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: a tale of an unintentionally radical publisher. It only produced 42 books between 1968-9, but it caught the hedonistic, solipsistic, free love mood of the West Coast freakout scene like no other.
This is the story of Essex House...
Essex House was an offshoot of Parliament Press, a California publishing company set up by pulp artist Milton Luros after the market for pulp magazines began to decline. It specialised in stag magazines sold through liquor stores, to skirt around US obscenity publishing laws.
By the 1960s Parliament Press was already selling pornographic novels through its Brandon House imprint, though these were mostly reprints or translations of existing work. Luros was interested in publishing new erotic authors, and set up Essex House to do just that.
Today in pulp... one of my favourite SF authors: Harry Harrison!
Harry Harrison was born Stamford, Connecticut, in 1925. He served in the US Army Air Corps during WWII, but became disheartened with military life. In his spare time he learned Esperanto.
Harrison started his sci-fi career as an illustrator, working with Wally Wood on Weird Fantasy and Weird Science up until 1950. He also wrote for syndicated comic strips, including Flash Gordon and Rick Random.
Today in pulp... Blade Runner! Let's look back at the classic 1982 movie and see how it compares to original novel.
"It's not an easy thing to meet your maker..."
Blade Runner is based on Philip K. Dick's 1968 novel Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep? However 'inspired' may be a better word, as the film is very different to the book.
In the novel Deckard is a bounty hunter for the San Francisco police. The year is 1992; Earth has been ravaged by war and humans are moving to off-world colonies to protect their genetic integrity. They are given organic robots to help them, created by the Rosen Association.
In the 1970s a fascinating engineering battle took place between America and Japan for control of the future. The prize was the world we live in now. And one of the key battles took place on your wrist.
This is the story of the digital watch...
'Digital' is a magical marketing word. Like 'laser' or 'turbo' it suggests progress, mastery and the future. People like those ideas. They like them enough to spend a lot of money on products that have them, especially if they can be a first adopter.
And so it was with the wristwatch. Electronic quartz watches were already a thing by the 1960s: an analogue movement driven by a quartz crystal resonator, powered by a small button battery.
But one American company was setting out on a new timekeeping odyssey...
Today in pulp... let's look back at a Shōjo manga artist whose work celebrated friendships between women: Jun'ichi Nakahara.
Jun'ichi Nakahara was born in Higashikagawa in 1913 and worked as an illustrator, a fashion designer and a doll maker. His work is highly regarded in Japan and he was a significant influence on modern manga art.
In the '20s and '30s Nakahara often drew for Shōjo no Tomo ("Girl's Friend") magazine. The style at the time was for demure, dreamlike imagery, but Nakahara added to this large expressive eyes, often reflecting the light.
Today in pulp I try to decipher 1980s Japanese street style, with the help of Olive: The Magazine for Romantic Girls!
This may involve frills...
Street style is an ever-changing mix of styles, brands, attitudes and poses with various influences. And you normally have to be in the right place at the right time to capture it.
Which is where magazines come in! Photograping, documenting and deconstructing fashion never goes out of style, and in the late 1970s Japanese youth had one key guide to help them: Popeye!