WORLD OF MONSTERS: PULPS

Showing posts with label PULPS. Show all posts

Sunday, March 1, 2026

WHO GOES THERE?

Released in 1951, RKO's THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD drew it's inspiration from a novella published in a pulp magazine a little over a decade before.

"Who Goes There?" appeared in the August 1938 issue of ASTOUNDING SCIENCE-FICTION published by Street & Smith. It was written by Don A. Stuart, a pseudonym for John W. Campbell who had taken over the editorship of the magazine about six months before. A manuscript found later in Campbell's papers indicated that he had written the story as a full-length novel called "Frozen Hell".

First edition (Shasta, 1976) - Jacket art by Hannes Bok.

Over the ensuing years, the story became greatly influential, inspiring authors such as A.E. van Vogt, who regarded it as "the best horror tale in science fiction". It also spawned radio, television shows and films, most notably John Carpenter's 1982 re-make, THE THING.

Here is "Who Goes There?" as it appeared in ASTOUNDING SCIENCE-FICTION, August 1938. It is a good read and I recommend it.

Thursday, August 28, 2025

SUPER GREEN BERET NO. 1 (LIGHTNING)

This is another comic from out of left field. Yes, the Vietnam War was gaining steam with the legendary Green Berets executing an untold number of secret missions, but Otto Binder's idea of turning one of them--Tod Holton--into a super-hero with extraordinary powers was not quite as odd as it seemed. In fact; his exploits are reminiscent of the 1940's, when super-heroes stopped in mid-punch against domestic crooks and began fighting Nazis and "Japs". Holton, on the other hand, was a hero created for the times.

All the Holton stories in this issue are written by Binder and drawn by Carl Pfeufer. Pfeufer was born in Mexico in 1910 and raised in New York City where he studied at the National Academy of Design, Grand Central School of Art, and the Art Students League of New York. Pfeufer spent years in the comic book industry, drawing for a wide-range of publishers including Centaur, Prize, Fawcett, Lev Gleason and Marvel. He later became busy as an illustrator for the pulps, as well as painting covers for various magazines (see below).