STEP INTO THE VALLEY OF FEAR!
New Pulp author, Don Gates has announced Episode 8 of “Challenger Storm: The Valley of Fear”, in which he admits that his years of playing “Tomb Raider” have finally paid off creatively.
Read all about it here.
Monthly Archive: February 2013
The Point Radio: CHICAGO FIRE Ignites Primetime For NBC
We aren’t trying to be cute in saying that NBC’s CHICAGO FIRE seems be be heating up the network’s Wednesday nights. Series star Eaamon Williams and creator Derek Haas talk about how the series keeps it real – and safe – plus the comeback trail is getting crowded with new material on TOMB RAIDER, Ralph Bakshi and The Thunderbirds!
Take us ANYWHERE! The Point Radio App is now in the iTunes App store – and it’s FREE! Just search under “pop culture The Point”. The Point Radio – 24 hours a day of pop culture fun for FREE. GO HERE and LISTEN FREE on any computer or on any other mobile device with the Tune In Radio app – and follow us on Twitter @ThePointRadio.
ALL PULP’S NEW PULP BEST SELLER LIST DEBUTS!
ALL PULP BEST SELLER LIST-FEBRUARY 4, 2013
(Concept Originated by Barry Reese)
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| #3 This Week on All Pulp’s New Pulp Bestseller List |
Welcome to the first installment of All Pulp’s New Pulp Best Seller List, originally created by Barry Reese! Before we get to what you’re all waiting for, here are the rules by which this little list comes together.
1) This list only tracks sales through AMAZON. It does not keep track of sales through Barnes and Noble, face-to-face or anything else!
2)
This list only tracks PRINT sales. Exactly how Amazon calculates these things is mostly a trade secret and they vary wildly from day to day. If I checked this tomorrow, the list could be very different. This list reflects sales ranks as of Monday morning February 4, 2013.
3) In order to keep the focus on new releases, eligible works must have been published within the last three months. So, since this list is being done on February 4, 2013, we are only looking at books published since November 4, 2012. Please keep that in mind before complaining that Title X is not listed. Also, keep in mind that for the most part, we are tracking sales from smaller and mid level press publishers who actively publish New Pulp material. We won’t generally track sales from Simon and Schuster or places like that — they have the New York Times Bestseller List for that. If one of the major publishers starts doing The Shadow or something, we’ll track that, but some publishers will not be listed here in order to keep the focus on the publishers actively working to produce and promote New Pulp.
4)
Like the name suggests, we’re tracking “New” pulp —not sales rankings for reprints of classic material. In order for something to qualify for this list, it has to be at least 50% new material that has not been printed in book form before.
5) We are human. If you are aware of a title that should be listed below (keeping in mind all the rules above), please let us know and we will make sure to remedy the situation.
6) This information is garnered mostly from All Pulp, New Pulp, the Pulp Factory mailing list and a few other sites. If you think we might miss your release, let us know in advance — drop All Pulp a line and tell us when it’s being released.
Without further ado, here’s the completely and totally unofficial New Pulp bestseller list as of right now (title, then publisher, then release date, then sales rank):
1) Sherlock Holmes, Consulting Detective, Volume 4 by Various (Airship 27, January 19, 2012) – 32,920
2) Finn’s Golem by Gregg Taylor ( Autogyro, January 10, 2013) -311,836
3) Fight Card: Bluff City Brawler by Heath Lowrance as Jack Tunney (Fight Card, January 31, 2013) – 631,972
4) Prohibition by Terrence McCauley, (Airship 27, December 15, 2012) – 637,244
5) The Fangslinger and the Preacher by Bret Lee Hart (Western Trail Blazer, January 3, 2013) – 671, 250
6) The New Adventures of the Griffon by Various (Pro Se Productions, January 17, 2013) – 696, 054
7) The Studio Specter by W. Peter Miller (Uchronic Books, January 5, 2013) – 782,506
8 ) Sentinels: Metalgod by Van Plexico (White Rocket Books, December 10, 2012) – 1,497,017
9) Three Against the Stars by Joe Bonadonna (Airship 27, November 26, 2012) – 1,500,519
10) Pro Se Presents # 16 by Various (Pro Se Press, January 8, 2013) – 1,682,166
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| #7 This Week On All Pulp’s New Pulp Bestseller List! |
Just missing the list were: Tier Zero by Henry Brown ( Virtual Pulp, January 13, 2013) – 1,706,803, Prophecy’s Gambit by Nancy Hansen (Pro Se Press, January 3, 2012) – 1,792,739, and Whack Job by Mike Baron (December 25, 2012)-1,194,265.
