Unlike many crime-fiction collections that have come out of late, the Alec Cizak-edited PULP MODERN: AUTUM 2011 is a bit different, in the sense that it’s divided into three distinct genres: crime, fantasy and Westerns, each of which had a foothold in the pulps of old.

The 170-page inaugural issue begins with a reprint of a Lawrence Block story, “Murder Is My Business.” While it’s a great way to kick it all off, most readers will see exactly where it’s going. But then, that might have been the point, since the rest of the collection is no by-the-numbers affair.

Cooper Smith’s “Feel Good Hit of the Summer” is about a group of criminals whose love for crime films fits in with the events in which they are about to partake, right up to the fitting end. I really loved the truly noir feel of John Kenyon’s “Train in Vain,” which deals with a pair of brothers and their love for The Clash. It takes the radar into a nightmarish world where family can help, but also hurt.

Moving into the fantasy section, the standout is “Disintegration” by Glenn Gary, about a doctor slowly fading away, and literally. At first, the narrator’s finger turns black and falls off, only to become dust. “Early Retirement” by C.J. Edwards is a tale of space madness in the far future. There is also some serious black comedy in “Omelette du Jour” by Yarrow Paisley, which will make think twice about eggs.

Closing out the collection are five Westerns, ranging from the contemporary to the Old West days. Melissa Embry’s “Eight Seconds” could have easily fit into the crime arena, with its story of a man who finds out someone else knows the secret he has kept hidden for years. A cowboy wanting to honor his mother’s wishes informs “Billy Clanton, You Take Off Them Boots Now” by Jimmy Callaway,” while “Pack of Wolves” by Matthew Pizzoloto delves into the world of bank robbers and the consequences of that life choice.

PULP MODERN is a valiant attempt for these unknown writers to get their work out there in the cluttered world of crime fiction, in hopes of great exposure. —Bruce Grossman

Buy it at Amazon.

Love. Exciting and new.

There’s the love I have for a delicious meal. There’s the love I have for a good movie. There’s the love I have for good music. There’s the love I have for finely crafted literature. And then there’s … well, I’ll get to that.

In addition, there’s a special place in my heart for the small press. I love that there are places where literature that does not necessarily appeal to the general reading masses can still find a home and be enjoyed by those of us who like the offbeat. And generally when I speak about “offbeat,” I’m talking about genre fiction, specifically stuff that falls somewhere out on the fringes of such.

Someone recently asked me what sort of fiction I write. I replied that I write genre fiction. I was asked to elaborate: mystery, crime, horror, sci-fi? Well, yes — all that, plus some. I explained:

There’s “literary” fiction and there’s “genre” fiction. Literary fiction is primarily about relationships between people and is mostly characterization. Genre fiction is plot-driven and is mostly about the story. Jane Austen wrote literary fiction. H.G. Wells wrote genre fiction. Is one better than the other? Not in my mind.

And just because something is genre fiction does not necessarily mean it does not contain character development or examinations of relationships between the characters, just as literary fiction does not necessarily exclude a plot-driven story. No definition is 100% all-encompassing. There are exceptions to every rule … just as there are exceptions to my definition. I say that before some scholarly individual decides to argue with me about what constitutes literary and genre fiction. These reviews are only my opinion and, therefore, are subjective.

As I was saying before I digressed, I have a special place in my heart for the small press — especially the small, genre magazines that populate the literary landscape and offer alternatives to the homogenized, watered-down fiction that regularly makes the bestseller lists. I have three samples of small-press genre publications in front of me at the moment, and all are markedly different in their look and attitude.

BULL SPEC from editor/publisher Samuel Montgomery-Blinn is a North Carolina-based “magazine of speculative fiction.” Speculative fiction, of course, is what we used to call science fiction years ago. But “speculative fiction” sounds better, doesn’t it? Classier, unlike “sci-fi,” which sounds like trashy pulp stories. Confession: I like trashy pulp stories. Unfortunately, today’s sophisticated readers want pretentiousness with their pulp, so the Sci-Fi Channel becomes Syfy, and “science” fiction becomes “speculative” fiction.
 
BULL SPEC is glossy and professionally put together. It reminded me somewhat of the defunct magazine OMNI, only a bit brighter and with softer stylistic edges to its content. It mixes science fiction and fantasy with interviews, book reviews, a touch of poetry and even a chapter of an ongoing serial told in a comic-book format. Most of the interviews begin with a review of that particular subject’s latest work, and then jumps right into a Q-and-A. There are a few recognizable interviewees (Lev Grossman and Lewis Shiner) and two relative newcomers (Teresa Frohock and John Claude Bemis), and marrieds Ann and Jeff VanderMeer, who seem to pop up everywhere these days in their capacities as authors and editors.

I liked the interviews and the book reviews, although sometimes the former felt overlong and the latter felt too short. The short fiction pieces were my primary interest, however, with personal faves being “We Don’t Do Quests” by Dale Mettam, a comedic tale of two adventurers-for-hire bargaining with a prospective client over what they will and won’t do. There’s a cool twist at the end that I saw coming, but it didn’t diminish my enjoyment of the story any.

I also enjoyed “Less Than Absent” by Kenneth Schneyer, a short-short piece about an invention that calculates how many people are inside a dwelling, and what happens when that number seems to be off. Also, “The Long Lives of Heroes” by Jeremy Whitley and Jason Strutz, the graphic piece in the middle of the mag, was interesting and made me want to read more of the story. I wished it could have gone longer, too, but then, that’s the point of a serial, isn’t it? Keep the reader wanting more.

When it comes to poetry, I’m truly not an expert. I know what I hate, and I didn’t hate any of the poetry in BULL SPEC. The same can be said for the other short stories included. Although the rest didn’t stand out and grab me the way the stories mentioned above did, I can’t say there was a bad one in the bunch, either.

SHOCK TOTEM looks more like a trade paperback book rather than a magazine, so let’s just call it an anthology and be done with it. It’s one of the few small-press publications that actually pays its contributors rather than paying in free copies and/or bragging rights of publication … which means that if they include a piece in their publication, they truly believe in it.

(Note: That statement is not meant as criticism on those publications that are unable to pay for fiction/poetry/artwork/etc. I’m sure every publisher would pay their contributors if they could afford to, but as most small-press books and magazines are done more for the love of the medium rather than an attempt to turn a profit, as well as the desire to give writers additional outlets to showcase their work and help them find an audience, most can’t afford it. In fact, I’d hazard a guess that many small publishers take a financial loss on their publications and continue to do so for the sheer love of what they do.)

Publisher/editor K. Allen Wood’s SHOCK TOTEM focuses on “dark” fiction and poetry, i.e. horror/suspense/thriller. As in BULL SPEC, there are interviews (Kathe Koja and Rennie Sparks) and book reviews (plus movies and music), and the added bonus of an essay from Wood (“Living Dead: A Personal Apocalypse”) that reads like a story about the undead … and in a way, it is.

Other standouts:
• Lee Thompson’s “Beneath the Weeping Willow,” about an autistic boy told in second-person POV — a near-impossibility to pull off correctly, but Thompson does so and makes it look easy;
• “Weird Tales” by David Busboom, a two-pager about a group of merrymakers exchanging stories of their various brushes with the supernatural, that is both a tribute to H.P. Lovecraft, as well as a listing of a half dozen story ideas that I would like to see developed further;
• “Dead Baby Day” by Michael Penkas, about a boy playing a cruel trick (or is it?) on his kid brother; and
• “Bloodstains and Blue Suede Shoes,” an ongoing, multipart essay that examines the relationship between music and horror. This particular segment focused on Robert Johnson, the famed blues guitarist who, legend had it, sold his soul to the devil.

I especially enjoyed the section in the back (“Howling Through the Keyhole”) where the contributors explained their various inspirations and motivations behind their stories. But, as a writer, I’m more interested in the creative process than perhaps the average reader. Still, I hope this is a continuing feature.

Minor criticism: Two of the stories (“Fade to Black” and “The Many Ghosts of Annie Orens”) both feature protagonists who have the ability to see ghosts. Although both handle the subject in much different ways, their close proximity to each other in this issue had me feeling a sense of déjà vu. Some separation — one in the front and one in the back — probably would have avoided that.

Also, Tom Bordonaro’s “Full Dental,” a comedic tale of corporate middle management having to put up with demons in the workplace, runs on a bit too long. I liked the premise and liked Bordonaro’s writing style (including his behind-the-scenes recount of the story’s origin), but the joke wears thin after a couple of pages. It could have been shortened to a much greater effect.

Last, but certainly not least, is the sophomore issue of TALES OF BLOOD AND ROSES, a Maryland-based zine that is the brainchild of editor/publisher Jeffrey L. Shipley. Full disclosure: I reviewed the premiere issue of TALES back in April and it completely changed my life.
 
My review (go ahead and read it. I’ll wait. Back? Let’s continue …) led me to find the love of my life. As you saw, I singled out “Shelia” by Rebecca Urban as my personal favorite of the issue, which led to Ms. Urban leaving me a “thank you” comment, which led to an email inquiry from me about where I might find other works by her, which led to an exchange of emails, which led to a couple of phone calls, which led to a series of marathon phone calls, which led to an exchange of visits, which ultimately led to a declaration of love and a marriage proposal. Ms. Urban and I are to be married September of next year.

So blame it on the cosmos, blame it on kismet or blame it on karma… Me, I blame Jeff Shipley’s TALES OF BLOOD AND ROSES and Rod Lott’s BOOKGASM for bringing my soulmate into my life. And when I say “blame,” I mean “thank profusely.” I owe both of them. But in the meantime, I still have a job to do and must remain unbiased and impartial …

TALES OF BLOOD AND ROSES gives the reader more bang for his or her buck. Shipley doesn’t worry about glossy pages or covers; his primary concern is to share the type of genre fiction he loves with as many readers as possible, and do it for a bargain price. (Really, these days, where can you find a 62-page magazine crammed with stories, poems, pictures and artwork for $4.75?) In my humble opinion, that is as it should be.

In issue 2, many of the contributors from the first one return, with some new names added. The Enigmatic M.Z. contributes an essay about horror arcade games that is smartly written and achieves a near-impossible feat: It made me want to play some of the games he describes. (I’m generally not much of a fan of video games.) Although I thought his music essay was out of place in issue 1, this piece fits in perfectly with the groove of the issue and retains a sense of fun. Nice job.

More standouts:
• Jennifer Yousfi’s “No Pleasure Without Pain,” a tale of a woman whose addiction to pain gets out of control, had a twisty story that had me guessing to the end, and a killer last line;
• A.G. Synclair’s “Alone” — about a young woman attempting to escape her past, an Internet predator and a potential victim of the predator — has a strong sense of dread, but the reader discovers the feelings of foreboding may be misplaced; and
• “Glass Half Empty” by Brad Eidmann, the story of a man haunted by the ghost of his living father.

Much of the poetry contained in TALES resonated with me more so than the publications above, with my personal favorites from Hillary Lyon (“Club Crawler” and “Hooves”), E. Doyle-Gillespie (“Loving the Succubus” and “Serpent”), David S. Pointer (“The New Used Couple”), John Grey (“To The Woman in Black”), and poetry editor Jannabelle Lee (“Young Man”), whose finely worded biography box was as enjoyable as the verse that preceded it.

My favorite piece, I’m sure will surprise no one, was Urban’s “Barely Covered.” For those who may think I am showing favoritism to the future Mrs. Grayson, all I can say is, I defy you to read her work and not feel the electricity that hums through her words. It delivers a jolt, like a cattle prod to the groin.

I promised to be unbiased, and I will. My criticism of TALES is minor, however. Not all of the stories clicked with me as much as the ones I listed above, and a couple I thought had promising starts, but fizzled out on their promise before the last line. But there isn’t a truly bad piece in the lot, and for $4.75, you’re not going to find a collection of work this diverse, interesting and thought-provoking anywhere else. It’s Maryland’s best-kept-but-not-for-long secret.

I’m looking forward to #3’s theme issue of “Twisted Fairy Tales.” Should be fun.   —Slade Grayson

This is a tough time to be launching a new print periodical, especially one that caters to a niche market. While many print magazines and newspapers are struggling to stay in business, there are many that are simply closing up shop (R.I.P. WIZARD) or going to a strictly online publication format.

Or, as in the case of THE COMICS JOURNAL, are doing regular online publishing with an annual print edition. Even the webzines are struggling; R.I.P ThugLit … although it did last five years, which is damn good stamina in a market dominated by YA fiction and paranormal romance.

TALES OF BLOOD AND ROSES from publisher/editor Jeffrey L. Shipley basically says to hell with the doomsayers. Shipley has launched a horror zine in a publishing world that resembles piranha-infested waters and an ever-decreasing number of lifeboats.

It takes more than money and a vision to launch a horror zine that is equal parts short stories, flash fiction and poetry. It takes chutzpah. It takes … well, picture the scene in GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS when Alec Baldwin removes the pair of brass balls from his briefcase and shows it to the salesmen. That’s what it takes in today’s market.

Confession: I was prepared to hate it.

It looks like something some Goth fans would print up and hand out at a concert venue or give away for free outside a Charlaine Harris book signing. It’s 16 pages of (admittedly) good quality copier paper, stapled in the middle and folded over. It’s more of a booklet than a magazine, something that makes you think high school students with access to Mom and Dad’s printer cartridges rather than a professional publication.

Looks can be deceiving, however, and we all know the old adage about not judging a book by its cover. Of course, all of us have been fooled by a book cover at some point. Right?

So despite my initial misgivings, I decided to give TALES OF BLOOD AND ROSES the benefit of the doubt and judge it by its contents. Not bad. There’s some really good stuff, some okay stuff, some mediocre stuff and … well, some stuff that needed to gestate for a bit longer.

Do the math: 16 pages folded in half with writing and/or photos on both sides; eliminate the front and back cover; eliminate the inside front cover, as it’s a table of contents; eliminate the last two pages, as they are a list of the contributors. That leaves 59 pages to cram in stories, poems and a few photos. Shipley and poetry editor Jannabelle Lee do their best to utilize every square inch of space to get in as much as possible. With those odds, you’re bound to read some gems, and some clunkers.

Much of the stories and poems deal with the staples of the horror genre: vampires, werewolves, ghosts and zombies. There are a few pieces that transcend those limitations, but the majority keeps their roots close to home. The photos serve little purpose; they serve as atmosphere, perhaps, or as visual aids such as in the extremely short piece “An Unlikely Conversation,” about the exchange between an angel and a demon. Sometimes they seemed out of place, for instance when they are simply shots of a model in Gothic wear or fetishistic bondage poses.

My favorite stories in this issue are the ones that transcend the genre:

• “That Time of the Month” by Jennifer Yousfi, about a woman who discovers that her husband is a werewolf. She suffers for her discovery, and endures in order to keep her family together. But is the story really about a woman married to a lycanthrope? Or is the deeper meaning about domestic violence?

• “Halliegh” by R.A. Boyd, about a dead little girl and a dangerous swimming pool.

• “All for Lucy” by the editor himself, about a man willing to murder for love, and the unfortunate circumstances that arise when he’s unable to get exactly what he wants.

• “Shelia” by Rebecca Urban, a dense, two-paragraph piece that is more a hate-filled rant against men than a story. But it’s a story as well, and it’s my personal fave of the bunch. How can you not love a piece that starts off with, “Passions resemble dead-end roses run over by my drunk ass boyfriend at 2 AM when he can’t find his dick anymore?” And it just gets better from there.

Genre poetry is a tough balancing act. Poe did it well; Lovecraft did it adequately. Robert E. Howard did it badly (and I’m a huge fan of Howard’s stories, but honestly, his poetry was just painful to read). The poetry contained in this issue was at either ends of the spectrum. They were either good and told a story (“Zombie Love,” “Lycanthrope,” “Clipped Wings,” “Vampyr”) or they appeared to be collections of random and nonsensical words (“Dead Run,” “Splatterpunk Retreat,” “Drip Tray Enchantress”). I loved “Chronic Overtouch: Canto 1” by C.M. Sidwell, mainly because it starts off with the line, “My tongue navigates a rhythm in your pussy-purse.”

The rest of the stories and poems get a passing grade, although I found “The Yellow House” by Elizabeth Riggs to be highly derivative with an ending that was old back when it first aired on THE TWILIGHT ZONE. The real head-scratchers were “Soundtrack to a Love Gone Wrong,” an essay about music, and a cartoon by someone named Darkman. Both seemed as if they were meant for another publication entirely. But maybe that’s just me.

TALES OF BLOOD AND ROSES may, I hope, evolve into something quite extraordinary. I’ll be curious to see what future issues are like. —Slade Grayson

Buy it at Tales of Blood and Roses.

A new magazine catering to crime short fiction is a tough enterprise. I mean, you really have to deliver the goods with your opening shot, because if you limp along with lackluster material, you can forget about ever seeing issue two.

The debut issue of NEEDLE: A MAGAZINE OF NOIR is lean, mean and all about the dark world of crime. (Yes, they’re up to #3 now, so we’re behind.) This ain’t for pussies. With a lineup of names that have been working the short-fiction circles, you know these people will deliver like a fist to the gut. Put together by editor Steve Weddle, this debut blows away a certain anthology series that is barely treading water in whatever city they are using to cash in.

What is truly great is that none of the pieces wear out its welcome. At just under 170 pages, NEEDLE has 15 tales of degenerates, scumbags, mob goons, drug runners, killers and a book critic. Because we all know book critics are the most evil folks out there. If you don’t believe me, check out Patti Abbott’s “I Am Madame X’s Bodyguard,” detailing the life of a former mob enforcer who has been put out to pasture, now making a paycheck by protecting Hollywood clients, including a female book critic who would make Cormac McCarthy went his pants. Abbott has lot of fun with her story, and it’s such a great read for its short length.

One of the real standouts is Hilary Davidson’s “The Black Widow Club,” telling the heartwarming tale of how a mother and daughter have bonded like only family can. Dave Zeltserman provides an older story of his with “‘Til Death Do You Part,” in which we follow a couple from the point their relationship can never be broken, no matter how much they hate each other.

But as dark as this collection gets, we do get a little humor thrown in. Okay, seriously black humor, but that’s the best kind. Keith Rawson gives us a drug deliveryman who has a really bad day in “Three Cops,” while Kieran Shea’s “The Shrewd Variant” is not what you’d call a laugh riot of a detective reporting on his latest case to his client. But it sure has a great mean streak.

Closing out the issue is Jedidiah Ayres’ “The White Buffalo,” a story of a funeral director in which all your preconceived notions are blown out of the water. I could literally go through the complete list of pieces and lavish praise on the likes of Paul D Brazil, Eric Beetner and Sandra Seamans. But I’ll let their words speak for themselves.

