The Last DAPA-EM

Yes, DAPA-EM is defunct. The final mailing, No. 216, arrived in my mailbox yesterday. It was a complimentary copy, as I have been an ex-member since 1984, after spending four years in the ranks. That's me, second from left, attending the wake above.

DAPA-EM, which stands for Elementary, My Dear Amateur Press Association, was an amazing thing: A group of stalwarts so dedicated to mystery fandom that six times a year they would print up their own fanzines and send multiple copies to editor Art Scott, who would bind them together and mail the whole shebang back to all concerned. You might think of it as a forerunner of blogging. Someone once described DAPA-EM as "a cross between a religion and a disease," and I can't disagree. All of this began in the mid-seventies, and rolled on until this very moment. Over the years, 126 members have come and gone (or not). You would no doubt find many of those names familiar, because they're some of the movers and shakers of the mystery world.

Art Scott kindly invited me to contribute a couple of pages to the final mailing, prompting me to dig deep into my files. I found some stuff I still find interesting, including a horrible short story called "A Bullet for Bouchercon," and will be posting it on the Almanack soon.

For now, I present a few of the covers I put together way back when. This was the Stone Age of personal computing, of course, so I was working with press-on letters, a xerox machine, scissors and rubber cement. WARNING: Rated R for Adult Situations and Partial Nudity. Hotcha! 

 

Confessions of a Necktie Fiend: King Kong

Here's the first in a series featuring neckties I not only own, but have worn in public. Yikes.

Overlooked Films: FRANKENSTEIN'S CAT and WOLF! WOLF!

Here are just two of the many great films featuring my all-time favorite cartoon star.

In the beginning, with his debut in the 1942 film "The Mouse of Tomorrow," he was billed as Supermouse, wearing a blue suit and red cape just like you-know-who. But after half a dozen films he morphed into the yellow-suit, red-cape guy we know as Mighty Mouse.

Seems to me there were about 60 theatrical cartoon produced between 1942 and 1961. I used to have a list, and in the 80s I taped hundreds of hours of kiddy cartoon shows until I had them all. My favorites are the operettas, in which Mighty must rescue the brave Pearl Trueheart from the dastardly Oil Can Harry while belting out their lines in song.

Mighty battles Oil Can Harry

In 1987, Ralph Bashki produced a short-lived series called The New Adventures of Mighty Mouse. It was stylish, and had a groovy updated version of the stirring theme song, but failed to capture the spirit of the old Terrytoons.

Rumor has it that Nickelodeon is working on a feature film, to be done either in full or partial CGI, and followed by a new CGI TV series. It's also rumored than an officially licensed DVD collection of the Terrytoons films will be available soon. We'll see.

In Frankenstein's Cat (1942), he's still wearing the blue suit, and still lives in a "Super" market, getting his powers by eating super cheese. You'll note the narrator's voice changes when he introduces "Mighty Mouse," because in the original version he said "Supermouse." The picture quality in this YouTube version sucks, but may allow you to imagine what the original film looked like.

Frankenstein's Cat (1942)


"Wolf! Wolf!" is one of the transitional films, where Mighty is trying out a red suit and yellow cape. These soon gave way to the familiar costume shown in the lobby card above. The climactic battle with the wolves is a classic!

Wolf! Wolf! (1944)


Do not fail to visit Todd Mason's Sweet Freedom for links to more of today's Overlooked Films & Whatnot.

Edgar Nominees: GALVESTON by Nic Pizzolatto

Being possessed of more old books than I can possibly read (or re-read) in a lifetime, I don't get around to many new ones. But I thought I'd sample a few of this year's Edgar nominees, just to see what's shakin'. Here's the first.

It's no surprise Galveston is one of the five nominees for Best First Novel. Though categorized as a thriller, it's more properly a literary novel about a couple of characters who just happen to have criminal backgrounds. Our tarnished hero, Roy Cady, is working as muscle for a New Orleans loan-shark when he visits a doctor and is told he's terminally ill. Before he can come to terms with the idea, the boss tries to have him taken out - merely because he was a former lover of the boss's latest squeeze.

Roy turns the tables on the hitmen and flees toward Texas, taking with him a young hooker unlucky enough to be on the scene. That sounds like a thriller plot, I'll admit, but it comprises only the first 20 pages of the book. From there on, this is the story of how Roy and the hooker Rocky (short for Raquel) deal with each other, with their personal demons, and their bleak prospects for the future.

There is a clever plot at work, deep in the background, but you seldom notice it. The focus is always on the characters, their problems and their relationship. The author wisely resists allowing Roy and Rocky to become romantically - or even sexually - involved, forging a relationship that is even more powerful.

