If you missed the last one….
Strange Detectives is a new collection from RAGE m a c h i n e Books and G. W. Thomas offering the mystery cases of odd detectives like Richard Delamare and his Watson, Bainbridge, set in Edwardian England. Delamare squares off against an ancient evil that is guarded by a pack of severed hands, a sockful of ghosts, and even a shapeshifter who wants to breed a race of living dead men. Also included is the short novel “The Case of the Phantom Legion” featuring Baron von Klarnstein and the Athenodorians in 1920s America. If you like monsters and detectives, this is the book for you!
Strange Detectives brings you another of comics most famous ghostbreakers…Dr. Neff! The idea of a stage performer who knows all the tricks and can catch the fakes and cheats was taken from real life. Harry Houdini spent his extra time debunking mediums as he told in his “The Hoax of the Spirit Lover” in Weird Tales, April 1924 and in his letter column called “Ask Houdini”. Harry set the bar for those who came after. In the comic strips it was Lee Falk’s Mandrake the Magician, who appeared for the first time July 11, 1934. Mandrake spawned a horde of caped stage performers who also solved crimes or defeated villains in the Houdini tradition.
In the comic books, the two men who created Superman gave us Dr. Occult. Occult was followed by many other “doctors” like Street & Smith’s Dr. Bill Neff, a famous magician and ghostbreaker. His cases are always explained Horror, with the culprits using strange poisons or Hollywood style theatrics. Like Dr. Terence Thirteen (who will appear three years later), he is a Houdini-like catcher of frauds. Neff even has hair similar to Harry’s coiffe.
As you will read in the text feature below, Bill Neff and his hometown pal, Jimmy Stewart (Yes, THAT Jimmy Stewart!) got their start doing magic shows. Jimmy went on to become a big Hollywood star and Neff created his stage show “Madhouse of Mystery”. Eventually, Neff became an authority on all matters supernatural.
By the time Neff finds his way to Ghost Breakers Comics, he is written by Walter B. Gibson. Gibson was famous as the writer of The Shadow for Street & Smith but he was also a professional magician. Who better to pen this comic?
Red Dragon Comics
“The Zombie Master” (Red Dragon Comics #3, May 1948) was written by an unknown author. Vaslav Dobony sees Neff’s show with its fake ghosts and gets hired to do something about the phantoms at Mallory Manor. He takes Miss Mallory, the owner, with him, arming her with magic tricks like The Red Fire. A gang of criminals led by the notorious Drade try to frighten the investigators away. Drade has turned men into zombies using a tropical fruit laced with a drug. Neff zaps Drade, only to find he is Mr. Dobony.
“Bill (Dr.) Neff” (Red Dragon Comics #3, May 1948) was written by an unknown author. This piece outlines Neff’s early days and welcomes him to Red Dragon Comics. (Where he will not appear again!)
Ghost Breaker
“Doctor Neff Chases the Jinx from Hoodoo City” (Ghost Breaker #1, September 1948) was written by Walter B. Gibson. Neff and friends arrive in Hood City to see that the town’s sign has been changed to “Hoodoo City”. They find rooms easily because a supposed jinx rests on the place. Neff fights the idea by putting up posters that offer $5000 to anyone who can supply proof of a real jinx. (Neff is slick. He allows a falling bucket from a ladder to take out a black cat, preventing him from both dangers.) We learn the jinxes are created by a “jinx master” named Telsa. (A reversal of Tesla?) He is working with the villain Drade. The robed baddies kidnap Neff’s assistants, leading the ghostbreaker to an old mine. Neff uses magic tricks to frighten the crooks and arrest them.
“Doctor Neff Confronts the Hang-Kow Demons” (Ghost Breaker #1, September 1948) was written by Walter B. Gibson. In Chinatown, robbers disguised as demons make a daring getaway. We learn the criminals made a mistake, taking a million Chinese dollars, worth very little. They return, trying to exchange the cash for greenbacks. Neff lights their costumes on fire. The thieves run off and reveal themselves to be white.
