Manning Lee Stokes

Manning Lee Stokes (21 June 1911 – 5 January 1976) was an American novelist who worked under a large number of pseudonyms. He specialized in pulp fiction, especially in the genres of mystery, detective fiction, westerns, sleaze, spy fiction and science fiction. Stokes is also notable as one of the innovators of the graphic novel.

Biography

Stokes was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on 21 June 1911 and died at his home in Peekskill, now a part of Cortlandt Manor, Westchester County, New York on 5 January 1976. He is buried in a National Cemetery located in Farmingdale, New York.

His father was William John Stokes and his mother was Bearnice Lee. He married March Lurea Marlow on 26 September 1959 who was previously married to his brother, Ben McCutchen Stokes (15 April 1919 – 22 September 1957). They had no children of their own but March and Ben had two children, Bearnice Lee Stokes and Benita McCutchen Stokes.^[1]

Works

Starting in 1945, Stokes published under his own name and at least 9 different pseudonyms.

Under own name:

• The Wolf Howls “Murder” (Prize Mystery Novels #21, Phoenix Press, 1945)^[2]
• Green for a Grave (Phoenix Press, 1946)^[3]
• The Dying Room (Mercury Mystery #124, Phoenix Press, 1947)^[4]
• The Case of the Winking Buddha (St. John Publications, 1950)
• The Lady Lost Her Head (Phoenix Press, 1950)^[5]
• The Crooked Circle (Graphic Mystery #40, 1951) (also released as “Too Many Murderers”, Graphic Mystery #98, 1955)
• Murder Can't Wait (Graphic Mystery #117, 1955)
• The Case of the Presidents' Heads (Arcadia House, 1956)
• The Case of the Judas Spoon (Arcadia House, 1957)
• Under Cover of Night (Dell Publishing Co. Inc., 1958)
• The Grave's in the Meadow (Dell Publishing Co. Inc., 1961)
• Grand Prix (Avon Paperback, 1967)
• Winning (Signet Books, 1969)
• The Evangelist (Pyramid Books, 1974)
• Corporate Hooker, Inc (Pocket Books, 1975)

Under pseudonym:

As Nick Carter
Publisher: Award Books

• The Eyes of the Tiger (1965), #9
• Istanbul (1965), #10
• Web of Spies (1966), #11
• Spy Castle (1966),#12
• Dragon Flame (1966), #14
• The Golden Serpent (1967), #20
• Mission to Venice (1967), #21
• Double Identity (1967), #22
• The Devil's Cockpit (1967), #23
• A Korean Tiger (1967), #26
• Assignment: Israel (1967), #27
• The Red Guard (1967), #28
• The Filthy Five (1967), #29
• Macao (1968), #31
• Temple of Fear (1968), #35
• The Red Rays (1969), #41
• The Cobra Kill (1969), #47
• The Black Death (1970), #56

As Paul Edwards
John Eagle “Expeditor”
Publisher: Pyramid Books

• Needles of Death (1973), #1
• The Brain Scavengers (1973), #2
• Valley of Vultures (1973), #5
• The Green Goddess (1975), #12
• Silverskull (1975), #14

As Jeffrey Lord
Richard Blade
Publisher: Pinnacle Books

• The Bronze Axe (1969), #1
• The Jade Warrior (1969), #2
• Jewel of Tharn (1969), #3
• Slave of Sarma (1970), #4
• Liberator of Jedd (1971), #5
• Monster of the Maze (1973), #6
• Pearl of Patmos (1973), #7
• Undying World (1973), #8

As Bernice Ludwell
Published by Arcadia House

• Love Without Armor (1955)
• Haunted Spring (1956)
• Moon of Hope (1956)
• Cordelia (1958)

As March Marlowe
Published by Arcadia House

• FBI Girl (1959)

As Ken Stanton^[6]
The Aquanauts
Publisher: Manor Books, Inc

• Cold Blue Death (1970), #1
• Ten Seconds To Zero (1970), #2
• Seek, Strike And Destroy (1970), #3
• Sargasso Secret (1971), #4
• Stalkers Of The Sea (1972), #5
• Whirlwind Beneath The Sea (1972), #6
• Operation Deep Six (1972), #7
• Operation Steelfish (1972), #8
• Evil Cargo (1973), #9
• Operation Sea Monster (1974), #10
• Operation Mermaid (1974), #11

