City of Phantoms

At the conclusion of my post about Tom Johnson's The Black Bat's War on  February 11th, I mentioned picking up another story written by Mr. Johnson author before long.

I followed through this past weekend. The story in question is called City of Phantoms and is a team-up with The Phantom Detective.

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!

Based on the cover, I was a bit concerned that The Black Bat's role might be limited. That wasn't the case at all. In fact, you could argue the opposite point. There were occasions I thought Phantom Detective fans might have been disappointed while The Black Bat dominated the story. But as a Bat fan, that worked for me just fine.

And it isn't just the Bat. I knew from the solicitation that Carol was involved, but Silk and Butch get plenty of "face time" as well.

Not that Phantom fans are shut out by any stretch. I am not familiar with The Phantom Detective (though judging by how often he's paired with The Black Bat, I guess I will be before long) but it seemed as though he had similar treatment in this story. The antagonist has ties to PD's past and a number of the supporting characters are clearly "regulars" in his adventures, not unlike Carol, Silk, etc.

Again risking that people far more knowledgeable about these characters than I am will read this and conclude that I'm a simpleton, I should point out that the story also appears in a Triple Detective volume (#4) by Altus Press. Except that it is credited to one Robert Wallace.

Now Robert Wallace is simply a pseudonym for Mr Johnson. I've found out that many original Phantom Detective stories were credited to the house name Robert Wallace. I'm not sure I see the point in Tom Johnson doing this, aside from the obvious; attempting to be faithful to the material as though it was published in 1956, as the cover suggests. I suppose what throws me off is that Johnson had another story published in the same book anyway, under his actual name.

Having only recently read The Black Bat's War, I can easily state that City of Phantoms is near identical in style, so there would be little question that Mr. Johnson did write it anyway. And again, his fondness for the characters and their history shines through.

Now then...In a bit of fortuitous timing, I've just received my copy of the Black Bat story from Pulpsploitation earlier this week and started reading it this morning. I'm not far enough into it to comment much yet, but it takes place in 1977 and seems like an interesting take on the character. It's certainly an unusual take, so I look forward to diving in further.

But while I'm working through that, I'll see if I can find a way of getting my hands on a copy of Double Danger Tales, volume one.

DOUBLE DANGER TALES, Vol. 1 

DR. SATAN & THE BLACK BAT return in 4 All-New Exciting Tales of Mystery, Magic, and Adventure! Pulp Fiction at its finest! 

Includes: DR. SATAN starring in "Symphony in Death Minor" by Wayne Skiver, and "The Prisoner" by Sean Ellis.   

THE BLACK BAT features "Death Smiles Back" by Wayne Skiver, and "Murder Under the Big Top" by Tom Johnson. 

Cover Art & Interior illustrations are by Rich Woodall. 

Join us in these Thrilling and Chilling set of stories featuring 2 Heroes & Villains, in 2 stories each... DOUBLE DANGER TALES!

I need to check to confirm, but I believe that would cover all original Black Bat material from Double Danger Tales. Frankly, I would prefer a compilation of that material in one volume but that I know of, that's not happening. DDT used to be available on lulu.com but that doesn't appear to be the case any longer, so acquiring this one might be a challenge. Wish me luck!

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.