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Issue #21: Edgar Winner Frank M. Nevins Explores "Marquis Of Broadway"
Just in time to catch the last days of the season, the Summer 2008 issue of Blood ‘n’ Thunder arrives with the usual assortment of extensively researched articles covering Pulps, Movies, and Old-Time Radio. Edgar-winning author Francis M. Nevins makes his BnT debut with an overview of John Lawrence’s excellent “Marquis of Broadway” series, which ran in Dime Detective during the ‘30s and ‘40s.
Another Dime Detective contributor, J.-J. des Ormeaux (who also published stories under his real name, Forrest Rosaire), laments the passing of the ultra-hard-boiled Black Mask style in “Farewell to Bang! Bang!,” an insightful look at pulp-fiction craftsmanship that originally appeared in a 1940 issue of Writer’s Digest.
Old-Time Radio historian Martin Grams Jr. is back with Part Two of his exhaustive study of The Adventures of Sam Spade, chronicling the tumultuous events that led to the blacklisting of star Howard Duff and the program’s fall from grace.
BnT editor Ed Hulse compares two screen adaptations of Zane Grey’s Riders of the Purple Sage—the 1925 Tom Mix version and the 1941 George Montgomery version—that have a common denominator: Location shooting in the picturesque Sierras foothills near Lone Pine, California. As usual, the articles are accompanied by rare artwork and photographs.
Single copies: $6.00 + $1.50 postage
Four-issue subscription: $25.00
Please make checks or money orders payable to:
Ed Hulse 2467 Route 10 East Mountain Club, Bldg. 15, Apt. 4B Morris Plains, NJ 07950 [email protected]
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Issue #20: The Making of Adventure November 1935
Blood ‘n’ Thunder #20 (Spring 2008) features another mix of articles covering adventure, mystery and melodrama in various media. In the cover story, BnT editor Ed Hulse offers an account of the lengthy process involved in compiling Adventure’s highly touted 25th-anniversary issue of November 1935. It’s a rare behind-the-scenes look at how a great pulp magazine was put together.
From a 1930 issue of Writer’s Digest comes “Writers A-Wing,” an informative, comprehensive survey of the pre-Depression market in aviation pulps, written by genre stalwart Arch Whitehouse. Old-Time Radio researcher and author Martin Grams, Jr. returns to the pages of BnT with the first half of a lengthy, richly detailed article on the Sam Spade radio show—which, as Martin reveals, dramatized some of Dashiell Hammett’s Continental Op stories, replacing the Op character with Spade!
Another installment of “Cliffhanger Classics” finds Ed Hulse examining the brief careers of Pathe’s last serial team, Hugh Allan and Gladys McConnell, whose starring vehicles included The Tiger’s Shadow (1928) and The Fire Detective (1929). This article is illustrated with rare photos from the late Ms. McConnell’s personal collection.
Single copies of Blood ‘n’ Thunder #20 are $6.00 plus $1.50 for postage. One-year (four-issue) subscriptions are available for $25. Payments should be made out and mailed to: Ed Hulse, 2467 Route 10 East, Bldg. 15, Apt. 4B, Morris Plains, NJ 07950.
Special Note: Ed still has limited quantities (literally a handful) of each of the following long out-of-print issues: Numbers 4, 5, 7, 8, and 9 (see below for descriptions). These are priced at $10 each. Ed will be selling these, as well as the latest issues and The Blood ‘n’ Thunder Guide to Collecting Pulps, at the upcoming Pulpcon.
Blood ‘n’ Thunder #21 (Summer 2008) is already being assembled and, hopefully, will also be available at Pulpcon.
Single copies: $6.00 + $1.50 postage
Four-issue subscription: $25.00
Please make checks or money orders payable to:
Ed Hulse 2467 Route 10 East Mountain Club, Bldg. 15, Apt. 4B Morris Plains, NJ 07950 [email protected]
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Blood ‘N’ Thunder Returns After Long Hiatus With the Winter 2008 Issue--Better Late Than Never!
