More Comic Crime (Part Three)

(11) "Bounty for Varmints."

Unsigned.

First appearance: Crime Mysteries No. 11, January 1954.

Short short short story (1 page).

Online at Comic Book Plus (HERE; go to text page 27).

   "Out of the tail of his eye, he saw the distorted face, the leveled automatic."

Characters: Rance Higbee, the pilot, Leo Jason, and the secretary.

Story: When the police are seeking a criminal, one thing they look for is any distinguishing marks. Would a "diagonal white scar" do?

(12) "The Strange Avenger."

Unsigned.

First appearance: Crime Mysteries No. 12, March 1954.

Short short short story (2 pages).

Online at Comic Book Plus (HERE; go to text page 26).

   "You don't act surprised."

Characters: Loop Mills, Hank Gardy, Francie Joy, and Monk.

Story: They say there's no honor among thieves. When it comes to dames, that's almost certainly true.

Reference: "policy slips" (Wikipedia HERE).

(13) "The Corpse in the Car."

Unsigned.

First appearance: Crime Mysteries No. 13, May 1954.

Short short short story (2 pages).

Online at Comic Book Plus (HERE; go to text page 25).

(Note: Smudgy text.)

   "You—meddling—sap!"

Characters: Pat Warner, Bill Nelson, David Winston, Betty Hoyt, Eunice Malloy, and two thugs.

Story: This is what happens when the plan, with all of its ingenuity, runs into dumb luck.

Comment: Not to be confused with the John Rhode novel of the same name (WARNING! SPOILERS! In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel HERE).

(14) "Fact Into Fiction."

Unsigned.

First appearance: Crime Mysteries No. 14, July 1954.

Short short short nonfiction article (2 pages).

Online at Comic Book Plus (HERE; go to text page 24).

   "Poe's theory of the crime was the only one which accurately dovetailed all the evidence in the case."

Characters: Mary Cecelia Rogers, Payne, Crommelin, the innkeeper, a "dark complexioned man," local thugs, and Edgar Allan Poe.

Story: A true crime that Poe converted into a mystery story (HERE).

(15) "Point of Death."

Unsigned.

First appearance: Crime Mysteries No. 15, September 1954.

Short short short story (2 pages).

Online at Comic Book Plus (HERE; go to text page 26).

(Note: Some text obscured but interpretable.)

   "He grabbed up the shirt, tore at it, snatched at the pin as if it were a loathsome cobra, hurled it . . ."

Characters: O'Hara, Mrs. O'Hara, the family man, the internes, three kittens, and the small schoolgirl.

Story: Humor is contagious, but on this particular wet Monday so is death.

Comment: The story's ironic tone is enhanced by the images of the kittens and the little girl.

Resources:

- One of our authors, "Beresford King" (a pseudonym), got published outside of comicdom as well (ss = short story; ar = article; FictionMags data):

  "Blood at the Ball," (ss) Super-Detective, March 1950

  "Shots in the Night," (ss) Private Detective, March 1950

  "Gunpoint Wedding," (ss) Private Detective, April 1950

  "Hovering Doom," (ss) Super-Detective, April 1950

  "Racket’s End, (ss) Private Detective, June 1950

  "Model for Murder," (ss) Pocket Detective Magazine, September 1950

  "Stars Die Fast," (ss) Hollywood Detective Magazine, October 1950

  "Those Rough Carny Girlie Shows," (ar) Exposed #3, January 1956.

- Like "Beresford King," "Rhett Rutledge" (another pseudonym) also saw publication beyond comic books (ss = short story; ar = article; FictionMags data):

  "Blood on the Jewel," (ss) Private Detective, February 1950

  "The Questionable Quest," (ss) Private Detective, May 1950

  "Front Seat for a Killing" [Cupid Cain], (ss) Hollywood Detective, June 1950

  "Hollywood Homicide," (ss) Hollywood Detective Magazine, October 1950

  "The Catty 'Miss Universe' Contest," (ar) Exposed #3, January 1956

  "Reason Behind Rita-Dick Break," (ar) Exposed #4, March 1956

  "When Oona Lowered the Booma," (ar) Exposed #6, May 1956

  "Mae West Pinched in Sex Show, (ar) Exposed #8, August 1956 [Ref. Mae West]

  "James Dean: God of a Morbid Cult," (ar) Exposed #9, September 1956

  "Rita Moreno: Cop-Fighting Wildcat," (ar) Exposed #13, March 1957

  "The Old Dime-a-Dance Hostess Racket," (ar) Exposed #17, August 1957.