NEEDLE has no bloated stories that collapse under their own weight. These pieces feel like barbed wire wrapped around a fist that just won’t stop hitting until a face is a bloody mess. In other words, a truly great start. —Bruce Grossman

Buy it at Needle.

Unearthing buried treasures from pulp literature’s yesteryear!

“It’s The Man Who Rides Alone Who Meets Danger In The Most Dramatic Fashion … The Lone Rider Carries Excitement Wherever He Goes! Follow The Adventures Of The Lone Ranger In Every Thrilling Issue Of This Magazine.”

Well, it wouldn’t take you long to read “Every Thrilling Issue of This Magazine,” because THE LONE RANGER MAGAZINE lasted only eight issues before morphing into ROMANTIC WESTERN. Because of its short run, it’s a tough pulp to track down. Recently, a copy sold for almost $800 on eBay. I wonder how many silver bullets you’d have to melt down to raise that kind of cash?

It’s funny how some pop-culture characters can be a big hit in one medium and yet be big flops in another. The Lone Ranger was created by station manager George W. Trendle for a Detroit radio station and debuted on Jan. 30, 1933. The show moved around the dial, always working its way upward and lasting for 2,956 episodes.

Any self-respecting baby boomer can tell you that the character, mostly in the person of B-movie and serial actor Clayton Moore — with Jay Silverheels as “his faithful Indian companion Tonto” — was successful on television from 1949 to 1957. The Masked Man also had a long life in comic books.

But his print career outside of comics has always been spotty. Writer Fran Striker wrote the “complete novels” that ran in the pulps — usually around 25,000 words — and then some hardback books for kids.

THE LONE RANGER MAGAZINE #2 features the story “The Masked Rider’s Justice,” and it suggests some reasons why the pulp never took off. The tale was written by an uncredited Fran Striker (he didn’t even use a pseudonym — no author’s name appears at all) and it’s drearily predictable, especially when compared to the lead story in issue #1, which was livelier and contained some young female characters for contrast.

“Justice” begins in medias res as the Ranger and Tonto break a young man out of jail. He’s been accused of murder and robbery, but they know better. They escort him out of town and hide him in the cave where the Ranger keeps his supplies.

Then the two heroes go back to town to find out who the real killer is. We figure it out the minute the guy is introduced. It’s a story with absolutely no surprises — a rarity in the pulps, as they were frequently written so haphazardly that any odd plot twist could spring up.

Striker also seemed determined to keep the characters exactly as they were on the radio. He didn’t take advantage of the freedom a pulp presence allowed him for expansion and alteration. Fans of The Shadow know that the radio and pulp versions of that hero and his milieu differed in several ways.

In this story, even Tonto’s way of speaking apes what we hear on the radio: “Tonto halted, and without command, Silver stopped beside the white horse of the Indian. ‘You get-um down here,’ suggested Tonto. ‘You stay here.’”

Note: Before Tonto got his famous pinto, Scout, he rode a white horse he named White Feller.

The magazine also contains three short stories — one by popular Western writer Lawrence Keating, but none is memorable — and several supposedly non-fiction departments. There’s the second of three installments chronicling the life of John Wesley Hardin, who is portrayed as a serial killer and psychopath, but somehow respected by anyone he doesn’t shoot. Maybe it’s more relief than respect.

There’s an ongoing series in which a cattle trail cook answers readers’ questions about the Old West, and another about everyday life on a working cattle ranch, something those radio boys in Detroit knew all about.

I can’t recommend this Adventure House reproduction even to those who want to know what the typical pulp Western of 1937 was like, because the typical pulp Western was a lot better than this. But there is an undeniably nostalgic tint to the reading if you remember The Lone Ranger you used to love as a kid.

And, yes, he does call out “Hi-yo, Silver!” when he rides into the sunset, not “Hi-ho, Silver!” But if you didn’t know that already, just turn in your Lone Ranger lunchbox and cap pistol at the door. —Doug Bentin

Buy it at Amazon.

America, we have an international crisis on our hands. First, China’s eclipsing us in math and science, and now, Britain’s serving us our ass in the realm of comics magazines that aren’t for kids. Case in point: CLINT #2.

Editor Mark Millar’s born-in-the-UK monthly hits no sophomore slump with its October issue. In fact, the quality arguably inches up a hair. And pubic, of course, in keeping with the mag’s “adult content” stamp. This one presents six comics features in all, four of which are the second chapters of ongoing, serialized stories, beginning with “Kick-Ass 2,” in which Dave finds a new superhero pal in the so-called Doctor Gravity, physics professor by day, gravity pole-wielder by night.

Jonathan Ross’ “Turf” continues his Prohibition-era tale of vampire wars, with nosy newspaper reporters getting in way over their heads, while Frankie Boyle takes a sacrilegious turn with the mad magnate known as “Rex Royd.” Millar’s “Nemesis” may be my favorite this time around, as the supervillain story walks around slinging its balls, pissing on boundaries as it crosses them.

Mateus Santolouco delivers another one-joke entry in the short “Space Oddities,” and the debuting comic is Millar’s “American Jesus,” which — at least in this opening chapter — strongly mirrors the film UNBREAKABLE, but with a pre-teen protagonist.

But CLINT is not all about comics, as short articles bridge the illustrated features. The cover story is an interview with the SHAUN OF THE DEAD/HOT FUZZ team of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, and KICK-ASS star Chloë Grace Moretz closes things out with “Diary of a Hit Girl.” Scattered between are pieces on Hollywood stunts that went south (some fatally), notable midgets, stupid baby names, the reality of hoverboards and other big-screen gadgetry, real-life superheroes, a MAD-style parody on upcoming creature features (MEGA PANDA VS. GIANT PLATYPUS, anyone?) and more.

You’ll also find interviews with David Baddiel and Charlie Brooker. Who are they? This American doesn’t know. And doesn’t care! I love this magazine, even for the few parts that don’t translate across the Atlantic. —Rod Lott

Buy it at CLiNT.

As editor Mark Millar’s intro reads, “Grandpa had THE EAGLE, Dad has 2000AD and now you’ve got CLINT, you lucky people.” Well, if you were British, that may hold true, but at least with modern-day importing, the third part can be. And it should, because it’s been too damn long that the world has been without an honest-to-God original comics magazine for big people — not a magazine about comics, but a magazine of comics. (And, no, manga doesn’t count.)

With CLINT #1, Millar has remedied that. The 100-page, full-color UK publication is anchored by five comic features, four of which are serialized. Spread amongst them are a few entertainment-oriented articles, interviews and/or tongue-in-cheek tidbits typical of other lad-mags (i.e. “Top Ten Hot TV Mums”). Those comics, however, are atypical.

And things kick off in grand style with the first chapter of Millar’s own KICK-ASS 2, with John Romita Jr. returning on the pencil. It’s an immediate joy to see these characters back again on the page, and as if cognizant that Hit-Girl was the fan favorite in the first KICK-ASS (not to mention the movie), Millar has shifted her front and center.

Millar also pops up later with his and Steve McNiven’s “Nemesis,” about the world’s deadliest supervillain coming to Washington, D.C. It plays a lot like WANTED, which is to say, ghoulishly gruesome. Speaking of, there’s plenty of the red stuff in “Turf,” a Prohibition-era vampire tale written by Jonathan Ross (he of the late, great INCREDIBLY STRANGE FILM SHOW) and drawn by Tommy Lee Edwards. The meatiest of the bunch, it reminded me of Scott Snyder and Stephen King’s AMERICAN VAMPIRE series for Vertigo, only with aliens. Yes, aliens. You’ll see.

From Frankie Boyle, Jim Muir and Michael Dowling, “Rex Royd” is a riotous superhero send-up so un-PC that you can see why Millar included it. There’s sex, there’s drugs, there’s dirty words. What more do you need? The answer: “Huw Edwards’ Space Oddities,” a near-wordless, humor-based strip that has potential, and serves as a nice send-off for the issue.

I wish this monthly a long, healthy life, and not online but in glorious, physical, take-it-to-the-toilet print. Seeing crap like SHONEN JUMP and YEN PLUS litter the newsstands month in and month out, I’ve long wished for a true comics mag to join the fray. Now it has, and things are going to get ugly. —Rod Lott

Buy it at CLiNT.

How’s about a SAVAGE KICK to the crotch? Murder Slim Press’ roughly annual literary magazine makes a strong case for its hyperbolic “world’s greatest” tag with this, its fifth issue. It sports a great cover that parodies an old issue of FANTASTIC FOUR, but luckily, there’s more greatness inside.

And it begins with some wonderfully profane, full-page cartoons by indie cartoonist Ivan Brunetti. Interestingly, they’re older ones that he’s kinda ashamed of, per the rather frank, self-loathing interview that follows. He admits they came from an angrier part of him and that he wouldn’t do them today, so one wonders how the KICK edit team convinced him to let them be reprinted.

Oh, and this being a lit mag, there are short stories. Lots and lots of them, mostly dealing with themes of sex, drugs and criminal activity, from ass fetishists and broken hearts to door-to-door salesmen and Halloween, all under titles as delightful as “Deadly Spanking” and “Slut, Bitch, Whore.” Both Seymour Shubin and Joe R. Lansdale contribute tales in their own tight, unique ways, and each following welcome Q&As with both.

SK5 closes with its picks of 2009, including the unflinching film BRONSON. All in all, the bound mag is 232 pages worth of work that’s unafraid to be exactly what it wants to be, so take it or leave it. BOOKGASM fans, that means take it. —Rod Lott

Buy it at Murder Slim Press.

The survival of the short story may depend upon the independent press, and BULL SPEC marks another worthy vehicle to carry the format through the next decade and beyond. A magazine of speculative fiction, it’s published quarterly out of Durham, N.C.

For this debut issue, editor Samuel Montgomery-Blinn has assembled a worthy lineup of offerings from C.S. Fuqua, Peter Wood and Natania Barron, plus an excerpt from Michael Jasper’s A GATHERING OF DOORWAYS, all comprising the mag’s first half. All are presented in a manner that makes for leisurely reading, that puts the emphasis on the flow of the words.

In the middle comes the first chapter of “Closed System,” a serialized comic by Mike Gallagher about a guy who travels through time atop the head of a giant ape. It’s great fun, and it’s nice to see graphic fiction being included, rather than excluded, as so many similar publications are wont to do.

The second half is devoted to reviews, interviews and — cringe — poetry. Author D. Harlan Wilson is interviewed, which is interesting, but in need of an introduction for the many who’ve not yet heard of him. Same goes for the other interviews, the last of which is with the owner and manager of a sci-fi gaming store in Durham, which I’m afraid may hold no interest to readers outside of that town.

At the same time, it adheres to the mag’s mission of absolute fandom for the genre, which should be applauded. So should Montgomery-Blinn’s decision to give his contributors a nice, two-page spread that included photos — this really recognizes writers, which should help them all build audiences.

BULL SPEC is printed mostly in color, with nicely slick pages. While by no means cutting-edge, the design is functional. I can see this publication gaining a real following. —Rod Lott

Buy it at Bull Spec.

Good superhero fiction is hard to come by. Last year, two anthologies of do-gooder short stories both underwhelmed, as did full novels by the likes of Austin Grossman the year before. Like an underdog — or perhaps Underdog — A THOUSAND FACES: THE QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF SUPERHUMAN FICTION is better than all of them, coming out of nowhere.

Edited by Frank Byrns, the ninth issue contains 13 stories and, like many indie-fiction “magazines” these days, comes packaged as a trade paperback, rather than stapled paper. Among the highlights is the first tale, “Mister Brass and the Red Horror of Frankenstein,” by Joshua M. Reynolds. It reminded me of the TALES OF THE SHADOWMEN anthologies, where established characters of others’ creations intermingle — in this case, Victor Frankenstein, Dr. Moreau and groups from the pen of H.P. Lovecraft and Sax Rohmer.

Jason Stout’s “To Sleep … Perchance” examines the romantic element of sacrifice, between a man who never sleeps and a woman who does little else, because her dreams are packed with prescient visions. Meanwhile, Chad Boudreau wonders what would happen if a convenience store was robbed while its super-powered employee was on duty, in “Friday, 3 a.m.”

Other pieces alternate between straightforward caped adventures right out of the comics and more introspective works in which that which makes the subjects special is used only as a diving board. More often than not, the contents soar. —Rod Lott

Buy it at Amazon or A Thousand Faces.

Wildside Press’ SHERLOCK HOLMES MYSTERY MAGAZINE is many things — fun, nice-looking, great value for your money — but not regular. Yet issue #3 arrived alongside Hollywood’s blockbuster take, just as the public appetite for all things Holmes is whetted, so hopefully it may attract more readers. It deserves to.

As with previous issues, the periodical — actually a sturdy paperback — opens with nonfiction features that make the mag feel like a club. Lenny Picker provides a terrific article on some Holmes screen adaptations, with particular attention paid to BBC’s MURDER ROOMS series, which was added to my wish list immediately.

Gary Lovisi follows with a delightful look at some notable Holmes pastiches in paperback, pretty much all of which are sadly out-of-print. Bob Byrne then compares Nero Wolfe to Holmes in an essay, and landlady Mrs. Hudson’s advice column — the weakest link in SHMM — is shuttered for a recipe column, but I’m afraid the change is no better.

This issue’s Sir Arthur Conan Doyle reprint is “The Adventure of the Speckled Band,” my favorite Holmes story. Since it’s likely that a majority of readers have already read it, too, I wish it would’ve been dressed up with art, either in the style of Sidney Paget’s Victorian-era STRAND illustrations or that original work itself.

New fiction begins with Bruce I. Kilstein’s “Watson’s Wound,” in which the story behind Watson’s war injury is told, and Holmes thinks that something about it doesn’t quite ring the right way. This story is a great example of expanding upon Holmes’ established universe. Kim Newman’s lengthy “A Volume in Vermillion” is next, written from the perspective of Holmes villain Sebastian Moran.

In pieces unrelated to Holmes — but no stranger to mystery — include Stan Trybulski’s table-turning “Tough Guys Don’t Pay”; Hal Charles’ father/daughter whodunit, “Vacation from Crime”; Jean Pavia’s near-diabolical “Workout,” featuring one of the most pathetic protagonists you’ll encounter all year; and Peter King’s wry, sublime parody of TV’s AVENGERS, in “Mayhem in St Margaret Meade.”

A couple of cartoons dot the pages as filler, but there could be many more. With so few publications daring to showcase short stories these days, the Marvin Kaye-edited SHMM is one of the most reliable, and I love how the covers utilize poster art from the old Holmes films, to place you in the right frame of mind: that of inexpensive, but intelligent escape. —Rod Lott

Buy it at Amazon.

OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF MARVIN KAYE:
• DON’T OPEN THIS BOOK! edited by Marvin Kaye
• THE FAIR FOLK edited by Marvin Kaye
• FORBIDDEN PLANETS edited by Marvin Kaye
• THE GHOST QUARTET edited by Marvin Kaye
• SHERLOCK HOLMES MYSTERY MAGAZINE #1 edited by Marvin Kaye
• SHERLOCK HOLMES MYSTERY MAGAZINE #2 edited by Marvin Kaye
• THE ULTIMATE HALLOWEEN edited by Marvin Kaye

Every issue of OUT OF THE GUTTER reaches your mailbox in a plain brown wrapper, but #6 — being “the sexploitation issue” — is the one that certainly deserves it. This one’s absolutely filthy, kids, meaning if you’re a regular reader of the indie-fic rag, you’re going to love it.

In the journal of “pulp fiction and degenerate literature,” the upfront section of flash fiction is my favorite, and that’s no different this go-round. How could it not be, given stories dedicated to a hostage situation on a toilet, purveyors of pornographic jigsaw puzzles, the trouble with lactose intolerance during sex, a woman who gets paid $25K to get beat up, and another woman who cuts off men’s parts so that she can … well, you’ll just have to see for yourself.

In longer pieces, Michael Bracken examines the dangers of sex with plastic bags in “Games,” while the men of Jed Ayres’ raucous, dialogue-only “Viscosity” discuss the use of various foodstuffs and other stuff as masturbation props. Steven L. Barnes’ “Brothers” try to decide what to do with a dead woman’s body, and a man with pedophiliac tendencies worries about what he might do when his favorite hooker, Lollypop, announces her retirement in “Functional,” by John Jasper Owens.

Clair Dickson serves up another adventure of erotically charged P.I. Bo Fexler in “Blow to the Head,” and of course the title is a pun. I still think the Fexler stories would make for a killer anthology someday, and now that it’s my understanding the OOTG editors are branching out into books with their own label, perhaps they’ll consider making my dream a reality.

Nonfiction pieces have dotted each issue of OOTG, but this may be the case where they outshine the fiction. First, an anonymous writer tells of being wrongly arrested for solicitation, and the moral education class he had to attend — and pass — as part of his sentence. Daytona provides an excellent piece on the artists of pulp covers in “Paint It Black,” while Matt Louis interviews porn novelist C.M. Gordon, author of something called WHOREHOUSE OF HORROR! (Exclamation not mine.)

Henry R. Paine paints a not-so-nice picture of sex researcher Alfred Kinsey and his, um, eccentricies (two words: urethral insertion), but Mike Sheeter turns in the best of the bunch with a “I was there” piece on his years working for Larry Flynt in the heyday of HUSTLER magazine. It’s both hilarious and sad, in a pathetic sort of way, primarily because of the self-destructive antics of Althea Leasure.

You get all this and a bag of chips — assuming said chips come in the form of a crossword puzzle, fake ads, a comic and a feature called “Elegant Sex Jokes” — making this issue well worth your $12.95, as always. Only this time, you might catch something. —Rod Lott

Buy it at Out of the Gutter.

“Paula bent forward and kissed me hard, her tongue burying itself deep in my mouth. The she trailed the tip of her tongue down my chest, over my abdomen, and into the thick tangle of my pubic hair. I’d already grown half-erect and she took me into her mouth, covering my cock head with saliva and tracing her tongue around the circumference of the glans. When I’d grown hard, she released her oral grip, and then straddled me, wrapping herself down and around the length of my stiff shaft. She pulled the plastic bag over my head and sealed it with silver duct tape, just like always.”

OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS SERIES:
• OUT OF THE GUTTER #1
• OUT OF THE GUTTER #2
• OUT OF THE GUTTER #3
• OUT OF THE GUTTER #4
• OUT OF THE GUTTER #5

Another long-awaited zine calls it quits — at least in physical, hold-it-in-your-hands form — with THE HUNGOVER GOURMET #11, but editor Dan Taylor sees to it that his food-and-drink publication goes out with a bang. Or that should be a hit of caffeine?

