|
The name "pulp" comes from the cheap wood pulp paper on which
such magazines were printed. Although many respected writers wrote for
pulps, the magazines are perhaps best remembered for their lurid
and exploitative stories, and for their similarly sensational
cover art.
Pulp covers, printed in color on higher-quality paper, were
famous for their half-dressed damsels in distress, usually
awaiting a rescuing hero. Modern superhero comic books are
sometimes considered descendants of pulp magazines
featuring illustrate stories of heroic characters. Among
the best-known titles were Amazing Stories, Black Mask, Dime
Detective, Flying Aces, Horror Stories, Marvel Tales, Oriental
Stories, Planet Stories, Spicy Detective, Startling Stories,
Thrilling Wonder Stories, Unknown and Weird Tales
The Second World War paper shortages had a serious impact on
pulp production, starting a steady rise in costs and the decline
of the pulps.Decline even more due to the heavy competition from
comic books, television, and the paperback novel..
Pulp magazines often contained a wide variety of genre fiction,
including, but not limited to, fantasy/sword and sorcery,
detective/mystery, science fiction, adventure, westerns , war, sports, railroad, men's adventure , romance, horror/occult
,
Many classic science fiction and crime novels were originally
serialized in pulp magazines such as Weird Tales, Amazing
Stories, and Black Mask.
Popular regular pulp fiction
characters included:
Biggles ,
Bran Mak Morn ,
Buck Rogers ,
Captain Future ,Conan the Barbarian ,
Dan Turner, Hollywood Detective ,
Doc Savage ,
Doctor Death ,
Dr. Yen Sin ,
Domino Lady ,
Flash Gordon ,
Fu Manchu ,G-8 ,
Green Lama ,
Hopalong Cassidy ,John Carter of Mars ,
Jules de Grandin ,
Ka-Zar ,Kull ,
Nick Carter ,
Operator No. 5 ,
Secret Agent X ,Sexton Blake ,
Solomon Kane ,
Tarzan ,
The Avenger ,The Black Bat ,
The Continental Op ,
The Eel ,
The Phantom Detective ,
The Shadow ,
The Spider ,Zorro ,
|
