‘The Pulpster’ #28

Just a few weeks ago, PulpFest 2019 was recently held in Pittsburgh, and with it a new issue of The Pulpster, #28, appeared. The theme is “Children of the Pulps,” along with 100 years of Romance and The Thrill Book, and we get a cover taken from Black Book Detective.

First up are a set of articles.

Richard Bleiler looks at The Thrill Book. This was a short-lived pulp from Street & Smith, an attempt at one focused on fantastic stories before Weird Tales, but also a change in format from most pulps. Sadly, it lasted only 16 issues, with a change in both editors and formats along the way. We learn more about the development and history of the magazine.

Doug Ellis looks at the first Romance magazine, a short-lived pulp (1919-20) that spun out of Adventure. And Tony Davis gives us a look at Western pulp author Bertrand Sinclair (1881-1972). In a letter from 1953, pulp author G.T. Fleming-Roberts writes of the influence of Sherlock Holmes on his works.

Tied to the “Children of the Pulps” theme, this issue looks at the various characters who came out of the pulps and live on in other media, such as Tarzan and Zorro, as well as those influenced by the pulps. Pulp historian Will Murray looks at the pulp elements in Batman, many of which have been the subject of several The Shadow reprints at Sanctum Books. He also takes a too-short look at the influence of Johnston McCulley, the author of not just Zorro, on other pulp heroes and villains. D. Kepler gives an overview of Zorro’s many screen appearances, both movies and TV.

Scott Tracy Griffin writes about Tarzan’s various imitators such as Ki-Gor and Ka-Zar. The pulp influences of Wild Wild West, an interesting proto “steam punk” western/spy TV series, is the subject of Aaron H. Oliver‘s article, many references that I was not aware of. Star Wars‘ pulp roots is Jess Terrell‘s topic. Sara Light-Waller looks at the pulp origins of some Japanese TV space heroes, like Captain Future and The Lensman.

If you didn’t get a copy at the convention, check out Mike Chomko Books for copies. As with all the previous issues, this was another great issue, and I enjoyed all the articles. This goes with all my other issues, and I look forward to next year’s issue. Maybe someday I’ll be able to attend Pulpfest, too.