As Kermit Welles

• Sin Preferred (Cameo Books No. 307, Detective House, Inc., New York, 1951)
• Gambler's Girl (Venus Books, 1951)
• She Had What It Takes (Venus Books #128, Star Guidance Inc., New York, 1951)
• Wild Sister (Venus Books, 1951)
• Pleasure Bound (Cameo Books No. 310, Detective House, Inc., New York, 1952)
• See No Evil (Original Novels Foundation, 1952)
• Beloved Enemy (Star Books, Sydney, Australia, 1954)
• Reckless (Carnival, 1954)
• Shanty Boat Girl (Cameo Books No. 338, Detective House, Inc., New York, 1954) (Reprint of Sin Preferred)
• Blood on Boot Hill (Arcadia, 1958)
• Reformatory Women (Bedside Books, Inc., 1959)
• Wild Wanton (Brandon Books, 1959)
• Strange Love (English Romance Library, No. 80)^[7]

As Kirk Westley

• The Innocent Wanton (Venus Books, 1952) (Reprint of Wild Sister)
• Shanty Boat Girl (Cameo Books No. 361, Detective House, Inc., New York, 1954) (Reprint of Sin Preferred)
• Man-Chaser (Carnival Books, 1954) (Reprint of Pleasure Bound)
• The Velvet Trap (McFadden-Bartell Corp., 1971)

As Ford Worth

• Pilgrim's Pistols (Phoenix, 1946)
• Rustler's Warning (Phoenix Press, 1951)

Other information

• Stokes has had several novels published under two separate titles and two different pseudonyms, e.g.

Pleasure Bound (Kermit Welles) = Man-Chaser (Kirk Westley)
Sin Preferred (Kermit Welles) = Shanty Boat Girl (Kirk Westley)
Wild Sister (Kermit Welles) = The Innocent Wanton (Kirk Westley)

• Other sources claim that Stokes has also published under the pseudonym “Lee Manning” although this cannot easily be corroborated.^[8]
• The pseudonym "March Marlowe" is similar to his wife's maiden name (March Marlow).
• The lead character in “The Aquanauts” series is named William Martin. Stokes used the same name for a different character in the Nick Carter novel Double Identity
• In the Nick Carter novel Dragon Flame Stokes introduces the character “Bob Ludwell” making use of one of his own pseudonyms “B (Bernice) Ludwell”.
• In the Nick Carter novels, Stokes first introduces and subsequently sustains the character of Della Stokes - the secretary of Carter's boss, David Hawk.
• In the Nick Carter novel Macao, Stokes uses his own first name as Carter's cover name (Frank Manning).

References

1. ↑ "Chapter Three". Opapesch.net. Retrieved 2014-01-02. 
2. ↑ "PHOENIX PRESS, 1945-49". Lendinglibmystery.com. Retrieved 2014-01-02. 
3. ↑ ""The Criminal Record", The Saturday Review, October 19, 1946, p. 47". Unz.org. 1946-10-19. Retrieved 2014-01-02. 
4. ↑ "» Archived Review: MANNING LEE STOKES – The Dying Room". Mysteryfile.com. 2008-07-11. Retrieved 2014-01-02. 
5. ↑ "PHOENIX PRESS, 1950-52". Lendinglibmystery.com. Retrieved 2014-01-02. 
6. ↑ Forge in the Forest, The by Michael Scott Rohan (2013-08-13). "Authors : Stokes, Manning Lee : SFE : Science Fiction Encyclopedia". Sf-encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2014-01-02. 
7. ↑ "English Romance Library #80". AusReprints. Retrieved 2014-01-02. 
8. ↑ Encyclopedia of Fantasy (1997)Stokes, Manning Lee. "Encyclopedia of Fantasy (1997) – Stokes, Manning Lee". Sf-encyclopedia.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-01-02.