Street & Smith probably had more Christmas-themed covers than any other pulp publisher, such as this one on the December 22, 1928 issue of DETECTIVE STORY MAGAZINE. The art is by John A. Coughlin, who did many covers for DSM during this era, and I think it's pretty good. Of the authors inside, Johnston McCulley is almost certainly the best known today. His story in this issue is the final installment of a serial featuring a crossover between two of his series characters, the Crimson Clown and Thubway Tham. I have to confess, I haven't read anything with either of those characters. Maybe I will, eventually. Other notable authors are Cherry Wilson, a prolific contributor to WESTERN STORY, and Oscar Schisgall, also better known as a Western author who, in fact, wrote the first Masked Rider novel. I hope the Santa on this cover was able to convince the cop he wasn't up to any mischief (unless, of course, he actually was).
4 comments:
I have to admit that I had to give up on the Thubway Tham series. The lisp I find extremely annoying and the comedy is juvenile. Yet it was McCulley's most popular character aside from Zorro. There were around a hundred Thubway Tham stories, all of which I find unreadable.
The Crimson Clown series is a lot better but still I wonder why would a man dress up as a clown to fight crime and thus drawn a lot of unwanted attention to himself because of the crazy costume.
The Thubway Tham stories struck me as being something I wouldn't particularly enjoy, so that (as well as the lack of time) is why I haven't tried them. I do find the Crimson Clown to be sort of an intriguing idea, though. I'll probably read some of them.
I love all the Zorro stories and McCulley’s Spanish Westerns and traditional Westerns. I find the Tham and Crimson clown stories a waste. Rather reread Zorro.
Now that I think about it, I'm not sure I've ever read anything by McCulley that wasn't either a Zorro yarn or a Western.
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