Yellowed Perils: Thoughts and Comments on the World of the Pulp Magazines2008-05-09T14:08:36ZWilliam LampkinCopyright 2008, William LampkinSPHPBLOGWhither pulp fanzines?Echoes, select issues of Xenophile and dozens of issues of other zines.
They are packed with a mix of terrific research, articles, illustrations, opinions and letters, as well as a fair share of, well, goofy articles. In general, though, they are great reference material.
Back in early 2000, the idea of The Pulp Companion was germinating. What I wanted to create was essentially an online pulp fanzine, with articles, columns, news items, etc., that would be updated regularly.
It would be a couple of years before The Pulp Companion would actually come to fruition. But in the development stage, I contacted several possible contributors. One, who has been a regular contributor to just about every pulp zine since the ’70s, wrote back with this comment:
However as long as people are publishing fan journals on the pulps, I don't think it is fair to the publishers of these journals to write original articles on the pulps which the fans can obtain off the Web.
Eight years later, that comment still comes to mind occasionally. Did he have a point? Is the Web hastening the end of the printed pulp fanzine? Are Web sites taking the place of the fanzine? How fair is it to the zine publishers?
Years ago, someone might start a zine as an expression of his or her interest in the pulps and to reach out to other pulp fans. These days, that same fan might start up a Web site.
You can certainly reach more people on the Web than in print. Where some zines’ total press run might be 200 copies or so, Web sites can have that many visitors every day.
For instance, ThePulp.Net sees between 100 to 200 unique visitors each day. I’m sure other pulp-related Web sites would report similar results.
It’s great to search TPN or use the Pulp Gumshoe to search other pulp Web sites for something you’re looking for at the very moment you want the answer. But there’s also something to opening the mailbox to find the latest issue of Blood ’n’ Thunder waiting, or searching through the zines that line one of the shelves in my pulp bookcase.
Have you dropped a pulp fanzine subscription because the Web offers a cheaper, more immediate alternative? Or do you prefer the hard-copy version of the zines?
— William]]>http://www.thepulp.net/PulpBlogs/YellowedPerils/index.php?entry=entry080503-2221232008-05-04T00:00:00Z2008-05-04T00:00:00ZContinuing on our pulp-to-film theme...plans for its next 10 animated films on Tuesday, April 8. There was no mention of the John Carter series. But buried way down was reference to a Christmas 2012 feature: King of the Elves.
Can’t say I’ve read the story, but Lawrence Sutin in his book Divine Invasions: A Life of Philip K. Dick calls it “Phil’s best fantasy story.” He provides this brief summary: “Shadrach Jones, an old man in a desolate small town, offers shelter from the rain to a tattered troup of Elves, whose ailing King dies in Shadrach’s bed. The Elves are battered from their fierce war with the Trolls; they badly need a new King and convince Shadrach to lead them. His neighbor, Phineas Judd, tries to persuade Shadrach that he is losing his mind — but...” Well, I won’t spoil the ending for you.
The film will be computer generated and, as seven of the other movies on Disney’s slate, will be released in 3-D.
— William]]>http://www.thepulp.net/PulpBlogs/YellowedPerils/index.php?entry=entry080408-2355442008-04-09T00:00:00Z2008-04-09T00:00:00ZA past vision of ‘Mars’my previous post, here’s an interesting glimpse at what might have been had animator Bob Clampett gotten the greenlight for a John Carter of Mars project in the 1930s.
— William]]>http://www.thepulp.net/PulpBlogs/YellowedPerils/index.php?entry=entry080331-2339332008-04-01T00:00:00Z2008-04-01T00:00:00ZA step closer to ‘Mars’?John Carter of Mars movie?
John Hill Media, a blog about the entertainment industry, and the Walt Disney Co., in particular, has a recent post detailing how Disney’s Pixar Animation Studios has acquired numerous Web domain names related to John Carter.
Now, registering domain names for a movie is exciting. But remember in 1999 and again in 2002, Warner Bros. reserved several domain names related to Doc Savage. Nine years later, are we closer to a new Doc Savage movie?
The promising news in the John Hill blog comes farther down the article. The blog suggests that Pixar’s plans may include a live-action John Carter movie trilogy, not just a single picture. It goes on to say that the first draft of the first film’s script has been written and that there is a window in Disney’s release calendar for a blockbuster in 2011.
Edgar Rice Burrough’s John Carter series was one of the first pulp series that I read as a teenager. The paperbacks were the Ballantine Books’ versions with the terrific Gino D’Achille covers. Ever since reading those, I’ve thought that John Carter would make a great movie.
If Pixar can replicate the script quality of its animated The Incredibles with a serious adventure version of John Carter, pulp fans should be overjoyed. I know I would be.
— William]]>http://www.thepulp.net/PulpBlogs/YellowedPerils/index.php?entry=entry080317-2100532008-03-18T00:00:00Z2008-03-18T00:00:00ZThe pulps from a fictioneer’s perspectiveI’ve been going through some old pulp fanzines recently. And this quote about the pulp era from Xenophile No. 9 (December 1974) caught my eye. I thought i’d share it with you.
It’s originally from Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine (May 1950) and attributed to Erle Stanley Gardner, who is probably best known for his Perry Mason books. But Gardner had many stories published in Black Mask and numerous other pulps from 1921 through the mid-1930s.
Some 25 years ago, a new force vitalized the field of fiction. Mystery writers began selling stories.
The old-fashioned mystery story dealing with deduction, a recapitulation of the clues midway in the story, and a detective who ‘slipped something into his pocket while the police detective was looking the other way’ was thrown out of the window.
In its place there came a new, virile type of story told in terms of action. The reader, moreover, was given an equal break with the detective. Those were the days when wood-pulp magazines were at their zenith.
