Agents of SHEESH (with apologies)

 

I’ve been a fan of American comic-book superheroes for decades; in fact one of my earliest memories is of going on holiday, on a coach (we didn’t have a car at the time) reading a Green Lantern comic – over and over, as only young children can. I discovered Marvel comics several years later and became an instant convert to the garish, OTT universe its characters inhabited (at the time DC was definitely in the doldrums – despite having the lion’s share of the market – with repetitive and frequently boring storylines). These days I don’t hold a torch for either company – preferring individual characters (such as the Batman) or artists (like Howard Chaykin) over universes which are becoming mind-numbingly over-complex. When they’re not getting the far too frequent reinvention and clear-out treatment. But when movie technology finally caught up with the visual insanity of the comic-book worlds, I for one was delighted.

 

I think it’s fair to say that, in the movies anyway, Marvel is doing slightly better, with the separate X-Men, Spider-Man and Iron Man/Thor/Captain America franchises. The Batman and Superman films (all of the sequels and re-boots) have had their successes – but Green Lantern was, I’m sad to say, a disappointment (doubly so for me for, as a youngster, the Gil Kane illustrated Green Lantern and Carmine Infantino’s Flash were my favourite characters). Talk of a Justice League movie remains just that – talk – whilst Avengers Assemble has not only spawned a cartoon version, but has been spun out into the Joss Whedon produced Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD. Which is where everything gets flipped.

 

 

Over the past couple of decades there have been various attempts to get superheroes on TV. I won’t mention the Dr Strange and Captain America TV movies, both of which suffered from tiny budgets; nor do I intend to cover The Hulk or Wonder Woman (other than to say the first was simply The Fugitive all over again, and the second a camp throwback to the mid-60s Batman show). In the wake of the X-Men films there was a dire series named Mutant X which somehow managed to survive three seasons; whilst the DCU came up with Birds of Prey (based on the comic of the same name) which was cancelled before all of the first season was aired (don’t ask me why: it was far from perfect, but still superior to Mutant X) Some years earlier there had been a Flash TV series which only lasted one season even though it was quite fun and – unlike Hulk and Wonder Woman – actually had a few super villains (such as Mark Hamill’s Trickster). And of course Supes was represented by both The New Adventures of Superman (aka Lois and Clark) and Smallville, both of which had long runs and – in the case of Smallville anyway – did a good job of presenting a version of the DCU to a largely unfamiliar audience. Plus there were all the cartoon series: Spider-Man, Batman, Superman, Justice League, X-Men and the Avengers.

 

 

Notice something: with the exception of the animated series, nearly all of these shows are based on DC characters.

 

Which brings us up to the present day: the DCU represented by Arrow; Marvel by Agents of SHIELD. And what a difference. Whilst Marvel certainly has got into its stride with movies, they’re still lagging on TV.

 

Based on the Green Arrow comic book, Arrow seems to be more a spiritual twin to Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy: shadowy, angst-filled – there’s even a budding Batman/James Gordon style relationship building in the second series between Arrow and the demoted policeman Quentin Lance. Although aiming less for the spandex look, there’s still an impressive roster of characters from the DCU: Deathstroke, Deadshot, Roy Harper (Oliver Queen’s younger sister, Thea, already has the nickname Speedy – so it’ll be intriguing to see where that goes); Black Canary has become an established part of season two, with the promise of Barry Allen/the Flash later. Although it’s occasionally a little too po-faced the series is confident, and clearly knows where it’s going.

 

 

Agents of SHIELD, on the other hand, is so far suffering from what I can only see as a failure of nerve. Growing out of the crazy Marvel universe (in many ways a direct sequel to Avengers Assemble), with Joss Whedon at the helm I had expected so much more. SHIELD was Marvel’s answer to James Bond and The Man from UNCLE, and the comics were brash and OTT: operatives typically dressed in form-fitting one-piece suits, with shoulder holsters that held something far more exotic than a Glock automatic. They even have a flying aircraft carrier. So why, when AoS finally hit our screens is it so much like any number of other cops-with-fancy-technology shows? To be blunt, the hardware on display in CSI:NY was more fantastic than most of what Agent Coulson and his band of cyphers have so far encountered. It doesn’t matter how many times they name-check Captain America, this doesn’t feel like the same universe in which New York was invaded by a gang of other-dimensional creatures, master-minded by a Norse god, and involving a death-worshipping alien. It’s just too ordinary. Audiences in both the US and UK must feel the same, as viewing figures in both countries drop weekly. Unless things change, I don’t see AoS being picked up for a second season.

