Introducing New Pulp Author Tom Johnson

Tom Johnson: Tom was an early pulp fan after discovering The Shadow and Doc Savage in paperback reprints in the 1960s. It wasn’t long before he found the rest of the pulp heroes. Returning from a tour in Vietnam he met a fellow fan that introduced him to Fred Cook’s BRONZE SHADOWS. Tom and his wife, Ginger, were fascinated with the concept of Fred’s fanzine and subscribed to every pulp fanzine on the market until 1982 when they published their own pulp fan magazine, ECHOES, then in 1995 they began a string of fiction magazines that would last for another decade. Over the years Tom has created new pulp heroes, as well as writing new stories featuring the original characters.

         Three of those new pulp heroes are The Black Ghost, The Masked Avenger, and The Mind Master.

         Tom also researched and wrote histories of such pulp characters as Dan Fowler (G-Men Detective), The Phantom Detective, The Black Bat, Secret Agent X,and The Belmont Shadow (From Shadow To Superman), as well as Operator #5’s Purple Wars, The Green Ghost and The Black Hood. These he published in his FADING SHADOWS magazines. When ALTUS PRESS came along, Marr Moring picked up Tom’s research books and some of his new pulp stories, publishing them in more professional volumes. Tom was also special guest editor for ALTUS PRESS’ Triple Detective series.

         Now retired from writing, Tom is enjoying the many new writers in new pulp, and especially their continuing stories in the original pulp series. It’s like a return to the old days to pick up a new Phantom Detective, Moon Man, or Dan Fowler.

Ki-Gor

KI-GOR

In 1963 I was stationed in France, with the 202^nd MP Company, and working patrol for a black NCO named Foster (I think that was his name). When I stopped by the station, I found Sergeant Foster reading a Tarzan paperback by Edgar Rice Burroughs. This was during my hardboiled period, when I was reading Mickey Spillane and Shell Scott. I remembered the old Tarzan movies with Johnny Weismuller, and asked Foster if the stories weren't a little racially demeaning, and he told me they weren't. After we discussed the Burroughs' Tarzan for a while, he convinced me to read one of the stories. That was my introduction to jungle adventures, and I have been a fan ever since.

         I haunted the Stars & Stripes bookstore on base, until the lady that ran the establishment got to know me like a son. Whenever I would walk into the store, she would grab me by the arm and say, "Look what just came in!" And take me to a paperback with a jungle scene or dinosaur on the cover. This was how I discovered Doc Savage in 1964, when she led me to The Thousand-Headed Man, which had Doc fighting with a giant snake while a witch doctor looked on. So by then I was hooked on Edgar Rice Burroughs and Kenneth Robeson. I probably shouldn't tell this story, but in 1964, during the Cypress Crisis, I was among a group of Army soldiers sent to an Air Base in Turkey, in case we had to deploy to Cypress. Well, being Army on an Air Force base wasn't conducive to good treatment. We were stuck away from the more civilized air force personnel, and didn't get much sent our way. Being Army, we quickly learned our way around, and one of the first places I discovered was where the special services stored books that was to be distributed to the Air Force personnel. A few nightly raids, and our Army unit had reading material. Of course, I had first choice of any Edgar Rice Burroughs paperbacks! Or anything with a jungle scene or dinosaur on the cover.

         Tarzan, of course, was the inspiration for many imitations in the pulps. I think that over the years I have found any and everything that remotely resembles the original Jungle Lord. One of those imitators appeared in JUNGLE STORIES, a FICTION HOUSE PUBLICATION, beginning with the Winter 1939 issue, and running until Spring 1954, and 59 issues (although some titles were repeats). The hero was Ki-Gor, a bronzed-skin muscular giant, wearing a loincloth with a knife in a sheath at his side, and bow and quiver of arrows over his broad shoulders. Standing six foot tall, he has blue eyes, and shoulder-length hair bleached white by the sun. Unfortunately, the novels were very uneven. His blue eyes would often turn gray, and his white hair would become yellow.

