This post is brought to you by Strange Detectives, a collection of ghostbreaker mysteries by G. W. Thomas. Meet Dr. Drayk who solves a weird mystery from Canada. Here are Richard Delamare and his Watson, Bainbridge in four occult tales filled with terror and laughter. We also get The Athenodorians, a secret organization of sleuths led by Baron von Klanstein, who lives in Wellman House in New England. His daughter Orestia is not so housebound, flying around the United States in a bi-plane to wield her sword in the interests of the human race. They solve “The Case of Phantom Legion” as well as “The Case of the Blue Man”. This collection is guaranteed to thrill Horror and Mystery fans alike. Check out the companion volume, Strange Adventures.
The Green Ghost, George Chance by name, was a creepy ghostbreaking detective who dwelt in that strange period after the Shudder Pulps had faded back into regular Mystery magazines. During the Weird Menace period, Thrilling Mystery was one of four magazines specializing in Mystery tales featuring supernatural-appearing villains. Those Grand Guignol-style stories were gone by the 1940s but the ghostly had not entirely faded in the process. This feeling that a detective story had to have a weird-looking detective (despite having no actual supernatural powers) would find its way into the comic books via this change. Batman would have been more ordinary without the influence of the predecessors of The Ghost.
George Chance certainly wasn’t something new. The Shadow had been selling out twice a month since April 1, 1931. Mandrake the Magician had been filling newspaper funnies since 1934. The Spider, Doc Savage, The Avenger, G8 and His Battle Aces, Captain Satan, Doctor Death and a host of other hero Pulps offered weirdness in small doses. The Ghost, coming in 1940, was a bit of a late-comer.
George Chance, a stage magician by trade, dressed up in a creepy guise when dealing with criminals. Unlike Lamont Cranston, George put on eerie makeup to create a glowing green ghostly countenance. Like the future Batman, this strange appearance scared the crap out of evil doers.
In “Calling the Ghost”, Chance explains his transformation since the narrative is given by the Ghost:
To create the character of the Ghost, I take small wire ovals and put them in my nose, tilting the tip and elongating the nostrils. For the somewhat ghastly effect proper to a ghost-character, I darken the inside of each nostril…Brown eyeshadow goes on to darken my eye pit. Pallor comes out f a powder box. I highlight my naturally prominent cheekbones. Over my own teeth I place a shells the color of old ivory…From a closet I removed a black suit–black because the color apparently reduces the width of shoulders and decreases my height. The suit has other virtues in the way of secret pockets and clever holders of magical gimmicks I find useful…before I went out, I put on a black felt crusher hat…
Chance had an uneven career, first appearing in The Ghost Super-Detective for three issues, then one more as simply Ghost Detective before becoming Green Ghost Detective for three issues and finally slipping into Thrilling Mystery as a regular. By 1943, his occult run would end. Back in 1942, the editors had tried the first novel as a straight Mystery retitled The Lisping Man by Frank Rawlings. George’s final appearance was in 1944, again dropping all the supernatural stuff and changing his name to George Hazzard. Obviously, the editors were unsure about how much creepy content readers wanted in the 1940s and tried to run both sides of the street. Ultimately, George Hazzard was just another detective in a world full of gumshoes.
“Calling the Ghost’ (The Ghost Super-Detective, January 1940) as by George Chance
“The Ghost Strikes Back” (The Ghost Super-Detective, Spring 1940) as by George Chance
“Murder Makes a Ghost” (The Ghost Super-Detective, Summer 1940) as by George Chance
“The Case of the Laughing Corpse” (The Ghost Detective, Fall 1940)
“The Case of the Walking Skeleton” (The Green Ghost Detective, Spring 1941) reprinted in Detective Novels Magazine (Canada) April 1942 as “The Case of the Talking Skulls”
“The Case of the Black Magician” (The Green Ghost Detective, Summer 1941)
“The Case of the Flaming Fist” (The Green Ghost Detective, Winter 1941)
“The Case of the Blind Soldier” (The Green Ghost Detective, Winter 1942) unpublished
The Lisping Man (1942) as by Frank Rawlings is a rewrite of “Calling the Ghost” with all the ghostly bits taken out. It was reissued in 1944.
“The Case of the Murderous Mermaid” (Thrilling Mystery, September 1942) reprinted in Thrilling Mystery (Canada), April 1943 and 5 Detective Novels Magazine, Summer 1950
“The Case of the Astral Assassin” (Thrilling Mystery, November 1942) reprinted in Thrilling Mystery (Canada), July 1944 and 5 Detective Novels, Winter 1950
“The Case of the Clumsy Cat” (Thrilling Mystery, March 1943) reprinted in Thrilling Mystery (Canada), October 1943 and 5 Detective Novels Magazine Winter 1951
“The Case of the Bachelor’s Bones” (Thrilling Mystery, June 1943) reprinted in Thrilling Mystery (Canada), January 1944
“The Case of the Broken Broom” (Thrilling Mystery, Fall 1943) reprinted in 5 Detective Novels Magazine, Spring 1951
“The Case of the Evil Eye” (Thrilling Mystery, Winter 1943)
“The Phantom Bridebroom” (Thrilling Detective, October 1944) has George Chance changed to George Hazzard and all mention of the Green Ghost is dropped.
For all the recent reprints, go here.
Conclusion
G. T. Fleming-Roberts (1910-1968) was the real “George Chance” as the later stories show. He was no newcomer to Pulp fiction, having written many of the Secret Agent X stories as well as Shudder Pulps. In a Writer’s Digest piece for May 1943 called “The Turn From the Trite” he gives new writers this advice, which explains alot about where ideas come from:
I asked Merle Constiner whose characters people the pages of Black Mask and Dime Detective regularly. “After the ten-year stretch you’ve served at writing,” Merle replied, “you just naturally avoid the trite like poison ivy.”
The same question addressed to C. William Harrison, who generously spreads his talents over the entire western and detective fields, brought the following: “You don’t avoid the trite. You use it and give it a new coat of paint.”
Now if George Chance had just wanted to be another Shadow-knockoff he could have kept all the magic for himself. But he doesn’t. The villains he goes up against have their own secrets to use. This is what actually lifts the Ghost out of the Shadow field of weird detective and into the arena of the actual ghostbreaker. Ultimately, no real magic will appear but for a short while you will fear the invisible speaker or the floating skull. Chance is an old hat in debunking fake mediums, like his model Harry Houdini. For more on this fun series, go here.
Next time, we look at the comic book version of George Chance….
Check out the Wild Inc. Super-saga…
Leave a Reply