The heyday of the pulp magazines was before my time. I was born during the dying days of that era, and by the time I was old enough to read and appreciate the fiction those magazines published, they were long gone -- in spirit, at least. But I did delve heavily into paperback books, which are the modern-day descendants of the pulps.
Some of the old pulp stories and characters were revived in the 1960s, including Robert E. Howard's Conan character, which inspired my own warrior-hero, Imaro. But of course there were plenty of other adventurers that survived the pulps' demise, such as Doc Savage and The Shadow. Of course, none of these superstars of the printed page were black. This is the 1920s-40s we're talking about here, and in the vast majority of those stories, black characters were relegated to stereotyped background roles if they were present at all.
There were some exceptions. Jericho Druke, described as an "African giant of immense strength," was an agent of The Shadow. Joshua and Rosabel Newton were part of the team of The Avenger, who was similar to Doc Savage. In conformity with the times, Josh and Rosabel posed as servants, though they had both earned degrees from Tuskegee University. But The Avenger treated them as trusted equals.
Maybe there were other characters like Jericho and the Newtons. If so, they were few and far between.
Ron Fortier of Airship 27 Productions publishes what is known as "New Pulp" -- new stories in 1930s settings, minus the ethnic excesses of the past. When Ron suggested that I write a New Pulp story of my own, I came up with Damballa. Damballa is the type of black hero character who should have been -- but could not have been -- published in the '30s. He is inspired by The Shadow, but is no more an imitation of The Shadow than Imaro is of Conan.
The newly released novel, Damballa, tells the story of how the mysterious African-American protector of Harlem foils a plot to sabotage a heavyweight boxing championship bout between a black American champion and a German challenger who represents the Nazis. The time is 1938, a year before the beginning of World War II. Similarities between this fictional fight and the real-life 1938 title bout between Joe Louis and Max Schmeling are entirely intentional.
Damballa features action, suspense, a mad scientist, gangsters, beautiful women, and evocations of the highs and lows of life in 1930s Harlem. It was a lot of fun to write, and I hope readers will enjoy it. I am glad to have had the opportunity to make a needed addition to the New Pulp genre, as I did to sword-and-sorcery way back when.
Damballa can be ordered from lulu.com and gopulp.info. On Monday, it will be available at Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.
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