         However, it was the stories that counted. Fantastic jungle stories of lost lands, lost civilizations, prehistoric monsters, giant snakes, elephants running amok, and talking gorillas. Everything a good jungle adventure should be. Ki-Gor was in reality the surviving son of a missionary named Robert Kilgour, who lived among the beast of the jungle after his father was killed. He eventually met - and married - Helene Vaughn. She is quite competent, but is constantly getting in trouble. Two other aides are in all the stories. Timbu George, who was once George Spelvin, an American Pullman porter and ship's cook, and eventually became a Masai chief; And little N'Geeso, chief of the Kamazila pygmy tribe.

         As most pulp fiction of the period, the Ki-Gor stories were formula at best, but highly imaginative, and were probably the most successful and popular of the Tarzan imitators. The titles alone were enough to whet the appetite of young readers perusing the newsstands: The Empire of Doom, The Cannibal Horde, Caravan of Terror, Where Man-Beasts Prowl. And those are the milder titles! The action within the pages of JUNGLE STORIES brought us the adventure we craved. Ki-Gor, the White Jungle Lord deserves his niche on the shelf beside Tarzan The Ape Man. The jungle belonged to them!

         I can just imagine that old lady from the Stars & Stripes grabbing my arm once more, and saying, "Look what just came in!"

         Happy reading.

The Corinth/Regency Paperbacks

THE CORINTH/REGENCY PAPERBACKS

       In the early 1960s, a West Coast publisher – CORINTH/REGENCY started reprinting the Phantom Detective, an early pulp magazine character, in paperback. Jon Hanlon, a pulp enthusiast, presumably was the editor for the several series that followed – and was possibly the reason behind the reprint series.

         CORINTH/REGENCY was basically a pornographic publishing house, and had very few straight stories being printed under their imprint.

         But for 48 issues – CR 101 – CR 148 – CORINTH/REGENCY reprinted 22 Phantom Detective stories, 8 issues of Operator #5, 7 issues of Secret Agent X, and 4 issues in the Doctor Death series 3 novels by Harold Ward, and 1 short story collection from the magazine. They also reprinted 5 titles from Dusty Ayres – 4 novels of Dusty Ayes and 1 issue containing short stories from the magazine. And finally, two issues from the Terror Tales series, consisting of short stories from that magazine title.

         Due to poor distribution these series were hard to locate at the time, and too, when most paperbacks were selling for forty and fifty cents, the CORINTH/REGENCY line was priced at sixty cents, which hurt their sales tremendously. The series ended in the mid 1960s. There were several reasons for this: threatened lawsuits, plus the defeat of a California pornography law. Today this series is a most sought after collection, and the one time price of sixty cents has now shot up to $10.00 or $15.00 per copy, if you can even find them now.

         The covers were beautiful and gaudy, but very little good girl art. Following is a brief synopsis about the character and pulp history of the series reprinted.

         The Phantom Detective: The character was based on D. L. Champion’s Mr. Death that ran in 1932. Leo Margulies, head editor of the Ned Pines pulp house, BETTER PUBLICATIONS, had Champion make some changes to his story, and in February 1933 the Phantom Detective was born full-grown in his own magazine. It lasted for twenty years, ending in 1953 with 170 issues.

         The character was very popular in its day, and the stories must have been written by just about every big name in the field back then. Robert Wallace was the house name used on the series, but because of the many writers involved, the stories were very uneven, and the character seemed to change with each story.

         Operator #5:  One of the most sought after series in the pulp magazines at one time. This series was begun in April 1934 in POPULAR PUBLICATIONS. The author writing under the Curtis Steele house name at the time was Frederick C. Davis, but after the first year or so other writers took over the series – most notably, Emile C. Tepperman. The series only lasted for 48 issues, ending in November 1939.

         Secret Agent X: The super spy was never given a name. The character was created by Paul Chadwick, under the Brant House house name, but was eventually turned over to several writers. It began with the February 1934 issue, lasting for 41 stories, and ending with the March 1939 issue.

         Dusty Ayres: This series was written exclusively by Robert Sidney Bowen. Beginning with the July 1934 issue it only lasted for twelve issues, ending with the July 1935 issue. Bowen once stated the series was only planned for twelve issues, no more.

