When I was a kid, comics were all I thought about. There was no better time in my day than when I was finished all my crap schoolwork and was able to turn my attention to the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man or Batman

I was a child of DC but soon I was just as vested in Marvel as I was in DC. I remember when Kirby left Marvel to do the Fourth World books at DC. That to me at the time was as big a deal as Obama becoming the first black President is now.

Really.

Kirby coming to DC was Huge. I’ll never forget when I got my first issue of the Forever People and saw Kirby’s Here on the cover.

Comics golden age for me was the second silver age. That second silver age was Walt Simonson’s Thor, Howard Chaykin’s American Flagg!, Frank Miller’s Daredevil, Marvel’s Secret Wars, The Killing Joke, the Dark Knight, The Watchmen and about another dozen or so titles.

I freely admit that I’m biased in my thinking about comics and what’s important and what’s not. I also freely admit that I have no right nor do have any influence over what you may think.

But…

In my day I think comics were better than they are today.

That’s my opinion and I’m welcome to it but consider the following before you dismiss me, are you tired of new universes and new number ones?

In my day a number one was the Holy Grail of the comic book world.

Now?

New number ones are as common as a new Kardashian lover and just as relevant.

While I’m on the subject, Kim Kardashian has no talent and contributes nothing to the world, yet millions of people hang on her every stupid move.  Now don’t get me wrong, I have nothing but respect for her milking America for millions of dollars when she has no value whatsoever.

That’s not a joke, I respect anyone who can figure out a way to milk millions from people with absolutely no talent or value. Again I’m not kidding I respect that kind of moxey.

But…

Come the (bad word here) on, what does she or her family contribute except some of them have really nice tits? Oh and yes, I’d hit that but that’s beside the point. She and her family really have no significance in the real world.

Comics on the other hand do have significance in the real world.

How so you ask?

A hundred years from now Superman will still be relevant. Kim? She may not be relevant in two years. I know this for sure because America has a way of waking up to bullshit. It may take a moment but soon perhaps very soon the country and world will see that the Emperor (Empress?) has no clothes.

How do I know this for sure? Two words: Paris Hilton.

But I digress (thinking about you, Peter). I maintain that the comics in my day were better than the comics today and what follows are my admittedly flawed arguments.

When ever a comic universe goes to a new number one that erases the vast history of what was gone before. It’s a ‘do over’ and a ‘screw you’ to fans that loved the universe at the same time. When Marvel did Secret Wars and DC did Crisis those were really massive events but they were not do overs or a screw you to fans. Those were events that changed the universe not events that discarded the universe.

They were also the kind of events you talked about for years because they really were events.

Now an event is talked about until the next event, two, three weeks later.

B L A M!! R I M S H O T !! I’m here all week! Try the veal! Herman Cain, try the watermelon!

When Marv Wolfman killed Barry Allen (something to this day I have not forgiven him for) I felt that lost. When Stan Lee killed Gwen Stacy I felt I had lost a girlfriend. Now these sort of deaths are commonplace and it my humble opinion it’s because of Superman.

When Superman “died” no one and I mean no one in the comic book world thought for a second he was really dead. The only people who thought he was really dead were the suckers who brought 50 copies thinking one day they would be worth millions.

BAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!

If you can kill the most important superhero in the history of the industry then everything and I mean everything is fair game.

But…

That fair game seems to be monthly now. When DC killed Superman it, at the time, was a bold move designed to boost the icon’s lagging sales. Now characters dying, coming out of the closet, going over to the dark side, etc. is no longer an event it’s as common as the Cubs not making the World Series. The Cubs suck; that’s why they don’t make the series. Comic book creators don’t suck; comic book creators are better than the bullshit event like Archie kissing a black girl.

What the heck was that anyway? Archie Andrews pulling a black girl? Talk about imaginary stories.

Yes, I’m quite aware that the audience today is not me. Yes, there are books being done today that quite frankly are works of art and literary genius. Yes, some books today have transcended comics, TV and film and become part of what fuels movements.

But…

Forget all of that. In my day comics were better and that is that.

Bottom line your comics suck and mine don’t.

So there.

WEDNESDAY: Mike Gold Babbles On and On…

New Pulp Publisher Moonstone Books has released solicitation information for books arriving in stores May 2013.

DOMINO LADY/SHERLOCK HOLMES #2 
Written by Nancy Holder (with Bobby Nash), art by Nick Diaz, colors by James Brown, cover by Mark Sparacio.

A two-part murder mystery set against the backdrop of ancient Egypt! Domino Lady and Sherlock Holmes team up to solve the riddle of the Sphinx… ok, not really, but they do solve this riddle of passion, identity, and antiquity!

32 pages, $3.99.

You can see preview pages from Domino Lady/Sherlock Holmes here and here.

