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The Stony Man Farm
I know that what I do is wrong, but my reasons
for doing it are right. I hate blood and killing, but I hate the Mafia cancer
even more.
This page is dedicated to Mack Bolan, The Executioner aka Col. John Macklin Phoenix.
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I would like to offer a very special thanks to Linda Pendleton, wife of the late Don Pendleton, for her significant contributions and corrections to the information on this page.
Fellow readers are encouraged to add their own comments regarding Mack Bolan in the The Stony Man Farm Guestbook.
Paperback series
The Executioner in Comics
Isn't Mack Bolan based on Marvel Comics character, The Punisher?
During the early 1970's Marvel Comics decided to create a comic book character similar to The Executioner. This character made his first appearance in Amazing Spiderman #129 and was known simply as The Punisher. Although his origin remained very similar to Mack Bolan, a few wilder elements were thrown in to make the character fit into the Marvel Universe. Neither Marvel Comics nor the writer had permission to use The Executioner characters.
In 1993 Pendleton had this to say in an interview by James Eisele for Advance Comics and published in their July 1993 issue. "Let's just say The Punisher has taken alot of liberties with my work. Anyone who knows the history of The Executioner has known that all along. I elected many years ago to just let it pass, feeling that there is room for both of us in this industry. Of course, new Executioner readers may get the impression that I have "borrowed" from The Punisher, but let me set the record straight: War Against the Mafia debuted in 1968, and has been a flagship of action/adventure in all mediums throughout these years. Sad to say, my own publisher at Pinnacle began the trend, firing off invitations to various writers with copies of my books and stating that he would be interested in considering similar stories for his publication. The way this business works, practically every other major publisher jumped on the bandwagon. Of course, I have no bitterness or sense of loss from any of that; it is the highest form of complement for a writer to become a standard-bearer, and certainly The Executioner has remained in that special place all these years, and worldwide." Eisele asked, "They weren't taking stories that you had written?" Pendleton continued, "No, not exactly chapter and verse, but The Punisher took alot of what I consider "signature pieces" including Bolan's War Journal, the War Wagon, and various situations which The Punisher incorporated. I created the high tech War Wagon in 1973, after using a much simpler version in previous books. The new War Wagon was built around a gutted GMC motor home put together by Bolan with the help of engineers who were sympathetic to his cause. It was a fantastic vehicle with high tech weapons on board."
Has The Executioner ever been adapted to comic book format?
In mid-1993, Innovation Comics coaxed Don Pendleton and his wife Linda to adapt his novels into an ongoing comic book series format entitled, Don Pendleton's Mack Bolan: The Executioner. The first four issues were supposed to adapt the War Against the Mafia, but the company ceased to exist and only three issues ever made it to press.
In November 1996, Vivid Comics published Don Pendleton's The Executioner, Death Squad in graphic novel in black and white format, 128 pages. Linda Pendleton wrote the script adaptation of Executioner #2, and the artist was Sandu Florea, publisher of Vivid Comics. Florea was the artist who had worked closely with Don and Linda on the Innovation comic book series. There were two editions of this book. Cover art was done by Ray Lago.
The Executioner on The Couch
In 1996, William Henry Young wrote a critical analysis of the Executioner entitled "A study of action-adventure fiction : The Executioner and Mack Bolan." This book is 542 pages long and is available from Edwin Mellen Press, Lewiston, N.Y. A bibliographical reference was included by the author as well a detailed index. I've never personally seen the book and only recently learned of its existence; however, I'd definitely be interested in hearing what he has to say about the psychological motivations of Bolan. I should caution prospective buyers to be prepared for sticker shock; when I checked Amazon.com for the book, they quoted a price of $119.95 US dollars!
The Executioner on Film
Since 1970, the film rights of The Executioner have been tossed around. Four Star International, and later, Joseph E. Levine's Avco-Embassy pictures have expressed interest in bringing the paperbacks to the silver screen. Levine even hired Richard Maibaum (scenarist for many James Bond films) to do the screenplay. A nationwide talent search was held to search for an actor, but nothing ever developed. Don Pendleton himself also penned an original screenplay adaption of his series.
