Thunder Jim Wade is a short-lived character who is usually written off as a Doc Savage clone.
Written by the well-known SF author Henry Kuttner, who married another well-known SF author, C.L. Moore, these stories were published under the house name of “Charles Stoddard” by Thrilling.
So, who is Thunder Jim Wade? He was raised by the Minos civilization, a lost colony of Crete in Africa) after his explorer father died, and left when another explorer found the hidden land. He has various mental and physical abilities, most due to his upbringing. Afterwards, he became a sort of roving troubleshooter, operating off of a secret island in the South Pacific, alerted to trouble by agents scattered around in major cities. He created a unique vehicle called the Thunderbug (a combination tank-submarine-airplane). It was built using a special alloy (you’ll learn more about this in the first story), and it’s hinted in a later story that it may be atomic powered.
He has two two aides: “Red” Argyle and Dirk Marat. Kuttner described Argyle as “a burly giant with knarled hands … and … deft fingers.” Sort of a Monk Mayfair type. Marat is described as “small, innocent-looking chap with blond hair and black eyebrows, and one great passion. That was for cold steel. He could handle guns, but preferred to work with knives.” It seems that many of the other pulp heroes only had two sidekicks/assistants as well. Perhaps dealing with five or six was too many for some authors. Like Monk and Ham, Argyle and Marat squabble.
The Thunder Jim Wade stories are: “Thunder Jim Wade,” “The Hills of Gold,” “The Poison People,” “The Devil’s Glacier,” and “Waters of Death,” all published in 1941 in five successive issues of Thrilling Adventure. These are all reprinted in a single volume by Altus Press, “Thunder Jim Wade: The Complete Series.”
The first story introduces the reader to Wade, though it’s clear he’s been operating for awhile. He has to return to the hidden land when criminal elements learn of it and invade it. Wade also tells his associates about his background (kind of an origin), which they hadn’t previously known.
The second story deals with a group of criminals who try to create a jihad in the Middle East, as a cover to rob several banks in the area. The third story deals with a hidden gold mine in the Andes, taken over by a criminal (with apparent Nazi connections, the first real mention of World War II), and besieged by the local natives.
The fourth story deals with two lost cities in Alaska — one of Norseman, the other of Russians who left during the period of Catherine the Great. A criminal is trying to stir up trouble over a Chinese statue of gold. The fifth is considered the best story, dealing with a lost city in Burma, a gold-making machine, and an attempted takeover this hidden land.
Overall, the stories aren’t as good as I would have hoped. Not sure the cause. The length forces the author to wrap things up quickly. The format of the magazine they ran in may have been part of the problem, as it focuses on adventure stories, so the science-fictional/fantastical aspects are downplayed. How much was the author constrained by editorial fiat? Who knows. There is great potential with these characters that I think wasn’t fully utilized.
Wade is similar to other pulp heroes: a physical marvel with a mysterious past, very smart/inventive. I was surprised by his smoking in the first story, as I don’t recall any other pulp hero smoking. And he drinks in a few.
The Altus Press collection also has the original illustrations, and reprints on the back the five covers of the issues of Thrilling Adventures that he appeared in, but he only appears on two covers, in a set of sort of Flash Gordon-type outfits. The first one made kind of sense if you read the first story, but they gave him reddish-blonde hair, when it’s black.
Since Altus’ book, a collection of six new Thunder Jim Wade stories by various New Pulp authors has appeared. It’s part of Pro Se Press‘s Pulp Obscura line, which have new stories of classic, now public domain, pulp heroes that have been reprinted by Altus Press. Hopefully, this will be the first of several on Thunder Jim Wade.
Whenever current authors write new stories about classic characters, I have two things I look for: Did they write a good story; and were they true to the original character? Too often, some authors feel they need to make changes to the character that are just not true to the original (I’m ok with minor changes if it fits the character and seems likely the original author might have done it).
The six stories in the new collection are:
“Thunderstruck,” by Andrew Salmon, pits Wade and friends against the Nazis in Norway. The original stories appeared in 1941, just prior to the U.S. entering WWII, so this is not a stretch. While a good story, the originals were set in more exotic locations around the South Pacific or Indian Ocean. WWII-era Norway just doesn’t seem too exotic, but apart from that, the story is good.
“The Hellmouth,” by Barry Reese, pits Wade and friends against a new menace that seems to have mystical powers (possible hints of Cthulian horror). While this didn’t occur in the originals, it could be seen. Another good story, with setup for a possible reappearance of the villain.
“The Invisible Pirates,” by Nick Ahlheim, has Wade and friends helping the U.S. Navy confront a group of bizarre invaders. They find a mysterious foe with access to advanced technology, and put a stop to him. There is a mystery to the villain that we don’t find out. Another good story that has some possibilities for the future.
“Depths of Horror,” by Frank Schildiner, also pits Wade and friends against a new menace with mystical powers with hints of Cthulian horror, that is also tied in with Minos. Another good story that has some possibilities for the future.
“The Veiled Lady,” by Ashley Mangin, is set in a lost Incan village, threatened by a villain trying to drive them out in her quest for gold. While a good story, I had issues with the plausibility of the villain’s identity.
“Ninety-Nine Peaks,” by Mark Squirek, is set in Indochina, as Wade and friends go up against a villain about to supply deadly gas to the Nazis. I had a lot of small problems with this story. The Thunderbug is now part-helicopter, and the behavior of some characters seems out of character.
Overall, the collection was good. I did see a few typos, about a dozen. These should have been caught in proofing. I also thought that Pro Se should have added a page or two of short author bios. Also, I think ads for the Altus Press reprint of Thunder Jim Wade as well as ads for other Pulp Obscura books should have also been included.
That said, I do look forward to the next Thunder Jim Wade collection.
