Armless O'Neil #01 - Seekers of the Glittering Fetish

Armless O’Neil is a hardboiled adventurer who starred in 12 pulp novellas by Dan Cushman (1909-2001) between 1945 and 1953. The stories have been compiled into two collections by Steeger Books including the first adventure, “Seekers of the Glittering Fetish” - originally from Jungle Stories Magazine.

Armless O’Neil isn’t exactly armless. He does have a steel hook projecting from the left sleeve of his jacket in place of an arm, but the right hand seems to be intact. He’s described as being ugly, but an “Irish ugliness which a person would enjoy looking upon.”

The story takes place in the port city of Brazzaville, what is now known as the Republic of Congo, back when it was a French colony — a combination of Wikipedia and Google Maps are good supplements to a Dan Cushman story. We join Armless in a seedy tavern where he’s meeting an acquaintance named Swede to discuss some rare blue diamonds.

It quickly becomes clear that the Swede won’t show at the meeting because he was double-crossed and murdered by his business partner, the Dutchman. Armless has zero interest in doing business with the Dutchman because of his practice of flaying the skin off African natives.

Recovering the cache of missing diamonds is the focus of this story. Armless has a sidekick named Tommy who falls in love with a girl along the way in a nice subplot. Cushman writes shockingly violent fight scenes — among the best I can recall in pulp fiction. Having a sharpened hook for a hand sure helps.

Armless is a gruff and charmless character, but you’ll find yourself rooting for him nonetheless.

If you’re sensitive to antiquated African stereotypes, you may want to skip this one as the natives are all of the ooga-booga variety. But if you enjoy old-fashioned hardboiled treasure hunt stories, you’re bound to enjoy this one. 

Buy a copy of this book HERE.

Frisco Dougherty #02 - Jungle She

Dan Cushman (1909-2001) is a respected mid 20th-century writer who is synonymous with the western pulp market. He routinely contributed to North West Romances, Ace-High Western Stories, and Dime Western Magazine. However, Cushman had a soft spot for jungle adventure, evident in his pulp series title Armless O' Neil, his contributions to Ki-Gor, and his shorts found in Jungle Stories and Action Stories. 

Like A.S. Fleischman, Cushman had a solid Fawcett Gold Medal run of jungle-themed paperbacks featuring sweeping exotic locales and heart-thumping adventure. Some of these novels featured a troublesome character named Frisco Dougherty, an American thrust into these scorching lands searching for a diamond treasure that will allow him a lucrative living in San Francisco. The character first appeared in the novel Jewel of the Java Sea, originally published in the October 1948 issue of Adventure. Dougherty appeared again in Jungle She, a 1953 Fawcett paperback with cover art by John Floherty. 

In many ways, Jungle She reads like a spy novel, perhaps something more akin to the Monty Nash series by Richard Telfair. The dense plodding, hyperbole, and emphasis on mini-adventures all combine on the obligatory gauntlet of superimposed villains and mistrusting damsels. It's sheer pulp fun, but it seems to stay a bit too long. 

Frisco arrives in Tengah to confront a plantation owner known as Van Hoog. Frisco, again looking for some sort of diamond treasure, wants to inquire about how Van Hoog created his lush lifestyle. The man – obviously a criminal of some sort – lives on a vast plantation with a seemingly endless supply of wealth. Hoping to learn Van Hoog's secret, Frisco learns some insightful information at a local dive bar. Van Hoog's wife has escaped him. Hoping to use this as leverage, Frisco approaches Van Hoog with the idea that he can provide information on the runaway bride – information he doesn't have. Van Hoog sees right through the charade, beats the pulp out of Frisco, and imprisons him.

With malaria and a lack of weapons, Frisco escapes the compound only to be captured again. This kicks off a series of catch-and-release as Frisco is forced to locate Van Hoog's wife. Based on the title, you can guess that he eventually locates the Jungle She, only it's a distrustful partnership as both of them hope to escape the clutches of Van Hoog while stealing pieces of his empire along the way. This means a run-in with the Chinese criminal organization Wuch'ang and dips into some crazy smuggling adventures in Singapore. 

There's absolutely nothing wrong with Jungle She. It has a lovable loser in Frisco, a romantic buzz with Van Hoog's wife, and a formidable foe that must be upended. Yet, despite all of the upside, I never could quite get into the novel as much as I wanted to. I felt that the book moved a bit too fast and overstayed its welcome with the relentless pacing. There's a great reward at the end with Frisco and Van Hoog duking it out with machetes on a bridge, but by that point, I was exhausted from the robust travel schedule these characters endure. 

You can get Jungle She HERE.

Ki-Gor - King of the Jungle

Jungle Stories was published quarterly by Fiction House, a pulp division of Glen-Kel Publishing, from 1938 to 1954 – 58 total issues. These magazines each featured a lead novel starring a Tarzan clone named Ki-Gor. The house pseudonym for the stories was John Peter Drummond (except the first credited to real author John Murray Reynolds), but the actual authors were Dan Cushman, James McKimmey, Stanley Mullen, Robert Turner, and W. Scott Peacock. 

My introduction to this prolific jungle hero is “King of the Jungle”, the very first Ki-Gor story. It was originally published in the 1938 Winter issue of Jungle Stories and later collected in the omnibus Ki-Gor: The Complete Series Volume 1 by Altus Press. 

Pilot Helene Vaughn is flying across equatorial Africa when she loses her engine. The female pilot is quick to release all of her fuel in preparation for the treetop crash, thus avoiding a deadly explosion on impact. She awakens after the crash and begins a walk through the dense jungle foliage in hopes of finding anyone that can help her. When she's stopped by a jaguar, a six-foot bare-foot man with blue eyes and long hair comes to her rescue, fighting the jaguar and stabbing it to death with a steel knife. This is Helene's introduction to Ki-Gor, King of the Jungle.

The brawny hero takes Helene back to his cave and speaks some broken English with her. Later that night, the two fend off a vicious attack by the Wungubas, a fierce African tribe that have warred with Ki-Gor for years. When the two successfully survive the onslaught, Ki-Gor takes Helene to a small abandoned cabin. It is here that the hero's origin story is revealed through a diary entry and photograph.

Ki-Gor's real name is Robert. He was the son of John Kilgour, a missionary who came to this part of Africa in 1917. On a mildewed piece of notebook paper, Helene reads that Chief Kranta of the Wunguba tribe grew unfriendly with Kilgour's work in the region. On the diary page, Kilgour describes Kranta as "...there seems to be evil back of his beadlike eyes." Piecing this together with what Kil-Gor explains, it is revealed to readers and Helene that John was killed by the Wungubas around the time that Robert was seven or eight years old. Kil-Gor has survived in the jungle for over 20 years.

"King of the Jungle" has a fragmented narrative that doesn't allow a lot of character development or growth. But, it is the first story and I understand the series improves over time. I really enjoyed the story for what it was and found that Ki-Gor's relationship with Helene could spark some future interest. I also love this fiery feud with the Wunguba tribe and the hero's ability to use a special blend of mystical "powder" to provide dreamlike visions for Helene. This addition has an E. Hoffmann Price feel to the character. 

Obviously, there are a ton of Tarzan imitators. Just like there are tons of James Bond, Conan, Mike Hammer, and The Shadow imitators. The borrowed idea of a white man surviving the death of a parent in an exotic jungle doesn't steer me away. I enjoy a good jungle romp and these Ki-Gor stories certainly seem to provide that. If you love that type of presentation, then this is a mandatory read.

Buy a copy of this book HERE.