Tagged: editorial

Michael Davis: Milestone Raising 2.1

static_cv2-291x450-1780080A couple of weeks ago Paul Smith asked rather or not Milestone would be better off away from DC.

Last week I addressed his question—but must now admit I did so in a drugged out haze. The drugs (some legal) affected my thought process and I’m afraid what I wrote was a result of such.

Or, it was an April Fool’s gag.

Either way here’s the non-drugged (much) and/or non-gag answer.

Paul, every partner in any partnership be it personal or professional will at some time or from time to time ask if they would be better off with someone else. Its human nature at it’s most pure.

I’ve asked that question, many times.

Regardless if business or personal relationship after I ask that, I ask the following, what’s my goal?

What would the goal be in leaving DC?

(more…)

New From Radio Archives!

 
July 5, 2013
 
 
The CBS Radio Workshop debuted at the end of the Age of Classic Radio, which was a time of innovation and experimentation, especially in terms of radio drama. Volume 3 of the series includes “Subways are for Sleeping”, an adaptation of the novel by Edmund Love, who actually slept on the subways in the Fifties (and, who, with the profits from his book, ate at every restaurant in the New York Yellow Pages, in alphabetical order); “An Analysis of Satire” by Stan Freberg, a comedian, author and actor who is best known today for his voice actor work with Warner Brothers animation; “A Pride of Carrots, or Venus Well Served” is narrated by its author, Robert Nathan, best known for films made from his novels (The Bishop’s Wife, with Cary Grant, and Portrait of Jennie, with Jennifer Jones); he also contributed “Report on the Weans”, which “documents” what future archaeologist might deduce about twentieth century life by examining its artifacts; an adaptation of Mark Twain’s Roughing It, a semi-autobiographical travelogue that was published in 1872 as a prequel to Innocents Aboard, and covered Twain’s travels in the American West 1861-1867; “The Legend of Annie Christmas”, the title role of which was played by Amanda Randolph, the first African-American actress to star in a regularly scheduled network television show; an adaptation of Charles Ferdinand Ramuz’s 1935 novel, When the Mountain Fell.
 
The man behind CBS Radio Workshop, which debuted in 1956, was William Froug. Inspired directly by the work of Norman Corwin on the original Columbia Workshop, Froug put all the pieces together to produce a program that took the best of what had come before it and succeeded even further in production, performance and storytelling.
 
CBS Radio Workshop not only continued to push boundaries in terms of utilizing story, music, voice and more in exciting, modern ways, it broke new ground in radio drama. In short, the CBS Radio Workshop set the standard for modern audio drama.
 
Blending sound effects with story, music with voice, and quality with substance, the episodes on CBS Radio Workshop, Volume 3 shows how boundless storytelling can be with audio drama. 10 hours $29.98 Audio CDs / $14.99 Download.
 
Special 50% discount Offer
 
 
“If trouble is around, yours truly will most likely get a chunk of it.”
“Richard Diamond, Private Detective” proved to be the perfect radio vehicle for actor-singer Dick Powell, combining his tough-guy image, showcased in the 1944 film “Murder, My Sweet” and the 1945-46 radio series “Rogue’s Gallery,” with his tremendous talent for a song, as all those 1930s Warner Brothers/Fox musicals will bear out. The detective series, created by an aspiring screenwriter named Blake Edwards, featured a hard-boiled detective who rarely took himself too seriously; Edwards, the future director of the “Pink Panther” film series, conceived the Diamond character as an ex-cop who had decided to hang out his own shingle in the investigation business.
 

Richard Diamond bore a not-unintentional resemblance to another wisecracking detective of the airwaves, namely Sam Spade (as in “The Adventures of”). Both shamuses – Powell as Diamond, Howard Duff as Spade – demonstrated a breezy insouciance that added a much-needed touch of levity to the type of detective show that was often in danger of sinking under the weight of its own clichés. The lighthearted tone of “Richard Diamond” was even evident in the program’s weekly opening, which featured Powell whistling a jaunty “Leave it to Love.” It was not uncommon, after cracking each weekly case, for “the singing detective” to sit down at the piano in the penthouse apartment of Helen Asher, his wealthy, red-headed love interest played by Virginia Gregg and also Frances Robinson, and serenade her with a number from the Hit Parade. In-jokes were rampant on the show; Richard would often make reference to other detectives (notably Sam Spade) and he had a particularly pronounced fondness for actress June Allyson — in real life, Mrs. Dick Powell.
 
Just as Spade had a love-hate relationship with Lieutenant Dundy, Diamond shared a similar bond with his contact on the force, homicide detective Lieutenant Walt Levinson. The sarcastic badinage between the detective and his easily agitated cop pal provided many a memorable moment on the series. Diamond reserved his suffer-no-fools disdain for Sergeant Otis Ludlum, a cop who had such a force field of stupidity surrounding him that you just know he had to have a relative at City Hall looking after his job. Otis was played by actor Wilms Herbert, who also doubled on the show as Francis, Helen’s faithful retainer; Francis had an uncanny, mood-killing knack of barging in at the most inopportune times, like when Diamond and Helen were getting ready to turn down the lights and pour the wine…
 
“Richard Diamond, Private Detective” debuted over NBC Radio on April 24, 1949 as a sustaining series, but picked up a sponsor in Rexall Drugs (complete with announcer Bill “Whistler” Forman and your Rexall family druggist) in June 1950. Camel Cigarettes picked up the tab as of January of 1951, just before the show moved to ABC, but by June the show was back with Rexall again, which continued its sponsorship until the program left the airwaves on June 27, 1952. (The series would return briefly during the summer of 1953 for CBS, recycling earlier scripts from the 1950-51 season.)
 
10 hours. Regular Price $29.98 – Specially priced until July 18 for $14.99 Audio CDs / $7.49 Download.
 
 
Will Murray’s Pulp Classics #29
by Frederick C. Davis writing as Curtis Steele
Read by Richard Epcar. Liner Notes by Will Murray
 
 

From out of the pages of Operator #5 magazine steps a dramatic hero who pits himself against threats to national security from all origins. Whether it’s a subversive internal threat, or a full-scale invasion from an enemy land, James Christopher stood ready and resolute to defeat it.
 
James Christopher did not technically belong to the U. S. Secret Service. He was a top agent for an America’s unnamed Intelligence Service. It was in his blood. His father, John Christopher, retired from the same agency years before. Answerable only to his superior, Z-7, and carrying a letter from the President of the United States identifying him as Operator #5, Jimmy Christopher played for keeps. He carried a rapier sewn into his belt, and in a golden skull hanging from his watch-chain was a reservoir of poison to be swallowed in the event of capture.
 
Aided by a small group of trusted assistants, ranging from his twin sister Nan to scrappy street urchin Tim Donovan, Jimmy Christopher was a one-man defense force. Proud and patriotic, expert marksman and swordsman, he is the best America has to offer in a time of severe trial.
 