A few years later the movie rights to The Executioner series were purchased by film and tv actor Burt Reynolds. Apparently he planned to produce a series of films but the project never got off the ground. Although a lead actor was never chosen, Reynolds himself might actually be a good candidate. In his earlier pre-moustache, pre-balding days, he bore a strong resemblance to Gil Cohen's early drawings of Mack Bolan. Harlequin Gold Eagle is not expected to play a part in the final casting.
So who owns the rights today?
The movie and television rights to The Executioner are now held by Columbia Pictures. There has been ongoing interest in getting The Executioner to the big screen. The last time it almost made it into full production was in 1988 when Sylvester Stallion and his White Eagle Productions turned it around, following Burt Reynolds interest in it. What soon followed was a Writer's Guild strike, and during that period the project was put on a back burner. Since that time, several Hollywood producers have shown an interest but the project has not gotten off the ground.
The Executioner in the Courtroom
Who is "Jim Peterson" and why did he write Executioner #16 Sicilian Slaughter in the original series instead of Pendleton?
Don Pendleton said, "My early association with Pinnacle Books was not exactly a happy one. The Pinnacle imprint was crated to publish the first Bolan book, War Against the Mafia. I was their only author for the first year or two. Of the first eight releases by Pinnacle, six were my books."
Soon after publication in 1969 of Executioner #1 War against the Mafia, the book took off like a rocket and Pinnacle asked for a second book. By 1971, the phenomenal success of the series was shaking up the publishing world. It was about that time that Pendleton discovered that Pinnacle was claiming that he was a house - a commissioned writer - which was not so. By 1972, Pendleton had eleven contracts with Pinnacle - all standard publishing agreements in which Pendleton licensed Pinnacle to publish books in North America, English language rights.
Pendleton went to Scott Meredith at the Scott Meredith Literary Agency and asked Meredith to represent him. Meredith put the series on the auction block. At that time it was learned that Pinnacle had been bought by Michigan General, with the new owners under the impression (a warrantied impression - in lieu of legal documentation) that they owned The Executioner series. They rattled their sabres around the New York publishing circles but nobody was intimidated. The bidding was vigorous and Pendleton accepted New American Library's bid and went to work on Executioner #16, Jersey Guns.
Pinnacle immediately sued, tried for a restraining order, announced that it was preparing their own version of Executioner #16 entitled Sicilian Slaughter. Both sides agreed not to publish until a legal determination was made.
Pendleton stated, "I wrote Jersey Guns and a guy in Texas wrote Sicilian Slaughter using Pinnacle's "house name," Jim Peterson. After a year with everyone dead in their tracks, and all other publishers putting out look-alikes, it seemed the only sensible solution was a compromise - which is what Pinnacle had been after all along. We settled the lawsuit - I agreeing to a new multi-book contract with Pinnacle; New American Library agreeing to release me from my contract with them. The only obstacle remaining was Sicilian Slaughter. Pinnacle had a half-million copies warehoused and awaiting publication. I could not make them eat that many books. So the agreement included the release of Sicilian Slaughter under Jim Peterson's byline but my ownership of the copyright."
"I have never read the book beyond the first few pages when it became too painful to continue. I do not consider it to be part of The Executioner series and never incorporated the adventure in that book into any others in the series. The editor added the tie-in sequence to Jersey Guns, which was then released as #17. I have never met "Jim Peterson" but I hold no ill will toward the poor guy. He was just an innocent bystander."
Pinnacle filed for bankruptcy in 1985 and under the reorganization was subsequently taken over by Zebra/Windsor Publishing Corporation, now Kensington Publishing. They reissued the original thirty-eight books beginning in 1988 under the Pinnacle Books imprint.
After the phenomenal success of the first Executioner novels, Pendleton coined the term "Action/Adventure" for marketing purposes and that was the beginning of the genre. Don Pendleton is known as the "Father of Action/Adventure."
