The Reason You Came Here

all work copyright 2011-2021 Jeff Deischer


Heritage Universe
New World Order (#101)
Billionaires all over the world are disappearing, and U.N.I.O.N. agents (who work for the United Nations) are called into investigate. This is a unique experimental story that is not your typical superheroes vs. supervillains.

Hide and Seek (#201)
Charlton heroes band together as the Sentinels to combat menaces too great for any one of them. In their first case, they must travel the globe to stop familiar super criminals from taking over the Earth.

Tag, You Are It! (#202)
The Sentinels must deal with a strange plague that grips South America in a tale that wraps up a mystery left unexplained when Charlton ended their Action Hero line in 1967.

Duck Duck Goose (#203)
The Sentinels are under attacks by a returning enemy in a story that expands the Heritage Universe while the membership changes once again as a result of developments in the personal lives of team members.

The Golden Age
series
The Golden Age
(Volume I)
Published from 1939-56, the Standard/Better/Nedor characters are largely forgotten by today's comic book fans. Now, pulp author and comic afficionado Jeff Deischer brings these classic heroes back in an all-new adventure. In 1942, the world is at war. Spies and saboteurs seem to lurk around every corner in America. But, in the shadows, real danger awaits. Following the Battle of Midway, the Dragon Society of Imperial Japan sends agents on a secret mission to knock the U.S. out of the war. And only the superheroes of the Auric Universe can stop them. Join them in this epic new saga that pulp author and interviewer Art Sippo called "a terrific read--it doesn't get any better than this!" Includes an Introduction by comics and pulp historian Will Murray.

Mystico
(Volume II)
1940: The Nazis are obsessed with mystical artifacts. Believing one was hidden in America centuries ago by the mysterious Knights Templar, the black wizard Nacht sends a party led by the sorcerer the Baron to find it. Nacht is as much a mystery to the Nazi hierarchy as he is to the rest of the world. Claiming to be one of the Earth’s “secret masters”, he helped Hitler climb to power after the failed 1923 beer hall putsch, tutoring him in occult ways. He is aided in his quest by Reinhard Heydrich, the infamous “Hangman”, who now controls the dreaded Vril power, becoming Nietzsche’s Ubermensch. In this exciting prequel to the groundbreaking The Golden Age, the Auric Universe’s mystical heroes must join forces to stop Nazi Germany from gaining one of the greatest prizes of all!

Dark of the Moon
(Volume III)
The Auric Universe's oddball, fringe and civilian heroes get play here as cities are being destroyed by mysterious tidal waves. Dr X, an "occult scientist" sends his team, which includes his niece Cynthia, her fiance Bob Stone, Judy of the Jungle and her companion Pistols Roberts of Europol, and a patchwork giant called Jobe, to investigate.

Future Tense
(Volume X)
Like many other heroes of the Auric Universe, Major Future seemed to come from nowhere. In his case, it was more true than in others'. In 1943, a man with superhuman powers that included strength, agility and the ability to see radio waves, found himself in Los Angeles. How he got there and why he had these special abilities, he did not know. Impelled by some inner drive to help others, he took the name "Major Future" and became a superhero. Future Tense tells the full origin of the hero known as Major Future.

Bad Moon Rising (Volume XI)
The spotlight is on Major Wonder, my homage to the fun (i.e., smartass) superheroes of my youth. In this volume containing six independent but interrelated short stories adapted from his series in MYSTERY and WONDER, he faces dark times that run the gamut from superhero to horror to Sci-Fi.

The Way They Were

Have you ever wondered when Victor Frankenstein created his monster? Or when Dracula terrorized England? How about Captain Nemo’s past? The Way They Were takes an in-depth look at the life and times of some of adventure fiction’s most famous heroes and most notorious villains. Inside you’ll find not only the answers to the above questions, but those to many more, covering characters as diverse as Korak, Son of Tarzan, James Bond and the Phantom of the Opera – who, it is revealed, is related to none other than Doc Savage and Sam Spade of Maltese Falcon fame! The Way They Were is a collection of essays by chronologist Jeff Deischer, discussing and analyzing famous stories of adventure fiction as if they had actually occurred. They are then combined into a "shared fictional universe" timeline.

