Who the Heck is Darkshadow? Introducing My New Pulp Series

We have to all the way back to the early to mid-80s. Imagine a young Bryan Alaspa, if you can. I was the nerd, the outcast. I was the kid the bigger, tougher kids punched in the arm and made fun of and shouted things in the hallway. What did I turn to in order to help deal with it? Well, first it was Doctor Who books, but then it was comic books.

I loved the comics. I loved the heroes. When I was very little, I watched Spider-Man on Electric Company and when the re-ran the cartoon from the 60s. I was Spider-Man for like 3 or 4 years in a row. I had the silly Spider-Man web shooter that did not allow me to swing over rooftops.

I didn't read the comics until later. Then, I had a few friends who also could draw and I would collaborate with them and make up comics we basically shared with friends. During that time, I invented a hero who wore all gray (I drew him in pencil, so that was probably the reason), and he wore this hood or mask over his head. He carried a bunch of throwing knives and used his fists and was probably a bit of a Batman rip-off, but I also made him a bit more violent than Batman.

I called him Darkshadow.

My Homegrown Comic Book Character

I would draw my own little comic strips. I doodled Darkshadow in the margins of my notebooks. I soon realized I was a terrible, awful artist, but it was something to do during the long lectures and classes. I expanded his little universe and created villains and had this hope that some day I'd find an artist and create an actual comic book featuring this character.

Sadly, that never happened and I began writing horror novels and Darkshadow kinda faded into the background. However, he was never entirely gone. He never quite left, though, and I would think about him from time to time.

I never quite invented a full origin story. He just kinda...was. I wrote a comic book script once where he even used a gun, which was very un-Batman like.

Then came 2025.

The New Pulp Hero for St. Louis

I started writing the Revenant series in 2025. I got very deep into reading pulp fiction and reading books featuring the Spider, the Shadow, Doc Savage, the Bat, and more. I had this powerful desire to create my own host of characters.

I created a brand - Pulp21. The Revenant fell under that. I think my Deklan Falls books, if I can't find a publisher or literary agent for him, will end up under there.

I suddenly remembered Darkshadow. I thought - hey, I think if I worked on this old character from a young teenager Bryan, it would work as pulp. I strapped a gun to his leg, modified his costume, gave him a background, origin story, and then created a bunch of allies and a team for him to work with.

Voila.

I also decided to set him in a city that seems to lack superheroes - St. Louis. I went to school there, lived there for a few years after, and still have fond memories of it. I could see Darkshadow running around in his car and motorcycle fighting crime.

Darkshadow was back, bigger and bladder than ever.

The Darkshadow Story

Darkshadow's daily persona is Cole Strayton who runs Strayton Risk Assessment in St. Louis. What he was before was a Black Ops agent. Trained in all forms of fighting, weapons, and assassination, he worked for the government for years committing assassinations all over the world. He did it without questioning and worked with a computer expert known as Greyline, who helped him in these activities.

One day, he decided he had had enough. He began to realize the people he was killing weren't all bad guys. He felt he had seen the dark shadow of the world, and decided to leave. He got away, traveled the world, learned how to fight, learned how to be a detective, how to condition himself, how to throw knives and make them by hand.

He altered his face, and came back with a new identity - Cole Strayton. Then, he helped Greyline get out, too, and now she works with him and has taken the civilian name, Susan.

Working with Laila Rodriguez on the St. Louis Police Department, a man who makes his vehicles and helps with the technical stuff called Trace, and a Dr. Shaw to help sew him up when he gets hurt, the fights crime in St. Louis.

From his underground base called the Platform, he and his team fight off mobsters, gangsters and those who seek to undermine the citizens of St. Louis. Thanks to his successful risk assessment business, he has the money to fund his crime fighting endeavors, but it also gives him access into the world of crime in the city.

Now, his first book is done and available, coming this February. Darkshadow: The Killing Ground is a modern superhero/pulp fiction tale. As he faces off against a white supremacist bent on running for office on the backs of a massacre.

What's Next?

Well, I have ideas for the second novel already. I am still publishing my 10 issues of the Revenant with a plan for a Revenant Omnibus to come out later this year.

I also have other characters. For example, I have a new pulp hero called The Blue Sentinel I am working on right now.

One day, I am sure I will get back to horror, and have another idea for a Deklan Falls novel. Right now, I am lost in the 30s and 40s and having a blast writing pulp fiction.

I hope you'll give this new work a chance.

Darkshadow will be here in February, and you can preorder it here!