Fresh from his epic battle with the malevolent forces of the Yellow Empire in the previous exploit torn from the pages of Operator #5 magazine, James Christopher once again grapples with the machinations of the belligerent Asian Island nation in The Yellow Scourge.
 
One moment good-will bound the United States and the great Power across the sea—the next, shells screamed their death wails into Coast homes and factories. No citizen was safe from the bloody holocaust when the Yellow Empire struck without warning from the Pacific. With fiendish artifice the world was turned against us. And somewhere in this country, covertly completing the terrifying work of wholesale destruction, lurked the ruthless agent of the invading hordes. Operator #5 alone guessed the dread secret and matched his individual might against a million war-drunk terrorists…while the nation trembled on the brink of red wreckage!
 
Back in 1934, pulp writers didn’t name names—if they could help it—but Frederick C. Davis, writing as Curtis Steele, was prescient in that seven years before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, he depicted the forces of Nippon as bombarding coastal California!
 
This Total Pulp Experience audiobook contains all three stories from the third issue of Operator #5 magazine, June, 1934. 6 hours $23.98 Audio CDs / $11.99 Download.
 
 
 
 
RadioArchives.com and Will Murray are giving away the downloadable version of the newly released Strange Detective Mysteries audiobook for FREE.
 
If you prefer the Audio CDs to play in your car or home CD player, the coupon code will subtract the $11.99 price of the download version from the Audio CDs. That makes the Audio CDs half price.
 
Add Strange Detective Mysteries to the shopping cart and use the Coupon Code AUDIOBOOK.
 
“Strange Detective Mysteries #1 is one of my favorite pulps and I am excited to produce it as an audiobook with my good friends at Radio Archives. It leads off with Norvell W. Page’s bizarre novelette, “When the Death-Bat Flies,” and includes thrilling stories by Norbert Davis, Paul Ernst, Arthur Leo Zagat, Wayne Rogers and others. Popular Publications went all-out to make this 1937 debut issue a winner. And they succeeded!”
 
Happy listening,
Will Murray
 
 
 
New Will Murray’s Pulp Classics eBooks
 
The best of timeless Pulp now available as cutting edge eBooks! Will Murray’s Pulp Classics brings the greatest heroes, awesome action, and two fisted thrills to your eReader! Presenting Pulp Icons such as the Spider and Operator #5 as well as wonderfully obscure characters like the Octopus and Captain Satan. Will Murray’s Pulp Classics brings you the best of yesterday’s Pulp today!
 
Over the tabernacle meeting rose the old man’s shout, “This is a phony religion, you dumb psalm-singers! There is only one true religion, and that is — ” Then, horrified, incredulous, the victimized worshipers beheld that defiant figure suddenly snuffed out in fire and smoke. For a new hysteria was sweeping the nation — headed by one who called himself the reincarnation of Zoroaster. His god was the Fire God, and men must pay tribute in money and adoration — or die! Hundreds perished in flames, and the police were paralyzed. It was Richard Wentworth, as the Spider, who took up the trail of the flame-master — to lock grips with the greatest murder-menace that men had seen since the time of ancient priests and human sacrifice! Total Pulp Experience. These exciting pulp adventures have been beautifully reformatted for easy reading as an eBook and features every story, every editorial, and every column of the original pulp magazine. $2.99.
 
 

Criminals quaked at the name The Secret Six. And for four glorious issues, this team of six crimefighters took on some of the weirdest and most fantastic antagonists that ever reared their heads in the pulp magazines. It was where weird menace met six normal men with no strange gadgets or outlandish skills. The utterly amazing stories were written by Robert J. Hogan, better known for writing the G-8 and his Battle Aces stories. But after four issues, the over-the-top action came to an end and Popular Publications pulled the plug on the series. These vintage pulp tales are now reissued for today’s readers in electronic format. $2.99.

 
In 1934 a new type of magazine was born. Known by various names — the shudder pulps, mystery-terror magazines, horror-terror magazines — weird menace is the sub-genre term that has survived today. Terror Tales magazine was one of the most popular. It came from Popular Publications, whose publisher Harry Steeger was inspired by the Grand Guignol theater of Paris. This breed of pulp story survived less than ten years, but in that time, they became infamous, even to this day. This ebook contains a collection of stories from the pages of Terror Tales magazine, all written by Henry Treat Sperry, reissued for today’s readers in electronic format. $2.99.
 

In 1934 a new type of magazine was born. Known by various names — the shudder pulps, mystery-terror magazines, horror-terror magazines — weird menace is the sub-genre term that has survived today. Dime Mystery Magazine was one of the most popular. It came from Popular Publications, whose publisher Harry Steeger was inspired by the Grand Guignol theater of Paris. This breed of pulp story survived less than ten years, but in that time, they became infamous, even to this day. This ebook contains a collection of stories from the pages of Dime Mystery Magazine, all written by Paul Ernst, reissued for today’s readers in electronic format. $2.99.

 
99 cent eBook Singles
Each 99 cent eBook Single contains a single short story, one of the many amazing tales selected from the pages of Terror Tales and Rangeland Romances. These short stories are not included in any of our other eBooks.
 
What devil’s power was it that sent fierce terror prowling through the shadowed rooms of the ancient house of the Ravilliacs? In 1934 a new type of magazine was born. Known by various names — the shudder pulps, mystery-terror magazines, horror-terror magazines — weird menace is the sub-genre term that has survived today. Dime Mystery Magazine was one of the most popular. It came from Popular Publications, whose publisher Harry Steeger was inspired by the Grand Guignol theater of Paris. This breed of pulp story survived less than ten years, but in that time, they became infamous, even to this day. This ebook contains a classic story the pages of Dime Mystery Magazine, reissued for today’s readers in electronic format. $0.99.
 
In modern New York, the Medieval Inquisition lived again! In 1934 a new type of magazine was born. Known by various names — the shudder pulps, mystery-terror magazines, horror-terror magazines — weird menace is the sub-genre term that has survived today. Dime Mystery Magazine was one of the most popular. It came from Popular Publications, whose publisher Harry Steeger was inspired by the Grand Guignol theater of Paris. This breed of pulp story survived less than ten years, but in that time, they became infamous, even to this day. This ebook contains a classic story the pages of Dime Mystery Magazine, reissued for today’s readers in electronic format. $0.99.
 
 
The woman I love is so overpoweringly lovely that she awakens in my being a monster that thirsts for beauty — and destroys it! In 1934 a new type of magazine was born. Known by various names — the shudder pulps, mystery-terror magazines, horror-terror magazines — weird me most popular. It came from Popular Publications, whose publisher Harry Steeger was inspired by the Grand Guignol theater of Paris. This breed of pulp story survived less than ten years, but in that time, they became infamous, even to this day. This ebook contains a classic story from the pages of Terror Tales magazine, reissued for today’s readers in electronic format. $0.99.
 
