The Spider - The Complete Pulp Story Guide
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#01 / vol.1 no.1
October 1933
The Spider Strikes
Author:
R.T.M. Scott
Plot:
Wentworth thwarts a plan to overwhelm Wall Street
with poison gas and loot all the cash boxes.
Note:
Cover by Walter Baumhofer; Interior art by
John Fleming Gould through 10/42; Rogers Terrill, Editor.
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#02 / vol.1 no.2
November 1933
The Wheel of Death
Author:
R.T.M. Scott
Plot:
Wentworth clears a father framed for murder and foils a blackmail plot against NYC politicians designed to take over the city.
Note:
Covers by John Newton Howitt through 10/39 (with the exception of 2/39)
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#03 / vol.1 no.3
December 1933
Wings of the Black Death
Author:
Norvell Page
Plot:
The Black Death frames The Spider for the murder of police officers and plots to decimate Manhattan with a mutation of the black death plague using infected pigeons.
Note:
First "Grant Stockbridge" novel.
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#04 / vol.1 no.4
January 1934
City of Flaming Shadows
Author:
Norvell Page
Plot:
The Tarantula diverts the city's power into a tool that slices open banks, looting the city. (In this novel and the next, Wentworth assumes the disguise of Scotland Yard Inspector Rupert Barton.)
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#05 / vol.2 no.1
February 1934
Empire of Doom
Author:
Norvell Page
Plot:
A wealthy industrialist saves Michigan from the gas plot of The Green Hand and is swept into office as Dictator of the United States—but of course they're in on it together. The action stretches to Cleveland and Washington D.C.
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#06 / vol.2 no.2
March 1934
The Citadel of Hell
Author:
Norvell Page
Plot:
Red Mask and The Food Destroyers plot to wipe out the nation's food supply to drive up prices. First appearance of a separate Spider identity (aka hunchbacked violinist Tito Caliepi); First Spider-Kirkpatrick meeting; Origin of the Spider Ring; Spider Ring premium debut.
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#07 / vol.2 no.3
April 1934
Serpent of Distruction
Author:
Norvell Page
Plot:
Gangsters led by the Bloody Serpent flood the US with narcotics and slaughter DOJ agents; Kirkpatrick disgraced, Nita threatened with becoming a dope addict. Gadgets: Steel Spider mask, steel vest, cane with needles for making spider tattoo and injecting black widow venom.
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#08 / vol.2 no.4
May 1934
The Mad Horde
Author:
Norvell Page
Plot:
Rabid creatures—dogs, cats, wolves, bats, rats, PEOPLE—are unleashed on mill towns in a plot to control the regional steel industry. Action stretches through Indiana and Ohio.
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#09 / vol.3 no.1
June 1934
Satan's Death Blast
Author:
Norvell Page
Plot:
The Devil blows up parts of Albany and New York City (sometimes looting the remains); He eventually demands $75 million, or else NYC will be destroyed; Ram Singh and Nita are hypnotized to kill Wentworth.
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#10 / vol.3 no.2
July 1934
Corpse Cargo
Author:
Norvell Page
Plot:
Land pirates electrocute trains, looting them and killing all witnesses.
Note:
Tim Truman adapted for three-book comic series
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#11 / vol.3 no.3
August 1934
Prince of the Red Looters
Author:
Norvell Page
Plot:
The Fly (a bored, skilled playboy who turns atypically to a life of crime) goes on a Spider-taunting crime spree; Ultimately he gasses/loots opera patrons then plans to do the same to the whole city via dirigible. (Reprinted as Prince of Evil)
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#12 / vol.3 no.4
September 1934
Reign of the Silver Terror
Author:
Norvell Page
Plot:
A plot to take over silver mines and increase their value though legislation—which involves bribing and killing senators; There is also fomenting of Communist mobs and a plot to take over the government entirely; The Spider kills on the floor of the US Senate.
Note:
Nita's first kill!
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#13 / vol.4 no.1
October 1934
Builders of the Black Empire
Author:
Norvell Page
Plot:
Piracy and a scheme to trick the US into war stretches from the Carribean to Miami to Newark to NYC to Washington; Wentworth, shot in the chest continues on in a wheelchair; Ram Singh is branded a traitor!
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#14 / vol.4 no.2
November 1934
Death's Crimson Juggernaut
Author:
Norvell Page
Plot:
A murder master takes out public officials leaving twisted corpses in his wake, while a Spider double ravages about town; A fugitive Wentworth is out-maneuvered at every turn!
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#15 / vol.4 no.3
December 1934
The Red Death Rain
Author:
Norvell Page
Original Title:
Slaves of the Yellow Devil
Plot:
The Red Mandarin poisons all the tobacco, liquor and coffee in town so consumers will use his doped varieties and become addicted slaves; Kirkpatrick hypnotized, Ram & Jackson drugged, Nita is threatened with rape by an orangoutang!
