P.J. Lozito‘s Silver Manticore is an interesting mix of pulp, radio, movie serial, and comic book characters that at times almost gets out of hand.
The Silver Manticore himself is a mix of the Green Hornet, The Shadow, and the Copperhead (the hero of the “Mysterious Doctor Satan” chapter film), and so creates a generational hero in which new people step into the role of the Silver Manticore. He is assisted by others who are pastiches of various pulp and comic characters, and his foes are also pastiches of various pulp villains, first off being the Fu Manchu-inspired Hanoi Tsin and the Shiwan Khan-inspired Siam Khan.
The latest Silver Manticore book, “Silver Manticore: Friends and Foes,” is a collection of 10 short stories, each one looking at one of his associates, either a friend or a foe. Some stories have the Manticore appearing, others don’t. With this, we get more information on these various characters. As noted, these characters and others mentioned, are pastiches, so it can be hard to figure out who the characters are based on.
“A Night at the Plaza” has the Silver Manticore of the 1930s and ’40s, but focuses on several close associates including his chauffeur Bako and his secretary, who now becomes his fiance.
“Wings over New York” focuses on Doc Wylie, a Doc Savage pastiche. His real name is Richard Henry Wylie Jr., so his name is based on Richard Henry Savage, from whom Doc Savage got his last name and The Avenger got his first and middle names. And Doc Wylie has married Monja. This story set during WWII has Doc Wylie investigate a case dealing with ninja assassins.
“Ah-Woo! Wilfred of London” has a man who had an encounter with a man-beast, looking for help from Doc Wylie, but who is sent to see a pastiche of Dr. Jules de Grandin. Other pastiches are named and encountered.
“Death from the Pacitic Hell” is another Doc Wylie story, which also includes four of his aides, based on Doc Savage’s aides and maybe some others. They are also aided by a pastiche of a well-known police detective.
“The Blood-Red Terror” is yet another Doc Wylie story, but this one introduces another pastiche, The Maggot, who is loosely based on The Spider. But there are some differences. We also meet the fifth of Wylie’s aides. Kinda of.
“He Hunts the Biggest, Most Dangerous Game” is a Silver Manticore story, but here we have some criminals trying to use Russian Count Zarloff to hunt down him down.
“Clothes Make the Manticore” is set in the 1950s, and another is now the Silver Manticore. It’s Evan White, an African-American who is a pastiche of The Spirit‘s young associate. He goes up against a pastiche of Captain Nemo who works with Hanoi Tsin.
“Armed & Dangerous” is set in the 1960s and has the then-present Silver Manticore dealing with Hanoi Tsin to save the life of one of this associates. There are some other characters here that I couldn’t quite figure out who they are based on.
“The Tunnel Rats” is another 1960s tale of the Silver Manticore. In this one he recruits an ordinary citizen to assist him.
“The Death of the Silver Manticore” has the next 1960s Silver Manticore, D.A. Anthony Dent, getting killed. But maybe someone new will step into his mask.
Overall, it’s a great collection published by Pro Se Productions. I hope we see further works of the Silver Manticore and some of the other characters in this universe. Apparently a new novel is being worked on.
