The Pulp Super-Fan: Lazarus Gray 14

Michael Brown, aka the Pulp Super-Fan posted the following at ThePulp.Net:

Recently we got a new Lazarus Gray book: The Adventures of Lazarus Gray, Vol. 14, from Barry Reese. This one has a novel: Lazarus Gray vs. Fantômas.

Lazarus Gray is a New Pulp character from Reese (The Peregrine, Gravedigger, and other characters and works). Gray is sort of inspired by the classic pulp hero The Avenger and has a group of associates organized as Assistance Unlimited.

Gray is located in a fictional town called Sovereign City (created by Pro Se Press publisher Tommy Hancock), and thus is part of the larger Sovereign City Project. He is also set in the same universe as Barry’s other characters, so has crossed over with them.

In addition to the current members of Assistance Unlimited: Morgan Watts (now the new leader of AU), Eun Jiwon, Samantha Grace, Abigail Cross, The Black Terror (absent here), Wynonna Jones, The Observer (formerly The Eidolon), and the Blue Flame. We get a new member in Daredevil, the classic Golden Age comicbook character (not the Marvel comics character).

This story, set mainly in 1944, has Lazarus come up against Fantômas. Yes, the French proto-pulp criminal and terrorist is coming for Lazarus. And it is somehow connected to his uncle, whom we meet for the first time in flashbacks. Fantômas forms a new version of Murder Unlimited to attack Lazarus, consisting of a woman named Black Diamond, Count Orlick, and Lazarus’ uncle.

But what is the aim of Fantômas? He attacks other Sovereign City heroes as well as AU. Along the way, a member of AU as well as one of their support staff is killed. Can they figure out what Fantômas wants and put an end to his reign of terror?

The epilogue gives us a small hint of what will happen in the next volume, with the appearance of another Golden Age comicbook character. I can’t wait to see it.

The timeline at the end of the volume has been updated, with three more Straw-Man volumes, and five volumes of a new series called “The Dark Society.” I have no idea when these will appear.

Michael has been a tremendous supporter of both classic and new pulps over the years and I’m always pleased when he takes the time to look at one of my books. Hopefully you’ll see those Straw-Man and Dark Society books soon!

Another 5-Star Review!

Ray Bara has posted a review of Lazarus Gray 14 over on Amazon. He gave the book 5 stars and titled his review Fantomas terrorizes Sovereign City. Here’s the rest of his review:

Barry Reese keeps churning out amazing Lazarus Gray adventures! In Volume 14, Reese brings legendary villain Fantomas into the Lazarus Gray rogues gallery. Fantomas is pure evil, to be sure, and Reese showcases that evil here. It seems as though Fantomas is going to kill off all of Assistance Unlimited, and their loved ones, before this one’s through. While he doesn’t quite kill them all, the death count is high and the good guys are on the ropes throughout this tale. There’s a Volume 15, so Lazarus probably makes it through this one, but it’s not a sure thing. Great job Mr. Reese. Keep the Lazarus Gray train chugging along!

Thanks, Ray! I had so much fun pitting our heroes against Fantomas. He’s such a dangerous foe and I knew that if Lazarus was going to defeat him, it would have to be an epic battle. Glad you enjoyed it!

Lazarus 14 Gets Reviewed!

Longtime reader ChickJ posted a review of Lazarus Gray 14. Let’s see what he had to say:

Pure pulp written by a master!

5 stars

Action, magic, heroes, villains written smoothly. The dialogue was perfect. Not all doom and gloom or all humorous silliness. A great balance. I missed Lazarus Gray more than I thought. You will care for the characters, surprises await. Just a superb pulp for your enjoyment. Highly recommended.

Thank you so much! It’s always fun for me to return to Lazarus and company – glad you agreed. I tried to not only balance all the various characters but I knew that Fantomas might possibly make this story a very grim one — so I made a conscious effort to include enough hopefulness to keep it from tipping too far into that direction.