- The same goes for "Clark Demery" (yes, a pseudonym) (ss = short story; na = novella; ar = article; FictionMags data):

  "Death on Display," (na) Private Detective Stories, April 1938, as by Robert Leslie Bellem

  "No Bloodshed," (ss) Speed Western Stories, August 1943, as by Harold de Polo

  "Harder Role," (ss) Hollywood Detective, June 1949

  "Horror in the Night" [Ed Byrnes], (ss) Super-Detective, October 1949

  "Kidnap Frame," (ss) Hollywood Detective, December 1949

  "Tagged for a Corpse," (ss) Super-Detective, December 1949

  "Battle of Wits," (ss) Private Detective, February 1950

  "M.D.—as in Murder," (ss) Super-Detective, February 1950

  "Why Stars Yell for Geisler," (ar) Exposed #4, March 1956

  "The Dictator’s Jail-Bait Harem," (ar) Exposed #5, April 1956

  "Nude Movies Americans Can’t See," (ar) Exposed #8, August 1956

  "Hollywood Hobby Is Wife-Beating," (ar) Exposed #10, November 1956.

- More Comic Crime (Part One) is (HERE) and (Part Two) is (HERE).

The bottom line:

Unless otherwise noted, all bibliographical data are derived from The FictionMags Index created by William G. Contento & edited by Phil Stephensen-Payne.

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More Comic Crime (Part Two)

(6) "Death Laughs Last."

By Beresford King (publishing house name).

First appearance: Crime Mysteries No. 6, March 1953.

Short short short story (2 pages).

Online at Comic Book Plus (HERE; go to text page 26).

   "They'd get a light, all right, a light that would show them the way into eternity."

Characters: Pomfret, Eva, and Harvey.

Story: It's rare when a problem is self-liquidating and especially rare when it involves a romantic triangle.

Reference: "nitro-glycerine" (Wikipedia HERE).

(7) "Terror in the Dark."

Unsigned. (Attributed to Ashley Calhoun.)

First appearance: Crime Mysteries No. 7, May 1953.

Short short short story (2 pages).

Online at Comic Book Plus (HERE; go to text page 26).

(Note: Text damaged but readable.)

   "She had learned the meaning of hate, and of patience, too."

Characters: Joe Morrell, Mary Morrell, Balk, the wino, and the cabbie.

Story: Being done in by something rotten seems like poetic justice for a rotten individual.

References: "radiator ornament" (Wikipedia HERE) and "kapok" (Wikipedia HERE).

(8) "Murder Is a Skin Game."

Unsigned.

First appearance: Crime Mysteries No. 8, July 1953.

Short short short story (2 pages).

Online at Comic Book Plus (HERE; go to text page 26).

   "The plan was simple."

Characters: Dot Lewis, Cal, Tim, Horace Wright, Tessie Lane, and Guy Weaver.

Story: While robberies always have a tendency to go wrong, the one planned for Burley's fur store takes it to a new level.

References: "three models in the window" (Wikipedia HERE) and "window dressers" (Wikipedia HERE).

(9) "One Last Bullet."

Unsigned.

First appearance: Crime Mysteries No. 9, September 1953.

Short short short story (2 pages).

Online at Comic Book Plus (HERE; go to text page 26).

   "An instant later, the report of the shot boomed dully in the thick-walled room. Then there was silence."

Characters: Scar Winters, the Inspector, and the Sheriff.

Story: Just admit it. City slickers will always be at a disadvantage when it comes to the ways of the world.

(10) "Second Attempt."

Unsigned.

First appearance: Crime Mysteries No. 10, November 1953.

Short short short story (2 pages).

Online at Comic Book Plus (HERE; go to text page 26).

   "A simple plan and perfect . . . if it worked."

