For over a decade I’ve been hosting The Black Panel at various venues around the country. The panel has its roots in the Milestone Media panels I once hosted at different comic book conventions in the nineties. I created The Black Panel as a forum to discuss African American pop culture from the inside with the aim of helping more people get inside.

The Black Panel is, I’m proud to say, a mainstay at the San Diego Comic Con International. A reviewer recently called it a “Comic Con institution.”

High praise indeed and I was felling pretty good about the panel after yet another standing room only presentation this past year. However, after a recent conversation with Denys Cowan, I’m asking myself some pretty serious questions. Full discloser: Denys is not only one of the greatest and most original artists to ever work in comics, he’s also my best friend. He also worships Satan and has a $ 10,000.00 a day crack habit.

No, no he doesn’t, but Denys never reads my columns so I can pretty much write what I want, like this, Denys beat up a 10 year-old girl who made the mistake of calling him “Michael Davis” at Comic Con last year.

Again, I joke, I kid! She was 7.

Denys and I were talking about the future of the panel. We got on the subject of who appears on the panel. Denys made a remark that made me think, has the panel featured some guests who could care less about the comic medium but have used the panel simply to promote their current projects?

In other word, pretenders.

Here’s a link to the Black Panel’s Alumni. To this list you can add Peter David, Derrick Dingle and Keith Knight and Phil Lamar. You will notice quite a few entertainment superstars on the list. To be fair to me, my mission statement for the panel is black entertainment, which includes but is not limited to comics and animation.

I stared thinking maybe I have had some pretenders on the panel.

I’m nothing if not honest with myself and if I’m wrong I’ll say so. Just today I posted results from a Gallup Poll on my Facebook page that clearly showed that some of my opinions about the Tea Party were wrong.

I took a long look at the guests I’ve had over the years and lo and behold there may be one that the pretender labels fits. No. I’m not going to name him or her. If it’s a black woman, I might get bitch slapped. If it’s a rapper, I might get shot. By all means if you guys want to play “Who’s the pretender,” have at it.

My name is Bennett, I ain’t in it.

The perhaps they are perhaps they are not pretender for my panel is not the focus of this article. Pretenders in the comics industry are.

I’ve met quite a few over the years and usually it’s someone or some company with an high profile and some bucks who thinks that a comic book project from them is just what the world is looking for. More often than not little if any respect has been paid to the way the comic book industry operates and even less respect to the history.

I was approached some years back from a major music mogul to help him create a comic book line that would feature some of his label’s artists. I told him as a promotional item I thought it would work, as a retail item not so much. He did not want to hear that.

Frankly, what mega rich music producer wants to hear that the music business and the comic book business cannot be approached the same way? I mean, the music industry. That’s a real business not like comics, which is more like a hobby until Hollywood decides to take pity and make a movie out of one of those silly characters.

The mogul decided to get a family member to run the line. I was proving to be too much trouble with my depressing and unimportant comments on silly subjects like distribution, marketing, talent and retailers. His choice from the family had been reading comics all his life. That makes him the perfect choice to create and produce a comic book line.

A year, maybe two later I saw an ad somewhere announcing the line. From what I understand the books never saw the inside of a comic book store.

The ad sucked as well.

On a few occasions I’ve had agents of big name Hollywood action stars send me an idea from or about said star. Most of the time the idea features the actor as some sort of hero in the comic. All of the time the idea sucks. When you tell an agent of a big star that their client has little or no juice in the comics industry they feel pity towards you because of your obvious mental illness.

As far as those who think they can make a quick buck in comics, surprisingly that does not bother me. This is America. Where would we be without those who were just in it for the quick buck? Those who get into the business and have the sense to appreciate the expertise of comics I welcome.

What does bother me are those who get into the business and have no respect, not only for what has come before but make no effort to know, learn or enhance the craft. That bugs the shit out of me.

Anyone else?

WEDNESDAY: Mike Gold

For twenty-five years, Mike Malve down in Arizona ran a successful line of comic book stores called Atomic Comics. I knew him from his weekly e-mail messages that he sent out. Nice chatty e-pistles about what sold last week, what was coming out this week, assorted thoughts about the industry, various promotions he was running, different guests he had visiting and so on.

