The Great Pulp Heroes

I got this book maybe ten years ago, before I started blogging.  I love pulp stories, even if they don't always feature people in flashy costumes.  Many of them who wore costumes tended to be all in black, i.e. the Shadow and the Spider.  Heck, some were even completely invisible!  These heroes and villains flourished for quite some time on cheap pulp paper, even after four color comics came into being and dented their sales with actual superheroes.  Many of the more popular heroes did try their hand at comic books, but most were changed into characters that barely resembled their original IDs.

This book, by Don Hutchinson takes a look at the major pulps from back then; Doc Savage, the Shadow, the Spider are all covered, as well as many of the now long forgotten ones like G8, Operator 5 and the Black Bat.  He's got a good conversational style and is really informative.  He also doesn't slander comic books like some of the more fanatical pulp readers, since they were the children of the pulps.

I'd love another book in the series, but I doubt it's in the cards.