KOLCHAK: NECROMONICON SC 
Written by C.J. Henderson, art by Robert Hack, colors by Jason Jensen.

The Necromonicon trilogy is finished! Parts 2 and 3 are long since sold out, but Moonstone has included a brand-new prequel story! New softcover edition replaces the sold-out HC!

Carl Kolchak, whether he wants the mantle or not, is the world;s premier supernatural investigator. Vampires, werewolves, witches, demons, he has seen it all. Or … has he? Can even all the horrors he has stumbled across prepare him for the monstrous denizens of the Lovecraft Mythos, let alone its most damned volume, the Necronomicon? Told in widevision.

188 pages, $23.95.

THE SPIDER: EXTREME PREJUDICE 
Written by Will Murray, Ron Fortier, C.J. Henderson, and more, cover by Malcolm McClinton.

New short stories of prose starring pulpdom’s most violent and ruthless crime fighter ever: The Spider! More just than the law, more dangerous than the Underworld…hated, feared and wanted by both!

One cloaked, fanged, border-line crazy denizen of the dark force-feeding hard justice with a pair of 45’s! Guest starring: The Black Bat, The Green Ghost, and Operator 5!

Featuring stories by Will Murray, Mel Odom, C.J. Henderson, James Chambers, Ron Fortier, Bobby Nash, Howard Hopkins, Eric Fein, Gary Phillips, Don Roff, Matthew Baugh, I.A. Wilson, and Rik Hoskin.

Softcover, 288 pages, $19.95; Hardcover, 288 pages, $29.99.

Learn more about Moonstone Books at www.moonstonebooks.com

Author Richard Lee Byers has announced that his latest sword-and-sorcery novel/Edgar Rice Burroughs homage, Pathfinder Tales: Called to Darkness is now in stock at Amazon.

About Pathfinder Tales: Called to Darkness–
Kagur is a warrior of the Blacklions, fierce and fearless hunters in the savage Realm of the Mammoth Lords. When her clan is slaughtered by a frost giant she considered her adopted brother, honor demands that she, the last surviving Blacklion, track down her old ally and take the tribe’s revenge. Yet this is no normal betrayal, for the murderous giant has followed the whispers of a dark god down into the depths of the earth, into a primeval cavern forgotten by time. There, he will unleash forces capable of wiping all humans from the region – unless Kagur can stop him first! From acclaimed author Richard Lee Byers comes a tale of bloody revenge and subterranean wonder, set in the award-winning world of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.

Cover Art/Design: Bobby Nash and Jeff Austin

New Pulp Author Bobby Nash’s newest BEN Books release, FRONTIER, a collection of pulpy sci fi and space opera themed stories is now available as an ebook for Kindle and Nook. It is also as a paperback from BEN Books direct, which can be found here. Paperbacks will be available from Amazon and Barnes and Noble within a week.

PRESS RELEASE:

Frontier collects 9 sci fi short stories from Bobby Nash, author of Earthstrike Agenda, Evil Ways, and Deadly Games! Some of the rare tales presented in Frontier are reprints and others are in print there for the first time. The stories that make up Frontier happen on Earth, on alien planets, and in the deepest recesses of space. There’s action, adventure, horror, and even a little romance.

Stories included in Frontier:

SAMARITAN
In deepest space, a research vessel rescues a survivor who asks to be returned home. The catch: her planet lies at the center of a black hole.

DREAMWEAVER
Nathanial “Doc” Dresden wakes up in space, free floating above the moon. But he is not alone.

WHERE HAVE ALL THE MONSTERS GONE?
Nathanial “Doc” Dresden and his team investigate bizarre happenings.

MIDWAY
A meteor storm damages Midway station, a museum storage facility and frees an ancient creature from its icy tomb.

JUST ANOTHER SATURDAY ON OUTPOST 9
When war breaks out between neighboring worlds, the Outpost 9 space station is caught in the crossfire. Dr. Erin Moonshadow tries to save lives as chaos reigns around her.

THE DROP
War. Ground troops are dispatched. Dropped from their starship, the troop transport is attacked and one of the soldiers is lost. Then things get strange.

NIGHTMARE IN AMBER
Are a young man’s dreams of an interstellar war a product of his imagination or a prophecy of things to come?

THE GARDEN
A survey crew discovers a veritable Garden of Eden. Is this paradise or is there a serpent in hiding, waiting to strike?

A JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY
A one-page story that was doubled as an advertisement for a convention where Bobby was a guest. A fun experiment.

Illustrations in Frontier are by Bobby Nash and Jeff Austin.

The author shares the contents of the book as well as an essay on the making of the book on his website. You can read Bobby’s thoughts on Frontier here.

Get your free Frontier ebook AuthorGraph here.

