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Pulp Detectives
For the first time, nine all-new stories starring the classic pulp heroes of the 1930s, featuring characters such as The Phantom Detective, The Black Bat, The Lone Eagle, The Masked Detective, Secret Agent X and Nightwind. Written by pulp scholar Tom Johnson, it's nearly 400 pages of excitement!
326 pages, Paperback
Published February 20, 2010
2 people want to read
About the author
Tom Johnson
88 booksTom Johnson was a voracious reader from childhood beginning with the Golden Age comic books to classic literature. Exciting adventure stories entertained him until he discovered science fiction and hardboiled detective mysteries. By his early twenties, he discovered The Shadow and Doc Savage pulp reprints in paperbacks, and was hooked on the fast-paced action novel. This led to collecting and research, which eventually interested him in writing. Today, he still loves an exciting action novel over movies and television. Tom and his wife, Ginger Johnson have received numerous awards in the field for their work in keeping the old stories in the spotlight for new readers seeking escape in a thrilling adventure novel.
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November 29, 2010
Here is another great collection from Altus Press (NOT "CreateSpace", which is just Amazon's Print on Demand company).
Altus Press has been doing a great job of bring out new & classic pulp fiction stories. For more info, see their website www. altuspress. com
This book is a collection by Tom Johnson, a long-time pulp fan, author, and publisher. These stories are all new stories by Tom using classic characters.
We have The Black Bat in "Murder Under the Big Top"
Phantom Detective in "Satan's Minions"
Masked Detective in "The Masked Detective's Deadly Trail"
Secret Agent X in "The Spider's Web"
The Lone Eagle in "The Nazi Spider Staffle"
The Black Bat in "Guns of Vengeance"
Nightwind in "Mystery of Haunted Range"
Then two further short stories with pulp influences, "Fangs of Death" and "The Mystery Book Club".
The Black Bat was a fairly popular character from the third wave of hero pulps. He came out around the same time as Batman, and wore a similiar outfit. He was really a DA blinded by acid, who thanks to a secret eye transplant, could not only see again, but in the dark. He ran 60+ stories starting in 1939 for 14 years. Altus Press has started a complete reprint series of Black Bat stories.
The Phantom Detective was one of the most longest lasting of the hero pulps. He came out in 1933, ran 170 issues for 20 years, outliving The Shadow and Doc Savage. He was basically a rich playboy who fought crime as "The Phantom" and was a master of disguise.
The Masked Detective was shorter lived, coming out in 1940 and lasting only 13 issues over 4 years.
Secret Agent X was one of the few 'secret agent' hero pulps. This one was different in we never learn the Agent's real name or face. He was a master of disguise. His stories ran 5 years and 41 issues, starting in 1934. Altus Press is doing a complete reprinting of SAX stories, now up to 4 volumes of a planned 9 or 10. If you want to read new SAX stories, check out the volumes from Airship 27. This particular story is set during WWII, after the original series.
The Lone Eagle is actually a air war hero, as well as a hero pulp. His stories ran 10 years and 76 issues, starting in 1933. An interesting thing is the story in SAX actually continues into Lone Eagle. They are standalong stories, but the background is connected.
Nightwind is actually an original character by Tom, a masked western hero inspired by early pulp hero Zorro.
Several of the stories had hints of other characters and series. Not sure if everyone will get them. I was surprised by the apperance of the Phantom Detective in the second Black Bat story, and felt it was kind of wasted. (you see why).
Like all of Tom's works, these are a great addition to any hero pulp fan's library.
I do have to point out that I was disappointed with some of the editing of the book. Some misspelled words, extra line spaces, and worse, several pages had several words needlessly italized. Altus Press is usually better at this, so was suprised by the mistakes.
Altus Press has been doing a great job of bring out new & classic pulp fiction stories. For more info, see their website www. altuspress. com
This book is a collection by Tom Johnson, a long-time pulp fan, author, and publisher. These stories are all new stories by Tom using classic characters.
We have The Black Bat in "Murder Under the Big Top"
Phantom Detective in "Satan's Minions"
Masked Detective in "The Masked Detective's Deadly Trail"
Secret Agent X in "The Spider's Web"
The Lone Eagle in "The Nazi Spider Staffle"
The Black Bat in "Guns of Vengeance"
Nightwind in "Mystery of Haunted Range"
Then two further short stories with pulp influences, "Fangs of Death" and "The Mystery Book Club".
The Black Bat was a fairly popular character from the third wave of hero pulps. He came out around the same time as Batman, and wore a similiar outfit. He was really a DA blinded by acid, who thanks to a secret eye transplant, could not only see again, but in the dark. He ran 60+ stories starting in 1939 for 14 years. Altus Press has started a complete reprint series of Black Bat stories.
The Phantom Detective was one of the most longest lasting of the hero pulps. He came out in 1933, ran 170 issues for 20 years, outliving The Shadow and Doc Savage. He was basically a rich playboy who fought crime as "The Phantom" and was a master of disguise.
The Masked Detective was shorter lived, coming out in 1940 and lasting only 13 issues over 4 years.
Secret Agent X was one of the few 'secret agent' hero pulps. This one was different in we never learn the Agent's real name or face. He was a master of disguise. His stories ran 5 years and 41 issues, starting in 1934. Altus Press is doing a complete reprinting of SAX stories, now up to 4 volumes of a planned 9 or 10. If you want to read new SAX stories, check out the volumes from Airship 27. This particular story is set during WWII, after the original series.
The Lone Eagle is actually a air war hero, as well as a hero pulp. His stories ran 10 years and 76 issues, starting in 1933. An interesting thing is the story in SAX actually continues into Lone Eagle. They are standalong stories, but the background is connected.
Nightwind is actually an original character by Tom, a masked western hero inspired by early pulp hero Zorro.
Several of the stories had hints of other characters and series. Not sure if everyone will get them. I was surprised by the apperance of the Phantom Detective in the second Black Bat story, and felt it was kind of wasted. (you see why).
Like all of Tom's works, these are a great addition to any hero pulp fan's library.
I do have to point out that I was disappointed with some of the editing of the book. Some misspelled words, extra line spaces, and worse, several pages had several words needlessly italized. Altus Press is usually better at this, so was suprised by the mistakes.
Displaying 1 of 1 review