Pulp adventure, mystery, steampunk, alternate world sci-fi
If anyone doubts there is a major renaissance in pulp fiction going on today, then let them pick up this old fashion thriller. George Mann has delivered a very typical pulp avenger story with an added twist of steampunk. If you are unfamiliar with the term, steampunk refers to a technology based on steam power as was first developed in the 19th century focusing in large part to Victorian Era Britain. It is a subgenre of science fiction and often used in alternate world settings.
The year is 1926, shortly after World War One. All transportation is steam powered including automobiles. Tesla coils light up cities and viewing tube-telephones are familiar household appliances. Police dirigibles patrol Manhattan’s canyons and bi-planes docked on rooftop rocket launchers are part of the city’s skyline silhouette.
Gabriel Cross is a disillusioned, wealthy veteran living on his vast estate on Long Island. Bored with his life and the shallow social circles he inhibits, Cross dons special night goggles, rocket boots, a dark trench coat and slouch hat and becomes the urban vigilante known as the Ghost. It would be impossible for any pulp fan not to recognize the Ghost’s pedigree, he is an heir to such classic pulp avengers as the Shadow and the Spider and dozens of others who emerged from pages saturated in purple prose.
Of course you can’t have a good pulp hero without an equally impressive pulp villain. In this tale he is a mysterious fiend known as the Roman. The police christened such because he leaves Roman coins on the eyes of his victims, all of whom are prominent public figures. As the Ghost begins his hunt for the Roman, he finds himself distracted by two other players in the game. One is the tenacious police detective Felix Donovan who has been charged to apprehend both the Ghost and the Roman. The other is a beautiful jazz singer named Celeste Parker with whom Cross is enamored.
At first Celeste appears to be merely a love interest whose insight into Cross’ wounded soul slowly begins to heal him. But when a group of the Roman’s henchmen attempt to kidnap her one night, the Ghost is dealt another mystery. Who is she really and what is her importance to the Roman? These are but a few of the elements that add cleverly written layers of suspense to an action packed adventure.
GHOSTS OF MANHATTAN, with its colorful steampunk setting, wonderfully echoes the exuberant fun of the original pulps. In the end it is a romantic tip of the fedora to those times long passed but never forgotten.
Mark Waid has been a good friend to ComicMix and we wish him well as he returns to the always exciting life of a fulltime freelancer.
Here’s the official word from BOOM! Studios:
December 9th, 2010 – Los Angeles, CA – It is with a heavy heart but also with great warmth and fondness that BOOM! Studios bids adieu to one of its own: effective immediately, Mark Waid is stepping down from the responsibility of Chief Creative Officer at BOOM! Studios. Waid will continue his run on IRREDEEMABLE and INCORRUPTIBLE and his brand new break-out hit collaboration with Stan Lee, THE TRAVELER.
“Mark was key in BOOM!’s transition from a promising upstart to top tier publisher,” Ross Richie, the Chief Executive Officer of BOOM! Studios remarked. “Now that we’ve reached this stage, Mark’s made it clear to me that he’s ready to take on new challenges. And we wish him the best!”
“I learned a lot in my time at BOOM! about the ever-evolving job of publishing comics in the 21st century, and it’s been an invaluable experience,” Waid said. “But now that BOOM! is in a strong place with its best foothold ever in the market, it’s time for me to refocus my energies on writing and on creating. And maybe take one of these ‘vacation’ things that people are always talking about.”
At Comic-Con International in 2007, BOOM! Studios shocked the industry with the appointment of Mark Waid as Editor-in-Chief of BOOM! Studios. After three years as Editor-in-Chief, and writer of some of the bestselling BOOM! Studios titles like IRREDEEMABLE, INCORRUPTIBLE and most recently THE TRAVELER, Waid was promoted to Chief Creative Officer in the summer of 2010. Today, after a little over three years at the company, Waid leaves BOOM! Studios firmly entrenched as one of the top comic book companies in North America.
“Working day-to-day with a creator of Mark’s caliber is an experience I’ll never forget,” said recently-minted Editor-in-Chief Matt Gagnon. “Thankfully, with IRREDEEMABLE, INCORRUPTIBLE, and THE TRAVELER going strong on the stands, I still get the pleasure of working day-in-and-day-out with Mark. He’s one of the greats and I wish him the best in the next chapter of his influential career.”