Salty little Arly went all-out to out-glamour a gorgeous Eastern girl. One of the most popular settings for romance stories was the old west, where men were men and women were women. As many a swooning damsel could attest, “There’s something about a cowboy.” The western romance became one of the most popular types of magazines sold during the early and mid-twentieth century. $0.99.
 
All eBooks produced by Radio Archives are available in ePub, Mobi, and PDF formats for the ultimate in compatibility. When you upgrade to a new eReader, you can transfer your eBook to your new device without the need to purchase anything new.
 
Find these legendary Pulp tales and more in Will Murray’s Pulp Classics, now available at:
 
 
Search for RadioArchives.com in iTunes.
 
 
 
 
Receive an exciting original Spider adventure FREE! Part of the Will Murray Pulp Classics line, The Spider #11, Prince of the Red Looters first saw print in 1934 and features his momentous battle with The Fly and his armies of crazed criminal killers.
 
For those who have been unsure about digging into the wonderful world of pulps, this is a perfect chance to give one of these fantastic yarns a real test run. With a full introduction to the Spider written by famed pulp historian and author Will Murray, The Spider #11 was written by one of pulp’s most respected authors, Norvell W. Page. Writing as Grant Stockbridge, Page’s stories included some of the most bizarre and fun takes on heroes and crime fighting in the history of escapist fiction.
 
Even today Page’s scenarios and his edge-of-the-seat writing style are still thrilling both new and old fans everywhere. For those who have never read one of these rollercoaster adventures, you are in for a thrill. If you already know how much fun a classic pulp is, make sure you get a copy of this classic.
 
See what the Total Pulp Experience is for yourself. These exciting pulp adventures have been beautifully reformatted for easy reading as an eBook and features every story, every editorial, and every column of the original pulp magazine.
 
Send an eMail to eBooks@RadioArchives.com and start reading your FREE copy of the Spider #11 within seconds! Experience The Best Pulps the Past has to offer in the most modern way possible!
 
 
 

Pulp fiction’s Master of Men returns in two classic stories from one of the pulp era’s best selling magazines. First, in “Slaves of the Murder Syndicate” (1936), tiny darts tipped with a strange and deadly drug are wreaking havoc on the city and spreading fear and panic throughout the population. Victims, struck with the darts, die horribly, convulsing with the deadly rhythms of an evil and sinister dance of death. The Spider is desperately needed or help battle this terrible menace from the east but, as Richard Wentworth. he finds himself betrayed into the hands of the police – by his own fiance! Then, in “Pirates From Hell” (1940), a buccaneer calling himself LaFitte recreates history and plunders not ships of sea, but trains and their vital cargo. Like his pirate predecessor, LaFitte hands out death and fates worse than death to those he crushes in his path: white slavery, fiendish tortures — no method is too foul for the pirate and his savage crew of murdering cut-throats. Can The Spider defeat LaFitte? These two exciting pulp adventures have been beautifully reformatted for easy reading and feature both of the original full color covers as well as interior illustrations that accompany each story. On sale for $12.95, save $2.00

 

The Knight of Darkness proves that crime does not pay in two pulp classics by Walter B. Gibson writing as “Maxwell Grant.” First, The Shadow follows a trail of murder to retrieve the priceless rubies known as “The Seven Drops of Blood.” Then, to prove the innocence of a man accused of an impossible crime, the Dark Avenger must uncover the strange secret behind “Death from Nowhere.” BONUS: The Whisperer brings true sight to “The Eye of Zion” in a thriller by Alan Hathway writing as “Clifford Goodrich.” This instant collector’s item features the classic color pulp covers by Graves Gladney and George Rozen, the original interior illustrations by Tom Lovell and Edd Cartier, and commentary by popular culture historian Will Murray. $14.95.

 

The pulps’ original “Man of Steel” returns in three action-packed pulp thrillers by Paul Ernst and Emile Tepperman writing as “Kenneth Robeson.” First, smuggled “Pictures of Death” are only the sinister prelude to deadly sabotage and mass destruction. Then, Justice Inc. hunts for the antidote to a deadly malady that transforms men into apelike monstrosities in “The Green Killer.” Will the cure bring death to The Avenger? PLUS “Calling Justice Inc.,” a bonus Avenger thriller by Spider-scribe Emile Tepperman! This classic pulp reprint showcases the classic color pulp covers by Lenosci and William Timmons, Paul Orban’s interior illustrations and commentary by pulp historian Will Murray. $14.95.

The Man of Bronze and his daredevil cousin Pat Savage return in two classic pulp novels by Lester Dent and William Bogart writing as “Kenneth Robeson.” First, Doc Savage is accused of serial murders and jailed. Can Pat and Doc’s aides help unearth the strange secret of “The Invisible-Box Murders” and prove the Man of Bronze’s innocence? Then, Doc journeys to Honolulu after a strange letter makes Pat’s friend, Sally Trent, a “Target for Death.” BONUS: “The Hang String,” a rare 1933 tale by Lester Dent from the back pages of The Shadow Magazine. This double-novel collector’s edition leads off with a classic color cover by Emery Clarke, and showcases all of Paul Orban’s original interior illustrations and new historical commentary by Will Murray, writer of eleven Doc Savage novels. $14.95.

 
This is an authentic replica of an original pulp magazine published by Girasol Collectables. This edition is designed to give the reader an authentic taste of what a typical pulp magazine was like when it was first issued – but without the frailty or expense of trying to find a decades-old collectable to enjoy. The outer covers, the interior pages, and the advertisements are reprinted just as they appeared in the original magazine, left intact to give the reader the true feel of the original as well as an appreciation for the way in which these publications were first offered to their avid readers. To further enhance the “pulp experience”, this edition is printed on off-white bond paper intended to simulate the original look while, at the same time, assuring that this edition will last far longer than the original upon which it is based. The overall construction and appearance of this reprint is designed to be as faithful to the original magazine as is reasonably possible, given the unavoidable changes in production methods and materials. $35.00.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Continuing to Celebrate the 80th Anniversary of Doc Savage and King Kong
 
Will Murray’s Monumental New Novel
Doc Savage vs. King Kong!
 
Eighty years ago in February, 1933 the Street & Smith company released the first issue of Doc Savage Magazine, introducing one of the most popular and influential pulp superheroes ever to hit the American scene. Doc Savage was the greatest adventurer and scientist of his era, and while his magazine ended in 1949, he influenced the creators of Superman, Batman, Star Trek, The Man from UNCLE and the Marvel Universe—to name only a few.
 
