Tagged: Doc Savage

FORTIER TAKES ON AGENT PENDERGAST IN COLD VENGEANCE!

  • News
  • February 8, 2012

ALL PULP REVIEWS by Ron Fortier
COLD VENGEANCE
By Preston & Child
Grand Central Publishing
448 pages
One of my favorite new pulp series on the market today is the Special Agent Pendergast series by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child.  I’ve stated many times in past reviews, if Clive Cussler’s hero Dirk Pitt is truly a modern take on Doc Savage, the Man of Bronze, then Pendergast is as close to a real life Shadow as we are ever going to get.  What makes Aloysius Pendergast so unique is his expertise in both modern sciences and arcane mystical practices.  First introduced in the book “Relic” the gaunt looking agent with the silver tinted eyes became an instant hit with action-thriller fans and rightly so.
Over the years and in his multiple, totally mesmerizing adventures, the authors have parceled out stingy pieces of the character’s past life; most of which have dealt with his youthful days growing up in New Orleans.  Now the pair has launched a truly masterful trilogy which delves into the one of Agent Pendergast’s most intimate and heart-wrenching experiences, the tragic death of his lovely wife Helen.  With their opening volume, “Fever Dream,” we learned that her tragic death, while on their honeymoon safari in Africa, was in fact a coldly executed murder.  By the end of that book Pendergast and several allies, including New York Detective D’Agosta, had run afoul of a deadly group of pharmaceutical doctors hiding on a foreboding island in the middle of the Louisiana bayous.  In a climatic finale, Pendergast learned the man responsible for his wife’s death was in fact her own brother, Dr. Judson Esterhazy.
As “Cold Vengeance” begins, Esterhazy, aware Pendergast suspects him, attempts to assassinate him while on a hunting trip in the forsaken moors of the Scottish highlands.
But killing Pendergast is never easy and in the end the villain must flee, but not before revealing to the F.B.I. agent that the entire death of his wife was a ruse and that she is still very much alive.
Thus begins the cat and mouse chase that propels us through this second chapter.  Not only is Pendergast after Esterhazy, but he also launches an obsessive quest to find Helen.  As both paths continue to frustrate him, what he is unaware of is Esterhazy’s own desperation has brought him to an immutable conclusion; the only way to stop Pendergast is to cease running and lure him into a trap.  The frantic Esterhazy seeks the assistance of a shadow organization that has in fact been the manipulators of the past events and possesses a diabolic secret whose routes lie in the ruins of Nazis Germany.
Reading these books are addictive, so be forewarned should you pick one up.  You’ll soon be like this reviewer, hooked for the duration.  “Cold Vengeance” is a riveting masterpiece of suspense skillfully balanced with pulse-pounding action galore.  The only negative point is how fast one arrives at the cliff-hanger ending, which is pure torture.  The third and final chapter of this saga is entitled “Two Graves” and for this reviewer it just can’t get here fast enough.

THE SPIDER GOES EBOOK! ALL OF ALTUS NOW AVAILABLE! DRAMA AND THE GREEN LAMA AND MORE!

  • News
  • January 27, 2012
 

 
January 27, 2012
 
NEW Radio Set: Claudia, Volume 7

Soap Operas in the heyday of Radio were very similar to one another. For the most part, their content was predictable, but deeply engrossing. Soap operas played on the apparent human need for intrigue, insider knowledge, gossip, and the satisfaction that comes from knowing that, no matter how tedious or dull or awful your life is, someone out there has it much worse than you do.
 
But, in 1947, a new soap opera debuted that was far different – far more quiet and gentle and down-to-earth – than its strife-ridden forbears. This show brought listeners more than the ‘tune in tomorrow’ hooks its peers produced. Listeners tuned in day after day for the interesting, fully developed characters, the light-hearted banter between them, and the familiarity of their day-to-day situations. This soap opera, probably more of a light drama in modern terms, is “Claudia.”

“Claudia” told the tale of Claudia and David Naughton, newlyweds, just beginning their married life. Young, enthusiastic, and very much in love, they weren’t suffering from any medical maladies or suspicions of infidelity. Instead, they were simply facing the many challenges of any new marriage – finding an apartment, getting used to each other’s quirks, and learning to live together on a daily basis. Claudia, a bit younger than her years, is often impulsive, sometimes irresponsible, usually perky, and just a bit flighty. As she matures, she becomes a unique mixture of enthusiasm, incompetence and over-confidence — deeply in love with her somewhat older husband David but frequently naive and too likely to trust her insecurities rather than her instincts.
Heard today, “Claudia” remains wonderful entertainment, notable for both its lighthearted tone and the believable interplay between its characters. In a feat that is rare where old time radio is concerned, Radio Archives has been able to locate and preserve the entire eighteen-month run of “Claudia” – 390 episodes in all – with no missing shows, allowing you to enjoy the complete series on a day-by-day basis. This collection offers 24 episodes of “Claudia” and marks the midway point of the remaining volumes. Claudia, Volume 7 and the series as a whole are a real treasure for radio enthusiasts to enjoy for many years to come and are available today from Radio Archives! Six hours on Audio CDs for $17.98.

by Tommy Hancock
 

Old Time Radio is responsible for at least the longevity of so many character types that the public have enjoyed for decades and still today. One of those is the brassy Brooklyn dame who while seeming ditzy to some, actually brings a bit of her own wisdom of the world to every predicament she finds herself in, of which there are many. If you haven’t guessed it, I’ve just described one Maisie Revere, often out of work entertainer and just as often consistent entertainment as the heroine of The Adventures of Maisie.
 
Portrayed by Ann Sothern, MGM starlet and the originator of the Maisie role in a series of high grade B movies for the studio, Maisie came to life on the radio waves in 1949. Although this is actually the second series to feature the character, it’s the only series of which any episodes are known to exist.
 
From the cracker jack opening of Maisie’s heels clicking, a man asking her “Hiya babe! Say, how ’bout-“ and a slap and Maisie saying, “Does that answer your question, buddy?” the stage is set in each episode for Sothern to play brassy and funny to the hilt. And she does this with a style and a sort of rough grace that adds credence to the character. Maisie sounds and moves within each episode as you would expect a girl from Brooklyn who finds herself in non-Brooklyn type situations constantly to sound and move. And although, by her own account, Maisie may not be the highest limb on the tree intellectually, her view of the world around her and how those she encounters mistakenly see things is simultaneously hilarious, refreshing, and enlightening.
 
On so many levels, “The Adventures of Maisie” is most definitely a comedy, leaning heavily toward screwball in a few of the episodes on this collection. But something else manifests from the crucible of mixing Sothern’s acting and dead on voice with the skill of the writers and the quirky plots of this show. Whether Maisie is having to work off rent as a hotel clerk and mistakenly rents a room to phony royalty or pretends to be a lady herself and almost nabs her a Lord all her own or rooks a snobby diva out of her stylish clothes by convincing her she’s a near dowager, there is something that comes out of each episode more than guffaws and giggles.
 
Played with that street rough, yet simplistic delivery Sothern brings to the role, Maisie Revere delivers quite a bit of Brooklyn spun philosophy as she stumbles in and out of trouble. You don’t have to listen hard to hear her ideas on rich people, authority, and even her own place in the crazy world she lives in. This adds a distinct appeal to the show as a whole, making it not only a solid old time radio comedy, but also something with a bit of insightful veritas to it as well.
 
The Adventures of Maisie, Volume 1 is definitely a comedy worth having in your collection and one that is one step above the ‘lighter fare’ of its audio peers. Available today from Radio Archives, 10 hours of Maisie on Audio CDs for $29.98.
 
 
Radio Archives always strives to be the best and continually improve our products. We embarked on a massive project two years ago to update the artwork for the 200 Old Time Radio CD sets available.
 
This project is now complete and all orders are now shipping with the newest artwork. Take a look at the Covers which we upgraded this week.
 

 

Radio Archives wants to share its excitement with YOU! From now until February 29th, 2012, you can add any of the new artwork for Radio Archives sets you already own to your collection for absolutely FREE with your next order! Add to the experience of the programs you already enjoy with these creative pieces of art!
 
The process to upgrade your Radio Archives covers is simple! First, search the Radio Archives website to find the set you own. Then copy the Product Description. As an example, the Product Description would look like this:
Mystery Is My Hobby – 10 hours [Audio CDs] #RA132
 
You then paste the Product Descriptions of all the sets you want updated into the comments section of your next order. The artwork will be sent free of charge along with your order!
 
This offer expires on February 29th and artwork can only be provided for products currently offered on RadioArchives.com. Radio Archives appreciates your business and wants you to have the newest Cover Artwork so that you have the best quality product, both inside and out!
 
 

A more unlikely multi-media success than the jade-robed Buddhist monk who fought crime under the nom de guerre of The Green Lama would be hard to imagine.
 
Conceived in 1939 at the behest of the editors of Munsey Publications to compete with the juggernaut that The Shadow had become in print, on radio and in film, The Green Lama was the creation of writer Kendall Foster Crossen, who was asked to think up a hero who could lure mystery-minded readers away from The Shadow’s loyal legion of followers. Inspired by a Columbia University student named Theos Casimir Barnard, who had journeyed to far-off Tibet to plumb the occult mysteries of Lamaism, Crossen concocted millionaire Jethro Dumont, who did the same.
 
It was an outlandish concept. While The Shadow possessed the power to cloud men’s minds after his time in the East, The Green Lama relied on other, even weirder, powers—including the ability to become radioactive and electrically shock opponents into submission! He carried a traditional scarf, which he employed to bind and befuddle opponents and possessed a knowledge of vulnerable nerve centers which he put to good use in hand-and-hand combat. Being a practicing Buddhist, it would not do to pack a pair of .45 automatics a la The Shadow!
 
Writing as Richard Foster, Crossen produced The Case of the Crimson Hand, which was published in the April, 1940 Double Detective under the equally colorful title, The Green Lama. That first installment raised the magazine’s circulation several notches. Amazingly, the Lama was a hit. Thirteen additional stories followed over the next four years, with provocative titles like The Case of the Hollywood Ghost and Babies for Sale. Assistants ranging from ordinary Manhattanites to a professional magician came and went with every adventure, which often involved emerging super-criminals and Fifth Column menaces.
 
RadioArchives.com has selected The Green Lama to be the first 2012 release in its acclaimed Will Murray Pulp Classics line of audiobooks. His first case and its sequel, Croesus of Murder, are presented in one set, voiced by the talented Michael McConnohie. Thus, the hero of a dozen different incarnations has found a new world to conquer! You’ll never encounter another hero anything like him. Om Mani Padme Hum! The Green Lama knows! Will Murray’s Audio Pulp Classics #5 The Green Lama is available now!
 
The Green Lama, by Kendell Foster Crossen, first appeared in the April 1940 issue of Double-Detective magazine. Copyright © 1940 by The Red Star News Company. Copyright renewed © 1968 and assigned to Argosy Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved. “The Green Lama” is a trademark controlled by Argosy Communications, Inc. Produced by arrangement with Argosy Communications, Inc.
 

Being both a Doc Savage fan from way back (I bought my first Doc Savage Bantam paperback back in the 1970’s) as well as a fan of Old Time Radio I was more than eager to check out the audiobook PYTHON ISLE. And I was not disappointed. Channeling the spirit of Lester Dent/Kenneth Robeson, Will Murray wonderfully captures the relentless sprint of headlong excitement that I feel is essential to a Doc Savage adventure.
 
PYTHON ISLE is based on an actual outline written by Lester Dent back in the 1930’s but rejected for reasons that are explained by Will Murray himself in one of two extra interviews where he explains how he found the outline and turned it into a finished novel. It’s an added bonus to an already entertaining package.
 
Like the best of any Doc Savage adventure, PYTHON ISLE begins with a situation that immediately promises this is going to be a humdinger of a supersaga. A gang of ruthless diamond smugglers catches sight of a plane crash landing into the water near their ship. At first fearing it’s the law, they quickly mount a rescue upon seeing that the plane has been repaired with gold plating. There are only two passengers aboard. A man carrying a bamboo tube sealed at both ends and an astoundingly beautiful woman who speaks no language anybody can understand. Both are dressed in clothes that haven’t been worn since Biblical times. The man has but a single objective in mind: find Doc Savage. And we need no more to get the adventure started.
 
As always, my opinion of an audiobook depends mainly on the voice I’m listening to. If the voice is boring and puts me to sleep, what difference does it make how terrific the story is? I’m delighted to say the voice of Michael McConnohie is anything but boring. He doesn’t just read the story, he performs it and I’m simply flabbergasted by the diversity and range of his voice. In passages where there are two or three different characters talking it actually sounds as if there are distinct and separate voices talking to each other. In addition, his straight reading of description sounds more like the narration of a genuine old time radio drama than just a reading of the text. It’s wonderful to listen to.
 
So should you listen to PYTHON ISLE? Absolutely. If you’re a Doc Savage fan there’s no way that you cannot have this in your collection. And if you have a friend you want to turn onto Doc Savage, pulp adventure or audiobooks, this is an excellent way to do so.
 
 
 
NEW Product Line: Pulp eBooks
 

A growing leader in providing Pulp Fiction in a variety of forms to modern fans, Radio Archives adds one more line to its ever growing number of Pulp Products! Will Murray’s Pulp Classics, already known for fantastic audio book versions of Classic Pulp tales now also features eBooks! Will Murray’s Pulp Classic eBook line will spotlight original Pulp characters in their original tales from the Golden Age of Pulp Fiction! This exciting new line debuts with four stories of Norvell Page’s Master of Men himself – The Spider!
 
Thanks to the modern technology of digital publishing and eBooks, collectors and fans can experience stories from the original Pulps of the early 20th Century in an easy, affordable fashion. Referred to by some as ‘today’s pulp,’ eBooks are similar to Pulp magazines in the sense that digital eBooks, like their Pulp counterparts were, can be easily and inexpensively produced and sold to customers! Add to that the absolute top quality production that Radio Archives brings to this project and Will Murray’s Pulp Classic eBooks are a must have for every fan from the novice to the hardcore Pulp Collector!
 
Will Murray’s Pulp Classic eBooks are available now for only $2.99! And not only do you get the eBook for that fantastic price, but you get it in THREE different formats. With the ever evolving technology of today, Radio Archives recognizes that readers may have different devices that read different eBook files and may change devices as well. To this end, each Will Murray Pulp Classic eBook will be delivered to you as a .mobi file, an .epub file, and a PDF, making the eBook readable on The Kindle, iPad, The Nook, and most e-readers, computers, and smart phones!
 

The four titles kicking off the eBook line feature The Spider, the vengeful vigilante from the past that lives as a Pulp icon today! Each eBook contains the tale as originally written when it appeared as well as an introduction from Will Murray to acquaint readers with the character they’re going to encounter as well as original cover art!
 
 

 
New Spider titles will be released every two weeks, as well as surprises yet to come!
 
With the addition of The Spider eBooks, The Pulp Book Store is quickly becoming the best place to find everything Spider. From audio books by Radio Archives to exquisite Pulp reprints and replicas from Girasol Collectables and new tales of the Spider from Moonstone Books, The Master of Men is alive and well in The Pulp Book Store!
 
Stay tuned, Pulp fans, for the best in Pulp eBooks from Will Murray’s Pulp Classics and Radio Archives!
 
 
 
 
 
 

Horror in Gold, a brand new Doc Savage novel written by prolific pulp veteran Will Murray, has been released by Altus Press. Set in 1936 Manhattan, the story opens with an inexplicable wave of human detonations that brings legendary scientist-adventurer Doc Savage into the investigation to confront a strange new type of terrorism.
 
Murray, who won acclaim for his tenure ghostwriting Warren Murphy and Richard Sapir’s Destroyer action-adventure series and his works of original fiction and pop culture history, knows his subject well.
 
The Wild Adventures of Doc Savage is a continuation of the well-received novels he wrote for Bantam Books back in the 1990s, which he worked on with Doc Savage’s creator and original writer, the late Lester Dent.
 
These new posthumous collaborations will be published under the familiar pen name of Kenneth Robeson.
 
“Horror in Gold is a CSI-style Doc Savage story,” Murray said. “Most of the action takes place in and around Doc’s skyscraper headquarters, which we see in more detail than ever before. With ordinary Gothamites falling victim to the most grisly murder method ever recorded, Doc spends a lot of time in the city morgue and in his super-scientific laboratory assembling the pieces of the puzzle. In between, the action never stops, as Doc and his men race to prevent an escalating tragedy—culminating in an explosive climax around a dormant Alaskan volcano which shouldn’t be rumbling to life, but is!”
 
