Behind The Mask by Tom Johnson

According to Pulp Coming Attractions...

An anthology series by Tom Johnson returns in Kindle format in early February with Volume One. Right now only four issues are planned between February and July.

Behind The Mask was an anthology series that ran from the late 80's to about 2005, I believe. It reprinted pulp stories from the genre's heyday.

That is not quite the case with this edition, at least not with this first issue.  Murder Under The Big Top, unless Mr. Johnson used the exact name twice for some reason, is a Black Bat story of his that has found its way into a number of anthology books.

If you're into detective books, I probably don't have to announce which pulp character appears in The Masked Detective's Deadly Trail story (here's a clue, just in case: He's a detective and he wears a mask).

The Skull Killer is a Purple Scar story, while Fangs Of Death and The Legend are short stories. It is difficult to comment on Fangs without ruining it a bit so I won't, and I believe The Legend is a Tom Johnson original creation.

Might there be more material of interest to Black Bat fans in future releases? Absolutely. Tom Johnson has written several stories featuring The Black Bat. Mind you, he's written many stories NOT featuring the Black Bat, too, so perhaps the masked nemesis of crime gets bumped so I guess there are no guarantees. But we'll be watching.

Here's what we might get (and most, if not all of them, have been covered here to some degree):

The Black Bat's 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? 

City Of Phantoms / Guns Of Vengeance: When an old case resurfaces, the world's greatest detective is pulled back into a new battle with a deadly enemy, while ex-fighting district attorney Tony Quinn's lovely secretary, Carol Baldwin is kidnapped by a vicious mob, hoping to force the prosecution to drop its case against their boss. Two champions of justice meet in a race against time!

There are a couple of other Black Bat stories by Tom Johnson for which I need clarification. They are The Black Bat's Crisis (1995) and Crimson Harvest (1999).

Some of these stories have changed names since being written. The Black Bat's War above, for example, was originally known as Drugs Of Destruction. So it may be that I've already read them under a different name without knowing it. If not, I hope the second coming of BTM provides the opportunity.

Another New Page: Reprint Resource

When Sanctum Books began reprinting the original Black Bat stories from Black Book Detective, someone commenting on the announcement on Facebook said something along the lines of "why those stories?"

My initial interpretation of that comment was the poster thought the stories sucked but in clarifying later, he explained that those stories had already been reprinted plenty of times and are still accessible now, so why bother?

Fair point. To that end, I've completed a little project that I've been meaning to get to for some time; a page to assist those looking for the original stories.

The "Reprint Resource" page is at the top right, just under the banner. For now it includes the three publishers (that I'm aware of) actively reproducing the material, being Altus Press, Adventure House and Sanctum Books.

It was a fun exercise and I learned a few things while doing it.

• I was surprised to find that aside from the Brand Of The Black Bat origin, no other story has been reprinted by all three publishers. It's just a matter of time until that changes, however, as each continues to add to its respective catalog. Still, I expected a bit more overlap.
• There are two stories called The Murder Prophet. I don't know how the hell I didn't pick up on this before since both covers are on the Black Book Detective page. The first, from 1942, was not written by Black Bat creator and primary author Norman Daniels but the second, from 1947, was. At first I wondered if the earlier story had simply been used a second time but evidently not. Judging from the brief synopsis in The Black Bat Companion, they are vastly different tales with an identical title. Strange.
• While it may seem like the majority of the Black Book Detective stories have been reprinted, these three publishers combine for about half of them. The last dozen or so have yet to be made available.

For now we'll focus on these three publishers and ignore prior attempts that are only available on ebay and such. So if you want to collect the stories in original order of release, or as quickly as possible, or with a certain type of additional material included, that page should assist you in building a strategy to do so.

Volume Seven of Sanctum Press' Black Bat Reprints Coming Soon!

There seems to be a trend built where whenever an Altus Black Bat omnibus volume is announced, it is followed by a Sanctum book reprint shortly thereafter. It is no doubt coincidental, but Altus made volume six of their reprint series available last last week, and now volume seven of Sanctum's is at the printing stage.

The Nemesis of Crime returns in classic pulp novels by Norman A. Daniels writing as "G. Wayman Jones."

First, when murder pays off in millions, "The Black Bat's Justice" snarls a corrupt killer's ingenious web of doom! Then, Tony Quinn follows the trail of Soviet saboteurs who seek to undermine America's defense effort in "The Black Bat and the Red Menace."

GOLDEN AGE OF COMICS BONUS: The Mask returns in TWO illustrated adventures by Kin Platt from Nedor's EXCITING COMICS.

This instant collector's item showcases the classic color pulp covers and original interior illustrations by V. E. Pyles, with historical commentary by Will Murray and Anthony Tollin.

An exact release date has yet to be announced, however.

New Page: Blitz

It only takes up a small portion of the space underneath the banner, at far right, so you may not have noticed it, but I've created a page simply called Blitz.

