Your Favorite Pulp-Era Hero?

[Kevin Scrivner]

Who is your favorite pulp, or pulp-era, hero? Could be from the actual pulps, newspaper strips, radio shows, movie serials.

[JmOz]

What evil lurks in the hearts of men...


...The Shadow Knows

[Enforcer84]

The Man of Bronze!

[AlHazred]

I like all the Pulp Heroes, but if I had to choose just one, I'd pick The Avenger. He has companions like Doc Savage, but the Avenger's are actually competent. They can do things the Avenger can't. And they seem like real people, too.

Although, I thought the series went downhill in later books, after the initial run.

[KA.]

For obvious reasons, I chose The Shadow!

[Vondy]

G-8, baby!!

My long time Champions character - Anthem - has some G-8 in his history, though the names were changed to avoid copyright infringement.

[TheImperialKhan]

Obviously my favorite is The Phantom :)

But I must admit that Doc Savage is a close second.

Oh BTW Remo Williams, the Destroyer is not a pulp character. He was introduced and operated in the mid 70s. A couple years after the Executioner first appeared by the same publisher. And IMHO Mack Bolan was far superior to his Marvel Comics knock-off Frank Castle aka The Punisher.

[Lord Liaden]

Originally posted by TheImperialKhan
Obviously my favorite is The Phantom :)

But I must admit that Doc Savage is a close second.

Oh BTW Remo Williams, the Destroyer is not a pulp character. He was introduced and operated in the mid 70s. A couple years after the Executioner first appeared by the same publisher. And IMHO Mack Bolan was far superior to his Marvel Comics knock-off Frank Castle aka The Punisher.

I was always surprised that the owners of "The Executioner" property never took legal action against Marvel Comics for the Punisher (at least, none that I ever heard of). The Executioner had virtually the same background and motivation, was a successful series and predated the Punisher by several years.

As far as the poll goes, I'd have to go with Doc Savage. I'm a fan of four-color comics, and Doc forms one of the most important bridges between pulp and four-color style.

I do think that one important pulp-era character is being overlooked, though: Tarzan the Ape Man. Many of his adventures were serialized in pulp magazines.

[Ghost Archer]

There are a couple Pulp Era heroes you didn't add, like Conan and Tarzan, so I'll go with 'Other" and give my vote to Tarzan. Also forgot Allan Quartermain.

[Kevin Scrivner]

I thought of Tarzan, but the polls only give you ten options.

Remo Williams may not have been published until the '70s but he sure fits the genre, albeit updated for the time period.

[Carmen]

I picked The Shadow, but The Phantom was a really close second.

Heh...I've been lurking on these boards for months, and this is the thread that got me to register. :p

[MisterVimes]

Close... so close. It was a toss up between the Phantom and Dr. Clark Savage jr.

Doc won... by a hair.

[Peregrine]

Had to go with Doc, though Tarzan, the Shadow, and the Phantom all run close behind.

[ArmlessTigerMan]

based on his name alone, as I have yet to find any copies of his stories, my pick would be:
Captain Satan, King of Adventure!
but Remo and The Spider are a close second and third.

[Kevin Scrivner]

In the '80s TSR did a series called "Agent 13" to promote their pulp supplement for Top Secret/SSI of the same name. I read the first one and it was pretty good. The supplement was worth grabbing, too, for the genre and campaign material.

[MarkusDark]

Does the Green Hornet count? :)

[Peregrine]

I'd say 'yes'.

Besides, if your sidekick is Bruce Lee, you've got something going for you!

[AGLAR]

While eating at the local Cracker Barrel, I spotted a rack of cds and cassette tapes that featured old radio shows.

I purchased a cd that has two episodes of The Shadow.

I intend to listen to it while working.

Anyone interested in old radio programs may want to look at this site.

http://www.radiospirits.com/default.asp?sid=MTA1NjE0OTQ6My8yNi8wMyAyOjIxOjA0IF BN&Svr=124&l=1&source=

[winterhawk]

The weed of crime bears bitter fruit

Overall, the Shadow. He translated the best from pulps to comics to radio...all until Modern Hollywood got a hold of him and he suffered the typical Super Hero Movie Syndrome ("I'm a famous actor and I will not wear the mask except for a few minutes")

The Green Hornet is a close second, but since my first exposure to him was the 60s TV show, I didn't count him.

[TheImperialKhan]

Originally posted by winterhawk
The weed of crime bears bitter fruit

Overall, the Shadow. He translated the best from pulps to comics to radio...all until Modern Hollywood got a hold of him and he suffered the typical Super Hero Movie Syndrome ("I'm a famous actor and I will not wear the mask except for a few minutes")

I think it's more a case of a decision by the producers rather than the actor.

