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MOONSTONE MONDAY-Hancock Tips his Hat to Martin Powell’s THE HUNGRY SWAMP!!!

  • News
  • October 25, 2010

TIPPIN’ HANCOCK’S HAT-Reviews by Tommy Hancock

“The Hungry Swamp” a tale from the anthology THE PHANTOM CHRONICLES, VOLUME ONE, Moonstone Books
Written by Martin Powell

There are lots of great things to say about Lee Falk’s The Phantom.  If you know of him at all, you know most of the tropes: the jungle setting, the tribesmen that both respect and fear the Ghost who Walks, the pirates always menacing Mr. Walker and his friends.  Yep, those are the things most would likely remember from Phantom stories.

Except this one.  But it is probably one of the best Ghost Who Walks portrayals I have ever read.

This story, pretty much a prequel to Powell’s two issue comic miniseries, THE PHANTOM UNMASKED, takes our hero out of the jungle and puts him in Louisiana during a vicious hurricane, one reminiscent of Katrina.  The jungle natives are exchanged for a courageous veterinarian and her teenage companion, a deputy sheriff desperate to save those in peril as well as his own self respect, and a father and daughter who needed saving and provide a moment of realization outshining any reveal I’ve seen in awhile.  Throw in a corrupt sheriff turned looter instead of pirates and all the traditional pieces of a Phantom tale are there, with a special twist that Powell pulls off successfully and sincerely.

The dialogue is urgent and crisp and the action throughout ebbs and flows as it should, nicely so.  What is done within this story, though, that pushes it over the top for me, is how the range of emotions people have is explored.  Powell deftly navigates courage, fear, sadness, anger, grief, and even happiness in a seamless way that makes this story of a purple clad jungle hero in Louisiana more believable than the bad news we hear on the tv every day.

Five out of Five Tips of Hancock’s Hat (Five tips are reserved only for those who have channeled Dent, Gibson, Page, or one of the long gone, but not forgotten greats.)

The Point Radio: Who Found Luther’s SpaceShip?

  • Uncategorized
  • October 25, 2010

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We’ve all heard the stories – about the really cool thing tucked away in Grandma’s attic that no one knew was there. How about the woman who has Lex Luthor’s spaceship? We hear that and more from  JOE MADALENA, host of the new SyFy series, HOLLYWOOD TREASURE, plus no one is shocked at ticket sales for PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 2 and Neil Gaiman is back in comic shops this week.

And be sure to stay on The Point via iTunes - ComicMix, RSS, MyPodcast.Comor Podbean!

Follow us now on and !

Don’t forget that you can now enjoy THE POINT 24 hours a Day – 7 Days a week!. Updates on all parts of pop culture, special programming by some of your favorite personalities and the biggest variety of contemporary music on the net – plus there is a great round of new programs on the air including classic radio each night at 12mid (Eastern) on RETRO RADIO COMICMIX’s Mark Wheatley hitting the FREQUENCY every Saturday at 9pm and even the Editor-In-Chief of COMICMIX, Mike Gold, with his daily WEIRD SCENES and two full hours of insanity every Sunday (7pm ET) with WEIRD SOUNDS!

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN LIVE FOR FREE or go to GetThePointRadio for more including a connection for mobile phones including iPhone & Blackberrys.

 

 

A NICKEL A WORD BY VAN ALLEN PLEXICO!!!

  • News
  • October 25, 2010

You may have heard that the Pulp Factory’s Second Annual Awards for excellence in the new pulps are coming up early in 2011.  That means we members of the Factory have to be figuring out what we think the best pulp novel, short story, cover illustration, and set of interior illustrations from 2010 have been, so we can nominate them.

Now that I have a pretty good idea of what I think were the best of each of the four categories for the year thus far, and barring any further discoveries which could of course change my mind, I thought I might share with the rest of you the four I intend to nominate. 

My hope is that readers and pulp fans in general will check these out, and that my fellow Factory workers in particular will give them proper consideration.  I also hope that folks might point out other possible contenders that I have missed.

Here, then, are the current leaders for my nominations:

BEST COVER ART:  Mike Manley for ROBIN HOOD: KING OF SHERWOOD.  I’ve seen a lot of very good cover art this year, but something about Manley’s iconic image of Robin crouching with his bow really catches the eye– it’s vivid and rich and singularly striking.  And the character aside, the sheer quality of the painting itself is fabulous.

BEST SHORT STORY:  I. A. Watson for “The Girl in the Glass Coffin” from GIDEON CAIN – DEMON HUNTER.  Cain is a Puritan swordsman engaged in sword-and-sorcery action, and every story in this book features a different sort of setting and a different situation–there’s nothing repetitive about it at all.  Full disclosure– I co-created and co-edited this book, and one of the other stories is mine.  I’m certainly proud of my entry, and I think the world of all of them, but this award is solely for the best pulp short story and I think Ian’s is probably the best of a great lot.