To begin with, BnT editor Ed Hulse offers readers of Issue #19 a rare behind-the-scenes look at pulp publishing by reporting on and analyzing the “ashcan” issues prepared for Harry Donenfeld’s Spicy line. Turns out that these slender magazines, whipped up quickly for copyright-registration purposes and never intended to be seen by the public, contain some pretty interesting stories from well-known fictioneers.
BnT celebrates the 75th anniversary of Doc Savage’s debut with another of Will Murray’s incisive articles about principal series scribe Lester Dent. In “The Secret of Fear Cay,” Will reveals long-hidden details about Dent’s mid-‘30s breakdown and speculates as to its exact timing and cause.
Paperback Parade editor Gary Lovisi returns to BnT’s pages with a lengthy piece, “The Three Daring Divas of Paperback Pulp Fiction,” which covers the careers of three formidable female writers whose startlingly frank novels about sex and crime were simultaneously part of and beyond the pulp tradition.
Monte Herridge rounds out the Winter ’08 number with a brief overview of a Detective Fiction Weekly series, “Crimes of the Year 2000,” written by SF pioneer Ray Cummings.
In the interest of getting back on schedule, the Spring 2008 issue of BnT is already in preparation and will debut at this year’s Windy City Pulp and Paper Convention. Among other things, it will include Part One of Martin Grams Jr.’s lengthy study of the Sam Spade radio show, a “Cliffhanger Classics” installment covering two Pathe serials of the late silent era (illustrated with rare stills from the leading lady’s personal collection), and a fascinating piece on the lengthy process involved in compiling Adventure’s 1935 Golden Anniversary issue.
And, of course, copies of The Blood ‘n’ Thunder Guide to Collecting Pulps are still available from Ed exclusively for $19.95 plus $5.00 for Priority Mail shipping.
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Now Available! Hot Off the Presses -- Literally!
We have just received our shipment of the long-awaited BLOOD ‘N’ THUNDER GUIDE TO COLLECTING PULPS, a book we hope will become an indispensable reference work for anybody with even the slightest interest in pulp magazines. This isn't a price guide; it's a novel-length (74,000 words) study of the field geared toward the specific requirements of collectors. In chapters covering the major pulp genres -- general adventure, mystery/detective, western, hero, science fiction/fantasy, weird menace, etc. -- we enumerate the major titles, make our case for their significance, and highlight specific issues, authors, and stories worth collecting.
This 232-page trade paperback, printed in the standard pulp format of seven by ten inches with two columns of text per page, also includes two Appendixes, one listing BnT's picks for the most noteworthy books about pulps and the other offering a list of the titles and issues that would comprise a well-rounded pulp collection. The text is accompanied by more than 400 scans of pulp covers, many of which have never been reproduced.
The book’s price is $19.95 plus $5.00 for shipping and handling. I accept Paypal, checks, and money orders. For further information, contact me at [email protected] or just send payment to: Ed Hulse, 2467 Route 10 East, Bldg. 15, Apt. 4B, Morris Plains, NJ 07950.
Pre-ordered books have all been shipped, so those who paid in advance should look for their copies in just a few days!
Please note:
THE BLOOD ‘N’ THUNDER GUIDE TO COLLECTING PULPS will be available exclusively from Ed Hulse for the forseeable future.
Please make checks or money orders payable to:
Ed Hulse 2467 Route 10 East Mountain Club, Bldg. 15, Apt. 4B Morris Plains, NJ 07950 [email protected]
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Issue #18 Analyzes Oft-Neglected 1920s Scribbler Neil Martin
BLOOD ‘N’ THUNDER (18) Summer 2007 is hot off the presses and will make its debut at this year’s Pulpcon. Our feature article is a career study of the unjustly neglected Neil Martin, whose adventurous early life produced many colorful experiences from which to draw when he began writing for pulps in the late Twenties. Selling regularly to such magazines as Top-Notch, Sea Stories, Five Novels Monthly, and his most steady market, Short Stories, Martin penned thrilling adventure and mystery yarns saturated with atmosphere.
Regular BnT contributor Rex W. Layton concludes his series on L. Ron Hubbard with his magnum opus, a comprehensive survey (covering nine genres) of what he believes to be Hubbard’s best work. A companion piece to Rex’s article covers the unusual feud that resulted in Hubbard’s literary “murder” of a popular character created for John W. Campbell’s legendary Unknown by L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt.
