Donald Eugene Pendleton (December 12, 1927 – October 23, 1995) was an American author of fiction and non-fiction books, best known for his creation of the fictional character Mack Bolan, which have sold hundreds of millions of copies worldwide since the character's 1969 debut. Since 1980 the Bolan adventure-espionage books were written by other authors under the Pendleton name, and initially under Pendleton's editorial guidance.
Other works include the Joe Copp, Private Eye series of six novels, the Ashton Ford, Psychic Detective series of six novels, and nonfiction books. He collaborated on several books with his wife, Linda Pendleton, including their popular nonfiction book, To Dance With Angels. His earlier writings in the 1960s include mysteries, sci-fi, and futuristic books. Pendleton wrote several early books under the pseudonyms Dan Britain and Stephan Gregory.
At the age of 40 he started a creative writing correspondence course, but never completed it, instead turning in his first manuscript and selling it to a publisher. He is credited with creating the genre of action-adventure novels.[2] He died in 1995, at age 67.
The best-selling The Executioner book series made the men's action-adventure genre popular in the late 1960s and '70s, and Pendleton was known as "the father of action adventure," a term he coined. The Mack Bolan novels penned by Pendleton revolved around Bolan's one-man war against the Mafia, beginning with War Against the Mafia (1969) and ending with Satan's Sabbath (1980), after which Pendleton licensed the rights to his Executioner characters to the Harlequin publishing group.[3]
In the pulp tradition, Pendleton's Mack Bolan, a former United States Armysergeant and Vietnam War veteran called both "The Executioner" and "Sergeant Mercy," was larger than life, responsible for killing literally hundreds of mobsters over the course of his original 38 novels. Also in the pulp tradition, he left a trademark "calling card," in his case a marksman's medal, wherever he struck.
After 15 Executioner novels, Pendleton became involved in a legal battle with the publisher, Pinnacle Books, over ownership of the series. Pinnacle had the next entry, The Executioner #16: Sicilian Slaughter, written by William Crawford under the pseudonym "Jim Peterson."[4] Pendleton ignored "Sicilian Slaughter" and wrote The Executioner #17: Jersey Guns, as a sequel to #15, Panic in Philly, under a contract with New American Library. The contract was ultimately voided by the terms of his settlement with Pinnacle[5] and he returned to Pinnacle for 21 more novels.[6]
Since 1980, The Executioner, Mack Bolan books and spinoffs - Able Team, Phoenix Force, Stony Man, and Mack Bolan - have been written by Harlequin's team of writers. The Harlequin Gold Eagle books moved Bolan into a fight against terrorism, in whose course he was given the cover identity of "Colonel John Macklin Phoenix." Since 1980, Harlequin has produced new novels, and the writer's name is mentioned on the copyright page as a provider of "a contribution" to the work, pushing the number of Mack Bolan novels into the hundreds; all of them bear the byline, Don Pendleton's Mack Bolan.[3]
Pendleton's other enduring series was the Joe Copp, Private Eye novels, told in the first person by 6'3", 260 lb. Joe Copp, a private investigator.[1] The novels were formulaichardboileddetective fiction, always opening in the middle of the story, with Copp pursuing a variety of criminals, with the story then flashing back to the beginning to describe how Copp got into his current predicament.[citation needed] The Joe Copp series of six hardcover novels often had over-the-top action moments reminiscent to those found of Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer.[7] The books were first published in hardcover by Donald I. Fine and then released in paperback by Harper.
Ashton Ford, Psychic Detective series (1986–1988)[edit]
The first book of Don Pendleton's Ashton Ford, Psychic Detective series, Ashes to Ashes, was published in 1986 by Warner Books. The Ashton Ford character is a former naval officer and spy, skilled in cryptology and able to see into the future.
Numerous rumors of upcoming film treatments of the Executioner series have circulated over the years. It was announced August 2014 that Shane Salerno, Hollywood producer and screenwriter, had optioned the Executioner novels for a film franchise.[8]
Spider-Man writer Gerry Conway (who went on to become a show runner on Dick Wolf's Law & Order series) has acknowledged that his creation of Marvel's Punisher character was directly inspired by Pendleton's Executioner, in perhaps the most blatantly direct adaptation (or less politely, "lift") of Pendleton's character. Originally conceived as a villain for the Spider-Man comic book series, the character proved incredibly popular and the costumed version of the Executioner that became a comic book hero has taken Pendleton's original idea to comic-book-ridiculous extremes in comics, cinema and television, all carefully sidestepping any issues of creative ownership.
