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Q. Have there been attempts to do new pulp-style hero characters?

A. There have been several attempts at doing original pulp-style characters in books, comics, and movies, but most met with limited success. Among these attempts are:

(Note: This list contains only original characters, not adaptations of classic pulp characters, such as Conan, Doc Savage, Tarzan, Sheena, and the like. Also, it is certainly not comprehensive, but does provide an overview of what is out there.)

Books

"The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai: Across the 8th Dimension" – This novelization, by Earl Mac Rauch, contains information on the character left out of the movie.

Prince Zarkon of the Unknown – This series by Lin Carter was an Avenger/Doc Savage-style character. Most novels included cameos of pulp characters.

  1. "Nemesis of Evil"
  2. "Invisible Death"
  3. "Volcano Ogre"
  4. "Earth-Shaker"
  5. "Horror Wears Blue"

Darkman – These books were based on the pulp-inspired movie character.

Agent 13 – This series by Frank Dille and David Marconi was about a man fighting a world-wide secret society in the 1930s. The third book was published with "Web of Danger," by Aaron Allston, in the first of the Double Agent series. There were more Double agent books, but no more Agent 13 stories. There was also an Agent 13 comic book and role-playing game.

  1. "The Midnight Avenger"
  2. "Serpentine Assassins"
  3. "Acolytes of Darkness"

Doc Sidhe – Aaron Allston's novel is set in a world combining fantasy and hero-pulp genres.

Indiana Jones – These novels were based on the serial/pulp inspired movie character. Titles included:

  1. "Indiana Jones and the Peril at Delphi" (by Rob MacGregor)
  2. "Indiana Jones and the Dance of the Giants" (by Rob MacGregor)
  3. "Indiana Jones and the Seven Veils" (by Rob MacGregor)
  4. "Indiana Jones and the Genesis Deluge" (by Rob MacGregor)
  5. "Indiana Jones and the Unicorn's Legacy" (by Rob MacGregor)
  6. "Indiana Jones and the Interior World" (by Rob MacGregor)
  7. "Indiana Jones and the Sky Pirates" (by Martin Caidin)
  8. "Indiana Jones and the White Witch" (by Martin Caidin)
  9. "Indiana Jones and the Philosopher's Stone" (by Max McCoy)

Cap Kennedy – Titles in this series include:

  1. "Galaxy of the Lost"
  2. "Slave Ship from Kergan"
  3. "Monster of the Metelaze"
  4. "Enemy within the Skull"
  5. "Jewel of Jarhen"
  6. "Seetee Alert!"
  7. "The Gholan Gate"
  8. "The Eater of Worlds"
  9. "Earth Enslaved"
  10. "Planet of Dread"
  11. "Spawn of Laban"
  12. "The Genetic Buccaneer"
  13. "A World Aflame"
  14. "The Ghosts of Epidoris"
  15. "Mimics of Dephene"
  16. "Beyond the Galactic Lens"
  17. "The Galactiad"

Dr. Bones – This space adventurer/archaeologist was conceived by Byron Priess, the creator of the "Weird Heroes" series.

  1. "The Secret of the Loma" (Stephen Leigh)
  2. "The Cosmic Bomber" (William F. Wu)
  3. "Garukan Blood" (Thomas Wilde)
  4. "The Dragons of Komako" (John Gregory Betancourt)
  5. "Nightmare World" (David Stern)
  6. "Journey to Rilla" (Thomas Wilde)

Lord Grandrith/Doc Caliban – Continuing his Wold Newton Family concept, Philip Jose Farmer retold the adventures of the "real" Tarzan and Doc Savage:

  1. "A Feast Unknown"
  2. "Lord of the Trees"
  3. "The Mad Goblin"

"Rocketeer" – This movie novelization by Peter David has some pulp touches. It's based more on the movie, than the original comic.

"Weird Heroes: A New American Pulp" – Here was editor Byron Preiss' attempt to create a modern-day pulp in paperback. The books were a mixture of anthologies and whole novels. Its eight volumes met with limited success. An index is posted at the Science Fiction Lovers’ Web site.