The author hasn’t strayed far from Dent for the basis of this new tale.
 
“This story is based on an unused Doc Savage plot Lester Dent wrote in 1935, but was considered too visceral to be published in the pages of Doc Savage Magazine back then. To live up to its potential, I wrote the most jaw-dropping opening chapter of my 50-novel career. I introduce one of the most vicious super-criminals in pulp history, The Alchemist, and a half-forgotten member of the original Doc Savage cast returns after an absence of almost 80 years,” he said. Buy this NEW 330 page Doc Savage novel in trade paperback today for only $24.95. The cover is a beautiful Doc Savage oil painting by the talented Joe DeVito.
 
 

With the addition of 31 new titles from Altus Press, the prolific Pulp reprint publisher’s entire catalogue is now available from the Pulp Book Store.
 
One of the leaders in Pulp today, Altus Press provides the reading public with top of the line reprints as well as professionally designed collections, comprehensive Pulp academic works, and new material, including The Wild Adventures of Doc Savage written by author Will Murray.
 
From new adventures of Doc Savage to reprints of classic Pulp characters like the Black Bat and even more obscure creations such as Armless O’Neill and Senorita Scorpion, Altus Press has something to offer every Pulp reader!
 
Altus Press answers the needs of a growing fan base for Pulp, readers finding something in these classic stories that appeal to modern sensibilities. The company takes its overall mission very seriously-to produce the best quality product possible. And every single title, close to 100 top of the line collections, novels, and other works, from Altus Press is now featured in the Pulp Book Store!
 

The Knight of Darkness battles evil supercriminals in two action-packed pulp novels by Walter Gibson writing as “Maxwell Grant.” First, in a never-reprinted 1932 epic, The Shadow seeks to unmask The Five Chameleons, master villains whose uncanny ability to blend with their surroundings rivals his own. Then, the Dark Avenger feels the savage sting of The Wasp in his first confrontation with one of his deadliest foes. This double-novel reprints the classic cover paintings by George Rozen and Graves Gladney and the original interior illustrations by Tom Lovell and Earl Mayan, with historical articles by Will Murray. Get it now for $14.95!
 
The pulp era’s greatest superman returns in two classic pulp thrillers by Lester Dent writing as “Kenneth Robeson.” First, Doc and Patricia Savage enter an Arctic abyss where dinosaurs and prehistoric humans survive, and race against Japanese agents to uncover the secret of The Time Terror that could change the outcome of the war. Then, a series of crimes committed by “graduates” of the Man of Bronze’s Crime College threaten to destroy Doc’s reputation. What is the sinister secret of The Talking Devil? This special collectors edition showcases both color pulp covers by Emery Clarke, Paul Orban’s classic interior illustrations and historical commentary by Will Murray, writer of eight Doc Savage novels. Yours for only $14.95!
 
 
The double life of Police Commissioner James Gordon is explored in a pair of two-fisted thrillers that inspired classic Batman stories! First, The Whisperer goes undercover to close down a “School for Murder” that prepares teenagers for criminal careers! Then, Wildcat Gordon investigates corruption in the trucking industry in “Murder on the Line.” BONUS: an adventure of Norgil the Magician by The Shadow’s Maxwell Grant! This historic collector’s item showcases both original color pulp covers by Spider artist John Newton Howitt, classic interior illustrations by Paul Orban and golden-age great Creig Flessel, and historical commentary by Will Murray and Anthony Tollin. Now at Radio Archives for $14.95!

Pulp fiction’s legendary Master of Men returns in two classic novels from the Golden Age of Pulp Fiction, written by Norvell Page under the pseudonym of Grant Stockbridge. First, in “Overlord of the Damned” (October 1935), the Boss unleashes horrible death with his demonic acid guns… with a vat of the same deadly corrosive reserved for those who talk too much! With his beloved Nita van Sloan a hostage to a terrible doom, the Spider faces the soul-tearing prospect of planting the Spider seal on his friend Stanley Kirkpatrick, Commissioner of Police! Then, in “Dictator’s Death Merchants!” (July 1940), The jaws of death gape open when El Crocodilo feasts! With uncanny skill, he forestalls even the Spider’s best attempts to trap him. Striking without mercy, this menace from the past rises anew by demolishing a banking institution each night, in a mad scheme to take control of nothing less than all of America’s finances! This volume is available in two editions and features the original artwork from the October 1935 or the July 1940 edition of “The Spider” magazine. Both versions feature reformatted text and original interior illustrations to accompany each story. Available now for $14.95!
 
 
 
 

 
On the hunt for quality Pulp Fiction, both classic and new? In search of great prices? Then dig into the Treasure Chest, exclusively featuring products for the Pulp Book Store! Just click on the Treasure Chest on the Pulp Book Store Page and you’ll find fantastic monthly discounts on an everchanging variety of items from our various stores! From everyone from the avid Pulp Fan to the casual reader, the Treasure Chest offers great deals on wonderful products from The Pulp Book Store!
Review of “Brand of the Werewolf” from Doc Savage, Volume 13

By Dr Art Sippo

Doc Savage and his crew travel to Canada to visit his only known living relatives: his Uncle Alex Savage and his cousin Patricia.
 
On the train, Doc receives a message from his uncle telling him to stay away. He leaves the cabin to investigate leaving his crew there. While he is gone, his men are stricken with unexplained unconsciousness. When Doc returns to the cabin he finds them and emblazoned on the wall is a hideous face that is a cross between a man and a wolf. The Brand of the Werewolf!
 
When they arrive at the Savage ranch they discover that Alex Savage has been murdered after the alleged message had been sent. The ranch is under attack by local thugs and mysterious forces that the local people attribute to the loup-garou a half-man/half-wolf monster. He moves among the inhabitance with impunity using his powers to subdue them and then kill them at will.
 
Meanwhile Patricia Savage has taken charge of the ranch. She is also guarding a mysterious Ivory cube that belonged to her father which the thugs have been trying to steal from her father and now from her. Pat is a tall striking woman with bronze colored hair like her cousin’s, who is mentally and physically strong enough to fight to defend her property. But as her superstitious ranch hands desert her, she cannot hold out against the enemies ranged against her.
 
Enter Doc Savage and his crew of adventurers. Now the odds are more even, but can even they defy the power of the Werewolf? With his entire physical and mental prowess, can Doc Savage defeat a supernatural monster?
 
This was the story that introduced Patricia Savage as a recurring character in the Doc Savage series. It was the most popular story in the original Bantam reprints form the 1960s and remains a fan favorite. This is a classic story from the golden age of the 1930s. And it along with another Doc Savage classic can be yours in Doc Savage Volume 13 for $12.95 from Radio Archives!
 
Comments From Our Customers!
 
Joseph (Joe) Cierniak

I have ordered from RadioArchives in the past and have nothing but praise the for merchandise’s quality and great customer service response. Ah, you guys do business just as it was done in my younger days. It was called trust. I’m not against (positive ) change but how many companies out there today would ship an item(s) and trust the purchaser to pay the bill. Not many. Thanks again. Received my order in today’s mail for Volume 2 of Suspense. Wow, what service!
 
Jim McCuaig:
Great quality, folks – a pleasure to be able to hear these shows like they sounded when they were new.
 
Tom C. Miller:
Just wanted to thank you for the prompt shipping of my last order. Your record time in attempting to ship same day as ordered is much appreciated..
 
If you’d like to share a comment with us or if you have a question or a suggestion send an email to Service@RadioArchives.com. We’d love to hear from you!
 
The products you’ve read about in this newsletter are just a small fraction of what you’ll find waiting for you at RadioArchives.com. Whether it’s the sparkling audio fidelity of our classic radio collections, the excitement of our new line of audiobooks, or the timeless novels of the pulp heroes, you’ll find hundreds of intriguing items at RadioArchives.com.
 
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Exploring The Power Of The Centipede with Chuck Miller

  • News
  • January 24, 2012
One of the great things about being part of the all pulp staff is the ability to read great pulp.  The Black Centipede was given to me generously by Chuck Miller, and the book is a fascinating read.  This doesn’t have a very one dimensional approach to it.  Heroes could very easily be villains, and even the staunchest villain has some heroic qualities to them.  The dark side of humanity is made commonplace, and Chuck Miller does it seamlessly.  The characters are believable and they feel human, much more so than many other stories.
 Chuck himself is a fascinating man.   I discuss with him Black Centipede, his other projects and the nature of man.
All Pulp:  Who were your writing influences growing up?
Chuck Miller:  I guess comic books would be a major one, since i’ve been reading them since literally as far back as I can remember. When I was 8 years old, I was given a copy of the Complete Sherlock Holmes, which made a huge impression on me. I’m a die-hard Holmes fan to this day. And not just the Conan Doyle stories– I really love a lot of the pastiches that have sprouted up, beginning with The Seven Per-Cent Solution and The West End Horror by Nicholas Meyer. I loved the way Meyer involved Holmes with genuine historical persons and events, and I do the same thing with the Black Centipede. In Creeping Dawn,  he has encounters with Lizzie Borden, H.P. Lovecraft, Frank Nitti, and William Randolph Hearst.
I also started reading the paperback reprints of the Shadow and Doc Savage stories when I was still a pre-teen, and those stuck with me. I very much preferred the Shadow, because he was so mysterious and had an air of the supernatural about him, though there was never any hint of the occult in any of the stories. Later on, I got into the Nero Wolfe books by Rex Stout, and those would become a major influence in terms of narrative voice. I was really captivated by the way Archie Goodwin’s personality came across in the writing, and I try to do the same thing myself, as best I can. Just about everything I do is in first person. I like to get really deep inside a character’s head, and I’m really not very comfortable as an omniscient third person.
There have been a huge number of influences on my writing, in terms of both style and content. Hunter S. Thompson, Philip Jose Farmer, Flannery O’Connor, William S. Burroughs, Dorothy Parker, Raymond Chandler, Philip K. Dick… it just goes on and on, really. I have taken a little something from each of them. And not only books, but movies and music as well. I bring in a lot of very diverse elements. It has been said that my work is very unique and original. The fact is, the Centipede is very derivative character, but he is derived from so many wide-ranging sources that he appears to be completely original.
AP:  Why pulp?
CM:  That happened sort of by accident. About 20 years ago, I came up with an idea for a comic book called  The Optimist.  It never went anywhere, but I had a huge cast of characters I had created for it, and they continued to simmer in my head after the project was finally abandoned completely back in 2001.

A couple of years ago, I decided to really get serious about the writing. I’d always wanted to do it, and I was in a position where I could devote a lot of time to it, so I did. For subject matter, I went back to The Optimist. The original concept was a post-glory-days superhero saga, vaguely similar to The Watchmen. I didn’t want to do a comic book– and had nobody to draw it even if I had– so I just did it as an ordinary prose piece. The protagonist, Jack Christian, was a grown-up superhero kid sidekick whose mentor had died under dodgy circumstances 12 years earlier. Jack, a down-on-his luck alcoholic by this time, returns to the city of Zenith, where the tragedy took place. He encounters a number of retires heroes and other oddballs. Among these was the Black Centipede, who was originally intended to be a fairly minor character. I wanted him to be a genuine oddball– he is based in part on William S. Burroughs– and he was the only character cast in the mold of a traditional pulp action hero from the 30s.
So, anyhow, I wrote this novel, and the Centipede started stealing scenes. He ended up with a much bigger role. When I finished, I started promoting it myself on the web, making it available for free in hopes of attracting a publisher. It really didn’t stir up much of anything, though.
At one point a friend of mine told me she didn’t think many people would want to sit and read an entire novel online, and suggested I do some shorter pieces if I really wanted to get noticed. Since The Optimist didn’t lend itself to that, I decided to explore the past of one of the supporting characters. The Centipede was the obvious choice for this. I wrote a story set in 1957, “Wisconsin Death Trip.” I enjoyed doing it, so I went ahead and wrote a novella called Gasp, Choke, Good Lord, an homage to the EC horror comics of the 1950s, guest-starring the infamous Doctor Fredric Wertham, author of Seduction of the Innocent, and EC publisher William M. Gaines. And I posted all of this for free on a blog I put together. I created a rather elaborate history for the Centipede, which included him being not only a “real-life” crime fighter, but also the star of a highly-fictionalized pulp adventure magazine published by William Randolph Hearst.
Well, to cut a long story short, I got noticed by Tommy Hancock of pro Se Press, who was very enthusiastic about my work. After a bit of back and forth, it was decided that I should write a novel for Pro Se, which I did. That novel was Creeping Dawn: The Rise of the Black Centipede.
AP: What did writing Creeping Dawn teach you as an author?

CM: I’m not entirely sure. I guess I learned to tell a story with a specific word count. Now that it’s published, and I have read it in book form, I noticed several things I really didn’t like about it, and i have tried to avoid those while writing the next one.

AP: One of the things that I really found fascinating with Creeping Dawn was how you write about the more monstrous parts of people.  From Lizzy’s past to William’s own acceptance of things.  You make it seem so normal.  I’m kind of jealous, but also wondering where those ideas came from.  Is this something you’ve always thought?  Or did it just fit the context of your story?

CM: All of that comes from my own life.  My mother died when I was very young, and my father just sort of went nuts after that. He deteriorated mentally and emotionally for about five years, and then ended up killing himself. And I had a front row seat for the whole thing. So I have always been conscious of this darkness in the world, that seems to be just under the surface of everything. That is somewhat analogous to what the Black Centipede refers to as the “Dark Power,” though in his fictional world, it is more literal and manifests itself in more overt ways. But, in my own life, I’ve always been aware that things and people are not really what they seem to be, not exactly. And if you look even just a little way beneath the surface, you’re apt to find a nasty surprise.

But I don’t think you have to give in to it. I think there is good in the world, too, but sometimes you have to wade through some pretty toxic sludge to find it. In “Creeping Dawn,” the young Centipede seems to believe that the darkness is the true power, the only thing worth striving to understand. But, being the kind of person he is, he doesn’t want to give himself over to it. Instead, he decides to oppose it, as a way of measuring its scope and capabilities. In the beginning, he isn’t motivated by a desire to see justice done. He is simply curious. He wants to understand the world in a way nobody else ever has. Quite a bit of hubris on his part, really.

In the second section of “Creeping Dawn,” which is set six years after his experience with Lizzie Borden, we see how he becomes a crime fighter, and how he goes about establishing himself in the city of Zenith, in a series of events that revolve around the rise of a shadowy new crime lord called Doctor Almanac. In the beginning, the Centipede is very ruthless and reckless and he ends up in trouble with the law and the press. But his cause is taken up by newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst. Hearst is a fascinating historical figure, whose public and private life make him a great cast member for the Black Centipede series. Through some devious and underhanded maneuvering, Hearst transforms the Centipede– in the mind of the public, anyhow– from a dangerous, psychotic vigilante into a national hero. In addition to this, Hearst launches a Black Centipede pulp adventure magazine, featuring highly fictionalized accounts of our hero’s adventures. This is another example of how things appear to be a certain way, but are really something entirely different. The real Black Centipede is not the Doc Savage-style paragon the public perceives.

The Centipede is a celebrity akin to Doc Savage and other classic pulp.
Nothing is black-and-white. But there is right and wrong, I believe. Sometimes it takes even a good person a long time and a lot of mistakes to make the distinction and choose one or the other. Most of my villains have some heroic qualities, and most of my heroes are criminals at heart. They do kind of believe they are somehow above the rest of society, and have a right to disregard the rules. Life is a process, a constant parade of choices. A villain can choose to be noble, a hero can choose to act deplorably.

In “Blood of the Centipede,” the next book in the series, the Centipede gets a bit of a moral compass in the form of Amelia Earhart, who has been asked by President Roosevelt to keep an eye on our hero. I don’t want to go into any more detail about that now, except to say that, as the series progresses, we will see our hero evolve in some interesting and unexpected ways.

AP: If you had to pick just one scene, what was your favorite in Creeping Dawn and why?

CM: I guess the one I had the most fun writing was the Centipede’s accidental invasion of doctor Almanac’s secret headquarters. I got a kick out of
 describing his sort of gleeful approach to lethal violence. And then, of course, that whole episode led up to his first encounter with Stan Bartowski, a Zenith police officer who becomes a friend. He’ll be an important mainstay character throughout the series. He’s also sort of a comic foil, since a lot of things the Centipede says to him sail right over his head. I put a lot of humor in the stories, and strive to strike a good balance.