I’d never been to his stores but Mike and I exchanged several e-mails. He always struck me as a good solid sort of retailer, one who knew and loved the industry, worked hard, promoted the work and those who made it. The sort of guy you wanted to see make it.

Two weeks ago, he closed down all his shops. There were lots of factors contributing to the closings, as he detailed in his last report. When the times were good, he expanded into high profile locations but, as he said, “when the economy went sour, low sales could not support the higher rent at these high visibility locations. The leases at these particular stores which had originally provided the consumers with greater visibility and more foot traffic to our wonderful world of comic books, the higher overhead proved to be too much for Atomic as we faced declining sales.”

He traces the decline back to an incident in 2006 when a 16-year old uninsured driver crashed her car through the front window of his biggest store and best revenue producer. The accident tore up a water main and the flood caused a million dollars worth of lost revenue and the store closed down for over five months. This was just as the recession started.

Mike secured the leases on the stores with his house so he’s going to be losing that as well as going into bankruptcy. Throughout it all, he’s maintained as cheerful and upbeat an attitude as he can manage – better than I could in his circumstances. He hopes to find some way to remain in the industry he loves.

Just two weeks later, this last week, DC launched its latest version of its titles in a sweeping revamp that includes same-day digital sales. At the same time, we see Borders closing its doors and various and sundry people have announced the death knell of the brick and mortar bookstores of all stripes.

(more…)

As the end credits rolled, the first thought that occurred to me was that Win Win felt real. These were basically good people trying to do what is right but imperfections spoil any hope for total bliss. Heroes prove to have feet of clay and monsters don’t seem so monstrous once you get to know them.

The film, out on DVD from 20^th Century Home Entertainment, is another terrific showcase of the wonderful Paul Giamatti. He’s become the everyman of his generation, infusing his characters with traits and flaws’ that make them feel real enough you’d expect to find them living down the block. Here, he’s private lawyer Mike Flaherty, suffering from a decline in business thanks to the economy and he is presented with a short-cut so grabs it. He has a court appoint him as guardian to Leo (Burt Young) so he could collect the $1500 monthly fee but then dumps Leo in a nursing home to make the job easier. All Leo, suffering from dementia, wants to do is watch TV and live in his house.

Mike thinks he’s got thinks under control and won’t need to burden his stay at home wife Jackie (Amy Ryan) with their financial woes. Then, suddenly, Leo’s grandson Kyle (Alex Shaffer) shows up from Ohio and things get complicated. Mike and Jackie suddenly become unofficial parents to a high school student who turns out to be an all-star wrestler.

Mike and his pal Stephen Vigman (Jeffrey Tambor) have been coaching the high school wrestling team and see Kyle as a chance to turn the losers into winners. But Kyle is damaged, having been neglected by his drug abusing mom Cindy (Melanie Lynskey) and abused by her latest boyfriend hence his sudden arrival in New Jersey. The way Kyle interacts with the Flaherty’s is the heart of the film as Mike is seen as the one good thing to happen to Kyle, until Cindy turns up and in short order, the ugly truth is revealed. (more…)

Ladies and gentlemen… We gather here today to mourn the loss of a cherished friend. DeeCee was many things to many people. Entertainer. Educator. Detective. Optimist. Friend. Let us take this time to recount those times that touched us, before DeeCee passed on into the ethereal void of blackness.

DeeCee, above all else, seemed impervious to the mortality we all must face. Since his birth in 1934 (back when we call just called him Nate Alypub) DeeCee has been one to cite the changing times as his own catalyst for reinvention. The world went to war, and with it, so did DeeCee. When our world became fixated on the cosmos above, did he not put on his space suit and power ring? Against his better judgment, DeeCee proudly sported a mighty and magnificent mullet in the late 80s. He was never afraid to put on a pair of cowboy boots. Let us never forget when we all thought he was dead, back in 1992. Even from those bleak times, he rose once again, stronger than ever. When the world grew grim and gritty, DeeCee broke his back in that tragic accident. But did he not pick himself up and reclaim his mantle without pause?

