New Pulp Compilation to Be Released by Hero Games

Fans of PULP ACTION have had much to celebrate in the past few years. There have been the very entertaining Shadowmen pastiches to French Pulp characters, which included DISContent's own Bill Cunningham as an author. There are the new Nostalgia Ventures editions of Doc Savage and The Shadow stories. Last year we were able to read The Chinatown Death Cloud Peril. And let us not forget the pulp inspired work of young Science Fiction authors like Chris Roberson whose Adventure compilation and Paragaea novel embodied the pulp spirit.

This year looks to continue the trend, giving pulp addicts more of what they desire. Even game publishers are jumping into the mix, and no I'm not talking about Tannhäuser (though it certainly deserves mentioning). According to gamingreport, HERO GAMES is releasing a compilation of pulp adventure stories in early April. In the press release below, you may notice three things. First, it contains a previously unpublished story by Doc Savage's own Lester Dent. Second, it contains an original story by Hugh B. Cave. But third, and most importantly, it features a story by William Messner-Loebs.

Why is Bill Messner-Loebs' inclusion the most important feature of the book? Thanks for asking. As you may or may not know, William Messner-Loebs is a pretty acclaimed comic book writer who for inexplicable reasons found himself without employment in the industry (and pretty much at all) from 2000 to 2005. During his period of unemployment, he lost his house and was forced to spend the next four years alternating between shelters and hotels for shelter. Please read the hyperlink above, it's a very moving story. Next time you think comic book creators are drinking mojitos in the Caribbean mocking fanboys, read this very sobering tale of how close some freelancers are to poverty.

Oh, and buy Bill Messner-Loeb books, he really is one of the better writers in the business. I loved what he did on The Flash and unlike Greg Rucka...Loeb's Wonder Woman was actually fun to read.

Hero Games' first foray into fiction will finally hit stores in early April. Lost jungle temples, mysterious crime-busters, gallant air aces, and unspeakable cosmic horrors share the spotlight in this anthology of all-original adventure, suspense, and horror tales by such masters of the fantastic as Robert Weinberg, Ed Greenwood, Robin D. Laws, Richard Dansky, and David Niall Wilson. Astounding Hero Tales also boasts a previously unpublished weird mystery by Lester Dent, creator of Doc Savage, and a foreword and original dark crime yarn by legendary pulp veteran Hugh B. Cave.

ASTOUNDING HERO TALES
Edited by James Lowder
Hero Games
320 page trade paperback; $16.99
ISBN: 978-1-58366-060-7

Hugh B. Cave — Foreword
Lester Dent — “Death was Silent"
Will Murray — “The Mask of Kukulcan”
Steve Melisi — “Two-Fisted Crookback”
William Messner-Loebs — “Wolf Train West”
Steve Eller — “Godmother”
Richard Dansky — “Missing Pages”
John Helfers — “Running Thunder”
Patricia Lee Macomber — “Playback”
Darrell Schweitzer — “A Lost City of the Jungle”
Ed Greenwood — “It Came From the Swamp”
David Niall Wilson — “Slide Home”
John Pelan — “Out West”
Thomas M. Reid — “Bandit Gold”
Robert Weinberg — “Kiss Me Deadly”
Robin D. Laws — “The Forgotten Man”
Hugh B. Cave — “House of Shadows”

Award-winning author and editor James Lowder has helmed original fiction anthologies for TSR (Realms of Valor), Green Knight Publishing (The Doom of Camelot), Eden Studios (The Book of All Flesh), and Guardians of Order (Path of the Bold).