Tagged: Jr.

Gerry Giovinco: What If?

Does it infuriate you to hear about comic book creators, especially the aged ones, struggling to get by financially, without health benefits, and working menial jobs because they can no longer find work in the comics industry while their creations or characters whose legacy they’ve passionately contributed to continue to rake in grotesquely monolithic profits for the corporations that currently own the copyrights and trademarks to them? Don’t you think that anyone should be upset about this, except maybe the soulless, money grubbing powers of the corporate world that have driven the globe into economic crisis? Surely, the average person gets it. You know, the dreaded 99% who feel that we have to live with our hand out just to get by, constantly in debt so that we can live co-dependant on the new staples of life like TVs, cars, computers, and cell phones, not to mention upsized happy meals that make our asses so fat we need therapy because we no longer fit the impossibly ideal image of the perfect body that has been created by the same bastards that sold us the 64 ounce Big Gulp. Ahem.. Maybe people don’t get it because it has to do with the arts. The efforts of creative types, with the exception of those few that rise to the top of the heap and rake in the big bucks, are rarely understood. People expect that the arts are practiced by those that do what they do because they love it, it’s fun, and it’s not really work. This   thinking perpetuates the romantic ideal of the so-called “starving artist.” This is true wether it is painting, music, dance, theater, literature, film or comics. The creative community, however, understands that though we all appreciate that our work is a “labor of love,” it is also a lot of hard work that requires great dedication,  sacrifice and  expense. This work, no matter how much we may enjoy it, has value, especially when it is making gobs of money for somebody else.

So, when I see comic artists struggling and am completely stymied when one can’t even expect a decent burial because of his poverty, it is probably only other artists that I can expect to fully appreciate the knot in my gut. This is why I am wondering where all the support for comic artists is when it comes to the ethical injustice of no compensation for work that was created under the auspices “work-for-hire” at a time when no one could have anticipated the economic power of modern media. Where is the support from other artists, other entertainment fields and their unions, especially those who are benefitting most from adapting comics to other mediums, like film. So I ask. What if the Screen Actors Guild, the Directors Guild of America, and the Writers Guild of America came to the defense of comic creators who have never successfully unionized and, as they do for themselves, show a force of solidarity for the people that created the source material that is creating extremely lucrative jobs for their members? What if the long list of prominent actors that portrayed characters from comic books in films took a stand to support those creators? What if the “A” list writers and directors showed some moral scruples and held a higher ground? I understand that it would be impossible to to fully effect every comic creator that may have participated in making the comic book characters that have become stars on the silver screen the cultural icons that they are today. I also understand that the rights to ownership of these characters are legally embroiled by the federal copyright laws that were lobbied successfully by the big corporations. None of that, however, justifies letting some of these talented creators struggle in abject poverty, living hungry on the streets with no healthcare, doomed to be buried in an unmarked pauper’s grave while others, including other artists, get rich off the fruits of their creations.

The comic industry does not have a union but it does have advocates. The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund and The Heroes Initiative are two organizations that have been formed to offer services to protect comic creators. Both organizations could benefit greatly if they were to receive generous donations from those that are currently benefitting the most from the success of comic book characters in film and related merchandise.

It has been reported that “Since its inception, The Hero Initiative (Formerly known as A.C.T.O.R., A Commitment To Our Roots) has had the good fortune to grant over $500,000 to over 50 comic book veterans who have paved the way for those in the industry today.” In contrast, if we were to signal out just Robert Downy, Jr. who is reported to have made $50,000,000 off of his role as Iron Man in the Avengers film and ask him to donate a mere one tenth of a percent of that salary to The Hero Initiative, he would match every penny they have ever spent to support comic creators in need. These stars are a generous lot and, in fact, need to be philanthropists just to write off their taxes. Robert Downy, Jr., himself supports, Clothes Off Our Back, Midnight Mission, and Orca Network. Why wouldn’t he support some struggling comic artists that created the opportunity for him to make his millions?

What if every actor, writer, and director, especially those that reaped the mother load reached out to support these two organizations that protect struggling comic creators? It wouldn’t make certain creators as rich as they could be if the industry was fair, but it would guarantee that comic artists who dedicated their lives to their art and our enjoyment could be a little more secure and might not die penniless like so many before them.

