Starman the Libertarian is a South American superhero from the '80s, who will be familiar to Colombians of a certain age. You could usually find him on most news stands.
Created by Rafael Curtberto Navarro - who also created Kalimán: El Hombre Incredible - Starman was first published in 1980 by Editora Cinco and ran for over 100 issues.
Set in the futuristic world of 2005 Earth has suffered a huge nuclear war where most of the population has mutated into creatures called Tarhumans.
Not only that but Earth is now ruled by the evil space tyrant Moloch, who destroyed the rebel forces of Liberio, Starman's father.
Libero's army retreats to the moons of Jupiter where his son Starman is given amazing super powers, courtesy of the solar wind.
However Starman's powers depend on the sun and rapidly wane if he is ever cold.
Aided by his robot cat Gatonico, Starman returns to earth to do battle with the evil Moloch and his army of Tarhumans.
Dr. Hana also helps Starman in his battle against Moloch, though she does get captured a lot.
Once Earth is freed of tyranny Starman, Dr. Hana and Gatonico continue their mission to spread justice and freedom across the galaxy.
It's a great space opera and copies are still available on eBay if you search for them.
The series certainly takes a few liberties with copyright: Dr. Hana has a very Princess Leia vibe and some of the spaceships are clearly copied from Chris Foss illustrations.
However for lovers of liberty and fans of epic space opera Starman El Libertario is certainly a hero to celebrate!
More forgotten pulp heroes another time...
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What are the pulp archetypes? Pulp novels are usually written quickly and rely on a formula, but do they use different archetypal characters to other fiction?
Let's take a look at a few...
The Outlaw is a classic pulp archetype: from Dick Turpin onwards lawbreakers have been a staple of the genre. Crime never pays, but it's exciting and trangressive!
Some pulp outlaws however are principled...
As Bob Dylan sang "to live outside the law you must be honest." Michel Gourdon's 1915 hero Dr Christopher Syn is a good example. A clergyman turned pirate and smuggler, he starts as a revenger but becomes the moral magistrate of the smuggling gangs of Romney Marsh.
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.