“Mark’s such a phenomenal talent, but also a phenomenally good sport.” Chip Mosher, Marketing Director added. “I’d like to publicly apologize that the tagline ‘Mark Waid is Evil’ will follow him the rest of his days! While Mark’s presence on the BOOM! team will be missed, I look forward to reading what is next on all the BOOM! books he will continue to concentrate on.”
While Mark Waid exits the executive team at BOOM! Studios, Waid will continue writing all three of his current BOOM! Studios titles. This December sees the release of IRREDEEMABLE #20 and INCORRUPTIBLE #13, in what continues to be one of the most successful launches of a new series in the past five years in the Direct Market. The success of the single issues for both series have been surpassed only by the massive trade paperback sales, with December also seeing blockbuster pre-orders for IRREDEEMABLE VOL. 5 and INCORRUPTIBLE VOL. 3 TPBs, that will be hitting store shelves later this month. Waid’s collaboration with Stan Lee, THE TRAVELER #2, also tearing up the sales charts, hits store shelves later this month.
More and more ch-ch-changes at DC, as various folks in the online department have announced they are heading to the West Coast office as the DC Online department moves to Burbank next summer. Ron Perazza will become VP of Online for DC Entertainment, Dave McCullough will become Director of Online for DC Entertainment, and Kwanza Johnson is Digital Editor. Heading up the department, you may recall, is Hank Kanalz, Senior Vice President, Digital of DC Entertainment These are the first announced westward personnel changes, although at least two DCU editors are also moving west to work more closely with CCO Geoff Johns.
Diamond Comics Distribution has informed comic stores that the warehouse will be closed from next March.
It’s been a good long while since Diamond closed any such warehouse.
In 2008 they consolidated a few into the new massive Olive Branch
centre, but at one point they used to have 24 warehouses. Now they’ll
have 4. The impact of this move will mean there will be no storage
facility for comics and their like on the West Coast.
Affected retailers will notice a change immediately in the new year,
with January the fifth delivering the last shipment from Diamond Los
Angeles. The next week, all deliversies will come from their new,
expanded Olive Branch center in Mississippi. Customers who pick up from
the Los Angeles warehouse can continue to do so until March, and then
will move over to a new LA-based pick up point.
Merry Christmas to everybody who’s losing a job right before the holidays.
One additional problem, not discussed or considered: there are a lot of books that are coming from Asia– not just manga and manwha, but a lot of books from DC, Marvel, and IDW that are printed overseas. One has to wonder what this will do to shipping times and costs for trades, etc.
AP: Lee, welcome to ALL PULP! First, can you tell us about yourself, some personal background?
LEE: I’m a high school graduate with a smattering of junior college, and words have been a part of my life as far back as I can remember. My parents read to me when I was young, and I’m always haunting the public library and bookstores, so it’s a rare day if I don’t have a book in my hands at some point. Ever since I figured out what a writer was and did, I have always tried to pursue that career path somehow and now the dream is finally coming true.
AP: As a writer, what influences have affected your style and interests the most over the years? Do you have a particular genre/type of story you prefer to write?
LEE: My personal tastes have been all over the genre spectrum, although I do find myself always coming back to science fiction, fantasy, and detective mysteries. I also enjoy good television, anime/manga, music, and am a major comic book fan. While I could list several influences in each category, when writing, I do tend to stay within the sci-fi, fantasy, and mystery genres regardless of what format I’m working in, because they have the most adventure and biggest sense of good triumphing over evil.
AP: What about genres that make you uncomfortable? What areas within pulp are a little bit intimidating for you as an author?
LEE: I’m not a fan of true horror, and prefer more ‘milder’ work like Kolchak, the Night Stalker or a good Godzilla movie to the Jasons and Freddies of the world. I personally feel you don’t need to know about every single drop of blood and inch of entrails to build suspense and drama. My biggest intimidation period is self-promoting. As a firm believer that one’s work should speak for itself, I am constantly being told I’m too modest for my own good. Otherwise, I find period pieces the most daunting to create, because while I have no problem doing the research, I’m always afraid of getting some little minute detail wrong that might spoil the story for the audience.