Finally, this issue’s “Series Spotlight” is trained on Anthony Boucher’s famous detective hero, Fergus O’Breen, originally created for a series of hardcover mysteries but later a periodic presence in the pulps.
Subscribers attending Pulpcon are urged to pick up their copies at the Blood ‘n’ Thunder table in the dealers’ room. Other subscriber copies will be mailed out immediately after the convention. As always, single copies are available for $6.00 plus $1.50 for shipping. Please send payment to: Ed Hulse, 2467 Route 10 East, Bldg. 15, Apt. 4B, Morris Plains, NJ 07950.
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Unpublished Lester Dent Story Leads Issue 17 (Spring 2007)
BLOOD ‘N’ THUNDER (17) Spring 2007 offers something special this time around. For our lead feature we're reprinting the rough draft of an unpublished Lester Dent story from 1930: "The Cowled Nemesis." Rejected twice and then shelved, it was to have been the first in a series featuring a Shadow-like avenger operating in the contemporary West. We're also reprinting, in replica form, Dent's typewritten outline/proposal for the series. Will Murray provides an introduction.
Continuing the theme, Mark Trost analyzes a 1936 PHANTOM DETECTIVE outline that never became a novel but was, instead, pillaged for themes and incidents used in two subsequent Phantom yarns. We also reprint a fascinating autobiographical sketch written by fantasy/SF great C. L. Moore for a 1936 fanzine.
Additionally, Alfred Jan takes a look at intrepid Hollywood reporter Judith Gerard, one of the few series characters created for the spicy/girly pulps. Neil Mechem weighs in on the desirability of autographed pulps and pulp-related books in "The Name Is The Game--Or Is It?" And our "Cliffhanger Classics" department features a small portfolio of behind-the-scenes photos taken on the sets of numerous Universal serials of the '30s and '40s.
Single copies are $6.00 each plus $1.50 for postage from Ed Hulse, 2467 Rt. 10 East, Bldg. 15, Apt. 4B, Morris Plains, NJ 07950.
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Fall 2006: Saluting The Hard-Boiled Pulps
BLOOD ‘N’ THUNDER (16) Fall 2006 focuses on the detective pulp magazines, including perhaps the best of them all, Black Mask. First, Monte Herridge writes about one of the many series characters who appeared in the pages of Detective Fiction Weekly: Senor Lobo, soldier of fortune, by Erle Stanley Gardner. Then, publisher Ed Hulse contributes a piece on the series of girl reporter Torchy Blane comedy-mysteries turned out by Warner Brothers in the late 30s and early 1940s. Next up is an interview of Joseph T. Shaw, editor of Black Mask, in its heyday, taken from the pages of Writer’s Digest, October 1929. Will Murray weighs in with an article on Grace Culver, a female sleuth whose stories are hard to find today, appearing as they did in the now highly collectible Shadow magazines, beginning in 1934 and continuing through 1937. Gary Lovisi, long-time publisher of Paperback Parade, salutes the British gangster digests of the late 1940s and the 1950s. Closing out, and perhaps saving the best for last, is a long article by the late E. R. Hagemann (reprinted from Clues magazine) about Cap Shaw, editor of Black Mask, and the process under which the stories for The Hard-Boiled Omnibus (Simon & Schuster, 1946) were chosen.
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Summer 2006: Blockbuster Spider Cover & One Hundred Years of Herman
Sorry, folks--BLOOD ‘N’ THUNDER (15) Summer 2006 sold out almost immediately hot off the presses. And no wonder--the issue features our chat with the 1930s actress who played Spider Sweetie Nina Van Sloane in Spiders Web. Also, Jungle Mysteries: The Lost Serials of Talbot Mundy; Ten Chapterplays in Desperate Need of More Respect, and our special birthday salute to one of the top serial heroes.
