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• Order the limited edition hardcover (only 100 made)

• Order the book from Amazon
• Order the limited edition hardcover (only 100 made)

• Order the book from Amazon
• Order the limited edition hardcover (only 100 made)

Price: $19.95

Price: $19.95

Price: $19.95

Price: $19.95

Price: $9.95

Price: $14.95

• Order this book from Amazon

• Order the book from Amazon
• Order the limited edition hardcover (only 100 made)

Several people recommended the writings of Dan (Stay Away, Joe) Cushman to me. Before becoming a successful paperback author in the 50s, Cushman wrote many stories for the pulps. Among them were the adventures of hook-armed Armless O’Neil. Set in Africa, these are well-written hard-boiled adventure stories that seem fresh in 2010. Volume 1, entitled Seekers of the Glittering Fetish: The Complete Armless O’Neil Volume 1, contains his first six stories from the pages of Action Stories and Jungle Stories. It should be going to a proofreader in a couple of weeks and I would expect it to be available well in time for the Windy City show. A second volume is already in the works, which would compile the last six stories. I’d expect this to be out by year’s end.

Another title, unannounced until now, is another volume in our Companion series. The Black Bat Companion will be in a similar format as last year’s The Phantom Detective Companion. Though it won’t be as long as the PD book, it should clock in at around 350 pages… not bad for a character with 1/3 of the adventures of The Phantom!

This will include material not only by primary author Tom Johnson, but also Will Murray and Al Tonik, among others. About 70 pages of The Black Bat’s 1940s comic stories will also be included, as well as a lengthy investigation of the German Black Bat. But the highlight of this may be the news that “The Celebrity Murders,” the last Black Bat story written by Norman Daniels & thought lost, has been discovered. We’ll tell you more in this book.

The Black Bat Companion is still being assembled. It is hoped that it will be available in time for PulpFest.

Much closer to availability is The Black Bat Omnibus Volume 1. This is the first volume of the complete reprinting of the series, this one containing the first three stories. It’s tough to guess at how many volumes this will take to complete, since the word counts fluctuated so much. While these early ones are about 40k words each, later ones are 15-20k. The Black Bat Omnibus Volume 1 is being proofread now and should be available for Windy City.

We’re also working on The Complete Adventures of Sangroo by J. Irving Crump. Sangroo is a Tarzan-like fella that only appeared twice in the pages of the ultra-rare Clayton title, Jungle Stories. I’d look for this in around PulpFest.

No doubt you noticed the book cover at the top of the page. Over a year in the making, The Weird Adventures of The Blond Adder: The Complete Casebook of Lee Nace by Lester Dent should be quite a tome. For those who don’t know Nace, it was a series Dent wrote for Ten Detective Aces in 1933, and it’s quite interesting to read the adventures of another gadget detective of Dent’s which were written during the first year of Doc Savage. Only two of these stories have been reprinted before. But what makes this special is that we’ve used the original Dent manuscripts as the source for four of the five stories (sadly, one’s manuscript doesn’t survive), and for one of the four, we’ve utilized sections of TWO drafts. It’s augmented with Dent’s original Nace character Bible, and scans of part of an early draft of one of the stories… which contain Dent’s hand-written corrections.

This is to be proofread soon, and will certainly be out well in time for Windy City. If not, much sooner.

A pair of Popular Publications books are nearly done being proofread, and will be available soon. The Hand of Red Finger collects all 12 of the Red Finger backups from the pages of Operator #5. Written by Arthur Leo Zagat, it’s a unique series written in a unique way. It’s one of Tom Johnson’s favorite series, and Tom’s included a newly-written Red Finger story to round out the collection.

The Casebook of Seekay and Other Prototypes of The Avenger is also nearly ready. Clocking in at over 300 pages and written by Paul Ernst, it collects all the known Avenger prototypes written for Popular’s mystery and crime pulps. In fact, several in the collection were only discovered while assembling this volume. It’s sure to be a page turner.

Tom Johnson’s Triple Detective is also back. Issue #4 should be available in 1-2 weeks and it’s our biggest one yet, clocking in at almost 180 pages with no price increase. A highlight of this collection is the first all-new adventure of The Eagle, Thrilling’s now-forgotten detective.

Tom’s also got another collection of pulp prose nearly available. Called The Pulp Detectives, this includes nine of Tom’s stories (featuring characters such as The Black Bat and The Phantom Detective) wrapped in a vintage cover. Look for it in a few weeks.

Another interesting title is by Chandler Whipple. Published in Dime Mystery magazine, The Curse of the Harcourts is a 6-episode story which is prime for a revival. You’ll have to read it to see what I mean. It’s going to be tough to write a back-cover blurb for this one! I’ll be out around PulpFest.

Nearly ready are three volumes in our Lost Race Library: Under the Andes by Rex Stout, Wings of Danger by Arthur A. Nelson and Yellow Men Sleep by Jeremy Lane. All come from 1910s pulps and are quite enjoyable. If you’re a fan of the lost race genre, these are for you. These will be out in a few weeks.

