Tag Archives: pulp stories

August 11, 2013 · 7:54 pm

THE FOUR MOST NEGLECTED PULP HEROES

When it comes to the enjoyable old Pulp Heroes of the past the big names like the Shadow, Doc Savage, Zorro, the Spider and Conan the Barbarian get the most attention. Balladeer’s Blog presents four Pulp figures who are unjustly overlooked but who appear in stories every bit as exciting and memorable as the more well-known heroes. Each of the following characters were written by the same writer for their entire series of stories, not by people using House Pseudonyms owned by the big publishers like with many other Pulp figures.

Northwest Smith

Northwest Smith

4. NORTHWEST SMITH

THE HERO: Space traveling anti-hero Smith was created by the female writer C.L. Moore in the 1930s. Four decades before Han Solo, Northwest Smith was a ruthless swashbuckling smuggler, thief and all-around mercenary. Smith’s less than sterling character made him a refreshing change from the usually wholesome pulp heroes of the time.

THE STORIES: Northwest Smith’s adventures take place in the far future, when regular trade exists between Earth and the native inhabitants of Mars and Venus. The other planets in the solar system have been colonized by those Big Three worlds, providing a backdrop that combines elements of westerns, seagoing adventures and colonial-era war stories.

Wielding a blaster like a six-gun and piloting his deceptively fast and maneuverable spaceship The Maid Smith and his Venusian partner Chewie Yarol roam the solar system making a living by plying various illegal trades. Though Northwest and Yarol are career criminals they often Continue reading →

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September 16, 2011 · 4:01 am

PULP HEROES: THE MOON MAN – STORIES 10-12

I’m continuing my look at Frederick C Davis’ pulp hero the Moon Man. In reality police detective Stephen Thatcher, the Moon Man stalked the night-darkened streets of fictional Great City (“Great City ya got here … it’d be a shame if something happened to it …”) clad in his black costume and his helmet made of one-way Argus glass. Armed with an automatic plus limitless courage and ingenuity the Moon Man captured or killed Great City’s most dangerous criminals (white collar and blue collar) and robbed them of their ill-gotten booty. He would then distribute that money to the city’s Great Depression-ravaged poor. ( “Great Depression ya got here … it’d be a shame if – ” oh, forget it!) All this made him hunted by both the crooks AND the cops. For more on the Moon Man and other neglected pulp heroes click here: https://glitternight.com/pulp-heroes/

10. CRIMSON SHACKLES – With the death of their leader Primus in the previous Moon Man story, the Red Six is now the Red Five, with their second in command, Secundus, the criminal organization’s new leader. The red-masked gang and their black-masked and blackmailed underlings, most of them pillars of the community with something to hide, pull off a daring robbery of Great City’s Van Ormond Museum.

In addition to looting the museum of all the valuable art and relics they could carry in this commando- style raid, the Red Five capture Stephen Thatcher when he and the rest of Great City’s police force give chase. Secundus reveals to Stephen that before Primus’ death he had stolen the evidence proving that Thatcher is really the Moon Man. Once again Stephen is forced to don his Moon Man costume and Argus glass helmet and pose as the field commander of the Red Five.

As the Moon Man and his assistant Angel conspire to once again foil the gang’s next caper from behind the scenes Secundus shows our hero he means business by exposing Stephen Thatcher’s dual identity to Continue reading →

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September 10, 2011 · 5:12 am

PULP HEROES: THE MOON MAN – STORIES 7-9

I’m continuing my look at Frederick C Davis’ pulp hero the Moon Man. In reality police detective Stephen Thatcher, the Moon Man stalked the night-darkened streets of fictional Great City (“Great City ya got here … it’d be a shame if something happened to it …”) clad in his black costume and his helmet made of one-way Argus glass. Armed with an automatic plus limitless courage and ingenuity the Moon Man captured or killed Great City’s most dangerous criminals (white collar and blue collar) and robbed them of their ill-gotten booty. He would then distribute that money to the city’s Great Depression-ravaged poor. ( “Great Depression ya got here … it’d be a shame if – ” oh, forget it!) All this made him hunted by both the crooks AND the cops. For more on the Moon Man and other neglected pulp heroes click here: https://glitternight.com/pulp-heroes/

