Tales From the Pulp Side is a collection of three New Pulp stories published in 2013 from Purloined Pendant Press (part of Dark Quest Books). The stories feature a trio of New Pulp heroes: The Nightmare, The Pink Reaper, and Doc Atlas by a trio of New Pulp authors: Michael A. Black, John L. French, and Patrick Thomas.
First up is a Nightmare story by French. I’m not familiar with the character, but he has appeared in several other anthologies. He seems your standard pulp vigilante, wearing a dark suit, full face mask, and using a pair of .45s. He is really wealthy man-about-town Michael Shaw, who some suspect he is The Nightmare. He has no agents, but he does have a police contact.
In a prior story, The Nightmare was killed and resurrected. Now, Shaw is planning on letting The Nightmare “stay dead.” But if that was the case, we wouldn’t have a story as The Nightmare works to take down a crime lord he has gone up against for too long.
Thomas provides us with the next story starring The Pink Reaper, a female pulp heroine in the mold of The Domino Lady. I believe this may be her first appearance, but I’m not sure. I she has had further stories. The Nightmare is mentioned, as well as another character of Thomas’, Detective Mydnight. In this story, The Pink Reaper goes up against a new pulp villain, The Green Hood.
The final story is a new Doc Atlas story by Black and Ray Lovato. I have previously posted on Doc Atlas, a Doc Savage pastiche who had adventures during and after WWII. This story is set in 1948 in Brazil, and has Doc Atlas and his two associates, Mad Dog Deagan and Ace Assante, dealing with new evil called The Green Death while looking for a missing heir.
Sadly, I don’t believe there have been any further Doc Atlas stories since, but we should see more new ones soon from Airship 27. I also hope they reprint the prior ones for new readers.
Tales From the Pulp Side is a good collection of stories. I’m not familiar with some of these characters, and need to check them out. I see that there is a collection of Nightmare stories, The Nightmare Strikes, that includes this one and eight others, and a Pink Reaper collection is planned. And there is the upcoming Doc Atlas volume.
