black mask magazine – Page 17

July 1931 issue ~ cover art by J.W. Schlaikjer

July 1931 issue

cover art by J. W. Schlaikjer

~ Carroll John Daly, “’The Flame’ and Race Williams”, 40^th of 53 with RW, part 2 of 3, ‘pub.as The Third Murderer (1931)’, 52nd of 71 appearances in BM

~ Ramon Decolta (Raoul Whitfield), “Blue Glass”, 5th of 6 parts in the ‘Rainbow Diamonds’ sequence that take Jo Gar from Manila to San Francisco, 14^th of 24 Gar stories in BM, reprinted in West of Guam: The Complete Cases of Jo Bar (Altus Press, 2013)

~ Erle Stanley Gardner, “Tommy Talk”, 35th of 73 Ed Jenkins, returns after the death of his wife Helen, out of hospital and in Chinatown with Soo Hoo Duck, Ngat T’oy, 1^st of 3 connected stories (9/1931 and 12/1931), 52nd of 99 stories in BM

~ Frederick L. Nebel, “Death for a Dago”, 15th of 37 with Captain Steve MacBride and local reporter Kennedy, reprinted in Winter Kill: Complete Cases of MacBride & Kenney, v.2 (Altus, 2013), 32 of 67 stories in BM

~ Bertrand W(illiam) Sinclair, “Ananias and the Sapphires”, ‘Western; Andy Nason’, 2nd of 3 stories in BM

~ Stewart Stirling, (possible pseud. of Stewart Sterling?), “Cold Blood”, 3^rd of 8 stories with ‘Johnny Hi Gear, a.k.a. K-5, Undercover Agent’

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Seven Slayers x 5

1946 Chartered digest paperback original

better image than previously posted

1950 Avon paperback original, 1st printing, seven stories originally published in Black Mask Magazine

“Black” (May 1932)

“Red 71” (December 1932)

“Parlor Trick” (July 1932)

“One, Two, Three” (May 1933)

“Murder in Blue” (June 1933) – “Murder Done in Blue” in the original magazine

“Pigeon Blood” (November 1933)

“Pineapple” (March 1936)

1987 Black Lizard reissue

cover art by Kirwin

1987 Blood & Guts hardcover reissue

cover art by Joe Servello

February 2012 Centipede hardcover

cover art by Ron Lesser

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September 1945 issue ~ cover art by Gloria Stoll

September 1945

cover art by Gloria Stoll

better image than previously posted

~ Dale Clark, “Heir in the Air”, 22nd of 28 with house dick Mike O’Hanna story, at San Alpa Resort hotel, 25^th of 32 stories in BM

~ Brett Halliday (pseud. of David Dresser), “Dead Man’s Diary”, 2nd of 2 Mike Shayne stories in BM

~ Julius Long, “Over My Dead Body”, 7th of 17 stories with ’Ben Corbett, D.A.’s chief investigator, 1^st -person narrator’, 12th of 23 stories in BM

~ Robert Reeves, “Alcoholics Calamitous”, last of 10 Cellini Smith appearances, last of 12 appearances in BM

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cover art by Gerald Gregg

originally published in Sept. 1941 issue of Black Mask Magazine as “Killers are Camera Shy”,

1948 Dell mapback, mapback by Ruth Belew

better image than previously posted

August 1942 Canadian issue

August 1942 Canadian issue

December 1948 UK edition

December 1948 UK edition

December 1943 Canadian issue

December 1943 Canadian issue

September 1932 issue ~ cover art by J.W. Schlaikjer

September 1932 issue

cover art by J.W. Schlaikjer

oil on board, 29.5 x 19.5 in.

better image than previously posted

~ Paul Cain, “The Dark”, ‘Kells & Granquist; part 5 of Fast One’, reprinted in The Complete Slayers (2011 Centipede Press), 7^th of 17 stories in BM

~ Erle Stanley Gardner, “Black and White”, 46th of 73 Ed Jenkins stories, 63th of 99 stories in BM

~ Frederick L. Nebel, “He Could Take It”, 9th of 15 stories with ‘tough dick Donahue of Interstate’, reprinted in Tough as Nails (2012, Altus), 41 of 67 stories in BM

~ William Rollins, Jr., “Triple-Cross”, 3rd of 4 stories with Percy (Buck) Warren, private eye, 16th of 23 stories in BM

~ Joseph T. Shaw, “Fugitive”, 2nd of 4 parts, ‘Jack Henderson, set in Far East, eg, Rangoon’, 7^th of 9 works of fiction in BM

~ Raoul [Fauconnier] Whitfield, “Blue Murder”, ‘Don Free, private dick; 3^rd and last DF story’, title used for earlier story in July ’28 issue, 58th of 67 stories in BM [see also 24 stories as Ramon Decolta]