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Spring 2006 Issue Commemorates Shadow Magazine 75th Anniversary
Following hot on the heels of an overwhelmingly successful Fall/Winter double issue, the BLOOD ‘N’ THUNDER (14) Spring 2006 edition was equally well received by Windy City Pulp and Paperback Convention goers in early May. Like the Windy City show itself, the newest BnT commemorates the 75th anniversary of The Shadow Magazine’s first issue, released in April 1931. In “The 20 Most Underrated Shadow Novels,” a blue-ribbon panel of Shadow authorities—including Will Murray, Anthony Tollin, Howard Hopkins, John Olsen, and Rich Harvey—offer their choices for the best of the lesser-known, underappreciated stories in this long-running series. In “Shadows Never Cast,” BnT editor Ed Hulse synopsizes and evaluates the early, jettisoned scripts for what became the 1994 Shadow movie starring Alec Baldwin. And there’s a portfolio of rare stills—many of them never before published—from The Shadow Strikes (1937), the first full-length film to feature pulpdom’s pre-eminent hero.
Also in this issue: Will Murray documents behind-the-scenes efforts that led to the creation of “the Silver Lancer,” a state-of-the-art craft flown by pulp hero Bill Barnes; Rex W. Layton makes a case for L. Ron Hubbard’s authorship of six pseudonymously published sports stories; Monte Herridge describes the adventures of The Mongoose, a little-known detective-pulp hero created by Johnston McCulley; and William Lampkin reports on a Pulp.Net poll in which fans voted on the five essential pulp-oriented reference books.
Among the other rare illustrations in the issue are Bill Barnes artist Frank Tinsley’s original, unpublished design sketches for the Lancer, and George Rozen’s full-color “rough” for a 1942 Shadow cover.
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Big Double Issue #12-#13 Packed with Cover Repros, Illustrations, Photos
The long awaited double issue of BLOOD ‘N’ THUNDER (12/13) is finally here, and we believe you’ll find it well worth the wait! We’ve crammed into 64 pages some 40,000 words of copy—enough for a short novel. And we’ve made room for nearly five dozen reproductions of pulp covers, black-and-white illustrations, and photographs.
In “An Author in Search of His Genre,” Brian Taves analyzes the earliest pulp stories written by Talbot Mundy—stories in which the king of high adventure developed his themes and style. John Locke uses dozens of excerpts from articles penned for writers’ magazines to flesh out his profile of all-but-forgotten pulp humorist and detective-story scribe Thomas Thursday, “A Beezark from the Bozarks.” Ed Hulse continues his informal survey of a great pulp magazine in “The Glories of Short Stories: The Thirties.” Any one of these lengthy articles would dominate an average issue of BnT.
Also: “The Amazing Adventure of Old Marvel,” Joe Rainone’s report on a 19th-century story-paper sleuth who predated, and possibly influenced the creation of, the immortal Sherlock Holmes. In this issue’s installment of “Tricks of the Trade,” Alfred Jan documents Cornell Woolrich’s “double-dipping,” the practice of selling the same story to two magazines. Joe McNeill and Steve Korn weigh in with a look at the 1932 George O’Brien thriller Mystery Ranch, the seminal “Western Gothic” film. Monte Herridge makes his BnT debut with a “Series Spotlight” piece on private eye Pat Oberron, the creation of G. T. Fleming-Roberts. Finally, we begin a new department, “From the Reading Room.”
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Issue #11: Science Fiction and Its Early Years
Jules Verne's Mysterious Island is examined in a lengthy essay, and film historian Steve Joyce takes a look at the 1919 First Men in the Moon, adapted from an H. G. Wells story. Also, a humorous piece on Zarnak, the short-lived comic strip that appeared in early issues of Thrilling Wonder Stories; and a portfolio of science fiction images from the late 19th century, including wonderful Jules Verne artwork. Don't miss this 30-page sci-fi pulp extravaganza!