 

 

But maybe I’m being overly pessimistic. Recently I’ve started rewatching the first season of Babylon 5 – and I’m surprised at just how bad it is, with no sign of the heights it would attain in later years (ignoring the final series, which should never have been made). So perhaps AoS will make it yet; perhaps they’re still establishing the characters, and we may expect some real Marvel comic-book action. I hope so.

Bring back Hydra I say, introduce AIM (both have been name-checked either in the series or the films) – and let’s throw the automatic pistols away in favour of shoulder-holstered blasters, before it’s too late.

 

 

 

 

Pulp Heroes: Anne Nicholls

Anne Nicholls' contribution to THE ALCHEMY PRESS BOOK OF PULP HEROES 2 is the adventure story, “Dragon’s Breath” anne kindly agreed to tell us a little about it, and answer a few other questions.

  

Would you like to briefly introduce yourself: what inspired your writing and when you began, and – if possible – of all of your published work could you tell me which your favourites are (and why)?

 

I first started making up stories at the age of 4, largely because I didn’t think I could draw.  Other motives were trying to keep out of trouble – and the undeniable fact that a lion in the garden is much more exciting than a cat.  I had my first story published following a New Year’s resolution not to keep hiding my work in a drawer.  Of my work, my current favourites are “By Right of the Stars”, MINDSAIL, a piece of journalism that was later included in an A Level text-book, “Dragonsbridge”, “Dragon’s Breath”… You know, I love them all.  Although not when I’m banging my head on the keyboard because I can see where I should have done them better.

 

 

Do you have a favourite genre, or sub-genre? What exactly is it that attracts you

 

In reading terms I’m pretty much an omnivore.  I love fantasy, thrillers, adventures, humour, books on painting (pictures not houses), historicals, classic SF … pretty much everything except politics and horror.  There’s already far too much of that in the real world.

 

 

Some say Pulp is a genre, others a style; which side do you come down on?

 

Good pulp is a genre, bad pulp is sloppy writing.

 

 

What was the inspiration for Dragon’s Breath?

 

Remember that ancient TV show BRING ’EM BACK ALIVE?  Also the CORRIGAN books I devoured as a child.  Real life stories told by soldiers who’d been out in the Far East.  More recently, the YOUNG SAMURAI books of Chris Bradford.  I had a big crush on heroes and the mystic Orient.  Still do.

 

 

Do you have a particular favourite author, or authors? What is it about their work which appeals to you?

 

Dick Francis, for compassion, courage and style.  Mercedes Lackey, Tamora Pierce and Ben Aaronovich for sheer imagination and determination.  Dave Gemmell for action and heart.  Stan Nicholls for pace and originality (and not just because he’s my husband).  When I’ve got flu, Georgette Heyer because she makes me laugh.

 

 

Outside writing, what else occupies your time (assuming you have any free time left)?

 

Painting.  Socialising.  gardening.  Handicrafts.  Music.  Films.  Oh yes, and my fabulously rewarding work as a counsellor.

 

 

Is there any particular style of music – or musicians – which appeals to you

 

Eclectic, from Vivaldi to John Parr, pub singing, bluegrass, old-style R‘n’B, choral works.  Stuff with clever words and a tune.

 

 

What are you currently working on?

 

I’m brewing a novel and a short urban fantasy set in Birmingham.

Pulp Heroes: Bryn Fortey

Bryn Fortey wrote "The Flier" which appears in the soon to be published THE ALCHEMY PRESS BOOK OF PULP HEROES 2. Here he answers questions on it and the deeper meanings of life:

 

Would you like to briefly introduce yourself: what inspired your writing and when you began, and – if possible – of all of your published work could you tell me which your favourites are (and why)?