Pizzolatto's prose is tight, the characters sharp, and atmosphere tense. The story is both tough and touching. Rather than a thriller, I'd have this one a compeller. Once those first 20 pages were out of the way, I was just plain compelled to keep reading. And I was glad I did. The book built to a bittersweet finish that left me thoroughly satisfied, and thorough impressed with Nic Pizzolatto's talent. I'm already looking forward to his next novel.

Just Looking: Murder for Two by George Harmon Coxe

GUNSMOKE: Blood, Bullets and Buckskin by Joseph A. West

Once Gunsmoke jumped from the half-hour black and white format to the hour-long color episodes, I didn’t watch it much. When I did catch a show, I was left with the feeling Matt Dillon had gone soft, and eventually long in the tooth.

But this book, the first in a series of six by Joe West, turned me into a Gunsmoke fan again. The Dillon portrayed here is the tough-as-nails Marshal I remember from the black and white days. The only difference is he’s now running Dodge with the help of Festus instead of Chester.

And make no mistake, these characters really are Matt and Festus, and this really is Dodge. Some TV novelizations I’ve read feature generic cowboys just carrying the names of show characters. Not so here. The personalities, dialogue and rapport between Matt, Festus and Kitty are spot on, and Joe has done his research on Dodge, giving us a backdrop right out of the history books.

Here’s one of the first exchanges between our heroes:

     “When did you get in, Matthew?” the deputy asked.
     “Early this morning,” Matt replied.
     Festus’ right eye screwed up tight, as it always did did when he was thinking hard. “And them Plunkett boys?”
     Matt inclined his head along Front Street. “They’re laid out over to Percy Crump’s funeral parlor.” Matt hesitated, then said, “There was another with them, went by the name of Clem Beecham.”
     Festus nodded. “I’ve heard of that ranny. They say he’s plumb loco and a killer to boot.”
     “Not anymore he isn’t,” Matt said, a grim smile touching the corners of his mouth. “He’s over to Percy Crump’s as well.”

Matt, of course, is about to be hit with a fistful of trouble - in this case a pair of gambler/gunslingers who have an old score to settle with a father-son team of cattlemen. And he’s caught in the middle until the violence escalates to the point the must choose sides, putting his own life on the line in the cause of justice.

As a bonus, the book even has a Foreward by James Arness.

Blood, Bullets and Buckskin is a joy from start to finish, and I look forward to getting my mitts on the next book in the series, The Last Dog Soldier.

 Joseph A. West

Forgotten Books: Skull-Face (without the Others) by Robert E Howard

 2006

Robert E. Howard produced very few works lengthy enough to be considered novels. And the sole book published during his lifetime as a novel (A Gent from Bear Creek) was actually a thinly-disguised collection of short stories. So it seems strange that the first of those novels has never, until quite recently, been published as a stand-alone work.

Skull-Face originally ran as a three-part serial in Weird Tales in 1929. Howard was not yet one of the magazine's stars. He had contributed only a few stories, including a couple each in the Solomon Kane and Kull of Atlantis series. Editor Farnsworth Wright apparently didn't think much of it, and hyped it not at all. But readers at the time liked it just fine. And when I read it again last week, so did I.

Howard clearly took his inspiration from the Fu Manchu books, but went far beyond that model to create a villain that could eat old Fu for breakfast. The guy with the skull-like face is first believed to be some sort of Chinese crime lord, then an ancient Egyptian, and finally a master sorcerer who should have gone down with Atlantis. He's a guy who would have made a fine nemesis for Conan.

1952

When we meet the male lead, Stephen Costigan (no relation to the boxing character) is a helpless drug addict, a far cry from the normal two-fisted Howard hero. It's only as the story develops that his true character emerges. The bad guy helps him kick the hashish habit, but does so by making him the slave of a far worse drug - one he now needs to survive. When Costigan turns against his master, he does so knowing it will mean his death.

The co-star of this tale is a Denis Nayland Smith clone, a British Secret Service agent named John Gordon. Together, Costigan and Gordon devote themselves to the destruction of the skull-faced gent, Kathulos. This gives Howard a broad canvas to delve into the horrors of the unknown, engage in a lot of slam-bang action, and leave us with the stench of sorcery in our nostrils. So in the end, Skull-Face delivers everything you expect in a Howard yarn, with one unusual ingredient: character development.

Howard apparently planned to turn this into a series, but abandoned the second story when Weird Tales announced they wanted no more serials. Based on that story fragment, it would appear he was giving the lead to Secret Service agent John Gordon, with Costigan relegated to second banana. The tale was completed by Richard Lupoff and published as both The Return of Skull-Face and "Taverel Manor."

The three best cover treatments for the story (so far) appear here.

This week's Guest Host for Forgotten Books is Mr. Todd Mason. He'll be corralling the links HERE.

1978

 (click to SUPERSIZE)

Art Gallery: Detective Fiction Weekly

1936

1937

1936