INTRODUCING NEW PULP AUHOR TERRY NUDDS

Terry Nudds: Terry was born in 1949 and got into books via the traditional avenue of comic books. He spent the 60s doing lighting and sound for such bands as B. B. King and Alice Cooper. His attempts at writing never went very far, but it was a lot of fun trying. After a thirty-year career in electronics, he is now retired and sells books online, specializing in pulps and related material. Two of his favorite pulp characters are Wade Hammond and the Moon Man, and he’s written new stories about both characters for the FADING SHADOWS magazines. He lives in Burlington, Ontario, Canada. Terry has written 3 stories for WEIRD STORIES, one story for CLASSIC PULP FICTION STORIES, and one story for DOUBLBE DANGER TALES.

New Pulp Author Lance Curry

INTRODUCING NEW PULP AUTHORS

         Once in a while I will be spotlighting one of our new pulp authors. These will just be short bios. The author is encouraged to add more information at any time, and since my data is a bit old (taken from the back of books we – or others – published) new information would be appreciated. This is not limited to just the authors of the FADING SHADOWS magazines. Other new pulp authors can be included. Just send me a short bio, and an illustration if you have one.

Lance Curry: He is in his 60s now, was born, raised, educated, and still lives in South Sioux City, Nebraska. He has been a janitor, movie usher, Pizza Hut cook, grocery store clerk, carpet, vinyl tile, and suspended ceiling installer. He has also worked as a Wells Fargo armored guard, and maybe a few other professions. As a great fan of Doc Savage and the pulps, he has had several stories published in Classic Pulp Fiction Stories, Weird Stories, Detective Mysteries Stories, and Double Danger Tales. He was the first to crossover Secret Agent X and The Moon Man, plus wrote an early pastiche of Doc Savage (also rewritten into a Phantom Detective novel for publication). In 2006, Wild Cat Books released a collected volume of his Moon Man stories containing five short stories, plus Lunar League, the Moon Man-Secret Agent X crossover.

Frederick C. Davis

FREDERICK C. DAVIS

Frederick C. Davis was a prolific short story writer. Though most pulp enthusiasts remember him as the author of the first twenty Operator #5 stories over at POPULAR PUBLICATIONS, perhaps his best known creation was the Moon Man for TEN DETECTIVE ACES; the Moon Man was actually Stephen Thatcher, a detective-sergeant on the police force, who donned a type of fish bowl helmet and black robe to fight crime. He was considered a criminal, and there was a standing order for the police to shoot the Moon Man on sight. The stories were pretty standard pulp fare that worked from a formula. Sue McEwen was the love interest, and she was the daughter of Detective Gil McEwen, who was constantly trying to catch the Moon Man. Ned “Angel” Dargan also assisted the Moon Man.

         In 1935, Fred Davis introduced fighting D.A., Mark Hazzard to the back pages of the SECRET AGENT X magazine, running simultaneously with his Moon Man stories over at TEN DETECTIVE ACES. An easy enough task because the Mark Hazzard and Moon Man stories were carbon copies of each other, except Hazzard didn’t wear any kind of costume. Hazzard wasn’t his real name, either. Falsely convicted of a crime he didn’t commit, young Dennis Grant had changed his name and took on a new identity. The fighting D.A. was always looking over his shoulder as a hunted criminal. Even the supporting characters from the two series were almost identical, and one story could have been switched to either character as the need arose – or recycled with minor touches of the typewriter.

         There were 38 Moon Man adventures, from June 1933 through January 1937. Unfortunately, Mark Hazzard didn’t do as well, ending after only six stories in six months. Davis must have tired of the Hazzard/Moon Man formula, or someone at ACE wanted him to do something different. Just a few months after the Hazzard series ended, Frederick C. Davis had a brand new series in the back of SECRET AGENT X. Ravenwood was completely different from either Hazzard or the Moon Man, and would have actually made a nice full length novel adventure series. However, it only lasted for five issues during 1936, and then ended. Sadly, the Moon Man would cease in only a few months too.

         Regardless of its short run, the Mark Hazzard stories were quality writing and good story telling. It may have suffered from the fact that the hero didn’t have a gimmick like Ravenwood, or wear a neat costume like the Moon Man. Personally I’ve always felt that the series should have been added to any Moon Man collection because of its similarity to that character, but for some reason it has been overlooked over the years, and publishers have missed a golden opportunity.

         (ALTUS PRESS has recently released a complete volume of the Mark Hazzard stories.)

         If the reader is not familiar with Frederick C. Davis, the Moon Man, or Mark Hazzard, then it’s time you were introduced to them.

         Happy Reading!

Hunter's Moon

“Hunter’s Moon” by Tom Johnson. Hunter's Moon, featuring the Moon Man in his best adventure since Frederick C. Davis. With the police closing in on Angel's hideaway, the
 danger for the Moon Man may be escalating for Great City's Robin Hood. To
compound matters, tragedy strikes closer to home. This time, he will not be
 able to provide help to someone close to him. Sergeant Steve Thatcher,
 seeing the people struggling to survive, dons the mysterious garments of the Robin Hood thief to relieve the filthy rich of their ill-gotten gains
to be distributed among the poor by ex boxer Ned Dargan. When they come up against an illegal weapons manufacturer masquerading as a toy company, his fiancé is taken prisoner by criminals and he must not only remove them of their money, but put a stop to their weapons sale overseas. Available on Amazon Kindle for $1.99 at http://www.amazon.com/Hunters-Moon-Tom-Johnson-ebook/dp/B00A9YH6PE/ref=la_B008MM81CM_1_42?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1426466575&sr=1-42 Also available in Tom’s paperback edition short story collection, NEW CLASSIC PULP FICTION STORIES for $15.00 post paid.

