Checklists

Black Mask (Detective)

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.

Note that issues from Sep-1950 on are titled Black Mask Detective. Note also that a retouched cover of the April-1928 issue was used as a prop in the film Hammett and is displayed under the real cover below.

The magazine was briefly revived in 1974, but only managed a single issue with reprint fiction, and again in 1985 as a series of paperback anthologies called New Black Mask (Quarterly).

There was a Canadian reprint edition which started as direct reprints of the US issues, but later reprinted stories from other magazines, and a British reprint edition that ran for over 300 issues from the 1920s to the 1950s.

1920
v1 #1
Apr
v1 #2
May
v1 #3
Jun
v1 #4
Jul
v1 #5
Aug
v1 #6
Sep
v2 #1
Oct
v2 #2
Nov v2 #3
Dec

1921 v2 #4
Jan
v2 #5
Feb
v2 #6
Mar
v3 #1
Apr
v3 #2
May v3 #3
Jun v3 #4
Jul
v3 #5
Aug v3 #6
Sep
v4 #1
Oct
v4 #2
Nov
v4 #3
Dec

1922
v4 #4
Jan
v4 #5
Feb v4 #6
Mar
v5 #1
Apr
v5 #2
May
v5 #3
Jun
v5 #4
Jul
v5 #5
Aug v5 #6
Sep v5 #7
Oct
v5 #8
Nov v5 #9
Dec

1923
v5 #10
Jan v5 #11
Feb
v5 #12
Feb 15
v5 #13
Mar 1 v5 #14
Mar 15 v6 #1
Apr 1
v6 #2
Apr 15
v6 #3
May 1
v6 #4
May 15
v6 #5
Jun 1
v6 #6
Jun 15

1923
v6 #7
Jul 1
v6 #8
Jul 15
v6 #9
Aug 1
v6 #10
Aug 15
v6 #11
Sep 1 v6 #12
Sep 15
v6 #13
Oct 1
v6 #14
Oct 15
v6 #15
Nov 1
v6 #16
Nov 15
v6 #17
Dec 1 v6 #18
Dec 15

1924
v6 #19
Jan 1
v6 #20
Jan 15
v6 #21
Feb 1
v6 #22
Feb 15
v6 #23
Mar 1
v6 #24
Mar 15
v7 #1
Apr 1
v7 #2
Apr 15

1924
v7 #3
May
v7 #4
Jun
v7 #5
Jul
v7 #6
Aug
v7 #7
Sep
v7 #8
Oct
v7 #9
Nov
v7 #10
Dec

1925
v7 #11
Jan
v7 #12
Feb
v8 #1
Mar
v8 #2
Apr
v8 #3
May v8 #4
Jun
v8 #5
Jul
v8 #6
Aug
v8 #7
Sep
v8 #8
Oct
v8 #9
Nov
v8 #10
Dec

1926
v8 #11
Jan
v8 #12
Feb
v9 #1
Mar
v9 #2
Apr
v9 #3
May
v9 #4
Jun
v9 #5
Jul
v9 #6
Aug
v9 #7
Sep
v9 #8
Oct
v9 #9
Nov
v9 #10
Dec

1927
v9 #11
Jan
v9 #12
Feb
v10 #1
Mar
v10 #2
Apr
v10 #3
May
v10 #4
Jun
v10 #5
Jul
v10 #6
Aug
v10 #7
Sep
v10 #8
Oct
v10 #9
Nov
v10 #10
Dec

1928
v10 #11
Jan
v10 #12
Feb
v11 #1
Mar
v11 #2
Apr
v11 #3
May
v11 #4
Jun
v11 #5
Jul
v11 #6
Aug
v11 #7
Sep
v11 #8
Oct
v11 #9
Nov
v11 #10
Dec

(movie version)

1929
v11 #11
Jan
v11 #12
Feb
v12 #1
Mar
v12 #2
Apr
v12 #3
May
v12 #4
Jun
v12 #5
Jul
v12 #6
Aug
v12 #7
Sep
v12 #8
Oct
v12 #9
Nov
v12 #10
Dec

1930
v12 #11
Jan
v12 #12
Feb
v13 #1
Mar
v13 #2
Apr
v13 #3
May
v13 #4
Jun
v13 #5
Jul
v13 #6
Aug
v13 #7
Sep
v13 #8
Oct
v13 #9
Nov
v13 #10
Dec

1931
v13 #11
Jan
v13 #12
Feb
v14 #1
Mar
v14 #2
Apr
v14 #3
May
v14 #4
Jun
v14 #5
Jul
v14 #6
Aug
v14 #7
Sep
v14 #8
Oct
v14 #9
Nov
v14 #10
Dec

