Author: Tommy Hancock

HANCOCK TIPS HIS HAT TO DR. PROMETHEUS-JASON DARK V!

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  • March 15, 2012

TIPPIN’ HANCOCK’S HAT-Reviews of All Things Pulp by Tommy Hancock

DR. PROMETHEUS
by Jason Henkel
Published by Thunder Peak Publishing
2010
Momentum is a hard thing to keep up in any endeavor and especially hard to do so with recurring characters in series fiction.   Some authors succeed marginally well for a long time, making their central cast interesting in every new installment, filling the plot with unigue traits, and giving fans both something similar to what came before and yet in its own way totally different.  Some authors succeed, but most eventually come to a point to where the story falls apart, the rock stops rolling forward, and what results is essentially a literary train wreck.
It even happens to series where the first four books were nearly the best of their type a reader could read.  
DR. PROMETHEUS, the fifth Jason Dark tale from Guido Henkel, tackles an interesting development in English history.  Due to laws passed regulating use of cadavers and how professionals acquire them, grave robbing has become quite the black market business for types who would engage in that.  And the best customer of these thieves of the dead, a doctor secluded in his own home, isolated by his own choosing- Dr. Prometheus.   Selling his soul to the Devil, it seems, Prometheus seeks to discover the secret of life, first extending it, then renewing it to the dead.  It’s this travesty against humanity that brings him into contact with Dark and his partner, Siu Lin and threatens the living of London with murder at the hands of the undead!
The premise of the story is interesting, with shades of Frankenstein being present as it opens.  As a matter of fact, the opening pages are the only satisfying parts of this tale.  Very quickly, the story descends into confusion.  There are way too many points of view being juggled, very little descriptive tissue connected to the narrative, and a complete lack of cohesion within the story.  The villain of the piece is poorly realized and his motivation even moreso.  Dark and Siu Lin seem inserted into this almost accidentally and work their way through it in a plodding manner, not typical of Henkel’s previous tales.   Even the introduction of Herbert, Dark’s oft mentioned ally, into the story doesn’t help much, but in fact only adds to the confusion due to it just being accepted and not suitably explained to possibly new readers just who Herbert is.
My biggest complaint with this story is how Henkel portrays Siu Lin.  Or more to the point, doesn’t portray her.   She’s not a major component in this fifth Dark tale, which is fine, but for what little we do see her, it seems as if she’s someone else, as if Henkel has disregarded what I took to be careful building of interest in her.  This added the biggest disappointment in a story that held little else that I found interesting.
TWO OUT OF FIVE TIPS OF THE HAT- I thoroughly enjoy the series as a whole, but this installment gives me a lot of reason to worry about what follows.

HANCOCK TIPS HAT AS HENKEL SETS ‘HEAVENS ON FIRE’! JASON DARK IV!

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  • March 15, 2012

TIPPIN’ HANCOCK’S HAT-Reviews of All Things Pulp By Tommy Hancock

HEAVENS ON FIRE
by Guido Henkel
Published by Thunder Peak Press
2010

Supernatural Investigators stumble over all sorts of Monsters and Mysteries in the world of fiction.  But if you look particularly close, when you tie the word paranormal or supernatural to the word investigator, often those tales revolve around monsters we’d expect to see- Vampires, Ghosts, Furry Beasties on Two Legs, and so on.   I enjoy it when someone gets it right, though, and by right I mean when a writer realizes that by tying those words together, it opens up a whole realm of possibilities beyond Hollywood creatures and bump-in-the-nighters.

In the fourth installment of his Jason Dark series set in Victorian England, Guido Henkel leaves behind the terrestrial fear bringers and applies the term of ‘terror’ and ‘monster’ to something more ethereal, holy even.   This novella finds Dark and his wonderful partner Siu Lin literally in the middle of a war between Heaven and Hell.  The earth is being assaulted by demons who have found a portal into our world. These hellish invaders are led by a vile creature who has the ability to essentially continually manifest demons as necessary.  And his intent is not simply to destroy the world, but to quite literally bring the Heavens, and all who reside there, crashing down at his feet.

