The Amazing Exploits of HOUDINI, Vol. 3 released

Joe Notaro and Arthur Moses have the honor of being the first to publish a new Houdini book in 2026. Their third volume, reprinting the Kinema Comic series The Amazing Exploits of Houdini, was released on January 15. Details below.

The British Boys weekly “The Kinema Comic” ran a serial “The Amazing Exploits of HOUDINI” (“Written by Houdini Himself” – or so it says) from April 24, 1920 to November 27, 1926. In these yarns, which no one should miss, the Master of Mystery chronicles his most amazing exploits. Surviving copies are almost impossible to come by these days. Joe M. Notaro and Arthur Moses have been tracking down these rare issues and are making them available to you in a book series by year (and months). 

In this newest offering, they have compiled the 1922 (Jul – Dec) weekly serials (27 issues) of “The Amazing Exploits of HOUDINI” into a single book (with original illustrations).

You can purchase Kinema Comic 1922 (Jul-Dec) The Amazing Exploits of HOUDINI from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk in hardcover or paperback.

Related:

• The Amazing Exploits of HOUDINI, Vol. 2 released
• Now you can read "The Amazing Exploits of Houdini"
• "The Amazing Exploits of Houdini"

Now you can read "The Amazing Exploits of Houdini"

This is exciting. Joe Notaro and Arthur Moses have teamed up to bring the elusive Kinema Comic series The Amazing Exploits of Houdini to print in a collected edition for the very first time. This first book contains the stories from 1920 with the original illustrations. Details below.

The British Boys weekly The Kinema Comic ran a serial “The Amazing Exploits of HOUDINI” (“Written by Houdini Himself” – or so it says) from April 24, 1920 to November 27,1926. In these yarns, which no one should miss, the Master of Mystery chronicles his most amazing exploits. Surviving copies are almost impossible to come by these days.

Joe M. Notaro and Arthur Moses have been tracking down these rare issues and are making them available to you in a book series by year. In this offering, they have compiled the 1920 (Apr – Dec) weekly serials (36 issues) of “The Amazing Exploits of HOUDINI” into a single book with original illustrations.

You can purchase Kinema Comic 1920 (Apr-Dec) The Amazing Exploits of HOUDINI from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk in hardcover or paperback.

Related:

• "The Amazing Exploits of Houdini"
• Joe Notaro publishes 'Houdini's Schooldays'
• Houdini Periodical Bibliography Revised 3rd Edition

"The Amazing Exploits of Houdini"

Last year Joe Notaro at Harry Houdini Circumstantial Evidence traveled to the McCord Museum in Montreal where he was able to examine a file of "The Amazing Exploits of Houdini, The Master of Mystery written by Houdini himself" (but actually ghostwritten by Herbert Allingham until 1923, and then taken over by an unknown writer). This was a series of fictional adventures published in the British weekly The Kinema Comic from April 24, 1920 to November 27, 1926. Yes, Houdini's life as a hero of fiction started this early!

Joe took on the task of summarizing and sharing each adventure from the McCord file (April 24, 1920 v1 n1 to June 5th 1920 v1 n7) along with some of the illustrations by R.B. Ogle. Today he completed the series, so I thought this was the perfect time to share links to all his posts. Enjoy Houdini's amazing exploits and Joe's hard work.

The Bride and the Orangutan (April 24, 1920)

The Jewel Thieves (May 1, 1920)

"Stop Thief!" (May 8, 1920)

The Gold Melters (May 15, 1920)

Adventure of the Midland Express (May 22, 1920)

In the Dead of Night (May 29, 1920) 

Out of the Sky (June 5, 1920)

For a complete list of all issues of The Kinema Comic that contain "The Amazing Exploits of Houdini" see Houdini Periodical Bibliography References From 1898 - 2015 by Arthur Moses.

Related:

• Houdini the writer
• LINK: Written by Houdini Himself!?
• McCord Museum receives magic and Houdini collection

LINK: Written by Houdini Himself!?

Our friend David Saltman at The Houdini File has a post today about "The Amazing Exploits of Houdini," a series that ran from April 1920 to November 1926 in the British weekly, The Kinema Comic. These "exploits" are pure fiction and said to be "Written by Houdini Himself." But David has discovered they were actually ghostwritten by Herbert Allingham.

It's interesting to see that Houdini's role as a fictional hero began during his own lifetime. It's a career that's still going strong today. It would be nice to see these early stories collected into a single volume someday.

A complete listing of all the Houdini issues of The Kinema Comic can be found in the recently updated Houdini Periodical Bibliography Reference from 1898-2015 by Arthur Moses, an essential resource.

Pitchable pitchbooks

Here's something interesting from the Arthur Moses Collection. Look at these side by side images of Houdini's popular pitchbook, Life, History And Handcuff Secrets of Houdini. It's interesting how the cover was set up to be "reprinted" with the local venue details, as can be seen in red. I've never seen one of these customized versions before. Thank you, Arthur!

Arthur Moses Collection (click to enlarge)

Arthur also has a question for us:

The British boy's weekly "The Kinema Comic" ran a serial "The Amazing Exploits of Houdini" ("Written by Houdini Himself" - or so it says) and always began on page 6 and then continued on to others, These were tales of pure fiction with maybe 2% fact thrown in.

I know these weekly serials began with the v1n1 April 24, 1920 issue, but what I cannot confirm is when the last serial issue was... Can anyone tell me when this was?

-Arthur Moses

If you have the answer, post it in the comments below. Or if you'd like to forward an email to Arthur, just send it via my Submit News page.