Adventure in the Skies! Aviation Pulp Fiction

Hello friends and welcome to the Book Graveyard, where we talk about all things vintage genre fiction. In this installment I wanted to talk about some pulpy aviation fiction that I’ve read and do a general timeline of the sub-genre in comparison with the history of flying and what was happening in the world. What attracts me most about these stories is that it’s a world of the past. Not only is it exciting adventure pulp but it is historical. The pilots of these first planes became the equivalent of the dime novel cowboy.

Timeline:

December 17, 1903: The Wright brothers become airborne—briefly

“Flying from Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, brothers Orville and Wilbur Wright made the first controlled, sustained flight of a heavier-than-air aircraft. Each brother flew their wooden, gasoline-powered propeller biplane, the “Wright Flyer,” twice (four flights total), with the shortest lasting 12 seconds and the longest sustaining flight for about 59 seconds. Considered a historic event today, the feat was largely ignored by newspapers of the time, who believed the flights were too short to be important.”- From the History.com website

1914: World War One accelerates the militarization of aircraft

World War I became the first major conflict to use aircraft on a large scale, expanding their use in active combat. Nations appointed high-ranking generals to oversee air strategy, and a new breed of war hero emerged: the fighter pilot or “Flying Ace.” - From the History.com website

The Flying Ace pilot phenomenon is everything in aviation pulp fiction and the first two stories I will be talking about featuring Flying Aces.

The Flying Ace sensation is what inspired many of the war aviation pulps to take the archetype pulp hero character and mixing him with real world figures like Germany’s Rittmeister Manfred von Richthofen or as you probably know him - thanks to Snoopy- The Red Baron.

Two of the planes which are featured in the G-8 issue we will be talking about are the Blériot (BLAIR-ee-oh)SPAD S.510 and the Fokker Dr. I. (fock-er dray-deck-er)

The Red Baron flew the Fokker Dr. I triplane which was a German plane based off of the British Sopwith triplane. The first Fokker Dr. I appeared over the Western Front in August 1917. Pilots were impressed with its agility, and several scored victories with the highly maneuverable triplane. Von Richthofen scored 19 of his last 21 victories were achieved while he was flying the Dr. I. By May 1918, however, the Dr. I was being replaced by the newer and faster Fokker D. VII (7). - From the National Museum of the United States Air Force

Since the United States entered World War I without a combat-ready fighter of its own, the U.S. Army Air Service obtained fighters built by the Allies. After the Nieuport 28 proved unsuitable, the Air Service adopted the SPAD XIII as its primary fighter. By the war's end, the Air Service had accepted 893 SPAD XIIIs from the French, and these aircraft equipped 15 of the 16 American fighter squadrons. Today, Americans are most familiar with the SPAD XIII because many of our aces -- like Rickenbacker and Luke -- flew them during WWI. - From the National Museum of the United States Air Force

1918: World War ends and with all of the surplus of planes built for the war governments use the planes to start carrying mail. In the Mitch Mayhew book, Unwanted Passenger that we will be talking about Mitch is a pilot that works for an agency that has an airmail contract.

The now skilled battle pilots with no more use for their fighting flying skills bring the excitement back home with barnstorming daredevil air shows.

May 1927 Charles Lindbergh- solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean. This is big news in the world and was prime for pulp adventure. One man defeating all odds and in the face of danger comes out at the end a hero.

August 1927 Air Stories is the first aviation pulp published- pulpmags.org

1930s-40s Passenger airlines existed but were only accessible to the wealthy. A trip from New York to Los Angelas cost half the price of an automobile. - From the National Museum of the United States Air Force

1940s-70s non-scheduled airlines first appeared in significant numbers in the United States after the Second World War, as returning pilots purchased discount surplus planes from the government and set up their own uncertificated air services under the non-scheduled charter service exemption in the 1938 Civil Aviation Act. Low overhead and fewer regulations allowed the non-scheduled airlines to offer considerably lower fares than the national scheduled carriers, inaugurating the immensely popular air coach service which attracted millions of Americans unable to afford tickets on the regular airlines. Though the regulatory actions of the Civil Aeronautics Board ultimately extinguished the burgeoning non-scheduled industry, the idea of cheap, efficient air transport endured and by the passage of the 1978 Airline Deregulation Act nearly all civil airlines had transitioned to an air coach model. - Wikipedia

This is where our final story comes in with our protagonist working for Air cargo and independent transport service. This is like a wild west time for pilots. Think Han Solo archetype: loner adventurers taking odd jobs that cross the lines between legal and illegal who themselves are morally grey anti-heroes.

