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maxwell-grant · 2 years

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Pulp heroes are well known for wielding guns, but are there any that have different signature weapons? Are there any weapons you would love to see a pulp hero wield?

(Green Lama art by edude-makes-comics)

Quite a few, yeah. In general, because there was only so much violence the heroes could get away with, most of the really out-there batshit weapons tended to be the ones created and wielded by the villains, with “guy with a really weird weapon or method of murder that, either presents a mystery too confusing for regular law enforcement to solve, or a threat too dangerous to be allowed to exist” being easily one of the most reocurring kind of monster-of-the-week for most long-running pulp heroes. Guns were popular and ubiquotuous but not the only kind, even the more famous gun-toters like The Shadow or The Spider mixed things on occasion.

Some particular stand-outs among the gun-free pulp heroes, not counting the outright superpowers or non-boolit kinds of guns:

Doc Savage: I mean, kind of, partially included here because he’s a weird example of how gun-toting pulp heroes are so ubiquotous we attribute excessive gun usage even to characters who didn’t actually use them. Doc didn’t particularly have a “signature weapon”, but a lot of modern renditions of Doc Savage based on the James Bama rendition depict him with big bulky guns to the point that Doc’s “signature weapon” nowadays might as well be a Flash Gordon flare gun, but despite the existence of “mercy bullets”, Doc Savage actually hated using guns of any kind as anything other than a last-resort (and even then, that’s what the mercy bullets were for). Doc sometimes invented new forms of weaponry, like miniature grenades, specialized explosives and gas-filled glass balls, to be used on occasion.

Doc is mostly included here because his assistant Ham Brooks actually did have one of the more famous signature weapons of the pulps: a black cane with a concealed sword, coated with a potent anesthetic.

The Green Lama: Who detested guns about as much as Batman. His signature weapon consisted of his long red scarf that he used as a whip and garrote, which makes a pretty funny contrast with the fact that he’s the pacifist American pulp hero, so that means he non-lethally strangles the absolute shit out of criminals instead of shooting them.

Zenigata Heiji: A highly popular detective who appeared in novels, collections and short stories from 1931 to 1958, probably the most direct example of a Japanese Pulp Hero I’ve seen thus far. He’s an Edo-period working class Great Detective who unofficially works for the government in assisting the police without being quite one of them himself. He is most famous for his signature weapons: a jutte he wields, and the heavy coins (called zeni, hence his name) he throws at criminals to catch them.

Zorro: Kinda goes with saying and that goes for all the other Zorro knock-offs / alikes who also largely employed physical bladed weaponry like swords, rapiers, sabers, and etc.

Indiana Jones: Also kinda goes without saying.

(Dossouye art by Paul Davey)

Sword and Sorcery characters in general: Robert E.Howard’s Conan and Conan-alikes (as well as Solomon Kane, whose signature weapon is a staff), figures that veer into an opposite end like Elric and his Stormbringer, and Charles R Saunders’ Dossouye tends to be depicted often with spears and machetes. You rarely see guns brought into sword-and-sorcery kind of pulp heroes, to not diminish the appeal of cutting down armies while going buck-wild naked with swords intrinsic to the genre.

The Avenger: His signature weapons consist of a gun named “Mike”, and a knife named “Ike”. That’s like, half of what you prompted, but still counts.

Occult Detectives: Several Occult Detective characters who follow closer on the Manly Wade Wellman / Carnacki approach tend to ditch guns in favor of classier or more occult-themed stuff, with both Judge Pursuivant and John Thunstone wielding sword canes, and Luna Bartendale’s divining rod.

Lavender Jack: Who has two signature weapons in the form of his clawed gloves that transmit explosive waves via fingersnap, and the canes that he uses for more direct combat.

Bob Larkin, a Black Mask detective created by Erle Stanley Gardner. The character uses a billliard cue as his main weapon and has 15 years worth of practice as a juggler to make the most use of it.

If we count Scrooge McDuck as a pulp hero, which we have to, we definitely gotta include his cane here as well.

Brutus Lloyd, who was created by The Golden Amazon’s creator John Russell Fearn and appeared in 3 stories for Amazing Stories. He’s a four-foot tall, deep-voiced scientist, criminologist and consulting detective who specializes in solving sci-fi crimes via unorthodox methods, and his main weapon consists of an umbrella tipped with acid he uses to defend himself. He debuted about a year before The Penguin did.

I’m sure there’s gotta be others I’m missing either in pulps or pulp-adjacent material, feel free to point out others in the notes. Now, as to the other part of your question, what kind of weapons I’d like to see pulp heroes wield,

Pretty much anything but pistols. Even other kinds of guns are fine, there’s a trillion wacky kinds of guns out there that can be used to mix things up.

Wrenches, Shovels, Fish wrapped in newspaper, Bottles, Russian Fists for Smashing Baybeez, etc: TF2 as a whole has a painfully massive extensive catalogue of just how many kinds of guns and weapons you can give your characters and it’s a huge source of inspiration for design, that’s where I’d be pulling a lot from. The wrench as a dramatic physical weapon in particular I think works really well for a pulp hero aesthetic.

Chainsaws: I have not been the same since Mandy gave me that sick stupid ass chainsaw duel. Nothing has ever tasted the same. I want more of it.

