Voting for New Pulp Awards now open

I just had a look and the voting for the New Pulp Awards is open.

The ballot is posted at  http://newpulpawards2014.blogspot.com.au/p/new-pulp-awards-2014-official-ballot.html

I'm very pleased to announce that I have been nominated for two awards and a number of my friends have also been nominated.  Have a look at the ballot and vote.

Roar (music video) by Katy Perry

When I started this blog one of the things I mentioned that I wanted to post about was the video clips of Roar by Katy Perry.

I'm a sucker for jungle adventures like Tarzan, Sheena, Bunduki, and The Phantom. So when I saw this video clip I watched it several times.  Katy Perry makes a great Jungle Princess (as I like to call her Roar the Jungle Queen) and I'd love to see the character in some other format.
It's unlikely that Katy Perry would make a movie (although I'll never say never on that she has done some acting) but an animated TV series or a comic book wouldn't be unrealistic.  Of course being a pulp writer a series of pulp novels would be my preferred option.

Roar and her animal friends protecting the jungle.  Roar summoning 'the eye of the Tiger' to help someone in danger. 

The video clip is a great origin for the character with a plane crash and Katy adapting to life in the jungle after her boyfriend gets killed by a tiger.  She finds her own inner strength and conquers the jungle tames the tiger and names her Kitty Purry as well as painting elephant toenails.
There is almost a George of the Jungle vibe to the latter part of the video.

I especially liked how Katy uses parts of her old outfit to adapt to her new life the heel of her stiletto shoe becomes a spear point and her leopard print scarf becomes her top.

Watch the video and enjoy.

It's Awards Season

And I just discovered that the New Pulp Awards 2014 are open for nominations

The announcement can be found here.

The catergories are Best Novel, Best Collection/Anthology, Best Short Story, Best Novella, Best Cover Art, Best Interior Art, Best Pulp Related Comic, Best Pulp Magazine, Best Pulp Revival, Best New Character, Best Author, Best New Writer.

Nominations Close 24/2/14 so get nominating.

Double Feature: Deadlier Than the Male (1967) & Some Girls Do (1969) starring Richard Johnson

Originally posted Saturday, October 15, 2011 11:01:12 AM

These two movies are a contemporary update to the Bulldog Drummond movies, similar to Daniel Craig’s Casino Royale or The Saint starring Val Kilmer. 

Hugh Drummond (gone is the Bulldog nickname) is an insurance investigator and his investigations uncover the work of criminal mastermind Carl Peterson and his beautiful female assistants. This updated Carl Peterson might be a criminal mastermind but he certainly surrounds himself with some beautiful women including Elke Summers and Daliah Lavi.

The films wear their Bond influence proudly and were an influence on the Austin Powers films.*

The movies are good campy fun and well worth watching on their own but the Madman double disk set is a beautiful package with special features that made the purchase of this set a no brainer. Deadlier Than the Male features interviews with the cast during filming and on set reports, image galleries, film trailer and PDF files of the Press Kit. Some Girls Do has the trailer and image gallery.

It was a pleasant surprise to see footage of Gerald Fairlie on set. Fairlie served as a partial model for the character of Bulldog Drummond and continued writing the series after the death of Sapper.
If you can get hold of this double disk set grab it

*The robot girls in Some Girls Do, don’t have machine guns in their jubblies though.

A Bid for Fortune (1895) by Guy Boothby

First serialised in The Windsor Magazine, one of the rivals of The Strand Magazine this story introduces us to the master villian Dr Nikola.

Nikola isn't in the story much but his actions influence most of the narrative.  The story is narrated by Richard Hattaras, a young man from Thursday Island (making him a fellow Queenslander).  Hatteras falls in love with Phyllis Wetherell the daughter of the Colonial Secretary of New South Wales but the engagement is blocked her father.

It turns out that Nikola has designs on something that Wehterall owns and his plan is to get this item.

Nikola is a great villian.  I found myself quite liking him, there were several times where Hattaras intervened with Nikola's plans and Nikola had Hatteras and his allies in his power and it may have been more efficient and expedient to kill them but Nikola keeps them alive and sets them free.

At the end Nikola gets what he wants but lets everyone go.

At the end Hattaras and Phyllis are married and Nikola gets them a very nice wedding gift.

The story hops around globe starting in England across Europe to Australia and finishes in the South Seas Islands.

Guy Boothby was an Australian writer who was very successful back in the day but largely forgotten today.  There are four more Nikola books and I look forward to reading them.  I want to see what Nikola has planned for his prize.

Magnetic Pulp

So I've been away in New Zealand visiting the relatives and having a wonderful time. The boss and I pop into a gift shop and what do we find but these:



I thought the images looked familiar
 and I'm sure I've seen the Handbag Diva image on a Pulp Cover as well.  (I've searched but I cannot find it - if anyone can point me to the original please do so in the comments)

My searching for this post tells me that there is also a Chocolate Diva and a Handbag Diva in the same style.

These are nice pulpy collectables.