If you read pulp fanzines back in the 1970s and ’80s (or, like I did, read those old fanzines more recently), you’ll recognize Dafydd’s name as one of the regular contributors.
Real life got in the way of Dafydd’s pulp fandom, and it wasn’t until 2011 that he rejoined the pulp community, which was now online.
As you’ll read, he’s a fan of Doc Savage, and has created a homage to the Man of Bronze called Doc Hazzard, The Bronze Titan. You can read his adventures on Dafydd’s Dyar Straights website. One of Dafydd’s latest projects is a concordance for the Doc Savage adventures, a collaborative effort among fans. He pitched the idea at last month’s Arizona Doc Con.
Let’s welcome Dafydd back to active pulp fandom by getting to his answers:
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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]
1. How were you introduced to the pulps?
I grew up watching the Steve Holland “Flash Gordon” TV series, from which I transitioned to the Buster Crabbe serials and thence to the original Alex Raymond comic strip. I developed a love of ’30s and ’40s adventure serials and strips, so it was just a step from those to the pulps. My first foray was with the Edgar Rice Burroughs‘ Tarzan and Barsoom books, which were also being adapted as comic books at the time.
The Bantam Doc Savage paperback reprints began when I was 13, almost the perfect age for them, but I couldn’t really get into the one or two I tried. I bought the Gold Key Doc Savage comic, but interior art put me off more than the cover drew me in.
I didn’t really make the leap until 1970 when I saw that one of my colleges had an entire box of the Doc reprints, which I binge-read over the course of a weekend. Ingesting several stories all once allowed me to get a feel for characters that had been lacking in any individual book, probably the result of the character profiles and sidebars having being trimmed off.
As much as I love the James Bama cover illustrations, my mental image of Doc Savage has always been that of a bronze-haired, golden-eyed Alex Raymond Flash Gordon or Jungle Jim. The first time that I saw a Walter Baumhofer Doc cover, that mental image was instantly reinforced.
But my journey to the Dark Side wasn’t truly complete until 1975, when I discovered fanzines. I’d read Philip José Farmer‘s 1973 “Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life” and had been dabbling with the idea of writing historical essays and pastiches of my own when, out of blue, I found a venue in which to share them with like-minded people.
The rest, as they say, is history.
2. What is your most prized pulp possession?
I suppose that it’s my library. I bought the aforementioned box of Doc reprints, canvassed the second-hand book stores the missing the volumes and then bought every subsequent reprint as it was published. I then bought everything of that ilk as it was published, giving me complete runs of first editions marred only by having been repeated reading, but I’m a careful reader, so they’re all in very fine condition.
One of these days, we’ll have enough bookshelves to unpack them all. Until then, know that they are kept safe and just biding their time until they may once again see the light of day and be properly enjoyed by an appreciative and devoted readership.
3. What overlooked (pulp magazine, story, author, character, or series) would you recommend to pulp fans and why?
Up until a few years ago, I would have said Captain Hazzard, but he has now been revived by Ron Fortier in new incarnation, the fifth installment of which I await with as much anticipation as the third volume of the “Pulp Heroes” trilogy by Wayne Reinagel. Good stuff, both, but not what you’re asking.
Now I’d have to say that the most overlooked pulp character, series and author is the 24-volume (27, if you count the “Golden Amazon of Venus” novelette that introduced the character in a vastly different form and the three posthumous “collaborative” novels released by Gryphon Books) “Golden Amazon” series by John Russell Fearn.
She’s an interesting character often dismissed as a “distaff Doc Savage” or “Wonder Woman Wannabe” (although her original incarnation predates Wonder Woman by two years) but actually a quintessential “Peak Human” with a mind and an agenda of her own who actually has a lot more in common with Modesty Blaise than with Doc Savage. If you like strong female characters in every sense of the word “strong,” then Violet Ray Brant AKA The Golden Amazon fills the bill.
I agree that the pulp Doc Savage covers resemble Dent’s character more than the Bama reprint covers, which are nice, but the torn shirt gimmick gets tiresome.
After reading this, guess I’ll read some Golden Amazon stories. She sounds more interesting that I thought.
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Now I’d have to say that the most overlooked pulp character, series and author is the 24-volume (27, if you count the “Golden Amazon of Venus” novelette that introduced the character in a vastly different form and the three posthumous “collaborative” novels released by Gryphon Books) “Golden Amazon” series by John Russell Fearn.
I agree that the pulp Doc Savage covers resemble Dent’s character more than the Bama reprint covers, which are nice, but the torn shirt gimmick gets tiresome.
After reading this, guess I’ll read some Golden Amazon stories. She sounds more interesting that I thought.