While that first issue of Doc Savage was fresh on Depression newsstands, RKO Radio Pictures released one of the most important fantasy films of all time. Everyone knows the story of how King Kong was discovered on Skull Island and hauled back to New York in chains, only to perish tragically atop the world’s tallest skyscraper, the Empire State Building.
 
As it happened, that was where Doc Savage had his world headquarters. For decades, fans have wondered: Where was Doc the day Kong fell?
 
On the eightieth anniversary of these fictional giants, Altus Press is proud to release the first authorized clash between The Man of Bronze and the Eighth Wonder of the World—Doc Savage: Skull Island. Written by Will Murray in collaboration with Joe DeVito, creator of KONG: King of Skull Island, Doc Savage: Skull Island is a new pulp epic.
 
The story opens when Doc returns from his secret retreat in the North Pole to discover the cold corpse of Kong lying on his doorstep.
 
“I know this creature,” Doc tells his dumbfounded men.
 
Tasked to dispose of the remains, the Man of Bronze then relates the untold story of his epic encounter with Kong back in 1920, after Doc returns from service in World War I, long before Kong became known to the civilized world as “King” Kong.
 
Doc Savage: Skull Island is a multi-generational story in which Doc and his father—the man who placed him in the hands of scientists who made him into a superman—sail to the Indian Ocean in search of Doc’s grandfather, the legendary Stormalong Savage, whose famous clipper ship has been discovered floating, deserted, her masts snapped by some incredible force.
 
The quest for Stormalong Savage leads to the fog-shrouded Indian Ocean and—Skull Island! There, Doc Savage faces his first great test as he encounters its prehistoric dangers and tangles with the towering, unstoppable Kong.
 
“When Joe DeVito brought this idea to me,” says Will Murray, “I knew it had to be written with reverence for both of these immortal characters. So I used the locale of Skull Island to tell a larger story, an untold origin for Doc Savage. It all started back on Skull Island….”
 
“Pulling off the first ever face-off between Doc Savage and King Kong was both challenging and exhilarating,” adds DeVito. “Will’s unique take on the tale scatters the primordial mists surrounding Skull Island long enough to reveal secrets of both classic characters hidden since their creation.”
 
Doc Savage: Skull Island has already been hailed as “The Doc Savage novel that Doc fans have been waiting on for 80 years!”
 
Doc Savage: Skull Island is the fifth entry in Altus Press’ popular Wild Adventures of Doc Savage series. Cover by Joe DeVito. $24.95.
 
 
By Dr. Art Sippo
 
A silver pleasure sloop is found adrift by the Coast Guard. On it are fifteen bodies bloated and sun-burned beyond recognition. One of the bodies belongs to a woman whose throat has been cut by a well-known philanthropist who himself lies dead next to her. Reviewing the passenger’s list one passenger is missing: Velma Crale, female adventurer, aviatrix, and all around daredevil. She had just completed an aerial trip around the South Polar region but rather atypically claimed she had found nothing of interest. Now she has disappeared while everyone else on her ship has been killed by what appears to be severe sun exposure.
 
One week later, Velma Crale calls Doc Savage. He and his men are told to board the liner Regis sailing from Southhampton for New York and to watch out for a man named Thurston H. Wardhouse. No sooner are they underway when mayhem and violence stalk them. Then just as Doc and his crew seem to get the upper hand, the Regis is bathed is a powerful blinding light unlike anything they have ever seen. This secret weapon was what Velma Crale encountered at the South Pole. It so frightened her that she kept quiet about it until she could get to Doc Savage for help. Now the Regis has been taken over by cutthroats who change its course to take the ship to the South Pole?
 
Why is this ship being hijacked? What is the secret that Velma Crale discovered at the South Pole? Who is Thurston H. Wardhouse? Who has taken over the ship? What is this deadly weapon that kills with bright light? Is it too late now to stop the nefarious plot?
 
Don’t miss this exciting adventure as Doc and his iron crew combat the South Pole Terror! Double Novel reprint $12.95
 
Comments From Our Customers!
 
Ivan Watson writes:
Thank you again for all that you do to preserve America’s invaluable radio heritage and for providing me with many hours of wonderful radio listening.
 
Joseph Wrzos writes:

I’ve bought quite a few of the Radio Archives audio series, which I love. Enjoying the curious sensation of “listening” to pulp stories of old read aloud, though “not” converted into radio dramas. So far, I’ve particularly liked THE SPIDER, DOC SAVAGE, DR. YEN SIN, THE GREEN LAMA, STRANGE DETECTIVE MYSTERIES, TERROR TALES, and (most particularly) THE MOON POOL AND OTHER WONDERS.

Editor: Joe suggests a number of ideas for future audiobooks which we are considering. Take Joe’s advice and pick up a copy of The Moon Pool and Other Wonders. It is mesmerizing.
 
If you’d like to share a comment with us or if you have a question or a suggestion send an email to Service@RadioArchives.com. We’d love to hear from you!
 
The products you’ve read about in this newsletter are just a small fraction of what you’ll find waiting for you at RadioArchives.com. Whether it’s the sparkling audio fidelity of our classic radio collections, the excitement of our new line of audiobooks, or the timeless novels of the pulp heroes, you’ll find hundreds of intriguing items at RadioArchives.com.
 
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Martha Thomases Makes Her Own Apologies

thomases-art-130301-8566492According to this story, which is a rumor on a rumor-mongering site (which I love!), Dan DiDio recently apologized to DC creative talent at an editorial retreat. He admitted that there had been problems in the communication between editorial and talent, including editorial demanding changes to work that had already been approved.

Since, on my other soapbox, I have recently complained that men rarely apologize, it feels like I should do something to acknowledge this.

I should make my own apologies.

For the purposes of this column, we’re going to limit my apologies to the field of comics. Even the Internet doesn’t have enough space for everything else.

  1. Kevin Smith, I’m sorry it feels like I’m stalking you. About 20 years ago, we met at an exhibit of original comic book art. I liked Clerks. Later, when your movies made more money, I would point to you at conventions and tell people I knew you. That must have been creepy for you, some strange old woman pointing and staring.

  2. And, while I don’t know Dave Sim (nor do I wish to), I’m sorry that Friends of Lulu contributed to pushing him over the edge. I don’t think it will make him feel any better to know that we considered neither him nor his feelings one little bit.

  3. When I would meet booksellers at Book Expo America who said they didn’t read comics because they didn’t like superheroes, I would ask them to tell me a movie they liked, and then recommend the appropriate title for them. This is fine in a sales environment, but not great at parties in my real life. I’m so sorry, and completely understand why you walked away as quickly as you could, Patti Smith. Still, I thing you would like Rogan Gosh.

  4. At the same time, there are books that were everything I ever wanted between two covers, like Leave It to Chance, and, despite buying at least 20 copies of each issue to give away, plus multiple copies of the trade, I did not do enough to keep them alive. I wish it was still around so I could do more to make amends.

