We are now up to #9 in The Red Menace series by James Mullaney from Bold Venture Press: Red Meat.
Mullaney is probably best known as a ghost-writer for The Destroyer #111-131, along with the later “new Destroyer” novels. I had gotten into The Destroyer in the late 1980s, reading many of the earlier ones and the then-current ones by Will Murray, before losing interest, though I did get the later new Destroyer series and enjoyed them.
I have posted on the first eight all with nice covers by Mark Maddox, and have been looking forward to #9, with another cover by Maddox.
So for those who missed my earlier postings, who is The Red Menace? Well, he is Patrick “Podge” Becket, a computer tycoon and security expert. His company, Becket International, is IBM’s main rival in the computer industry.
Back in the 1950s, he decided to fight back against communism and its agents, creating the costumed persona of The Red Menace. His outfit of cape, hooded mask (described as like an executioner’s hood), and gauntlets are made from a special dye that looks red close up, but black (and blurry) further away. He also has a special gun and other devices.
However, in 1960, he stopped. Most likely he realized as he was getting older, he wouldn’t be able to continue and live.
Now in the 1970s, he reluctantly comes back into action. He is aided by Dr. Thaddeus Wainwright, doctor and inventive genius, who you will soon realize has a mysterious background. He gives Becket a serum that helps him physically but doesn’t make him superhuman. His special devices come from Wainwright. We get some of this backstory throughout the series and a bit more in this one.
The Red Menace works with (Patrick emphasizes this) an agency known as MIC (Manpower and Intelligence Command), headed by Simon Kirk, the son of the man who headed it in the ’50s. These three are the only consistent characters in the series. MIC was formed in the ’50s as an inter-agency group but has since fallen out of favor and power.
With these three you have a very similar dynamic to what is seen in The Destroyer series, though one thing I miss is the recurring villains that that series had. Maybe that will happen. In the previous volume, a fourth would be added to their group: Illa Goldman. She will help out, but isn’t a major character yet nor does she know that Podge is The Red Menace.
In The Red Menace #9: Red Meat, Podge and Wainwright are in Montana, looking into the latest of a series of cattle mutilations. This one has a couple of new features: claims of UFOs, and one of the ranchers is killed as well, his internal organs missing just like the cattle. While in town, they see a protest of vegans. The group are all outsiders, led by a mysterious woman with a foreign accent. There quickly seems more to it. They find glass that may have been left behind by one of the “UFOs” if the rancher was able to shoot it with his shotgun. The mystery woman tries to set up Podge, but he is going into it expecting a trap. And then it gets worse as Podge and Wainwright find people affected by something that causes their bodies to shrivel up like mummies, regardless of their actual age.
Who is behind it all? There seems to be some crazy tech billionaire (and would-be rival to Podge) and a secret society of vegans. The mystery woman plays a part, and others are tied in. But what is their ultimate goal? And can our heroes put an end to it all before more people die? And hopefully, they can ensure that those behind it get what they deserve.
We are promised that the next volume will be Terminal Red. I have no idea when it will appear, but expect it sometime next year. I hope we get another Maddox cover, too.
I am interested in seeing how some of the revelations of our main characters play out in coming volumes. When will Illa learn who The Red Menace is?
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