I have been continually impressed with the twists and takes Henkel applies to the entire genre he’s exploring with the Jason Dark series.   Although the battle between angels and demons has become somewhat cliche, Henkel brings a level of actual humanity to it.  There are reasons the Demon is after God and there are reasons the Angels stand in the void and those reasons on all sides are not simply black and
white, they are in fact very…human.    Couple that with the usual fast pacing, tight plotting, and bits of tension fraught throughout a Henkel book and this is a great read.

Something that struck me as off, however, was the characterization, particularly of our two main characters.  I’m not sure if its simply because Henkel has settled into the characters of Dark and Siu Lin after four volumes, but there’s something missing.  I’m fairly certain that instead of adding nuance and depth to both the individuals and the two as a team as he has in the first three volumes, Henkel has basically brought Dark and Siu as they were in the third book into this one.  That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it does take a bit of unique vitality out of the tale that its predecessors displayed.

FOUR OUT OF FIVE TIPS OF THE HAT- Great story, fantastic pacing, and enough supernatural hijinks to satisfy any fan of paranormal escapades with a good mystery thrown in to the mix.

HANCOCK TIPS HIS HAT TO ‘GHOSTS TEMPLAR’! JASON DARK III

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  • March 14, 2012
TIPPIN’ HANCOCK’S HAT- All Things Pulp Reviewed by Tommy Hancock
GHOSTS TEMPLAR
by Guido Henkel
Published by Thunder Peak Publishing
2010
Even though this novella is Guido Henkel’s third outing with his now trademark Paranormal Investigator Jason Dark, GHOSTS TEMPLAR stands out as the perfect storm for not only Henkel’s talents and imagination, but is also the pinnacle example of a moody, gothic Victorian revenge ghost story.
Dark and his ever enticing, extremely interesting partner Siu Lin are asked by a newly promoted Yard Inspector by the name of Lestrade (yes, that one, Pulpsters!) to look into the disappearance of a constable in a small town.   Of course for Dark to be involved, there has to be more than just an absent human.  Such as a band of phantom knights appearing each night and killing people.  Not randomly murdering the masses, but instead handpicking their victims and gruesomely dispatching them.   Dark and Siu Lin stumble onto not just a missing persons case nor simply a ghost story, but a quest that will lay souls, both living and dead either to rest or damn them to Hell forever.
Although the first two Dark novellas are excellent in their own rights, GHOSTS TEMPLAR proves them to be nothing but setting the table for the right blend of horror, mystery, tension, intrigue, and character development.  Henkel’s use of Lestrade as a catalyst even adds a depth to that literary figure that he doesn’t often get elsewhere.   Dark is at his moody, masterful best and Siu Lin blossoms completely into a fully realized character and one who more than holds her own in a series focused on her mentor.  
Not only do we get a full rendering of the characters we’ve now followed through three volumes in GHOSTS TEMPLAR, but Henkel provides us with an intricate, beautiful canvas which he wraps both characters and readers in.  The descriptions of the village and particularly one particular area where much of the story actually is revealed are haunting and definitely had an impact.   Henkel captures the atmosphere, the strangling, almost choking presence of evil and the desperation of good to overcome in wonderful, wonderful ways, in everything from how the ghosts in question carried out their killings to the way the village unfolded with every descriptive word from Henkel.
FIVE OUT OF FIVE TIPS OF THE HAT-  One of the best novellas of its type or possibly in my top best of novella list ever.   Can’t use enough Terrifics to describe this.  

HANCOCK TIPS HIS HAT TO ‘THEATER OF VAMPIRES’!

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  • March 14, 2012

TIPPIN’ HANCOCK’S HAT- All Things Pulp Reviewed by Tommy Hancock

THEATER OF VAMPIRES
by Guido Henkel
Published by Thunder Peak Publishing
2010

I’ll admit that I’m usually (with a few exceptions) an easy reviewer of initial books in new series.  And there’s a few reasons for that, but that doesn’t mean my praise on the first volume is false, it isn’t at all.  The true strength, though, for me in a series is not simply how good the first book is, but if the second book in the series meets or exceeds my best thoughts of its predecessor.  That’s how I gauge whether or not I’m going to stay with a series for awhile.


