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I assumed it was John Sunlight, a Doc Savage villain, at the time, although I could have easily mistaken since I've never read any of the stories with John Sunlight in them.Now I want to read Roadmarks again.
Thank you, Dan. So fast & right on!I looked up 'John Sunlight' on Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Sun...
&, believe it or not, he had a pretty good entry. Not only does it agree with you that he appeared briefly in 'Roadmarks' but said he was the only villain to appear in more than one Doc Savage novel. The two are Doc Savage Fortress of Solitude & The Devil Genghis.
'Roadmarks' is a quick, really fun read. If you've read it already, then you know there are two timelines followed; 'One' which is Red's, the hero's & 'Two' which is everyone else.
The interesting part of 'Two' is that Zelazny supposedly wrote all the sections & then tossed them in the air & alternated them with the 'One' timeline (which is linear) in the order he picked them up. What a 'wild & crazy guy', to quote Steve Martin. It's amazing, but it worked really well to make the complexity of time travel along the Road shine through & yet still delivered a very tight story.
I have the two John Sunlight books as one of the Nostalgia Ventures Doc Savage twofers. I should crack it open one of these days.So, when are we going to team up and start that Zelazny group, JIm?
I have too many groups right now, Dan. I just dropped one & really need to drop a couple more. Still, it is tempting. Lots to chew on with his books; naming the big pun, finding the few (very few) errors & figuring out all the little byways he brings up. We discussed "Lonesome October" in one group. Wow! I don't think I've ever learned as much about a book. It really needed a group to figure out who all the characters were.
I would be up for a Zelazny group easily. I adore his sfF books,stories that i have read so far. This Immortal was a mythological SF at its finest.
is there a KING OF PULP? like Dickens is viewed as King of Victorian Lit?
not really - it being a format instead of a genre; but Max Brand (Frederick Faust) would be a good start
No not a "king of Pulp" as such but a lot of very good writers wrote for the pulps before going on to better things.I recall reading John D. MacDonald wrote for the pulps breifly before he became a big name mystery writer.
I'd think each genre would likely have a king or two & each decade, too. It would be an interesting list to see.
On reflection, Jim you are correct. But is there one person who stands above all as THE king? It would be intersting to try to compose such a list.Fpr the 1930's pulp genre, I personally would nominate either Lester Dent(Kenneth Robeson) for Doc Savage and Walter Gibson (Maxwell Grant) for The Shadow. IMho, since these two were porably the best known and wide spread of the superhoero pulps, they had great influence.
I would calls kings the ones that is highly remembered today. Themselves or their characters. The ones that beated the test of time.Not only superhero stuff but other genres. Black Mask big guns,Weird Tales etc
Robert E. Howard, Lovecraft, Asimov, Bradbury, Heinlein & a lot of others got their start in the pulps, as did a lot of others after them. That makes it a very difficult call, IMO.
I wouldnt count Asimov,Heinlein. They got big just when the pulps was dying and novels was getting big in their genres. I dont count writing briefly for pulp. Their fans dont know that. They are famous for their novels and not for magazine writing.I was thinking more like earlier pulps or writers that survive on their pulp rep. REH,HPL,Lester Dent,Hammett,Chandler,Leight Brackett,CL Moore,Kuttner etc
Not a single king or who is most known but people still read today despite they mostly for wrote for mags 60-80 years ago.
I have a Pulp hero question i have read articles somewhere about The Avenger novels. I'm wondering can you find today the old stories of Doc Savage,The Avenger in book form ?Or are the books you hear about of the old pulp heroes pastiche ? Like seeing "new" Sherlock Holmes books.
Mohammed: A group called Nostagia Ventures (www.Nostalgia Ventures.com) has reprinted 20 of the original Doc Savage novels. See that website for details. They are reprinted with the original artwork and some commentary in the back.Also, Doc Savage can occasionally be found on e-bay. The Avenger has fewer stories; much harder to find.
Nostalgia is also doing The Avenger two a book. I'm not sure whether they plan to eventually do the new ones Ron Goulart wrote to add the original paperback reprints.
The Doc Savage books are the original stories written by Lester Dent ? Both with The Avenger,Savage i want one of the original stories so see if they are still readable today.
Other pulp fiction i have enjoyed.
Mohammed, take a look at this: http://www.radioarchives.com/The_Aven...The format seems to be the same as the Shadow and Doc Savage reprints. Original pulps, two to a book.
I saw Doc Savage books very cheap less than 1 pund, 1 dollar for each book in Abebooks. http://www.radioarchives.com/Doc_Sava...
The volume in that link 1 is the first real two stories of his ?
Heh i didnt know The Avenger was written by the same guy.
The Avenger was by a different author. Kenneth Robeson was a house name. Most of the Docs were by Lester Dent, though not all. Most of the Avenger tales were by Paul Ernst, though not all.
Randy wrote: "The Avenger was by a different author. Kenneth Robeson was a house name. Most of the Docs were by Lester Dent, though not all. Most of the Avenger tales were by Paul Ernst, though not all."Oh yes i remember reading that in an article that it was a house name. I have read articles of pulp heroes,creators in the back pages of Criminal a marvel Noir series created by fans of pulp fiction.
Nostalgiatown site Adam linked to is great for having so many of the pulp stories,heroes.
Pulp Magazine Authors and Literature Fans
Books mentioned in this topic
The Devil Genghis (other topics)Fortress of Solitude (other topics)
Roadmarks (other topics)
I read Roadmarks yesterday. The hero is a traveler on a 'road' that cuts through space & time & possibilities. He has a 'hit' put on him - actually 10 of them, a 'Black Decade'.
One of those who attempt to assassinate him is a man named 'John' who, after his defeat, is picked up by a man named 'Doc' who drives a red sportster. I'm guessing it was Doc Savage, but I'd like to know a bit more about 'John', if anyone knows & can point me to the book(s) about him.
John seemed to wear outfits that were all of a color, including rings with stones that matched. He is described as wearing purple, clothes, rings, belt at one point, green at another & yellow at the last. He preferred to use others to do his dirty work & was a sadist. He was tall & thin, with long, supple fingers.
Anyone know?