Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Return of THE AVENGER!



















The Greatest Crime-fighter of the 1940s returns, and Moonstone has got him!

I've been so swamped these past several weeks that I haven't had the chance to announce this new project, which is sort of a shame as pulp hero Richard Henry Benson, alias "The Avenger", is one of my very favorite characters. Arguably, I believe that the original Avenger novels, written by Paul Ernst (under the house-name of "Kenneth Robeson") are the very best written of all the hero pulps. On a personal level, don't know if I could have made it through my dreadful high school years without having Benson and his fearless crew there to rescue me.




































Happily, this will be my second reunion with the character in print, having contributed my short story, "The Devil's Mouthpiece", to Moonstone's The Avenger Chronicles prose anthology last year. That was, quite seriously, one of the greatest highlights of my professional writing career. As with the former collection, both future volumes (that's right--two new Avenger books!) will be edited by Joe Gentile and Avenger scholar Howard Hopkins. I'm in very good company with a whole swarm of excellent pulpsmiths on the team. I'll post the author's list soon as it's finalized.














So, here we go again! Getting to be "Kenneth Robeson" once more is a genuine dream come true!

Far as the pulps are concerned, it just doesn't get better than this!

Stay tuned!

8 comments:

  1. Now that is exciting. Congrats. Looking forward to all the adventure thrills!

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  2. Did Steve Holland pose for EVERYTHING?

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  3. Hmm...well, let's see. Holland was Doc Savage, The Avenger, The Spider, Flash Gordon, and a whole slew of spies and cowboys. Am I missing anything...?

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  4. So exciting, Martin, and you know my HS experience reflects your own. These characters are so much more to us than simple words on a page. Such a thrill and an honor to have him return, and be brought back by excellent writers such as yourself.

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  5. Holland was Larkin's go-to guy for EVERYTHING, from Conan to Dracula to the Hulk to Starlord!

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  6. Congratulations, Martin! This is great news, indeed!

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  7. Wow, Joe! I had no idea about Holland's Conan, Dracula, and Hulk gigs with Bob Larkin. I've gotta see those!

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  8. Almost every Marvel cover Bob did was posed by Steve. Most paperbacks, too (including the Conans). Wish I were experienced enough at the time to realize Holland's existence, but being in my late teens-early twenties I had no isea how things worked.

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