7. MURDER MOON – A pack of crooks pulls off a daring robbery, stealing twelve thousand dollars (in 1930’s money) from Great City’s ritzy Continental Theater, only to have the loot stolen in turn from them by the Moon Man. Our hero wants his assistant Angel to relay the money to a ghetto clinic in order to keep it from folding. Rav Corsi, the boss of the gangsters who had their booty stolen by the Moon Man, feels the law closing in on him for related crimes and hatches a bold scheme to get the cops off his back. He and his henchmen plan to capture the Moon Man and turn him over to the police in exchange for immunity. To that end they stalk and capture Angel, torture him with a soldering iron and Continue reading →

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September 3, 2011 · 2:18 am

PULP HEROES: THE MOON MAN – STORIES 4-6

I’m continuing my look at Frederick C Davis’ pulp hero the Moon Man. In reality police detective Stephen Thatcher, the Moon Man stalked the night-darkened streets of fictional Great City (“Great City ya got here … it’d be a shame if something happened to it …”) clad in his black costume and his helmet made of one-way Argus glass. Armed with an automatic plus limitless courage and ingenuity the Moon Man captured or killed Great City’s most dangerous criminals (white collar and blue collar) and robbed them of their ill-gotten booty. He would then distribute that money to the city’s Great Depression-ravaged poor. ( “Great Depression ya got here … it’d be a shame if – ” oh, forget it!) All this made him hunted by both the crooks AND the cops. For more on the Moon Man and other neglected pulp heroes click here: https://glitternight.com/pulp-heroes/

4. THE SILVER SECRET – While distributing money from our hero’s latest theft from a wealthy crime figure, the Moon Man’s assistant Ned “Angel” Dargan discovers a man killed by the mob running Great City’s rackets and political circles. The brutal means of execution was a bear trap planted in the man’s bed- pillows (that’s gotta hurt). Angel is knocked unconscious and left to take the rap and the victim turns out to be a former District Attorney destroyed by the criminal powers-that- be in Great City.  The victim had compiled incriminating evidence on the big names in the city’s corrupt machine, including the Continue reading →

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July 18, 2011 · 11:23 pm

PULP HEROES: THE MOON MAN

The Moon Man

The Moon Man

THE MOON MAN – Created by Frederick C Davis, the Moon Man is, to me, the epitome of the campy but fascinating heroes the old pulp publications used to treat readers to, issue after issue. Operating in fictional Great City, the Moon Man not only waged war on the ruthless representatives of the criminal element, he also plundered their ill-gotten wealth from them and distributed it to the Great Depression-ravaged poor of the 1930s.

This not only made the hero a combination of the best elements of the Shadow and Robin Hood, but it also gave him a healthy dose of “Green Hornet appeal”, too, because, like the Hornet, the Moon Man was hunted by both the crooks AND the cops, doubling the danger for the Continue reading →

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July 12, 2011 · 4:51 pm

PULP HEROES: THE FINAL TWO SILVER JOHN SHORT STORIES

I’m continuing my look at Manly Wade Wellman’s pulp hero Silver John, the roaming singer and guitarist who fights supernatural forces in the Appalachian Mountains of long ago, sort of like a countrified Orpheus meets Kolchak. He’s called Silver John because of the silver strings on his guitar and the silver coins he carries in his pockets. For more details click here: https://glitternight.com/pulp-heroes/

SIN’S DOORWAY – This story takes place when Silver John is much younger and in fact hasn’t even begun using silver guitar strings yet. For anyone wondering how he would do against supernatural menaces without silver implements this is your chance to see our hero improvise. Anyway, this tale features a younger and less experienced John dodging corrupt southern lawmen and winding up getting lost in the wilderness. He’s nearly starved by the time he finds a town and arrives just in time for  Continue reading →