I mean put yourself in their position you've hired a famous actor for this role, why would you then proceed to hide his face. If you were going to do that you would hire a talented unknown for the role, he'll be far less expensive.

I actually enjoyed the movie. But I must admit that I've neither read the books nor heard the radioplays. So I didn't come into it with any preconcieved notions. In fact about the only thing I didn't like was Jonathan Winters.

[Kevin Scrivner]

Originally posted by MarkusDark
Does the Green Hornet count? :)

I'd definitely include the Green Hornet but, again, the poll only permits ten options. The radio shows and the '40s serials are light but fun. The TV series gave him the Adam West treatment; I'd like to see a serious movie version set in the 1930s.

In addition to Superman, The Shadow, and the Green Hornet, radio featured heroes such as the Blue Beetle (see www.radiolovers.com), The Saint (Vincent Price, who managed to be suave, funny, and tough all at the same time), Jack, Doc and Reggie of "I Love A Mystery" (a show which should not be neglected by Pulp HERO fans), Dan Holiday of "Box 13" (a mystery novelist who would go anywhere and do anything go get good material), K.C. Smith of "The Ghost Corps" (member of a shadowy diplomatic organization), and Johnny Dollar ("Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar"), an insurance investigator whose clients would give The Shadow headaches. In the radio drama revival of the 1970s and '80s we also saw radio versions of Doc Savage and the Fantastic Four.

Look in the "Pulp Hero" thread for more radio links.

[Ranxerox]

I cast my vote for Fu Manchu.

What you say he wasn't a hero.

Thats odd I always rooted for him to win.

Mwwahahahahahaha!

[RDU Neil]

Damn, Ranxerox... you beat me to it...

Though I was going to say "Sir Dennis Nayland Smith" rather than Fu Manchu.

Granted, I was introduced to the character via Master of Kung-Fu in the '70s and '80s, but I've found some of the old novels, and really enjoyed them.

I'm assuming everyone interested in this thread is reading "League of Extraordinary Gentlmen" Right? Wonderful series, that I doubt will translate well to the movies, though the addition of a grown up Tom Sawyer as an American Secret Agent is a great conceit! :cool:

[Arthur]

I wouldn't have thought of Remo Williams as pulp-era, but he is without a doubt in the genre. Made my choice easy - I loved that series, as cheesy as it got sometimes. My very first Champions PC was a knock-off of Remo. I recall there being a "Shiva" who was very similar (complete to the Sinanju symbol on his chest - a trapezoid bisected vertically by a lightning bolt, IIRC) who appeared somewhere in an old Champions book.

[Wyrm Ouroboros]

Well, I voted for 'The Shadow', but my real favorite 'Mystery Man' is the Batman. In all honesty, I'm rather surprised he didn't get put on the list as being 'pulp era'; he fits in really rather well. Ignoring the long run of pre-Marvel 'gadget and gizmo' villians and 'gosh golly whillikers' plotlines and knee-jerk reactions, Batman was, is, and will continue to be the prime (and most successful) 'pulp hero'.

Oh, sure, he pals around with cosmic-level superbeings like the Martian Manhunter, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Superman, and Aquaman, but when you get down to it ... Batman's just a guy. Well, Batman's the guy, the man who always has a plan...

[Xiawarr]

Hey there, what about John Carter of Mars or Flash Gordon? Althought they are definitely on the sci-fi side of the pulp equation, they definitely have that pulp feel. And, besides, the John Carter series were written during the height of the pulp era!

[Kevin Scrivner]

Originally posted by Xiawarr
Hey there, what about John Carter of Mars or Flash Gordon? Althought they are definitely on the sci-fi side of the pulp equation, they definitely have that pulp feel. And, besides, the John Carter series were written during the height of the pulp era!

Don't forget Carson Napier of Venus, another Burroughs creation. Yes, they qualify. Their adventures have a different feel from those of terrestrial heroes. They aren't crime fighters, per se, although they do get to thrash a lot of bad guys. Basically, they're just trying to survive in a hostile, unfamiliar environment. The perks (Dejah Thoris, Dale Arden) are worth it!

While I greatly enjoy the adventures of the Batman, I didn't include him in the list. Bruce Wayne pretty much borrowed his whole schtick from The Shadow, The Spider, and the Green Hornet -- all of whom preceeded him. Somehow the bat theme, the kid sidekick, and the recurring foes gave him an appeal that has outlasted that of his mentors.

[Captain Obvious]

As I recall, there was a pulp-era hero called the Bat. As much as I love my mon Bats, he's standing on the shoulders of giants....

[Captain Obvious]

Having looked it up now, there were two pulp-era characters called The Bat, and two called The Black Bat. Some other character synopses can be found here:

http://www.geocities.com/jjnevins/pulpsb.html