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December 1, 1923 issue ~ cover art by L.L. Balcom

December 1, 1923 issue

cover art by L.L. Balcom

~ Eustace Hale Ball,“When 7539 Went Black”, ‘7539 is a convict’, 10^th of 13 stories in BM

~ Henry W. Fisher, “Executioners I Have Met”, ‘3rd^t of 6 ‘true’ articles with various subtitles’

~ Francis James, “The Sand Devil”, Prentice, Harvard-trained criminologist turned policeman with Police Chief Shannon, 1^st of 4 parts, 10th of 20 appearances in BM

~ Dashiell Hammett, “Bodies Pile Up”, Continental Op, 4th of 25, reprinted in The Black Mask Boys (1985, Morrow), reprinted in Nightmare Town as “House Dick” (Knopf, 1999), reprinted in The Big Book of the Continental Op (Vintage, 2017), reprinted in Zigzags of Treachery: The Complete Black Mask Cases of the Continental Op, Vol. 1 (Steeger, 2023), 8th of 51 stories in BM

~ Fred McLaughlin, “The White Streak”, author’s only appearance in BM

~ Harold Freeman Miners, “Oscar the Terrible”, 1^st of 4 with ‘Topanga John, ancient desert rat’, 1^st of 5 stories in BM

~ Herman Petersen, “One Dried Head”, last of 3 parts, South Seas, 13th of 20 stories in BM

~ Charles Somerville, “The Vultures’ Trail”, 20th of 47 articles in the ‘Manhunter’ series

~ Willett Stockard, “Punctual”, last of 5 stories in BM

~ Emmet Welsh, “The Slippery Eel”, ‘Billed as “A Complete Fast-Moving Novelette”; NYC police; oddly, in 15 Nov 1923 issue (p. 42) author is listed as Robert E. Welch’, sole appearance in BM

June 1, 1923 series ~ cover art by L.L. Balcom

June 1, 1923 Special KKK issue

cover art by L.L. Balcom

better image than previously posted

~ Raymond J. Brown, “Phantom Bullets”, last of 5 parts, only works in BM

~ Richard Connell, “The Color of Honor”, KKK story, ‘see p. 127 for data on RC’, reprinted in The Black Lizard Big Book of Black Mask Stories (Vintage, 2010), only story in BM

~ Ray(mond King) Cummings, “T. McGuirk – Klansman”, ‘3rd of 14 McGuirk stories, billed as “the quaintest character in the Underworld” & honest, more of less’, ‘alleged to be a ‘humorous tale’, 3^rd of 15 stories in BM

~ Carroll John Daly, “Knights of the Open Palm”, ‘Debut of Race Williams…see p. 127 for letter from CJD on story, 1^st of 53 RW stories, reprinted in The Great American Detective (1978)’, in The Arbor House Treasury of Detective & Mystery Stories from the Great Pulps (1983), in Them That Lives By Their Guns: The Collected Hard-Boiled Stories of Race Williams, Vol. 1 (Altus Press, 2015), 5th of 71 appearances in BM [historically considered to be the first ever ‘hard-boiled’ story]

~ N. Bryllion Fagin, “Mrs. Frye Captures a Highwayman”, author’s sole story in BM

~ Henry Clay Foster, “The Klan As It Was”, article ‘Who started it and Why’, author’s only appearance in BM

~ Robert Lee Heiser, “’Devil Dan’ Hewett”, KKK story, ‘see p.128 for Data of RLH & his stories’, numerous appearances but little fiction – 1^st of 3 stories in BM

~ George Jean Nathan, “Remarks on the Klan”, ‘brief article on KKK, reprinted from “Smart Set”, March 1923’, author’s sole appearance in BM

~ Herman Petersen, “Call Out the Clan”, ‘KKK yarn’, 8th of 20 stories in BM

~ Harford Powel, Jr., “The Other Immortals”, ‘fantasy short-short featuring Leon F. Czolgosz, John Wilkes Booth & Judas’, 4^th of 6 appearances in BM

~ Christopher Sandstone, “The Knights of the Ku Klux Klan”, ‘article; “the case for”’, writer’s sole appearance in BM

~ Charles Somerville, “The Ku Klux and Crime”, ‘the case against’, 8th of 47 articles in the ‘Manhunter’ series

~ Herbert Elisha Stover, “The Guillotine”, ‘not a KKK piece; see p. 128 for letter from HES’, 1^st of 3 pieces in BM

[This post is in no way supporting the evil and hate of white supremacy. At the time this magazine issue was published, the KKK was in resurgence. It was just as relevant an issue then as now. Plus, due to the Daly story, it’s important in American literature.]