Author: Bobby Nash

The Book Cave Presents Panel Fest Episode 28: Pulpfest 2013 Hero Pulp Premiums

PulpFest website designer Chris Kalb hosted the Hero Pulp Premiums and Promotions panel at PulpFest 2013. The panel was recorded by The Book Cave’s Art Sippo.

You can listen to Panel Fest Episode 28: PulpFest 2013 Hero Pulp Premiums here.

About Hero Pulp Premiums and Promotions:
How did pulp magazine publishers keep readers coming back month after month? Of course the best way was to publish excellent stories. Regardless of genre, the leading pulps–Adventure, Astounding Stories, Black Mask, Blue Book, Dime Western, Doc Savage, Love Story, The Shadow, The Spider, Sports Stories, Startling Stories, Weird Tales, Wings–attempted to do just that, issue after issue.

Another method that publishers employed to lure dimes on a regular basis from buyers with thin wallets was to create a club and offer premiums. For a few cents or by clipping coupons from a favorite pulp magazine, a devoted fan could become a member in good standing of the Doc Savage Club, one of the Friends of the Phantom, or Adventure Magazine’s Camp-Fire Club. Also available were rings, pins, and other items such as the Spider Pencil, a celluloid mechanical pencil with rubber eraser of The Spider seal, produced in very limited quantity during 1941-42.

On Saturday, July 27th, PulpFest website designer Chris Kalb took us back to a time when a few cents not only bought a pulp magazine filled with thrills, but also an Operator #5 ring, a G-8 Battle Aces Club pin, or a membership in the Green Lama Club. Chris will be presenting Hero Pulp Premiums and Promotions, an event that you cannot afford to miss.

For a look at some other pulp premiums, please visit Pulpster editor Bill Lampkin’s The Pulp.Net website and do a search for “premiums.” Bill has photographs of rings, membership cards, pins, and other items on his highly informative website.

You can listen to Panel Fest Episode 28: PulpFest 2013 Hero Pulp Premiums here.

Full Metal Shadow

The Shadow Fan returns for Episode 44! This week, Barry Reese reviews two tales that are sure to stir up strong emotions from fans. First up: Reign of Terror, one of Bruce Elliott’s Shadow novels (1948). In Elliott’s final stab at the character, we finally get to see how the author would have handled the “traditional” version of the hero. Our second review: the final issue of Andrew Helfer’s controversial run on the DC Comic puts The Shadow’s head on top of a robot body! The Shadow # 19 (1988) can either be seen as one of the most unique moments in the character’s long history — or, perhaps, its absolute darkest.

If you love The Shadow, then this is the podcast for you!

Listen to The Shadow Fan Podcast Episode 44 now at
http://theshadowfan.libsyn.com/full-metal-shadow

The Book Cave Presents Panel Fest Episode 27: Pulpfest 2013 Yellow Peril

Blood ‘n’ Thunder’s Ed Hulse hosted the Dr. Fu Manchu & the Yellow Peril panel at PulpFest 2013. The panel was recorded by The Book Cave’s Art Sippo.

You can listen to Panel Fest Episode 27: PulpFest 2013 Yellow Peril here.

About Dr. Fu Manchu and the Yellow Peril panel:
One hundred years ago, Sax Rohmer’s Fu Manchu made his American debut in Collier’s, a five-cent weekly. “The Zayat Kiss” ran in the February 15, 1913 number. Nine more stories featuring Rohmer’s “devil doctor” would appear in Collier’s through June 28, 1913. In September of that year, McBride would release The Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu, collecting all ten tales into novel form.

Although Sax Rohmer did not create the “yellow peril” genre of pulp fiction, his Fu Manchu stories would greatly influence the bloody pulps. From writers as diverse as Dashiell Hammett, Carroll John Daly, Walter B. Gibson, Norvell W. Page, Arthur J. Burks, Philip Nowlan, H. P. Lovecraft, and Robert E. Howard, pulpsters delivered many a story inspired by Rohmer’s evil genius. Even Robert J. Hogan’s flying spy, G-8, battled oriental evildoers in the author’s fantasy version of the First World War.

On Saturday, July 27th, PulpFest 2013 saluted the American centennial of Dr. Fu Manchu with a panel exploring Sax Rohmer’s character and his influence on the pulp fiction of the early twentieth century. Moderated by Blood ‘n’ Thunder editor and publisher, Ed Hulse, the panel will consist of pop culture experts Gene Christie, editor of three collections of Rohmer’s fiction and a leading authority on early American science fiction and fantasy; Win Scott Eckert, known for his work on literary crossovers and chronologies, including Marvel Comics’ Shang-Chi: Master of Kung Fu, a classic series concerning the son of Dr. Fu Manchu; Nathan Madison, author of Anti-Foreign Imagery in American Pulps and Comics, 1920-1960; William Patrick Maynard, authorized by the literary estate of Sax Rohmer to continue the Fu Manchu series; and Will Murray, author of the Wild Adventures of Doc Savage and one of the world’s leading authorities on the pulp era.