Comics

"Agent 13" (TSR) – The paperback series inspired these graphic novels and comic books. The graphic novels were "The Midnight Avenger," which loosely adapts the first two books, and "Acolyte of Darkness," which adapted the third book. The comic was titled "13: Assassin" and was set in modern times. It lasted for eight issues (two four-part mini-series).

"Dominic Fortune" (Marvel) – The Howard Chaykin character was similar in some ways to his "Scorpion" character. Dominic Fortune was a soldier of fortune-style character set in the '30s. Chaykin did several one-shot stories that appeared in various showcase series at Marvel. Fortune also appeared in modern times as an old man searching for his lover from the '30s, but this was not done by Chaykin.

"Dreamwalker" (Marvel) – This graphic novel deals with a pulp-style hero from the '30s, but is set in modern times. He is killed by gangsters, and his son, a secret agent, takes over.

"Indiana Jones" (Marvel and Dark Horse) – The George Lucas/Steven Spielberg movie series inspired these original comic book stories. Marvel did a series called "Further Adventures of Indiana Jones" which lasted 34 issues from 1983-86. Dark Horse has published a series of Indiana Jones miniseries by various writers and artists, and with involvement of LucasFilms. The first miniseries has been reprinted in trade paperback. Dark Horse titles include:

  1. "Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis" #1-4 [1991, set in 1939]
  2. "Indiana Jones and Thunder in the Orient" #1-6 [1993-4, set in 1938]
  3. "Indiana Jones and the Arms of Gold" #1-4 [1994, set in 1937]
  4. "Indiana Jones and the Golden Fleece" #1-2 [1994, set in 1941]
  5. "Indiana Jones and the Shrine of the Sea Devil" [1994, set in 1935]
  6. "Indiana Jones and the Iron Phoenix" #1-4 [1994-5, set in 1946]
  7. "Indiana Jones and the Spear of Destiny" #1-4 [1995, set in 1945]
  8. "Indiana Jones and the Sargasso Pirates" #1-4 [1995-6, set in 1939]
  9. "Indiana Jones and The Dance of Death" [set in 1940]
  10. "Indiana Jones and the Lost Horizon" [set in 1935]

"Midnight Men" (Epic/Marvel) – Another Howard Chaykin comic, this one deals with a group of vigilantes in California existing since colonial times. When one dies, an another takes his place. The stories were set in modern times.

"Night Raven" (Marvel UK) – This British comic book character was set in 1930s America. The comics tell the story of a mysterious Shadow-like vigilante hero (the reader never knows who he is) There are two Night Raven graphic novels: one collecting the comic book stories; the other an original graphic novel. A Night Raven text series also appeared in the monthly "Captain Britain" magazine.

Prowler (Eclipse) – The stories about this 1930s-era character are set in modern times with him coming out of retirement to train a replacement. It has had two four-issue miniseries: "Prowler" and "Revenge of the Prowler."

"Rocketeer" (Pacific/Eclipse/Comico/Dark Horse) – Though more heavily influenced by the "Rocketman" movie serials, "Rocketeer" does incorporate pulp elements. In fact, in the first comic series (since reprinted in trade paperback by Eclipse) the rocketpack was created by Doc Savage. In the second series, the Rocketeer meets The Shadow. It inspired a movie and novelization.

"Sandman Mystery Theater" (DC/Vertigo) – Each of new stories of this '30s pulp-style character are spread over four issues. Stories include:

  1. "The Tarantula" (issues #1-4) [reprinted in trade paperback]
  2. "The Face" (issues #5-8)
  3. "The Brute" (issues #9-12)
  4. "The Vamp" (issues #13-16)
  5. "The Scorpion" (issues #17-20)
  6. "Dr. Death" (issues #21-24)
  7. "The Night of the Butcher" (issues #25-28)
  8. "Hourman" (issues #29-32)
  9. "The Python" (issues #33-36)
  10. "The Mist" (issues #37-40)
  11. Annual #1
  12. Annual #2
  13. "Sandman Midnight Theater" (one-shot)

"The Scorpion" (Atlas) – Created by Howard Chaykin, this mercenarial immortal's adventures were set in the '30s. Chaykin only did the first two issues, then the character was revised and reset in the present only to become your typical costumed do-gooder.

