Post Apocalyptic SF in men's adventure series

[justin]

Work in progress, but pulling together a bibliography which I'll use to shape an article.

I know it's SF but Bushwick is a fan of this type of stuff, Steve loves David Robbins who wrote most of it, and Pulp Hack actually writes one of the series!

So hoping for a few additions/corrections and opinions on the popularity of the series. Mad Max 2? Fear of the commies? The Cold War? Judge Dredd? What were the influences and why were they so popular?

THE SURVIVALIST
Jerry Ahern
US- Zebra
UK- NEL

Total War, 1981
The Nightmare Begins
The Quest
The Doomsayer
The Web
The Savage Horde
The Prophet
The End is Coming
Earth Fire
The Awakening
The Reprisal
The Rebellion
Pursuit
The Terror
Overlord
The Arsenal
The Ordeal
The Struggle
Final Rain
Fire Storm
To End All War
Brutal Conquest
Call to Battle
Blood Assassins
War Mountain
Countdown
Death Watch
Mid Wake
The Legend, 1990

THE WARLORD
Jason Frost (Raymond Obstfeld and Rich Rainey)
US only- Zebra Books

The Warlord, 1983
The Cut Throat, 1983
Badland, 1984
Prisonland, 1985
Terminal Island, 1985
Killer’s Keep, 1987

ASHES
William W Johnstone
US only- Zebra

Out of the Ashes, 1983
Fire in the Ashes
Anarchy in the Ashes
Smoke From the Ashes
Wind in the Ashes
Blood in the Ashes
Trapped in the Ashes
Danger in the Ashes
Valor in the Ashes
Death in the Ashes
Survival the Ashes
Fury in the Ashes, 1991

THE GUARDIANS
Richard Austin (Victor Milan wrote the first fourteen)
US- Jove
UK- Pan

The Guardians, 1984
Trial by Fire, 1985
Thunder of Hell
Night of the Phoenix
Armageddon Run
War Zone
Brute Force
Desolation Road
Vengeance Day
Freedom Fight
Valley of the Gods
Plague Years
Devil’s Deal 89

THE OUTRIDER
Richard Harding (Robert Tine)
US only- Pinnacle Books

The Outrider, 1984
Fire and Ice, 1984
Blood Highway, 1984
Bay City Burnout, 1985
Built to Kill, 1985
Black Death ?

DOOMSDAY WARRIOR
Ryder Stacy (Ryder Otto Syvertsen)
US-Zebra
UK- Futura

Doomsday Warrior, 1984
Red America
The Last American
Bloody America
America’s Last Declaration
American Rebellion
American Defiance
American Glory
America’s Zero Hour
American Nightmare
American Eden
Death, American Style
American Paradise
America’s Death Orbit
American Overthrow
American Ultimatum
America’s Sword
American Dream Machine
America’s Final Defense, 1991

THE LAST RANGER
Craig Sargent
US only- Popular Library

The Last Ranger, 1986
The Savage Stronghold
The Madman’s Mansion
The Rabid Brigadier
The War Weapons
The Warlord’s Revenge
The Vile Village
The Cutthroat Cannibals
The Damned Disciples, 1989

PHOENIX
David Alexander
US-Leisure
UK- Star

Dark Messiah, 1987
Ground Zero, 1987
Death Quest, 1988
Metal Storm, 1988
Whirl Wind, 1988

ROADBLASTER
Paul Hofrichter
US only- Leisure Books
Hell Ride, 1987
Death Ride, 1988
Blood Ride, 1988

SWAMP MASTER
Jake Spencer
US only- Diamond

Swamp Master, 1992
Hell on Earth, 1992
Unholy Alliance, 1992

STORM RIDER
Robert Baron (Victor Milan)
US only- Jove Books

Storm Rider, 1992
River of Fire, 1992
Lord of the Plains, 1993

WINGMAN
Mack Maloney
US only- Zebra

Wingman
The Circle War
The Lucifer Crusade
Thunder in the East
The Twisted Cross
The Final Storm

