Tuesday, October 10, 2017

The Adventures of The Scarlet Shroud

"Let Evil Beware... The Scarlet Shroud!" ... He appears like a wraith, stalking the darkness. Emerging from mist to strike fear in the hearts of criminals, The Scarlet Shroud brings justice to New York's deadliest villains! Aided by inventor Miles Hawkins, and his other ally and pilot, Takeshi Harada, Assistant D.A. Alexander Holt wields various gas and smoke devices, along with a pair of blazing .45's, to battle the forces of evil... The creative team of Chris and William Carney bring you a new action hero in the tradition of The Shadow, The Spider and The Phantom Detective. This is the first-ever anthology of four stories starring The Scarlet Shroud, including three stories never before published!


The Adventures of The Scarlet Shroud (New Pulp Mystery)
By Chris & William Carney
Wild Cat Books www.wildcatbooks.com
ISBN #978-0981081706
Price $11.95
174 Pages
Rating 4-Stars

This book contains four stories: Dark Night of The Leaper, Bitter Night of The Dynamo, Day of The Vengeful Viper, and The Evening of Reflections. Both brothers contribute to the writing, Chris & William Carney, and the interior art is mostly by William, while the cover is by both, I believe. Plus, the interior art is all action, which is really pleasing to see.
         The first story, Dark Night of The Leaper features a crook dressed like the British crook of legend, Spring-Heeled Jack, who shows super-human strength and great leaping ability. He’s after money and jewels, and now one of his victims has died, so it’s time The Scarlet Shroud puts a stop to his robberies.
         Bitter Night of The Dynamo features a killer dressed like the Michelin Man with a machine that shoots lightening bolts at victims. He and his minions are trying to bring one of the richest men in the world down after what he did to the fiancĂ© of his daughter.
         Next up is Day of The Vengeful Viper. Returning from prison, mob boss Luca Malatesta, known as The Viper, wants vengeance over the other mob bosses for their part in causing his imprisonment. He captures Miles Hawkins who had once served a prison term, and The Viper knew he was genius in chemistry and other sciences. He wants Miles to create a poisonous vapor that he can bring to a meeting of the mob and wipe them out, since no weapons will be allowed in the room. It’s up to The Shroud to find his aide before he’s murdered by the Viper.
         The final story, The Evening of Reflections, is merely a reflection of the past. Alexander Holt has Hannah Salem, the reporter up to his apartment for dinner and romance; Takeshi serves their wine; and Miles works on the contraption Spring-Heeled Jack used to enhance his strength and leaping ability. Meanwhile Detective Alphonse goes over all the reports filed on The Scarlet Shroud and comes up with a name.
         Over all the three regular stories were fun; the fourth just a look back more or less. The characters were interesting. Though advertised as a Shadow, Spider, and Phantom Detective clone, I thought it more loosely matched The Black Bat and Green Hornet. The interior art was filled with action, and well drawn by William Carney. The cover also was very nice, also drawn and colored by the Carney brothers. There was a bit too much profanity in the story, which wasn’t needed, but I enjoyed the characters and stories, and highly recommend it to New Pulp readers.

Tom Johnson
Author of GUNS OF THE BLACK GHOST


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