  5. Despite Alan Moore’s objections to the projects even existing, I went to see From Hell, V for Vendetta and Watchmen in movie theaters. And, to varying degrees, liked them. I feel like I’ve betrayed one of my favorite writers.

  6. And, by going to see Watchman, I inadvertently encouraged Zach Snyder. His sense of production design is admirable, but he has no sense of pacing, much less, you know, character or story. I tremble in fear about what he’s going to do to Superman.

  7. Neil Gaiman always drew a long line when he was signing things at the DC booth during convention season, even way back in the 1990s. It was often my job to be “the bitch at the end of the line,” meaning I had to tell people that there would be no more books signed. It was necessary so Neil could do other things besides sign books (eat, pee, sleep), so I’m not sorry that I was looking out for him. Rather, I’m sorry I performed my duties with so much glee.

  8. And while we’re on the subject, it was my fault, and I regret that I caused you such anxiety, Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean, when I didn’t provide adequate information to you or your driver to get to that morning interview on the FX Network back when DC published Mr. Punch. I’m sure it was really nerve-wracking to be driving around Manhattan at six in the morning, lost. On the other hand, Tom Bergeron was really nice. And a fanboy.

  9. The biggest story of my time at DC was the Death of Superman. People remember that he died, then came back. They don’t remember that the narrative point was the next storyline, “World Without a Superman.” DC wanted to show how important Superman was, and how we responded to his absence. And now they’ve killed off Damien Wayne, just when I was starting to like him. This is no legacy for a pacifist.

  10. When Image Comics started, I admired their defense of creator rights, but didn’t particularly like the books they published at the time. As a result, I didn’t pay enough attention to their work as the company matured. I’ve missed a lot of good stuff, and it’s my own damn fault. Please forgive me, and please keep releasing complete runs digitally so I can catch up.

SATURDAY: Marc Alan Fishman On Technobabble

SUNDAY: John Ostrander On Revamp

 

STRANGE DETECTIVES, RADIO WORKSHOPS, AND MORE! FROM RADIO ARCHIVES

  • News
  • January 18, 2013

RadioArchives.com Newsletter

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January 18, 2013
 
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The Age of Classic Radio was a time of innovation and experimentation, especially in terms of radio drama. A program that took the best of what had come before it and succeeded even further in production, performance, and storytelling actually debuted at the end of Radio’s Golden Age. This tour de force of radio drama can now be enjoyed in CBS Radio Workshop, Volume 1.
 
A direct descendant of the Columbia Workshop, CBS Radio Workshop not only continued to push boundaries in terms of utilizing story, music, voice and more in exciting, modern ways, it broke new ground in radio drama. From having author Aldous Huxley narrate the adaptation of his Brave New World for the show’s debut to producing an interview with William Shakespeare to turning a stirring folk ballad into a mix of rhyme and performance by William Conrad in The Legend of Jimmy Blue Eyes, the CBS Radio Workshop set the standard for modern audio drama.
 
The man behind CBS Radio Workshop, which debuted in 1956, was William Froug. Inspired directly by the work of Norman Corwin on the original Columbia Workshop, Froug put all the pieces together to produce not only a great radio program, but shows that would inspire and move its audience as well as its cast and crew.
 
Blending sound effects with story, music with voice, and quality with substance, the first twelve episodes on CBS Radio Workshop, Volume 1 shows how boundless storytelling can be with audio drama. 6 hours $17.98 Audio CDs / $8.99 Download.

 
 
 
 

 

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Read by Michael C. Gwynne, Roy Worley, and Roger Price
 

In the Fall of 1937, Popular Publications launched a new type of detective magazine, one that combined the Weird Menace-style stories that had made Terror Tales and Horror Stories so hot with readers of hardboiled detective-action tales. They called it Strange Detective Mysteries.
 
In his first-issue editorial, Managing Editor Rogers Terrill set the stage:
 
“Remember the time you read that one perfect knockout, detective story—bizarre, mysterious, thrill-packed, different? It still remains the detective story for you. You’ve wondered why you never found another. You searched bookstores, library shelves, newsstands—but you just couldn’t find that brand!
 
“Beginning with this issue—we give you Strange Detective Mysteries—not only one bizarre, thrilling eerie-laden mystery story such as you’ve searched for, but a whole magazine full of them!
 
“Because you have sought for this highest type of detective story, without finding it, you can understand at what cost we bring you this magazine. Months of planning and effort have gone into its making. The best known and most able detective-story writers have been called upon—for their best. Only the smallest proportion of a flood of manuscripts has been chosen.
 
“Crime-detection, adventure, baffling mystery—all this you will find in Strange Detective Mysteries. In addition, you will find that quality which appears in a detective story only once in a blue moon—the bizarre!”
 
Terrill used the word bizarre no less than five times in his editorial, italicizing it twice. He was serious! Strange Detective Mysteries was beyond weird.
 
For his lead novel, Terrill served up “When the Death-Bat Flies,” by the writer he called “America’s No. 1 Master of the Extraordinary Mystery Tale”—The Spider’s Norvell W. Page. Starring master magician Aubrei Dunne, it was a wild excursion into a criminal cult dedicated to murder and mayhem.
 
In “Madame Murder—and the Corpse Brigade,” Paul Ernst offered an even more bizarre hero—Seekay, the man with no face!
 
The detective protagonist of Wayne Rogers’ “The Headman’s Hat-Box” witnesses a murder committed by—himself!
 
In George Armin Shaftel’s “The Miracle Murder Case,” a prison break is engineered by an unknown mastermind who terrorizes society with a strange super-weapon!
 
Terror Tales favorite Arthur Leo Zagat’s “Patents for Dr. Death” revisits the realm of Jack the Ripper—but with an uncanny twist.
 
Finally, Norbert Davis’ “Idiot’s Coffin Keepsake” takes us to a weird mansion and the grisly mystery of the missing hand.
 
Narrated by Michael C. Gwynne, Roy Worley and Roger Price, this RadioArchives.com audiobook brings to vibrant life one of the most exciting first issues of any pulp mystery magazine ever published! Don’t miss it! 6 hours $23.98 Audio CDs / $11.99 Download.

 

 
 

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Join the eBook Team!
 
Radio Archives is seeking motivated, excited people to help us proof our eBooks. We created 200 eBooks in 2012 and our goal is 300 eBooks this year. If you have a love for classic Pulp tales as well as a good grasp of spelling, punctuation, capitalization and basic formatting, then you may be just the person we’re looking for! Send an email inquiry to Service@RadioArchives.com for more details! 

 
New Will Murray’s Pulp Classics eBooks

 
The best of timeless Pulp now available as cutting edge eBooks! Will Murray’s Pulp Classics brings the greatest heroes, awesome action, and two fisted thrills to your eReader! Presenting Pulp Icons such as the Spider and Operator #5 as well as wonderfully obscure characters like the Octopus and Captain Satan. Will Murray’s Pulp Classics brings you the best of yesterday’s Pulp today!
 