AP: Can you tell us a bit of where you want to take the Black Centipede. He’s gone from supporting character to a mainstay.  Would you be happy to continue writing him or are there are other things you like to work on?

CM: I don’t think I’ll ever tire of the Centipede. He’s pretty versatile, and I have lots of plans for him. But I do have a number of other characters I want to develop into their own series. “The Incredible Adventures of Vionna Valis and Mary Jane Kelly” is one of these. http://theblackcentipede.blogspot.com/2011/09/their-first-adventure.html

It deals with a peculiar pair of “psychic detectives.” I’ve done a couple stories that I posted on my blog, but they have yet to be officially published. However, they live in the same world as the Black Centipede, and they appear briefly in the second Centipede novel. So does Doctor Unknown Junior, a very businesslike sorceress whose adventures I want to get out there one of these days.


AP: Are you working on anything else at the moment?

CM: I have something coming out in February from Pacific-Noir Press. “The Bay Phantom Chronicles Episode One: The Return of Doctor Piranha” is the first tale of the Bay Phantom, a 94-year-old, retired pulp-era masked hero based in my old home town of Mobile, Alabama. In this one, he is befriended by Janie Marie Colson, a young college student who is helping him write his memoirs. Complications arise when the Phantom’s arch-foe, 98-year-old Doctor Piranha, is released from federal prison after serving a 70-year sentence.  Piranha, of course, swore revenge– no matter how long it took…

And I am involved in the Pulp Obscura project from Pro Se and Altus Press, which will be coming out throughout 2012.

Classic Music, Pulp AudioBooks, and Pulp Book Store Specials and More from Radio Archives!

  • News
  • December 30, 2011
 
December 30, 2011
 
NEW Radio Set: The Railroad Hour, Volume 3

“Ladies and Gentlemen, The Railroad Hour!” This opening line, delivered by announcer Marvin Miller, along with whistles, hissing steam escaping from smoke stacks, and other train sounds heralded the beginning of each episode of one of the most beloved, often sought after music programs of the golden age of radio! Gordon MacRae, noted baritone, acted as conductor as he led listeners through recreations of musicals, operettas, and even the careers of some of the greatest American composers and lyricists each week. You can take the same ride now on The Railroad Hour, Volume 3.

 
Sponsored by the Association of American Railroads, The Railroad Hour presented vest-pocket versions of some of the most popular and beloved musicals and operettas of all time – everything from the romantic melodies of Victor Herbert and Sigmund Romberg to the modern musical comedies of Jerome Kern, Richard Rodgers, and Lorenz Hart. In these lush and tuneful half-hours, star and leading man Gordon MacRae was joined by a host of leading ladies. In his role as host and leading man, MacRae generally narrated the programs, giving listeners the basic structure of the plot as the show went along.
 
The job of adapting massive musicals and full-scale operettas into a 45 minute format, the original length ‘The Radio Hour’ ran when it debuted initially on ABC, fell to Jean Holloway and the writing team of Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee. Holloway, who herself was also a singer and musician, had earlier written for such programs as “The Kate Smith Hour” and “Mr. President”, while Lawrence and Lee had honed their writing skills as two of the first staff members of the Armed Forces Radio Service during World War II. All three had considerable knowledge of both music and theater; Lawrence and Lee, in fact, would in later years write the Broadway classic “Auntie Mame” and its musical counterpart “Mame”, as well as such well-known plays as “Inherit the Wind” and “The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail”.
 
The Railroad Hour, Volume 3 is a special collection of this classic program. First appearing on ABC, The Railroad Hour was a 45-minute program. This collection is six episodes from that run, shows that provide not only outstanding entertainment for today’s listeners but that also stand as a tribute to the talent and production techniques that went into their creation so many years ago. Enjoy Classic Music and Classic Radio at its best by getting The Railroad Hour, Volume 3 today for only $17.98 on Audio CDs or $11.98 as a Digital Download!
 
by Tommy Hancock
 

“If you like high adventure, come with me. If you like the stealth of intrigue, come with me. If you like blood and thunder, come with me…”
 
Simply reading those words inspires someone to step up, ready to tackle whatever action and trouble might come their way. When you hear Captain Bart Friday say them at the opening of each episode of Adventures by Morse, you’ll be ready to run off and join the circus, the Foreign Legion, the Merchant Marines, and all before lunch!
 
Best known for his classic pulpy I Love a Mystery and the serial drama One Man’s Family, Carlton E. Morse stands out as one of the best writers from the era of old time radio. A series from Morse that is, in my opinion, as good as his best known works, is the one with his name in it. Adventures by Morse is similar in format to I Love A Mystery. Both shows have strong male leads and center on men who encounter guns, fists, mysteries, and more danger than a Sam Peckinpah film on speed can muster before they finally win the day. Although I Love A Mystery is better known and for valid reasons, it’s a show that is sometimes action centered, other times focused on the ‘Mystery’ in the title, and at times has some inconsistencies due to this. Adventures by Morse, on the other hand, is unabashedly squarely set in the pulpy Adventure genre and captures the atmosphere and the pacing that modern listeners will recognize as being one of the reasons they love the Indiana Jones movies.
 
The series is straight forward, just like a roundhouse in a South Seas Island bar fight. Captain Bart Friday and his cohort Skip Turner get mixed up in strange escapades involving exotic locales, strange villains, and mystical magical encounters with damsels, goons, and life and death moments aplenty! This collection includes two serials, “The City of the Dead” and “The Cobra King Strikes Back.” Both of these stories are dead on adventure tales, stories that sweat blood and danger and move at a clip that keeps the listener tangled up in all the twists and turns. Comparing the two, I prefer City of the Dead only slightly due to the fact it builds tension a bit better than The Cobra King Strikes Back. Having said that, the performances in The Cobra King are a bit more spot on, but not by much. All in all, both of these cliffhanger laden serials in Adventures by Morse, Volume 1 deliver in every way a good adventure tale should! Available on Audio CDs for $29.98 and for digital downloads for $19.98 from Radio Archives.
 
 
 
The audiobook of Will Murray’s monumental Doc Savage adventure The Jade Ogre is a feature-length excursion into one of the Bronze Man’s most exotic adventures.
“The Jade Ogre makes a wonderful listening experience,” Producer/Director Roger Rittner says. “Will has packed a cast of colorful characters, plus mystery, intrigue, action, adventure, and a bit of mysticism into an heroic tale. It’s an epic adventure to be savored.”
Based on an outline by Lester Dent, the massive The Jade Ogre carries the listener from the fog-shrouded streets of 1935 Chinatown San Francisco, to the crumbling ruins of an ancient temple in Cambodia.
 
Accompanied by his aides Monk Mayfair and Ham Brooks, his cousin Pat Savage, and a cast of unique characters, Doc races to unlock the secret of the Jade Ogre, a fantastic Oriental villain who unleashes death in the form of disembodied flying arms, capable of disintegrating its victims in a flash of fire. But the lethal flying arms are merely the cover for a more deadly menace – the mysterious Jade Fever, which strikes down its victims with a deadly virus that turns its victims green as jade.
Narrator Michael McConnohie essays every role in the story with unerring vocal impressions that give life to Murray’s distinctive characters.
In addition to the 36-chapter story, the 12-CD set includes two bonus audio features: a continuation of Will Murray’s discussion of the creation of Doc Savage, and his memory of creating The Jade Ogre from Lester Dent’s notes, plus how Pat Savage has contributed to the Doc Savage canon.
The Jade Ogre is available now from RadioArchives.com at $37.98 for the deluxe 12-CD set, or $25.98 for instant digital download.
For over-the-top thrills, you can’t beat Prince of the Red Looters, the first audiobook from RadioArchives.com featuring the pulp hero, The Spider.
“With extensive sound effects and complete period music score, Prince of the Red Looters is an almost ‘cinematic’ experience for listeners,’ says Producer/Director Roger Rittner. “Customers are telling us it’s like a movie playing in your mind.”
Narrating Norvel Page’s propulsive prose, stage and screen stars Nick Santa Maria and Robin Riker give life to the sword fights, escapes, insurmountable odds, nail-biting suspense, and unexpected twists in Prince of the Red Looters.
Prince of the Red Looters is available in a 6-CD deluxe set at just $19.98, or as an instant digital download at just $14.98.

A nameless mystery man with a wartime past in the Intelligence service. Declared dead by the Department of Justice. Now backed by a shadowy group of powerful philanthropists, to infiltrate the Underworld and crush crime in all of its hideous manifestations.
 
Secret Agent “X” was one of the most unusual pulp adventurers ever, and also one of the most action-filled continuing characters in its day. Now The Torture Trust, the latest entry in RadioArchives.com’s Will Murray’s Pulp Classics audiobook series, provides thrills and chills to pulp and audiobook fans alike.
 
The Torture Trust introduces the mysterious nemesis of the most nefarious criminals the pulp writers could dream up. In it, Secret Agent “X” pits all his secretive skill and devious daring against a criminal triad that wields face-destroying acid as an instrument of blackmail.
 
Read by noted voiceover actor Dave Mallow, The Torture Trust takes listeners into the dark and sinister world of this fantastic mystery man.
 
Scoop, the online blog about pulps, comics, and all things collectable, says, “The Torture Trust is a danger-a-minute audio introduction to this fondly remembered pulp avenger of the 1930s. The Torture Trust will provide thrills and chills to pulp and audiobook fans alike. “
 
The deluxe five-CD set of The Torture Trust is just $14.98. The instant download version is just $9.98.

Python Isle, RadioArchives.com’s first Doc Savage audiobook, continues to delight listeners. In Booklist, the 100-year-old journal of the American Library Association, Kaite Mediatore Stover says that Python Isle, the first Doc Savage audiobook from Radio Archives.com, “takes listeners on a breathless, roller-coaster adventure ride. Michael McConnohie’s masterful pacing keeps the tension and suspense tighter than a python’s grip, and a superb blend of sound effects and music enhance the mood, lending the production a cinematic feel.”
 
The full-cast NPR series The Adventures of Doc Savage presents special adaptations of “Fear Cay” and “The Thousand-Headed Man” by Roger Rittner and Will Murray. Featuring a full cast of voice actors, extensive sound effects, and period music score, The Adventures of Doc Savage is non-stop action in 13 exciting installments.
 

A super-criminal emerges in White Eyes, the second Doc Savage audiobook from RadioArchives.com. From his skyscraper headquarters high above the streets of New York City to the sugarcane fields of Cuba, Doc Savage races to crush gangland’s latest uncrowned king. White Eyes features dramatic narration by Richard Epcar, cover art by Joe DeVito, plus fantastic extras.
 

The first Black Bat audiobook, Brand of the Black Bat, is a stirring story of crime and corruption, and of a courageous avenger – district attorney Anthony Quinn – determined to track down the vicious gangster who robbed him of his brilliant career, all the while thwarting Captain MacGrath of the N.Y.P.D., who suspects Quinn and the Black Bat are one and the same. Michael McConnohie reads this fantastic tale.
 
RadioArchives.com resurrects the wild and wonderful Doctor Death, one of the rare unabashedly supernatural pulp series. Equal parts Doctor Frankenstein and Albert Einstein, with a dash of Fu Manchu, Doctor Death’s supreme goal in life was to crush civilization. His first fatal foray into reversing mankind’s fortunes, 12 Must Die, is now available in an audiobook read by television and animé star Joey D’Auria.
 
 
By Larry Josephson, Bob & Ray’s long time producer
 
Bob & Ray are classic American humorists who started in 1946 at WHDH, Boston. Bob was a disc jockey, Ray a newscaster. They riffed during the handoffs, something like local news anchors do today, only funnier. The station liked them so much they were given a daily afternoon show, “Matinee with Bob & Ray.” When Red Sox or Braves games were delayed by rain Bob & Ray filled in with their special brand of humor. Some of these shows are included in our RadioArt® Bob & Ray albums.
 
In 1951 NBC brought them to New York to work on Monitor and to do a nightly 15-minute television show that followed the Camel News Caravan. Cloris Leachman or Audrey Meadows played Linda Lovely. On radio Ray did all the female characters like Mary McGoon and Mary Backstayge in falsetto. For the television show, they shot Ray from the neck down wearing a house dress.
 
During their 40-year career, Bob & Ray appeared on just about every radio and television network, and on major local New York stations WOR, WINS, and WHN. I invited them to perform at a conference I organized for public radio producers and managers held in Glen Cove, NY in the spring of 1981. They were a big hit with the 20- and 30-something audience. I called Bob & Ray the next day to ask them to do a series for NPR, The Bob & Ray Public Radio Show. They had been off the air for several years, but were busy doing commercials for a wide range of clients, including Piels Beer. They played Bert and Harry Piel in a legendary series of animated spots. Great advertising, lousy beer! Many of their commercials, including the Piels spots, are on our albums. (BR004, BR006, BR009. BR015, BR017, BR018)
 
The NPR shows are captured on the Best of Bob & Ray, Volumes 1-4, BR001-BR004). In 1984 I produced two sold-out concerts in Carnegie Hall. The Carnegie Hall shows turned out to be Bob & Ray’s farewell performances (Ray died in 1990). They are captured on our album, “Bob & Ray: A Night of Two Stars, recorded live in Carnegie Hall.” (BR 026).
 
Bob & Ray’s targets–commercials, infomercials, game shows, soap operas, fatuous radio shrinks, bloviating politicians, rigged contests, and public service announcements from corporations who “really care” about the environment—are still with us in the cable age, only more so.
 
Bob & Ray is for smart people: they’re satirists, not comedians. They don’t tell jokes like Bob Hope or do stupid physical comedy like The Three Stooges. Many of their routines run more than 4 minutes. The joke slowly builds until it explodes in your mind.
 
Bob & Ray were admired and imitated by every comedian and humorist of their time, including Johnny Carson, Jay Leno, David Letterman, George Carlin, Garrison Keillor, Kurt Vonnegut and Andy Rooney. Many of them “borrowed” Bob & Ray material and characters. Keillor’s “writer,” Nattily Dressed, is very close to Bob & Ray’s Nattily Attired. Lifting material has long been a part of comedy tradition. Bob & Ray were inspired by two old time radio shows, “Vic and Sade,” and by Raymond Knight’s “Cuckoo Hour.”
 
Their signature routine, “The Slow Talkers of America,” belongs in the comedy pantheon alongside Abbot and Costello’s “Who’s on First?” and Jack Benny’s “Your Money or Your Life.”
 
Some of my favorite things about Bob & Ray include their sheer intelligence and talent; their acute ear for language, cant and cliché; their sense of timing; the hundreds of characters they created, all performed either by Bob or Ray, including the immortal Wally Ballou (–ly Ballou); the lovable Marys (McGoon and Backstayge) and affable dolts like Webley Webster. Their work is deeply moral. They used humor to express their anger at the corruption and stupidity of much of American culture. And to make people laugh.
 
I’ve devoted 30 years of my life to collecting and restoring Bob & Ray recordings for old and new fans. Bob & Ray’s humor is ageless. You needn’t have heard “Mary Noble, Backstage Wife” to enjoy “Mary Backstayge, Noble Wife,” absurd on its face. Knowing the original adds to your enjoyment of the parody, but it works either way. The one exception might be “Awful Godfrey, “a thinly disguised Arthur Godfrey, who was, by reputation, a vain and viscous man (he famously fired singer Julius LaRosa on the air for “lack of humility”). Bob & Ray’s parody of Godfrey skewers him expertly. Bob’s impression of Godfrey is uncanny.
 
We offer more than 100 hours of Bob & Ray and Jean Shepherd on CD, including “The Very Best of Bob & Ray,” 5 hours on 4 CDs, selected from all of our CDs (BR024). It’s the perfect starter album, and makes a great gift. The booklet includes a long, insightful essay on Bob & Ray by the Canadian critic, Kerrie Mills. Worth the price alone.
 
I’ve remained Bob & Ray’s producer for all these years simply because they make me laugh. When asked how their partnership lasted 40 years, they replied, “We made each other laugh.” (They also didn’t spend much time together after work.) I hope the current generation of Bob & Ray fans will buy these CDs and pass them down to their children and grandchildren, keeping Bob & Ray alive forever. I’m pleased that Bob & Ray have now joined the Radio Archives collection.
 
Enjoy!
 
Hang By Your Thumbs, and don’t forget to Write If You Get Work.
 
-Larry Josephson, proud to have been Bob & Ray’s producer for 30 years and counting.
 
