With this posting, I continue my detailed look into Pulpdom, in particular issues #31-40. Pulpdom is part of a long-running series of fanzines by Camille “Caz” Cazedessus Jr. since 1960.
As with the previous 10 issues, these are all 28 to 32 pages, saddle-stitched, with a color cover, reprinting early pulp fiction with various non-fiction articles and artwork, both new and old, also focused on the early pulps. In some issues, the non-fiction works are more prominent, in some cases pushing out any fiction reprints, and for me, these are almost more interesting.
As with many past issues, you also need to pay attention to letters, editorials, and the like, as there is useful and interesting information there, as well as in the more formal articles. Often these are follow-up and additions to articles and items from prior issues.
#31 (August 2002): Under a G.M. Farley cover based on an Adventure cover of Vikings, we have an issue focused on “pulp Vikings.” Al Lybek gives us a look at the Swain series by Arthur D. Howden Smith that ran in Adventure from 1923 to 1944. Mike Taylor provides an article on The Cavalier, which ran from 1908 to 1914 as an off-shot of The Scrap Book, when it was merged into The All-Story Weekly to become the The All-Story Cavalier Weekly. The Cavalier was also notable for being the first weekly pulp.
We also get a pair of stories from The Cavalier: Joe H. Ransom‘s “A Mystery of the Air” (Feb. 10, 1912), and Will O’Bryne‘s “He, the Undead, and I” (April 27, 1912). Rounding out the issue is a review of Robert Sampson‘s Deadly Excitements: Shadows and Phantoms. And an H. Bedford-Jones poem “The Prospector” from The Argosy (December 1914).
#32 (December 2002): This issue has a western cover by Charles Lassell from 1929. The main claim to fame of this issue is the first publication of a pulp sf story written in the 1930s that was only previously printed in a limited-run journal. Chester D. Cuthbert had a few other works at the time, but left the field due to payment issues. His “Golden Peril” previously appeared in Return to Wonder #6 (1969).
Rounding out the issue are works by Caz on The Popular Magazine 1925-1931, and “The Other ‘Adventure’ Pulps,” such as Adventure Yarns, Adventure Tales, etc. Mike Taylor reviews a couple of Black Dog Book reprints that are sadly no longer available.
#33 (February 2003): This issue focuses on George F. Worts, author of several series such as Peter the Brazen, Singapore Sammy, and Gillian Hazeltine, and sports a pulp cover for a Hazeltine story. I’ve posted on Peter the Brazen and hope to do some of the other works. From Al Lybeck are two pieces: one on Worts in Argosy, and another on a trio of reviews of his books from the 1930s— a Hazeltine volume, a stand-alone story from Blue Book, and another stand-alone story from the slicks. Caz provides an article on Worts in Argosy and Blue Book that lists his works there. And we get a reprint of Worts’ autobiography from The Argosy, as well as reprints of several Worts cover issues. There is a list of H. Bedford-Jones in The Fantasy Collector/Pulpdom, and a fiction reprint: “Insulation” by E.E. “Doc” Smith from an early Forrest Ackerman fanzine Nova in 1943-44. As Steeger Books is reprinting Peter the Brazen, Singapore Sammy, and Gillian Hazeltine, folks can start reading these. I do wish they will reprint the Vingo stories as well.
#34 (June 2003): This time we get a mix of works. Bill Garwood provides an article on air-war pulp author Joel Rogers, based on his letters, along with some of his pulp covers. Mike Taylor looks at the short-lived pulp Comet Stories, which lasts five issues in the 1940s, plus all their covers. From Caz, we get an index of H. Bedford-Jones in Adventure, along with some interesting H. Bedford-Jones covers. Another article by him looks at a pair of prolific dime novel authors, the father-son Ingrahams, and the father, Col Prentiss Ingraham is the apparent “King of Dime Novels,” with 600 novels and 400 novelettes.
