Review: Secret Agent X vs. Doctor Death - Will Murray

Will Murray has written the Wild Adventures of Doc Savage, Tarzan, Sherlock Holmes, The Spider, and Cthulhu, and included in those books such iconic characters as The Shadow, John Carter, King Kong, G-8, Operator 5, the Suicide Squad (the original pulp version), and others I’m probably forgetting. Now he tackles another famous pulp character, along with some more obscure ones, in SECRET AGENT X VS. DOCTOR DEATH.

Secret Agent X, for those of you unfamiliar with the character, was a master of disguise who could pretend to be anybody, almost at a moment’s notice. A former intelligence agent, he has abandoned his former identity to fight crime as the nameless, faceless Secret Agent X. He starred in his own pulp that ran for more than forty issues from Ace Magazines. The character was created by Paul Chadwick and written by Chadwick and various other pulp hands, most notably G.T. Fleming-Roberts.

On the other hand, we know who Doctor Death was. A former academic named Dr. Rance Mandarin, he is a master of both scientific and mystical arts and believes our modern society should be wiped out so Earth can return to a more primitive state. One of the few super-villains to headline his own pulp, he appeared in several short stories and five novels, all of which have been reprinted by Altus Press. (I own these volumes but haven’t read them.) Doctor Death was the creation of Harold Ward, who penned the novels under the pseudonym “Zorro”. (I don’t know what Don Diego Vega, or Johnston McCulley, for that matter, had to say about that.)

Anyway, at the end of the final Doctor Death novel, he was apparently, probably, maybe dead. I think we all know how unlikely that is. And sure enough, in SECRET AGENT X VS. DOCTOR DEATH, the crazed genius has returned and menaces humankind again with a bat-owl that can compel people to commit suicide, a couple of minotaurs, a flock of harpies, a ray that can transmute people and objects into golden-colored stone, and other threats that, again, I’m probably forgetting. Who can stop his campaign of terror?

Well, police detective Jimmy Holm, who battled Doctor Death in his previous appearances, intends to try. So does Secret Agent X, and after clashing a few times with the deadly doctor without much success, he recruits a Secret Circle of fellow pulp heroes: criminologist Wade Hammond (also a creation of Paul Chadwick in a long-running series), occultist Ravenwood, Stepson of Mystery (protagonist of five novelettes by top-notch pulpster Frederick C. Davis), the Moon Man (another long-running series by Davis), the mysterious Cobra (star of a short-lived series by Richard Sale, who went on to much bigger things), and high-flying pilot/detective Kerry Keen, the Griffon (from Arch Whitehouse, author of scores of aviation-related pulp yarns). That’s a pretty potent line-up of heroes to battle one guy and his minions, but as this novel slam-bangs along with almost non-stop action, the reader can’t help but wonder if even they can emerge triumphant over Doctor Death.

This is another wonderful pulp adventure from Will Murray, who’s been writing this kind of stuff for decades and does it better than anyone else. I’ve read more than half of the original Secret Agent X novels, and this is a worthy addition to the series as Murray really captures the character, although the menace X faces in this one is considerably different. I’ve also read and enjoyed many of the Wade Hammond stories. Although I’d heard of all the other characters, I hadn’t read any of their exploits, but now I think I’ll have to do that.

So if you’re a pulp fan or just want to read a well-written, strikingly bizarre adventure that barrels along full-tilt, I highly recommend SECRET AGENT X VS. DOCTOR DEATH. It’s available in e-book and paperback editions on Amazon.

And to end on a bibliographic note, Doctor Death’s original stories and novels were published by Dell, while all the other characters in this novel originally appeared in Ace Magazines.

Sunday Morning Bonus Pulp: All-American Fiction, May/June 1938

That's an intriguing cover by Rudolph Belarski on this issue of ALL-AMERICAN FICTION, and what a lineup of authors! It's hard to beat H. Bedford-Jones, Max Brand, Cornell Woolrich, Philip Ketchum, Richard Sale, and Karl Detzer. Also on hard are the lesser-known Eustace Cockrell, Robert Cochran, J.R. Beehan, and Thomas Nelson. The author of the featured story "Meet Me in Miami", Joseph Mickler, has only two credits in the Fictionmags Index, both in Munsey pulps in 1938, for whatever that's worth. I would read this issue just for those other guys if I had a copy.

Sunday Morning Bonus Pulp: Black Mask Detective Magazine, July 1951

This is the very last issue of BLACK MASK in its original run and features an eye-catching cover by Harry Barton. It's hard to go wrong with a sexy redhead, at least as far as pulp covers go. I've read enough noir novels to know there are a lot of ways you can go wrong with a sexy redhead in real life. There are only two original stories in this issue, a novelette by G.T. Fleming-Roberts and a short story by Robert C. Dennis. There are four reprints: a Harley Quin story by Agatha Christie (Christie's only appearance in BLACK MASK? I don't know, but it seems likely she wasn't a regular), a Flashgun Casey story by George Harmon Coxe, a Daffy Dill story by Richard Sale, and a non-series yarn by Francis K. Allan. There have been several attempts to bring back BLACK MASK since 1951, but I'm not sure I consider any of them the real deal, admirable though some of them were. If you want to check out this final issue, the whole thing is on-line and can be found here.