The first story we will be talking about is the very first issue of G- 8 and his Battle Aces which was originally published October 1933. The series was a re-imagining of sorts of the aviation pulp series Battle Aces which ran from 1930 to 1932. The publisher was Popular Publications which was created by Harry Steeger and Harold Goldsmith.

In 1931 rival publications Street and Smith had extreme success when it released the first issue of The Shadow. Jumping on the bandwagon Popular Publications came up with its own pulp hero characters; The Spider and G-8. The Spider was a crime fighter similar to the Shadow but G-8 was something different. It took Popular’s literal high adventure excitement World War One Battle Aces and added in the pulp hero element but instead of a vigilante crime fighter he was a Flying Ace super spy.

The series had 110 issues. Each issue was a single contained novel, and each issue was written by Robert J. Hogan.

Hogan was a prolific pulp author who wrote the series G-8 along with the yellow peril pulp title The Mysterious Wu Fang and a vigilante crew pulp series called Secret 6 which I had not heard of until researching this video and looks to be a proto-men’s adventure series that almost sounds exactly like the A-Team. After the pulps he mostly wrote western fiction.

G-8 and his Battle Aces #1 The Bat Staffel (German for squadron)

Our introduction to G-8 is him being held prison in the Freidburg Castle in Germany awaiting his execution. The Germans think he is a common spy but if they knew he was the legendary thorn in their sides, G-8 they would lose their minds. Unbeknownst to them this moderate size young pilot is not only the super spy known as G-8 but he was captured on purpose in order to get close to Herr Docktor Krueger the German’s diabolical idea man.

After some fast talking G-8 gets taken to Herr Docktor where he tricks him into divulging his master plan. And what is his master plan? Well, inside of an enormous mountain that had been sealed off for years, Herr Docktor has found the mythical giant poisonous bats. He intends to dig a tunnel from the mountain to the edges of France where he will send the bats out over the countryside, spraying their poison and killing millions. And from there, world domination. Obviously.

In a scene straight out of Indiana Jones G-8 escapes through a hole in the ceiling after throwing the poison gas that was to kill him against a wall.

He gets to his SPAD and takes off. But what’s this? He spots two other SPADS flying around. He can see from the insignia that they are US forces. No time to think though because a small squadron of German Fokkers are headed their way. We get a great dog-fight scene and the introduction of the two co-stars of the series, Nippy Weston and Bull Martin.

From here we get G-8, Nippy and Bull going up against the Germans. We get some Mission Impossible makeup, costumes and undercover work, tons of sky-high fighting action, and some serious James Bond villainy.

I know it’s been said many times before but everything we love in our post WW2 story telling started in the pulps. I mean just here in this first issue of G-8 we can see the influences on Indiana Jones, Mission Impossible, James Bond and even Snoopy.

G-8 is a good title for people who aren’t necessarily into aviation but wouldn’t mind a little of that flavor in the story. It is very much a hero pulp and over the top. I mean, Germans controlling giant bats to rule the world isn’t exactly historical fiction. I think this makes G-8 standout amongst some of the other aviation pulps. Like I have read some stories in the Lone Eagle series, and they are rooted in reality; less fantastical than G-8. In fact, I would say that G-8 is geared toward a young adult audience though still completely enjoyable for old adults, like us.

Next up I wanted to talk about the Mitch Mayhew series written by Terrance Layhew. These are two modern day pulp stories in the tradition of classic adventure pulp fiction. Available for purchase here!

First off, I want to take a second to gush on the look and packaging of these books. They are published by Veritas Entertainment. There are two Veritas Entertainment companies. One did the Bob Dylan movie etc. This Veritas Entertainment is an independent publisher, promotor and film producer out of Pittsburgh Pennsylvania.

