The Writer Will Take Your Questions Now #281 -- Recent New Favorites

Who's your favorite golden age pulp character that you discovered relatively recently? -- Jim Beard

For me, these new "faves" came from accepting gigs to write them for anthologies. I knew nothing of them prior to the research required to begin the writing, but felt instantly drawn to the characters as if they were old friends I'd been writing and reading for years.

For prose, they were Armless O'Neil and a certain beauty I can't discuss at the moment. But I really, really (can I add another really and get away with it?) loved writing and reading Armless O'Neil. He was a character I was immediately hooked on and felt like I "got" right off the bat.

To boil him down to his key character is simply this: Take Humphrey Bogart's Charlie Allnut out of The African Queen and give him a hook for a hand, then saddle him with adventures more typical of Allan Quatermain, then shake and pour, voila!

For comics, it would have to be The Blue Lady (whom I wrote in All Star Pulp Comics #1). She grabbed me the same way Armless did. She's a typical old-school pulp supporting lady rather than a heroine at first, but when she receives a ring that gives her the power to beat back guys to a pulp, she does what any other lady of the era would in a comic book and puts on a mask and costume to fight crime.

Even though she was only in three back-up features in Amazing Man Comics in the early 1940s (October '41 - January '42, to be precise) , I felt she needs and deserves more stories --which is something Jim Ritchey and I are currently working on. We'll keep you posted.

The Writer Will Take Your Questions Now (#76) -- Public Domain

Why all the interest in the public domain stuff lately?

Wow. I hadn't thought about it, but it does seem like everything I'm posting about lately is a revival of a public domain property, doesn't it? The truth is it's just a timing issues. I've had the H.G. Wells and Frankenstein projects in the works for years, and they're just now getting traction and making progress art-wise, which excites me to no end.

In addition to those, I'm also doing an online comic revival of the golden-age powerhouse Rip Regan, Powerman. And I recently did the Blue Lady story with Jim Ritchey III for All-Star Pulp Comics, now long ago.

On the prose side, a lot of pulp stuff is hitting recently, however. I'm doing a new adventures of Armless O'Neil for Pulp Obscura, and several others that I can't mention yet until I get approval from the publishers. (Yeah, I'm a tease. I know it. Sorry.)

Why do I pursue so many of these public domain characters? Several reasons.

1. They're fun to write.

2. It's a way of continuing the mythos after the original writers have died.

3. The characters ultimately belong to the fans, and it's a way of rewarding fans for their love of these otherwise forgotten heroes.

4. I'm getting paid for it. (Got to keep the groceries on the table, you know.)

5. I think these heroes deserve to come back. Sure, it's easy to keep Superman and Batman and Spider-Man in front of the masses, but that doesn't mean they are any more deserving of that spotlight than folks like Richard Knight, Armless O'Neil, The Black Bat, or The Domino Lady.

6. Alan Moore shouldn't be the only writer who can make a name for himself (and a living) by giving public domain characters a new spin. (Okay, I'm probably reaching for that one unless I redefine what "a living" is, but the spirit of the statement is still true.)

A Sneak Peek at The Blue Lady!

Page one from the story James Ritchey III and I did for All-Star Pulp Comics #1.

You know you like it. You know your want it. Now go buy it at: www.indyplanet.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=6195

AIRSHIP 27 PRESENTS: ALL-STAR PULP COMICS NOW ON SALE!

Cover Art; Jeff Butler

REDBUD STUDIOS PRESS RELEASE

AIRSHIP 27 PRESENTS – ALL-STAR PULP COMICS

 Ron Fortier and Rob Davis are thrilled to announce the release of the first Redbud Studio/Airship 27 Productions venture in All-Star Pulp Comics # 1. You can find it at www.indyplanet.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=6195.

This massive comic one shot features 58 pages of wall to wall pulp adventure in graphic form. Seven old and new pulp heroes as written by today’s most exciting new pulp writers and brought to glorious graphic reality by super talented artists.

Here are the Green Lama, Domino Lady, Jim Anthony Super Detective to name only a few. The volume also contains the very first ever comic adventure of Barry Reese’s highly popular hero, the Rook.

The color cover featuring the Green Lama & the Domino Lady is by Jeff Butler.

This is a comic you don’t want to miss and is available only at Indy Planet Com at www.indyplanet.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=6195.

 Stories include:
•Green Lama by Adam Garcia & Mike Fyles
• Jim Anthony by Erwin K. Roberts & Pedro Cruz
• Black Bat by C. William Russette & Wayne Beeman
• The Blue Lady by Sean Taylor & James Ritchey III
• The Rook by Barry Reese & Craig Wilson
• Secret Agent “X” by Bobby Nash & Jeremy McHugh
• Domino Lady by Percival Constantine, Rock Baker & Jeff Austin
• Cover by Jeff Butler

Standard Sized Trade Paperback
Black & White
Page Count: 58
$6.99
POD

A collection of stories in varied styles from retro to new age digital painting here comes a collection of Pulp Age characters in comic storytelling- some in that form for the very first time. New Pulp writers and artists bring you stories with fists flying and action galore. Join the fun in ALL-STAR PULP COMICS #1.

Bringing together some of the most intriguing characters from the Golden Age of the Pulps in comics form- some for the very first time!

Redbud Studio’s Airship 27 Presents: All-Star Pulp Comics # 1 is now available at www.indyplanet.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=6195.