I think the “awakening” of Pulp Renaissance began about 1965, less than fifteen years after the so-called death of the character pulps, with the fanzine, BRONZE SHADOWS, by Fred Cook. The appearance of Doc Savage and The Shadow in paperback certainly helped in the awakening. This brought awareness to new fans, as well as reconnecting many old readers of the pulp magazine heroes. Many fanzines followed in the wake of BRONZE SHADOWS, plus researchers began digging deeper into the history, including speaking with publishers, editors, authors and artists from the period, and the pulps were laid bare for the following generations. Numerous research books were published, making the data available not only to fans, but the general public as well. The Renaissance reached its peak around 1994 with Will Murray’s new Doc Savage novels, and James Van Hise’s short stories of Operator #5 and The Spider. Where the current Renaissance will take us, there’s no telling, but right now it appears to still be strong and growing, not only with research books (mostly reprints of older books) coming out in newer and better editions, but there are more writers churning out new adventures featuring the old heroes, as well as many new characters in the pulp tradition. For the pulp fan, this is a great time to be alive, and I think the new generation of readers will carry the tradition into this new century with enthusiasm. In only twenty-one years The Shadow will be 100 years old. Did someone say the pulp heroes died in 1953? I think not. Many of the current generation will be around to see the anniversary of The Shadow in 1931. I hope there will be a big party!
Following is the list of First Appearances as best I can figure the records. I will keep my list open for future updates, so if anyone has information on something that is missing, send me a note, and I will add the data to a later updated Posting.
Alias Mr. Death: “Coffins of Death” by Tom Johnson, Exciting Pulp Tales, 2011
The Angel Detective: The Devil of A Case by Tom Johnson, Exciting Pulp Tales, 2011
The Avenger: The Man From Atlantis (Ron Goulart – 1974)
The Bat: “Blind As A Bat” by Tom Johnson, Pulp Tales, 2011
Bill Barnes: “Barnstorming: Goodbye, Cy” by Bud Overn. Classic Pulp Fiction Stories #1, June 1995
Black Bat: “The Black Bat’s Vengeance” by Tom Johnson. Classic Pulp Fiction Stories #2, July 1995
Captain Hazzard: “The Citadel of Fear” by Ron Fortier & Martin Powell. Wildcat Books, 2006
The Cobra: “Curse of The Viper” by Tom Johnson, Exciting Pulp Tales, 2011
The Crimson Clown: “The Crimson Clown – Killer” by Tom Johnson, Pulp Tales, 2011
The Crimson Mask: “The Mask of Anubis” by Tom Johnson, Exciting Pulp Tales, 2011
Dan Fowler: Anthology (2009)
Doc Savage: Pick one of Will Murray’s new novels
Doctor Death (Harold Ward Character): “Trail of Death” by Dale J. Roberts. Classic Pulp
Fiction Stories #4, September 1995
Doctor Death (Edward Norris Character): “Till Death Do Us Part” by Tom Johnson. Pulp Stories, 2011
Doctor Thaddeus C. Harker: “The Trail of The Beast” by Frank Philipp. Classic Pulp Fiction Stories #1, June 1995
Domino Lady: “Aroused, The Domino Lady” by Jim Steranko. Vanguard Productions, August, 2004
The Eagle: “The Gibbering Gas of Madness” by Tom Johnson. Triple Detective #4, February 2010
Flash Gordon: “The Sun Men of Saturn” by Tom Condarcure. Alien Worlds #25, April 2002
Funny Face: “The Star of Africa” by Tom Johnson, Exciting Pulp Tales, 2011
Gentle Jones: “Nazis Over Washington” by Tom Johnson, Exciting Pulp Tales, 2011
The Green Ghost: “The Case of The Blind Soldier” by Tom Johnson, Exciting Pulp Tales, 2011
Green Lama: Anthology (2009)
The Griffon “Conspiracy of Terror” by Van Allen Plexico (Lance Star #2 Anthology 2010)
Jim Anthony: Anthology (2009)
Jim Hatfield (Texas Ranger): “Lone Star Fury” by James Reasoner. Classic Pulp Fiction Stories #2, July 1995
Ki-Gor: “Blood-Crypts of The Serpent Cults” by Steve Mitchell. Classic Pulp Fiction Stories #1, June 1995
The Lone Eagle: “The Nazi Spider Staffel” by Tom Johnson. Classic Pulp Fiction Stories #16, September 1996
Masked Detective: “The Masked Detective’s Dangerous Trail” by Tom Johnson. The Pulp Detectives, February 2010
Masked Rider: “Double-Cross Justice” by Frank Philipp. Classic Pulp Fiction Stories #3, August 1995
Moon Man: “Midnight Moon” by Terry Nudds. Classic Pulp Fiction Stories #10, March 1996
Operator #5: “Return of The Death Master” by James Van Hise. Pulp Heroes of The Thirties, January 1994
Phantom Detective: “Satan’s Minions” by Tom Johnson. Classic Pulp Fiction Stories #1, June 1995
Purple Scar: “The Skull Killer” by Tom Johnson, Exciting Pulp Tales, 2011
Ravenwood: “The Choice” by Steve Mitchell Classic Pulp Fiction Stories #19, 1996
Red Falcon: “The Red Falcon Returns” by Burt Leake. Classic Pulp Fiction Stories #6, November 1995
Red Finger: “Obituaries Are Final” by Tom Johnson. The Hand of Red Finger, February 2010
Secret Agent X: “Horror’s Monster” by Tom Johnson. Classic Pulp Fiction Stories #9, February 1996
Seven-Foot Saunders: “A School Ma’am For Indian Springs” by Frank Philipp. Classic Pulp Fiction Stories #2, July 1995
The Shadow: Dennis Lynds’ Belmont Shadows in 1964.
Sheena: “Jungle Terror” (as Jungle Queen) by Tom Johnson, Exciting Pulp Tales, 2011
The Spider: “The Spider And The Murder Brigade” by James Van Hise. Pulp Heroes of The Thirties, January 1994
The 3 Mosquitoes “Two Outs, Bottom of The Ninth And The Shadow of Death” by Aaron Smith (Lance Star #2 anthology 2010)
Wade Hammond: “Fangs of Death” by Terry Nudds. Double Danger Tales #8, September 1997
Zorro: “Disney’s Zorro” by Steve Frazee. Whitman 1958
Note #1: Since the Anthologies consist of four or more stories of the character, there in no “first” story to identify, so I’ve left the titles out. I’m not sure of the dates on several of the Anthologies, but have listed what I believe the year of release was. The individual authors can argue about whose story was first (lol).
Note #2: There were a few early appearances by some other characters, though the main stories featured another hero. Dan Fowler makes an appearance in “Cartel of Crime”, a Phantom Detective story in the August 1995 issue of Classic Pulp Fiction Stories #3. Ravenwood appears in “The Choice”, a Leopard Lady story in Classic Pulp Fiction Stories #19, December 1996. Plus, there were many thinly disguised characters that popped up every now and then.
No comments:
Post a Comment