This is a pulp that I own and read recently. That’s my copy in the scan. The excellent cover by R.G. Harris illustrates a scene from the lead novelette by Walker A. Tompkins, “Tommy Rockford’s Coffin Clew”.
In this installment of Tompkins’ long-running series about the young railroad
detective who carries a pair of gold-plated handcuffs, Rockford arrives in an
isolated Arizona settlement on a stormy night in pursuit of a notorious train
robber. However, when he gets there he discovers that his quarry has already
been brought to justice, drilled in a gunfight with the local sheriff. Then the
sheriff himself turns up dead, and Tommy has to solve his murder. This is one
of those stories where the big plot twist is pretty obvious, but that doesn’t
stop Tompkins from spinning it into a very entertaining yarn with his usual
skill. I was a little disappointed in the last Tommy Rockford story I read, but
not this one. It’s well-written, atmospheric, and suspenseful. Also, I didn’t
figure out the “coffin clew” of the title, so that’s one final surprise
Tompkins saves for the story’s last paragraph. Fine work in this one.
Hal Davenport wrote a lot of stories under the various WILD WEST WEEKLY
house-names, including more than 20 novelettes in the Billy West and Circle J
series as Cleve Endicott. His story in this issue, “Six-guns Say No”, is a
stand-alone published under his own name. It’s a range war yarn as a young
rancher fights to defend the waterhole on which his spread depends from a bunch
of no-good crooks trying to steal it. This story is almost all action, and
while there’s nothing in it we haven’t seen many, many times before, Davenport
does a good job of storytelling and comes up with an entertaining tale.
Samuel H. Nickels also wrote prolifically under house-names for WILD WEST
WEEKLY, but under his own name he authored almost 140 short stories about a
pair of young Texas Rangers named “Hungry” Hawkins and “Rusty” Bolivar. In this
issue’s Hungry and Rusty yarn, “Rangers’ Rescue”, our intrepid pair set out to
find a rancher’s son who’s been kidnapped by outlaws. This is another tale that’s
almost all action. This is the first Hungry and Rusty story I’ve read. I
enjoyed it and found them a very likable pair of protagonists. Definitely
wouldn’t mind reading more of these.
Guy L. Maynard was another regular house-name scribe but also wrote several
popular series under his own name, the longest-running of which featured a
character called Señor Red Mask. He wrote a dozen stories featuring a
redheaded cowboy, trail driver, and adventurer known as Flame Burns. Some
legendary historical Old West characters appeared in these as well, much like
the Rio Kid series. In this issue’s novelette, “Death Riders of Dodge”, Flame
is in Dodge City, having just delivered a herd of cattle he brought up the
trail from Texas. He’s set upon by outlaws and robbed of the payoff for that
herd, and the rest of the story concerns his efforts to get the money back and
avenge the death of a friend in a shootout. He gets some help in this from none
other than Calamity Jane, who bears only a passing resemblance to the
historical Calamity Jane. There’s one mention of her nursing the sick during an
epidemic, and other than that she’s strictly the fictional version that’s shown
up in so many movies, TV shows, and novels. This is the first thing I’ve read
by Maynard, as far as I know, and when I read it, I wasn’t very impressed by
it. It seemed a little too simple and juvenile. It’s sticking with me more than
I expected, though. I’ll have to read more by Maynard to form a worthwhile opinion
of his work.
“King of Colts” is by Charles M. Martin, who sometimes wrote as Chuck Martin.
It’s a vengeance yarn, as a young rancher sets out after the three outlaws
responsible for the death of the grandfather who raised him. That’s all there
is to it, but Martin writes in a terse style that I enjoy, and since he was an
actual cowboy, like Walt Coburn, his work has a strong sense of authenticity.
Also like Coburn, Martin wound up taking his own life by hanging, which is a
shame. He was a pretty darned good writer.
There are some assorted features and one other piece of fiction in this issue,
the novelette “Whizz Fargo Springs a Murder Trap” by George C. Henderson. This
is one of six linked novelettes about Whizz Fargo that were fixed up into the
novel WHIZZ FARGO, GUNFIGHTER. I happen to own a copy of that novel, so I
skipped the story in this issue, preferring to read it in the novel version.
Which I’ll get around to soon, I hope. I’ve read some stories by Henderson in
the past and enjoyed them, as far as I recall.
Overall, this is a good but not great issue of WILD WEST WEEKLY. Tompkins’
Tommy Rockford story is definitely the highlight. The other stories are all
perfectly readable and entertaining, but they didn’t really make a strong
impression on me. Having said that, I’m glad I read it and believe it’s worth
your time if you happen to own a copy of it.
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