You will notice that they are published in not-dead-at-all mass market paperback size. I love the page count on these. One is 84 and the other is 104. I could read a hundred of these things. They completely nailed the look of pulp adventure. They seem like something from the past. Like I’m going to open it and there is going to be a Babe Ruth baseball card folded up inside a Liberty Bond as a bookmark in there.

Unwanted Passenger is the first in a series starring Mitch Mayhew, former WW1 pilot now turned mail carrier. But not a mailman. Think more like an independent trucker that takes what hauls he can get. So, as you can see per our history lesson, Terrance did his homework also as the history is on point which makes this even more enjoyable.

Mitch is hired by the Chicago DA to fly to Denver to deliver a certified envelope containing the evidence needed to put the Meadows Gang behind bars. Mitch has a bit of curmudgeon in his coffee and is not really thrilled about making the extra flight to Denver but the man who owns the delivery service says tough titties, you’re doing it, and by the way, you’ll be taking a passenger.

The unwanted passenger on this trip is Kathleen Dumont, beautiful and mysterious and nothing that Mitch wants to deal with.

We jump into Mitch’s DH-4 Liberty plane and head to our first stop in Omaha. We get some Han Solo vibes as Kathleen tries to start up a conversation. I like the reluctant romance and it’s no surprise as I know Terrance is a big fan of Romancing the Stone.

Back in the air to Denver Mitch spots a German Fokker headed his way. Strange but not impossible. Some US pilots prefer the Fokker. But then machine gun fire explodes and Mitch has to use evasive maneuvers, putting his WW1 experience to use. Unfortunately, his DH-4 has been converted to civilian use so no more gun turrets.

This has to be the Meadows Gang who got wind of him carrying the evidence to put them behind bars, right? Who else would be taking shots at a mail carrier?

And there is the set up. It doesn’t all take place in the air; we get some exciting action down on the ground in the Rocky Mountains. The pacing is quick and workman like. Terrence did a lot of work to not only get the historical aspects right but terrain detail, flying know-how, and artillery and he writes it all with punch perfect pulp flavor that would have fit right in with any of the Adventure pulps from back in the day.

The sequel or second installment finds us in Denver Colorado. It would seem Mitch makes it out of the first one alive. That’s good news. In this one we lean more into the ground adventure and criminal underworld. Every character is resourceful and it’s not forced. Though this was written in our modern times, I believe, the characters draw heavily from 80s action-adventure movies. Think Marion from Raiders of the Lost Ark. Damsel in distress but not really.

These books are so much fun and a testament to modern day writers still having the pulp chops.

The last book I wanted to talk about is:

The Wrong Side of the Sky by Gavin Lyall

First published in 1961 by Hodder and Stoughton and then published by PAN in 1966. This is the 7th printing.

Gavin Lyall was a British journalist turned author. In 1951 to 1953 he served as a pilot officer in the Royal Air Force. Drawing on his experiences in Libya and Greece to write his first novel, The Wrong Side of the Sky. It was a hit and he quit his day job to become a full-time author cranking out aviation flavored action-adventure novels.

The Wrong Side of the Sky starts in Greece. It’s never stated but from the historical aspects mention in the narrative I would say it takes place when it was written in 1961.

The story is written in a first-person narrative told from our man, Captain Jack Clay, a pilot of a Douglas DC-3 who works for the transport service, Aircargo. He has a copilot that is more like a coworker than a blood brother which emphasizes his solo nature.

While on the ground he spots a Piaggio 160 Italian twin-engine plane whose pilot is so slick that it could only be one of a few pilots he knew that had that skill. Later in the bar he walks in and is not surprised to see his friend and former co-pilot from the war, Ken Kitson. Kitson has been working as a private pilot for the Nawab of Tungabhadra. It looks like the job pays well because Clay describes Kitson as “dressed like the inside of a millionaires wallet.” Good line!

After a few drinks Ken spills the beans on what the Nawab is doing in this part of the world. We get a backstory of extreme violence and stolen jewelry. It’s an entertaining story but Clay has other things to worry about. Mikkos the local shipping agent wants Clay to take a shipment to Libya. Tonight. Clay knows when something is rotten, so he requests more money. Flying an illegal shipment of guns to Libya is a risk that he should be paid for.

