Q. Are there any equivalents to character pulps today?

A. Yes. They are the paperback adventure series. Paperbacks fill a similar niche as the old pulp magazines. In particular, the paperback series such as the Executioner, Nick Carter (a revival of sorts of the pulp and dime-novel character), the Destroyer, the Penetrator, et al, are similar in many ways to the old character pulps. It's doubtful that these adventure series would have happened had it not been for the success of Bantam's reprint series of Doc Savage.

In fact, Will Murray, who wrote the last few Doc Savage novels as the new Kenneth Robeson, wrote several stories in the Destroyer series.