 

Doc Savage and his beautiful cousin Patricia battle threats to national security in pulp classics by Evelyn Coulson and Lester Dent writing as “Kenneth Robeson.” First, while testing an experimental plane for the Army, Renny disappears after his airship is engulfed by The Yellow Cloud. Then, what has transformed Monk, Ham and Johnny into cowardly Men of Fear? The incredible secret could end the war, unless Nazi agents seize it first. This special collectors edition showcases the original color pulp covers by Emery Clarke, Paul Orban’s classic interior illustrations and historical commentary by Will Murray, author of eight Doc Savage novels. Available now for $14.95!
 

The Pulp Era’s strangest mystery man returns in two more epic adventures by Paul Ernst writing as “Kenneth Robeson.” First, can Justice, Inc. prevent secrets of an ancient civilization buried for centuries in The River of Ice from destroying the modern world? Then, scientists in Paris, Berlin and Montreal exhale fire as they die, setting The Avenger on the trail of The Flame Breathers and a deadly secret that threatens to plunge the world into a fiery infernal! BONUS: a thrilling adventure of Police Commissioner James Gordon, a.k.a. The Whisperer! This classic pulp reprint showcases H. W. Scott’s classic pulp covers, all the original interior illustrations by Paul Orban, and historical commentary by Will Murray. This fantastic reprint is only $14.95 in the Pulp Book Store!
 

Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows! The Master of Darkness, agent Clyde Burke and Secret Service agent Vic Marquette investigate deadly plots in two thrilling pulp novels by Walter Gibson as “Maxwell Grant.” First, The Shadow’s investigation of The Embassy Murders unearths a sinister plot that threatens world peace. Then, the kidnapping of Clyde Burke leads The Shadow and his agents on a winding murder trail through New Jersey’s Hills of Death. BONUS: a two-fisted adventure of Police Commissioner James Gordon, a.k.a. The Whisperer! This instant collectors’ item features both classic cover paintings by George Rozen, the original interior pulp illustrations by Tom Lovell and Edd Cartier and historical commentary by popular culture historians Anthony Tollin and Will Murray. And it can be yours for $14.95!
 
 
 
 
 
 
Three fantastic Pulp Replicas featuring classic Pulp Heroes and Tales and designed to give readers and collectors the experience of holding an actual pulp!
 

 
Already the best place to find Classic and New Pulp tales and Pulp related products from the best companies in the business, The Pulp Book Store goes itself one better! The Treasure Chest, the place to find great deals, now exclusively features products for the Pulp Book Store! Just click on the Treasure Chest on the Pulp Book Store Page and you’ll find fantastic monthly discounts on an ever changing variety of items from our various stores! Check the Treasure Chest now to see what great discounts await everyone from the avid Pulp Fan to the casual reader! The Treasure Chest is Open now in the Pulp Book Store!
 
 
 
 
Review of “Doc Savage, Supreme Adventurer” from Doc Savage, Volume 15

By Dr. Art Sippo

In December, 1932 Lester Dent was assigned the job of writing the first story for the planned Doc Savage Magazine. To assist him, the magazine’s editor, John Nanovic, wrote a brief story showcasing the Doc Savage character and his five associates. It was entitled Doc Savage, Supreme Adventurer. Doc and his five men travel to Central America and find a lost tribe of Indians who possess a massive treasure in God. Doc’s father had arranged for this to be his son’s legacy. But corrupt government officials in the Central American country want to hijack the treasure for themselves. They already killed the elder Savage and now they are trying to kill Doc.
 
The portrait of Doc and his aides in this story is not quite what we have come to know through the Classic pulp series. Dent recast the characters and rewrote the story to give us the initial Doc Savage saga “The Man of Bronze.” Along the way he crafted a cast of unforgettable characters upon whom he had left his own literary stamp.
 
But the story “Doc Savage, Supreme Adventurer” is the first Doc Savage story ever written and is of significant importance in the origin and development of the series. As a bonus, this story contains the complete text of the letter Clark Savage Sr. had written to his son which was only quoted in part in “The Man of Bronze.” Every true Doc Savage fan needs to read this story. We are indebted to Anthony Tollin and Will Murray for including it in their reprint series.
 
Get your copy of this piece of Doc Savage History, ‘Doc Savage, Supreme Adventurer’ along with another classic Doc Savage Pulp tale today in Doc Savage Volume 15 for only $12.95 from Radio Archives!
 
Comments From Our Customers!
 
Dominick Cancilla:
I’m loving all the audiobooks!
 
Kenneth D. Schwartz:
Just listened to Music of the 1930s, Vol. I and every show in this collection is a gem, even if hearing Harry Richman singing about “darkies” and “pickaninnies” made me cringe. I understand that those were the times. But thanks for another marvelous collection.
 
Tom C. Miller:
I wanted to thank you for all of your support in offering old-time radio shows. I especially like it when you describe where your transcription discs came from and how they were preserved. Moreover I am continually surprised how much of the stuff was actually saved over the years. Thanks for bringing it alive again.
 
Barney McCasland:
Jade Ogre took me longer to read, due to its length, but it was great! As always, Michael McConnohie was the perfect narrator. I enjoyed The Torture Trust, but not nearly as much as the other series. I thought Dave Mallow did an excellent job of narrating it. Really excited and anxious for audio pulps 2012. Keep up the great work!
 
If you’d like to share a comment with us or if you have a question or a suggestion send an email to Service@RadioArchives.com. We’d love to hear from you!
 
The products you’ve read about in this newsletter are just a small fraction of what you’ll find waiting for you at RadioArchives.com. Whether it’s the sparkling audio fidelity of our classic radio collections, the excitement of our new line of audiobooks, or the timeless novels of the pulp heroes, you’ll find hundreds of intriguing items at RadioArchives.com.
 
If you no longer wish to receive our newsletter, or if this newsletter has been sent to you in error, please reply to this e-mail with the subject line UNSUBSCRIBE and your name will immediately be removed from our mailing list.

Doc Savage and the 30% Off Peril!

  • Uncategorized
  • December 20, 2011

Over on Facebook, William Patrick Murray posted the following: “‎30% off the hardover DOC SAVAGE: THE DESERT DEMONS. Today (December 20) only. Just type 20DEC in the discount code box on checkout. This book will be so affordable….”

You can find Doc Savage: The Desert Demons novel at http://www.lulu.com/product/hardcover/doc-savage-the-desert-demons/16232886

About Doc Savage: The Desert Demons-

Doc Savage and his band of specialists confront a threat unlike any they ever before faced–weird rust-colored clouds that consume man and machine alike! Set in 1936 Hollywood, this is the first adventure to star the Man of Bronze in nearly 20 years, and the first of a new series, The Wild Adventures of Doc Savage.

A BIG NOSE, A JADE OGRE, PULPWORK, PRO SE, AND BOB & RAY-ALL FROM RADIO ARCHIVES!

  • News
  • December 16, 2011

RadioArchives.com Newsletter

 
December 16, 2011
 
From Radio Archives To You – Lightning Fast Delivery!
 
Running out of time to order that last great gift for someone on your list? No problem at Radio Archives! With our Lightning Fast Service, you can place your order by 7:30 PM Eastern and we will ship your order the same day!
 
Flat Rate ground shipping to the West Coast takes 3 to 5 days and only 7 to 8 days if you live on the East Coast. Priority Mail takes only 2 to 3 days for delivery! Order Saturday morning and receive your order on Monday. With Radio Archive’s Lightning Fast Service, you can order through December 21st using Priority Mail for Christmas Delivery!
 
Radio Archives also offers Digital Downloads and Gift Certificates that are delivered instantly! Lightning Fast Service for you from Radio Archives!

NEW Radio Set: The Jimmy Durante Show, Volume 3

He butchered the English language. He sang as if he gargled with gravel. He dropped pearls of wisdom disguised as one-liners. And he had a nose that got everywhere ten minutes before he did. All of this and a genuine love for his craft and the people who enjoyed it made Jimmy Durante a star in the Golden Age of Radio and makes The Jimmy Durante Show, Volume 3 a must have for fans today.

 
Nicknamed “Schnozzola” for his oversized nose, Jimmy Durante first came to prominence as a teenager, playing New York’s restaurant and nightclub. Bitten by the show-biz bug, he dropped out of school in the eighth grade and soon joined a musical comedy trio that wowed nightclub audiences with its boisterous unpredictability, Durante’s aggressive interaction with the musicians, and his penchant for destroying pianos in mock frustration took the group into Vaudeville and onto Broadway, where Durante became a star.
 
Jimmy continued his Broadway success in a string of popular shows and revues throughout the 1930s. But he didn’t limit himself solely to the Great White Way. On the radio, Durante’s broad delivery, overwhelming personality, and penchant for mangling his words only increased his popularity with laugh-hungry Depression-era audiences. In 1943, Durante relocated to Hollywood, where he was signed to headline a CBS series titled “The Camel Caravan”. Initially co-starred with Garry Moore, the mismatched duo instantly clicked as a team, ratings went through the roof, and Durante’s patented brand of language mangling and outraged interaction with the orchestra introduced him to radio audiences all over again.
 
When Moore left the show in the fall of 1947, Jimmy Durante signed a contract to host a new series on NBC for the Rexall Drug Company. The Jimmy Durante Show proved just as popular as its predecessor.
 
The Jimmy Durante Show, Volume 3 consists of five hours of what makes Durante a legendary character. His tirades with the orchestra and whatever star crosses his path, his gruff, yet playful singing voice, his deliberate degradation of English verbiage, and of course his own jokes about his very own nose endear him to fans, old and new. Also, Durante is a statesman, philosophizing in pithy one-line comments on the world, on society, but most of all on how we should all get along. Taken directly from original master recordings and fully restored for sparkling audio fidelity, The Jimmy Durante Show, Volume 3 is proof that Jimmy Durante can still leave ‘em laughing! Find out for yourself by getting this great collection for $14.98 on Audio CDs and $9.98 as a digital download!

 
 

“Personal Notice: Danger’s my stock-in-trade. If the job is too tough for you to handle, you’ve got a job for me, George Valentine.”
 
Have a High Adventure Holiday with the all purpose hero himself! Let George Do It, Volume 1 for only 99 Cents! Follow George and his Girl Friday Brooksie through all the harrowing twists and turns of each and every startling, fantastic case!
 
Swing into action with George in 10 hours of wonderfully restored audio CDs for only 99 Cents with a $35.00 Order! Just add Let George Do It, Volume 1 to your shopping cart, and then add $35.00 or more worth of additional merchandise to your cart as well. Before checking out, be sure to enter the coupon code BONUS to Let George Do It for just 99 Cents.
 
 
With Christmas approaching faster than eight reindeer pulling a sled, The Treasure Chest is the best place to find last minute gift ideas at fantastic prices. For this most special of Holidays, every DVD in the Treasure Chest is now discounted 70%! Classic Movies, Timeless Television, and More! Something for everyone on your list can be found in The Treasure Chest and at a remarkable 70% off!
 

Up, Up, and Away with classic serial super heroics! The complete 1948 and 1950 Superman Theatrical Serials on 4 DVDS! Classic Crooning From Hollywood’s Golden Age with Bing Crosby: The Screen Legends Collection!
 
Ride the Range with the likes of The Cisco Kid and Zorro, each one featured in his own 3 DVD set! Laugh at the antics of Harold Lloyd and Burns And Allen, all taking center stage in their own DVDs! Thrill to the original classic King Kong! Fly off into adventure with Sky Captain and The World of Tomorrow! Sing under the Western Sky with Roy Rogers in three of his classic films! Guffaw at the Country Comedy of Lum and Abner in three movies! Enjoy the hilarity of one of History’s Greatest comics as Jack Benny is featured in two different sets!
 
Inventory of these DVDs are getting low. This is the last week they will be available as we are removing the remaining DVDs from the website after Christmas.
 
Great DVDs! Unbelievable Prices! And all at Christmastime! The Treasure Chest is full of Holiday Gift Ideas for You!
 

 

Like your Action Fast Paced? Happy about Horror and Suspense? Needing that extra tickle that only Comedy can Provide? Enjoy Music and Variety from a bygone Era? And want that and more this Christmas? Then Radio Archives is just the place for you! Restored to the highest audio quality possible, the best in Old Time Radio is available here, like these awesome collections.
 
Ride the High Seas with History’s Greatest Privateer! Fight Pirates, hunt for treasure, and write history alongside one of the most legendary seafarers ever! Get on Board with Afloat with Henry Morgan, Volume 1. Seven hours on audio CDs $20.98 or as a Digital Download for $13.98!
 

 
Remember Archie and Jughead? Betty and Veronica? And all the Gang in Riverdale? Yep, that’s right, those fantastic characters from Archie Comics took stage front and center in their own Radio show, The Adventures of Archie Andrews! Go along with Archie and the Gang as they get in and out of hilarity each episode in this 7 hour collection, available on audio CDs for $20.98 or as a Digital Download for $13.98!
 
Great Mysteries, Witty Humor, and a Fantastic Singing Voice to beat! This and more you’ll find in Richard Diamond, Private Detective, Volume 1. Starring Dick Powell, this classic radio detective program set the standards for many of the shows to follow, both on radio and television, and features the earliest work from the fantastic Blake Edwards! And this clever criminal catching can be yours, 10 hours of a Singing Sleuth for $29.98 on audio CDs and $19.98 as a digital download!
 

 
Thrill to one of the greatest and most controversial performers ever, putting his vision out for the audience to hear with The Mercury Theatre on the Air! This 10-hour collection is Orson Welles at his creative pinnacle, doing adaptations of classic works his way and providing us with some of the best audio drama ever! And it can be yours for $29.98 on audio CDs and $19.98 for the Digital Download!
 
Six Guns! Guitars! Knee slapping Cowboy Comedy! All this and more can be found on All Star Western Theatre! A perfect mix of everything audiences loved about Saturday Matinees comes together in this classic Cowboy variety program! Saddle up for 10 hours of All Star Western Theatre for $29.98 on audio CDs and $19.98 as a Digital Download!
 

 
Suspense! Adventure! Pulse Pounding Action! And Twists You don’t see coming! And all of that in fifteen minute doses! That’s what you get on The Unexpected, Volume 1. Featuring some of the greatest stars of classic radio, The Unexpected, Volume 1 puts the listener right into the thick of the action and just when you think you know where it’s headed, it takes a turn to The Unexpected! Thrill to this one of a kind suspense program, 5 hours on audio CDs for $14.98 and Digital Download for $9.98!
 
Want to get a taste of what Classic Radio was like all in one Collection? If so, then The Classic Collection is for you! In addition to thirty full-length original broadcasts, you’ll also hear a series of insightful interviews with many of the people who created and starred in some of the best-loved shows of all time. Twenty full hours of delightful entertainment on audio CD for $39.98!
 
“Get this and get it straight: crime is a sucker’s road, and those who travel it end up in the gutter, the prison, or the grave…” The immortal opening of one of the most popular and best produced detective dramas of Radio’s Golden Age! Join Raymond Chandler’s modern day Knight on the mean streets of Los Angeles in The Adventures of Philip Marlowe, Volume 1! 10 hours of Crime Solving at its best for $29.98 on audio CDs and $19.98 for Digital Download!

 

 
 

 

The RadioArchives.com audiobook of Will Murray’s monumental Doc Savage adventure The Jade Ogre is sure to delight fans of audio adventure this holiday season … and into the New Year.

 

“The Jade Ogre makes a wonderful listening experience,” Producer/Director Roger Rittner says. “Will has packed a cast of colorful characters, plus mystery, intrigue, action, adventure, and a bit of mysticism into an heroic tale. It’s an epic adventure to be savored.”

 

Based on an outline by Lester Dent, the massive The Jade Ogre tells the story of one of Doc Savage’s most exciting and exotic adventures.

 

Accompanied by his aides Monk Mayfair and Ham Brooks, his cousin Pat Savage, and a cast of unique characters, Doc races to unlock the secret of the Jade Ogre, a fantastic Oriental villain who unleashes death in the form of disembodied flying arms, capable of disintegrating its victims in a flash of fire. But the lethal flying arms are merely the cover for a more deadly menace – the mysterious Jade Fever, which strikes down its victims with a deadly virus that turns its victims green as jade.

 

“The Jade Ogre will carry the listener from the fog-shrouded streets of the Chinatown of 1935 San Francisco, to the crumbling ruins of Cambodia, as the armless and ruthless Jade Ogre attempts to blackmail the world with his lethal Jade Fever,” author Will Murray says in his liner notes.