This book, the narrative, the plot, the writing style is rich; a heavy and thick craft beer. You can’t just chug this like a 12 pack of High Life. It’s tough, colorful and muscular, packed full of verbal protein. The glass is poured to the brim so you have to go slow not to spill it. Sometimes I'd have to read a paragraph twice but it was never a bummer. It was always worthwhile.

There is so much going on in this book that even if I did a regular full-length review, I wouldn’t be able to properly lay it all out so I’ll just list some of the facets of the story. We have obviously lots of sky aviation action. Foxy ladies including a woman described as looking like a middle eastern version of Salma Hayek. We travel from Greece to the Libya and over the ocean to tiny islands. There is treasure hunting. Smuggling. Violent gangsters and corrupt cops. Shootouts. Prison breaks. Murders. History. Conspiracies.

Speaking of Romancing the Stone there is a scene almost exactly like in the movie where they come upon a wrecked plane in the jungle completely taken over by the environment. This book is romantically adventure. It’s hardboiled, tough-talking and full of so much macho that a bullet would bounce off of it’s iron hard nuts.

In a way it reminds me of the 1947 Alan Ladd movie Calcutta where he and his pal William Bendix are pilots whose friend is murdered and it leads the duo into a crime filled underworld of international jewel thieves and nefarious femme fatales. Actually yeah, if you want the film version of these kinds of stories go hunt that down. It’s one of my favorites.

The Hawk Series by Dan Streib

About ten years ago I was in Mesa Arizona at an excellent used bookstore called The Book Maze. I was perusing the action shelf when I came upon one of the greatest covers I had ever seen. Hawk number 13, The Hawaiian Takeover by Dan Streib. The cover had a guy with a savage look on his face. He was holding a giant gun. All around him were scenes of action straight out of an 80s B-movie. I was intrigued!

At the time I had never read a Men’s Adventure novel. I hadn’t even heard the term before.

I read it right away. I was surprised to see that all of that exciting adventure from the cover was actually in the book. Yes, he stabs a shark with a knife. Yes, he drops a man from a helicopter into lava. Yes, there are lots of sexy naked ladies. But that was just the tip of the iceberg. The book was packed full of visceral entertainment. Real cave man shit. It was fun and exciting, ridiculous and hilarious. This was the kind of fantasy I’ve been looking for. Sure, we enjoy the exploits of Frodo and his magical ring, but did Frodo ever get attacked by a female assassin with a gun hidden in her vagina?? Hell no. Frodo is probably a virgin. As soon as those pants came down, he’d be passing that ring over willingly in his excitement, hoping to get a taste. But our pal Michael Hawk has seen them all and let me tell you, he isn’t falling for no banana in the tailpipe, if you know what I mean.

As of a few weeks ago I had every book in the series except one. I talk about it all the time on my YouTube channel and one of the pals we made there, Stiv Nagen/Max Dacron wrote me an email and said he has the book I am looking for. He graciously sent it to me and finally the collection was complete. Big hearty shout out for my man, Stiv!

Now that the series was finally complete I wanted to write up this entry and make a video about it. In the video I closely examine the cover art and read off the back synopsis. Here in the blog I will just post pictures of the covers. Check out the video if you’d like more:

The Hawk Series was a Men’s Adventure paperback original series published by Jove that ran from 1980 to 1981 and had 14 entries.

Four in 1980

Ten in 1981

 So, as you can imagine, the Hawk Books probably didn't have a lot of thought put into them, but you know, they're action-adventure books. How much thought do you need put into it?

The star of the show is Michael Hawk. He is a freelance reporter though that profession is abandoned pretty quickly in the series. In book one he half-heartedly tries to save the daughter of a South American dictator/drug cartel Patron. He fails and with her dying breath she curses him with “more wealth than a small nation,” as she gives him the numbers to a secret bank account called, Crusaders International. Which is what gives him the tagline, The Deadly Crusader.

And now with nothing but his extremely good looks, his ability to be the best at everything he does and an endless supply of money, he travels the world, getting into vigilante adventures to take down communists, sadistical human traffickers, organized crime groups, nazis and your random evil mastermind. But don’t worry he still finds time to bag some ladies and live that good life. Unfortunately, he must keep on the move as all the baddies are after his money including the United States Government who simply want him to pay his rich guy taxes which he doesn’t think he should have to pay. I mean, he did earned that money with hard work and perseverance… wait, no he didn’t, it was bloody drug money given to him for failing to save a woman’s life.

