Brak the Barbarian: A History
The Barbarian Age was not a remote time after the fall of Rome but the years 1968 to 1981 or so. Beginning with the Lancer Read More
Category: Pulp Magazines
The Last Case of Jules deGrandjerque
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, does not always play out when the imitation proves to be a satire. I was surprised to hear Read More
British Apemen of the Boys’ Papers
The Jungle Lord is a cultural construct, like the Western gun-fighter, the Northern Mountie, the Noir private detective or the African adventurer. All these motifs Read More
Sword & Sorcery versus Sword & Planet
A swordsman, his arms bearing red wounds, limps across a battlefield covered in bodies. His helmet is gone; his shield is broken. The flag of Read More
Paul Ernst and the Clayton Astounding
Paul Ernst (1899-1983) was the consummate professional writer, one who understood exactly what an editor wanted and provided it. Getting his start in Weird Tales Read More
The Science Fiction of Clark Ashton Smith
Usually when you mention Clark Ashton Smith you get a nod towards H. P. Lovecraft or Weird Tales. Certainly Smith did make his reputation in Read More
The Gods of East & West
In a previous article I showed how “The Tomb of Sarah” was the inspiration for one of Seabury Quinn’s Jules de Grandin stories. Quinn wrote Read More
Ray A. Palmer and the Science Fiction Mystery
Ray A. Palmer is best remembered as the dictatorial editor of Amazing Stories and Fantastic Adventures who fostered the Shaver Mystery and later UFOs. What Read More
Pulp Writing: Opening With a Punch
I miss the Pulps. Not for the garish covers featuring aliens molesting sweet-young space maidens. Not for the variety that gave us the brash adventure Read More
Sword & Sorcery Anthologies 1963-1985
The Sword & Sorcery boom of the late 1960s was driven by the publication of The Lord of the Rings by Donald A. Wollheim at Read More