Fanzine Focus: ‘Pulp Reality’ #1

As I’ve been reading and reviewing the Captain Hawklin stories, I saw that Stormgate Press, which publishes them, was coming out with a New Pulp fanzine: Pulp Reality. With the first issue arriving toward in the end of 2020. Also that it would have two new Captain Hawklin short stories by other authors. Thus when it came out, I snapped it up.

This first issue was pretty big at 8.5×11 and about 150 pages. I have been used to other fanzines using smaller sizes, usually 8×10. It has six short stories by several authors, and as it is subtitled as an “Action & Adventure Publication,” the stories are thus adventure tales with various larger-than-life adventurers.

As noted, there are two Captain Hawklin stories, and if you haven’t read his other stories or my reviews, he is an air adventures character similar to Bill Barnes. Operating out of Crown City on the West coast, he has two assistants, and later is in command of his own private air wing. These two stories are set in 1940-41, after the current set of novels. I am curious what will happen when we get stories set further along in WWII.

The first Hawklin story is by Bobby Nash, and he crosses over his own air adventurer Lance Star. While I am aware of Star, I hadn’t read any of his collections. In this one, both heroes are sent on a mission to a dangerous city of criminals and outlaws in the South Pacific, only to teamup against a pair of their enemies.

The second Hawklin story is by Brian K. Morris. As WWII heats up, Hawklin and his two associates Oz and Hardy are recruited to look into why lend-lease ships are going missing before arriving in England. They find what’s going on, and it’s pretty bizarre: a robot pirate under the command of the Nazis. Will we see a return of this foe in the main Hawklin stories? I am curious as to who built him and why.

Now, Hawklin creator Charles Millhouse provides a story as well, but this one doesn’t have Hawklin but stars Zane Carrington, a character who has appeared in the Hawklin series and helped Hawklin. Zane commands a tramp steamer and gets into trouble. This time by taking a scholar to an unknown island at the request of a professor and his daughter, in search of Poseidon’s trident. Now since Hawlin’s world is one where such items can exist, you can guess what happens. We also learn why Zane left the U.S. as well.

Rounding out this issue are four other stories. Clyde Hall gives a story set in 1964 in a run-down movie house, where the owner discovers the ability to tranform into movie serial characters and calls himself B-Man! Hopefully you’ll get some of the names being referenced or hinted at.

Kelly Lynn Austin gives the first part of a two-part story featuring Ace Anderson, an American adventurer with a powerful and unusual submarine, fighting against the Nazis. Jinx Duncan, or Mr. Fye, is the star of the story by Pete Lutz, about a detective with an unusual power trying to stop a bizarre serial killer. Finally Rick Bradley gives us a sf adventure tale of aliens and bionic dinosaurs that looks to be the first of a series as well.

Overall, this is a great issue. The overall design of the work is very good, something that not everyone is able to do. There is also artwork with all the stories. We are promised the next issue in the summer of 2021, so look forward to it. I wonder what publication schedule they will follow? Annual, biannual?