OK, let's jump into the pulpmobile and head back to the world of 1976: they were having a #heatwave too!
The shirt of seduction: Casos Reales! 1976.
That is a very well-behaved bat.
Vampirella: Bloodstalk, by Ron Goulart. Sphere Books, 1976.
The healing of Brother Brian. Rolling Stone, November 1976.
What do we want? AGGRO!
How do we want it? IN A KID'S COMIC!!
Action, 18 September 1976.
You had me at Full-Size Messerschmitts...
Radio Models & Electronics, October 1976.
When the pupil is ready, the master will appear...
The Platypus of Doom and Other Nihilists, by Arthur Byron Cover. Warner Books, 1976.
"And from France... Stinky Toys!"
Punk at the 100 Club, Oxford St London in 1976.
It's only a matter of time...
The MAD Star Trek musical. MAD magazine, October 1976.
Rod, Jane and Freddy. Or was it Matthew? Was he before Roger? Or after original Bungle left? #SoManyQuestions... (1976)
The Finest In Roller Skates (1976). All in neon and suede.
Donald F Glut and the Extended Frankenstein Universe (1976)
And so it begins...
Night Of The Crabs, by Guy N Smith. NEL, 1976.
Star Trek: portfolio of the crew (1976) by Frank Kelly Freas.
Frank Frazetta's reimagined Flash Gordon from 1976.
Kids today* have too much screentime!** Something MUST be done etc.
(*1976)
(**monochrome)
How does Conan toast a panini? He puts it under the griller!
The Savage Sword of Conan. Issue 14, Sept 1976. Cover by Earl Norem.
Meryl Streep and John Cazale in Measure For Measure by William Shakespeare. Delacorte Theatre 1976, Central Park #NewYork.
"What are you two boys up to?"
The Electric Company Magazine: Mystery Issue, October 1976.
The Queen, sending her first email in 1976.
The Phantom* menace! RC Modeler December 1976.
(*press F4 to continue)
ABBA was everywhere in 1976...
The e-scooter of 1976: the Solo Electra.
They look more like The Goodies...
The Kids, by Tony Parsons. NEL, 1976
Nothing to see here Twitter, move along now...
Derai, by E C Tubb. Arrow, 1976.
"Twins, Basil. Twins!"
False Colours, by Georgette Heyer. Signet Regency Romance, 1976.
All This And World War II, the 1976 movie that mixed WW2 footage with Beatles cover versions by the Bee Gees, Bryan Ferry, Elton John, Keith Moon, Status Quo, Jeff Lynne, Tina Turner, Rod Stewart and Peter Gabriel:
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.
Today in pulp I look back at New Zealand's home-grow microcomputer, the 1981 Poly-1!
Press any key to continue...
The Poly-1 was developed in 1980 by two electronics engineering teachers at Wellington Polytechnic, Neil Scott and Paul Bryant, who wanted to create a computer for use in New Zealand schools. Education Minister Merv Wellington liked the idea and gave it the green light.
Backed by government finances, and in partnership with Progeni Computers, Polycorp was formed in 1980 to began work on the prototype for the official Kiwi school computer.
It was the biggest manhunt in Britain: police, the press, aeroplanes, psychics all tried to solve the disappearance. In the end nobody really knew what happened. It was a mystery without a solution.
This is the story of Agatha Christie's 11 lost days...
By 1926 Agatha Christie's reputation as a writer was starting to grow. Her sixth novel - The Murder of Roger Ackroyd - had been well-received and she and her husband Archie had recently concluded a world tour. But all was not well with the marriage.
In April 1926 Agatha Christie’s mother died. Christie was very close to her: she had been home-schooled and believed her mother was clairvoyant. The shock of her sudden death hit the author hard.