|
Post by severance on Sept 20, 2011 13:11:30 GMT
PF20 is a themed issue focusing on Universal's many imprints - including Award, Tandem, Beacon and Softcover Library in its new 88-page format. Contents: Fanatical Thoughts (editorial) by Justin MarriottFanatical Mails by Adam Collins, Alan Brennert, Bam!!, Andrew Byers, Chris Wells, Darren Wellings, Colin Clynes, David Barraclough, Derek Smith, David Whitehead, David Southall, Graham Andrews, Mark Rodman, Holger Haase, Paul Ansell, Jeff Mejia, Keith Lyas, Karl Newton, Peter Wrobel, Scott Forrest, Stephen Sennitt, Von Doom, Nigel Taylor, Keith Tree, David Drage, Andy Boot, Johnny Mains, Kev Demant and Andreas Decker.Glorious Trash by Joe Kenney - The first of Joe's new columns explores the men's adventure series The Enforcer by Andrew Sugar. The Universal Story by Justin Marriott - JM chronicles Universal Publishing, and their many imprints. The High Priests of Sleaze by Justin Marriott - JM unearths the collectible and interesting from Universal's sleazy imprint, Beacon Books, includes a mini-checklist. The Sleazy Side of the Street by Brian Ritt - Brian looks at the works of one of Beacon's most collectible authors, the prolific Orrie Hitt. Bibliography of Orrie Hitt's paperback originals. Beacon Art Gallery by Brian Emrich - a gallery of original art that graced several Beacon Books. Tandem Science-Fantasy by Justin Marriott - Justin looks at the offerings from this Tandem line including: Edgar Rice Burroughs, Lin Carter, John Jakes, Jane Gaskell and Talbot Mundy. Fully Illustrated Throughout by Justin Marriott - the big boss-man details the reprinting efforts of the UK arm of Softcover Library. For a Few Dollars Less by Cranston McMillan - the first of Cranston's new columns details the tie-in novels based on Sergio Leone's "The Man With No Name" spaghetti westerns. Checklist of Softcover Library UK's first 100 titles.
|
|
|
Post by severance on Sept 20, 2011 13:16:56 GMT
Haven't had much more than a brief look so far at all the dirty pictures glorious cover art, but the issue debuts two new writers with what appears to be the first of regular columns - the shape of things to come by the looks of it. I thought Justin had mentioned that he was struggling to fit a letters column into this issue? That's why I deliberately didn't send one - so what do we have here? 29 letters
|
|
|
Post by dem bones on Sept 20, 2011 13:36:10 GMT
- again! I so knew you were gonna do that the moment you logged in, yet still I persisted in typing on rather than getting stuck into the mag. It sure looks impressive, don't it? anyway, this is how far I got and between us, reckon we can give the unconverted some flavour of the extravaganza that is the new PF. To celebrate hitting the big two-o, Justin unleashes the new format: 88 PAGES and all of the artwork reproduced in full colour!!! The cover suggests that, after a couple of relatively respectable, horror-orientated issues, the going could get pretty dirty this time around, and so it proves. Paperback Fanatic #20 is dominated by the first of a proposed two-part history of Universal, whose imprints included Award, smut specialists Beacon, Softcover Library, and the mighty Tandem. Justin weaves his commentary around a number of stand-alone articles and a Beacon art gallery (from the collection of Brian Emrich, to whom the issue is dedicated). There's a lengthy piece by Brian Ritt on Orrie Hitt - and with sample titles like Peeping Tom, Dirt Farm ("Why are girls known as undomesticated animals?") and Abnormal Norma, no surprise to learn that Mr. Hitt was an author from "the sleazy side of the street." Cranston McMillan of Kontinental X pitches in with For A Few Dollars Less, the spaghetti western in Tandem paperback. Justin again with a selection of Tandem science fantasy covers (ERB, Jane Gaskell, Lin Carter and, yes, John 'Gor' Norman makes a welcome return to these pages), and there are checklists for Beacon, Softcover Library UK. Elsewhere, Joe Kenney débuts his new column Glorious Trash with an overview of Andrew Sugar's The Enforcer featuring Alex Jason, a crime buster so driven he not going to allow a little thing like terminal cancer stand in the way of beating on the mob. Fanatical Mail features a cast of thousands (and, by the looks of it, still not one of them a girl! might come back to this later) That's tonight's late night reading sorted, then ...
|
|
|
Post by andydecker on Sept 20, 2011 18:16:34 GMT
I really like Joe Kenney´s blog. He writes great reviews, but unlike others he has a broader range in his topics. Not just hard-boild pulps or action-adventure, but also mainstream-writers of the past.