Although not as soft as the most recent and last list byBarry, there’s still plenty of room for titles to climb. Airship 27 Productions comes roaring in with their latest Sherlock Holmes collection, proving what this list has shown frequently– Classic characters rise to the top. A few new entries make the list as well from Publishers that we’ll hopefully see more of.
One of the plans we have for this list is to make it a truly comprehensive New Pulp list focused on Small and Midlevel Publishers. We’ll continually be adding publishers into the mix as we discover them, so if you know of a book or Publisher we should be keeping up with, let us know at allpulp@yahoo.com.
Also, the All Pulp New Pulp Ebook Best Seller List will debut this Friday here on All Pulp! This list will track only Kindle sales with rankings posted on Amazon. Again, if you know a book we need to include (no short stories sold as Kindle singles please), then give us a shot at allpulp@yahoo.com.
This week, Airship 27 leads the pack with three titles in the top ten, followed by Pro Se with Two, and Autogyro, Fight Card, Western Trail Blazer, Uchronic Books, and White Rocket Books all garnering one. But, as Barry always said, Take it with a grain of salt, folks.
Mindy Newell: Pro Action
No, this is not a column about that. Get your minds out of the gutter, people!
I was working in the Special Projects department at Marvel Comics as an assistant editor when my boss, Executive Editor Bob Budiansky, called me into his office.
“I have something for you that will be absolutely perfect,” he said, “because you’re the only one in the department who will really appreciate it. I talked about it with Tom (DeFalco) and he agrees with me.”
“Okay,” I said, a bit apprehensive and yes, curious.
“The NFL approached us about doing a magazine aimed at kids who love football.”
“Okay,” I said, getting excited.
“It’s going to be like Sports Illustrated For Kids, only concentrating on football, of course.”
“Okay,” I said, trying stay dignified and professional.
“Each issue will also feature a full comic, plus news, articles and tidbits about Marvel.” “Okay,” I said, really trying to stay dignified.
“You’re going to be the editor.”
“O-KAY!!!!” I said, totally forgetting about dignity and professionalism and giving Bob a hug.
NFL Pro Action had its debut at Super Bowl XXVIII, January 30, 1993, where the Dallas Cowboys met the Buffalo Bills in Atlanta’s Georgia Dome for the right to claim the Vince Lombardi Trophy (Dallas won, 30 – 13). More than 71,000 fans found a copy of the magazine waiting for them in their gift seat cushions packs. Wolverine and Cyclops also distributed copies of NFL Pro Action at the inaugural NFL Experience, a celebration of football that has now become an annual four-day event, starting on the Thursday before the game and ending after the game on Super Bowl Sunday.
It was a true labor of love for me, for, as regular readers of this column know, I am a die-hard Big Blue fan and lover of football, having grown up in a family in which every Sunday during the season revolved around going to the game. My Dad got tickets to the Giants from a buddy of his who worked at the now-defunct Jersey City Herald-Tribune newspaper when he returned stateside from World War II.
The magazine had a broad mix of pop culture, trends, NFL and Marvel-related topics, including a comic. The kick-off issue of NFL Pro Action featured Troy Aikman about to get sacked by Wolverine, who was tearing through the cover. (Yeah, Wolvie hates the ‘Boys, like any good Giants fan.) In addition to an Aikman profile and trading card inserts of NFL superstars and Marvel’s super heroes, the magazine also included a look at the “little people” (5’9” and under) of the NFL, including the great Cowboy running back Emmit Smith at 5’9” and Barry Saunders of the Detroit Lions at 5’8”, an article about the Punt, Pass & Kick program which had been recently revived and spotlighted NFL players who had participated in PP&K as kids, an opening day photo shoot of Niners rookie Ted Kelly and – especially poignant yesterday – strength tips from the late, great, 10-time All-Pro, 12-time Pro-Bowler and member of the NFL 1990s All-Decade Team Junior Seau – yes, I met him, too, and he was also a wonderful, wonderful man.
Each issue of NFL Pro Action also included a 16-page custom comic and the premier issue starred the X-Men and Howie Long – who held up a copy of NFL Pro Action on FOX NFL Sunday, got a ribbing from Terry Bradshaw, and said that his kids were more impressed with his appearing with the X-Men than anything else he had done. The story, by Ralph Macchio, Chris Maarinin, and Keith Williams, with lettering by Dave Sharpe and colors by Ed Lazzerlli, featured Wolverine getting his ass whooped by Long in the Danger Room – the X-Men’s holographic “gym” – and then, humbled yet inspired by this encounter with the NFL star, Wolverine used what he learned from Long against the evil mutants called Morlocks, who live beneath New York City in forgotten subway tunnels.
