Pulp Consumption: The (Original) Adventures of Ford Fairlane (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 inSwords and Sorcery MagazineandDMR Books Blog.

To me, the name Ford Fairlane was always associated with the
1990 Renny Harlin cult film, starring Andrew ‘Dice’ Clay and the actor who
played Nightmare on Elm Street’s
uber-villain, Freddy Krueger, Robert Englund.
That is until now. I had the opportunity to read Rex Weiner’s The (Original) Adventures of Ford Fairlane
and I was in for very a pleasant surprise. This slim volume, published by Rare
Bird Books, collects the two Fairlane shorts that were serialized in The New York Rocker and LA Weekly, respectively. The two tales
fall squarely in the Black Mask
school of crime fiction, in which private investigator, Ford Fairlane works
cases pertaining…

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Pulp Appeal: Penny Dreadful

Broadswords and Blasters

Penny dreadfuls of the late 19th Century were the direct ancestors of pulp fiction rags of the early 20th Century. The name is definitely British in origin, and the publications themselves were most popular in Victorian England, though they were sometimes brought in to America by travelers. The closest neighbor native to the US were the dime novels, though as the name suggests they cost a dime rather than a penny and were often full novels in length, whereas the penny dreadfuls were more like comic books in length, each one roughly a chapter of a larger piece, costing one British penny each. Like the dime novels and later pulps, penny dreadfuls were printed on the cheapest of the cheap wood pulp material. Sadly that means they don’t hold up much over time, and the ones that still exist need to be handled relatively carefully.

Penny Dreadful is the Showtime/Sky…

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Pulp Appeal: Storyhack #3

Broadswords and Blasters

Design wise, Storyhack continues to set a high bar. Full illustrations grace every story, with additional small cartoons interspersed within the stories. The full-sized layout of the magazine is a good choice, as is the double columns, leaving room for the designer to call out specific passages. I’m perfectly willing to admit that I wish the crime-based stories had a bit more edge to them, but then I’ve been spoiled by the likes of SWITCHBLADE and PULP MODERN. There is definitely more than enough here for a reader to sink their teeth into, and yeah, you might get a bit of pulp stuck between your teeth.

Claws of the Puma by Paul R. McNamee – A jungle
adventure where an American journalist is investigating the struggle of local
rubber famers against ruthless loggers in Brazil. The wild card in this case is
the Puma, local wilderness hero. The Puma…

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