THE MARAUDERS
Michael McGann,
The Marauders, 1989

OMEGA SUB
David Cameron (David Robbins)
US only- Avon
Omega Sub, 1991
Command Decision, 1991
City of Fear, 1991
Blood Tide, 1991
Death Dive, 1991
Raven Rising, 1992

END WORLD
David Robbins
US only- Leisure

BLADE
David Robbins
US only- Leisure Books

First Strike
Outland Strike
Vampire Strike
Pipeline Strike
Pirate Strike
Crusher Strike
Terror Strike
Devil Strike
L.A. Strike
Dead Zone Strike
Quest Strike
Death Master Strike
Vengeance Strike

THE LAST RANGERS
Jake David
US only- Berkley

The Last Rangers, 1993
Crime Zone, 1993

[bushwick]

Good work feller!

With a lot of these series, the later numbers were coming out round about the time of Perestroika, but Reds were still the menace in the books. Did the end of the Cold War spell the end of these books? (Obviously not, in the case of Deathlands) Or did readers enjoy the reassuring retro-Commie-hating, just like the old days?

[bushwick]

Definitely Mad Max 2 as well, but the crazy OTT nature of many of the books is more reminiscent of all the Italian knock-offs that followed. Round the same time, things like 'The New Barbarians' and '2019: After The Fall Of New York' were flying out of video shops, probably rented by the same powerful modern day warriors that read the books.

[Steve]

These books are essentially an American phenomenon. A few of them may have found their way over here, but nothing compared to the amount of stuff that appeared in the US as the list above shows (having said that, we should perhaps bear in mind that probably the most enduring of these series, Deathlands, was created by a couple of Englishmen). I think the time was just right over there politically and socially for this kind of book to find a ready audience. The Cold War, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, which if I remember rightly is where The Survivalist begins, Star Wars (the strategic defence initiative rather than the film). Then you have the Survivalist movement itself which was at its peak in the 80s, fuelled to no small extent by the perceived threat of nuclear attack by Russia.
For the free-spirited American male with a fondness for firearms and camouflage gear these books have everything – they’re both the ultimate nightmare and the ultimate fantasy. First off they tell you that you’re not just a nutjob conspiracy theorist… this stuff could really happen, and not only that but you, or at least people who think just like you, are the hero of the post-apocalyptic hour – good job you’ve spent all that time shooting squirrels and stocking up on canned goods because when the time comes we’re going to need men like you.
Probably more than anywhere else, America loves the free man, the rugged individual, the noble warrior – or at least the idea of him. That’s why you’ve got the Western, outlaw biker gangs, the N.R.A… all of which permeate post-apocalyptic survivalist fiction.
Other popular culture, particularly cinema, no doubt influenced or fed into these series. Apart from Mad Max and others already mentioned, you’ve got films like Red Dawn with it’s depiction of Russian ground attack on US soil, and how about Escape From New York? Deathlands Ryan Cawdor owes more than a little imagewise to Snake Plissken.
As far as Judge Dredd goes, and I could be wrong here so perhaps someone who knows more about comics than I do can either confirm or deny this, I don’t think the character was really that well known in America until the film came out in the mid-90s. By which time, with one or two notable exceptions, popular interest in this kind of scenario was pretty well played out (at least if the box-office performance of Kevin Costner’s Waterworld and The Postman are anything to go by).

Nice list, Justin, I'll see what else I can provide if I get chance later.

[Steve]

How about the Traveler series, 13 books under the house-name D. B. Drumm (shared by John Shirley and Ed Naha). Published by Dell, ran from 1984 to 1987.