|
|
|
Post by pulphack on Sept 21, 2011 8:04:45 GMT
there's not really much else to say in terms of describing the issue as sev's laid it out nicely. the theme works really well, the extra pages used show that this format is certainly the way ahed, allowing for more depth, and the scans and colour printing were superb. this particularly showed on the covers gallery section, which was a welcome addition.
overall, if this is the way justin is taking the format, then i think he probably has the readership behind him 100% as it looked great and read with a continuity that carried you cover to cover.
now then, on to specifics: joe kenney has a blog? where can it be found andy, as i'd like to read it. the Enforcer article was excellent, and subject-wise right up my street. the only thing about it was that, being non-universal it seemed lonely! nice piece of editing to put it first, then.
universal/tandem/etc - sleaze paperbacks have never really been a great interest (waits while dem picks himself off floor) so much of this was new - apart from the article mentioned in PP&PC about fifteen years back, never read much about it - but the manner in which justin traced the history of the imprints and their evolution was fascinating. and brian ritt's piece on orrie hitt actually made me want to try a couple, which i've never felt before. hitt sounds like he had something to say along with being a pulpster, and that's usually a potent combination.
it's really about the covers, though, isn't it, and they are something else. the paintings are marvellous, and the sixties kitsch graphics on the photo ones are such lovely period pieces.
tandem's fantasy line was more my hammer as i read some of these as a kid (like justin says, woolworths always had these cheap along with five star in the bargain bins), and even picked up At The Earth's Core a few weeks back in tandem. some gorgeous work on the covers from artists at the beginnings of their careers, and frankly an eclectic list that seems to be an accidental 'what can we buy up' rather than planned, but got some excellent stuff into uk print. i was a little disappointed to read that the Thongor covers with the winged helmets were not representative, as i always wanted to give them a go assuming they were very flash gordon! how we are taken in...
i also read some of the Dollar westerns back then, too. Cranston's piece was a great overview, and i look forward to more from him. i can't remember details at over 35 years remove, but i do recall feeing let down by some of the books after the great covers, while others were great. when you're 8 or 9 you don't understand that writers are erratic, and wonder why one book isn't as good as the next. then you grow up, watch leyton orient, and fully undertsand the concept of 'erratic'.
the themed issue concept is a goer, justin, so that's something to add to the list. otherwise, carry on the good work!
|
|
|
Post by andydecker on Sept 21, 2011 10:45:39 GMT
joe kenney has a blog? where can it be found andy, as i'd like to read it. This can be found glorioustrash.blogspot.com/ here . He updates pretty often.
|
|
|
Post by dem bones on Oct 3, 2011 9:28:30 GMT
Just when i thought i was beginning to know my way around the pulp jungle, along comes issue 20 to hit me with an entirely new batch of authors, artists and imprints i never heard of! Some great detective work on the UK arm of Universal Publishers. So, if i've got it straight, Star emerged from the short-lived Universal UK (no relation) which emerged from Tandem - once they'd been bought out by W. H. Allen - which emerged from the original Universal in the US? Somebody really will have to apply Pete Frame's Rock's Family Tree blueprint to the paperback publishing industry. Great to see some new contributors taking the plunge. Cranston's comprehensive guide to Tandem's spaghetti western tie-ins doubles as a neat introduction to his terrific, bit-of-everything fanzine Kontinental X and Joe Kenney's Glorious Trash column is off to a winning start with the 'Enforcer' retrospective. The first novel in particular sounds like an episode of Quantum Leap gone very, very wrong. Maybe there's some milage to be had in an article on the pulp detectives & vigilantes with the weirdest back-stories? Orrie Hitt, new name on me, but Brian Ritt's retrospective is exceptional and no surprise a version will be used as the introduction to the forthcoming two-novel reissue. For all that there's an additional 24 pages, #20 took me less time to read than # 19. I'm certainly not going to complain about plenty of pages devoted to colour galleries (the cover reproductions - the good, the bad, the atrocious - are something i love most about PF), but, if i'm to be critical, it felt an article light. I think one of the interviews from 19 might have been better off in here, without it necessarily distracting from the 'theme issue' intended. Fanatical Mail ( Fanatical Male?), as ever, includes a number of letters that are short articles in themselves. On the subject of fondly remembered seedy bookshops, one of my all-time favourite hunting ground was a cramped, evil reeking junk shop along Roman Road, Bethnal Green toward the close of the 'eighties. The proprietor was 'Leslie', a tall, mustachiod, highly combustible gent in blazer and cloth cap with an