Saturday, November 01, 2008

The Avenger Chronicles

My author copies of THE AVENGER CHRONICLES arrived today. This is a new collection from Moonstone Books featuring eighteen stories starring the pulp character whose relatively short-lived series (24 novels) was reprinted in its entirety in paperback by Warner Books during the Seventies. Those reprints were so successful that Warner published twelve new Avenger novels, all ghosted by Ron Goulart under the house-name Kenneth Robeson.

Goulart is back with a new story in THE AVENGER CHRONICLES. Other authors include Howard Hopkins (probably the world’s leading authority on the character), Bob Randisi, Gary Phillips, Will Murray, Paul Kupperberg, C.J. Henderson, Richard Dean Starr, Mark Justice, Joe Gentile, Mel Odom, Martin Powell, Win Scott Eckert, Tom DeFalco, Matthew Baugh, Clay and Susan Griffith, and Dan Wickline. You get not only a fine lineup of writers, but also some fine artwork, including two variant covers.

My story is called “Death in Clown Alley”, and I had a fine time writing it. Where else am I going to get to write about skeleton clowns raising havoc under the Big Top? One of the great joys of this business is that from time to time you get to write about characters whose exploits you enjoyed in your younger days. That happened to me with Mike Shayne, Longarm, Kolchak, and now The Avenger, all of whom entertained me long before I ever became a writer. I’m not old enough to remember The Avenger’s pulp run, but I bought and read all those paperback reprints in the Seventies. While The Avenger wasn’t my favorite pulp character (that honor goes to Doc Savage), I thoroughly enjoyed those original yarns, written by Paul Ernst under the Robeson house-name, and I appreciate the opportunity to add to his adventures.

6 comments:

Randy Johnson said...

Been waiting for this one. I have a set of those 36 paperback novels in my collection.

Charles Gramlich said...

I want this one myself. Looks good. I think short stories would be a great intro into the character.

Paul Kupperberg said...

Oboy! Now I've got to spend tomorrow afternoon haunting my mailbox for my contributor's copy! I've loved the Avenger since the paperbacks way back when, so I've been looking forward to this one getting into print!

Win Scott Eckert said...

James, I'm eagerly awaiting my copies -- many tomorrow! -- and am looking forward to reading your tale.

Like you, Doc Savage is my top favorite pulp hero, but The Avenger is right up there, being one of the Street & Smith "big three" (the third being The Shadow). I grew up on the paperback reprints, and it was a true thrill to get to play Kenneth Robeson, if only for a short while.

Best,

-Win

Anonymous said...

Nostalga Venture, who has been reprinting Doc Savage and the Shadow have announced plans to reprint the Avenger stories in the same format (2 novels per issue, 7x10 paperback) on a quarterly schedule. Unless Tony Tollin has hired some help I don't know how he does all this.

James Reasoner said...

I assume Tony is reprinting only the original pulp novels, not the newer ones by Goulart?