Last week, we looked at our presentations saluting “A Half-Century of Pulp Cons,” the 125th anniversary of the birth of Western artist Nicholas Eggenhofer, and the ninetieth anniversary of Popular Publications’ “Dime” line of pulp magazines. Today, let’s take a look at our celebration of the centennial of Fiction House, the pulp magazine and comic book publisher that gave us Action Stories, Fight Comics, Jumbo Comics, Jungle Stories, Lariat Story Magazine, North-West Romances, Planet Stories, Rangers Comics, Sheena, Queen of the Jungle, Wings, and many other classic titles.
Although best known for popularizing the sword & sorcery genre in the pages of Weird Tales, one of Fiction House’s leading writers was Robert E. Howard. The talented author penned two major series of stories for the pulp magazine publisher.
In 1929, Bob Howard began contributing a series of boxing yarns to both Fight Stories and its older companion, Action Stories. The amateur boxer and fan of the sport contributed seventeen Sailor Steve Costigan stories to the two magazines over the next three years. Written in the first person in the fashion of a tall tale, Howard’s Costigan yarns exhibit a sense of humor far removed from the author’s dark tales of Conan, Kull, and Solomon Kane.
In addition to the Sailor Steve stories, Fight Stories published one other boxing yarn by Howard during his lifetime — “The Iron Man.” At the time of its publication in 1930, the author considered it, “the best story of any kind I ever wrote.”
When Fiction House temporarily suspended all of its pulp magazines in late 1932, Howard — a working writer — lost one of his major markets. A year later, upon learning that Action Stories was resuming publication, he wrote to August Derleth:
Action Stories (has) returned to the wars on a bi-monthly basis . . . So far, since coming back into circulations, I’ve landed only one yarn with them, but I hope to work out a series, as I used to in the past with Steve Costigan, the fighting sailor. . . . My new character is one Breckinridge Elkins, a giant of the Humbolt mountains whose exploits are of the Pecos Bill style.
In his introduction to The Riot at Bucksnort and Other Western Tales, David Gentzel writes, “From his debut in “Mountain Man” in the March – April 1934 issue until Howard’s death in June 1936, a Breckinridge Elkins story appeared in every issue of Action Stories. In fact, Breckinridge continued to appear for several months after Howard’s death as the stories already sold were published.” All told, Howard wrote eighteen Elkins tales for Action Stories.
Howard’s Breckinridge Elkins series was so successful that he adapted the series for other magazines. Breckinridge became Pike Bearfield for Argosy — a more prestigious and better-paying magazine than both Action Stories and Weird Tales — and Buckner J. Grimes for Street & Smith’s Cowboy Stories.
We hope you’ll join PulpFest 50 as we salute the Fiction House line of pulps and comic books on the occasion of their 100th anniversary. Beginning at 9:40 PM on Thursday, August 4, sword & sorcery and Howard expert Morgan Holmes will take a look at the celebrated author and his work for both Action Stories and Fight Stories.
Morgan is the former official editor of the Robert E. Howard United Press Association. Nominated in 2016 for a Hugo Award as best fan writer, he has been published in Blood ‘n’ Thunder, The Cimmerian, The Dark Man, REH: Two-Gun Raconteur, The Robert E. Howard Companion, and other publications. His work has also appeared at Black Gate, Castalia House, and other websites. In 2019, Dr. Holmes — who works as a podiatrist — teamed up with fantasy and horror writer Jason Scott Aiken for a presentation on Fritz Leiber’s Fafhrd & the Gray Mouser at PulpFest.
The general public is welcome to attend our evening programming events. To learn more about our schedule, please click the Programming button at the top of this page.
To enjoy our dealers’ room, join PulpFest 50 by clicking the Registration button at the top of this page. And don’t forget to book a room at the DoubleTree by Hilton Pittsburgh — Cranberry in Mars, Pennsylvania. They’re going fast!
Although best known for his sword & sorcery tales written for Weird Tales, during his lifetime, Robert E. Howard was a major contributor to the Fiction House chain of pulp magazines. His first story for the publisher was “The Pit of the Serpent,” a Sailor Steve Costigan yarn published in the July 1929 Fight Stories. In a letter to his friend Tevis Clyde Smith, Howard suggested, “the architecture of this story is more nearly perfection than any other I ever wrote.” Our featured image is excerpted from Earl K. Bergey’s cover art for the issue.
From 1929 through 1932, Howard contributed seventeen Sailor Steve tales to Fight Stories and its companion, Action Stories, including “Circus Fists,” published in the December 1931 Fight Stories and featuring cover art by Gerard C. Delano.
In 1934, Howard debuted a second series in Fiction House’s line of pulp magazines. Eighteen Breckenridge Elkins yarns were published by Action Stories, beginning with “Mountain Man” in the March – April 1934 number. Pictured above is Action Stories for October 1935, with cover by Emery Clarke. Featured in the issue is Howard’s Breckenridge Elkins story, “The Riot at Cougar Paw.”