Without warning the green death ray struck at New York City — burning to charred cinders the helpless humans who crossed its path! Upon America’s proudest city, the Eye of Flame had loosed his fire-fiends, and now the triumphant underworld, freed from prisons by his hand, stalked unchecked among the smoking embers. Alone of all men, Richard Wentworth, in the Spider’s weird disguise, dared fight for a doomed people against the mightiest menace the world had yet seen — a monster who had made millions out of men when he turned them into flaming torches! Total Pulp Experience. These exciting pulp adventures have been beautifully reformatted for easy reading as an eBook and features every story, every editorial, and every column of the original pulp magazine. $2.99.
 
Down from Kentuck’s bleak hills swept the avalanche of stark-naked albino killers — sacking and slaying as they advanced upon New York! Neither bullet nor cold steel could halt that eerie grey mob, invulnerable against all attack, and as they emerged from Manhattan’s subways, loosing the Underworld’s cohorts upon our proudest city, it seemed that America was doomed. Only one individual — Richard Wentworth, in the Spider’s black guise — dared combat this unheard of menace — fighting an epic battle against a master of murder who had turned civilization back five thousand years in order to loot its coffers! Total Pulp Experience. These exciting pulp adventures have been beautifully reformatted for easy reading as an eBook and features every story, every editorial, and every column of the original pulp magazine. As a special bonus, Will Murray has written an introduction especially for this series of eBooks. $2.99.
 
Men fought snarling in the streets over crusts of bread or ferreted, beast-like, through the charred ruins of some once-majestic building in search of food scraps… To such dire state had the city fallen when the Spider, weakened by weeks of illness, returned to take up his seemingly hopeless battle against the Food Destroyers. Total Pulp Experience. These exciting pulp adventures have been beautifully reformatted for easy reading as an eBook and features every story, every editorial, and every column of the original pulp magazine.

 
New England and the Eastern Seaboard were already in the hands of the invaders from the Central Empire! The brutal Purple Emperor, War-Master of Europe and Asia, was beating America to her knees, using his horrible Green Gas, beheading all who resist! With the American Defense Forces routed, only Operator 5, Ace of the Intelligence, and his tiny band of loyal guerillas could hope to check the mad conqueror. A true-to-life, thrilling episode, dramatized from Jimmy Christopher’s own personal history of the Second War of Independence! Total Pulp Experience. These exciting pulp adventures have been beautifully reformatted for easy reading as an eBook and features every story, every editorial, and every column of the original pulp magazine. As a special bonus, Will Murray has written an introduction especially for this series of eBooks. $2.99.
 

In 1934 a new type of magazine was born. Known by various names — the shudder pulps, mystery-terror magazines, horror-terror magazines — weird menace is the sub-genre term that has survived today. Terror Tales magazine was one of the most popular. It came from Popular Publications, whose publisher Harry Steeger was inspired by the Grand Guignol theater of Paris. This breed of pulp story survived less than ten years, but in that time, they became infamous, even to this day. This ebook contains a collection of stories from the pages of Terror Tales magazine by Nat Schachner, reissued for today’s readers in electronic format. $2.99.

 

Newspapers throughout the civilized world screamed the headlines — “WU FANG” CAPTURED! And within the escape-proof walls of Scotland Yard, it was a fact, accomplished through the clever hands of Val Kildare. Yet somewhere within the evil haunts of fog-bound London, sinister agents knew the unspoken desires of the Crime Lord and advanced with the single thought, ESCAPE! — Ever onward, weaving their patterns of Death and Despair! Total Pulp Experience. These exciting pulp adventures have been beautifully reformatted for easy reading as an eBook and features every story, every editorial, and every column of the original pulp magazine. Wu Fang is a Chinese criminal mastermind and scientific genius. With his hybrid monkey-men, he plans to conquer America. He is member of various secret societies and has spies everywhere. Opposing him is Val Kildare of the F.B.I. His aides, reporter Jerry Hazard, archaeologist Rod Carson and newsboy Cappy, help him in his battles against the sinister man of evil known as Wu Fang! $2.99.
 

In their final adventure, Curt Newton and the Futuremen are called on to save the Universe itself from a madman’s destructive whim! Captain Future… the Ace of Space! Born and raised on the moon, Curt Newton survived the murder of his scientist parents to become the protector of the galaxy known as Captain Future. With his Futuremen, Grag the giant robot, Otho, the shape-shifting android and Simon Wright, the Living Brain, he patrols the solar system in the fastest space ship ever constructed, the Comet, pursuing human monsters and alien threats to Earth and her neighbor planets. This is one of the legendary “final seven” Captain Future tales. After a run of twenty pulp issues, the quarterly magazine closed. But that was not the end of Captain Future. He returned in a series of short stories published in Startling Stories magazine, beginning with the January 1950 issue. Edmond Hamilton, creator of Captain Future and author of the majority of the full-length novels, returned to pen seven more Captain Future stories. His style had matured, as had his original audience, and these final seven Captain Future stories are considered to be some of his best. Captain Future left the pages of Startling Stories with the May 1951 issue, but editors left open the possibility that Captain Future might return some day. True fans are still waiting. Until then, Captain Future returns in these vintage pulp tales, reissued for today’s readers in electronic format. $0.99.
 
All eBooks produced by Radio Archives are available in ePub, Mobi, and PDF formats for the ultimate in compatibility. When you upgrade to a new eReader, you can transfer your eBook to your new device without the need to purchase anything new.
 
Find these legendary Pulp tales and more in Will Murray’s Pulp Classics, now available in the Kindle store, Barnes and Noble Nook store, and RadioArchives.com! Search for RadioArchives.com in iTunes with over 200 eBooks are available.
 

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Receive an exciting original Spider adventure FREE! Part of the Will Murray Pulp Classics line, The Spider #11, Prince of the Red Looters first saw print in 1934 and features his momentous battle with The Fly and his armies of crazed criminal killers.
 
For those who have been unsure about digging into the wonderful world of pulps, this is a perfect chance to give one of these fantastic yarns a real test run. With a full introduction to the Spider written by famed pulp historian and author Will Murray, The Spider #11 was written by one of pulp’s most respected authors, Norvell W. Page. Writing as Grant Stockbridge, Page’s stories included some of the most bizarre and fun takes on heroes and crime fighting in the history of escapist fiction.
 
Even today Page’s scenarios and his edge-of-the-seat writing style are still thrilling both new and old fans everywhere. For those who have never read one of these rollercoaster adventures, you are in for a thrill. If you already know how much fun a classic pulp is, make sure you get a copy of this classic.
 

