A Mystery, Crime & Noir Notebook - Gary Lovisi

I’ve known Gary Lovisi for more years than I like to think about and have been a fan of his work, both fiction and non-fiction, for all that time. His magazine PAPERBACK PARADE has been an indispensable resource for fans of genre fiction for decades, and his Gryphon Books imprint has published a lot of top-notch novels and collections in the mystery and science fiction fields.

His latest collection from Stark House, A MYSTERY, CRIME & NOIR NOTEBOOK, brings together approximately 50 articles and essays covering those title subjects. Originally published in a variety of magazines, anthologies, and collections, they concentrate mostly on vintage hardboiled paperbacks but discuss some newer books, too. (In this case, newer generally means 20 years old, instead of 50 or 60.) There are articles about specific publishers and many about particular authors. And lots and lots of beautiful cover reproductions, of course.

This is a wonderful book, perfect for dipping in and out of, although to be honest, I was so engrossed I went through most of it pretty quickly. It’s the sort of book where as I read it, I kept saying to myself “I have that one!” or “I read that one when I was a kid!” or “Oh, I have to find a copy of that one and read it!” I have a hunch most of you know exactly what I mean and would really enjoy A MYSTERY, CRIME & NOIR NOTEBOOK. It’s available on Amazon now. I give it a very high recommendation. It’s really a lot of fun.

Men's Adventure Quarterly #8: Heavy Hitters! - Robert Deis and Bill Cunningham, eds.

Bob Deis and Bill Cunningham are back with MEN’S ADVENTURE QUARTERLY #8: HEAVY HITTERS!, featuring tales of hitmen (and hitwomen) that appeared originally in the men’s adventure magazines of the Fifties, Sixties, and Seventies. Deis and Cunningham are assisted this time around by guest editors Gary Lovisi and Michael Stradford. This issue also takes a look at the connection between men’s adventure magazines, bodybuilding magazines, and legendary muscleman Joe Weider.

The assortment of stories and articles is a good one, as always, but two of the tales reprinted in MAQ #8 have a personal connection for me, even though I never met or had any contact with either of their authors.

David Mazroff is a very familiar name to me because I saw it dozens of times on the Table of Contents in dozens of issues of MIKE SHAYNE MYSTERY MAGAZINE from the Sixties and Seventies. Mazroff specialized in true crime articles for MSMM, usually centering around legendary gangsters or other organized crime figures. He wrote at least one of the Mike Shayne novellas under the Brett Halliday house name and three novellas under his own name about a private eye character of his creation, Rick Harper. In “I Was Al Capone’s Hatchet Man”, from the March 1958 issue of MAN’S ODYSSEY, Mazroff delves into his own criminal past when he was part of Capone’s gang in Chicago during the 1930s. I had no idea Mazroff had been an actual gangster and did time in prison for his criminal activities. He and I appeared in the same issue of MSMM only once, the August 1977 issue, which included his article “Who Killed Johnny Roselli?” and the first story ever published under my name, “Comingor”. Mazroff had one more article in MSMM after that, in the December 1977 issue, but I didn’t have anything in that one.

The other author name in this issue that’s very familiar to me is Wayne C. Ulsh, who wrote “The Day Castro Beat the CIA’s Mafia”, originally published in the October 1975 issue of FOR MEN ONLY. In the mid-Seventies when I was trying to break in as a writer, one of the markets I targeted was FOR MEN ONLY, and as I read the issues I picked up I quickly began to look for Ulsh’s name because his stories were always well-written, suspenseful, and entertaining. His Castro story in this issue of MAQ is pure fiction. Or is it? Well, yeah, it probably is. But it’s a good yarn, like everything else by Ulsh that I’ve written. He published two novels in his lifetime, which ended prematurely when he died early at the age of 58. I own one of them, RIP-OFF, but haven’t read it. His other novel, McDADE, is a mystery published by Belmont-Tower. In 1975, I wanted to be Wayne C. Ulsh. My career wound up taking a much different path and I can’t say that I’m sorry about that, but it was sure nice revisiting his work and remembering those days nearly 50 years ago.

My favorite of the other stories is Anthony Scaduto’s long article about Bugsy Siegel, “Ever-Lovin’ Top Gun of the Syndicate”, from the August 1963 issue of STAG. We watched all five seasons of the HBO gangster drama BOARDWALK EMPIRE not long ago, and I enjoyed reading this lightly fictionalized version of the notorious Bugsy’s life.

Guest editors Lovisi and Stradford contribute articles about hitmen in novels and iconic cover model Steve Holland’s appearances on crime-related magazine and paperback covers, respectively. These guys know their stuff, and their articles are both informative and entertaining.