Guido Henkel’s THEATER OF VAMPIRES, the follow up to DEMON’S NIGHT and the second in the Jason Dark series definitely set the hook I’d already swallowed with the first volume.


In this adventure, Investigator of the Supermatural Jason Dark and his now apprentice/partner Siu Lin (one of the best parts of the first book) set out to investigate killings that may center around a theatrical production new to England.   This extravagant, wildly weird stage show, considered an example of Grand Guignol, is allegedly about vampires and how they feast on humans.  When Dark becomes concerned that reality may be stranger than staged fiction and a real threat might haunt the aisles and back stage of this production, he and Siu Lin turn to one of Dark’s old friends and jump neck first into the bloodiest, boldest adventure yet.


It’s a foregone conclusion with this book that Jason Dark will encounter something monstrous, something supernatural. As a matter of fact, that point is driven home even more in this volume due to a certain Doctor spying Dark at the Theater and imploring that Dark visit this Doctor and his ‘friend’ soon, a friend who, though in the same field as Dark, did not believe in the supernatural, only in the logical.    Henkel fantastically weaves a believable world in his own version of Victorian England, even sprinkling it with real and fictional personages.   One of the neatest is Dark’s inventor friend, Herbert, who although he doesn’t appear in this volume, casts a long enough shadow that I have a fair idea who he is.    Combine this wonderful name dropping with Henkel’s horrifying descriptions, crackling dialogue, and excellent pulpy pacing and THEATER OF VAMPIRES is an excellent second chapter in the literary life of Jason Dark


FIVE OUT OF FIVE TIPS OF THE HAT-Wickedly fun.

HANCOCK TIPS HIS HAT TO THE CATER STREET HANGMAN!

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  • March 13, 2012

TIPPIN’ HANCOCK’S HAT-Reviews of All Things Pulp by Tommy Hancock

THE CATER STREET HANGMAN
by Anne Perry
Published by Ballantine Books
2008

Tales set in the Victorian Era are odd creatures, particularly when one tries to identify whether or not they are Pulp.  Using the thumbnail description for New Pulp that I do, most Victorian mysteries and even adventures do not contain most of what’s needed to be called Pulp.   Even those intentionally venturing into that era of contradictory morals and inhibitions attempting to craft a New Pulp tale from the rich, though nearly strangling history and knowledge of society of that era often struggle with striking a good balance between what Pulp demands and what the Era signified.

Anne Perry did not write THE CATER STREET HANGMAN with any intentions of it being New Pulp. The reason I read it, however, was that many readers of New Pulp, including some of you reading this review this very minute, have been after me for awhile to check out Perry’s Charlotte and Inspector Pitt series of Victorian era mysteries, telling me that this series featuring a young socialite in Victorian society reluctantly encountering and teaming up with a gruff, rather ruffian Police Inspector most definitely qualified as a success in that wild effort to blend Victorian Era and New Pulp sensibilities.

Well, if her first novel in the apparently extremely popular series is any indication, a lot of you were slightly off.

THE CATER STREET HANGMAN is the story of the first meeting of Charlotte Ellison, a daughter of a moderately well to do well placed family in Victorian society and the gruff, rather ruffian Police Inspector Pitt, injecting himself into the lives of the Ellison family due to the murders of several young women in a serial style near the Ellison home.  As the mystery unfolds with the practiced, plodding diligence of a Victorian matriarch relating all her forgotten loves, Perry also gives a fantastic glance into the inner workings of a family and a neighborhood during this era.   She shows the veritable caste system that existed while simultaneously illustrating how people, particularly young adults, bucked and pulled at the system, trying to sow oats while staying between the rigid lines set for them.  She uses the Ellison girls, Charlotte and her two sisters, to do this throughout the book and does it quite well.

Charlotte by far is the most engaging character in HANGMAN.  Clearly born in the wrong time, she is headstrong, plain spoken, and uncomfortable being restrained by frills and lace.  When faced with Inspector Pitt, however, she relies on the trappings of her society to protect her from strange feelings she has for him, revulsion bordering on attraction.    By the time the mystery is resolved, she still resists the urge, the draw to Pitt, but it’s clear that will not last much longer.