What if everyone reading this blog took it upon themselves to pursue this campaign and contact their favorite actor from a comic book film requesting their aid? What if we all made a difference?

Gerry Giovinco

And now, another added bonus! Those of you that are huge fans of Chris Kalnick’s NON the Existential Extraterrestrial and Depth Charge both featured here at CO2 Comics will be thrilled to find out that our old buddy NON is back in a new installment titled “A Sensory Neuron’s Quandary.” The feature begins today and will be updated every Sunday. Mr. Kalnick will be  sure to have you all questioning the true “meaning of life.”

PROJECT ALPHA!- SUPER HERO PULP NOVEL DEBUTS FROM PRO SE!

Pro Se Productions, a leader in New Pulp, announces its latest title from Pro Se author Lee Houston, Jr.!

From the creator of Hugh Monn, Private Detective, comes PROJECT ALPHA!  A tale of cosmic proportions centered on a man with great power suddenly thrust upon him and the fate of two worlds on his shoulders.

“Although we’ve dabbled in this arena a bit with previous works,” Tommy Hancock, Editor in Chief and Partner in Pro Se, stated today, “We are extremely pleased to announce our first novel that is squarely set in the Super Hero side of New Pulp!  Not only that, but it has been written by one of Pro Se’s shining stars, Lee Houston, Jr.!  This project, most definitely a labor of love of Comics, especially the Silver Age, is something special to Lee and Pro Se is proud to be able to share this truly awesome work with the world.”

PROJECT ALPHA from Lee Houston, Jr. is a prose love letter to the wonder, magic, awe, and power of Silver Age Comics!

The once peaceful planet of Shambala is on the verge of extinction. A menace of their own creation now considers himself the high and mighty ruler of all, determined to have the realm of his dreams regardless of the cost to others.  

Now the scientist responsible for the danger seeks to perform the experiment again on another world. But this planet is home to a far more primitive culture than his own. 

Even if he is successful, can ALPHA save Shambala before it’s too late? 

Lee Houston, Jr. presents an incredible new hero embarking on an amazing adventure that will push him to the limits of his newfound abilities and beyond! 

Available in print from Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/Project-Alpha-Lee-Houston-Jr/dp/1477572937/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1338680953&sr=8-1 and  www.prosepulp.com! Coming Soon as an Ebook!

PROJECT ALPHA by Lee Houston, Jr.!  Cover by Marc Guerrero and Design and Format by Sean Ali!  New From Pro Se Productions! Puttin’ The Monthly Back into Pulp!

Bond 50 Brings 007 to Blu-ray in 23 disc Box Set

We cannot begin to tell you how excited we are that this collection will be out in time for the holiday shopping season. An amazing adrenaline-fueled time capsule, it will give James Bond fans a treat as all their favorite actors, stunts, gadgets, and Bond Girls are in high definition in a complete set. Given the excitement earlier this week when the Skyfall trailer hit, it’s clear the appetitie for 007 has yet to wane. Here are the official press release details:

All the Bonds. All the girls. All the action. All in high-definition. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment mark James Bond’s monumental golden anniversary with the release of BOND 50, the complete Bond experience showcasing all 22 classic films on Blu-ray together for the first time ever, neatly packaged into one cool, sleek collectable box-set. The collection will be available beginning September 24 in the United Kingdom and September 25 in North America with additional international markets to follow that week. BOND 50 marks the debut of nine James Bond films previously unavailable in high definition Blu-ray and comes with a dossier of more than 122 hours of bonus features.

Set for release just prior to the theatrical premiere of SKYFALL, BOND 50 will offer a look at the latest Bond film through videoblogs shot with the cast and crew. The BOND 50 collection also provides two all-new pieces that spotlight the history of 007. “The World of Bond” takes a look at the style and attitude that is signature to Bond; pulling together the cars, the women, the villains and the music that have been a staple of these films for the past 50 years. “Being Bond” profiles the six distinguished actors that have had the honor of portraying 007.