It also featured Rogue’s Tailgating Tips. Turns out Rogue “favors baby back ribs smothered in barbecue sauce fresh from San Antonio, dim sum, shrimp dumplings, and sticky sesame rolls from Hong Kong, foot-long hot dogs smothered in ‘craut, peppers, onions, ketchup and mustard from Coney Island, and Cajun crawfish, crab legs, and roast pork from the best restaurants in N’Orleans.” Of course, it helps if you can fly to all these places on the morning of the game.
It was a fun gig, and, yeah, there were perks besides going to Super Bowl XXVIII to make any football fan drool. Going to an absolutely scrumptious 12-course dinner with the guys from NFL Properties on the Friday night before the game at a five-star Atlanta restaurant where waiters in white gloves and tuxedos stood behind you and gave you fresh silverware – and I mean sterling silver – for each new plate, and poured a fresh bottle of wine especially picked to match the new cuisine on each new plate, which included a fine champagne to go with the sherbet offered between the lobster and the filet mignon to “wash my palate” – yeah, I got drunk, and it was fun – while sitting next to and yakking with Peter King from Sports Illustrated, meeting Troy Aikman and Steve Young and Emmit Smith (again) and Sam Huff and Junior Seau (as mentioned) and Alex Karras and Dan Reeves and John Elway…
And then there were the not-so-much-fun things that happened, like missing the bus back to the hotel after the Super Bowl and getting lost in Atlanta on a Sunday night after the game…yes, and getting back to the hotel was an adventure, let me tell you. I wandered into a hotel, where a snooty hotel clerk wouldn’t let me use the phone to call a cab, for one thing. I got back to the hotel about two hours after the game, finally having hailed a cab out in front of the hotel – and a big thank you to those folks from California who let me share that cab with them.
And the big wing-ding, ultra-faaaaabulous Saturday night Super Bowl party, at which I met a member of the Atlanta’s city council, and had an interesting conversation, which went like this:
“So, how y’all like HOTlanta?”
“It’s a beautiful city.”
“Y’know, y’all think we’re a bunch of rednecks, down hyah, but let me tell, sugah, we’all treat our niggers down hyah a hell of a lot bettah than y’all do up there in Hymietown.”
“Thank you, I’ll be sure to tell my rabbi that.”
And the guy who thought I was a hooker, and followed me back to my room expecting to get action.
PRO action.
Yeah.
That kind of action.
TUESDAY MORNING: Emily S. Whitten
TUESDAY AFTERNOON: Michael Davis
John Ostrander: My Friend, MEMcG
I’m going to exercise a point of personal privilege this week and write about a friend. Her name was Mary Ellen McGarry and I just received word that she died. Mary Ellen was a great soul, a giant heart, a wonderful talent, and a large personality. She filled a room three times over.
Out of all the people I’ve ever known, only my late wife, Kim Yale, had as outgoing and, at times, boisterous a personality. One of my nicknames for her was “Boom-boom” because her laughter and her voice could boom across a room and, indeed, across Lake Michigan.
And, lord, she could laugh. Loud, infectious, and riotous. I loved to make her laugh. I would get her going so hard that she would start hitting me to make me stop which, of course, only made me try harder.
In the summer of 1971 we worked as apprentices together at a summer theater, which meant we worked like dogs for very little money. It was a strange summer. The theater was located at a college so we all lived in dorms on campus. For Mary Ellen I made up a musical comedy, Tritzing to Tibet, based on the climbing of Mount Everest by Edmund Hilary. I should explain that it has less to do with historical fact than the central conceit of the movie, The Producers, in that any show that bad has to be a hit. I took all the events that happened in 1953 and, in an absurd breach of artistic license, moved them to 1937 so I could have an opposing chorus of Nazi mountain climbers.
Every night, just before curtain went up on whatever show we were doing, I got over to her in the wings and, sotto voce, sang her a new song from the show. I should also mention that in addition to not writing music I don’t even read music. The only purpose of the whole exercise was to see if I could reduce Mary Ellen to tears with laughter. Okay, so there’s a slightly sadistic side to me.
The thing is – over the years, any time we would get together, Mary Ellen insisted on hearing some or all of those godforsaken tunes. The last time was at a reunion last year for alums of the Loyola University Theater Department (where we first met). Mary Ellen had lung problems and at that point was in a wheel chair and had to constantly have oxygen. It didn’t slow her down an inch. And she wanted me to sing some of the songs from Tritzing to Tibet.
