One of the highlights of PulpFest is the convention’s program book, The Pulpster. For over thirty years, a complimentary copy of this great publication has been provided free of charge to all PulpFest members. It is also available for sale through Bud’s Art Books, Cold Tonnage Books, and Mike Chomko Books.
Although The Pulpster reflects the themes of each year’s PulpFest, it is open to a wide range of articles concerning pulp magazines, collecting, genre fiction, illustrative art, and other popular culture topics. Each issue has a circulation of 450 – 500 copies, reaching a serious core of collectors, readers, and other fans.
Be a big part of PulpFest 2023 by placing an advertisement in this year’s issue of The Pulpster.
The magazine’s advertising rates are very reasonable: color back cover – $200; inside front color cover – $150; inside back color cover – $125; inside color full page – $100; inside black-and-white full-page – $80; color half-page – $80; black-and-white half-page – $60; black-and-white quarter page – $40.
Please write to PulpFest marketing director, Mike Chomko, at mike@pulpfest.com to reserve your space in The Pulpster. You have until May 15 to buy an ad. All spaces are sold on a first-come, first-served basis, with payment expected upon placing your order. Please be aware that our cover spaces sell quickly.
Another way to advertise through PulpFest is to donate material that will be provided free to our members or serve as door prizes. Your generosity will be acknowledged on our website and at the convention. Over the years Bear Manor Media, Chaosium Inc., Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc., Jim Gerlach and ERB Books, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Meteor House, Mike Chomko Books, Pulpville Press, Radio Archives, Stark House Press, Steeger Books, and others have donated to PulpFest.
Sponsorships are also available. You can sponsor the convention’s membership badges, welcome banner, homepage, and more. To learn more about donations or sponsorship opportunities, please contact the convention’s marketing director, Mike Chomko, at mike@pulpfest.com.
If you’d like to purchase back issues of our program book, click The Pulpster button on our homepage to learn how to place your order. Copies of The Pulpster #29 – 31 are currently available for $15 each, plus postage. Supplies are limited.
The tremendous success of Street & Smith’s 1931 hit The Shadow Magazine prompted an explosion of the single-character periodical. The first of these so-called hero pulps was The Phantom Detective.
Launched by Ned Pines’ Thrilling Group, the Phantom was the alter ego of man-about-town Richard Curtis Van Loan. A veteran of the First World War, this moneyed playboy was bored with life until a family friend recommended he “try his hand at solving a mysterious crime which had stumped the police.” His success led Van Loan to dedicate his life and fortune to combat crime, making the Phantom “a name known and admired by the police of every nation.” The series was written by D. L. Champion, Norman Daniels, Laurence Donovan, George A. MacDonald, and other authors.
Our cover mock-up for The Pulpster #32 is adapted from Standard Magazines’ February 1933 issue of The Phantom Detective. Featuring cover art by Bertram Glover, it was adapted for our program book by Pulpster editor and designer, William Lampkin. Our featured image is also adapted from an issue of The Phantom Detective, this one with cover art by Rafael DeSoto and dated April 1934. Also featured in our post is Bertram Glover’s actual cover for the first issue of The Phantom Detective, dated February 1933.
After the debut of The Phantom Detective in early 1933, the floodgates opened. It would soon be followed by Doc Savage Magazine and Nick Carter Magazine. Later that same year came The Spider and four other hero pulps.
Although it ran for 170 issues — fewer than both Doc Savage and The Shadow — The Phantom Detective was the longest-lived of the hero pulps, lasting for over twenty years. The Summer 1953 issue would be its final number. The character also appeared in Ned Pines’ Thrilling Comics and America’s Best Comics. Pictured here is the Phantom’s splash page from Thrilling Comics #61 — dated August 1947 — featuring art by Edmond Good.
To learn more about The Phantom Detective, be sure to check out Craig McDonald’s video, 90 Years of the Great Pulp Heroes #3 — The Phantom Detective. You’ll find it (and other videos) on PulpFest’s YouTube Channel at youtube.com/@pulpfest. While you’re there, be sure to subscribe.
We’ll be celebrating the 90th anniversary of the great hero pulps of 1933 and more at PulpFest 2023. We hope you’ll join us from August 3 – 6 at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Pittsburgh – Cranberry in Mars, Pennsylvania. You can become a member of the convention by clicking the Registration button on the PulpFest website. And don’t forget to book a room.