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#16 / vol.4 no.4
January 1935
The City Destroyer
Author:
Norvell Page
Original Title:
Crumbling Doom
Plot:
The Master brings down skyscrapers, bridges and Grand Central Station itself, in an effort to sell his steel at monopoly prices; 5,000 people die, easy.
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#17 / vol.5 no.1
February 1935
The Pain Emperor
Author:
Norvell Page
Original Title:
When Death Went Mad
Plot:
A supposed crime-fighter, The Avenger, is actually behind a plot to poisen food and cosmetics; The action stretches to Chicago; Jackson dies, dead, and is buried at Arlington.
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#18 / vol.5 no.2
March 1935
The Flame Master
Author:
Norvell Page
Original Title:
Lord of the Lightnings
Plot:
Aronk Dong, the "Lion Man from Mars," plans to take over the world—or at the very least, the NYC water supply—with the use of particularly destructive lighting bolts; Jackson still dead.
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#19 / vol.5 no.3
April 1935
Slaves of the Crime Master
Author:
Norvell Page
Original Title:
Hell's Revolt
Plot:
The Tempter seduces children into a life of crime from a secret radio station, while The Doctor spreads infantile paralysis to charge $100,000 per curative injection; Action at the World Series! Jackson still dead.
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#20 / vol.5 no.4
May 1935
Reign of the Death Fiddler
Author:
Norvell Page
Original Title:
Kingdom of Crime
Plot:
The Death Fiddler—who brands his victims with a violin-shaped mark—kills every Thursday at 11:30 and keeps wax figures of his victims in his hideout. Jackson is alive!
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#21 / vol.6 no.1
June 1935
Hordes of the Red Butcher
Author:
Norvell Page
Original Title:
Hordes of Destruction
Plot:
Snarling beast men ravage and kill and rob and molest girls in Kentucky; Framed for murder, Wentworth must be rescued from Sing-Sing and the electric chair by Nita! Kirkpatrick has been elected Governor of NY.
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#22 / vol.6 no.2
July 1935
Dragon Lord of the Underworld
Author:
Norvell Page
Plot:
Ssu Hsi Tze uses poisonous Black Widow spiders and other vermin, first to collect financial aid for China, then to declare himself Emperor of America; Professor Brownlee is murdered! No, he's really dead.
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#23 / vol.6 no.3
August 1935
Master of the Death-Madness
Author:
Norvell Page
Plot:
Anubis, jackel-headed Egyptian god, inspires mass suicides across the entire country; Wentworth shot and too weak to walk, Nita takes up the mantle of The Spider for the first time.
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#24 / vol.6 no.4
September 1935
King of the Red Killers
Author:
Norvell Page
Plot:
Crown Prince of Ruthia, The Gaucho, and his Balkan army invade the United States.
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#25 / vol.7 no.1
October 1935
Overlord of the Damned
Author:
Norvell Page
Plot:
The Boss's reign of terror involves the liberal use of acid guns and driving men insane with little darts or doped tobacco; Governor Kirkpatrick is a drugged slave to the Boss's will and almost dies at The Spider's hands.
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#26 / vol.7 no.2
November 1935
Death Reign of the Vampire King
Author:
Norvell Page
Plot:
The Bat-Man terrorizes the country with hordes of poisoned bats.
Note:
Tim Truman adapted for three-book comic series
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#27 / vol.7 no.3
December 1935
Emperor of the Yellow Death
Author:
Norvell Page
Plot:
From his hidden submarine in the East River, Wang-Ba, the Turtle, holds NYC ransom (for $100M) with tigers and hyenas that roam the city.
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#28 / vol.7 no.4
January 1936
The Mayor of Hell
Author:
Norvell Page
Plot:
Part 1 of 2. Wentworth, hunted by authorities, is shot to flinders and believed dead. Nursed back to health by strangers, he wakes six weeks later to a full-blown fascist regime gripping NY state; He takes a new alias, Corporal Death, to lead the resistance movement! Kirkpatrick, impeached as Governor, becomes NYC police commissioner again.
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#29 / vol.8 no.1
February 1936
Slaves of the Murder Syndicate
Author:
Norvell Page
Plot:
Part 2 of 2. The Mayor vanquished, The Chief loots the city with the help of the flesh-melting Dissolver salts, then holds all the Heads of State ransom; Nita, the only one not captured by the end, must save everyone as The Spider; Wentworth and Nita are about to marry in a church when...
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#30 / vol.8 no.2
March 1936
Green Globes of Death
Author:
Norvell Page
Original Title:
Murder Prince
Plot:
The Fly loots the city once again, this time hurling globes filled with green gas that cause victims to bleed all over and die.