 

From childhood on it was always my intention to write, but mostly I just talked about it. Then one day I challenged myself, either do it or shut up. As it happened I sold the first story I wrote, though there have been many rejections since, but I was hooked. Personal favourites are “Shrewhampton North-East” (which virtually wrote itself and is probably as good as I get), “Playing From Memory” (which showed me I could make a fist at non-genre material), “Ithica Or Bust” (my comeback story after a period out of the loop, and the most light-hearted story I've written).

 

 

Do you have a favourite genre, or sub-genre? What exactly is it that attracts you?

 

Not being commercially/professionally minded, I write only for my own interest and look at possible markets afterwards. It is a matter of luck when something fits with a themed anthology. This being my attitude, I don't think in specific genre terms. I originally submitted to horror outlets because I usually killed off or did horrible things with/to characters. I read SF, horror, literary. I guess my favourite genre is quirky.

 

 

Some say Pulp is a genre, others a style; which side do you come down on?

 

I would say, inexpertly, that pulp is a time-related genre. The first PULP HEROES was full of different styles, as I'm sure No. 2 will be also.

 

 

What was the inspiration for “The Flier”?

 

"The Flier" could have been listed among my favourites in the first question, but I left it out to discuss it here. My late son had a big interest in all things UFO and we would often argue about the merits/demerits of individual cases. I briefly mapped out the skeleton of a story, under a different title then, which got shelved and forgotten in the aftermath of my bereavement. When PULP HEROES came out I remembered the story and felt it would have fitted. So fleshed out the original idea and gave it a more era related title for PULP HEROES 2.

 

 

Do you have a particular favourite author, or authors? What is it about their work which appeals to you?

 

Jack Kerouac, whose flowing tip-of-the-tongue prose never fails to excite. JG Ballard, personified all I liked in the New Wave SF that grew up around Moorcock's NEW WORLDS magazine. William Burroughs for his strangeness. Chuck Palahniuk for FIGHT CLUB if nothing else. I could go on, but my answers are too wordy by far.

 

 

Outside writing, what else occupies your time (assuming you have any free time left)?

 

Listening to music and the company of good friends.

 

 

Is there any particular style of music – or musicians – which appeals to you?

 

Blues, jazz, swing, ballads, rock. Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, Chet Baker, Frank Sinatra, Nina Simone, Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen, Shirley Bassey, Charlie Parker, Lester Young, Count Basie, Oscar Peterson. I could go on and on.

 

 

What are you currently working on?

 

My debut collection: MERRY-GO-ROUND & OTHER STORIES: The Best of Bryn Fortey, to be published in 2014 by The Alchemy Press.

Pulp Heroes: Mike Resnick

Author of "The Incarceration of Captain Nebula" from THE ALCHEMY PRESS BOOK OF PULP HEROES 2, Mike Resnick answers a few pertinent (and impertinent) questions:

 

Would you like to briefly introduce yourself: what inspired your writing and when you began, and – if possible – of all of your published work could you tell me which your favourites are (and why)?

 

I’m Mike Resnick, I’ve written a batch of books and stories and won a batch of Hugos. I sold my first article at 15 (in 1957), my first poem at 16, my first short story at 17, and my first book at 20 (but it didn’t come out until I was 22). None, I should add, were science fiction.

 

My favourites? SANTIAGO, because it was my greatest seller and paid for our house and a few safaris; KIRINYAGA, because it was my most-honoured (67 major and minor awards and nominations to date);  and THE OUTPOST, because it was far and away the most fun to write. My favourites of my continuing characters are Lucifer Jones and Harry the Book, both humorous; Lucifer is a parody of every bad pulp story or B-movie I ever saw, and Harry is what Damon Runyon would be writing if he were around today and doing fantasy.

 

Do you have a favourite genre, or sub-genre? What exactly is it that attracts you?

 

Probably science fiction, which gives me all time and space to tell my stories, and can accommodate anything from humour to tragedy to adventure.

