william rollins – SMB Noir

April 1933 issue ~ cover art by J.W. Schlaikjer

April 1933 issue

cover art by J. W. Schlaikjer

~ Erle Stanley Gardner, “Chinatown Murder”, 49th of 73 Ed Jenkins stories, ‘Chinese frequently spoken’, 70th of 99 stories in BM

~ Frederick L. Nebel, “Farewell to Crime”, 21st of 37 with Captain Steve MacBride and local reporter Kennedy, reprinted in Too Young to Die: Complete Cases of MacBride & Kennedy, v.3 (Altus, 2013), 46 of 67 stories in BM

~ Norvell Page, “Black Harvest”, ‘last of 3 Jules Tremaine stories; Manhattan and Little Italy; (ed. note) a projected & potentially important series that never developed’ [Hagemann doesn’t explain his editor’s note], only these 3 stories in BM. Reprinted in Black Harvest: The Complete Black Mask Cases of Jules Tremaine (Steeger Books, 2021).

~ William Rollins, Jr., “K.O. and the Killers”, 3rd of 4 stories with ‘Kenneth Osborne from ‘No’th Cah’lina’; 1^st person narrator’, 20th of 23 stories in BM

~ H.H. Stinson, “Give the Man Rope”, 1st of 14 with ‘Ken O’Hara, fighting reporter on Los Angeles Tribune’, debut and 1^st of 27 stories in BM

~ Roger Torrey, “The Case-Hardened Samaritan”, 2nd of 11 with Dal Prentice, Magna City police dick, ‘one tough guy’, ‘Prentice – “hard when it comes to handling killers”, reprinted in The Case-Hardened Samaritan: The Complete Black Mask Cases of Dal Prentice, Vol. 1, 3rd of 50 appearances in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

April 1, 1923 issue

April 1, 1923 issue

~ Eustace Hale Ball, “The Trail of the Scarlet Fox”, last of 6 parts with various subtitles, 6th of 13 appearances in BM

~ Raymond J. Brown, “Phantom Bullets”, part 1 of 5, only work in BM

~ Robert Clay, “The Man Who Hated Worms”, author’ only appearance in BM

~ David Dart, “The Held Up Hold-Up”, 2^nd and last story in BM

~ Arthur Floyd Henderson, “A Matter of Gallantry”, author’s only appearance in BM

~ Francis James, “Spark of Death”, Prentice [(?) Hagemann includes question mark], 7th of 20 appearances in BM

~ William Rollins, Jr., “Schuydenehome”, 1st of 23 stories in BM

~ Charles Somerville, “By Wire”, 5th of 47 articles in the ‘Manhunter’ series, 5^th of 49 total articles in BM

~ Joe Taylor and G[eorge] W. Sutton, Jr., “Burnt Hands”, part 1 of 2, ‘GWS was then editor of BM’, 1^st of 2 appearances by this team in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

December 1924 issue

December 1924 issue

~ Thomas Ewing Dabney, “The Drug of Ullua”, ‘Hard-Boiled Smith in Latin America’, 2nd of 2 stories in BM

~ Erle Stanley Gardner, “Without No Reindeer”, 2^nd of 10 Bob Larkin stories, 3^rd of 99 stories in BM

~ Robert Lee Heiser, “The Norris Case”, ‘The Manhunters, for this series see chiefly under Charles Somerville’

~ Francis James, “The Green Enigma”, Prentice, Harvard-trained criminologist turned policeman with Police Chief Shannon, 2nd of 2 parts, issue also includes letter from the author with a small photo, 18th of 20 appearances in BM

~ Donald MacGregor, “The One-Dollar Bandit”, 2nd of 10 stories

~ William Rollins, Jr., “Dead Men of the Marshes”, 2nd of 3 stories with Jack Darrow, 16-year-old hero, ‘double murder’, 9th of 23 stories in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

April 1925 issue ~ cover art by A.T. Stewart

April 1925 issue

cover art by A.T. Stewart

~ Frank L. Benscoter, “Shola Al”, ‘a detective story’, 3rd of 5 stories in BM

~ C. Chapin, “Room Rent”, author’s only appearance in BM

~ Valma Clark, “A Little Matter of Chivalry”, “A Mystery of Real Life”, only appearance in BM

~ Ray(mond King) Cummings, “The System of T. McGuirk”, ‘11th of 14 McGuirk stories, billed as “the quaintest character in the Underworld” & honest, more of less’, 11^th of 15 stories in BM