See what the Total Pulp Experience is for yourself. These exciting pulp adventures have been beautifully reformatted for easy reading as an eBook and features every story, every editorial, and every column of the original pulp magazine.
 
Send an eMail to eBooks@RadioArchives.com and start reading your FREE copy of  the Spider #11 within seconds! Experience The Best Pulps the Past has to offer in the most modern way possible!
 
 

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Pulp fiction’s Master of Men returns in two classic stories from the 1930s. First, in “Death’s Crimson Juggernaut” (1934), horror stalks the city as helpless victims are found brutally murdered — by crucifixion! Whole buildings are burned to the ground to further a mad scheme, and no crime is too terrible for the Torture Killers. Richard Wentworth joins the fray as The Spider, and finds himself blinded! Can a sightless Spider hope to win against these odds? Then, in “Claws of the Golden Dragon” (1939), A sinister carving of a scarlet scorpion warns Richard Wentworth of a Chinatown crisis. As soon as he investigates, Nita and Ram Singh are captured and destined to die by torture! Devious traps bring sudden death to all who oppose The Dragon, a horrible death as parasitic orchids burst from the chests of the doomed! These two exciting pulp adventures have been beautifully reformatted for easy reading and feature both of the original full color covers as well as interior illustrations that accompany each story. $14.95! On sale for $12.95, save $2.00

 

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Margo Lane Special
Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows! The Knight of Darkness explores deadly enigmas in the Walter Gibson thrillers that introduced Margo Lane into the Shadow pulp mythos. First, The Shadow and Margo Lane (in her pulp debut) confront the deadly lightning of Thor, The Thunder King. Then, The Shadow investigates the strange machinations of the Secret Six whose giant sapphire, The Star of Delhi. is the centerpiece for serial murders. BONUS: The Witch Drums, a long-lost thriller from Orson Welles’ legendary Shadow broadcasts! This instant collector’s item showcases both classic pulp covers by Graves Gladney plus the original interior illustrations of Paul Orban, with historical commentary by Will Murray and Anthony Tollin. who pays tribute to the late Margot Stevenson, “the Woman who was Margo Lane.” $14.95.
 
The pulp era’s legendary superman returns in two action-packed novels by Alan Hathway and Lester Dent writing as “Kenneth Robeson.” First, the Man of Bronze confronts the deadly menace of The Headless Men, decapitated zombies commanded by a mad genius in the landmark 100th Doc Savage novel. Then, in his first solo adventure, a disguised Doc Savage travels to King Joe Cay to infiltrate a gang of schemers. This double-novel collector’s edition features the original color pulp covers by Emery Clarke and Modest Stein, Paul Orban’s classic interior illustrations and historical commentary by Will Murray, writer of ten Doc Savage novels. $14.95.

What manner of men were these who burned their victims alive — and in public! With flaming pyres adding their nightly terror to a city already tasting the grim pangs of slow starvation, the Spider, revealed at last, is forced to disappear! Can Richard Wentworth, unmasked and in hiding, successfully combat the Flame Men? in this finely produced replica, including all the material from the original magazine, yet packaged for easy storage and enjoyment of modern readers!
 
This is an authentic replica of an original pulp magazine published by Girasol Collectables. This edition is designed to give the reader an authentic taste of what a typical pulp magazine was like when it was first issued – but without the frailty or expense of trying to find a decades-old collectable to enjoy. The outer covers, the interior pages, and the advertisements are reprinted just as they appeared in the original magazine, left intact to give the reader the true feel of the original as well as an appreciation for the way in which these publications were first offered to their avid readers. To further enhance the “pulp experience”, this edition is printed on off-white bond paper intended to simulate the original look while, at the same time, assuring that this edition will last far longer than the original upon which it is based. The overall construction and appearance of this reprint is designed to be as faithful to the original magazine as is reasonably possible, given the unavoidable changes in production methods and materials. $35.00

 
 
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The shattering sequel to Fortress of Solitude.
 
The Doc Savage exploit that went untold for 74 years—Death’s Dark Domain!
 
In the aftermath of the evil John Sunlight’s pillaging of the secret Fortress of Solitude, a dreadful super-weapon has fallen the hands of a Balkan dictator intent upon seizing control of the vampire-haunted zone of desolation known as Ultra-Stygia. War is imminent. Monsters are loose in the disputed region. A strange darkness falls over the sinister landscape. Only Doc Savage, the Man of Bronze, understands the terrible threat to humanity. And only he can prevent the terror from spreading…
 
There are unknown Things prowling the darkest patch of land on the planet. Haunted by creatures that might have emerged from the Hell’s lowest regions, ancient Ultra-Stygia has turned into a cauldron of conflict between rival countries. Monster bats careen through the night sky. Invisible Cyclopes patrol the scorched battleground. And a power beyond understanding robs men of their vision.
 
Can the 20th century’s premier scientist and superman untangle this Gordian knot of carnage before neighboring nations are drawn into an apocalyptic new world war? Or will the Man of Bronze succumb to an unstoppable power he himself has unleashed upon mankind?
 
From the frozen Arctic to the war-torn Balkans, Doc Savage and his fighting five follow a winding trail of terror to a blood-freezing climax.

 
Death’s Dark Domain features a fantastic cover painted by Joe DeVito! $24.95.

 

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Back in print after 20 years! The rare Lester Dent-Will Murray collaboration resurrecting the original pulp superman…
 
Also available is the first Altus Press edition of Will Murray’s 1993 Doc Savage adventure, The Forgotten Realm. Deep in the heart of the African Congo lies a secret unsuspected for thousands of years. Doc Savage and his men embark on a quest to discover the secret of the strange individual known only as X Man, X for unknown. Before they come to the end of the trail, they find themselves fighting for their lives like gladiators of old!
 
No one knows who—or what—the strange being who calls himself “X Man” truly is. He was found wandering the ruins of a crumbling Roman fort, dressed in a toga, speaking classical Latin—and clutching a handful of unearthly black seeds.
 
Declared insane, the X Man patiently tends his weird plants until the day, impelled by a nameless terror, he flees Wyndmoor Asylum to unleash a cyclone of violence that is destined to suck the mighty Man of Bronze into the blackest, most unbelievable mystery of his entire career. For far from Scotland lies a domain of death unknown to the world and called by the ancient Latin name of Novum Eboracum—New York!
 
From the wild Scottish moors to the unexplored heart of darkest Africa, Doc Savage and his indomitable men embarked upon a desperate quest for the Forgotten Realm….
 

The Forgotten Realm features a spectacular cover painted by Joe DeVito! $24.95.
 
 

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By David White

 

The Spider finds himself jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire almost literally in this adventure. The Spider is again wrongly accused of a murder, but this time Richard Wentworth finds himself in the hands of the police for this crime. Having gathered what they believe is concrete evidence that he is the Spider, the authorities are taking no chances on him once again gaining his freedom. Though Wentworth and Kirkpatrick are the best of friends, Stanley can’t shirk his duties. Richard Wentworth’s fate is left to the few companions that he can always count on as well as his vast knowledge if he is to avoid the chair!