Sunday Morning Bonus Pulp: Super-Detective Stories, May 1935

This early issue of SUPER-DETECTIVE STORIES sports a nice dramatic cover by H.J. Ward, and there are some fine authors inside: Richard Sale, James P. Olsen, Emile C. Tepperman, the mysterious Margie Harris (has any of Harris's work ever been reprinted?), and lesser-known Sam Kellman, John Mallory, and Charles Molyneaux Brown. This was Kellman's only credit, so it's possible that was a pseudonym. Sale, Olsen, and Tepperman are enough to make this issue worth reading if I owned a copy, which I don't.

Sunday Morning Bonus Pulp: Detective Fiction Weekly, January 13, 1940

I've mentioned before that the first actual pulp I ever owned was an issue of DETECTIVE FICTION WEEKLY, so I've always had a soft spot for that magazine despite reading very little from it. This issue from 1940 sports a good cover by Emmett Watson and a very solid line-up of authors including Cleve F. Adams with two stories, a novelette and an installment from a Rex McBride serial called "Homicide: Honolulu Bound". If this serial was published as a novel under some other title, maybe one of you out there can provide that information. Also on hand are Brett Halliday (Davis Dresser) with an installment in the Mike Shayne serial "Death Rides a Winner" (if I've read this, I don't remember it), Hugh B. Cave, John St. John (who was really Richard Sale) and a forgotten pulpster named John Randolph Phillips. Like ARGOSY, DETECTIVE FICTION WEEKLY is a frustrating pulp for people who just want to read the stories because of all the serials, but there's no doubt that a lot of great yarns were published in its pages.

Sunday Morning Bonus Pulp: Top-Notch, November 1936

I don't know who did the cover for this issue of TOP-NOTCH, but it's eye-catching, that's for sure. And there are some good writers inside this issue, including Philip Ketchum, Richard Sale, Nat Schachner, and George Armin Shaftel. Despite having seen Schachner's name for decades now, I don't think I've ever read anything by him. I have e-books of some of his science fiction stories. I suppose I ought to read them one of these days.

Sunday Morning Bonus Pulp: Argosy, February 25, 1939

My favorite era of ARGOSY is the mid-Thirties. Even in 1939 it was still a great pulp. This issue has a fine Viking cover by George Rozen and features stories by Jack Williamson, Richard Sale, Philip Ketchum, Robert Carse, Allan Vaughan Elston, Marco Page, Nard Jones, and a reprint by George W. Ogden. It would be hard to find a wider variety of adventure fiction than that, and all by top-notch authors, too.

Sunday Morning Bonus Pulp: Detective Fiction Weekly, June 22, 1940

The Emmett Watson cover on this issue of DETECTIVE FICTION WEEKLY depicts a guy in a straitjacket surrounded by accusing fingers pointing at him. Of course it illustrates a story by Cornell Woolrich! What author would be more fitting for such a cover? Other authors on hand in this issue are Richard Sale, Lawrence Treat, Walt Sheldon, William Gray Beyer, and C.V. Tench. That's a pretty solid line-up. 

Sunday Morning Bonus Pulp: Argosy, July 6, 1940

"Three Big Serials Every Week!" boasts this ARGOSY cover, and that's exactly what makes this one of the most frustrating pulps. ARGOSY published a ton of great stories and novels, but if you're like me, you like to have all the installments of a serial at hand before you start reading it. Which means that for a lot of issues, I read the short stories and novelettes but never got around to the serials. I'm pretty sure I owned a copy of this issue many years ago, but I don't think I ever got around to reading any of it. I like this cover by Marshall Frantz, who did relatively few pulp covers but was a prolific interior illustrator. There are plenty of good writers in this issue: Richard Sale, Jack Byrne, John Myers Myers, Robert Arthur, Kurt Steel, and Louis C. Goldsmith. ARGOSY was at its best in the Thirties but remained pretty strong on into the Forties.

Sunday Morning Bonus Pulp: Detective Fiction Weekly, October 30, 1937

There's a nice sinister cover on this issue of DETECTIVE FICTION WEEKLY. I don't want anything to do with that operating room, thank you. Leading off this issue is a novella by T.T. Flynn, one of my favorite Western writers, featuring his series characters Mike Harris and Trixie Meehan. I've never read any of this series, but I expect I'd enjoy it. Other well-known pulpsters on hand are Richard Sale, Dale Clark, Cyril Plunkett, and George Armin Shaftel. Other authors are prolific but little known (to me, anyway) H. Randolph Peacock, Thomas W. Duncan, Donald S. Aitken, and Milo Ray Phelps. I don't think DETECTIVE FICTION WEEKLY is considered one of the top pulps these days, but there was plenty of good reading in its pages, and a great deal of it has never been reprinted.

