Shadowmen: Heroes and Villains of French Pulp Fiction [Paperback]

Jean-Marc Lofficier (Author), Randy Lofficier (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 15, 2003

Meet Arsène Lupin the Gentleman Burglar and Fantômas the Lord of Evil; Captain Nemo and Robur the Conqueror; Alexandre Dumas’ Count of Monte-Cristo and Cagliostro; the Phantom of the Opera and Belphegor, the Ghost of the Louvre; Monsieur Lecoq and Rouletabille, the first detectives; the gangs of the Black Coats and the Vampires; Rocambole, Judex, and the Nyctalope, the first super-heroes; Harry Dickson, the American Sherlock Holmes; Doctor Cornelius and Doctor Omega; Fascinax and the Sâr Dubnotal, investigators of the occult; Antinea, Queen of Atlantis and Eugene Sue's Mysteries of Paris!

Shadowmen book includes biographies of the authors, reviews of their major works, biographies of the characters, timelines and concordances, bibliographies and filmographies, including television, radio and comics, and an index.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jean-Marc and Randy Lofficier are the award-winning authors of The Doctor Who Programme Guide, The Nth Doctor, Into the Twilight Zone and French Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror and Pulp Fiction.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Black Coat Press (September 15, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0974071137
• ISBN-13: 978-0974071138
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #755,716 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A guide to a hidden world, April 6, 2005

By 

M. Baugh "pulpreader" (Sedona, arizona USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shadowmen: Heroes and Villains of French Pulp Fiction (Paperback)

Most of us know very little about French popular literature. I include myself. I had read THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO, THE THREE MUSKETEERS, and several of the stories of Jules Verne but I had only scratched the surface.

SHADOWMEN is a wonderful study of the little-known characters of the larger than life characters from French Fiction who parallel Tarzan, Fu Manchu, Doc Savage and others from the English speaking world.

The book is an encyclopedic guide to a number of htese characters. The Nyctalope, whose altered eyes can see in the dark, the quintessential mad scientist, Dr. Cornelius, and Judex, who is possibly the first of all caped superheroes in film.

It is a delightful world the book opens up to non-French speakers and one that fans of pulp stories and students of pop culture alike will enjoy.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very good overview, October 1, 2006

By 

Babytoxie (Dallas, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shadowmen: Heroes and Villains of French Pulp Fiction (Paperback)

SHADOWMEN VOLUME 1: HEROES AND VILLAINS OF FRENCH PULP FICTION provides a very informative overview of characters from French fantastic fiction of the 19th and 20th Centuries. Compiled by Jean-Marc and Randy Lofficier, each entry contains biographies and photos of the creators/writers, biographies of the characters, and lists of book, comic, film, radio, and TV appearances... and illustrations are plentiful! I have to admit - prior to reading this book, the only characters I was familiar with were Jules Verne's Captain Nemo and Robur the Conqueror, and Alexandre Dumas' Count of Monte Christo. Now I can also call Arsene Lupin, Belphegor, Rouletabille, Judex, and Fascinax acquaintances of mine.

As these characters began appearing in the mid-1800s, some are quite similar, with distinct trends being very apparent. For example, more than enough of them run around Paris dressed in tuxedos and top hats. Some are actually criminals, or at least have criminal tendencies. Others are quite interesting for what sets them apart from the crowd, such as Sar Dubnotal - occult investigator, and le Nyctalope, with his glowing yellow eyes and artificial heart. In any case, the write-ups are very comprehensive, and if I either can't find or am not interested in reading the original adventures, I can at least get a good idea of what these characters are about. As indicated in the book's title, they make up a broader category of related fictitious characters known as the Shadowmen, which is something of a French version of Philip Jose Farmer's Wold Newton Family. The text posits that some characters are actually multiple aliases for one person, as confusing or excessive as it may be. Others are given direct links to characters from British and American fiction. Connecting the dots makes for fascinating reading, although it does tend to get a bit excessive. This book doesn't really have any shortcomings, although it might not be appreciated by all comic or fantasy fans due to its focus.

An excellent cover by Andrew Paquette tops off the book. Be sure to check out volume 2 of SHADOWMEN, which covers characters from French comics!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars French Pulp Heroism, November 21, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Shadowmen: Heroes and Villains of French Pulp Fiction (Paperback)

This is fascinating: a study of a great lot of popular heroes, but not from the usual American or British litterature. This time, they come from the French pulp fictions! And gathering together such characters as Arsene Lupin, Belphegor, Rouletabille or Fantomas, together with a whole lot of much more obscure ones (who knows Sār Dubnotal?!?) these studies and timelines forms both a great reference work and a real game of fiction.