Sunday, July 22, 2018

Sunday Morning Bonus Pulp: War Birds, January 1932


You just don't run across stories with titles like "Fokker Dust" anymore. Thomson Burtis was a well-known writer of aviation and air-war stories, but I don't believe I've ever read anything by him. Also in this issue of WAR BIRDS are stories by O.B. Myers, another prolific and well-regarded aviation pulpster, Allan R. Bosworth, an excellent Western author who wrote a little bit of everything for the pulps, William E. Barrett, best remembered for the novel THE LILIES OF THE FIELD, and several authors whose names are unfamiliar to me. I've never really read much from the aviation pulps compared to some of the other genres, but I've generally enjoyed what I've read.

9 comments:

Stephen Mertz said...

Michael Avallone was a childhood fan of these aviation war pulps & once cracked on a great title never used: "Where Did Those Fokkers Come From!?"

Bruce Harris said...

William E. Barrett also wrote the Needle Mike crime pulp stories.

James Reasoner said...

Barrett wrote hundreds of stories for the pulps, but I don't think I've read any of them. I read THE LILIES OF THE FIELD after the movie came out and liked it.

jurinummelin said...

You'd like the Needle Mike stories, James.

James Reasoner said...

I found this page about them:

http://www.batteredbox.com/LostTreasures/49-NeedleMike.htm

They sound great. The Battered Silicon Dispatch Box collection seems to be unavailable. Maybe somebody else will reprint them at some point.

Walker Martin said...

Altus Press has just published volume one in the Needle Mike series as part of their Dime Detective Library.

James Reasoner said...

Thanks, Walker! I just ordered it.

Erica Y. said...

I know I'm late to the party, but do you know of anywhere that I can find a copy of this? I'm writing a comprehensive biography of Kiffin Rockwell and I want Pavelka to feature prominently, but there are almost no sources on Pavelka besides Kiffin's own letters. Getting a hold of something like this, no matter how short it is, would be fantastic.

James Reasoner said...

I'm sorry, Erica, I don't own this issue and scans of it don't seem to be available on-line. You might try to contact the fellows at Age of Aces Books. They reprint a lot of pulp aviation fiction.

https://www.ageofaces.net/