Sunday Morning Bonus Pulp: Blue Book, April 1942

By the spring of 1942, most of Herbert Morton Stoops' covers on BLUE BOOK were war-themed, not surprisingly, and so was a lot of the content. This issue has a great line-up of authors including H. Bedford-Jones, Richard Sale, Georges Surdez, Frederick Painton, Richard Howells Watkins, Jacland Marmur, a Tiny David story by Robert R. Mill, and a Free Lances of Diplomacy story by Clarence Herbert New. BLUE BOOK really packed in the great reading.  

Sunday Morning Bonus Pulp: Black Book Detective Magazine, May 1936

Now here's a pulp that actually does have a Norman Saunders cover, although I wouldn't say it's one of his best. Eye-catching, though. The only authors in this issue of BLACK BOOK DETECTIVE MAGAZINE who are familiar to me are Richard Sale and James P. Olsen. Some of the other names--George H. Michener, David Redstone, Ernest M. Poate, John Kobler, and Emmett B. Hargett--are just names. They all seem to have been fairly prolific pulpsters, though, so they must have had some talent.

Sunday Morning Bonus Pulp: Double Detective, March 1939

We've got a gun-totin' clown and a monkey in this Rudolph Belarski cover from DOUBLE DETECTIVE, which means, of course, that I like it. It would be even better if the monkey had a knife, but that's just me, I guess. This issue also has a great line-up of authors inside: Richard Sale, D.L. Champion, Philip Ketchum, Donald Barr Chidsey, John H. Knox, Edwin Truett Long, Wyatt Blassingame, and G.T. Fleming-Roberts. That's some high-powered stuff.

Sunday Morning Bonus Pulp: Argosy, May 13, 1939

For the last pulp post of the year, we return to an old favorite magazine, ARGOSY. I'm not quite sure what's going on in this cover by Marshall Frantz for the May 13, 1939 issue, but it's intriguing, I'll give it that. And I'm sure the stories inside are pretty good, too, since the authors include Donald Barr Chidsey, Hugh Pentecost (Judson Philips), Philip Ketchum, Fred MacIsaac, Richard Sale, and Bennett Foster. That's a really good lineup.

Sunday Morning Bonus Pulp: Star Detective, March 1937

Nice cover on this issue of STAR DETECTIVE. I don't know who the artist is. But inside are stories by three very dependable authors--Richard Sale, Roger Torrey, and Eugene Cunningham--plus others by authors I'm not familiar with. N.V. Romero, who contributed the featured story "The X-Man", has only that one credit in the Fictionmags Index, which leads me to think it may well have been a pseudonym. John Mallory and Richard Werner are totally unknown to me, and James Hall was a house-name. Still, this looks like a pretty good issue.

Sunday Morning Bonus Pulp: Detective Fiction Weekly, December 22, 1934

Okay, now that's a gruesome cover. I actually had this issue years ago and I'm pretty sure I read the Park Avenue Hunt Club story because I really liked that series by Judson Philips, but I don't remember any of the others. There are plenty of good authors in this issue, too: H. Bedford-Jones, Fred MacIsaac, Richard Sale, Anthony Rud, and George A. Starbird. Mostly, though, I remember that gory cover.

Sunday Morning Bonus Pulp: 5 Detective Novels Magazine, November 1949

A reprint detective pulp from the Thrilling Group. With a reprint magazine, you'd expect a pretty good line-up of authors, and you've got one in this issue: George Harmon Coxe, George Bruce, Ray Cummings, Paul Ernst, Steve Fisher, and Richard Sale. Lots of good reading there, I suspect.

Sunday Morning Bonus Pulp: All-American Fiction, July-August 1938

What a cover by Rudolph Belarski. And what a line-up of authors: Max Brand, H. Bedford-Jones, Donald Barr Chidsey, Frank Richardson Pierce, Joel Townsley Rogers, Richard Sale, and James Francis Dwyer. That's an all-star issue of ALL-AMERICAN FICTION.

Saturday Morning Western Pulp: Western Trails, August 1934

This looks like a fine issue of WESTERN TRAILS! The cover is by Delos Palmer Jr., and inside are a Duke Buckland novella by Frederick C. Davis and a Bert Little novella by Clyde A. Warden. I've read one story in each of these series and liked them quite a bit. There are also stories by Francis P. Verzani (a prolific WESTERN TRAILS author), Richard Sale, and Joe Archibald. I'm sure I would enjoy this one if I had a copy of it. The scan this week comes from David Lee Smith. Thanks, David!

Sunday Morning Bonus Pulp: Double Detective, November 1937

I'm often amazed at the table of contents in some of these pulps. Like this one: stories by Leslie Charteris (a Saint yarn), Max Brand, Cornell Woolrich, Richard Sale, Cleve F. Adams, Roger Torrey, Dale Clark, and Walter Ripperger. That's all. Just a normal issue in those days.