AP: Are you a pulp fan? If so, how has that affected you as a writer of pulps? If you aren’t a longtime fan, then why pulp?
LEE: I may not be as big a fan as some of the other people I work and associate with, but am a fan of the classics such as The Shadow and the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs. I’ve been told my stories can be a little terse at times, which is akin to the limited word count some pulp authors had to work with, but were still able to tell a great story despite any restrictions. As for why pulp, why not? The pulp style can trace its roots back to at least Cervantes’ Don Quixote, if not earlier, and the genre is just as entertaining today. Its influences are quite apparent in material as diverse as The Wild, Wild West; Jonny Quest, the Indiana Jones and NCIS franchises, Castle, and some of today’s comic books.
AP: What do you think you bring to pulp fiction as a writer?
LEE: First, I must thank Ken Janssens for the job referral, or I would never be where I am today. As a fan of various media, I’ve seen what does and doesn’t work over the years and as a writer, use that knowledge as a starting point, while trying to put fresh new spins on the presentation and hopefully not repeat what’s been done before. So when writing, I try to make sure people have as much fun reading my material as I do creating it.
Hugh Monn (on left) and Big Louie Art by CW Russette
AP: You’re a staff writer at Pro Se Productions and have a couple of recurring characters. Tell us about HUGH MONN, PRIVATE DETECTIVE.
LEE: Someday, mankind finally reaches the stars and takes its place within an already populous universe. But problems still exist and at times you need someone like Hugh to resolve them. I took some of the classic private detective trappings, like having a war veteran with his own sense of justice trying to earn an honest living the best way he knows how, and placed everything within a futuristic setting on another planet far removed from our own solar system, which hasn’t really been done that much within the mystery/detective genre. Of course the biggest mystery might just be Hugh himself. He freely admits in the first story, “Dineena’s Dilemma”, that ‘Hugh Monn’ (a play on the term Human) is just a business name, but there is something within his past he is not proud of that has helped shape him into the man he is today. I do reveal his given first name within the sixth adventure (“At What Price Gloria?”), but can assure the readers that the answers will be eventually revealed as the series progresses within Masked Gun Mystery without it affecting their enjoyment of the individual stories.
AP: Now, onto your other ongoing series at Pro Se. It’s a departure from futuristic mystery. Just what is WYLDE WORLD all about?
LEE: Very briefly, an ordinary man wakes up with absolutely no memory of his past life before finding himself in an exotic jungle setting. But as he soon discovers, it is not a dream, for the village chief wants to execute him for interfering with the latest ‘blessed sacrifice’. Now with the only person willing to befriend him in this alien landscape, he strives to stay alive while trying to figure out who he is and where his people are, and that’s just the opening chapter! After Hugh was accepted, I was asked if I had anything else to offer Pro Se, so I reworked the opening chapters to the novel I was working on at the time. Although a few people have compared it to James Cameron’s Avatar, WYLDE WORLD is as much a homage to my enjoyment of the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs as it is my own creative endeavor. The first real (all text, no pictures) book I could ever read totally on my own was Burroughs’ A Princess of Mars. I read it and the rest of the Mars books throughout the fifth grade, thanks to the school library. I’m presenting the tale in the style of the classic Saturday afternoon movie serials, and do bring the reader up to date on the previous installments from past issues of Peculiar Adventures as each new story appears. It started with issue two, and while the first story arc should conclude somewhere around issue eight, the series will continue beyond that!
AP: You’re also an editor for Pro Se. What do you edit and what do you think you bring to the position that can be of benefit to the writers you edit?
LEE: I have been granted the privilege of editing Pro Se’s Fantasy and Fear magazine, starting with issue two. I like to think I bring all my experiences past and present from both the fan and the professional’s perspective to the position in hopes of presenting everything the writers contribute in the best possible light. While I realize that publishing is a business, I try to maintain a friendly atmosphere and ‘open door’ policy with everyone. I even thanked by e-mail all the contributors to issue two I had contact information on for their hard work, a practice I will maintain on all future issues.