Thanks again for the kind words.

Updates!

Thrilled that the fourteenth book in the Lazarus Gray series is finally out — I wanted to do something really special for that volume and pitting Lazarus against one of the greatest fictional villains of all time seemed the perfect way to do it. The story has twists-and-turns aplenty, revealing more about Lazarus Gray’s family tree and introducing some new villains along the way… and it wouldn’t be a Fantomas story without some deaths, too. Be prepared to say goodbye to a longstanding supporting cast member or two….

I’m working on the sixth book in the Dark Society series, which you’re still a few years away from being introduced to. When I’m finished with this one, I think I’ll either do something completely new or return to the Lazarus Gray series for volume sixteen (yes, fifteen has already been written!).

I think Straw-Man Volume Two is going to be the next Reese Unlimited release but for now, let’s focus on spreading the word about Lazarus Gray 14!

Press Release: Lazarus Gray vs. Fantomas!

SOVEREIGN CITY’S GREATEST HERO TAKES ON FICTION’S MOST HEINOUS VILLAIN! THE ADVENTURES OF LAZARUS GRAY VOLUME FOURTEEN DEBUTS! PRO SE’S ‘THE YEAR OF REESE UNLIMITED’ BEGINS!

From the author imprint of scribe Barry Reese comes perhaps his greatest and best-known creation in yet another collection of action and pulp intrigue. THE ADVENTURES OF LAZARUS GRAY VOLUME FOURTEEN!

He is a legend mentioned in fearful whispers. He is a faceless, heartless, savage destructive force of nature. If the Devil were vomited from the darkest pit of Hell into this man’s path, he would grudgingly concede that he encountered a creature whose soul was black with deeds so cruel that they made him turn away in disgust.

In the City of Light, he is a darkness unending, but he has turned his gaze towards a goal that lies an ocean away in Sovereign City, and he will not be denied. He is an unrelenting evil known to many by a single name.

FANTOMAS.

And he is unlike any foe that Lazarus Gray and Assistance Unlimited has ever faced.

THE ADVENTURES OF LAZARUS GRAY VOLUME FOURTEEN by Barry Reese, from Reese Unlimited and Pro Se Productions, is the first volume in Pro Se’s ‘THE YEAR OF REESE UNLIMITED’. Twelve works written by or based on concepts created by Barry Reese as a part of his author imprint will be released, once a month, throughout 2024.

With an atmospheric, gritty cover by Gilbert Monsanto and print formatting by Sean Ali, THE NEW ADVENTURES OF LAZARUS GRAY VOLUME FOURTEEN is available for 12.99 via Amazon at http://tinyurl.com/2n7dp37n.

Reese’s latest entry in his longest running series to date is also available on Kindle formatted by Antonino lo Iacono and Marzia Marina for $2.99 at http://tinyurl.com/3taywkr2. Kindle Unlimited Members can read this exciting tale for free!

For more information on this title, interviews with the author, or digital copies for review, email editorinchief@prose-press.com.

To learn more about Pro Se Productions, go to http://www.prose-press.com. Like Pro Se on Facebook at Pro Se Productions.

2023 Draws to a Close

This year marks 20 years that I’ve been a professional writer and I haven’t slowed down a bit – at least from a writing standpoint. We only had one book released this year — the first in the Straw-Man series — but hopefully next year will see the 14th Lazarus Gray book, another Straw-Man, and hopefully Omnium Gatherum, if nothing else. I’m currently writing the sixth Dark Society book and you can’t even see the first of those until at least the first three Straw-Man books are out. Oh, the perils of publishing!

Personally, it’s been an up-and-down year. I continue to struggle with my mental health but things have improved financially as of late so that takes some anxiety off of me. Fingers crossed that things will continue on the current trajectory in 2024.

No matter what holidays you celebrate – or even if you don’t celebrate any at all – I give you my sincere hopes that the end of this year and the beginning of the next will be happy ones for you.

