An interesting new take on the classic pulp hero The Green Ghost is Moonstone‘s The Green Ghost: Declassified.
In this collection of new stories, along with some comic book tales, is a “reconceiving” of the character by Win Scott Eckert and Erin Fein. As a somewhat “purist,” I am a little leary of such changes to classic characters as it usually changes the characters in poor ways that aren’t keeping with the spirit of the original. But I think this one wasn’t handled well. There are intros/forwards by the two that give us the full background.
Now, for those not aware, The Green Ghost is really magician George Chance, created by G.T. Fleming-Roberts. Chance gets involved helping the police with tough cases, putting to use his skills as a magician, and finds that he enjoys it. So he’s more a semi-official vigilante, than one who operates totally outside the law. This was true of other Thrilling pulp heroes like The Phantom Detective.
The Green Ghost stories appeared in the early ’40s. So the idea is that his original stories were set before WWII and that during the war, Chance got involved with the OSS. This leads him to update his equipment, including replacing this makeup with a hard mask that includes a filter for gas, for when he returns to being The Green Ghost after the war. This, to me, makes sense. He also was affected by his experiences, which I am a little leary about, as pulp heroes typically didn’t have this happen to them.
He still has his various aides and associates. There is his assistant, Glenn Saunders, who looks just like him. This is useful to throw people off from thinking Chance is The Ghost. There is his love interest (and long-time fiancé), Merry White, now going by Meriem. Tiny Tim Terry is a little person and friend of George’s; and Joe Harper is another member of his staff who helps out, and as a gambler, bookmaker, and booking agent has various contacts that come in use. There is also Police Commissioner Ned Standish, who also knows who The Ghost really is, as well as the medical examiner, Dr. Robert Demarest.
Also, with this stories we get several teamups with other pulp characters such as I.V. Frost, The Domino Lady, and The Black Shrike. The Black Shrike is a new character, created by Erin Fein, not to be confused with The Shrike created by another recently over at Airship 27. There is another tale involving The Phantom of the Opera.
As these stories were created over a period of time, some for a possible comicbook, others for different planned publications, we get a mixture. There are two comicbook stories. One story is heavily illustrated in Moonstone’s “wide vision” format, and one other has several accompanying illustrations. All told, we have nine stories.
First up in the “wide vision” format is “Zombie Under Broadway,” which has a madman who comes to New York to continue his experimentations to create undead zombies. Meriem and The Green Ghost sort it out.
The Black Shrike is introduced in a story that provides his origin and background. Here he is trying to stop a madman who has created a deadly sonic weapon, and the Green Ghost gets involved, so it’s their first meeting. Hopefully not their last.
We then get a pair of interesting stories. One is by the late Howard Hopkins, written for an unpublished Green Ghost anthology that is more in line with the original stories. It appears here for the first time. The next is a sequel by Win Scott Eckert following their new take. In fact, it serves as a good intro to this, as the story is told in first person, and we can learn from George himself how it all came about.
“The Phantom’s Ghost” is a heavily illustrated story that include The Phantom of the Opera. Yes, the classic literary character. He’s been used in several new stories, usually over at Tales of the Shadowmen. Some have him as a clear-cut villain, others as an anti-hero, while others as a dark hero. Of course, the Phantom is dead, and this is someone obsessed with him. What are his plans?
Next, we have a story teaming up The Green Ghost with The Domino Lady. There is a lot here in this story, with occult elements, and harkens back to an adventure the Ghost had in wartime France. Hopefully readers can pickup some of the hints to other characters and stories that are dropped here. For those not aware, The Domino Lady is one of the few pulp heroines, really socialite Ellen Patrick who goes after criminals after her D.A. father is killed.
The last prose story has The Green Ghost teaming up with I.V. Frost. Frost is a scientist/detective created by Donald Wandrei and recently reprinted, but new stories are also being created with him. This one starts with a bang with Commissioner Standish shows up at Frost’s door and puts three slugs in his chest! I.V. Frost’s assistant Jean Moray brings in George Chance, who Frost as already figured out was the Ghost. Apparently, this is all tied up with a spiritual leader who Frost was investigating for Standish. The two soon get to the bottom of things and find it’s much more serious than they thought.
As noted, we get two comicbook stories, both with art by David Niehaus. One has The Green Ghost deal with someone who has a grudge against him from a case long in the past. The other has the Ghost deal with a mad scientists turning men into monsters.
This is an excellent collection, and I hope we get more stories of this new take or version of the Green Ghost. I also hope we get more stories with The Black Shrike, as well.