This super-sized final issue takes its focus from the magic bean known as coffee. Contained within are pieces both pro and con, which warms the heart of someone like me who loves the jolt of jitters, but detests — detests — the taste of the brew. To that end, whoever this Dara Bujon and Tim Hinley are, they become instant pals for their brave essays, “Juan Valdez Is No Friend of Mine” and “Coffee Hell: I’m in the Wrong Place!”

Elsewhere W.P. Tandy sings the praises of Wawa Coffee — a brand unfamiliar to me here in the heartland; A.J. Michel offers 10 reasons why the Dunkin’ Donuts blend beats Starbucks; and Tom Crites explores coffee enemas, which is all I need to read, lest I ever be tempted to try a cup of joe again.

The longest article in the issue has nothing to do with coffee, and it’s also the best. This may sound biased, but it’s BOOKGASM contributor Louis Fowler’s “Stupid Size Me,” an eight-page journal of his experiment to eat on only $20 a week, exclusively consuming edibles and beverages purchased from his local Big Lots. Considering that Armour Honey Mustard Flavor Vienna Sausage and Del Monte Toddler Cuisine Animal Pasta are on the menu, you know it’s not going to be pretty. In fact, it’s nauseating, which makes it laugh-out-loud funny.

At $3 shipped, that’s less than one of those double-frap thingies you love so much. —Rod Lott

Buy it at Hungover Gourmet.

OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS SERIES:
• THE HUNGOVER GOURMET #9

WOLVERINE MAGAZINE #2 offers another four stories, all but one featuring at least one of the X-Men. I’m assuming that the two-issue WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN MAGAZINE has been absorbed into this perodical, since the titular, metal-clawed hero is absent for half of its contents.

First up is a WOLVERINE: FIRST CLASS story in which all Logan wants to do is kick back at the X-Mansion and watch the Stanley Cup finals on TV. His night of R&R, however, is upended by Kitty Pryde and two other girls bickering, not to mention activating some robot villains in the Danger Room that get loose.

A continuation of the previous issue’s WEAPON X: FIRST CLASS number is next, with Professor X again helping Wolverine probe his mind to fill in the blanks of his true origin. It’s one of those reality-benders where our hero ends up fighting an earlier version of himself.

From X-MEN/POWER PACK comes a team-up between the pint-sized super-siblings and The Beast, at the Super Bowl of science conventions — one that Mystique has dared crash. Last is the second chapter of Marvel’s adaptation of Alexandre Dumas’ classic novel THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK, which I doubt the magazine’s younger-age target will appreciate, even if I do. —Rod Lott

OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS SERIES:
• WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN MAGAZINE #1
• WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN MAGAZINE #2
• WOLVERINE MAGAZINE #1

Until I lucked upon it at Borders’ magazine rack, I’d never heard of the glossy pub HORRORHOUND. Yet, its 18th issue — dated July/August 2009 — seems like it was created just for me. Just look at the cover: TALES FROM THE CRYPT, CREEPSHOW, HALLOWEEN II and THE TOXIC AVENGER. Just. For. Me.

Essentially, HORRORHOUND is a film zine, but with slick, full-color pages and lots of ads. The staff isn’t comprised of the best writers in the biz, but they’re competent and, more importantly, have a genuine love for the things they cover. That almost all of it appeals to me makes it especially endearing.

The magazine opens with interviews with H2 star Sheri Moon Zombie, FINAL DESTINATION producer Craig Perry and MY BLOODY VALENTINE 3D stuntman Chris Carnel, as well as a look at Michael Dougherty’s long-delayed TRICK ‘R TREAT and IFC Films’ current stable of horror pictures, including PONTYPOOL and DEAD SNOW.

The “Video Invasion” column apparently spotlights a once-thriving VHS company of the ’80s — this issue, it’s Lightning Video, home to many rentals of my youth, such as TERRORVISION, ALLIGATOR and STREET TRASH. Then there’s a retrospective of Amicus films, primarily focusing on their anthology films.

Ah, anthology films — a personal favorite of mine, which is why the rest of the magazine is like heaven. They count down “The 20 Most Essential Anthology Horror Films” (Mario Bava’s BLACK SABBATH lands the top spot), look at the entire multimedia history of TALES FROM THE CRYPT, select 10 must-see episodes of Rod Serling’s THE TWILIGHT ZONE, and cover all of the small screen’s anthology efforts, including NIGHT GALLERY, TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE, THE HUNGER and FEAR ITSELF. (Reading it makes me furious there are some still unreleased on DVD so far: FREDDY’S NIGHTMARES, DARKROOM, NIGHT VISIONS and MONSTERS.)

Other pieces look at the gory toys of the 1980s, current fright-themed comic books, Seth Grahame-Smith’s PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND ZOMBIES novel and Peter Jackson’s THE FRIGHTENERS.

Layout is fairly rudimentary, but thankfully overflowing with photos and other art. The editing could use a tad tightening in terms of redundancy and self-referentialism, but bravo for making almost no mention of TWILIGHT. —Rod Lott

Buy it at HorrorHound.

Here’s another column where I try and make some progress in my vast piles of MIKE SHAYNE MYSTERY MAGAZINE. These issues are like a treasure. Each one has some sort of lost gem from a variety of mystery authors. A few names pop up that I’ve covered in those pages before. I’ll keep going back to them for the simple reason they are just too darn good not to read. Hopefully, one day, someone will put together a collection of some of these stories into one volume.

MIKE SHAYNE MYSTERY MAGAZINE: DECEMBER 1978 — The main reason to search out this issue is that it has the first Mike Shayne story written by James Reasoner. In the previous issue, it was mentioned as coming and even attributed to Reasoner. This is odd, because all the Shayne stories are attributed to Brett Halliday.

Reasoner’s story, “Death In Xanadu,” seems to be a bit of a tribute. Any film buff out there should get the title reference. Yes, it’s Mike Shayne in a roller disco extravaganza with music by ELO! (Sorry, could not pass up that joke or image of a cognac-drinking P.I. wearing a fedora while “Mr. Blue Sky” blares away.) The story really deals with Duncan Harrison, a newspaper publisher with more money then he knows what to do with. (Sound like any movies or real people you might know?)

Reasoner points it out himself, with one of the characters explaining CITIZEN KANE to Shayne, these being the days long before VHS and the like. Attempts are made on Harrison’s life, with a long list of suspects. The author has fun in the idea of Shayne interviewing all of them, only for the reveal to end in a very bloody way. Sadly, the cover of the magazine gives away a huge plot point.

That’s only the starting of this jam-packed issue, with the other novelette from Joe R. Lansdale, whose “Long Gone Forever” deals with a detective who has to track down a missing wife, only to find that her past came back to haunt her in a big, dangerous way. He can’t face the fact of telling the whole truth to his very ill and old client, so he bends it. Plus, there are Pasadena Nazis. It’s a great little story from Lansdale, which just shows I should be reading more of his stuff.

The third of the biggies is Lawrence Block’s “The Ehrengraf Appointment,” which deals with a lawyer whose clients take responsibility for crimes they did not commit. Also included is a little con tale where the narrator is a bit too paranoid, in “Quick Change” by Craig Weeden. But the one that really made me laugh out loud was Mike Plake’s “What Really Happened in Farnsburg.” To explain what happens ruins the joke, so I’ll just say that sometimes, criminals might be too smart for their own good.

MIKE SHAYNE MYSTERY MAGAZINE: OCTOBER 1971 — I just love the cover for this issue. That’s the simple reason for its inclusion. But it also features what I think might be the first short story featuring a very short detective.

But before we get there, “The Landlord Murder Case” is typical of the Shayne stories that pop up in this magazine, in that I could not find out who the real author was. The story has all the typical Shayne motifs — namely, women who are not what them seem, and the accusations that Shayne was involved. Here, a woman who wanted his help disappears without a trace, until Mike tracks her down.

Like the title says, it deals with a dead landlord, even though it happens at a motel, involving a large cache of money and a gang of crooks who want it for themselves. Of course, people get greedy and stupid, and Mike figures it out long before the end. It’s nothing special — just a nice little story will please Shayne fans nonetheless.

Jack Ritchie’s “The Griggsby Papers” deals with a family with deep roots in the community, and the murder that happed all those years ago. A man finally uncovers the truth, but why has it been covered up for all these years is his question. Then comes “The Drop” by George C Chesboro, which may be the debut of his dwarf detective. I’m not positive, but as this story unfolds, it really feels like this is Mongo’s start, with how he talks about his detective work being nothing to brag about. Add to the fact that this is the first time he actually kills someone in his job.

Another standout is Kurt E. Johnson’s “The Cautious Killer,” about a gunman who is hired to do a job, only to find out he was not the only person hired. It’s actually reminiscent of another story I’ve covered before; I just can’t remember the title.

MIKE SHAYNE MYSTERY MAGAZINE: MARCH 1977 — On the whole, this issue is a big bunch of “meh,” with nothing to really grab you. There is one story that is a standout by Ernest Savage, dealing with a woman named Tina Marie, for whom series character Sam Train has been carrying a torch. But she has been holding a grudge for all these years, mainly dealing with a large sum of money. Throughout, Train is played for a chump, with Marie dangling a very tempting carrot in front of him, only to snatch it away at the last minute.

The Mike Shayne story “Mexican Payoff” is straight-up mystery, with a dead woman turning up at a spa deep in Mexico, where not only is Shayne on the trail of a missing person, but also has to deal with all these women who want him. Oh, did I forget to mention that one of these women is the baddie? Nothing really special, but again, I was not expecting Shakespeare.

There is an espionage-like tale, thanks to Edward D. Hoch in “The Wooden Dove.” Let’s put it this way: The gimmick did not work in MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL, so who thinks it would work in Cold War Berlin? There is an offbeat, sorta-supernatural tale in Sarah Randall’s “To Mama with Love.” On the whole, this is one of those issues you can skip and not feel as though you’re really missing out on anything. Not every one can be packed with winners.

Next time: a footlong BMT. —Bruce Grossman

Buy them at Amazon.

OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS SERIES:
• MIKE SHAYNE MYSTERY MAGAZINE: JANUARY 1979
• MIKE SHAYNE MYSTERY MAGAZINE: MARCH 1971
• MIKE SHAYNE MYSTERY MAGAZINE: MARCH 1976
• MIKE SHAYNE MYSTERY MAGAZINE: OCTOBER 1978
• MIKE SHAYNE MYSTERY MAGAZINE: NOVEMBER 1978
• MIKE SHAYNE MYSTERY MAGAZINE: SEPTEMBER 1980

OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF BRETT HALLIDAY:
• ARMED … DANGEROUS … by Brett Halliday
• BODIES ARE WHERE YOU FIND THEM by Brett Halliday
• COUNT BACKWARDS TO ZERO by Brett Halliday
• COUNTERFEIT WIFE by Brett Halliday
• FOURTH DOWN TO DEATH by Brett Halliday
• GUILTY AS HELL by Brett Halliday
• MERMAID ON THE ROCKS by Brett Halliday
• MIKE SHAYNE’S TORRID TWELVE by Brett Halliday
• NEVER KILL A CLIENT by Brett Halliday
• SHOOT THE WORKS by Brett Halliday
• TARGET: MIKE SHAYNE by Brett Halliday
• WHAT REALLY HAPPENED by Brett Halliday

My guess is that most BOOKGASM readers have heard of The Shadow, the hero pulp crime fighter who is frequently thought of as the first of his kind — you know, rich guy who roots out evil by disguising himself and adopting an odd but catchy nom de vigilante, like … oh, say, Batman, for instance. But before The Shadow’s first magazine adventure in 1931 came Zorro’s first appearance in 1919 and The Scarlet Pimpernel’s print debut in 1905.

Which brings us to another of those pulp masked action heroes: The Spider. He was Richard Wentworth during the day, another of those indolent millionaire playboys who seemed to be two for a nickel during the Depression. His gal pal was Nita Van Sloan and together they busted more insidious crime than J. Edgar Hoover and Clyde Tolson.

Girasol Collectables, a publisher in Canada, has been producing first-rate reproductions of pulp magazines for years, but they recently got into putting out two-fers without the bells and whistles. Their Spider reprints give you two Spider novels for around 15 bucks. The books are the size of a real pulp, but unlike The Shadow and Doc Savage reprints currently on the market from Sanctum Books, contain no historical essays. They don’t even include the names of the authors or cover artists.

The novels were originally published as written by “Grant Stockbridge,” but several pulpsmiths were the real authors. Most of the books were written by Norvell Page, as were the two in this edition: THE CORPSE CARGO AND SLAVES OF THE RING.

If I’ve made The Spider sound like just another version of the same old masked, slouch-hatted, caped, .45-carrying crime buster, allow me to disabuse you of that notion. These stories are different — kinkier and far more violent than those of Wentworth’s more family-friendly rivals. Good and bad guys drop like flies in these yarns.

In 1934′s THE CORPSE CARGO, a band of land pirates led by the sadistic Captain Kidd rob trains by shooting electricity through the cars and killing everyone onboard: “Wentworth got hold of a paper and by the light of a pocket flashlight he read the shrieking black headlines. TRAIN WRECKS KILL 1,000; PENNSY FLIER CRASHES IN TUBE; 2ND SMASH IN GRAND CENTRAL; FIVE MAIL PLANES CRACK UP. ‘And the loot will run into millions,’ he said. ‘Millions—and a thousand witnesses killed. Captain Kidd—does—right—well.’”

What I like best about that paragraph is the lack of pulp-fiction exclamation points, as if The Spider is appalled at the needless slaughter, but not terribly surprised. The surprise comes when he finds out that Captain Kidd is a woman.

In 1942′s SLAVES OF THE RING, a criminal madman known only as The Brain has corrupted absolutely the political ring of a certain state — no name given. The Spider and Nita, who plays a larger than usual role in the story, have to save the lives of a crusading newspaper publisher and his daughter, convince the governor that he’ll be killed by his bosses if he doesn’t reveal their identities first, solve the murder of an honest U.S. Senator, and bust a statewide siege by the police, and all without the aid of the federal government, which is never even mentioned. The “state” is an obvious stand-in for some small European country that has been conquered by a fascist power.

Forgive me, but I enjoy The Spider stories a lot more than I do those about The Shadow. They’re wilder, goofier, more action-filled — hell, just pulpier. Plus, Nita Van Sloan is hotter than Margot Lane. —Doug Bentin

Buy it at Amazon.

OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THE SPIDER:
• THE SPIDER: ROBOT TITANS OF GOTHAM by Norvell Page
• THE SPIDER: THE DEVIL’S PAYMASTER by Grant Stockbridge

Nearly a year after the debut issue, SHERLOCK HOLMES MYSTERY MAGAZINE #2 is finally available, with another 130-ish pages of mostly all-new material, perfect-bound and edited by the ever-reliable Marvin Kaye.

It begins with Kim Newman’s reviews of a handful of Sherlock Holmes-oriented books, which are welcome, but many of the titles are several years old. With so many new titles published every season, it’d be nice to see those covered instead. Holmes’ landlady Mrs. Martha Hudson returns with a faux advice column that’s more annoying than anything, especially with the inclusion of recipes.

Carole Buggé follows with an essay on radio adaptations of Holmes stories. It’s certainly informative, and if I had the patience to listen to audio plays, I’d definitely use it for reference. Then we come to the meat of the mag: the fiction section.

All of the fiction is centered around mystery and detection, although not necessarily featuring the great detective himself. Darrell Schweitzer’s “The Adventure of the Hanoverian Vampires” is one that does, and it’s an amusing little tale narrated by a cat. Gary Lovisi’s “A Study in Evil” is another, in which Holmes has been arrested for murder, which he doesn’t deny. Arthur Conan Doyle is repped by another reprint, “The Musgrave Ritual.”

In “A Reputation for Murder,” M.J. Elliott certainly hits that Sherlockian spirit with her girl-detective protagonist. David Waxman’s “Tough as Diamonds” is fine enough, but there’s no real suspense or problem-solving in its story of a missing dog. Ron Goulart’s “The Mystery of the Flying Man” is a little too muddled to be effective, but Marc Bilgrey hits “You See, but You Forget” out of the proverbial park, with a story of revenge on a landlord whose negligence results in the death of an elderly tenant. Bilgrey also contributes this issue’s lone cartoon; it’d be fun to see more of these sprinkled throughout the pages, rather than the Victorian-era clip art.

On the copyright page, Wildside Press promises SHMM to be a quarterly publication. I’ll believe that when I see it, but whenever I see a third issue, I’ll welcome it. —Rod Lott

Buy it at Amazon.

OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF MARVIN KAYE:
• DON’T OPEN THIS BOOK! edited by Marvin Kaye
• THE FAIR FOLK edited by Marvin Kaye
• FORBIDDEN PLANETS edited by Marvin Kaye
• THE GHOST QUARTET edited by Marvin Kaye
• SHERLOCK HOLMES MYSTERY MAGAZINE #1 edited by Marvin Kaye
• THE ULTIMATE HALLOWEEN edited by Marvin Kaye

Issue number 5 of SPIDER-MAN MAGAZINE again features the same mix of heroes, only subbing Iron Man in the slot heretofore occupied by The Fantastic Four. In the first tale, Spidey humorously spars with Electro, who thinks he deserves some respect. Then the super-sibs of Power Pack find that going back to school after summer vacation isn’t easy, especially when alligator aliens attack.

It’s back to our wall-crawler for a tête-à-tête with Sandman, inside New York City’s Museum of Modern Art, before Iron Man’s origin is recounted, in a story that more or less apes the recent movie … and was already printed in another of these Marvel all-ages mags in last summer’s IRON MAN/HULK SPECIAL EDITION.

There’s nothing wrong with that story, of course, but this being the fifth issue and with the wealth of singles to draw from, it’s too early to start recycling contents. —Rod Lott

OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS SERIES:
• SPIDER-MAN FEATURING THE SILVER SURFER MAGAZINE
• SPIDER-MAN (IRON MAN/HULK) MAGAZINE
• SPIDER-MAN MAGAZINE #1
• SPIDER-MAN MAGAZINE #2
• SPIDER-MAN MAGAZINE #3
• SPIDER-MAN MAGAZINE #4
• SPIDER-MAN SPECIAL EDITION

While it’s a popular notion that the zine format died years ago, it’s actually being kept alive on life support by a steadfast crew of people who refuse to give up hope, maintaining a constant bedside vigil. One of those people is Baltimore’s Davida Gypsy Breier, and she’s back with her latest project, the zombie-themed RIGOR MORTIS.

