Finally, we have The Assassin, the sixth and final paperback volume about the adventures of Jimmie Cordie and his fellow crew of soldiers of fortune.
Written by Wirt Winchester Young (1876-1950), who was credited as just W. Wirt with all his stories and was active only in the 1920s and ’30s in the pulps for about 10 years. This series started in other magazines before moving to Argosy for almost the rest of its run. However, with these stories, they shifted over to Short Stories and finally Top Notch.
It’s another series that may be an inspiration for Doc Savage‘s adventures. In reading these stories, I saw the interaction with the main characters as a possible inspiration. You have a group of experienced soldiers, all wanting action, who often bicker among themselves. But when the chips are down, they come together as a tough, fighting force, their individual strengths working together. Similar to how you see Doc’s aides interact.
Jimmie and his friends, Red Dolan and George Grisby, are all former soldiers, former Legionnaires, former American Expeditionary Forces, and the like. They lost a member early on and were then joined by English fighter pilot John Cecil Carewe. As usual, they are joined by two other soldiers of fortune: The Boston Bean (John Cabot Winthrop) and The Fighting Yid (Abraham Cohen), who appear in all of the stories in this volume.
In Steeger Books‘ The Assassin: The Complete Adventures of Cordie, Soldier of Fortune, Vol. 6, we get the final four stories, including the title story, a three-part serial and the last one to run in Argosy. The serial was cover featured, and that artwork was used as the cover here. I thought it interesting that in this serial we got “headshot” artwork of Jimmie and his associates, though sadly it’s in their last appearance in Argosy.
In these stories, we have the men fighting in China against the invading Japanese as leaders with the “Big Swords,” a group of Manchurian warriors, operating in northern China.
First up is “The Assassin” (Argosy, Sept. 15, 22, and 29, 1934). Here the Japanese have hatched a sinister plot. They will use an American gangster to assassinate their puppet Manchurian leader, using him to blame the U.S. and go to war against the U.S. Interestingly, they speak of invading and conquering the Philippines and Hawaii and then invade the mainland U.S. They also hope to stop Jimmie and his associates as well. But a young American girl shows up, who is a cousin of Grisby. Turns out she had married the gangster, unaware of who he really was. And has learned of the assassination plot he has been pulled into and has come to warn them. Can Jimmie and friends put a stop to this plot?
They actually come up with a daring and dangerous plot to do so. As usual, we will get a lot of furious action, with the men in the mouth of the lion. Can they succeed in not just thwarting the plot, but in bloodying the Japanese as well?
In “Thy Son Grows Cold” (Short Stories, Jan. 10, 1935), the group is able to free a Manchu princess who was captured by a group of tartars.
In “How Do You Spoke a Gun?” (Short Stories, May 25, 1935), we find the group fighting against another Chinese group, and getting help from another Manchu princess.
However, “Those That Live by the Sword” (Top-Notch, July 1935) goes in a different direction. Here the guys have headed down to Shanghai to obtain a shipment of weapons and ammunition. They will take it back to their forces using the Bean’s yacht, which also has his wife who we haven’t seen in several years. Japanese forces try to stop this with a tramp steamer used by a pirate band.
While these are as enjoyable as the rest, it is puzzling to me how a series that was such a big part of Argosy would wind up with a few minor short stories in other pulps.
This has been a great and entertaining series. You have the choice of getting this in six paperback volumes or the complete hardback collection that also includes the Capt. John Norcross series plus an article on who W. Wirt really was. Either way, if you haven’t checked out this series, do so.