AP: What’s coming from Lee Houston, Junior in the future? Any projects you want to discuss?
LEE: In what I laughingly call my ‘spare’ time, I am working on other ideas; including my own super-hero and an all ages’ adventure featuring a group of inner city kids. Meanwhile, I do want to assure readers that HUGH MONN and WYLDE WORLD will continue indefinitely. Eventually there will probably be trade paperbacks collecting their stories thus far, although I am looking forward to reworking Wylde back into the novel it was originally intended to be for that volume. A Hugh adventure will appear within the 2011 Pulp Ark Convention Benefit Book to help raise money to acquire pulp books for libraries. I am also the Editor-In-Chief of The Free Choice E-zine at www.thefreechoice.info and recently edited the three issue comic book mini-series Raye Knight: Spellbound for its writer/creator Victoria Pagac, with art by Lou Manna, which is available from Indy Planet.
AP: Thanks a lot for taking time to visit with ALL PULP, Lee!
FIRST WAVE # 5 Written by BRIAN AZZARELLO Art by RAGS MORALES & RICK BRYANT Cover by J.G. JONES
Well, the series finally continues. This six-issue miniseries was supposed to “kick-off” DC’s First Wave line of titles but it’s still chugging along for some reason, unable to reach the finish line.
Artwise, this continues to be a winner. There are small quibbles here and there but overall Rags Morales is the main attraction to the series (aside from the visceral thrill of seeing The Spirit, Doc Savage and Batman all cavorting about on the same page).
The story, though…. Sigh. The best thing I can say is that, compared to DC’s Doc Savage series, this thing reads like Watchmen. But that’s only in comparison — on its own merits, the labyrinthine plot is confusing at best and boring at worst. I do like the twists on Batman’s personality and the writer does seem to realize that pulp should be exciting — meaning there’s more derring do than most recent issues of Doc’s series — but it just all feels flat. It’s like the creators don’t really care, so why should I?
Basically, the Golden Tree organization is trying to do some awful thing and it involves floating cities and robots, along with icky irradiated gold that is injected into people’s veins. Sounds exciting, I know, but trust me — that sentence I just typed is more goosebump-inducing than anything on the printed page. I continue to actively dislike this version of The Blackhawks and think that Rima the Jungle Girl’s role feels absolutely unnecessary.
Maybe it will read better in trade — but somehow I doubt it. DC has fumbled this First Wave stuff from day one. How can you miss with The Spirit… Batman… and Doc Savage??? Three of the greatest characters ever created — simply tell a story that’s worthy of those three and you’re guaranteed success. But DC, from the beginning, seemed more interested in changing the characters to fit what they wanted to do, rather than the other way around.
STARTLING STORIES FALL 2010 NEWS FROM WILDCAT BOOKS!
From Ron Hanna’s (WildCat Books) Facebook page-
Just uploaded STARTLING STORIES – Fall 2010 to the printers….
STARTLING STORIES continues the tradition of the old pulp magazines with this exceptional issue for Fall 2010. Editor and Artist William Carney has really delivered a wonderful package for your reading pleasure, with Classics such as “Dawn …of Flame” by Stanley G. Weinbaum, “The Vortex Blaster” by E.E. “Doc” Smith, and “Temple Trouble” by H. Beam Piper. Plus some very fine tales by our current writers, such as “Mirror Magic” by Ron Hanna, “Cask of Ages” by Wm. Michael Mott and Gerald W. Page, “Star Guard” by Carleton Grindle and more… including “Saucy Blaine” by Ron Wilber (with a Special Portfolio of this fine artist’s work) and “Kenton of the Star Patrol” by Wally Wood. Add in our Retro-Reviews by Chris Carney and Rob Morganbesser and I’m sure you’ll enjoy this issue as much as we enjoyed bringing it to you! Cover Art by Gary McCluskey and Back Cover Art by Hubert Rogers.
148 pages, 7″x10″ Perfect bound TPB, $12.95
As soon as I approve the proofs it’ll be uploaded to Amazon… hopefully in time for the Holidays!