 

Narrator Michael McConnohie essays every role in the story with unerring vocal impressions that give life to Murray’s distinctive characters.

 

In addition to the 36-chapter story, the 12-CD set includes two bonus audio features: a continuation of Will Murray’s discussion of the creation of Doc Savage, and his memory of creating The Jade Ogre from Lester Dent’s notes, plus how Pat Savage has contributed to the Doc Savage canon.

 

The Jade Ogre is available now from RadioArchives.com at $37.98 for the deluxe 12-CD set, or $25.98 for instant digital download.

 

 

Just in time for that last-minute holiday gift, RadioArchives.com brings to audiobooks Secret Agent “X”, the man of many identities.

 

A nameless mystery man with a wartime past in the Intelligence service, declared dead by the Department of Justice, and backed by a shadowy group of powerful philanthropists, Secret Agent “X” infiltrates the Underworld to crush crime in all of its hideous manifestations.

 

The Torture Trust, the audio version of the very first Secret Agent “X” adventure, introduces the mysterious nemesis of the most nefarious criminals the pulp writers could dream up. In it, Secret Agent “X” pits all his secretive skill and devious daring against a criminal triad that wields face-destroying acid as an instrument of blackmail.

 

Read by noted voiceover actor Dave Mallow, The Torture Trust is a danger-a-minute audio introduction to this fondly remembered pulp avenger of the 1930s.

 

The Torture Trust, the latest entry in RadioArchives.com’s Will Murray’s Pulp Classics series, will provide thrills and chills to pulp and audiobook fans alike.

 

The deluxe five-CD set of The Torture Trust is just $14.98. The instant download version is just $9.98.

 

The Spider Offers A Unique Listening Experience

 

For over-the-top thrills, you can’t beat Prince of the Red Looters, the first audiobook from RadioArchives.com featuring the pulp hero, The Spider.

 

“With extensive sound effects and complete period music score, Prince of the Red Looters is an almost ‘cinematic’ experience for listeners,’ says Producer/Director Roger Rittner. “Customers are telling us it’s like a movie playing in your mind.”

 

Narrating Norvel Page’s propulsive prose, stage and screen stars Nick Santa Maria and Robin Riker give life to the sword fights, escapes, insurmountable odds, nail-biting suspense, and unexpected twists in Prince of the Red Looters.

 

Prince of the Red Looters is available in a 6-CD deluxe set at just $19.98, or as an instant digital download at just $14.98.

 

More Audio Adventures Ideal for Holiday Giving

 

Listeners continue to discover and delight in Python Isle. In Booklist, the 100-year-old journal of the American Library Association, Kaite Mediatore Stover says that Python Isle, the first Doc Savage audiobook from Radio Archives.com, “takes listeners on a breathless, roller-coaster adventure ride. Michael McConnohie’s masterful pacing keeps the tension and suspense tighter than a python’s grip, and a superb blend of sound effects and music enhance the mood, lending the production a cinematic feel.”

 

The full-cast NPR series The Adventures of Doc Savage presents special adaptations of “Fear Cay” and “The Thousand-Headed Man” by Roger Rittner and Will Murray. Featuring a full cast of voice actors, extensive sound effects, and period music score, The Adventures of Doc Savage is non-stop action in 13 exciting installments.

 

A super-criminal emerges in White Eyes, the second Doc Savage audiobook from RadioArchives.com. From his skyscraper headquarters high above the streets of New York City to the sugarcane fields of Cuba, Doc Savage races to crush gangland’s latest uncrowned king. White Eyes features dramatic narration by Richard Epcar, cover art by Joe DeVito, plus fantastic extras.

 

The first Black Bat audiobook, Brand of the Black Bat, is a stirring story of crime and corruption, and of a courageous avenger determined to track down the vicious gangster who robbed him of his brilliant career, all the while thwarting Captain MacGrath of the N.Y.P.D., who suspects Quinn and the Black Bat are one and the same. Michael McConnohie reads this fantastic tale.

 

RadioArchives.com resurrects the wild and wonderful Doctor Death, one of the rare unabashedly supernatural pulp series. Equal parts Doctor Frankenstein and Albert Einstein, with a dash of Fu Manchu, Doctor Death’s supreme goal in life was to crush civilization. His first fatal foray into reversing mankind’s fortunes, 12 Must Die, is now available in an audiobook read by television and anime star Joey D’Auria.

 

 

 
 

Pulp Fans know how their favorite writers work magic with the English Language.  The Pulp Book Store is now proud to feature the works of two men who influenced radio, television, movies, and even modern day Pulp writers with their subtle manipulations of the Language, bringing humor and philosophy out of every day situations into the every day lives of Americans.  Now a part of The Pulp Book Store: Bob and Ray!
 
Bob Elliott & Ray Goulding, legendary American humorists, were loved by fans and by fellow humorists, comedians and broadcasters. Every humorist and comedian from 1946 to the present was influenced by Bob & Ray, including Johnny Carson, David Letterman, Jay Leno, George Carlin, Al Franken, Garrison Keillor and Kurt Vonnegut, who wrote: “Their jokes turn out to be universal…because much of life presents itself as the same dilemma: how to seem lusty and purposeful when less than nothing is going on.”
 
Bob & Ray’s 40-year career began at WHDH, Boston. Bob was a disc jockey, and Ray a newscaster. When the Red Sox games were delayed on account of rain, they began to amuse each other to fill the time. Soon they had a daily show of their own, “Matinee with Bob & Ray,” an improvised, madcap exercise in controlled chaos. Over their long career, they created more than a hundred characters, all played by Bob or Ray. Wally Ballou, the hapless journalist, Mary McGoon, whose recipe for frozen ginger ale salad prefigures Martha Stewart; Biff Burns in the sports room, Webley Webster, Barry Campbell, a third rate actor with an ego the size of the universe, Mary Backstayge, Noble Wife whose pals travel the world in search of goofy adventure.
 
Their humor is subtle, dry, intelligent and clean. Bob & Ray have a keen ear for language, how it is used and misused by the con artists, hucksters and hustlers who populate radio and television. Their humor is timeless. Bob & Ray ‘s satire of soap operas, game shows, radio shrinks and other self-appointed “experts,” and commercials, is as pertinent today as it was in 1946. 
 

Bob And Ray were wizards of comic timing and practiced linguistic legerdemain like no other pair before or since!  If you enjoy your humor the way you enjoy your Pulp, clever and delivered subtly and sharply, then the Pulp Book Store now has what You’re looking for!  Bob And Ray!
 

 

Tired of giving the same old ties and gift boxes of sausage and cheese for Christmas? Bored with shopping the usual places, browsing the same sites day in and day out? Then stop! Radio Archives has just the place for you to shop and fill every need on your Christmas list with unique collectibles and fantastic books and more! The Pulp Book Store!

Pulp Fiction, thought by many to be an artifact of the past, a lost treasure of days gone by, is alive and well, both the classic tales and New Pulp stories! And the best Tales and Providers of Pulp can be found right here at The Pulp Book Store!

 
The Pulp Book Store provides both Pulp enthusiasts and those who are simply curious a one-stop opportunity to browse and shop the best the Pulp market in all its many facets has to offer every single day!
 
Pulp Fiction, even though its heyday was in the early 20th Century, has been popular as long as it has existed and continues to excite readers today. Often fast paced, action packed, and full of fantastical ideas, over the top characters, and imaginative adventures, Pulp can be about cowboys, aliens, ancient gods, two-fisted detectives, bigger than life gangsters, femme fatales, and so many other sorts of characters as it reaches into nearly every genre imaginable.
 
Pulp is also all about variety. Not only are there classic and new pulp stories, but nearly every genre has stories within it that are clearly pulp. Be it science fiction, hard boiled crime, rootin’ tootin’ westerns and so many others, Pulp discriminates against no genre. This, along with the resurgence of Pulp publishers and its popularity, is why Radio Archives has established the Pulp Book Store.
 
“The concept’s easy,” according to Pulp Book Store Manager, Tommy Hancock. “The convenience for the consumer is amazing. If someone is a fan of a particular company, they usually just go to that publisher’s site and nowhere else and that’s fine. But, speaking as a fan myself, most of us enjoy Pulp stuff from a variety of sources. With The Pulp Book Store, I can go and find several companies providing and promoting books I want. Each company in The Pulp Book Store has its own ‘store within a store’ designed as they want it to draw attention to their wares.”
 
If you’re interested in Pulp Classics, then the Pulp Book Store features the best in Pulp Reprint Publishers. Ride along with the well remembered classic Pulp heroes as they fight wrong and make right! Or, if your interest leans more toward more obscure characters, you’ll find those too in some of the great replicas and reprints produced by leading publishers in the Pulp world, all right here at The Pulp Book Store!
 
Looking for something new? Pulpy tales written by modern writers and using either original characters or simply new stories about existing characters, are growing in popularity. Pulp icons blaze new trails in original adventures, such as Will Murray’s all new Doc Savage novels. A pantheon of modern original heroes step front and center to keep up the good fight as well. New tales in a classic style keep Pulp Fiction current and alive and can be found here at the Pulp Book Store!
 
And it’s not simply about books! Pulp has reached its adventurous tentacles into other mediums as well, including posters and audio drama! And you’ll find examples of that as well in various stores here at The Pulp Book Store!
 
If you purchase several products from several publishers, everything is shipped to you in the same box. Our Flat Rate ground postage means that no matter how many companies you buy from, you pay only one small amount for postage and you pay for everything together. Possibly the best news, Place your order by 7:30pm Eastern Time and your order is mailed the same day. Unbelievable but true.
 
“If Pulp is a part of your life or not, then browse the Pulp Book Store and enjoy,” says Hancock. “If you end up there out of curiosity or by accident, then please look around. We’re sure there is something offered by our many Publishers that will intrigue you. Regardless, Pulp is here to stay. The Pulp Book Store is the one stop shop for the Best in Classic and New Pulp today!
 
Christmas Discounts From The Pulp Book Store To You!
 
As their gift to you, several Publishers in the Pulp Book Store are offering limited time only discounts to you this Holiday Season! From Now through December 30th, take advantage of the Christmas Specials from the Best Providers of Pulp Today!
 
Whether or not you’re looking for modern action adventure, new tales of heroes stranded on lost worlds, or a brand new take on the return of the Lord of the Vampires, You’ll find that and more in the Pulpwork Press store! And, as a special Holiday offer, Pulpwork Press is offering a 20 % discount on ALL merchandise in its store! Through December 30, 2011, thrill to the New Pulp adventures of Dillon, Dracula, The Gantlet Brothers, the Dire Planet and so much more at 20 % Off!
 
Masked men! Sword Wielding Women! Private Eyes from the Future! Psychotic heroes from the Past! Pro Se Press puts the Monthly Back into Pulp with its regular production of new books as well as its magazine, Pro Se Presents, each month! And, just in time for Christmas, Pro Se offers 20% off of ALL titles currently in the Pulp Book Store! Titles like The Rook, The Adventures of Lazarus Gray, Fortune’s Pawn, YesterYear and more at a 20% Discount! From Pro Se Press to You, Happy Holidays!
 
Not only can you find the Best in Pulp Today, but from now until December 30, 2011, You can find it at a great price here in The Pulp Book Store!

 

 

The Man of Bronze battles the supernatural in classic pulp thrillers by Lester Dent writing as “Kenneth Robeson.” First, Doc Savage follows his stolen dirigible to a magic island and discovers the lost city of Ost, in an expanded novel with never-before-published text from Lester Dent’s original manuscript. Then, Renny Renwick awakens in the body of a fugitive gangster after encountering a strange impish man. What is the bizarre connection between the One-Eyed Mystic, a stolen military secret and a Nazi plot? This classic pulp reprint features the original color pulp covers by Robert G. Harris and Modest Stein, Paul Orban’s classic interior illustrations and historical commentary by Will Murray, writer of eight Doc Savage novels.
 
The Shadow’s true identity takes center stage in two classic pulp novels that inspired the classic 1940 Shadow movie serial. First, explorer Kent Allard is invited to join The Green Hoods, a hooded secret society whose true purpose is an enigma. Then, airplanes carrying wealthy passengers disappear over the Rockies, setting The Shadow on the trail of the criminal mastermind called Silver Skull. PLUS “Prelude to Terror,” a 1939 radio classic. This instant collector’s item showcases both classic pulp covers by George Rozen, the original interior illustrations by Edd Cartier and commentary by popular-culture historians Ed Hulse and Will Murray.

 

Review of “Crooks Go Straight” from The Shadow, Volume 11

By John Olsen

“Crooks Go Straight” was originally published in the March 1, 1935 issue of The Shadow Magazine. This story follows the reformed lives of two ex-crooks, Steve Zurk, a bank robber, and Jack Targon, a swinder. But both have recently been pardoned by the governor, and are now free men.
 
Aboard the Eastern Limited, headed for New York, Zurk and Targon discuss their past lives and their bright future. Both are determined to go straight and make a success of their lives. In the compartment next door, The Shadow listens to their conversation via a small wire. Although his usual task was to harry men of crime, The Shadow had more than once aided ex-crooks to go straight. And this was one of those times.
 
And so, two ex-convicts begin their new lives. Crooks have gone straight. Or have they? There are sudden murders. Robberies. And signs point to one of the two. Or perhaps, both! Only The Shadow can solve the mystery. Only The Shadow can uncover the true mastermind behind the scheme. Only The Shadow can clear the innocent and unmask the guilty.
 
This story features Cliff Marsland, Hawkeye and Harry Vincent in major roles, with Clyde Burke and Burbank taking minor ones. Police Commissioner Ralph Weston and Detective Joe Cardona appear to represent the law. And The Shadow appears in his disguise as Lamont Cranston. Moe Shrevnitz appears briefly, and is described as a reserve agent of The Shadow. I always considered Moe to be a full-time agent, but keep in mind that his was an early tale of The Shadow.
 
The story features that strange vial (spelled phial, here) of purplish liquid which restores The Shadow’s strength after being injured in a two-story fall. It’s been used in other stories, and always intrigues me because of its vague power. We’re never told exactly what it is, but its effect is immediate. Are we talking about some illicit narcotic, here? Somehow, I wouldn’t be surprised.
 
“Crooks Go Straight” and one other Shadow classic can be yours today in The Shadow, Volume 11 for $12.95 here at Radio Archives!
 

Comments From Our Customers!
 

John  Skelton:
I really enjoy your old time radio products and your great service. These old time radio programs are very enjoyable to listen to as you know.
 

If you’d like to share a comment with us or if you have a question or a suggestion send an email to Service@RadioArchives.com. We’d love to hear from you!
 
The products you’ve read about in this newsletter are just a small fraction of what you’ll find waiting for you at RadioArchives.com. Whether it’s the sparkling audio fidelity of our classic radio collections, the excitement of our new line of audiobooks, or the timeless novels of the pulp heroes, you’ll find hundreds of intriguing items at RadioArchives.com.
 
If you no longer wish to receive our newsletter, or if this newsletter has been sent to you in error, please reply to this e-mail with the subject line UNSUBSCRIBE and your name will immediately be removed from our mailing list.
 

ALAN LADD, SECRET AGENT X, PHILIP JOSE FARMER AND MORE! AND IT’S STILL CHRISTMAS AT RADIO ARCHIVES!

  • News
  • December 9, 2011

RadioArchives.com Newsletter

 
December 9, 2011

 

NEW Radio Set: Box Thirteen, Volume 3

Alan Ladd, a legend of the silver screen, brought his trademark tough guy with a heart to the airwaves in ‘Box Thirteen’, a pulpy mystery adventure radio program. Produced by his own Mayfair Productions from 1948-1949, Ladd returned to his radio roots as Dan Holiday, the central character in this thrilling show.

 
For fifty two episodes, Holiday, a reporter turned fiction writer, checked Box Thirteen at the Star-Times, finding thrills and chills in every response to the want ad he placed stating ‘Adventure Wanted.’ Russell Hughes, who hired Ladd at KFWB, scripted most of the show’s episodes. Rudy Schrager provided the often light, sometimes atmospheric music for Box Thirteen and Vern Carstensen doubled as the show’s director and announcer. Well-known radio actors also contributed their voices over the entire run of Box Thirteen, adding to the high quality of this tightly budgeted program.
 
