Jim Anthony was a character who at first was a direct clone of Doc Savage and later morphed into a hard-boiled detective, and both sides are presented in SUPER-DETECTIVE FLIP BOOK: TWO COMPLETE NOVELS. Sure, Anthony has a lot of the same traits as Doc Savage, right down to a group of helpers, but you know it’s just not the same thing.
After an introductory essay by John McMahan, who goes into great detail about the character and how Trojan Publishing saw him as a way to get its foothold into the pulp market, we are treated to the sci-fi tale LEGION OF ROBOTS by Victor Rousseau. It’s the longer of the two novels and tries really hard to be original, but falls short due to the many comparisons to Doc Savage territory.
The basic plot deals with an escaped mastermind named Rado Ruric. After being broken out of prison by one of his henchmen, Ruric runs off to South America to wreak havoc that involves a robotic sea serpent. The story is fun and breezy with plenty of action to keep readers interested. It’s over-the-top in so many ways with its fantastical ending that you will need a breather. But that was the reason for pulps back then.
Flip the book over for the writing talents of Robert Bellem and W.T. Ballard, who took over the Anthony character a few months later. After another introduction by John Wooley detailing the hard-boiled aspect of the character and how adult he became, we have an extremely short mystery titled MURDER’S MIGRANT.
Its plot is that of an attempt being made on Anthony’s life, but in reality, that is just a distraction to the real crimes that are about to happen. That’s the story in a nutshell since it barely tops 50 pages. The hard-boiled side drops pretty much everything that we learned in the more fantastical side — no more hidden bases or groups of men.
Now, Anthony is more of a hard drinker and womanizer. It really is a night-and-day difference in this collection, showing how a publisher can do a massive change in tone to try to make a property gain more appeal. SUPER-DETECTIVE is a fun little collection of old-time pulp that is worth seeking out. Just remember to place these stories and writing in the proper context, or you just might miss the appeal all together. —Bruce Grossman
Related posts:
- Essential Super-Villain Team-Up: Vol. 1
- The Adventure of the Missing Detective and 19 of the Year’s Finest Crime and Mystery Stories
- Best Short Novels 2005
- The Occult Detective
- BULLETS, BROADS, BLACKMAIL & BOMBS >> Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)
