![\"Edgar](\"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/wp-content\/images\/barsoom.jpg\")
As a way of introduction, I thought I’d give some background on myself, focusing on my pulp influences. This will give people a better understanding of where I am coming from and what they might expect from this blog.<\/p>\nAs a way of introduction, I thought I’d give some background on myself, focusing on my pulp influences. This will give people a better understanding of where I am coming from and what they might expect from this blog.<\/p>\n
I guess I am what is usually called a “nerd.” I’ve always had a scientific bent, as well as a focus on researching and learning. At a young age I got into science fiction, mainly the classics. I was reading H.G. Wells, Jules Verne<\/strong> (what I could find at the time), and classic science fiction authors like Asimov, Heinlein, Clarke<\/strong>, etc. I would also read about<\/em> science fiction, being exposed to the foundations of science fiction (the old pulp sf magazines, etc.). I liked watching SF movies and TV shows, but am more of a reader of science fiction then a watcher (because I found most SF movies and TV was pretty bad).<\/p>\n One author I got into early on was Edgar Rice Burroughs<\/strong>. I read most of what he wrote (Mars series, Venus series, Pellucidar series), except<\/em> for Tarzan. Go figure.<\/p>\n I also got into comic books, but mainly got into Gold Key Comics (Space Family Robinson<\/em>, Magnus: Robot Fighter<\/em>, Doctor Solar<\/em>, etc) and only later on go into DC and Marvel comics. And I also got into comic strips (Flash Gordon<\/strong>, what Buck Rogers<\/strong> I could find, Brick Bradford<\/strong>, The Phantom<\/strong>, etc).<\/p>\n At some point in middle school, I discovered Doc Savage<\/a>. I was soon getting the old books in used bookstores and the new ones as they came out. This lead me into other hero pulps like The Avenger<\/a>, The Shadow<\/a>, The Spider<\/a>, G-8<\/strong> and others that were reprinted in paperback. This was before the Internet, so I had to find them via used bookstores. (Note: I got Farmer’s book on Doc Savage, so am familiar with the “Wold Newton” concept<\/a>. I find it an interesting one I will say.)<\/p>\n Around high school I read all the Sherlock Holmes<\/strong> works by Doyle. Am still a Holmes fan. I also got into the German pulp SF series Perry Rhodan<\/strong> and got all the American editions. Later on I got into HP Lovecraft,<\/strong> and from him to other writers working within the larger “Cthulhu Mythos,” as well as occult detectives like John Silence, Carnacki<\/strong>, and the characters created by Manly Wade Wellman<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Thanks to some recommendations I had read, I started to read techno thrillers, starting with Clive Cussler’s Dirk Pitt,<\/strong> which some have called a modern Doc Savage. This lead me to other authors and characters like F. Paul Wilson’s Repairman Jack<\/strong> and Preston & Child’s Agent Pendergast<\/strong> (a sort-of modern Shadow).<\/p>\n For a while I let my interest in pulp fanzines drop. Some was due to some of these ending, other reasons may have been lack of time and money. I did discover Pulp Coming Attractions<\/a> and would check it out once in awhile, but didn’t really get stuff. (I did keep up on my comic book and techno thriller reading, though.)<\/p>\n I think what pulled me back was the impact of Print on Demand-based publishers like Wild Cat Books and the like. Barry Reese<\/a>‘s The Rook interested me, plus the new Doc and Shadow reprints coming from Anthony Tollin<\/a> (then in association with Nostalgia Ventures). So I got back involved ordering books from Wild Cat, Altus Press<\/a> and others. I got involved with some of the Yahoo Groups (a sort of replacement for the old Usenet groups I was on), then Facebook Groups and started to read blogs and listen to some podcasts. I also started posting reviews up on Amazon, as I found many of the small press works had few reviews and I wanted to help out.<\/p>\n![\"Golden](\"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/files\/2013\/03\/goldenperils29.jpg\")
Still later, I got onto the Internet and discovered Usenet. There I got onto the alt.pulp<\/strong> newsgroup. I created the FAQ for that group, and working with another individual put together indexes of various hero pulps, adding info on their reprints and keeping them up-to-date (which I do to this day). Thanks to the Internet, I learned of several pulp fanzines of the time and got them: Howard Hopkins’ Golden Perils<\/a><\/em>, The Bronze Gazette<\/a><\/em>, The Pulp Vault<\/a><\/em>, Echoes<\/em>, The Pulp Collector<\/a><\/em>\u00a0and more. Also around this time the first attempt at a reprint effort for The Spider began, and The Vintage Library<\/a> launched.<\/p>\n