Rick Brant
Encyclopedia
Rick Brant is the central character in a series of 24 adventure and mystery novels by John Blaine, a pseudonym for authors Harold L. Goodwin
(all titles) and Peter J. Harkins (co-author of the first three). The series was published by Grosset & Dunlap
between 1947 and 1968, with the previously unpublished title, The Magic Talisman printed in 1990 in a limited edition as the concluding #24.
In the series, teenaged Rick Brant and his ex-Marine
pal, Don Scott [Scotty] live on Spindrift Island off the coast of New Jersey
, where Rick's father, Hartson Brant, heads the Spindrift Foundation, a group of scientists. Rick and Scotty are involved in various adventures at home and abroad. Besides Hartson Brant, the recurring supporting characters in the series include:
Various Spindrift scientists also appear several times:
The Rick Brant series had a scientific tone (being bylined as "Electronic Adventures" or "Science-Adventure Stories" and finally "SCIENCE Adventures"). The science in the stories was realistic science, unlike the fantastic science of Tom Swift, Jr.
Hal Goodwin was a popular science
writer with a strong technical background and a sense of style unusual in the juvenile adventure-series field. The books are suspenseful, well-plotted, atmospheric, and enriched by humor and acute characterization as well as personal experience. Exotic locales such as tropical islands, the Philippine
jungles, and the Himalayas
were given vivid and well-researched depictions, as were a variety of specialized hobbies and professions, such as scuba diving
, infrared photography
, home rocketry, and the inevitable espionage
work. Like the Ken Holt
mystery series, the tales appealed to a slightly older audience than did the typical Grosset & Dunlap titles. (Ken Holt had a crossover cameo in The Flying Stingaree, and Rick lent some of his gadgets to Ken in one of the books in that series, by agreement of the respective authors.)
The publishers were averse to any suggestion of the supernatural in the series. An ambiguous end to "The Blue Ghost Mystery" was dropped, and an entire book (The Magic Talisman) was rejected due to its inclusion of ESP
elements. This lost tale was eventually published in an independent edition in 1990.
Beginning in the 1980s, Grosset & Dunlap began transferring the copyrights to Hal Goodwin. The rights are now held by the John Blaine/Rick Brant Trust. The Goodwin family has been working to bring the works back in print, starting with the rarer final four books.
Rick Brant never graduated to any other medium of entertainment, although there are notable similarities to be found in the Jonny Quest
franchise.
Harold L. Goodwin
Harold Leland Goodwin was an American writer.-Biography and writing career:Harold Leland Goodwin was a Government official and the author of forty-three books, including the Rick Brant Science-Adventure Series....
(all titles) and Peter J. Harkins (co-author of the first three). The series was published by Grosset & Dunlap
Grosset & Dunlap
Grosset & Dunlap is a United States book publisher founded in 1898.The company was purchased by G. P. Putnam's Sons in 1982 and today is part of the British publishing conglomerate, Pearson PLC through its American subsidiary Penguin Group....
between 1947 and 1968, with the previously unpublished title, The Magic Talisman printed in 1990 in a limited edition as the concluding #24.
In the series, teenaged Rick Brant and his ex-Marine
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
pal, Don Scott [Scotty] live on Spindrift Island off the coast of New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, where Rick's father, Hartson Brant, heads the Spindrift Foundation, a group of scientists. Rick and Scotty are involved in various adventures at home and abroad. Besides Hartson Brant, the recurring supporting characters in the series include:
- Barbara Brant (Barby), Rick's younger sister
- Chahda, a resourceful youth from IndiaIndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
- Janice Miller (Jan), daughter of Dr. Walter Miller, a Spindrift scientist, and Rick's girlfriend
- Dismal [Diz], the Brant family dog
- Steve Ames, an agent of "JANIG", the fictional Joint Army-Navy Intelligence Group
Various Spindrift scientists also appear several times:
- PhysicistPhysicsPhysics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
Hobart Zircon - MathematicianMathematicsMathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
Julius Weiss - CyberneticistCyberneticsCybernetics is the interdisciplinary study of the structure of regulatory systems. Cybernetics is closely related to information theory, control theory and systems theory, at least in its first-order form...
Parnell Winston - ArchaeologistArchaeologyArchaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
Tony Briotti - Rocket designerRocketA rocket is a missile, spacecraft, aircraft or other vehicle which obtains thrust from a rocket engine. In all rockets, the exhaust is formed entirely from propellants carried within the rocket before use. Rocket engines work by action and reaction...
John Gordon
The Rick Brant series had a scientific tone (being bylined as "Electronic Adventures" or "Science-Adventure Stories" and finally "SCIENCE Adventures"). The science in the stories was realistic science, unlike the fantastic science of Tom Swift, Jr.
Hal Goodwin was a popular science
Popular science
Popular science, sometimes called literature of science, is interpretation of science intended for a general audience. While science journalism focuses on recent scientific developments, popular science is broad-ranging, often written by scientists as well as journalists, and is presented in many...
writer with a strong technical background and a sense of style unusual in the juvenile adventure-series field. The books are suspenseful, well-plotted, atmospheric, and enriched by humor and acute characterization as well as personal experience. Exotic locales such as tropical islands, the Philippine
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
jungles, and the Himalayas
Himalayas
The Himalaya Range or Himalaya Mountains Sanskrit: Devanagari: हिमालय, literally "abode of snow"), usually called the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...
were given vivid and well-researched depictions, as were a variety of specialized hobbies and professions, such as scuba diving
Scuba diving
Scuba diving is a form of underwater diving in which a diver uses a scuba set to breathe underwater....
, infrared photography
Infrared photography
In infrared photography, the film or image sensor used is sensitive to infrared light. The part of the spectrum used is referred to as near-infrared to distinguish it from far-infrared, which is the domain of thermal imaging. Wavelengths used for photography range from about 700 nm to about...
, home rocketry, and the inevitable espionage
Espionage
Espionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, lest the legitimate holder of the information change plans or take other countermeasures once it...
work. Like the Ken Holt
Ken Holt
Ken Holt is the central character in a series of 18 mystery stories for adolescent boys written by Sam and Beryl Epstein under the pseudonym Bruce Campbell. The series was published by Grosset & Dunlap between 1949 and 1963. Ken Holt is the son of a world-famous foreign correspondent...
mystery series, the tales appealed to a slightly older audience than did the typical Grosset & Dunlap titles. (Ken Holt had a crossover cameo in The Flying Stingaree, and Rick lent some of his gadgets to Ken in one of the books in that series, by agreement of the respective authors.)
The publishers were averse to any suggestion of the supernatural in the series. An ambiguous end to "The Blue Ghost Mystery" was dropped, and an entire book (The Magic Talisman) was rejected due to its inclusion of ESP
Extra-sensory perception
Extrasensory perception involves reception of information not gained through the recognized physical senses but sensed with the mind. The term was coined by Frederic Myers, and adopted by Duke University psychologist J. B. Rhine to denote psychic abilities such as telepathy, clairaudience, and...
elements. This lost tale was eventually published in an independent edition in 1990.
Beginning in the 1980s, Grosset & Dunlap began transferring the copyrights to Hal Goodwin. The rights are now held by the John Blaine/Rick Brant Trust. The Goodwin family has been working to bring the works back in print, starting with the rarer final four books.
Rick Brant never graduated to any other medium of entertainment, although there are notable similarities to be found in the Jonny Quest
Jonny Quest
Jonny Quest is a media franchise that revolves around a boy named Jonny Quest who accompanies his father on extraordinary adventures. The franchise started with a 1964-65 television series and has come to include two subsequent television series, two television films, and a video game.-1964–1965...
franchise.
List of titles
- The Rocket's Shadow (1947) Rick meets Scotty and investigates sabotage of Spindrift's experimental rocket.
- The Lost City (1947) Rick and Scotty journey to the Himalayas to set up a relay station to bounce a radar signal off the moon. (Chahda character introduced.)
- Sea Gold (1947) Rick and Scotty get jobs at a new plant to extract minerals from sea water, and investigate possible sabotage.
- 100 Fathoms Under (1947) Rick and Scotty travel to the South Pacific in search of an ancient archaeological artifact.