Although Box Thirteen bears similarities to other mystery and action programs of the time, something that stands out is how Ladd portrayed the show’s mostly hard-boiled protagonist. Dan Holiday, a reporter trying to make his way as a fiction writer, has no police training, no investigator’s license, no skills that identify he could handle rough and tumble action and multitudes of thugs every episode. Yet, that’s exactly what he did week in and week out and thanks to Alan Ladd, Holiday was more than believable. Over the show’s run, he proved his worth as both a hard-boiled, ready for anything action hero and an everyman dealing with what troubles came his way with little more than his wits.
 
Ladd gave his portrayal of Dan Holiday his sardonic wit as well the edge to his voice that added unpredictability to everything he said. He also provided a subdued ever-present sense of humanity. Listeners knew that Holiday would always win out, but sat on the edges of their seats anxiously, unsure of just how he would pull it off each show.
 
Listen to the fantastic episodes included in this third volume and ride along with Holiday as he uncovers the twists and turns each new response to his ad brings him. Box Thirteen, Volume 3 contains the further adventures of this hard-boiled everyman, each show restored to the highest quality possible, thanks to Radio Archives. The Seven hour collection is $20.98 for the Audio CD version and $13.98 for the Digital Download version!

 
 

 
“Enemy to those who make him an enemy…Friend to those who have no friend!”

 
Ready to have a Pulpy Christmas? Then join everyone’s favorite safecracker turned crimefighter on Boston Blackie, Volume 1 for only 99 Cents! Have your own Holiday Hijinks listening to Blackie track the criminals and one up Inspector Faraday in every humorous, exciting episode!
 
Ride along with Blackie in 10 hours of wonderfully restored audio for only 99 Cents with a $35.00 Order! Just add Boston Blackie, Volume 1” to your shopping cart, and then add $35.00 or more worth of additional merchandise to your cart as well. Before checking out, be sure to enter the coupon code BONUS to get Boston Blackie set for just 99 Cents.
 
* * *
Still looking for that perfect present for that Special Person on your list? Then dig deep into the Radio Archives Treasure Chest for the best Holiday Deals Possible! This Christmas season, Every single DVD we offer is available at 60% off its regular price! Ride the range with Roy Rogers! Fly high with Superman! Chuckle along with the likes of Jack Benny!
 
Take a peek in the Treasure Chest and you’ll find Great Presents like:
 

Bing Crosby: The Screen Legends Collection – 3 DVDs of classic Crosby movies. Normally priced at $26.98 now $10.79, 60% off!
 
The Jack Benny Show – Hilarious collection of four classic episodes from his CBS television series. Normally $6.98 now $2.79, a 60% discount
 
TV’s Greatest Shows – Laugh, Cry, and Thrill to 7 DVDs worth of classic Television Episodes from TV’s Golden Age! Normally $29.98 now $11.99  – Unbelievably discounted 60%!

 
Superman – The 1948 & 1950 Theatrical Serials Collection – 4 DVDs of two of the earliest screen portrayals of the Man of Steel – Normally $39.98 now $15.99 – A 60% discount!
 
Best of The Cisco Kid – 35 half hour TV shows on this 3 DVD collection of the classic Cisco Kid TV Series- Normally $14.98 now $5.99 – A 60% discount!
 
Zorro – The Masked Avenger, Old Mexico’s swashbuckling sword wielder on 3 DVDs – Normally $14.98 now $5.99. Available now at 60% off!
 
Just like your Christmas tree, the Treasure Chest is full to the brim with the best Gifts for Everyone!
 
Merry Christmas from Radio Archives!
 
 
Classic Radio And Christmas Go Great Together!
 

Everyone Loves a Good Comedy, Mystery, Drama, and even a touch of Horror now and then! And You can get all of that and more this Christmas for those special to you from Radio Archives! Just look at a few of the treasures you can find here at Radio Archives.
 
Blast off with Sci Fi Fun with Space Patrol, Volume 1! Follow the exploits of Commander Buzz Corey in charge of a thirtieth-century police-keeping force operating from a man-made planet known as Terra. Assisted by his protégé Cadet Happy, Corey struggled to maintain law and order on the interplanetary frontier against the villainous likes of Mister Proteus, Agent X, Prince Baccaretti , known as The Black Falcon! A Science Fiction Classic, Space Patrol, Volume 1 is ten hours of space faring laser blasting fun! Available now from Radio Archives on Audio CDs for $29.98 and Digital Download for $19.98.
 
Follow intrepid ace cameraman Casey as he tracks down the biggest stories in the city! Casey, Crime Photographer, Volume 1 collects 20 episodes of the Adventures of Casey and his camera along with his reporter Girlfriend Annie Williams, Captain Logan of the Police, and Blue Note bartender Ethelbert! This show is the prefect blend of action, mystery, and humor! Get ten hours on Audio CDs for $29.98 or via Digital Download for $19.98 today!
 

The adventures of the Biggest Man West of the Rio Grande can be found on Luke Slaughter of Tombstone! Thrill to the escapades of Slaughter, a cattleman tougher than rawhide, faster than a rattler, and just deadly enough to survive! This frontier adventure is a fantastic Old West tale of six guns, steers, and outlaws galore! Enjoy Luke Slaughter of Tombstone, a total of eight hours on Audio CDs for $23.98 and Digital Download for 15.98!
 
If you’re thinking Medical Melodrama is a modern invention, then you need to listen to the father of them all! The Story of Dr. Kildare, Volume 1 focuses on a young doctor and his crotchety mentor, Dr. Gillespie (played by Lionel Barrymore) as they deal with the day to day issues that arise for their patients! Tender moments, medical mysteries, and a bit of action makes The Story of Dr. Kildare, Volume 1 a great collection! Available for $29.98 on Audio CD or Digital Download for $19.98!
 
Hear All the Best Classic Radio this Holiday Season! Wonderfully restored to beautiful sound quality and available from Radio Archives!

 

 
 
The Mysterious Secret Agent “X” Comes to Audiobooks!

 

Just in time for that last-minute holiday gift, RadioArchives.com brings to audiobooks Secret Agent “X”, the man of many identities.

 

A nameless mystery man with a wartime past in the Intelligence service, declared dead by the Department of Justice, and backed by a shadowy group of powerful philanthropists, Secret Agent “X” infiltrates the Underworld to crush crime in all of its hideous manifestations.

 

The Torture Trust, the audio version of the very first Secret Agent “X” adventure, introduces the mysterious nemesis of the most nefarious criminals the pulp writers could dream up. In it, Secret Agent “X” pits all his secretive skill and devious daring against a criminal triad that wields face-destroying acid as an instrument of blackmail.

 

Read by noted voiceover actor Dave Mallow, The Torture Trust is a danger-a-minute audio introduction to this fondly remembered pulp avenger of the 1930s.

 

The Torture Trust, the latest entry in RadioArchives.com’s Will Murray’s Pulp Classics series, will provide thrills and chills to pulp and audiobook fans alike.

 

The deluxe five-CD set of The Torture Trust is just $14.98. The instant download version is just $9.98.

 

The Jade Ogre – High Adventure for the Holidays and Beyond

 

The RadioArchives.com audiobook of Will Murray’s monumental Doc Savage adventure The Jade Ogre is sure to delight fans of audio adventure this holiday season … and into the New Year.

 

“The Jade Ogre makes a wonderful listening experience,” Producer/Director Roger Rittner says. “Will has packed a cast of colorful characters, plus mystery, intrigue, action, adventure, and a bit of mysticism into an heroic tale. It’s an epic adventure to be savored.”

 

Based on an outline by Lester Dent, the massive The Jade Ogre tells the story of one of Doc Savage’s most exciting and exotic adventures.

 

Accompanied by his aides Monk Mayfair and Ham Brooks, his cousin Pat Savage, and a cast of unique characters, Doc races to unlock the secret of the Jade Ogre, a fantastic Oriental villain who unleashes death in the form of disembodied flying arms, capable of disintegrating its victims in a flash of fire. But the lethal flying arms are merely the cover for a more deadly menace – the mysterious Jade Fever, which strikes down its victims with a deadly virus that turns its victims green as jade.

 

“The Jade Ogre will carry the listener from the fog-shrouded streets of the Chinatown of 1935 San Francisco, to the crumbling ruins of Cambodia, as the armless and ruthless Jade Ogre attempts to blackmail the world with his lethal Jade Fever,” author Will Murray says in his liner notes.

 

Narrator Michael McConnohie essays every role in the story with unerring vocal impressions that give life to Murray’s distinctive characters.

 

In addition to the 36-chapter story, the 12-CD set includes two bonus audio features: a continuation of Will Murray’s discussion of the creation of Doc Savage, and his memory of creating The Jade Ogre from Lester Dent’s notes, plus how Pat Savage has contributed to the Doc Savage canon.

 

Listen to a sample of The Jade Ogre.

 

The Jade Ogre is available now from RadioArchives.com at $37.98 for the deluxe 12-CD set, or $25.98 for instant digital download.

 

The Spider Offers A Unique Listening Experience

 

For over-the-top thrills, you can’t beat Prince of the Red Looters, the first audiobook from RadioArchives.com featuring the pulp hero, The Spider.

 

“With extensive sound effects and complete period music score, Prince of the Red Looters is an almost ‘cinematic’ experience for listeners,’ says Producer/Director Roger Rittner. “Customers are telling us it’s like a movie playing in your mind.”

 

Narrating Norvel Page’s propulsive prose, stage and screen stars Nick Santa Maria and Robin Riker give life to the sword fights, escapes, insurmountable odds, nail-biting suspense, and unexpected twists in Prince of the Red Looters.

 

Prince of the Red Looters is available in a 6-CD deluxe set at just $19.98, or as an instant digital download at just $14.98.

 

More Audio Adventures Ideal for Holiday Giving

 

Listeners continue to discover and delight in Python Isle. In Booklist, the 100-year-old journal of the American Library Association, Kaite Mediatore Stover says that Python Isle, the first Doc Savage audiobook from Radio Archives.com, “takes listeners on a breathless, roller-coaster adventure ride. Michael McConnohie’s masterful pacing keeps the tension and suspense tighter than a python’s grip, and a superb blend of sound effects and music enhance the mood, lending the production a cinematic feel.”

 

The full-cast NPR series The Adventures of Doc Savage presents special adaptations of “Fear Cay” and “The Thousand-Headed Man” by Roger Rittner and Will Murray. Featuring a full cast of voice actors, extensive sound effects, and period music score, The Adventures of Doc Savage is non-stop action in 13 exciting installments.

 

A super-criminal emerges in White Eyes, the second Doc Savage audiobook from RadioArchives.com. From his skyscraper headquarters high above the streets of New York City to the sugarcane fields of Cuba, Doc Savage races to crush gangland’s latest uncrowned king. White Eyes features dramatic narration by Richard Epcar, cover art by Joe DeVito, plus fantastic extras.

 

The first Black Bat audiobook, Brand of the Black Bat, is a stirring story of crime and corruption, and of a courageous avenger determined to track down the vicious gangster who robbed him of his brilliant career, all the while thwarting Captain MacGrath of the N.Y.P.D., who suspects Quinn and the Black Bat are one and the same. Michael McConnohie reads this fantastic tale.

 

RadioArchives.com resurrects the wild and wonderful Doctor Death, one of the rare unabashedly supernatural pulp series. Equal parts Doctor Frankenstein and Albert Einstein, with a dash of Fu Manchu, Doctor Death’s supreme goal in life was to crush civilization. His first fatal foray into reversing mankind’s fortunes, 12 Must Die, is now available in an audiobook read by television and anime star Joey D’Auria.

 

 

 
 
Pulp Fiction, both Classic and New, is replete with strong, larger than life characters, those figures who against all odds strive and struggle to make sure the world is better for what they do! And that’s not just the heroes featured in great Pulp tales. It applies as well to the writers, the authors of the great adventures we thrill to with the turn of every page. Meteor House Publishing, launched in 2010, centers on one of these iconic creators, a man known for reinvigorating Pulp after it was long thought dead as well as breathing his own version of life into other genres, even to the point of starting an entire fictional Universe where famous literary characters knew and were even related to each other.
 
“Meteor House was launched with our first book, The Worlds of Philip José Farmer 1: Protean Dimensions,” reports Michael Croteau, one of the owners of Meteor House. “I started out as a book collector, because no one warned me it was a gateway to more serious hobbies, like creating a website about my favorite science fiction author, Philip José Farmer. That led to me meeting Phil and working with him on various things like doing his official website, selling photocopies of unpublished manuscripts for him, publishing the fanzine Farmerphile from 2005 to 2009 and even being an organizer of the annual FarmerCon gatherings. The latest manifestation of this addiction is being one of the owners of Meteor House and the editor of the Worlds of Philip José Farmer series of anthologies.”
 
A legendary author for his unique views on literature and how to tell stories as well as innovations that are still reverberating through fiction today, Philip Jose Farmer was a juggernaut of creativity, imagination and production, leaving Meteor House with material aplenty as well as the mission of making sure Farmer’s work and impact continues to be recognized into the future.
 
“Our initial goal, “Croteau says, “is to keep bringing Farmer fans “new” material to read. Sometimes that means reprinting an article about him that was published over fifty years ago in an obscure fanzine and nearly forgotten, like Randall Garrett’s essay, “The Bite of the Asp.” Sometimes that means publishing an interview with Farmer from the 1990s that was never printed, or a speech he gave in Denmark in 1977, or a short story found in his files that was never sold. It can also mean new stories in Farmer’s worlds by other writers, similar to what new pulp authors are doing with vintage pulp characters.
 
For those unfamiliar with Farmer’s work or who just have a general sense of it, his connection to Pulp may be tenuous. Meteor House recognizes his impact on the Pulp field and Croteau explains why Farmer was involved with Pulps.
 
“Farmer was a child of the pulps and a life-long fan of them. In fact you can say he was a champion of the pulps. Countless science fiction fans throughout the 1970s and 80s were introduced to Tarzan of the printed page, not of the movies and tv shows, and Doc Savage through Farmer. In fact, I personally had never heard of Doc Savage before I discovered Farmer’s biography of him, Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life in the early 1990s. Along with his other biography, Tarzan Alive, these two books launched the Wold Newton Universe which goes hand in hand with new pulp.
 
“Anyone who has ever read Farmer’s great comic novel, Greatheart Silver can tell how much he loved the pulps. And Farmer is a great example for new pulp writers. How you don’t have to do the expected, how you don’t have write firmly stuck in a narrow genre. Look at his Khokarsa series. He did the meticulous world-building you normally only find in science fiction, but Edgar Rice Burroughs and H. Rider Haggard were his primary “sources.” He then used this world, a vast civilization in Central Africa 12,000 years ago, to write adventure stories worthy of Burroughs and Haggard.”
 
Meteor House currently features its two titles in the Pulp Book Store! The Worlds of Philip José Farmer 1: Protean Dimensions is a tour through Farmer’s many creations, featuring essays by the likes of Randall Garrett and James Gunn, interviews with Farmer, stories set in Farmer’s expanded worlds by Chris Roberson, David Bischoff, Rhys Hughes, and other SF/F talents, and previously unpublished fiction and more by Farmer himself.
 
The Worlds of Philip Jose Farmer Volume 2: Of Dust and Soul takes another trip through Farmer’s imagination, featuring essays by the likes of Charles Platt and James Sallis, stories set in Farmer’s expanded worlds by Spider Robinson, Mary A. Turzillo, and others and featuring an all new novella by Philip José Farmer & Christopher Paul Carey, along with much more by Farmer himself.
 
Meteor House, according to Croteau, definitely intends to produce more quality work. “We are taking things one step at a time and growing slowly. We have plans for other books, Farmer related and otherwise, but nothing we can talk about just yet.”
 
Meteor House Publishing is a fantastic example of what people who love fiction and an author’s work can do with their passion and dedication. The Pulp Book Store is honored that Meteor House is one of the Publishers featured in the Store!
 

 

The Man of Bronze battles the supernatural in classic pulp thrillers by Lester Dent writing as “Kenneth Robeson.” First, Doc Savage follows his stolen dirigible to a magic island and discovers the lost city of Ost, in an expanded novel with never-before-published text from Lester Dent’s original manuscript. Then, Renny Renwick awakens in the body of a fugitive gangster after encountering a strange impish man. What is the bizarre connection between the One-Eyed Mystic, a stolen military secret and a Nazi plot? This classic pulp reprint features the original color pulp covers by Robert G. Harris and Modest Stein, Paul Orban’s classic interior illustrations and historical commentary by Will Murray, writer of eight Doc Savage novels.
 
