title

Somewhere or other I've posted that I discovered the ever delightful Logos or rather LitNet forums because I was looking for information on Frederick Nebel.

Every so often we like to acknowledge the literature side of things here rather then the soap opera side.

When I was younger I liked adventure fiction best -- Edgar Rice Burroughs, Rider Haggard, Talbot Mundy. When James Bond hit it big in the movies I read all his books--probably was a bit too young for them as they bored rather then entertained in the long run.

Approximately 1967 or so I ran across a paperback anthology edited by Ron Goulart titled The Hardboiled Dicks (1965) which sported a cover of a Dick Tracy type clone and discovered The Continental Op by Dashiell Hammet mentioned in the introduction by Goulart,and characters such as Jo Gar by Raoul Whitfield (under the pen name Ramon Decolta), Steve Midnight by John K. Butler and an Oscar Sail story (one of two)by Lester Dent more famous as 'Kenneth Robeson' primary author of the Doc Savage Pulps.

And Frederick Nebel.

Who did not make me sit up and take notice.

Remember I'm about 16 or so and Butler's Steve Midnight made a huge impression (he was a taxi cab driver dragged into his passenger's troubles) along with the Op whose adventures I found in The Continental Op and The Big Knockover--Red Harvest and The Dain Curse would be years in the future as I did NOT realize they were Op novels until the 70s. It would be almost 25 years later when all nine of the Midnight stories from Dime Detective got reprinted in one facsimile volume (At the Stroke of Midnight--available thru Adventure House). I've tracked down seven of the nine originals pulp issues.

Lillian Hellman (manager of Hammett's writings after his death) kept a large number of the Op stories from being reprinted and I quickly exhausted the dozen or so she let loose. Hammett placed no great value on his works and it has to be confessed the unprinted Op stories fail to stack up against classics such as "Dead Yellow Women" or "The Gutting of Confuginall".

But for a short period private eyes were the thing.

Until The Rockford Files.

Poked fun at all the cliches.

With style.

That brought out the snob in me and detective novels/stories and I took a break for a few years. Though I continued to love Matt Helm novels when Fawcett would release one by Donald Hamilton--they won't print the final one--AND THEY SHOULD--Hamilton helped the Gold Medal paperwback line a tremendous success in the 60s/early 70s.

Nebel the Countess mutters Nebel--he's wandering again. Invoke the magic words of power: "Logos is threadkilling, Logos is threadkilling", and get him back.

In the early 90s following retirement and the onset of financial downsizing I had my comics but I wanted to do just a wee bit more with pulp magazines. I had had a Black Mask or two (considered the five-star title for detective pulps and always pricey it seems--I have a few now Tim at the Bookery got me which had Butler stories in them--would you believe Rod Case, Telephone Company detective??!!

"Logos is thread---" OK OK--

Dime Detective was considered a fine title in its own right and had the plus factor of running continuing characters (I love series). I like the underdog titles and decided to get a few. About this time another anthology, The Hard-boiled Detectives (1992) edited by Robert Weinberg, which reprinted one story from Dime Detective per published year (1931-1953) came out.

The lead off story from the second issue was Hell's Paycheck by Nebel featuring Cardigan--as close to Sam Spade as you can get and still be original. Cardigan is nicer. Love at first reading. Nebel wrote over 40 Cardigan stories (I have the second to last one). The writing is mood setting, sparse but has just the right tone to it--not sure what I'm trying to say here but it resonates a period the old film noir films were just starting to get years after Hammett and Nebel and Norbert Davis left the scene. Have not read enough Cornell Woolrich to be sure of him but I think he's in that vein too.

Nebel was there to entertain within the confines of the medium and he had the decency to give it his best shot and not hack them out. Though not considered an 'A" list writer he is truly deserving of more reprints and at least a B+/A- rating.

Hey if Jules de Grandin can get all 93 stories reprinted Nebel is just a matter of time. And yes I'll be impressed if anyone has heard of deGrandin (besides Pendragon--he's even better read then me.)