And of course, this issue of MAQ, like all the others, is packed with beautifully reproduced artwork by Bruce Minney, Samson Pollen, Mort Kunstler, Robert Stanley, and many others. It’s the proverbial feast for the eyes thanks to Bill Cunningham’s masterful production. Bob Deis oversees the whole thing with love and expertise. Everyone involved in this issue can rightfully be proud of it.

Coming up in the next issue . . . Croc Attacks! Hopefully there’ll be a few gators in there, too. Meanwhile, you can pick up MAQ #8 in three different editions: a full-color trade paperback, a black-and-white paperback edition, and a digital replica edition that looks great on a Kindle Fire. Whichever you prefer, MAQ #8 gets my highest recommendation. 

The Digest Enthusiast, Book Thirteen - Richard Krauss, ed.

The latest issue of THE DIGEST ENTHUSIAST is out, and even by the usual high standards, it's just packed with good stuff. Check out this line-up.

Interview with Analog and Asimov's Managing Editor: Emily Hockaday.

Peter Enfantino reviews Manhunt-1955 part one.

Jack Seabrook investigates the mysterious true crime reports of Leo Marr for Mystery Book Magazine. Gary Lovisi reveals the highly collectible digest paperbacks from Falcon Books.

Steve Carper uncovers the genre giants of Fantasy & Science Fiction Classics.

Vince Nowell, Sr. shines the spotlight on Robert A.W. Lowndes' reign of digests.

Catch up on breaking industry news-with cover previews-from the digest world's favorite editors, publishers, and writers.

New fiction by Richard Krauss, Robert Snashall, and Joe Wehrle, Jr. with artwork by Rick McCollum and Marc Myers.

Reviews of Switchblade No. 12, Sword & Sorcery Annual, Rock and a Hard Place No. 3, and Marilyn Monroe's digest cover trading cards.

Plus over 100 digest magazine covers in full color, first issue factoids, cartoons by Bob Vojtko, and more. Cover by Brian Buniak, 160 pages, published in full color by Larque Press.

I read it from cover to cover and enjoyed it, also as usual, but my favorites this time around are Peter Infantino's MANHUNT reviews, a great article by Gary Lovisi about Falcon Books (I used to have some of those books!), and Vince Nowell, Sr.'s article about Robert A.W. Lowndes. I find Lowndes' work very interesting, especially his long run as the editor of various pulp magazines (SF, mystery, and Western) where he had to work with very low budgets but consistently made something out of almost nothing. This article is about his equally impressive work as a digest magazine editor. I don't recall ever reading any of Lowndes' fiction, and I probably should remedy that. In the meantime, this latest issue of THE DIGEST ENTHUSIAST gets a very high recommendation from me. I really enjoyed it.

Now Available: The Digest Enthusiast, Book Five

A new volume of THE DIGEST ENTHUSIAST is out, which means plenty of good reading for fans of digest magazines such as myself. For me the highlights of Book Five are a lengthy interview with Bill Crider, my oldest friend in the writing business; Gary Lovisi's review of the fine noir novel HONKY TONK GIRL by Charles Beckman, Jr.; and a couple of articles/checklists by Peter Infantino, one covering the relatively obscure crime digest JUSTICE, the other an extensive look at a magazine I've read a great deal about but never seen, MAGAZINE OF HORROR, edited by Robert A.W. Lowndes. I've long been interested in Lowndes' ability to put out some pretty entertaing pulps on tiny budgets, and he did the same with this digest. There's also a summary by DIGEST ENTHUSIAST editor/publisher Richard Krauss of a 1949 WRITER'S YEARBOOK article by Lowndes about writing fiction for the pulps. Great stuff all around, and highly recommended.

Now Available: The Digest Enthusiast, Book Three

The latest edition of THE DIGEST ENTHUSIAST is out, and as always, it's a pure pleasure to read, especially for those of us who are long-time fans of magazine fiction in all its forms. Highlights this time around are two pieces by Peter Enfantino: "The Horror of the Creeping Monsters", an in-depth look at SUPER-SCIENCE FICTION, including a synopsis and discussion of every single story in the magazine's 18 issues; and a similar treat of the even more short-lived (two issues) Western digest GUNSMOKE. I also thoroughly enjoyed Steve Carper's look at the digest appearances of Dashiell Hammett's novels and stories. All the articles and reviews are interesting, and there's fiction by Ron Fortier, Joe Wehrle Jr., and Gary Lovisi. A great package all around, and highly recommended.