Gideon’s Sword by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child 9780446564328
Preston & Child are the authors of the much-loved Special Agent Pendergast series, the most recent of which (FEVER DREAM) introduced several layers to the series that further cement it as one of the best New Pulps out there. Pendergast is the Shadow, Doc Savage and The Spider, all rounded into one. It’s a tremendous tour-de-force and is highly recommended by this reviewer.
GIDEON’S SWORD is a new series, introducing Gideon Crew, who witnessed his father die in a suspicious manner. Gideon grew up believing his father was a traitor to his country and mentally unbalanced… but the truth is that his father was the fall-guy in a government conspiracy. Armed with this knowledge, Gideon sets out to get revenge — he does so (surprisingly easily) and is then recruited into a shadowy organization (one that was featured in other Preston & Child books, most notably ICE LIMIT). Gideon is also informed that he’s dying and has less than a year to live. He elects to live his life to the fullest and along the way has romantic relationships with both a prostitute with a heart of gold and a lovely CIA agent.
This felt like two books — the story of Gideon’s hunt for his father’s killer and then the story of his becoming a secret agent. The first part was simply awful and almost prompted me to give up on the book. It was trite, silly and at times, just stupid. The way people just gave up sensitive information or engaged in info-dumps for the benefit of the reader was very frustrating. Thankfully, once Gideon is recruited for his later work, things do improve, though they never come close to approaching the quality of every other Preston & Child book that I’ve read. As much as I enjoyed the character of Orchid, how many hookers-with-a-heart-of-gold have we seen in fiction? And while Gideon’s master-of-disguise talents appeal to the pulp lover in me, I didn’t get a clear indication of how Gideon mastered these skills and thus it felt convenient to me. The entire story was utterly predictable, which is not something I would usually say about these authors. Until this book, I would say that their worst work was still better than most authors’ best… but this was a disappointment, from page one.
There are enough signs of hope here that makes me think they could still salvage the series (the authors say they’ve already sold the film rights to (shudder) Michael Bay) but to be honest, I’d prefer to simply pretend this book didn’t happen and go back to enjoying the Pendergast books and the various one-offs that the authors have done (like the excellent ICE LIMIT or RIPTIDE).
YESTERYEAR Written by Tommy Hancock Review based on a preview copy
Tommy Hancock is well known in pulp circles, primarily through his work with Pro Se Productions but also because of his associations with Pulp Ark, All Pulp and just about everything else with “pulp” in the title.
Yesteryear is Tommy’s first foray into novels and it is a superhero piece that straddles the line between traditional pulp and a prose version of a comic book. In that way, it’s somewhat reminiscent of Van Plexico’s SENTINELS series, though th subject matter is quite different. Like Plexico, Hancock wears his inspirations proudly but at no point does this book fall into the realms of parody or pastiche. The characters here have obvious jumping-off points that are recognizable to everyone but from there, they become unique individuals.
The story itself focuses around a long-lost history of the Heroes & Villains movement that began in 1929. Secrets lay within this book and there are people willing to kill to keep them from coming to light. Hancock jumps around throughout the text, alternating between the modern day and pieces of the lost book. This is “world building” at its finest as there are numerous characters introduced, with just enough hint of history to set your mind to wondering… but few of them have their stories told in total. This may frustrate some readers but if you look at it as the first in a series, it’s more understandable. Don’t get me wrong — there is a complete story here, but there are questions left unanswered along the way.
The artwork is nice and adds to the story but the real star here is the prose, which is concise and readable. There are times that I was reminded of both MARVELS (because of the common man’s view of the Heroes) and also of WATCHMEN (because of the conspiracy elements and mystery) — both of those books are classics and Hancock could certainly have done worse than illicit comparisons to them.
I enjoyed it quite a lot and think that if you’re a fan of superheroes, you should really check this out. Both Marvel and DC have tried to move their heroes into the prose realm with limited success but both Plexico and Hancock have shown how it can be done — and done very well.