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#31 / vol.8 no.3
April 1936
The Cholera King
Author:
Norvell Page
Original Title:
Death Horde
Plot:
The red-robed Cholera King spreads cholera through the city, and destroys all medical supplies; The Spider leads refugees to White Plains, then goes back for the King; Dick trapped and his life threatened, Nita agrees to marry the King.
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#32 / vol.8 no.4
May 1936
Slaves of the Dragon
Author:
Norvell Page
Plot:
The Spider is hunted by The Dragon and the FBI; And women are being kidnapped by The Dragon to breed with Mongol killers and create super soldiers—among them, Nita Van Sloan!
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#33 / vol.9 no.1
June 1936
Legions of Madness
Author:
Norvell Page
Original Title:
The Soul Destroyer
Plot:
Insanity, Inc. drives people crazy, but won't for a price --- $100,000; Madmen swarm, and Nita is institutionalized!
Note:
Rogers Terrill now Editorial Director; Loring Dowst, edits this issue.
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#34 / vol.9 no.2
July 1936
Laboratory of the Damned
Author:
Norvell Page
Original Title:
Lord of the Living Dead
Plot:
The Doctor creates a death-like paralysis using deadly poisons; Apollo, Nita's great dane, is poisoned and dies.
Note:
Leon Byrne, Assoicate Editor
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#35 / vol.9 no.3
August 1936
Satan's Sightless Legion
Author:
Norvell Page
Original Title:
Master of Blindness
Plot:
The Blind Man uses The Darkener to blind people, including The Spider, who is only mildly slowed-down; Kirkpatrick, the Blind Man's pawn, actively hunts Wentworth.
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#36 / vol.9 no.4
September 1936
The Coming of the Terror
Author:
Norvell Page
Plot:
Part 1 of 4. From his elaborate Temple of Love (somehow in the middle of NYC) Tang-Akhmut, The Living Pharaoh, looses his Coptic-speaking worshippers upon an unsuspecting city; Kirkpatrick and Wentworth are framed for murder; A Spider double frames him for robbery.
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#37 / vol.10 no.1
October 1936
The Devil's Death Dwarfs
Author:
Norvell Page
Original Title:
Hell's Destroying Hordes
Plot:
Part 2 of 4. The Pharaoh escapes jail and terrorizes Cincinatti with "misshapen and malignant little monsters"; Wentworth disguises himself as a private detective and leads the people to safety on horseback, but not before roughly 10,000 die.
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#38 / vol.10 no.2
November 1936
City of Dreadful Night
Author:
Emile C. Tepperman
Plot:
Part 3 of 4. Two weeks later, The Pharaoh is blackmailing New York City's politicians.
Note:
Emile C. Tepperman takes over the series, and it shows. Linton Davies edits the title through 11/37.
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#39 / vol.10 no.3
December 1936
Reign of the Snake Men
Author:
Emile C. Tepperman
Plot:
Part 4 of 4. This time The Pharaoh terrorizes the city using virulent lepers with snakes painted on their rotting chests.
Note:
Disappointing final chapter.
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#40 / vol.10 no.4
January 1937
Dictator of the Damned
Author:
Emile C. Tepperman
Plot:
The Dictator organizes the underworld and takes over the police department, and Wentworth must infiltrate the gang; Ultimately The Spider teams with a reinstated Kirkpatrick and an army of honest cops in an epic face-off at Grand Central Station.
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#41 / vol.11 no.1
February 1937
The Mill-Town Massacres
Author:
Emile C. Tepperman
Plot:
Workers in a small steel town are being driven mad by a strange disease or mowed down by machine gun fire from imported killers, all to depress the mill's stock for easy purchase.
Note:
Tepperman incorporates more elements from Phantom Detective and Shadow, but not Page.
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#42 / vol.11 no.2
March 1937
Satan's Workshop
Author:
Emile C. Tepperman
Plot:
The Mad Surgeon kidnaps the rich, famous or beautiful and keeps some in glass bottles, returning others as rotting lepers; Apollo is resurrected (for 2 issues); First appearances of Mike Fogarty (a P.I. dogging Wentworth) and Ben Lasker (The Spider's public contact); Hopecrest Apartments is new home base.
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#43 / vol.11 no.3
April 1937
Scourge of the Yellow Fangs
Author:
Emile C. Tepperman
Plot:
The Man from Singapore terrorizes Chinatown with the aim of being Emperor of all Orientals in the West; Determining that Wentworth is The Spider, Nita is kidnapped once more.
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#44 / vol.11 no.4
May 1937
Devil's Pawnbroker
Author:
Emile C. Tepperman
Plot:
His secret identity blown, Wentworth plans to retire and marry; Iron-masked Professor Mephisto forces people to suicide by leveraging kidnapped loved-ones; Dick fakes his own death and The Spider returns!