“We have a whole program of exciting activities planned for our 50th anniversary year, beginning with today’s announcement, by Fox, of the release of all 22 films on Blu-ray for the very first time,’’ added Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, with Eon Productions.  “We are also delighted that Fox has unveiled a specially designed anniversary poster which we hope the fans will love as much as we do. Our website, 007.com will be regularly updated with all the latest anniversary news and events.” (more…)

REVIEW: Neverland

You gotta give writer/director Nick Willing credit. He continues to mine public domain works to give them modern day twists and gets Syfy to pay for them. Overall, these have been largely hit or miss affairs which began way back in 2007 with Tin Man, reimagining L. Frank Baum’s Tin woodsman as a sheriff in Oz with Neal McDonough doing his best with weak material. It was still head and shoulders about the god awful 2009 debacle Alice, that proved Willing had no ear to the lyricism of the authors he was pillaging.

Undaunted, thanks to positive ratings from an undiscerning audience, last winter Willing returned with Neverland, a prequel to James Barrie’s Peter Pan. In this version, it all began centuries ago, when the pirate Elizabeth Bonny (Anna Friel) came upon a glowing orb amongst her spoils and when she tired of it and used it for target practice, it shattered, sending the ship and crew to Neverland, a colorful dimension. We then jump ahead and meet Peter (Charlie Rowe), an orphan; prowling the streets of 1906 London, partnered with Jimmy (Rhys Ifans). When the gang steals the same orb, they disappear, leaving Peter and Jimmy alone. Tracking down the orb’s owner, Peter is taken to Neverland and his all-too familiar adventures begin. In addition to riffing on Barrie, the miniseries also borrows heavily from many of the pop culture genre hits from the last decade.

Bonny is still around, cozying up to Jimmy, whom she now dubs Hook, and in time we touch on all the Barrie tropes from Indians to crocodiles. New characters to the tale include Queen Elizabeth’s alchemist, Dr. Fludd (Charles Dance), who finds a spirit he dubs Tinkerbell (voiced by Keira Knightly). Bob Hoskins reprises his Smee from the misguided Hook film from the 1990s. Overall, it’s an appealing cast doing the best they can with poor writing and unoriginal material.

Producers Robert Halmi, Sr. and Jr. know how to stretch a buck, get just enough recognizable names into the cast for international sales and turn literary classics into Velveeta. The miniseries utilizes tons of green screen work but it’s low budget green screen so isn’t as sharp as it should be. In the conversational commentary by Willing, he goes on at length about working with green screen and some of that is more interesting than the story itself.

The video is an acceptable transfer with fine sound. The miniseries comes with a scant handful of extras beyond the commentary. The best of the lot is the 22 minute Neverland: Access All Areas featureete used to promote the miniseries before it aired. You get a woefully inadequate 15 minutes of The Story Behind the Story: Cast Interviews, and a brief look at Green Screen to Scene; a visually interesting Journey into Neverland: Art Gallery.