1932
v14 #11
Jan
v14 #12
Feb
v15 #1
Mar
v15 #2
Apr
v15 #3
May
v15 #4
Jun
v15 #5
Jul
v15 #6
Aug
v15 #7
Sep
v15 #8
Oct
v15 #9
Nov
v15 #10
Dec

1933
v15 #11
Jan
v15 #12
Feb
v16 #1
Mar
v16 #2
Apr
v16 #3
May
v16 #4
Jun
v16 #5
Jul
v16 #6
Aug
v16 #7
Sep
v16 #8
Oct
v16 #9
Nov
v16 #10
Dec

1934
v16 #11
Jan
v16 #12
Feb
v17 #1
Mar
v17 #2
Apr
v17 #3
May
v17 #4
Jun
v17 #5
Jul
v17 #6
Aug
v17 #7
Sep
v17 #8
Oct
v17 #9
Nov
v17 #10
Dec

1935
v17 #11
Jan
v17 #12
Feb
v18 #1
Mar
v18 #2
Apr
v18 #3
May
v18 #4
Jun
v18 #5
Jul
v18 #6
Aug
v18 #7
Sep
v18 #8
Oct
v18 #9
Nov
v18 #10
Dec

1936
v18 #11
Jan
v18 #12
Feb
v19 #1
Mar
v19 #2
Apr
v19 #3
May
v19 #4
Jun
v19 #5
Jul
v19 #6
Aug
v19 #7
Sep
v19 #8
Oct
v19 #9
Nov
v19 #10
Dec

1937
v19 #11
Jan
v19 #12
Feb
v20 #1
Mar
v20 #2
Apr
v20 #3
May
v20 #4
Jun
v20 #5
Jul
v20 #6
Aug
v20 #7
Sep
v20 #8
Oct
v20 #9
Nov
v20 #10
Dec

1938
v20 #11
Jan
v20 #12
Feb
v21 #1
Mar
v21 #2
Apr
v21 #3
May
v21 #4
Jun
v21 #5
Aug
v21 #6
Sep
v21 #7
Oct
v21 #8
Nov
v21 #9
Dec

1939
v21 #10
Jan
v21 #11
Feb
v21 #12
Mar
v22 #1
Apr
v22 #2
May
v22 #3
Jun
v22 #4
Jul
v22 #5
Aug
v22 #6
Sep
v22 #7
Oct
v22 #8
Nov
v22 #9
Dec

1940
v22 #10
Jan
v22 #11
Feb
v22 #12
Mar
v23 #1
Apr
v23 #2
Jun
v23 #3
Jul
v23 #4
Aug
v23 #5
Sep
v23 #6
Oct
v23 #7
Nov
v23 #8
Dec

1941
v23 #9
Jan
v23 #10
Feb
v23 #11
Mar
v23 #12
Apr
v24 #1
May
v24 #2
Jun
v24 #3
Jul
v24 #4
Aug
v24 #5
Sep
v24 #6
Oct
v24 #7
Nov
v24 #8
Dec

1942
v24 #9
Jan
v24 #10
Feb
v24 #11
Mar
v24 #12
Apr
v25 #1
May
v25 #2
Jun
v25 #3
Jul
v25 #4
Aug
v25 #5
Sep
v25 #6
Oct
v25 #7
Nov
v25 #8
Dec

1943
v25 #9
Jan
v25 #10
Feb
v25 #11
Mar
v25 #12
May
v26 #1
Jul
v26 #2
Sep
v26 #3
Nov

1944
v26 #4
Jan
v26 #5
Mar
v26 #6
May
v26 #7
Jul
v26 #8
Sep
v26 #9
Nov

1945
v26 #10
Jan
v26 #11
Mar
v26 #12
May
v27 #1
Jul
v27 #2
Sep
v27 #3
Nov

1946
v27 #4
Jan
v28 #1
Feb
v28 #2
Mar
v28 #3
May
v28 #4
Jul
v29 #1
Sep
v29 #2
Nov

1947
v29 #3
Jan
v29 #4
Mar
v30 #1
May
v30 #2
Jul
v30 #3
Sep
v30 #4
Nov

1948
v31 #1
Jan
v31 #2
Mar
v31 #3
May
v31 #4
Jul
v32 #1
Sep
v32 #2
Nov

1949
v32 #3
Jan
v32 #4
Mar
v33 #1
May
v33 #2
Jul
v33 #3
Sep
v33 #4
Nov

1950
v34 #1
Jan
v34 #2
Mar
v34 #3
May
v34 #4
Jul
v35 #1
Sep
v35 #2
Nov

1951
v35 #3
Jan
v35 #4
Mar
v36 #1
May
v36 #2
Jul

Black Mask (1974)

1974
v1 #1
Jun

New Black Mask (Quarterly)

1985		#1	#2	#3
1986	#4	#5	#6	#7
1987	#8

Black Mask (2016)

2016
v36 #3, Fall

2017
v36 #4, Spring
v37 #1, Fall

2018
v37 #2, Spring

2019
v37 #3

Canadian reprint edition

Many other issues exist.