I want to take some time now too, to acknowledge DeeCee’s extended family. We were all crushed by the tragic end of his cousins Tan Gent and Elle Swirlds. DeeCee was always so proud of their accomplishments! I’m touched to see in attendance today DeeCee’s brothers, Vern Tigo and Wiley Storm. Vern, DeeCee was always quick to note how you were the sobering realist and macabre dreamer to his starry-eyed optimist. And Wiley… How could we ever forget when DeeCee adopted you, and kept you afloat during your more troublesome past?

DeeCee was rich in family, but even richer in friends. I see gathered here today a veritable pantheon of personalities, in support of the loss of our friend. Marv-El… we all know how you and DeeCee butted heads throughout your friendship. Before you moved out to Hollywood, you and DeeCee could always be seen sitting in the park, debating this and that. And who among us didn’t beam ear to ear when you two ended a years-long feud and amalgamated your friendship! Also among us are some of DeeCee’s friends from later in life… Val, Imogene, “Boom-Boom” Burt, Ava Tarr… so nice to see you all.

It may very well be the elephant in the room today, friends. DeeCee’s untimely demise was something so many of us saw coming. Who here didn’t scoff just a little this past spring, when he told us all about his trip to Flushing? “Everything will be different after this!” he told us. And we just let him go. He’s had these flights of fancy time and time again. Crisis after Crisis, did we not keep supporting him? He’s always bounced back stronger, we told ourselves. And sure, this trip didn’t sound like anything we hadn’t heard him rant about before. Time travel? Alternate futures? It’s all old-hat for DeeCee. Who would guess though that in a single splash, he would be forever lost to us all. Who among us today thought his last words were anything more than the usual hyperbole DeeCee was known for using?

But I digress. Today’s service isn’t meant to wallow in the demise of our cherished friend. DeeCee would want us to look to the future, as he always had. Most importantly, he would want us to acknowledge his biggest legacy, his son, DeeCee Jr.

Junior is just a week old, and it will be a challenge for him to live, thrive, and survive in these tough times. DeeCee’s legacy will live on in Junior. Though his first steps seem to have stumbled, let us all here in attendance support him here in his infancy. He has the world at his fingertips, and his potential is limitless. May he be inspired by the past, but now wallow in it. May he grow into his own man over time. Let the world adopt him with new eyes and old hearts. For within his gleaming eyes are infinite worlds of infinite possibilities.

Let us now rise, as DeeCee’s charred, limp, decimated body is lowered into the ground. Amen.

SUNDAY: John Ostrander

COMING SOON FROM ALTUS PRESS-

One of the most beloved pulp characters, The Black Bat, is finally

celebrated with this 340 page deluxe retrospective. Author Tom Johnson
has indexed each issue, listing everything you need to know about the series, along with the following highlights:
• a complete reprint of the rejected Black Bat adventure, “The Lady’s
Out for Blood”
• a breakdown of the newly-discovered final Black Bat story, “The
Celebrity Murders”
• all 800 German Black Bat stories newly identified for the English audience
• Nine complete reprints of the Black Bat’s golden Age comic book stories
• An interview with series creator Norman Daniels as well as his
complete payment records… available here for the first time
Featuring additional articles by Will Murray, this is the ultimate
history of the series.

340 pages | $29.95 softcover | $39.95 hardcover

In response to requests since ALL PULP started as well as the posting of the great piece you’re about to read today, ALL PULP is kicking off a new column (logo to come soon) !  NUTS AND BULLETS will feature articles from creators and publishers of New Pulp and will focus on the process of putting out Pulp today.   It will err on the technical side of things, how to format, how to develop a character, how to establish pacing, how to write a back cover blurb…and as for the inaugural entry, How to Build a Pulp Cover.   New Pulp creator and Airship 27 Publisher Ron Fortier shares with ALL PULP a fantastic process for creating and designing modern Pulp covers.  Enjoy NUTS AND BULLETS and expect more helpful hints to come!