BEST INTERIOR ART:  Rob Davis for I. A. Watson’s ROBIN HOOD: KING OF SHERWOOD.  Rob loves Robin Hood and it shows here; he did a lot of interior art this year but none of it carries quite the same charm and style as his illustrations for this one.

BEST NOVEL:  Wayne Reinagel for PULP HEROES: KHAN DYNASTY.  What can I say here?  If any Pulp Factory members are planning to nominate anything other than this book for Pulp Novel of the Year, I honestly have to conclude that they have not read it.  So everyone had better grab a copy and get to it.  If you claim to be a pulp fan by any means, you will be blown away by this.  From Wayne’s Doc Savage and Spider analogues to the actual Sherlock and Mycroft Holmes to Dr Sun to Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde to the actual Ian Fleming— all in perfect character– this book is mind-boggling in its pulpish all-encompassing-ness– and it’s a cracking great read, too!  And that’s only after the first hundred pages.  I think anyone who nominates something else should be required to include a full dissertation on why they wouldn’t and didn’t choose this instead.

That’s where I stand right now.  I look forward to hearing your reactions.

–Van
_____________________________________________________

MOONSTONE MONDAY-Hancock Tips his Hat once more to Martin Powell-This time, Domino Lady!!

  • News
  • October 25, 2010

TIPPIN’ HANCOCK’S HAT-Reviews by Tommy Hancock

“Masks of Madness” a tale from the anthology DOMINO LADY: SEX AS A WEAPON, Moonstone Books
Written by Martin Powell

Written for a collection published in April, 2009 that centered around Domino Lady, this story not only clearly spotlights the anthology’s title character and then some, but it adds layers to a couple of mythos as well as to the world that Powell writes within in general.

The plot is that our heroine wakes up on a jungle beach after fighting pirates.  She is taken in and cared for by people of the jungle who are in service to a certain Ghost Who Walks.  While taking advantage of Mr. Walker’s hospitality, Ellen Patrick finds a bit of information that links to her past and has a major impact on her present and future.  This tidbit leads her back stateside, followed of course in grand pulp hero style by the aforementioned Ghost (Lee Falk’s The Phantom for those who don’t know what I’m talking about.)

Martin Powell once again sets his pen to the pulp canvas of words and paints a tremendous epic adventure in a handful of pages.  The characters are very clearly defined, even the Phantom who, although he plays a major role, is also really just sort of incidental to the action.   Powell’s take on Domino Lady does something well that writers have struggled with for years.  In his characterization, he skillfully balances the sex appeal of this character with the need for justice and vengeance, a largely male trait ala Batman that often gets muddled when applied to female characters. Not so in this version of Domino Lady.  Her struggles with right and wrong, her thirst for violent retribution, it’s all played out well here and none of the playful sensual passion that should be there is lost at all.

The action in this story flows well overall.  As a matter of fact, the timing of the events and the changes of scenery were dead on perfect.  When we go from the jungle back to the states, it was the exact right moment.   Some of the narrative gets heavy in places, even for pulp, but other than that, ‘MASKS OF MADNESS’ is a revealing look at a little known, yet wonderfully varied and layered character.

Four out of Five Tips of Hancock’s Hat (usually reserved for heads of state, arresting officers, and little old ladies, which is pretty darn good.)

MOONSTONE MONDAY-Hancock Tips his Hat to Powell’s and Curtiss’ BLACK ANGEL

  • News
  • October 25, 2010

 

TIPPIN’ HANCOCK’S HAT-Reviews by Tommy Hancock
Black Angel -Secret in the Sky” appearing in AIR FIGHTERS #2, Moonstone Books
Written by Martin Powell
Illustrated by Ver Curtiss
First, let me preface this with…I’m just not a big fan of aviator pulp/comics/radio shows/etc.  I mean, I read/listen/look at them because I’m an all purpose kind of guy when it comes to Pulp stuff…but it’s not on my favorite list.  Having said that, I know a good story when I see it.  And man, did I see it in this Black Angel tale.
Eight pages is not a lot of room to tell a tale.  What Powell and Curtiss did in these eight pages, however, blew me away, yet it also felt like enough.  the story centers around a report being made to a character referred to as Baronness Blood by a Nazi underling.  As the report is made, the reader sees the action unfold contained within said dialogue.  Black Angel and her awesome aircraft figure into the story, swooping in to save a priest from death at the hands of Japanese soldiers.  Curtiss’ images of the aircraft, the Angel herself, and even Baronness Blood are jaw dropping and eye popping.  The detail given to the art accentuates Powell’s tight storytelling, giving us a rip roarin’ air battle, but also showing the effect of war, even on heroes.
Overall, this story is fantastic in both word and image.  I would have preferred to see a little more intensity in the facial expressions of the priest, as he was a major character in this and went through a horrendous range of emotions.  Other than that, however, ‘Secret in the Sky’ flies higher than any air pulp/comic stuff I’ve read in a long time.
Four out of Five Tips of Hancock’s Hat (usually reserved for heads of state, arresting officers, and little old ladies, which is pretty darn good.)
 
nagranowrimo-6393652

National Graphic Novel Writing Month Day 25: Wait, Who Was That Again? The Importance Of Cast Lists

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  • October 25, 2010

nagranowrimo-2944346Here’s another insanely useful thing when writing: a cast list.