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Spring 2005 Issue Explores "The Glories of Short Stories"
In BLOOD ‘N’ THUNDER #10 (Spring 2005),
the cover story is Part One of editor Ed Hulse's "The
Glories of SHORT STORIES," a "less than definitive
history" of the magazine. It's a personal appreciation
packed with information about this underrated pulp and
the series characters that populated it. Focusing on
issues from the 20s and 30s, the two-part article
covers such prolific SHORT STORIES contributors as
Clarence Mulford, L. Patrick Greene, W. C. Tuttle,
James B. Hendryx, J. D. Newsom, William MacLeod Raine,
and Frank Richardson Pierce. The article is
illustrated with numerous covers and spot
illustrations from the magazine's peak years.
Will Murray contributes "Archie Bittner and THE
SPIDER," an intriguing look at the career of pulp
scribe Wayne Rogers, whose checkered past could itself
have inspired a dandy rough-paper yarn. Gary Lovisi is
on board with "Pirates in Paperback," a survey of
collectible paperbound editions of books about
buccaneers. Christopher Malins weighs in with a short
profile of Charles B. Stilson, pioneering writer of
"scientific romances" for the early Munsey pulps. Also
included is the ending Stilson personally created for
Edgar Rice Burroughs’ "Tarzan of the Apes." (He wasn’t
happy with ERB’s ending.)
BnT #10 also presents the motion picture
"treatment" of THE ELECTRIC MAN, a horror movie
intended for production in 1936 with Boris Karloff and
Bela Lugosi. In "The Classic That Might Have Been," a
fact filled introduction to this rare manuscript,
author and film historian John Soister describes the
circumstances behind the treatment's shelving and its
subsequent reworking for the 1941 B-movie MAN-MADE
MONSTER, starring Lon Chaney, Jr. and Lionel Atwill.
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Rare Treat: Issue #9 Details 1937 Lone Ranger Pulp Magazine
BLOOD ‘N’ THUNDER #9 (Winter 2005) contains our longest
article to date: Al Tonik's extensive piece on the Lone Ranger's early years.
It covers the character's creation and early years on radio, but the real meat of the article is
Al's comprehensive analysis of the short-lived 1937 Lone Ranger pulp
magazine, which has never been written about in such detail. In
addition to reproductions of all eight covers and interior art from the
first issue, we include a repro of the seldom-seen, uncirculated
"ashcan" issue prepared in 1936 for copyright-registration purposes.
In our "Pulp Page to Silver Screen" department, Anthony Tollin reviews
"A Burglar to the Rescue," a 1931 Universal two-reel short subject that
was the first motion picture to feature The Shadow. This
two-reeler--the first of six "Shadow Detective filmettes"--followed the
format of STREET & SMITH'S DETECTIVE STORY PROGRAM, the radio show that
introduced the Shadow character as a narrator of crime yarns adapted
from DETECTIVE STORY MAGAZINE. "Burglar" appeared in a 1930 issue of
DSM, and our writeup is accompanied by the title-page art from that
Herman Landon story, along with frame blowups showing The Shadow. The
movie, recently restored by Universal after languishing for more than
seven decades in the studio's vaults, was exhibited last year at a
vintage-film festival in Hollywood, and Tony Tollin covered the
re-premiere exclusively for BnT.
Also in BnT #9: Alfred Jan examines the "Surgeon of Souls" series
written by Victor Rousseau for WEIRD TALES in the mid '20s. This series
predates Robert Leslie Bellem's "Surgeon of Souls" stories by a decade
and, as Alfred points out, takes an entirely different tack. Rounding
out the issue is Will Murray's "Gangsters, Gobs, and Gats: The Rise and
Fall of Anatole France Feldman," which takes a look at the checkered
career of this gangster-pulp specialist, whose fortunes began to fade
with the 1933 repeal of Prohibition.
