Rachel Bloom’s performance at Renovation, the 69th World Science Fiction Convention last year. She was at the convention because her song “Fuck Me Ray Bradbury” was nominated for a Hugo award, and this is her performing at a party late that night:
Of course, the Klingon year is 384.2 days long or 553248 minutes, not the 525600 from the original lyrics. I have no idea if this was taken into account during the translation of the song.
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| Cover: Douglas Klauba |
Moonstone Books has announced the January 2013 release of Kolchak the Lost World: bonus edition, written by New Pulp Author CJ Henderson with a cover by superstar New Pulp Artist Douglas Klauba.
From the author of the Brooklyn Knights novel series!
Due to the almost instant sell out of the first printing of the Kolchak the Lost World novel, Moonstone offers this new second edition with a BONUS never-before-seen Kolchak story!
After getting a serial killer to confess, Kolchak is offered an international assignment with massive coverage around the world. With fame and fortune finally within his reach, Kolchak is ready to cover the story, when he’s confronted by a mysterious monk who warns him that “the seventy-two must always be”.
Kolchak’s dreams are then invaded by unexplainable images that let him know every step he takes is bringing him closer to death.
Kolchak the Lost World: bonus edition
Author: CJ Henderson
Cover: Douglas Klauba
978-1-936814-45-9
134pgs, 4.25” x 6.75”, $5.99
New Pulp Author Sean Taylor’s Bad Girls, Good Guys, and Two-Fisted Action blog hosts a regular writers rountable. This week’s topic is Killing or Kissing the Muse — Writers on Finding Inspiration. Joining Sean this week is a writing who’s who on a subject we’re all passionate about. Read all about it here.
The muse.
As our ongoing metaphor for inspiration, she’s been the subject of many songs and stories, best portrayed I think in Neil Gaiman’s amazing comic Sandman. But I digress. Calliope (the muse of epic poetry) and her sisters have been made a virtue by some, a vice by others, and by others merely ignored as an urban legend for creators.
To find out how today’s hard-working writers feel about the muse and finding inspiration, particularly in today’s busy lifestyles where one is most likely a “writer and” — not merely having the luxury of just being a writer — we asked.
And some of New Pulp’s finest answered. Read what they had to say at http://seanhtaylor.blogspot.com/2012/09/killing-or-kissing-muse-writers-on.html
Many of the comment that follow are lifted directly from a blog post I wrote after seeing Marvel’s The Avengers opening weekend. I stand by these words and note that I have since then seen it in 2-D in a theater and on my home screen via the just-released Combo Pack. The movie is so well-crafted as to remain entertaining on repeated viewings.
Disney Home Entertainment has released this in a dizzying assortment of collections, some exclusive to certain retailers, such as the Walmart one that comes with a graphic novel by Peter David and an army of artists. The four-disc commercial set comes with the 3-D and 2-D Blu-ray discs, standard DVD, and digital copy. This one also has a link to download music inspired by the film. What I was sent for review is the slightly less spiffy two disc set (Blu-ray and DVD) but it is certainly sufficient.
The major success that was not being discussed during the May release is that for the first time, four franchises have been strategically designed and executed to culminate in the launch of a fourth franchise. There have been numerous all-star films where actors arrive and perform thinly veiled versions of their famous screen personas (and we had a trailer for the latest such examples, The Expendables 2) but this move is unprecedented. While there have been previous winks and nods to a larger universe in other films and television series based on comic books, this team film was carefully planned, laid out, and executed.
Starting four years ago with Iron Man, the Marvel Movie Universe has been carefully structured, taking the very core elements from the 1960s comics, filtered through the 2000 Ultimate Universe and distilled in an easily adaptable essence. Each film was not without its flaws and they didn’t all work with Hulk going 0 for 2 but still considered a key piece of the puzzle. But, when we first saw Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) waiting for Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) after the first film’s credits and heard about “The Avengers Initiative” we knew what was coming.
The question was then: could Marvel Studios deliver on such high expectations The answer is a resounding yes but let’s look at why. First, Kevin Feige gets it. He understands the comics and the characters, but also understands film and how changes need to be made. As studio head, he made certain the egos and budgets were kept in check, focusing squarely on bringing the four-color characters to cinematic glory. That he’s remained in place has helped tremendously. So has Feige using the resources at his disposal and involving former EIC Joe Quesada from the outset, and setting up the writers committee that allowed the current architects of the print universe to help make the movies hew closely to the status quo and assure the storylines were strong.
