Volumes 3 and 4 of Sanctum Reprints Coming Soon!

Sanctum Books' plans to reprint the original Black Bat stories appear to be proceeding nicely although there is an odd aspect to the two next releases.

Much of the information below is lifted from the Pulp Coming Attractions page.

THE BLACK BAT  Volume 4: "Black Bat's Crusade" & The Black Bat's Flame Trail" 

The Nemesis of Crime returns in classic pulp novels by Norman A. Daniels and The Spider's Norvell Page.

First, voodoo drums sound in cities across the nation as a wave of mysterious murders fueled by ancient magic takes a terrifying toll in "The Black Bat's Crusade," edited by future Batman editors Mort Weisinger and Jack Schiff!

Then, "The Black Bat's Flame Trail" leads to a sinister arsonist who wields a deadly torch of terror as New York tenements burn.

Plus, The Mask returns in an illustrated adventure from Nedor's Exciting Comics #4. 

Softcover, 7x10, 128 pages, B&W    $14.95 

THE BLACK BAT  Volume 3: "Captains of Death" & The Black Bat's Spy Trail" 

Sanctum Books presents two espionage thrillers showcasing the cowled superhero written by Norman A. Daniels!

First, with the outbreak of World War II, foreign spies flood the United States to challenge the Nemesis of Crime in "The Black Bat's Spy Trail," edited by future Batman editors Mort Weisinger and Jack Schiff!

Then, a rogue Nazi agent offers former District Attorney Tony Quinn a deal he can't refuse in "Captains of Death."

Plus, The Mask returns in a rare 1940 illustrated classic from Nedor's Exciting Comics #3. 

Softcover, 7x10, 128 pages, B&W    $14.95

The peculiar thing is that Pulp Coming Attractions displays a tentative release period for #4 of "late April", but #3 is said to be "coming soon". Odd that they'd have a clearer picture of the release timing of the second of their next two issues. I assume PCA got the information from Sanctum directly.

Whatever. Sanctum's schedule appears to be more or less monthly so it's probably safe to assume that #3 will hit shelves around the middle or end of March.

Altus still leads the reprint race 12-8. ;-)

Guns Of The Black Bat #2 Solicitation

From Moonstone's June 2016 solicitations:

GUNS OF THE BLACK BAT # 2 

Writer: Ron Fortier
Art: Silvestre Szilagyi
Cover: Michael Stribling
32pgs, grayscale, $3.50 

UPC: 685239899085
UPC (variant): 685239899092 

Someone has poisoned Manhattan’s water supply and is turning both humans and animals in to de-evolved monsters and beasts. Only the Black Bat and his assembled team, Phantom Detective, Domino Lady, I.V. Frost and Nighthawk, can hope to stem the nightmare tide and save their city before it is too late. 

RETAILER INCENTIVE: If you purchase 3 or more of Guns of the Black Bat #2, you can purchase a variant…AND you get one variant free!

We'd seen the regular cover quite some time ago (though I believe at the time it was said to be the cover for the third issue) but it looks great with the header. And the variant follows the close-up style used for the first issue.

"Ready for some more Moonstone Black Bat?"

Moonstone Books' monthly newsletter was issued earlier today. Since Moonstone has had a number of Black Bat projects in the works, there's always a sense of anticipation when it arrives.

The February newsletter did mention The Black Bat a fair bit, but unfortunately it was a little light on details. It made reference to two hardcover books; the recently-released The Black Bat Returns and a reprint of the "Return Of The Originals" version. All right.

Then the "Moonstone News" section displays four headlines, two of which involve The Black Bat.

The second issue of The Guns of the Black Bat by Ron Fortier & Silvestre Szilagyi in PREVIEWS magazine! 

The BLACK BAT & PURPLE SCAR

original graphic novel by Ron Fortier & Rob Davis

Great! But...That's it. No images, no release date...One assumes that both are scheduled for May since one of the other books mentioned in this section (Domino Lady: Threesome) was also said to appear in Previews magazine. Presumably Moonstone is referring to the same issue of Previews.

But in the meantime, the following image appeared on the Black Bat Facebook page:

"Ready for some more Moonstone Black Bat?"

Uhm...yes.

Still nothing on the Black Bat / Domino Lady book but that may not be a terrible thing. Much like Dynamite went a bit overboard when they began publishing The Green Hornet books, you don't want to release a boatload of series at the same time and compete against yourself for dollars.

So if Moonstone wants to average a Black Bat book a month or so, between Guns, Purple Scar, Domino Lady and the occasional prose project, we'll take it.

Over to you, Dynamite.

Recent Page Updates

No specific news about Black Bat appearances to report at this time, just some updates to a couple of pages that regular visitors (if such a thing exists for this blog) may have missed.

Originally, I was hopeful of finding a couple of dozen covers or so to display from the German Black Bat novels that were published in the 60s and 70s.

I have been far more successful than anticipated. As I write this, there are 38 uploaded onto the "German version" page located under the banner and I have more than 50 more squirreled away on my hard drive waiting to be cleaned up and added.

If nothing else, It's interesting to see the styles change over the years. The first few are very colourful and flamboyant. They get darker over time and for a while, many included only an outline of the Bat's face over the scene of a crime. You can get a feel for that even from the small sample size currently posted.

There quite a few on which the Black Bat doesn't appear at all, making me question if he's even the subject of the story. Even if he is, I may not bother including those ones. Or if they are included, they'll be among the last ones posted.

I also finished the Moonstone Covers page, including solicitation material for books that were never released.

Though disappointing at the time, I think it can now be considered a blessing in disguise. Moonstone's first attempt at publishing new Black Bat material was rather poor. Their take on the character bore little resemblance to the source material. He wasn't particularly likeable on any level. But the various projects that Moonstone has planned for 2016, both prose and comic format, seem to be on the right track.