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#45 / vol.12 no.1
June 1937
Voyage of the Coffin Ship
Author:
Emile C. Tepperman
Plot:
Wentworth, still thought dead, slips away with Nita for a peaceful cruise; Unfortuately two rival gangs war for the ship's gold cargo and The Spider must strike.
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#46 / vol.12 no.2
July 1937
The Man Who Ruled in Hell
Author:
Norvell Page
Plot:
The Red Hand unionizes NYC's criminals, and confounds police with simultaneous crimes; First appearance of Wentworth's Blinky McQuade underworld disguise; Ben Laskar is killed.
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#47 / vol.12 no.3
August 1937
Slaves of the Black Monarch
Author:
Wayne Rogers
Original Title:
Courts of Terror
Plot:
The Scarred Hand attacks the legal system by killing judges, witnesses, and even juries.
Note:
Rogers writes McQuade well, but Nita and Kirkpatrick horribly.
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#48 / vol.12 no.4
September 1937
Machine Guns over the White House
Author:
Norvell Page
Plot:
A dictator, controlled by an Eastern occult order and its lead vamp Yolanda, overthrows the US government; The Spider saves the President himself, who pardons him of all crimes on national radio.
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#49 / vol.13 no.1
October 1937
The City that Dared Not Eat
Author:
Wayne Rogers
Plot:
A false Spider organizes the underworld and uses mass murder and terror to drive up the price of food, causing people to flee the city, their possessions unguarded; Wentworth moves to Sutton Place super-fortress.
Note:
Rogers brings actual "weird menace" into the title. (Check that cover!)
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#50 / vol.13 no.2
November 1937
Master of the Flaming Horde
Author:
Norvell Page
Plot:
The Flame Master and his army of red-suited, blazing minions terrorize the city; People burst into flame; Nita is presumed dead.
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#51 / vol.13 no.3
December 1937
Satan's Switchboard
Author:
Wayne Rogers
Plot:
The Silencer uses kidnapped women and tapped phonelines for blackmail and enforced suicide—the insurance proceeds going to the crooks; And he has an acid-glove, like The Red Hand.
Note:
Moran Tudury takes over as editor, for the next two years.
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#52 / vol.13 no.4
January 1938
Legions of the Accursed Light
Author:
Norvell Page
Plot:
The Terror's Legions wear steel suits and carry death-rays, raiding prisons to gather a criminal mob to loot the Catskills and then march on New York City!
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#53 / vol.14 no.1
February 1938
The City of Lost Men
Author:
Wayne Rogers
Plot:
The Mask of Madness, in league with crooked politicians, uses a ray to drive people crazy—including Nita—in an effort to drive down real estate prices; Kirkpatrick is a fugitive from justice.
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#54 / vol.14 no.2
March 1938
The Gray Horde Creeps
Author:
Norvell Page
Plot:
Hordes of unkillable monster-men loot and kill through Kentucky; The Spider enters the fray, only to receive an injection that threatens to make him a monster too.
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#55 / vol.14 no.3
April 1938
City of Whispering Death
Author:
Norvell Page
Plot:
The Whisper of Doom organizes the underworld, tries to steal a ship full of gold, sets machine-gun traps, declares war on the poice, and tortures women in an old subway.
Note:
This novel never jells.
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#56 / vol.14 no.4
May 1938
When Thousands Slept in Hell
Author:
Wayne Rogers
Original Title:
Go to Sleep and Die
Plot:
The Sleeping Death charges all citizens a "sleeping tax" not to be murdered (by gas) in their sleep; Nita is seriously injured in a car crash; Apollo (back!) saves the day.
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#57 / vol.15 no.1
June 1938
Satan's Shackles
Author:
Wayne Rogers
Plot:
A vengeful ex-con and his army of NYC thugs terrorize upstate New York; The Spider ultimately charges into battle using the World War I tank that's been rusting on the village green!
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#58 / vol.15 no.2
July 1938
The Emperor from Hell
Author:
Norvell Page
Original Title:
The Underground Kingdom
Plot:
A Devil uses tons of anhydride powder to terrorize New Jersey and muscle into the New York rackets; Wentworth is hounded by an ex-detective who has the blood tests to prove that he is The Spider.
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#59 / vol.15 no.3
August 1938
The Devil's Candlesticks
Author:
Wayne Rogers
Original Title:
Crime Flies High
Plot:
Embittered genius seeks to destroy New York's uppercrust, using drugs, hypnotism, deadly Hindus, Kali satues brimming with snakes, trap doors, and trick stairways and halls; Ten girls wearing oil-soaked rags are made into a wick.
