PULP GOLD PART THREE

Desert Justice
Paul Powers
Leisure Western paperback
$5.99

Part one of this review HERE
Part two of this review HERE
Editor, Laurie Powers interview HERE

As mentioned Sonny Tabor was one of Wild West Weekly's most popular characters - all in all his creator, Paul Powers wrote 431 stories for the magazines, a large amount of them featuring Sonny Tabor.



There are two further novellas in this collection that we haven't look at yet - the first of these, my particular favourite in the book is Sonny Tabor and the Border Blackbirds.

Sonny is hiding out in an area know as The Devil's Basement - it's a cruel and harsh area in the Tule Desert. He investigates when he hears a shot and he comes across several men beating up on a Arizona Ranger. He intervenes but he gets shot ( again) this time only a flesh wound in the shoulder. However when he comes around he finds he is handcuffed to the Arizona Ranger. And not only that but the gang, known as The Border Blackbirds have robbed them, taking everything including their horses.

Sonny angry, not only is he bound to a Arizona Ranger, with no food and water and a walk of thirty or forty miles ahead of them. But what really angers him is that the gang stole his beloved horse, Paint. There is some great description in this section, you work up a thirst as you read about the hazardous walk through the hell hole of a desert and it's a nice touch to see Sonny use a barrel cactus for water and the sweet pulp that allows them to survive. The men then come across a band of rurales and Sonny is recognised and arrested. The Texas Ranger who has grown to like and trust Sonny vows to help him. This truly is a thrilling story and contains everything that was great about the pulps - action, adventure, larger than life characters and a heart beating climax. It's worth the price of admission for this story alone which is a flawless example of strong storytelling.

The final story is Kid Wolf round up Sonny Tabor -apparently Kid Wolf was another of Paul Powers' more popular characters and teaming a pair of popular characters up must have pleased the original magazine's readers. The pair would share several adventures together but this was the first time they were teamed up.

In the story there has been a murder at the Box Q - not long before the killing a man fitting Sonny Tabor's description was at the ranch looking for work. The local sheriff and a posse are on the hunt and now Kid Wolf is tagging along for the ride. I found this story the weakest in the collection merely because it was obvious to me who the real killer was from the start and the fact that rather than concentrate on Sonny Tabor the narrative is shared with Kid Wolf. It made it slightly disjointed for me. However the fact that it is a teaming between two of the magazine's most popular characters is reason enough for its inclusion in this collection. It's wasn't a bad story but paled after the excellence of Border Blackbirds.

A great collection of pulp classics - think of this like a special DVD edition of a old movie. Remastered - better quality paper and legible printing. And it's even got some special features with the insightful and excellent introduction by Laurie Powers.

More please.

Pulp Gold - Sonny Tabor Rides Again

The Eleventh Notch
Paul S. Powers
Originally published 1929 in Wild West Weekly as by Ward M. Stevens
Currently available in Desert Justice from leisure Westerns, alongside three other Sonny Tabor novellas

It's kind of special for me reading these stories as I've become friendly with Laurie Powers, granddaughter of Paul Powers and indeed it was through Laurie that I first became aware of pulp western writer Paul Powers. When in 2007 Laurie was responsible for publishing her grandfather's memoirs - The book Pulp Writer: 20 Years in the American Grub Street is still available and is a detailed peek into the life of these guys who churned out word after word for the pulp magazines. Check out an earlier interview with Laurie HERE. Anyone with even a passing interest in the pulps will want to know what this lovely lady has to say.

The Eleventh Notch was the first Sonny Tabor story and the writer, who had already seen 36 stories published in Wild West Weekly, could not have known how popular the character would become. The story was published under the house name Ward M. Stevens. The name had been used by other writers but soon, given the success of the Sonny Tabor character, it would be reserved solely for Paul Powers. There would eventually be 130 Sonny Tabor stories and the author would also use the house name for his Kid Wolf and Freckles Malone stories. The stories have been forgotten over time and so not only does the Desert Justice collection mark the long overdue return of these classic westerns but also the first time they have seen print under the author's real name.

And so the story:
The Eleventh Notch

The story opens with a search part coming across a body atop a perilous hill on the Sonora border - leading the search is Ed Stewart of the Triangle Cross, father of the man they are searching for - the dead man has been crudely buried, rocks placed upon the body to provide a makeshift tomb and upon that tomb is pinned a note - Rob't Stewart, died April 11 Sony Tabor NO.11.

The dead man is Bob Stewart, son of Ed. Sonny Tabor is a notorious outlaw who has killed ten men - the note lay claims to his eleventh victim. Meanwhile back at the Stewart ranch a posse are in hiding waiting for Sonny Tabor to come past. When the young outlaw makes an appearance he is immediately set upon and a shoot out takes place. Outnumbered, outgunned, Sony is aided by Ma Johnson and managed to steal the sheriff's horse. However in his escape he is shot in the back and then, gravely wounded he runs into the returning search party and shot in the chest. Close to death, Sonny lurches forward in the saddle.

No one think Sonny has a chance and that by dying now he will cheat the hangman's rope but Ma Stewart sticks by him and insists he is taken into her home for her to nurse him. Even when she is told that Sonny is the man responsible for killing her son, she refuses to turn against the injured man. She feel she knows Sonny well enough to believe him when he denies knowing anything about her son's killing. Eventually Sonny heals and he is taken to the town jail to await trial.

Which leads to the explosive climax - the sheriff's out of town and a lynch party are on the way to the jail to spring and hang the young outlaw. But Ma Stewart and a friend are also on their way to the jail in order to spring Sonny and give him his freedom. There is much excitement, pure pulp style, as bullets fly and the story moves to the conclusion where things will be tied up nicely and the real killer of Bob Stewart revealed.

These stories are pure pulp fun - each chapter ends with a cliffhanger, designed to keep the readers hooked and coming back week after week for their Wild West Weekly fix. The heroes are whiter than white and even Sonny Tabor, outlaw, is a good man forced to operate outside the law. And reading these now they still haven't lost to power to provide pure excitement. Wild West Weekly was read by both kids and adults and the stories delighted them all with their themes of independence, courage and the wide open spaces of The West was a million miles from the daily grind of city life. The Great Depression was raging when these stories were first released and they must have offered a welcome temporary escape from a grim reality.

Part two of this review will be posted later in the week when I will look at the remaining three stories and the lengthy introduction from Laurie Powers.


Desert Justice can be bought here