The Sleazy Reader issue 9

I am an avid reader of Justin Marriott’s popular pulp fiction-related fanzines, which currently include THE PAPERBACK FANATIC, MEN OF VIOLENCE, PULP HORROR, MONSTER MANIACS, HOT LEAD and THE SLEAZY READER. They’re all great, and Issue #9 of the SLEAZY READER is one of the best he’s produced. It’s “sleazy” topics focus on vintage crime paperbacks, magazines and comics that contain stories and artwork with violence and sex that are not porn, but which did push up against the boundaries of censorship in the ‘50s, ‘60s and early ‘70s — the stuff that was (and often still is) attacked by self-righteous, clueless critics who fail to understand the appeal over-the-top, escapist pulp fiction. If, like me, you love such stuff, then you’ll love SLEAZY READER #9. It’s a treasure trove of information about vintage books, magazines and comics that are “sleaze” classics. The lushly-illustrated articles are among the best-researched and most interesting overviews I’ve ever read about various pulp sleaze publications and topics, including: crime digest magazines like TRAPPED, OFF BEAT, and GUILTY DETECTIVE; the stories Harlan Ellison wrote for crime digest mags early in his career; Monarch’s true crime Mafia “celebrity” paperbacks; the Belmont Tower mob novels written by pulp action/adventure Grandmaster Peter McCurtin; the late ‘40s and early ‘50s crime comics like CRIME DOES NOT PAY that helped create the anti-comics hysteria leading to the 1954 Comics Code; the once hugely-popular TRUE DETECTIVE magazine; “sleaze noir” paperbacks; and, crime-related paperbacks that were deemed to violate the New Zealand’s “Indecent Publications” law. The background information provided in THE SLEAZY READER #9 is both fascinating and hard to find anywhere else. The full-color cover and interior scans are eye-poppingly cool. I give it 5 enthusiastic stars!

With its emphasis on digest magazines, this issue of The Sleazy Reader (No. 9) is my favorite thus far. The digest-centric contents include an overview of Manhunt contemporaries like Trapped, Guilty, Hunted, Pursuit, etc.; a piece on Pontiac Publishing’s Sure Fire, Off Beat, and Two-Fisted Detective Stories; a review of Off Beat Jan. 1960; and “The Mad Dog of Digests” highlighting the crime fiction of Harlan Ellison. Plenty to make this issue a must-have for digest enthusiasts, but there’s much more.Two pre-code crime comics: Crime Does Not Pay and Fight Against Crime are strapped in the hot seat for a brutal interrogation. Mafia mania gets a nod with pieces on the Americana line from Monarch Books, The Godfather Series (beyond Mario Puzo), and Belmont’s novels by Peter McCurtin. TSR transitions from the series Mafia Operation to the sleazy side of Joe Riggs and Peter Chambers via “Investigated Sleaze-Noir.”Johnny Marr of Murder Can Be Fun fame, traces the peaks and valleys of the greatest true crime magazine, True Detective, over its remarkable seventy-two-year reign. By the time the issue winds down, there’s still room for a piece on the banned books of New Zealand, and M.E. Knerr’s Mike Travis series. Whew, there’s something for nearly every genre book lover in this issue.

Oh-so prolific Justin Marriott's latest is jam-packed with hard-boiled facts & fun. Right out of the barrel I learn that Monarch & Charlton are related (two long-time favorite publishers of mine), which is a nice set-up to the mix of paperbacks and comics books documented here. I always like the inclusion of of comic book material, and this issue has some really tough panels. "True Detective" mag has been well discussed elsewhere, but here the panoply of covers shown by Johnny Marr is outstanding. Maybe because I grew up in a household where Oscar Fraley's Untouchables books were always on the bookshelf I missed them here, so they would be a neat inclusion for Crime Special 2. Lastly, loving a nympho devil worshipper can be fatal is always good advice.

For decades I have been collecting the extremely rare and expensive digest sized crime fiction magazines. I'm talking about the hard boiled tough imitators of the king of them all, MANHUNT. This issue discusses GUILTY, TRAPPED, TWO FISTED, and other rare titles. The editor mentions that he may schedule a second issue discussing these great magazines and I hope he does. This was the best issue of the nine Sleazy Readers.

Not only did this have an article on Harlan Ellison and his early crime stories, but there was a very interesting article on some of the pulp magazines from the 50’s and 60’s. Anyone who has any interest in that era will like this book. Recommended.

Love this pulp crime issue, with a focus on all manner of Manhunt knockoffs and EC imitators. Especially enjoyed the article on Fight Against Crime and the perfect illustrations of just how over-the-top these comics were. Well worth the money, and hope they do more issues focusing on this topic!

I like things that are sleazy. This particular issue is really great.