From time to time, historical info about The Black Bat will mention that following the end of his adventures in Black Book Detective in 1953, he became something of a sensation in Germany. Translated versions of his stories began to appear in the 100th edition of Pabel Kriminal Roman in 1960 and in short order he became the series' leading man from issue 135 to at least 667.

But you can't keep a good bat down for long.

A publisher named Blitz-Verlag has been publishing Black Bat stories for the better part of the last decade now. A number of them have been reprints from the Black Book Detective run of 1939 to 1953 but there has been some original material as well. A.S. Jones, at right, refers to a Angelika Schröder who probably added the "Jones" to her initials in homage to the G.W. Jones name that accompanied so much of the character's past adventures.

Thus far, Blitz has published 12 books, reprint and new tales in equal amounts. The Blitz page above provides cover images for each one as well as translations of the solicitation text, to the best of my ability to do so. It's a little...choppy...at times, but you'll get the idea.

I've also fleshed out the Black Book Detective page a bit, adding names and publishing dates for the covers that are NOT yet available.

I was pleased to score a decent scan of the cover to one of the last issues (Winter 1952) which, interestingly, makes reference to a Tony Quinn and Carol Baldwin mystery. Miss Baldwin did not usually get named on the cover. Being that she was such an integral part of the Black Bat's origin and entourage, it's good to see her getting equal billing, however short-lived it was.

Ravenwood/Black Bat shift to a Special Edition

I was on the Dynamite Entertainment message board earlier today discussing the Guns Of The Black Bat mini series from Moonstone Books.

Being that Ron Fortier's work was the topic of conversation, it occurred to me to ask who among the regular visitors might be readers of Airship 27's material. While gathering the link to display on the message board for those who may not have been aware of Fortier's (and Rob Davis') publishing company, I came across the following solicitation.

Of the original Ravenwood Stepson of Mystery stories, there were only ever five. In the past three years Airship 27 Productions has published nine short stories and one full length novel starring this unique occult detective. 

Airship 27 Productions is thrilled to reprint four of those fan-favorite tales in this new edition. This volume features writers Aaron Smith, Jonathan Fisher, Gene Moyers and Ron Fortier, as each adds his own storytelling talents to one of pulpdom’s least known but most original heroes. Sit back and prepare to encounter bizarre, supernatural mysteries as only Airship 27 Productions can deliver. 

(reprints three stories from the out of print Ravenwood: Stepson of Mystery V.2 and a Ravenwood story from OCCULT Detectives V.1).

In December 2015, writer Aaron Smith pointed out to me (on Twitter) that his story in the second volume of Ravenwood: Stepson of Mystery included The Black Bat. I'd added that book to my wish list on Amazon but it was never in stock.

Small wonder! As stated above, it's out of print! But since Aaron Smith is listed among the writers in the Special Edition, then presumably his story from volume two is included in it now instead.

You can purchase Ravenwood from Amazon.com or Createspace.

Some Black Bat Art by Eder Messias and John Castelhano

I'm struggling to find details about the page below. It is referred to as a "page test" by Brazil's Eder Messias on his deviantart page so perhaps the point was to use it as submission material.

That is the Dynamite Comics version of The Black Bat, published in 2014, if I recall correctly. I've only seen two other pages by Messias, including the one below, inked by John Castelhano.

I could have sworn that was a re-creation of a cover from that 12-issue series but damned if I can find it now, so perhaps it isn't. Even if it is, it's a good one.

See more of John Castelhano ink work in this particular photo folder on his Facebook page. It includes several other classic characters such as Red Sonja, Vampirella and Miss Fury.

"The Bat Prowls, Part 1!" From Lucky Comics

Lucky Comics is first out of the gate in providing Black Bat fans with new material in 2017.

Danni Garret takes over her grandfather's legacy of the Blue Beetle and rises to meet every challenge as the new, daring Beetle Girl! 

This issue: Three grusome murders at the dockyards of Hill Top City and the police are baffled. Can Beetle Girl uncover who's responsible before murder number four? 

Words & Letters by John Michael Helmer

          Art by Saulo Veiga

Cover B by Daniel Vardi & Saulo Veiga

The standard Lucky Comics format is eight story pages per book, 11 with cover, inside front cover and back cover included, all for $0.75. These are typically available digitally first (in pdf format) but some have recently been added to indyplanet as well to offer a print option. Lucky's first Black Bat offering, Black Bat Tales, is among the books currently listed.

Lucky had mentioned that The Black Bat would appear in a Beetle Girl book a few months ago but provides more details in the "behind the scenes" section of this book.

Having read both Beetle Girl #9 and Black Bat Tales #1, I would submit that the former is (deliberately, judging from the text above) closer to Batman and that the latter is more traditional. Beetle Girl takes place in the present, or close to it (she is the granddaughter of the 1940s hero) while BBT1 was set in the 1920s. Obviously two different versions of the character, catering to both purists and those who prefer updated/modernized takes.

Clicking on the cover image above with direct you to drivethrucomics fro where you can purchase both Black Bat Tales and Beetle Girl issues.