THE CONDEMNATION OF CROW
An Anthology
By Joel Jenkins
Pulpwork Press
287 pgs
One of New Pulp’s most exciting
characters is Indian shaman, bounty hunter and gunslinger, Lone Crow, created
by writer Joel Jenkins. The last of his tribe, Crow travels the post Civil-War
west encountering all manner of supernatural horrors which he is fates to
battle. With this collection, Jenkins brings together ten of Crow’s adventures
written over a period of three years.
Each is a gem of weird western thrills.
“True Love” is set in New Orleans
immediately after the end of the war and has Crow falling head over heels in
love with a beautiful prostitute named Candide only to discover a Mexican
gunfighter is also enamored of her. The two agree to a duel to be held at night
in a nearby cemetery and it is there they encounter an ages old horror still
exiting beneath the ground.
“Shaman” at two pages is easily
Joel’s shortest piece ever. Reads as if it was meant to be a connecting thread
to other tales. In “The Vorpal Tomahawk,” Lone Crow crossed paths with none
other than Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson in the Oklahoma badlands. A different
kind of encounter for sure. With “Blood For the Jaguar,” Lone Crow and his
bounty-hunting partner, Six-Gun Susanna Johnson cross paths with her
ex-husband, a gunfighter capable of enducing illusions in others.
“The Summoner’s Sacrifice,” has Crow
going to Salt Lake City to investigate the brutal murder of a local business.
The victim’s body, torn to shred, was discovered stretched across a crudely
painted pentagram and the local constable is afraid the killer is a demon that
still might be on the loose. Next up is the “Suicide Ride,” a two page gem
about a jilted Indian maid brilliantly delivered. One of the best stories in
the collection. With “Dead Before Sunrise,” Crow and friend Shotgun Ferguson
find themselves trapped underground in a city of ghouls. Crow and his friends
battle alien horrors emerging from a crashed meteor in “It Fell From The Sky.”
At this point in the collection, we
come to the only story not written by Jenkins. It is a Charles St. Cyprian
story by fellow New Pulp scribe, “The Third Death of Henry Antrim” is a
surprise bonus, especially the connection between the Royal Occultist and Lone
Crow.
The book’s final yarn, “The
Condemnation of Crow,” is the longest and has the Indian shaman working
alongside Deputy Marshal Wyatt Earp and Texas Lawyer Temple Houston to battle a
weird menace terrorizing Dodge City. All too quickly the trio find themselves
in the middle of a war between a corrupt judge and railroad tycoon, one of
which is the source of the supernatural force. A page turner and excellent tale
to conclude what is a really great pulp collection. Proving once again that writer Joel Jenkins
is star in the New Pulp community.
