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Tales of Masks & Mayhem - Volume III

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This is the third of 3 collections of new hero pulp stories continuing from Tom Johnson's Fading Shadows zines, such as "Double Danger Tales" were these characters originally appeared. Unlike the prior collections, there was no intro in this volume, and this one had artwork with most of the stories.

THE CULT OF THE FACELESS FIEND by Thomas V. Powers featuring Crimson Bat, an original pulp hero. Reprinted from DDT #36. This character mixed several elements. You have a generational hero, like the Green Hornet, occult detectives, and Batman in the mix.

THE FACE OF CHU-JUNG by Eric Turowski is reprinted from DDT #7. This is an original pulp hero with a twist: he's asian. Usually in the pulp period, asians are either villians (Fu Manchu et al), or at best aides to the main heroes.

SIDEWINDER by Debra Delorme featuring Scarecrow an original, modern days pulp hero. Stories of him have appeared in all 3 volumes. This one is reprinted from DDT #3. This one reveals some information about the character (not sure if an 'origin' was ever given).

DEATH AND THE BLACK GHOST by Tom Johnson featuring The Black Ghost, an original pulp hero. This is an original story. There are 2 volumes of Black Ghost stories out there: "Guns of the Black Ghost" collects most of the short stories, including this one, and "Spider's Web" has a novel, plus an edited set of four stories of the BG during his youth. Another story, teaming him with Scarecrow, is in the first volume of this series.

A TASTE FOR MURDER by J. Michael Major featuring Black Bat, an pulp hero now in the public domain. Reprinted from DDT #38.

SOULS ON FIRE by John L. French featuring Grey Monk, an original pulp hero set in modern times, who has appeared in all 3 collections. He is a Shadow-like character, and is reprinted from DDT #43. A book collecting all Gray Monks stories is available from Wild Cat Books.

THE DUST OF DEATH by Joel Jenkins featuring Eel & Adder is reprinted from DDT #28. These are a pair of original heroes set in the 1930s. The Eel is a former escape artist and safecracker, now a pulp hero; the Adder is a former actor who uses disguies and a sword cane (and who may be a little insane). They worked independently, but met and team-up in this story. Not sure if other stories with them together or separately were done.

SATAN PLAGUE by Michael A. Black featuring Doc Atlas, a Doc Savage pastiche set in post WWII period. There are Doc Atlas stories in all 3 volumes and there is a novel available as well. Story first appeared in "Gryphon Double" #19 (Gryphon Books, 1999). This one is set during the 1951 during the McCarthy era, and reveals some info on Doc's background.

THE VACATION by Ginger Johnson featuring Mr. Minus, an original pulp hero set in modern times, a sort of "Captain Zero" type character who turns invisible from midnight to dawn. This is reprinted from DDT #40 as "Mr. Minus Takes a Vacation".

CATCH A FALLING STAR by Dale J. Roberts featuring Doctor Mystery, an original pulp hero and is new in this volume. Set in the 20s or 30s, Doctor Mystery is in the mold of other magician-detective characters.