We have an article by Roger Allen on H. Rider Haggard‘s novel Morning Star, from The Haggard Journal. The topic of British post-war pulps is the subject of Steve Holland‘s article. While not a topic I would have been interested in, one can compare/contrast what happened in the U.S. market at the same time. A follow-up from the last issue, Al Lybeck has some additons/corrections to his work on George F. Worts. Caz starts a series looking at the history of pulp fandom, starting with a look at a work from Forrest Ackerman in 1946: A Checklist of Fantasy Magazines: 1945 edition. And we get a look at a short-lived, three-issue reprint pulp, Cavalier Classics that reprinted from Argosy in 1940.
#35 (October 2003): With a cover from Everbody’s Magazine, we get another eclectic collection of articles with a focus on Everybody’s. This starts by an article on Everbody’s, by Caz, with covers. And a fiction reprint from Everybody’s in 1923: “Mufti” by L. Patrick Greene. Another article gives us a brief look, with index of pulp author William McLoud Raine, who mainly wrote westerns. This is followed by a reprint of his work “The Cave Boy” from Cosmopolitan in 1907.
We next look at author T.S. Stribling with an article on him by N.I. Sequoyah, and the editor’s note from Adventure for his novel The Web of the Sun, which has been reprinted by Black Dog Books. We get a article that looks at various aircraft built before the Wright Brothers. And we get a somewhat critical review of Peter Haining‘s The Classic Era of American Pulp Magazines.
#36 (December 2003): This issue focuses on Sax Rohmer, the creator of Fu Manchu and other characters. We get an article on him by Bill Garwood based on several sources, which includes reprints of various covers and interior artwork from his stories. There is a list of Rohmer’s books and magazine stories. Then we get a reprint from his Moris Klaw, Dream Detective series, “The Potsherd of Anubis” from its reprint in All-Story Cavalier Weekly, with an intro by Bill Garwood.
#37 (January 2004): This issue focuses on Electrical Experimenter (1916-20) and its successor Science & Invention (1920-21) with a cover from the magazine, and index by Caz and a portfolio of cover and interior images.
#38 (March 2004): This is the “Hall and Flint” issue with part one of three of “The Planeteer” by Homer Eon Flint from All-Story Weekly in 1918. There is a reprint of Austin Hall‘s autobiography from Argosy, along with a list of his works. And we get an article by Al Lybeck on Homer Eon Flint, who also teamed up with Austin Hall on some works. We get a review of a work on A. Merritt: A. Merritt: Reflections in the Moon Pool. There is also a list of Merritt’s pulp works along with covers. Mike Taylor provides an article on A. Merritt Fantasy Magazine. Finally we get an article on sf fan and bookseller Bradford M. Day II.
#39 (June 2004): This issue has a look at Albert Payson Terhune who published in The Argosy, with an article by Bill Garwood on his dog stories. Caz gives an index of his works. And we get his bio from The Argosy. Caz supplies an index with covers for The Argosy from 1910 and 1911. Gary Lovisi provides the next numbers of the “Paperback Collector” after a long while, #51 and #52. #51 is on an sf anthology from Bantam Books in 1948 by Bennett Cert: The Unexpected! #52 is on obscure sf digest of the 1950s, with covers. And we get the two of three of Home Eon Flint’s “The Planeteer”
#40 (December 2004): Under a “butterfly girl” cover by Jim Garrison, we get an article by Mike Taylor on Marvel Science Stories. This pulp from Martin Goodman was part of his Red Circle line of science fiction pulps with a touch of spicy/weird menace, and ran in 1938-41 and again in 1950-52. And we get the third and final part of Homer Eon Flint’s “The Planeteer.” Things rap up with several short comments about Homer Eon Flint and his works. Finally we get a critical review of McSweeney’s Mammoth Book of Thrilling Tales.
As always with such an electic collection, while not everything in every issue is of interest, there is usually something. And I know that several items I think that as I go along, I will want to go back to as I delve deeper into pulps. As I read more of George Worts’ works, I’ll be pulling up that issue, and when I go back to reading the Fu Manchu series, I’ll pull up the Sax Rohmer issue. This is something I’ve found that I get a book or reference item, gloss over certain authors or characters, only to later get into them and revisit that reference for more information.
As I’m able to get access to issues, I hope to do further posting as I work through this fanzine. As before, if you want to get these issues, while you can find physical back issues (a bit too expensive most times), you can purchase PDFs of all the issues from the Pulpdom website.
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