The Executioner Comic Book

Here is The Executioner comic book #1, just one item of over 2000 (paperbacks, hardbacks & Digests magazines) that I have for trade from duplicates I've accumulated over the years. Although I am mainly interested in SF Digest magazines, there are a number of paperbacks, hardbacks. and comic books I am interested in. However, in comic books I'm looking for Classic Illustrated. Anyone wishing to see my lists of swaps, send a private email to blackghost@srcaccess.net and put Swap List in the Heading. I would like to see what you have to offer also. I have over 2000 comic books also, but they are not cataloged yet.

Return Of The Shadow

In 1964, the US Army sent me and other soldiers to an Air Base in Turkey during a NATO Exercise - during the Cypress Crises. At the time I was reading spy novels, but had just got hooked on Edgar Rice Burroughs. A friend thought I would be interested in a certain paperback on the rack at the AFB Stars & Stripes store. That paperback was Walter B. Gibson's "The Return of The Shadow", and my friend was correct. I was instantly a fan of The Shadow from that point on. This is the cover of that very paperback I bought at the Stars & Stripes, still in my book collection. I understand that Tony Tollin, of Sanctum Books, will be reprinting this lost gem in 2012, with interior artwork this time by Mike Kaluta. I will probably buy the new edition, but that old Stars & Stripe purchase will always be on my bookshelf.

The Shadow From Jove

Here is The Wealth Seeker reprint from Jove Books. The cover is by Jim Steranko. A shame this paperback series didn't last longer. The Steranko covers were masterpieces of art. There was also a series of Tops Trading Cards released with Steranko's Shadow covers. Again, I wish there had been more. Here is Tops #L 9.

The Dangerous Corpse

"The Dangerous Corpse" is the basic plot Norman Daniels used for the missing 1953 Black Bat novel, "The Celebrity Murders". Read The Black Bat Companion for more information on this story that ended up as a paperback after the Black Bat series ended. Now available at Altus Press www.altuspress.com/ and Amazon.

The Black Bat Companion

The Black Bat Companion by Tom Johnson is now available from Altus Press http://www.altuspress.com/ and Amazon. This is a huge research book covering the series of the popular pulp character that ran from 1939 to 1953 in Black Book Detective. Lots of information revealed on the authors and missing stories, as well as the German stories. Visit Altus Press, or order the book from Amazon.

Dark Lake - Review

Dark Lake (Mystery)

By Louise Gaylord

ISBN #978-0984144198

Little Moose Press

191 Pages

Price $16.16

Rating: 4-Stars

“Well-written and smooth reading!”

Allie Armington, Houston lawyer and private investigator, returns to the Adirondacks for the summer festivities with her family, but upon arrival finds murder instead of pleasure. Her favorite aunt is lying face down in water, and her cousin is hooked on Meth. The town fathers don’t want unwelcome attention to hamper the festival, and force the authorities to declare the death a suicide. Allie is determined to prove it’s murder, and to bring the guilty party to justice.

This novel was so smooth, and easy to read, I was at the end before I knew it. It’s a very nice story as well, but weak as a murder mystery. Allie really does nothing to solve the case, except walk around wondering who the murderer is, and who can she trust. I knew the killer as soon as the person was introduced, and figured out the set up, but not why it was necessary to kill Allie’s aunt. The police are pathetic, most under the control of the town fathers, one just wanting to bed Allie. At the end of the story, she merely asks the murderer why he killed her aunt, and he confesses. So much for great detective work. For the readers, the killer explains everything to us. The police arrive to make the arrest, and the local town folks thank Allie for solving the crime, though the police likely knew by then.

The reader won’t be challenged in this mystery, but it is well worth the few hours of reading pleasure they will get from such a well-written story.

Captain Satan

Captain Satan was a short-lived pulp hero series from Popular Publications, only lasting for five issues. Written by William O'Sullivan, it featured a Robin Hood type, young rich man about town, who robbed from crooks. However, instead of giving to the poor, he divided the spoils between himself and a strange assortment of assistants. Oddly, except for his lieutenant, Slim, some of the aides disappeared after only one or two appearances. An F.B.I. agent suspected who Satan really was, but never caught him.