Zak Penn also gets it. He’s clearly grown as a writer, going from things like Last Action Hero and Elektra to X2 and The Incredible Hulk. As a result, he was able to help set up the threads in the other franchises to dovetail in The Avengers. Then it was handed off to Joss Whedon, who clearly is comfortable with scope, scale, comics, and movies. He entered the Marvel orbits with Astonishing X-Men beginning a relationship that led his doing uncredited script work on Captain America which had him in mind when the current film came up. There was comfort between Feige and Whedon which led to entrusting him with a $215 million production, Marvel’s most expensive, despite Whedon only previously directing the commercially disappointing Serenity.
Fans got what they wanted: all their favorite film heroes together in one rousing story with the fate of the world counting on them. They also wanted to see the heroes bicker and battle one another, a Marvel staple dating back to the first Human Torch/Sub-Mariner squabble. They wanted tidbits connecting the film to the greater universe and got that in the form of the Chitauri (the Ultimate Universe version of the Skrulls). The general moviegoer got spectacle, humor, action, carnage, and adventure.
Given what got accomplished, the 2:23 running time is fairly tidy, especially considering how many alpha characters had to be juggled and spotlit. But that’s where Whedon excels; working with an ensemble of quirky people, each putting their foibles on display until it was time to demonstrate why should care about them. As cool as it was to watch Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo, CGI, voiced by Lou Ferrigno) duke it out, the confrontation between Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and Black Widow (Scarlet Johansson) was equally satisfying.
Each character was true to themselves, which was perhaps the trickiest aspect of bringing these franchises together, since their motivations varied and it required Fury to wheedle, cajole, and manipulate them into coming together to save the Earth. The parallel of Fury’s efforts with Loki’s need to keep them distracted and in-fighting was well handed, putting the emotions on display. Similarly, just as Loki cut a deal with the Chitauri to gain control of the limitless power contained within the Tesseract and the Chitauri answered to Thanos (as seen in the first of two wonderful end credit sequences), Fury answered to the international council (Powers Boothe, Jenny Agutter, Arthur Darbinyan, Donald Li) and if the film had any false notes, it was the usual cluelessness displayed by his superiors.
Loki is fittingly the foe given his role in the team coming together in the 1963 comic book and his ability to elicit sympathy from the audience given his tortured past and wounded pride. His scenes one on one with Fury, Widow, and eventually Stark are terrific and most of the credit goes to Hiddleston.
It was also good to have moments directly connecting The Avengers to the other films such as the wonderful cameo of Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), a reference to the whereabouts of Jane Foster, and the display of Hydra weaponry.
The change from Edward Norton to Ruffalo for Bruce Banner brought a level of sympathy to the scientist that was missing from the previous two film attempts. He was clearly channeling the late, great Bill Bixby and the CGI Hulk was a near-Neanderthal brute that finally looked and acted spot on. When he was ordered to smash and smiled before cutting loose, it was a clue we were in for some unbridled destruction. His confrontation with Loki may stand out as one of the single best film moments this year.
The entire second act is introspective, explosive, and fun to watch the actors put through their paces, but once the Tesseract is engaged to open the door to the Chitauri, the film puts things into fourth gear and never looks back. The final act is breathless, heroic, and tremendously exciting to watch.
This was war and with it come sacrifices. Despite all of Stark’s hubris and arrogance, when the time came, he was ready to give his life to save Earth and that changed how everyone around him looked at him. But there had to be some loss, something to make the victory bittersweet and the death that came was not unexpected but it was heroic and sad all at the same time. Clark Gregg was part of the glue that held the films together and his confident, somewhat geeky Agent Phil Coulson will be missed. We were introduced to Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders), clearly set up to be his replacement going forward, but if any character lacked Whedon’s dialogue flair, it was her and it’s shame because she looked ready to rock.
Apparently, that wasn’t always the case as is revealed in one of the many worthwhile extras included in the set. There is a nice assortment of Deleted and Extended Scenes (14:59) that includes alternate opening and closing scenes with Hill that actually gave her a more important role. I can sort of see why Whedon excised them and would have added yet another layer to the goings on. There’s also an extended vignette of the isolation Steve Rogers feels in the 21st Century but it would have dragged the film’s pacing so while it’s missed, it made sense. Similarly, there’s a nice exchange between Mark Ruffalo and Harry Dean Stanton that also was dropped since the pacing of the final act demanded speed.