Yesteryear will be released very soon and in all honesty, I can say that you need to put it on your “must read” list… I have a feeling it will be showing up on many ballots in next year’s Pulp Ark Awards and deservedly so.
For fans of pulp-based comics, be sure to check out BACK ISSUE! Magazine this month. Issue 47 includes the final interview with The Rocketeer’s Dave Stevens before his untimely death; a look back at Charlton’s run with The Phantom; an analysis of DC’s Phantom series; and a fond look back at the 1970s DC Justice, Inc. series!
Veteran pulp author Barry Reese is hard at work on DIE GLOCKE, a novel starring his popular Lazarus Gray character. The novel will pit Lazarus and his aides against several returning villains, as well as a few new ones, in an adventure that takes the heroes out of their usual Sovereign City setting and sends them around the globe. Accompanying Reese on this journey will be artist George Sellas (http://georgesellas.deviantart.com/).
“George is a tremendous artist and he brings an exciting sensibility to Lazarus Gray and the other characters. I think people are going to be blown away by the finished product!”
2011 is shaping up to be a big one for the Lazarus Gray character. Pro Se Productions will be releasing a collection of short stories featuring the hero and Gray will also be appearing in THE ROOK VOLUME SIX, appearing alongside the title character. DIE GLOCKE will follow later in the year.
PULP HEROES: KHAN DYNASTY Written by By Wayne Reinagel ISBN 0981531210
This 592-page tome features multiple storylines but the key ones take place in the 1800s and 1938. We get to see some of the Victorian Age heroes uniting against a Fu Manchu-style villain while the mysteries of that age reach their climax in the 20th century, with the pulp heroes of the day resolving the matter. Where possible, Reinagel uses actual characters that are in the public domain (Mr. Hyde, Allan Quatermain, etc.) but most of the characters are thinly disguised pastiches of famous heroes and villains (there’s a Fu Manchu-style villain, Doc Titan instead of Doc Savage, The Scorpion instead of The Spider, The Darkness instead of The Shadow, etc.)
The writing is clear and exciting, with some wonderful dialogue. In some cases, I actually prefer the pastiche version of the character to the real one — I’ve never warmed to The Spider, for instance, but The Scorpion here genuinely interested me. There are some action sequences here that are so good I really, really wish I had written them… pulpy excitement and enthusiasm shows through on every page and I can honestly say that this is one of the best pulp novels I’ve ever read. I’ve heard it called “The Gone With the Wind of pulps” and that’s fairly accurate, both in terms of length and the sheer audacity of the storyline, which take the Wold Newton Universe and pushes it through the wringer.
I found the jumping back and forth in the story-lines to be quite interesting though the extended sequence in Antarctica near the end was the only one where I thought it could have been excised to make for a tighter book.
The interior artwork consists of faux magazine covers and is by Reinagel. I really liked some of these though there was the occasional placement issue where I wasn’t sure why that cover was inserted where it was. But overall, it added to the experience immensely and helped reinforce the notion that it was Doc Titan who did all those cool things, not Savage.
But it’s not perfect. There are times when Reinagel tries so hard to insert references to seemingly every writer, character or movie that he’s ever liked into the story that it just made me roll my eyes. I’d have preferred that he’d left out the writers like Stoker, PJF and Verne. Their presence, to me, undermined the feeling that this was a real universe and got a little too self-referential to me.
And there are definite places where I wonder if Reinagel didn’t step out of the realm of homage and instead dipped into copyright violation. The stuff that comes from The Mummy movies with Brendan Frasier, for instance. No names or anything was changed — he simply recounts the plot of the film. Same for Stephen Strange, who doesn’t just pop up for a few pages but is a minor but important character. And Bruce Wayne is here, with his classic origin… I think that those characters and events would have benefited from the pastiche treatment. By using the real names and so forth, it almost felt like fanfiction and this book is too good for that.
This is a remarkable achievement and I think that anyone who calls themselves a fan of the hero pulps should put this on their reading list ASAP. Even with its flaws, it is an amazing and inspirational work that will drive you back to the stories that inspired this one. It’s that good.