Characters: Steve Chadwick, Helen Chadwick, Charlotte, and Robert Lore.

Story: There are only so many ways you can improvise your way out of a jam. Unfortunately for this murderer, he doesn't pick any of them.

Resource: 

- More Comic Crime (Part One) is (HERE).

Unless otherwise noted, all bibliographical data are derived from The FictionMags Index created by William G. Contento & edited by Phil Stephensen-Payne.

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More Comic Crime (Part One)

WHAT surprises us about the next stories isn't the adult themes per se but rather where they were published . . .

(1) "Hate Backfires."

By Gerald James (publishing house name).

First appearance: Crime Mysteries No. 1, May 1952.

Short short short story (2 pages).

Online at Comic Book Plus (HERE; go to text page 25).

(Note: Text blotchy but interpretable.)

   "He wanted to see them fry and burn and writhe and scream and beg for mercy."

Characters: James Strumper, Frank Burch, and Gloria Burch.

Story: Possibly the most popular animal to ride on is, as our killer will discover, not all that reliable.

Comment: A perfect crime spoiled by—what else?—the unexpected.

(2) "Death Makes the Plan."

By Beresford King (publishing house name).

First appearance: Crime Mysteries No. 2, July 1952.

Short short short story (2 pages).

Online at Comic Book Plus (HERE; go to text page 24).

(Note: Text very faded but legible.)

   "Every guy who's up in the cage will tell you, it's the little things that snarl up a job."

Characters: Frank Woods, Joe Hernandez, Sam Kelcy, the Greek, and the cop on duty.

Story: A daylight robbery goes better than expected . . . until the rubber doesn't meet the road.

Typo: "the cap said".

References:

- "drop a match into the box of excelsior" (Wikipedia HERE.)

- "like it was made of celluloid" (Wikipedia HERE.)

- "They've opened a hydrant!" (Wikipedia HERE.)

- "around a light stanchion" (Wikipedia HERE.)

(3) "Operation Double-Cross."

By Rhett Rutledge (publishing house name).

First appearance: Crime Mysteries No. 3, September 1952.

Short short short story (2 pages).

Online at Comic Book Plus (HERE; go to text page 25).

(Note: Text fuzzy and faded but readable.)

   "The incision had been made and he had found what he was looking for."

Characters: Doc Welch, Myra Welch, the tall man, and Felix.

Story: A major operation, but the man on the table isn't really the patient—it's his erstwhile friends.

(4) "Trap for a Killer."

By Clark Demery (publishing house name).

First appearance: Crime Mysteries No. 4, November 1952.

Short short short story (2 pages).

Online at Comic Book Plus (HERE; go to text page 18).

(Note: Faded text with some blotches but still legible.)

   "He ruffled the greenbacks with greedy rapidity. Six thousand dollars."

Characters: Matilda G. Bream, Mark Paulson, the exterminator, Landow, Sergeant Magruder, and Doc.

Story: Need a clue? "The play's the thing / Wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king." Think about it.

(5) "The Voice of the Dead."

By Beresford King (publishing house name).

First appearance: Crime Mysteries No. 5, January 1953.

Short short short story (2 pages).

Online at Comic Book Plus (HERE; go to text page 24).

(Note: Faded text but not too bad.)

   "Maybe music will settle his ghost."

Characters: Albert Derieux (deceased), Hannon, Roger Craig, and Lynn Craig.

Story: Normally it's not easy to get revenge from the other side of the grave, but there are ways.

Reference:

- "La Paloma" (Wikipedia HERE.)

Resource:

- Our latest excursion into comic book criminality is (HERE).

The bottom line:

Unless otherwise noted, all bibliographical data are derived from The FictionMags Index created by William G. Contento & edited by Phil Stephensen-Payne.

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"And That Had Deepened the Mystery of What Her Game Might Be."

WE take a breather from our usually grim presentations to offer a pair of featherweight crime tales from the same magazine issue, the first of which is quite properly called . . .

(1) "The Baffling Game."

By Keene Thompson (?-?).

First appearance: Argosy, July 1916.

Short short short story (5 pages).

Online at Archive.org (HERE; go to text page 729).