#1 First, You Fight
#2 Kingdom Come
#3 The Stalkers
#4 To Kill a Shadow
#5 Road War
#6 Border War
#7 The Road Ghost
#8 Terminal Road
#9 The Stalking Time
#10 Hell on Earth
#11 The Children's Crusade
#12 The Prey
#13 Ghost Dancers

According to some sources, Shirley wrote 1-6 and #8, with Naha taking care of the rest. In a lengthy interview which I'm temporarily unable to provide a link to, Naha remembers it differently;
"I did all of them, except for... I don't have the list in front of me. I didn't do, I think, three of them. Whenever you see ones that have large animals, like a Buddhist monk riding on a 15-foot rat, that's John. Mine were more spaghetti western hardcore stuff."

I think the Omega Sub books were generally credited to J. D. Cameron rather than David Cameron?

Do you need a list of Endworld titles?

Ryder Stacy (Doomsday Warrior) was, I believe, a joint pseudonym used by Ryder Syvertsen and Jan Stacy.

16 books in the Wingman series according to Mack Maloney's website;

#7 Freedom Express
#8 Skyfire
#9 Return From The Inferno
#10 War of the Sun
#11 The Ghost War
#12 Target Point Zero
#13 Death Orbit
#14 The Sky Ghost
#15 Return of Sky Ghost
#16 The Tomorrow War

7 books in The Marauders series;

#2 Blood Kin
#3 Liar's Dice
#4 Convoy Strike
#5 The Ghost Warriors
#6 Blood and Fire
#7 Fortress of Death

Series was a spin-off from Jove's The Guardians. 'Michael McGann' was Ed Naha (see Traveler) - "Then I did a series of books as Michael McGann: The Marauders. I don't know how many of those I did. They were post-apocalyptic, swashbuckling, guns'n'ammo books that won the accolade of the mercenary crowd! 'Hey! You like guns? I like guns!'"

[andydecker]

Very good thoughts, steve.

A shame that the sf-elements are often so ridiculous Take THE SURVIVALIST for instance, which must have the most idiotic pseudo-sf ever in the later books. There is a huge time-jump while the heroes sleep in their cyrogenic tubes to fight for another day against cloned nazi-nations.

But the commies as villians got boring fast. Mostly this seems just the starting point.

Also a factor in the longlivity seems to be the family element. The lone hero series never seemed to be as successful as those which feature familys of heroes.

Judge Dredd never was a success in the US. (or in Germany, for that matter.) Even if it is better imho than 90% of american superheroes. Thematically it is still somehow rooted in WWIII, as the current storylines show, but mostly this is just one element of the Dreddverse. Dredd is too british for foreign audiances, I guess.

As for other series, how about

Wasteworld
James Barton (Angus Wells & John Harvey)
UK - Granada

Aftermath (1983)
Resurrection
Angels
My Way

[Steve]

A few final additions, suggestions and what have you...

16 books in The Guardians series. Last 3 titles were;

#14 Death from Above
#15 Snake Eyes
#16 Death Charge (1991)

10 books in Craig Sargent's Last Ranger;

#10 Is This The End? (1989)

3 books of The Last Rangers (series was credited to 'Jake Davis')

#3 Destination: Showdown (1993)

Going back to J. D. Cameron of Omega Sub fame, it was apparently a joint pseudonym shared by David Robbins & Michael Jahn. Robbins wrote #2, #4, #5 & #6 according to his website.

Think that's about everything in the way of nit-picking. Apologies if you knew all this already.
You might also want to consider adding this series;

Eagleheart
C. T. Westcott
Dell, 1989

#1 Silver Wings and Leather Jackets
#2 Broadsides and Brass
#3 Blood and Bones

Know nothing else about it but there's an advert featured on the Radioactive Rambos site promising "action, romance and mutants".

The only other thing I think may be worth mentioning is that William W. Johnstone's Ashes series ran until 2003 (he died the following year). 34 books plus 'From The Ashes: America Reborn', a "complete guide" to the series. In 2004 there was also the first in a projected spin-off series, The Last Rebel (seemingly ghost-written) although this doesn't appear to have found favour with fans. And Mr Johnstone does still have his fans.
Apart from Deathlands and its spin-off Outlanders (still going strong as far as I'm aware) all the other series mentioned here were finished by 1993. However, Johnstone's Ashes books, and their hero Ben Raines, have gone on to gain something approaching a fanatical following over the years.

