The fanzines put out by Joseph Lewandowski (1922-87) are items I have been trying to get for some time. I previously posted on his last fanzine, Pulpette, which had two issues, in 1981 and ’83.
His first fanzine was Echoes From the Pulps, which ran four issues from 1978 to ’81. I’m still looking for those.
But I finally got Cloak and Pistol, which had one issue in 1981. I’m not sure why there were no more issues, or why he did this in-between the 2 issues of Pulpette.
Cloak and Pistol #1 (Fall 1981) is 38 pages on good paper, with cardstock covers. Frank Hamilton contributed the front and back covers, and the logo. Marty Powell provided several interior art pieces.
The focus is on pulp heroes, with several articles, most by Joseph, and then most are under his “These Ven” pseudonym.
From “These Ven,” we get an article on the “missing years” of The Shadow. Here we speculate as to what was The Shadow doing before the first novel, The Living Shadow. In the third novel, it is stated that he had been operating for three years prior. What was he doing then and even earlier, as he had been in WWI? Was he training and building an organization? This is an interesting article, and I wonder if others have worked this into their histories and speculations of The Shadow? Another article looks at the mystery of the L-9 Zeppelin that appeared in Philip José Farmer’s The Peerless Peer.
Under his own byline, Joseph looks at the “Phantom alphabet,” the storied letters used at the beginning of the chapters for the Phantom Detective. And we get an editorial, which also talks of what Joseph had gone through to create this fanzine.
Pulp historian and researcher Albert Tonik provides at detail look into the first Secret Agent X pulp story: “The Torture Trust.”
Overall this was a pretty good fanzine, and stands alongside other great fanzines like Pulp Collector, Pulp Vault, and the like. I don’t know why a second issue didn’t come out. I hope at some point I can get his first fanzine, as well, and review it.