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#60 / vol.15 no.4
September 1938
The City that Paid to Die
Author:
Norvell Page
Original Title:
The Outlaw Legion
Plot:
Part 1 of 3. "The Party of Justice" establishes a totalitarian regime in New York State, complete with Black Police who stomp the lower classes, seize their property, and torture them in concentration camps.
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#61 / vol.16 no.1
October 1938
The Spider at Bay
Author:
Norvell Page
Plot:
Part 2 of 3. Three months have passed and the Black Police are now using germ warfare against the opposition; Wentworth, publicly "borrowing" The Spider's symbols, unifies the resistance; At one point, Kirkpatrick pretends to be The Spider too!
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#62 / vol.16 no.2
November 1938
Scourge of the Black Legions
Author:
Norvell Page
Plot:
Part 3 of 3. The rebellion now faces off against federal troops and they are driven out of NYC; Wentworth, wounded, infiltrates the Black Police and uses The Master's communication-mirrors against him.
Note:
Rushed, unsatisfying wrap-up to the ambitious series.
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#63 / vol.16 no.3
December 1938
The Withering Death
Author:
Wayne Rogers
Plot:
Rich old playboy searching for youth, creates a mummification serum instead, and immediately starts a crimewave; Mike Fogarty is mummified and dies.
Note:
Novel stretches cover-to-cover, no short stories.
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#64 / vol.16 no.4
January 1939
Claws of the Golden Dragon
Author:
Norvell Page
Plot:
The Dragon attacks gold shipments with bees and de-moralizes NYC with opium-laced cola and tea; Inhale his special orchid spores and six hours later you die with a blood-red orchid sprouting out of your chest; This fate befalls Ram, Jenkyns, Nita and Dick!
Note:
Page still has it!
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#65 / vol.17 no.1
February 1939
The Song of Death
Author:
Wayne Rogers
Plot:
Criminal genius projects song with super-amplifiers that drives men mad or kills with its vibrations; The Spider leads an army all dressed like himself.
Note:
Cover not painted by Howitt. Artist unknown.
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#66 / vol.17 no.2
March 1939
The Silver Death Rain
Author:
Norvell Page
Original Title:
The Silver Falcon Kills
Plot:
The Silver Falcon (aided by The Vixen) has trained owls to kill at the sight of red; Wentworth, framed again, is shot and paralyzed.
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#67 / vol.17 no.3
April 1939
Blight of the Blazing Eye
Author:
Wayne Rogers
Plot:
"Genghis Khan" and his Asian hordes strike with a concealed death ray that makes the blood boil, shot from the eyes of a Macy's Easter Rabbit, and later the Statue of Liberty!
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#68 / vol.17 no.4
May 1939
King of the Fleshless Legion
Author:
Norvell Page
Plot:
The floating, glowing apparition of The Skull and his skeleton attendants strike NYC; Wentworth, gassed, fears permanent damage to his heart, but struggles on against another fake Spider; Nita's cousin, Melissa Moulin makes an appearance.
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#69 / vol.18 no.1
June 1939
Rule of the Monster Men
Author:
Norvell Page
Plot:
The Wreck and his twisted cripples strike the World's Fair; Nita is surgically crippled (!!) and, too ashamed to return to Wentworth, takes up begging.
Note:
Page seems dramatically recommitted to the series.
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#70 / vol.18 no.2
July 1939
The Spider and the Slaves of Hell
Author:
Norvell Page
Original Title:
Slaves of Hell
Plot:
After a heart-attack, Kirkpatrick is replaced by hard-nosed, Spider-hating Sanford Dane; Wentworth is framed by The Butcher and shot by police so Nita becomes The Black Widow; Classic ending with The Spider scaling the sheer wall of a building while chained to heavy iron balls.
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#71 / vol.18 no.3
August 1939
The Spider and the Fire God
Author:
Norvell Page
Plot:
Kalki, the high priest of Vishnu, calls forth fire from the air and 10,000 people (in only one incident) burst into flame.
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#72 / vol.18 no.4
September 1939
The Corpse Broker
Author:
Wayne Rogers
Original Title:
Clutch of the Green Death
Plot:
Criminals can turn people into green corpses simply by pointing at them.
Note:
Rogers last novel. Disappears from Pulps shortly after.
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#73 / vol.19 no.1
October 1939
The Spider and the Eyeless Legion
Author:
Norvell Page
Original Title:
Eyeless Legions
Plot:
Criminals led by the obscenely fat Amoy squirt a gas that explodes eyeballs or induces glaucoma; At the end of the novel, The Spider must battle blind! BLIND!
Note:
Best Page novel in years. Rafael De Soto takes over as cover artist.
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#74 / vol.19 no.2
November 1939
The Spider and the Faceless One
Author:
Norvell Page
Original Title:
The Faceless One
Plot:
The scarred disguise artist Munro (in the first of three appearances) leads a suspenseful chase, pretending to be Kirkpatrick, Wentworth and Ram Singh at various times; Headquarters is now a high apartment at the Park Arms on 5th Ave.