November Updates

As we head towards the Thanksgiving holiday, I figured I’d update all of you on a few things:

I’ve been greatly enjoying the new Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game and I’ve just gotten my hands on The Cataclysm of Kang adventure book. It’s been a lot of fun so far and I highly recommend it. I’ve done a few writeups of my characters for it and maybe I’ll share them here eventually.

I finished working on The Dark Society Book Five: Egregore a week or so back — I know that this won’t mean much for you guys at the moment since book one of this series won’t even be published until after the third Straw-Man volume is released… and we’ve only just recently gotten the first book out. It’s probably going to be years before you see the team square off against the egregore threat.

I’m working on a short story that will run in the fourth Straw-Man book right now. After that, I’m not 100% sure of what I’ll work on. I’m so far ahead of Pro Se’s publishing schedule that it’s kind of humorous at this point – they have three more Straw-Man books, a novel called Omnium Gatherum, two completed Lazarus Gray books, and give Dark Society novels, all in their grasp!

Our art today is something that’s not been seen very often — it’s Anthony Castrillo’s original sketch for what would become the cover to the very first Lazarus Gray book!

In case I don’t post against before Thanksgiving, have a happy holiday to all those that celebrate this day. To everyone else, take care and go see The Marvels — it was great!

Two New Reviews

Amazon user ChickJ gave The Straw-Man Book One 5 stars and titled his review “The Straw-Man, hero, villain, trickster and what else.” Here’s everything else he had to say: Six imaginative short tales. Barry has really created a really new little universe in his shared universe. The opening start is three strangers tried to convince a young man to kill himself to save the universe. Then it gets strange. Each short story fleshes out this universe. Read one, and you have to read the next one. The straw man is a real winner. (The only thing that I found odd was at the end Barry Reese, the author, dated the book 11/16/2021. It should have been publish sooner. It came out in 09/11/23) A must read for all pulp readers.

Thanks, ChickJ! It sometimes takes awhile for books to move through the publishing pipeline — in the grand scheme of things, two years isn’t a terrible length of time. I definitely feel your pain, though. It’s hard to wait!

Meanwhile, Raven gave the book 3 stars. His review was titled “Could have left out the prolific f-bombs and it wouldn’t have harmed the story one bit.” Here’s his full review:

Sam Hein is murdered one night by a group of three people who have been having dreams that tell them they must induce him to commit suicide. Otherwise, the dreams say, it will cause the rise of an ancient creature that will cause the deaths of many people. This murder simply precipitates the binding of Sam Hein and the entity known as Gwydion fab Dôn into the avenger known as the Straw Man.

These are six tales featuring this new creation as it battles the minions of both heaven and hell, both realms seeming to want it destroyed. The creature is merciless to those it deems worthy of its vengeance but is capable of friendship or at least a truce with those it isn’t after. Sam Hein isn’t gone; he is a secondary manifestation of the being when the Straw Man isn’t in control.

The Straw Man is dressed in tattered clothing and a disreputable hat, with a carved pumpkin for a head. He carries a razor-sharp scythe as a weapon. The pumpkin face, even though carved, is capable of a range of expression, and the eyes glow with a greenish light. The creature moves swiftly and silently.

This new pulp character is interesting, to say the least. I like the fact that the Straw Man actually has a secret identity in Sam Hein (neat choice of name there!) And as Barry explains, the other side of the coin, Gwydion fab Dôn, is a legendary being of Welsh folklore, a trickster and magician. You get the feeling that Sam needs the trickster in order to live and the trickster needs Sam for a body in which to manifest. A scarecrow is thrown into the pot and stirred for the complex recipe.

I will say that I believe the graphic sexual content and prolific f-bombs take away from the story. I have followed Barry from way back when the Peregrine was the Rook, and his pulp is great, hard-hitting stuff, heavy into the occult side of things—good versus evil. But his descent into this hard use of language and insistence on graphic use of sex isn’t necessary to make his stories a great read. For me, anyway, it is a minus, not a plus. And a totally unwarranted one at that.