“Doctor Neff Cracks the Menacing of the Vanishing Ghosts” (Ghost Breaker #1, September 1948) was written by Walter B. Gibson. During one of Neff’s performance, a group of men appear dressed as ghosts. (One man runs away saying, “The Gh…Gh…Gh…Gh…Ghosts!” like a character in a Casper cartoon.) Neff and his friends send them packing with a few well-placed punches. The costumed ghosts are a gang who scare off the locals so they can pillage small towns. Drade is back, leading the gang. The fake ghosts break up another of Neff’s shows before cracking the local bank’s safe. Again, Neff drives them into the open with magic tricks and they are arrested. It is a strange trope: the fake ghost frightened by another fake ghost.
“Doctor Neff Blasts the Voodoo Hoodoo” (Ghost Breaker #2, December 1948) was written by Walter B. Gibson. This one begins with the villain, Papa Bezan, calling all of his Voodoo followers to go to Neff’s show. Bezan’s agent, Cajo, attacks Neff during the performance but the magician counters all his moves with better ones. After the show, Neff is invited to a special Voodoo ceremony being held by a Mrs. Eustace. He ventures into the swamp along with his hostess and Papa Bezan. Papa tries to kill the others but Neff uses his magic tricks to save her and defeat the Voodoo worshiper.
“The Chateau of Shadows” (Ghost Breaker #2, December 1948) was written by Walter B. Gibson. In Boston, Neff is visited by the Baroness de Merele and her daughter. The Baroness recounts how her home became haunted by the ghost of her late husband, Pierre, who fell down the stairs. Neff comes to the mansion to duel with the ghost. In the end, he proves it isn’t real, but a figment of the Baroness’s mind. She went insane when her jewels were sold against her will.
Racket Squad in Action
The Dr. Neff character was transferred to Charlton Comics for their new magazine, Racket Squad in Action. These stories were written by an unknown author.
“The Blackmail Racket” (Racket Squad in Action #3, September-October 1952) has Inspector O’Malley and Mary Quigley of the Racket Squad approach Neff to help them with a fake medium named Professor Lorenzo. During the seance the spirits of the departed take jewels and other offers. Neff and the Racket Squad quickly show this is a scam and arrest Lorenzo.
“The Spirit Photo Racket” (Racket Squad in Action #4, December 1952) has a gang of robbers escape capture but find out the next day that the old lady thinks her house is haunted. Skeet, the leader of the gang, pays off his flunkies and begins haunting the house and stealing thousands. Skeet gives the victim faked photos to prove her husband walks again. Neff and the inspector grab Skeet, prove his photos fake and flip one of his flunkies to give evidence against him.
“Spirit Post Office” (Racket Squad in Action #5, February 1953) begins with Swami Durbar scamming a rich, old lady, Mrs. Witherby. He produces forged letters written in the handwriting of the deceased. Witherby moans that the letter is so short. Durbar tells her to place larger amounts of money into the mystic frame to get longer letters. The old lady’s niece is hip to the scammers and brings in Neff. The magician ruins the grift by substituting his own slate and letter, declaring Durbar a phoney.
“It’s Time to Watch Out” (Racket Squad in Action #6, April 1953) starts with Neff being present at a seance given by Professor Mordaunt, another turbaned fake. He summons the spirit of the late nephew, Ronald. Neff does his thing and finds the balloon that Mordaunt uses to make his ghosts. Neff reveals the medium gave himself away by wearing two watches. The villain can’t escape because he allowed Neff to put real handcuffs on him as part of the act.
Eleven cases in five years and not one real ghost in the lot. Some old comics had a bit of problem with real monsters in an Ann Radcliffe kind of way. Characters like DC’s Terence Thirteen, a chip off the Neff block, usually side with reason and not the supernatural. There were others who did not do this. Which you prefer is a matter of taste, of course. You may like your detectives to be strictly in the Mystery genre. I, of course, do not. I am a John Constantine, Johnny Peril and Baron Winters kinda guy. I like my detectives strange.
Conclusion
Dr. Neff reminds me of a one-season show from 1973 called The Magician. It starred Bill Bixby (who wasn’t turning green just yet!) Stage magician, Tony Blake, solves mysteries, sometimes ones that feel supernatural. As a kid I was most impressed with his card-throwing techniques. The creators probably had no idea who Dr. Neff was but the tradition of spooky magician lived on from the Pulps and comics with men like Walter B. Gibson and Norvell W. Page. For more on The Magician, go here.
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