Thanks to the recent Pulp AdventureCon here in Florida, I discovered a New Pulp author, Stuart Hopen.
Among other works, he has done a few comics books, including a short-lived pulp hero he created called The Whisper. The character appeared in a one-shot comic book, Daemon Mask, published by Amazing Comics back in 1987. Amazing was one of several publishers of black & white comics during the explosion of such works at the time, and was associated with Pied Piper Comics, whose best-known title was Ex-Mutants.
Daemon Mask is a different take on pulp heroes, more in how the story is setup. The Whisper is a character in the style of The Shadow and The Spider. He is really Lyle Courtland (or is he, as one characters hints?) who wears a horrible mask and is armed with a pistol. People are terrified of The Whisper, and not even sure he is human. He has no agents or assistants, though his girlfriend Lenore knows his identity (but she doesn’t get into the action like Nina Van Sloan). Later in the story he is joined by Rama who assists him briefly.
In the story, a madman releases a universal solvent which gets out of control and destroys Paris. On a mission to stop it from continuing, The Whisper races to the lost island in the Antarctic which is the source of it before his foe gets it. Adding to things, his enemy is another suitor to Lenore. The solvent seems to get out of control and seems to have destroyed the world before The Whisper is able to stop it, at the cost of his life. Is the world truly saved? It’s unclear.
Overall, the story is a different take on pulp heroes, due to the author’s literary background, which he explains on his website. I can’t do it justice in this review, and encourage others to read it for themselves.
At the author’s website he has the original story available to read, as well as the 2 prequels he and the artist, Russ Martin, created. The first story gives a kind of “origin” for The Whisper (and will answer the question of who he is, though maybe not why he is). While there, take a look at his air pulp series, The Twilight Patrol. I hope to do a posting on that one at some point.
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