19 Comments

Great idea. I forgot what I was doing and watch the whole superman video. Those old cartoons are great.

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"He'll save every one of us!"

I have no idea what I'm going to do for this one, but it sounds like way too much fun NOT to come up with something!

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Buckaroo Banzai, Savior of Venus!

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Thanks!

That cross-connected in what I use for brains and sparked a bit. So now I have a base concept, at least ; )

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I love Buckaroo Banzai!

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Inspiration just struck. So now I've got THAT story to work on as soon as I finish my Pogue One and next Murder Jazz Pinup Noir story... Y'all are gonna burn me out. What a way to go.

Sidenote:

I appreciate the homework, but I've noticed this feels like more visual aesthetic rather than ideas for literary content. Don't get me wrong, it helps some, but as someone who's literally built his own "Pulp-Punk" universe and has been writing short stories as "side quests" from that universe I've come to learn Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers et all are much more complex and intricate than what the surface image seems like.

What makes it "Plasma Pulp"? What are examples that are more than visual images of rayguns and rockets on alien planets? Maybe I was hoping for more ideas on this subject than what was intended. What is it that makes Flash the "savior of the universe"? A Ming the Merciless. Killer Kane was the foil to Buck Rogers in the comic (though the 1979 TV show had a plethora of threats that frankly did very well in the first season).

So, okay, potentially right direction, we'll see if my story idea meshes up. I think I'll pop on by TV tropes and look up more on expected tropes for this manner of story. Want to satisfy those readers, and by extension the publisher!

Thanks again for the homework!

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That's true of most of what gets written off as 'Pulp'.

I think the idea was to get the basic esthetic established and make sure folks were pointed in the right general direction.

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I definitely get that, but I'm still not sure I really "get" it. So Imma wing it and see what happens. ;)

I know, I know. I've not been put on this Earth to "Get It". Thank you David Lo Pan.

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Most of Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers has entered the public consciousness by way of comic strips, TV serials, and movies -- all very visual forms.

While there are several Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers novels extant, not only are they not as widely read as the comics (or seen on the big and small screens) but as I remember the novels as very much trending towards Space Opera (Flash Gordon) and Post-Apocalyptic Sci-Fi (Buck Rogers).

The aesthetic we're looking for is more in the spirit of the comic strips, graphic novels, television serials, and movie.

Ian

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A helpful clarification! Good thing I own a few of those novels and comic strips. Well the strips I own aren't public domain as they were made in the 1950's. But that aside, I'm going to stick with my Dream Nebula world to write side stories as I planned. Hopefully this will work for the anthology. Hail Xiao. ;c)

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Ian, don't forget EE 'Doc' Smith's classic Skylark of Space (and to a lesser degree, the Lensman series).

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I really want to do this. Only Plasma Pulp I've ever seen was Flash Gordon. I need more references!

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Buck Rogers is a good one as well. In the movie Zathura, the kids play a board game that is very plasma pulp themed.

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Does Star Wars count? Or is that more space opera?

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Star Wars borrowed heavily from Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter of Mars stories, so possibly? Keep in mind we're not publishing fan fiction. This is very much a pulp sci/fi adventure anthology. Give it a whirl and see what happens. Worst thing could be you complete another short story!

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All right.

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EE "Doc" Smith's the Lensmen series, if you want to go back to basics rather than the later derivatives - start with Galactic Patrol (1937). The original Buck Rogers story, Armageddon 2149 (https://www.gutenberg.org/files/32530/32530-h/32530-h.htm) is in public domain, so it's easy to pick up and read for free. Try doing a little research into the originals rather than trying to rely on much later and attenuated adaptations like Star Wars and such.

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All right. I'll give it a try.

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Huzzah!

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