Now, having said all that, notice I barely discuss the mystery (it’s paper thin and lost in the societal machinations and moanings and its solution is telegraphed way early) or any action (almost a total lack thereof, honestly) that the book contains.  The plot is solid enough, but moves at a snail’s pace.  As mentioned previously, the truly interesting character of Charlotte stands out from the other Victorian shades around her, so there’s not a lot to draw a New Pulp reader in via the characters.   Pitt’s likable enough, but the tension between he and Charlotte is pedestrian at best.

A decent read if you’re interested in traditionally written Victorian mysteries? Yes.  New Pulp?  Not for this reader.

THREE OUT OF FIVE TIPS OF HANCOCK’S HAT- Perry’s grasp on the Victorian Era earns it at least that much.

HANCOCK TIPS HIS HAT TO ‘THE GHOST SQUAD’!

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  • March 12, 2012

TIPPIN’ HANCOCK’S HAT- Reviews of All Things Pulp by Tommy Hancock

GHOST SQUAD: RISE OF THE BLACK LEGION
by Andrew Salmon and Ron Fortier
Cover by Chad Hardin
Interiors by Rob Davis
Published by Airship 27 Productions
2008

Even though Pulp, both Classic and New, runs rampant over a myriad of genres, there’s no doubt that a personal favorite of mine and indeed of many Pulp fans of all shades and types is the tried and true Hero Pulp.  A strong central ‘lead’ character surrounded by able bodied, skilled, and interesting teammates off on an adventure against over the top villains with a larger than life plan to take over some corner, or pray tell  even the entire world.   There’s just something about those stories that endear themselves to me and to Pulp Fans as a whole.

I really enjoy it when I find such characters in a New Pulp work, one that effectively tips its fedora to what came before, but also brings enough modern sensibility and nuance to the Hero genre to make it stand out, to make it more New than Rehash.

That’s why I really, really enjoyed GHOST SQUAD: RISE OF THE BLACK LEGION from Airship 27 Productions.

Co-written by Ron Fortier and Andrew Salmon and originally released in 2008, GHOST SQUAD opens with a story known to many of a man once dead returned to life by Jesus Christ.  This opening segues into another introductory sequence showing the same man now working the front lines of World War One.   This unique way of setting up the central character of the team we get introduced to in later chapters quickly endears the reader to said character, who currently, in this title, is using the name John Lazarus.

The uniqueness of utilizing the biblical character adds a touch of fantastic imagination to a story that also comes replete with a two fisted pilot, a beguiling lady stage magician skilled in real magic, an elite group of Nazis led by someone nearly as long lived as Lazarus and very much his opposite number, and so much more.   GHOST SQUAD moves with a pacing in the first 12 chapters and from chapter 14 on that is top notch and would serve as a great blueprint for New Pulp writers on how to pace a Pulpy tale and utilize both rapid fire action and balance throughout.

There are times, however, when one section, one chapter, even one page of a book can threaten to derail the whole process, disengage the reader so completely that they almost don’t finish the tale.  GHOST SQUAD has just such a stumbling block.  Chapter 13, which highlights a car chase involving Hale, one of the Ghost Squad members, and a very special guest star from the era of the Classic Pulps through the city of San Francisco, is a complete waste of time.   Well, not the whole thing necessarily, but the chapter, 23 pages in length, drags on after about the tenth page and carries the heroes and villains through a series of twists and turns that, although possibly intended to add tension and excitement to the story as a whole, does just the opposite and weighs the story down so much that it made it hard to stay invested in the tale.   Fortunately for the book and for me as the reader, Salmon and Fortier return to the dead on pacing and storytelling they exhibited in the first 12 chapters with Chapter 14 and do not let up or fall back into that Chapter 13 trap again at all.  

Although the cover to this book isn’t typically what I enjoy stylistically, Hardin’s work fits this piece extremely well and the image cast by the cover works perfectly.  Add in Davis’ top of the line interiors, some of his best New Pulp work I’ve seen to date, along with his equally excellent design work on the package as a whole, and GHOST SQUAD definitely stands as one of the best looking New Pulp offerings out there.