   "The Sterling Private Detective Agency had not thought it wise to inform him why they wanted him to keep a sharp eye on all the movements of the 'dark young woman, about twenty-two, five-feet-four, weight one hundred and eighteen, attractive, speaks with a foreign accent,' who had been shadowed by another operative to that brown stone house in the middle of the quiet residential side-street between Central Park and the 'L'."

THE enigmatic young lady in question is baffling indeed, but our protagonist is no dummy and will unravel the enigma while deservedly earning his paycheck . . .

Principal characters:

~ Charlie O’Neill, Mademoiselle Amélie Lavoir, the Comte de Brissac, Wade, and the house detective.

- References:

- "the L":

  "An elevated railway or elevated train (also known as an el train or el for short) is a railway with the tracks above street level on a viaduct or other elevated structure (usually constructed from steel, cast iron, concrete, or bricks). The railway may be a broad-gauge, standard-gauge or narrow-gauge railway, rapid transit, light rail, monorail, or a suspension railway. Elevated railways are normally found in urban areas that would otherwise require impracticably many level crossings. Usually, the tracks of elevated railways that run on steel viaducts can be seen from street level." (Wikipedia HERE).

  - "I am of what we call at home the bourgeoisie":

  "The bourgeoisie are a class of business owners, merchants and wealthy people, in general, which emerged in the Late Middle Ages, originally as a 'middle class' between the peasantry and aristocracy." (Wikipedia HERE.)

- "the catspaw":

  "'Cat's paw,' an idiom, meaning 'the dupe (or unwitting tool) of another,' derived from Jean de La Fontaine's fable 'The Monkey and the Cat'." (Wikipedia HERE and HERE.)

Resource:

- Keene Thompson had quite a few detective fiction story credits over his career (1914-29; FictionMags), primarily in Detective Story Magazine and Argosy, while creating a couple of short-lived series characters: Bije Hicks (6 stories) and Silas Spoggs (2 stories).

IF you go a few more pages into this issue of Argosy you'll eventually come to . . .

(2) "The Stop-Over."

By Helen E. Prouty (?-?).

First appearance: Argosy, July 1916.

Short short short story (3 pages).

Online at Archive.org (HERE; go to text page 754).

   "In fact, I put them on the New York train."

   "You did what?"

IN this story, it's unfortunate that Henderson has something in common with a Poe character: "In our endeavors to recall to memory something long forgotten, we often find ourselves upon the very verge of remembrance, without being able, in the end, to remember."

Typo: "enable" (should be enabled).

Principal characters:

~ Henderson, Mrs. Fessenden, Mr. Fessenden, and John Rivers.

Reference:

- "the Pullmans were forward":

  "Pullman is the term for railroad dining cars, lounge cars, and especially sleeping cars that were built and operated by the Pullman Company (founded by George Pullman) from 1867 to December 31, 1968." (Wikipedia HERE.)

Resource:

- "The Stop-Over" is Helen E. Prouty's only item in the FictionMags list.

The bottom line:

Unless otherwise noted, all bibliographical data are derived from The FictionMags Index created by William G. Contento & edited by Phil Stephensen-Payne.

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"This Is To Inform the Public That in Connection with Mr. Barnum I Have Leased the Comet for a Term of Years"

SATIRISTS regard anything and everything as grist for their mill, so when a celestial object comes along creating a mild panic no self-respecting humorist could let that pass. A good example would be . . .

"A Curious Pleasure Excursion."

By Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens, 1835-1910; Wikipedia HERE; the ISFDb HERE; the SFE HERE; and the IMDb HERE).

First appearance: The New York Herald Tribune, July 6, 1874.

Reprinted in Fantasy and Science Fiction, June 1961 (today's text).

Reprints page (ISFDb HERE).

Short short short story (4 pages).

Online at The Luminist Archives (HERE; go to text page 60).

   "And, at all events, if we cannot inspire love we shall, at least, compel respect for our country wherever we go."

OUR author gets in a few digs at some of his bêtes noire, including religion, foreign policy, and politicians that he found distasteful.

References:

- "Louis Armstrong" (Wikipedia HERE.)

- "Weather Bird" (Wikipedia HERE.)