The Shadow’s true identity takes center stage in two classic pulp novels that inspired the classic 1940 Shadow movie serial. First, explorer Kent Allard is invited to join The Green Hoods, a hooded secret society whose true purpose is an enigma. Then, airplanes carrying wealthy passengers disappear over the Rockies, setting The Shadow on the trail of the criminal mastermind called Silver Skull. PLUS “Prelude to Terror,” a 1939 radio classic. This instant collector’s item showcases both classic pulp covers by George Rozen, the original interior illustrations by Edd Cartier and commentary by popular-culture historians Ed Hulse and Will Murray.
 

 
 

Review of “The Polar Treasure” from Doc Savage, Volume 6

By Dr. Art Sippo

After a concert, blind Violin virtuoso Victor Vail is given an urgent message to see an old friend, Ben O’Gard. Preparing to do so, it turns out this is actually an attempt to kidnap him. As multiple thugs drag Vail towards a taxi a bronze cyclone intervenes. Doc Savage had come to the concert to speak with Vail about performing an operation that might restore his sight. Even though Victor Vail had been born blind, Doc still thought that he could give him some form of vision. Doc handily thwarts the kidnap plot but comes upon a deeper mystery. Fifteen years earlier during the Great War, Victor Vail and his wife and daughter had been aboard the liner Oceanic when it was chased into the arctic ice pack by a German U-boat. It became trapped there and one day, Victor was suddenly rendered unconscious. When he awoke he was told by Ben O’Gard that the ship had been crushed by the ice and his family killed. Only a handful of the crew survived. A fight then ensued between Ben O’Gard and the evil Keelhaul de Rosa over which of them would take Victor with them. O’Gard and his men prevailed and escaped taking Vail with them. Ever since he returned, Vail has been menaced by a man with “clicking” teeth whom he can hear but no one else has been able to see.
 
Doc Savage is intrigued. The official story of the Oceanic was that it had been lost at sea and a review of its manifest showed that it had been carrying $50 million dollars in gold and diamonds. Victor Vail unwittingly held the secret of the location of the lost liner hidden on his body. Suddenly Ben O’Gard was no longer a hero, but a venal villain.
 
Doc Savage is in a race against time. The two villainous factions gain access to the location of the wreck and are on their way there. Can Doc and his crew arrive there in time to thwart them? And what really happened to the passengers and crew of the Oceanic?
 
This is one of the earliest Doc Savage adventures and still one of the best! Get The Polar Treasure and another full Doc Savage Tale today in Doc Savage, Volume 6 for $12.95 from Radio Archives!
 

Comments From Our Customers!
 

Barney McCasland:

I am looking forward to more Doctor Death. I’m now listening to The Jade Ogre. I’m only a few chapters in so far, but I think the potential is there for it to be much better than either Python Isle or White Eyes. Michael McConnohie is awesome! I like the fact that the last few books have been coming out so quick. More! More! More!

 
Larry Black:
Thanks a million for the super deals and the excellent quality of your product! I look forward to hours of great viewing and listening pleasure and to many more years of a continuing GREAT relationship.

Luke Hackenberg:

I read your newsletter via the AllPulp blog and it really comes out like an entertaining publication rather than just a rundown of ads. You guys are really putting out some great quality products right now — keep up the great work! Honestly, my intention is to be buying all of your new audio productions. It’s exciting to see you focusing on ramping up the line so enthusiastically. And I also like the availability of the downloads though my intention is to buy the hard copies, listen, and then donate to my local library so others can enjoy and word of your products can be spread.

Rodger Johnson:

Being a long time customer, I like the way you keep getting better with your product lines. My favorite new thing is the Pulp audiobooks, you can’t put them out fast enough,they are very well done….

 

If you’d like to share a comment with us or if you have a question or a suggestion send an email to Service@RadioArchives.com. We’d love to hear from you!
 
The products you’ve read about in this newsletter are just a small fraction of what you’ll find waiting for you at RadioArchives.com. Whether it’s the sparkling audio fidelity of our classic radio collections, the excitement of our new line of audiobooks, or the timeless novels of the pulp heroes, you’ll find hundreds of intriguing items at RadioArchives.com.
 
If you no longer wish to receive our newsletter, or if this newsletter has been sent to you in error, please reply to this e-mail with the subject line UNSUBSCRIBE and your name will immediately be removed from our mailing list.
 

GUEST REVIEW-DOC SAVAGE’S LATEST BOOK ‘HORROR IN GOLD’ BY WILL MURRAY

  • News
  • December 8, 2011

ALL PULP GUEST REVIEWS-
HORROR IN GOLD
The Newest in The Wild Adventures of Doc Savage
by Will Murray
Coming Soon from Altus Press!
Review by Jim Beard
Amazing Alchemical Adventure
“Horror in Gold” – A Review

HORROR IN GOLD, the new Doc Savage novel from Will Murray and Altus Press, opens with one of the best Doc first chapters ever. It’s a real humdinger. The rest of the book’s not too bad, either.
Once I really got into the story, that old comforting feeling of visiting with Doc and his amazing aides swept over me. That’s one of the highest compliments that I can pay Murray; it’s like coming home to read one of his modern Doc tales. As many of you well know, it’s almost impossible to divine where Lester Dent ends and Will Murray begins, or vice versa. HORROR IN GOLD is no exception, and I believe it will please even the most discriminating Doc enthusiasts.
When I was give the advance pdf of the book to read, one of the things I hoped lurked within its pages was one of the great super villains of old – and, lo and behold, I got it. Complete with a so-called “infernal device,” the book’s villain is larger-than-life, an improvement on the adversaries who populated THE DESERT DEMONS, Murray’s previous Doc tome.
Special notice should also be given to the author’s use of Long Tom here, not exactly the most popular of the aides; just wait until you check out the specialized use for Long Tom’s false teeth. It sounds goofy on the surface, but its just one of many fun bits that Murray includes. Monk and Ham are, of course, predominant in HORROR IN GOLD and just when I thought I had had just a bit too much of their incessant bickering – Murray almost never lets up on the gas on that score – the two men have one of the very best scenes in the book, an atypical moment that sticks with me long after I finished the story. And you can’t beat Monk being compared to Alley Oop, either.
Doc Savage here is the classic Doc of legend and gets right in to the thick of the troubles almost immediately. I also have to not that the while THE DESERT DEMONS plunked itself down squarely on the west coast, HORROR IN GOLD is very much a New York City adventure and Doc’s fabulous headquarters is put to very good use. It becomes almost a real place through Murray’s many scenes set therein. There’s also a fantastic section with the “go-devil” car, as Monk calls it, and a very, very unfortunate criminal. Top-notch stuff.
One of the things I love most about the original pulps is there use of the language of their times – slang, to be precise. Murray creates a reasonable facsimile of that here, especially with what spills out of Monk’s mouth. One phrase in particular that’s used as an exclamation – “I’ll tell a man!” – fascinates me, as I had never heard it before. And then, of course, there are the archaic spellings, like “to-day” and the book’s illusion of the 1930s is complete.
Alas, Pat Savage has something akin to a brief cameo, but I thoroughly enjoyed Murray’s use of Lea Aster, Monk’s secretary. In fact, after this, I would be very eager to see here again and again in this new Doc era.
Are there any caveats to my enthusiasm for HORROR IN GOLD? Perhaps only that it breaks away a little too abruptly towards the end to a completely new location and characters that don’t populate the bulk of the narrative. But, Will Murray rolls out the pulp action so smoothly and so in line with Lester Dent’s sensibilities that any gripes become minor quibbles when the entire package is looked at as a whole.
In all, HORROR IN GOLD whets my appetite for more – which is a good thing.

ITS CHRISTMAS TIME AND DEALS APLENTY AT RADIO ARCHIVES!

  • News
  • December 2, 2011

RadioArchives.com Newsletter

 
December 2, 2011

 

NEW Radio Set: Fibber McGee and Molly – The Lost Episodes, Volume 13

The success of “Fibber McGee and Molly” as a legendary radio program can be attributed to many factors. The best comedy writing perhaps for any radio program in history. Memorable, lovable characters. The jokes and banter that people all across the country tuned in for every week. The primary reason, though, that this fantastically funny program still endures today, endearing itself to new fans all the time rests solely with the actors behind the title characters. The Real ‘Fibber McGee and Molly’. Jim and Marian Jordan.
 
Married just five days before Jim was drafted into World War I, both Jim and Marian Jordan had sought to work as performers their entire lives. Upon Jim’s return home, the Jordans entered into show business with a formula that would work for them their entire career. They did it together.
 
Working from hand to mouth for years, the break came for the couple in 1924 when on a bet they went to a Chicago radio station to sing better than a singer they’d heard on the radio and left that station with their first radio job. That spark led eventually to the Jordans leaving their mark on history as the couple in Wistful Vista that everybody wanted to visit. “Fibber McGee and Molly’ kept audiences in stitches for 24 years. By 1943, the Jordans had a number one show and one that still today resonates with people of all ages even today.
 
‘Fibber McGee and Molly’ fans now have the chance to hear many classic episodes of their later fifteen-minute daily series for NBC as Radio Archives has been releasing them in a series of popular compact disc collections – hilarious adventures that literally haven’t been heard since they were first aired in the mid-1950s. Featuring the Jordans, along with a cast of great characters, the newly-discovered shows in these collections are just as warm and entertaining today as they were more than fifty years ago.
 
Guaranteed to cause giggles and guffaws, “Fibber McGee and Molly: The Lost Episodes, Volume 13” is now available from Radio Archives! In this five hour collection set, priced at just $14.98 on CD and $9.98 for Digital Download, you’ll enjoy twenty full-length broadcasts, transferred from the original NBC master recordings and fully restored for sparkling audio fidelity.

 
 

 
A high riding western hero! A Great Price! And It Can Be Yours for The Holidays From Radio Archives! Radio Archives has a special offer on the Cisco Kid, Volume 1 featuring the Robin Hood of the Old West as portrayed by Jack Mather! Thrill to the adventures of Cisco and Pancho in 10 hours of wonderfully restored audio for only 99 Cents with a $35.00 Order!

That’s right, classic family western audio entertainment, 10 CDs worth of Heroes, Villains, and wonderful tales to share and yours this Holiday Season for 99 cents with an order of $35.00 or more! Just add “The Cisco Kid, Volume 1” to your shopping cart, and then add $35.00 or more worth of additional merchandise to your cart as well. Before checking out, be sure to enter the coupon code BONUS to get the Cisco Kid set for just 99 Cents.

The Cisco Kid Volume 1 for .99 cents! Just one of many Gifts from Radio Archives to you this Christmas!

 
The Treasure Chest from Radio Archives is full of even more Great Gifts that Keep on Giving! Every single DVD we offer is available at unbelievable prices this Holiday Season just for you! At Least 50% off every single DVD in our catalog! Thrill to classic television shows like Gangbusters and Robin Hood! Laugh at Comic Antics from the likes of Lum and Abner and more! Own movie classics starring Bing Crosby, Roy Rogers, and a whole Stocking full of Hollywood Stars!

 

And if that’s not enough to prove it’s Christmas, check out these even more fantastic deals inside the Treasure Chest.
 
King Kong – The Classic Film, Hollywood’s very own Beauty and the Beast tale on 1 DVD – Normally $12.98 now $5.19 – 60% off!
 
Best of Jack Benny – 4 DVDs of one of the true all time legends of classic comedy. Normally $14.98 now $5.99. A 60% discount!
 
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow – A modern Pulpy Classic full of Action,
Robots and Heroes all on 1 DVD. Normally $9.98 now $3.99 – unbelievably discounted 60%!
 

Superman – The 1948 & 1950 Theatrical Serials Collection – 4 DVDs of two of the earliest screen portrayals of the Man of Steel – Normally $39.98 now $15.99 – A 60% discount!
 
Zorro – The Masked Avenger, Old Mexico’s swashbuckling sword wielder on 3 DVDs – Normally $14.98 now $5.99. Available now at 60% off!
 
 
The Civil War – 8 hours of Audio on this Monumental Historical Event. Normally $29.98 now $14.99 – A 50% discount!
 
Great Detectives – Solve the mystery and save the day with 10 hours of Radio’s best Sleuths! Regularly priced at $29.98 now $14.99 – a 50% savings!
 
Radio’s Greatest Shows – Thrill, laugh, and tremble at 10 hours of the best shows ever from Radio’s Golden Age! Normally $29.98 priced at $14.99 now – A 50% discount!
 
Find something for everyone on your Christmas List inside The Treasure Chest This Christmas! The Treasure Chest overflows at Christmastime!
 

 
Don’t Miss these Yuletide Specials meant just for You!
 
‘A Classic Christmas’ with Ed Sullivan on DVD for only 99 cents! Televisions’ Legendary Host and some of the world’s best known stars celebrating Christmas with You for less than 1 dollar!
 

Famous Guest Stars – A two hour CD set for only Ten Cents. One Dime for some of the best stars to appear as guests in Old Time Radio Classics!
 
Do not miss out on these Terrific Holiday Gifts, from Our Family To Yours!
 
 
Wanting to share the joy of Old Time Radio with those on your Christmas List this year? Ready to give the best audio collections of Classic Drama, Mystery, Comedy and More to Those You Love? Then take a look at some of the wonderful gift ideas Radio Archives has to offer you!
 

A landmark show that left a mark on all of entertainment, Dragnet, Volume 1 features episodes from this classic police procedural’s first season! Radio and television pioneer Jack Webb is dead on as deadpan Joe Friday doing his job day in and day out for the Los Angeles Police Department. Backed up by his partner Ben Romero portrayed by radio great Barton Yarbrough, Friday carries listeners through every step of every case, making even the mundane parts of the job edge-of-your-seat exciting. Thrill to ten hours of Dragnet, Volume 1 available today on CD for $29.98 or digital download for $19.98!

 

The Biggest Stars of Radio and Hollywood’s Golden Age can be found today on The Big Show, Volume 1! “The Big Show” presented a weekly mixture of comedy, drama and music from such guest stars as Jimmy Durante, Danny Thomas, Groucho Marx, Bob Hope, Rudy Vallee, Judy Garland and Fred Allen! Hosted by celebrated actress Tallulah Bankhead, ‘The Big Show’ was one of the most expensive, extravagant and excellent radio productions of its day. And all the glamour, fun, and music can be yours in The Big Show, Volume 1, ten CDs for $29.98 or via Digital Download for $19.98!

 

Flashing eyes and flashing knives…intrigue and mystery in the dusty, crowded streets of Cairo. And the man in all the action was named Rocky Jordan. Rocky Jordan, Volume 1 stars Jack Moyles as Jordan, the offer of the shadowy Café Tambourine. Jordan finds himself in trouble in every episode, either involving espionage or someone interested in taking his business. Almost always involving a velvet voiced female making eyes at Rocky. And Rocky doesn’t find adventure alone. Cairo Police Captain Sam Sabaaya is always near by, ready to either help Jordan or arrest him! Find all the adventure and intrigue Cairo has to offer in Rocky Jordan, Volume 1, ten hours on CD for $29.98!
 

Very few shows had the impact on America in Radio’s Golden age that Amos ‘n’ Andy had. The brainchild of Charles Correll and Freeman Gosden, Amos ‘n’ Andy, Volume 1 features the iconic lead characters and the comedy stylings that stopped most activity in every home, business, and town across the United States when the show was on. Laugh out loud as Amos ‘n’ Andy geehaw and joke with The Kingfish himself, his witty wife Sapphire, and all the members of the Mystic Knights of the Sea! Amos ‘n’ Andy, Volume 1 is classic Radio at its best and an important part of America’s past! Available for $29.98 on CD or Digital Download for $19.98!
 
These and other fantastic and fascinating Audio Gift Ideas are waiting to be wrapped up for those special people on your list or for You yourself! All here for you this Holiday Season from Radio Archives!

 
Merry Christmas from Radio Archives!

 

 
 

The first audiobook of Will Murray’s monumental Doc Savage adventure The Jade Ogre may be a little too big for all but the largest stocking. But this massive audiobook from RadioArchives.com is sure to delight fans of audio adventure this holiday season.
 
“In this tale of mistaken identity, Oriental mysticism, and high adventure, Doc faces one of his most formidable and mysterious foes,” says Producer/Director Roger Rittner. “More than 11 hours in length, this tale never flags in excitement, mystery, and thrills.”
 