Moon Man, Secret Agent X & More

Coming soon to Kindle, three new books by Tom Johnson.

Hunter’s Moon, featuring the Moon Man in his best adventure since Frederick C. Davis. With the police closing in on Angel’s hideaway, the danger for the Moon Man may be escalating for Great City’s Robin Hood. To compound matters, tragedy strikes closer to home. This time, he will not be able to provide help to someone close to him. Sergeant Steve Thatcher, seeing the people struggling to survive, dons the mysterious garments of the Robin Hood thief to relieve the filthy rich of their ill-gotten gains to be distributed among the poor by ex boxer Ned Dargan. When they come up against an illegal weapons manufacturer masquerading as a toy company, his fiancé is taken prisoner by criminals and he must not only remove them of their money, but put a stop to their weapons sale overseas.

In The Silence of Death, Colonel Jeremiah Custer’s Wild West Show comes across murder in a small Texas town. A mystifying murder mystery ensnares the famous criminologist and sharpshooter, Colonel Jeremiah Custer when his team encounters a young boy accused of mayhem. The lad cannot deny the charges for he can neither hear nor speak. The scientific brain of the greatest man hunter is put to task as he attempts to unravel this new crime! The ex intelligence officer puts his scientific brain to work to prove that the deaf mute boy is not the killer. Follow Colonel Custer and his aides as they unravel this deep mystery, and bring to justice this evil murderer.

Secret Agent X is back in The Tower of Death. What could a German agent be after in America? During Secret Agent X’s recovery at the Montgomery Mansion after the battle with Zerna’s drug gang in 1937, Betty Dale falls into a trap while following a suspect and is captured by a German Spy. Her whereabouts are unknown, and indeed, it’s not known if she’s even alive. Although the Agent hasn’t fully recovered from his previous battle with Zerna and the underworld, it’s imperative for him to locate and rescue the girl. For Betty Dale is more precious to him than anything in the world. If she has been harmed, he will exact vengeance on those responsible!

Another Gotham Round Table

Another Gotham Round Table

The Pulp Hermit: I’m happy to see my latest visitors. It has certainly been a long time since you gentlemen were in the spotlight. But since we are all together, I wanted to ask you a couple questions for today’s audience.  Not that the current audience is likely to be interested in your answers, however, as it seems the majority has little respect for you or your opinions. Apparently, The Old Pulp Hermit is a dying breed. But as long as I’m around, I’ll still be speaking out for you guys. After all, you entertained the masses for twenty years, and this current crowd hasn’t been around but a few years, so they are unproven yet. It seems that some think us old timers are against the pulp heroes appearing in other medias, but that is far from the truth. I’m all for you appearing in other medias. So that’s my first question, how do you feel about crossing over to other medias?

The Moon Man: Personally, I think it would be a good idea in certain medias. I might not be so hot on radio, but I would look good in comics and movies. Even a TV series would be nice. Of course, I wouldn’t work very well in modern times, but if the setting was in the 1930s and ‘40s, they could pull it off.

The Purple Scar: I think a comic book would work, but I might be too frightening for kids. And I wouldn’t want to cause nightmares. I’m afraid the current writers would turn me into a monster, and have me killing en mass. No, I really don’t think I would work very well in other medias, except maybe the comic books.

The Cobra: Hssssss!

New Masked Guy: He scares me. Can I move to another seat?

The Pulp Hermit: Those are pretty much my own thoughts. I think we all agree that other medias would be fine, if they fit the character. Some of the trouble we would undoubtedly see, the ones bringing the old characters into new medias don’t really know them, and characters would end up out of place. For my second question, how do you feel about the new writers modeling their new characters after you? Perhaps all of you haven’t been imitated yet, but it looks like eventually all of you will be. Coming up with new characters must be pretty difficult, as most new characters appear to be patterned after you guys.

The Moon Man: I think it’s cool. It shows that we made more of an impression on them than they let on. I just wonder if my imitation will have x-ray vision through the globe?

The Purple Scar: Unfortunately, they will use my mask as my real face, and I will look horrible in their incarnation. But MM is correct, it is a form of praise, though in a round about way I suppose. The truth of the matter, I would rather they create new characters than write new stories about my adventures.

The Cobra: Hsssss!

New Masked Guy: He’s still looking at me with those creepy eyes. Make him stop!

The Pulp Hermit: I agree with MM also. I think it is cool that the heroes are being imitated, and I hope it doesn’t stop. There are some good stories being written, though there may be more crap than good. But I think eventually the bad writers will be weeded out, and we’ll have a strong base of writers and creators turning out stellar action series with well-molded characters. If they don’t weed out the trash, it will hurt them in the long run. Gentlemen, I thank you for this visit, and hope you will come back for another Gotham Round Table discussion soon ... Would someone show the New Masked Guy how to find his way out when you leave.