FOUR OUT OF FIVE TIPS OF HANCOCK’S HAT- This book came out in 2008.   Far too long since Lazarus and crew have seen light, if you ask me.

HANCOCK TIPS HIS HAT TO ‘DEATHWALKER’!

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  • March 12, 2012

TIPPIN’ HANCOCK’S HAT- Reviews of All Things Pulp by Tommy Hancock

DEATHWALKER
By R. A. Jones
Cover Art by Laura Givens
Interior Art by Michael Neno
Published by Airship 27 Productions
2012

It is always exciting when a  New Pulp character debuts.  It’s also a great thing when writers, especially those known in other mediums, make their way into the New Pulp field.   In the instance of this Airship 27 release, DEATHWALKER, both of these events have occurred.  Deathwalker, the central character of the book, is the creation of R. A. Jones, a writer known largely for his comic work.  This is one of two New Pulp works that Jones has had debut in the month of February.

But there’s a third neat occurrence that I like to see happen as well that DEATHWALKER also takes advantage of.

In DEATHWALKER, Jones mines a field of inspiration and creativity that I think we as New Pulp writers all too often either completely overlook or just steal bits and pieces from intend of wrapping ourselves in it whole cloth.  That is, the rich tapestry that so many ancient civilizations, religions, and mythologies offer to creators to draw stories and new adventures from.  Why more New Pulpsters aren’t stepping off into the catastrophic cacophony of myths and the screwed up creatures that inhabit them is a mystery to me.  Jones does not shy away from that at all, setting his entire tale squarely in Native American mythology, particularly that of the Cheyenne, Deathwalker’s tribe.

The story centers around the title character who, when he was known as High Bird, experienced a rite of passage common to many aboriginal races world wide, that of the vision quest.  In his fevered quest, High Bird is visited by Death itself and marked forever more to be a Hero, but also a Bringer of Death.  It will follow him, He will cause it, He will be surrounded by it, respected because of it, and feared for it even by those who love him.  Taking the name Deathwalker, he becomes the leader of the Dog Soldiers, a band of warriors within his tribe and serves in many ways as the protector of his people.

The action of the story erupts when a band of young Cheyenne braves steal ponies from a nearby Pawnee tribe.  The shaman of the Pawnees, Stands Alone, takes great offense to this and begins a quest to wreak his revenge on the Cheyenne.  Never one to back down, Deathwalker confronts the shaman, heaps a few insults on to the old man himself, and thus begins a war between the two men that involves wolf men, centaurs, flying pestilence, snake women, and so many more concepts and characters drawn straight from Native American beliefs.   Not only that, but Jones insures that his characters authentically use rituals and observe customs common to the featured tribes, even so much so that one such custom plays a pivotal role in the story’s resolution.

DEATHWALKER has a lot to offer.  It is peopled with realistic characters while also being filled with fantastic magic and awesomely conceived mythical beasts.   Although the story telling is ponderous toward the beginning, it quickly gets beyond that and rolls fairly nonstop until the last page.  Also, there’s a device used toward the end of the book that sort of distracted me, took me out of the flow.   But overall, it was a solid read and fantastic story.

The interior art by Neno (that I was able to see in the PDF copy I had) stood out and was a fantastic rendition of the action in the book.  The Laura Givens cover was a mixed bag for me.  The central figure of Deathwalker was striking, but the surroundings and whatever lay in front of him seemed muddled and less clearly defined.    The overall design of the book, however, is top notch and makes a great package.

DEATHWALKER has been called ‘a Native American Conan’.  I don’t think that’s what I read.  The central character here had a code of honor and a direction much more specific and inherent than Robert E. Howard’s barbarian.  This struck me more as a Native American Hercules or Perseus and the story flowed with a more traditional Greek or Roman mythological pacing as well.  But, that is no way a negative at all. I actually find the depth that Jones worked into this tale its strongest point.

FOUR OUT OF FIVE TIPS OF THE HAT-DEATHWALKER runs the gamut of well told, fast paced, great mythological fun!  Well worth the read!

HANCOCK TIPS HIS HAT TO FIGHT FICTIONEERS!