Hawk is the man ladies love and the man you wish you were. His name says it all; Michael Hawk. AKA Mike Hawk.

And you are probably wondering what author would have the cojones…the vision to name their leading Men’s Adventure character Mike Hawk??

Well, that man is…

Dan Streib (1928-1996)

There isn’t a lot of info out there about ol’ Dan Streib but I found this obituary from the LA times which I think sums him up perfectly.

Daniel T. Streib, 67, author of children’s stories and action, adventure and romance novels. Born in Rockfield, Ill., Streib earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism at the University of Iowa and was a combat officer in the Korean War. Originally a reporter and photographer in Iowa, he based his first book, “Code Name: Countdown,” on knowledge about spacecraft he acquired as a communications specialist for General Dynamics in San Diego.

The book was made into a movie in France. Streib, who frequently wrote under his own name, also penned romance novels under the pseudonym Lee Davis Willoughby and adventure books under the names J. Faragut Jones and Jonathan Schofield. His work included three popular illustrated action books for teenagers, “Ride Along,” “Million Dollar Hunt” and “Deadline”; a 10-book (incorrect LA Times! It was 14) series about the single adventure character Michael Hawk, and a six-book series, “Counterforce.” For nearly 30 years, Streib also taught fiction writing in high school and college. He died on Monday in San Diego of a heart attack.

Pseudonym of Dan Streib: (thank you Paperback Warrior)

Paul Ross- Chopper Cop (first two entries of three)

Frank Colter- Death Squad (two entries)

Mark Cruz- Kill Squad (five entries)

And he wrote one Nick Carter- The Night of the Avenger

-Grant Fowler (two entries)

-Counter Force (nine entries)

All of the beautiful cover art for the Hawk books was done by seasoned Men’s Adventure artist Samson Pollen. And honestly, that’s what made me pick up the book in the first place. It totally encompasses that 80s b-movie action level of excitement. If you are looking for more artwork like this, I would suggest checking out The Men’s Adventure Library series of Samson Pollen’s artwork that originally appeared in the Men’s Adventure Magazines of the 50s,60s and 70s.

The model on the cover of every Hawk book is male model Chad Deal.

He graced many genre fiction paperback covers in the 70s and 80s but most folks would probably recognize him from all of the romance covers he did. It recently blew my mind when I stumbled upon his current realtor profile page and saw that he IS Hawk. First off, he lives in Hawaii. A very Hawk place to live. He is a Vietnam Vet. Water Sports and Saftey Instructor. Classical Concert Pianist. Surfer. Sailor. Skier. Outdoor Survival Skills AND check out his martial arts training: Student of Traditional Asian Martial Arts; Shuri Ryu Okinawan Karate Do (4th Degree Black belt), Shuri Te Bujitsu Kai (3rd Degree Black Belt), Okinawan Goju (2nd Degree Black Belt), Shin Shin Toitsu Aikido (2nd Degree Black Belt), Hung Gar Kung Fu / Instructor-Member, International Shuri Ryu Association, United States Karate Association, and “White Crane International”

Streib might have thought he was Michael Hawk but it turns out it was no coincidence the universe gave us Chad Deal’s face as the face of Hawk. Could you imagine randomly bumping into the real-world Hawk? My mind would be blown. Anyway. If you are looking to buy a house on the island of Kauai from Michael Hawk go hit up Chad Deal at Kauai Tropical Properties.

The Tracker #2 Green Lightning by Ron Stillman

1990 Charter/Diamond Action Adventure

Ron Stillman is the pseudonym of fellow Ohioan Don Bendell. Born in 1947 and still alive according to my research.

The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction states that the Tracker “stories are told in a maliciously exaggerated parody of the conventions of this sort of fiction.”

The Tracker series had eight entries. Bendell wrote the first six.

Written review below. Video review here:

Tracker Number Two- Green Lightning starts off just like I like it with a very sexy description of a leggy toned babe slowly pulling her stockings up her shapely legs and then…

shaving her mustache?

