Frank Frazetta’s Death Dealer: Plague of Knives by James Silke

 

(pb; 1990: fourth novel in James Silke’s Frank Frazetta’s Death Dealer quadrilogy)

From the back cover

“Across the vast valley that will, one day in the dim future be the Mediterranean Sea, assassins’ knives seek blood and refugees flee to the castle of Whitetree─where, according to prophecy, the White Veshta, goddess of light, will reveal her rebirth to the world. But Tiyy, sorceress, queen, and bearer of the mantle of the Black Veshta, is moving her armies toward Whitetree, for she means to have the Jewels of Light for her own vile purposes. Meanwhile, her murderers’ blades seek the life of the one man she knows will oppose her, the man she must at all costs stop before he reaches Whitetree. But Gath of Baal is the wearer of the Horned Helmet─is the DEATH DEALER.”

Review

Like its pulpy predecessor books, Plague is a vivid, hypermasculine, gory, action- and character-driven Conan-esque work, with Gath and Robin Lakehair─in a more subtle fashion─stepping up to again battle dark supernatural forces. As always, Tiyy, shadowy enchantress with multiple names, is one of the willing channels of these forces. Plague’s storyline is tight, befitting its series-up wrap-up status, with nuance that is lacking in the first two Death Dealer novels. Not only that, its characters, still adhering to the brutal rules and demands of their world, have matured, making Plague an effective, satisfying finish to the four-book series─even Tiyy, represented as a desperate, lesser threat in Plague, has matured, up to a point. She still uses her sex to beguile (as do most of the women in the Death Dealer quadrilogy), but there’s a certain tiredness in her mindset as she does so.

I especially like how Silke sidesteps the expected climactic demons-and-brawn battle, instead delivering a surprising embodiment of Robin Lakehair’s vaunted power, one that is sequel-friendly and low-key at the same time. This is an excellent “barbaric men’s adventure,” one that fans of Robert E. Howard’s Conan series might enjoy.

The Best of Creepy edited and published by James Warren

(1964, 1971: regular paperback-sized graphic novel. “Introduction” by

Archie Goodwin)

Overall review

Creepy is an excellent sampler of the titular magazine’s superb early, macabre morality tales, one that thrilled me as a preteen and thrilled me anew as a fifty-year-old man. If these succinct stories are predictable and doomy, they have something that a lot of newer horror works don’t: succinct, plot- and character-driven storylines, great iconic artwork and an Aesop’s Fables vibe that makes these Creepy entries stick in one’s mind. Highly recommended for readers who love older horror stories, comic books and great illustrations.

Stories

“Sand Doom” – Archie Goodwin (author), Al Williamson (illustrator): A ruthless, desert adventurer accidentally falls into treasure room a scantily clad priestess of Nepthy and lots of snakes.

“Overworked” – Archie Goodwin (author), Wallace Wood & Dan Adkins (illustrators): Allan, a comic book writer/artist, finds that his life is being swallowed by his relentless job demands.

“Untimely Tomb!” – Archie Goodwin (author), Angelo Torres (illustrator): After a doctor (Beamish) accidentally contributes to a woman being married alive, his life take a turn toward murder and further horror.

“Vampires Fly at Dusk!” – Archie Goodwin (author), Reed Crandall (illustrator): Carlos and Elena Orsini, a count and countess, move into an old villa in a small village and a rapid string of killings ensue. Do they have something to do with them?

“Werewolf” – Larry Ivie (author), Frank Frazetta (illustrator): In the Gonteekwa Valley in Africa, a confident big-game hunter is hired to track and shoot a giant wolf, thought to be a supernatural creature.

“Grave Undertaking” – Archie Goodwin (author), Alex Toth (illustrator): In Merry Olde England, two resurrectionists get too greedy and pay a grisly price.

“Curse of the Full Moon!” – Archie Goodwin (author), Reed Crandall (illustrator): Bavaria. Sir Henry Langston’s coachman is ripped apart by a werewolf, leading him to deal with gypsies and hunt it.

“Collector’s Edition!” – Archie Goodwin (author), Steve Ditko (illustrator): An intense bibliophile and lover of rare books, Colin Danforth, seeks such a tome (Marquis Lemode’s Dark Visions), unaware that it most certainly will illustrate his doom.

Frank Frazetta’s Death Dealer: Tooth and Claw by James Silke

(pb; 1989: third novel in James Silke’s Frank Frazetta’s Death Dealer quadrilogy)

From the back cover

“Across deserts wrested from the savage Kitzaak Empire, into the deadly, steaming jungles of the Daangall, to the mysterious plateau of the Bayaabar, the land beyond dreams, goes Gath of Baal, the Death Dealer, in search of the legendary noon, beautiful Queen of the Cats. Yet among his companions, who serves the dreaded dark lord? Who plans treachery? Gazul, the bounty hunter, strangely linked to Gath’s past? Bilbaar, the young tracker, able to talk with animals? Fleka, the slave girl, sensuously serving whichever man is the strongest? Who will leave the Dangaal alive?