         Doctor Death: This series started as a short story character in ALL-STORY DETECTIVE, written by Edward P. Norris. It graduated to its own magazine with novel-length stories in February 1934, this time written by Harold Ward under the Zorro house name. The series only lasted in its own magazine for three issues, ending with the April 1935 issue.

         Terror Tales: These two novels were just filled with selected short stories.

        

The Paperbacks

CR 101       The Phantom Detective  (7/40)         The Vampire Murders

CR 102       The Phantom Detective   (6/37)         The Dancing Doll Murders

CR 103       The Phantom Detective   (7/37)         The Beast-King Murders

CR 104       The Phantom Detective   (2/38)         Tycoon of Crime

CR 105       The Phantom Detective   (8/38)         The Broadway Murders

CR 106       The Phantom Detective   (4/40)         The Daggers of Kali

CR 107       The Phantom Detective   (12/43) Murder Under The Big Top

CR 108       The Phantom Detective   (5/41)         The Trail To Death

CR 109       The Phantom Detective   (7/38)         Yellow Shadows of Death

CR 110       The Phantom Detective   (3/40)         Murder Trail

CR 111       The Phantom Detective   (11/40) The Green Glare Murders

CR 112       The Phantom Detective   (1/38)         Fangs of Murder

CR 113       The Phantom Detective   (2/41)         The Curio Murders

CR 114       The Phantom Detective   (12/41) Murder Stalks A Billion

CR 115       The Phantom Detective   (8/40)         Murder Money

CR 116       Operator #5 (7/35)  Legions of The Death-Master

CR 117       The Phantom Detective   (11/38)  Death Glow

CR 118       Doctor Death  (2/35) 12 Must Die

CR 119       The Phantom Detective   (3/43)         Stones of Satan

CR 120       Operator #5 (3/35)         The Army of The Dead

CR 121       Doctor Death  (3/35) The Gray Creatures

CR 122       Secret Agent X  (2/34) The Torture Trust

CR 123       The Phantom Detective  (9/40) The Melody Murders

CR 124       Operator #5 (5/34)         The Invisible Empire

CR 125       Doctor Death  (4/35) The Shriveling Murders

CR 126       Secret Agent X  (11/34)  Servants of The Skull

CR 127       The Phantom Detective  (5/40) The Uniformed Killers

CR 128       Operator #5 (9/34)         Master of Broken Men

CR 129       Doctor Death  (SS)        Doctor Death And Other Terror Tales

CR 130       Secret Agent X  (2/38) Curse of The Mandarin’s Fan

CR 131       The Phantom Detective  (7/39) The Forty Thieves

CR 132       Operator #5 (8/35) Hosts of The Flaming Death

CR 133       Dusty Ayres           (7/34)  Black Lighting

CR 134       Secret Agent X  (6.34)  City of The Living Dead

CR 135       The Phantom Detective  (8/38)  Death Under Contract

CR 136       Operator #5 (5/35)         Blood Reign of The Dictator

CR 137       Dusty Ayes  (8/34)           Crimson Doom

CR 138       Secret Agent X  (4/34)  The Death-Torch Terror

CR 139       The Phantom Detective   (12/37) The Corpse Parade

CR 140       Operator #5 (4/35)         March of The Flame Marauders

CR 141       Dusty Ayres           (9/34)  Purple Tornado

CR 142       Secret Agent X  (9/34)  Octopus of Crime

CR 143       Terror Tales #1 (SS) The House of Living Death And Others

CR 144       Operator #5 (6/35)  Invasion of The Yellow Warlords

CR 145       Dusty Ayres         7/35) The Telsa Raiders

CR 146       Secret Agent X  (1/35)  The Sinister Scourge

CR 147       Terror Tales #2( SS) Death’s Loving Arms And Others

CR 148       Dusty Ayes  (SS)   Black Invaders Vs. The Battle Birds   

         This was a good series for the paperback collector, especially for those that can’t afford the original pulp magazine editions, plus they are a neat set to have. The reprints were well done, except for some updating. The series gives a brief sample of a few of the great pulp heroes. The stories themselves were taken from the best of the series of pulps, and well worth reading. CORINTH/REGENCY was a pornographic publishing house that, for a brief period, reprinted a fantastic series of paperbacks. I wish there had been more.