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Tribute To MOON MAN Author Frederick C. Davis Heads Fall 2004 Issue #8
BLOOD ‘N’ THUNDER #8, (Fall 2004) features an extensive tribute to
prolific pulpster and novelist Frederick C. Davis, who wrote the
adventures of such popular characters as Operator #5 and The Moon Man
in addition to hundreds of stories in the detective/mystery, aviation,
western, and weird-menace genres. We begin with an overview of the
author's career by Davis scholar Garyn Roberts, who co-edited THE NIGHT
NEMESIS, a 1985 collection of Moon Man stories. For a look at Davis the
man we present a lengthy interview with son Rick Davis and
granddaughter Karen Cunningham, who provide valuable insights into
FCD's personality, work habits, and influences. The author reveals some
of his writing secrets in an article reprinted from a 1941 issue of
WRITER'S DIGEST. Finally, we have what is believed to be a complete
Davis bibliography, listing many hundreds of pulp stories as well as
several dozen hardcover novels and non-fiction magazine appearances. The Frederick C. Davis tribute is illustrated with candid photos of the
author, B&W illustrations that accompanied his pulp stories, and a
plethora of pulp covers from issues containing FCD yarns. Also in this issue is Rodney Schroeter's in-depth report on this year's Windy City Pulp and Paperback Show, including comments by 2004 Guest of Honor Frederik Pohl, legendary SF author and editor.
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Spring 2004 Issue #7 Boasts Ron Goulart, Will Murray
The Spring 2004 issue of BLOOD ‘N’ THUNDER, our Mystery/Suspense number, is now available. Novelist and noted pop-culture historian Ron Goulart has contributed “The Haunted World of Cornell Woolrich,” in which he reminisces about his relationship with the brilliant but troubled writer once called “the Poe of the 20th Century.” In another article, novelist/pulp scholar Will Murray debunks the assertion by Tod Browning biographer David J. Skal that the famed director wrote pulp mysteries under the pen name Charles R. Allen. Earl Derr Biggers’ Charlie Chan made his first film appearance in a 1926 serial, THE HOUSE WITHOUT A KEY, which BnT editor Ed Hulse covers at length in this issue’s installment of “Cliffhanger Classics.” (The film itself is lost, but Hulse reconstructs it from the sole surviving copy of the original shooting script, which he compares to the Biggers novel.)
Old-Time Radio historian Martin Grams, Jr. writes about the “I Love a Mystery” series—a perennial favorite of OTR buffs—and the 1945 Columbia film adapted from one of its best-remembered continuities: “The Decapitation of Jefferson Monk.” Also: BnT Associate Publisher Mark Trost reviews the 1935 first issue of Popular Publications’ long-running pulp, DETECTIVE TALES, and, in an article reprinted from a 1941 issue of WRITER’S DIGEST, veteran pulpster Henry Kuttner writes about his efforts to master the mystery-story formula. As usual, the issue is copiously illustrated with artwork, photographs, and cover reproductions.
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Issue #6 Examines Doc Savage's Debut
BnT #6 (Winter 2004) includes "Last Hurrahs," a lengthy article on the waning days of the hero pulps; "Dithering Over Doc," Will Murray's conjectures regarding the timing of Doc Savage's debut; "Reminiscences of Nick Carter," a reprint of a fascinating 1918 piece written by Nick's creator, John R. Coryell; and "A Million Words a Month," a 1935 WRITER'S DIGEST article written by Mort Weisinger based on his interview with the Thrilling Group's Leo Margulies. This issue's "Cliffhanger Classics" column discusses THE JUNGLE GODDESS, a hugely successful 1922 chapterplay. As always, the articles are accompanied by pulp-cover repros, photographs, and b&w illustrations.
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Issue #5 Showcases Unpublished Spider Painting
Get 'em before they're all gone! Our fifth big issue (Summer 2003) debuted at Pulpcon and is simply packed with articles and reviews--we didn't even have room for a story reprint this time around. This issue's cover story is "De Soto, Master of Menace," a tribute to the great pulp painter Rafael de Soto. Our front cover features a never before published de Soto painting of the Spider--not a pulp-cover recreation, but an original composition commissioned by a fan in the late 1980s. Inside, de Soto candidly reminisces about his career in a first-person essay pieced together from several videotaped conversations. Accompanying de Soto's recollections are a choice selection of his pulp covers and a brace of previously unpublished pencil sketches for covers (including a SPIDER) that were rejected by Popular Publications back in the 1940s.
Peter Ruber's "King of the Pulps," a comprehensive overview of the career of the legendary H. Bedford-Jones, is taken from the book Peter recently co-authored with Darrell Richardson and Victor Berch. It's a substantial essay that discusses HB-J's writing habits and style, and identifies the long-running series he did for such pulps as ARGOSY and BLUE BOOK. Peter's article is a great primer for those who are familiar with the name but not the work, and it, too, is accompanied by numerous cover reprints.
