I recently was sent a copy of a new collection of New Pulp heroes: Eight Against the Darkness by Mark Allen Vann. This collection came out in 2020 from Vann’s Xepico Press, though he has been working on these characters for a while, I believe this is their first time in print.
The idea of the collection is eight independent characters, all different types of heroes, in different times and worlds, fighting against evil — that is somehow interconnected.
We are told the types are warrior prince, Victorian agent, mentalist, adventurer, witch hunter, sky pirate, masked vigilante, and occult detective.
First up is the warrior prince: Corr, Prince of Andar. He is on his manhood quest, looking for a mystical item for his witch queen mother, when he rescues a young woman. He succeeds on his quest in one way, but maybe fails in another. This story is set in a medieval time, maybe on a different world.
The “witch hunter” (more a fighter of the supernatural) is Alistair Synne, a character in the mode of Solomon Kane who has been changed and also carries a pair of occult flintlocks. Here he is trying to stop a group of ghouls from wiping out the village he is from. Also, this story doesn’t appear to be set on our world.
Redd Havick is our female sky pirate, set in yet another world different from our own. She commands the ship her father had captained, as we see them in an attack on a merchant vessel that doesn’t quite go as expected.
For occult detective, we have Thomas Greyclaw, P.I. He was once just a regular detective, but an occult curse leds him into that area. In an attempt to lift the curse, he makes a pact with a vampire. Things don’t quite go well. We are told thar the Revenant exists in another city, so this leave the door open to possible meeting/teamups. Set in a world similar to ours, just with some magic.
For the pulp hero/masked vigilante type, there is Revenant, a kind of combo of Batman and Tony Stark per the author, set in 1927. While I see the Batman elements, I don’t see the Tony Stark part. We learn the Revenant is a former honest cop who was attacked and left for dead by his crooked colleagues. He was helped by a scientist and his daughter, the widow of a good cop, who helped turned him into the Revanant, a “dark detective” type who isn’t above killing those who deserve it. Here, he goes after a bizarre serial killer, but there is a setup for further stories.
Crypt Bannon is the adventurer in the style of Quatermain, Indiana Jones, etc. Set in 1930s Africa, the Irishman is contacted by a young man who is looking for his sister who was investigating a revised Egyptian cult. They succeed, but it’s clear that the young man will be staying with Bannon for further adventures along with another character. While not stated, I could see this character being in the same world with Revenant and Grayclaw.
The Victorian-style agent is Blake Spector, king’s agent for the royal crown of Lunare. It’s not our Earth, but a world where magic and science is in rivalry, best shown by Blake’s two associates: sorcerer Lord Karkos Blackwell and scientist/inventor Dr. Archibald Prescott Livingston. Blake invesitages a mystery dealing with a mentor, which gets into Lovecraftian horror. His friends provide a little assistance, but don’t get involved in the main action. I hope that changes in future stories.
Finally, we have Mary Minerva, mentalist. A former magician’s assistant who finds she may have abilities while dealing with nightmare of a sinister world. She may be part of what brings these heroes together.
A noted this work seems to serve mainly as an introduction to these characters, clearly with plans for further works with them. Each story allows us to get a basic understanding of them and their world with fairly short adventures. While each stands alone, there are setups for further stories.
Xepico Press is new, and I found this book well produced. They are working on two more books, and at least one of these looks to be the next volume with these eight characters. They cover a lot of genres, so if some don’t appeal to you, maybe others will. I look forward to seeing what is next from this small press.
While I can’t see many of these characters meeting each other, as they seem set on different worlds, some meetings are possible — kind of like some of the strange crossover events we got in comics in the past several decades. We’ll have to see.
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