I have read the non-fiction works of Jonathan W. Sweet. Through his Brick Pickle Media, he has done several pulp reprint anthologies, and a pair of nice Beginner’s Guide to Pulp Fiction books that I have reviewed here. But he has also written some fiction, and in Enter the Jackal, we get a collection of his original New Pulp hero, The Red Jackal.
In this volume, we get four short stories, including his origin. As the author is from the Twin Cities area (St. Paul and Minneapolis), he has set this hero in the same location. And he has also woven in not just real locations, but real history in these stories set in the 1930s. After each story, we get a brief note about these elements. I think that really adds to the stories, and it’s an element I like to see with many New Pulp authors who set their characters in other parts of the country, especially the areas where they live.
Our hero, the Red Jackal, is in the mode of other pulp heroes (as well as some comicbook heroes). He is really Blake Randolph, who runs his family enterprises that include a newspaper and radio station in the area. There are only a small number who knows his identity. While he has a network of informants, he doesn’t have any sidekicks or agents or aides. Nor a love interest, so far.
He keeps a low profile, and most don’t (yet) know he exists. He has hightened senses and physical abilities, and while he doesn’t set out to kill his opponents, he isn’t bothered if that occurs.
His origin is set in the 1920s when he was on an expedition to Egypt where he was given his abilities and mission in life. While Sweet speaks of The Mummy, I couldn’t help thinking of the several superheroes with Egyptian elements to their origins, such as the original Captain Marvel (the wizard Shazam has a connection with Egypt), the 1960s version of the Blue Beetle, who finds a mystic scarab in Egypt, and the Egyptian elements in the Black Beetle.
In the first story, the Red Jackal deals with various criminal elements and works to find a kidnappened heiress. The second story has a serial killer being inspired by a new radio show on Randolph’s station. But what is the killer’s motivation? The final story has the Red Jackal looking into the matter of missing men on skid row. And he confronts the sinister reasons behind it.
It will be interesting to see where this goes. As the stories go along, we learn more about the character and his world. In one, we learn there is a network of tunnels he built that allows him to get around.
Because of the setup in the origin, this is a character that can have a long career. Will stories only be set in the ’30s, or might we get stories set further in time? Will he deal with “supercrooks” or have any re-occuring foes? Or might there others with similiar abilities he will encounter? Will he get a love interest? There are a lot of possibilities.
It will remain to be seen where this will go. I look forward to this as there are a lot of possibilities.
