‘Dillon Annual Collection 2018’

I have previously posted about Dillon, a modern-day New Pulp adventurer hero created by Derrick Ferguson. He has unique skills and abilities, and a mysterious past, which we have only learned some of it. And he’s black. Ferguson is one of several authors who are trying to make New Pulp more diverse. Ferguson seems to have created a whole history or timeline for Dillon, dropping hints of other adventures that may or may not be written.

Dillon has appeared in six books. The first four published by Pulpwork Press: Dillon and the Voice of Odin, Dillon and the Legend of the Golden Bell, Four Bullets for Dillon, and Dillon and the Pirates of Xonira. I have previously reviewed the first two.

From Pro Se Press there is Young Dillon in the Halls of Shamballah, and from Airship 27 is The Vril Agenda, which teams Dillon with Jim Anthony. Both of these I’ve also previously reviewed.

Now from Pro Se Press is a new, thick volume of Dillon works: the Dillon Annual Collection 2018. All the works here have been previously been published in various places. This volume contains three of the four stories in Four Bullets (no idea why not all fourth), the novel Dillon and the Pirates of Xonira, the Dillon story from Black Pulp, and Dillon and the Last Rail to Khushra, which previously was only an e-book. I also wonder if this marks a move of Dillon from Pulpwork to Pro Se Press.

I do have to point out that this volume has the new Dillon logo and cover artwork done by Sean E. Ali. His artwork has been used on the new deluxe editions of the first two Dillon novels, and I think they really bring a high level of quality to the series.

First up is “Dillon and the Bad Ass Belt Buckle,” which has Dillon and his old friend Eli Creed in Cambodia rescuing a movie star from some kidnappers. They stumble into a strange town, and Dillon is forced to race the bad ass running the place. Things don’t turn out quite like you’d expect.

“Dillon and the Judas Chalice” starts with Dillon in the middle of a mission to stop a terrorist bomb going off in an American city. He is then recruited by a reclusive billionaire and his daughter to retrieve a previously unknown (to most) religious item with strange power: the Judas Chalice. It was made from the 30 pieces of silver paid to Judas Iscariot.

“Dead Beat in La Esca” is actually not by Ferguson, but by Joel Jenkins. It tells of the first meeting between Dillon and rock musician Sly Gantlet (created by Jenkins), who is much more than just a rock star. There is a book titled The Specialists that has three stories teaming these two up, co-written by Ferguson and Jenkins.

Dillon and the Pirates of Xonira is a direct sequel to The Golden Bell.  As the title implies, it takes Dillon and friends back to the island nation of Xonira when Dillon hears of strange goings on there that are linked to his good friend, the Lord Chancellor C’jai. So I’d recommend reading The Golden Bell before this one.

“Dillon and the Alchemist’s Morning Coffee” has Dillon pulled into a case to retrieve a very dangerous item. We learn of several North African nations that exist in Dillon’s world, as well as some organizations like ACES (good guys) and SPEAR (bad guys). Maybe they will appear in other stories as well.

Dillon and the Last Rail to Khushra (I think this longer work probably qualifies as a novella at least) has Dillon in another fictional North African nation that is suddenly in turmoil due to a revolution. He gets dragged into helping a princess escape to the nearby nation of Khushra. And we learn a little more about SPEAR, even if Dillon doesn’t.

A great volume to get if you enjoy Dillon. While I already had Pirates of Xonira, I hadn’t gotten the Four Bullets volume nor the other two works, so this was a great addition to my collection. I will look for the next annual collection. I do have to wonder what will be in it.

As far as other works that could be collected, these include the other Dillon story from Four Bullets (“Dillon and the Escape from Tosegio”), the Dillon stories from the Pulpwork Christmas Special 2012 (“Dillon and the Night Before Christmas”) and 2014 (“Dillon and the Night of the Krampus”). That’s not quite enough for another volume unless you start tossing in Young Dillon or one of the first two Dillon novels. Derrick is working on new stuff, so maybe that is where it will see print. We’ll see.