THE MOON MAN: STORIES 31-33

I’m continuing my look at Frederick C Davis’ 1930′s pulp hero the Moon Man. In reality police detective Stephen Thatcher, the Moon Man stalked the night-darkened streets of fictional Great City clad in his black costume and his helmet made of one-way Argus glass. Armed with an automatic pistol plus limitless courage and ingenuity the Moon Man captured or killed Great City’s most dangerous criminals –  both white collar and blue collar – and robbed them of their ill-gotten booty. He would then distribute that money to the city’s Great Depression-ravaged poor. All this made him hunted by both the crooks AND the cops. For more on the Moon Man and other neglected pulp heroes click here: https://glitternight.com/pulp-heroes/ 

31. ROBE OF BLOOD – An ingenious arsonist who is plaguing Great City sets out to eliminate the one figure who might be capable of tracking him down and defeating him – the Moon Man. The arsonist lays a trap for our hero and springs it on him when he tries robbing the safe of the crooked financier Andrew Latham. The Moon Man winds up locked in the empty safe the arsonist plundered before his arrival, following which the fire bug sets the Latham mansion ablaze and informs the cops that the globe-helmeted figure is trapped in the extravagant inferno.

With his air running out, the Moon Man must somehow escape the safe, the burning mansion AND the countless police officers and firemen surrounding the Latham house. All that plus a teary ultimatum from Stephen Thatcher’s true love Sue McEwen – either he gives up being the Moon Man or she will refuse to go through with marrying him. 

32. THE WHISPERING DEATH – On a live radio show originating in Great City Stephen Thatcher’s friend – pilot Phil Loring – is being awarded $25,000 in cash for winning an airplane race across the nation from the Pacific Coast to Great City. Another $25,ooo in cash is on hand for lesser awards for winners of an essay contest (!). Enter the Whisper Killers, a gang of five men who have been terrorizing the metropolis by way of hit and run robberies in which they kill as many bystanders as they can with their high-tech weapons: double- barreled guns that shoot darts whose poisoned tips kill with the slightest scratch.

The Whisper Killers raid the radio studio, make off with the $50,000 and flee in the bloody confusion leaving behind eleven dead – including Stephen’s dear friend Phil. In order to bring the murderous gang to justice the Moon Man employs a gambit that the Green Hornet would later use in every single story – he tracks down and pretends to join forces with the Whisper Killers in exchange for a cut of their loot. Thus positioned the Moon Man corrals the gang when they pull their very next job.    

33. CORPSE’S PLUNDER – A funeral procession of expensive black limousines arrives at Sanctuary Cemetery to bury the late millionairess Mrs Ashworth Pendleton. Per her will she is being buried wearing her most precious possession – the famed Pendleton Necklace, valued at $200,000 (in 1930’s money). A trio called the Gas-Mask Gang ambushes the funeral party and, with all the attendees and security men neutralized with tear gas the gang makes off with the Pendleton Necklace.

Stephen Thatcher dons his Moon Man costume and with his sidekick Angel scours the city for the thieves. When complications arise that would threaten Stephen’s secret identity the courageous Angel impersonates the Moon Man during the crucial showdown with the Gas-Mask Gang. The crooks are caught, the necklace recovered, and everyone gets to see Detective Sergeant Stephen Thatcher and the Moon Man at the same time, allaying many suspicions.  

JUST FIVE MORE MOON MAN STORIES LEFT, AFTER WHICH BALLADEER’S BLOG WILL EXAMINE ANOTHER NEGLECTED PULP HERO! 

FOR SIMILAR ARTICLES AND MORE OF THE TOP LISTS FROM BALLADEER’S BLOG CLICK HERE: https://glitternight.com/top-lists/

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