 New York is under seige!
Here comes the Fleshless Legion down 5th! The Eyeless
Legion has staked out Bleeker! And there, on the A train, aren't
those Legions of the Accursed Light?!? This is not a job
for a hero that shoots webs...this is a job for a hero that shoots
first!
Long before Spider-Man (but inspiring a young Stan Lee), The Spider took
on extreme menaces in the rotten Apple, dispensing .45 calliber justice
and bleak lessons in Service and Will Power. While it's clear in the novels
that he's stiking fear in the hearts of the villains, I think anyone else
would just get the willies--check out this get-up, which refuses to capitalize
on a cool name: Hook nose, vampiric fangs, a lanky fright wig and a hump-back!
(For more on the Spider's look...)
What R.T.M. Scott set up in the first two novels as a simple alias for
amateur criminologist Richard Wentworth, writer Norvel Page turned into
a separate, twisted identity that would wipe up the tumultuous streets
of New York with human filth. Not content simply navigating the logistics
of confrontations with, say, The Devil's Pawnbroker, Page
did all the other pulps one better by giving his characters an emotional
life -- a harrowing one. Most novels cover emotional ground with a wild
topography to match it's over-the-top action set pieces! Guaranteed
to be like nothing you've ever read before!
These are the characters that inhabit this feverish pulp world:
Richard Wentworth -- The Spider!
The original playboy/dark crime-fighter!
Why has Dick Wentworth appointed himself judge, jury and executioner? How'd
he get it in his head that he is an ungrateful humanity's personal savior?
This is never explained. Not burdened by modern pop-psychology, the writers
felt no need to rationalize one man's relentless crusade against obvious
injustice and depredation. Wentworth moves seamlessly from social circles
to circles of Hell, at all times The Spider -- at all times deadly!
Warren Hull from the Columbia Serial The Spider's Web (87k)
wav
Nita Van Sloan
So devoted to Richard Wentworth and his one-man crusade, she's been
known to take up a one-woman crusade when the Spider's been laid low with
blood loss or imprisonment. Theirs is a tragic love -- played to the hilt
-- because they cannot "selfishly" enjoy a life together until
The Spider's Work is complete. And Wentworth refuses to marry on the grounds
that were it ever revealed he is the Spider -- a killer hunted by the police
-- it would bring disgrace to Nita and any family they may build together.
Iris Meredith from the Columbia Serial The Spider's
Web (35k) wav
| 
Ram Singh
Faithfull Hindu aide. Best at serving his master the heads
of his enemies.
Kenneth Duncan from the Columbia
Serial The Spider's Web (107k) wav |
Jackson
Jackson served under Wentworth in the Great War. Now he's
a chauffer/sidekick.
Richard Fisk from the Columbia
Serial The Spider's Web (35k) wav |
Here's a list
of The Spider's adventures.
Also a great read if you're looking for a good band name!
Look for recent reprints by Carrol & Graf at your local
bookstore (best bet: mystery bookstore). Or check out the electronic selection
from Vintage New
Media, including a sample chapter.
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