Note:
Supporting roles much improved.
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#75 / vol.19 no.3
December 1939
Satan's Murder Machines
Author:
Norvell Page
Plot:
The Spider faces off against giant robots with fire-squirting fingers, using his bare hands, a truck, and even a captured robot, while Kirkpatrick actively dogs him once again.
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#76 / vol.19 no.4
January 1940
The Spider and the Pain Master
Author:
Emile C. Tepperman
Plot:
The Red Feather blackmails people into committing murder, and failing that, they are burnt up and a blood-dipped feather is laid upon the ash.
Note:
Loring Dowst becomes the editor through 8/42.
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#77 / vol.20 no.1
February 1940
Hell's Sales Manager
Author:
Norvell Page
Plot:
Red-robed The Brand raids, robs and explodes victims with The Bolt; The Spider is hunted by M. Raoul Chartres, formerly of Le Surete; Lots of false Spiders—including Nita when Wentworth is captured and drugged.
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#78 / vol.20 no.2
March 1940
Slaves of the Laughing Death
Author:
Norvell Page
Plot:
Munro returns with a laughing-suicide gas, a flesh-dissolving gas, and an emotion-stimulating ray; Meanwhile The Spider is tracked by a group of detectives called the Gotham Hounds.
Note:
First of seven covers depicting the real, vampiric Spider.
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#79 / vol.20 no.3
April 1940
The Man from Hell
Author:
Emile C. Tepperman
Original Title:
The Spider and the Queen of Hate
Plot:
Captured, blinded, and exposed as the Spider, Wentworth must fight Professor Secundus, "the new Satan," and fight-off his sexy daughter.
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#80 / vol.20 no.4
May 1940
The Spider and the War Emperor
Author:
Norvell Page
Original Title:
War Emperor
Plot:
Familiar tale of a Chinese "The Master" covering cholera, the US Senate, hypnotized police, underground passageways, and Nita threatened by an executioner's axe.
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#81 / vol.21 no.1
June 1940
Judgement of the Damned
Author:
Norvell Page
Plot:
Judge Torture makes good on his name, twisting bodies into his initials on lighted billboards, and roasting people on spits in storefront windows; He can also heat-up pointed guns and set fires with a "magic" (meaning electric) wand; Inspector Littlejohn now hunts The Spider.
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#82 / vol.21 no.2
July 1940
Dictator's Death Merchants
Author:
Emile C. Tepperman
Original Title:
Dictator's Death Agents
Plot:
El Crocodilo and his army of Central American natives blow up banks and buy up their stock with counterfiet money.
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#83 / vol.21 no.3
August 1940
The Pirates from Hell
Author:
Norvell Page
Plot:
LaFitte, the land pirate, blackmails manufacturers of war products and hijacks trains for war materials.
Note:
Number of included short stories reduced to one.
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#84 / vol.21 no.4
September 1940
Master of the Night-Demons
Author:
Emile C. Tepperman
Original Title:
Leader of the Night Demons
Plot:
Lilith and Asmodeus command two human monsters that kill by night.
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#85 / vol.22 no.1
October 1940
Council of Evil
Author:
Norvell Page
Original Title:
Crime's Blitzkrieg
Plot:
Six criminals with The Spider's seal on their foreheads, a beautiful girl, and a living dead man band together to organize crime; An amnesiatic Nita will testify that Wentworth is The Spider; Littlejohn takes over as Commissioner.
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#86 / vol.22 no.2
November 1940
The Spider and His Hobo Army
Author:
Norvell Page
Original Title:
Spider--Fifth Columnist
Plot:
An evil secret agent, head of the Double Cross, seeks to destroy battleships, politicians, industrialists, even the President—and take over the US; Rescued from fifth columnists by mission hobos, The Spider leads them in a patriotic final battle. "Come on, bums. Do you want to live forever?"
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#87 / vol.22 no.3
December 1940
The Spider and the Jewels of Hell
Author:
Norvell Page
Original Title:
The Jewels of Hell
Plot:
Savage action erupts around a beryllium mine in Colorado, featuring a weapon that explodes guns.
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#88 / vol.22 no.4
January 1941
Harbor of Nameless Dead
Author:
Norvell Page
Original Title:
Nameless Dead
Plot:
A spy network plots to destroy a dirigible that threatens to foil an invasion of the United States by sea; Nita is trapped in a vibrating bell jar.
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#89 / vol.23 no.1
February 1941
The Spider and the Slave Doctor
Author:
Norvell Page
Original Title:
Poison Pool
Plot:
The Red Mask and his band of criminals seek to control the drug industry; Wentworth tries to prove that a man is innocent of murder, by working within the law for once.