The "Tricks of the Trade" department features a fascinating piece by prolific mystery novelist Frank Gruber. In "This Is the Way I Make My Bread," originally published in a 1941 issue of WRITER'S DIGEST, Gruber describes an average week—during which he finds innumerable ways to avoid sitting down in front of a typewriter. Loaded with references to the era's top writers and editors of pulps, this delightful article paints a fascinating picture of a writer's life during the heyday of fiction magazines. For this issue's "From the Top Shelf," BnT editor Ed Hulse reviews the March 1933 issue of DIME MYSTERY BOOK—the one issue not covered in Shawn Danowski's excellent survey of the magazine in Mike Chomko's Purple Prose. And it's a good issue, too, featuring a full-length novel in the Sax Rohmer tradition.
"Cliffhanger Classics" takes a lengthy look at NEW ADVENTURES OF TARZAN, the 1935 serial produced in part by Edgar Rice Burroughs himself. While this film has been covered before—especially in the ERB fanzines—our piece includes previously undisclosed information about the production, along with extensive quotes from Tarzan himself, 96 year-old Herman Brix (a\k\a Bruce Bennett), who recently granted BnT an exclusive interview. In this lengthy article we debunk several of the oft-reported myths surrounding the NAoT serial. Weighing in at 36 pages, Blood 'N' Thunder #5 sports a full-color cover.
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Issue #4 Debuts in Chicago
Proudly displayed at the 2003 Windy City Show in Chicago, Issue #4 features L. Ron Hubbard Scholar Rex W. Layton, who uncovers The Secret of Treasure Island, the 1938 Columbia serial adapted from Hubbard's unpublished novel, Murder at Pirate Castle. BnT publisher Mark Trost looks at some one-shot wonders -- including Paul Ernst's "The Wraith" and Donald G. Cormack's "The Parson" -- that popped up in the Popular Publications' detective pulps of the '30s. Also: An expanded edition of the pulp-review department, "From the Top Shelf," another installment of "Tricks of the Trade," and a few surprises. Don't miss it!
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"Mystery Man" Issue #3 is ready: Preview it here!
BLOOD 'N' THUNDER #3, a "Mystery Man" theme issue,
is 36 pages, including a four-page color section. In The Lord of Terror, author/historian Robin Walz (who wrote the excellent PULP SURREALISM) presents a fact-filled overview of the original Fantomas series written by Marcel Allain and Pierre Souvestre. Glenn Kenny, film critic for PREMIERE magazine, follows Robin’s piece with an appreciation of the 1913 Fantomas movies made by legendary French filmmaker Louis Feuillade. The eight-page section wraps up with full-color reprints of the very pulpish covers--scanned from the first editions--of all 32 novels from the Allain-Souvestre cycle.
Also in this issue, the long-forgotten Man in the Black Cloak appeared in a 19th-century story paper published by Frank Tousey. Pulp collector Joe Rainone, who uncovered the 1886 periodical featuring this unusual character, compares Francis W. Doughty’s groundbreaking thriller and Walter B. Gibson’s first Shadow novel. You might be surprised at the similarities between the two. Are they all coincidental? Maybe, maybe not: Street & Smith owned the Tousey library at the time Gibson wrote The Living Shadow. Read Joe’s provocative article and decide for yourself.
Long-time pulp fan and Old-Time Radio enthusiast Anthony Tollin (who helped Walter Gibson write THE SHADOW SCRAPBOOK) has contributed a fascinating piece. In Stalking the Lost Shadows, Tony details his efforts, and those of his fellow enthusiasts, to collect information on a heretofore undocumented Shadow radio show--produced in San Francisco and distributed only to western and mountain states--featuring the cloaked, gun-slinging crimefighter of Gibson’s novels. We all thought Orson Welles was the first to portray Lamont Cranston on radio--but now we know he wasn’t.