New Pulp Publisher, Mechanoid Press has announced that the new anthology, Monster Earth is now available on Kindle with other ebooks and a print version coming soon.

PRESS RELEASE:

Welcome to a world where the Cold War was fought not with the threat of nuclear destruction, but with Giant Monsters.

Watch as the denizens of this Earth that might have been learn to harness the power of these legendary creatures for good and ill. In these seven tales you’ll witness first hand as…

–A young boy learns the value of sacrifice when the Japanese use a giant monster to attack Pearl Harbor…

–An Inuit confronts his heritage to harness a frightening creature of the Great White North…

–A false guru’s greed endangers 1960s Boston…

All this and more await you in the pages of MONSTER EARTH!

Join editors James Palmer (Slow Djinn), Jim Beard (Sgt. Janus, Spirit-Breaker) and some of the most talented voices in New Pulp, including Nancy Hansen (Prophecy’s Gambit), Edward M. Erdelac (The Merkabah Rider series), and I.A. Watson (Blackthorn: Dynasty of Mars) as they take you to frightening vision of Earth…

MONSTER EARTH!

Monster Earth is an original giant monster anthology containing almost 75,000 words of monster mayhem.

You can find Monster Earth on Kindle here.

About Monster Earth:
MONSTER EARTH harkens back to the classic giant monsters of yesteryear like Godzilla, Mothra, Gamera, and King Kong, while focusing on the human element and what it would be like to live in such a world where giant monsters terrorize the Earth.

“There have been a few other giant monster anthologies over the years,” says Palmer. “But our book is going to be a bit different. It has a unifying concept, as well as a solid pulp style of storytelling.”

Developed by MONSTER EARTH co-editor Jim Beard (writer, Captain Action and the Riddle of the Glowing Men), each story in the book takes place in a different decade of the 20th century, which leads to a Cold War fought with giant monsters rather than the threat of nuclear weapons.

“I really wanted all the stories to have an underlying thread that weaves between them all the stories, and Jim really came up with a winner.”

The stories in MONSTER EARTH have a strong human angle as well.

“Focusing in on the human beings living in this world is important to me,” says Palmer. “The monsters are like forces of nature, with the humans trying to control them. But don’t worry, these aren’t just regular human interest stories with a monster thrown in for window dressing. There are plenty of great monster battles and more than enough citywide destruction to please the most discerning kaiju fan – and anyone who loves a good tale.

About Mechanoid Press:
Mechanoid Press is a new imprint specializing in science fiction, New Pulp, and steampunk ebooks and anthologies. For more, visit www.mechanoidpress.com or follow the robot revolution on Twitter. You can also like Mechanoid Press on Facebook.

In stores this February from Dynamite Entertainment.

About The Shadow: Year One–
THE SHADOW is a character that has lasted through decades on the pages of pulp magazines, over the radio airwaves, through the silver screen, and in the panels of comic books. Shrouded in mystery, his origins have been explored and hinted at over the years…but never fully revealed. Much is known of Kent Allard/Lamont Cranston’s years spent in the Orient and Central America—wherein he gains his powers and purpose…but not how he first developed his persona as the Master of Darkness.

Eisner Award-winning author, Matt Wagner is joined by artist Wilfredo Torres in an exhilarating 8-issue limited series that will explore the dynamic events that first drew Cranston back to the States, how he first met his companion and lover, Margo Lane, how he began to assemble his vast network of agents, and how he first adopted the famous black hat and cloak as his alter-ego’s disguise- all secrets that, up until now… only The Shadow knew!

Official Press Release:

Legendary comic book creator Matt (Mage, Grendel) Wagner takes on The Shadow in 2013 with The Shadow: Year One. Much as he did with Dynamite’s Green Hornet: Year One, Matt plans to tell the definitive origin story of The Shadow, showing fans why the character has endured in popularity for so many years! Look for Matt Wagner’s The Shadow: Year One in 2013!

“THE SHADOW has long been one of my absolute favorite established characters and I’m thrilled to finally get the chance to contribute to his continuing adventures,” says Matt Wagner. “I’m getting to help define The Shadow’s mysterious origins in a Year One story arc! For all his published history in both the pulps and comics, as well as his radio adventures, there’s surprisingly no depiction of his very first adventures as the dark-clad Master of Men. This series will explore the events that first drew Kent Allard/Lamont Cranston back to the States, how he began to assemble his vast network of agents and how he first adopted the famous black hat and cloak as his alter-ego’s disguise-secrets that, up until now…only The Shadow knew!”

“Matt’s a legend and it’s always great to work with him,” stated Dynamite Editor Joe Rybandt. “Everything about his work is infused with realism and authenticity, and his Shadow: Year One will raise the bar for pulps and their heroes.”