Derrick Ferguson Hires HUGH MONN, PRIVATE DETECTIVE

Publication Date: Oct 27 2011
ISBN/EAN13: 1466481900 / 9781466481909
Page Count: 184
Binding Type: US Trade Paper
Trim Size: 6″ x 9″
Language: English
Color: Black and White
Related Categories: Fiction / Mystery & Detective / Short Stories
The hard-boiled private eye genre is one I dearly love.  The trench-coated shamus with a cigarette dangling from his lip, .45 automatic or .38 revolver in a well-worn shoulder holster, fedora pulled down low over his forehead, the faithful gum-chewing secretary and even more faithful fifth of scotch in the desk drawer…it’s a genre I never get enough of.  And since television and movies have apparently abandoned the P.I. it’s up to writers like Lee Houston, Jr. and books like HUGH MONN, PRIVATE DETECTIVE to give me my fix.
Let me explain; even though Hugh Monn lives and works on the far distant planet of Frontera interacting with many different species and using advanced technology, the tone and feel of the character and the eight stories in the book are pure 1950’s.  Lee drops in a mention here and there of some bit of sci-fi such as a character having green or purple skin or Hugh’s weapon of choice being a Nuke 653 Rechargeable but that’s just throwaways Lee lobs at us once in a while to remind us that we’re not on Earth.  But he doesn’t go into any real detail as to how this future civilization operates or how the technology works.  When the subject of detective stories crossed with science fiction comes up, I usually mention Larry Niven’s stories and novels about Gil The Arm or Roger Zelazny’s “My Name Is Legion” since in those stories, the science fiction is integral to the story.  Take out the science fiction and you wouldn’t have a story.  Not so with Lee’s Hugh Monn stories.  They could easily have been set in 1950’s Los Angeles or New York with a little rewriting.  But I digress…let’s take HUGH MONN, PRIVATE DETECTIVE for what it is, not for what it isn’t.
Hugh Monn is a Human and yes, he freely admits to his clients that his name is a gag.  But one he prefers to use as he’s got some pretty big secrets in his past he’d prefer to keep to himself.  As a detective, Hugh is capable, sharp, principled and dogged in his determination to solve his cases and get to the truth.  Hugh isn’t a pain-in-the-ass who rebels against authority and isn’t a lone wolf who doesn’t play by the rules.  Matter of fact, Hugh conducts himself as a total professional.  He doesn’t shoot when he doesn’t have to, he’s polite to everybody he meets and he co-operates with the authorities.  In particular, Lawbot 714 who he runs into in a couple of stories and who I wouldn’t mind seeing become a regular if Lee gives us more Hugh Monn cases.  He doesn’t smoke, doesn’t drink, he likes kids; he holds open the doors for old ladies.  I think you can tell where I’m going with this.  Hugh’s a fine detective but as a character I found myself wishing that once in a while he’d haul off and slug a suspect for no good reason other than he doesn’t like the fact the guy has eight eyes.  Hugh could stand to be a little rougher and not so polite.
The story “Shortages” is a good example of how Hugh Monn solves a case using his understanding of both humans and aliens and his powers of observation.  It also introduces the character of Big Louie, a Primoid.  Big Louie is the main suspect in a series of thefts being committed at a high security pier.  It’s a pretty good locked room mystery and the relationship between Hugh and Big Louie is the primary attraction in this story, as in “At What Price Gloria?”  Hugh and Big Louie have to rescue Big Louie’s wife Gloria and stop an assassination attempt.  I only wish more of the stories had been as suspenseful as this one.  In some of them, the mystery really isn’t that hard to figure out as there’s a lack of suspects so the solution comes down to either being this one or that one.  And I never got a sense of Hugh being in any real danger in any of these stories.  But Lee should be commended for trying different types of stories such as “For The Benefit of Master Tyke” which hinges more on the healing of a family than the solving of any real crime.  I picked up halfway through “Where Can I Get A Witness?” is intended as a homage to the 1944 film noir “Laura” and I enjoyed it until the very last paragraph where it felt to me as if the writer had stepped in to give his opinion of his own story and didn’t allow his character to do so.
So should you read HUGH MONN, PRIVATE DETECTIVE?  As a first book from a new writer, I’m inclined to give Lee a pat on the back.  There’s a lot to like in his writing style.  He does know how to keep a story moving but he shouldn’t shy away from rolling in the dirt and giving his characters some sharp edges.  I wouldn’t mind seeing Hugh Monn tackle some more cases but I also wouldn’t mind seeing Lee Houston, Jr. strip away the political correctness and explore the real darkness of Frontera.

Tom Wilson: 1931-2011

Tom Wilson, the creator of the comic strip Ziggy and artist from 1971 to 1987, passed away in his sleep last Friday at the age of 80.

Born August 1st, 1931 ,Wilson served in the U.S. Army from 1953 to 1955. He attended the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, graduating in 1955. He was a former faculty member of the Cooper Union Art School from 1961 to 1962.

Wilson’s career began in 1950 doing advertisement layout for Uniontown Newspapers, Inc. In 1955, he joined American Greetings as a designer, becoming Creative Director in 1957 and vice-president of creative development in 1978. While at AG, he developed the Soft Touch greeting card line. He also served as president of Those Characters From Cleveland, AG’s character licensing subsidiary.

Ziggy first appeared in the 1969 collection When You’re Not Around, published by American Greetings. The newspaper strip began in June, 1971. He retired from the strip in 1987 and the strip was continued by his son, Tom Wilson, Jr.

Ziggy was licensed in a wide variety of forms, including greeting cards and calendars, and an Emmy-award winning Christmas special called Ziggy’s Gift:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSVGv2nQQz8[/youtube]

Our condolences to his family and friends.

DENNIS O’NEIL: Enough with the Superhero Movies?