The public eagerly devoured the stories. While it didn’t demand characterization in the best literary style, it did demand a story. A lot of slush has been written about the pulps, principally by writers who knew the market only by hearsay.
It is true, as has been frequently charged, that the better pulp writers, being paid by the word, ground out a terrific wordage. They were able to do this, however, only because they had imagination.
The telling of the story may have been sketched with road strokes. There was certainly no time for subtlety. But the writer of the period either had ingenuity, imagination, and touch of novelty, or he went broke.
— William]]>http://www.thepulp.net/PulpBlogs/YellowedPerils/index.php?entry=entry080228-0813032008-02-28T00:00:00Z2008-02-28T00:00:00Z75 years ago today...If you had a dime to spare 75 years ago today, you could have picked up the first issue of Doc Savage on the newsstands.
To borrow a train of thought from Savage-ologist Jay Ryan, that single magazine spawned scores of pulp adventures, comic books, radio programs, a movie and a whole bookful of collectibles.
To celebrate, pull out your copy of the original pulp, the Bantam paperback or the Nostalgia Ventures reprint and re-read (or read, if you haven’t already) Doc’s debut adventure. It’s a great way to spend an afternoon.
Here’s to another 75 years of Doc, and pulp magazines in general.
— William]]>http://www.thepulp.net/PulpBlogs/YellowedPerils/index.php?entry=entry080217-0001002008-02-17T00:00:00Z2008-02-17T00:00:00ZDoc Con XI set for Nov. 1Doc Con, discuss activities, etc., generally talk pulps, then hit one or two area bookstores.
This being the first Doc Day since November’s con, the main topic was setting the date for Doc Con XI. The decision: Saturday, Nov. 1.
Courtney Rogers gratiously volunteered his house as this year’s setting. It’s in Glendale, Ariz., which is in western Phoenix.
There will be more details about the Doc Con’s schedule as the year progresses. But this year’s theme, of course, will be the 75th anniversary of Doc Savage Magazine.
We hope you will consider joining us for Doc Con XI. If you have questions, contact Courtney, me or any of the other Arizona Fans of Bronze.
— William]]>http://www.thepulp.net/PulpBlogs/YellowedPerils/index.php?entry=entry080209-1014582008-02-09T00:00:00Z2008-02-09T00:00:00ZFrank Hamilton has diedHoward Hopkins posted this item on the GoldenPerils group at Yahoo last night.
Pulp fandom lost its greatest artist Monday, the incomparable Frank Hamilton. I talked to Frank just before Christmas, after he had just moved into a nursing home and though his situation was critical at that point he was still very positive, though resigned. His talent was truly a thing of wonder and I am lucky enough to own one of his originals. I know Golden Perils personally owes a great debt to him. Some of the early covers he did for the magazine, most notably The Green Hornet, Dark Shadows, Doc Savage and The Phantom, were masterpieces of fan art and GP was so much richer for his contributions. I am saddened and heart heavy, and my sympathies go out to his family and legion of fans. The pulp community owes him a great deal and he will be missed.
That’s very sad news, but not wholly unexpected. Several weeks ago, I wrote a tribute to him when he moved into nursing card. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family.
— William]]>http://www.thepulp.net/PulpBlogs/YellowedPerils/index.php?entry=entry080130-1405172008-01-30T00:00:00Z2008-01-30T00:00:00ZThe postman always brings pulp You can click to see a scanned version (or click the art at left). Either way, you’ll find information about registration, location, the spaghetti dinner, the pulp room and auctions.
(The same information is now available on the PulpCon Web site.)
There’s little info on this year’s Guests of Honor though. Apparently, offers have been extended, but no confirmations have been made.
The flyer says this year’s PulpCon will celebrate writer Jack Williamson and the 70th anniversary of John W. Campbell taking over as editor of Astounding Science Fiction/Analog Science Fiction & Fact. There will be slideshow of key Astounding issues, a prsentation about Williamson by Stephen Haffner, and a DVD interview with Williams conducted by James Gunn in the 1970s.
Williamson, you might recall, published quite a number of stories in the science fiction pulps. He died just over a year ago (Nov. 10, 2006) in Portales, N.M., at 98.
— William]]>http://www.thepulp.net/PulpBlogs/YellowedPerils/index.php?entry=entry080124-1739082008-01-24T00:00:00Z2008-01-24T00:00:00ZDoes the ‘P’ in ESPN stand for pulps?SportsCenter.
We’d just watched Kentucky upset Tennessee (yea, Southeastern Conference basketball — and, football!), then started watching SportsCenter. ESPN NFL analyst Ron “Jaws” Jaworski came on to report on New England quarterback Tom Brady’s ankle. Behind him were at least three framed covers from Sports Novels and Football Stories.
I could only date one: the cover just above his head. It features a teaser for “Pigskin Privateer,” by Burgess Leonard, which appeared in the Fall 1951 number of Football Stories.
I don’t often watch SportsCenter, so I’m not sure how long these pulps have decorated the set. Has anyone else noticed these gems before?
They are packed with a mix of terrific research, articles, illustrations, opinions and letters, as well as a fair share of, well, goofy articles. In general, though, they are great reference material.
It’s based on an early Philip K. Dick story of the same name that appeared in the September 1953 number of Beyond Fantasy Fiction, a short-lived (10 issues) pulp digest published by Galaxy Publishing Corp. as a companion to its more popular Galaxy Science Fiction digest.
John Hill Media, a blog about the entertainment industry, and the Walt Disney Co., in particular, has a recent post detailing how Disney’s Pixar Animation Studios has acquired numerous Web domain names related to John Carter.
This being the first Doc Day since November’s con, the main topic was setting the date for Doc Con XI. The decision: Saturday, Nov. 1.
