In a recent Facebook comment, Jeffrey Marks mentioned he was working on a new bio of Erle Stanley Gardner, which led to our exchanging a few words about Gardner's wacky vigilante, The Man in the Silver Mask. This is the only ESG character I know who is firmly in the Hero Pulp mode of The Shadow, The Spider and Doc Savage.
The "Man" starred in at least three novelettes in Detective Fiction Weekly in 1935. This story, which I'm pretty sure is the first, is from July 13. I have another, "The Man Who Talked," from September 7, and Jeffrey tipped me to a third, "The Silver Mask Murders," in the November 23 ish. If there were others, I'd sure like to hear about them.
Check out this week's fine Forgotten Books at Sweet Freedom.
Somewhat redolent, in the silver and masking, of the Lone Ranger, as well...I'll be hosting this week.
ReplyDeleteIt would seem he has two different masks, otherwise Gardner made a mistake when grinding this one out for Detective Fiction Weekly. When Lorraine meets him, his mask is like a helmet that fits over his head and covers his eyes and nose. When Stan Wider meets him, his dark hair is visible.
ReplyDeleteNevertheless, a fun read. Thanks for posting it.