PULP POWER The Shadow, Doc Savage and The Art of The Street & Smith Universe

A brilliant book, the most comprehensive ever devoted to just one pulp publisher. And what a choice, S&S was the most successful of all pulp houses, creating The Shadow, Doc Savage, Detective Story, Nick Carter, The Avenger... Packed with wonderful art from original paintings plus rare interior artwork. Frank Miller’s intro is a gem, where he talks about discovering James Bama’s Doc Savage paperback covers that inspired his own work. This is a rare glimpse into the pre-war pulp explosion, a period of bold action and adventure storytelling that directly inspired the creation of comic book superheroes. In more than 500 novels written between 1930 and 1940, The Shadow, Doc Savage, and the Street & Smith universe of characters captivated a generation of readers. Packed with wonderful cover art and much more, telling the success story of the most popular hero pulps ever. "Initially, Superman was a variation of Doc Savage. The concept, and even the name Superman, could easily have been inspired by a Street & Smith advertisement that ran in the early '30s pulps."  - Jim Steranko, The History of the Comics Street & Smith, the renowned publisher of these novels, commissioned leading artists to provide bold and original cover artwork for their publications, and in Pulp Power, hundreds of these eye-catching covers are reproduced as a collection for the first time. Comics legend Dan DiDio provides context for the cover illustrations alongside a narrative discussion of the influence of the Street & Smith superhero universe on legendary creators such as Orson Welles, Truman Capote, Michael Chabon, George Lucas, Agnes Moorehead, James Patterson, Walter Mosley, Dwayne Johnson, Frank Miller, James Bama, Jim Steranko, Jim Lee, Gail Simone, and many more. The book carries the influences forward and touches Marvel and DC Comics adaptations, as well as the legendary James Bama's Ballantine paperback series and even Jim Steranko's series of wonderful Shadow paperback covers. The book also includes original line art illustrations from the pulp interiors by artists from Tom Lovell and Everett Raymond Kinstler, to Edd Cartier and Bob Powell. Cover artists well represented here include George Rosen, Graves Gladney, Walter Baumhofer et al. Unique reproductions of Shadow ephemera. Pulp Power is the ultimate coffee table collectible book for all who love the world of superheroes and pulps.