1932
v10 #9
Jun
Aug
Sep
Oct

1933
v15 #11
Jan
v16 #5
Jul

1934

1935

1936
v18 #11
Jan
v19 #10
Dec

1937
Apr
v20 #4
Jun
Aug

1938
Feb

1939

1940

1941
v23 #12
Aug
Oct
Nov

1942
Mar
v25 #2
Apr
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec

1943
Jan
v26 #9
Feb
Mar
v26 #10
Apr
May
v26 #11
Jun v26 #12
Jul
v26 #13
Aug
v26 #14
Sep
v26 #15
Oct
v26 #16
Nov
v26 #17
Dec

1944
v26 #18
Jan
v26 #19
Feb
v26 #20
Mar
v26 #21
Apr
v26 #22
May
v26 #23
Jun
v26 #22
Jul
v26 #23
Aug
Sep
Oct

1945
36 #27
Jan
Mar
Apr
v36 #30
May
v36 #31
Jun
v36 #32
Jul
v36 #33
Aug
Sep
v36 #34
Oct
Nov
Dec

1949
v32 #3
Jan
Jul
v33 #3
Sep
Nov

1950
Jan
v34 #3
May v35 #2
Nov

British reprint edition

There were two distinct series of the British reprint edition. 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.

1923 v1 #1
Jun 15

1923
v1 #2
Jul 1 v1 #3
Jul 15
v1 #4
Aug 1
v1 #5
Aug 15 v1 #6
Sep 1 v1 #7
Sep 15
v1 #8
Oct 1 v1 #9
Oct 15 v1 #10
Nov 1
v1 #11
Nov 15 v1 #12
Dec 1 v1 #13
Dec 1

1924 v1 #14
Jan 1
v1 #15
Jan 15
v2 #3
Feb 1
v2 #4
Feb 15
v2 #5
Mar 1
v2 #6
Mar 15
v2 #7
Apr 1 v2 #8
Apr 15

1924 v2 #9
May v2 #10
Jun
v2 #11
Jul v2 #12
Aug v3 #1
Sep v3 #2
Oct v3 #3
Nov v3 #4
Dec

1925 v3 #5
Jan
v3 #6
Feb v3 #7
Mar v3 #8
Apr v3 #9
May v3 #10
Jun v3 #11
Jul v3 #12
Aug v4 #1
Sep v4 #2
Oct v4 #3
Nov v4 #4
Dec

1926 v4 #5
Jan v4 #6
Feb v4 #7
Mar v4 #8
Apr v4 #9
May v4 #10
Jun v4 #11
Jul
v4 #12
Aug v5 #1
Sep v5 #2
Oct v5 #3
Nov v5 #4
Dec

1927 v5 #5
Jan v5 #6
Feb v5 #7
Mar v5 #8
Apr v5 #9
May v5 #10
Jun v5 #11
Jul v5 #12
Aug v6 #1
Sep v6 #2
Oct v6 #3
Nov
v6 #4
Dec

1928 v6 #5
Jan v6 #6
Feb v6 #7
Mar v6 #8
Apr v6 #9
May v6 #10
Jun v6 #10
Jul v6 #11
Aug
v6 #12
Sep v7 #1
Oct v7 #2
Nov v7 #3
Dec

1929 v7 #4
Jan v7 #5
Feb v7 #6
Mar
v7 #7
Apr
v7 #8
May v7 #9
Jun v7 #10
Jul v7 #11
Aug v7 #12
Sep
v8 #1
Oct v8 #2
Nov
v8 #3
Dec

1930 v8 #4
Jan v8 #5
Feb
v8 #6
Mar v8 #7
Apr v8 #8
May
v8 #9
Jun
v8 #10
Jul v8 #11
Aug v8 #12
Sep
v9 #1
Oct v9 #2
Nov
v9 #3
Dec

1931 v9 #4
Jan
v9 #5
Feb v9 #6
Mar v9 #7
Apr
v9 #8
May
v9 #9
Jun v9 #10
Jul v9 #11
Aug v9 #12
Sep v10 #1
Oct
v10 #2
Nov
v10 #3
Dec

1932
v10 #4
Jan v10 #5
Feb v10 #6
Mar v10 #7
Apr v10 #8
May v10 #9
Jun v10 #10
Jul v10 #11
Aug
v10 #12
Sep
v11 #1
Oct v11 #2
Nov v11 #3
Dec