New to the disc is the first of the Marvel One Shot original stories intended to explore the new cinematic universe. “Item 47″ (11:20) stars Jesse Bradford (Bring It On) and Lizzy Caplan (True Blood) as would-be bank robbers using a Chitauri weapon they managed to recover and make work. Agent Sitwell (Maximiliano Hernández) is sent after them while Agent Titus Welliver deals with the paperwork. It might be the merest hint of what’s to come with the proposed ABC SHIELD series for next season.
The gag reel (4:05) is the usual jolly stuff. There are just two featurettes: “A Visual Journey”, on the visuals coming from page to screen; and “Assembling the Ultimate Team” (14:37), which is the usual cast and crew saying nice things about one another. Whedon’s commentary, as it was on Cabin in the Woods, is dry, funny, and insightful.
Finally, there’s the Soundgarden Music Video “Live to Rise” (4:49). which I didn’t need since their music does nothing for me.
I couldn’t check out The Avengers Initiative: A Marvel Second Screen Experience since it only goes live tomorrow, release day.
Weird comics synchronicity. My cousin Penny met and married a guy named Ken Landgraff – and no, I had absolutely nothing to do with it. Some of you may Ken through his work for Marvel and DC back in the day when he drew Nightwing and Flamebird, Hawkman, and Wolverine. He also worked in the studios of Gil Kane, Rich Buckler, and Howard Nostrand, and he drew for Screw magazine. Kenny’s a very cool guy, and we’ve had mucho conversations about comics and pop culture over the years.
So there I was last week, out on Lawn Gisland (that’s Long Island for you non-New Yorkers) celebrating Rosh Hashanah with the family, imbibing lots of fine drink and dining on a cornucopia of fantastic food, laughing and just plain getting silly, when Ken asked me “Did you really put a used Tampax on the door of an editor at DC?”
And I was feeling no pain, as they say, and I just stared at him and went, like, “What the fuck are you talking about?”
Ken said that he had been told by – and I promised him I wouldn’t tell anyone who had told him this, so I’m leaving that person’s name out of this column – that I had taken a nicely bloodied Tampax and attached it to the door of some editor at whom I was pissed. He didn’t say if I had left a note or not.
Quick aside here. I just called Mike Gold and asked him if he had every heard this story about me. “No,” he said. “But under certain circumstances I would find that admirable.”
“That’s disgusting!” I said to Ken. (Also just now to Mike.) “Urggh!”
After making a face and blinking a few times, I said to Ken, “You’re serious?”
“Yeah.”
“Kenny, you don’t really think I would do something that disgusting, do you?”
“Well…”
Okay, I think to myself, we’ve all had a few too many here. Don’t get mad.
I said, “Kenny. My dear cousin. Have you ever known me to be bothered with signs and symbols when I’m pissed off? Have I not always been the first one on the soapbox with a bullhorn yelling fuck off! for the whole world to hear?”
“Yeah.”
Case in point. Check out my interview with Gail Simone in which I relate the story of how my comics career almost came to a very abrupt end if not for Marv Wolman. (Attention K-Mart Shoppers and All Aspiring Comics Pros: Do Not Try This At Home!)
Screaming fuck you and other assorted colorful catchphrases is not something to be proud of. Well, maybe a little. Depends on the circumstances. Sometimes telling someone to fuck off is exactly the right thing to do. Like when I was fired from a hospital for being Jewish.
Yep, you read that right, boys and girls. Li’l ol’ me and my yiddishkeit blood offended my anti-Semite bigot of a head nurse, who trumped up charges against me. How do I know this? Because my so-called friends at work told me that she would call me “kike” and “Hebe” behind my back. I call them my so-called friends because when I asked them to go to the administration with me to report this, everyone backed out, not wanting to “get involved.” This was before this modern age of what’s called “zero tolerance rules” at work.
Anyway, the bigot took me downstairs to a meeting with the administration, who offered me a chance to resign. Guess what happened when I brought up the bigot’s use of language about me? They gave me a blank piece of paper, said, “we’ll give you a few minutes to think about it. We’re sure you’ll do the right thing,” and left the room. I took that paper and wrote on it in big letters f-u-c-k y-o-u!!!! and walked out.
That’s an example of a circumstance in which the use of colorful language is appropriate and needed.
I don’t think using colorful language to a DC editor, especially when you’re just starting out, is the wisest thing to do. You may disagree with me, but frankly, I was lucky I didn’t get my ass kicked down the elevator shaft; besides, stories of your use of colorful language, or about how you hung a used Tampax on an editor’s door, will follow you around.
