Esprit De Corpse: A Johnny Liddell Thriller, by Frank Kane. Dell, 1965
"Johnny Amsterdam - eye with a beard"
I like It Cool, by Michael Lawrence. Popular Giant, 1960.
World Beyond Pluto: a new Johnny Mayhem novelette. Amazing Stories, November 1958. Cover by Ed Valigursky.
Johnny Staccato, by Frank Boyd (aka Frank Kane). Gold Medal Books, 1960.
Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar. Edited by Tommy Hancock. Moonstone Books, 2020.
This is an anthology of new pulp stories based on the popular 1950s radio series. Do check it out!
"Funny how?"
Johnny Havoc, by John Jakes. Belmont Books, 1960.
Johnny Comet, by Peter De Paulo and Frank Frazetta, 1953.
This was a short-lived syndicated comic strip in various Sunday newspapers and is now highly sought after!
The Suicide Squad (1939-46): Johnny Kerrigan, Stephen Klaw and Dan Murdoch. Three tough FBI agents sent to tackle the toughest crime bosses in America. They always came out shooting!
Johnny Bruck, one of the most prolific illustrators in science fiction. He painted over 6,000 covers during his career, as well as many interior illustrations. The vast majority were for one title: Perry Rhodan.
Misfits of Science (1985). Generation X-Men with super powers and a primetime TV show. Featuring Johnny B, who gained the power of electricity after he electrocuted himself on stage.
Oh and Courteney Cox...
Johnny Canuck (1940 onwards) The bare-chested Hitler wrestler of Saskatchewan, drawn by 16 year old Leo Bachle. What a guy!
Hello I'm Johnny Cash. Spire Christian Comics, 1976. Art by Al Hartley.
Johnny Alucard, the groovy Chelsea vampire from Hammer's "interesting" updating of the Dracula legend 'Dracula 1972 A.D.'
Yes his name is Dracula spelt backwards. No the audience didn't realise. Yes you should watch it at least once.
Jay Underwood as Johnny Storm, in Roger Corman's unreleased 1994 movie The Fantastic Four.
This is the only good Fantastic Four movie, so therefore it's never been officially released.
Introducing Johnny Alpha...
Star Lord issue 1, May 1978. This outsold 2000AD until IPC merged the two titles for cost reasons.
More Johnnys another time. Don't be rotten to each other...
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Given the current heatwave, I feel obliged to ask my favourite question: is it time to bring back the leisure suit?
Let's find out...
Now we all know what a man's lounge suit is, but if we're honest it can be a bit... stuffy. Formal. Businesslike. Not what you'd wear 'in da club' as the young folks say.
So for many years tailors have been experimenting with less formal, but still upmarket gents attire. The sort of garb you could wear for both a high level business meeting AND for listening to the Moody Blues in an espresso bar. Something versatile.
Today in pulp I look back at the publishing phenomenon of gamebooks: novels in which YOU are the hero!
A pencil and dice may be required for this thread...
Gamebooks are a simple but addictive concept: you control the narrative. At the end of each section of the story you are offered a choice of outcomes, and based on that you turn to the page indicated to see what happens next.
Gamebook plots are in fact complicated decision tree maps: one or more branches end in success, but many more end in failure! It's down to you to decide which path to tread.
He was the terror of London; a demonic figure with glowing eyes and fiery breath who could leap ten feet high. The penny dreadfuls of the time wrote up his exploits in lurid terms. But who was he really?
Today I look at one of the earliest pulp legends: Spring-Heeled Jack!
London has always attracted ghosts, and in the 19th Century they increasingly left their haunted houses and graveyards and began to wader the capital's streets.
But one apparition caught the Victorian public attention more than most...
In October 1837 a 'leaping character' with a look of the Devil began to prey on Londoners. Often he would leap high into the air and land in front of a carriage, causing it to crash. It would then flee with a high-pitched laugh.