AERIAL ACROBATICS AND AIRSHIPS: CRIMSON SKIES IS A VISION OF PULP IN VIDEO GAME-FORM
By
DON GATES
Special Guest to All Pulp
Throughout the years, pulp has trickled down and filtered out through all corners of pop culture, so it’s only natural that it would make it to the realms of video games as well. There have been some great pulpy games throughout the years but not a lot of them had a purely-pulp “feel” to them beyond a few noticeable influences. The Crimson Skies franchise, however, gets my nomination for “THE Pulp Video Game”, and although there hasn’t been a game released since 2003, pulp fans (especially fans of the air-combat sub-genre) should be interested in checking into the games or their affiliated fiction.
The Crimson Skies universe began in 2000 when Microsoft Game Studios released the titular game for PC. The game’s setting is an alternate-history version of the 1930’s, one where prohibition, the Great Depression, and internal strife between states resulted in the fragmenting of America. The country lies broken-up into several nation-states, such as the Empire State, the Nation of Hollywood, the Confederation of Dixie, etc. Because of the shaky political state, ground transportation between these areas ceases to be feasible and the nation’s real-life preoccupation with emerging flight technologies takes center-stage for shipping and travel needs. In the world of Crimson Skies, massive zeppelins cross the skies, airplanes are as plentiful as automobiles… and daring air pirates of varying degree of morality clash with air-militias and independent protection agencies.
In the first Crimson Skies game (for Windows 95/98/ME/2000), players take on the role of the swashbuckling Nathan Zachary, leader of the air-pirate group known as the Fortune Hunters. From their home base, the zeppelin Pandora, the Fortune Hunters act as air-pulp Robin Hoods: stealing only those who can afford to lose their wealth, all while helping others in need. The plot of the first game revolves around a corrupt security firm’s partnership with a ruthless band of pirates called the Black Hats and their plan to conquer a divided America under their control. The gameplay, meanwhile, is a mix of air-combat, light flight-simulation and stunt flying as players take control of a variety of souped-up fantasy warplanes. From the Hughes Aviation Devastator to the Fairchild Brigand, the planes are the real stars of the show: their designs wouldn’t look too out of place on the cover of classic air-pulp titles like Bill Barnes, and the first game lets you customize the look, performance, and armaments of your sweet sky-ride to suit your personal pirating tastes.
The sequel, Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge, came out in 2003 for the Microsoft Xbox video game console. While much of the flight simulation and customization aspects were cut back from the original (players could now only use a one-time general upgrade for each plane), a more casual and “arcade-like” flight mechanic was introduced: players could now pull off maneuvers like barrel-rolls and Immelmann turns after only a few minutes of experimenting with the controls; the game featured a new play mechanic as well that let players man anti-aircraft gun placements on the ground and stationed aboard the Fortune Hunters’ zeppelin. This time around, the story features Zachary and the Fortune Hunters becoming involved with the secret invasion of America by the Crimson Skies universe’s analogue of the Nazis: a huge network of black-marketeers called Die Spinne (German for “the spider”). Along the way, Nathan encounters double-crosses, adventures in a lost valley, and other very pulpy predicaments. The climax of the game- in which the Fortune Hunters and their allies take on a massive storm-generating airship that’s attacking Chicago- plays out something like a pulp-era version of the Death Star battle from Star Wars. This is just one of the many of the grin-inducing moments experienced by long-time pulp fanatics like me.
Even if you’re an air-pulp fan that doesn’t play video games you may still find it worth your while to check out other corners of the Crimson Skies franchise. Besides spreading out into a collectible miniatures game (sadly discontinued), there was also a smattering of licensed fiction available that was set in the Crimson Skies universe. Some of the short stories can still be found at the mirror-site of the Official Crimson Skies site (along with a nice who’s-who of the various factions, planes, and pilots & pirates), while a 3-story compilation novel was released by Del Rey (find it here at Amazon). The stories and the characters are a blast to read: from the hardboiled air-security man Paladin Blake and the Empire State’s dashing militia-man Loyle Crawford to the beautiful leader of the Medusas, Justine “Battle-Ax” Perot and the villainous Jonathan “Genghis” Khan of the Red Skull Legion (and, of course, Crimson Skies’ poster-boy Nathan Zachary), all the stories are a lot of fun and proudly wear their influences on their sleeve (the collected anthology is dedicated in part to Lester Dent, Walter Gibson, R.T.M. Scott and Robert J. Hogan).