You’ve seen these before, right? Probably when reading Shakespeare. In Romeo and Juliet, the cast list includes entries like:

  • Montague, head of one house, at odds with Capulets
  • Capulet, head of one house, at odds with Montagues
  • Romeo, son to Montague
  • Mercutio, kinsman to the Prince and friend to Romeo
  • Benvolio, nephew to Montague, and friend to Romeo
  • Juliet, daughter to Capulet
  • Tybalt, Juliet’s brother

Now, even if you’ve never read Romeo and Juliet, and never heard the story—which means you’ve apparently lived on a remote island all your life, but never mind that now—you already have some idea how this is going to go. Two houses that hate each other, a young man from one house, a young woman from the other—you can practically see the romantic tension brewing. The cast list sets up the key relationships, and then the play just allows them to develop narratively.

But that doesn’t mean you’re going to want to have your cast list on the front page of your graphic novel. Not usually. A few books like the Justice League of America or The Legion of Super-Heroes can get away with that, but that’s because both of those are team books and so they want the reader to know which members of the team are actually involved in each issue.

But normally the cast list isn’t for your readers. It’s for you.

(more…)

MOONSTONE MONDAY-HOPKINS DISCUSSES UPCOMING VOLUMES

  • News
  • October 25, 2010

From Howard Hopkins, Editor/Writer, Moonstone Books-

I am editing “The Avenger Chronicles” with Moonstone’s EIC Joe Gentile. Joe and I are both huge Avenger fans and I have written a history of The Avenger called The Gray Nemesis. The first volume is out and number 2 is nearly finished. All stories are in and edited and it will be called: The Justice, Inc. Files.  Along with the story I’ve written for the voume., called Vengeance, Inc., I have done a series of six vignettes, each centering on one of The Avenger’s aides, for the special hardcover editions. Number 3 is half edited and will be ready soon, as well. We have some great stories by Joe, myself, Barry Reese, Ron Fortier, Will Murray and numerous others. And a couple of special surprises.

With Sherlock Holmes, the volume will focus on “crossovers”, teaming the Great Detective with some of fiction and history’s greatest characters. My own tale features Sherlock solving a case with Calamity Jane, allowing me to draw on my Western writing background and present two very different characters interacting with one another. It was one of the most difficult stories I have ever written, and I wanted to stay true to Doyle’s character and style, plus have a decent mystery for them to solve. My good friend, writer Martin Powell, got me involved in the project in a story writing capacity originally (and Martin is THE Holmes authority with some truly wonderful tales and comics written about Sherlock). I will be editing the anthology with Moonstone’s EIC Joe Gentile.

Introducing Double Feature Press – a new small press with an interesting concept.

  • News
  • October 24, 2010
Introducing Double Feature Press – a new small press with an interesting concept.






Charlotte, NC – October 24, 2010 – For immediate release:

Sarah L. Covert  has been working in the Horror/Strange Tales/SciFi industry for some time. She started off creating several stories for a children’s Science Fiction board game. She spent several years with Lurker Films and the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival in Portland, Oregon. Sarah is also the creator and editor of She Never Slept – a science fiction, strange tales, and horror news and reviews website.

The idea for Double Feature Press has been brewing for over a year now. After reviewing a lot of books from indie/small press, Sarah came to a realization. There are a lot of good publishers out there and some really great publishers, but for every one of those there are three or four really bad ones. She heard the same stories from many authors – – the publisher didn’t edit their copy, they didn’t promote them, they didn’t give them copies of their work, and worse than all that – sometimes the publishers wouldn’t even pay them. Eventually she grew weary of hearing this kind of thing and decided to become part of part of the solution… she threw her hat in the ring and added one more small press to the ranks of the good guys!


We are a small press formed by Sarah L. Covert in October of 2010. Sarah grew up on drive-in movies. That is where her love for Science Fiction, Strange Tales, and Horror was born. Double Feature Press has an interesting concept, based around the old double feature drive-in flicks. Each book has two authors. Each author contributes either short stories, poems, or novellas to make up their half of the book. The books will all be in the genres Sarah loved as a child and loves even more now. They will be limited edition runs. Our first book is due out in 2011.