When I was heavily into zines, I was always into the film ones — way more than those sappy, pre-LiveJournal personal ones — and MORTIS wonderfully (and also quite slickly) hearkens back to that. Sure, many of us who have devoted way too many hours to horror will find it a nice little refresher, but, for those of you just getting into zombies and the living dead, MORTIS will be a great primer for you.

In the first issue, we’ve got reviews, an overview of Nazi zombie flicks, a cool little Tom Savini centerfold and Davida’s best zombie moments of 2008. And it’s all so well put together, with lots of great artwork that is poster-worthy. I’m not sure if issue #2 is out yet, but for $3 (or one MRE, LOL), RIGOR MORTIS is well worth your time and money, especially for you zombie newbies. —Louis Fowler

Buy it at Living Dead Zine.

After Harvey Kurtzman left MAD, Hugh Hefner gave him TRUMP, only to fold it after two issues. But Hef being Hef, he let Kurtzman still use the office space, where Kurtzman and his stable of artists launched their next great humor magazine in HUMBUG in 1957. You remember HUMBUG, right? Right?

MAD keeps marching along, but HUMBUG died a quick death, ceasing publication after 11 issues. It’s one of those periodicals MAD fans too young the first time around have heard about for years, but have never seen. Fantagraphics rights that wrong with the complete HUMBUG, a two-box hardcover set in a slipcase.

At first glance, HUMBUG’s black-and-white-with-occasional-spot-color pages look like MAD, with the manic art of Jack Davis, Will Elder and Al Jaffee. It’s not until you read it that things appear a tad different. Kurtzman and company aimed high for a more sophisticated humor mag than the competition; sometimes that results in the joke getting lost, or the concept being stronger than the actual execution. (There’s a reason MAD avoided prose pieces.)

Movie and TV parodies — a MAD staple from the start — are here, but in comparatively short supply among all the “how-to” and “a look at”-type features. You do get good spoofs on BABY DOLL and AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS, with the latter a standout in the department of absurdity, and game shows on the tube.

Unfortunately, for whatever reason, HUMBUG today is a victim of timeliness. Although its art still holds great appeal, its wit is weathered and sadly dated. Still, Fantagraphics’ package for it is bar none — handsome, sturdy and restored with great care. Sticking to the term “complete,” the set contain all the covers, contents pages, letter columns and even house ads. I was most interested in the behind-the-scenes story of HUMBUG and the creative process that went into it — not to mention doomed it — and the book’s introduction and exclusive interviews more than satisfy on that count. —Rod Lott

Buy it at Amazon.

Since there’s already a WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN MAGAZINE, I don’t see the need for a WOLVERINE MAGAZINE, but hey: the more, the merrier, I guess. The first issue leads off with a FIRST CLASS story as he aids team members of Alpha Flight infiltrate a terrorist group, followed by a WEAPON X tale as he fights Sabretooth within the subconscious of his mind, helped along by Professor X.

Next, Wolverine joins the Power Pack on Halloween night when Sabretooth again makes his presence known, and the whole issue ends with the first chapter of Marvel’s THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK, adapted from the Alexandre Dumas classic — an interesting but welcome choice, even if the characters look a little too similar to one another, and the script is too dense. —Rod Lott

The second issue of Marvel’s all-ages WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN MAGAZINE proves to be stronger than the first. It opens with a WOLVERINE: FIRST CLASS story in which Kitty Pryde rather amusingly sets Wolverine up on a secret birthday date with his long-distance lady friend, only to see the plans foiled by the arrival of Sabretooth. Happy birthday!

Next, the X-Men travel to Florida to drop in on Dr. Curtis Connors, who has unfortunately turned into a lizard — or The Lizard, rather — and the heroes have to fish him out of the swamps before he grows too dangerous … if they can survive the effort.

Most of the mag’s second half is comprised of the entirety of GIANT-SIZE X-MEN #1, from 1975. I actually owned that issue as a child, in which Professor X scours the globe to assemble his team. It’s full of characters I didn’t even remember — as being part of the X-Men or otherwise — like Japan’s Sunfire, Nashville’s Banshee and American Indian John Proudstar.

Closing out the fun is the continuation of a MINI-MARVELS story from the debut issue, in which a pint-size Wolverine is still trying to get a hold of his favorite breakfast cereal. Hope you’ve read that first part, or else the end gag has none of its intended payoff. —Rod Lott

OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS SERIES:
• WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN MAGAZINE #1

In the annals of pulp crime fighting, one name stands out from the rest: The Shadow. With 325 adventures on the stands and in our hearts, The Shadow was the first and in the opinion of many, the best of the pulp heroes. In the matter of longevity, The Lone Wolf came in second with 212 issues; Lone Wolf appeared in the magazine TEXAS RANGERS. Third was Doc Savage, who, like The Shadow, is still selling reprint editions of his 181 books.
 
Odds are that unless you’re a pulp fan, you’ve never heard of The Lone Wolf or the character known as The Phantom Detective, who was second to come along chronologically after The Shadow and enjoyed a run of 170 issues. That’s a lot of ink devoted to a single hero.

Like The Shadow and Doc Savage, The Phantom Detective is currently back in print. For a number of years now, his stories have been a staple of Adventure House’s pulp replica publishing business, with reprints coming out at the rate of six or more a year. Does wealthy man about town Richard Curtis van Loan, aka The Phantom, deserve rediscovery? Does The Shadow laugh at frightened criminals?
 
The Phantom’s true identity is known to only one person: newspaper publisher Frank Havens. When Havens sees that The Phantom is needed by law enforcement agencies, he turns on a red light at the top of the newspaper building, a gimmick that foreshadows the Bat-Signal. The Phantom shows up wearing a top hat and domino mask — one of those small ones that just frame the eyes — and flashes his special I.D. so the police will know who he is. Unlike The Shadow, The Spider, et al, The Phantom works with the cops, who appreciate his help.
 
In the August 1935 issue of THE PHANTOM DETECTIVE, THE PHAROAH’S MASK — “pharoah” is misspelled that way on the cover, but not in the interior — the mystery involves the mummy of an Egyptian pharaoh that returns to life whenever there is someone in the Egyptian Room of the New York Museum who needs to be killed. A ghostly mark appears on the back of each victim’s hand.
 
It’s been said that The Phantom would have made a terrific character for movie serials, but it never happened. The novel is loaded with gun battles, car chases, inexplicable sliding panels and more sinister doings than any self-respecting king of Egypt could shake a scepter at. This kind of creepy mystery was hot stuff in the early 1930s, as any fan of Charlie Chan movies will tell you.
 
The novels of the Phantom were credited to “Robert Wallace,” a house name designed to make readers think of Edgar Wallace, the immensely popular Brit thriller writer best remembered today as one of the creators of King Kong. A gag in the pulp business was that anyone and everyone had, at one time or another, gotten paid to write a Phantom Detective novel, so I can’t tell you who came up with this one. The prose is workmanlike. The settings tend to have lots of atmosphere, but they’re not particularly atmospheric. The book is like an early ‘30s movie melodrama — an entertaining one, but not a good one.
 
The main novel is backed up by five short stories, none of which feature The Phantom.  One is about a clever jewel robbery caper that includes a talking bird; one is about a fake ring and a murder staged to look like suicide; one is about a curse on a stone from ancient Mexico. The other two are about 10 pages long.
 
Honestly, I haven’t read enough PHANTOM DETECTIVE issues to know whether or not this is a good example of the series, but it went down quick and smooth, and I’m now primed for more. Perhaps that’s recommendation enough. —Doug Bentin

Buy it at Amazon.

From Sparkplug Comic Books comes the second issue of WINDY CORNER MAGAZINE, a charming, unique publication that’s half graphic storytelling and half a celebration of graphic storytelling, all edited by Austin English.

English himself contributes the opening three stories, deceptively simple tales which appear to be rendered in colored pencils and/or crayons — two are recollections of a childhood trip to the planetarium and the movies; the other, a story about a girl named Francis and her reluctance about having a boy from school over to her house. It’s the second chapter in Francis’ life, continuing from WCM #1, but so much time has passed between reading these two issues — nearly two years — that I remember almost nothing about what happened before (not even that Francis was a she).

Fiona Logusch has a great metaphorical piece on “Entangled Relationships,” and Sparkplug runner Dylan Williams contributes an illustrated account of his oft-testy relationship via the mail with legendary artist Alex Toth. A pair of sketchbook pages from Toth follow.

The second half of the magazine is comprised of articles, with the most interesting having English cover “The Art of Lois Lenski,” an author/illustrator of children’s books, primarily from the 1920s to 1960s. Her art — which English pays tribute to on the cover — achieves beauty through clean lines, and the many examples reprinted prove English is spot-on in his summation.

Finally, Onsmith interviews cartoonist John Hankiewicz. His art is terrific — and there’s a generous helping of it strewn throughout the pages — but the interview is too long at 20 pages. The magazine is arguably overpriced at $10 a pop, but its eclectic nature and coverage is something to rally behind. —Rod Lott

Buy it at Sparkplug Comic Books.

OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS SERIES:
• WINDY CORNER MAGAZINE #1

After the great response from the previous all-MIKE SHAYNE MYSTERY MAGAZINE column, I figured I would take another shot at it, especially since I have more than 50 of them on my shelf, with plenty of great writers listed on the covers and also a few stories that were recommend to me.

MIKE SHAYNE MYSTERY MAGAZINE: SEPTEMBER 1980 — James Reasoner told me that one of his favorite Shayne stories he wrote was in this issue, called ‘Yesterday’s Angel.” I totally understand why he is really proud of this one, since it goes back to the start of the Shayne series, dealing with the little-mentioned Mrs Shayne. See, at the start of the series, Mike was married, but his wife was written out of the series just as fast. So Reasoner took that idea and played with it.

A woman turns up on Mike’s doorstep with men chasing her, claiming she is the late Phyllis Shayne — a total dead ringer for her, at least, since Mike thinks that it can’t be true, especially after she claims she has no memory of where she has been. The plot moves into multiple people attacking Shayne, claiming he has something they all want.

The story itself actually ties into an earlier book of the series, which Reasoner ruins here, since he gives away the plot and ending. He has apologized for this mistake, claiming that it was his earlier writing and would never do it again. So read THE CORPSE CAME CALLING first if you grab this issue.

For this tale alone, it’s worth grabbing this issue, since its prime Shayne. Reasoner also stated that the Shayne story in the next issue is related to this one. Another standout in the issue is something very much of its time: “The Opponent” by Edmund R. Shields, a story of a chess-by-mail game that has some very serious issues. It deals with a man who has lost his hands and one eye, and is reflecting on this multi-year match as he waits to hear the final move. This story would make a great short, so filmmakers, look into it. It’s totally gripping.

Another good one is “Correspondence with a Bicycle Thief” by Jerry Jacobsen, told through letters in a college newspaper, between a woman condemning the person who stole her bike, and the thief who just eggs her on. It’s a bit Nancy Drew via Ann Landers — a very funny little tale with our heroine proving how she came to solve the case due to the thief’s boasts.

Finally, there is “Cop Killer” by Edward D. Hoch, in which a hunted-down fugitive is hiding out in what should have been an abandoned apartment, only to find a resident who lived there years ago returning, not knowing that whole area of town is now deserted. To go further reveals the big surprise at the end, but like the old saying goes, you can’t judge a book by its cover.

MIKE SHAYNE MYSTERY MAGAZINE: MARCH 1976 — Here is a case of the supporting stories being of more interest than the Shanye tale. “The Corpse That Walked Away” won’t hold many readers’ interest. It literally drags along, about a family and the murders that happen around them. You’re best off skipping that tale and read the B story first, “Tiger in the Snow,” which happens to be one of George C. Chesboro’s tales featuring his dwarf detective Mongo.

Although it’s barely 20 pages, you get a lot of Mongo backstory infused into it. The plot deals with an escaped tiger from the circus Mongo used to work for. But did the animal escape or did someone release it for his own gain? I’ve been looking for more of the Mongo books, but every place I go, the only one they have is one I covered long ago. I do have another Shayne magazine with a Chesboro story — no idea if it’s also a forgotten Mongo tale.

It’s not all mysteries in this digest; there is a bit of spy fiction in “Between You, Me, and the Lamppost,” a story about a man who stumbles onto a drop spot for some Russian agents, and figures out a way to make some money for himself. It seems to go fine until a crucial mistake is made. There is also a bit of humor in another story only told through letters, in Alvin S. Fick’s “The Old Heap,” which deals with a 1949 Kaiser’s missing hubcaps, which seem to have been stolen at a parking garage. What’s funny is that in the next-to-last letter, it’s pretty obvious what has taken place to please the car owner. Still, it’s a very funny little tale of not crossing an old man who is persistent in the care of his car.

Gary Brander’s “The Halt and the Dead” could have easily been slightly changed to become a Shayne tale, especially since this one is really good and deals with a missing-husband case, with all the clues provided for a reader to put the pieces together — not the most taxing of tales, but still a vast improvement than the real Shayne story.

MIKE SHAYNE MYSTERY MAGAZINE: JANUARY 1979 — This is probably the most jam-packed of the issues so far, starting the Mike Shayne story with a bang to say the least, in “Contract on a Corpse.” Take a look at the cover, because that scene takes place really early. But first, we witness two men who are both killed in cold blood for reasons not made clear. Nothing was taken from them, and neither of them seems to have any ties to one another.

Mike and his pals are on a fishing trip when a boat loaded with a group of thugs comes to attack. It seems someone has it out for Shayne in a big way. Thankfully, there is a bazooka on Mike’s boat to take care of that problem. It all leads into the story of how he unknowingly has been hired with a $10,000 retainer check waiting for him at the office. The plot moves along at a quick pace, dealing with a crime from years ago; those involved are slowly being killed off.

As much fun as that Shayne story is, “The Colonel Won’t Attend”‘ by William Fieldhouse will please all those NCIS fans out there, since it deals with a colonel on a U.S. Army base in Germany who was killed by a garrote, with more than a few suspects, including the man who stole the his wife, a sergeant who was court-martialed in the Vietnam War under him, and the lowly mechanic who punched him out years ago. It’s all up to a former cop who is part of the Army to find the killer, with the added problem of the new commander wanting this taken care of by someone else.

We are also treated to another James Reasoner story, “Three Birds,” about a detective who, to say the least, has a very busy caseload fall into his lap. Edward D. Hoch’s “In a Foreign City” tells of a spy whose worth has diminshed once his cover has been blown. One of the more interesting tales is Bill Pronzini and Barry Malzberg’s collaborative take on a murder investigation, told from one of the strangest narrators out there. To give away who is telling the story would truly ruin the tale, but it’s a bit of fun how the case is solved under such determination by the narrator.

Also, there is the tale of a very meek husband who got himself some dynamite and a problem called his wife in “Eve of Destruction” by D.C. Proyer. I’m only scratching the surface of this issue, since there is still another Pronzini story and a great little gem in Jack Ritchie’s “The Little Room” that deals with a husband and a ransom payment he does not want to make. There is a bit of fun in the sun with the cautious tale of nature in James M. Gilmore’s “The Shark Killer.”

At some point later on, I’ll revisit more of these issues I own, since no matter what, you’ll find a few gems hidden inside.

Next time: Make with the funny! —Bruce Grossman

Buy them at Amazon.

OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS SERIES:
• MIKE SHAYNE MYSTERY MAGAZINE: MARCH 1971
• MIKE SHAYNE MYSTERY MAGAZINE: OCTOBER 1978
• MIKE SHAYNE MYSTERY MAGAZINE: NOVEMBER 1978

OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF BRETT HALLIDAY:
• ARMED … DANGEROUS … by Brett Halliday
• BODIES ARE WHERE YOU FIND THEM by Brett Halliday
• COUNT BACKWARDS TO ZERO by Brett Halliday
• COUNTERFEIT WIFE by Brett Halliday
• FOURTH DOWN TO DEATH by Brett Halliday
• GUILTY AS HELL by Brett Halliday
• MERMAID ON THE ROCKS by Brett Halliday
• MIKE SHAYNE’S TORRID TWELVE by Brett Halliday
• NEVER KILL A CLIENT by Brett Halliday
• SHOOT THE WORKS by Brett Halliday
• TARGET: MIKE SHAYNE by Brett Halliday
• WHAT REALLY HAPPENED by Brett Halliday

Well, here’s something you don’t see every day, even in the world of melodramatic pulp magazine reprints: an Adventure House replica of a 1930s true-crime magazine. It’s called, coincidentally enough, TRUE CRIME MAGAZINE, from November 1936. Ah, 1936 — that was just one year after the deaths of Dutch Schultz, John Dillinger and Ma Barker, and two years after the demise of Bonnie and Clyde, Pretty Boy Floyd and Baby Face Nelson. I would call the 1930s the golden age of American crime, except that decade gets a lot of competition from the years between 1776-1929, and 1940 to the present.

The surprising thing about the book’s articles is how well-written they are. The replica contains no biographical information about the writers, but my guess is that they were journalists picking up some extra coin. Next time you watch one of those old newspaper movies, like FIVE STAR FINAL or HIS GIRL FRIDAY, listen to the text the reporters dictate over the phone to the copy editors back in the office. What they say sounds just like these pieces read. Here, try this on:

“Nineteen long gashes with a razor, and every one of them was a shocking wound it itself. Not one was less than an inch deep, many deeper. They laid bare the bluish white living bone, and they severed nerves and veins and arteries.
 
“Nobody slept on Kingsway that night. Nobody could. The men on deck stuffed cotton in their ears; the men in their berths pulled blankets over their heads. But they couldn’t close out those piercing shrieks which ran through the listless ship with the drooping canvas.”
 
That’s from “Murder Rides the Waves” by Joseph Harrington. Many a horror writer in 2009 wishes s/he could get under your skin so well. I think it’s the word “shrieks” instead of “screams.” “Shrieks” is scarier.
 
The lead story — the one depicted on the cover — tells of a man who attempted murder by putting rattlesnakes in a box, drugging his woman, and forcing her to stick her foot into the container. “Los Angeles’ Rattlesnake Poison Murder Case” is by “Pacific Coast Reporter” Excalibur. I wonder if this is a woman hiding her gender because of the genre. When Ann Rule began writing this kind of stuff as late as 1969, she disguised her sex behind the masculine pseudonym Andy Stack.
 
