Pulp/superhero novels/weird crap etc.

[Goshdarn Batman]

Got any recommendations? Favorite stories?

I've read some The Shadow/Spider/Doc Savage, but I've never tried The Phantom Detective. Are the stories good? And where should I start?

 

[Victarion]

Go read The Final Programme by Michael Moorcock. It touches on each of the elements in your title: pulp, superhero, weird crap...then follow it with A Cure for Cancer. It touches on those moreso than The Final Programme. You could read A Cure for Cancer first, it stands alone and is connected to TFP only by way of the main character.

 

[KevanG]

The Dresden Files and the Anita Blake books are a good read. The Dresden books has the whole 'magical world the muggles don't deal with' detective feel going on and they get amazing after the first two books. The first few Anita Blake books are great as well but the the author just turns it to porn a couple books in.

 

[The Shape]

Read every thing you can of The Shadow.

 

[regnak]

Got any recommendations? Favorite stories?

I've read some The Shadow/Spider/Doc Savage, but I've never tried The Phantom Detective. Are the stories good? And where should I start?

My recommendations:

1 The Spider/Operator #5 (These two series have maximum action aside from the Spider 1&2)
2 Secret Agent X: Lots of fun with more weird villains like in the Spider
3 The Avenger: I find his crew a lot more fun than Savage's It doesn't hurt that they actually have a female cast member starting in book 2 with Nellie Gray who has been called the Emma Peel of her day.
4 Doc Savage
5 Later Shadows. A lot of the early ones are very light on the action and he is missing for huge parts of the stories. Later pulps where he gets better villains are an improvement.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operator_No._5
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secret_Agent_X
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avenger_(character)

 

[st barbara]

Some lesser known characters from the era "Domino Lady" and "Thunder Jim Wade". "Thunder Jim Wade" seems to be a very "Doc Savageish" type of character, or maybe i'm reading too much into the blurb on the back of my copy.

 

[st barbara]

Also "Playing For Keeps" by Mur Lafferty. More "superhero" than Pulp, but an interesting take on what can be done with "powers' that appear to be useless.

 

[4thWallBreaker]

Simon R. Green's Nightside series.

Nobody Gets the Girl is fantastic!

 

[C. Lee]

GREATHEART SILVER BY Philip Jose Farmer - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greatheart_Silver

 

[chamber-music]

The Lucifer Box trilogy by Doctor Who and Sherlock writer Mark Gatiss.

Warren Ellis Planetary series

Edgar Rice Burroughs stuff

 

[Decepticonus]

Where's a good jumping off point for The Shadow? Since there are various versions and I've read some reviews putting recent stuff down. Pulp intrigues me and I've always known of The Shadow but never read his stuff.

 

[KevanG]

I'd be willing to give the Shadow a try. Any good audio stories/books I could try? I've had a soft spot for him since I saw the movie as a kid.

Also, anyone else think the pulp heroes movies like the Shadows could be better received today than in 1994?

 

[C. Lee]

Nostalgia Adventures, Inc is the best place to go for high quality reprints of pulps. Here is the link to their SHADOW books - http://www.adventurehouse.com/contents/en-us/d16.html

 

[Decepticonus]

Nostalgia Adventures, Inc is the best place to go for high quality reprints of pulps. Here is the link to their SHADOW books - http://www.adventurehouse.com/contents/en-us/d16.html

Thanks, I was actually referring to Shadow comic books, my bad, I should have been clearer but I will definitely check these out, I just assumed they no longer existed.

 

[KevanG]

Just don't get the series where they turn the Shadow into a robot.

Not kidding. It happened.

http://www.cracked.com/article_1958...ally-hilarious-superhero-reinventions_p5.html

 

[Decepticonus]

just don't get the series where they turn the shadow into a robot.

not kidding. It happened.

http://www.cracked.com/article_1958...ally-hilarious-superhero-reinventions_p5.html

bwahahahahahaha!