The Page of Fu Manchu represents an ongoing effort by scholars and readers around the world to create a definitive Sax Rohmer bibliography, reference and archive. It is edited and maintained by Dr. Lawrence Knapp, an English Professor at Thomas Edison State College, located in Trenton, NJ.

Joseph Clement Coll’s Collier’s cover for April 12, 1913, illustrating “The Call of Siva,” Sax Rohmer’s fifth Fu-Manchu story to be published in the United States.

You can listen to Panel Fest Episode 27: PulpFest 2013 Yellow Peril here.

Sneak Peek: Secret Agent X – The Comic Book

  • Uncategorized
  • August 12, 2013
Secret Agent X by Fortier and Davis
Art: Rob Davis

New Pulp Publishers Redbud Studios and Airship 27 Productions shared a sneak peek at their upcoming Secret Agent X comic book. Press Release: Airship 27 Productions is once again teaming up with Redbud Studio to produce another classic pulp hero comic book.  SECRET AGENT X is a 38 page black and white thriller featuring the greatest pulp spy of them all; the Man of a Thousand Faces. The script is by Ron Fortier with all art by Rob Davis.  Here is a sneak-peek of page 4 as the super-spy received his latest assignment and is about to go into action.  No definitive date has been set for the book’s release.  Keep following the Airship 27 blog for future updates.

Atomic Pulp Update

  • News
  • August 11, 2013

Author Christopher Mills shared updates on this week’s Atomic Pulp comics.

Monday is the FINAL episode of GRAVEDIGGER: THE SCAVENGERS by Yours Truly and Rick Burchett! But… have no fear, because the next, all new, Digger McCrae caper, THE PREDATORS, begins in just a couple of weeks!

Learn more about Gravedigger here.

Wednesday is the launch of the new FEMME NOIR website, beginning with a serialization of the “origin” story (stories?) “Blonde Justice,” with art by Joe Staton, Horacio Ottolini and colors by Melissa Kaercher. Even if you own this issue or have simply read it before, I hope you’ll drop by and check out the new digs!

Learn more about Femme Noir here.

And, of course, PERILS ON PLANET X continues this Friday, with the third installment of Chapter 2, “Flight Into Terror,” with art by Gene Gonzales and colors by Ian Sokoliwski.

Learn more about Perils on Planet X here.

The Book Cave Presents Panel Fest Episode 26: Pulpfest 2013 Jim Beard

Jim Beard

New Pulp Author Jim Beard does a reading from his books at PulpFest 2013. Recorded by The Book Cave’s Art Sippo.

You can listen to Panel Fest Episode 26: PulpFest 2013 Jim Beard here.

About The Beard . . . . New Fictioneer!:
Jim Beard was introduced to comic books by his father, who passed on to him a love for the medium and the pulp characters that preceded it. After decades of reading, collecting, and dissecting comics, Jim became a published writer when he sold a story to DC Comics in 2002. Since that time, he’s written comic stories for Dark Horse’s Star Wars and IDW’s Ghostbusters and contributed articles and essays to several volumes of comic book history.

 

A native of Toledo, Ohio where he is a regular columnist for the Toledo Free Press, Jim broke into the world of “New Pulp” in 2012 when Airship 27 published Sgt. Janus, Spirit-Breaker, a collection of ghost stories featuring an occult detective, and Captain Action: Riddle of the Glowing Men, the first prose novel based on the 1960s action figure. Jim provides regular content for Marvel.com, the official Marvel Comics website, and has new and forthcoming comic and prose work from Bluewater, TwoMorrows, Airship 27 and Pro Se Productions.

On Saturday, July 27th at PulpFest, “The Beard” did a reading from Sgt. Janus, Spirit-Breaker, Captain Action: Riddle of the Glowing Men, and “The Parade of Moments,” a story published in Monster Earth, a shared-world anthology of giant monster tales. And to learn more about this exciting new writer, please visit The Beard: The Jim Beard Fan Page.

You can listen to Panel Fest Episode 26: PulpFest 2013 Jim Beard here.

Pulp Crazy Takes on Solomon Kane

Legendary Pulp Author Robert E. Howard’s Puritan adventurer, Solomon Kane is discussed on the latest episode of the Pulp Crazy video podcast. The character celebrates his 85th anniversary this month. An excerpt from the Librivox.org reading of “Red Shadows” by Peter Siegel is also included in this episode.

Also, check out Pulp Crazy’s Pulpfest 2013 podcasts as well at the Pulp Crazy YouTube Channel or on iTunes.

Learn more about Pulp Crazy here, here, and here.