The article also contains many veiled and not-so-veiled references to abnormal sex practices and incest between the killer and his niece. That may not be a real clue to the author’s gender — although women are generally the audience for true crime and horror — because at least half of this issue’s stories deal with lust crimes. One of the most interesting is “America’s Tragedies: A Study in Murder Parallels” by Billy Sunday. It begins with a brief recap of the Chester Gillette case — the one on which Theodore Dreiser based his novel AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY — and concludes with a more recent (to 1936) but similar affair. Sandwiched between is the sordid tale of Bobby Edwards who, like Gillette, drowned one sweetheart so he’d be free to marry another.
 
A real gangster yarn comes to us via the life of Tony “The Stinger” Cugino, who rose through the educational ranks of reformatories and prisons, to the white slave trade, to contract murder. His story is told by Kent Allerton Hunter.
 
In all, the book contains 10 full-length narratives and one long editorial arguing against the validity of the insanity defense. If none of the writers actually were women, the fairer sex certainly made up a significant percentage of the magazine’s readership. The ad pages are loaded with commercials for products and services for the gals, including five ads in five pages with these enticing headlines: “Late? Overdue Women Find Quick RELIEF,” “Women! Delayed?,” “One Woman to Another, When Troubled with Delay,” “Ladies Only! Delayed?” and “Delay Never Worries Me.” Something tells me these had nothing to do with the former House Majority Leader from Texas.
 
TRUE CRIME MAGAZINE for November 1936 is wonderfully entertaining in its own sordid way. True-crime buffs will love it. Everyone else will, too, though they won’t be as willing to admit it. —Doug Bentin

Buy it at Amazon.

Let’s just dive right in: SPIDER-MAN MAGAZINE #4 opens with a team-up story between Spidey and The Human Torch. They annoy each other, but put all that aside to battle the intergalactic villain Goom after Johnny Storm accidentally unleashes him on Earth. It’s full of fun action and good humor … except for the part when Goom appears and exclaims, “Yo yo yo, Goom is in the hizzy!!!” No.

Next up is a continuation of the previous issue’s Power Pack story, where one of the pint-sized members is stricken with Spidey’s old Venom suit and starts turning bad. Of all of Marvel’s all-ages titles, I think Power Pack is the most inspired, and this story shows why.

Things lean way heavier toward fantasy when the wallcrawler joins forces with the ever-mighty Thor, concluding with an arc-closing Fantastic Four story. Both these pieces involve a race of dimension-hopping aliens, and are written a tad more serious-minded than the first half of the mag.

Filling out the issue are a couple of sketch pages, which I don’t mind so much since they’re kept to a minimum and at least aren’t pinups. A dumb letters page appears at the end, which seems fake (“Does Spider-Man keep any money on him or a credit card? I don’t see any pockets on his suit”). Notably, there are no decades-old reprint stories in this one. —Rod Lott

OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS SERIES:
• IRON MAN/HULK SPECIAL EDITION
• SPIDER-MAN FEATURING THE SILVER SURFER MAGAZINE
• SPIDER-MAN (IRON MAN/HULK) MAGAZINE
• SPIDER-MAN MAGAZINE #1
• SPIDER-MAN MAGAZINE #2
• SPIDER-MAN MAGAZINE #3
• SPIDER-MAN SPECIAL EDITION

Most people are familiar with two long-running mystery digests: ALFRED HITCHOCK’S MYSTERY MAGAZINE and ELLERY QUEEN’S MYSTERY MAGAZINE, from which lots of stories have appeared in book form over time. But this column shines a light on a publication probably forgotten by a number of folks: MIKE SHAYNE MYSTERY MAGAZINE. I recently came into the possession of about 21 of these digests, all in fantastic shape and packed with some top-notch writing, so let’s delve into some of these bite-sized treasures.

MIKE SHAYNE MYSTERY MAGAZINE: OCTOBER 1978 — For those unfamiliar with the Mike Shayne line, each issue featured a new Shayne story, usually written by a ghostwriter under the Brett Halliday name. But it also featured another novella-length story to be paired with, and a few other short stories thrown in. I’m choosing this issue first for its cool, LIFE ON MARS-looking cover, even though none of that happens in the story … well, except the girl-dressed-like-a-sailor bit.

The Shayne story “Death in a High Place” deals with a murder of a club worker and then the attempts on other workers. Shayne is hired to not only investigate, but become a bodyguard for the club singer. The story packs enough punch in its short length that it gives enough thrills for Shayne fans to get their fix, with a pleasant little mystery thrown into the mix, and a nice payoff of who is behind it all, and how Shayne figured it all out.

The other story to take the bulk of the book is “Murder Takes a World Cruise” by Charles Ventura — not Venture like it says on the cove, which kinda upsets me, since I was so ready to make nothing but VENTURE BROTHERS jokes throughout. I actually found the story a bit lacking and meandering as the plot moved along, to the point I was losing track of just who was who. It’s not until the last few pages that it really starts to pay off, since it deals with a gang being systematically taken care of before the ship ends up in port.

Actually, it’s some of the shorter pieces that come off the best in this collection, such as Patrick Scaffetti’s “The Canine Vigil,” which deals with a dog killer in a neighborhood and the cop assigned to find the killer. This story is bit of black humor with a nice payoff at the end, where the cop realizes he’d much rather just deal with parking tickets. Another animal tale is “A Hungry Nature” by Wyc Toole, about a man who wants someone to get rid of an alligator, but not before he gets rid of his wife. This story also plays a bit with black humor, which makes the ending just a bit funnier.

MIKE SHAYNE MYSTERY MAGAZINE: MARCH 1971 — The reason that this one was picked from the pile is because it has a story from one Bill Pronzini; I heard he is a pretty good writer. But before we get to his story. We have another Shayne mystery, “The Charge Is Murder,” that packs in more action than a Michael Bay movie. It starts out with the investigation of a Cuban immigrant being found dead at a factory, and how it ties into a company being run by one family that is losing its shirt somehow. Once Shayne starts to get involved, the son of the company owner wants to hire him to look into some strange goings-on, leading Shayne to get involved more than expected.

I mean, as soon as Shayne meets up with the son, there are attempts made on both their lives, including an apartment that blows up, killing the father. It all leads into a shootout in a warehouse where someone tries to frame Shayne. Like I said, plenty of action to keep readers turning those pages. For such a short little story, it’s crammed to the gills.

Following it up is a nice, lengthy true-crime piece about jewel thieves in “Diamonds Are a Thief’s Best Friend.” David Mazroff, who wrote the piece, is so detailed with some of the scams these thieves pulled off, you won’t believe it’s all true. Fitting enough, Pronzini’s story deals with a pair of con men/jewel thieves in “Ice and Snow,” which tells about a man who tries to steal a $60 watch, but again, this story is about con men. I don’t want to ruin the surprise.

Another great short story is “Now You See Her” by Jeffrey M. Wallmann, which details the stakeout of two cops who are amazed that the man they are watching never leaves his apartment, but his wife has disappeared under their noses. It’s a really clever idea that Wallmann uses; for its time, it’s extremely original, since the technology was just coming into use.

MIKE SHAYNE MYSTERY MAGAZINE: NOVEMBER 1978 — This issue is a treasure trove for James Reasoner fans, as it features three of his stories. According to the table of contents, only one is credited to him, but OLD TIMES’ SAKE — a collection of Reasoner work he did for the magazine — shows that two others are also from his pen. These three are totally Reasoner, with enough black humor and twists that has permeated his work, starting with “Man in the Morgue,” which deals with an obit writer who puts a few pieces together to uncover a plot that could be the basis for a Robin Cook thriller. Except Reasoner gets it finished with in no time whatsoever, instead of dragging it out for more than 300 pages.

It’s not until the last two stories that we get another taste of Reasoner, under the names of M.R. James and R. Mason. The first of these is called “Graveyard Shift,” which tells of a convenience-store worker who is a widower, just marking time at his job. The payoff explains why he has taken this type of job in the first place. The final story is “The Old College Try,” about a group of thieves who steals furs from a warehouse with the help of a college-educated clerk whom the gang never let forget he has higher education, until he can’t take the prodding no more.

But before all this, we have another Shayne story called “Bury You Later,” a pretty bland tale, to be honest, that deals with him getting involved with a voodoo lady. Nothing to really grab the reader, but again, it was not the Shayne story I was really looking forward to in this collection. Another great short piece is William Miller’s “Double Cross,” which deals with a ship owner dragged into a drug-smuggling ring. The only problem is that the ending was so telegraphed to anyone who has read enough mysteries in their lives.

Next time: Black gold … Texas tea. —Bruce Grossman

Buy them at Amazon.

OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF BRETT HALLIDAY:
• ARMED … DANGEROUS … by Brett Halliday
• BODIES ARE WHERE YOU FIND THEM by Brett Halliday
• COUNT BACKWARDS TO ZERO by Brett Halliday
• COUNTERFEIT WIFE by Brett Halliday
• FOURTH DOWN TO DEATH by Brett Halliday
• GUILTY AS HELL by Brett Halliday
• MERMAID ON THE ROCKS by Brett Halliday
• MIKE SHAYNE’S TORRID TWELVE by Brett Halliday
• NEVER KILL A CLIENT by Brett Halliday
• SHOOT THE WORKS by Brett Halliday
• TARGET: MIKE SHAYNE by Brett Halliday
• WHAT REALLY HAPPENED by Brett Halliday

Because time isn’t always kind: economic reviews in a world full of waste!

CHARLEY’S WAR: RETURN TO THE FRONT is the fifth collection of a revered British comic strip of the 1980s. As such, it’s a little difficult to get into if you have no previous involvement with its cast of characters. In three- to four-page bursts, the strip follows young soldier Charley Bourne and his fellow fighters during World War I, as the boys fall victim to snipers and grenades. Outside of the trenches, they fight other battles, like saving a widow from being scammed by so-called spiritualists. Joe Colquhoun’s art recalls the great E.C. war comics of a couple decades earlier, and Pat Mills’ scripts are serious and somber — in other words, a strip too high-minded for American funny pages. A couple of essays — on both the war and Charley’s depiction of it — bookend this handsome hardcover.

Turns out, there are a lot of people you wouldn’t like when they get angry, and Marvel has rounded them up for the HULK FAMILY: GREEN GENES one-shot. It begins with an original Hulk and She-Hulk team-up that takes place in a Las Vegas casino infiltrated by menacing mutants, followed by three shorter stories starring Skaar, Son of Hulk; Daughter of Hulk; and Scorpion, another presumed daughter of Hulk. Those first two take place in the fantasy world of WORLD WAR HULK, while the latter is in the present and — with her busting up S.H.I.E.L.D. agents left and right to get at her dad — is the best of the trio. Concluding the mag is a reprint of Stan Lee’s THE SAVAGE SHE-HULK #1 from 1980. There’s enough here in this oversized issue to justify the $4.99 cover price.

Devil’s Due Publishing continues issuing new stories of Michael Myers’ bloody reign in Haddonfield, Ill. (why does anyone still live there?), in HALLOWEEN: 30 YEARS OF TERROR, a one-off anthology containing five stories written by Stefan Hutchinson, and all are in continuity of the franchise. For example, “Trick or Treat” shows what happened when Tommy Doyle was sent by Laurie Strode to the Mackenzie house to call the police, while “Tommy and the Boogeymen” finds the boy all grown up. Dr. Loomis is the focus of “Repetition Compulsion,” and Laurie of “Visiting Hours.” Myers himself takes center stage for “P.O.V.,” a wordless piece in which artist Jim Daly puts you behind the mask as Michael stalks his latest prey at a beauty pageant.

Take a cue from Spider-Man, comicdom’s favorite mutants get their own bimonthly periodical, starting with Marvel’s WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN MAGAZINE #1. Like Spidey’s, it’s largely comprised of reprints of recent all-ages material. The first story pairs Wolverine with new recruit Kitty Pryde, while the last follows Iceman and other new students at Professor Xavier’s school as they tackle an alien threat. Sprinkled throughout is a comical excerpt from MINI MARVELS and a two-part Hulk story from 1974 that marks the first appearance of Wolverine — “the world’s first and greatest Canadian superhero!” — as the pair battles a Wendigo. Fun stuff; I only wish I hadn’t already read half of it elsewhere. —Rod Lott

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If nothing else, the fifth issue of OUT OF THE GUTTER gets points for consistency. Like all four volumes before it, it holds true to its “degenerate literature” label, offering story after story that dares to go even further than you thought anyone today had the balls to do. What other magazine prints fiction with titles like “Just Look at What the Bitch Made You Do”? Lucky for you, OOTG earns far more points than mere consistency.

For #5, revenge is the theme, and it eases you in with Bruce Cooper’s “The Gambler,” a funny flash piece in which a bar patron meets — and accidentally insults — country singer Kenny Rogers. The sharp, dark humor continues with Mike Sheeter’s “Unstable,” where a guy confronts the girl who’s just turned his wife into a quadriplegic … and said culprit is a horse … who’s jealous … and wants to have sex with him (“But bring me sugar. And apples. I like apples, too”). Yeah, how ’bout them apples?

The theme then hits full power with the jarring “In the Projects” by Shane Ryan Bailey. It’s one of those stories that OOTG specializes in — that you’re bound to read nowhere else: Mixed-race illegitimate baby. A microwave. Say no more.

Dana C. Kabel’s “It Doesn’t Always Go Like You Want It To” is a table-turner between a female hitchhiker and the cop who picks her up, while David Cranmer’s “Blubber” is a nauseating yet entertaining account of a woman hired to give a blowjob to a bed-bound fat guy. And that’s not the only tale that hinges on the corpulent. In “Dead Man’s Prerogative,” Charlie Stella explores a most unconventional love triangle between a shady hospital orderly, a hot blonde nurse and the morbidly obese patient who’s sexually obsessed with her.

From Matthew P. Mayo comes “Kin,” where a guy attempting to retrieve a football under his porch is instead greeted by the fangs of a poisonous snake. His attempts to drive to the hospital for help as the toxins swim through his bloodstream achieve rollicking, bizarrely comic heights.

My favorite piece this issue was “Headquarters Likes Your Style,” a dark-humored workplace number in which an office plebian — just for kicks — tries to convince the guy in the adjoining cubical that all the corporate-speak from a pantsuited woman is actually laced with intercourse-inviting advances. It’s funny, like an OFFICE SPACE spinoff devoted entirely to sexual harassment.

On the nonfiction front, OOTG’s behind-bars regular Seth Ferranti delves into the exploits of the Aryan Circle prison gang. A humor piece sees its debut with “Dear Brian,” a faux advice column whose one joke is taken about four pages too far, and there’s another R-rated comic (more, please) and a workable crossword puzzle. And all the fake ads continue to get better (and more political), particularly with one for baby cigarettes (“Put that tit away, Mom! I got me a Li’l Puffer!”) and a women’s fragrance called Republican Bitch, which contains blood of the poor, Ben-Gay and a hint of racism. —Rod Lott

Buy it at Out of the Gutter.

OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS SERIES:
• OUT OF THE GUTTER #1
• OUT OF THE GUTTER #2
• OUT OF THE GUTTER #3
• OUT OF THE GUTTER #4

Publications like CRIMEWAVE TEN: NOW YOU SEE ME make me want to move to England. From British indie publisher TTA Press, this quasi-magazine/book is filled with top-notch short fiction. As if the title didn’t tell you, the name of CRIMEWAVE’s game is crime — the dark, dingy, grimy and grungy kind. The proof begins on page 3 with the first story, “2PM: The Real Estate Agent Arrives,” in which Steve Rasnic Tem manages to provide a real bone chill in a mere 55 words.

Joel Lane makes quite the impression with “Even the Pawn,” covering the investigation of the death of a prostitute found dumped in the trash of a Chinese restaurant. The trail leads to a sleazy world of “massage parlors,” pornographic filmmakers, alcoholics and one startling, didn’t-see-that-coming twist.

The power of that one is pretty much matched by Lisa Morton’s “Unlucky,” whose narrator is a man forever lost in life, and wants — just once — to finally even the score, even if it means committing a gruesome, ghoulish and unforgivable act of violence.

Wonderfully unconventional is Murray Shelmerdine’s “Appearances,” about a makeup artist who gets a job at a funeral home painting the faces of the dead. She falls in love with a guy she meets at her secondary bar job, and he makes a most unusual request of her cosmetic skills. I won’t reveal what it is, save for the word “clowns.” I didn’t know whether to let myself laugh or be disturbed by the task and its outcome, so I did both.

From Kay Sexton, “The Montgolfier Assignment” involves a skull fracture, a well-monied Russian and a rare antique book signed by the astronomer Galileo, not to mention a healthy dose of black humor (and talk that’ll have you craving donuts).

Nicolas Stephen Proctor provides the most poetic description of an airplane explosion — from inside the aircraft — that I’ve ever read, while Daniel Kaysen dishes out a surreal stew of sex, drugs and painting in the trippy “The Opening.”

In “Black Lagoon,” Alex Irvine doesn’t stray too far from his novel-length fantasy work in a 1984-set story of a crook who’s supposed to be dealing in underground Betamax tapes, but instead brings back a heap of copper, thus earning him some lead … and his adversaries a near EC-style comeuppance.

Apparently, CRIMEWAVE is issued irregularly for the time being, with four-issue subscriptions available, but hey, quality can’t be rushed. This edition offers 12 tales for about $15 (if online currency conversion calculators are to be believed) in a trade paperback format — worth the price, even imported. And the goods are so good that you’ll be caught unawares. To what degree? To borrow some opening words from one contribution, “my sphincter will probably never recover.” —Rod Lott

Buy it at Amazon or TTA Press.

I love the TV series TORCHWOOD. But I’m not so rabid a fan — for it or any show — to buy a monthly magazine dedicated to it. TORCHWOOD: THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE YEARBOOK is a 96-page collection of the best material from various issues. I suppose it serves its purpose, but it just feels like a magazine you’d pick up on impulse at the grocery store, no matter how hard the cover.

The first feature is a “Meet the Team” spread that dishes the most basic of details of the show’s five-character core, presumably for newbies. The remainder of the book is weighed heavily toward the series’ second season.

Full-color photo spreads look at the design of Torchwood HQ and the makeup of a returning character. Interviews are conducted between star John Barrowman and guest star James Marsters (BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER), who played an integral part in three episodes in that second season.

The book is most notable for the inclusion of five original short stories, each focusing on a different character, written by Steven Savile, David Llewellyn, Andy Lane, Trevor Baxendale and Joseph Lidster. Their quality pretty much hovers equal to the level of the tie-in novels, which is to say perfectly acceptable. Another welcome feature is an episode guide — again, to just the sophomore year — devoting two-page spreads and sidebars aplenty to each of the 13 hour-long adventures. The season’s best, incidentally — the wedding episode — gets a lengthy set report.