Gadgets that are completely fucking stupid but still work anyway because this is fiction and if anything this is another reason to do it, taking something that shouldn’t work and make it work.

A kitchen sink, because why should Batman get to have all the fun?

And everything in Weird Al’s Hardware Store. For a start. Make it work.

#replies tag #pulp heroes #pulp magazines #pulp fiction #green lama #heiji zenigata #doc savage #dossouye #lavender jack #the avenger #tf2

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krinsbez · 2 years

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Pulptober 2022, Themes Elaborated, Part 1

As I did last year, I’m gonna try to elaborate on what the Themes are for every day of Pulptober 2022, and provide some examples of alternate characters to use.

Since I was a fool and have been working to hard and almost forgot about this, I’m probably going to provide fewer examples, and will also probably do some guys more’n once.

Thanks to @maxwell-grant who helped me by providing some suggestions.

1- The Shadow/Mystery Man:

This one is relatively straightforward with; some Pulp Heroes we know exactly what their deal is. We know their real name, we know the origins of their skills and/or powers, any, we know why they do what they do. And there’s these guys, who, as the names suggests, are mystery men. All we get are vague hints, some of which are revealed or implied to be lies or misdirections or mistakes. We may eventually get the whole story, but not for awhile. Some other examples: Lobster Johnson, Greyshirt*. I was tempted to include Wolverine, but he’s unfortunately too superhero-y too count, I think, but then again YMMV.

2- Doc Savage/Larger Than Life:

Another straightforward one. Most Pulp Heroes are elite athletes and perfect physical specimens, but these guys take a step further; they are visibly huge, man-mountains who tower over others. Tom Strong, Brock Sampson+*

3- The Green Hornet and Kato/Pulp From Outside Pulp:

Again, straightforward. Pulp Heroes who aren’t from the Pulps. Honestly, the difficulty is narrowing it down to 2-3. The Clock+*, Fantomah+

4- Imaro/Heroes In Color

Another straightforward category, which sadly shouldn’t exist, but since the genre was born in the first half of the 20th Century, most Pulp Heroes are white as snow, making the ones that aren’t stand out like sore thumbs. Dossouye*+, Charlie Chan, Turok*

5-Tarzan/Lord of the Jungle

Man this Part is all straightforward, yeah? Exactly what it says on the tin, folks. Ka-Zar, Felifax+

That’s this portion, hopefully more later today, if not hopefully in a few days after Rosh Hashana.

+Provided by @maxwell-grant

*I have not consumed a lot source material.

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disgruntledblacksheep · 4 years

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So, scifi and fantasy writers who want to write African based fiction. Please do not take tips from Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi.

Let me just say I enjoyed reading the book and am so hype about Ms Adeyemi and love her stuff, BUT,

That book was only kind of African. In fact, the use of Yoruba was the most authentic and original thing about it.

The climates were European, so were the clothes, CASTLES and even governing style. A king and queen.... Wtf. Wtf. Wtf. Horses.... I.....

That was not an African based fantasy. It was a European based fantasy with African themes, elements and people. Which isn't a bad thing but it is not believable, and only Adeyemi gets a pass on this one.

Blackfacing European stuff without even adding a clear background of colonization in the narrative is not the way to change the game and renew interest in real African history for future fiction. I understand if that was used to drive her point about power and oppression across, but still. The book is sold as an African based fantasy, not #fantasy with African elements.

The best fantasy fiction is believable because it is rooted in real life places and languages and mythologies. Tolkien delved deep into his Anglo and Nordic history when he wrote LOTR.

Yet folks will sit there and let Tarzan be the only "African" story (the author had never even been to Africa lmao).

If you want sword and soul that uses authentic real life research and not anime+western public schooling+diasporic wishfulness, read Charles R. Saunders.

Start with Dossouye. Before you do, dive deep into WEST African precolonial history. Start with easy stuff like YouTube and Wiki, then dig for the real academic and anthropological as well as artistic and oral history sources. You will need to "leave your world behind" and fully immerse yourself in the mythology, music and sculptures. If the photograph has color, dig deeper and find one older.

Read some Wole Soyinka. Sure he's problematic. But be objective. Get vibes and info. Develop your own voice and moral for your story like Saunders did in the 70s/80s.

Read some postcolonial and colonial fiction as well, Like

Efuru

My Life in the Bush of Ghosts

The Palmwine Drinkard

Forest of a Thousand Daemons

The River Between

Watch things created BY indigenous Africans, not interpretations by non-indigneous Africans which tend to exaggerate or erase things.

But also watch Shaka Zulu. The series. It's on Netflix. It tells a very important and nuanced story. Drop the victim narrative and instead focus on the erasure that had to take place in order to create the victim narrative. The real crime was the erasure.

Watch Mark of Uru on youtube. These guys do not get good funding and need the support.

Start with Nogeria (Nok, Ile Ife), Ghana (Ashanti), Benin (Dshomey)

Yes. That's Africa. That's precolonial.

And you did not learn about it in school.

Also, Timbuktu is real

Ancient buildings like Sungbo's Eredo

African architecture is freakin unique and awesome and ancient AF.

I live how the media will hype up every other ancient or primitive thing with every other people but degrades and shits on the most enduring and ancient in the world.

My advice is, rebel.

Rebel against what you think you know.

Challenge yourself as a reader and writer. Go deeper. Drop your preconceptions and become the story.

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