All the way to a Rosh Hashanah dinner with the family decades later.
And then you’ll stop wondering why offers of work dried up.
TUESDAY MORNING: Emily S. Whitten
TUESDAY AFTERNOON: Michael Davis
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| Secret Agent X back cover art/design: Rob Davis |
Airship 27 Productions has shared the back cover of the upcoming fourth volume of its popular SECRET AGENT X pulp anthology series. Edited by Ron Fortier, Secret Agent X Vol. 4 features stories by Bobby Nash, Jarrod Courtemanche, Kevin Noel Olsen, and Frank Schildiner. Back cover art and design by Rob Davis.
Expect cover art and interior illustratior announcements soon.
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| Art: Diana Leto |
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| Art: Thomas Boatwright |
The World’s Weirdest Heroes, The Halloween Legion, excitedly anticipate their upcoming comics debut in their first graphic novel, with stories written by Martin Powell and illustrated by Diana Leto and Thomas Boatwright.
Coming soon from Sequential Pulp Comics and Dark Horse Comics.
THE HALLOWEEN LEGION Book One novel is available in both print and Kindle editions, just in time for Halloween. As the Spooky Season approaches…order your copy today!
Martin Powell and Diana Leto will appear on an upcoming October episode of the Earth Station One podcast to discuss the Halloween Legion.
The Halloween Legion âÃÂâ Martin Powell.
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JukePop Serials has posted the first chapter of James Hutchings new story, The Case of the Syphilitic Sister on their site.
The Case of the Syphilitic Sister is a detective / superhero story set in a two-fisted version of the 1930s. With an innocent girl dead, America’s finest superheroic detective agency must find and destroy a sinister cult.
You can read the first chapter (with more to come) here.
Writers, JukePop is looking for original, previously unpublished novel/serial starts and short stories with the potential for serialization across the following genres: adventure, american gothic, crime, cross-genre, dystopian, fantasy, horror, mystery, paranormal, sci fi, sci fi western, slipstream, steampunk, superhero, thriller, and young adult. Or, if you think you’ve invented a genre feel free to submit that too!
Learn more about submitting to JukePop by visiting their submissions guidelines page at www.jukepopserials.com/home/submissions.
Pulp novels covered a wide range of genres. New Pulp Author Paul Bishop is working with a talented crop of writers to bring back the sweet science to pulp. Welcome to Fight Card.
All Pulp recently sat down with Bish to discuss his writing, the Fight Card Series, and all things pulp. Pulpsters, meet Paul Bishop.
AP: Tell us a little about yourself and your pulp interests.
PB: I’ve been voraciously reading pulp stories since my early twenties starting with reprints from the detective story magazines (such as Black Mask), and eventually moving on to the standard hero tales like the Shadow and Doc Savage. When I started collecting pulps, I found myself drawn to the adventure, sports, and western pulps as they were more affordable and plentiful.
I got hooked first on collecting copies of Argosy and Adventure – magazines containing tale from the likes of H. Beresford Jones, Talbot Mundy, and the swashbuckling tales of George Challis (Max Brand). A long run of Street and Smith’s Sport Story was next as I collected tales by Jackson Scholz under his many pseudonyms. All of this led to Fight Stories Magazine and my fixation and enjoyment of fight fiction, which would eventually inspire the Fight Card series of novelettes I currently write and edit.
AP: How did you get your start as an author?
PB: I broke into writing professionally as a magazine freelancer. I had some success, eventually making my way from writing for law enforcement related magazines (using my background as a detective with the Los Angeles Police Department as fodder) to top rank markets such as Runners World, Parents Magazine, and Psychology Today. I also worked steadily for several years on the full run of Mystery Magazine from its premiere as a slick, through its transformation to digest sized pulp, to its eventual untimely demise.
However, despite my success with non-fiction, what I really wanted to write was fiction and I was finally able to break in by selling a couple of stories to Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine and a brief revival of The Saint mystery magazine. It would be another twenty years and a handful of novels later before I was able to crack the pages of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, but I eventually published there as well.
As for novels, I began writing paperback original westerns for Pinnacle Books’ Diamondback series (created by Raymond Obstfeld) under the rather appropriate house name Pike Bishop. From there, I moved on to my first cop novel, Citadel Run (now retitled Hot Pursuit as an e-book). Since then there have been ten more novels, a slew of short stories, two-dozen hours of scripted network television, and a feature film – all while staying busy with my LAPD career.