There’s not much substance beneath the surface to any of the features or articles. If you’re apt to buy such fan magazines, but didn’t know about its existence, I suppose this is a good way to see what you’ve missed without having to track down any back issues.

But if this book represents the “the cream of the content,” why aren’t any of the periodical’s 10-page Torchwood comics reprinted? That’s the one thing I wanted to see included. —Rod Lott

Buy it at Amazon.

OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS SERIES:
• TORCHWOOD: ANOTHER LIFE by Peter Anghelides
• TORCHWOOD: BORDER PRINCES by Dan Abnett

Quick takes and capsule reviews from the dark suspense master himself, Ed Gorman!

MYSTERY SCENE #106 has to be one of the two or three best issues of the magazine ever published. Art Taylor’s article tracking crime novels written during the civil rights era is not only fine scholarship, but also a reminder of several novels that deserve to be read even now; Gary Phillips’ piece on the black singing and screen star Herb Jeffries provides a complementary look at other popular culture in last century’s history; Kevin Burton Smith reminds us that whether you like his work or not, Robert B. Parker has been the dominant influence on private eye fiction since the publication of his first novel (I wonder if there’d even be a private eye market if Parker hadn’t come along); and I interview Donald E. Westlake, who talks at length about the history of the Richard Stark books. With Jon L. Breen on reference books, Dick Lochte on audio books and Ron Miller discussing TV shows (and all the regular columns and book reviewers), the new issue should be snapped up by mystery fans of every kind.

* * *

Strong December issues of both ELLERY QUEEN MYSTERY MAGAZINE and ALFRED HITCHCOCK MYSTERY MAGAZINE. QUEEN is packed with some of my favorite suspense writers, including Clark Howard, Melodie Johnson Howe, and Tom Tolnay. A special treat is a short story from Kevin Wignall who, to me, is one of the finest new crime writers in the world. With Jon L. Breen on books and Bill Crider on websites, this is a bargain as always.

In HITCHCOCK, the lead story “Guilt” by Gilbert M. Stack is one of the strongest stories I’ve read this year. And the other pieces, especially “Grave Trouble” by R.T. Lawton, remind us are why we read mystery and crime fiction in the first place. There’s even an Agatha Christie short story that holds up very well and reminds us that she was high-concept long before that term came into fashion. 

* * *

CINEMA RETRO #12 is the best issue yet of this fine magazine, with two major interviews with Robert Vaughan and Joe Dante. The Vaughan is especially interesting, on a life well-lived by a man intelligent enough to appreciate it, yet view it with a certain objectivity. The Dante interview is packed with memories of his long and successful run in Hollywood. Sean Connery’s younger brother talks engagingly about the James Bond-ian knock-off he once acted in.

Other features focus on Pinewood Studios, GOLDFINGER, VANISHING POINT as an exemplary chase film, David McCallum and a stunning reprise of the films of 1971. To think that in a 12-month period, the following films were released:
• THE ANDERSON TAPES
• CARNAL KNOWLEDGE
• A CLOCKWORK ORANGE
• DIRTY HARRY
• FIDDLER ON THE ROOF
• THE FRENCH CONNECTION
• THE LAST PICTURE SHOW
• MACBETH
• MCCABE & MRS. MILLER
• SUMMER OF ’42
• SUNDAY BLOODY SUNDAY

And each film is assessed with insightful commentary. What a great issue! —Ed Gorman

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Although it appears to publish on a highly irregular basis, mostly un-numbered and under a variety of ever-changing names, Marvel Comics’ kid-friendly MARVEL ADVENTURES line has its own glossy reprint magazine, which you can find on sale at school book fairs, grocery stores and your local newsstand.

It all started — as far as I can tell — with 2007′s SPIDER-MAN SPECIAL EDITION, a 100-page compilation of previously published stories starring Spidey, The Avengers, Iron Man, Hulk, X-Men and Franklin Richards. What I didn’t realize until I started reading is that half the material comes from the previous summer’s Free Comic Book Day offerings, so I essentially paid for something I got for nothing just a few months before. Sometimes, I suck.

But not always! Also printing last year was the periodical — brace yourself for this title — SPIDER-MAN FEATURING THE SILVER SURFER MAGAZINE, essentially to tie in to two movies Marvel had in theaters at the time: SPIDER-MAN 3 and FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER. I hadn’t read any of the material here before, and that includes the 1970 reprint of SILVER SURFER #14, in which he tangles with Spidey.

Marvel also has another two movies at the multiplex this summer, which has to account for this summer’s IRON MAN/HULK SPECIAL EDITION. Venturing not far from the films, it contains account of Iron Man’s origin (subbing a hot chick for the Middle Eastern terrorist cell) and Hulk’s fisticuffs with The Abomination. There’s a bonus Iron Man adventure, as well as an outing with The Avengers.

Not to confuse things further, but at the same time, you can also pick up the extremely oddly titled SPIDER MAN (IRON MAN/HULK) MAGAZINE. Despite being on sale at the same time as the prior title and sharing the same heroes on the cover, this contains different material, so buyer need not beware. For the record, that’s one tale apiece for Iron Man and The Avengers, and two for Hulk and Franklin Richards, the pint-sized offspring of The Fantastic Four’s Reed and Sue Richards.

And most recently, there’s now an actual, honest-to-goodness bimonthly SPIDER-MAN MAGAZINE. The first issue featured not only the MARVEL ADVENTURES’ version of Spidey’s origin, but also Stan Lee and Steve Ditko’s original story, so you can spot the differences. There aren’t many, so it may feel like you’re being cheated pages. Luckily, the issue also reprints his first team-ups (from the ADVENTURES lineup, mind you) with kid supergroup Power Pack and The Fantastic Four.

The current SPIDER-MAN MAGAZINE #2 picks up the storylines with those characters, as well as reprints a 1982 issue of MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE, in which The Thing teams up with The Sandman. What’s most unusual about this isn’t that those guys are on opposing sides, but that they meet in a bar over a beer … in an all-ages mag!

All six of these magazines are sprinkled liberally with extra features, including pull-out posters, perforated trading cards, puzzle pages, brief text-based tales and coloring pages. Obviously such things are like catnip to the target market and like cat poop to their parents, but I’m willing to ignore them. The comics themselves are the draw, and they entail of lot of colorful action.

I think I like them so much because they remind me of the superhero comics I read as a child. Today’s mainstream titles aren’t written for kids, but rather for that same generation, still reading all these years later. —Rod Lott

Buy them at Amazon.

Quick takes and capsule reviews from the dark suspense master himself, Ed Gorman!

FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND, the magazine that inspired everybody from Stephen King to Steven Spielberg, appeared in 1958. By then, I was well into my Gold Medal books phase. I still read science fiction and I still saw most of the horror movies that came my way. But FAMOUS MONSTERS, I’m almost ashamed to admit, struck me as pretty juvenile and not worth buying.

McFarland’s THE GREAT MONSTER MAGAZINES: A CRITICAL STUDY OF THE BLACK AND WHITE PUBLICATIONS OF THE 1950S, 1960S AND 1970S by Robert Michael “Bobb” Cutter takes singular exception to my feelings about FAMOUS MONSTERS. But just about everything else he praises strikes me as just about right.

As the publisher notes, “This work provides a critical overview of monster magazines from the 1950s to the 1970s. The term ‘monster magazine’ is a blanket term, which, for the purposes of this study is used to describe both magazines that focus primarily on popular horror movies and magazines that contain stories featuring monsters which are illustrated in comic book style but printed in black and white.”

Thus, the book details the history of the hallowed EC comics, Jim Warren’s fantastic magazines, Marvel’s long run of horror comics and various Conan sagas, Hammer films and all the black-and-white horror mags that translated the likes of Robert Bloch, Richard Matheson and Robert E. Howard into graphic form.

Cotter is an excellent writer and a great organizer. A good table of contents backed with a fine Index makes it easy for the reader to skip around if he chooses, although Cotter’s chapters are coherent, thematic units, so I read straight through.

* * *

When C.L. Moore’s first story “Shambleau” appeared in 1933, writers and readers alike knew that an important new talent had just staked her claim. Among her admirers was H.P. Lovecraft, who praised the horrorific aspects of her strange and lurid tale of outer space. For me, “Shambleau” remains one of the finest horror stories I’ve ever read, even though it comes wrapped inside a pulp science fiction story.

It opens with our hero Northwest Smith, a hard-boiled spacer presently trapped on seedy Venus, rescuing a beautiful woman from the clutches of a mob that means her harm. If Smith had known what he was rescuing, he might well have been part of the mob. For what follows is exotic, erotic and toxic.

There are 13 Northwest Smith stories in NORTHWEST OF EARTH: THE COMPLETE NORTHWEST SMITH, with each depicting the vile, treacherous worlds that the protagonist finds himself on. The silliness of so much space opera is balanced here by a grimness that owes a good deal to the BLACK MASK school of writing. Moore created worlds that were truly alien, but she never forgot that the man she was dealing with was Terran. Smith is a real person, subject to melancholy, fear, malice, lust, vengeance. No STAR WARS nobillity here.

I read a story a night and when I finished, I wished she’d written more.

She went on to marry Henry Kuttner, and before his untimely death, they may have collaborated on as many as 100 stories, principally science fiction and fantasy, but also mystery. She wrote everything from action pulp to the most subtle of fantasies. And her best work was rendered in prose far superior to what was being published at the time.

This book is part of the Paizo’s Planet Stories series of pulp reprints — handsome books at reasonable prices.

* * *

Millipede Press is pleased to announce A LOVECRAFT RETROSPECTIVE: ARTISTS INSPIRED BY H.P. LOVECRAFT. This huge tome is 400 pages long and features the work of more than 40 artists, including J.K. Potter, H.R. Giger, Raymond Bayless, Ian Miller, Virgil Finlay, Lee Brown Coye, Rowena Morrill, Bob Eggleton, Allen Koszowski, Mike Mignola, Michael Whelan, John Coulthart, Harry O. Morris, John Jude Palencar and dozens of others, as well as 20,000 words of original essays.

This is an art book unlike anything ever published. Many works have never before seen publication, many are printed as special multi-page fold-outs, and several have detail views. A thumbnail gallery allows you an overview of the entire contents of the book and provides notations on each artist, work title, publication information, size and location.

Because of its sheer size and scope, A LOVECRAFT RETROSPECTIVE will never be reprinted and will sell out very quickly. Twenty years down the road, people will be paying huge prices for this book because of its range and the quality of reproductions. This is the Lovecraft fan’s dream come true.

I’m not a collector of art books. Not even an afficianado. But in the week I’ve had this book for review, I’ve kept going back and back to it. The sweep of styles and subject matter by so many different masters is the equivalent of spending time in a fine gallery. The interpretations of Lovecraft demonstrate the breadth of his influence on our culture. The introduction by Harlan Ellison is extradordinary even by his standards, a stunning examination of Lovecraft’s work and importance.

At the $395 price, it’s obvious you’re not going to rush out and buy it. But for the serious Lovecraft reader and fan, this is an essential part of any library. The notion that buying it as an invesment is not just a sales ploy. This collection will be doubling and tripling in price within a few years. There sure isn’t anything else like it.

* * *

John Farris was my generation’s first literary rock star. When his novel HARRISON HIGH was published, it quickly became controversial because of its honest depiction of life among American teenagers. This was 1959. America still believed that if teens weren’t exactly like Ricky and David Nelson, they certainly weren’t like Elvis. Given the fact that many of these teens would be in the streets protesting the Vietnam war only a few years later, you can see how badly books such as Pat Boone’s ‘TWIXT TWELVE AND TWENTY misjudged them.

The paperback edition became a companion to PEYTON PLACE, published a few years earlier, both great reads and both purveyors of unpopular truths. Farris, now famous, was all of 23 when the book was published. But he was no beginner. Born in 1936, he could already claim the following novels in print:
• THE CORPSE NEXT DOOR
• THE BODY ON THE BEACH
• DANGER IN MY BLOOD
• BABY MOLL

He was writing and publishing before he could legally buy beer. Hard Case Crime has now given us a chance to look at some of Farris’ early work with BABY MOLL. And fine work it is.

If you have any doubt about Farris’ writing skills, open the book and read the first chapter. It is both lyrical and ominous — an unlikely combination in a paperback crime novel. This establishes the way Farris even then managed to take some of the familiar tropes of genre fiction and make them entirely his own.

The setup itself is unique: Mallory called back to save the life of a boss he despises, but a man he owes his life. The boss got him off the bottle. The story, as it plays out, is also all Farris’. While parts of the first act brought Peter Rabe to mind, Farris takes the gangster novel in a different direction. Given the relationship of the people on the island, the book becomes almost Gothic in its entanglements and ambience.

Farris, of course, went on to write numerous bestsellers, a number of them staples of modern dark suspense and horror, but even here, early on, he was a cunning storyteller fascinated by the perplexity and perversity of the human soul.

* * *

The usual blockbuster summer issue of MYSTERY SCENE features a lengthy piece on Lawence Block; a fine article on how Joseph Wambaugh has inspired young people to join the police — and some of them to write fiction as well; an excellent Jon Breen on the late private eye writer Thomas B. Dewey; a serious look at fun court dramas; a really unique piece on the crime stories that are told in the songs of such performers as Johnny Cash and The Beatles, among many others; a new star in the Southern cozy; and the most comprehensive book review section available anywhere. This issue is loaded with oustanding photographs and graphic designs.

* * *

CINEMA RETRO #11 looks at the history of the famous noir movie GET CARTER, with a massive overview of how the film came to be made and to be made with Michael Caine. He’s interviewed for the article and the piece is packed with stills from the film. Joe Dante talks at length about his career, how Hollywood really works and what he’s doing these days. And if you think Doris Day is dull, you’ll learn otherwise in “A Day to Remember” — a fascinating sad life story. Lots of color photos plus the original scream queen Barbara Steele, the first PINK PANTHER movie and much, much more. —Ed Gorman

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Very few pulp magazines were written to be taken seriously, but some are a lot less serious than others. For instance, CAPTAIN FUTURE, the Summer 1942 issue of which has recently been reprinted by Adventure House. Every month, the publisher puts out three pulp replicas at $15 each. Pulp lovers, you can’t beat this deal with a stick.

Captain Future, originally as Mr. Future, was the brainchild of Mort Weisinger, an editor with Standard Magazines, publishers of THRILLING WONDER STORIES, among other science fiction titles. Sometime in 1939, he ran the idea for this new character past one of the top writers of space opera, the old Galaxy Smasher himself, Edmond Hamilton.

Hamilton liked the basic concept: an adventurer who prowled the spaceways in search of worlds to save and supervillains to defeat. He changed “Mr.” to “Captain” — a more impressive title for the kids who were the character’s intended audience — and issue 1 hit the stands in 1940.

Taking a cue from Doc Savage, Captain Future didn’t work alone. He was born as Curtis Newton, on the moon, and raised by three oddball father figures: Grag, a 7-foot-tall robot; Otho, a green-skinned android who seems to be made up of some kind of chemical soup; and Simon Wright, aka The Brain. I wonder how many brilliant scientists in the pulps were called “The Brain”? I dunno, but I bet Simon was the only one who was just that, and that alone: a brain, in a square box, who saw things through eyes stuck on the ends of tentacles. Hamilton having a little fun? Oh, yeah.

Each issue of Captain Future contained a complete novel by Hamilton. The tale in this reprint is THE COMET KINGS, about a race of creatures from the fourth dimension who are trying to extract all the energy from our dimension and suck it into theirs. They are the Allus, the Dark Masters who found a member of the Cometae, the race that lives in Halley’s Comet, who would invite them into this dimension in exchange for eternal life.

Now they are using a super-powerful magnet to attract spacecraft to the comet, where they kidnap the crews and force them to become Cometae so that — hey, you know what? I don’t remember why. I do remember that they’re up to no good.

Hamilton uses the narrative structure that had worked so well for Edgar Rice Burroughs for almost 30 years: He splits his heroes into two groups and then uses alternating chapters to tell their stories, reuniting the groups for the smash-up finale. The story moves along at a clippity-bang pace. Action isn’t the main thing; it’s the only thing. Much of the science seems imaginary and all of it is outdated but, come on, you read Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke for the science, not Hamilton. I love books that make me feel like a 12-year-old on a rainy Sunday afternoon with nothing to do but read a walloping good adventure yarn, and this one pulls the plow.

The reprint also contains a pair of short stories. “The Hole in the Sky” by Manly Wade Wellman is about tracking down and capturing a gang of space pirates, and the other is by William Morrison and called “The Lion-Hearted,” which is about — well, here’s the blurb supplied by the magazine: “Hollywood ’s Most Pompous Producer Comes to Grips with Hormones.” Go on, tell me you don’t want to read it. I’ll believe you.

In the story, a mousy scientist named Dr. Brackett calls on Turner, the producer with the God complex, to ask for money to conduct further experiments with hormones. When Turner has him tossed out, Brackett slips varying combinations of hormones into food in the studio commissary, resulting in changes in the faces of everyone associated with Turner’s new movie. The guy playing the villain acquires the face of a sheep. The leading man looks like a wolf. Turner himself gets the mug of a lion.

Now, if any of this were serious, it would be just silly, but Morrison tells the tale from Turner’s POV and slips in some subtle jokes in the wording that many of the young readers probably didn’t get. Like this, as Turner attempts to bribe Brackett:

“’A half million, no less,’ (Turner says). ‘And that isn’t a publicity agent’s story, either.’ Then I put my famous charm to work. ‘Now, Dr. Brackett, I have always liked you,’ I said with dithering cordiality.

“’You don’t say!’ he sneered politely.”

“He sneered politely.” Ring Lardner couldn’t say it any better.

The magazine also contains a section of a serialized novel by the great Jack Williamson, but I make it a practice never to read just part of one of these stories. There is also a brief history of how the surface of the Earth changed in the mid-21st century, and a short anecdote from the teen years of Curt Newton and the Futuremen.

All in all, it’s a terrific bundle of pulp joy. Buy it. Read it. Save it. Read it again. —Doug Bentin

Buy it at Amazon.

The talented MariNaomi kisses and tells (and does a lot more) in the sixth issue of her self-published ESTRUS COMICS. Don’t be put off by its hand-stamped, do-it-yourself cover, because this San Francisco artist’s stories justify the $5 price. These confessional comics document her flirtations and copulations from boyfriends and assorted flings past, including the car-radio thief who immersed himself in role-playing games (“… and the other day when we were making love, I was imagining we were in one of my maps and you were an elfin princess”). Her cartooning style is deceptively simple — its clean lines and ink-black backgrounds really allow you to focus on the characters’ emotions, which are real and raw. That makes MariNaomi’s work honest, brave and sometimes awfully funny.

