Category: News

Many days, we will find ourselves in heated debates with the uninitiated when it comes to the general quality of comic books. Yes, super muscular guys in spandex parading around in violent battles with other super muscular guys and overly boobed chicks in impossible costumes isn’t what we’re calling haute artistic visual fiction. But we’ve got those pocket references ready for the nay-sayers, don’t we? Watchmen. Sin City. Maus. Ghost World. Justice League International… And then they drop a bomb on our argument. They’ll reference a comic they heard about on the nightly news, or in the “lifestyles” section of the paper, or from some pinko-liberal-starbucks-blog they read on their iPads whilst they wait for a triple-grande-non-fat-latté. And with the mere mention of that book, our arguments are as potent as a pinch of salt in the ocean.

Now, gentle reader, what book could I possibly reference (without even reading it mind you) to encapsulate the entirety of how low we can go, when it comes to our sequential funny books?

Why, I direct you to Bluewater Comics’ Female Force: Betty White.

Yup. The fine folks behind the Justin Bieber, Sarah Palin, and forthcoming Fame: The Cast of Glee comic books is releasing a biographical comic book about America’s favorite only living Golden Girl, Betty White. Now, before you ignite your flaming arrows, let me be clear: I love Bette White. She was hilarious in the aforementioned ‘Girls, as well as numerous other sit-coms. Her recent turn as Facebook-demanded Saturday Night Live Host was one of the better shows of recent memory. Hell, even her cameo in last week’s Emmy show was adorable. But seriously… a comic book bio? Allow me to fire up the rant and raving engine.

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NOW IN ALL PULP’S SPOTLIGHT…ALL PULP!!!

The Spectacled Seven have made their mark, at least with some!  This was shared with All Pulp today from a mailing list manned by noted Pulp writer and historian Tom Johnson.  Tom and his wife Ginger not only welcomed All Pulp to the Pulp/news game, but gave the Spectacled Seven quite an awesome and humbling comparison…Thanks so much, Tom and Ginger! Their endearing comments are posted below!

“Back in the late ‘70s, pulp historian Nick Carr started the Bloody 7, bringing together seven pulp fans from the community to form this new band of brothers. The 7 consisted of Nick Carr, Bob Sampson, Don Hutchison, Frank Hamilton, Earl Kussman, Jack Deveny, and Tom Johnson. Each was dedicated to the pulp community and keeping the interest in pulps alive for future generations. In June 1982, with the publication of the Special Issue of Echoes, Ginger Johnson wrote an article about the seven men. At the time we did not have the Internet, so our outlets were the many fanzines in the community. Eventually, with the passing of Bob Samson, Frank Hamilton, Earl Kussman, and Jack Deveny, and the printed fanzines, the Bloody 7 ceased to exist.

It is of interest that a new “7” has risen to replace the Bloody 7, and with the availability of the Internet, will continue to keep the pulp community informed.

Pulling its staff from across the field, All Pulp is manned by an eclectic, inspired group of seven writers and fans ready to bring their best to every word they write. Ron Fortier, Barry Reese, Sarge Portera, Derrick Ferguson, Bobby Nash, Van Plexico, and Tommy Hancock. http://allpulp.blogspot.com/

Tom and Ginger give a hearty welcome to this new group!

Tom & Ginger”

Frequent commenter and song-craftsman Russ Rogers tipped us off to a little contest he put together, and folks, it’ll slay you.

For those in-the-know (and those not…) Mark Wheatley and M.J. Butler have been toiling away at an homage to Conan and all things barbarian with their new project, Skultar the Unconquered! In viral barbarian fashion, Mark and M.J. decided on a great way to gain some much needed funding to get their bloody pet project off the ground (you did read Glenn’s article on just how much it costs to put out a book these days, did you not?). For various contributions to the project, you can get a slew of special prizes… ranging from exclusive behind the scene updates, signed Frankenstein Mobster comics, to the bigger prizes, like limited editions of the printed Skultar comic (with signed book plate!) to our personal favorite: being drawn into Skultar to be maimed, slaughtered, or otherwise killed… along with a signed death certificate and acknowledgment in the final book! Who doesn’t want to be vivisected in 4 colors by a master like Mark Wheatley? We thought so.

