Sunday, January 6, 2019

Complete Adventures of The Domino Lady

“Compliments of the Domino Lady!” In order to avenge the murder of her father, socialite Ellen Patrick donned a domino mask, an evening dress and packed a .45. Running for six rare stories in mid-1930s pulp magazines, these stories remain elusive. Now, these are collected in an affordable edition, complemented by an all-new Afterword by pulp historian Tom Johnson.


Complete Adventures of The Domino Lady (Pulp Reprint)
By Lars Anderson
Altus Press www.altuspress.com
ISBN #978-1618273581
Price $19.95
176 Pages
Rating 5-Stars

This beautiful volume produced by ALTUS PRESS reprints the complete run of six issues of this popular pulp heroine; only the second masked heroine to fight crime on her own merits. Yes, there were several women detectives in the pulps, as well as the women who fought beside their men, like The Spider’s Nita Van Sloan, or The Shadow’s Mira Reldon, etc. In this volume are: The Domino Lady Collects; The Domino Lady Doubles Back; The Domino Lady’s Handicap; Emeralds Aboard; Black Legend; and The Domino Lady’s Double. The exciting cover is from the November 1936 issue of Mystery Adventure Magazine, which contained The Domino Lady’s Double.

The Domino Lady is in reality, a young socialite named Ellen Patrick. When her father, District Attorney Owen Patrick is murdered, Ellen dons a black domino mask and goes after the criminals of the city. She’s smart, sexy, and carries a .45 automatic, and a syringe containing a knockout serum.

The six novelettes have interesting plots, and Ellen Patrick follows in the footsteps of Johnston McCulley’s The Masked Lady from 1921, the first woman to wear a mask and evening dress to go after criminals more than a decade before The Domino Lady. Personally, I don’t know why The Domino Lady wasn’t given her own magazine, and a longer run? The stories were a lot of fun. New pulp authors have certainly carried her over in modern day pulpy action, though they have her jumping in bed with any and everyone. They really need to read the original stories to get a real feel for the character. With this collection it is possible to finally read the series in one setting, and I highly recommend this book to pulp fans, and future Domino Lady scribes. Now you can read the real Domino Lady.

Tom Johnson

Author of The Man In The Black Fedora

2 comments:

  1. Tom,

    Good review of this new book. I have the Steranko cover art version of the original Domino Lady stories and it has been an invaluable resource in my writing new adventures for this fine character.
    I try to keep my Domino Lady as original as possible. No karate, no shootouts or car chases; but what my stories lack in action I make up for in champagne and bubble baths.
    I see Domino Lady as an infiltrator. She picks a target and goes after him using all her feminine wiles and powers of seduction, not to mention her stunning good looks.
    If you get a chance take a look at my stories in the Airship 27 anthologies.
    Thanks for all your wonderful research over the years. Your pulp companion books are essential references in my writing.

    Having just undergone my second cataract surgery, I certainly appreciate how precious our eyesight is. I can only imagine how terrible it would be to be forced to limit one of my greatest pleasures; reading. My thoughts are with you. Good luck and Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I didn't know this came out so recently!

    ReplyDelete