[Official Press Release]:

BEN Books proudly presents Deadly Games! a thriller by Bobby Nash.

 The print edition will be available on Amazon and in bookstores soon.

The print edition of Deadly Games! is now available at https://www.createspace.com/3704764 for the low introductory price of $11.99.

Digital editions coming soon.

About Deadly Games!:

Deadly Games! A madman’s death triggers the most deadly game of all!

They played the most dangerous game of all and death was only the beginning…

Six years ago, Police Detective John Bartlett and journalist Benjamin West were instrumental in the capture of notorious master criminal Darrin Morehouse. Their story played out in the media, rocketing both Bartlett and West into local celebrity status. 

Today, Morehouse, still a master game player and manipulator, commits suicide while in prison. His death initiates one final game of survival for the people Morehouse felt wronged him the most. At that top of the list are Bartlett and West, who must set aside their differences to save the lives of Morehouse’s other victims and solve one last game before a dead man’s hired killers catch them and his other enemies.

Deadly Games! is a fast-paced action/thriller featuring action, suspense, murder, and the occasional gunfire from Author Bobby Nash, the writer of Evil Ways, Domino Lady, Lance Star: Sky Ranger, and more.

Deadly Games!

Written by Bobby Nash

Publication Date: Oct 10 2011 

ISBN: 0615553435

ISBN13: 9780615553436 

Page Count: 316 

Binding Type: US Trade Paper 

Trim Size: 6″ x 9″ 

Language: English 

Related Categories: Fiction / Thrillers 

Introductory Price: $11.99

The print edition of Deadly Games! is now available athttps://www.createspace.com/3704764 for the low introductory price of $11.99.

The print edition will be available on Amazon and in bookstores soon.

Digital editions coming soon.

Visit BEN Books at http://ben-books.blogspot.com/.

Visit Deadly Games! author Bobby Nash at http://www.bobbynash.com/.

About Bobby Nash:

From his secret lair in the wilds of Bethlehem, Georgia, Bobby Nash writes. A multitasker, Bobby is certain that he doesn’t suffer from ADD, but instead he… ooh, shiny. 

When he finally manages to put fingers to the keyboard, Bobby writes novels (Evil Ways; Fantastix; Deadly Games!), comic books (Fuzzy Bunnies From Hell; Demonslayer; Domino Lady vs. The Mummy; Lance Star: Sky Ranger “One Shot”), short prose (A Fistful of Legends; Full Throttle Space Tales Vol. 2: Space Sirens; Green Hornet Case Files; Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar; Zombies vs. Robots), novellas (Lance Star: Sky Ranger; Ravenwood: Stepson of Mystery, Night Beat), graphic novels (Yin Yang; I Am Googol: The Great Invasion), and even a little pulp fiction (Domino Lady; Secret Agent X; The Avenger) just for good measure.  And despite what his brother says, Bobby swears he is not addicted to buying DVD box sets and can quit anytime he wants to. Really.

Bobby’s work can be found at http://www.bobbynash.com/, http://www.lance-star.com/,ww

w.facebook.com/bobbyenash, and www.twitter.com/bobbynash, among other places across the web.

The rumors have been kicking around for a while, and we’ve even made jokes about it in the past, but now Rich Johnston reports that there’s a possibility that there may be more stories set in the Watchmen universe.

I was told before New York Comic Con that it might be back on and that DC were drawing up a wishlist of creators for a series of Watchmen prequel comics.. Well, I’ve now heard a lot more. Darwyn Cooke’s name is at the very top, linked to drawing two mini-series and writing another, followed by the likes of JMS, JG Jones, Andy Kubert and Brian Azzarello. Whether or not they have been approached, I don’t know, and no one’s talking, but it gives you an idea of the scale. I would also expect Dave Gibbons and John Higgins to be involved in some way.

via The Return Of Watchmen 2 Bleeding Cool Comic Book, Movies and TV News and Rumors.

