Evan Lewis's Blog, page 105
July 24, 2022
July 23, 2022
In the Days of Davy Crockett: Part 1 - JIM BOWIE (1955)
This 24-part strip appeared in many newspapers during the Crockett Craze. I've seen it as early as May, 1955 and as late as December, and I'd be surprised if it didn't run in some places in 1956. Since Davy's life was getting a lot of play (including a longer running strip devoted just to him) they decided to focus on other heroes connected to him. Over the next three weeks we'll see sequences devoted to Sam Houston, William Barrett Travis and Andy Jackson.
Next Week: Sam Houston
July 19, 2022
DAVY CROCKETT, FRONTIERSMAN Comic Strip - Week 12 (1955)
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More next Tuesday . . .
July 17, 2022
July 16, 2022
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July 14, 2022
THE SHADOWED CIRCLE #3 - The Good Stuff just Keeps on Coming!
I continue to be impressed with the quality of this pulp journal—not only with the professional production values, but with the excellence of the articles. After all these years, you’d think the last word on the Shadow had already been laid down, but editor Steve Donoso continues to find new and essential material. It leaves me thinking—Jeez, how it is we never knew this stuff before? All concerned with this and the two previous issues are to be thanked and congratulated.
Issue Three leads off with with a bit of fine historical analysis from Albert J. Emery on why the Shadow and other heroes couldn’t prevent (or win) WWII for us. Now we know!
Todd Severin and Keith Holt continue their Shadowy history, shedding needed light on supporting characters, villains, editors, other publications, other scribes and the changing tastes of the public.
Will Murray takes us on a sentimental journey behind the scenes on the set of Alec Baldwin’s 1994 Shadow movie—no foolin’, it’s almost like being there.
Tim King reveals his detective work in solving the mystery of where Walter Gibson got his inspiration for Burbank.
Darby Kern begins an in-depth interview with Michael Uslan, who wrote Shadow comics before (and after) playing a vital part of in the comic book and film career of Batman.
Steve Novak challenges us to do a little detective work of our own and discover some of the sights on the mean streets the Shadow must have walked.
Editor Steve reviews a hard-to-resist volume, John Olsen’s The Shadow in Review.
And Tim Hewitt brings it home with a fascinating look at the mysteries surrounding the Canadian issues of the pulp magazine.
It’s another great package, with the promise of more to come. Keep it up, guys. You’re doing the Shadow proud!
July 13, 2022
The SPIDER Returns! "Scourge of the Scorpion" by Will Murray!
Will Murray’s new thrill-packed adventure of the Spider will be different things to different people—and a kick in the pants for them all.
If you’ve read the classic pulp novels of the Octopus and the Scorpion, you’ll be one big step ahead of the Spider as he struggles to solve the mysteries of who’s who and what roles they play in the latest plague threatening New York City.
If you haven’t read those oldies, no problem! You and the Spider will starting fresh, discovering everything you need to know about everyone involved, and be surprised at a few plot twists those in the first group will be expecting.
Either way, there are plenty of other surprises, and other mysteries to solve. And you can rely upon the Spider—and Mr. Will Murray—to solve them with blazing hot .45s.
It’s bad news for the Big Apple when the centuries-old Cult of the Purple Eyes rises again, turning citizens into madmen intent on tearing each other limb from limb. As Richard Wentworth’s closest associates—Nita Van Sloan, the deadly Ram Singh and faithful servant Jackson—are drawn into this growing peril, he must fight to save their lives, along with millions of others.
Into the mix comes a fellow socialite named Jeffrey Fairchild, a sketchy old man called Dr. Skull, a ruthless vigilante knows as the Skull-Killer, and a criminal mastermind calling himself the Scorpion. All of them have secrets. Who can Wentworth trust? And what does the Scorpion hope to accomplish from all this death and destruction?
Mr. Murray is in fine form on this one. Here are a few of the many great lines that caught my eye:
Beneath a hatchet nose, lips split in a rictus of death, revealing gleaming white canines that would have given Count Dracula an exquisite stab of envy.
Two guns blasted in unison, turning the man’s rib cage into something found on the floor of a slaughterhouse.
Fairchild’s automatic barked and turned another half around before he collapsed into a sagging pile of meat.
Like dropped leather gloves, dead bats lay everywhere.
The powerful weapons bucked and smoked. Tongues of fire leapt from the steel muzzles. First one, then the other of the riflemen were knocked off their feet and hurled into eternity.
[Ram Singh] took out a handkerchief and used it to polish the kirpan’s blade, taking care to avoid the edge, whose sharpness was such that if a butterfly were to alight upon it, the insect would unwittingly bisect itself…
Who can resist stuff like that? Nobody! Get yourself a copy of Scourge of the Scorpion, and help the Spider save the day—again!
July 12, 2022
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July 11, 2022
Pulp Gallery: LARIAT
1948
1947
1948
1948
1950