- The Whispering Box Mystery (1948) Rick and Scotty race against time to stop a ring of spies from using a paralyzing weapon to steal government secrets. (JANIG and Steve Ames character introduced.)
- The Phantom Shark (1949) Rick and Scotty cross paths with a nefarious pearl thief in the South PacificOceaniaOceania is a region centered on the islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean. Conceptions of what constitutes Oceania range from the coral atolls and volcanic islands of the South Pacific to the entire insular region between Asia and the Americas, including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago...
. - Smugglers' Reef (1950) Rick and Scotty use an infraredInfraredInfrared light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength longer than that of visible light, measured from the nominal edge of visible red light at 0.74 micrometres , and extending conventionally to 300 µm...
camera to gather evidence against smugglers. - The Caves of Fear (1951) Rick and Scotty travel to the Himalayas again, this time to stop nuclear materials from falling into the wrong hands.
- Stairway to Danger (1952) Rick and Scotty battle a hardened and desperate criminal in an abandoned amusement park.
- The Golden Skull (1954) Rick and Scotty search for a sacred relic in the PhilippinesPhilippinesThe Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
. - The Wailing Octopus (1956) On a skin-diving vacation in the Virgin IslandsUnited States Virgin IslandsThe Virgin Islands of the United States are a group of islands in the Caribbean that are an insular area of the United States. The islands are geographically part of the Virgin Islands archipelago and are located in the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles.The U.S...
, Rick and Scotty stumble across deadly spies. - The Electronic Mind Reader (1957) Rick and Scotty are shocked as one scientist after another falls victim to a diabolical machine. (Janice Miller character introduced.)
- The Scarlet Lake Mystery (1958) Rick and Scotty visit a rocket base in NevadaNevadaNevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
, and encounter sabotage and a life or death situation for Rick. - The Pirates of Shan (1958) Rick and Scotty search for Spindrift scientists kidnapped by pirates in the Philippines.
- The Blue Ghost Mystery (1960) Rick and Scotty's VirginiaVirginiaThe Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
vacation turns into an encounter with what seems to be a Civil WarAmerican Civil WarThe American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
ghost. - The Egyptian Cat Mystery (1961) Rick and Scotty travel to EgyptEgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
and discover that an apparently unassuming cat figurine holds a secret. - The Flaming Mountain (1962) Rick and Scotty aid the Spindrift Foundation's mission to save an island from an active volcanoVolcano2. Bedrock3. Conduit 4. Base5. Sill6. Dike7. Layers of ash emitted by the volcano8. Flank| 9. Layers of lava emitted by the volcano10. Throat11. Parasitic cone12. Lava flow13. Vent14. Crater15...
. - The Flying Stingaree (1963) Intrigued by mysterious UFO sightings, Rick and Scotty battle against a group of crafty spies.
- The Ruby Ray Mystery'' (1964) Rick and Scotty walk the line between East and West only to have their allegiance questioned and their lives placed in jeopardy.
- The Veiled Raiders (1965) Rick and Scotty go to NigeriaNigeriaNigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
to test laserLaserA laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of photons. The term "laser" originated as an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation...
/satelliteSatelliteIn the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an object which has been placed into orbit by human endeavour. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon....
communication, and are taken prisoner in the Sahara by hostile natives. - Rocket Jumper (1966) Rick and Scotty use a rocket pack to save their loved ones from a fearsome plot.
- The Deadly Dutchman (1967) Rick and Scotty's tour of Europe is interrupted by a fiendish gem trader.
- Danger Below! (1968) Rick and Scotty probe the cause of the sinking of an oil rig off Spindrift.
- The Magic Talisman (1990) Rick and Scotty investigate mysterious goings-on in a house used for a dinner theater magic show. Unpublished by Grosset & Dunlap, this title was published by Manuscript PressManuscript PressManuscript Press is a small press publisher started by Rick Norwood in 1976 and currently located in Mountain Home, Tennessee. It specializes in previously unpublished novels by science fiction authors such as Hal Clement and R. A. Lafferty and also in reprints of comic strips such as Prince...
in a limited edition of 500 copies.- Rick Brant's Science Projects (1960) Rick and Scotty explain the secrets behind many of the inventions, codes, and logic used in their adventures.