The Lone Ranger: The Phantom Rider! – Fran Striker

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pulp, The Lone Ranger

The Lone Ranger Magazine debuted in April, 1937, only lasting eight issues. There seemed to be more grandiose plans as there was a form to fill out and send in, receiving a club membership card that would enable one to be a part of those plans, with an ad where you could get a twelve issue subscription for one dollar in the back.

All that is in this reproduction of that first issue with the novel THE PHANTOM RIDER!. Not a strict reproduction of that magazine, I think, because in the opening the editors promise short stories as well, like most magazines of the time. This has no short stories, but does have a few other bits(Chuck Wagon Chats with Pop Bonner, a sort of host talking about the plans for the magazine and The Lone Ranger Club, and The Lone Ranger Stamp Page, articles about stamp collecting, and some really strange ads(raise giant frogs)).

The eight issue run is offered up here by PULPVILLE PRESS in four volumes(one in this first one and three in the fourth). From what I’ve learned, the eight were rewritten and expanded on by Striker for hardcover publication, as well as new ones, in the lengthy series. These are the magazine versions.

In this one, the Ranger and Tonto are pursuing leads on an outlaw gang raiding through the territory known as the Night Legion, all hood wearing, who killed someone almost every night. Anyone who saw their faces had to die. Two halves of a map to a goldmine are involved. “Old Joe” Frisby had been murdered for his, but not dying before giving the Ranger a clue, and two young sisters coming west, daughters of the other partner who’d died unexpectedly while trying to arrange financing, had the other half. They were coming to live with their uncle, a strange man whose ranch had earned the sobriquet “Hoodoo Ranch.”

The Ranger and Tonto had to protect the young ladies, recover the lost half of the map, and end the Night Legion’s terrorism.

Pulpville Press offers a number of interesting sets from the pulp era by a wide variety of authors. Worth a look, I think, for lovers of the old pulps.

I’m including the original eight covers of the Lone Ranger Magazine. Click on a cover to enlarge.

The Morons Are Loose Again

Came across this on Dayton Ward’s blog:

The Morons

Of course I will not confuse these people with those who have real faith and are not engaged in publicity stunts. Oh no! I know too many good and decent people who would not find these people “religious.”

Mailbox Monday

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Mailbox Monday

I had a good week. I downloaded Amazon’s free Kindle application for PCs.

1: Killing Trail(ebook) – Charles Allen Gramlich: a collection of western short stories by the author of The Talera cycle and Cold In The Light. There’s also a couple of pieces where Mr. Gramlich discusses influences on his writing.

2: Capture The Saint(ebook) – Burl Barer: the first authorized SImon Templar adventure previously only available in a 600 print run trade paperback. The few available on the used sites command a hefty price.

3: Guilty(ebook) – Lee Goldberg: the fourth book in the justice series written while the author was in college, never published in book form as the publisher went bankrupt. Originally called the .357 Vigilante series and appeared as by Ian Ludlow.

4: A Policeman’s Lot(ebook) – Gary M. Dobbs: a novel set around the turn of century in Wales. Buffalo Bill’s wild west show is involved as well as bringing in the Jack the Ripper legend. Third novel by the author(two previous westerns as by Jack Martin).

5: Mr.Monk Is Cleaned Out – Lee Goldberg: tenth book in the series based on the recently ended TV series and the last one set before the revelations of that final episode.

6: The Loner: Seven Days To Die – J. A. Johnstone; sixth in the series of Kid Morgan, a former businessman drifting after his wife was murdered and he dealt with the killers. Now he’s The Loner, a man compelled to help people in trouble.

7: Dog Team: Target Response – William W. Johnstone: a corrupt grouping of an African warlord, an American security firm, and the chinese are targeted by the Dog Team, who are also being systematically wiped out by that same group.

8: The Lone Ranger: The Phantom Rider! – Fran Striker: a reporduction of the first issue of The Lone Ranger Nagazine from 1937.

9: The Stalking Moon – Theodore V. Olsen: western novel made into the film starring Gregory Peck and Eva Marie Saint.

10: Quarry’s Cut – Max Allan Collins; the fourth and final of the early Quarry novels, the author’s hit man/hero.

11: Trouble In Tombstone – Richard S. Wheeler: the author’s biographical novel with a fresh look at the Earp/Clanton feud in Tombstone.