ENDWORLD ran for 31 books. David Robbins has written 300+ pulp paperbacks, many under pseudonyms.
THE TRAILSMAN ran for an incredible 398 books ending in 2014. Jon Sharpe is a house name, most of the first 200 books were written by Jon Messman and was then continued by other authors under contract including the aforementioned David Robbins. Signet published 12 volumes per year for over 30 years.
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
DONOVAN'S DEVILS sounds like another reworking of MADDOCK'S MARAUDERS the old Fleetway Super Picture Library series for kids, itself based on the Jeff Chandler film MERRILL'S MARAUDERS which reimagined Colonel Frank Merrill's special forces battalion of US combat troops that operated behind Japanese lines in the East Asian theatres of the Pacific War.
THE LAWMEN was part of the Piccadilly Cowboys group of western series (16 in all, encompassing 290 books). This series was authored by John Harvey and Angus Wells on alternating duty. It only lasted 6 volumes.
MORGAN KANE lasted an excellent 83 books, written by Norwegian author Kjell Hallbing the series sold 20 million copies.
BLACK EAGLES lasted 21 books and focused on a Dirty Dozen style team in Vietnam. John Lansing was a house name.
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
I do wonder just how many acronyms have been used across all these type of books for both the criminal organisations and the government organisations that are out to stop them 😵💫🤣
@Sir Miles There were certainly a lot and most of them made no sense!
SERIES Part 8
None of todays bunch made it into double figures.
Chet Cunningham (what a great name) wrote around 300 books also using several pseudonyms along the way. He wrote for several series including The Executioner, but westerns were his main output.
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
But this Piccadilly Cowboy series reached 27 entries from 1974 - 1984. Terry Harknett (odd numbers) and Laurence James (even numbers) alternated writing duties. After volume 15 Harknett left and John Harvey replaced him. The series began being published by Sphere but after the fourth book it transferred to NEL who reprinted the first four entries and then continued from #5 to #12. It wasn’t a huge success in the UK but it was for American publisher Pinnacle who commissioned the series until the end with #27. Completists collected all three publishers, I’m more than happy to say 😁
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
Some graphic covers there. The Hook looks like my kind of thing - pulp private eye, dames, hoods, cops ....
Silhouette ManThe last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 9,325MI6 Agent
Looking at one of those covers I'm reminded of a feature on the Bond film locations in a film magazine that was promoting (I think) Tomorrow Never Dies which ran with the title "Mondo Bondo". 😊
"The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
Tom Cutter the name used on the Tracker series, was Robert Randisi (1951-2024) who was a prolific author of pulp books notching up over 650 entries under various pseudonyms and his own real name.
The Stark series was renamed The Revenger in the UK and went to 12 volumes. It was written by Terry Harknett under another pseudonym he used.
Caleb Thorne was the shortest series in the Piccadilly Cowboy collection only lasting 5 books. It was alternately written by John Harvey and Laurence James under the moniker L J Coburn and published by Sphere with no USA publication. It followed a Dirty Dozen style troop sent on special missions during the Civil War.
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
Balzan of the Cat People just sounds all-round hilarious. There was a Dr Who serial called Survival which featured Cat People, and I think there is a Who Universe novel called Invasion of the Cat People which sounds as silly as Balzan.
All the ones in post #1339 are American published. There was an independent book wholesaler I used to use to get these imported paperbacks and I also received a weekly box of American pulps from a secondhand bookseller in the States (I returned the favour by sending him British paperbacks).
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
There were quite a few Dirty Harry clones, The Liquidator amongst them. The promised Headhunters movie never saw the light of day.
CLAW was a Piccadilly Cowboy title by Angus Wells which featured some gruesome detail, especially in the first book where blacksmith Claw is tortured and loses his hand and replaces it with a metal claw. The series of 6 entries is mainly taken up by his revenge on the gang of perpetrators for his torture and the rape and killing of his wife.