The franchise has been dormant for a while, but every once in a while there are rumblings and rumors of its return (at one point, there was even a big-budget film in the works). Many of us who have found the game to be the perfect pulp video game, or fans who don’t know pulp from Adam but love a fun and adventurous flying game, hopefully await the return of Crimson Skies with bated breath.
30 years ago today, John Lennon was shot and killed by a person who we aren’t going to name.
His influence was huge in the world, and has been immortalized in comics in so many ways, from biographies to being a Skrull super-hero. And most recently, he’s been portrayed in a BBC biopic by Doctor Who‘s Christopher Eccelston, with Yoko Ono being played by Naoko Mori from Torchwood.
SARGE PORTERA-Columnist, Group Moderator, Pulp Enthusiast!
AP: Sarge, welcome back from your travels within Pulpdom to the ALL PULP HQ for this interview. Before we discuss your journeys, can you tell us a bit about yourself? Just who is Sarge Portera?
SARGE: The first thing I wish to clarify is that “Sarge” is a nickname and not a rank.
My dad nicknamed me Sarge when I was born! My parents couldn’t stand the thought of calling an infant Gus. For my first Halloween, Dad had a supply sergeant’s uniform made up especially for me! I was devastated when I turned eighteen and was rejected by the US Armed Forces!
Currently, I am the primary caregiver for my wonderful wife, Marci, and put my doctoral studies in curriculum development on hold. I was a classroom teacher from 1974 to 1998; dividing my time between teaching junior high science and Gr..3. From 1978 to 2007 I was a Community Education Director.
My contributions to educational research have led to my inclusion in Oxford’s International Dictionary of Biography & Men of Distinction, Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in American Education, Who’s Who in the East, Who’s Who of Emerging Leaders in North America, Who’s Who in Religion and Who’s Who in the World. My published works include: Concern for Peace & Justice, Foundations for Faith Formation, The Marian Tree and The Messianic Moment.
When we moved down to sunny Florida I soon discovered that my fellow teachers couldn’t pronounce my first name without making it sound like I was “ailin’!” There was already an “AJ” on staff so my co-workers playfully put it to a vote and “Sarge” won over our principal’s suggestion of “Mr. Belvedere!”
AP: You moderate several groups on face book dedicated to Pulps. Can you list those and give a brief description of each and what you hope to achieve with them?
SARGE: BRONZE PASTICHES is my fb group that hopes to learn more about the high adventure heroes who follow in Doc Savage’s footsteps! Currently, BRONZE PASTICHES has over 50 Discussion Boards, each one dedicated to a Doc Savage inspired action hero!
PURPLE PROSE PULP PARADE is my fb group that is dedicated to the preservation & promotion of high adventure, potboilers, pulps & purple prose as a legitimate literary genre!
SGT. PRESTON FAN CLUB is my fb group that’s dedicated to all the Mounties in board games, cliffhangers, comicbooks, miniature, movies, pulps, radio, television and most especially to Dick Simmons and his convincingly compelling portrayal of “Sergeant Preston of the Yukon” on CBS TV in the 1950’s!
SILHOUETTE PASTICHES is an fb group that me darlin’ daughter, Alanna, created. Just as Tarzan, Sherlock Holmes and Doc Savage spawn many imitations so does Street & Smith’s Shadow. This fb group is dedicated to those masked detectives who bravely battle crime in the shadow of the pulp hero who inspired their authors to create them!
WORLDS OF DOC DIAMOND is another fb group that my daughter created. The purpose of this fb group is to explore the many worlds that Doc Diamond and his Cosmic Chain Gang adventure on including their own earthlike homeworld, Manom!
AP: Just who is Doc Diamond and what is your connection to this little known, but previously published pulp hero?
SARGE: My dad, Albert, and my grandfather, August, created an adventure hero back in the late forties. They named him Doc Diamond and copyrighted him under the name of A.J. Portera. Doc Diamond’s thirteen adventure mysteries were published by their little Christian publishing house, The Olive Press.
