For 2022, we got the next volume of Tales of the Shadowmen from Black Coat Press: Vol. 19, Demi-Monde. We’ll see Vol. 20 next year, which will be another milestone for this series.
This latest volume is subtitled “Demi-Monde,” which means a “group of people on the fringes of respectable society, considered to be of doubtful social standing and morality”. We are told that this includes such characters as “Harry Dickson, the so-called American Sherlock Holmes, gentleman-thief Arsène Lupin, spymaster Richard Hannay, Robur, the future Master of the World, the eccentric Doctor Omega, Fantômas, the Lord of Terror, the indomitable Maciste [a new one for me], and the Gallic sleuth Jules de Grandin.”
As noted previously, this annual series makes use of Philip José Farmer‘s “Wold Newton” concept, mixing in a variety of literary characters, with a focus on the various pulp and pulpish characters of France and Europe, such as Arsène Lupin, Fantômas, The Nyctalope, and Rouletabille, as well as those from other countries. Several authors will come back with further stories of the same characters, creating a loose series within the volumes.
In talking about the stories that appear within the Tales of the Shadowmen volumes, we have the continuation of several series. With the old pulp magazines, they used serials to keep readers coming back, as while one serial was finishing, another was already running. While some of these may get collected in their own volumes (a few have been), there is no guarantee.
We kick things off with an introduction by author Rick Lai, who has contributed several times in this series, as well as other books published by BCP (and others). This was recently recognized with the Munsey Award at Pulpfest 50 in 2022. It’s a good explanation of how he got started with going from being a reader to a researcher to an author. As someone who has read a lot of his works, both fictional and none, this was revealing.
This time we get:
Our first story is a Harry Dickson tale by Tim Newton Anderson: “The Brasher Bat.” This is set in 1900 as Harry is a student in a British boarding school, which I wouldn’t think would happen to a character who is supposed to be American. Here he is trying to figure out mysterious goings-on at the school, all centered around the “brasher bat,” a cricket trophy made of gold. There are a lot of other characters from literature, including a nephew of Moriarty, vampires, and more.
Vampires and luchadores are the focus of Matthew Baugh‘s “Hercules and Samson vs. the Russian Vampire and the Zombies of Frankenstein.” In this case, the Russian vampire is Yvgeni, from an earlier story by Baugh. He has been hired by the Ténèbre Brothers (from Paul Feval‘s vampire works who have appeared before), who are a vampire and a ghoul. They want to move to Mexico and need Yvgeni to make sure things are all right for them to arrive and get them some servants. He does this in the form of “zombies” created by Dr. Frankenstein. It’s a different one though, a Dr. Irving Frankenstein. But he is also confronted by a group of luchadores, masked Mexican wrestlers, along with the herculean and long-lived (immortal?) Maciste. How will things work out?
Atom Mudman Bezecny gives us the first of several Doctor Omega stories in this volume, “Orpheus Omega.” Here the Doctor is traveling with Orpheus, a character from a trilogy of French films from the 1950s. They somehow find themselves in a strange world, where Orpheus departs. But can the Doctor do as well?
A pair of master swordsmen face off in “The Worthiness of the Wielder” by Matthew Dennion. They being D’Artagnan and Solomon Kane (Robert E. Howard). They are fighting over an ancient set of weapons after Milady de Winter has misled Kane. Who will win out?
In the next in his ongoing series of new Dr. Cornelius Kramm tales set in WWI, Brian Gallagher has the former “sculptor of human flesh” and leader of the Red Hand be given the mission to obtain “The Projector of Death.” The device is a mysterious one, maybe from Saturn?, in the possession of an Italian who wants to use it against Austrio-Hungary. But the French and others don’t agree, wanting to use it on the Western Front. So send Dr. Cornelius after it. He decides to recruit his former foe, Lord Burydan, who has been scared by fire, offering to restore his face and body if they are successful. They are, but is this a new chapter of Dr. Cornelius as Lord Burydan is willing to work with him?
In another ongoing series is Martin Gately‘s “Young Robur” series with “Young Robur and The Thirst of Shiloh.” After the event of last time, Robur and the former British airship are returned to Robur’s world, but now in 1867. Robur is now pretty much the defacto captain of the group as they work to set up a base on the Great Eyrie, the extinct volcano in North Carolina that was his base in the Jules Verne novels. But sadly, they run afoul of the growing KKK as well as a Prussian conspiracy, and Robur takes action, which is leading him on his path to what he will be in the novels. The group also adds a few to their number.