- "the 'Comet Scare' in the summer of 1874"; "Mr. Coggia":

  "The public scare regarding the comet [C/1874 H1 (Coggia)] was satirized by Mark Twain in his short story 'A Curious Pleasure Excursion'." (Wikipedia HERE.) Comets have always been of interest to the public, and fictioneers like Twain have not been slack in exploiting that interest. (Wikipedia HERE.) 

- "Mr. Barnum" (Wikipedia HERE.)

- "the tenth or twentieth magnitude" (Wikipedia HERE.)

- Astronomical references (Wikipedia links):

  "Jupiter" (HERE); "Saturn" (HERE); "Venus" (HERE); "Uranus" (HERE); "Mars" (HERE); "Mercury" (HERE); "THE DOG STAR" (HERE); "the Great Bear" (HERE); "Moon" (HERE); "the Milky Way" (HERE); and "constellations" (HERE).

- "General Butler" (Wikipedia HERE.)

- "Mr. Hale, of Maine" (Wikipedia HERE.)

- "Mr. Shepherd" (Wikipedia HERE.)

- "Mr. Richardson": Without a given name or a title we have no idea who this person was, so take your pick from these (Wikipedia links): (HERE), (HERE), (HERE), or (HERE).

Resources:

- About eighty-two years after he died, Mark Twain made an unexpected appearance in a two-part episode of a sci-fi TV show (WARNING! SPOILERS! Wikipedia HERE).

- Off and on during his prodigious writing career Mark Twain dabbled in what would later be termed "science fiction," today's story being an example. Twain's SFF was definitively (we think) collected in 2003 in Tales of Wonder, from which we extract its table of contents (ISFDb):

  Introduction (The Science Fiction of Mark Twain) • (1984) • essay by David Ketterer

  ix • Texts and Acknowledgments (The Science Fiction of Mark Twain) • (1984) • essay by David Ketterer

  xiii • Introduction (Tales of Wonder) • (2003) • essay by David Ketterer

  3 • Petrified Man • (1862) • short story by Mark Twain

  4 • Earthquake Almanac • (1865) • short story by Mark Twain

  6 • A Curious Pleasure Excursion • (1874) • short story by Mark Twain

 10 • The Curious Republic of Gondour • (1870) • short story by Mark Twain

 14 • Captain Stormfield's Visit to Heaven • (1907) • novelette by Mark Twain (variant of Extract from Captain Stormfield's Visit to Heaven)

 61 • The Loves of Alonzo Fitz Clarence and Rosannah Ethelton • (1878) • short story by Mark Twain

 77 • Time Travel Contexts from A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court • (1984) • short fiction by Mark Twain

 96 • Mental Telegraphy • (1891) • short story by Mark Twain

112 • Mental Telegraphy Again • (1895) • short story by Mark Twain

117 • My Platonic Sweetheart • (1912) • short story by Mark Twain

127 • From the "London Times" of 1904 • (1898) • short story by Mark Twain

139 • The Great Dark • (1942) • novelette by Mark Twain

176 • The Secret History of Eddypus, the World-Empire • (1972) • novella by Mark Twain

226 • Sold to Satan • (1923) • short story by Mark Twain

233 • 3,000 Years Among the Microbes • (1966) • novella by Mark Twain (variant of Three Thousand Years Among the Microbes)

327 • "The Mysterious Balloonist" • (1975) • short fiction by Mark Twain

331 • Synopsis of "A Murder, a Mystery, and a Marriage" • (1945) • short fiction by Mark Twain

334 • "The Generation Iceberg" • (1935) • short fiction by Mark Twain

335 • Shackleford's Ghost • (1984) • short story by Mark Twain

338 • "History 1,000 Years from Now" • (1972) • short story by Mark Twain

341 • Explanatory Notes (The Science Fiction of Mark Twain) • (1984) • essay by David Ketterer

381 • Selected Bibliography (The Science Fiction of Mark Twain) • (1984) • essay by David Ketterer.

- It was very recently that we encountered Twain's take on the awful demise of a Roman bigwig (HERE).

The bottom line:

Unless otherwise noted, all bibliographical data are derived from The FictionMags Index created by William G. Contento.

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