“I’ve known Matt for 30 years now, since he lived in Philadelphia and was working on Mage for Comico Comics. I’ve mentioned this for years, that I repeatedly asked him if he would work on a comic with me as even at a young age, his scripts, art and ability to tell stories was some of the best I had seen. I never would have thought that 25 years later we would start a relationship with Matt working together. This is the third project with Matt, and it keeps getting better each time. I’m proud to be working with Matt, and can’t wait for this new adventure to begin!” – States Dynamite President and Publisher Nick Barrucci.

“Like” Dynamite on Facebook. Join the conversation on Dynamite Entertainment’s twitter For art and more information, please visit: www.dynamite.net.

Click on images for larger view.

Issue #2 coming soon.

Is it Khan Noonian Singh or is it Gary Mitchell? Or could it be someone else from out of the Star Trek TOS mythos?

Ever since the first teaser debuted on theater screens around the world, Trekkers have been debating the identity of the villain.

Here’s my take: I don’t think it’s Khan.

There are two big reasons, I think, that many fans are convinced it’s Khan.

First, the voiceover talks of vengeance and watching loved ones die, and every good Trekker knows that Khan was driven by a need to avenge himself on Kirk for several reasons: (1) Kirk, a product of “ordinary” conception, defeated the “superior intellect” of the genetically manipulated Khan; (2) Kirk never bothered to check up on Khan and his followers, essentially marooning them on Ceti Alpha V, and (3) most probably, psychologically most importantly, that historian who betrayed Kirk and the Federation just because Ricardo Montabalm was one hot, sexy roll in the hay, the one who went into exile with Khan? (BTW, I never understood why Khan would love and respect a traitor. This was a man who goes on and on about loyalty.)  She died, killed by one of those scarab-eels that was the “planet’s only remaining indigenous life form.

Second, there’s that scene in the trailer that’s especially evocative of The Wrath Of Khan in which, separated by transparent aluminum(?) paneling of the dilithium chamber, Kirk and Spock’s hands form mirror images of each other in a “live long and prosper” symbolic good-bye.

But…

Khan Noonian Singh was never in Starfleet and the trailer and other promotional material points to someone within the organization. The trailer also gives the impression that the bad guy is someone with immense, inherent power, and Khan, for all his intellect, still had to depend on scarab-eels and the Genesis devise to do his dirty work.  And this is just a minor point, but Khan Noonian Singh’s heritage is Punjabi, not British Isles. Of course, J.J. Abrams doesn’t have to stick with that, but so far in his reboot, all the characters have remained true to their traditional genomes.

I think it’s Gary Mitchell.

Gary Mitchell, for those of you who have never seen the episode (Where No Man Has Gone Before) was Jim Kirk’s best friend. Mitchell had saved Jim’s life more than once, and had even maneuvered a blonde lab technician into Kirk’s orbit. Ostensibly this little blonde lab technician was Carol Marcus, whom Kirk nearly married. But at some point in their careers, Kirk reported Mitchell for failing in his duty, and Mitchell’s chance at promotion was downgraded. Still, Kirk believed in his friend’s potential, and brought him onto the Enterprise as helmsman.

On an exploratory mission to the edge of the galaxy, the Enterprise hits some kind of energy barrier that does enough damage to the ship that Kirk orders the ship out of there. The energy barrier also kills a bunch of crewman, and knocks out Mitchell. Upon wakening, his eyes glow silver, and he begins to display psionic powers, including telepathy and telekinesis.

Eventually Mitchell becomes so powerful that “absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Spock advises Kirk to kill Mitchell while “he still can,” but Kirk can’t bring himself to do that, deciding instead to maroon Mitchell on a planet. But Mitchell has now mutated into a being with god-like power, and Kirk is forced, in the end, to kill him.

Anyway, what I’m thinking is that in the reboot version, Kirk was able to maroon Mitchell on the planet; only now Mitchell has escaped, and has returned to wreak not only vengeance on Kirk and those he loves, but on Starfleet for daring not to appreciate Mitchell’s abilities.

And the official teaser from Paramount reads:

In the wake of a shocking act of terror from within their own organization, the crew of The Enterprise is called back home to Earth. In defiance of regulations and with a personal score to settle, Captain Kirk leads his crew on a manhunt to capture an unstoppable force of destruction and bring those responsible to justice. 
As our heroes are propelled into an epic chess game of life and death, love will be challenged, friendships will be torn apart, and sacrifices must be made for the only family Kirk has left: his crew.

Unstoppable force of destruction.

That would certainly describe Gary Mitchell, a.k.a. John Harrison.

And a chess game is mentioned. 


In the original episode, chess is played, and it’s a theme in the story. (Okay, I’m reaching.)

Then again, it could be Q.

TUESDAY MORNING: Emily S. Whitten

TUESDAY AFTERNOON: Michael Davis