Tag Archives: Black Mask

Beagle and Wandrei

About four years ago, there was a showing of The Last Unicorn at the local Alamo Drafthouse.  The is of course based on the novel by Peter S. Beagle.  I had seen it in the theater years ago upon its release.  I took my son, who at the time was about the same age I had been when I saw it.  He got to meet Peter, whom I had met on several previous occasions.  My son and I both had a great evening.  If you’re interested, you can read about that here.

Today (April 20, 2019) marks Peter’s 80th birthday.  I’d like to wish him a very happy birthday.  Beagle is a true gentleman and one of the best stylists working in the field.  His work is filled with warmth and humor, and I highly recommend it.

The other birthday I want to acknowledge is that of Donald Wandrei, who was born in 1908.  In addition to writing for the pulps, including Weird Tales and Black Mask, Wandrei co-founded Arkham House with August Derleth.  There are no electronic collections of Wandrei’s fiction, but Fedogan and Bremer have brought out several nice hardcover collections of his short fiction.  I’ve read a little of his work, and I intend to read more.  Anyone who can hit both Weird Tales and Black Mask is a writer I want to read.

Three Classic Pulps Begin Publishing Again

argosy-front fall 2016There will be a review of a really good ghost story novel posted in the next day or so, but I wanted to pass this tidbit of information along to you.

Mike Chomko announced earlier today via his email list that three classic pulps, Argosy, Black Mask, and Famous Fantastic Mysteries will resume publishing next month.  Mike will have the first new issues premiering at Pulp Adventurecon in November.

Here’s the press release:

Argosy, Black Mask, and Famous Fantastic Mysteries will be returning to magazine format featuring NEW stories by Frederick Nebel, Paul Bishop, and Kimberly B. Richardson. That’s right! Three of the most historic pulp fiction magazines of the Twentieth Century are set to return to magazine format.

This November, Altus Press will relaunch full-length magazines of Argosy, Black Mask, and Famous Fantastic Mysteries in periodical format. These three pulp magazine titles were renowned for the high level of quality fiction which they published for decades.

blackmask-front fall 2016Argosy, Black Mask, and Famous Fantastic Mysteries will be composed of classic fiction from the backlog of The Frank A. Munsey Company, Pro-Distributors Publishing Company, Inc., and Popular Publications, Inc., along with all-new stories and articles.

The first issue of the new Argosy features an ALL-NEW story by Frederick Nebel, along with stories by H. Bedford-Jones, Berton E. Cook, Ralph R. Perry, W. Wirt, Murray R. Montgomery, and Norbert Davis. Argosy’s focus will remain primarily on adventure fiction.

The first issue of the new Black Mask is highlighted by a brand new story by award-winner Paul Bishop, as well as classic hard-boiled detective stories by Carroll John Daly, Frederick Nebel, Raoul Whitfield, T.T. Flynn, Merle Constiner, Richard Sale, and Norbert Davis.

ffm-front fall 2016The first issue of the new Famous Fantastic Mysteries is highlighted by a new short story by Kimberly B. Richardson. It’s rounded out by stories from G.T. Fleming-Roberts, Arthur Leo Zagat, Frederick C. Davis, Hugh B. Cave, Paul Ernst, Wyatt Blassingame, and Wayne Rogers, among others. Famous Fantastic Mysteries will focus on the weird fiction genre.

Each of these magazines enjoyed decades-long publications by a variety of publishers, comprising several thousand total issues. Now owned by Steeger Properties, LLC, these titles will be published on a regular schedule and in print format. These new magazines will be printed in black & white and each is heavily illustrated.

The cover price of each is $15.

Mike is taking orders now, so if you want to make sure you snag a copy, contact him at mikechomko at gmail dot com.

I’m hoping this venture is a wild success.  The magazines have a long and important history

If You Were Stranded on a Desert Island…

If you were stranded on a desert island and could have one complete run of a pulp magazine to help you while away the hours, which one would it be?  For those of you who are anal retentive, assume that food, water, and shelter are not an issue.

Oh, and you’re alone.  I don’t want to know what type of harem you would have on a desert island.  That’s a different blog post on a different blog written by a different blogger.  The thought of what some of you people might come up with on that one frankly scares me.

For the purposes of this thought experiment, any pulp that survived after the early 1950s (I’m thinking Astounding here) when the pulp market collapsed can only be included up through 1953.  Any magazine that started in the 1950s (F&SF, Galaxy, etc.) is outside the bounds of consideration.  Here are my top ten choices: Continue reading