Robert Weinberg’s ‘Pulp Classics’

With today’s print-on-demand technology making book publishing easier, we’ve seen an explosion of small presses using it to make available pulp reprints like never before.

But too many pulp fans today don’t realize that in past decades this was much harder. Outside the few reprints done in paperback from the major publishers, the number of smaller presses doing this in the 1970s, ’80s, and ’90s was much less. And it was harder to find out about them.

Most pulp fans today probably don’t know who Robert Weinberg is, which is too bad. He’s been involved with the pulp world for decades as a publisher, editor, and writer. At times he has published fanzines (Pulp) and various pulp reprint series. He is currently an editor for Arkham House, the publishing house started by August Derleth to reprint the works of H.P. Lovecraft.

In the 1970s he published a series of booklets that reprinted pulp works under the heading of Pulp Classics. The series includes:

1. “Gangland’s Doom,” by Frank Eisgruber, 1973
2. “Python Men of Lost City,” by Chester Hawks (Captain Hazzard, No. 1)
3. “Revelry in Hell” (short stories from Uncanny Tales)
4. “Brand of the Metal Maiden,” by Brant House (Secret Agent X, No. 22)
5. “Moon Man,” by Frederick Davis, 1974 (two stories from series)
6. “Doctor Satan,” by Paul Ernst
7. “America’s Secret Service Ace: Operator #5,” by Nick Carr, 1974
8. “The Case of the Six Coffins” (The Mysterious Wu Fang, No. 1)
9. “The Mystery of the Dragon’s Shadow,” 1974 (Dr. Yen-Sin, No. 1)
10. “Totem-Pole Murders,” 1975 (The Angel Detective)
11. “The City Condemened to Hell,” 1975 (The Octopus, No. 1)
12. “Satan’s Incubator” (The Scorpion, No. 1)
13. “Death Orchids & Other Bizarre Tales,” 1976
14. “Green Lama,” 1976 (Green Lama No. 1)
15. “Football Racketeers” (The Whisperer)
16. “Breathless Island,” 1977 (The Skipper)
17. “The Red Shadow,” 1977 (The Secret 6)
18. “The Flying Ace, A History of G-8,” by Nick Carr, 1978
19. “12 Must Die” (Dr. Death, No. 1)
20. “The Emperor of Doom,” by G. Wayman Jones, 1979 (The Phantom Detective, No. 1)
21. “The Death Dealers,” 1980 (from Weird Mysteries)
22. “Secret Agent X: A History,” by Tom Johnson & Will Murray, 1980

Many, but not all, of these works have since been reprinted by other publishers. Many are reprints from hero (and villain) pulps, but a few are collections of stories or critical studies of hero pulps.

“Gangland’s Doom” by Frank Eisgruber was probably the first book-length examination of The Shadow. It was later reprinted by Starmont and is now available in an revised edition from Altus Press.

The first, and only, Captain Hazzard story was Pulp Classics No. 2. It has since been reprinted elsewhere such as High Adventure No. 77, and revised by Ron Fortier for Airship 27.

“Revelry in Hell” is a collection of short stories from Uncanny Tales. I don’t know the contents, nor am I aware of anyone reprinting this collection.

Pulp Classic No. 4 gives us a reprint of a Secret Agent X story, “Brand of the Metal Maiden” (No. 22). This tale is reprinted in the sixth collection of Secret Agent X stories from Altus Press.

The next volume gives us two Moon Man stories, “Fingers of Fear” (No. 16) and “The Bleeding Skeletons” (No. 26). Until recently, the only collection of all the Moon Man stories was the expensive collection from the Battered Silicon Dispatch Box.  But Altus Press is coming out with a multi-volume reprint of the series.

Paul Ernst’s Doctor Satan is the subject of the next volume with reprints five stories from this series that lasted only eight. But Altus Press has reprinted the whole series.

Nick Carr’s study of Operator #5 makes up the next volume. This is the only book-length study on this secret-agent pulp hero. This work has been reprinted by Wildside Press.

The next two volumes reprint the first stories of a pair of villain pulps: Popular Publication’s Wu Fang and Dr. Yen Sin. While subsequent stories in these series have been reprinted, these two haven’t in part because of Pulp Classics. I really wish someone would do complete reprints of these two series.

Pulp Classics No. 10 has three stories. The main story is the only Angel Detective novel from the short-lived pulp from Martin Goodman, who used the name for a comic-book character at Atlas Comics. This story has since been reprinted by the Battered Silicon Dispatch Box. Also in this volume is a Man in the Red Mask story, a short-lived character who has yet to be completely reprinted, and a story of Tsang, a Chinese detective. Don’t know anything about this character or if he had other stories.

Popular’s short-lived pair of villain pulps, The Octopus and The Scorpion, comprise the next two volumes. The only other reprints of these that I am aware of was a reprint of The Octopus in one of Baen Books‘ The Spider reprint volumes. I wish the pair would be reprinted, maybe in a flip-book format.

“Death Orchids” is another collection of stories. Again, I don’t know what is in these collection, nor am I aware of any reprint of them.

The next volume gives us a reprint the first Green Lama story. Altus Press has since reprinted the whole series in three volumes, which I’ve reviewed.

Pulp Classics No. 15 has a story of Street & Smith’s The Whisperer. This story has been reprinted in Sanctum Book’s fourth Whisperer volume. Also included is another Moon Man story, “Calling ‘Car 13′” (No. 15).

We then get a story of Street & Smith’s The Skipper, “Breathless Island.” This one has yet to be reprinted, but with Sanctum Books now doing a reprint of The Skipper I hope we will see this one soon.

The first Secret Six novel is the next volume. This short-lived series from Popular has been reprinted by Altus Press in a single volume.

Nick Carr’s book-length study of Popular’s WWI Ace pulp hero, G-8, comprised the next volume. As far as I know, this is the only such work on this character. This one has also been reprinted by Wildside Press.

Pulp Classics No. 19 gives us the first Doctor Death novel. This short-lived villain pulp has also been reprinted in its entirety by Altus Press.

We then get the first Phantom Detective novel. This one has also been reprinted by Sanctum Press in their new reprint series.

“The Death Dealers” is another short story collection focused on weird mysteries with detectives and G-men. It contains a Wade Hammond story “Doctor Zero,” by Paul Chadwick; a G-77 story “The Death Dealer,” by Bryan James Kelley; a Drover Dunn story “Merchants of Panic,” by Donald G. Cooley; and a Moon Man story “The Silver Secret.” This collection has been reprinted with a new cover by Wildside Press. There is also a complete reprint series of all the Wade Hammond stories.

Pulp Classics No. 22, the final volume, is a book-length study of Secret Agent X by Tom Johnson and Will Murray. This work lives on as the “Secret Agent X Companion” from Altus Press.

There you go. I do wish a few works would be reprinted, especially the collections. Because most of this series has been reprinted, it’s more for the completist to try to get these volumes. I’ll be looking at some of Weinberg’s other reprint series in future postings.