The other Green Ghost

For most pulp hero fans, if you mention The Green Ghost, they will think of the character created by G.T. Fleming-Roberts for Thrilling, that ran for about 14 stories in the 1940s.

Here, we speak of an earlier Green Ghost. Created by Johnston McCulley, creator of Zorro, this Green Ghost ran for seven stories in 1934-35 in Thrilling Detective magazine.

This Green Ghost is really former cop Danny Blaney, who puts on a green hood and gloves to fight crooks. We learn in the first story that Blaney was framed by crooks and lost his job as a cop, even though a jury found him innocent. Though he fights crooks, he isn’t much for cops either, because they think he’s dirty.

He battles a new crook in each story, and takes a portion of their loot. By day, Blaney runs a tobacco store. But clearing his name doesn’t seem to be part of the plot, and only in a few stories does he target those crooks who framed him. Each story is pretty short and enjoyable. There are almost no secondary characters, we see nothing of his personal life and don’t see much of his tobacco store except at the end of stories when he drops by. Otherwise, the stories are pretty much the Green Ghost going into action.

He is similar to other McCulley heroes. You have the green hood, which is a more of a loose sack, and similar to the hoods worn by McCulley’s other characters. But he’s different in other ways. Being framed by crooks and turned against by his fellow cops, you’d think there would be an element of revenge, or at least of clearing his name, but there isn’t.

The original stories were reprinted by Altus Press. Now, Pro Se Press has put out a volume of new Green Ghost stories under their Pulp Obscura line. This first volume has three new stories. As always with new stories of classic characters, I measure the stories against how well they got the character right. Writing style is not that important, and I will allow for improvements, such as better villains. But if they make changes to the character and his motivation, then I will say so.

The first story by Bobby Nash has The Green Ghost go after someone who has firebombed an apartment building in his neighborhood. Danny thinks it may be a scheme to buy up a whole block of property for development. Is he right and can he put a stop to it?

The next story is by Don Thomas. Crooks try to frame the Green Ghost for murder, and he has to clear his “name.” The author also adds some elements not in the original, such as where Danny lives and giving him a “headquarters”, as well as having him chat with one of the cops when the case is closed. Not sure if I care for these extra “improvements.”

The final story is by Terry Alexander. Here the Green Ghost gets involved with a mysterious criminal known only as the Fixer. When he learns who the Fixer is, it has international implications. This story kind of “upgrades” the type of criminals the Green Ghost usually tackles. While appropriate for the time of the original story, one does have to be a little careful not to go too far.

The collection also has some info on the three authors, but there is no introduction to explain the background of the character, apart from the back-cover blurb. Overall, another good volume from Pro Se Press. I look forward to further volumes. Check this out.