About the Authors [for our first book]:

Photo Copyright 2010 Josh Lamkin
Robin Spriggs is the author of Diary of a Gentleman Diabolist, Wondrous Strange: Tales of the Uncanny, Capes & Cowls: Adventures in Wyrd City, The Dracula Poems: A Poetic Encounter with the Lord of Vampires, and nearly 200 short stories and poems that have appeared in a wide variety of publications. In addition to writing, he performs on both stage and screen and serves as a mentor and life coach to a diverse circle of poets, artists, madmen, etc. He is currently at work on no fewer than nine projects, his next book among them.

“…an author who is serious about stretching the creative boundries of fantastic literature.” –Cemetery Dance

“Spriggs’s style is filled with elegance, literary wit, and uncanny dread. His work builds to an inescapable climax that eschews the happy endings in the work of lesser fantasists. I enjoy the frisson of his endings immensely.” –Michael A. Arnzen

“…a master of the short form… a linguistic acrobat who works without a net.” –Harry Shannon






Photo Copyright 2010 Daniela Picht

Joseph S. Pulver, Sr., a life-long fan of pulp horror, fantasy, and science fiction, found himself exiled from a happy anonymity as of 1999 when Chaosium, Inc. published his highly acclaimed Cthulhu Mythos novel Nightmare’s Disciple. His effectively chilling fiction and verse has appeared in collections including The Book of Eibon, Black Wings, Nameless Cults, The Tindalos Cycle, Lin Carter’s Anton Zarnak Supernatural Sleuth, Rehearsals for Oblivion – Act 1, and many others. He has had nearly one hundred stories and poems appear in venues like “Strange Aeons Magazine” and “Crypt of Cthulhu”. He has received many “Honorable Mentions” in Ellen Datlow’s Year’s Best Fantasy & Horror and Best Horror of the Year. Joe also edited Ann K. Schwader’s verse collection The Worms Remember (2001).

Hippocampus Press released Blood Will Have Its Season, Joe’s first collection of short work, to much acclaim in 2009. It was edited by S.T. Joshi. Joe has new tales upcoming in S.T. Joshi’s Spawn of the Green Abyss (Mythos Books), and several other anthologies. His second collection of short work, SIN & ashes, will be published by Hippocampus Press [Winter 2010].

He is currently working on several new tales and his next novel, and has many new tales coming in anthologies, journals, and magazines in 2011.

“Some writers one admirers and others make one want to do as they do, or try. For me, Joe Pulver is of the latter type. His imagination is so vile so much of the time that it makes me giggle with amazement. And the prose so deadly visionary. I’m grateful that the pieces in this collection are those of a fellow horror writer who has raised the ante on what it means to be such a creature.” – Thomas Ligotti

“. . . I’m gawping in amazement, shaken by Pulver’s eviscerating vision. He wields language as a scalpel, a Thompson submachine gun, an axe . . . Joe Pulver calls down the fire. Joe Pulver’s the Man. He’s got the Power.” –Laird Barron

“The prose of Joe Pulver can take its place with that of the masters of our genre-Poe, Lovecraft, Campbell, Ligotti-while his imaginative reach is something uniquely his own.” –S.T. Joshi








Now Playing [About our first book]:

Robin Spriggs – The Untold Tales of Ozman Droom
The Untold Tales of Ozman Droom, according to arcane legend, is a collection of stories and poems about a collection of stories and poems by (if titles can be trusted) a certain Ozman Droom. But who is Ozman Droom? Or what is Ozman Droom? And when, where, why, and how is Ozman Droom? The answers to these and countless other questions of equally perilous rank await the curious seeker within the collection itself . . . provided such a book does indeed exist. And perhaps even if not. Caveat lector.

Joseph S. Pulver, Sr. – Night Begets
Night burns and burrows, vast as any idea it declares its bottomless truth — Terminus. The players and observers come, absorb and discard atoms, fill moments with ripples they call magic, or love, or chance, heartache, and fate. For knowledge and pleasure they steal editions, wait for, or take, more. Night loves nothing . . . and, finally, it takes all.
Joe Pulver’s, Night Begets, is a collection of tales and poetic texts about lovelorn ghouls and other night-bound creatures as they discover sin and ashes bloom and echo in the noir labyrinths and pitch black, dungeon skirts of Night. It is a work that provokes and will leave an indelible mark on anyone who picks it up and comes through on the other side, painting a world that is as much brutal as it is beautiful and imploring readers to reconcile these seemingly antagonistic aspects of existence.

NEW COLUMN FEATURING ORIGINAL LA NOIR!!

  • News
  • October 24, 2010

NoHo Noir is fiction that’s not for the faint-hearted. Written by Katherine Tomlinson and illustrated by Mark Satchwill, these tales are weekly walks on the wild side, narratives torn from the bleeding heart of North Hollywood and Toluca Lake; stories of love and death and everything that lies between…  

Check out this most original regional fiction at

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