We continue to look at the fanzine Echoes, which ran from 1982 to 2002. Published by the late Tom and Ginger Johnson, it is probably the longest-running pulp fanzine.
Because of the changes in format, I’m not going with a strict 10 issues per posting. So we conclude the third format change, that occurred for issues #17 through #80. I’ve already posted on the fourth change.
These issues are 8.5- by 11-inches and stapled along the left side and around 50 pages, though for a period they were 46 or 48 pages. They are on white 20# paper. We got different artists for the covers, several times playing with the Echoes name to tie in with the cover theme.
There are also letter pages, reviews, and several columns. In some cases, we have so many columns and multi-part articles that there are often little unique items in an issue.
We get many works by leading pulp researchers like Al Tonik, Link Hullar, Don Hutchison, Nick Carr, Dickson Thorpe, Howard Hopkins, Will Murray, and others. As usual, I will not note every article, but the ones I found most interesting. While we get a lot of articles on popular pulp heroes, we also get articles on western and romance pulps, digests, radio, and movies.
Echoes #51 (October 1990). We kick off “Mammoth Echoes” with a cover by Bobb Cotter. We get articles on Detective Fiction Weekly and Dime Detective, the last by Michael Chomko. Jerry Page writes about Arthur J. Burks. Al Tonik looks at both The Black Bat and Sexton Blake. We get part three of Burt Leake‘s long-running series about Bill Barnes. Steve Mitchell has his “The Weird Corner” column, Nick Carr is another “Operator #5 Confidential” and Bill Thom has the “Comics Commentary” column.
Echoes #52 (December 1990). Ron Wilber‘s cover gives us “Terror Echoes,” which ties to the article on the weird-menace stories by Everett Lange. Jerry Page looks at the authors of Captain Future. Nick Carr continues with his “Spider Notes,” which will appear in future issues. Rick Lai takes a look at three Doc Savage items.
Echoes #53 (February 1991). Shawn Danowski‘s cover on The Moon Man is “Ten Echoes Aces,” though we don’t get any Moon Man articles. Tom Johnson writes about the Black Hood pulp novels. Jerry Page looks at the two novels in Planet Stories from Fall 1942. John Dennis tells us about Doc Harker, since reprinted by Steeger Books.
Echoes #54 (April 1991). Mark R. Leonard looks at the short-lived pulp hero The Cobra. Ed Cartwright looks at the humorous aviation hero Phineas Pinkham. Jerry Pages writes on Western Short Stories magazine.
Echoes #55 (June 1991). Kevin Duncan‘s cover is about Captain Satan and ties to John Edwards article on the pulp hero. Jerry Pages writes about Henry Kuttner‘s pennames. Don Hutchinson brings back his occasion column “Pulp Fever.” Shawn Danowski resumes his column, “Shadow Radio Show Review,” with the third one, and further ones will appear in coming issues.
Echoes #56 (August 1991). Ron Wilber’s cover of Dejah Thoris ties to Ginger Johnson’s article. Bob Jase looks at Better/Standard’s comic line. Shawn Danowski starts the first of a comic strip adaptation of the first Black Bat story. We will get a couple of pages at a time, though not in sequential issues. Robert Sampson looks at a short-lived (seven stories) series, “The Doings of Dion” from Detective Story.
Echoes #57 (October 1991). Sadly, I discovered I do not have this issue.
Echoes #58 (December 1991). Kevin Duncan provides a two-page Shadow comic strip. We will get further ones. Rick Lai writes about Doc Savage at the World’s Fair. Nick Carr writes about another western pulp hero. And we start the first of a three-part reprinting of Bill Thom’s “Pulp Series Character Reprint List.”
Echoes #59 (February 1992). Rick Lai looks at Doc Savage and Adolf Hitler. Nick Carr writes on Operator #5. John Edwards looks into a lost Secret Agent X novel.
Echoes #60 (April 1992). This is an unusual double issue done in the dos-à-dos style. One is part A, with a part B, each with its own front and back covers. We get the first of several articles on The Phantom Detective, this time on the G. Wayman Jones period by John Edwards. J.T. Malone looks at a story by Arthur Leo Zagat in Dime Mystery.
Echoes #61 (June 1992). We get a Green Lama cover by Kevin Duncan, tying to an article by Nick Carr on the mysterious Magga. Rick Lai has an article on Doc Savage in South America. We also get an article on American pulps in France.
Echoes #62 (August 1992). J.T. Malone looks at Seabury Quinn in Weird Tales. Dickson Thorpe and John Edwards have an article looking at the use of disguises by various pulp heroes. Nick Carr has two articles: one on G-men Dan Fowler and Lynn Vickers, and the other on death in hero pulps.