 

[Goshdarn Batman]

Thank you for all the recommendations, people. Now it's my turn to recommend a short story by horror writer Robert McCammon.

It's called "Night Calls the Green Falcon". It's about a sixty year old guy who used to play a superhero called Joe McCarthy the Grumpy Beaver...no, I'm kidding, it's the Green Falcon of course. He puts on the old suit and hunts a scary serial killer who killed his neighbor.

It reminds me a bit of the Dark Knight Returns, only "realistic". It's a thrilling tale with a likeable main character. A brave old man in a dangerous world. You actually fear for his life as you turn the pages.

Since the main character played a superhero in serial films, each chapter ends on a cliffhanger. Will Green Falcon survive? Read the next damn chapter right now, on the same page! Pretty cool, if you ask me.

 

[Decepticonus]

Thank you for all the recommendations, people. Now it's my turn to recommend a short story by horror writer Robert McCammon.

It's called "Night Calls the Green Falcon". It's about a sixty year old guy who used to play a superhero called Joe McCarthy the Grumpy Beaver...no, I'm kidding, it's the Green Falcon of course. He puts on the old suit and hunts a scary serial killer who killed his neighbor.

GOD DAMN IT! You lost me here, cause the Grumpy Beaver McCarthy sounds awesomes!

 

[Goshdarn Batman]

GOD DAMN IT! You lost me here, cause the Grumpy Beaver McCarthy sounds awesomes!

Don't worry, I'm going to make it into a movie if I get the chance. "Dedicated to Decepticonus".

 

[signalman]

I highy recommend DOC SAVAGE: The Sinister Shadow.

http://www.radioarchives.com/Doc_Savage_The_Sinister_Shadow_p/ap090.htm

 

[Comics N' Toons]

I would like to recommend all the pulp novels listed above but also DC's The Shadow Strikes series from the 1980's... the phantom comics from Moonstone Books (Lee Falk's character) and the newish one from Darkhorse called The Black Beetle by Francisco Frankavella (sp?)... also Lobster Johnson too.

 

[Goshdarn Batman]

I would like to recommend all the pulp novels listed above but also DC's The Shadow Strikes series from the 1980's... the phantom comics from Moonstone Books (Lee Falk's character) and the newish one from Darkhorse called The Black Beetle by Francisco Frankavella (sp?)... also Lobster Johnson too.

The Shadow Strikes is the one with Rasputin and all that stuff, right? I have four or five issues, great stuff. But stay away from the Howard Chaykin crap, people...I read that he intentionally tried to destroy the character. What a jerk.

I have read The Black Beetle too, I liked it very much...I hope FF makes more stories.

Just started reading The Spider again. "Judgment of the Damned" almost gave me nightmares and Death Reign of the Vampire King is fantastic. I'm amazed they haven't made a new Spider movie yet (Tim Truman's comic book version reminds me a bit of Burton's Batman). Why won't they make a Spider movie, Comics N' Toons? Why? hope we'll see some more movies based on the pulp heroes soon.

I have also found out that reading pulp stories beats reading comic books (to a pulp).

 

[Comics N' Toons]

The Spider isn't popular in the mainstream @ all. We need a good Shadow movie before we get a Richard Wentworth film.

 

[Peyton Westlake]

One Series I highly recommend is the Destroyer series.

The Destroyer is a series of paperback novels about a U.S. government operative named Remo Williams.
There was a movie in the 80's starring Fred Ward.
I hear Shane Black is interested in rebooting this franchise.
He is a mix of Batman & an American James Bond.
I have read the first 6 novels in the series & find it entertaining.

 

[st barbara]

"The Green Lama" might be worth a look. The stories can be a little repetitive if read in one lump, but still good pulpy fun.

"Dynamite" comics have published comic versions of "The Shadow", "Doc Savage" and other characters (I think ) only recently. If you look you might be able to find some of the comics in collections.

Not a "superhero" , but definately "Pulp". The "Jimgrim" stories by Talbot Mundy, about an American working as a spy in the middle east after world war 1