At Last! The Black Bat Archives, Volume 7

I had completely given up on this. I'd written to Steeger Books a couple of times to ask if there would a seventh volume to their archive series and while they responded in the affirmative at the time, it was so long in coming that I just assumed that the project had been canned.

I believe volume six was released in 2016. Hell, Steeger Books was still named Altus Press at the time. 

In The Black Bat Archives, Volume 7, Anthony Quinn, the blind former District Attorney turned masked crime fighter, faces off against chilling new enemies. In “The Faceless Satan,” Quinn must battle a shadowy criminal mastermind, while “The Murder Prophet” sees the Black Bat racing against time to stop a mysterious figure whose death predictions come true. Finally, in “The Nazi Spy Murders,” Quinn is drawn into an international conspiracy threatening America’s war effort. Packed with intrigue, suspense, and action, this volume brings to life three unforgettable pulp adventures featuring one of the most iconic heroes of the golden age!

Laurence Donovan penned The Murder Prophet in this compilation, while the other two stories are by Bat creator Norman Daniels. All were published in 1942. Of note, Daniels also wrote a story called The Murder Prophet, but that one was only released in 1947.

Coincidentally, Murder Prophet was one of the books included in the digital package I purchased (see November 22nd post) and the one I'd chosen to read next. The style is undeniably different than Daniels' material, but unlike some other "non-Daniels" stories, it has at least avoided errors with the characters' names and major inconsistencies with their personalities. It may turn out to be one of the better Bat tales from someone other than Daniels. 

I'm very eager to get this one on the bookshelf and hope that we don't have another eight year wait for volume eight to become available! Click on the cover to be taken to Steeger's page. 

Digital BBD

Want to read the original Black Bat stories on the cheap? An account named My Books And Magazines on Etsy offers an easy method by which to do so.

17 BBD books, each scanned as a pdf file. The entire issue is scanned, not just the Black Bat material, so you get the various other stories that were included in the original magazine, the art, the advertisements, letters to the editor, the whole deal.

Of course, you also get the occasional page tear, smudge, etc. I haven't come across any such flaw that affects the ability to enjoy the story, however. 

The first book in the collection is The Black Bat Strikes Again, the third in the original series. Sadly, the bundle does not include Brand of The Black Bat, the character's first appearance, but that one should be easy enough to track down in some format or other separately.

The last offering (chronologically) is technically the final Black Bat story as well, entitled Hot, Willing, and Deadly, however I believe that is strictly a Tony Quinn mystery and that he never appears as the Black Bat as such.

Applying that criteria, the final Black Bat story would be The Killer Who Wasn't, and it is included in the collection. 

It should be noted that not counting HW&D, three of the remaining stories were not written by Black Bat creator Norman Daniels. Those tend to be inconsistent with Daniels' work and, in my opinion, of lesser quality. 

All told, this is an excellent, inexpensive way to sample the character's adventures throughout his original publishing period. Have a look around, a great many other pulp novels are offered in the format as well. Click on the image above to be taken to the page in question. 

Pulptober

Canadian artist Scott Chantler issued a fun challenge on his Instagram account at the end of last month, to run throughout October.

Each day, fellow artist were tasked with presenting their takes on the following classis pulp characters. Yay to Scott for including The Black Bat at #15.

I have yet to find my way through all the results, but among those I've seen, the work of Scott Brian Woods below was a personal favourite. 

And below we have Mr. Chantler's own contribution for that day. 

I'm about to go on a little Black Bat art hunt then! If you're inclined to do the same, or to see the various interpretations of the other characters on the list, simply search the pulptober hashtag on Instagram.