Forged in war, The Phantom Detective wages a one-man battle on crime! Solving impossible mysteries and delivering his own justice, he is the underworld’s masked nightmare!
The Phantom Detective pits his wit and daring against the sinister might of a master criminal whose diabolical plan of evil spells danger and death to every household in America! The Black Trader stalks — bringing a grim reign of doom and pestilence in his wake!
The concept of a hero being a person of great wealth was not new to the Pulp magazines or even to literature when Thrilling Publications decided to make The Phantom Detective a wealthy playboy named Richard Curtis Van Loan. Throughout fiction for decades prior, even centuries, mostly men of means were the ones who donned secret identities, from the Scarlet Pimpernel to Zorro, as examples, to fight injustice and crime. It was also not a new concept to have The Phantom Detective be a man without purpose, just returned from a war and in need of some sort of mission. Again, this occurred in characters in literature and even in the Pulps, including The Shadow. Where The Phantom Detective starts to divert from some of his predecessors and peers is that his reason for donning the mask and embarking on twenty years of crimefighting was largely due to the fact that he was bored. There was no singular motivation beyond his own entertainment. He lost no family members to crime. His wealth was never threatened by evildoers. He was not raised to combat injustice. He simply did not know what to do with himself until his friend Frank Havens suggested he try his hand at crime solving. And, thankfully for many fans of The Phantom Detective, Van Loan did exactly that, and successfully, finding his place as one of Pulp’s most popular and long lived crimefighters.
The Black Market Murders was originally published in the October 1943 issue of The Phantom Detective Magazine and is read with pulse pounding intensity by award winning voice actor Milton Bagby.
Chapter 1: The Black Trader
Chapter 2: Slaughter House
Chapter 3: The Phantom Answers a Call
Chapter 4: Tapped Wires
Chapter 5: Back Door Visitor
Chapter 6: Submachine-Gun Battle
Chapter 7: Hidden Identification
Chapter 8: Political Twist
Chapter 9: Six Men Waited
Chapter 10: Ultimatum
Chapter 11: Death Strikes Again
Chapter 12: Murder by Remote Control
Chapter 13: “Muscling In”
Chapter 14: Elusive Clues
Chapter 15: A Voice From The Cavern
Chapter 16: “Subtle” Accusation
Chapter 17: Inviting Murder
Chapter 18: Cat and Mouse
Chapter 19: The Law Intervenes
Chapter 20: The Phantom’s Reward