Turns out the babe is actually undercover hitman Miguel Atencio. He is in Cleveland for the Broncos/Browns game airing on Monday Night Football. Also in attendance is the president of the US. Which in 1990 would be George Bush the first. It never says it directly but the story takes place in the US in 1990 so I’m going to make that connection.

Miguel is hired by an “electronic oriental mafia”, (their words) Ryoku Rai Kyookai, AKA: the Green Lightning Society. And the most hilarious reasoning behind this task? He is to kill the president as he is too competent, and they need someone with less political experience in there.

In the crowd as his luscious alter-ego, Miguel notices number 80 of the Denver Broncos acting weird, looking up at the crowd like he's looking for someone. It's nothing, he decides. He takes out his grenade launcher but as soon as he does, number 80 reaches in the Gatorade tub and pulls out a rifle and shoots him between the eyes. Turns out, number 80 doesn’t actually play for the Broncos he is in fact secret spy Natty Tracker. USAF Major. Ninja in training. Quarter Norwegian. Quarter black. Quarter Sioux. Quarter Tonto Apache. Electronics and weapons expert. His backstory? Blinded when a drunk driver made him swerve off the road in his 1963 split window corvette. Along with being the ultimate soldier he is a tech wizz and created a pair of goggles that not only lets him see again but does all manner of high tech gobbledy gook. He is insanely rich from his electronic inventions but dedicates his life to killing the enemies of his country.

The President thanks him. He says, “how did you know?”

“Adam's apple, sir. Women don't have Adam's apples.”

“Well, I'll be damned.”

Haha! I thought this was the competent president.

At the end of first chapter we have Natty Tracker wondering who is the next scum bag he will be killing.

The second chapter starts with a description of a cute little five-year-old girl. And just like Mr. President George Bush’s son said, “Fool me once, shame on you…fool me twice? Won’t get fooled again.” It’s obvious by how over the top adorable and wholesome the little girl’s description is that we are about to get something gnarly. And we do. After we learn about her honey colored curly hair shining like the sun we read about her dad do something that should never be done. After the assault, while dad of the year is sleeping, the little girl comes in with a razor and slits dad’s throat. When the cops ask what happens she blames it on Mom. She goes into foster care. Same thing happens. She kills him also. She grows up. Becomes a serial killer of men who deserve it. She likes to bite their dicks off and keep them in jars in her library. On her last kill it happens to coincide with a man the Green Lightning is after also. They are impressed and want to hire her.

This book is all over the place. It takes a minute to get into the main plot which is Tracker taking on the Green Lightning Society. We have more introductory chapters of characters who are bit players. It’s like when you have a big todo list and a day off. You start one project but don’t finish and then do a little of everything on the list and by the end of the day nothing is actually done.

In the third chapter we are introduced to Reverend Clyde Ormand. A preacher in a South Carolina Church. He doesn’t really matter when it comes to the story but it’s insane so let’s go over it.

He is a coke head with a $500 a day habit. To help fund his habit, he sells it to junkies in town and some of his upper echelon parishioners. He gives a 15-year-old girl blow for sexual favors. His coke arrives from Columbia in hollowed out dead bodies that are shipped to his morgue. Once he takes the coke out of the bodies, he gives the carcasses to his brother's slaughterhouse where they grind the bodies up with the beef that goes out to the local grocery stores. One day the bodies stop showing up. A Japanese man shows up instead with a bag of coke. He says he is the new connection and shows the reverend a video of them killing the Columbian dealer by cutting off his head.

Finally, we are back to Tracker. He is randomly attacked by ninjas after banging his smoking hot Native American kindergarten teacher girlfriend. Luckily his neighbor is a house full of KGB agents assigned the task of keeping an eye on Tracker. The Russians want his tech and for that they need him alive so Tracker is aided by the Russians who snipe one of the ninjas from their window.

Too much Tracker for you? Good news. We have another character introduction. Back in Japan at the Green Lightning Society Monday morning meeting we meet a sexy female agent who after killing a traitor of the organization she is tasked with hunting down and hiring the serial killer lady from the beginning. The one who bites off dudes dicks. She plays on her desire to rid the world of men who have SA tendencies and tells her that Tracker is a dirty rapist. She’s in.