In the end? Nothing ends, Adrian. Nothing ever ends…

It is something of a movie cliché, especially in buddy-movies, for one of the two, in the heat of battle, to mutter, “I’m getting too old for this.”

That’s how I felt before New York Comic Con.

It’s another cliché that, just when you think you have life figured out, it changes. I had a pretty good time.

Granted, I was frustrated by the crowds, and the noise aggravated me (and yet, I live in New York City!). Also, I wasn’t there on Saturday, when I’m told the crowds were the worst. And I’ve been to so many shows by now that I know how to edit my experience.

So, despite the backpacks and the people who thought that because they were taking photographs they were entitled to take away an entire aisle from pedestrian traffic, and the plethora of booths devoted to gaming, not comics, there’s a fun time in there.

Let me count the ways:

• Even before the show, the press coverage was so much better than comics used to get. Sure, there was a lot of attention paid to people in funny costumes, but there were also stories like this in the New York Times, which focused on people who are cool and creative and artists worthy of attention, just like other New York talents.

• Not only are talented writers and artists getting some respect, but so are the fans. True, there was lots of pandering to people’s desire to get something for free, but there were also some unusual businesses setting up booths. The Museum of Natural History promoted their planetarium. Chevrolet not only had a booth, but they also had artist-painted cars around the show, including one by Neal Adams. This is so much better than the first show, where there were military recruiters.

• There are so many kids (who probably hate being called kids, but indulge this old fart) who are excited enough by comics to want to make them. For example, Joe Corallo recognized me and chased after me to give me his self-published comic, The Uncanny Undergrads. Comics remain one of most democratic of media, where anyone with an idea and guts can make something amazing and try to make a career out of it.

• Best of all is seeing old friends. I never went to comic conventions as a fan. It was never part of my social life. When I met Denny O’Neil, I started to go to convention parties, back when they were easier to crash. When I had to go to cons for work, I found out that, for me, Artists’ Alley was the most fun place. It still is. At a big show, it’s a place where you can usually avoid mobs, and actually talk to the people who make the comics we love. This year, I was blessed to run into Bob Camp, whom I hadn’t seen in more than 20 years. He’s still sweet and funny and brilliant.

So maybe, if I have to go to more comic shows, I’ll go. I’ll kvetch, but I’ll be secretly pleased about it.

Martha Thomases is proud of herself for not buying a rabbit on Saturday.

SATURDAY: Marc Alan Fishman

100 years ago today, Mary Blair, an artist whose unique style was immortalized in classic Walt Disney films of the 1940s and 50s and theme parks, was born in McAlester, Oklahoma.

She was best known for the artwork she contributed to animations including Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan and Cinderella, and the look for It’s A Small World at the 1964 New York World’s Fair and later appeared in all Disney theme parks. Several of her illustrated children’s books from the 1950s remain in print, such as [[[I Can Fly]]].

To celebrate her birthday and influential art style, Google has given her a Google Doodle, which we show you here. If you want to know more about her, her nieces have put together a web site, or you can try and find the book [[[The Art and Flair of Mary Blair]]].

Now if only I can get the music from It’s A Small World out of my head…

Hat tip: Google doodle celebrates influential Walt Disney artist Mary Blair.

Alex Rocco, best known for his role as gangster Moe Greene in The Godfather, returns to his mobster roots as Carmine Falcone in Batman: Year One, the next entry in the popular, ongoing series of DC Universe Animated Original Movies.

The appearance in a Dark Knight-related project brings Rocco’s 44-year career full circle. The Massachusetts-born actor, who was once an adjunct member of Boston’s Winter Hill Gang, got his first on-screen role in the 1960s Batman television series.

Rocco appeared as the thug Block in the back-to-back episodes “A Piece of the Action” and “Batman’s Satisfaction,” which premiered on March 1 and 2, 1967.  The episodes also featured the first true crossover appearance of Green Hornet and Kato on the Batman series (aside from a cameo popping out a window in the first season).

