You are publisher of an excellent pulp magazine called BRONZE KNUCKLES. What made you decide to launch it, and why did you choose pulp as a genre?
The idea for Bronze Knuckles came from working with Mike Jones on the anthology comic book Yeet Presents. I met Mike years ago in a local comic shop and picked up a few issues of Yeet Presents and really loved the how fun each issue was. Different styles, different stories, all in one issue. And you didn’t have to have a portfolio or have to have been published to get into Yeet Presents. If you could create a comic that fit the spirit and sensibilities of Golden/Silver/Bronze age comics, Mike would print it. It was also around that time that I realized how much I missed being creative and artistic. Up until I graduated college I’d write and draw just about every day. I’ve since worked in software for twenty four years, and while you can be creative in the field, its not the same. As I started learning digital coloring, and contributing colors to a few Yeet Presents covers, and even contributing a pinup or story here and there, it really got the juices flowing again. And one day an idea just started rolling around in my head. What if I published a magazine of prose stories and used the same model as Yeet Presents? Not only would I, selfishly, have somewhere to publish my own stories, but I could also help others get their stories out into the world. It can be very daunting trying to figure out how to publish. You gotta learn everything from how to properly format and produce print ready files, to fund the actual printing. And that doesn’t even mention the hard work of writing your story to begin with! It can be really hard, and its a wonder anyone ever gets started! But the feeling of seeing your work in print is incredible. And I really enjoy the process from start to finish that gets someone’s story into their hands and potentially their fan’s hands.
I chose pulp, not only because I really love Doc Savage and The Shadow and Dick Tracy and I could go on, but because what the pulp magazines symbolize to me is fearless storytelling. Pulp magazines ranged across a vast number of genres and story telling styles and for a while in the US were the most affordable entertainment available. Writers took chances in pulp magazines. They created crazy situations, crazy characters, and they had fun with it. That’s what I wanted Bronze Knuckles to be. Fearless.
Is Bronze Knuckles strictly prose pulp content?
It has comics and pin ups as well. As well as reviews and other non-fiction content.
I noticed the very talented comic book veteran Rusty Gilligan furnished a wonderful vampire cover for an issue of BRONZE KNUCKLES. Who are some of the other artists who’ve worked on the magazine?
Man, have we had some great artists in Bronze Knuckles. Rusty Gilligan has done a couple covers and has interior artwork with Jon Erin Mundy’s stories. Shane Luttrell not only writes great stories but he did an iconic BK cover (or at least I think so) for the second issue. Kent Clark is amazing. His illustrations in the magazine always bring a smile to my face. His characters are so expressive and his layouts so dynamic. I haven’t seen a bad Kent Clark drawing ever. Alex Moore drew The Atomic Thundermouse in issue #3and his funny animals can’tbe beat. Eric Luna Salazar, whose artwork I was introduced to int he Yeet Presents Storm Owl stories, has contributed the pulpiest of pulp pinups. Sean McMillan has contributed story illustrations and in house ads that absolutely knock it out of the park. He also did both covers and interior art for the Bronze Knuckles Serial mature imprint series written by William Messner-Loebs called Mousterian Investigations. I am sure I’m forgetting someone, and if so I really apologize. It’s really incredible the number of talented individuals I have come to know and work with.
You’ve just published your 11th issue of Bronze Knuckles Magazine. What would you say some of the highlights have been of the content you’ve put out so far?
One big advantage of not restricting Bronze Knuckles to any one genre, is that there is always something for someone.
Looking for a read that draws from the tradition of Doc Savage? Alexandre LeVasseur’s Adventurers Inc. stories are just thing for you! You’ll meet a team of intrepid explorers, each with their own unique skills and personality, that travel around the world encountering everything from crashed UFOs to lost civilizations high in Himalayas.
Or maybe you want something gritty and supernatural? Keith Gooderson’s Damion Knight series will take you on Damion’s journey as he hunts the Sinisters that prey on humanity. Everything from Dogmen to Strigoi fear Damion Knight.
Is fantasy more your thing? You won’t want to miss Shane Luttrell’s Moontreader, which finds a an odd couple pair of Gordon the Noble, a world weary Knight, and Moontreader, an expert tracker and elf, on a quest to find and return King Ammonish who has wondered off into the wilds of his Kingdom.
Fans of hard boiled crime will enjoy Thomas Dade’s stories Tequila in Mexico, Lemonade in Arizona and The Penalty for Murder. The former tells the story of a gang bank robbers as they try to escape to Mexico while the later follows in the footsteps of a jaded PI as he tries to solve the disappearance of a famed hockey player.
Those looking for classic horror vibes will want to follow Jon Erin Mundy’s serialized story Ichabod Crane Monster Hunter Encounters Count Orlock the Nosferatu, which begins in Bronze Knuckles #2 and culminates in Bronze Knuckles #10. Jon wrote the story as a celebration of the 100th anniversary of Count Orlock.
Every few issues I also do a Quick Hits flash fiction section as well. This is a ton of fun as we get to see how we craft very different, very short stories based on a common prompt. Watch the Bronze Knuckles facebook page for when these prompts go up! We will have another in issue #13.
And that’s just the start of it! I am leaving so much out! As more people find out about Bronze Knuckles and submit their work, the styles and genres only grow.
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