Spook Trail
Who or what is terrorizing the people of Weeping Hollow? The Scare Devil spook had been haunting Weeping Hollow for two hundred years – but when people started disappearing, Adventurers, Inc. was called in to find out why! Back after more than sixty-five years, Adventurers, Inc. goes into action to discover the secret of the Scare Devil.

The Adventures of the Man of Bronze: a Definitive Chronology (3rd ed.)
Jeff Deischer's landmark chronology of Doc Savage, which first discovered the Man of Bronze's true birthday and included the radio plays in a timeline, is back in print in an expanded and updated edition that has been fully revised for better readability and easier consulting. It addition to including Will Murray's new Wild Adventures of Doc Savage, a number of the author's groundbreaking essays on the Man of Bronze are also contained within, including some that have only seen limited publication. Offered here for the first time anywhere is an expanded family tree that shows Doc Savage's relationships to other literary characters such as Sam Spade (Maltese Falcon), Wolf Larsen (Sea Wolf), the Phantom of the Opera and Frankenstein's Monster!

The Winter Wizard
In the tradition of Doc Savage, the Avenger and the Shadow comes … the Challenger. Wrongly convicted of a crime he did not commit, the man who would become the Challenger swore to help others who could not help themselves. Joined by a group of assistants -- experts in their own endeavors -- the Challenger rights wrongs sand punishes evil-doers. In August 1947, Challenger finds himself up against the weird menace of the Winter Wizard -- a madman who is able to control the weather!

The Marvel Timeline Project, Part 1 (with Murray Ward)
The Marvel Timeline Project is a chronology of Marvel Comics in the Silver Age written by expert chronologist and Marvel aficionado Jeff Deischer and Marvel historian and official indexer Murray Ward. Part 1 covers the first four years of the "Marvel Age" and includes synopses of the stories.

Over the Rainbow
Dangyang -- the real China. This is not the China you've seen in movies or on television -- ramshackle villages or burgeoning metropolises indistinguishable from those of the West, but a small city unseen by Western tourists-- an example of the real China. With over 40 pages of photos, you will come to know -- and perhaps appreciate -- Dangyang via a firsthand look at its customs, architecture and everyday ways -- through the eyes of the only American ever to visit it!

The Brotherhood of Terror trilogy
Psychic warrior-priests armed with weapons powered by mental energy, the Brotherhood of Sabours has been keeping peace in the galaxy for thousands of years. Now a new menace threatens that peace: the Sund. Mysterious and powerful, the Sund's secrets are difficult to uncover. Its members are unknown -- even the number of members is unknown, as is the organization's scheme, which includes the destruction of the Brotherhood and the Galactic Union.

The Heart of the Universe
A standalone novel set a generation after the Brotherhood of Terror, Sabour Rebani Kalba comes across what seems to be a sentient gem. Investigating this with the help of adventurer-archaeologist Bal Tabarin, the Sabour finds that there are a number of such gems, the gathering of which will lead to an undescribed but momentous event. The pair races to find the fragments of the gem even as others do the same.

Agent Keats series
Skull & Bones (#1)
Mysterious Chinese coins are turning up in Hong Kong in 1952 amid ships disappearing in the area. John Sterling, agent Keats of the British Secret Service, is sent to find out the origin of the coins. Drawn into a web of shady characters such as Lemuel Gaunt, Malcolm Sweet and Mei Lei, Keats must determine where the coins are coming from and what happened to the previous agent sent to investigate. Written under the pen name "John Francis".

