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THE BLOTTER, by John Gregory Betancourt

Welcome to the sixth issue of Adventure Tales—late, as usual.

There are plenty of excuses, more than enough to go around, but I’m going to try even harder to get back on schedule.

At any rate, we have the usual terrific lineup in place for this issue, all hopefully works with which you are unfamiliar. And this is the special issue celebrating the work of H. Bedford-Jones, the self-proclaimed “King of the Pulps.”

Although largely forgotten today, the H. Bedford-Jones name on a magazine cover meant something special in the early part of the 20th century: a thrilling tale often in an exotic locale, with whip-tight writing and a breakneck pace. I have tried to include a good sampling of his work. “Mustered Out” is a contemporary story dealing with the question of “what next?” after military service. “The Badman’s Brand” is an action-packed western featuring Lefty Sage and Slivers Lawrence.

Rounding out this issue are contributions by more favorite pulp authors: Vincent Starrett (who is still remembered well in the mystery field) returns with a tale of Chicago-based detective Jimmy Lavender, a real puzzler about a walking statue. John D. Swain’s “The Miracle” is a brilliant tale set in France, following the aftermath of World War I German occupation. “The Devil’s Heirloom,” by Anthony M. Rud is a “different” story. We return to the Amazon with real-life explorer Arthur O. Friel, for a tale in his “Pedro and Lourenco” series.

* * * *

With much sadness, I must report the loss of one of our staff members. George Scithers—founding editor of Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine, former editor of Amazing Stories and Weird Tales—passed away earlier this year due to complications from a heart attack. He was 80. I had known him since the early 1980s, when I began reading the Amazing Stories slushpile while in college. This ultimately led to an assistant editor job, and we continued our association with many later projects, including Weird Tales, a literary agency, and more book projects than I can count.

After his retirement, George became a part-time staffer at Wildside Press, contributing much publishing wisdom and sage advice, editing projects such as the “Cat Tales” anthology series, and typesetting many of our pulp-related books, including the Operator #5 series, the Phantom Detective series, and the various Talbot Mundy reprints.

We miss him greatly.

—John Gregory Betancourt