 

Some say Pulp is a genre, others a style; which side do you come down on?

 

It’s a genre which is primarily defined by its style and its subject matter.

 

What was the inspiration for “The Incarceration of Captain Nebula”?

 

I’ve occasionally used the device of the Unreliable Narrator. I thought it might be interesting to write a story with multiple narrators, each of whom is unreliable. 

 

Do you have a particular favourite author, or authors? What is it about their work which appeals to you?

 

In science fiction: CL Moore, Robert Sheckley, and Barry Malzberg. In each case, it’s that they excel at certain things: in Moore’s case, emotion and an evocation of the Sense of Wonder; in Sheckley’s, a cerebral form of humour (in the 1960’s, anyway) that only works as science fiction; and in Malzberg’s, an ability to evoke, in his considerable body of recursive science fiction, the milieu in which we work.

 

Outside writing, what else occupies your time (assuming you have any free time left)?

 

My passions are the musical theatre, horse racing (I don’t bet, but I wrote a weekly column on it for 15 years); Africa; and collies (we bred and exhibited 23 champions, most of which we named after science fiction titles and characters.

 

Is there any particular style of music – or musicians  which appeals to you?

 

Show music. Over a 50-year career, I think I’ve probably written 90% of my output with some cast album/CD playing in the background. My favourites: the team of Tom Jones & Harvey Schmidt, Stephen Sondheim, William Finn, and Michel Legrand.

 

What are you currently working on?

 

Still coming out this year: THE WORLDS OF EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS, co-edited with Bob Garcia (Baen, October), and THE DOCTOR AND THE DINOSAURS (Pyr, December). In progress for next year: CAT ON A COLD TIN ROOF, a mystery, 3rd in the series that began with DOG IN THE MANGER and this June’s THE TROJAN COLT (Seventh Street, August); I.N.C.I. (title tentative), a team-up with Tina Gower (Stellar Guild books, date not yet set); THE FORTRESS IN ORION (Pyr, December), and an-as-yet untitled Stellar Guild team-up with Lezli Robyn. I’ve got a story – a collaboration with Ken Liu – in press at ASIMOV’S, something like 7 other stories in upcoming anthologies and magazines, Harry Kloor and I just completed what we hope is the final draft of a screenplay titled SOME HEROES DIE, and I’m editing the Stellar Guild line of books and GALAXY’S EDGE bi-monthly magazine. In my spare time, I sleep.

Pulp Heroes: Chico Kidd

From the roster of authors in THE ALCHEMY PRESS BOOK OF PULP HEROES 2,  Chico Kidd tells us a little about herself and her story, "Pandora's Box."

 

 Would you like to briefly introduce yourself: what inspired your writing and when you began, and – if possible – of all of your published work could you tell me which your favourites are (and why)?

 

My first published story was in the style of MR James, as were nearly all my subsequent tales (including my first novel, THE PRINTER’S DEVIL) until 2001 when I was taken over by Captain da Silva. These narratives are influenced by many things: the Captain’s voice by Raymond Chandler, the humour by Joss Whedon, and more that I can’t single out. My favourite among my published works is the first da Silva novel, DEMON WEATHER (published last year by Booktrope).

 

Do you have a favourite genre, or sub-genre? What exactly is it that attracts you?

My favourite genre is the one I write in, dark fantasy. I like stories which mingle genres, such as SF, mysteries, fantasy. I’m also a fan of space opera, urban fantasy, hard-boiled ’tecs and some heroic fantasy. What attracts me to read and to write is unlimited imagination, whether in subject or plot.

Some say Pulp is a genre, others a style; which side do you come down on?

 

It’s a genre.

 

What was the inspiration for “Pandora’s Box”?

“Pandora’s Box” was written in the first flush of the Captain’s tales, when I was churning them out at a rate of knots. It’s a more straightforward narrative than some of the tales – a blend of several different things, a desire to give his wife an adventure of her own, wuxia movies, and I’m sure the moths came from somewhere in a different guise.

Do you have a particular favourite author, or authors? What is it about their work which appeals to you?