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  • March 12, 2012

TIPPIN’ HANCOCK’S HAT-Reviews of All Things Pulp by Tommy Hancock

FIGHT FICTIONEERS Issue 1
by Paul Bishop, Mel Odom, Eric Beetner, David Foster, et al

A major aspect of Pulp in its heyday that has often been overlooked and even hidden in the shadow of the likes of Doc Savage and others was the Sports Pulps.  Fortunately, that’s no longer the case.   A resurgence is taking place today with the New Pulp Renaissnace and that also is the fact that Sports centered Pulp tales are once more playing a prominent role in what defines Pulp for readers today.  That return to greatness has very much to do with the efforts of a small, hardy band of creators who intend to spare no talent and take no prisoners in making sure Sports Pulp is vibrant, active, and a major component of the New Pulp Movement.

Led by veteran authors Paul Bishop and Mel Odom, the creative geniuses behind the extremely popular FIGHT CARD series of New Pulp focused on Boxing, this group of Pulp and Boxing enthusiasts have produced FIGHT FICTIONEERS, a magazine focused on not only promoting the Fight Card books, but also Pulp and Fiction in general crossing several mediums that promote the use of Boxing and similar sports, like Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) in books, films, etc.  This e-magazine is filled with great articles on current authors and works dealing with the Sweet Science or just fighting in general.   Add to that the reviews of movies and books by Foster and the pure passion that pours through in every word, be it from Bishop and company or those authors and others they interview, then FIGHT FICTIONEERS is not only informative and the best way to learn about New Sports Pulp, but it also takes its place beside the finest representatives of this renaissance as a major piece of the perfect blending of Sports and Pulp!

Five out of Five Tips of the Hat-  Definitely can’t wait for Issue Two

ALL PULP BREAKS 200,000 VIEWS!

ALL PULP BREAKS 200,000 VIEWS!

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  • March 12, 2012

The Spectacled Seven and all the Staff at All Pulp are proud to announce that All Pulp’s viewership has surpassed 200,000 views! In 18 months, over 200,000 people have viewed the news, reviews, columns, and everything else that All Pulp has provided to The Pulp World at Large! Thank you so much and please keep on checking out All The News that is Pulp at All Pulp!

THE RUBY FILES LANDS AT AIRSHIP 27!

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  • March 11, 2012

PRESS RELEASE
GANGSTERS & GUNMOLLS
Airship 27 Productions dons its tough-guy mantle, as it premiers its newest pulp star in THE RUBY FILES. 
It was the 1930s and America was locked in the grip of the Great Depression.  Gangsters controlled the major cities while outlaws roamed the rural back country.  It was a time of Speak Easy gin-joints, Tommy-guns, fast cars and even faster dames.  This is the world of New York based Private Investigator Rick Ruby, a world he is all too familiar with.  From the back alleys of Gotham to the gold laden boulevards of Hollywood, Ruby is the shamus with a nose for trouble and an insatiable appetite for justice.  So if you’ve got a taste for hot lead and knuckle sandwiches, tug your cuffs, adjust your fedora and light up a Lucky, a brand new pulp detective is coming your way. 
Created by pulp masters, Bobby Nash & Sean Taylor, Rick Ruby echoes the tales of Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe while offering up his own brand of two-fisted action.  Joined by fellow pulp smiths Andrew Salmon & William Patrick Maynard, these modern scribes of purple prose present a quartet of tales to delight any true lover of private eye fiction. This instant classic features a gorgeous Mark Wheatley cover and eight evocative black and white illustrations by Rob Moran.
This is a book that harkens back to the classic black and white Warner Brothers gangster movies that featured James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart and Edward G. Robinson to name a few.  The atmosphere is gritty with a no-nonsense hero pulp fans are going to applaud from the first story to the last.  And when that last tale comes to a close, you can bet we haven’t seen the last of Rick Ruby, Private Eye.
AIRHSIP 27 PRODUCTIONS – PULP FICTION FOR A NEW GENERATION!

$3 digital copy available here –
From Create Space here –
(https://www.createspace.com/3810386)
POD version from Indy Planet
(http://www.indyplanet.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=6797)

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