Esprit de Corps — Jean-Marc Lofficier

In this very special tenth anniversary issue of Tales of the Shadowmen, the only anthology dedicated to international heroes and villains of pulp literature, we find a pantheon of contributors from Australia, Canada, England, France and the United States, all celebrating those great detectives and master villains who enchanted our adolescence. Rocambole is here, facing the schemes of Captain Nemo. Arsène Lupin conspires to steal the Maltese Falcon from the clutches of Doc Savage! Rouletabille untangles the wiles of that master thief, the Cat! And there are also vampires and monsters, ghouls and zombies, as well as the familiar figures of Sâr Dubnotal, Doctor Omega, D'Artagnan, Phileas Fogg, and the villainous Black Coats! The feelings of loyalty, enthusiasm and devotion--in other words, esprit de corps--that we feel towards those cherished figures is as undiminished today as it was when we were in our teens. They are more than fictional characters; some are our companions, our reflections, who have followed us all our lives!