WHY THIS FICTION FORMAT IS MAKING A COMEBACK IN A BIG WAY!
From the time I was a child I’ve loved Pulp Fiction. No, not the movie (although I enjoyed that as well), I’m talking about the Pulp Fiction genre! Whether it was in the form of Men’s Action/Adventure novels such as: Don Pendleton’s Executioner series (featuring Mack Bolan), Nick Carter, The Destroyer Series (featuring Nemo Williams) or magazines such as: Eerie, EC Comics, Savage Sword of Conan, Tomb of Dracula or Deadly Hands of Kung Fu.
Of course the ORIGINAL Pulp fiction icons like Doc Savage, The Shadow, Tarzan, etc…started it all! I discovered them a short time later and fell in love with them as well!
Some of my earliest reading experiences were with the above mentioned books and magazines, something that has had a definite impact and influence on my writing. I grew up in an era before the internet and when video games weren’t a standard fixtures in homes around the world. My friends and I would read comic books, adventure novels and then reenact those bold scenes outside in the backyard or at a nearby park. We fashioned weapons from sticks and boards, or any other materials we could get our hands on. Our greatest asset was our imaginations!
This is precisely why Pulp Fiction is making a comeback in a BIG way!
Reading those stories of whirlwind excitement, death defying feats and bold adventure sparked our imaginations like other forms of fiction never could. We could get lost in becoming our favorite heroes and escape to distant lands and exotic locales, be surrounded by beautiful women (or handsome men according to your fancy). You could make all of the troubles in your life melt away as you slipped into another world and embarked on the adventure of a lifetime!
With the dazzling special effects in movies and video games, it becomes easier than ever to escape reality. The problem is that unlike reading, movies and video games can only give you the visual and the audio. Those formats fail to engage your senses and ease you into another world where you can become the hero in your mind’s eye. The viewer or player, respectively, is relying upon the imagination/vision of the directors, writers and/or animators to do the heavy lifting for them, thus depriving them of developing their own imagination muscles.
Bearers of the Pulp Torch are bound and determined to carry on the traditions of their fore-bearers and bring to readers the imaginative and pulse pounding adventures that have all but gotten swallowed up in movies and video games.
Authors and Artists such as:
Derrick Ferguson
Adam Shaw
Tommy Hancock
Kimberly Richardson
Rob Davis
Nancy A. Hansen
Fuller Bumpers
Lee Houston Jr.
Ron Fortier
Andrea Judy
& Charles R. Saunders to name but a few.
They are the voices of The New Pulp Era!
Rising from the ashes of Pulp Fiction, they are spearheading a Pulp Renaissance. Through modern innovations such as the internet, Print on Demand, and a steady growing interest, Pulp is re-surging more and more each passing year. This movement consists of quite a number of writers, artists and publishers who have dedicated themselves to creating GREAT Pulp Fiction!
Their work is as diverse as the American Culture and yet readily recognizable, innovative, but not just a fresh coat of paint on previous stories. These works are bold, original and surreal, though they often take their inspiration and influence from the Pulp of yesteryear. This gives the stories a freshness born of new minds, yet spiced with the familiar flavors of the past. A GREAT example of this is an anthology titled, “BLACK PULP,” published by Pro Se Press.
This anthology features stories from several brilliant authors and Pulp supporters and features characters of African origin, or descent, in stories that cover various genres in fiction! The concept was developed by noted crime novelist Gary Phillips and this volume includes a forward by the legendary Walter Mosley himself!
(Click the book cover to purchase!)
As this phoenix called The New Pulp Era burns ever so brightly and hurls itself across the sky, many readers (including longtime fans and newly indoctrinated ones) are taking notice. Quite a few conventions and venues are recognizing the value and impact that Pulp has had in the shaping and molding of Pop Culture. Pulp never truly went away, as it has lived in the hearts of longtime fans and readers for decades. It is only now that a new generation of creators are producing material and new readers are being exposed to this Cult phenomena and apparently they can’t get enough!
I would like to take this opportunity to announce that “yours truly” is also throwing his hat into the Pulp Fiction ring. I only hope that I can live up to the legends of my fore-bearers and help to move Pulp forward alongside the talented men and women listed above.
STAY TUNED & REMEMBER TBIYTC!!!
Copyright © 2013 John F. Allen. All rights reserved.
John F. Allen Author 
Remo Williams.
And what you read (Men’s Adventure novels, Warren magazines) et al, actually followed the ORIGINAL pulp fiction which came about in the early half of the 20th century, and spawns Tarzan and other larger then life characters (John Carter of Mars, etc), Zorro, The Shadow, Doc Savage, and much more.
You’re absolutely right! I am well aware and very appreciative of Doc Savage, The Shadow, The Green Hornet, Tarzan, The Bat, etc…for being the pioneers. I was first exposed to Remo Williams, Mack Bolan, Eerie magazine, etc…it was through those that I reached back to read the classics of yesteryear!