Judex is an interesting old proto-pulp character that has returned to prominence in recent years. I’ve previously posted on this character, looking at the novelizations of his original serials. This posting is on a collection of new Judex stories, “The Shadow of Judex.”
What makes Judex of interest to many are The Shadow-like elements of the character. The character starred in two serials that came out in 1917 and 1918 in France, that were also novelized at the time. The first movie serial is available on DVD, but sadly the second one is lost. Only the first nine chapters (of 12) still survive. Black Coat Press has came out with translations of the novelization for both serials. Both translations were done by Rick Lai.
So who is Judex? Judex (latin for “judge”) is a mysterious avenger who wears a cloak and dark hat, is a master of disguise, has a group of agents helping him, has high tech devices, a mysterious headquarters, etc. Thus, very similar to The Shadow.
Black Coat Press has been including new stories of Judex in their annual “Tales of the Shadowmen” collections. This collection of new Judex stories has all of those (at least through Volume 8), along with many additional ones. All are organized in chronological order. And like “Tales,” the stories in this collection make use of a concept of Philip Jose Farmer that has various fictional characters set in the same “universe,” thus able to met and interact, usually known as the “Wold Newton Universe.” So many of the authors have Judex met other fictional characters, as well as some try to create a connection between Judex and The Shadow. I’ll leave it to the reader to decide if they succeeded.
The stories in this collections are:
• “Acolytes of the Shadows,” by Lai (previously published in his “Shadows of the Opera”): This story doesn’t have Judex, but does have his mother, and explains how she learned her skills that she passed along to her son.
• “The Quality of Vengeance,” by Matthew Dennion: Before he becomes Judex, he has a choice of vengeance or justice. Which will he choose?
• “Judex ab Chaos,” by Emmanuel Gorlier: While checking out the chateau that will be his secret headquarters, Judex finds himself reliving the life of a prior Judex.
• “Mask of the Monster,” by Matthew Baugh (previously published in “Tales of the Shadowmen, Vol. 1”): In this story, Judex helps a young Maigret (a famous French detective) and Dr. Jules de Grandin (Seabury Quinn‘s occult detective) in rescuing a young girl held by the Frankenstein Monster and the evil Dr Cornelius (a German super-villain soon to be reprinted by Black Coat Press).
• “Lost and Found,” by Jean-Marc Lofficier (previously published in “Tales of the Shadowmen, Vol. 2”): A very short story where a certain item from a Dashiell Hammett tale crosses the path of Judex.
• “Two Hunters,” by Robert L. Robinson Jr. (previously published in “Tales of the Shadowmen, Vol. 3”): Judex teams up with Tarzan.
• “The Gargoyles of Notre-Dame,” by Baugh: Judex teams up with Sar Dubnotal (an early French proto-pulp occult detective who has appeared many times in “Tales”) in fighting gargoyles.
• “Penumbra,” by Chris Roberson (previously published in “Tales of the Shadowmen, Vol. 1”): Judex involves himself in a case involving Dr. and Mrs. Wayne (yes, the parents of Bruce), and a young man named Kent Allard.
• “What Rough Beast,” by Baugh (previously published in “Tales of the Shadowmen, Vol. 7”): During WWI, Judex teams up with Sar Dubnotal and Hugo Danner against a supernatural threat.
• “Justice and Power,” by Christofer Nigro (previously published in “Night of the Nyctalope”): Judex meets the Nyctalope (an early French proto-superhero that Black Coat Press has been publishing old and new stories about) during the time of WWI.
• “The Beast Within,” by Nigro: Again Judex must deal with Dr Cornelius, this time he has the Werewolf of Paris!
• “Every Rose,” by Thom Brannan and Baugh: Judex must again deal with Frankenstein’s Monster, as he works to clear a man accused of the Monster’s crimes.
• “The Ultimate Prize,” by Nigro: Judex deals with Dracula.
• “The Dreadful Conspiracy,” by Vincent Jounieaux: In post-WWI France, Doc Ardan (see my previous posting on who this may be) and friends (including Jules de Grandin) must clear his name, after being pulled into a conspiracy created by Bob Morane‘s foe, the Yellow Shadow. (Bob Morane is an interesting French adventurer who has many science fictional stories, and one of his long-time foes is the Fu Manchu-like Yellow Shadow.) Sadly, Judex plays a more peripheral role in the story.
• “The Talisman,” by Nicholas Boving: Judex teams up with a young American archaeologist named Henry Jones Jr. to recover a dangerous item.
• “Training Day,” by Dennion: In the late 1920s, Judex teams up with Arsene Lupin (the famous French “gentleman-thief” who is more on the side of good) and a young Kent Allard to stop the Germans (in the form of Grun, from the G-8 pulps) from obtaining a dangerous item. Arthur Conan Doyle‘s Professor Challenger makes a brief appearance, and Judex makes a strong impression on Allard.
• “The Judex Codex,” by Dennis E. Power: An interesting story that has Judex work with a pair of archaeologists connected with Doctor Mystery (an early French literary hero) and Martin Mystery (an Italian comic book character who confronts the unusual and meant to be a sort-of descendant of Doctor Mystery, Dark Horse Comics has reprinted six of his stories). Working against the Men in Black, they obtain tablets with a strange connection with Judex and the stories of three prior lost continents (you’ll have to read the story to learn which ones). We also learn the origin of another well-known French detective (again, you’ll have to read the story to learn more, not giving it away).
• “Eye of the Tiger-Man,” by Nigro: In an effort to save the life of the Licorice Kid, Judex meets a different jungle man, Felifax the Tiger-man (from the novel of the same name by Paul Feval, fils, published by Black Coat Press).
• “Judex Rules,” by Lai: An interesting Wold Newton story that looks at the idea of a connection between Judex, G-8, The Spider and the Shadow, as well as Fantomas.
• “Judex vs. Belphegor,” by John Gallagher (previously published in “Tales of the Shadowmen, Vol. 8”): Not a story, but a couple of pieces of artwork for a movie that could have been: Judex going up against Belphegor.
• “A Ticket for Thule,” by Romain d’Huissier: In the mid 1930s, Judex teams up with a French Secret Service agent known as The Chinese Fish against two German pulp characters: Jan Mayan and Sun Koh (recently used in new stories by Art Sippo), though Sun Koh doesn’t appear.
• “The Affair of the Necklace Revisited,” by J.-M. & Randy Lofficier (previously published in “Tales of the Shadowmen, Vol. 8”): The necklace in question was owned by Queen Antoinette, and has been the basis of several stories (by Alexander Dumas as well as a Arsene Lupin story). This new story involved The Avenger, with Judex playing a smaller role.
• “Shadows from the East,” by David McDonald: Set is German-occupied Paris, Judex still fights the good fight.
• “Ilsa’s Crossing,” by Travis Hiltz: Set during WWII, has Judex working with the Resistance, helping someone get to Casablanca and working with the Fighting Devil Dogs (of movie serial fame).
• “Faces of Fear,” by Dennion (previously published in “Tales of the Shadowmen, Vol. 7”): An interesting tale with Judex in the world of Freddie Kruger.
• “The Earth Abideth Forever,” by J.-M. Lofficier: Set in the far future, we see that Judex continues to exist.
The same as with the “Tales of the Shadowmen” collection, at the end of the volume is information on the characters used and who created them, though this may not help point you to where they are from. (Wikipedia is most useful here, along with Black Coat Press’s French Wold Newton site and Cool French Comics site). However, unlike “Tales,” whether a character appears or is mentioned, they are all listed as “Co-starring.”
This is a great collection and I hope we see more new Judex stories.
