Goal

This Site is for essays on The New Pulp Heroes. It’s about time we catalog new characters appearing in books and anthologies. Since I do not have time to read everything being published, I will offer space here for legitimate creators of new pulp characters to send me their data, and I will post their essays. It is not my place to say what is, or what is not a new pulp hero, and the only changes I will make to essays will be editing and format. If you wish, include a jpeg of a book cover or b&w illustration if you have permission from the artist. By sending me your essays, you are giving me permission to promote and showcase this data. Essays should be up to 500 words, and include information on MC and back up characters, creator, title of books, and where the stories can be found. A paperback edition is now available for $12.00, plus $3.99 postage (US). The book will only be sold through us: Tom Johnson, 204 W. Custer St., Seymour, TX 76380. Send questions or data to fadingshadows40@gmail.com

Thursday, May 29, 2014

The New Pulp Heroes



Tom & Ginger Johnson compile 71 essays on new pulp characters, plus 3 essays on villains, and data on research books, listings of new and original pulp heroes, and fanzines. Also included are new pulp fiction stories: “The Mind Master” by Tom, and “The Origin of Mr. Minus” by Ginger. This will also be sold in paperback through FADING SHADOWS. This is very likely the first of several books that will detail the history of new pulp heroes, and their creators. For fans of old pulp and new, this is a must have for all researchers and those looking for specific pulp characters. To order the paperback, contact Tom & Ginger at fadingshadows40@gmail.com The paperback contains a few less essays, but several pages of art that is not in the Kindle edition. The print copy is $12.00, plus $3.99 postage. When we have enough material on hand, we will publish a second edition of the book, so if anyone has material they want added, be sure to contact us.

Sunday, May 18, 2014

Fanzines

Fanzines


Fanzines have been around since the early 19th century. Basically, meaning fan magazines, early magazines popped up for movie fans, science fiction fans, monster fans, and who knows what else. I was familiar with some of them; my wife even subscribed to Soap Opera Digest – perhaps a prozine like the TV Guide, but the same difference Can you believe people collect TV Guides and Soap Opera Digest?


I became aware of book collector fanzines in 1970 when I discovered BRONZE SHADOWS, a fanzine devoted to Doc Savage and The Shadow, with interest in pulp magazine heroes. Pulp magazines ran from 1896 to the mid 1950s, the heyday being the 1930s and ‘40s. Most ended by 1953, though a few lingered. In 1965 BRONZE SHADOWS showed up, and others were quick to follow.


We started ECHOES in 1982, becoming the longest running (in numbers) fanzine dealing with pulps. ECHOES lasted as a magazine for 100 issues, then continued for another 57 issues as a newsletter, for a total of 22 years.


There are several still around today, but mostly electronic fanzines on the Internet. One Doc Savage print fanzine still around is THE BRONZE GAZETTE, which has been around for over twenty years now, has just reached Issue #70.



ECHOES released it 30th Anniversary issue in the summer of 2012, with a coffee table, 300-page monster, titled ECHOES 30.

Sunday, May 11, 2014

Triple Detective

TRIPLE DETECTIVE

$13.46 each, from ALTUS PRESS www.altuspress.com Contains both new and original pulp hero characters.


TRIPLE DETECTIVE #1 With the release of the new series, three important stories are included in the first issue for the pulp fan. Norman Daniels' "The Happiest Hour Murders" was written as a Phantom Detective entry in 1934, but rejected, and published later with all reference to the Phantom deleted removed from the story. When the Black Bat folded in 1953, Stewart Sterling's "The Lady of Death" was left unpublished, and appeared later, with all traces of the Black Bat removed. These two stories have been restored to their original characters and published here for the first time. The Secret Agent "X" story, "The Stolen Formula" was originally written and published in Greece in 1950, and this is its first American publication in English. TRIPLE DETECTIVE is being published in the pulp format of old, and for the pulp collector, and fan of the character pulps, this will quickly become a collector's item in itself. Basically, these are three "lost" stories from the heyday of the character pulps.


TRIPLE DETECTIVE #2 Back for another issue, this time featuring the following stories. DOCTOR DEATH RETURNS by Steve Mitchell: Twenty years before, a sinister madman held the world at bay, using the twin powers of science and sorcery to unleash a crimson tide of murder and destruction that swept across America and Asia. Then he disappeared-leaving no clue as to his final fate. MURDER MUSEUM (featuring The Phantom Detective) by K.G. McAbee: The Phantom Detective, that nemesis of all evildoers in New York City, takes on the uncanny powers of the sinister Dr. Darkness! And CRIME'S LAST STAND (starring The Masked Avenger) by Tom Johnson: Will evil win out? Can even The Great Masked Avenger survive the final battle with the city's underworld when crime makes its last stand!


TRIPLE DETECTIVE #3 Back again for another issue! Thrill to the all-new adventures of The Black Bat, The Phantom Detective and The Masked Avenger! Written by G. Wayman Jones, Robert Wallace, and Tom Johnson.



TRIPLE DETECTIVE #4 The largest issue from the relaunched Triple Detective! This time enjoy these stories: THE GIBBERING GAS OF MADNESS by Capt. Kerry McRoberts. When Scientist working on military weapons mysteriously go mad, The U.S. Government fears a foreign power at the source of the evil and G-2 calls in their top secret agent, The Eagle. But this time his foe may be the greatest spy in the world - And the most beautiful. Will Jeff Shannon also fall victim to her womanly charms? CITY OF PHANTOMS by Robert Wallace. When an old case resurfaces, The World's Greatest Detective is pulled back into a new battle with a deadly enemy, while ex-Fighting District Attorney Tony Quinn's lovely secretary, Carol Baldwin is kidnapped by a vicious mob, hoping to force the prosecution to drop it's case against their Boss. Two champions of Justice meet in a race against time! PLAGUE OF DEATH by Tom Johnson. A German scientist has brought a virus to America to aid in the Brown Shirts taking control of the United States for Hitler. To test the virus, the scientist releases it on a Chicago orphanage, killing all but one child. The Masked Avenger puts the child, a young Korean boy, under his protection, while a Chicago policeman and young Korean woman also watch over him. But when the boy is kidnapped, the trail leads the Masked Avenger to New York, where he must uncover the German scientist and stop the virus from killing everyone in the great city. A wild ride, as the German mob and Brown Shirts combine to bring America to its knees while Hitler concentrates his army on Europe! Can one man, even such as the Masked Avenger, succeed when America looks to be doomed? An additional surprise is in store for the readers with THE LEGEND by Tom Johnson. In this short story, The Legend returns to bring justice to an old hoodlum! This giant issue also contains a Phantom Detective comic not reprinted in THE PHANTOM DETECTIVE COMPANION.

Sunday, May 4, 2014

Worlds of Tomorrow

Worlds of Tomorrow


In the far future, the worlds of tomorrow will bring many dangers to the travelers of the star ways. Space Rangers like Captain Steve Danger will be hard pressed to protect those settlers on distant planets. Even the Ghosts, the secret police, will have trouble discovering the mysterious galactic thief known as the Forever Man. Here are five exciting tales of our future problems on worlds of tomorrow.