Magazine Data File

Magazine Data Page 56
Magazine Issues

Black Mask [1920]

Total Issues: 100+232+7+1+2=342 (as at Jul-2017)

Black Mask started life fairly innocuously as a general pulp running all types of fiction from adventure to romance to westerns. However, it was the advent of Joseph T. Shaw as editor in November 1926 that saw Black Mask transformed into what is generally regarded as the finest detective pulp magazine ever published. Even though Shaw was fired in 1936, the magazine continued with a consistently high standard into the early 1950s, reaching a total of 340 issues.

Issues & Index Sources

Apr-1920 – Apr-1927, as The Black Mask:

Crime Fiction Index

May-1927 – Mar-1950, as Black Mask:

Crime Fiction Index

May-1950 – May-1951, as Black Mask Detective:

Crime Fiction Index

Jul-1951, as Black Mask Detective Magazine:

Crime Fiction Index

#merges with Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine

Fall 2016 – present, as Black Mask:

Crime Fiction Index

(Missing: any after Spring 2017)

Publishers

  Apr-1920 – Apr-1940: Pro-Distributors Publishing Company, Inc., 25 West 45th Street, New York, NY
  Jun-1940 – Jul-1951: Popular Publications, Inc., 2256 Grove Street, Chicago, IL
  Fall 2016 – present: Altus Press

Website

www.altuspress.com/product-category/altus-press-products/pulp-magazines/

Editors

  Apr-1920 – Sep-1922: F.M. Osborne
  Oct-1922 – 15-Mar-1924: George W. Sutton, Jr.
  Apr-1924 – Oct-1926: Philip C. Cody
  Nov-1926 – Nov-1936: Joseph T. Shaw
  Dec-1936 – Apr-1940: Fanny Ellsworth
  Jun-1940 – Nov-1948: Ken White
  Dec-1948 – Jul-1951: none listed
  Fall 2016 – present: Matthew Moring

Formats

standard pulp

Pagecounts

128pp

Frequency

  Apr-1920 – Jan-1923: monthly
  Feb-1923 – 15-Apr-1924: twice monthly
  May-1924 – Mar-1943: monthly
  May-1943 – Jul-1951: bimonthly
  Fall 2016 – present: semiannually

Sources

The Adventure House Guide to the Pulps, Ultimate Guide to the Pulps, Mystery, Detective, and Espionage Magazines



Issue Checklist

Black Mask (Canada)

Initially a Canadian reprint edition of Black Mask; later reprinted stories from other US detective pulps.

Issues & Index Sources: in 1930s – in 1940s:

Crime Fiction Index

(sample issues only)

Publishers:   Popular Publications Canada
Formats:   standard pulp
Sources:   The Pulpster #11, 2001



Issue Checklist

Black Mask (Detective) (UK)

Total Issues: 206+120=326

British reprint edition of Black Mask. There were two distinct series. The first series ran for 206 issues from Jun-1923 to Oct-1939. This series was printed in the US for UK distribution; had the same covers as the US editions apart for UK price (sometimes); and reprinted the entire contents of the US edition, plus frequently an additional story or two. Initially the additional stories were reprinted from US issues that had not appeared in the UK but in later issues no prior appearance can be traced (in Black Mask or anywhere else) so they might be original stories that ONLY appeared in the UK issues. The numbering system on these issues was specific to the UK issues and ran from v1 #1 to v17 #12.

The second series ran for 120 issues from Nov-1939 to Nov-1953 (at least). This series was printed in the UK; had different covers to the US issues; typically was a partial reprint of assorted US issues, initially of Black Mask but in later years of other magazines such as Dime Detective. Atlas used a strange numbering system on these (consistent with all the other US pulps they distributed during this period) - initially they used the volume/issue number of the corresponding US issue, then they had no volume/issue numbers at all, and then they settled into a UK-specific numbering that was implicitly backdated to the first Atlas issue.