Prolog To Jur: A Story of Pre-Dawn Earth

PROLOGUE

My uncle once told me that one could not believe the stories that one hears in bars. Perhaps he never heard the right ones.

It was in Paris that I first met the man who told me this part of the story. I don’t remember the name of the bar. It was a small place on the Left Bank, and I had wandered in there late one morning feeling stale and bleary-eyed after only a couple of hours sleep. The night before had been spent trying to prove to myself that there was still a magic about this city, something that had been in the air when Hemingway and the others made it their city, sixty years before…something that would allow me to recapture the success of their efforts. I had been there six weeks, seen all the sights there were to see, made the acquaintance of several very friendly young women, and done not a damn thing that was worth anything.

That was why I was in the bar, sipping a beer and trying to decide whether to pack it in and go back to the States when the tall old man came in, pausing just a moment in the doorway to let his eyes adjust to the dim interior.

I didn’t know he was an old man then. He was a tall man, dressed like an American, who moved with sure, easy steps to the bar and ordered a cognac in what sounded like flawless French. At least it sounded that way to my untrained ears. It was only when he turned around and put his back to the bar that I got some idea of his true age. His hair was silvery, and his face had the weathered, seemed look of a man who had spent almost his whole life outdoors. There was no trace of his years in the way he walked quickly across the room toward the little table where I sat. I looked up at him in surprise as he approached me, wondering what had drawn him to come over to my table. Perhaps he just wanted to talk; there were few patrons in the bar at that hour, and I might look like the most promising to him.

“Hello,” he said in a quiet, controlled voice. “You look like an American. Mind if I sit down for a few minutes?”

Up close, I was struck even harder by the contrast between his aged face and the athletic body of a much younger man. I said, “Sure, have a seat. You’re right. I am an American.” I extended my hand across the table with its checkered cloth and introduced myself.

He returned the handshake, clasping my hand in a strong grip. Something about it told me that the force he exerted was only a fraction of what he was capable of. He said, “Glad to meet you,” but I noticed that he didn’t return the favor of giving me his name. Well, another thing my uncle told me about bars was to never ask a man a question that he obviously wouldn’t want to answer.

“I suppose there are a lot of Americans over here, but for some reason I don’t run into very many of them,” he went on.

“There are quite a few American businessmen in Paris,” I said.

“But you’re not one of them, are you?”

I had to smile. “I don’t know how you knew that, but you’re right. I’m a writer...or at least I’m supposed to be.”

He sipped his drink. “Having trouble with it?” 

I shrugged. “Some. I suppose all writers do. Still, I’ll stumble across the right idea sooner or later.”

“Ah, eternal optimism. I like that. Why are you sitting in this bar, though, instead of being somewhere writing?”

Coming from someone else, I might have resented the question. Something about this strange young/old man, though, kept me from even coming close to losing my temper. I sensed a real interest on his part, so I said, “I’ve been writing. All night, in fact. And it was a bunch of damned hopeless garbage. I don’t know what causes it, but just once I’d like to write something that wasn’t so bleak and depressing.”

“Maybe you think life is bleak and depressing. They say writers write what they know best.”

I shrugged and swallowed some more warm beer.

He was looking intently across the table at me, a frown on his lined face. After a moment of silence, he said, “Maybe you just haven’t lived long enough, my friend. You haven’t discovered yet just how many wild, wonderful things are possible.”

I thought back on my life so far and couldn’t remember anything wild and wonderful. There had been some good times, but none of them had lasted.

The man said, “Listen, I’ll give you an example of what I mean. I’ll tell you a story, just off the top of my head. I’m no writer like you, but I’ve lived a long life, and I’ve got an imagination. If I can tell a good story, just think what you can do once you’ve lived a while longer and opened your mind up to all the possibilities.”

“We haven’t heard the story yet,” I said, a trifle rudely.

“That’s true,” he smiled. “Well, let’s see. We have to go back a bit, to an earlier day when adventure and romance weren’t as rare as they are today...that’s a good way to start, don’t you think?”