The third issue of the new Pulp Adventures, #17, is now out. We get another great collection of pulp fiction with a Norman Saunders western cover. We don’t have any similar series of pulp reprints out there now, so this fills, in my opinion, a real need.
Let’s look at what we get in this issue.
First off is “I’ll Make the Arrest” by Charles Boeckman. Boeckman is an overlooked pulp author who in the last couple of years has become better known — in part because he’s still alive! Several of his works have now been reprinted. This is a murder mystery reprinted from Manhunt, a mid-’50s digest. The editorial from this issue is on this story, and we learned that it was turned into an episode of the early TV series Celebrity Playhouse. Information on how to obtain a copy of this episode on DVD is given, along with an ad for a collection of Boeckman’s other works.
Next is “The Kidnapped Midas” by Johnston McCulley, which is the second of his Thunderbolt series. The Thunderbolt was one of his series of early heroes who are set out to defeat a certain group of individuals, a total of six, each in one of six stories. While the series was published in book form back in the 1930s, no one has yet reprinted this complete series today, though Murania Press will be reprinting the first three soon. Hopefully they (or someone else) will do the second collection.
We get a science-fiction tale: “Caverns of Ith” by Basil Wells, along with an intro by Richard Lupoff. Wells wrote a lot of short science fiction, many of which were collected. Ramble House has published an omnibus collection, and the forward to that collection is also reprinted as a non-fiction piece as well. In this tale from Fantasy Book in 1948, humans crashland on a planet. Will they be able to co-exist peacefully with the race of interior world dwellers they meet? Especially in the face of a common foe?
Finally, a western story, “Firebrand” by Walt Coburn, which inspired the cover selected. The hero is accused of a crime and branded for it. And he intends to find those responsible and make them pay. This comes from an issue of Frontier Stories from the 1940s.
Overall, another great collection. It was asked if more non-fiction like the piece on Basil Wells should be included. I actually like the idea of having non-fiction pieces that tie in with the fiction reprints. Makes for a more cohesive collection. Also, this issue had several new pieces of artwork, rather than reprint artwork from the pulps, though I do like that as well.
The next issue will be coming out in July, and there is a short blurb giving some of the contents. Look forward to it.
Thanks again for the nice comments, Mike.
Edd Coutts provides four new illustrations for “The Kidnapped Midas” … mainly because there weren’t ANY in the original printing. Detective Story Magazine is surprisingly bereft of artwork in the 1920s. Surprising for me, at least, since I usually only dabble in pre-1930s material, as a publisher and collector.
Interesting. Did not know. Always assumed all pulp magazines, at least the ones from the bigger publishers, had some illustrations with their stories. Always interesting to find out that had few.