Created by Robert Reeves (1912-45) Reminescent at times of Frank Gruber and Norbert Davis, Robert Reeves is one of those pulpsters whose work has been sadly forgotten, making his CELLINI SMITH one of the great lost eyes of the era. In his first appearance, in Dead and Done For (1939), we meet Cellini, a young … Continue reading Cellini Smith
Tag: Black Mask
My Bookshelf: Four-&-Twenty Bloodhounds, edited by Anthony Boucher
My Bookshelf Four-&-Twenty Bloodhounds, edited and with introductions by Anthony Boucher This early anthology (1950) from the Mystery Writers of America may have seemed to be just the usual grab bag of stories from all across the genre, and indeed the cover of the original hard cover edition promised short stories "of fictional detectives... … Continue reading My Bookshelf: Four-&-Twenty Bloodhounds, edited by Anthony Boucher
They Also Served: The Men and Women Behind the Mask
"A Magazine of Mystery, Romance and Adventure." -- The Black Mask's first slogan The Black Mask (the "the" was dropped in 1926), founded in 1920, was aimed squarely at the cheap seats, printed on paper so rough the pages sometimes sported splinters. It was intended as a quick, money-making side project by journalist H. L. … Continue reading They Also Served: The Men and Women Behind the Mask
They Also Served: George Sutton
EDITOR OF BLACK MASK Although editor Joseph T. "Cap" Shaw gets most of the attention for making Black Mask magazine what it was, it was actually GEORGE W. SUTTON, JR., the pulp's second editor, succeeding F.M. Osborne, who turned the boat around. And just in time, too, because in the pulp's first few years, the emphasis … Continue reading They Also Served: George Sutton
Jo Gar
Created by Ramon Decolta Pseudonym of Raoul Whitfield Other pseudonyms include Temple Field (1896-1945) "You are sure of something. That is bad -- one should never be sure." -- Jo-Gar in "West of Guam" Diminutive, with short arms, narrow shoulders, stubby fingers and greying hair that make him appear older than he is, polite and … Continue reading Jo Gar
Burton Combs (real name unknown)
Created by Carroll John Daly (1889-1958) "I ain't a crook; just a gentleman adventurer and make my living working against the law breakers. Not that work I with the police -- no, not me. I'm no knight errant either." Carroll John Daly's short story, "The False Burton Combs," which appeared in the December 1922 issue … Continue reading Burton Combs (real name unknown)
They Also Served: Joseph “Cap” Shaw
EDITOR OF BLACK MASK (1926-36) "Shaw was the finest coachwhip I ever met in an editor's chair. In my thirty-five years of freelance fiction, no one stands out so."-- Lester Dent, in a letter to Philip Durham "We wrote better for him than we could have written for anybody else."-- Raymond Chandler, in a letter … Continue reading They Also Served: Joseph “Cap” Shaw
My Bookshelf: The Hardboiled Dicks
My Bookshelf The Hardboiled Dicks, edited by Ron Goulart An absolute essential for anyone who loves this stuff, Ron Goulart's 1965 The Hardboiled Dicks (my 1967 paperback reprint is the one pictured above) was one of the first collections of hard-boiled detective fiction from the thirties and forties crime and detective pulps, preceded by only … Continue reading My Bookshelf: The Hardboiled Dicks
My Bookshelf: The Hard-Boiled Omnibus by Joseph T. “Cap” Shaw
My Bookshelf The Hard-Boiled Omnibus: Early Stories from Black Mask, edited by Joseph T. "Cap" Shaw Is there a more pivotal collection of stories from Black Mask than The Hard-Boiled Omnibus? Published by Simon and Schuster in 1946, this almost mythical hardcover featured fifteen stories selected by editor Joseph T. "Cap" Shaw (1874-1952), who had … Continue reading My Bookshelf: The Hard-Boiled Omnibus by Joseph T. “Cap” Shaw
Oscar Sail
Created by Lester Dent (1905-1959) When not busy churning out most of the 181 Doc Savage adventures under the Kenneth Robeson pseudonym, prolific pulpster Lester Dent could produce wild and wacky hard-boiled dicks with the best of them, including Lynn Lash, Lee Nace (The Blond Adder), Foster Fade (The Crime Spectacularist) and Click Rush (The Gadget Man). … Continue reading Oscar Sail