Terry Pratchett, for humour, imagination, and style. Ursula Le Guin, for humanity, imagination, and style. Elizabeth Moon, George RR Martin, and Tolkien, for handling whole worlds and mythologies so adeptly.

Outside writing, what else occupies your time (assuming you have any free time left)?

Running, yoga, painting, watching DVDs and movies.

Is there any particular style of music – or musicians – which appeals to you?

From my misspent youth: the Beatles, the Who, Beach Boys, Queen, ABBA, Sting... I am a bit of a folkie: Steeleye Span, Fairport Convention, John Tams, Kate Rusby… And I like fado and opera…

I also like: kd lang, Beth Nielsen Chapman, Björk, Lady Gaga, Amy Winehouse, Damon Albarn, Florence+the Machine…

What are you currently working on?

The second da Silva novel, THE WEREWOLF OF LISBON, has just gone to print. The fifth, UNCHARTED SEAS, is currently in progress. I have a number of half-written short stories on the go, and many ideas on scraps of paper all over my house.

Pulp Heroes: William Meikle

In the run up to the publication of THE ALCHEMY PRESS BOOK OF PULP HEROES 2, I will be posting short interviews with the contributors. Up first, William Meikle whose contribution is entitled The Penge Terror.

 

 

Would you like to briefly introduce yourself: what inspired your writing and when you began, and – if possible – of all of your published work could you tell me which your favourites are (and why)?

I'm Willie Meikle, 55, Scottish, now living in Canada.

I grew up on a council estate in a town where you were either unemployed or working in the steelworks, and sometimes both. Many of the townspeople led hard, miserable lives of quiet and sometimes not so quiet desperation

When I was at school books and my guitar were all that kept me sane in a town that was going downhill fast. The local steelworks shut and unemployment was rife. The town suffered badly. I could have started writing about that, but why bother? All I had to do was walk outside and I'd get it slapped in my face. That horror was all too real.

So I took up my pen and wrote. At first it was song lyrics, designed (mostly unsuccessfully) to get me closer to girls.

I tried my hand at a few short stories but had no confidence in them and hid them away. And that was that for many years.

I didn't get the urge again until I was past thirty and trapped in a very boring job. My home town had continued to stagnate and, unless I wanted to spend my whole life drinking (something I was actively considering at the time), returning there wasn't an option.

But my brain needed something to do apart from write computer code, and fiction gave it what was required. That point, back more than twenty years ago now, was like switching on an engine, one that has been running steadily ever since.

I've recently written numerous stories set in the late Victorian / Early Edwardian era, for Sherlock Holmes, Carnacki, and Professor Challenger. I was raised on Doyle, Wells and Robert Louis Stevenson and I love that historical period they covered in their work. It's also the time period I've come to prefer for my own writing and I can see me settling in there for a long time to come.

There's more Holmes, more Carnacki and more Challenger to come. There seems to be quite a burgeoning market for this kind of mixing of detection and supernatural, and I intend writing more ... maybe even a a lot more.

 

Do you have a favourite genre, or sub-genre? What exactly is it that attracts you?

I've written horror, fantasy, science fiction, crime, westerns and thrillers. Plus the sub-genres, like ghost stories, occult detectives, creature features, sword and sorcery etc. But I don't really think of them as being different. It's all adventure fiction for boys who've grown up, but stayed boys. Like me.

It's all about the struggle of the dark against the light. The time and place, and the way it plays out is in some ways secondary to that. And when you're dealing with archetypes, there's only so many to go around, and it's not surprising that the same concepts of death and betrayal, love and loss, turn up wherever, and whenever, the story is placed.

And in my case, it's almost all pulp. Big beasties, swordplay, sorcery, ghosts, guns, aliens, werewolves, vampires, eldritch things from beyond and slime. Lots of slime

 

Some say Pulp is a genre, others a style; which side do you come down on?

It's a stylistic choice for me — fast moving, entertaining stories to help people escape and go somewhere for an adventure for a while.

