Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

Focus On

Focus on Jack Cole

Rate this book

78 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1986

14 people want to read

About the author

Ron Goulart

604 books99 followers
Pseudonyms: Howard Lee; Frank S Shawn; Kenneth Robeson; Con Steffanson; Josephine Kains; Joseph Silva; William Shatner.
Ron Goulart is a cultural historian and novelist. Besides writing extensively about pulp fiction—including the seminal Cheap Thrills: An Informal History of Pulp Magazines (1972)—Goulart has written for the pulps since 1952, when the Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction published his first story, a sci-fi parody of letters to the editor. Since then he has written dozens of novels and countless short stories, spanning genres and using a variety of pennames, including Kenneth Robeson, Joseph Silva, and Con Steffanson. In the 1990s, he became the ghostwriter for William Shatner’s popular TekWar novels. Goulart’s After Things Fell Apart (1970) is the only science-fiction novel to ever win an Edgar Award.

In the 1970s Goulart wrote novels starring series characters like Flash Gordon and the Phantom, and in 1980 he published Hail Hibbler, a comic sci-fi novel that began the Odd Jobs, Inc. series. Goulart has also written several comic mystery series, including six books starring Groucho Marx. Having written for comic books, Goulart produced several histories of the art form, including the Comic Book Encyclopedia (2004).

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
6 (54%)
4 stars
2 (18%)
3 stars
3 (27%)
2 stars
0 (0%)
1 star
0 (0%)
Displaying 1 of 1 review
Profile Image for Rich Meyer.
Author 50 books57 followers
January 15, 2014
This is an interesting look at one of comic books' premier creators of the golden age, Jack Cole, the man responsible for the iconic Plastic Man. It has a lot of good detail and black-and-white art reprints of Cole's early work, including the complete first adventure-strip story he did.

Ron Goulart should be commended for pulling this together in such a tasteful manner. Lou Mougin also contributed an excellent checklist of Plastic Man's appearance to that date, including all of the Police Comics and original solo series run.
Displaying 1 of 1 review

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.