In the “visual novel” MR. FOOSTER TRAVELING ON A WHIM, the key word is “whim,” as in “whimsy.” Tom Corwin’s loosey-goosey story follows the fair Mr. Fooster as he walks with no intended direction, thinking about arcane mysteries of the universe (like why no word rhymes with “orange”), encountering various insects and reptiles, and blowing soap bubbles that turn into objects like cars. There’s a point, eventually, to its 100 pages, which enchants, but one can’t help but think Corwin — like Fooster — took a longer route than need be. Craig Frazier provides detailed illustrations on every spread. It’ll take you all of 10 minutes to read, but its message sticks with you a little longer. And if it doesn’t, you need to read it again.

PARACINEMA may look and sound like a zine, but its writing and presentation places it much higher than your average publication devoted to B-movies and cult classics. Despite an unwieldy subtitle I’m not retyping, it’s also shorn of the usual fanboy panting, instead taking a more essay-driven route. Less-than-serious movies, after all, do deserve serious discussion. Issue #3 contains a piece of understanding the “Droogs” language in A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, complete with a glossary; an appreciation of director Jim Wynorski; interviews with CREATURE OF THE BLACK LAGOON‘s Ricou Browning and splatter pioneer Herschell Gordon Lewis; and much more. It’s all in full color, on slick paper and — avoiding the death knell of most indie movie mags — nicely designed.

Included as a freebie with select unrated DVDs of ALIENS VS. PREDATOR: REQUIEM is Dark Horse Comics’ one-shot ALIENS VS. PREDATOR: DEADSPACE. It’s a short and simple little tale of two astronauts floating through space who come across some acid-spewing queen Aliens, who then are hunted down by some laser-shooting Predators. The end. It would be neat as part of an overall anthology of several stories set in this franchise-meshed world, but on its own, what’s the point? There’s not much to Mike Kennedy’s script, but Francisco Ruiz Velasco’s art is nice to look at. Random pinup pages pad the page count. Glad it was free (too bad the rotten movie wasn’t). —Rod Lott

Buy it at Amazon.

SHERLOCK HOLMES MYSTERY MAGAZINE: Why did no one think of this before? No offense to Ellery Queen, but if you were name a periodical of mystery fiction after anyone (even if it’s more of a paperback book), why wouldn’t you choose the genre’s most famous character?

That doesn’t mean that the mag is filled with Holmes pastiches and parodies — quite the opposite, writes editor Marvin Kaye in his introduction – but the contents certainly honor the spirit of the sleuth as created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. That goes for the short stories and the mix of nonfiction pieces, making it a must for Sherlockians.

One beef before we peruse its pages, though: SHMM is published by Wildside Press, yet you wouldn’t know it if you visited their website. Search “Sherlock Holmes” there and this won’t even come up. Click on the “Magazines” link and this won’t be among the offered goods. Indie presses have it harder than the big boys in earning readers’ nickels, so why make it so difficult to even acknowledge its existence? That makes me awfully leery of turning over my hard-earned money for a subscription I otherwise very much want.

Marketing 101 lesson over. The nonfiction material is all concentrated up front, starting with “Baker Street Browsings,” a book review column by author Kim Newman. His inaugural selections are the Michael Kurland-edited anthology SHERLOCK HOLMES: THE HIDDEN YEARS and the behemoth that is Leslie S. Klinger’s THE NEW ANNOTATED SHERLOCK HOLMES. Newman’s opinions are informed, knowledgeable and appreciated, but why does it call Klinger’s third volume as “as-yet-undelivered,” when it’s been out since November 2005? As with any new venture, I can understand if a considerable delay existed between this premiere issue’s deadline and actual printing, but that left plenty of time for an update.

Next is a film column titled “The Screen of the Crime,” by Lenny Picker, who argues why THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES is “unfilmable.” Even if you’ve caught just one of the movies, this will be of interest. Personally, I rather enjoyed Hammer Studios’ version starring Peter Cushing.

“Ask Mrs. Hudson” is a faux advice column purportedly by Holmes’ landlady. It’s played for laughs, but aside from a couple of one-liners, it’s not particularly funny. If any feature gets nixed in future issues, it should be this one. And finally, author Carole Buggé interviews fellow author Ron Goulart about his career. What’s he have to do with Holmes, you ask? Well, not a lot, but he’s one of the six writers debuting new short stories here — as is Buggé, to make the Q&A incestuous. (Another strange date lag here: Goulart refers to his novel GROUCHO MARX: KING OF THE JUNGLE as coming out “this July,” whereas it’s now been available for three years.)

Goulart’s contribution is a Henry Challenger mystery titled “The Mystery of the Missing Automaton.” Curiously, it’s not the only tale centered around automatons, as Edward D. Hoch’s “The Automaton Museum” attests. This latter whodunit centers around the murder of an inventor of automatons, and while not Hoch’s best, at least it continues his streak of never writing a bad story that my eyes have seen.

Marc Bilgey’s “The Bet” involves a unique proposition between a captain of industry and a crime novel fan, and a high-stakes murder-for-profit competition between them. Meanwhile, Hal Blythe’s “On the Heir” has a detective consult his anchorwoman daughter on a puzzling planned felony mere minutes before she is to deliver the headlines — and, humorously, while she is doing just that.

Doyle himself gets his due in a reprint of “The Gloria Scott,” presented as a “Sherlock Holmes Classics” to close out the contents. Even though the Holmes tales are available in infinite editions, it’s nice to see one handpicked for inclusion, and not just to justify to magazine’s moniker.

SHMM isn’t much to look at, but it’s a ball to read. NEW YORKER-esque cartoons from Peter Arno and Bilgrey are sprinkled throughout to help spruce up the layout, and adhere to the magazine’s theme. If you consider yourself a fan of Holmes, by all means I recommend picking this up … despite how tough Wildside apparently wants to make that. —Rod Lott

Buy it at Amazon.

OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF MARVIN KAYE:
• DON’T OPEN THIS BOOK! edited by Marvin Kaye
• THE FAIR FOLK edited by Marvin Kaye
• FORBIDDEN PLANETS edited by Marvin Kaye
• THE ULTIMATE HALLOWEEN edited by Marvin Kaye

When’s the last time reading material kicked you in the balls and laughed as it left you vomiting on the sidewalk? I’m guessing it was the issue just prior to the just-released OUT OF THE GUTTER #4. Yes, the indie “modern journal of pulp fiction and degenerate literature” is back with another 200 pages of stories and article so rough-and-tumble dirty, you’ll need a shower afterward … during which it will come back and rape you.

This is all a good thing, of course, being made a book’s bitch. Editor Matt Louis has deemed this “The Hard Times Issue” – timely that – and the contributors run with the loose theme. As always, the mag begins with a flash fiction section, where Robert T. Lord offers “For I Have Sinned,” in which a mother’s confession to a priest who apparently has ignored his own advice of “Do unto to others …”

John Millikin gives us “The Hard Way,” which is one of the worst-punctuated and atrociously spelled stories I’ve ever read … but it’s for a reason – and a damned good one. (Millikin also a longer piece later, “Trent & Me,” about how two best pals don’t make for the best convenience-store robbers. Both contributions show off his darkly comic instincts.)

Clair Dickson returns with “Bad Dream,” another adventure for her female P.I. series character Bo Fexler, who uses her sexuality to extremes. This one hinges on a strawberry-flavored condom. I love these Fexler stories. I can’t get enough of them, and it is my hope that Dickson intends to collect them into an anthology someday (soon).

Moving into the longer stories, M.C. O’Connor helps get things going with “Lonnie’s Ride,” with the attention-grabbing first line “Carleton looked like the Thalidomide spawn of an elephant seal.” It’s the tale of a Lonnie, a young man who steals a bunch of drugs from Carleton and skips town, catching a ride with a trucker who keeps propositioning him sexually and then claiming “just kidding” when Lonnie freaks out. You can only pull that so many times.

In “Along Comes Mary,” Harry Shannon’s death-row inmate confesses just prior to getting the needle about the hit that put him behind bars: It entailed a guy getting revenge on his childhood babysitter. Meanwhile, Josephine Damian gives us the most uncomfortable – but perfectly readable – “Pennies from Heaven,” where a landlord collects overdue rent from a farmer’s wife … but he takes neither cash nor check.

Anthony Neil Smith has fun with “The Movie About That Guy,” alternating between excerpts from a screenplay and the narrator’s comments on how it differed from the real-life events on which it was based. He should know, because he lived it, right down to the not-so-Hollywood ending. Let’s just say sex is involved; I’m certain that’s enough of an incentive for you to find out what went down.

A man with connections to the Mexican mafia requests the help of the narrator of Joe McKinney’s “Dodging Bullets” to dispose of two dead hookers. He’ll regret pitching in, of course. Similarly, “Rules” from Justin C. Gordon involves a wannabe writer schooled by his Hispanic construction coworkers on how to rob his first house.

Treading decidedly more comedic waters, two flavor scientists hire one prostitute for a most bizarre experiment – oh, just trust us – in Miracle Jones’ “A Dab of Honey.” And Hana K. Lee delivers perhaps the most unique and enjoyable piece in the bunch with “Lopsided Sweater,” in which a woman wants revenge on the doctor who improperly augmented her breasts (or one of them, as the case may be).

On the nonfiction side of things, Heather Waters provides an essay about her rape fantasies, while GUTTER regular/prison journalist Seth Ferranti discusses “hobocore” among the new breed of homeless train-hoppers. This fronts an unofficial section on hobos, including an excerpt from an old Jack London book. Yes, that Jack London. And Daniel Ritchie’s “A Day in the Life” wonders what would happen if an Internet entrepreneur offered dollars to the down-and-out to brawl for the chance to bank cake, all for the enjoyment of web surfers.

Among the odds and ends are the usual fake ads, more satirical than past efforts; a one-page comic that succeeds in amusing; and a not-so-easy crossword puzzle, for which there is no answer key. Because, hey, that’s just how GUTTER plays. You don’t like it? Go to hell. –Rod Lott

Buy it at Out of the Gutter.

OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS SERIES:
• OUT OF THE GUTTER #1
• OUT OF THE GUTTER #2
• OUT OF THE GUTTER #3

OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THESE AUTHORS:
• JACK LONDON’S TALES OF CANNIBALS AND HEADHUNTERS by Jack London
• YELLOW MEDICINE by Anthony Neil Smith

The high-gloss City Slab is one of those magazines that, as a self-publisher myself, tends to infuriate me. They obviously have the resources and staff to fill up a magazine – a full-size glossy, no less; this ain’t no little dime zine – but is so ugly to look at that it actually detracts from the whole experience.

The writing is great, fanboy stuff – not perfection, but entertaining – with features on Sheri Moon Zombie and the film VACANCY. The fiction is silly and breezy, while two in-depth pieces that really caught my eye – one on Marilyn Manson’s new album as well as the history of the proto-industrial outfit Coil – are actually cool, yet scholarly enough to appear in a general music magazine (possibly Blender if it weren’t so focused on getting singers in their panties on the cover). Too bad that everything surrounding it is an utter eyesore.

Too many magazines like this just don’t know anything about design, settling for ugly pics found on the Internet interlaced with bad line drawings, poorly Photoshopped photos of chunky Goth-sluts – um, excuse me, “pin-up girls” – and pages of nothing but text and white space. No matter how good your words are, people do judge books by their covers, and City Slab‘s was raped by the ugly stick. Maybe if they got a professional, skilled person to do their layout, I can see a real future for the magazine.

And while I’m at it, I’d like to talk for a moment about the ads in the mag. Now this has nothing to do with the magazine itself, so you can skip ahead if you’d like, but why does every advertisement have to feature a highly unattractive Goth skank in some form of nakedness to advertise a product? Do I need some topless skeleton-chick to sell me on absinthe? Am I gonna buy shirts from SighCo because of a purple-wigged model with a skull stuck in her bare cootch? And, no, “Vivica Love,” husky “pin-up,” I don’t want to visit your website.

If anything, the same ads over and over again not only desensitizes me to you, but actually builds up resentment toward your product. Are Goths and the like so fried on cloves that they have no imagination left? –Louis Fowler

Buy it at City Slab.

In case you haven’t noticed, war is hell. Or – as Gen. Sherman famously said after the Civil War – “war is all hell.” That theme informs, permeates and downright douses OUT OF THE GUTTER #3, another hardcore dose of “pulp fiction and degenerate literature” that once more earns its stripes as such.

The indie mag begins with a section of “flash” fiction – two- to three-page short stories all dealing with war, particularly right in the thick of it, about to be decapitated, shot, gutted or otherwise harmed with extreme prejudice. Slightly longer stories include Sandra Seaman’s sniper-narrated “In the Shadow of Murder” and OOTG editor Matt Louis’ “Gems from a Centenarian,” in which a reporter attempts – laughably – to interview a 100-year-old crusty war veteran at a nursing home.

Then comes the first of several true gut-punchers: “A Private War” by Christa M. Miller, with an unemployed, crippled vet looking to exact revenge on a well-to-do, perfectly healthy one. It’s a tense piece that keeps turning the tables in relatively few pages. Chris Pimental’s “The Bitch Pit” immediately follows, and will anger many. Hell, it should. I won’t spoil what the title refers to – in fact, I won’t spill any details at all except to say the story involves Colombian midget rebels – but as horrified as you’ll be, I bet you won’t be able to stop reading.

Pearce Hansen’s “Good to Be a Man” involves war of a different sort: that of man vs. nature, particularly a California wildfire. D.R. “Doc” MacMaster’s “The Death of Suzie Sunshine” is another harrowing tale, this one of a man hired to find and torture an Iraqi responsible for the rape and murder of a beautiful American blonde; the killing of said Iraqi, however, is to be left for the employer to carry out.

Another great one is “Adrenaline” by Dave Zeltserman. His antihero narrator – formerly of Special Forces – refuses to tell his gang the whereabouts of $800,000 he’s absconded with, despite having his fingernails removed via pliers and other increasingly painful atrocities. He uses his knowledge of the cash as a bargaining chip to pit the guys against one another, and the reveal at the end is terrific.

If war’s not your thing, relax. The final “Homeland Insecurity” section contains the kind of anything-goes fiction and fact that populate the previous pair of OOTGs – y’know, your basic meth addicts, bloody colectomies, robbing hookers and gay hustlers. The final piece finds journalist Alan Emmins taking a tour of an ultra-deviant underground sex club in Los Angeles, in which businessmen come to live out their twisted office fantasies with no repercussions whatsoever.

As always, supplementary material appears throughout: a humor piece on how to tell if your child is a terrorist (foregoing THE CAT IN THE HAT in favor of THE DIGGING-EST DOG is one clue), an interview with Hansen about his former criminal years on the streets, a look at old-timey torture methods, more of Seth Ferranti’s prison stories, lots of sidebars, a comic (not enough of these for my tastes) and fake ads (either these are getting better or they’re just growing on me).

The editorials on 9/11 conspiracies and gun control do nothing for me – I read stuff like OOTG to escape reality, people – but there’s so much material within this issue’s 200 pages that they’re merely a speed bump in a parking lot otherwise spacious and empty, ready for a round of doin’ donuts. –Rod Lott

Buy it at Out of the Gutter.

OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS SERIES:
• OUT OF THE GUTTER #1
• OUT OF THE GUTTER #2

OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THESE AUTHORS:
• STREET RAISED by Pearce Hansen

Quick takes and capsule reviews from the dark suspense master himself, Ed Gorman!

The other night, a blogful of people talked about how it’s cool to read something purely entertaining sometimes. One of my favorites in this category is Loren D. Estleman’s 1989 novel PEEPER, about a sink-hole dirtbag Detroit private eye named Ralph Poteet.

Even after three readings over the years, PEEPER keeps me laughing – many times out loud – all the way through. This isn’t cheap parody. It’s a witty take on many private-eye clichés filled with people you wouldn’t want to meet without wearing a biohazard suit, including a monsignor who dies in a whorehouse.

Poteet is asked to help secret the man’s enormous body to a more discreet location. And he decides while he’s at it … to snap a few pics of the corpse. Never know what kind of money they’ll bring on the open market.

What makes this work is Estleman’s enormous skill. Nobody writes a better classical private-eye story better than Loren, even when he’s having fun with the tropes. He does so with his usual mastery of language, pacing and storytelling.

Trust me. You’ll like this one a lot.

* * *

Terry Southern once said that the lower echelons of publishing provided glimpses of America you just couldn’t get in the mainstream. I take that to mean he believed that you could find some interesting takes if not exactly Higher Truths in, for instance, the downmarket paperback market of the era he wrote in during the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s.

Such magazines as Paperback Parade certainly examine those decades carefully and well. And so do several websites. Thanks to Curt Purcell’s groovy Groovy Age of Horror you can revisit the newstands of your youth in lurid living color. And with savvy commentary to boot.

It was thanks to Groovy that I heard of The Paperback Fanatic. I have the two most recent issues at hand and they should be enough to inspire literary web dreams for collectors and paperback aficionados around the world.

They’re well laid out, packed with cover reproductions and filled with interesting and entertaining articles and interviews of writers and artists alike. Though the slant is British, a good deal of the subject matter deals with American PBs.

Editor Justin Marriott is an incisive interviewer and writer. In the two issues I have, he deals with the mostly forgotten Robert Lory and the famous James Herbert. His piece on Herbert is especially good because of his take on a huge bestseller for whom neither fame nor money is quite enough; he wants respect, too. I like Herbert’s books, so I sympathize with his anger and frustration to some degree. But given the number of struggling wrters in the world, my sympathy is limited.

Justin covers everything from British porn (think MIDWOOD AND BEACON with a Cockney accent), the kung-fu PB phenom and even a collection of war novels (viewers of the Nazi channel in America – better known as The History Channel – would drool over these covers, if not the books themselves).

For mystery readers, there’s a look at what Peter Tremayne was doing back in the ’70s and ’80s, writing originals with titles such as ZOMBIE!, KISS OF THE COBRA, SWAMP! and TROLLNIGHT. I’m assuming this is the same Tremayne who is the author of many notable mystery novels and stories.

If you’re into paperbacks you’d better be into The Paperback Fanatic. No fooling.

* * *

I read Stephen Gallagher for two reasons: First, because he’s one of the most entertaining writers I’ve ever read. And second, because I can’t read a short story of his – let alone a novel – without picking up a few pointers about writing. He’s an elegant stylist, a shrewd psychologist and a powerful storyteller with enormous range and depth.

I finished his latest novel THE KINGDOM OF BONES and I was honestly stunned by what he’d done. The sweep, the majesty, the grit, the grue, the great grief – and the underpinning of gallows humor from time to time. This is not only the finest novel I’ve read this year, but the finest novel I’ve read in the past two or three years.