THE SPIDER # 1 Moonstone Books The Spider Written by Martin Powell Art by Pablo Marcos Operator Backup Written by Gary Phillips Art by Roberto Castro
The Spider was never one of my favorite pulp heroes — he was simply a little too “nuts” for my taste. I preferred The Shadow, The Avenger or The Man of Bronze. But I’ve read quite a few Spider tales over the years and I have to say that this story is one of the best. A mad scientist duo are creating lobotomized zombies and plan to do the same to The Spider’s love interest. This leads to an exciting battle between The Spider and the lumbering hordes of zombies. The art is moody and evocative, perfectly capturing the mood of the story. If I had any complaint, it would be that I wished it had been longer. Great pulpy fun and one of the best Return of the Originals products so far.
There is a backup in this issue — an Operator 5 story that continues into the next issue. The art on this one is solid and the story is interesting though the character is hardly one of my favorites. Nonetheless, it’s a solid complement to the excellent Spider tale that leads off the issue. Highly recommended for pulp fans.
AP: Thanks for joining us, Tommy! Can you tell us a little about the genesis of Yesteryear and what it’s about?
TH: Thanks, it’s cool to be sitting on this side of the interview again.The genesis of YESTERYEAR is rooted way back in my fan fiction days.I was making a decent name for myself writing Golden Age inspired Fan Fiction on the internet in the late 1990s and up into the early 2000s, but, like so many writers of said stuff, realized it was simply what its name implied, fiction written by a fan.So, I started putting my thoughts toward original work and several great ideas came out of that period.Most of those ideas ended up populating one particular story line, one universe in my imagination.I started looking at what the impact of super types would be on our world if they simply just started on one day in history.What would they make their costumes out of?Why would they even wear costumes?And what about history, would heroes and villains impact history as dramatically as we think they would or would history have rolled on pretty much the same as it has?Out of that came the concept of public perception versus private realities.That’s the genesis of YESTERYEAR and mostly what its about.
The plot of YESTERYEAR is different, also.There are really three stories going on here.There is a modern tale being told about a manuscript that was written by a former Hero in 1955, but the author and said book both vanished.The unfinished manuscript and all the research accompanying it show up at a publisher’s office in the modern era.What ensues from there is a chase tale combined with a mystery.Who all wants this book and why?What does it contain that could be so dangerous to so many people?Where is the author of this explosive tome? And why did THIS publisher get it?
Included within YESTERYEAR along with the modern tale are excerpts from the fabled manuscript.Some of these are finished pieces by the missing writer, others are letters, notes on napkins, etc. that he gathered for research.Within this manuscript, there are two storylines going on, one showing how the public viewed their first heroes and villains and the truth behind that view.There’s a lot packed into this, but hopefully it all unravels into one great story.
AP: Who are the major characters in the novel and are they based on any pre-existing pulp/superhero archetypes?
TH: Major characters, yeah, there’s a handful.Based on pulp/hero archetypes? You bet.The Hero is my take on Superman, except he’s a human who has these powers thrust on him.The Night, one of my personal favorites, is Batman, The Shadow, and The Spirit all mixed together.The archetype discussion could go on forever and many of them will be obvious, but will also have a twist to them.The real main character of this novel is the book that stirs the whole controversy.It may not be the key to the meaning of life, but its definitely a pot stirrer in this particular universe.
AP: Yesteryear is your first full-length novel — how do you find writing in longer-former to be different than the short story and novellas you’re known for?
Well, that’s not really a question I can answer yet because YESTERYEAR, although it’s a full length novel, is like writing short stories and novellas and even short shorts because it’s a big tapestry sewn together with a central storyline.It’s not a linear novel in several respects.One thing, though, that I think is like other novels, is that you have to insure the story is intriguing and engaging from the first to the last word.I hope I’ve achieved this with YESTERYEAR and not just made something that comes off as gimmicky.
AP: Are there sequels in the works involving these characters?