The Executioner-Ashton Ford Saga
In 1980 after completing 38 novels in the Executioner series, Pendleton was in ill health and felt that he really wanted to lighten his work load. His Pinnacle editor, Andrew Ettinger had moved over to Harlequin which wanted to enter into the men's action-adventure market. In May 1980, Harlequin Books acquired the rights to the Pendleton characters and the Executioner series which would henceforth be produced by a series of writers to whom Pendleton would submit ideas. As compensation, Pendleton would received a royalty of two cents pernovel sold. Unfortunately sales expectations of approximately $10 million per year were a little too optimistic. However, the Scott Meredith Literary Agency had a clause in Pendleton's contract with Harlequin which allowed him to "create and/or write works for others, other than works which would compete" his Executioner series at Harlequin. A dispute as to the interpretation of this clause resulted in this trial.
By May 1985, Pendleton felt that he had done enough vegetating. With his health improving and on the verge of remarrying, his creative juices were once again flowing. Pendleton recontacted Warner Books in October 1986 and signed a six-book contract to create a new series of books featuring Ashton Ford, Mystic Eye, a detective with psychic powers. Warner Books was unaware of the non-compete clause and emblazoned Pendleton's name and "Creator of THE EXECUTIONER - The 57,000,000 copy series" onto the new Ford novels. When Harlequin Books found out about this, the sued.
In July 1986, Judge Gerard L. Goettal of the U.S. District Court in Manhattan began the trial in this case. It was his duty to determine if Warner's new Ashton Ford series directly competed with Harlequin's new Executioner series. It might seem obvious that if Harlequin Books could show the new series caused the Executioner to lose a substantial amount of income, the case would be proven. But Goettal pointed out that "the nature of the mass paperback market is such that it will be many months" before sales figures are available; and other factors such as the attractiveness of the paperback cover may also affect sales. Unfortunately, the testimony of many edtors, professors of literature, writers, publishers and pollsters during the six-day trial only produced "contradictory and inconclusive" results.
Goettal was forced to rely on the content of the books. Earlier in the trial, it was established that Ashton Ford not only had parapsychological powers, but a trust fund. One witness described Ford as a "California Woody Allen." These attributes combined with the character's involvement in supernatural events, the absence of extreme violence and presence of explicit sex helped Goettal mentally separate the character from Vietnam war hero turned Mafia executioner, Mack Bolan. Goettal concluded that the majority of people interested in Mack Bolan "will not find Ashton Ford to be their sort of hero." Goettal also added that neither Pendleton nor his literary agent had any control over Warner Books' marketing efforts for the new series and that they were unaware of the non-compete clause. However, since Harlequin's lawyers intervened Warner Books has shifted its emphasis from men's action adventure to the psychic realm.
Don Pendleton had countercharged that an incorrect designation of authorship on the cover of a book is a false representation under the Lanham Act. Gottel pointed out that Pendleton had previously approved the designation and continues to benefit at the rate of $200,000 per year and consequently doesn't have the clean hands required to receive relief.
On 11 July 1986 Goettal decided to dismiss Harlequin Books' claim that Pendleton, Scott Meredith, and Warner Books had breached the non-compete clause. He also dismissed Pendleton's counterclaim.
The Executioner Author
Donald Eugene Pendleton (aka Stephan Gregory and Dan Britain) was born on 12 December 1927 and raised in Arkansas during the Great Depression. In 1942 he dropped out of school and joined the Navy at age 14. Although the Navy did not recruit individuals under 18, Pendleton said he was never seriously questioned about his age and never falsified any paperwork. He subsequently became a much-decorated veteran of World War II. Pendleton saw action in the North Atlantic U-Boat wars, the invasion of North Africa, and the assaults on Iwo Jima and Okinawa. He later led a team of naval scouts who landed in Tokyo preparatory to Japanese surrender. He also served with the Seventh Fleet during the Korean War.
Before turning to full-time duty at the typewriter to write his first Executioner novel in 1968, Pendleton held down several positions as a railroad telegrapher, air traffic controller for the Federal Aviation Administration, aeronautical systems engineer, and even had a hand in the Titan I ICBM and Moonshot programs. Although Pendleton had authored several other books, it was his Mack Bolan character that the public loved the most.
