Black Book Detective magazine was probably best known for its long-running series of adventure stories featuring the crimefighter known as The Black Bat. But The Black Bat didn't appear until six years into the magazine's run with the July 1939 issue. The magazine first hit the newsstands with the June 1933 issue. For the next six years, it tried different approaches. Issue one began with a featured novel and several backup short stories. The following year it started promoting "three new complete novels" in each magazine, but abandoned that approach after four issues. It then tried shorter novelets, combined with short stories. In 1935 and 1936, it tried the "weird menace" approach, featuring scantily-clad women in peril on the covers, then switched back to hard crime. In 1938 they tried featuring recurring characters in their main novel. Gentleman thief Raffles appeared in two consecutive issues. Jonathan Drake, Ace Manhunter appeared in three issues.
The editors struck gold with The Black Bat, who first appeared in the July 1939 issue. Supposedly blind District Attorney Tony Quinn was secretly the master crime fighter known as The Black Bat. The stories were credited to the house name of G. Wayman Jones, but in actuality were written mainly by Norman A. Daniels. The Black Bat stories ran exclusively in the bi-monthly Black Book Detective magazine until it finally printed its last issue in the Winter of 1953. Black Book Detective returns in these vintage pulp tales, reissued for today’s readers in electronic format.
Table of Contents:
A Complete Book-Length Novel
The Black Bat’s Dragon Trail
Featuring Tony Quinn, Nemesis of Crime
by G. Wayman Jones
A scourge of the underworld plays the role of hooded avenger to foil a murder master’s plans! Tony Quinn goes into action to protect war-torn China from the exploitation of a nefarious criminal who battens on disaster!
Mom Petrelli’s Boy — Gripping Story
by Gerry Seton
Joe Moran wears his heart on his sleeve — but there’s courage in it!
Eyes Of The Magnate — Gripping Story
by William L. Hopson
A dynamic press agent discovers a pair of human optics in his pocket!
Off The Record — A Department