Not long ago, I was chatting with a movie guy (yes, that was me, riding shotgun in the gold Ferrari, tooling down Rodeo Drive, heading for Brad and Angie’s…) and he said that the summer of ’11 could be make-it-or-break-it time for superhero flicks.

As you know by now, there have been four – count ‘em four – such entertainments released in the past several months, raising the question: Have we had enough?

Hard to say. Three of the four films were solid profit-makers and the last will probably limp into the black eventually, if it hasn’t already. So the chair-fillers aren’t reacting against super-doers, but if you squint, you might be able to detect signs that the honeymoon is over. A hundred and ten minutes of a dude in a funny suit doing grandiose stunts and bashing other dudes, also in funny suits, is no longer box-office surety. The novelty value is gone.

Remember when kung fu flicks first hit the U.S.? (Okay, most of you don’t because that happened before you were born, but indulge me.) For some of us, including me and my post-toddler son, any martial arts movie was the right martial arts movie and we spent a lot of afternoons in sticky-floored theaters watching them. The new approach to action-melodrama, the exotic casts, and – oh yeah! – the nifty fight-acrobatics (and whatever amusement could be gotten from bad dubbing) were enough to engross us, regardless of these Asian imports’ other merits or demerits. Then along came Bruce Lee and Enter the Dragon and then Jackie Chan and…

And, eventually, kung fu became just another genre, like westerns and war and romance and family comedies and raunchy comedies… Another genre. I still watch and enjoy martial arts films, particularly those with acrobatics, particularly acrobatics as practiced by performers from Thailand, and you can enjoy them, too, because your local Blockbuster has a goodly selection for rent and you don’t have to troll too far on your cable TV hookup to find one or two or…

Another genre, yes, but one that comes in a lot of sizes and shapes and languages and one you might patronize because of the virtues of a particular movie, not because of that movie’s label.

Superhero movies are, I shyly contend, undergoing a similar evolution. Already, perhaps, some of you don’t go to see a Marvel flick, you go to see Robert Downey, Jr., doing his Iron Man, and it’s well worth the trip. The acting is improving, the themes becoming more complex and the special effects…well, sometimes you aren’t aware of them as effects; they exist to serve the narrative, not to make us ohhh and ahhh as though we’re watching a spectacular fireworks display. It’s about story, not spectacle.

Spectacle is fine, but narrative offers other rewards, and most movies are narratives. The best special effect I’ve seen all summer happened early in Captain America, when somehow the cinematic wizards grafted Chris Evans’s head onto someone else’s body – seamlessly, perfectly realizing a plot element. No explosions, no shattered planets, just splendid storytelling.

Recommended Reading: The Boy Who Loved Batman: A Memoir by Michael Uslan.

FRIDAY: Martha Thomases

HANCOCK TIPS HIS HAT TO A TOME ON THE SHADOW!!

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

THE SHADOW-The History and Mystery of the Radio Program, 1930-1954
Written by Martin Grams, Jr. 
Published by OTR Publishing
2011
830 pages

Reviewing Pulp is fun.  Reading a story full of derring do and dastardly do badders is invigorating.  Tackling a novel with larger than life heroes and plots that boggle the mind and senses makes me eager to pick up the next one and share with the world what I think.  I think the process of reviewing, of sharing insight and opinion on anything has to be, at its basis, fun for the reviewer.  Many would think, then, that tackling a book that is nonfiction, historical, and full of facts and such would be boring for a Pulp reviewer.  Maybe so.

But not this book.  Wow.

THE SHADOW-The History and Mystery of the Radio Program, 1930-1954, written by Martin Grams, Jr. opens with both of those on the first page-history and mystery.  Welcoming the reader in with opening paragraphs that could well be the lead in of a pulp story in any magazine or collection, Grams takes what some might consider mundane information only for the most die hard of radio and/or Shadow fans and makes this entire work a sprawling, epic narrative bulging not only with what happened, but why things happened and who was involved.  Grams tackles the variety of personalities involved in the development of the Shadow radio program and injects the feats and fallacies of all involved into every page.

