Well my friends, Fred Bloggs that international man of mystery and cunning Pirate of the Internet is at it again. Yes folks I awoke from my nap again to find Goodies stealthily placed on my machine while I slept. Thank You Fred and Bravo for another thrill packed Audio Book!! Without further adieu I present Fred's latest acquisition and gift to Times Past.
Captain Hazzard and the Python Men of the Lost City
Written by: Ron Fortier, Chester Hawks
Narrated by: Joe Stofko
Length: 4 hrs and 27 mins
Format: Unabridged
96K - 185Mb RAR flie containing 17 mp3s and 1 txt file
Perhaps the two greatest character heroes to come out of the pulps were the Shadow and Doc Savage; the respective Batman and Superman of their depression-era day.
Whereas the Shadow's popularity spawned a myriad of copycat heroes from various rival publication houses, the Man of Bronze only generated a handful of imitators. The most familiar being the Captain Future series and the Avenger books. Like Doc, each dealt with a scientist/adventurer as the central figure aided by a colorful group of skilled assistants.
Another of these Doc rip-offs was the single magazine feature, CAPTAIN HAZZARD by Chester Hawks. It is a fast adventure with many flaws, chief of them being the writer actually changed the names of several of his characters from one chapter to the next causing the reader no end of confusion in trying to keep the figures straight as the action moves along at its breakneck speed. Sadly, for whatever reason, there was only one issue of this lively pulp ever done; PYTHON MEN OF THE LOST CITY. Why the series, which was packed with potential, never continued is a mystery no pulp historian has ever solved.
Among original pulp heroes, Capt. Hazzard is sadly a one-hit wonder, and is one of the most blatant Doc Savage clones.
Published by Ace Magazines, he got only one issue of his own magazine in 1938. With a novel titled “Python Men of the Lost City,” it even sounds like a typical Doc story.
A second story was written, but with the magazine canceled, Paul Chadwick, the author, revamped it and turned it into a Secret Agent X story. This story, “Curse of the Crimson Horde,” didn’t seem like a typical Secret Agent X story. And now we know why.
So, who is Capt. Hazzard? He is an adventurer, with dark hair and blue-gray eyes. Blinded as a youth when his parents were murdered, his eyesight is restored by a new surgical procedure. But he has a scar over his left eye.
While blind, he had developed a mild form of ESP.
Operating out of Hazzard Labs in Long Island, he assembled a group of people to work with him, which include Dr. Martin Tracy, surgeon; Professor Washington MacGowen, physicist; Tyler Randell, inventor and pilot; and Jake Cole, cowboy. They were joined by William Crawley, reporter.
Despite lasting only one issue, other authors have reused him. Lin Carter has him make cameo appearances in his Prince Zarkon series, indicating he had married Pat Savage. Wayne Reinagel used him briefly in his Pulp Heroes series, indicating he’s a love interest for his Pat Savage pastiche, Pam Titan, but that he retired from crime fighting after being hurt in a bomb attack that killed some of his associates.
And more importantly, Ron Fortier of Airship 27 revised and revamped the character, putting out revised versions of his two original novels, and adding new novels as well. He has made some changes, such as giving Hazzard a full name of Kevin Douglas Hazzard and a pencil-thin mustache. The problems he found was in part due to Chadwick, who was better at writing detective stories (like Wade Hammond and Secret Agent X), trying to do an adventure story and failing.
Airship 27′s first volume is a revamp of the first story, “Python Men of the Lost City.” Like most Doc stories, they are approached by a girl looking for her lost father. Fortier fixed this story by filling in plot holes and adding chapters to make it work better.
Captain Hazzard travels the world in search of action and adventure, accompanied by his team: Jake Cole, Monatana sharp-shooter; Martin Tracey, surgeon; Washington MacGowen, scientific genius; Tyler Randall, ace pilot; and William Crawley, tabloid crime reporter. Their adventures are the stuff of legend.
Captain Hazzard and the Python Men of the Lost City LINK
Replies
Sounds like a good listen! Thank you Rick!
Thank you Rick!