TH: Oh, most definitely.YESTERYEAR tells a complete story in one way, but intentionally leaves so many questions to be answered. There are at least two direct sequels to this book that are possible, but there are tons of other directions to go as well.Each character could have at least their own collection or novel or series of novels and every one of them would fit into the mosaic that makes up this universe.Can YESTERYEAR be the only novel and readers be satisfied.Yes, I think so.Are there many, many more pieces that should be seen and add to the whole shebang.You bet.
AP: I’ve heard that the book is being featured in an Arkansas-based literacy campaign? Can you tell us about that?
Yeah, this is the coolest part.A literacy organization that covers a large part of Northern Arkansas has seen the cover done by Jay Piscopo, a cover featuring three heroes reading a book, and want to use it as a part of a reading campaign.This is in the works and will be announced very shortly formally, but its really exciting that a pulp/hero novel gets the opportunity to encourage people to read more.Yes, its publicity for the book, but its more about being a part of what this is all about…getting people to read what we write.
AP: The cover by Jay Piscopo is gorgeous — how much direction did you give him on that?
TH: Jay requires little to no direction, he is such an awesome talent.I did give him the three characters I wanted in it (From left to right, The Hero, The Freelancer, and The Night) and the fact that a book should be featured in some way.As far as design goes, though, that’s all Jay.The way he blended the characters, colors, and overall theme into a single image….wow.That cover says it all and sets the tone for the novel it fronts very well.
AP: Where and how will people be able to buy the book?
TH:Pro Se is making the move from Lulu to Createspace and this novel may be the first after that transition.But we’re also not sure how long this will take, so I’ll stay in touch to let you know exactly how to get it.
AP: Thanks for joining us and good luck with the novel!
Captain Action Winter Special Moonstone Books Written by Beau Smith, Matthew Baugh, Joe Gentile and Tony Lee Art by Eduardo Barreto, Reno Maniquis and Giovanni Carlini
I must confess up front that I know little about Captain Action. I am familiar with the toy though I’ve never actually seen one in person and I did read the Captain Action # 0 that came out a few years back. That’s the extent of my Captain Action knowledge so I went into this issue not really sure how well I’d be able to follow the action.
The cover proudly proclaims that in this issue Captain Action meets the Green Hornet — and that titanic team-up does occur, though it’s in the form of a prose story and not a comic tale. The story is by Matthew Baugh and hits most of the right notes. I appreciate that Moonstone is trying to mix prose and comics but I sometimes think that they’re not clear enough in the solicitations or covers about what you’re actually getting when you buy a book. I assumed this would be a comic book tale and was looking forward to seeing the heroes illustrated together. I did enjoy the story, however.
The opening comic strip in the issue is by Smith and Barreto — and it lives up to both creator’s past works. Beau Smith always delivers action-oriented tales and Barreto has long been one of my favorite underrated artists. There’s nothing earth-shakingly new in this story and parts of it (the ending, in particular) seemed very much out of a James Bond story, which I suppose was the intent.
The Lady Action tale follows that one. I have to say that I chuckle every time I say Lady Action. “There’s nothing I like better than some Lady Action!” This story is entitled “The Spy Who Snowballed Me” and that made laugh, too. The art is really nice and I enjoyed the story a good bit. I’m curious about having more Lady Action in the future. Hah! Sorry, I couldn’t resist.
The final comic story is an Action Boy tale — it shows how little I know about the Captain Action universe because I didn’t know there was an Action Boy. The story follows the trend of the first two, putting the hero into a wintry setting and proceeding to tell an action-oriented story. The art was nice but seemed a little too sketchy for my tastes.
Overall, I enjoyed the issue enough to check out upcoming releases. I’m especially interested in Honey West getting some Lady Action in that team-up they teased in the ads!