This book is exactly what the title states, an extremely complex and comprehensive history of the phenomenon that was the long running SHADOW radio program.   Grams starts with the origins of the character as a narrator for pulp tales and step by step takes the reader through the growth spurts and growing pains of the program that truly made The Shadow a part of the modern pantheon of American heroes.  Although one would think that there would be urges to devote a lot of space to Orson Welles’ time on the program or to the intricacies and involvement of Street and Smith, Grams not only gives those and other well known aspects of this history their due, but he brings into light so many, one would daresay every aspect of this show and then does something even more startling.  He makes every bit of it interesting, from the details about all the creative minds involved to the advertising to the effect that this program had on the industry and society alike. 

One stand out section of this fantastic work is the episode guide.  Grams is meticulous in not only describing the episode, but the way his guide is constructed lets you know not only where everything fits in continuity, but also gives you a sense of the impact of many of the episodes.  This is not simply a reprinting or even a presentation of a new broadcast log or notes taken on each episode.  Grams did a truly masterful job of providing information that was simultaneously educational and gratifying in this well done blow by blow episode guide.

THE SHADOW-The History and Mystery of the Radio Program, 1930-1954 is a must read for so many people-For the die hard pulp fan; for the Shadow fan; for the reader interested in OTR; for students of American culture; for the casual reader who wants to be exposed to multiple interests all at once; and probably several others I’m forgetting.   This may sit on shelves as a reference or research book, which it is, but it is also highly entertaining and engaging.

FIVE OUT FIVE TIPS OF HANCOCK’S HAT-The Shadow may know what evil lurks in the hearts of men, but nobody knows the Shadow radio program and its history like Martin Grams, Jr.

PULPS!-Second Column from Mark Halegua!

PULPS!- A Column by Mark Halegua
Continuing from the previous column-
During the next six years from 1917 through 1923 there was a further explosion in titles and publishers.
The titles ranged from short runs like Thrill Book, to long running weekly titles like Western Story, both by Street and Smith.  Western Story was the first all western title, renamed from a nickel paper, New Buffalo Bill Weekly.  For most of 20 years it was published weekly.  Street and Smith also published Love Story (another weekly) and Sport Story (twice a month for a long period).

 

 

Other important and long running titles in this period include Ace High (which later become Ace High Western), Action Stories, Black Mask, and Weird Tales.
The latter two were never best selling titles.  Weird Tales in fact, by many accounts, was hanging on by the skin of its teeth with bankruptcy never far from the door.
But, they were important far beyond their sales for what they published.  They were important for their impact on the pulps and later popular literature, for the authors and artists they introduced and the style of writing.
Initially Black Mask was created to help pay for another magazine with poor sales figures, The Smart Set – which was supposed to compete with the New Yorker.  It wasn’t making money, but it was a prestigious title and so H. L. Mencken and George Jean Nathan decided to try publishing a pulp to help pay the bills.  This wasn’t their first, having published Parisienne and Saucy Stories. 
From the beginning Black Mask was a general fiction title.  One of many in the period.  It advertised on its covers Detective, Adventure, Mystery, Romance, and Occult stories.  Early issues also published westerns.  The quality of these early issues wasn’t high but they sold the title for a huge profit from their initial investment.
Still, it took the new publishers a couple of years before an editor took over who changed the face of the magazine and crime fiction forever.  Joseph “Cap” Shaw took over the reins in 1926 and decided that crime fiction should fit the times, gritty, direct, and powerful.  He was also in favor of justice and depicting criminals as cowardly and no account.
Even at this stage of the pulps, entering their third decade, crime fiction was still somewhat laid back.  No longer the drawing room mysteries of years earlier, but relatively soft.  Yes, you had gun battles, Private Investigators, police, criminals, but it was still didn’t have the hard edge,  the punch it would have under the new editorship.
Under Cap Shaw that punch was delivered.  The stories started at a 60 miles per hour pace and just revved up, non-stop.  Shaw also realized Black Mask couldn’t compete as a general fiction magazine against such titles as Argosy, Adventure, Blue Book, and Short Stories, among others.  Black Mask had to concentrate on detective stories.  It took awhile, but eventually detective was all it published.
In 1923 Carroll John Daly wrote his first story for Black Mask, titled “Three Gun Terry,” about private investigator Terry Mack.  He would write later stories about Race Williams.  Williams wasn’t the first detective, but he was an uneducated, rough talking, rough acting individual, and always with something to say.  He was a street fighter and used his gun without compunction or remorse.  If he thought you deserved a bullet in the brain, you got it.
A year before Daly introduced Race Williams one-time Pinkerton agent, Dashiel Hammett, wrote about the Continental Op.  You never knew his name.  This first story, “The Road Home” appeared in the December 1922 issue of Black Mask under the name Peter Collinson.  In December 1923 Earle Stanley Gardner’s first story appeared, “The Shrieking Skeleton,” under the pen name of Charles M. Green.  Gardner would later leave the Black Mask stable as he chaffed under the constant editorial hand of Shaw trying to shape all of his writers after Hammett.   In 1933 Raymond Chandler joined the pulp.
And so, with these and other authors, was born the hard boiled detective!
For 10 years Cap Shaw helmed Black Mask, and circulation grew.  Never a best selling title but one with great respect accorded to it.  How could it not with stories like the Maltese Falcon?
In 1923 Weird Tales entered the picture.  This was the first all fantasy and horror title.  Over its 30 year history it would change physical formats from pulp to bedsheet back to pulp and, finally, near the end in the 50s digest.