Oh, and David Robbins has recently written an Endworld prequel, Endworld: Doomsday.

[justin]

Thanks for the additions Vaulters.

I'm sure "Action, Romance and Mutants" will end up being the title of the final piece.

What do you think the criteria I judge the books should be? A bit like a Top Trumps of post-apocalyptic SF.
Rampaging muties?
Gun porn?
Commie bashing?
Homo-eroticism?
Gratuitous violence?
1980s fashion crime hair-styles?

[bushwick]

These are good criteria, but I think one should be added for 'one-dimensional pure evil of villains'. The Commie villains in Doomsday Warrior are all completely degenerate, physically repulsive, love inflicting pain on good Americans and sleep with kids. Heroes should be free of all prejudice, a multi-ethnic crew symbolising the American Dream. No shades of grey in characterisation!

Also there should be a rating for names. In DW, the hero is Ted Rockson, the Ultimate American. In Phoenix, it's Magnus Trench. Alpha male names...

[Craig Herbertson]

Definitely great criteria. One dimensional villain also rocks. Perhaps a list of hero's names would tell us a fair bit.

I don't know much about this genre really but I remember nearly buying the Survivalist once before realising I was in a public place. Must redress this error

[Steve]

Jul 27, 2009 20:21:59 GMT justin said:

What do you think the criteria I judge the books should be? A bit like a Top Trumps of post-apocalyptic SF.
Rampaging muties?
Gun porn?
Commie bashing?
Homo-eroticism?
Gratuitous violence?
1980s fashion crime hair-styles?

Jul 28, 2009 17:12:45 GMT bushwick said:

These are good criteria, but I think one should be added for 'one-dimensional pure evil of villains'...

Also there should be a rating for names. In DW, the hero is Ted Rockson, the Ultimate American. In Phoenix, it's Magnus Trench. Alpha male names...

Phoenix #2: Ground Zero
David Alexander, Star Books 1988 (First published 1987)

Gun porn

“crimson spouted from the shattered base of the skull as a longburst of 185-grain HV steel-jacketed wadcutters screaming from a Steyr MPi69 SMG outfitted with a SIONICS silencer struck the target’s skull… The headless corpse pitched crazily forward. Its weapon, an Uzi .45 ACP Micro, clattered from lifeless fingers. Brain-matter cocktail slopped from the open chalice of the skull… The Killforcer spun fast as another target entered his performance envelope. A MAC 11 SMG in the target’s hand sang a lethal death song, spitting out 230-grain roundhouse whizzers at 700 rounds per minute…”

And that’s just the first page. Solid 8 or maybe even a 9/10.

(Not sure if points should be added or deducted for the inclusion of good old-fashioned ‘Porn porn’? Hardcore weapons spec fans could find lines like “Bubbles scarfed pecker with a vengeance” an unnecessary distraction.)

Gratuitous violence

See passage above, which continues; “…Bullet fragments liquified the colon and liver to a bloody soup…” – but graphic violence is by no means confined merely to entry/exit wounds. Mailed fists, chains, spiked clubs and grenade launchers are all employed to equally colourful effect.
Of course for violence to be truly gratuitous it should really be entirely uncalled for – how about anal rape of the already crippled and dying with a 14-inch chrome-plated dildo (which also fires .45-caliber ACP slugs, for anyone who’s making notes). The paragraph beginning “Maxine’s urogenital system geysered from the spectacular wound…”, which I won’t quote in its entirety here, is pretty much textbook book stuff when it comes to gratuitousness – containing, as it does, the phrases ‘urogenital system’ (see above), ‘.45 ACP slugs’ (likewise), ‘steel phallus’, and ‘jutting obscenely’. I’m tempted to award a 10.

