The Black Bat's War

In order to fill the time while waiting for new Black Bat material to come down the pike, I recently bought the kindle version of The Black Bat's War by Tom Johnson.

I'd seen the story mentioned in a few places but being that its title is consistent with many of the Black Book Detective tales from 1940 and 1941 (such as The Black Bat's Crusade and The Black Bat's Justice), I mistakenly thought "War" was a reprint from that era. Crediting G. Wayman Jones, the house name used back in the 40's in lieu of Norman Daniels and the various writers that contributed to Bat stories for Black Book Detective, on the cover for Triple Detective did little to convince me otherwise.

In fact, the story was written by Tom Johnson. Johnson has a fair amount of history with the character. His is the most prominent name on the Black Bat Companion book by Altus Press, as it should be since he's responsible for the bulk of its content.

And unless I'm mistaken, Johnson published and edited Double Danger Tales from the late 90's to the early 00's. DDT magazine promised "your favorite pulp heroes in exciting new adventures as well as the adventures of all new heroes in the classic pulp tradition."

And several of those adventures were Black Bat adventures. I haven't finished reading The Black Bat's War yet but Johnson's appreciation for, and knowledge of, the character is quite evident. Extra points for heavy usage of the supporting cast, including Commissioner Warner.

Here's the pitch for War:

In the trenches of war-torn Germany, soldiers were dying from the medicines they received for their wounds. The Army generals blamed America for the bad drugs, yet nothing could be done until the source of the deadly medicine was uncovered and replaced with good drugs. While investigators are stymied, The Black Bat and his team of crime fighters take up the challenge in New York, uncovering a giant plot by a master criminal. But would they be in time to save brave young soldiers dying of their wounds in a far off No-Man’s Land?

Unfortunately, a few typos and errors have found their way into the tale. A number of times, the number "1" replaces either a capital "I" or a small "L". For example, "Very Important Person" is abbreviated to "V1P" as opposed to "VIP". A very minor thing, but distracting when it happens. I suspect that a font change during reproduction made those instances more glaring than they were in the original document.

Johnson also adds (I believe) a specific behavioural trait to The Black Bat. I won't say what it is so that it doesn't stick out if people read the story after reading this post about it. It's something I don't recall The Black Bat doing in the Black Book Detective stories I've read, but he does it a few times in this story. It seems a touch out of place as a result, but I acknowledge that it could very well be something he came to do regularly and I just haven't gotten far enough in his adventures to know.

Neither of the above points should be viewed as major criticisms. The story is quite enjoyable and a welcome addition to the collection. It reads very much like an original Bat story.

You can order the above book from Altus Press by clicking on the cover image, or download the kindle version from this page. Some of the other Black Bat stories that have appeared in Double Danger Tales are included in volumes one through three of Tales of Mask and Mayhem.

Johnson recently released another story involving The Black Bat. It probably won't be long until I purchase that one as well and I'll discuss it further at that time but it was a nice surprise to stumble into.