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
From now on I’m just going to concentrate on series that have a modicum of originality and general interest. I will include series that reach a reasonably high number and complete the Piccadilly Cowboy range of titles as well.
The Dirty Harry series ran to 12 books and featured original plots aside from the movie tie-ins. Dane Hartman was a house name.
Dark Angel was a short lived blaxploitation series.
Slaves of the Empire took place during Roman times.
Mutants Amok was about the mutants in the post-apocalyptic era rather than the humans.
Longarm ran to an incredible 436 volumes plus 29 giant sized specials from 1978-2015. Many authors contributed to the series including Chet Cunningham, James Reasoner, Peter Brandvold and Harry Whittington (all big names in the pulp paper book universe).
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
An unusual psychological series in THE MIND MASTERS which was something different.
THE SMUGGLER was a part-time drug smuggler and independent spy.
CROW was a Piccadilly Cowboy series written solely by Laurence James. Crow was one of the most violent characters of the collection often referred to as “the meanest son of a bitch ever.” The series begins with him shooting a little girls pet dog and that’s just the beginning of an eight book run.
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
Sir MilesThe Wrong Side Of The WardrobePosts: 31,040Chief of Staff
These titles are both intriguing and ridiculous at the same time 😁
Comments
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, as they say. 😀
SERIES Part 6
ENDWORLD ran for 31 books. David Robbins has written 300+ pulp paperbacks, many under pseudonyms.
THE TRAILSMAN ran for an incredible 398 books ending in 2014. Jon Sharpe is a house name, most of the first 200 books were written by Jon Messman and was then continued by other authors under contract including the aforementioned David Robbins. Signet published 12 volumes per year for over 30 years.
ENDWORLD I've seen on the shelves but not the others. Is it just me or are these covers not a patch on the older ones we've been seeing here?
DONOVAN'S DEVILS sounds like another reworking of MADDOCK'S MARAUDERS the old Fleetway Super Picture Library series for kids, itself based on the Jeff Chandler film MERRILL'S MARAUDERS which reimagined Colonel Frank Merrill's special forces battalion of US combat troops that operated behind Japanese lines in the East Asian theatres of the Pacific War.
Some are very poor.
SERIES Part 7
THE LAWMEN was part of the Piccadilly Cowboys group of western series (16 in all, encompassing 290 books). This series was authored by John Harvey and Angus Wells on alternating duty. It only lasted 6 volumes.
MORGAN KANE lasted an excellent 83 books, written by Norwegian author Kjell Hallbing the series sold 20 million copies.
BLACK EAGLES lasted 21 books and focused on a Dirty Dozen style team in Vietnam. John Lansing was a house name.
The Man From Tomcat looks like my kind of thing, or at least what I'd read back in the day.
Apart from the 2 cowboy ones, which I like, the others look very standard and, pun intended, off the shelf.
I do wonder just how many acronyms have been used across all these type of books for both the criminal organisations and the government organisations that are out to stop them 😵💫🤣
@Sir Miles There were certainly a lot and most of them made no sense!
SERIES Part 8
None of todays bunch made it into double figures.
Chet Cunningham (what a great name) wrote around 300 books also using several pseudonyms along the way. He wrote for several series including The Executioner, but westerns were his main output.
Somehow I'm not surprised none of these kept going. They're copies of copies, in a saturated market.
Sounds a bit like the Elvis films…he said he only ever read the first 6 pages to see which previous film of his this new one was based on 😕
SERIES Part 9
Another bunch of single figure series here…
But this Piccadilly Cowboy series reached 27 entries from 1974 - 1984. Terry Harknett (odd numbers) and Laurence James (even numbers) alternated writing duties. After volume 15 Harknett left and John Harvey replaced him. The series began being published by Sphere but after the fourth book it transferred to NEL who reprinted the first four entries and then continued from #5 to #12. It wasn’t a huge success in the UK but it was for American publisher Pinnacle who commissioned the series until the end with #27. Completists collected all three publishers, I’m more than happy to say 😁
Some graphic covers there. The Hook looks like my kind of thing - pulp private eye, dames, hoods, cops ....