In this issue we inaugurate a new department, “Cliffhanger Classics.” Once-prominent fictioneer Arthur Stringer, who sold stories to pulps and slicks alike, created his most memorable character for a 1916 Pathe movie serial. THE IRON CLAW gave top billing to Pearl “Perils of Pauline” White, but the real star was “The Laughing Mask”--the serial screen’s first mystery-man hero. Although the film itself is lost, we have recreated the story from installments of Stringer’s novelization, which was serialized in 1916 newspapers simultaneously with the theatrical release of each Pathe episode. Finally, this issue’s Blood ‘N’ Thunder Reprint is Mellow Drama, Richard Sale’s satirical (and cynical) 1935 short story about the writers, editors, and publishers of single-character pulps. It’s loaded with inside references and makes entertaining reading for those of us “in the know.”
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Issue #2, devoted to classic Halloween horror, is now available
BLOOD 'N' THUNDER #2 is here! Pulp Page to Silver Screen takes a look at the 1939 movie RETURN OF DR. X, which was adapted from a short novel that appeared in DETECTIVE FICTION WEEKLY. From the Top Shelf examines a 1942 issue of G-8 AND HIS BATTLE ACES in which the Flying Spy tangles with a zombie master. Tricks of the Trade reprints a 1931 WRITER'S DIGEST article dispensing tips for selling horror stories to WEIRD TALES, STRANGE TALES, MIND MAGIC, GHOST STORIES, et al.
The feature article, Unholy Jitters, explores the sexy and sadistic weird-menace pulps published by Martin Goodman's Red Circle group. To accompany this study-which includes extensive excerpts from the most twisted stories-we've reprinted the covers of all 17 weird-menace issues (nine MYSTERY TALES, five UNCANNY TALES, two REAL MYSTERY, and two MARVEL TALES), five of them in color. There's also a one-page montage of Red Circle interior
illustrations. Staying on topic, the Blood 'n' Thunder reprint revisits Arthur J. Burks' Mates for the Morgue Master, a 1939 MYSTERY TALES yarn that deals with necrophilia. Issue #2 contains 40 pages, with front/back covers printed in full color on card stock.
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New fanzine covers adventure, mystery, melodrama in the pulps, comics, vintage radio, serials, movies, and fiction
BLOOD 'N' THUNDER is the first fanzine devoted to fictional works produced during the first half of the 20th Century that relied on violent action, hair-raising thrills and baffling puzzles to entertain mass audiences. These works are now considered the well-spring from which all modern popular culture originated--including comics, movies, and television. The premiere Summer 2002 issue centers around a 4,500-word, nine-page article on the silent GREEN ARCHER serial. Based on the classic 1923 Edgar Wallace mystery story, this long lost chapter play influenced everything from today's gothic thrillers to superheroes like the Green Arrow. Giving readers a full flavor of the lost film, the comprehensive piece on the making of the influential cliffhanger features rare stills, filmmaker recollections, and story synopses.
Other Issue One fanzine goodies include:
- a comparison of the pulp novel, "Tombstone Canyon," to its 1932 film adaptation starring Ken Maynard;
- a lengthy analysis of a 1946 Superman radio continuity that owed much to the sci-fi pulp stories of Edgar Rice Burroughs and others (information concerning the trail blazing aspect of the Superman radio show and how it foreshadowed events in the comics and television is fully revealed);
- a reprint of a 1936 Writer's Markets article on pulp publishers and what they were paying for stories;
- a rarely seen Weird Menace pulp story from 1933, "Tentacles of Doom," featuring Paul Chadwick's Wade Hammond--ghost breaking sleuth in the hard boiled tradition (reprinted from the original pulp in facsimile form).
Printed on glossy card stock with full-color cover, the 36-page Blood 'n' Thunder magazine includes movie stills, pulp cover repros, old advertisements, and a wealth of information on the origins of many of today's most popular adventure characters.
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Blood 'N' Thunder at Golden Apple Comics in LA
SoCal pulp enthusiasts will find BnT at Golden Apple Comics on Melrose Ave. in Los Angeles. Golden Apple is Blood 'N' Thunder's exclusive West Coast retail outlet.
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Copyright 2009
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