The Secrets of Houdini by J.C. Cannell

Harry Houdini died on Halloween, 1926. Before his death, he made his wife Bess promise to reach him from the beyond with an annual seance. Bess would attempt every Halloween night to reach her husband until her death in 1943 at age 67. With each failed attempt, the widow would expose the fraudulent medium as her husband would do vehemently in his later years. With all that history revolving around nearly 2 decades of Halloween night explorations into the unknown, it's no wonder I chose to read this non-fiction work for my October reads.

The book I had came with a copyright of 1989. Only, there's no way that this book came from that decade. J.C. Cannell, who wrote this look at how Houdini did many of his famous tricks died in 1953. According to Magicpedia, the one-time vice-president of London's The Magician's Club wrote The Secrets of Houdini in 1931. Now you might think it scandalous that such a well known member of the magician community would write a book exposing how the world's former greatest illusionist and escape artist performed his tricks. But crafting such a book was one of Houdini's last wishes before he died. 

J.C. Cannell's writing is definitely of the time period. But that's okay as I've read a few non-fiction works from the 1930s before. So I was used to the excessive use of titles atop each page that kinda details what you'll be reading. The prose is sensationalist, reflecting the yellow journalism melodrama of the early 20th century. 

When Cannell writes about Houdini's life and times, it's a really great read. I also enjoyed the chapter on how mediums 'conjuror spirits' as well as a lot of Houdini's quick escape and quick change tricks.  Man, does this book make me want to learn more about picking locks. A lot of these solutions are so simplistic. I felt embarrassed that in all my years of watching magic shows, that I never picked up on how they really were done. 

If ever a book needed some diagrams and pictures, it's this one. There are a few diagrams at the beginning. But they all go away by the time we get to the chapters on rope tricks and card tricks. These were also the hardest chapters to read. No matter how much I'd re-read an explanation, I just can't visualize how these tricks were done. It's probably why I always failed at my attempts at magic with those kits one would get at the toy store. I never could make them work. Plus, with the illusion shattered, I lost interest. 

This book is full of about a dozen pages full of black and white photos. These pictures show elements of Houdini's life and career that aren't mentioned at all. I didn't know Houdini was a movie star. And I would've liked to learn more about the trick when Houdini jumps from a moving plane onto the wing of another- without a parachute! That's definitely the kind of trick you can only mess up once!

Next October, I want to continue learning about Houdini. Only this time, I want a more conventional biography. I'm sure there's something decent out there. For now, I'm passing this book off to my wife. She always asks me 'How do they do that?' when a magic act stumps her on America's Got Talent. Maybe I can explain the escapes and the supernatural acts and she can get me a better understanding of those card tricks. But once she's done reading it, I'll probably sell it or donate it to a thrift story in hopes of inspiring another amateur conjurer.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

Minky Woodcock: The Girl Who Handcuffed Houdini #1

Art and Story by Cynthia Von Buhler
Covers by David Mack and Robert McGinnis
Published by Titan Comics

Minky Woodcock is a young secretary who longs to become a private detective like her famous father. Instead, she spends her days at the agency as his secretary. However, her chance to finally snag a case comes when her father is on holiday and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle arrives in need of an investigator. Doyle wants to expose his former friend, the great magician Harry Houdini, as a closet spiritualist whose trying to put his competition out of business.

Knowing very little of the spiritualist movement, Minky is invited by Doyle to attend a seance. However, instead of contacting the dead, Minky discovers quite a bit of tomfoolery with the whole thing and exposes the medium as a fraud. No longer wanting to deal with Doyle and his fictitious cronies, Minky fears that her chances of becoming a detective are over. That is until a chance meeting at a local speakeasy puts her face-to-face with the mysterious Houdini!

The Girl Who Handcuffed Houdini is crime fiction publisher Hard Case Crime's first foray into comic books. Teaming with the folks at Titan, this miniseries is written and illustrated by Cyntihia Von Buhler (An Evening with Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer.) This first issue was quite interesting. I was a big fan of the short-lived Victorian mystery series Houdini and Doyle and was quite upset to learn it was cancelled. This story almost acts, unofficially of course, as a sort of closer to that TV show as the former friends and partners are now at odds with each other due to some sort of falling out.

Cynthia Von Buhler's art work is quite remarkable. It almost looks like it was drawn on stained glass. Yes- her style and technique does give the art a flat 2-D feel. But you really can't say that anyone out on the market today is putting out as visually stunning and exceptionally colored comics as Von Buhler is doing with this book either.

Let's talk a bit about the covers. Von Buhler cover as well as David Mack's are good. But the variant cover by Hard Case Crime artist Robert McGinnis is exotic and deadly. My mother used to read all sorts of mystery paperbacks when I was a kid. Those sordid painted covers were tawdry and alluring- and yes a little dirty. That's how the overall story is. There's quite a bit of nudity, hanky panky, and beautiful things that if you are not careful will reveal that it's a wolf in sheep's clothing and attack when your guard is done. The publisher sure knew what it was doing putting a Mature rating on this one. But I cannot wait for the next issue as this historical mystery has me hooked in just one oh too short issue!
Issue #1 debuts in stores on November 15, 2017. It retails for $3.99.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.