local church building fund, and just ripe for picking...

Gunfire and betrayal soon follow.

Showdown is a fast an enjoyable read with the detail of a small town one would expect from Bill Crider.  I knew that Bill had written at least the first tow book in the series and found confirmation on the internet that he has written all four.  I have no reason to doubt that the writing, the plotting, and the characters all read like vintage Crider.  The relationship between Mitch and Alky echoes that between Dan Rhodes and his jailhouse employees, Hack and Lawton.  Mitch, like Rhodes, also has to navigate tricky political waters.  Unlike Rhodes, though, Mitch is a man of action and fast reflexes -- something well suited for an Old West hero.

Not a great novel but a thoroughly enjoyable one, certainly worthy of a few hours of your time.  And, for the many fans of Bill Crider out there, possibly a chance to read something something new from a well-missed author.

I'M BACK

After a frustrating couple of weeks, my computer is now virus-free.  For the moment. Or, as my computer guy told me, "Until those sons of bitches find another way to sneak a virus in."   So. onward and upward!

SHORT STORY WEDNESDAY: THE MYSTERY OF THE WORM

"The Mystery of the Worm" by John Pelan  (from Shadows Over Baker Street, edited by Michsel Reaves & John Pelan, 2003; reprinted in Pelan's collection Darkness, My Old Friend, 2016)

In "The Problem of Thor Bridge," Watson mentions an unpublished case of Sherlock Holmes -- "a remarkable worm said to be unknown to science."  Watson's notes on the case remained locked in a safe deposit box until mankind was ready to hear of this amazing adventure.  Thirty years later, Holmes was cultivating bees in retirement in Suffolk and Watson finally revised the notes into a full record; still, mankind was not ready, so the full story once again went into a secure location.

The time is 1894, a few months after Holmes dealt with "the ferocious Colonel Moran."  A man claiming to be Dr. Robert Beech appeared at Holmes' lodgings, asking his help to translate marking on an indecipherable cylinder.  The cylinder, about a foot long and four inches wide and made of some greenish metal, was covered with "a chaotic melange of whorls, slashes, and geometric shapes."  Beech also produced a crudely carved star-shaped stone =and a glass vial containing a "singularly repulsive floating in formaldehyde.  The worm had nasty looking mandibles surrounding what appeared to be a stinger.  The items were recovered from a lost city in the Egyptian desert.

Holmes told his visitor to leave, calling him no more than a common fraud.  The man quietly left, leaving Holmes to explain his reasoning to Watson.  Shortly thereafter, the man who had sent "Beech" to Holmes appeared.  He was Doctor Nikola, the evil protagonist of a series of five fantastic novels (1895-1901) by Australian writer Guy Boothby.  Nikola told Holmes that he had passed Nikola's test by identifying "Beech" (who was really Nikola's assistant Persano); Holmes thus proving to have a great intellect -- almost as great as Nikola's own.

Nikola, who appeared to be about 35 years old, claimed to be much older due to his scientific researches.  Nikola's goal was to achieve immortality.  He had hoped to gain the secret from "a Chinese gentleman who I have every reason to believe was young when the pyramids of Giza were being constructed;" but that relationship fell through, but not before Nikola had sampled a certain compound the Chinese gentleman had developed.  (The Chinese gentleman, unnamed, would later launch an attack of England.  Guess who?)  Nikola believed there were others who possessed this Elixir Vitae and that they could be persuaded to share its secret with him.  These "others" were not of this Earth.  In his researches, Nikola learned of a lost city buried in the Egyptian sands which may hold the secret of the magical elixir.

Nicola located the city and found a series of massive column, each with a star-shaped stone bolted to the top.  As a matter of habit, Nikola's tent was located far from his bearers and the columns.  During the night, one bearer attempted to steal the star stone.  The next morning the entire camp was empty, with only red blood seeping into the sand.  The star stone was located just a few feet from its column.  Nikola reasoned that whatever beings came that night had been previously prevented from reaching this world by the proximity of the star stone to the columns.  Now he is ready to call these beings by placing the star stone away from its column.  And he wanted Holmes' assistance.

Holmes and Watson find themselves in dire danger after realizing that this was merely one of Nikola's experiments...

And the worm?  It turns out that this was just one of several species left behind by the beings from whatever dimension they came from.

Not germane to the story itself, but it is interesting that Watson mentions two of his writer friends in this story:  Dick Donovan (real name James Edward Preston Muddock, the prolific author of mystery and horror stories, whose tales were as popular at the time as those of Conan Doyle, and "Burke", presumably Thomas Burke, who wrote popular stories about the Limehouse area of London.

John Pelan (1957-2021) was a knowledgeable author, editor, and publisher of small-press science fiction and weird and horror fiction.  He was the recipient of the International Horror Guild Award and the Stoker Award.

OVERLOOKED FILM: AGGIE APPLEBY, MAKER OF MEN (1933)

Aggie Appleby (Wynne Gibson, Night After Night, The Crosby Case, Double Cross) is a waitress at Nick's Restaurant.  She lives with Red Branahan (William Gargan, The Story of Temple Blake, Rain, Cheers for Miss Bishop; Gargan has also played fictional detectives Ellery Queen, Martin Kane, and Barrie Craig), but money is tight and Branahan gets arrested and thrown in jail.  Unable to pay her rent, Aggie goes to her friend, a housecleaner named Sybby (Zasu Pitts, No, No, Nanette, Ruggles of Red Gap, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, and about a zillion others).  Sybby sneaks Aggie into a room belonging to prissy Adoniram "Schlumpy" Schlump (Charles Farrell, 7th Heaven, Old Ironsides, Street Angel) Schlumpy is out of town so Aggie at least can= get some sleep.  Of course, Sch=lumpy comes home early and finds Aggie, but he's taken by her story and allows her to stay (he takes the sofa).  Schlumpy, despite his elevated social upbringing, is out of work; he is also in love with Evelyn (Betty Furness, Midshipman Jack, Dangerous Corner, They Wanted to Marry, later know as a spokesperson for Ge, a consumer affairs advocate, and the consumer affairs expert of NBC's Today show).  Aggie is kind at heart and decides to help Schlumpy.  As often happens in these films, Schlumpy falls in love with Aggie.  For her part, Aggie is worried about the class difference between the two...

Is lasting love in the cards for these two?  Watch the film and find out.

Directed by Mark Sandrich (The Gay Divorcee, Top Hat, Buck Benny Rides Again) and written by Humphrey Pearson (Bright Lights, Bride of the Regiment, On with the Show!) and Edward Kaufman (Hips, Hips, Hooray! Romance in Manhattan, McFadden's Flats).

Enjoy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ysk7nUuSx7s+