AP: You are most definitely a Pulp fan, probably one of the fan-iest. That begs the question-Why? What appeals so much to you about the Pulp genre, in general or specific, to make you so dedicated to it?
SARGE: My grandfather believed he was rescued by a ship’s captain who strongly resembled Doc Savage! My dad & grandfather were big fans of the Shadow, both on radio & in print! I happily remember how they would always tune in a radio station that played the old classics like “The Lone Ranger” & “The Shadow” anytime we were driving with them. They both enjoyed “Planet Stories” & “Planet Comics!” They naturally shared their interest in ALL things PULP with me & that’s why I’m a third generation pulp fan!
AP: You are one of the Spectacled Seven at ALL PULP. What do you see the mission of ALL PULP being? And how is it being one of the Seven?
SARGE: I believe that ALL PULP’s mission shares the goal of my PURPLE PROSE PULP PARADE fb group which is dedicated to the preservation & promotion of pulps as a legitimate literary genre!
I am humbled by being included as one of the ALL PULP Spectacled Seven! I’m relieved that I share the responsibility of promoting the many facets of pulpdom with six very affable & capable gentlemen!
Awhile ago I was very concerned that pulps were going to go the way of department stores & dinosaurs! Instead, people like Randy Belaire, B. Chris Bell, Phil Bledsoe, Tim Byrd, Calvin Daniels, Win Scott Eckert, Mark Eidemiller, Mark Ellis, Ron Fortier, Don Gates, Tommy Hancock, P.J. Lozito, William Patrick Maynard, William Patrick Murray, Martin Powell, Thomas Victor Powers, Barry Reese, Wayne Reinagel, Tim Salber, Frank Schildiner, Wayne Skiver, Aaron Smith, Bill Spangler, Micah Ian Wright and others give me hope that pulps will live on!
AP: You’ve done your share of ALL PULP interviews. Why is it important to fans that writers and artists be interviewed? What do you see as being the benefit of pulp creators revealing their processes, techniques, etc?
SARGE: I strongly believe that there’s a pulp story inside of each one of us! In our quest, sometimes over a lifetime, we meet singularly courageous individuals who have put pen to paper & have either had a pulp story published or have taken a different path & visualized the pulp in some respect with their artistry! It’s not so much like a magician revealing the secrets behind his legerdemain as much as it is a friend sharing their lively experiences with others!
AP: What about your columns at ALL PULP? They are definitely original and unique. Can you share about each of them with us, both what has appeared and what is coming?
SARGE: My ALL PULP participation has included my ongoing contributions to our website’s interviews, panels, reviews & my following columns & series:
BEHIND THE PEN & MASK is my ALL PULP column that looks into the lives of the many unsung pulp writers who wrote under a house name or pseudonym. My hope is to shed some light on those writers who entertained us through their lasting contributions to pulp literature & popular culture.
INSIDE SUPREME is my ALL PULP column that takes a look behind the scenes allowing us to tour & compare the secret headquarters of our favorite pulp heroes & villains.
Portera’s P.O.P. QUIZ CENTRAL is my ALL PULP series that currently includes a General Pulp Quiz, a Pulp Artists Quiz & a Pulp Writers Quiz.
WEAPONS OF CHOICE is an ongoing tour, written in a living pulp style, of an exclusive “sportsmen” club where any self-respecting high adventurer can test their latest gas gun or grappling hook!
AP: You are not the only one with the last name Portera who is a pulp fan. Your daughter shares your passion for all things pulp. How did that happen and how is it to have someone in your family to share this love you have for fiction?
SARGE: Marci, Alanna & I are all bibliophiles who would rather read than eat! Sometimes, I think the best home for us would be an old library! Marci’s mom was a bookstore manager in an upstate NY shopping mall for years! Alanna’s interest in mystery novels began when she read all the “Clue” novelizations. From there she read most, if not all, of Rex Stout’s Nero Wolf mysteries. She’s an avid Stuart Woods fan & created her own fb groups: SILHOUETTE PASTICHES & WORLDS OF DOC DIAMOND based on her own interests in pulps! Alanna was a journalism major who began writing when she was in elementary school. The first mystery she wrote featured Yvonne Yam, a vegetable detective Alanna grew in a beaker! In high school Alanna wrote her own teen soap opera that was at least 500 pages in length! So, if I’m a 3rd generation pulp fan that makes her a 4th generation pulp enthusiast!
