Background artist unknown, after Howitt
The Spider TM & ©
Argosy Communications, Inc.
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Detectives Y Bandidos
I thought it would be a good idea to put together all the information about
Detectives Y Bandidos that I've gleaned from the recent eBay listings
and the two Spider issues I was lucky enough to get my hands on.
For Spider fans, this gives a fuller picture of the Mexican magazine that
reprinted it, and beyond that I hope this spare listing can aid other pulp researchers online.
Detectives Y Bandidos was launched by Publicaciones Herrerias, S.A. (General Manager Ignacio F. Herrerias)
in the late 1930s as part of a mini-explosion of pulp fiction publishing in Mexico.
At the time Herrerias also published Mujeres Y Deportes, Cuentos Y Novelas, Chamaco, and Novedades.
Bandidos reprinted translated English works along side
Mexican fiction, and the subtitle "semanario policiaco" suggests they did this weekly.
The copying of American Shadow covers without including a Shadow story inside
suggests that copyrights were a secondary concern.
Details of known issues
5 out of the six recorded issues below contain 194 saddle-stitched pages plus cover, the other only 130 pages.
The paper used is thinner and smoother (better) than that used in American pulp magazines, but not "slick."
The cover doesn't seem to be glossy, but it is on a stiffer stock. The magazine is trimmed, but poorly;
The trim size is slightly under 5.5"x7.5".
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This issue is dated (in roman numerals) May 24, 1937 (a Monday). I could not find an issue number, but it could be #4 or #5.
The cover and lead story are adaptated from The Spider's "Death Reign of the Vampire King" (November 1935).
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(Click for 125% of original)
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El Rey de los Vampiros by Grant Stockbridge
El brillante desaparecido by Agatha Christie
Fuego y sangre by Luis Polanqui
Cómo semata by Eulesius
El hampa cree en el mal de ojo by R. G. A. Grun
La pupila verde by Sax Rohmer
Error macabro by Dorothy Sayers
Los diamantes de Boulardeau by Andrés Lichtenberger
La hostería de la muerte by Pedro Bouchardon
La máquina infernal by Pedro Boileau
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This is issue #16, dated August 12, 1937. The cover and lead story are adapted from "Reign of the Snake Men" (December 1936).
That story by Emile Tepperman is fourth in a series of Living Pharoah tales, but it is not yet known whether
Detectives Y Bandidos reprinted the others before it; The fact that the title was changed to "The Return of the Pharoah.."
is encouraging, though.
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(Click for 125% of original)
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El regreso del Faraón y los leprosos by Grant Srockbridge [sic]
La fabrica de moneda falsa by Nick Carter
El castigo del satiro by Noel Pricot
Esta noche, ¡La fortuna! by Bernardo Nabonne
¡Lo mato con una cerilla! by Fred Charles Buse
Josuah el profeta by Juan Dorsenne
El Cofrecillo de Ebano by G.A. Carey
Los hombres morenos by Pierre Boileau
El fin de un mesalina by Juan Castellano
El marido de la chiquilla by Geo Guasco
Central Park by Aubrey Smith
Drama Campesino by Noel Pricot
Muerte Sospechosa by Pol Prille
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This issue is dated 1937. The cover appears to be copied from a Phantom Detective pulp,
yet there is no Phantom story inside.
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(Click for larger)
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La venganza de la calavera by J. Neumann
El último aplauso a la artista by Anthony Field
La caída del último jefe de la "Ogpu" by Marvin Campbell
El hombre que estaba muerto a Saint story by Leslie Charteris
El castillo condenado by Mildred Show Gearson
Sangre en las colinas by Jean Bazal
El pasaporte diplomático by Frederick Bruner
La antropófaga blanca by Andrés G. Block
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This issue is also from 1937. The cover is repainted from a well-known Shadow,
yet Maxwell Grant is not listed among the authors. Besides the fiction listed below,
the issue features a 35-page article on John Dillinger with photos, and another piece on the
murder of Henrietta Schmerler.
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(Click for larger)
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El esqueleto de la capa escarlata by J. Neumann
Los espantosos crímenes de un loco en libertad by Felipe Artois
Cuando la muerte se viste de amarillo by Arthur L. Zagat
"La Isabel" by Augusto Bailly
El hombre de los juguetes a Saint story by Leslie Charteris
¿Suicida? No, asesisnada by Nick Carter
El monje asesino by Abbas Kamel
Paseos de medianoche by Emmanuel Car
F. M. R. by Pierre Boileau
Los niños desesperados by Jorge Rathelot
Pesadilla by Will Scott
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This issue was listed as #56 and dated May 19, 1938 (a Thursday). It is only 130 pages.
Here is a second example of a Shadow magazine cover, with no Shadow story accompanying it inside.
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(Click for larger)
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La sentencia en el espejo by Austin Weyland
Una noche de terror by Thomas W. Prince
¡Chinta Aznar! by Antonio B. Quijano
Chapopote: ¡Muerte! by Mirin D. Green
El canto de la sirena by Alfred Brandon
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**This last listing from eBay has very specific data in terms of issue numbering
and publication date, but it doesn't add up.**
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This issue was listed as "#58" dated "April 31, 1938" (before issue #56 and there IS NO April 31).
The cover is believed to have been copied from an American Charlie Chan movie poster.
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(Click for larger)
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Una tragedia en el Ártico by W. M. Meirer
El hombre del ojo fotográfico by Joe Massal
El rescate del muerte by Harry Read
La heroica belleza de Reno by Hollis B. Fultz
El crimen del General Haas by Nick Carter
Los últimos triunfos de Charlie Chan by Earl Derr Biggers
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If you have any additional information that could give readers a more complete picture of Detectives Y Bandidos magazine's
publishing history, please e-mail me!
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