Finally, be on the lookout for Volume 4 in our Secret Agent “X” series. Containing four more stories and with a new introduction by Will Murray, it’s going to be a nice book.

Whew! I’m beat. But not to worry, there are plenty more collections coming. I need an intern…

The big news this time around is the release of three books from Altus Press that I’m very proud of. First up is the collected Red Finger series by Arthur Leo Zagat, from the back pages of the Operator 5 magazine. This has long been a favorite character of mine from the pulps. Since there were only 12 stories in the series, Matt let me contribute a final story for the book, which I had fun writing. I hope everyone will check out, THE HAND OF RED FINGER, from Altus Press. I think you’ll like the character also! On the heels of the Red Finger volume is the latest Triple Detective, which will likely be my last involvement with this wonderful title. I hope Altus Press will continue the title, though, and bring in new writers for the book. This issue contains the first new Eagle story after 70 years, titled GIBBERING GAS OF MADNESS, plus the Phantom Detective and Black Bat finally meet in CITY OF PHANTOMS, then my final Masked Avenger story, THE DEATH PLAGUE rounds out the issue. However, Matt had asked for a special Feature this time, so I wrote a piece about pulp legends, then got carried away and wrote a story featuring, The Legend! To make the book even more interesting, we included another Phantom Detective comic that was left out of the Phantom Detective Companion. Folks, this issue of Triple Detective is the biggest and best yet, and is a good way for me to say farewell. My third release is PULP DETECTIVES, my tribute to both Johnston McCulley and the pulp heroes I loved so much. There are nine stories in this huge volume, featuring such costumed heroes as the Black Bat, Secret Agent X, and Phantom Detective. For fun, I’ve written the first new Masked Detective and Lone Eagle stories since their pulp days. Also included is one of my own costumed characters, Nightwind, a masked rider of the plains. Unless Matt can really interest me in another project, these will likely be the last pulp stories I will ever write.

I have had the privilege of knowing so many of the giants, that it is going to be impossible for me to remember all of their names. But let me name a few that I was able to call friend and acquaintance. There were Harry Steeger and his wife, Norman Saunders, and Norman Daniels. Leigh Brackett, Tommy Thompson, Hugh B. Cave, Ryerson Johnson, John Jakes, Michael Avallone, Norma Dent, and Walter B. Gibson! Good grief, I brushed shoulders with so many others! Least I forget let me add Nick Carr, Bob Sampson, Fred Cook, Lyn Hickman, Tony Tollin, and Will Muray. If I tried to name them all, this would turn into a book, so let me stop with those names. All of them giants.

With the start of 2010, it has been nearly 60 years since the pulps died in 1953. Thankfully, we have publishers like Altus Press and a few others who are reprinting the old stories as they were originally written. But after so many generations of readers have joined the ranks, new trends are taking over the old heroes. New writers, all top-notch, are writing new stories about the old heroes, though they may not have ever read one of the original stories. Or if they have, they want to change the character to fit in with the world today, and the results are characters that are nothing like the original pulps I loved so much. I’m not saying that is a bad thing. These writers are keeping the pulp characters alive in their tales, so that has to be a good thing. But for me, I wanted them to stay the same forever. Our heroes only fought gangsters and super villains, not floating alien heads from another dimension. They were not faster than a speeding bullet, and could not leap tall buildings with a single bound. But perhaps that is what the reader wants today, so I give my blessings to the new writers. And with that, I think it is time I bid adieu to pulp fandom and the pulp community.  As I said at the beginning, I will still be around, but I plan to be reading a lot of good books as I relax in my old age. The last forty plus years that I have been involved in pulp research were the best years of my life!

Tom

Price: $34.95

Price: $24.95

Price: $19.95

First, you’ll notice that Volume 3 of our complete reprinting of the Secret Agent “X” series has been released. It’s the best edition yet, as Stephen Payne has written a thorough introduction for it. And the stories ain’t too shabby either. Two other books, A Man Named Jones and Super Detective Jim Anthony: The Complete Series Volume 1 are already available in hardcover. Their softcover counterparts are a few weeks away from availability on Amazon.

A Man Named Jones also ushers in a new sub-set of our book line: the Altus Press Lost Race Library. This will reprint material from this wonderful genre which was popularized by H. Rider Haggard and lasted until around 1920. Some of this material will be culled from the pulps, while others are taken directly from rare hardcovers. The inaugural wave of this series is comprised of four books, with Under the Andes being redesigned to match the Lost Race Library dress. The other two releases will be announced shortly.

Further pulp titles are coming soon, among them a collection of all of Arthur Leo Zagat’s Red Finger stories from the pages of Operator #5. There are several other Popular Publications-owned titles coming as well, and they’ll be announced soon.

• Order the book from Amazon
• Order the limited edition hardcover (only 100 made)

• Order the book from Amazon
• Order the limited edition hardcover (only 100 made)

• Order the book from Amazon
• Order the limited edition hardcover (only 100 made)