Q. Have pulp heroes had any impact on popular culture?

A. Yes, but to a great extent most people don't realize it.

Who hasn't heard of the phrases: "The weed of crime bears bitter fruit. Crime does not pay. The Shadow Knows!" or "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow Knows!" Both come from the widely popular Shadow radio show.

For the most part, the pulp heroes influenced other characters who became much more popular. Batman was influenced quite a bit by Zorro, the Black Bat, The Shadow and Doc Savage. Doc Savage had a great influence on Superman. Doc Savage was actually Clark Savage Jr.; Superman took the identity of Clark Kent. During the 1950s, many concepts from Doc Savage were added to Superman: Superman got an arctic Fortress of Solitude (just like Doc), he got a superpowered cousin (just like Doc), and so on. Much of the gadgetry of James Bond, Man from U.N.C.L.E.and the like was done before by Doc Savage.

Comic book heroes were influenced by the pulps before they went in their own directions. A pulp-influenced comic character would be one who wore ordinary clothes such as a fedora and overcoat (no matter how colorful), versus some kind of skin-tight spandex outfit; and would be an above-average person, as opposed to a superpowered person. Some examples of pulp-influenced comic characters were D.C.'s Dr. Occult and the original Sandman (who wore a green suit, purple cape, orange fedora and a weird gas-mask).