INDIANA JONES AND THE DINOSAUR EGGS Written by Max McCoy Bantam Books (1996, reissued 2008) ISBN 978-0-553-56193-7
As a huge Indy fan, I’ve collected all the novels over the years and will periodically take them out for a spin. My favorites are the ones written by Rob MacGregor but this is the best of the Max McCoy ones. It does continue threads from previous McCoy books and some elements are obviously to be continued from here but for the most part, it’s a nice done-in-one and you won’t suffer too much from jumping into this one if you’re unfamiliar with the literary Indy.
In this story, Indy is contacted by a beautiful nun who tells him that her father has gone missing in Outer Mongolia. In her possession is a horn that appears to have come from a recently deceased triceratops. Indy, our lovely missionary and a rugged explorer named Granger set off in search of both the missing professor and the possibly living dinosaurs. Along the way, there’s a breathtaking action sequence in the American Museum of Natural History, a visit to a valley lost to time, Indy’s first meeting with Rene Belloq and the possibility that Indy is the reincarnation of Marco Polo.
My only real complaint is that the novel sometimes skips weeks in between chapters — as a result, the first half of the book chugs along at a steady pace and the second half feels like it’s jumping around through what should have been an even bigger adventure. It makes me wonder if there was an editorial decision to trim the novel to fit into a specific page count.
McCoy has been very vocal that a number of his attempts to write the books for adults were shot down by the editors but I still feel this one captures the feel of the Raiders of the Lost Ark Indy very well and it was a blast to revisit it. The MacGregor novels are set earlier in Indy’s timeline so this one is probably a nice one to pick up if you’re new to the literary trail since the presentation of Indy is very consistent with what we see in the first film. If you enjoy it, go back to the beginning of the novels and see what you’ve been missing — both the MacGregor and the McCoy runs are worthwhile and even the Martin Caidin books have their moments.
Beginning a series of articles focusing on the major and minor players in the pulp publishing world! The first company to fall under the microscope is Wild Cat Books.
WILD CAT BOOKS
HISTORY: Originally began as “Secret Sanctum” in 1997 as a home-made, Xeroxed “fanzine” and was the first of its kind to feature full-color throughout. After 3 years and 17 issues, it officially became Wild Cat Books (WCB) and continued for a while as your typical “fanzine” but in B&W. Soon after, they became involved in the Print-On-Demand (POD) feature which allowed them to publish square-bound Trade paperbacks and magazines and started a bookstore at Lulu.com where orders could be placed, and only those orders would be printed as needed. This was a fine option that allowed them to not require a minimum press run and helped keep expenses and inventory to a more manageable point. Eventually, they became involved with Amazon, which allowed them to produce even better looking books at an even more reasonable price. For the past few years, Amazon has been their printer of choice.
STAFF: Ron Hanna was the Founder, Publisher, and Editor-in-Chief and remains in that position today. Ver Curtiss is the Art Director and has been involved with Ron from the very first issue of “Secret Sanctum”. They remain good friends and collaborators to this day. One of the best, and earliest, writers for them was Kevin Noel Olson, who created and wrote the critically acclaimed “Spring-Heeled Jack: Gunfighter” series that included many short stories and a full-length novel. After several years of writing other projects, Kevin is returning to “Jack” in an all-new series. There are a number of Artists involved with WCB, each having their work appear in a variety of projects. Some of the more popular of these are Nick Neocleous, David Burton, Ver Curtiss, Gary McCluskey… all of whom are professionals in their fields. Another very important person involved with WCB is William Carney, an Award-winning Graphic Designer who puts that very special professional touch and look to WCB’s productions. He is also the Managing Editor and is one of the most important people on staff at WCB. The Writers involved vary considerably… This is probably the most wide-ranging group of people involved. Some have been with WCB for a long time, others for just a few submissions. The most prolific of these has been Barry Reese, who has done many wonderful books for WCB and his “Rook” series is up to 5 volumes now, with more on the way. He’s also written some stand-alone novels that have also garnered great reviews, including “Rabbit Heart”, “The Damned Thing”, and “The Savage Tales of Ki-Gor”. Barry is also the Marketing Director for WCB and you can find his works published not only by WCB, but many other small-press publishers as well. Other writers of note are K.G. McAbee, Tim Jones, and Chris Carney.
