Jack of Shadows (Signet, August 1972). Cover by Bob Pepper A decade ago this summer, Jack of Shadows by Roger Zelazny was reissued in print, after many years languishing in obscurity even among the author’s most devoted fans.
An interesting art volume I received is Gil Cohen: Inside/Out (Archive Collection), edited by Bob Deis and Wyatt Doyle and published by New Texture as part of the Men’s Adventure Library series of books.
Here we have the second volume of Lester Dent’s “gadget hero,” Clickell “Click” Rush: The Devils Smelled Nice: The Complete Adventures of the Gadget Man, Vol. 2. This one has the next six stories. This series was published in Street & Smith’s Crime Busters pulp in 1937-39, which was intended to be a sort of […]
“You’re the second guy I’ve met within hours who seems to think a gat in the hand means a world by the tail.” – Raymond Chandler Spider-Noir is the best thing to happen to Marvel streaming since…well, Daredevil: Born Again.
Karl Edward Wagner (1945 – 1994) is one writer I make a concerted effort to collect. I think I have almost his entire output, which is — unfortunately—not extensive. The man was a genius and I wish it was more.
Having ‘come into’ comics as a child in the very early 80s, the Bronze Age of Marvel was probably the genre-defining era for me. And given my dual penchant for Spider-Man and The X-Men, that meant that the two most defining voices of the Bronze Age were Gerry Conway and Chris Claremont.
Roger Phillip Graham was born in Spokane, Washington on February 20, 1909 to John Alfred Graham and Abbie Susan (née McCalmont). His family moved often, spending time in Oklahoma, among other places. He returned to Spokane to attend Gonzaga College, from which he graduated in 1931 and did some graduate work at the University of Washington.
One of my local gaming friends told me about Marrying Mr. Darcy, and brought his copy to a recent session, where we played it. I thought it was a lot of fun and have acquired a copy. This is a game based on Jane Austen’s classic novel Pride and Prejudice.
The Eternal City, edited by David Drake, Martin Greenberg, and Charles G. Waugh (Baen Books, January 1990). Cover by John Rheaume The main reason I bought this collection was for the Howard story, “Kings of the Night.” This was back when I was striving to be a Howard completist.
I have been posting on the fanzine bare*bones, which is devoted to “unearthing vintage, forgotten, and overlooked horror, mystery, sci-fi, western, and weird film, paperbacks, comics, pulp fiction, and video.” It is produced by Peter Enfantino and John Scoleri through Cimarron Street Books.
Good afterevenmorn, Readers! Now that I’ve finished my play-thorugh of Far Cry 6, I have started playing a new game on my Friday night live streams. It is a survival exploration game that I am assured also has a story element (my livestreams are narrative games, largely).
I picked up the third volume in the Jimmy Wentworth series from Steeger Books. The Brothers of the Snake: The Complete Chinatown Cases of Jimmy Wentworth, Vol. 3, collects the next six stories in this series.
“You’re the second guy I’ve met within hours who seems to think a gat in the hand means a world by the tail.” – Phillip Marlowe in Raymond Chandler’s The Big Sleep Back in the Summer of 2020, A (Black) Gat in the Hand looked at some screen and radio productions for Raymond Chandler’s private eye, Philip Marlowe.
Since the publication of his first novel Ghost Road Blues, Jonathan Maberry has been a mainstay in genre fiction circles. Whether its for one of his multiple series, comic book writing, or the numerous anthologies he’s edited over the years, audiences have come to know and love his work.
A veritable cornucopia of dodgy barbarian and barbarian-adjacent movies that I have never watched before, and will probably never watch again. Enjoy Parts One and Two here and here. A Nymphoid Barbarian in Dinosaur Hell (1990) – USA I can’t help thinking that this one must have disappointed many a randy teenager when they smuggled it out of the video store, only to learn that ‘nymphoid’ doesn’t mean the same as ‘nymphomaniac,’ and were instead subjected to a good hour of aimless...
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Pauline Whitby was born in Hatfield, Hertfordshire on January 25, 1926 to the headmaster and headmistress of Merchant Taylors’ School in Ashwell, the village from which she would gain her pseudonym. Whitby had a younger sister named Marie.
The Fish in Jonah’s Puddle (To Say Nothing of the Demon) by Byron Leavitt (Brain Waves Press, 2026.) Cover created by Miblart with interior illustration by the author. A contemporary, cosmic-horror take on portal fantasy! The Fish in Jonah’s Puddle (To Say Nothing of the Demon) is a young-adult, portal fantasy written by Byron Leavitt. It’s a contemporary, cosmic-horror take on the sub-genre that was a gateway for many of us.
Trumpets From Oblivion is a historical action/adventure series by H. Bedford-Jones that appeared in Blue Book Magazine. This thirteen-part series ran from November 1938 to November 1939 and was cover-featured four times.
I picked up a small book by L.S. Goozdich, Fire in the Tall Grass. Published by Veritas Entertainment, this is the first adventure with Noah Redford, set after World War I. Since the book is small, I think this one is most likely a novelette.
While people disagree on the quality of Lin Carter’s writing, most people agree he was a fine editor and tireless supporter of the fantasy field. Volumes edited by Carter brought quite a few new authors to my attention, as well as feeding me a steady diet of works by writers I already loved.
Thundarr the Barbarian (21 episodes; 1980-81) Created by Steve Gerber (Howard the Duck; The Defenders). The look of the main characters was designed by Alex Toth. After he was unavailable to continue working on the series, Jack “King” Kirby was brought in, at the recommendation of Gerber and Mark Evanier (who would later write a biography of Kirby).
The fifth volume in the chronological reprinting of Semi Dual stories from Steeger Books came out last year. I am holding off on the three Semi Dual serials that were reprinted from later in the series.
It’s mid-May, and I’ve been in something of a hardboiled mood lately. So with Summer looming, here’s a Black (Gat) in the Hand. More Pulp is coming, like a gumshoe with a gasper and a rod. I am fortunate to be part of a star-studded roster of writers who provide intros to Pulp reprints from Steeger Books.