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June 29, 2011 · 11:23 pm

PULP HEROES: SILVER JOHN – AN UNDEAD HANGING VICTIM AND A SUPERNATURAL SHOOTING CONTEST

I’m continuing my look at Manly Wade Wellman’s pulp hero Silver John, the roaming singer and guitarist who fights supernatural forces in the Appalachian Mountains of long ago, sort of like a countrified Orpheus meets Kolchak. He’s called Silver John because of the silver strings on his guitar and the silver coins he carries in his pockets. For more details click here: https://glitternight.com/pulp-heroes/

WHERE DID SHE WANDER? – This short story is set during the time Silver John and Evadare are married. Our hero travels to perform at the Trudo Music Festival, where he got tongues wagging by setting his guitar on fire while on stage. I’m kidding! While there John looks into a local legend behind a song he’s just learned. A legend about Becky Til Hoppard, a woman hanged as a witch in 1849. Her gravestone is regarded with superstitious awe and Continue reading →

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June 23, 2011 · 12:24 am

PULP HEROES: SILVER JOHN – A TRIO OF TALES

Silver John: Can These Bones Live?

Silver John: Can These Bones Live?

I’m continuing my look at Manly Wade Wellman’s pulp hero Silver John, the roaming singer and guitarist who fights supernatural forces in the Appalachian Mountains of long ago, sort of like a countrified Orpheus meets Kolchak. He’s called Silver John because of the silver strings on his guitar and the silver coins he carries in his pockets. For more details click here: https://glitternight.com/pulp-heroes/

NOBODY EVER GOES THERE – Just a reminder that all the Silver John stories published after his marriage to his beloved Evadare (click here if you missed the tales chronicling that landmark event – https://glitternight.com/2011/06/03/pulp-heroes-silver-john-four-for-friday/  ) jump around in time. This short story is set when John is much older. This tale breaks from the tradition of having the stories narrated by Silver John in the first person. We get a third person narrative in which the older (probably 40’s) balladeer comes to the aid of two young lovers in the town of Trimble.

Mark Banion and Ruth Covel, two teachers at Trimble High, cross to the forbidden side of Catch River, where ancient, shadowy life forms caused the disappearance of an entire textile factory crew plus their families. All of that happened over 75 years ago, but strange sounds still emanate from the creepy-looking abandoned factory and the company houses nearby. The romantic leads investigate the strange place and find themselves surrounded by the nebulous creatures from the Continue reading →

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June 17, 2011 · 12:42 am

PULP HEROES: SILVER JOHN – “WHO ELSE COULD I COUNT ON” AND “OWLS HOOT IN THE DAYTIME”

I’m continuing my look at Manly Wade Wellman’s pulp hero Silver John, the roaming singer and guitarist who fights supernatural forces in the Appalachian Mountains of long ago, sort of like a countrified Orpheus meets Kolchak. He’s called Silver John because of the silver strings on his guitar and the silver coins he carries in his pockets. For more details click here: https://glitternight.com/pulp-heroes/

WHO ELSE COULD I COUNT ON? – Silver John encounters his own older self from forty years in the future. He’s traveled back in time to Continue reading →

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June 13, 2011 · 12:02 am

PULP HEROES: SILVER JOHN – THE WARLOCK JOSS KIFT AND CRAYE SAWTELLE’S HELL-HOUND

I’m continuing my look at Manly Wade Wellman’s pulp hero Silver John, the roaming singer and guitarist who fights supernatural forces in the Appalachian Mountains of long ago, sort of like a countrified Orpheus meets Kolchak. He’s called Silver John because of the silver strings on his guitar and the silver coins he carries in his pockets. For more details click here: https://glitternight.com/pulp-heroes/

I CAN’T CLAIM THAT – With Silver John and his beloved Evadare married now (and if you missed the landmark tales depicting those events click here – https://glitternight.com/2011/06/03/pulp-heroes-silver-john-four-for-friday/  )   the stories stopped going in chronological order, jumping around Silver John’s life past and future. Set BEFORE John’s marriage, this vignette features a warlock named Joss Kift who seeks revenge on our hero for exposing him. A black rooster with its throat cut, a voodoo doll and a black dog hanging from a tree are Continue reading →

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