Chinese Puzzle (#2)
WHAT IS THE CHINESE PUZZLE?
John Sterling, agent Keats of the British Secret Service, is sent into Communist China in 1952 to learn what DRAGON is. What he knows is that DRAGON is an organisation behind mysterious radio transmissions that resulted in the assassinations of several agents of Western Intelligence agencies. Is this a prelude to a deeper involvement by China in the Korean War? Or something more sinister? Written under the pen name "John Francis".

High Hopes (#3)
John Sterling, Agent Keats of the British Secret Service, is sent to Greece to find out who's manufacturing Lovejoy, a synthetic LSD-type drug that been flooding the streets of London -- and to put a stop to it. He soon finds himself between Charybdis and Scylla, two rival crime bosses as he searches for the mysterious drug lord behind. Written under pen name "John Francis".

Nemesis Company series
Red, as in Ruin (#1)
It is 1942. America has just entered World War II. But other menaces threaten the citizens of the United States. Six years ago, tragedy took Simon Basil Petrie’s family from him. From the ashes of his life as an inventor came the Basilisk, a being seemingly devoid of emotion devoted to one thing – battling crime and the weird criminals who perpetrate it. The Basilisk and his associates in Nemesis Company are summoned to Mexico when an old friend is attacked by a vampire, his body drained of blood!

The Argentverse
Argent
This volume contains three novellas, each featuring different characters over the summer of 1961: Vanguard, Jr., Miss Adventure, Kid Thunderbolt and Blitz, the children of the golden Age mystery men "The Three Musketeers"; The Stargazer, an alien stranded on Earth; Shadowalker, a young Navajo man who learns of his mystic heritage.

Night of the Owl
1946: World War II is over and the world is changing. While the Axis has been defeated, a new menace threatens the globe: Communism. When industrialist Owen S. Grane is brutally murdered, the Three Musketeers, America’s foremost superheroes, are called in to find the culprit, who attacks and kills like a wild animal. Was it the Soviets? A spurned lover? A cheated business rival? Or someone else? One by one, upper level executives of the S.M.A. Corporation, an American defense contractor, are attacked and killed in a savage manner, until, finally the Owl reveals himself – but only after a cat-and-mouse game with the Three Musketeers.

The Superlatives
In 1958, the Superlatives were formed: Professor Amos Abercrombie, archaeologist and believer in things occult; his fiery daughter Amy Abercrombie, who can do anything a man can do; feisty reporter Red McAllister, who is after that one big story; Don Farnsworth, big game hunter who has utter confidence in his skill with a gun. Together they roam the globe looking for adventure and mystery. In 1960, they discover something more remarkable than any of their previous expeditions, one that changes their lives forever. This takes them around half the world, where they meet the superheroes of the Soviet Union, Australia, Communist China and Japan before returning home to confront an old enemy.

Strange Days
Strange Days Indeed The 1950s were a time of hidden menace in America. Communist spies lurked around every corner and the bomb could drop at any moment. No one was above suspicion. It is into these times that the Mysterians appear. The patients of the Destry Clinic are freaks, possessing superhuman abilities – but superhuman appearances as well. They cannot simply remove a costume and disappear into a crowd. They are unlike the other heroes of the Argentverse. Dr. Destiny, the mysterious, unseen leader of the Mysterians. Mach, whose ability to fly at tremendous speed is slowly killing him. NRG, who must wear cumbersome armor to protect others from his deadly energy. Metallica, who possesses metal skin. The Mysterians face equally astonishing menaces, including Gargantua, who can mold his form into any shape; the Brain, a criminal mastermind with a superhuman mind; the stunning Sorcerer, who can perform seeming miracles; the Gauntlet and his Insidians.

Modern Times
Modern Times contains three novellas set in the the future -- our present (the early 2000s). These stories are daring, ambitious and experimental, pushing the boundaries of the author's works. Darkstorm and Morningstar are a married crimefighting couple. The Golden Ghost is a pulp hero set in the modern era. The Crusader is obsessed with stopping the madman whom he believes to be his partner and friend. WARNING: adult-ish content

Mystery Men
Mystery Men contains three interrelated short stories, as the Crimson Crusader (a vigilante), Karma (a martial artist) and Dr. Stellar (a scientist) each face a different aspect of a deadly threat to mankind. These heroes bridge the gap between pulp vigilantes and superheroes, operating in the 1936 Argentverse.