I demurred. To be honest, I was afraid that if I got her laughing too hard I might literally kill her. Boom-boom would have none of that. She knew her own limits and she knew what she wanted and, by god, I would sing. I did and she was right.
She was also incredibly brave. Her lungs were giving up on her but she was told that, with a lung transplant, she might live longer. However, she was also teaching kids at that point. She loved it but, if she got a lung transplant, she would have had to give it up. We all know kids are Petri dished for diseases and she would likely have caught those germs and her new lungs could not have taken it.
Mary Ellen and I had a long talk about it on the phone and she was clear and firm. She would not give up what she loved so much. I had to respect that. I still do.
So many people loved you, Mary Ellen. I hope you knew that.
There’s so much more to you than I can begin to recount here. I will carry your voice and your laughter and your spirit in my memory and my heart all my days. I will grieve the loss of you and that’s alright. Those we love who have died are worth the tears we shed for them. I will celebrate your life because you were so filled with it.
Thanks, Boom-Boom, for being my friend. Love you.
MONDAY: Mindy Newell
Saturday Morning Cartoons: Previously, on X-Men…
What…? I mean… WHAT?!?
You know, I never thought I’d think of the Chris Claremont days as the uncomplicated days of X-Men, but…
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Marc Alan Fishman: It Was Good While It Lasted…
Last year I wrote an article about the wave of amazing comic-book related cartooning that was going on. Well, here we are now and I’m sitting on the stoop with an Old English tipped towards the curb. Ounce after putrid smelling ounce of malt liquor spatters on the pavement. The yeasty brew gurgles and slushes into an adjacent drain.
Why am I pouring out a forty? Well, it seems Cartoon Network has given the axe to both Young Justice and Green Lantern: The Animated Series. And kiddos? I’m depressed.
Both Young Justice and Green Lantern have slowly grown into their skin, delivering stories that are equally entertaining and sophisticated without losing any action beats for those just looking for the boom-boom-pow. Both series combined with a pair of schizophrenically wonderful animated shorts, have grown into the only block of programming I go out of my way to DVR and watch commercial free, every week. And much like a few other DC shows that came and went before their time (Batman Beyond, Legion of Super Heroes, and Teen Titans – to an extent), I yearn for what could have been.
To its credit, Green Lantern won me over. The pilot wasn’t much to write home about. Much of the first season had to spend time universe-building. But to their credit, once this was done, the show really took off. And contrary to every gripe and groan I’ve ever sputtered in my columns, GL:TAS did something I truly thought was impossible; it made me like Hal Jordan. It was as if the writers realized that a plucky cocksure pilot with a strong moral compass was cool enough as-is to place as a POV character amidst a crazy universe! Add in a strong sidekick in Kilowog, and the non-comic-originating Razor and Aya… and you end up with a great main cast with enough personal drive (beyond the major season-long arcs) to carry the series for a good long while. At the end of season one, the series had properly introduced us to Mogo, Red and Blue lanterns, the Star Sapphires, and a handful of solid DC cosmic villains.
Come to the second season, and I’ve been truly blown away at the trajectory the stories were moving towards. I honestly figured we’d have continual expansion on the Red Lanterns and maybe an attempt to ignite a yellow or orange corps story. But nay. They unearthed the Anti-Monitor. And with him has come a season that has upped the drama without becoming mopey. Ring-slinging, internal conflict with the Guardians (who aren’t the silly one-dimensional mustache twirlers Geoff Johns wants you to hate…), cameos by Guy Gardner, Sinestro, Tomar Re, and even Ch’p… simply put: GL:TAS was properly creating the mythos that real GL fans has yearned for since the teasers were announced.
Young Justice, much like Green Lantern, started very slow for me. A series built on the angtsy teenage trope wasn’t high on my “new dad” radar. But over time, I realized what the show was doing. Rather than retread old storylines, the first season was all about pushing the idea that this elseworldsesque universe was a smart and slick dressing down of the bloated DCnU. And much like GL:TAS, the second season turned everything on its ear.
The series jumped five years into the future, smeared the Justice League and introduced no less than four major cosmic alien races to the show. In addition, the roster of YJ soon grew to an unlimited level, allowing for each episode to really explore old and new faces. This shot in the arm forced the angsty characters of season one to mature, and with it came a sophisticated serialized structure that dare I say… is smarter and better pulled off than any comic book DC is putting out right now.
