In 1914 a character appeared who would permanently transform
popular fiction. Frank Packard's Gray Seal melded elements from A. J. Raffles,
Jimmy Valentine, the Scarlet Pimpernel, and Arsène Lupin, but those traits were
combined with an entirely new concept: the gifted young man who conceals his
identity behind a mask to fight crime in the big city. It had never been done
before and it's never stopped being done since. Jimmie Dale, the high society
millionaire behind the Gray Seal persona, helped to launch the hero pulp boom
of the 1930s and was a direct influence on the Green Hornet, the Spider, the
Phantom, and especially The Shadow. The Gray Seal template was adopted by the
comic book industry as well, and well into the Twenty-first Century continues
to appear there, on television, and in the movies. And now, for the first time
ever the complete Jimmie Dale saga is being reprinted in a set of authoritative
editions. The personal papers of Gray Seal creator Frank Packard have been
consulted for this project, along with various unpublished works of fiction by
him that add further insight to the series. Also, a detailed chronology has
been established for the novels so they can be considered in their proper
historical setting. The definitive Gray Seal collection is finally here,
beginning with the novel that forever changed adventure fiction - and the
larger world of popular entertainment.
The Complete Adventures of Jimmie Dale (Pulp Fiction)
By Frank L. Packard
Edited by Michael Howard
Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN # 978-1986848992
Price $17.99 (Paperback)
381 Pages
Rating 4-Stars
The Complete
Adventures of Jimmie Dale in two Parts: Part One – The Man In The Case (eleven
novelettes); Part Two – The Woman In The Case (sixteen short stories).
Part One: #1) The Gray Seal, in which we learn all about Jimmie
Dale and The Gray Seal, plus, it appears that a young man has stolen money from
his boss that should have been put in the safe. It’s up to Jimmie to make the
theft look like the work of The Gray Seal, for the boy’s wife lies ill, in need
of medications. 2) The Proxy, in which a police official claims to have found a
murder victim of The Gray Seal, and will turn over the murderer shortly for the
huge reward the newspapers have offered. #3) The Mother Lode, an old miner down
on his luck, a crooked financier, and a diamond necklace worth a quarter
million dollars, if real. It’s up to the Gray Seal to put things right. 4) The
Counterfeit Five, has Secret Service Kline after the gang of counterfeiters. They’ve
stolen a cracked printing plate from the government, which was supposed to be
destroyed, and blaming a young man from the Mint, the gang started printing out
counterfeit fives. The Gray Seal had to catch the real culprit with the goods
in order to clear the young man, and escape the clutches of the greatest secret
service agent in the government. 5) The Affair of The Pushcart Man is an odd
affair. Jimmie is still hiding in his sanctum, with Secret Service agents
watching the area. They think The Gray Seal may still be in the house, for
that’s where he disappeared in the last story. Unable to go home as Jimmie
Dale, he goes as Larry the Bat to burgle his Riverside mansion and obtain money
to live off of while disguised as the Bat. Plus, there is another letter from
the mysterious woman, ordering him on another job. Known as the Pushcart Man,
the fellow has a string of diamonds worth fifteen thousand dollars hidden under
his pillow, and the Skeeter gang learned of this and plan to rob and kill the
old man. The Gray Seal must steal the diamonds in front of eyewitnesses, to
insure the gang believes the diamonds are now gone, and will leave the old man
alone. 6) Devil’s Work has The Gray Seal first chasing two pickpockets. His
mysterious woman friend has left him another envelope as he’s leaving the
theater, but the pickpocket gets the letter and his wallet, and now knows the
identity of the Gray Seal. Trailing them to Chinatown, a fight between the two
smalltime hoods ends in one’s death, but allows Jimmy to get the envelope and
wallet back. Now, he learns what his new assignment is. A bank has been robbed
of $100,000.00, and the blame placed on an ex-con. 7) The Thief is a young man
who is forced to steal rubies from his employer to give to a jewel fence because
he was set up in a frame, thinking he had murdered someone. But The Gray Seal
knows everything. In fact, his mysterious contact has given him a name, perhaps
by accident, and he calls her Tocsin, French for alarm. Sonnes
le Tocsin, sound the alarm! 8) The Man Higher Up is running a criminal
organization, but has signed a statement naming all his men and locked it
safely in his safe against any attempt to eliminate him. This is what The Gray
Seal wants, to send to the DA to prosecute them, but he’s almost caught and
killed in a shoot-out, but saved by Tocsin while in a dizzy condition. 9) Two
Crooks And A Knave has The Gray Seal intervening in crooks trying to steal the
map to a rich mine owned by a deceased man whose wife is destitute. But there
is a double-cross going on that almost catches Jimmie unawares. 10) The Alibi
is a curious story. Larry the Bat accidently loses his burglary tools, and a
crook finds the kit. He tells a detective he knows who The Gray Seal is, and
will identify him with the detective’s help. In the meantime, Tocsin has left
Jimmie another assignment, and it brings them all together in the end. 11) The
Stool Pigeon – an old man is killed for his savings, and one of the Bowery
regulars is framed for the murder, but The Gray Seal, as Larry the Bat becomes
a Stool Pigeon to help set the record straight.