The Book Cave Presents Panel Fest Episode 25: Pulpfest 2013 Will Murray

Cover Art: Joe Devito

The Doc Meets The King panel at Pulpfest 2013 featured a reading of the Doc Savage novel, Skull Island by Radio Archives’ Roger Price. Also, author Will Murray talks about how Skull Island came to be. It’s Doc Savage vs. King Kong live from Pulpfest. The panel was recorded by The Book Cave’s Art Sippo.

You can listen to Panel Fest Episode 25: PulpFest 2013 Will Murray here.

About Doc Meets The King:
Beginning with the premier of Standard Magazines’ The Phantom Detective at the start of the year and Nick Carter and Doc Savage from Street & Smith in February, on through to the fall when Popular Publications released G-8 and His Battle Aces and The Spider, 1933 was the “year of the hero pulp.” And let’s not forget that The Lone Eagle and Pete Rice likewise debuted that year.

But 1933 was not just the year of the hero pulp. On March 2 of that same year, RKO Radio Pictures premiered “the eighth wonder of the world,” King Kong, at New York’s Radio City Music Hall and the Roxy. In just four days, the film earned nearly $90,000, a substantial sum in those dark Depression days.

To celebrate the 80th anniversaries of “The Man of Bronze” and King Kong, Will Murray, author of The Wild Adventures of Doc Savage, paired the two characters in his novel, Skull Island. On Saturday, July 27th, at 2 PM, PulpFest 2013 hosted a special New Fictioneers reading of Mr. Murray’s bestselling novel by Radio Archives’ reader Roger Price.

During his lengthy career as an entertainer, Roger has performed on television, radio and the live stage. At one time or another, he has worked as a stand-up comic, hosted a late night movie series as a character called “The Baron,” worked as a morning radio personality, hosted and emceed numerous live events, served as an entertainment news anchor and even as a ring announcer for professional wrestling. Comic book and pop culture fans know Roger as the creator, director and “voice” of Mid-Ohio-Con, one of the largest and longest running shows of it’s kind.

Through Radio Archives, Roger Price can be heard reading various short stories on Strange Detective Mysteries #1, Captain Satan #1, Captain Zero #1 and other audiobooks. Roger also works with a wide variety of clients as an announcer and voice actor, specializing in character/cartoon voices and dialects.

Following the reading, both Will Murray and Roger Price were available for questions and conversation.

You can listen to Panel Fest Episode 25: PulpFest 2013 Will Murray here.

Pulp Fiction Reviews and Sweet Money Won

  • Uncategorized
  • August 10, 2013

New Pulp Author Ron Fortier returns with another Pulp Fiction Review. This time out Ron takes a look at Sweet Money Won by Mycroft Magnusson.

SWEET MONEY WON
By Mycroft Magnusson
ISBN -13:978-1481952811
401 pages

Here’s a trick question for you.  Can any well written book ever be too long for its own good?  I would have thought that impossible until reading “Sweet Money Won.”  Which is going to make this review a delicate balancing act as I want all of you to understand how much I truly liked this book; in many, many ways.  Save one.  So allow me to applaud what is a truly superbly well crafted crime comedy reminiscent of Elmore Leonard’s best efforts.

Rick and Liam are two small time conmen living in the seedy Koreatown section of Los Angeles.  They survive hand to mouth on their meager rewards for the small cons they perpetuate, mostly on middle-class tourist visiting L.A. for the first time.  Magnusson deftly defines both their personalities so that they immediately appealed to this reader.  Liam, the smarter of the two, is the philosophical gambling addict who loves the Boston Patriots whereas Rick is the more reckless, by-the-seat-of-his-pants character who has a  problem with pornography and sex, the latter being what gets them both into a world of hurt.

When Rick takes their entire money reserve to rescue a Russian porn-princess named Svetlana, whom he’s met on-line, from her muscle-bound pimps, he puts them both in harms way.  Liam had placed a bet on a Patriot’s game, the cash being his debt should the Pats lose.  Of course the Pats lose and the Korean strong-arm bookies are none too pleased when Liam doesn’t have the money to cover his bet.  Now he and Rick have just twenty-four hours to come up with twenty thousand dollars.  It is at this point when  Svetlana agrees to help the boys by having sex with and then blackmailing a rich, up and coming congressman.

Reading “Sweet Money Won” is a truly engrossing, fun literary escapade that plays fast and loose with gunfire pacing.  Again, Magnusson’s prose is both insightful and inventive when it needs to be.  His writing is what is excellent and why I’m recommending you pick up a copy of this top-notch crime novel.

But Magnusson has to learn when scenes are extraneous and should be cut.  Any scene that does not serve the plot should be excised and there are several of these that frustrated me.  Rick’s Mexican weekend and Liam’s sports ticket scam are both unnecessary. A good editor could have trimmed this book by a hundred pages and helped shape it into an even better story.  I hope that’s a lesson he learns soon.  Rick and Liam and awesome characters and I’d love to see them in action again.

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