“The Good, the Bad, and the Unknown” is an interesting collection.
I originally thought it a single novel using three classic characters: Moon Man, Doctor Satan and Secret Agent X. Instead, it’s a collection: a novel-length tale of the Moon Man, followed by short stories of Doctor Satan and Secret Agent X. All written by Michael Frigon, and published by Wild Cat Books.
For those not aware, here is a quick run down of these three characters.
The Moon Man was a secondary pulp hero, published in about 40 stories in Ace Magazines’ Ten Detective Aces in the mid-1930s. He is different from most pulp heroes, being more of a Robin Hood character: stealing from the greedy rich, to distribute to the poor. And so is thought a criminal. He is really police detective Steve Thatcher, son of the Great City Chief of Police, and in love with the daughter of his boss, the chief of detectives. His fiance is the only one who knows he’s the Moon Man (so named, because of the glass globe helmet he wears, which is really a one-way mirror). Helping him is ex-boxer Ned “Angel” Dugan, who doesn’t know his identity, but who helps him distribute the money he steals. Only a few original stories have been reprinted, though there is a complete (but expensive) collection of all his stories. So I’ve never read an original Moon Man story, only new stories using him.
Doctor Satan was one of the few pulp villains who headlined his own series, which ran through several issues of Weird Tales. He is opposed by psychic detective Ascott Keane, and aided by two grotesque characters: the legless Bostiff and the ape-like Girse. It’s never revealed who Doctor Satan is, though from the stories it seems he does have real power. Atlus Press has just put out a complete reprint, see my review of it. He’s been used by others in new stories and have read many of those.
Secret Agent X was another major secondary pulp hero, published by Ace for about 40 stories. He was some kind of secret agent who fought both criminals and foreign powers. His real face and identity was never revealed in the series, hence being known as the “man with a thousand faces.” Altus Press is doing a complete reprint series of his stories, six volumes so far, and has also done a Companion volume as well. Again, I have yet to read an original SAX story, though I have read a few of the new ones.
These three stories are all interesting. The Moon Man story I think was a little long. He is actually having to deal with several enemies: both the Great City Police Department, as well as the main villains (and their assassin), but with the added issue of dealing with Treasury Agents after him.
Both Dr. Satan and SAX stories were good, and being short, were fairly tight. I don’t think I’ve read other stories by this author, but will keep an eye out.
This work also had several illustrations by the cover artist, Vern Anderson. All are a sort of cartoony abstraction. Some may not like them, but I think they are okay.