Rampaging muties

‘Contams’ are infected by a plague virus which turns them into bloodthirsty zombies - “soulless mutant killers with a thirst for blood and a hunger for human flesh”. Covered in pus-filled tumours they can sometimes be found hiding under the desert sands, ninja-style, waiting to rise up and eat the brains of the unwary passer-by. Have yet to develop an immunity to flame-throwers. 8/10.

Homo-eroticism

A few passing references to black leather jeans and vests “open to expose a well-muscled chest” but couldn’t really give this more than a 3/10 in all fairness.

Commie bashing

Poor… maybe another 3/10. OK they may have inadvertantly nuked America and reduced much of its population to "slobbering, submental idiocy" with their biological weapons but the Russkies are pretty much completely overshadowed by…

One-dimensional pure evil villain

Luther “Dark Messiah” Enoch, diseased religious megalomaniac who takes the prize for putting the mental in fundamentalist. Ensconced, at time of writing, 3 miles beneath the earth in his high-tech bunker, only a biosurvival suit standing between him and the brain-slurping delights of full-blown Contam Plague. It’s all his fault. The bastard.
Indirectly responsible for reducing most of America (and presumably the rest of the world but who cares about them) to radioactive rubble. No redeeming features, unless you count psychosis. 9/10 (1 point deducted as it’s not specifically mentioned, at least in this book, that he drowns puppies in a weighted sack).

Character names

As mentioned above by Bushwick, Magnus Trench: the man called Phoenix, is a fairly impressive ‘don’t fuck with me’ name for the hero of this series. Luther Enoch isn’t bad for a villain either. Extra points for supporting characters such as Mad Maxine, Bloodstone and Lysergic Moonbase. 7/10.

1980s fashion crime hair-styles

This particular nightmare vision of the future is largely a mullet free zone. Evidently in the wake of all-out thermonuclear devastation, the only survivors would either be punks or fans of Procol Harum (and “cockroaches as big as squirrels” of course). Hair therefore tends to be worn either long or in a mohican. Obviously “cueball head” is also an option. 5/10.

Talking of punks, could there perhaps be bonus points for bands such as the Mad Mutants with their Gun porn classic “Born to Be Dead” (‘Get your MAC 10 blazin’, snuff a dozen people…’)?


I reckon that all evens out to a very respectable 7 post-apocalyptic hell-points out of 10.

[bushwick]

Absolutely splendid work Steve, you nailed it. I've only read the first one from this series (but have this one too) and my jaw dropped for the duration of the whole thing. So, so wrong.

Your point-by-point review definitely illustrates the appeal of these books. I wonder if 'Phoenix' is the most OTT series? Doomsday Warrior is not quite as violent (not quite) but easily as stupid. Have only skimmed through a Survivalist but seems tame in comparison...

[Johnlprobert]

Steve that review is absolute gold! I had no interest whatever in this genre and now I HAVE to read some of these books! Bloody well done!

[bushwick]

I've nearly finished Phoenix 2: Ground Zero, and it's a lot more full-on that the first, which is quite a feat. Andrea Dworkin would turn in her grave. I don't think it gets nastier/more sexist/written with more irresponsible juvenile relish than this. The sex scenes are written like porn, rough as hell and pretty hard to defend. You would never expect material like this to lie beneath such a generic, innocuous cover. Would be very interested to know who really wrote this, as 'David Alexander' is blatantly a pseudonym. I think it'll be one of those no-one wants to admit to, like 'Eat Them Alive'. Justin, please prove us wrong!

[bushwick]

Some good Cold War-era nuke-obsessed hardcore would go very well with these books. A bit of Discharge would fit the pace and mood.

"CAN YOU HEAR THE SOUND
OF THE ENORMOUS DOOR
SLAMMING IN THE DEPTHS OF HELL?"