Based on an outline by Lester Dent, The Jade Ogre tells the story of one of Doc Savage’s most exciting and exotic adventures. Accompanied by his aides Monk Mayfair and Ham Brooks, his cousin Pat Savage, and a cast of unique characters, Doc races to unlock the secret of the Jade Ogre, a fantastic Oriental villain who unleashes death in the form of disembodied flying arms, capable of disintegrating its victims in a flash of fire. But the lethal flying arms are merely the cover for a more deadly menace – the mysterious Jade Fever, which strikes down its victims with a deadly virus that turns its victims green as jade.
 
“The Jade Ogre is my greatest pulp epic,” author Will Murray says in his liner notes. “It’s a wild quest into the darkest heart of Asia to track a malevolent monster.”
 
Narrator Michael McConnohie essays every role in the story with unerring vocal impressions that give life to Murray’s distinctive characters.
 
In addition to the 36-chapter story, the 12-CD set includes two bonus audio features: a continuation of Will Murray’s discussion of the creation of Doc Savage, and his memory of creating The Jade Ogre from Lester Dent’s notes, plus how Pat Savage has contributed to the Doc Savage canon.
 

 
The Jade Ogre is available now from RadioArchives.com at $37.98 for the deluxe 12-CD set, or $25.98 for instant digital download.
 
 

For over-the-top thrills, you can’t beat Prince of the Red Looters, the first audiobook from RadioArchives.com featuring the pulp hero, The Spider.
 
Eric Troup tells of his experience listening to Prince of the Red Looters:
 
“I wasn’t sure what to expect. I love the Spider, and I loved what I’d heard from ‘Python Isle’, so I was optimistic. However, I was fully unprepared for the amazing, often visceral, experience I had before me.
 
“The narration sweeps you along in an adrenaline-filled, nonstop wave of action and suspense that simply does not let up until the end of the book. The sound effects made the production even more immersive, making me feel like I was watching a narrated movie. And the music! It put the final touch on my ‘movie-going’ experience.
 
“This story has it all – sword fights, escapes, insurmountable odds, nail-biting suspense, unexpected twists, a superb villain, and so much more.
 
“I offer up a hearty thank-you to everyone involved, and I look forward to enjoying more productions of this caliber in the future.”
 
Prince of the Red Looters is available in a 6-CD deluxe set at just $19.98, or as an instant digital download at just $14.98.
 
 

In Booklist, the 100-year-old journal of the American Library Association, Kaite Mediatore Stover says that Python Isle, the first Doc Savage audiobook from Radio Archives.com,”takes listeners on a breathless, roller-coaster adventure ride.”
 
Stover says it “sounds like a throwback to spine-tingling radio serials in which families listened to stories while glued to the radio console.
 
“McConnohie’s deep, rich tones and changing vocal patterns may fool some listeners into thinking this is a multicast performance,” Stover goes on, “but the fantastic accents and voices come from McConnohie alone. His masterful pacing keeps the tension and suspense tighter than a python’s grip, and a superb blend of sound effects and music enhance the mood, lending the production a cinematic feel.”
 
 

The full-cast NPR series The Adventures of Doc Savage. With special adaptations of “Fear Cay” and “The Thousand-Headed Man” by Roger Rittner and Will Murray, a full cast of voice actors, extensive sound effects, and period music score, The Adventures of Doc Savage is non-stop action in 13 exciting installments.
 
A super-criminal emerges in White Eyes, the second Doc Savage audiobook from RadioArchives.com. From his skyscraper headquarters high above the streets of New York City to the sugarcane fields of Cuba, Doc Savage races to crush gangland’s latest uncrowned king! White Eyes features dramatic narration by Richard Epcar, cover art by Joe DeVito, plus fantastic extras!
 

The first Black Bat audiobook, Brand of the Black Bat, is a stirring story of crime and corruption, and of a courageous avenger determined to track down the vicious gangster who robbed him of his brilliant career, all the while thwarting Captain MacGrath of the N.Y.P.D., who suspects Quinn and the Black Bat are one and the same. Michael McConnohie reads this fantastic tale.
 
RadioArchives.com resurrects the wild and wonderful Doctor Death, one of the rare unabashedly supernatural pulp series. Equal parts Doctor Frankenstein and Albert Einstein, with a dash of Fu Manchu, Doctor Death’s supreme goal in life was to crush civilization. His first fatal foray into reversing mankind’s fortunes, 12 Must Die, is now available in an audiobook read by the talented Joey D’Auria.
 

 
 
As you’re hustling to finish your Christmas shopping, don’t you want to get those on your list, something special? Like Larger than Life Heroes? Two-fisted tales of intrigue, mystery, and more action than you can shake a boxing glove at? Mad Villains bent on world domination or destruction with insane, almost mystical means? You can wrap all of that up in a box and put a pretty bow on top right here at The Pulp Book Store!

 
Not sure which fantastic hero to introduce yourself or those on your list to? Want to get a feel for the Characters that fight, tumble, run, and save the day in the Pulp Book Store? Then let’s take a look at three of the best known, true iconic Pulp Characters.
 
Clearly at the pinnacle of Pulp stands The Man of Bronze himself, Doc Savage. Largely the product of the immensely powerful imagination of author Lester Dent, Doc Savage has been the template for a multitude of heroes, homages, and pastiches since his debut in the Pulps in the 1930s. A genius and near the height of human physical perfection, Doc embodies the essence of justice and righting wrongs, a man of pure intellect as well as brawn working for a pure purpose from a pure heart. Facing some of the greatest evils ever conceived by any author, Doc thinks, works, invents, and often fights his way through to victory.
 
One of the best loved aspects of the Doc Savage stories, however, is not the man himself. Doc surrounds himself with a team of aides, confidantes known as ‘The Fabulous Five.’ Each of these men were experts in their own field and Dent used them in a variety of ways, including to add vibrant color to his tales and often as that undercurrent of comedy in the midst of blazing adventure. The tirades and sarcastic banter between Monk Mayfair and Ham Brooks add humor, but also humanity to characters who work with a man who seems almost more than human.
 
You can find Doc Savage tales, both Classic and New from Several of the Publishers in the Pulp Book Store, such as:
Nostalgia Ventures – Doc Savage, Volume 1 (Reprint) $12.95
Altus Press – The Wild Adventures of Doc Savage – The Desert Demons (New) $24.95
Radio Archives -The Adventures of Doc Savage (8 Hours on CD) $24.98
Moonstone Books – Doc Savage the Lost Radio Scripts of Lester Dent $22.95
 
Mentioned often in the same breath as Doc when discussing Pulp Icons is the legendary vigilante The Shadow. Originally a creepy voice host on an old time radio program, the two-gunned Hero of the Night that we all know as The Shadow was the brainchild of Walter Gibson. Although a Crusader for Justice, The Shadow’s approach was much more in the Shoot-First-Ask-Questions-Later realm. Using the cowardice and fear present in all criminals, The Shadow utilized great physical prowess as well as abilities he’d learned in the past, including his ability to ‘cloud men’s minds’ to insure Justice was done on the dark streets of the City, even the World.
 
The Shadow also made use of a team of operatives, this one a covert group of people who owed The Shadow for their lives in some way or another. Included amongst this clandestine crew of conspirators are such people as Burbank, the central communications link for The Shadow’s organization; Moe Shrevnitz, a Cab Driver and the Shadow’s wheelman; Joe Cardona, Policeman; Harry Vincent, one of the Shadow’s oldest allies; Cliff Marsland, the Shadow’s mole into the underworld; and many more!
 
If you like your Heroes dark, your action intense, and your villains mad, then The Shadow is just the Gift for you this holiday season! Check out these volumes of Shadow Adventures in The Pulp Book Store!
Nostalgic Ventures – The Shadow, Volume 5 (Reprint) $12.95
Sanctum Press – The Shadow, Volume 38 (Reprint) $14.95
Nostalgic Ventures – The Shadow, Volume 19 (Reprint) $12.95
Sanctum Press – The Shadow, Volume 55 (Reprint) $14.95
 
A Hero who walks the line between Paragon and Psychopath also shot his way through the Pulps with a Vengeance and is still alive and dealing death to wrongdoers today! Norvell W. Page’s The Spider is considered one of the most unique Heroes in Pulp Fiction, primarily because of his tactics and the question of his own sanity. Actually Richard Wentworth, millionaire, The Spider wrought violent justice on any evil that threatened his precious city! With blazing .45’s clenched in his hands and a horrifying fright mask over his face, The Spider made the city streets safe for its citizens by leaving corpses by the dozens littering the curbs!
 
Assisted by the lovely Nita van Sloan, who isn’t afraid to put on the outfit and play the Spider herself as well as loyal right hand man Ronald Jackson and Ram Singh, Wentworth’s Sikh bodyguard, The Spider does whatever is necessary to make sure New York City is safe! These stories reverberate with wonderfully wild characters, over the top plots, and more gunshots than one can count! Criminals beware! Evil take note! The Spider will make sure Good and Justice Prevail! At All Costs!
 
Find all the pulse pounding Spider Adventures your heart can handle for the Holidays from these Publishers in the Pulp Book Store. Stories like:
Girasol Collectables – The Spider, Volume 1 (Reprint) $14.95
Moonstone Books-The Spider Chronicles (New) $16.95
Radio Archives – The Spider: Prince of the Red Looters, Audio Book $19.98
Girasol Collectables – The Spider Issue 3 October 1933 (Pulp Replica) $35.00
 
The only Place to go to find Pulpy Presents this Christmas! Get all this and more at The Pulp Book Store!
 

 

The Man of Bronze battles the supernatural in classic pulp thrillers by Lester Dent writing as “Kenneth Robeson.” First, Doc Savage follows his stolen dirigible to a magic island and discovers the lost city of Ost, in an expanded novel with never-before-published text from Lester Dent’s original manuscript. Then, Renny Renwick awakens in the body of a fugitive gangster after encountering a strange impish man. What is the bizarre connection between the One-Eyed Mystic, a stolen military secret and a Nazi plot? This classic pulp reprint features the original color pulp covers by Robert G. Harris and Modest Stein, Paul Orban’s classic interior illustrations and historical commentary by Will Murray, writer of eight Doc Savage novels.
 
The Shadow’s true identity takes center stage in two classic pulp novels that inspired the classic 1940 Shadow movie serial. First, explorer Kent Allard is invited to join The Green Hoods, a hooded secret society whose true purpose is an enigma. Then, airplanes carrying wealthy passengers disappear over the Rockies, setting The Shadow on the trail of the criminal mastermind called Silver Skull. PLUS “Prelude to Terror,” a 1939 radio classic. This instant collector’s item showcases both classic pulp covers by George Rozen, the original interior illustrations by Edd Cartier and commentary by popular-culture historians Ed Hulse and Will Murray.
 

 
 
Spicy Adventure Stories #6 June 1935
Spicy Detective Stories #22 February 1936
The Spider #74 November 1939
The Spider #75 December 1939
Weird Tales #96 December 1931
 

 
 

Review of “Lingo” from The Shadow, Volume 9

By John Olsen

“Lingo” was published in the April 1, 1935 issue of The Shadow Magazine. Currently, the head of all gangdom is Rook Hollister. But the underworld is in turmoil. Lately, his every efforts have been thwarted by forces of the law. Planned crimes are being broken up in the act; henchmen are either captured or killed by the police. And this continual failure of leadership has Rook Hollister’s lieutenants preparing for a coup. Yes, Rook’s on the way out. He’s scheduled for “the bump.” (Meaning, they are going to bump him off.)
 
Rook Hollister, kingpin of the underworld, decides to escape the wrath of his underlings by faking his own death. Sliding into place as the new boss of the underworld is Lingo Queed. Lingo can speak Greek, Italian and Chinese. And probably others that aren’t mentioned. He claims credit for the killing of Rook Hollister, and takes over the reins of leadership. A new wave of crime is planned. It will take The Shadow to thwart those plans! It will take The Shadow to defeat Lingo Queed. And it will take The Shadow to reveal the hiding place of Rook Hollister and bring him to final justice.

 
The Shadow makes effective use of all of his aides in this story. Appearing are Clyde Burke, enterprising reporter on the staff of the Classic, Harry Vincent, the clean-cut chap who has long served The Shadow, Moe Shrevnitz, shrewd-faced cab driver whose taxi is actually owned by The Shadow, Cliff Marsland, alleged member of the underworld who is actually in The Shadow’s employ, Hawkeye, the hunchy little trailer, Jericho, one of The Shadow’s lesser agents who gets to play bodyguard for Lingo Queed, Burbank, vital communications man for The Shadow and Rutledge Mann, investment broker and contact man for The Shadow’s organization. Representing the forces of law and order are acting inspector Joe Cardona and Deputy Police Commissioner Wainwright Barth.
 
The Shadow’s famous girasol ring, the purplish, translucent gem that glows from The Shadow’s third finger, appears in this story. In this story, it is worn only by The Shadow and is used as a means of identification. In later years, the ring was worn openly when disguised as Lamont Cranston (who, by the way, makes no appearance, here).
 
Lingo’s a real classic and a thrilling Shadow mystery novel. It can be found in The Shadow, Volume 9 available from Radio Archives for $12.95!

 

Comments From Our Customers!
 
Gene Schneider:

Recently I found an offering of The Shadow that I’ve had for some time. Their re-mastering, etc. was quite bad. It can be a real shocker to play your work and compare it to other works. You have No peer in this business. Absolutely none! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

 
Dominick Cancilla:
I’ve listened to your first two Doc Savage audiobooks and just finished your first Spider tale. I want to complement you on the quality of these productions. They are entertaining and engaging without being overproduced, and the voice talent, sound effects, and music are all top notch. As soon as I finish this e-mail, I will be ordering Black Bat, Doctor Death, and the new Doc Savage. Keep ’em coming!

 

Larry Black:

Thanks a million for the super deals and the excellent quality of your product! I look forward to hours of listening pleasure and to many more years of a continuing GREAT relationship.

 
If you’d like to share a comment with us or if you have a question or a suggestion send an email to Service@RadioArchives.com. We’d love to hear from you!
 
The products you’ve read about in this newsletter are just a small fraction of what you’ll find waiting for you at RadioArchives.com. Whether it’s the sparkling audio fidelity of our classic radio collections, the excitement of our new line of audiobooks, or the timeless novels of the pulp heroes, you’ll find hundreds of intriguing items at RadioArchives.com.
 
If you no longer wish to receive our newsletter, or if this newsletter has been sent to you in error, please reply to this e-mail with the subject line UNSUBSCRIBE and your name will immediately be removed from our mailing list.
 

From the 86th Floor: Reviews by Barry Reese

  • News
  • December 1, 2011


THE GREEN LAMA UNBOUND
Written by Adam Lance Garcia
Published by Airship 27 Productions
ISBN 978-10934935-75-0
243 pages, $24.95

For much of the past year, I’ve had one person after another tell me that I should read this book. I resisted because nothing turns me off more than unceasing hype. Hell, I still haven’t seen Titanic for just that reason. That and the fact that the history books ruined the ending for me. The ship sinks, right?

Anyway, I finally broke down and purchased this book not long ago. It is a high-priced item, costing a little more than I usually like to plunk down for a paperback book, but the production values are typical Airship 27: which means the paper is high quality, the cover is engaging and the formatting is professional. So you could definitely argue that you got your money’s worth.

Now… about the story itself.

Let me start by saying that I don’t think this book is particularly revolutionary but it is a damned good read, especially for someone’s first novel.

Basically, Adam takes a mostly B-Level character and molds him into something more. Hell, the Green Lama is pitted against the hordes of the C’thulhu Mythos in this one! And Adam displays a deft hand at balancing action with characterization.

I particularly liked the supporting characters in this one: Caraway, Jean and Ken all stole quite a few scenes from the emerald-wearing hero. In fact, I’d say that the way they orbited the hero was quite well done and pretty classic, in my opinion. Even in the old Doc Savage series, Doc was pretty staid compared to the bickering of Monk and Ham.

There are several Easter eggs in the story that made me smile, especially the reference to the rampaging ape in the early chapters. It shows that Adam has a clear grasp on the audience who will be reading this.

If I had a complaint — and it’s a minor one — I think that Adam overdoes it a little on the Lama-speak and the C’thulhu words. Throw in all the German and Greek phrases, too, and I felt like I was skimming an awful lot. I’d tone that down somewhat in future volumes. I mean, we get it — that guy’s German. This guy likes to say “Ma-ni pad me” a lot. Too much of that stuff breaks up the narrative flow, in my opinion.

This book is a terrific, fast-paced read that features believable characters that you grow to care about. It’s a wonderful introduction to The Green Lama and definitely positions Adam Garcia as a leading voice in the New Pulp movement.

I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

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