“In the jungles, the only law is the law of tooth and claw.”

Review

Caveat: possible (light) spoilers in this review.

In the three years after the events of Lords of Destruction, Gath─who knows his identity, but little about his past─has wandered the scope of wild lands, engaging in various and briefly mentioned adventures. Now, he is given a chance to discover something about his past when Gazul, a shifty bounty hunter, makes him an appealing offer to not only recover some of his memory, but fight Chyak (feline master of Noon, Queen of the Cats). The cost: Gath must help Gazul capture Noon, an elusive, animalistic being. Along for the ride is Bilbarr, Gazul’s earnest and brutalized servant boy, and Fleka, whose carnal charms are not as random as the back-cover blurb suggests.

While this vividly penned, Conan-esque series continues to be a pre-P.C., nightmare-for-feminists pulpy read, Gath’s character─still a harsh Barbarian─has become more socialized, matured since the events of the first two books. This is especially clear in Gath’s dealing with Bilbaar and Fleka, as well as his immediate post-Chyak-battle feelings about the saber-tiger he has defeated. Not only that, the writing in this third book feels tighter, more character-focused than previous Death Dealer entries.

Consistent with the other books, there is plenty of sensory-rich, icky action, death, betrayal, hypermasculinity and hypersexualized femininity (which is relatively subdued, compared to Prisoner of the Horn and Lords of Destruction). In short: if you don’t mind the above qualities and want a rough-and-tumble slaughterama fantasy adventure, this is a great work, whether you’ve read the first two books or not. Worth owning, this.

Followed by Frank Frazetta’s Death Dealer: Plague of Knives.

Frank Frazetta’s Death Dealer: Lords of Destruction by James Silke

(pb; 1989: second book in James Silke’s Frank Frazetta’s Death Dealer quadrilogy)

From the back cover

“In the mists of time, before Atlantis rose. . .

“Gath of Baal was imprisoned by the Horned Helmet, the Death Dealer. Only the innocent touch of the maiden Robin Lakehair could free him from its murderous power, even for a time.

“Now Tivvy, Nymph Queen of Pyram, seeks the godlike powers that she can gain only from Robin Lakehair’s death. To save Robin’s life, Gath must don the helmet again and confront the demons Tivvy has summoned from the primordial depths─demons that emerge from mankind’s deepest fears.

“For his own freedom and the life of his beloved, Gath of Baal, the Death Dealer, must face the Lords of Destruction.”

Review

Lords picks up shortly after the events of Prisoner of the Horned Helmet. Like its source novel and the artwork that inspired Prisoner, it is hypermasculine and cinematic-vivid, with genre-puncturing humor baked into the bloody, often-too-sexist storyline and characters (lots of women-wallowing-in-bathetic-naked-distress scenes). Because of these last bits of excess, there are occasional passages that are more filler than thriller, but, because of Silke’s ability to balance engaging characters, effective twists, intriguing action and storylines, clever wordplay and a hurly burly tone, it works for the most part. While not as good as Prisoner, it is a worthwhile continuation and expansion of the characters, themes and storyline from the first book.

Followed by Frank Frazetta’s Death Dealer: Tooth and Claw.

Frank Frazetta’s Death Dealer: Prisoner of the Horned Helmet by James Silke

(pb; 1988: first book in James Silke’s Frank Frazetta’s Death Dealer quadrilogy)

From the back cover

“In an age before Atlantis rose, an age rife with sorcery and violence, the earth trembled beneath the all-conquering hooves of the Kitzaak Horde, and only one man, Gath of Baal, dares to confront the Kitzaak lances, to stand between the never-defeated armies and the lush valley that will, long millennia in the future, be known as the Mediterranean Sea. To save the peace People of the Forest, Gath must dice with the gods, and the price he must pay is to become death made flesh, the Prisoner of the Horned Helmet.”

Review

Fans of Robert E. Howard’s Conan and other hypermasculine “men’s adventures” may find Prisoner to be a worthwhile purchase. Silke’s lusty, sometimes bordering-on-poetic writing highlights this brutal, basic and adjective-rich storyline and its well-written genre trope characters (sly magicians and intellectuals; wan, ripe-for-sex, scantily clad maidens/seductresses; cannon fodder soldiers; and, most important, steel-wielding, burly mega-warriors, who live mostly to tear men limb from limb). 

This is a work that embraces the magic-sex-hack-and-slash pathos of near-primordial humanity, one that predates─and would likely repudiate─our culture’s current P.C.-overdrive awareness, so if you’re looking for gender equality and nuance, do not read this book.

Prisoner is a great B-movie read for those who do not mind fantastic, Conan-raw, dark and violent takes on human nature and everything that stems from it. Followed by Frank Frazetta’s Death Dealer: Lords of Destruction.