Dover Publications has just reprinted the Souvestre & Allain novel. According to the copyright page it's an "unabridged republication" of the 1915 edition though unlike some Dover reprints the type was reset. It doesn't have the John Ashbery introduction from the 1986 edition (which can be found in Ashbery's Selected Prose) but instead a solid one by Robin Walz that's still a bit too short, though probably not his choice. Maybe if we all buy copies (already have mine) then Dover will do more in the series.

The original translation was a fair bit longer than the more streamlined (and uncredited) one that accompanied the John Ashbery introduction in 1986, so it's worth having if the more recent one is your only copy. My own essay about the first FANTOMAS appears in the book HORROR: ANOTHER 100 BEST BOOKS.

The Dover reprint is good, and I like Robin's introduction. I'm not a big fan of Ashberry's intro to the 1986 edition - it has an air of apology to it that, I think, makes one feel guilty for even liking the novel in the first place.

I contacted Dover and asked whether they were going to release more books in the series and they said no. HOWEVER, I have a complete set of English translations and will be releasing them myself through www.lulu.com/belthamhouse. I only have one Fantomas related item for sale at the moment, but it's not part of the original series. I hope to have the first three books in the series available by Christmas. They will be affordable trade paperbacks with new cover and interior illustrations. Ultimately, I hope to release all 12 of the original English translations, as well as the peripherally related FANTOMAS OF BERLIN, as well as other oddball items like MYSTERY OF THE LOUVRE, ULTUS: MAN FROM THE DEAD and UBIQUE, THE SCIENTIFIC BUSHRANGER.

I'm also working on a new novel entitled FANTOMAS IN AMERICA for Black Coat Press (www.blackcoatpress.com)

Feel free to drop by my Fantomas myspace page at www.myspace.com/fantomasinamerica

D.

P.S. This weekend, I picked up another book that French pop-cinema fans might be interested in. Nabat pressed has republished MEMOIRES OF VIDOCQ; the true story of Eugene Francis Vidocq, who began his career as a criminal before becoming the first Chief of the Surete. The English translation is abridged, but as far as I know it's never been available in English unabridged (the original French edition was four volumes long) Vidocq, of course, became the subject of Pitof's film VIDOCQ as well as the earlier film A SCANDAL IN PARIS.

I just noticed that Amazon lists an edition of Fantomas coming from Penguin Classics with a scheduled publication date of Dec 26, 2006. No further information is given but I would note that's an unusual pub date so I suspect this listing may not be entirely accurate. Penguin's website has never been very helpful with no forthcoming titles listing.

I e-mailed Penguin re: this and got no response. I was curious about whether or not they would be reissuing other books in the series. I doubt it, though. Originally, I saw the publication date as January, 2007 - then it was bumped forward to Dec. 06. It would be nice if they did a new translation like they did with COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO. That way it wouldn't just be identical to the Dover reprint.

D.

I called Penguin and their customer service shows a release date of Dec 22 now. Their database lists no translator. If I get a chance I'll try to find the catalogs at our bookstore but those are unlikely to have any more information. It would be great if it's a new translation which would even be Penguin's marketing hook but for something this commercially marginal I'm surprised they're even doing it at all. Guess we'll see whenever this comes out.

It's very unlikely Penguin will ever do anything else in the series. They did only one Rafael Sabatini novel (Captain Blood) and there's a bigger market for him than Fantomas; similarly only the first Tarzan book and some other odds and ends.

I was at a Barnes & Noble, recently, and was thumbing through a book called 1000 BOOKS YOU MUST READ BEFORE YOU DIE...or some such thing, and FANTOMAS was listed there. That may have helped to encourage these reprintings. Tim Lucas' essay in 100 BEST HORROR NOVELS probably had something to do with that as well.

Oddly, I think the first Fantomas novel isn't near as good as some of the later installments I've read. NEST OF SPIES and LONG ARM OF FANTOMAS are excellent. Black Coat Press also just published a new translation of DAUGHTER OF FANTOMAS, which is a lot of fun. While it helps to be familiar with the characters, and I would recommend reading them in order, it certainly isn't mandatory. Mark Steele (the translator of DAUGHTER) does a nice job bringing us up to date in the introduction, and even thoughtfully includes a section from the following volume so that we're not left in the dark after DAUGHTER's final cliff hanger.

D.