Pulp Consumption: Changing of the Guards

Broadswords and Blasters

Matt Spencer is no stranger to Broadswords and Blasters, having appeared in issues 1, 2, and 9 of our magazine, and writing the occasional article for us as well. So, when we were given the chance to read a review copy of his latest “CHANGING OF THE GUARDS,” we knew what we were getting into.

And, to be fair, Spencer isn’t going to be everyone’s cup of tea, and if by tea we mean hardcore brutal fantasy that pulls no punches. There’s very little genteel or noble in this book, with the focus instead on the kind of people that end up being heroes, and how those same people rarely fit into the society they are fighting for.

The opening starts with Severen, a member of the
imperialistic Spirelight Secret Police, captured by the very bandits he was sent
out to deal with in the first place, led…

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Pulp Appeal: Moon Knight: From the Dead (guest post by Anthony Perconti)

Broadswords and Blasters

Editors’ Note: Anthony Perconti lives and works in the hinterlands of New Jersey with his wife and kids. He enjoys good stories across many different genres and mediums. His articles have appeared in Swords and Sorcery Magazine and DMR Books Blog.

In the early years of this century, in addition to all of the mainstream comic work that was on his plate, Warren Ellis took the time to  create a line of standalone pulp inspired one shots for Avatar comics, under the heading of “Apparat.” The goal of these 4 titles was to present specific pulp subgenres (science fiction, aviation, detective and pulp vigilante) as a first issue of a series from a parallel universe where pulps made the direct translation into comic books, without the invention of the superhero. These four one shots was Ellis’ attempt to directly create new pulp stories for a modern comic reading audience, replete…

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Issue 9 is here!

Broadswords and Blasters

Issue 9 Release!

If you’ve been following us on twitter at all you know that this
day was coming. No, not tax day in the US of A (though that too), but the long awaited release
of issue 9. So what do we have in store for you this time?

R.A. Goli
returns with a tale of how far a mother will go for her daughter in the tale
“Griffon Eggs.” The first time she graced our pages was way back in issue 1, so
we’re especially happy to have her back again.

Rex Weiner, veteran writer probably best known as the
creator of Ford Fairlane, graces us with “Camera Obscura,” a noir tale of a
shady real estate developer’s fall into obsession.

Ethan Sabatella hits us with
a tale of ancient Nordic horror in “The Pole-House.”

Cara Fox spins a steampunk revenge tale with a twist in “The…

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Pulp Consumption: The Outsider by Stephen King

Broadswords and Blasters

Stephen King has long been one of my favorite authors. Until about five years ago I could say I owned every book he’s written. Looking over his bibliography on Wikipedia, I’m still pretty damn close, missing only five of his most recent works, but I’ve read all but one of those, Gwendy’s Button Box, which I’ll rectify as soon as I’ve finished reading Econoclash Review #3 and the Spring 2019 issue of Cirsova.

I’ve had some mixed feelings about several of King’s recent books, namely the Bill Hodges trilogy (Mr. Mercedes, Finders Keepers, End of Watch), but even with those so-so emotions I don’t regret the time spent reading them. They trade more on mystery/detective fiction than the supernatural horror King is famous for, and because of that they weren’t something I immediately fell in love with.

The same is true of the most…

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PULP APPEAL: MAKE ME NO GRAVE (guest post by Matt Spencer)

Broadswords and Blasters

Editors’ Note: Matt Spencer is the author of numerous novellas and short-stories, as well as the novels The Night and the Land, The Trail of the Beast, and Summer Reaping on the Fields of Nowhere. His latest book is Changing of the Guards. He’s been a journalist, New Orleans restaurant cook, factory worker, radio DJ, and a no-good ramblin’ bum. He’s also a song lyricist, playwright, actor, and martial artist. As of this writing, he lives in Brattleboro, Vermont.

Spinning
an effective Wild West tale is harder than it looks, for the same reasons as
any form of historically-inspired adventure fiction, though in some ways even
more so. On the one hand, there’s a consciously mythologized landscape that the
audience knows well, at the very least by pop cultural osmosis, and from which
they expect certain things. On the other hand, modern readers tend to view such

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