Golden Age Collection

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the bulk of my detective stories are in my vintage PB collection. Day Keene, Harry Whittington, Erle Stanley Gardner, and Cornell Woolrich all faves.

Wonderful collection, Pat.

They look great sitting on the shelves of your bookcase.

Here are a couple of Harry Parkhurst's Spicy Detective covers.

January 1935

May 1935

May 1935

 

 

I love the Spicey's! This is a nice one. Wish I had more. The contents are pretty racy as well. Irarely run into them any more...

Thanks for sharing BZ

As a latecomer to the boards, I just found and read this thread

Amazing stuff

Thanks for sharing BZ

 

As a latecomer to the boards, I just found and read this thread

 

Amazing stuff

I like to come back to this thread and reread the beginning every few months. That Adventure 40 makes my draw drop every time.

Thanks for sharing BZ

 

As a latecomer to the boards, I just found and read this thread

 

Amazing stuff

 

I like to come back to this thread and reread the beginning every few months. That Adventure 40 makes my draw drop every time.

That is an awesome book the Adventure 40

Thanks for sharing BZ

 

As a latecomer to the boards, I just found and read this thread

 

Amazing stuff

 

I like to come back to this thread and reread the beginning every few months. That Adventure 40 makes my draw drop every time.

Thanks, guys.

I'm pleased that you enjoy the thread.

 

 

I love the Spicey's! This is a nice one. Wish I had more. The contents are pretty racy as well. Irarely run into them any more...

Apparently Bob Dylan also likes them.

Did you ever notice that his 1986 album, Knocked Out Loaded's cover art was appropriated from the January 1939 issue of Spicy Adventure?

Cover illo by Harry Parkhurst

Apparently Bob Dylan also likes them.

 

Did you ever notice that his 1986 album, Knocked Out Loaded's cover art was appropriated from the January 1939 issue of Spicy Adventure?

 

 

 

Cover illo by Harry Parkhurst

I never knew that's where that cover art was from. Very cool!

I think Daughters of Doom would have made an even better album title.

Last week BB-Gun posted a scan of a Harry Parkhust illustration from a Black Bat story...

This is the cover to the July 1939 issue of Black Book Detective which is where the Black Bat made his first appearance.

Here's some background info about the character courtesy of Wikipedia:

The first Black Bat

He appeared in Black Bat Detective Mysteries, a short-lived pulp which saw six issues, all written by Murray Leinster (a pen-name of William Fitzgerald Jenkins), between 1933 and 1934. He was a man called Black Bat in the way Simon Templar was called the Saint; unlike the Simon Templar books, however, none of the Black Bat stories ever mentioned the character's real name.

The second Black Bat

In July 1939 Ned Pines' Thrilling Publications (also known as Standard or Better) introduced a new Black Bat in a series called Black Book Detective. Written mainly by Norman A. Daniels under the house name G. Wayman Jones, the stories describe the crime-fighting career of former District Attorney Anthony Quinn. In a clear departure from most pulp characters and heroes, this Black Bat has actually an origin story, describing how Quinn became the Black Bat after being blinded and disfigured by acid when trying to save evidence against Snate in court, an idea borrowed a few years later by DC Comics for the creation of both Doctor Mid-Nite and Batman villain Two-Face when D.A. Harvey Kent is disfigured by having acid thrown in his face (Detective Comics #66 August 1942. His name was later changed to Harvey Dent). Marvel later also had the blind lawyer who gained "super sight" and became Daredevil. The Black Bat left paper stickers of a bat stuck to his victims, so like The Spider before him (who used a blood red spider stencil on their foreheads), innocent people would not be blamed for their death, and other criminals would come to fear him.

The Black Bat and Batman

Both the Black Bat and Batman hit the newsstands around the same time, and both claimed that the other was a copy. The threat of lawsuits ended when DC editor Whitney Ellsworth intervened. Ellsworth had once worked for the Black Bat's publishers and brokered a deal that allowed both characters to co-exist peacefully. It is probable that the costumes of both characters were copied from the 1933/34 Black Bat series which featured costumed illustrations of the Black Bat inside the pulps though actually the "Black Bat" in the stories was indistinguishable from any other man in his choice of clothing. Batman creator Bob Kane always contended that the only bat-like man he had seen was the villain from the 1930 film, The Bat Whispers. However, the Black Bat did have a permanent influence on the Batman: chief Batman scribe Bill Finger called Kane's attention to the unique gauntlets the rival character wore. Subsequently, similar "fins" were added to Batman's gloves which remain to this day.

How the Black Bat got his abilities

In the first issue, DA Tony Quinn is blinded by acid thrown by a thug working for Oliver Snate, a crime lord, and believes his career is over until a mysterious woman arrives (Carol Baldwin). She tells him that her father is a small town policeman who is dying from a gangster's bullet and that a surgeon is willing to perform an operation to graft his corneas onto Tony Quinn's eyes so that he can see again. The operation is done in secret and when the bandages are removed four months later, Quinn finds that he can not only see normally but can even see perfectly in darkness too. While blind, Quinn had developed the necessary skills of the blind; sharper hearing, more sensitive touch, a better sense of smell, etc.

The other characters

Like many other crime fighters, Quinn is unhappy about all the criminals who slip through the law's net on legal technicalities, etc. and decides to work outside the law in another persona to bring them to justice, and so the Black Bat is born, with Quinn deciding to keep the role of a blind man and later acquires the title of "Special District Attorney". Con man, Norton "Silk" Kirby, a small time crook who had tried to rob Tony Quinn (when sighted) one night and had been persuaded to stay on as "officially" a valet and this continued after Quinn was blinded. His many criminal skills are a valuable asset to the Black Bat. Carol, a "resourceful and intelligent girl" who is already working undercover in a gang decides to work with Quinn on his secret crusade and last comes Jack "Butch" O'Leary who risked his life to save a crowd from machine gun fire. None too intelligent but completely loyal and "a hulking giant of a man who was never happier than when his fists were flying in defense of the law and in the aid of the Black Bat".

Quinn has a secret underground tunnel to a gatehouse at the rear of his house which leads to a quiet street, which he uses as the Black Bat. This is necessary not just because of criminals who want him dead but because of the police too as he works outside the law. Friend to Quinn, the bulky lieutenant, Captain McGrath (under Commissioner Warner) who is so honest he would turn in his own mother if she did something wrong is also enemy of the Black Bat. He suspects they are one and the same (same build, similar voice) and often tries to prove it, with tricks, even once having a doctor examine Quinn's eyes. While Quinn can see perfectly, he can also make his eyes appear like those of a blind person and even a doctor is fooled. Quinn usually turns the tables on McGrath, making him look foolish in his attempts to prove he is the Black Bat.

Editor's comment regarding the Black Bat

Illustrations by Harry Parkhurst

Is there any internet site where one can see scans of the interiors of these pulps?

Is there any internet site where one can see scans of the interiors of these pulps?

There are a bunch here: Link