Echoes #63 (October 1992). John Edwards moves on the Robert Wallace years of The Phantom Detective. Dickson Thorpe takes a closer look at one of the villains from Operator #5’s Purple War saga.
Echoes #64 (December 1992). We get a Conan cover by Ron Wilber, which ties to several Robert E. Howard-related pieces. We get a remembrance of Howard and a look at his home in Cross Plains, Texas. Nick Carr takes a look at Dr. Chu Lung from G-8.
Echoes #65 (February 1993). Nick Carr looks at air-war pulps. John Edwards looks at both Lone Wolf Detective magazine and the Norman Daniels period of The Phantom Detective.
Echoes #66 (April 1993). Ted Baglin looks at an unusual comic strip, one that ran in a give-away magazine put out by Gulf gas stations: Wings Winfair. This started in 1937 and ran for at least two years, maybe more.
Echoes #67 (June 1993). John Wellutini provides a unique take on the Doc Savage series. We get a look at the short-lived pulp The World’s Greatest Stories. J.T. Malone tells us about an overlooked work by William Chester, author of the Kioga series. An interesting article on the pulps is reprinted from The New York Times from 1936.
Echoes #68 (August 1993). Author and editor James Van Hise starting a multi-part series on The Shadow. Henry Kuttner wrote two Phantom Detectives, and Virgil Utter takes a look at them. John Edwards continues his look at The Phantom Detective.
Echoes #69 (October 1993). Shawn Danowski writes on Robert Leslie Bellem‘s Soul Surgeon series. Larry Owen writes on A. Merritt. John Dinan provides a memorial for Joseph Payne Brennan. Nick Carrand Tom Johnson look at the first and last Secret Agent X stories. Tom Johnson introduces us to an overlook pulp hero, Barry Weston, the Lone Wolf of Espionage from Fact Spy Stories.
Echoes #70 (December 1993). Under a cover by Rick Clabaugh on The Avenger, we get Rick Lai’s chronology for him.
Echoes #71 (February 1994). We get an Operator #5 cover by Kevin Duncan, tied to another of Nick Carr’s “Operator #5 Confidential” articles. Dickson Thorpe takes a look at Harrison Sheridan, a secondary character from Operator #5.
Echoes #72 (April 1994). John Dinan looks at the boy’s book series, the Boy Allies. Shawn Danowski writes about the I Love a Mystery radio show. Planet Stories is the subject of Ray Capella‘s article.
Echoes #73 (June 1994). John Dinan looks at some romance pulps. Scars are the subject of Dickson Thorpe’s piece. John Edward’s look at The Phantom Detective now moves into the period of 1937-39, where authorship is unclear.
Echoes #74 (August 1994). We get a long overdue return of Burt Leake’s series on Bill Barnes, now up to #19. And John Edward’s look at The Phantom Detective has passed the 100th novel.
Echoes #75 (September 1994). For this issue, we get a double-length one, and earlier than usual. Shawn Danowski writes about Underworld magazine. Marvin Lachman writes about Dime Detective. Martin Hawk gives us a bibliography of husband and wife authors James and Livia Reasoner. James Van Hise tells us about the Edgar Rice Burroughs fanzine the Barsoomian. Nick Carr and Tom Johnson write about the homes of the pulp heroes. And Dickson Thorpe writes on the first introductions of pulp heroes.
Echoes #76 (October 1994). Nick Carr and Tom Johnson write on sword use by pulp heroes. Jeffrey T. Zwerloff looks at the 1988-89 DC Comics take on The Avenger. Nick Carr gives us a western pulp quiz.
Echoes #77 (December 1994). Nick Carr writes about frontier doctors in the western pulps. Steve Mitchell tells us about Burrough’s Venus series. And John Edwards wraps up his series on The Phantom Detective.
Echoes #78 (February 1995). We get the first of a series of articles on the western comic character Tex, from Italy. I believe someone has been reprinting these recently in the U.S. Nick Carr writes on bizarre story titles. Shawn Danowski looks at some works by Ray Cummings that may have been collaborations with his wife.
Echoes #79 (April 1995). T.J. Glenn and David Burton write about Conan the Barbarian. Shawn Danowski writes about a group of stories by Emile Tepperman from Inner Sanctum. John Dinan writes on the Armed Services Edition paperbacks from WWII. Steve Mitchell looks at Burroughs’ The Monster Men. Jeffrey T. Zwerloff talks about Ron Goulart‘s Avenger novels.
Echoes #80 (June 1995). We get a rare color cover by Paul McCall. Nick Carr writes on the missing last adventure of The Rio Kid.
After this, Echoes went into a further format change, which I’ve already covered. This is another great set of issues, and there is much here I would love to see preserved in book form.