Part Two: #1 Below The Dead Line is chaos. Someone is following
Larry the Bat. He enters Chang Foo’s opium den, then a police raid. Escaping,
he finds a bar, only to encounter gunshots and riot, then blackness as lights
are extinguished. Suddenly, an envelope is thrusts into his hands and Tocsin’s
voice from the darkness. She needs his help. #2) The Call To Arms. Jimmy takes
a taxi driven by an agent of Tocsin, but they are intercepted, and a car
crashes. 3) The Crime Club. When Jimmie awakes he is in a strange house a
prisoner of the Crime Club. 4) The Innocent Bystander: Questioned and
threatened with death, Jimmy claims his innocence even with possible death
staring him in the face. 5) On Guard: He’s released, but not sure why. 6) The
Trap: Discovering his home is being watched he can do nothing at present. 7)
The “Hour”: Jimmy works out a plan, hides in the sedan as Benson drives into
town. 8) The Tocsin: She is finally identified as dead millionaire, Peter
LaSalle’s daughter, Marie La Salle. 9) The Tocsin’s Story: Her father and uncle
were murdered, and she was to be next. Jimmy learns of the five years Marie
LaSalle has been forced to hide, living in the badlands where she has discovered
small crimes she passed on to The Gray Seal. 10) Silver Mag: Marie is known in
the badlands as Silver Mag. 11) The Magpie: Slimmy Joe, the Magpie, has a plan
to steal half a million from the man who murdered Marie’s father. 12) John
Johansson – four-two-eight: Jimmie enters Spider Jack’s, but too late to get
the evidence against the Crime Club. 13) The Only Way: Jimmie must enter the
mansion and kill the murderer. 14) Out of The Darkness: The safe reveals
little, but now he has found the Crime Club. 15) Retribution: The Magpie and
Crime Club members shoot it out. 16) “Death To The Gray Seal!”: Magpie alerts
the underworld to Larry the Bat’s duel role as the Gray Seal. He and Marie are
caught in Larry the Bat’s room with the building set fire, and the cry, “Death
to the Gray Seal!”
Thus, supposedly ends the Crime Club and the Gray Seal. But the
series would continue in the pulps and four more books.
The Gray Seal was the son of a safe manufacturer, and could open
any safe. Wearing a black domino mask and black slouch hat, he would leave a
gray seal at all the scenes of his crimes to mock the police. He always
returned the loot. It was just excitement and adventure he was after. He had a
secret Sanctuary in the badlands, where he stayed at times as Larry the Bat. A
mysterious woman discovers his identity and uses the information to force him
to stop crimes by others. That woman would eventually be identified as Marie
LaSalle, but he only knew her as Tocsin for most of the early stories. She also
lived in the badlands, as Silver Mag. They are in love. Jimmie Dale, the Gray
Seal, was one of the earliest masked crime fighters. Even Johnston McCulley
would draw a lot from the Gray Seal for many of his masked heroes and gentleman
crooks. The stories are dated, but a lot of fun, and you can see the influence
in The Shadow’s Sanctum, and Doc Savage’s Fortress of Solitude. This edition
was published July 2018, and edited by Michael Howard, and is well worth the
price. Listed as Volume One, Michael Howard plans on reprinting the rest of the
volumes. It is good having the series back in print. My only complaint is the
print of the text is too light, and would help if darker. Plus, the editor
includes footnotes to the story, but here the text is not only too light, but the
print is too small for old eyes to read. The footnotes do no good if we can’t
read them, and I wanted to read them, but could not. Highly recommended.
Tom
Johnson
Author
of THE COBRA
