Community High School

From the Pipe: Tales of Mild Interest

A skinny sheepish looking boy sits alone with nothing but an inkwell, quill and paper. From out of his hand, which clutches the quill, climbs a thick, muscular man. Bullet belts are crossed across his chest; a large gun, the T-500, is clasped in his hand. His name is Jet Sexington. Monsters emerge and battle Jet, and the members of Alpha squadron race back and forth across the page as they rush out of the head of Ben Haddix.

“When I write about Jet Sexington, I am Jet Sexington,” Haddix said. “When I write I feel what he feels, I could feel his pain – if only he felt pain.”

Their dedication to the genre of fantasy pulp stories led Haddix and co-founder Galaan Dafa to create the pulp magazine From the Pipe: Tales of Mild Interest.

“Our greatest inspiration came from my main man J.R.R. [Tolkien] who is often seen smoking his pipe while leaning against an old oak,” Haddix said explaining the title. “We thought that image encapsulated the essence of what we’re trying to portray – an old man with his pipe, weaving beautiful tapestries with his words.”

Haddix was struck with the inspiration to start a pulp magazine last year during Ken McGraw’s science fiction literature class. “I look at The Communicator and Free Verse and I just think Community can do so much better,” Haddix said.

Although Haddix seems to be the inspiration behind From the Pipe, Dafa insists that he is the mastermind. “You could compare us to the Knights of the Round Table. Ben he is the Arthur, Jack [O’Connell] the Lancelot, Rafe [Scobey-Thal] the Galahad, but really I’m the Merlin,” Dafa said.

Dafa is a longtime fan of pulps. “It’s a unique style that I feel has been forgotten by the masses; we’ve taken it upon ourselves to resurrect it,” Dafa said.

If Dafa has his way, From the Pipe will rival the most famous of pulps Weird Tales, which captivated readers in the late 1920’s and earlier 1930’s. This publication housed heroes like Robert Howard’s Conan the Cimmerian, and Fritz Leiber’s Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser.

Scobey-Thal was looking for a way to liven up CHS when Haddix approached him about joining the pulp; he was immediately interested. “It was kind of like a boyhood fantasy coming true,” Scobey-Thal said.

For Nick Jensen, the idea of a pulp magazine immediately interested him. However it was not that which got him involved. “I heard talk of detective tales and detectives are sick, especially space detectives,” Jensen said of his involvement. Whatever members’ reasons are, there is one major thing the brought this group together. “What it comes down to, see, [is] with a pulp publication there’s more dragons, more battles, more tings to stimulate the mind,” Haddix said.

During the weekly Tuesday meetings, Ken McGraw’s classroom, becomes overrun by images of Jet Sexington, Rex Spector Space Detective, Testosticles the Manliest of Spartans and Abdul Kaliq. These characters are the cornerstone of stories that will be found in From the Pipe.

Tales of machismo heroes are not all that is to be found in From the Pipe. “Don’t misunderstand me, we’re going to have some seriously intellectual stories,” Haddix said.

“We are a group of people who are passionate about expressing ourselves creatively in this format,” Haddix said. If there is one thing not lacking from this group it is creativity; to each member there is a unique character.

Dafa is the creator of Rex Spector Space Detective. “He is a quasi Odysseus, Batman, Steven Hawking and Guy Noir,” Dafa said. Dafa does not know where the idea of Rex Spector came from. “I guess I’m a bubbling fountain of knowledge,” Dafa said.

For Jensen the creative process was not as easy. “I’ve been trying to make a character for about a year,” Jensen said. Finally, during a discussion about the best name for porn stars, a name came to Jensen—Testosticles. “Testosticles sounds Greek and manly – testicles are manly. So he arose manliest of the Spartans,” Jensen said.

But for Jensen, creating the character was half the struggle. “To really get what your character is about, you need to go out and do what your character does, feel what he feels. It’s not all fun and games, there’s hardships; men can cry,” Jensen said, trailing off.

“It requires you to unleash the creative energy; if you can do that you can do anything,” Haddix said.

Haddix and Dafa had hoped to put out an edition of From the Pipe before winter break, but they ran into difficulties. “Ideally it was going to be before [winter break]. But you can’t rush the process,” Haddix said. So Dafa and Haddix say to expect From the Pipe to appear soon after winter break.

“You should expect to see wonders beyond your wildest dreams. It will mainly consist of tales to fascinate and inspire,” Haddix said.

It remains to be seen if the pulp will live up to the hype created around it, or if it will become as the title suggests tales of mild interest. However there is one certainty, a good time will be had by all.