PUBLICATIONS: Along with the continuing series of “The Rook”, the other on-going publication that WCB is famous for is their revival of the old pulp magazine “Startling Stories”. This quarterly magazine features both new material as well as reprints from the Golden Age of Science Fiction. It’s one of their more popular titles and always features something for everyone, from “Retro-Reviews” to the exclusive “Saucy Blaine” comic feature by acclaimed writer and artist Ron Wilber, who has been involved in pulp fandom for over 20 years. They also publish full-length novels, anthologies and short stories in many genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, Pulp Hero, Weird Menace and other popular genres. They have a website where you can peruse their recent releases and even order them directly from Amazon with a “Buy Now” button. See http://www.wildcatbooks.net for what they currently have to offer… Some other books that were originally published through the Lulu site remain there, and are some of the best reference books the pulp fan could ask for: “The Captain Future Handbook” by Chuck Juzek is a massive full-color Hardcover that is the definitive collection featuring this classic space hero. Other excellent reference works are by Award-winning pulp historian Wooda “Nick” Carr, and those include “The Pulp Hero”, “Master of the Pulps” and “The Pulp Magazine Scrapbook”. All of these belong on every pulp fan’s bookshelf.
SUBMISSIONS: WCB does accept submissions but they currently have many projects in the works, so any new submissions, even if accepted, may not see print for some time. This is because WCB is dedicated to producing the finest books that they can deliver. They believe in “Quality over Quantity” and may only publish about 6 books in a year, but the results are most definitely worth waiting for!
We use cookies to improve your experience on our site. By using our site, you consent to cookies.
Cookie Preferences
Manage your cookie preferences below:
Essential cookies enable basic functions and are necessary for the proper function of the website.
Name
Description
Duration
Cookie Preferences
This cookie is used to store the user's cookie consent preferences.
30 days
These cookies are needed for adding comments on this website.
Name
Description
Duration
comment_author_url
Used to track the user across multiple sessions.
Session
comment_author
Used to track the user across multiple sessions.
Session
comment_author_email
Used to track the user across multiple sessions.
Session
WP Consent API is a plugin that standardizes the communication of accepted consent categories between plugins.
Name
Description
Duration
wp_consent_{category}
Stores your consent preference for a specific cookie category (e.g., functional, marketing). It ensures consistent consent management across WordPress plugins supporting the WP Consent API.
30 days
Statistics cookies collect information anonymously. This information helps us understand how visitors use our website.
Google Analytics is a powerful tool that tracks and analyzes website traffic for informed marketing decisions.
Used by Google Analytics to determine which links on a page are being clicked
30 seconds
_ga_
ID used to identify users
2 years
_gid
ID used to identify users for 24 hours after last activity
24 hours
_gat
Used to monitor number of Google Analytics server requests when using Google Tag Manager
1 minute
__utmt
Used to monitor number of Google Analytics server requests
10 minutes
__utmb
Used to distinguish new sessions and visits. This cookie is set when the GA.js javascript library is loaded and there is no existing __utmb cookie. The cookie is updated every time data is sent to the Google Analytics server.
30 minutes after last activity
__utmc
Used only with old Urchin versions of Google Analytics and not with GA.js. Was used to distinguish between new sessions and visits at the end of a session.
End of session (browser)
__utmz
Contains information about the traffic source or campaign that directed user to the website. The cookie is set when the GA.js javascript is loaded and updated when data is sent to the Google Anaytics server
6 months after last activity
__utmv
Contains custom information set by the web developer via the _setCustomVar method in Google Analytics. This cookie is updated every time new data is sent to the Google Analytics server.
2 years after last activity
__utmx
Used to determine whether a user is included in an A / B or Multivariate test.
18 months
_ga
ID used to identify users
2 years
_gac_
Contains information related to marketing campaigns of the user. These are shared with Google AdWords / Google Ads when the Google Ads and Google Analytics accounts are linked together.