So, with a heavy heart, I give this one only three stars. I am sorry, Barry.

I appreciate the time you took to review the book, Raven! I’m glad that you appreciated the core character and the overall plot of the book. I am sorry that you felt that the language and graphic nature of the storytelling was a bit too much. I try to keep my “golden age” pulp stories at a PG-13 level but for the modern day stuff, I thought it made sense to push the envelope a bit more to differentiate things and to give me the opportunity to do something a bit different than what I do with Lazarus Gray and the like. It’s been a couple of years since I wrote this book but I honestly don’t recall it being super-heavy into the sexual side of things… perhaps my memory is fading or it could be that we just have different levels of what we consider over-the-top. If it makes you feel any better, I think that future volumes (and the subsequent Dark Society spin-off series) tone down the sex, if not the language.

Welcome to Grove’s Folly

So I’m hearing from lots of my dedicated readers that they have purchased copies of the first Straw-Man book and I’m thrilled that people are already responding positively to it. This book kicks off a whole new phase of my shared universe, with tons of exciting new characters — both heroes and villains. I’ve already completed the first four Straw-Man books plus I’m currently writing the fifth book of a spinoff series! So this book is very important to me — if it crashes and burns, it means that a lot of my efforts put into this side of the universe is off to a very poor start. Thankfully, that doesn’t appear to be the case, at least so far.

Grove’s Folly, by the way, is the town that plays home to the Straw-Man’s adventures. It’s located near Sovereign City and so you’ll occasionally get references to older characters from the Lazarus Gray and Gravedigger series.

Be sure to let me know what you think of the Straw-Man after you read it!

Timeline of the Reese Unlimited Universe – Updated 6/7/2023

Major Events specific to certain stories and novels are included in brackets. Some of this information contains SPOILERS for The Peregrine, Lazarus Gray, Gravedigger and other stories. 

~ 800 – Viking warrior Grimarr dies of disease but is resurrected as the Sword of Hel. He adventures for some time as Hel’s agent on Earth. [The Sword of Hel]. 

~ 1620 – Gwydion fab Dôn is captured by the witch Rhianna in France. She punishes him by binding his spirit to a bundle of rags. [“Gwydion,” The Adventures of the Straw-Man Volume One]

1748 – Johann Adam Weishaupt is born. 

1750 – Guan-Yin embarks on a quest to find her lost father, which takes her to Skull Island [Guan-Yin and the Horrors of Skull Island]. 

1774 – On June 23, 1774, General Benjamin Grove led the British forces through the air en route to Sovereign. What he did not know was that several local militia groups lay in wait for him. The resulting battle had been ferocious and deadly for both sides — in the end, only two men were left, one representing each side of the conflict: General Grove himself and a local youth by the name of Emmett Hain. [“The Choice,” The Adventures of the Straw-Man Volume One]

1776 – Johann Adam Weishaupt forms The Illuminati. He adopts the guise of the original Lazarus Gray in group meetings, reflecting his “rebirth” and the “moral ambiguity” of the group. In Sovereign City, a Hessian soldier dies in battle, his spirit resurrected as a headless warrior. 

1782 – The man that would eventually be known as Gideon Black is born. [The Second Book of Babylon] 

1793 – Mortimer Quinn comes to Sovereign City, investigating the tales of a Headless Horseman [Gravedigger Volume One] 

1802 – Gideon Black’s son is born and the chain of events that leads to Gideon being bonded with a suit of armor forged in Hell begins. Gideon is transformed into Babylon, a force for cosmic retribution. [The Second Book of Babylon] 

1835 – Lucy Hale goes to work at Mendicott Hall. She meets Byron Mendicott and Lilith. [The Chronicles of Lilith]