Looking at one of those covers I'm reminded of a feature on the Bond film locations in a film magazine that was promoting (I think) Tomorrow Never Dies which ran with the title "Mondo Bondo". 😊
I don’t remember that magazine @Silhouette Man but I had stopped collecting new Bond product by that time apart from the trading card collections.
SERIES Part 10
The first four were short lived.
Tom Cutter the name used on the Tracker series, was Robert Randisi (1951-2024) who was a prolific author of pulp books notching up over 650 entries under various pseudonyms and his own real name.
The Stark series was renamed The Revenger in the UK and went to 12 volumes. It was written by Terry Harknett under another pseudonym he used.
Caleb Thorne was the shortest series in the Piccadilly Cowboy collection only lasting 5 books. It was alternately written by John Harvey and Laurence James under the moniker L J Coburn and published by Sphere with no USA publication. It followed a Dirty Dozen style troop sent on special missions during the Civil War.
"The Lights Of Zetar" was an early episode of "Star Trek". Can't be a coincidence.
That is definitely a young Charles Bronson on "Tracker".
And I've never seen any of these books in shops.
Balzan of the Cat People just sounds all-round hilarious. There was a Dr Who serial called Survival which featured Cat People, and I think there is a Who Universe novel called Invasion of the Cat People which sounds as silly as Balzan.
SERIES Part 11
Easy Company went to a creditable 31 volumes under a house name, the others were single figure entries…
Are these USA editions only? Once again, I've never seen any of those.
All the ones in post #1339 are American published. There was an independent book wholesaler I used to use to get these imported paperbacks and I also received a weekly box of American pulps from a secondhand bookseller in the States (I returned the favour by sending him British paperbacks).
I am shocked, shocked to find that pinching titles has been going on.
Oh btw, the next story in the Imaginary Conversations thread is called "The Undertaker's Wind".
Thanks, CHB! 😃
Yes - some people have a bloody cheek 🤨🤭
SERIES Part 12
There were quite a few Dirty Harry clones, The Liquidator amongst them. The promised Headhunters movie never saw the light of day.
CLAW was a Piccadilly Cowboy title by Angus Wells which featured some gruesome detail, especially in the first book where blacksmith Claw is tortured and loses his hand and replaces it with a metal claw. The series of 6 entries is mainly taken up by his revenge on the gang of perpetrators for his torture and the rape and killing of his wife.
The Liquidator, eh? Has a familiar ring to it.
Once again, I've never seen any of those in the wild. Unlikely I'd buy one, too!
Bloody hell, as it were, that Gannon book looks horrific.
SERIES Part 13
From now on I’m just going to concentrate on series that have a modicum of originality and general interest. I will include series that reach a reasonably high number and complete the Piccadilly Cowboy range of titles as well.
The Dirty Harry series ran to 12 books and featured original plots aside from the movie tie-ins. Dane Hartman was a house name.
Dark Angel was a short lived blaxploitation series.
Slaves of the Empire took place during Roman times.
Mutants Amok was about the mutants in the post-apocalyptic era rather than the humans.
Longarm ran to an incredible 436 volumes plus 29 giant sized specials from 1978-2015. Many authors contributed to the series including Chet Cunningham, James Reasoner, Peter Brandvold and Harry Whittington (all big names in the pulp paper book universe).
Aha! I DO remember seeing Dirty Harry books on the shelves!
Slaves of the Empire looks like soft porn and the Mutants cover suggests a comic book IMHO.
SERIES Part 14
An unusual psychological series in THE MIND MASTERS which was something different.
THE SMUGGLER was a part-time drug smuggler and independent spy.
CROW was a Piccadilly Cowboy series written solely by Laurence James. Crow was one of the most violent characters of the collection often referred to as “the meanest son of a bitch ever.” The series begins with him shooting a little girls pet dog and that’s just the beginning of an eight book run.
These titles are both intriguing and ridiculous at the same time 😁