Greetings. This week we are going to do something we’ve done several times before on my Flight Log  that many of you have enjoyed a great deal; show how we put together one of our Airship 27 Productions pulp covers. Step by step you’ll see our planning and how we helped our artist execute the final image for a book now going into final production.

Earlier in the year one of our regular writers, Joshua Reynolds had submitted a full length Jim Anthony Super Detective novel entitled MARK OF TERROR. It’s a great read and somewhere in the middle of the book there is an action sequence wherein Jim chases an assassin wearing a gargoyle mask out of a theater and onto a busy nighttime New York street. The killer jumps into a sedan driven by another mask wearing colleague and they peel away, only to have the Super Detective come charging off the sidewalk and leaping onto the top of the vehicle. As it careens wildly through the streets of Manhattan, the killer leans out the passenger window and attempts to shoot Anthony off the car. Upon reading this sequence in the book, we knew immediately it was what we wanted for our cover. Then came a stroke of real good fortune. Earlier in the year, we had the opportunity to meet several local artists who live here in Fort Collins. One of them is a truly talented young fellow named Jeff Herndon. When Jeff learned about Airship 27, he offered to paint a cover for us and we immediately recalled the that Jim Anthony book waiting in the wings.

Actor -Body Building Champ Steve Reeves

The first thing we did was explain the character to Jeff and told him our ideal image of the Super Detective was none other than the late body-builder turned actor, Steve Reeves, who made some classic Hercules movies back in the 1960s. We then sent Jeff half a dozen shots of Reeves we found on the internet like the one above. This was how we wanted our Jim Anthony to appear on the cover.

Cora, Alex and dad, Alan Posing for Action.

Next we explained in great detail to Jeff what action scene we wanted him to bring to life with his paints. To help him better visualize that dramatic moment in the book, one Sunday afternoon our son Alan and grand kids, Cora and Alex, allowed their granddad to photograph them on one of our cars in a set-up pose mirroring the action in the book. We took several photos from different positions. The one above was the one that best suited our needs and would help Jeff better mentally envision what we were after.

Old 1930s Sedan in New York City.

But a neighborhood street in modern day Fort Collins, Colorado bears no resemblance to a busy Manhattan downtown scene. So once again we headed for the internet and found a photo of a New York city street and another of a proper mid-1930s automobile. We sent these off to our Art Director Rob Davis and he photo-shopped them together into the above picture. Now Jeff could use these elements as the basis for his drawings and eventual painting.

Jeff Herndon’s Final Drawing.

Using all the various elements we had provided him with, along with our description of the action, Jeff then proceeded to whip up this amazing drawing. Note the moon in the background sky, indicative of how this was about to become a night time image. Once we gave him the thumbs up to commit to paints, he really went to town.

Completed Painted Cover

For the next few weeks Jeff worked diligently at bringing his drawing to full color life and he succeeded far beyond our wildest imagination. The night he sent us a jpg. image of the finished painting, Rob and the Air Chief were delighted. Now here was a truly dynamic pulp cover. There remained only one final step, for Rob to design the text and logos etc. to finish the entire cover. So inspired by the art Jeff had accomplished, Rob wasted no time in bringing this dazzling project to a proper conclusion.

COMING SOON!!

And above is the finished cover to what will be our 39th title – JIM ANTHONY – SUPER DETECTIVE – MARK OF TERROR by Joshua Reynolds, cover painting by Jeff Herndon, with nine terrific black and white interior illustrations by Isaac “Bobit” Nacilla and designs by Rob Davis. Currently the book is in the final stages of proofing and we hope to have it out within the next two weeks. Rest assured we will reprint that cover shot here when it is finally on sale. This is our third book in our Jim Anthony series and we are all damn proud of it.

Finally, the icing on the cake arrived only last week when we learned a local art gallery here in the Fort is launching a brand new show featuring ten local artist, one of which is Jeff. And most likely this painting will be on display there in Jeff’s collection. The show runs between 3 Sept and 5 Oct. and is located at the Rendition Gallery, 251 Jefferson St., Fort Collins, Co. Valerie and the Air Chief plan on attending opening night, we’ll bring our camera along to snap some shots of Jeff and his amazing work.