The Pulpster is the program book for PulpFest, and this time we look at the most recent Pulpster, #24, from Pulpfest 2015. I wasn’t able to attend, but got it.
Each issue of The Pulpster is packed with articles on the pulps, rounded out with artwork, and professionally printed. They stand up to any fanzine. Many articles are written by several of the major pulp researchers, and many articles are organized around the theme for PulpFest. For 2015, the theme was H.P. Lovecraft at 125.
The cover is a photo of Lovecraft taken at age 25. The rest of the issue features several great articles, plus one piece of fiction.
Tying to theme, we get a retrospective of Lovecraft’s legacy from several authors. Each one contributes about a half page write up, and many of the authors have themselves contributed Lovecraft-esque works. So these was an enjoyable set of pieces.
Street & Smith is remembered as the publisher of popular pulp heroes like The Shadow, Doc Savage, etc. But like several other pulp publishers, they also got into comic books, bringing over several of their pulp heroes into comics, as well as publishing original characters. Bill Lampkin gives a great overview of their comic book line.
Another article by Michelle Nolan looks at the Thrilling line of pulps published by Ned Pines. While not the publisher’s name, they are known as the “Thrilling” line because of the several titles starting with Thrilling. Among other things, they published Phantom Detective, Black Bat, and other characters.
Nicky Wheeler-Nicholson contributes an article on her grandfather, Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson, on his long career in the military, pulp fictioneer, and later founder of DC Comics.
I have in the past touched on foreign pulp heroes, and Larry Latham has a good article that looks at these characters from various European countries. Some I have mentioned, some I plan to, and some I was not that aware of. It’s a good intro to these characters. Sadly, we are told he has passed away, so we won’t see any future works from him.
Doctor Death is a pair of pulp villains I have previously posted on. He first appeared (or the first one appeared) in adventures written by Edward P. Norris in his stories with Nibs Holloway. And now thanks to Tom Johnson, we know more about this creator.
Monte Herridge takes a look at another overlooked detective series. This time, we look at the adventures of Jimmy Wentworth, a detective in San Francisco, whose adventures are often in Chinatown. Running for 30 stories, the first part of the series had him go up against Kong Gai, leader of a tong. The second part of the series had him go up against the “Nameless One” and his Tibetan tong. The series was written by Sidney Herschel Small and ran in Munsey’s Detective Fiction Weekly. Looks like the only publisher who has reprinted this series is the Battered Silicon Dispatch Box.
I enjoyed everything in this issue, and encourage others to check it out. Copies should still be available. Check the Pulpfest website on where to obtain copies. The next Pulpfest is scheduled for July 21-24 in Columbus, Ohio. I think the theme is on science fiction pulps, so expect The Pulpster for 2016 (#25) will have the same theme. I look forward to it.
Write to PulpFest marketing and programming director Mike Chomko at mike@pulpfest.com to learn how you can order a copy of our 2014 issue. We’re down to our last dozen or so copies, so don’t hesitate if you’d like one.