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#90 / vol.23 no.2
March 1941
The Spider and the Sons of Satan
Author:
Norvell Page
Original Title:
Yellow Hell
Plot:
Red Eyes blackmails criminals for a cut of their ill-gotten gains; The Spider is captured by paralyzing gas, his makeup is stripped and photos are made for blackmail purposes.
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#91 / vol.23 no.3
April 1941
Slaves of the Burning Blade
Author:
Norvell Page
Original Title:
City of the Dead
Plot:
The Knife, an international criminal, terrorizes Sperryville; Also involved are the police, and the Knights of Liberty, a vigilante pack run amok.
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#92 / vol.23 no.4
May 1941
The Devil's Paymaster
Author:
Norvell Page
Original Title:
The Golden Ghost
Plot:
The Ghost sears innocent victims with radioactive silver dollars, and seeks control of a beam that creates artificial radioactivity; Jackson meets and marries The Ghost's half-sister, Marianne Harcourt.
Note:
"The Web" becomes a letters column.
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#93 / vol.24 no.1
June 1941
Benevolent Order of Death
Author:
Norvell Page
Plot:
The supposedly patriotic Benevolent Order of Americans is twisted by The Boss in an effort to take over New York; Nita infiltrates, and later takes on the guise of The Spider when Wentworth is shot in the back; Marianne learns The Spider's true identity.
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#94 / vol.24 no.2
July 1941
Murder's Black Prince
Author:
Norvell Page
Plot:
The Spider battles The Brotherhood, who worship Kali the Destroyer and follow The Man in the Cowl; He is also vexed by the crimes of slave Lona Deeping—with whom Kirkpatrick has fallen madly in love!
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#95 / vol.24 no.3
August 1941
The Spider and the Scarlet Surgeon
Author:
Norvell Page
Original Title:
The Scarlet Surgeon
Plot:
The Philanthropist can change people's personalities through brain surgery; Dick, Ram, Nita and Kirkpatrick all come under his knife; Lona attempts to make up for her past crimes as The Face.
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#96 / vol.24 no.4
September 1941
The Spider and the Deathless One
Author:
Norvell Page
Original Title:
Deathless One
Plot:
Munro returns for the last time, to wreck the US defense effort; In disguise, he gets Kirkpatrick discredited and Wentworth is named Acting Police Commissioner.
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#97 / vol.25 no.1
October 1941
Satan's Seven Swordsmen
Author:
Norvell Page
Original Title:
Samurai Fuji
Plot:
Dr. Fuji directs unstoppable samurai to sink the Navy with midget torpedo submarines; Lona and The Spider are both hypnotized to do Dr. Fuji's bidding; Kirkpatrick proposes to Lona.
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#98 / vol.25 no.2
November 1941
Volunteer Corpse Brigade
Author:
Norvell Page
Plot:
The Spider teams with a recovering crime boss against Smiler Miordan who's mob throws eggs injected with a quick-acting leprosy; Ingenue Jinnie Combes is based on real-life fan Virginia Combs (aka Nanek); Kirkpatrick and Lona marry.
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#99 / vol.25 no.3
December 1941
The Crime Laboratory
Author:
Norvell Page
Original Title:
The Spider and The Crime Corporatio
Plot:
(n) The Spider frames a corrupt DA for murder to draw out a pack of criminals; The crooks skillfully club The Spider to amnesia, and he becomes a flunky of the gang; Nita becomes The Spider to effect a rescue and is captured; Can The Spider free the DA from Sing-Sing?
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#100 / vol.25 no.4
January 1942
Death and The Spider
Author:
Norvell Page
Plot:
100th issue! Wentworth teams with his Tibetan teacher Mar-lar-delan to fight Death himself, who uses fatal hypnotism in his plans to destroy America—or at minimum the President and Vice President.
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#101 / vol.26 no.1
February 1942
Murder's Legionnaires
Author:
Norvell Page
Original Title:
Murder Legionaires
Plot:
The Devil can kill with but a single stare; The city is in shambles; Kirkpatrick is on his honeymoon and Xavier Francis is Acting Police Commissioner.
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#102 / vol.26 no.2
March 1942
The Gentleman From Hell
Author:
Norvell Page
Original Title:
Hills of Hell
Plot:
The Faceless Cavalier can wither your limbs with a single touch; Nita is captive in a temple of drug-inflamed women; Wentworth is arrested and jailed.
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#103 / vol.26 no.3
April 1942
Slaves of the Ring
Author:
Norvell Page
Original Title:
Government of Murder
Plot:
In New Amsterdam, New York, The Spider aids a crusading editor that takes on a Nazi/KKK-like organization.
