I have posted on The Moon Man before, a classic pulp hero who appeared in the pages of Ten Detective Aces, published by Ace Magazines, in 38 stories from 1933 to 1937. Created by pulp author Frederick C. Davis, Steeger Books has reprinted the whole series in seven volumes, which I have reviewed here.
Sometimes called the “Robin Hood of the pulps,” he is really Det. Sgt. Stephen Thatcher, who is the son of Police Chief Peter Thatcher. Upset by the injustice he sees in Great City during the Depression, Stephen Thatcher assumes the role of the vigilante thief, The Moon Man, by disguising his features beneath a one-way Argus glass globe.
Helped by his loyal aide, former boxer Ned “Angel” Dargan, and his fiancée, Sue McEwen, the daughter of the man sworn to capture him, his own boss, Lt. Det. Gil McEwen, he makes sure that the ill-gotten money is distributed to those in need.
Airship 27 has done previous volumes featuring The Moon Man, and now I look at the third collection, which contains three stories by David Noe, Jeremy Lamastus, and Kevin Findley.
In David Noe’s tale, The Moon Man is on the trail of a treasure left behind by a founder of the city. But others are in the mix. One is a madman known as the Dream Man. There is also a mysterious man who claims to be a “great detective,” but who is he really? Will The Moon Man be able to get the treasure, or will the other forces after it claim it first?
A trio of American aviators, now calling themselves “Dusk and Dawn,” run afoul of The Moon Man. What are they after, and can he stop them? The trio is loosely based on G-8 and his wingmen, here having taken a darker turn in life.
And finally, in the last piece, a novella by Kevin Findley, The Moon Man must contend with a crooked lawyer trying to get a mobster off the hook for murder. We also learn of two rich families in Great City who have taken different paths. One uses its wealth to help the downtrodden, and the other does the opposite.
This is another great collection of stories from Airship 27. I’m not sure when we’ll see another collection of new Moon Man stories, but I look forward to it.
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