Tarzan is the second novel I remember reading. (The first was Treasure Island, so I was already well on the way to the land of adventure even then.) I quickly read everything of Burroughs I could find. Then I devoured Wells, Dumas, Verne and Haggard. I moved on to Conan Doyle before I was twelve, and Professor Challenger’s adventures in spiritualism led me, almost directly, to Dennis Wheatley, Algernon Blackwood, and then on to Lovecraft. Then Stephen King came along.

There’s a separate but related thread of a deep love of detective novels running parallel to this, as Conan Doyle also gave me Holmes, then I moved on to Christie, Chandler, Hammett, Ross MacDonald and Ed McBain, reading everything by them I could find.

Mix all that lot together, add a dash of ZULU, a hefty slug of heroic fantasy from Howard, Leiber, Gemmel and Moorcock, a sprinkle of fast moving Scottish thrillers from John Buchan and Alistair MacLean, and a final pinch of piratical swashbuckling. Leave to marinate for fifty years and what do you get?

A psyche with a deep love of the weird in its most basic forms, and the urge to beat the shit out of monsters.

That's what pulp means to me.

 

What was the inspiration for The Penge Terror?

A couple of things — I used to live in Penge back in the '80s and remembered a couple of the old pubs. I also wanted to write a Quatermass story, but that's off limits. Challenger however is very much Quatermass' older brother in terms of influence, and he's a character that has always spoken to me. I also wanted to do a very British alien first contact story — and here it is.

 

 

Do you have a particular favourite author, or authors? What is it about their work which appeals to you?

This is a constantly changing list as the years go by. At one time it was Lovecraft then everybody else, but my tastes have evolved. I still find myself going back to an older time in much of my reading; William Hope Hodgson, MR James, Arthur Conan Doyle and AE Merritt all figure large. Of the more modern writers, Ramsey Campbell has been a constant for many years, Stephen King to a lesser extent although I still read everything he publishes, just a bit less enthusiastically than I used to. I wish Clive Barker would return to full-blown horror as I loved his earlier work. Outside horror, David Gemmel's fluid style always drew me in, and I've been a Moorcock fan since I first discovered him in around 1971.

Of the new batch, Gary McMahon impresses me greatly. He's turning out a body of remarkably entertaining while at the same time bleak as hell work that speaks to me.

 

Outside writing, what else occupies your time (assuming you have any free time left)?

I've been playing guitar badly since 1973, and doing rather better at drinking beer for about the same length of time. I live in a remote part of Canada and love wandering the countryside and shorelines. I also spend far too much time on Fortean websites — cryptozoology especially interests me, and provides direct input to a lot of my work.

 

Is there any particular style of music – or musicians – which appeals to you?

I'm a singer-songwriter in another lifetime, and I have a deep love of people with respect for that craft — Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, John Martyn, Nick Lowe, Nick Cave, Richard Thompson, Elvis Costello, Dylan, Springsteen et al are what's on rotation most of the time. The Blues are for when I'm chilling out, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Howling Wolf and Elmore James in particular. And Zeppelin for when I need some noise.

 

What are you currently working on?

I'm currently half-way though a novel for DARKFUSE (my 3^rd book of a 6 book deal for them.)

This one's a dark fantasy set in Edinburgh and parts unknown, and features cops, beer, a serial killer, a giant black swam, a portal to another place, more beer and plenty of murder and mayhem.

 

Thank you, William Meikle.

William can be found at: http://www.williammeikle.com

 

I shall be attending (and speaking at) Andromeda One on Saturday 21st September 2013 - a one-day SF, fantasy and horror convention taking place at the Custard Factory in Birmingham, it brings together a host of science-fiction, fantasy and horror writers and publishers for a day loaded with book launches, kaffeeklatches, panels, signings, workshops and much more.

GUESTS OF HONOUR include Paul Cornell and Jaine Fenn. Plus sessions with an impressive range of speakers: Chris Amies, Jacey Bedford, Misa Buckley (SFR) Mike Chinn, Theresa Derwin, Jan Edwards (Alchemy Press & Editor/Writer) Janet Edwards SF Writer, Simon Marshall-Jones of Spectral Press, Adrian Middleton, Mark West and Ian Whates.