As most of you know by now, I’m terrible at describing plots. I’ve had three agents over the years assure me that my outlines are the worst they’ve ever read (those insensitive bastards). So I’ll spare you my inept attempt at giving you the details of the story. Whatever your book budget is, make an allowance for this one. You won’t be sorry.

* * *

And the good stuff keeps on coming:

MASQUERADE: TEN CRIME STORIES by Max Brand, edited by William F. Nolan Jr. – Nolan has edited some masterful collections previously and this is one of his best. Brand was one of the most famous of all pulp writers. But he also made extraordinary money in the slicks and in Hollywood. Whatever the format, Brand was up to the task as these stories, culled from both the pulps – including Black Mask and million-selling magazines The American and Colliers. Whether he was writing Westerns, sea adventures, suspense or his famous Dr. Kildare novels, Brand emphasized character as well as action, and it’s the people that keep these stories fresh for readers today. An excellent addition to The Lost Classics Series from Crippen & Landru.

NIGHT OF HORROR AND OTHER STORIES by Joel Townsley Rogers – Rogers is remembered today for one of the strangest and most compelling mystery novels ever written, THE RED RIGHT HAND. But like Brand, he was a writer who worked for the pulps as well as the slicks. These stories – from sources as well-known as The Saturday Evening Post and as forgotten as Mystery Book Magazine – show that Rogers, like Brand, was a first-class yarn-spinner. No matter what the tale, though, there’s always an effective hint of the macabre or ironic in Rogers’ material, whether that be in the straightforward “The Hanging Rope” from New Detective or “Pink Diamond” from Argosy. This is another example of what magazine fiction was really like back in the ’30s and ’40s. And if you’ve got a taste for it, this is a book you’ll want to have. VOLUME TWO is already on the way. –Ed Gorman

Buy it at Amazon.

Much like the station it comes from, THE BEST OF LCD: THE ART AND WRITING OF WFMU is hard to categorize. For those unfamiliar with WFMU, it’s the only freeform radio station of the nation, completely listener-supported. Edited by Dave the Spazz, this is a collection of the cream of the crop from its former on-air schedule/zine LCD, which stood for “Lowest Common Denominator.”

To say this book is cover-to-cover packed is an understatement, starting with the foreword by director Jim Jarmusch, who claims to leave the station on even when not at home. There are a plethora of comic strips that were exclusive to the zine, be it a jab at folkie Phil Ochs, or the aptly tilted “Hanging with the Low Life Scum,” which pokes fun at some of the people you would find at a record fair.

Following the foreword are two pieces by station manger Ken Freedman: an introduction describing how artists were drawn to the station and how WFMU was more like a companion to these folks, and then a brief history of freeform radio. From there, the book moves into the meat of the matter: written pieces that were well ahead of their time, especially now with blogs dedicated to some of these subjects.

The pieces are not just music-centric. There is plenty of humor thrown in – namely, four pieces by Andy Breckman, a former SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE writer and creator of the show MONK, who has fun deflating his own career with such topics as using his real phone number for a sign in a Richard Pryor movie and the strange people who called it, and how he was hired to write for a certain talking-horse flick, only to have all his work thrown out.

He also has a piece of about some pitch meetings that went horribly wrong, but Breckman’s article about opening for Don McLean is one of the funniest things you’ll ever read. It’s a total character assassination, portraying the “American Pie” singer as some bizarre megalomaniac, and it’s followed by a rebuttal by McLean himself that still shows him in a bad light.

But that’s just a drop in the bucket; where else can you get a detailed history of Coyle & Sharpe, who would influence the likes of David Letterman and even – sadly – The Jerky Boys? Other highlights include an interesting interview with Gumby creator Art Clokey and an informative overview of all things “nautical exotica.” Throughout the book, there are articles of long-ago DJs covering such folks as The Mad Daddy, and plenty of other essays that will take up your time, including why reading is antisocial.

But the articles pale in the wealth of artwork throughout the book. The list of artists in the book is a who’s who of the alternative comics scene, from Peter Bagge to Chris Ware. One color insert section shows the covers they’ve used over the years, while another reprints the “Crackpots and Visionaries” playing card collection that included the likes of Willam Randolph Hearst, Raymond Scott, Rasputin and John Waters, to name a few. Similarly, some of the T-shirt designs and bumper stickers sent to listeners over the years are there, too.

Longtime fans of WFMU will now be able to scrap those moldy copies of LCD and have the best of the best in one handy volume. Even those not familiar with the station will get much enjoyment out of this read. It’s an amazing collection for your coffee table and terrific bathroom reading. –Bruce Grossman

Buy it at Amazon.

The debut issue of the digest-sized Bachelor Pad Magazine promises three things: booze, babes and burly-q. It fulfills all those promises real quick.

Picking up from what was started in the sadly defunct Kutie magazine, this is a throwback to the men’s periodicals of yore – the type that are now sold for ridiculous prices, offering nothing but promises and very little follow-through. But Bachelor Pad knows who its audience is right away: guys who wish that Vegas were still Vegas from the good ol’ days of the Rat Pack.

If you’re looking for nudity, you’re grabbing the wrong magazine. This is all about the tease, with cheesecake models with a retro vibe and a ton of cheesecake, featuring a dead-on ringer for Bettie Page by the name of Berni Dexter. You also have Kay O’Hara, their debut centerfold who’s a drop-dead blonde bombshell. Finishing it up are little costume shots of Betty Bosen as a maid we would all love to employ.

If this were the only thing going for the magazine, you wouldn’t feel gypped, since for the small cover price of $4, you get more then your money’s worth. But there are plenty of little articles peppered throughout, with some very funny party tips from Penny Starr, who explains the rights and wrongs of throwing a proper function.

They also have an Ann Landers type for the retro-loving crowd and a nice little piece about the types of men who are part of burlesque dancers’ lives. It’s funny and probably totally on target. There is, of course the film column that tells you the films that portray the cool side of Vegas. (Sadly, VEGAS VACATION did not make the cut.)

Also included is a advice column for budding models by their cover girl Heidi Van Horne, with some accompanying photos that will make you wish that she were your neighbor. The magazine is just a fun little read, not taking itself too seriously and not making you feel like some pervert flipping through it.

So for those who have outgrown the Maxim/FHM thing and feel Playboy is way too snooty and out-of-touch, then Bachelor Pad is the cure for your cheesecake needs. I can’t wait for issue two. It comes out quarterly with a price of $16 – not a bad deal at all, since you probably would have wasted that money on a CD you would grow tired of. –Bruce Grossman

Buy it at Bachelor Pad Magazine.

America’s favorite humor-laden, rotten-to-the-bone, maggot-infested spank mag is back, bigger and better than ever. That’s right: it’s Girls and Corpses #2. What does it say about me that I can’t get enough of this publication?

Issue two is an even more polished affair, with current HALLOWEEN hottie Danielle Harris on the cover, in a 1940s pulp pose, next to a realistically freaky corpse. She’s interviewed inside as well. Other pieces include an article on funeral etiquette (“Don’t order pizza”), interviews with HOSTEL II writer/director Eli Roth and B-movie actress Sybil Danning, and a how-to on dating a corpse.

But inarguably, the best article is “Hooker for Jesus,” which I’m ashamed to say is completely like it sounds: a very entertaining and interesting piece about Annie Lobert, a prostitute who found Jesus and, in a moment of divine inspiration, decided to combine the two. Hallelujah!

Like the first issue, Girls and Corpses #2 is a hilarious bit of satire, taking the scantily clad pseudo-porn of Maxim and Stuff, and taking it way over the line in a brutally comic way. It’s a brilliant parody of that culture, with enough offensiveness and mixed-necro-messages to traumatize any child who would pick it up accidentally.

To me, that’s always the mark of a great read. –Louis Fowler

Buy it at Girls and Corpses.

OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS SERIES:
• Girls and Corpses #1

At first glance, the debut issue of Windy Corner Magazine may look like something your kid made one afternoon in art class. And that’s okay, because subverting your expectations only will open your mind to be accepting of all of this indie effort’s innumerable charms.

The brainchild of editor Austin English, Windy Corner is anchored by much of his Crayola-penned comics — slice-of-life pieces about a girl named Francis, dealing with a shaky home life because of lean times and the discovery of her father’s adultery.

It’s not the writing that’s special, but the art. English draws on slightly yellow paper with crayon and the ever-occasional dollop of Liquid Paper and cut-out/pasted-on word balloons for a slight 3-D effect. You may call it primitive; I call it different – perhaps even daring and obviously done with love.

After the four-part Francis story, English also contributes three of his own childhood remembrances, done in the same style, and an interview with indie cartoonist Andrice Arp. Several examples of her work are shown if you’re not familiar with this talented lady (I wasn’t) and her thoughts on the medium and the creative process hold genuine interest.

Finishing out the main features is a several-page exercise in abstract minimalism by Richard Hahn that’s an almost-wordless comic combining geometry, doodles and fever dreams. It’s a nice capper to a new art-minded mag certainly worth the purchase. –Rod Lott

Buy it at Sparkplug Comic Books.

Just as the cover images warns, OUT OF THE GUTTER #2 will beat you senseless with 200 pages of tough-as-nails fiction that punches straight for the gut. It’s even an improvement over the near-perfect first issue. Plus, as editor Matthew Louis’ introductory letter tantalizes, “We’ve got whores.”

Changes are slight, mainly being the upfront inclusion of a “flash fiction” section consisting of eight super-short stories. If you don’t like any of them, you’ve only invested no more than a page or two. But if you don’t like any of them, you’re reading the wrong magazine, because they’re all dive-right-in terrific, starting with the opening line of John McFetridge’s drug-smugglin’ “Plugged”: “Summer had seen bigger dildos.”

“Hit Me,” about a woman who earns her living getting beat up for cash, suggests Christa Faust has been wasting her time with New Line movie novelizations and that her upcoming Hard Case Crime novel MONEY SHOT is going to be a must-read. A picked-upon janitor gets some devious revenge in the corporate-set “Yellow Pellets” by Randall Rohn, and a would-be rapist talks about “The One That Got Away” in Jacob Kohl’s quickie. Other flashers involve arson, lost manuscripts and fast-food French fries.

Next up is a section of “10 Minute Read” stories, starting with William Boyle’s disturbing, sexually charged “Neighborhood Girl,” followed by the even-better “Professionals,” in which Michael Bracken spins a story of a male prostitute who gets into big trouble with one of his johns. J.D. Smith’s “The Flower Girl” lays out an amusing case of wedding-set entrapment, and Grant McKenzie’s ice-cream man offers other, stickier services in the franchise-ready “White Volcano.”

Among these and the four other stories in this section, however, the character I most want to see make repeat visits to GUTTER’s pages is Bo Flexer, the loose-moraled female P.I. in Clair Dickson’s “The Pleasure Business.” Its unapologetic mix of sex and crime best personifies the intent behind this entire project.

This issue’s centerpiece is a “Gangland” section, with four pieces of fiction involving gangs and Mafia types. It begins with John Rickards’ tongue-in-cheek “Vengenace of Mine,” whose lead character is Jesus Christ. No, really – Jesus Christ, as in the guy who died for your sins, “so show a little fucking respect.” Ken Goldman takes the prize, though, with “Fat Larry’s Night with the Alligators,” a classic gangster tale of dead-body disposal, double-crossings and devilishly hungry reptiles.

Four new stories comprise the “15 to 20 Minute Read Department,” including the surprising inclusion of Steve Alten, author of the bestselling MEG series. I say “surprising,” because let’s face it: The guy specializes in underwater thrillers involving prehistoric creatures. But with “Lost in Time,” he marries his love of the deep with a con man’s revenge. Fitting perfectly, the result is exciting and among the mag’s very best pieces.

The non-fiction articles this time out are all interesting, starting with bartender Edwin Decker’s tips on what to do and not to do if you’re among a pub’s last patrons of the evening. Seth Ferranti interviews a two-decade meth user in prison, and E.E. Howard traces the origins of organized crime in America in a lengthy, well-illustrated essay. But the best is “Hooked,” Dale Bridges’ interview with a hooker in Prague and a discussion of his fascination with the “idea of vaginal currency,” even if the thought of partaking holds no appeal with him.

Once again, there’s a smattering of amusing filler, including sidebars, an R-rated poem, fake ads and comics. The next issue needs to include more of the latter, but it’s hard to nitpick with so damned much to read. This issue is a wealth of “degenerate” fiction – one that’ll you want to devour in a day. –Rod Lott

Buy it at Out of the Gutter.

OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS SERIES:
• OUT OF THE GUTTER #1

OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THESE AUTHORS:
• THE LOCH by Steve Alten
• MEG: PRIMAL WATERS by Steve Alten
• SNAKES ON A PLANE by Christa Faust

Spicy Mystery Stories was one of the Culture Publications pulps, and you just can’t get more ironic than that. They sold for a quarter and in most cities resided under the counter. Take a look at that cover art and it won’t be hard to guess why. Sex, violence and death all in one nifty, semi-surrealist H.J. Ward painting. Dali should have been working for the pulps.

This May 1936 issue, reprinted by Adventure House, provides a terrific introduction to the world of weird-menace storytelling: a particular subgenre of the horror story in which a Gothic atmosphere is established, usually in a paragraph or two, and some sort of incredible danger is introduced. This danger more than likely will come in the form of a human monster, a zombie, a ghost, a being returned from the past or just an all-around, slavering, lecherous, humanoid.

The kicker is that – as in the Gothic novels that came before them and Scooby-Doo who came after – weird-menace villains always turn out to be some demented/murderous/greedy yahoo who wants the mansion/fortune/beautiful gal all for himself.

This issue contains nine tales, all of which are fun. Each seems placed where it is in order to top the previous one in wacko plotting.

The first is “Death’s Diary” by Arthur Wallace, and it’s about a mad scientist who has developed a means of transferring a soul from one body to another. In a similar vein, Clint Morgan’s “Blood of a Dog” features another less than sane man of science, this one creating a fluid made from the essence of beast. Inject it into a human and the result is … what? In “She Who Was Dead” (nice title) by Jerome Severs Perry, a beautiful, mad girl rises from the dead … or does she?

Now we get to Mort Lansing’s “Green Eyes,” where the plotting takes a turn toward the seriously bizarre. In this one, a mad painter (to give us a break from mad scientists) kidnaps people to contort their bodies into tableaux of torture of pain. Prospective patrons of the bloody arts wander through his gallery looking at these living mannequins of death and when they see a pose they like, they pay the artist to paint it for them. Eli Roth, I have a story you might want to take a look at.

In “Death Shows the Way,” by Tay Philips, a man escapes from an asylum to return to the place of his wife’s death, only to find her 3-year-old corpse waiting in bed for him.
With “Cord of Cowardice,” by Cary Moran, we return to the relative normalcy of a man dressed as a medieval Viking who puts his wife’s death mask on a young woman so he can consummate his nuptials. Seems his virgin bride died before he had the chance three years ago.

In the brief “The Crowded Coffin,” by Dennis Craig, lovers pass along a disease that makes hair grow five feet a night and drains males of strength until they die. It’s Samson in reverse.

Finally, we come to Robert Leslie Bellem, creator of Dan Turner, Hollywood Detective, and one of the bedrock writers of the Spicy line. In “Cavern of the Faceless,” a woman who has been scarred hideously in a beauty parlor accident (!) kills herself. Her husband then buys the place where her injury occurred despite the fact that four of the employees have disappeared. It appears that he is a mad revenger, but not only is this a weird menace story, but it’s a weird menace story by Robert Leslie Bellem. I can’t give too much away, but trust me: Wilder plots than this one, they just don’t write.

This issue concludes with John Bard’s “The Second Mummy,” a story about an American detective who is called by an old friend to Mexico to find a missing object d’art. This one has a nice punch in the ending.

Oh, and as for the “spicy” bits, here’s a typical passage from the Bellem story: “With infinite tenderness, Kendrick Westfall pressed his mouth upon her parted lips. His hand stole upward along her side; his arm crept about her slim waist. As he drew her close, he could feel, through the thinness of her summery frock, that firm half-globe of sweet flesh, the ripple and play of her muscles – the tremor of her soft breast against him. His whole being ached with ecstasy at her response …“

We all know what those three dots at the end represent, and that’s about a titillating as it gets. Spicy Mystery Stories indulged in a little kinkiness, but it tended to be more underplayed than that appearing in such hardcore weird-menace titles as Horror Stories and Terror Tales.

I can’t dismiss this issue of Spicy Mystery Stories by saying that the stories are silly. Of course they are! Anyone over the age of 12 in 1936 knew they were silly. And the objection to that is …? –Doug Bentin

Buy it at Amazon.

OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS SERIES:
• SPICY MYSTERY STORIES: FEB. 1936

“Hey, you got your corpses on my girls!”

“Well, you got your girls on my corpses!”

And that was the conversation that I imagined had to be the impetus behind the sickly comical new mag Girls and Corpses, which, in case you couldn’t figure it out for yourself, is all about hot girls cavorting with musty ol’ dead bodies. It actually would be necro-whacking material if it weren’t so damn funny. (Granted, I’m sure there are a few necros who do spank to it.)

Straddling that fine, fine, fine line between brutal tastelessness and hilarious misogyny, Girls and Corpses is very much a throwback to the humor mags of the late ’70s/early ’80s, with a very pointed, sarcastic (and at times ironically corny) POV that recalls some of the best issues of National Lampoon.

In the premiere issue, cover girl Sheri Moon Zombie (insert boner joke here, or just insert boner) gives us insight into what it’s like to be Mrs. Rob Zombie in a fun little interview, bathed between different pics of her frolicking in a cemetery.

We meet an embalmer named Steveo. We meet HATCHET director Adam Green. And, in my favorite piece, we meet Hollie Stevens, a sex actress who specializes in clown porn. Yep, clown porn – fucking a clown isn’t just for serial killers anymore!

Stuffed in between, we also get tons of cheesy fake ads, some comics and lots and lots of pics of girls seductively writhing near a desiccated body. Hot stuff. (Or is that cold stuff?)

At more than 70 pages, Girls and Corpses easily justifies its $8.95 cover price, but one question remains: How long will the shtick last? Will the joke ever spoil? How long before this one becomes a stiff?

As an added bonus, be sure to pick up the 2007 Girls and Corpses calendar! C’mon – admit you’ve always wanted to freak out your co-workers with images of a busty chick getting spanked over Dead Santa’s lap! I’m not alone, right, guys? Right? –Louis Fowler

Buy it at Girls and Corpses.