Thursday, September 1, 2016

The Spider 21 - Hordes of the Red Butcher

Hordes of the Red Butcher
by Norvell Page as Grant Stockbridge
The Spider 021
June, 1935




A horde of neanderthals roam rural America, immune to bullets, slaughtering everyone before them with spears and hammers.  The first part has pretty strong action, and it's interesting to see the Spider in a rural setting.

Wentworth is framed for murder and arrested, leaving Nita and Ram Signh to prove his innocence.  Nita goes full Dexter and orders the torture murder of a hood to gain information.  When chauffeur Jackson calls her on it she says she'll murder twenty men, including him, to free her man.

This development turns out to be a cop out, as Ram Signh is ordered things like "Go to Europe, find the suspect, and bring him back to New York", which all occurs off page.

Commissioner Kirkpatrick is now governor but Wentworth refuses to ask for a pardon.  This leads to a lot of heated drama between Kirkpatrick and Nita about who loves Wentworth more.

Thinks look rough for Wentworth, until Professor Brownlee invents a knock-out gas bomb that can render the entire prison unconscious for over twelve hours.  The gang go after the neanderthals and, again, gas bombs.  You can do pretty much anything you want with these things.  No reason the Spider can't just put the entire city to sleep every time he wants to solve a crime.

As much as I complain about Scooby Doo endings, this one could have really used it.  They are actual neanderthals, and after their capture Wentworth tells the authorities they can sell them to zoos or museums for $1000 a piece.

Audiobook available on Audible.


No comments:

Post a Comment