She picks up Tracker in a bar. But Tracker is a super man and knows something is up. He smooth talks his way into getting more info on who hired her and then turns her into the police. All of that brutal killer backstory and buildup and we get a nice dinner and a book ‘em Danno?

You know what this book needs? More ninjas. Tracker is back at home. Ninja attack. Again. This time they get him. They take him to an abandoned building, strip him naked and tie him up. Don’t worry though, Tracker has a fake finger which he unscrews and takes out his escape tools. After cutting himself free he throws a bomb at the ninjas and dives out a window. We then get a couple pages of a naked man fighting ninjas. Tracker commandeers a car which has a super-hot red head named Dee Light. Hmm. Also, released in 1990 was the smash hit Groove is in the Heart sung by bright red-headed looker, Lady Miss Kier. Is this the author inserting his Dee Light fantasies?? Anyway. They make a couple jokes about his naked body and how she’s checking out his dick.

"You're a little cockeyed"

He takes her back to his house and beeee—ohhhhh. (slide whistle sound here).

Outside it says there is an African American man. Screeching brake sound! In 1990 in a bonkers over the top action men's adventure book and they use the phrase African American?? This is a first. I didn't even realize that terminology was around then.

Tracker gets in his supped up car and heads up to the mountains so he can take the ninjas down on his turf. We get a big, long car chase action scene with rockets and helicopters.

At the mountain Natty heads up knowing the ninjas will follow. He toys with them. Steals their clothes at night. Kidnaps them one by one. Moves their fire in the middle of the night. He gets info about who hired them.

In Japan we meet the Green Lightning main assassin Ken Fuji-something. We are losing interest fast here.

He is 6'11 solid muscle. Karate and judo and all kinds of martial arts master. Ripped the head off of his father after being told by father he raped mom.

Tracker goes to Japan to fight him one on one. Decent punch and kick fight scene. Tracker wins. Gets info on who the boss is. Travels back to the US to bang Dee Light some more.

Back to Japan to find lady assassin.

The ending is him messing up the organization through their bank accounts and financial investments. Um. Ok. Haha!

Yeah, this book should have been wrapped up a long time ago. It’s very sporadic. Things happen for no reason. Characters are given lush introductions and then never appear again. The antagonist is the shady Green Lightning Society, but they are so mysterious they aren’t even in the book. I’ve seen better plot development in Saturday morning cartoons. It is hilarious though. And if it is indeed a parody like The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction site says then the author did their job. I don’t know though, it feels real to me. Like the author was trying to tap the Men’s Adventure main vein and inadvertently made something funny. It could go either way. I’m on the fence about it. That being said, I would one hundred percent pick up the others in the series. It has lots of 80s pop culture referenced; Robocop, Bo Jackson, Carl Lewis, Lawrence Taylor, Andre the Giant and if nothing else it was a ton of fun.

Men's Adventure Q&A with the Men's Adventure Library

I have a livestream Q&A with the men, Robert Deis and Wyatt Doyle from the Men's Adventure Library on my youtube channel this Sunday, May 25th at 6pm EST. There is a live chat feature so we will be taking questions from the audience. Tune in, it's going to be a lot of fun!

Six Gun Samurai no 1 by Patrick Lee

Pinnacle Books 1980

Cover art by Bruce Minney

Pseudonym of Mark K Roberts

I couldn’t find much about the author. He was born in 1936. He wrote The Liberty Corps series and several entries in The Penetrator series, Soldier for Hire series, and The Black Eagles series. Probably many more but this is all I could find.

The Six Gun Samurai series had 8 entries. The first six are under the title Six Gun Samurai and the last two are inexplicably changed to Six Gun Warrior. The series was adorably written under the, somewhat Asian-ambiguous, house name of Patrick Lee.

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Video review in case you don't feel like readin:

The basic premise: 12-year-old Tommy Fletcher is a midshipman in the United States Navy and is stationed in Japan. One night a group of ninjas attack and kill everyone at the base except Tommy who escapes into the streets of Japan. He remains there as a street urchin until a Samurai adopts him and teaches him the way of the Samurai. Years later he returns to the US to enact revenge upon the Union soldiers who killed his estranged Southern family.