Since then, Rocco has been seen on primetime in everything from Get Smart, The F.B.I. and Kojak to The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Rockford Files and Baretta. He has had recurring roles on The Facts of Life, The Famous Teddy Z, Sibs, The George Carlin Show and The Division. His voice is easily recognized as Roger Myers Jr., the head of Itchy & Scratchy Studios on The Simpsons.

In feature films, Rocco’s most notable roles include Moe Greene (and his gruesome demise) in The Godfather, the comically curious police chief in The Stunt Man, and as over-the-top Sol Siler, the head of Playtone Records in That Thing You Do!

Produced by Warner Premiere, DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation, the all-new, PG-13 rated Batman: Year One arrived this week from Warner Home Video as a Blu-ray™ Combo Pack and DVD, On Demand and for Download. Batman: Year One is also available in a special download-for-purchase early window (starting October 11) through iTunes, Xbox Live, Zune, VUDU HD Movies and Video Unlimited on the PlayStation Network & Sony Entertainment Network.

Rocco, an agreeable and funny man in person, spent a few extra minutes after his initial recording session to chat about mob bosses, Burt Ward’s whining, Julie Newmar’s sex appeal, and how to get ahead in Hollywood when your bartending partner takes a bathroom break. Take note … Moe Greene, er, Alex Rocco is speaking. (more…)

It’s happening as I sit here typing, on a Thursday, about 30 miles due south of the village where I happily abide, and, barring as always the unforeseen, I’ll be in the midst of it sometime tomorrow, mingling with armies of strangers, gazing at exhibits both exotic and banal, almost certainly meeting folks I have known for decades but seldom see whelmed by noise and flashing lights and color and celebrities and hucksters and the breath of chaos…

I refer, of course, to the New York Comic Con. (You thought I meant Armageddon? Naw… but maybe next week…) This is the younger, but extremely vigorous sibling of the monstrous (in at least two meanings of the word) San Diego Comic Con, but it is no wimpy little brother. Like Athena, springing from the head of Zeus, the NYCC arrived burly and mature, though a bit disorganized, three years ago and has been growing ever since. I’ve heard that 75,000 attendees are expected at the con site over the next four days. (At the San Diego shindig I attended last year, there were 130,000 or 140,000 con goers, depending on who provided the information.) That this event, and its west coast equivalent, could not only exist, but prosper, is yet another sign of how much comic books, that lowly, despised publishing stepchild, have changed and gentrified since I shuffled into the office of Marvel Comics about 45 years ago.

There were conventions then, sure, but they were miniscule compared to the current iterations – a few hundred or later, and at most, a few thousand avid fans who were there, not to ogle celebs or buy cool t-shirts, but to share a love of a certain kind of storytelling. You may have heard me describe (at a convention?) accompanying Flo Steinberg to my first con at the McBurney YMCA in Manhattan: maybe a hundred citizens of various genders and ages wandering around the Y’s gym, a few tables bearing stacks of old comics for sale, and the afternoon’s big deal, a group of comic book professionals on the stage discussing…well, discussing something. I was among them, and that, of course, was to laugh – me, in the business a month or two, sharing an audience with men who had given joy to me on many a summer afternoon and Sunday morning, who shaped the medium in which I labored. I wonder what I said. Probably something. Ah, the arrogance of youth…

The biggest attraction, at the Y that day, was the presence of a genuine movie star: Buster Crabbe, the screen’s Tarzan, Flash Gordon, and Buck Rogers, in the flesh. If I hadn’t been a blasé college graduate and Navy veteran who’d actually been to a foreign country, yessir, or if I’d had any sense of what popular culture is, I’d have been impressed.

But hey! I’m no greystache lamenting the good old days when, dang it, things was the way they oughta be, decent and proper. Things now are different, but they’re as decent and proper as the universe allows them to be.

Somebody say amen.

Recommended Reading: Walden, by Henry David Thoreau. Hey, have you ever actually read it? Or read it since you had to do so as schoolwork?

FRIDAY: Martha Thomases