Color Him Gay: The Further Adventures of The Man from C.A.M.P.

The Man from C.A.M.P.

by Victor J. Banis

Being the Further Adventures of THAT MAN FROM C.A.M.P. Steve thought to cut in on the source of blackmail money that Dingo Stark was paying the boys who wanted to COLOR HIM GAY but his hatred took him too far. As his screams drift through the still air, it's up to the debonair secret agent, Jackie Holmes, that Man from C.A.M.P., to arrive in time to save the day!

Genres: Mystery, M M Romance

144 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1966

About the author

Victor J. Banis is a writer. http://www.vjbanisauthor.com/

Victor Jerome Banis (May 25, 1937 – February 22, 2019) was an American author, often associated with the first wave of west coast gay writing. For his contributions he has been called "the godfather of modern popular gay fiction

Reviews

[James Garman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novella, originally published in 1966 under the author name of Don Holloway, is a really funny and intriquing story about a supposed non-governmental bureau that acts to protect homosexuals in a time when discovery can and often does lead to their destruction. A prime agent named Jackie Holmes is the main character and discovers a plot to blackmail a English singer who had a homosexual relationship when he was a teen back in the slums in England where he grew u.

The organization that Jackie works for is C.A.M.P. and apparently there is an enemy organization called B.U.T.C.H whose mission is to engage in crime generally but especially blackmailing homosexuals to fund their other activities.

Of course, there are lots of James Bond types of dalliances, with young gay men serving as Jackie's romantic interests as he does the "secret agent man" type action across both Los Angelos and San Francisco with lots of detail about China Town, Market St and other landmarks of the city.

It ends, of course with some winning but with a few lives lost but our fearless agent lives to enjoy a post mission X-rated encounter, again analogous to James Bond with his beautiful young women ut with a male cast.

I recommend this to people who enjoy M-M interaction, looks at the possible history of the homosexual community but fictionalized to be better than it was and including a nice mystery and a lot of action. And it only too about 4 hours to read it.

[Garc · Rating 3 out of 5]

For most of it Color Him Gay; a silly, camp, gay spy story with a rough moments - maybe triggering ones for some - and a Gary Stew for a main character. Steve might get knocked down a bunch in this book but when it comes to the breath of expert level skills and knowledge he has it's a bit much. However, the idea of a gay secret agent who fights for and protects queer folks from a society that isn't always kind to them sounds good to me. The story and writing style might be a prime example of its era - the book was first published in 1966 - but it still resonates. The atmosphere the main characters are living in is still feels fresh, homosexuality is more accepted and mostly decriminalized now but there's still a stigma to it, making it hard for some of us to live without fear.

Like I mentioned there are rough moments in this story like murders, beatings, rape and such, but the way they are brought about doesn't really work with the overall tone that is mainly light and fun. So it's a bit jarring yet it kind of works.

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[Bookshire Cat · Rating 4 out of 5]

TW: on-page gang r*pe of a side character

This was mostly a fun, over-the-top silly story about Bond-like detective/secret agent protecting gays. Jackie doesn’t seem to be especially competent but he is entertaining. I rate it high not for the quality of writing but as an artifact and piece of gay pulp history.

There is violence and murders typical for this genre but in the mood of the book the r*pe scene seemed unnecessary and jarring.

[Sarah Meerkat · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did not enjoy this one as much as Watercress Files.

Note for rape of side character toward the very end and then murder almost immediately following.

[Adam Dunn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Better than the first book in the series, The Man From C.A.M.P., but still not quite camp enough for me.

These books, there's lots of fun elements but at times they take themselves too seriously. I would like to see the fun and the camp amped up.

One line: "Even in a city as liberal as San Francisco, it was still illegal for two men to dance together." This really got me. I can't begin to imagine my coming out and late teens and early twenties at this time. So it's nice that these stories of a gay secret agent who fights against the homophobes were written and published pre-Stonewall.

I liked the story more, a blackmail scandal, and the book was more fun the the previous one in the series, which focused too much on explosions, following people with tracking devices so out of date I don't even understand them, and fist-fights. This one had more sex, more camp, more double agents and more setting, taking place in San Francisco in the mid-1960's.

There was a couple of preaching parts about tolerance for homsexuals at the beginning which I didn't like and overall the tone is still a little too serious.