AP: How did the Fight Card series get its start and who is Jack Tunney? What was the appeal of writing boxing stories?
PB: The Fight Card series grew out of a phone conversation with fellow author Mel Odom. I tracked Mel down after reading a pulp-style boxing story (Smoker) he had published as an e-book on Amazon. We quickly found common ground in many areas, including a love of the fight pulps and especially the Sailor Steve Costigan boxing stories by Robert E. Howard. With the advent of e-publishing, we realized we could create new fight stories which could reach and expand the niche audience who would love these stories as much as we did. The concept of the Fight Card series then took on a life of its own.
After Mel and I wrote the first two books in the series, Fight Card: Felony Fists (me) and Fight Card: The Cutman (Mel), a number of hot young authors and a few established pros took notice and signed on with the Fight Card team. We’ll have twelve titles published by the end of 2012 and every one of them is a hard hitting gem.
AP: There seem to be many different opinions about what can be defined as pulp. How do you define pulp and what do you look for in a pulp story as an artist and a reader? Do you consider the Fight Card series books pulp?
PB: The Fight Card novels are definitely in the pulp genre – straight forward, solid, stripped down, slightly larger than life storytelling. It’s what made the original pulps so popular and accessible to a wide audience. The New Pulp movement is definitely bringing the genre back in all its colorful, sensational, glory combining the sizzle of the cover art with story content aimed at more modern sensibilities, but with the values of pulp’s past.
AP: Where do you see the pulp and book industry in the future?
PB: E-publishing is here to stay. Combined with the accessibility and ease of POD for physical books, authors themselves are now the driving force in the writing/publishing business. It’s a great time to be a writer, but there are also whole new skill sets to capture from layout, to promotion, to editing. Yikes! It’s worlds better than traditional publishing for all but the bestselling authors, but some days you wonder if you have to be careful what you wish for.
AP: Is there a particular character out there you haven’t had the chance to work on that you would love to take a crack at writing?
PB: I’ve had some fun writing for previously established characters, especially for the upcoming Nightbeat anthology (based on the radio show of the same name), but I actually prefer to work with my own characters.
AP: Where can readers find information on you and your work?
PB: I can be found blogging at Bish’s Beat (www.bishsbeat.blogspot.com) and on the new Fight Card website (www.fightcardbooks.com) as well as Facebook and Twitter (@bishsbeat).
AP: What upcoming projects do you have coming up that you can tell us about at this time?
PB: 2013 will see Fight Card expanding its brand in several ways. Aside for our traditional monthly offerings of Fight Card tales set in the ‘50s, we will be premiering three or four Fight Card MMA novels (set in the current world of mixed martial arts) and possibly two Fight Card Romance novels (yes, romances) designed to widen the audience for the series as a whole.
I’m also excited about a series of pulp anthologies I’m working on with pulp maven Tommy Hancock (Pro Se Press), which will be out early in the new year. I’m also editing The C.O.B.R.A.S. Files, a collection of swinging ‘60s set spy stories (back when espionage was fun) from The Coalition Of Bloggers wRiting About Spies, which should be a lot of fun.
I’ll also be returning to my cop storytelling roots with a new series, The Interrogators, which will hopefully hit the virtual bookshelves next summer.
AP: Do you have any shows, signings, or conventions coming up where your fans can meet you?
PB: 2013 looks to be a busy year for me promoting Fight Card series in numerous venues. I will be at Pulp Ark in April, where I’ll be premiering my new Fight Card novel Swamp Walloper as well as one of the new Fight Card MMA titles.
AP: And finally, what does Paul Bishop do when he’s not writing?
PB: I teach an intensive, week-long, interrogation course once a month, which keeps me in touch with the law enforcement world. I read as much as I can, work on promoting Fight Card and my other writing projects, and run four or five miles a day to keep my stress levels balanced. After finishing 35 years of working full time with the LAPD, it seems I am busier than ever.
AP: Thanks, Paul. We look forward to reading your new books.
You can learn more about Paul Bishop here and the Fight Card series here.
Want to hear more from paul Bishop? Paul will be a guest on episode 130 of the Earth Station One podcast, going live September 27th at www.esopodcast.com.
Columns / Glenn Hauman / News
Stephen Colbert, we have your writer for “The Chronicles of Amber”!
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The Law Is A Ass #460: Those “For Life” Sentences Are Nonsense
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