I first came to know Jay Ryan — like many of you — through the pulp communities online back in the mid-1990s. He was a member of the Internet Fans of Bronze, a loosely formed group of Doc Savage fans online at the time.
I remember being jealous when I heard that Jay was among the gang of Arizona Doc Savage fans who organized a Doc Con in 1998. Little did I know that eight years later, I’d have the opportunity to meet and get to know Jay and his Phoenix cohorts, not to mention attend the next eight Doc Cons.
As far as serious Doc Savage collectors, Jay is right up there with them, if not at the top. He’s turned a home office into a shrine to Man of Bronze collectibles. That love also drove him to put together “The Collector’s Handbook of Bronze,” first in 2001 and expanded in 2006.
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3 Pulp Questions
3 Pulp Questions is an opportunity for you to get to know fellow pulp collectors a bit better and, maybe, introduce you to pulps, authors, stories or characters that you haven’t explored.[/box]
That Doc gathering is still going strong, 17 cons later. Jay and the gang will be convening Doc Con 2014 in about six weeks, on Oct. 17-19, in Glendale, Ariz.
In the meantime, let’s learn a bit more about Jay.
1. How were you introduced to the pulps?
I may sound very ignorant but, in 1976, I had heard that a Doc Savage comic book existed. I was thoroughly into Doc Savage by that time having started reading the Bantam paperbacks four years earlier. Along with some friends during lunch hour in high school, we snuck away and drove to the first comic book store I had ever been to.
After looking around a while I figured out the system and ended up finger-walking my way through a box until I found Doc Savage. Wow, all eight issues and a giant-size Doc Savage as well. Despite the fact that I didn’t have any money with me, I was in hog heaven — who would have dreamed just a few minutes earlier? I didn’t have any idea these Doc Savage treasures even existed. Then I spied the green cover of the third Curtis comic, “The Inferno Scheme.” The black-and-white drawings were the coolest thing I had ever seen. It was just as I had envisioned Doc!
I couldn’t contain my excitement as I borrowed a couple of dollars and bought my first Doc Savage comic book. The owner must have seen my excitement and said, “What you really want is a pulp magazine.” Huh? I may have asked what a pulp was but I probably just looked confused. I remember him turning around and reaching way up high on the shelf behind him. He pulled down something that was bigger than my paperback Docs but not as big as the black-and-white comic I held in my hand.
“Fire and Ice,” he said. Huh? I honestly just couldn’t wait to get in the car and look at “The Inferno Scheme,” but then I noticed that it said Doc Savage in the top left corner. The rest was just a bunch of fingers and a small red chest. The cover wasn’t nearly as good as the James Bama version of Doc on my paperbacks. The “Doc Savage” didn’t look anything like the logo on my Bantam books either, and this magazine didn’t look too new even in the clear plastic it was wrapped in. I know I continued to stare and the owner explained that “Fire and Ice” was a Doc Savage story from 1946.
Now my mind was blown away. This was probably the moment when my compulsive collecting disorder sparked to life… I had to have it! How much more was there? I can’t remember what he said it cost but it might as well have been a million bucks. I left the store with my first comic book. But more importantly, I left with the knowledge that a whole lot more Doc Savage existed besides the Bantam books I waited so impatiently for each month. It took another revelation that same year (“Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life”) for me to understand what a pulp was and that there were 181 Doc Savage stories, not just the 20 or so paperbacks that I had found.
Flash forward almost 40 years and I now have a near complete set of the Doc Savage pulps, including the digest-sized “Fire and Ice,” and that set began when I found a full-size Doc Savage pulp called “The Yellow Cloud”… but that, as they say, is another story.
A small portion of Jay’s Doc Savage collection
2. What is your most prized pulp possession?
My most prized possession is pulp related and should be something from my Doc Savage collection which is all pulp related. But, which possession does your question mean? It isn’t my most expensive pulp possession. They all cost 10 cents when the pulps were new… I just had to pay a little more, for the same story I already possessed in about 10 different formats, for that one. It could be the oldest pulp magazine I own… but I am not sure it is my most prized possession. In fact, I have only opened it up once and haven’t read it and otherwise it stays in its bag.
It could be the rarest item! In the case of collecting Doc Savage items, that would probably be the little golden Doc Savage Award. In fact, so few Awards were ever distributed to meritorious recipients, that I have only held just one in my hand. But I don’t own one of those!
So, I think the definition of the most prized pulp possession that I ascribe to is the item that I want the most. The Holy Grail is always the item I don’t have. Each time I find that item, I am thoroughly pleased but then it is off to find the next great treasure. No, my most prized possession is the one I haven’t found yet because, that is the one I am currently enjoying the thrill of searching for.
The final definition of prized pulp possession might be… the item I would grab first if there was a fire. But when I thought that through and realized that I would have to take the dog or catch hell from the family. Besides, then I would get to search for more pulp items all over again!
3. What overlooked (pulp magazine, story, author, character, or series) would you recommend to pulp fans and why?
“The Dying Earth” by Jack Vance. All told, there are four books which have a total of 30 stories in them. In his first book, “The Dying Earth,” we are told six loosely related short stories. They were written during World War II and are told in first-person narratives. The characters are not fleshed out, and the stories have very little plot, but they do have satire and are great examples of picaresque storytelling. Their imagery and tropes have also gone on to shape modern stories, games and authors. Some examples of what has been influenced are George R.R. Martin‘s “Game of Thrones,” Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and Dan Simmons‘ “The Guiding Nose of Ulfant Banderoz.”
The stories themselves are short but worth reading in a historical context, if for no other reason.
Watch for another, new “3 pulp questions” installment in two weeks!
I think I was on maybe my third Bantam reprint (I started with “Meteor Menace” and “The Monsters”) when I saw a reference to a zeppelin in “The Lost Oasis.” I looked at the copyright page. It said 1933. Wow! I was hooked on pulps from then on.
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I think I was on maybe my third Bantam reprint (I started with “Meteor Menace” and “The Monsters”) when I saw a reference to a zeppelin in “The Lost Oasis.” I looked at the copyright page. It said 1933. Wow! I was hooked on pulps from then on.