With comics beginnings in pulp magazines, Half-Past Danger by Stephen Mooney is a callback to the classic stories. Dames, danger, and dinosaurs all pretty much describe the idea surrounding the setting. Oh and don’t forget Nazi bashing! Because there’s plenty of that to go around. So in what way does this series use the pulp elements in a way people like?
Pulp Beginnings
Pulp magazines serve as a form of affordable and easy to get into entertainment. A product of the steam-power printing press, the name actually comes from cheap wood paper prints. As such the main demographic is the working class, unlike the higher quality glossy paper periodicals. The “glossies” mainly act towards general interest like fashion, news, poetry, or literature. So to make up for this pulps focus more on sensational elements. This includes sequels to novels by H. Rider Haggard like Ayesha which cements the Lost World fantasy/science-fiction setting.
This inspires the likes Edgar Rice Burroughs and Robert. E Howard of Tarzan and Conan fame. For readers however, this gives a sense of adventure out into a world they can never see due to various confines. One of those confines being the Great Depression where pulps are some of the only viable means of entertainment. That is until the second World War comes in. With shortages on paper and newspaper being less expensive, comics and paperbacks begin to take hold.
Half Past Danger: Fighting Back the Decline
Which brings us to the topic of discussion. The conflict of Half Past Danger almost has a meta-narrative. When soldiers of the likes of the Howling Commandos getting killed off by dinosaurs, this presents a means of pulp stories invading comics. One where regular war comics enemies, the SS, are more than happy to make use of. The series POV character, Staff Sergeant Tommy “Irish” Flynn is so shaken by his squadron’s death he outright abandons service. That is until some pulp character stand-ins get him into action. Captain John Noble is practically Doc Savage meets Captain America while Agent Huntington-Moss is if Domino Lady had Secret Agent X‘s job. For good measure there’s even the ninja Ishikawa Minamoto.
Even the way Half Past Danger presents itself is evocative of its origins. The covers featuring Moss resemble the colorful hooks of pulps while demonstrating her femme fatale character. While the ever present yellow tone evokes the appearance of the pulp paper. It’s what makes the Nazi’s dark coloring in uniforms and setting feel like an ever present threat.
The Limits of Pulp
While the pulp influences generate interest, it’s the characters and their motivations that keep the reader in. Irish practically stands in for the audience and creator as it’s his exposure to the others that keep the story going. Bonding with John over the losses of their squads is what allows them to relate. Moss’s secret campaign meanwhile is dependent on Irish from his experiences in the pulp settings. Since they never get close it demonstrates a foundation of characters like The Shadow, stoic figures whose legends entrance the reader rather than their character. As such Moss’s actions are about her having the upper hand at all times in the name of a greater purpose. Even at the cost of what little relationships she has.
Unlike the superheroes who succeed them, pulp heroes are more escapism than characterization. With a limit in producible content, pulp characters couldn’t connect to readers the same way superheroes can. It’s rather fitting that the superhuman John Noble is so sought out; not just for his powers, but his humanity. Half Past Danger might tribute the pulps, but it is first and foremost a comic book series.
Half Past Danger: Half Past The Seriousness
Despite the above commentary from reading too much into something, Half Past Danger is just fun. It’s about living in the moment until the story ends; because those moments are of extreme importance. Sure the theories surrounding dinosaurs’ appearances and what wipes them out is dated, but that’s not the point. It’s about what the context brings to the reader. Whether it’s the most terrifying things of your life, it can also be a great breakthrough.
At the time of this post, the Nazi’s planning on using a pathogen found in the dinosaur’s DNA as a bioweapon can really appeal to readers. Who doesn’t fantasize about giving Nazis a good beat down alongside a super soldier and a ninja? The series even continues with plots of intrigue like in follow-up Dead to Reichs. There’s potentially even more as the world of pulps can suck people in. Just look at the licenses for IDW’s Rocketeer and Dynamite’s multiple pulp comics like The Shadow.
Thanks for coming to the end and as always remember to look between the panels.