On 23 October 1995 Don Pendleton died of a heart attack in his home in Sedona, Arizona at age 67. In addition to his wife Linda, Pendleton is survived by six children from his former marriage to Marjorie Williamson: Stephen of Porterville, Calif.; Gregory of Madison, Ind.; Rodney of Ellettsville, Ind.; Derek of Covina; Melinda Margulies of Poughkeepsie, N.Y., and Jennifer Dalto of Rialto. Also, two stepchildren, Cynthia Bixby of Riverside and Eric Stephens of Chino, a sister and 24 grandchildren. (Special thanks to JD & Alice Hill for this information.)
Pendleton always insisted he had nothing that grand in mind when he first conjured up Bolan. He said he was simply writing a novel. "I just thought it was time for some kind of statement to be made to the effect [that] no matter how civilized we are, and how great our ideals are, we still do live in a basically savage world, and we need champions who will protect us and defend us," the former West Covina author told The Times in 1988. "My idea was not a psychopath, not people who want to go out and slay and see blood flow," he said, disputing claims that action adventure books glamorize violence. "My idea of a hero is someone who would really rather be doing almost anything but that, but takes it up as a calling, a service, hating it all the while. Now this is a hero, a truly courageous person. Someone who loves the thrill of going out there and smearing blood is a psychopath."
When asked to compare Mack Bolan's philosophy to his own for the first War Book, Pendleton had the following to say: "His philosophy is my own. Mack Bolan's struggle is a personification of the struggle of collective mankind from the dawn of time. More than that, even Bolan is a statement of the life principle - all life. His killing, and the motives and methods involved, is actually a consecration of the life principle. He is proclaiming, in effect, that life is meaningful, that the world is important, that it does matter what happens here, that universal goals are being shaped on this cosmic cinder called Earth. That's a heroic idea. Bolan is championing the idea. That's what a hero is. Can you imagine a guy like Bolan standing calmly on the sidelines, watching without interest while a young woman is mugged and raped? The guy cares. He is reacting to a destructive principle inherent in the human situation; he's fighting it. The whole world is Bolan's family. He cares about it, and he feels that what happens to it is tremendously important. The goons have rushed in waving guns, intent on raping, looting, pillaging, destroying. And he is blowing their damned heads off, period, end of philosophy. I believe that most of the Executioner fans recognize and understand this rationale."
In an interview with comic book writer/editor Jim Steranko, Pendleton spoke about the many other action series on the market which have come and gone, "I believe this points up one of the mistakes made by so many writers who are trying to establish continuing characters. They develop their character and then wrap him in plastic. The guy never grows. This isn't realistic, and it's impossible to keep such a character from going stale. I took a sort of offbeat approach in the development of my series. It is done sort of like the old-time serials. There is a definite continuity to each sequel. Actually, the Executioner series is one long biographical novel chopped into segments and served a piece at a time. As such, in my own mind, the full series as it stands today is actually an unfinished novel. And my guy Bolan is still growing through his experiences."
Further Details on The Transfer of Rights to Harlequin Books
In 1979 Don Pendleton underwent coronary bypass surgery and, although in good health following the surgery, he was tired of deadlines so he decided to retire Bolan, ending with #38 Satan's Sabbath. He declined Pinnacle's request for another ten-book contract.
Shortly thereafter, he was approached by Harlequin who wanted to start a men's line of books. So in 1980, Pendleton franchised his Executioner characters to Harlequin. As Consulting Editor, he worked very closely with Gold Eagle editors and writers to establish their publication of the books during the first two to three years. A team of writers were selected, and Pendleton worked closely with the writers in the beginning, setting up guidelines for the series and the characterizations. He continued over the years to do promotional appearances, interviews, etc. for the series but that was the extent of his input after about 1983 or 1984.
The Executioner Exchange
Since introducing this site on the web, I've received numerous emails from individuals seeking particular novels as well as people wishing to sell. After giving it some thought, I thought it might be a good idea to add this section to allow fellow fans to buy/sell/exchange their Executioner books/memorabilia. If you would like to submit a free advertisement for this section of the web page, please forward me all the necessary details in email at the address below. As a standard legal note, I must state here that I cannot be held responsible for the quality of items, authenticity of the seller/buyer, or any financial arrangements between the parties involved. Hopefully we can trust our fellow fans!
This site was written by Swampthing. Please email any comments to me at Swampthing@mac.com.