Worlds Collide
Beyond Worlds Collide
Written by pulp master Jeff Deischer, Beyond Worlds Collide is the sequel to the famous science fiction novel, When Worlds Collide and its sequel, After Worlds Collide. Beyond Worlds Collide begins a few months after After Worlds Collide ends and picks up some of dangling plot threads and answers unanswered questions, such as, What happened to the Other People? Beyond Worlds Collide is faithful to the original two novels in style and tone, and true space opera: The themes of the series are grand ones, the destruction of Earth, the establishing of a new home for humans and contact with alien life.

War of Worlds Collide
A new menace arises on Bronson Beta to threaten the settlement of Earth's refugees. Someone -- or something -- has declared war on the humans!

The Age of Aquarius
The Strange Harvest of Dr. Aquarius features Jack "King" Kirby's public domain characters of the 1940s and '50s, bringing them together for the first time in an adventure set in 1976. America's Greatest Patriot is murdered! And while the nation's other superheroes attempt to solve this heinous crime, a new race of superhumans emerges -- Homo Nova!

Sinners and Saints
In the 38th century, three convicts escape the prison planet Purgatory and find themselves in a lawless region of space known as the Borderlands in Four on the Run, which contains three short stories. Escape is just the beginning of their adventures.

Four in the Way
continues the misadventures of the four escaped convicts.

Three on a Match
Inspired by Spaghetti Western films, Three on a Match is set on Mars in a hundred years, made habitable due to terraforming. Along its equator sits the cities that comprise civilization. Beyond this lies Nu West, the frontier which in many ways resembles the Old West. Three disparate men each learn of a stolen treasure and clues to its whereabouts. None of them know all the details of where the treasure is supposed to be, so, at times, they are forced to work together. They face many dangers, both individually and together, in pursuit of their quest, including each other.

Doc Brazen
Ulysses "Doc" Brazen was a famous adventurer in the Thirties and Forties. In Millennium Bug, a threat to his medical treatment of criminals brings him out of retirement, and, as he investigated, he collects a new batch of assistants. The mastermind behind the attack is Doc's equal.


Wednesday, June 5, 2013

NOW IT CAN BE TOLD

Hello again.

Over the past year, a number of my books have come out under a pen name, Wes T. Salem.  The reasons for this various and sundry. Among them, science fiction was a new genre for me, and I'd written three of the four books much earlier: I didn't want it to appear that I was churning out books without regard to quality. Every book I write is hard work and I give each one 100%. You can fault my work, but laziness or lack of respect for writing is not among my flaws.

Recent events and friends have convinced me that it was time to "expose" myself, so here I am. About the Brotherhood of Sabours series which bears the Wes T. Salem name, I will say that it is rip-roaring, ass-kicking space opera in the tradition of the Lensmen and Star Wars.

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Oh, It's You

Hey! Thanks for checking out my page. The idea here is that you can find the titles of the books that I've written -- and the first chapter of those books so you can decide if you want to spend the money to buy the book! It's as simple as that.

I write adventure fiction, and non-fiction about adventure fiction, primarily. I have two fiction styles, pulp and "regular", though this tends to be a bit pulpy. But my pulp style is purposely and purposefully pulpy. It's pulp in the truest sense of the word, a style noted for its brevity and colorful prose. First paragraphs of a scene are important. Good guys are good and bad guys bad. Some modern readers can't get into it, but lately pulp has experienced a renaissance -- which is not to say that there's not bad pulp out there. There is. But there's also a lot of bad sci-fi, detective stories, etc.

I'm hoping that the opportunity to read sample chapters will expose my work to a broader audience. So thanks again for dropping by.

And if you see something you like here, TELL SOMEONE!!! :-)

Jeff Deischer