air of a broken down wing commander about him, whose mood swings were as much a source of entertainment as the rows upon rows of seriously dodgy paperbacks. Leslie knew that, far from being "always right", the customer was a f**k**g nuisance. His prices were entirely random and quite possibly decided by whether or not he'd self-medicated that morning, which, of course, meant somebody would always be asking him "how much is this?" Catch him in a good mood, he was your benign uncle Les, good as giving you stuff for nothing, but i'm sure we customers secretly preferred to pay that bit more if it meant witnessing one of his epic rages versus parsimonious OAP's haggling over 2p or calling him 'Basil Fawltey', which invariably ended in him banning them from his premises "for life!" (i.e., until he'd calmed down). His face on such occasions was a study in homicidal mania. On one memorable occasion, when a hapless young mother attempted to manoeuvre a twin-pushchair contraption through the door, his features underwent an extraordinary transformation worthy of Ralph Bates in 'Dr. Jekyll & Sister Hyde' First came incredulity (how could anyone be that stupid? you can't swing a cat in here!), then suspicion (I know her type! Puts me to all this inconvenience and leave without spending a penny, the tight-fisted moo!), before the penny dropped that this was yet another chapter in The Spiteful Persecution of Leslie and he went on the attack. "Get out! Get out of my shop! You're banned!" Other than the wall to wall bookcases, there was a table ran almost the length of the shop, piled high with clothes (shapeless, greying old bras were big), bric-à-brac and outright junk - he seemed to have a fetish for rusty kitchen utensils, especially taps - and this was where many of the more memorable skirmishes took place. somehow, i got on well with him though now i think, he'd probably taken a shine to the bride. universal/tandem/etc - sleaze paperbacks have never really been a great interest (waits while dem picks himself off floor) Ah, well perhaps a reciprocal shocker. much as i'm up for as many bad sex interludes as the Hamlyn 'nasty' crowd can throw at me, i've no great interest in sleaze lit per se. What little of it i've read struck me as samey and not a little sad. Same thing with porn. i liked when mainstreamers like Arrow, NEL and Sphere went through that phase of flirting with softcore imagery on the covers during the 'seventies (sometimes beautifully, more often to comedic effect, intentional or otherwise), but i don't particularly want everyone's genitals in my face if you get my meaning. And for that we should all be mightily relieved.
|
|
|
Post by andydecker on Oct 3, 2011 13:10:09 GMT
. one of my all-time favourite hunting ground was a cramped, evil reeking junk shop along Roman Road, Bethnal Green toward the close of the 'eighties. The proprietor was 'Leslie', a tall, mustachiod, highly combustible gent in blazer and cloth cap with an air of a broken down wing commander about him, whose mood swings were as much a source of entertainment as the rows upon rows of seriously dodgy paperbacks. Sounds like a good shop. seems like this is universal, though. Even if I never met such colorful characters, some of the guys I bought my stuff from before the advance of the Net were really weird. occupational hazard maybe? Guess the top of the list was this stamp-collector shop in which I bought a present one time; reminded me of those appartments in serial-killer movies where they build a labyrinth with papers. Even the guy looked like the son of Ed Gein. i've no great interest in sleaze lit per se. What little of it i've read struck me as samey and not a little sad. Same thing with porn. After reading about the complicated genesis of Universal I thought that exactly this genre is the truly last unchartered sea out there. While guys like Silverberg or Block finally say which Greenleaf novels they did write, there are the hundreds of porn novels written for imprints like Beeline. Video killed it like the Net is now killing the video market, but to break this pseudonyms would really be interesting
|
|
|
Post by justin on Oct 5, 2011 21:40:33 GMT
Thanks for feedback guys. I tend to agree with Dem that issue 20 is missing an article, or certainly an in-depth article. Issue 19 had Ballard, Flynn and the Case interview, all great pieces, detailed, comprehensive and not written by me. Only the Hitt article in issue 20 falls into that category.
The additional cover scans have garnered good feedback, the Tandem Science Fantasy ones in particular, but in retrospect the full page reproductions of the actual covers as well as the original art in the Beacon cover gallery was flabby and over-indulgent.
I'm hoping the addition of the new columns in issue 21 will ensure more reading material next time around. The excellent Graham Andrews is providing a movie tie-in column, and the award-winning Johnny Mains has also promised me one, assuming he'll still have time for the likes of me. I'm also planning a "sexy-spy" column and one on westerns, both focussing on some of the more obscure and short-lived series.
Sev- please do write a letter on issue 20!
Andreas- unusual for you not to comment. Hopefully you've received your copy and are merely exercising your right not to pass comment!