During those 30 years Harry Houdini, H. P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, Seabury Quinn, Robert E. Howard, Edmond Hamilton, Robert Bloch, and many others, including Tennessee Williams first story (“The  Vengeance of Nitocris”) would grace the pages with characters from Cthulu, Conan, King Kull, Jules De Grandin, Dr. Satan, and more.
Covers were done by J. Allen St. John, Margaret Brundage, Virgil Finlay,  Hannes Bok, and others, these being the most notable.  Brundage’s covers included whipping nude or semi-nude nubile young women.  Rumor has it she used her daughter as a model, and many decried the covers which, of course, brought more attention and more sales.
Never a best selling title, always on the verge of bankruptcy, its impact resonated beyond the pulp world.  One story, by C. M. Eddy, Jr., included necrophilia and forced the magazine’s removal from some newsstands.  But, it also drew interest and sold well enough to stave off the bank.
There have been several attempts to revive Weird Tales after its original run ended in 1954 and there is one now been out for a couple of years.  If you’re interested in this number of current writers (Stephen King for one) have written for it.  Go to: http://weirdtalesmagazine.com
Otto Penzler has edited a huge (over 1,100 pages) compendium of Black Mask stories in the Black Lizard Big Book of Black Mask.
This book includes the original Maltese Falcon story, the first time seeing publication since its original Black Mask publication, it having been modified since that original printing.
Authors include Carroll John Daly and his Race Williams (against the KKK no less), Earle Stanley Gardner, Richard Sale, Raoul Whitfield, Dashiel Hammet (as Peter Collinson), Fredric Brown, and more.  All the stories come with the original illustrations.
You can find this book at most bookstores and on Amazon.
All of the images are from my Pulp Image Library version 7 disk, on sale at pulps1st.com.

