Weird Heroes is a collective effort to do something new: to approach three popular heroic fantasy forms—science fiction, the pulps and the comics—from different and exciting directions. Each story in this book is experimental. There are revitalizations of classic fantasy themes such as time travel and jungle adventure. There is innovative use of some of the most dynamic graphic story talent in the world, from Philippino illustrator Alex Nino to American cartoonist Ralph Reese. There is a strong and conscious effort to encourage storytelling which does not rely on violence as a primary source of drama. Weird Heroes is a collective effort to give back to heroic fiction its thrilling sense of adventure and entertainment—the heartbeat of the old pulps. The pulps used heroes to bring fiction to a grand level of excitement—a level which incorporated the reader into the experience. Weird Heroes refreshes that concept of fiction as an adventure in itself, without relating to the new wave of violence and pornography in the production of exciting stories.Weird Heroes is a collection of memorable firsts. It represents the first major publication of prose stories by both science fiction and graphic story writers. Within volumes 1 and 2 you will find the first published appearances of famous pulp biographer Philip Jose Farmer’s epic pulp character, “Greatheart Silver.” You’ll be witness to the first major book publication of an interview with award-winning science fiction and fantasy writer, Fritz Leiber. You’ll experience the insanity of Superman author Elliot S. Maggin’s “Gonzo Storytelling” and discover the new hero by a literary descendant to Dashiell Hammett on Secret Agent X-9, Archie Goodwin.Weird Heroes contains the first American book illustration work by award-winning Spanish artist Esteban Maroto. Jim Steranko and Neal Adams, two titans of the modern graphic story field, appear for the first time under the same cover in Volume 2. Tom Sutton, an unsung hero of the comics with a comedic style that blends Kurtzman, Elder, and Eisner, also makes his book debut with five plates for “Showdown at Shootout.”