~ Carroll John Daly, “Conceited, Maybe”, 7^th of 53 with Race Williams, reprinted in Them That Lives By Their Guns: The Collected Hard-Boiled Stories of Race Williams, Vol. 1 (Altus Press, 2015) 15th of 71 appearances in BM

~ Arthur Kearns, “A Born Thief”, 1^st of 2 stories in BM

~ Genevieve Neegard, “The Sandalwood Casket”, advertised as ‘a meek man drunk with blood’, author’s sole appearance in BM

~ William Rollins, Jr., “Treasures That Dead Men Guard”, part 3 of 3, last of 3 stories with Jack Darrow, 12th of 23 stories in BM

~ Charles Somerville, “The Grey-Green House”, 39th of 47 articles in the ‘Manhunter’ series, 40^th of 49 total articles in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

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]

March 1933 issue ~ cover art by J.W. Schlaikjer

March 1933 issue

cover art by J. W. Schlaikjer

~ Norbert Davis, “Kansas City Flash”, ‘Mark Hull, ex-stunt man, in Hollywood & L.A; reprinted in The Hard-Boiled Detective (1977)’, 2^nd of 13 stories in BM

~ Erle Stanley Gardner, “Red Jade”, 48th of 73 Ed Jenkins in Chinatown with Soo Hoo Duck, Ngat T’oy; ‘see p.5 for a letter from ESG to JTS’ [Joseph T. Shaw, ed.], 69th of 99 stories in BM

~ Frederick L. Nebel, “Rough Reform”, 20th of 37 with Captain Steve MacBride and local reporter Kennedy, reprinted in Too Young to Die: Complete Cases of MacBride & Kennedy, v.3 (Altus, 2013), 45 of 67 stories in BM

~ Norvell Page, “The Confessional”, ‘2nd of 3 Jules Tremaine stories; Manhattan and Little Italy; (ed. note) a projected & potentially important series that never developed’ [Hagemann doesn’t explain his editor’s note], only these 3 stories in BM. Reprinted in Black Harvest: The Complete Black Mask Cases of Jules Tremaine (Steeger Books, 2021).

~ William Rollins, Jr., “K.O. Carries On”, 2nd of 4 stories with ‘Kenneth Osborne from ‘No’th Cah’lina’; 1^st person narrator’, 19th of 23 stories in BM

~ Theodore A. Tinsley “Help Wanted”, ‘6th (of 25) Jerry Tracy capers, columnist on the (NYC) Planet, ‘mixer with poor and rich, the crooked and the straight, trailer of trouble and happiness’, 6th of 26 stories in BM. Reprinted in South Wind: The Complete Black Mask Cases of Jerry Tracy (Steeger Books, 2021).

~ Roger Torrey, “A Night in Menlo”, ‘Western; Deputy Marshall Henry Corbin in town of Menlo’, 2nd of 50 appearances in BM

February 1925 issue

February 1925 issue

better image than previously posted

cover art by Francis H. Harbaugh

~ Carroll John Daly, “The Face Behind the Mask”, 6^th of 53 with Race Williams, reprinted in Them That Lives By Their Guns: The Collected Hard-Boiled Stories of Race Williams, Vol. 1 (Altus Press, 2015) 14th the of 71 appearances in BM

~ James Parker Long, “Twice to Make Sure”, “‘Cautious, conservative business man’ as sleuth”, author’s sole appearance in BM

~ Harold Freeman Miners, “Topango Takes a Long Shot”, last of 4 ‘Topanga John, ancient desert rat’, last of 5 stories in BM

~ William Rollins, Jr., “Treasures That Dead Men Guard”, part 1 of 3, last of 3 stories with Jack Darrow, 10 of 23 stories in BM

~ Charles Somerville, “The Death Ship”, ‘schooner Mary Beatrice & Chinese, see important headnote (p. 118) and editorial note (p.125) relating to series’, 37th of 47 articles in the ‘Manhunter’ series, 38th of 49 total articles in BM

~ J. Paul Suter, “The Loud Voice of Time”, 3rd of 15 stories with The Reverend McGregor Daunt, ‘clergyman by profession and detective by choice’, ‘Daunt & one of his problems’, 6th of 19 appearances in BM

~ Kenneth Duane Whipple, “Tainted”, 2nd of 2 stories in BM