More Hard Boiled Detective in the Pulps
The greatest and most lasting impact of the pulps is arguably in the detective genre. Before the pulps, the intellectual, problem solving hero ruled detective fiction. Rarely did the murder take place "on stage," and the hero used "extraodinary powers of deduction" to solve the crime. Granted, this style produced many still famous detectives and classic stories that will be forever hailed as masterpieces. However, the pulps released a torrent of creativity that turned detective fiction upside down. Most notably, the hard-boiled private eye opened his doors for business. Our new hero lived in the tough world where mistakes were deadly, the girls beautiful, and all work was done on a cash basis.
The hard-boiled detective developed his own code of honor and methods that at times put him outside the law. Justice was his law of the land and was dealt with hot lead and cold corpses to follow. Sam Spade, Race Williams, Satan Hall, Max Latin, and Cardigan were just a few men who fought corruption and gangsters with forty-fives in hand.
The impact of the pulp detective resonated out from the pages of such classic pulp magazines as Dime Detective, Detective Fiction Weekly, Black Mask, Ten Detective Aces, Detective Tales and others. Detective pulp fiction influenced the movies, television, future writers, and continues to be felt today in all forms of entertainment.
Even today, we clearly recognize the hero with his own sense of right and wrong, who will stand up and fight to protect what he values. It is this type of hero that comes through loud and clear in these great pulp detective classics, making the stories just as exciting as the day they were written.
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