In another story based on a Jules Verne work, Travis Hiltz‘s “The Floating Island Mystery” is set on Propeller Island, a massive ship that holds a whole city on its back, inhabited by the ultra-rich. Though the original one crashed in the novel, this is a second one. But there is a problem. Phileas Fogg knows something is off and consults with both technical experts and others to figure out what is causing the ship to go off course. Can he figure it out before disaster strikes?
Rick Lai gives us a tale set in the Old West with “The Gunfighter in the Iron Mask.” It mixes in characters from movies as well as the Black Coats, in the form of Joséphine Balsamo. Two former allies are forced to fight to the death, while Joséphine takes care of another. But who will be left standing?
From publisher Jean-Marc Lofficier is a short Doctor Omega tale, “Foiled Again.” Here the good Doctor picks up an unusual passenger, a man known only by a number who lives in a strange Village. But will he be able to escape?
In the latest tale of The Phantom Angel from Randy Lofficier is “The Phantom Angel and The Wrong Wolf.” For those who missed out, The Phantom Angel is Sleeping Beauty re-awakened in the modern world and today is working as a detective for the community of fairy-tale beings who live in Paris. In a previous story, she gained a ghost partner (from a British TV series). Here she is helping Little Red Riding Hood after someone has murdered her Gram. Could it be the Big Bad Wolf? And it looks like she has gained another “partner” in a little dog (no, not Toto!). This is also becoming a proper series as well.
We return to the Louvre and its Phantom in Rod McFadyen‘s “The Haunting of the Louvre.” Richard Curtis Van Loan is still looking for a purpose in a post-WWI world when he visits his friend Chantecoq in Paris. He is currently working on capturing Belphagor, the “Phantom of the Louvre.” Richard decides to help him, as two other Phantoms make an appearance as well. One the Phantom from Lee Falk‘s comic strip and the other is Fantômas. While they don’t capture Belphagor, it may provide inspiration for Richard.
Our final Doctor Omega tale, “When the Children Leave Home” by Nigel Malcolm, has the Doctor encounter the characters and events of a lesser known Arthur C. Clarke novel (now recently made into a tv mini-series).
Christofer Nigro, after giving us one “Unholy Three” in the last one, give us “The New Unholy Three.” Set in the 1930s, they are Erik, The Phantom of the Opera and most-feared assassin, the current Quasimodo, and from the pulp story that inspired Tod Browning‘s movie The Freaks, is the dwarf Jacques Corbene. They are given a deadly assignment by a mysterious man: to kill Hitler when he meets in secret with the French president. The outcome certainly setups up further stories.
And in our third story dealing with a Jules Verne novel is John Peel‘s “A Thief in the Floating City.” Verne is even the main character here, as he is on the ocean liner the Great Eastern, when it is thought he may be a criminal trying to rob the ship. He’s not, but someone else is. Can Verne and his associate figure it out and thwart the crime? And who is the criminal who would try this?
Set in Clark Ashton Smith‘s Zothique, the final continent of a dying Earth, we find our hero Maciste in Anthony Perconti‘s “Maciste Contro il Negromante Cremisi,” confronting the Red Necromancer. He has the ability to kill those he wants, which he then re-animates. Can Maciste put an end to him? Well, he is Maciste.
This time we get a new Jules de Grandin story, Seabury Quinn‘s well-known occult detective, in Jean-Paul Raymond‘s “The Specter of the Valkyrie.” On the night of a newlywed couple’s honeymoon, they are confronted by the specter of a Viking warrior-woman. The young man’s family has a curse on them. Can de Grandin help them and put an end to the curse?
Frank Schildiner provides a new story of Fantômas, but this is the one from the Eurospy movies to tie in with his coming novel from Black Coat Press, The Emperor of Crime. Here he kidnaps four top spymasters of leading nations, who are to be rescued by the “top” agents of their countries. And why is he doing so? For the top four villains of the world, below Fantômas of course.
And what would be our collection without an Arsène Lupin tale? In David L. Vineyard‘s “Army of Shadows,” British agent Richard Hanney (best known from The Thirty-Nine Steps) is on a mission to Spain during WWI. There he runs afoul of the Germans along with a Spaniard named Don Luis Perenna. There he prevents their plan that would devastate France.
For later this year, volume 20 will be Fin de Siècle. As always, I look forward to it. With a 20th volume, this is a pretty big milestone, as I don’t know of any other such series within New Pulp that has hit 20 volumes.
