Double Pulp: Zorro & Dracula Meets the Wolfman

Hello Pulp friends,

time to do that pimpin' thing again, but as you know I always try to make it worth for you all by posting behind the scenes and preview images ;)
Today there are two books which are out in the comic stores and that you should pick up. The first is the 6th chapter of Zorro: things start to get wrapped up as we head toward to end of the first origins arc (in the next 2 issues). You don't want to miss this :)

As you probably don't want to miss the clash of the Century, brought to you by truly yours and master of Horror Steve Niles. The one shot, inspired by a famous Frank Frazetta painting, tells a classic romantic gothic tale adapted for the modern audience: please let me know if you dig it :) Special thanks to Jay Fotos and Nat Jones to make this possible.
And now here's something to get you attention and push you in the store direction (wow, it rhymes! :P)

Hope you all enjoy the read!

Cheers,
Francesco

"Out of This World" (Jan 21, 1945)

TRUST NO ONE!

No, I am not talking of the recent new movie of X-Files (which I haven't seen yet even if I was a HUGE fan of the tv show back in the days), but of today's radio episode of The Shadow. First of all, sorry for the little absence from these shores, but, as you know, I was in SD a couple of weeks ago and that required some catch up on work once I got back home, hence my little time to do anything this past Sunday. I hope you guys will accept my sincere apologies.

So, where were we? Oh yeah, the TRUST NO ONE! We are seeing it in the current Marvel arc of Secret Invasion, we saw it in many movies (for example the beautiful "THING" by Carpenter or the Classic Cult "Invasion of the Body Snatchers"), but the very first story about a secret invasion of aliens that look exactly like us and are infiltrated among us is apparently this little jewel of The Shadow radio show which is dated 1945. That's right! "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" will come only 11 years later (1956) but I thought to close the cycle by tributing the famous movie poster of that movie in my today Shadow lobby-card (I forgot how fun were these Sunday cards :)). Hope you guys dig this cool episode. (download here)


Notes:
- This might be the first time where I see The Shadow literally running away from a room: in this case the room has some sort of alien technology that can possibly reveal the identity of the Shadow.
- Since the original episode is lost, what we are airing today is a recording from the Australian version of the show which features the title "Out of This World". The original title was "Death is Just Around the Corner".

Cheers, and as the Shadow says: (Intergalactic) Crime Does Not Pay! ;)

Francesco

Pulp Spotlight: The Man With No Name

Hello pulp-friends,

Since I have to skip next week for con reasons, I thought to have a beefy episode today with lot of art and dedicated to a pulp genre I haven't covered yet (as far I remember ;)): the Western!
What better than the Man with no Name, the hero of Sergio Leone's beautiful trilogy, to get the Western rolling? :)


"A fistful of dollars" is the first movie of the so called "trilogy of the dollar" (the other two movies are "For a Few Dollars More", 1965, and "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly", 1966), directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood.

Masterpiece of the "spaghetti western" genre, A fistful of Dollars is mistakenly considered the first of that genre. Actually there were already western movies made in Europe before 1964, but they weren't as popular or successful. Leone's take reinvented the genre, bringing it back to popularity and re-defining the rules of a good western.

The movie was inspired by the japanese "Yojimbo" (1961) by Akira Kurosawa. SInce it was the first spaghetti western to reach the American market, many members of the cast and crew got a stage name, including the director Leone and the composer Ennio Morricone. In the United States, the United Artists publicity campaign referred to Eastwood's character in all three films as the "Man With No Name".

Cheers,
Francesco


Pulp Spotlight is the monthly feature where I cover other famous characters that have helped to build the Pulp genre not just on the radio but also in the other media.

Zorro - Chapter 5

Hi guys,

after the Dick Tracy's rogue gallery of the past days, please allow me to jump on a more swashbuckling fun which is dearly close to me right now: Zorro!!! :)
Issue 5 came out today so I am warmly inviting you all to go to grab a copy: issue 4 has been one of the best of the series so far (not just IMO, but also from a general feedback ;)) and I can assure things get just better issue after issue :)
And as extra, here page 6 in its original grayscale washes (plus the sepia effect for the blog ;))

Hope you all enjoy the read!

Cheers,
Francesco

9 Lombrose St. - Day 10 ~~ "The Grand Finale" ~~

Hello Pulp Friends!

And here it is, the "Sum of all the fears... err... the villains" ;):D
Maybe someone saw this coming due the weird shape of the different "pieces" but I hope everyone enjoy the "puzzle" put together in the last 10 days :)
Have a great week, everyone, and, as always, viva la Pulp :)

Cheers,
Francesco



"Lombrose St." and "9 Lombrose St." © 2008 Francesco Francavilla

9 Lombrose St. - Day 9 ~~ "LittleFace" ~~

Hello Pulp Friends!

Can't believe 9 days are already passed: time really flies in the pulp world :)
Here's another famous "face" from the Dick Tracy criminal underworld, an easy face to recognize actually.

Hope you all enjoy today entry and have a great Pulp Sunday :)
And don't miss tomorrow for the grand conclusion of this series :)

Cheers,
Francesco



"Lombrose St." and "9 Lombrose St." © 2008 Francesco Francavilla

9 Lombrose St. - Day 8 ~~ "Mrs Pruneface" ~~

Hello Pulp Friends!

We are getting closer to wrap up this (partial) gallery of Dick Tracy's rogues. One more tomorrow and then the grand finale on Monday. Stay tuned for that ;)

Meanwhile here's a lady criminal: I know, it's a pretty ugly mug but what you expect from the criminal underworld of Chester Gould? ;) She is also married to one of the previous spotlighted criminals. I think that's a tough one to guess (maybe) ;)

Cheers,
Francesco



"Lombrose St." and "9 Lombrose St." © 2008 Francesco Francavilla