Barry began writing in 2003 with parts of the fifth volume of “Marvel Encyclopedia.” By 2005, he had published his first novel, “Conquerors of Shadow: The Adventures of Eobard Grace,” which was influenced by Edgar Rice Burroughs.
He has since written six volumes of his The Rook series, and is anticipating the fifth volume of his Lazarus Gray series in early 2015. (Check out Michael Brown‘s reviews of Barry’s books over at our companion blog, The Pulp Super-Fan.) Barry has won numerous New Pulp and Pulp Ark awards for his fiction.
3 Pulp Questions is an opportunity for you to get to know fellow pulp collectors a bit better and, maybe, introduce you to pulps, authors, stories or characters that you haven’t explored.[/box]
1. How were you introduced to the pulps?
My parents were divorced when I was very young but one of the strongest memories I have of my father is his collection of pulp reprints. He had tons of the Bantam Doc Savages, the various Tarzan and John Carter books that were being produced at the time, The Shadow, etc. I loved the lurid covers and was immediately drawn to them.
I was the weird kid carrying around Conan and Doc Savage novels with him to second grade! Those paperback reprints taught me about the major pulp heroes and eventually led me to exploring the lesser-known (but no less great) pulp heroes and series.
2. What is your most prized pulp possession?
Tough one. I only own a few classic pulps (I have hundreds upon hundreds of pulp reprints, however) but I do have one of the Prince of Evil stories that ran in The Shadow and I’m pretty proud of that — great condition!
I also combine my love of pulps with comic books and I’ve recently started a small collection of cover sketches by artists that I like, all featuring The Shadow. So far I have ones by Fred Hembeck, Will Meugniot and Wilfredo Torres.
3. What overlooked (pulp magazine, story, author, character, or series) would you recommend to pulp fans and why?
I’m a huge fan of Paul Ernst‘s work, be it on The Avenger or his many weird horror stories. I think he’s one of the finest pulp authors and I think he did particularly well with a very short-lived character named Seekay. Altus Press reprinted the Seekay stories (along with other prototypes of The Avenger) and I highly, highly recommend seeking them out. Great stuff!
