Legion of Living Dead

LEGION OF Living DEAD

Although  G.T. Fkeming-Roberts penned both Legion of Living Dead and Ringmaster of Doom, the Legion of Living Dead is of particular note in the Secret Agent Xseries. Fleming-Roberts wasn't above borrowing plots or characters from previous stories - or other series, for that matter. But I imagine all pulp authors borrowed an occasional plot or character once in a while. To his credit, Fleming-Roberts usually did a better job with them, so all is forgiven.

         Case in point is a character named Tasha Merlo from the September 1934 issue, Octopus of Crime. It is an odd story from the onset. The Agent even uses a retired policeman named Thomas McGrath in the story, which reminded me of Thomas Gregg from the Phantom Detective,and Captain McGrath of the Black Bat. But it's Tasha Merlo that's important to the present discussion. She is:

         "A redhead, beautifully molded in face and figure, with heavy-lidded violet eyes. The lines of her face showed little outward character and were deceptively mild, almost babyish. Her laughter was a silvery tinkle. She was a jewel fence of international fame and had two fierce leopards, Satanand Nero, as pets."

         Fleming-Roberts' first short story in the Secret Agent Xmagazine appeared in the September 1934 issue, titled The Murder Masterpiece. It's not surprising, then, that he read the lead story, Octopus of Crime, and liked the character of Tasha Merlo, whom he must have found fascinating. When he wrote Legion of Living Dead, he brought her back, somewhat changed of course. She is:

         "Felice Vincart - The Leopard Lady. Her face was small, nearly round, and dark complexioned. Her lips slightly voluptuous, were rouged a striking shade of red that was almost like Chinese lacquer. Her nose was slightly tip-tilted and her eyes were actually arresting: true emerald green they were beneath long, penciled brows that curved upwards at the outer extremities. Her every movement was feline grace. And at her side are two fierce leopards!"

         Her youth remains a mystery, though it is believed she grew up in a circus atmosphere. Her parents were probably circus performers. She found that she possessed a power over animals, especially the big jungle cats. She became an animal trainer, and left the circus to perform on stage in New York. Her stage act consisted of a wild barbaric dance with two great leopards, and she was dubbed, The Leopard Lady.

         While performing on stage, she met and fell in love with a young millionaire named Phelps. He swept her off her feet in a swirling courtship, and took her away from the stage. On a honeymoon voyage around the world, he died somewhere in the Orient, and when she returned to the States, his family would not accept her, claiming she had murdered her husband, but could not prove it. Assuming her maiden name, she ended up on the wrong side of the law.

         Although she was secondary to the mastermind in the story, Felice Vincart is the center attraction in Legion of Living Dead, and has the distinction of being the only major villain to oppose the Secret Agent more than once. She escapes at the end of the story, and I'm sure the readers at the time figured that was the last they would ever see of her. But she would return in February 1936, in Dividends of Doom.

         I think what separated Paul Chadwick (the originator of Secret Agent X) and G.T. Fleming-Roberts was in the latter's ability at characterization. Chadwick's stories are steeped in horror and mood, and you remember that about them. But with Fleming-Roberts, you remember his characters first. And he was especially good when creating the many vamps that dominated his stories. Whether minor characters, or leading villains, the females always took center stage.

         Although she had turned to crime, Felice Vincart will always be remembered in the annals of Secret Agent X!

         I would like to think that, in some way, this article is a tribute to her. 

The Celluloid Burglar

In issue #58, Fall 2001, of BEHIND THE MASK, we published a story by G.T. Fleming-Roberts titled, “Death From Damascus”, sent to us by Monte Herridge. The story originally appeared in the April 1938 issue of DETECTIVE NOVELS MAGAZINE, a magazine from Ned Pines’ Standard line, ruled over by head editor, Leo Margulies. At the time I never thought much about the story.  But as you will see, I think this story may have a similar connection to this magazine group as “Funny Face”, by Norman Daniels, and “Murder On Parade” by George Green.

Before Daniels and Green started writing The Phantom Detective novels, they had to show Leo they could handle the hero/masked character. “Funny Face” and “Murder On Parade” were their initiation, so to speak. After their stories were turned in, and Leo liked them, the authors started churning out Phantom Detective yarns. So where am I going with this? Well, 1939 was just ahead. And 1939 was going to be the beginning of several new pulp characters under Leo’s guiding hand. Leo was looking for authors to spearhead those new series.

Norman Daniels, who had been away from the Phantom Detective series for a while, suddenly appeared writing a new Phantom yarn. I imagine there were some other authors that we haven’t paid enough attention to yet, but one name does stick out, and that’s G.T. Fleming-Roberts, who had been spearheading the Secret Agent X series for a few years. The April 1938 issue of DETECTIVE NOVELS MAGAZINES suddenly has a masked hero appear under the Fleming-Roberts byline.  A coincidence? It is possible, but highly doubtful.

Dated January 1940, but likely released November 1939, was a new series from Ned Pines called The Ghost Detective by G.T. Fleming-Roberts. Normally, stories had a “wait” period of about six months, so Fleming-Roberts was probably writing the series early in 1939. Was “Death From Damascus” his “try out” for spearheading a masked hero for Leo? My guess is, yes.

            The story features The Celluloid Burglar who is something of a Robin Hood, robbing from crooks to give to the poor, or something like that. Here is how we meet him:

A figure appeared from the shadows. He wore a black mask that glittered like polished ebony, hiding the man’s features. Two menacing eyes bored at them through the slanting eye slits of the mask. A hand held a small .25 trained on the three men.

He leaves a thin piece of black celluloid the size of a calling card at the scene to identify his work; the card is blank, except for a shiny black dot of ink – the dot is a piece of gleaming celluloid, shaped like a face – two tiny slanting eyes, and a slit of a mouth in the tiny black mask.

He carries pens in his coat pocket that contain an assortment of things: tear gas, tiny flashlight, and fake blood, among other items. He also wears a bulletproof vest.

Crooks sometimes call him a comic opera burglar. The case involves the theft of The Prince of Damascus dagger, a jeweled dagger that once belonged to the Middle Eastern conqueror, Melek-ed-Dhaher-Bihras. It is purported to be worth thousands of dollars.

The Celluloid Burglar is actually Detective-sergeant Harrison Hasty, better known as “Pretty Damn Hasty” because he solves crimes so fast. About the only description we have of him, is his wavy brown hair.

Lucky McGee is his assistant, and drives him everywhere, even on duty. McGee is an ex-con (his nickname come from his prison #1313). Hasty had found him when he was just a kid, starving in the gutter. When the boy was older he went to prison for something we are never told what, but when he was released and couldn’t find a job, Hasty had fed and clothed him. Lucky became his friend and companion, and aided him during his outings as The Celluloid Burglar.

We are told that Hasty had a good friend, P.I. Dick Connell, who was murdered, thus giving rise to The Celluloid Burglar.

There are two city officials, Police Commissioner Brady, and District Attorney Snathe.

G.T. Fleming-Roberts was a prolific writer, but I really doubt there were sequels to this story. I still feel that this was his “show” story to Leo, proving that he could handle the hero characters. If so, then we are aware of at least three such “show me” stories, and I bet there are others we haven’t discovered yet.