As I’m sure you’ve all read Mike’s article this week, you know that in place of these two series will be new DC Nation fodder: a new take on Batman, and Teen Titans: Go! When these series were first announced, I admit I’d built up a fan-boner for the potential two-hour block of DC programming. Alas, what we are left with feels… safe. And I hate safe.
Dusting off the Titans isn’t such a bad idea – their series became damn near brilliant towards the end of its run – but giving over a half hour series to a comedy-tinged romp of SD Titans just oozes “Hey Ultimate Spider-Man, we can be funny too!” Never mind the fact that Ultimate-Spider Man really stinks (and before you flame me, go watch Sensation Spider-Man and shut your mouth).
And I’ll leave well-enough alone: Mike hit the nail on the head with Batman.
Well, it looks like my last drops of booze are bounding towards oblivion. I’ll enjoy the remaining episodes of Young Justice and Green Lantern as I have with all other quality DC animated shows. A tear in my eye, a pile of less-than-stellar comics at my feet, and a finger hovering over an Amazon cart page, awaiting the eventual release of the DVDs. While I hold very little hope for the next wave of DC toons… if nothing else can be learned from my ranting above… a good show (cartoons included) take time to find sea legs. Unlucky for all of us… the second these shows find them? The powers-that-be cap them off at the knee.
SUNDAY: John Ostrander Types!
2012 PULP FACTORY AWARD NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED
The Pulp Factory’s annual award nominations were announced today and some of New Pulp’s finest received nominations.
The 2012 Pulp Factory Award categories include Best Pulp Novel, Best Pulp Short Story, Best Pulp Cover, and Best Pulp Interior Illustrations. Nominations and voting is conducted by members on The Pulp Factory, but you do not have to be a member to be nominated or to win. Award winners are announced and presented at the Windy City Paper & Pulp convention in Lombard, IL April 12 – 14, 2013.
Congratulations to all nominated and best of luck, pulpsters.
Here are the nominees:
BEST PULP NOVEL
( ) Dynasty of Mars by Ian Watson – White Rocket Books.
( ) Blood of the Centipede by Chuck Miller – Pro Se Productions
( ) The Lone Ranger : Vendetta by Howard Hopkins – Moonstone Books
BEST PULP SHORT STORY
( ) The Ghoul by Ron Fortier (Monster Aces – Pro Se Productions)
( ) Wounds by Andrew Salmon (The Ruby Files – Airship 27 Productions)
( ) Die Giftig Lilie by Sean Taylor (The Ruby Files – Airship 27 Productions)
( ) Case of the Wayward Brother by Bobby Nash (The Ruby Files – Airship 27)
( ) Sinbad and the Sapphire of the Djinn by Ian Watson
(Sinbad The New Adventures – Airship 27 Productions)
BEST PULP COVER
( ) Blackthorn – Dynasty of Mars by Adam Diller (White Rocket Books)
( ) The Infernal Buddha by Joe Devito (Altus Press)
( ) The Ruby Files by Mark Wheatley (Airship 27 Productions)
BEST INTERIOR ILLUSTRATIONS
( ) Rob Davis – Secret Agent X Vol IV (Airship 27 Productions)
( ) George Sellas – Tales of the Rook (Pro Se Productions)
( ) Rob Moran – The Ruby Files (Airship 27 Productions)
( ) Ralf van der Hoeven – Sinbad The New Voyages (Airship 27 Productions)
These 12 companies were represented in the nominations:
Airship 27 Productions
Pro Se Productions
White Rocket Books
Moonstone Books
MV Media LLC
Altus Press
Uchronic Press
Pulp Obscura
Putnam
Hard Case Crime
Black Library
Q & W Publishers
The Point Radio: Kevin Bacon On How THE FOLLOWING Got Him On TV
It took a project like THE FOLLOWING to lure Kevin Bacon to series television, and he tells he just why he made the move plus James Purefoy talks about why his serial killer character is so hard to hate. And have you heard about BAR RESCUE? The hit Spike TV series is heading into it’s third season and host Jon Taffer explains what we may have missed. Plus ENTOURAGE is headed to the big screen and John Byrne heads back to DOOMSDAY.
Check out our exclusive video interview with KEVIN BACON right here on our YouTube Channel. Take us ANYWHERE! The Point Radio App is now in the iTunes App store – and it’s FREE! Just search under “pop culture The Point”. The Point Radio – 24 hours a day of pop culture fun for FREE. GO HERE and LISTEN FREE on any computer or on any other mobile device with the Tune In Radio app – and follow us on Twitter @ThePointRadio.