Worth banging the drum again on the Pulp and Paperback Fair as it's only a month away. (I did get a rollicking from Peter Chapman the co-organiser for describing it as the Zardoz fair!) Even if it is with the sole intent of interrogating Michel P on his "methinks the lady does protest too much" dismissal of paperback groupies!
Appreciate Vault's ongoing support for The Fanatic- I really do pay a lot of attention to your suggestions.
|
|
|
Post by justin on Oct 5, 2011 21:42:30 GMT
PS Add Cranston's Spaghetti western article to the comprehensive list for 20. (Damn, another contributor alienated!) But you're still right Dem.
|
|
|
Post by noose on Oct 5, 2011 22:47:52 GMT
Just moved into the house but managed to take a quick sneek at the latest PF when the missus wasn't cracking the whip. IT'S BRILLIANT. And yes Justin, two articles, one on John H. and one on John B. will be heading your way.
|
|
|
Post by dem bones on Oct 6, 2011 4:15:56 GMT
i wouldn't listen to me if i were you, Justin. Besides, you might still receive a ton of Fanatical Mail telling you previous issues were too wordy! going way back to PF #12, one of the hard-to-get black magic titles. Milan kindly gave me a copy of this when pulphack and me met up with him recently. Gillian Tindall - A Handbook On Witches (Panther, 1967) Michael Leonard Blurb WHAT WITCHES DO WHEN THEY MEET WHAT IS THE `SHAMEFUL KISS'? THE CONNECTION BETWEEN WITCHCRAFT AND PHALLIC WORSHIP THE SYMBOLISM OF THE BROOMSTICK CAULDRONS, CHARMS, SPELLS AND PROPHYLACTICS FAMOUS WITCH TRIALS WHAT HAPPENS AT A WITCHES SABBATH? LIVES OF FAMOUS WITCHES... INCLUDING THE FEARFUL CASE OF ISOBEL GOWDIE WHO PLAYED THE PART OF THE DEVIL AT WITCHES' FEASTS ... THE NOTORIOUS MAN IN BLACK?
A HANDBOOK OF WITCHES ... a super cool factual look at an inflammatory subject too often shrouded in hysteria and emotion, specially written for the general reader, covering all aspects of witches and, their lore ... from dill water to elf-bolts, grimoires to prickers...
`HIGHLY READABLE ... THIS BOOK SHOULD GO FAR TOWARDS SATISFYING THE NATIONAL THIRST FOR THE SINISTER'- Observer `MANY GRISLY ANECDOTES' - Sunday TelegraphSounds like a good shop. seems like this is universal, though. Even if I never met such colorful characters, some of the guys I bought my stuff from before the advance of the Net were really weird. occupational hazard maybe? Guess the top of the list was this stamp-collector shop in which I bought a present one time; reminded me of those appartments in serial-killer movies where they build a labyrinth with papers. Even the guy looked like the son of Ed Gein. from my small experience, yeah, the industry certainly has its share of "colourful characters", same in any other walk of life, i guess. The shop-owners, dealers and market traders are the reason i'll put off shopping online until there's no place left to go. I like when i talking to them. For me it's as essential a part of the adventure as buying the books themselves and, best of all, occasionally it leads to a lasting friendship and a copy of Richard Lewis's Devil's Coach Horse all in one go. There was a brief item about bookshop closures on the BBC news on Monday evening. Back in 2006 we had 1483 independent bookstores in the UK, today it's 1099 and falling fast. i was surprised the figure tops the thousand, though i doubt it will by this time next year. The local bookshops are going the same way as that other heart of the community, te pubs, and it's the same deal: once they've sold up and made way for a fried chicken outlet or mobile phone store, you'll never get them back. I'm off to a panto to cheer myself up!
|
|
|
Post by andydecker on Oct 6, 2011 10:10:07 GMT
Andreas- unusual for you not to comment. Hopefully you've received your copy and are merely exercising your right not to pass comment! No, no, I got it. Started to write a few words actually which I never finished because of some distraction or other. Nevermind. I loved it as always. It send me to searching for the Sabata novelisation, a movie which I really love (even if it at times is a truly silly movie and it is too long) which I actually got. Also never knew that there was a Dr Phibes novelisation which sadly is too expensive. but in retrospect the full page reproductions of the actual covers as well as the original art in the Beacon cover gallery was flabby and over-indulgent. I thought exactly the opposite as I wrote in my mail. The original art is so good that it was interesting to see them without the hilariously overwritten copy. I marvel at the effort they put artwise in those books. Wonderful erotic art, frankly much too good for such lame novels. It is a shame that the artists got paid so little and are mostly forgotten today. Not to mention how bad they let look todays artists. Take alone the covers put on Ebooks. Just awful.
|
|