EDitorial Comments

BLOOD ‘N’ THUNDER #38 Update

Still in the process of working through back orders and getting ready to ship Distressed Damsels and Masked Marauders, I’ve decided that, at this late date, it would make no sense to print and ship Blood ‘n’ Thunder #38 in its present form.  Since the issue is so tardy, I’d have to whip up two more in quick succession just to get back on schedule.  So here’s what I’ve decided to do: double up numbers 38 and 39 (which, as the Fall 2013 issue, should have been published already), and then pair numbers 40 and 41 (Winter/Spring 2014) for release at the Windy City show in late April.  That’s the best way for me to catch up.

I already had two meaty articles in the hopper for use in #39, so they’ll see print in the upcoming double.  Larry Latham, whose outstanding articles and artwork graced many pulp fanzines in the Eighties, returns to pulp fandom with a terrific piece on the transition from dime novels and nickel weeklies to the pulp magazines we all know and love.  I’ve greatly expanded an article I did for Tony Tollin’s Sanctum Books Shadow reprints in late 2012; the original essay covered the two Shadow feature films of the late Thirties, but the revised version also covers the “Shadow Detective” featurettes released by Universal during the 1931-32 season. (In a previous issue Tony examined the first of the series, “A Burglar to the Rescue,” but I go into detail on the others.)  You’ll find lots of great behind-the-scenes info as well as a plethora of stills and poster reproductions from both features and featurettes.

I had planned on reprinting H. Bedford-Jones’ This Fiction Business, along with some recently rediscovered and unindexed HB-J Western stories, as a standalone volume in the “Classic Pulp Reprints” series. But I’ve just decided to include the non-fiction book’s text in the double issue and find another venue for the newly uncovered stories.

Along with some additional department installments, the above-named articles and reprint should make BnT 38/39 another very desirable issue. As soon as Distressed Damsels is out, I’ll add this extra material to the already-laid-out issue 38 and plan on having the double completed by the end of January or beginning of February.

Speaking of “Classic Pulp Reprints,” I haven’t forgotten The Island, J. Allan Dunn’s sequel to Barehanded Castaways.  This book was another casualty of my diminished activity in last year’s second half, but you can expect to see it too very soon.  The log jam is finally breaking up and I can promise you that this will be an active year for Murania Press.  I’ve now got someone helping me with order fulfillment and database maintenance, and together we’re beginning to make progress.  Once again I thank you all for being patient and promise you’ll find that the long-delayed books were well worth waiting for.