1933 v11 #4
Jan
v11 #5
Feb v11 #6
Mar v11 #7
Apr v11 #8
May v11 #9
Jun
v11 #10
Jul v11 #11
Aug v11 #12
Sep v12 #1
Oct
v12 #2
Nov
v12 #3
Dec

1934 v12 #4
Jan v12 #5
Feb v12 #6
Mar v12 #7
Apr v12 #8
May
v12 #9
Jun
v12 #10
Jul v12 #11
Aug v12 #12
Sep
v13 #1
Oct v13 #2
Nov v13 #3
Dec

1935
v13 #4
Jan
v13 #5
Feb
v13 #6
Mar v13 #7
Apr
v13 #8
May
v13 #9
Jun
v13 #10
Jul
v13 #11
Aug
v13 #12
Sep
v14 #1
Oct
v14 #2
Nov
v14 #3
Dec

1936
v14 #4
Jan v14 #5
Feb
v14 #6
Mar v14 #7
Apr v14 #8
May
v14 #9
Jun v14 #10
Jul
v14 #11
Aug
v14 #12
Sep
v15 #1
Oct v15 #2
Nov
v15 #3
Dec

1937
v15 #4
Jan
v15 #5
Feb
v15 #6
Mar
v15 #7
Apr
v15 #8
May v15 #9
Jun
v15 #10
Jul
v15 #11
Aug
v15 #12
Sep
v16 #1
Oct
v16 #2
Nov
v16 #3
Dec

1938
v16 #4
Jan
v16 #5
Feb v16 #6
Mar
v16 #7
Apr
v16 #8
May
v16 #9
Jun
v16 #10
Jul/Aug v16 #11
Sep v16 #12
Oct
v17 #1
Nov
v17 #2
Dec

1939
v17 #3
Jan
v17 #4
Feb
v17 #5
Mar
v17 #6
Apr v17 #7
May
v17 #8
Jun v17 #9
Jul v17 #10
Aug
v17 #11
Sep
v17 #12
Oct v22 #8
Nov v22 #9
Dec

1940 v22 #10
Jan v22 #11
Feb
v22 #12
Mar v23 #1
Apr v23 #2
Jun v23 #4
Aug v23 #5
Sep v23 #6
Oct v23 #7
Nov
v23 #8
Dec

1941 v23 #9
Jan v23 #10
Feb v23 #11
Mar v23 #12
Apr
v24 #1
May
v24 #6
Oct
v24 #7
Nov
v24 #8
Dec

1942
v24 #10
Feb
v24 #12
Apr
v25 #2
Jun
Aug
Oct

1943 v25 #7
Jan
v25 #10
Feb
Jun
Jul
Dec

1944
Feb
Apr
Jun
Aug
Oct
Dec

1945
v4 #11
Feb
v4 #12
May
v5 #1
Jul
v5 #2
Sep
v5 #3
Nov

1946
v5 #4
Jan
v5 #5
Mar v5 #6
May
v5 #7
Jul
v5 #8
Sep
v5 #9
Dec

1947
v5 #10
Jan
v5 #11
Apr
v5 #12
Jun
v6 #1
Aug
v6 #2
Oct
v6 #3
Dec

1948
v6 #4
Feb
v6 #5
Apr
v6 #6
Jun
v6 #7
Aug
v6 #8
Oct
v6 #9
Dec

1949
v6 #10
Feb
v6 #11
Apr
v6 #12
Jun
v7 #1
Sep
v7 #2
Oct

1950
v7 #3
Jan
v7 #4
Feb
v7 #5
Apr
v7 #6
May
v7 #7
Jun
v7 #8
Jul
v7 #9
Aug
v7 #10
Sep
v7 #11
Oct
v7 #12
Nov
v8 #1
Dec

1951
v8 #2
Jan
v8 #3
Feb
v8 #4
Mar
v8 #5
Apr
v8 #6
May
v8 #7
Jun
v8 #8
Jul
v8 #9
Aug
v8 #10
Sep
v8 #11
Oct
v8 #12
Nov
v9 #1
Dec

1952
v9 #2
Jan
v9 #3
Feb
v9 #4
Mar
v9 #5
Apr
v9 #6
May
v9 #7
Jun
v9 #8
Jul
v9 #9
Aug
v9 #10
Sep
v9 #11
Oct
v9 #12
Nov
v10 #1
Dec

1953
v10 #2
Jan
v10 #3
Feb
v10 #4
Mar
v10 #5
Apr
v10 #6
May
v10 #7
Jun
v10 #8
Jul
v10 #9
Aug
v10 #10
Sep
v10 #11
Oct
v10 #12
Nov

2016		v36 #3, Fall
2017	v36 #4, Spring	v37 #1, Fall
2018	v37 #2, Spring
2019	v37 #3