Second All Pulp Blog
History of the Pulps part 4
June 2, 2011
by Mark S. Halegua
During the next six years from 1917 through 1923 there was a further explosion in titles and publishers.
The titles ranged from short runs like Thrill Book, to long running weekly titles like Western Story, both by Street and Smith.  Western Story was the first all western title, renamed from a nickel paper, New Buffalo Bill Weekly.  For most of 20 years it was published weekly.  Street and Smith also published Love Story (another weekly) and Sport Story (twice a month for a long period).
Other important and long running titles in this period include Ace High (which later become Ace High Western), Action Stories, Black Mask, and Weird Tales.
The latter two were never best selling titles.  Weird Tales in fact, by many accounts, was hanging on by the skin of its teeth with bankruptcy never far from the door.
But, they were important far beyond their sales for what they published.  They were important for their impact on the pulps and later popular literature, for the authors and artists they introduced and the style of writing.
Initially Black Mask was created to help pay for another magazine with poor sales figures, The Smart Set – which was supposed to compete with the New Yorker.  It wasn’t making money, but it was a prestigious title and so H. L. Mencken and George Jean Nathan decided to try publishing a pulp to help pay the bills.  This wasn’t their first, having published Parisienne and Saucy Stories. 
From the beginning Black Mask was a general fiction title.  One of many in the period.  It advertised on its covers Detective, Adventure, Mystery, Romance, and Occult stories.  Early issues also published westerns.  The quality of these early issues wasn’t high but they sold the title for a huge profit from their initial investment.
Still, it took the new publishers a couple of years before an editor took over who changed the face of the magazine and crime fiction forever.  Joseph “Cap” Shaw took over the reins in 1926 and decided that crime fiction should fit the times, gritty, direct, and powerful.  He was also in favor of justice and depicting criminals as cowardly and no account.
Even at this stage of the pulps, entering their third decade, crime fiction was still somewhat laid back.  No longer the drawing room mysteries of years earlier, but relatively soft.  Yes, you had gun battles, Private Investigators, police, criminals, but it was still didn’t have the hard edge,  the punch it would have under the new editorship.
Under Cap Shaw that punch was delivered.  The stories started at a 60 miles per hour pace and just revved up, non-stop.  Shaw also realized Black Mask couldn’t compete as a general fiction magazine against such titles as Argosy, Adventure, Blue Book, and Short Stories, among others.  Black Mask had to concentrate on detective stories.  It took awhile, but eventually detective was all it published.
In 1923 Carroll John Daly wrote his first story for Black Mask, titled “Three Gun Terry,” about private investigator Terry Mack.  He would write later stories about Race Williams.  Williams wasn’t the first detective, but he was an uneducated, rough talking, rough acting individual, and always with something to say.  He was a street fighter and used his gun without compunction or remorse.  If he thought you deserved a bullet in the brain, you got it.
A year before Daly introduced Race Williams one-time Pinkerton agent, Dashiel Hammett, wrote about the Continental Op.  You never knew his name.  This first story, “The Road Home” appeared in the December 1922 issue of Black Mask under the name Peter Collinson.  In December 1923 Earle Stanley Gardner’s first story appeared, “The Shrieking Skeleton,” under the pen name of Charles M. Green.  Gardner would later leave the Black Mask stable as he chaffed under the constant editorial hand of Shaw trying to shape all of his writers after Hammett. 
In 1933 Raymond Chandler joined the pulp.
And so, with these and other authors, was born the hard boiled detective!
For 10 years Cap Shaw helmed Black Mask, and circulation grew.  Never a best selling title but one with great respect accorded to it.  How could it not with stories like the Maltese Falcon?
In 1923 Weird Tales entered the picture.  This was the first all fantasy and horror title.  Over its 30 year history it would change physical formats from pulp to bedsheet back to pulp and, finally, near the end in the 50s digest.
During those 30 years Harry Houdini, H. P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, Seabury Quinn, Robert E. Howard, Edmond Hamilton, Robert Bloch, and many others, including Tennessee Williams first story (“The  Vengeance of Nitocris”) would grace the pages with characters from Cthulu, Conan, King Kull, Jules De Grandin, Dr. Satan, and more.
Covers were done by J. Allen St. John, Margaret Brundage, Virgil Finlay,  Hannes Bok, and others, these being the most notable.  Brundage’s covers included whipping nude or semi-nude nubile young women.  Rumor has it she used her daughter as a model, and many decried the covers which, of course, brought more attention and more sales.
Never a best selling title, always on the verge of bankruptcy, its impact resonated beyond the pulp world.  One story, by C. M. Eddy, Jr., included necrophilia and forced the magazine’s removal from some newsstands.  But, it also drew interest and sold well enough to stave off the bank.
There have been several attempts to revive Weird Tales after its original run ended in 1954 and there is one now been out for a couple of years.  If you’re interested in this number of current writers (Stephen King for one) have written for it.  Go to: http://weirdtalesmagazine.com
Otto Penzler has edited a huge (over 1,100 pages) compendium of Black Mask stories in the Black Lizard Big Book of Black Mask.
This book includes the original Maltese Falcon story, the first time seeing publication since its original Black Mask publication, it having been modified since that original printing.
Authors include Carroll John Daly and his Race Williams (against the KKK no less), Earle Stanley Gardner, Richard Sale, Raoul Whitfield, Dashiel Hammet (as Peter Collinson), Fredric Brown, and more.  All the stories come with the original illustrations.
You can find this book at most bookstores and on Amazon.
All of the images are from my Pulp Image Library version 7 disk, on sale at pulps1st.com.