#greyshirt

Fantastic

America's Best Comics Preview (1999) by America's Best Comics and Wizard Magazine

As I did last year, I’m gonna try to elaborate on what the Themes are for every day of Pulptober 2022, and provide some examples of alternate characters to use.

Since I was a fool and have been working to hard and almost forgot about this, I’m probably going to provide fewer examples, and will also probably do some guys more’n once.

Thanks to @maxwell-grant who helped me by providing some suggestions.

1- The Shadow/Mystery Man:

This one is relatively straightforward with; some Pulp Heroes we know exactly what their deal is. We know their real name, we know the origins of their skills and/or powers, any, we know why they do what they do. And there’s these guys, who, as the names suggests, are mystery men. All we get are vague hints, some of which are revealed or implied to be lies or misdirections or mistakes. We may eventually get the whole story, but not for awhile. Some other examples: Lobster Johnson, Greyshirt*. I was tempted to include Wolverine, but he’s unfortunately too superhero-y too count, I think, but then again YMMV.

2- Doc Savage/Larger Than Life:

Another straightforward one. Most Pulp Heroes are elite athletes and perfect physical specimens, but these guys take a step further; they are visibly huge, man-mountains who tower over others. Tom Strong, Brock Sampson+*

3- The Green Hornet and Kato/Pulp From Outside Pulp:

Again, straightforward. Pulp Heroes who aren’t from the Pulps. Honestly, the difficulty is narrowing it down to 2-3. The Clock+*, Fantomah+

4- Imaro/Heroes In Color

Another straightforward category, which sadly shouldn’t exist, but since the genre was born in the first half of the 20th Century, most Pulp Heroes are white as snow, making the ones that aren’t stand out like sore thumbs. Dossouye*+, Charlie Chan, Turok*

5-Tarzan/Lord of the Jungle

Man this Part is all straightforward, yeah? Exactly what it says on the tin, folks. Ka-Zar, Felifax+

That’s this portion, hopefully more later today, if not hopefully in a few days after Rosh Hashana.

+Provided by @maxwell-grant

“What’s Up With These Paintings Anyway?”

Greyshirt: Indigo Sunset #2 (January 2002)

Rick Veitch

Wizard: The Comics Magazine #93 (Alternate Cover) (1999)