The Civil War ended in 1865 and now a rogue Union Colonel and his criminal cavalry terrorize the West by violently stealing claims, money and even whole towns. Bad news for them though because Tanaka Tom is back in the US and out for blood.

We start in Washout, Nevada. Two white gunslingers are in town to rob the place. They're at the bar drinking when a strange man wearing Asian garb shows up. Dumb crackers are never a fan of foreigners, so they decide to have a little fun. They verbally berate him with racial slurs. He calmly states he is Tommy Fletcher, whips out his sword and starts chopping off body parts. Heads literally roll. It is explicitly described in wonderful bloody detail.

Instead of just stating what Tommy looks like, it’s clever the way the author used the outlaws insults to describe his appearance. Tommy is half Native American and half white, so everyone thinks he's...Japanese?? “Especially when he has a tan.”

At the end of the fight the bartender clunks Tommy over the head and he wakes up in jail. We get a reminiscing flashback to his time In Japan and what happened after the night of the ninja. With no way to get home and in a foreign land he survives on the streets doing what he has to to survive. He gets in a fight with some other street kids and runs into a samurai while chasing them. The Samurai learns he is an American and he was a survivor of the infamous massacre of the naval base. The Samurai wants him to testify at a hearing that will help the Shogun because people say it was the Samurai’s fault the US navy people were killed. Long story short Tommy goes to live with the childless Samurai and his wife and Tommy is adopted as their son.

It's a very convoluted back story but I appreciate that it was so complex and in depth. You usually don’t see such effort in foreigner-learns-a-form-of-martial-arts stories.

At the end of the flashback Tommy is released from jail as he was defending himself.

From here on out we get snippets of the bad guys being bad and holy shit, the author really goes all in. In one scene there is a group of families mining a claim. They strike gold. Two of the men go to town to get supplies and instantly the claim jumpers attack the family remaining at the claim. They beat the men to get them to sign over the claim. Still, they refuse. Among the gang of outlaws is a pedophile who takes the man’s son into the bushes and rapes him. The sounds of the boy screaming torment the father into signing. What?! Good Lord. I’ve seen some fucked up shit in these old books, but this was hands down the worst and it blindsided me. I did not see that coming. And after the men sign the papers, they execute them, and the leader tells his men to do whatever they want with the wives and children.

We jump right back to our hero Tanaka Tom and that's good because I’m ready for some more bloodshed. But unfortunately, we go into our first adult western style sex scene. Bad timing. Tom is now in Globe Arizona trying to get a clue about the Colonel’s whereabouts. At a bar he is approached by a prostitute. He is immediately all in and humps the ever-living shit out of her. And in case you were wondering, yes, he has a giant dong, yes, he can bang it out for over an hour and is ready to go again in a few minutes and yes, this is the best sex this hooker has ever had.

Bad guys do more bad things. Tommy catches up with a few of them and hacks them to pieces. He bangs another hooker. Another child is violated. Damn it. We get lots of Samurai moral code of ethics and the loophole that is vengeance. Tommy meets good local working men and families along the way who are sick of these outlaws and willing to help him in his journey.

One aspect I really liked is that Tommy pretty much sticks to his Samurai fighting style and weapons throughout most of the book. Unfortunately, he caves into the Western fighting style and even though he's been taught guns are without honor he all of a sudden realizes that they are actually really great and teaches himself to use them. Ha! First off, his rationalization about how guns are actually wonderful was corny and total propaganda. Second and to add to the first point, this author loves guns because we get four pages of the most descriptive gun shooting ever written. Don’t get me wrong, I love shootouts in Westerns, in fact, usually the more the merrier, but the fact he doesn’t use guns is what makes this stand out. He's a samurai fighting with a sword and throwing stars and other Asian stuff in a western world. If he uses guns, it's just another western.

Epic showdown. I was kind of disappointed to see the book’s main conflict wasn't going to be concluded in this one. I would rather have had each book be its own complete story than a huge series.

Take out the unnecessary brutal attitude towards children in this book and I found it to be a fun first entry. Very pulpy. Very men’s adventure. I especially loved the stranger in a strange land, East meets West, genre fiction mash up.