That brings us to Russ Rodgers, and the White Elephant Music Club! Starting today, everyone is welcome to enter the Skultar Sword and Sorcery Song Challenge! The rules are simple: Write a song, featuring lyrics about swords, sorcery, and other savage goodness. It can any genre, any style. Full band? Rock out. Solo acoustic? Folk it up. Bolivian flute and rap combo? The weirder the better. Write, record, and share your creation with the White Elephant Music Club on Facebook, and you’re entered. Want to increase your chances of winning? It’s simple: Mention Skultar in the lyrics! Sounds simple? We know. Want more points? Make some “conversion van quality” album art for your song. Submit a .jpg of your art with said song, and you’ll get some more bonus points. Want even more points? Record a music video for your song! Bam. More points. Want yet even more points, you grade grubber? Word is that if you promote your song and the contest on your own facebook / myspace / website / neighborhood juice bar… you’ll nab a bloody carcass full of bonus points! Judges for the contest will weigh your song-craft, bloody lyrical content, and add up your bonus points. The song’s are due September 24th, with the winner being announced September 30th.

For full details on the contest, do yourself a favor and click on over to the White Elephant Music Club page.

For more details on Skultar, and all of his bad-assery, click on over to his website before he smites you.

Now, all you rockin’ ComicMixers… plug that old Strat into your Marshall half stack. Hit that fuzz pedal and overdrive. Crank the volume to 11, and sing your heart out… before Skultar cuts it out from your girly chest.

It’s already become a bit legendary this week– the self-described “long vodka-fueled rant” that Mark Waid delivered as the keynote speech at the Harvey Awards. However, unless you were one of the two hundred or so people in the room, you didn’t actually hear his speech. You might have read the speech Mark intended to give, but Mark himself said he almost immediately went off his notes.

So what was actually said? And was there really booing from some audience members?

Now you can listen for yourself. After a brief intro by Scott Kurtz, we have the full speech from Mark Waid here, as caught by Phil Merkel.

And after you’ve heard it, discuss what he had to say about publishing, filesharing, and making a living in the future in the comments.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2010

GERONIMO!!!!!!
Ready for a pulp action hero like no other?  Want your fill of high flyin’, explodin’ good ol’ fashion adventurin’ for the sake of adventurin’?? Then don’t miss the interview with writer John Morgan Neal, co creator of AYM GERONIMO AND THE POSTMODERN PIONEERS! Who is this Aym we speak of, you ask??  Why, click on the interview tab and find out!!

To paraphrase a classic pop song, the heart of pulp is still beatin’! The first Moonstone Monday might be over, but All Pulp continues to churn out the good word about pulp adventure! Look for several new reviews today, updates to the news section and more! Upcoming interviews will feature the likes of Wild Cat Books’ Publisher Ron Hanna, author B.C. Bell and AYM GERONIMO writer J. Morgan Neal!

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2010

Government offices are closed all over the United States! Most likely, you are reading this from the comfort of your own home today because you have been given the day off in celebration of a national holiday!! Yes, that most fantastic of holidays…what? Labor Day?? No, although that’s really cool, too, we’re talking about the most awesome of days to be celebrated! That’s right, it’s finally come..The First Ever All Pulp….

As one of the leading Pulp Pushin’ Publishers of the modern era, Moonstone has made its mark by bringing Pulp type characters from all mediums back to life via comic books (Reviving ‘Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar’ and ‘Boston Blackie’ was INSPIRED) and pulp prose anthologies. Now Moonstone takes its devotion to Pulp to the next level with the ambitious project RETURN OF THE ORIGINALS!! Classic pulp characters, both iconic and unknown, live to adventure and action again in a line of comics coming from Moonstone! Don’t believe us? Then let’s name drop…The Black Bat…Ki-Gor…The Spider…Phantom Detective…I. V. Frost..and so much more! Written by some of the best known names in modern pulp and drawn by fantastic artists, classic Pulp heroes walk, run, fly, and fight again in Moonstone’s RETURN OF THE ORIGINALS! Check out our news, interviews, and other pages today throughout the day for all sorts of Moonstone goodness, including never before seen images!!!

SEPTEMBER 3, 2010

It was unveiled on this week’s edition of The Book Cave Podcast but the full details will be coming soon in a press release from Pro Se Productions. Veteran authors (and All Pulp contributors) Tommy Hancock, Derrick Ferguson and Barry Reese are teaming up on a shared universe project set in the fictional location of Sovereign City! The fellow to the left is Lazarus Gray, one of the denizens of the project. The image is a production sketch from artist Anthony Castrillo. Stay tuned for more.