"Twilight Avenger" (Eternity) – The Twilight Avenger was pulp-style hero set in the '30s.

"Wordsmith" (Renegade) – This series dealth with a writer of pulp heroes. The 12-issue series has been collected in two trade paperbacks (Caliber). There is also a companion piece called "Heroes from Wordsmith," dealing with his pulp characters.

Movies

"Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai: Across the 8th Dimension" – Banzai, the rock-star/physicist/surgeon/hero and his aides are very pulp-like in style. Also a novelization and a comic book adaptation.

"Dark Man" – The Spider was an inspiration for this character according to the creator. Also a novelization and paperback series, and a comic book adaptation and a series of original comic book stories. There are also two direct-to-video sequels.

Indiana Jones – The popular George Lucas/Steven Spielberg character is based on pulp and movie-serial heroes, and set in the 1930s. After years of talk, a fourth movie, to be set in the 1950s, is expected to be released Thursday, May 22, 2008. The movies also spawned paperbacks, comic books and a short-lived TV series. Film episodes include:

  1. "Raiders of the Lost Ark"
  2. "Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom"
  3. "Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade"

"Jake Speed" – This hero from a paperback novel series (the novels supposedly are written by Jake's assistant to fund their adventures) helps a woman looking for her sister who has been kidnapped by white slavers. Jake mentions the Destroyer and Doc Savage as being real people. (Doc is said to be retired.)

"Rocketeer" – This movie was adapted from the "Rocketeer" comic which first appeared under the Pacific Comics logo. The Doc Savage character was changed to Howard Hughes for the movie.

Television

"Adventures of Brisco County Jr." – This series was based on a non-existent dime novel/pulp western series. It lasted only one session on Fox.

"Legend" – Another short-lived series, "Legend" starred Richard Dean Anderson as a dime novelist who wrote of a larger-than-life character named Nicodamus Legend. He became involved with matters which forced him to take on the persona of Legend. Anderson's character is aided by the turn-of-the-century hi-tech wizardry of Professor Bartok.

Grey Ghost – This Shadow-esque character, voiced by Adam West, appeared in "Batman: The Animated Series."

Nightshade – This pulp-style character from the '50s comes out of retirement to help the Flash stop an old foe, in ABC series "The Flash." The character reappears in another episode when a vigilante takes his name as "Deadly Nightshade."

"Young Indiana Jones Chronicles" – This short-lived series focused on the adventures of Indiana Jones at the ages of 10 and 16. It was based on the movie character.

Games

Justice Inc. (Hero Games) – Justice Inc. is a hero-pulp role-playing game. Two scenario books, "Trail of the Goldspike" (a hero-pulp adventure) and "Lands of Mystery" (a set of rules on playing Edgar Rice Burroughs-style "lost worlds romances") were published. It is out of print.

Daredevils (Fantasy Games Unlimited) – Another pulp role-playing game, it covered all genres. Five volumes of short scenarios were published called "Daredevil Adventures." It is out of print.

Agent 13 (TSR) – Another role-playing game, this one was based on the paperback series. There was also an "Agent 13 Sourcebook" for "Top Secret SI" game.

GURPS Cliffhanger (SJG) – This world book for Steve Jackson Games' Generic Universal Role-Playing Game provided a basis for role-playing serial and pulp heroes.

Savage Empire (Origin Games) – This was a computer game based on "lost worlds" pulp stores, such as Edgar Rice Burroughs and H. Rider Haggard.

Other

Nick Naime and his Agents of P.U.L.P. – This series of fan fiction novels by Jeff McCoskey are available only on the Internet (and occasionally posted to alt.pulp). They are a parody of the hero-pulp genre. The novels include:

  1. "The Man from P.U.L.P."
  2. "Synonyms of Fear"
  3. "Satan's Trousers"
  4. "Improbable Island"
  5. "Double Jeopardy" (Expected to be serialized in the fall of 1997, it apparently was never completed.)

They are available at the Eyrie Web site: http://www.eyrie.org/ftp/racc/lnh/PULP/

— Michael R. Brown