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#104 / vol.26 no.4
May 1942
The Spider and the Death Piper
Author:
Norvell Page
Original Title:
Slaves of the Fleshless Minstrel
Plot:
In Martinville, music from nowhere drives men to madness, murder, and suicide.
Note:
This issue includes the Spider short story Wings of Kali by Page.
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#105 / vol.27 no.1
June 1942
Revolt of the Underworld
Author:
Norvell Page
Plot:
Organized by The Fox, the underworld declares war on The Spider; Wentworth is framed for Nita's murder and accused of being an enemy agent.
Note:
This issue includes the Spider short story Blood Bond by Page.
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#106 / vol.27 no.2
July 1942
Return of the Racket Kings
Author:
Norvell Page
Plot:
The Snake, the new Boss of American crime, reinstitutes old-fashioned gangsterism.
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#107 / vol.27 no.3
August 1942
Fangs of the Dragon
Author:
Norvell Page
Plot:
A glowing, flying dragon threatens to bite the citizens of Bethbury, causing their ids to run unchecked; In this issue and the next, Nita and Dick fight side-by-side, both dressed as The Spider.
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#108 / vol.27 no.4
September 1942
Hell Rolls on the Highways!
Author:
Norvell Page
Original Title:
Hell's High Road
Plot:
The Evangelist seeks to take over the nation's truck and bus system, aided by the beautiful slave Kalimumtaz—with whom Ram Singh has fallen violently in love!
Note:
Harry Widmer now responsible editor.
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#109 / vol.28 no.1
October 1942
Army of the Damned
Author:
Norvell Page
Plot:
Wentworth disguises himself as the Mayor of Bentonville, New York, to get to the bottom of a national conspiracy to frame the sons of law enforcement officials, send them to prison, and there, recruit them to a life of crime.
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#110 / vol.28 no.2
November 1942
Zara-Master of Murder
Author:
Norvell Page
Original Title:
The Great God Murder
Plot:
Zara seeks to kill The Spider and hypnotize the world.
Note:
Several new interior illustrators take over for John Fleming Gould, including someone signing their work "Farren."
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#111 / vol.28 no.3
December 1942
The Spider and the Flame King
Author:
Norvell Page
Original Title:
The Flame King
Plot:
The giant, masked Flame King terrorizes an oil town racked by criminals, crooked police, and nitroglycerine.
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#112 / vol.28 no.4
January 1943
The Howling Death
Author:
Norvell Page
Plot:
The Master (yet another one) ravages a small town with poison gas that makes victims howl and die; The town is quarantined, but The Spider leads an exodus on Christmas Eve.
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#113 / vol.29 no.1
February 1943
Secret City of Crime
Author:
Norvell Page, rewritten by Robert Turner
Plot:
The Brain (CEO of Perfect Crimes, Inc.) has recreated city streets under NYC as a training ground where criminals can fine-tune their villainy.
Note:
The beginning of a new editorial direction requiring "more emotional impact, involving real people in crime."
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#114 / vol.29 no.2
March 1943
Recruit for the Spider Legion
Author:
Norvell Page
Plot:
The Master—this one worships Kali and has a single eye on his forehead—is doing away with honest men so he can take over the city; Kirkpatrick becomes a hunted criminal and finally finds sympathy for The Spider.
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#115 / vol.29 no.3
June 1943
The Spider and the Man from Hell
Author:
Norvell Page, rewritten by Robert Turner
Original Title:
The Man from Hell
Plot:
In the pay of enemy agents, The Man from Hell (aka The Boss) plots to wreck national morale with poison gas, torture devices, etc.; Typical story, but with tighter more realistic prose.
Note:
Issues decrease to 98 pages because of the war, but with more lines of type per page; Beatrice Jones, responsible editor.
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#116 / vol.29 no.4
August 1943
The Criminal Horde
Author:
Norvell Page, rewritten by Robert Turner
Plot:
This time the District Attorney himself organizes the city's criminals; He also does the disguise thing, framing Wentworth and The Spider, just to be sure.
Note:
Robert Turner, responsible editor
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#117 / vol.30 no.1
October 1943
The Spider and Hell's Factory
Author:
Norvell Page, rewritten by Robert Turner
Original Title:
The Devil's Murder Factory
Plot:
The Chief (yet another one) tricks defense workers into huge gambling debts so they can be forced to reveal war secrets; Teens are given dope and sent on a crime spree as a distraction.
Note:
W. Ryerson Johnson, responsible editor
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#118 / vol.30 no.2
December 1943
When Satan Came to Town
Author:
Prentice Winchell(aka Stewart Stirling)
Original Title:
The Spider's Raid
Plot:
The Conqueror's mob grips the Chicago-like city of Garago, but their eyes are set on the state, the nation, and then the world; Wentworth and Nita infiltrate the gang and work their way up.
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