AP: You definitely have an unique way of presenting yourself, almost as if you are a character from one of the stories you love to read. Is this who you are every day or simply a character you adopt? Where does the Sarge that everyone knows and loves, the wild man of words and language and pulp come from?
SARGE: I’m a familiar stock character that peppers the pulps! I’m that lovably eccentric “go to” guy that the protagonist relies on as a force for oddball information & encouragement.
The first essay I ever wrote was on ecology and the balance of nature at the age of nine! Soon after, I wrote a handbook all about dragons!
If you’re living the pulp life style & speak pulp than you understand what I‘m all about!
AP: What does the future hold for Sarge Portera as far as Pulp is concerned? Any stories in you waiting to get out?
SARGE: Alanna & I are attempting to locate a complete set of Doc Diamond stories. There’s a lot of fascinating background material that we’ve already found. If all else fails we hope to piece together the 13 stories from the rough drafts & notes that we’ve discovered so far, including summaries of the 13 Doc Diamond novelettes that my father & grandfather published..
While we’re looking for the 13 original Doc Diamond mystery adventures I’m also looking for my own notebooks that are packed with “Christopher Penstock and the 12 Cities of the Zodiac!” I wrote it as a tribute for my dad and grandfather when I was in high school! Imagine my dismay when these two part-time evangelists initially flipped out when they thought I was draping my pastiche of their action hero in the horoscope! Once they calmed down and read them, my grandfather said he got a “hoot” out of it while my dad was closer to the mark when he asked, “Do our Doc Diamond stories read that much like travelogues?” I was just tickled and releived that they took the time to read my attempt at pulp fiction!
AP: Sarge, thanks a ton! Keep on givin’ all you got to Pulpdom, pally!
Many who have seen the rejected pilot for Global Frequency have wondered why it
was never picked up as a series. Having just watched it, I think I can cite one
very good reason.
First, some background. Like many readers of graphic
novels, I am a big fan of the work of Warren Ellis. In particular, I enjoyed
his 2002 limited-run series Global Frequency , which reads like a post-modern reinvention of Mission: Impossible. Though I’ve had a
DVD bootleg of the WB’s 2004 TV-series pilot for Global Frequency sitting on my shelf for a few years, I didn’t get
around to actually watching it until a few nights ago (completely unaware that,
following the successful feature adaptation of Ellis’s R.E.D., a new pilot for Global Frequency is underway).
The first pilot, which was produced by comic-book scribe John Rogers (now the showrunner on the
acclaimed TNT series Leverage), was a stylish hour of
entertainment. Adapted from the series’ first issue, “Bombhead,” it took a
number of liberties with the concept, but none that I considered ill-advised.
At the heart of the series were Miranda Zero (played by Michelle Forbes) and the
coordinator Aleph (Aimee Garcia).
Fronting the show, however, were two new characters, Sean Flynn (Josh Hopkins) and Dr. Katrina
Finch (Jenni Baird), who
ostensibly were intended to be the leads from week to week.
So, with all that going for it, why didn’t the pilot get
picked up?
There are a number of theories. One plausible explanation
I’ve heard is that the show lost its “rabbi” at the network (i.e., the
executive who championed its production). Such a setback might be enough to
sink any project, no matter how superbly it had been executed. It’s also
possible that, without someone advocating for the show inside the corporate
offices of the network, the series’ per-episode price tag simply was too high
for someone else to risk picking up its banner.
I think there might be another factor to consider,
however: the pilot itself was flawed.
Specifically, the writing staff fumbled the ending.
Mark Waid has been a good friend to ComicMix and we wish him well as he returns to the always exciting life of a fulltime freelancer.
Two business stories making for an interesting juxtaposition.
Of course, by the time they get there, 
Many who have seen the rejected pilot for Global Frequency have wondered why it
