![\"Lobster](\"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/files\/2014\/02\/lobster-johnson-1.jpg\")
Some pulp hero fans make the mistake of lumping all the pulp heroes together into one group, as if they comprise a genre all their own.<\/p>\nSome pulp hero fans make the mistake of lumping all the pulp heroes together into one group, as if they comprise a genre all their own.<\/p>\n
Sometimes it leads to some silly comparisons, such as recently when someone compared the new comic book pulp hero Lobster Johnson<\/strong> to Doc Savage<\/strong>, because they are nothing alike. Too many pulp hero fans don’t seem to grasp that pulp fiction covers a wide range of genres, and that pulp heroes do as well.<\/p>\n So what are these genres? They are numerous, but some of the major ones include mystery\/detective\/crime, adventure, science fiction, occult\/horror\/fantasy, weird menace, air\/war, spy, western and romance. There were, of course, many other smaller genres like railroad, nursing, spicy\/saucy, and so on. By far the largest was the mystery\/detective genre. Some genres continue today, where as other have dwindled or disappeared.<\/p>\n And as noted, each pulp hero sits in one genre, though a few straddle a couple. So how might we organize some pulp heroes?<\/p>\n As the largest grouping, we have the largest number of pulp heroes in this genre. Obviously the most well-know in this area include The Shadow<\/strong> and The Phantom Detective<\/strong>. To a degree The Spider<\/strong> falls into this group (but more on him later), along with The Avenger<\/strong>, The Whisperer<\/strong>, and Nick Carter<\/strong>. The many masked detectives from Thrilling and others all fall into this group, such as the Masked Detective<\/strong>, Green Ghost<\/strong>, Crimson Avenger<\/strong>, The Black Bat<\/strong>, The Purple Scar<\/strong> and so on. There are many minor pulp characters that fall into this group, like The Green Lama<\/strong>, Black Hood<\/strong>, the Man in the Red Hood<\/strong>, and many of Johnston McCulley<\/strong>‘s characters.<\/p>\n Not to be overlooked would be the many serialized detective characters and groups such as The Park Avenue Hunt Club<\/strong>, Carrie Cashin<\/strong>, Click Rush<\/strong>, Norgil the Magician<\/strong>, the Candid Camera Kid<\/strong>, and a host of others.<\/p>\n I also think that many of the pulp villains, such as Wu Fang<\/strong>, Dr.\u00a0Yen Sin<\/strong>, and many of the rest fall into this area (though there are a few exceptions).<\/p>\n The adventure genre had characters who travel the world to exotic locations, finding mysterious places and people. By and large, the pulp heroes that fall into the adventure genre are almost always larger-than-life and seldom disguised. The main one in this area is, of course, Doc Savage<\/strong>, and all his many imitators such as Jim Anthony<\/strong>, The Skipper<\/strong>, Thunder Jim Wade<\/strong>, Captain Hazzard<\/strong>, and so forth. To a degree The Avenger also falls into this area, as he was created as a sort of combo of both The Shadow (mystery\/detective) and Doc Savage (adventure).<\/p>\n I think the various jungle heroes like Tarzan<\/strong>, Ki-Gor<\/strong>, Ka-Zar<\/strong> and others also fall into this area.<\/p>\n Science fiction, in many ways, came to full flower in the pulp magazines. Sadly, this area is under-represented among the pulp heroes, though many of them do use science-fictiony stuff. The main pulp hero here is the Doc Savage-like Captain Future<\/strong>. I’m hard pressed to think of others, though many of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ characters like John Carter<\/strong> and Carson Napier<\/strong> fall into the science fiction genre, along with most of the “sword and planet” characters.<\/p>\n These could be seen as separate genres, but am treating them all together. By “occult\/horror” I mean works by H.P. Lovecraft<\/strong> and associates: supernatural horror vs. serial killers and the like. Some of this overlaps with fantasy, so I am tossing them all together. As to pulp heroes, these would be mainly your occult detectives if<\/em> they are addressing real (or perceived to be real) supernatural happenings. This would include characters like Ravenwood<\/strong>, Dr. Jules de Grandin<\/strong>, John Thunstone<\/strong>, Silver John<\/strong>, and others. I would also toss in pulp villains like Doctor Satan<\/strong> and Doctor Death<\/strong> as well because of the occult overtones.<\/p>\n Also, I think the various “sword and sorcery” characters like Conan<\/strong> and the like also fall into this group.<\/p>\n I actually break out the weird menace genre separate from the occult\/horror genre. That’s me. Here the horror is purely created by people, nothing supernatural. So there isn’t much in the way of pulp heroes, except that I feel that many of the Popular heroes have been influenced by this. The biggest would be The Spider<\/strong>, who is less a Shadow clone because of the over-the-top evil he must confront. I would also toss in the short-lived villain pulps The Octopus<\/strong>\/The Scorpion<\/strong> as well in this area.<\/p>\n This may be actually be viewed as a couple of genres. There are the air genre, which focuses on air adventures; and the air war\/war genre, which is on future air war, and past and present war, what we might call military fiction. There are actually several pulp heroes that fall into this area. Most well known is G-8<\/strong>. But there are also Bill Barnes<\/strong>, The Griffon<\/strong>, Phil Strange<\/strong>, Richard Knight<\/strong>, Dusty Ayres<\/strong>, Captain Combat<\/strong>, Terrance X. O’Leary<\/strong>, and many others.<\/p>\n Obviously dealing with spies, this genre has a few pulp heroes in it. The most well known is Operator #5<\/strong>. Secret Agent X<\/strong> may fall in here (or is it detective\/mystery?), along with The Eagle<\/strong> and the Red Finger<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Long a popular genre among many, the Westerns did span several continuing characters. Zorro<\/strong> would fall into this area, as would the Lone Ranger<\/strong>. There is also Pete Rice<\/strong>, The Masked Rider<\/strong>, and a host of others I’m overlooking, as I’m not into westerns.<\/p>\n Okay. A romance pulp hero? Well, I’m not aware of any, though the Domino Lady<\/strong> seems to straddle the detective and saucy areas. And Jim Anthony<\/strong> was being published by the main spicy publisher.<\/p>\n As you look at the genres and what publishers published, it’s interesting to see the match-ups. Street & Smith tried to cover the main genres with their host of pulp heroes:<\/p>\nMystery\/Detective<\/h4>\n
Adventure<\/h4>\n
Science Fiction<\/h4>\n
Occult\/Horror\/Fantasy<\/h4>\n
Weird Menace<\/h4>\n
Air\/War<\/h4>\n
Spy<\/h4>\n
Western<\/h4>\n
Romance<\/h4>\n
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