If you missed the last one…
The 1970s saw a renewed interest in the Pulps of long gone decades. Much of this was driven by Bantam Books reprinting the entire Doc Savage canon and the 1975 film, Doc Savage Man of Bronze. Warner Bros. wanted some of that reprint gold and grabbed The Avenger novels by Paul Ernst. But there were only two dozen of these (not 200) so Ron Goulart was hired to continue the adventures of Richard Benson and his crew. The Doc books began with the covers of James Bama to brand them. The Avenger paperbacks started with Peter Caras but soon replaced him with George Gross who did all the dozen new Goulart books.
Ronald Joseph Goulart (1933-2022) is famous in Science Fiction circles for humorous stories and novels as well as a non-fiction writer on Pulps and comics. He made part of his living ghost-writing, most famously, the Vampirella series based on the Warren comic book and the TekWar novels for Williams Shatner. Writing a series of new Avenger novels was right up Ron’s alley. And he did a very good job of it. I like the more SF vibe he brought to the final twelve.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the British TV show, The Avengers, which was modeled with a cheeky James Bond/The Saint vibe. John Steed and Cathy Gale/Emma Peel/Tara King are secret agents who face off against weird enemies. The name “The Avengers” seems intriguing simply because of John and his sidekick’s relationship. This is not a romantic one, but one very much like Richard Benson and Nellie Gray’s. (Richard Benson and John Peel could not be more different in terms of personality.) Perhaps the Brits were inspired in 1961? Maybe Stan Lee and Jack Kirby were too, when they created the superhero team, the Avengers in 1963?
Avenger Pastiches by Ron Goulart
(1974) #25 The Man From Atlantis
(1974) #26 Red Moon
(1974) #27 The Purple Zombie
(1974) #28 Dr. Time
(1974) #29 The Nightwitch Devil
(1974) #30 Black Chariots
(1974) #31 The Cartoon Crimes
(1975) #32 The Death Machine
(1975) #33 The Blood Countess
(1975) #34 The Glass Man
(1975) #35 The Iron Skull
(1975) #36 Demon Island
Jack Kirby/DC Comics
Warner Books wasn’t the only one making hay from the old Pulp material. DC Comics had Mike Kaluta’s The Shadow, Joe Kubert’s Tarzan, John Carter of Mars and other ERB novels so why not Justice Inc.? And Jack “King” Kirby to draw Richard Benson and his gang. (Marvel ended up with Doc Savage, Ka-Zar and Conan the Barbarian.) It should have been a winner but only ran for four issues. Talk about a lost opportunity.
Justice Inc. #1 (May-June 1975) was adapted by Denny O’Neil from the first Avenger novel. Allen Asherman supported the issue with a 1 page article on The Avenger.
Justice Inc. #2 (July-August 1975) was adapted by Denny O’Neil from the novel. Allen Asherman has an article on how the Avenger could be made into a movie. (For The Shadow/Justice Inc. cross-over, go here!)
Justice Inc. #3 (September-October 1975) was written by Denny O’Neil.
Justice Inc. #4 (November-December 1975) was written by Paul Levitz. Denny O’Neil stayed on as editor.
The comic starts off with a mediocre debut with Al McWilliams art. We do get Smitty introduced in that first issue. By the second, Josh and Rosabel Nwton have joined the team. And in the fourth, Mac finally shows up. Nellie Grey was probably going to be introduced in a later issue that never appeared. This may have been a mistake, waiting so long for Nellie. She might have added a more engaging character for female readers. Rosabel is not used much either. Whatever the case, the comic was cancelled after issue four even despite the great Jack Kirby/Mike Royer art.
Conclusion
The 1970s Avenger revival came and went pretty quickly, ending by 1975. This may have been in part by the flopping of the Doc Savage film in June. The Pulp revival came and went. But fans never forget the stuff they love. In more recent decades, The Avenger returned in fiction collections from Moonstone and several more comics. Next time we will wrap up our look at this iconic hero team.
Part 4 – New Pulp brings the Avenger and Justice Inc. for the final time…