Meanwhile a homicidal maniac seems to be looking to set ablaze the world’s food supply. One after another, major food suppliers in the area are watching not only their product, but in many cases their workers being burnt to a crisp by the hideous figure known as ‘The Red Mask.’ He appears to have no rhyme or reason, but the Spider has it all figured out. He knows that the man must be tied into the food business in some form, and therefore is looking to drive the market up.

The odds are stacked against the Spider as he is literally held in wrist and ankle shackles, but somehow must escape to put a stop to this new menace that threatens the world’s food supply.

Yonkers! That’s right, I said Yonkers, but not as an expression. This is the place in New York state where the Spider brings all the wits and daring he can against a man that will stop at nothing to further his own personal greed. The lives of many mean nothing as they are literally set ablaze in an all consuming hellfire caused by special incendiary bombs. The bombs are fast acting, and whatever they touch, erupts into a blazing infernal of high temperature fire.

The action is as fast paced as we Spider fans like it, and the heat is on from start to finish, but fear not, the Spider always has the last laugh! Thrill to this Spider tale.

Girasol Replica #6 $35.00 / eBook $2.99.
 
 
 
 
Comments From Our Customers!

 
Larry Black writes:
You are a great respite from this hustle, bustle world we live in. I really enjoy going back to the days when entertainment was more of an audience-interactive thing that required a vivid imagination, and your service definitely supplies that. Keep up the great work!
 
David Ward writes:
I purchased from the RadioArchives site direct because, just as Amazon has a half dozen Terror Tales volumes not listed on RadioArchives, there are also a half dozen volumes on RadioArchives which aren’t listed on Amazon. I wanted them all so I had to buy from both sites. I prefer RadioArchives.com as the cheaper prices and multiple formats is better value, and it’s good to be kept informed of future releases, etc. It’s great to hear that more ebooks and especially audiobooks are planned. The two readers on Terror Tales are perfect for the spirit of these stories. I never envisaged a day when 30’s horror pulp tales would be available on audiobook (aside from the usual Lovecraft, etc), let alone done so incredibly well! Happy New Year!
 
Joseph Weeg writes:
You all are doing a wonderful thing keeping these books in print and I want to make sure I’m doing my part too. 
 
Gerald Cooper writes:
Hello, absolutely love the new Doc Savage audio books. I am hooked on them. I only wish that there were more of them. Can you give us some idea of what and when the next releases will be? Thank you
 

If you’d like to share a comment with us or if you have a question or a suggestion send an email to Service@RadioArchives.com. We’d love to hear from you!

 
The products you’ve read about in this newsletter are just a small fraction of what you’ll find waiting for you at RadioArchives.com. Whether it’s the sparkling audio fidelity of our classic radio collections, the excitement of our new line of audiobooks, or the timeless novels of the pulp heroes, you’ll find hundreds of intriguing items at RadioArchives.com.
 
If you no longer wish to receive our newsletter, or if this newsletter has been sent to you in error, please reply to this e-mail with the subject line UN-SUBSCRIBE and your name will immediately be removed from our mailing list.
 

Join the CBLDF Website Team!

  • News
  • August 15, 2012

join-the-cbldf-website-team-8176584Just last week, the CBLDF website was recognized by Tom Spurgeon with The Comics Reporter for our “content explosion,” and we want to do more! CBLDF is looking for contributors to add to our already spectacular roster of bloggers. Whether you’re a journalism student looking for experience, a passionate fan of comics and Free Speech, or an educator and librarian who wants to share your experiences, CBLDF is looking for your voice!

Each member of our website team will be asked to identify and/or generate content about relevant Free Speech issues for www.cbldf.org on a weekly or semiweekly basis under editorial guidance from the Web Editor. The Web Editor may assign specific articles for coverage, but contributors will otherwise have flexibility in choosing what they write about. Our current contributors cover stories and generate original posts that run the gamut from the history of comics censorship to the international suppression of cartooning voices.

The blogging positions are voluntary. Articles will be seen by visitors to www.cbldf.org and cross-posted on CBLDF’s Facebook page, Twitter feed, and weekly newsletter, ensuring that several thousand people will see the articles. Contributors will be able to work from anywhere, set their own schedules, build writing and blogging experience, and boost their resumes. In doing so, contributors will support the important First Amendment work of CBLDF.

If you are enthusiastic about the First Amendment, a good writer, and able to take editorial direction, you’re a perfect candidate — apply today!

To apply, please send your resume and a writing sample to betsy.gomez@cbldf.org.

ABOUT THE COMIC BOOK LEGAL DEFENSE FUND
Comic Book Legal Defense Fund is a non-profit organization dedicated to the protection of the First Amendment rights of the comics artform and its community of retailers, creators, publishers, librarians, and readers. The CBLDF provides legal referrals, representation, advice, assistance, and education in furtherance of these goals.

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Archie Comics hires Jim Sokolowski; promotes Alex Segura, Harold Buchholz, Paul Kaminski

  • News
  • June 26, 2012

archie-comics-announces-additions-promotions-to-companys-executive-team-5213316 Jim Sokolowski, formerly of Marvel and DC Comics, joins Archie Comics as Senior Vice President – Sales and Business Development. “Ski” will oversee the company’s sales efforts in the direct, bookstore, digital and newsstand markets and guide plans to expand the reach of the company’s iconic characters and storylines. “Ski” brings a wealth of experience to the company, having previously served as Chief Operating Officer at Marvel and Executive Director of Publishing Operations at DC Comics.

In addition to the new faces, Archie Comics is proud to announce the promotion of a few key staff members to executive positions.

• Harold Buchholz has been promoted from Executive Director of Publishing and Operations to Senior Vice President – Publishing and Operations. Buchholz will continue to oversee the company’s distribution, printing and packaging in order to maximize sales through various channels. Thanks to Buchholz’s diligent efforts, Archie has seen a significant spike in graphic novel output, profitability and visibility – reaching a previously untapped number of new and returning fans. Prior to Archie, Buchholz worked with Jimmy Gownley and Renaissance Press on the popular Amelia Rules! line of graphic novels and was president of Acredale Media, an all-ages comic book print brokerage and consulting service. In addition to his work at Archie, Buchholz is also a cartoonist and writer, and has taught animation and entrepreneurship on the college level.

• Paul Kaminski, editor of SONIC THE HEDGEHOG, SONIC UNIVERSE, MEGA MAN, STAN LEE AND THE MIGHTY SEVEN and NEW CRUSADERS, has been promoted to Executive Director of Editorial. In his new role, Paul will oversee the editorial side of Archie’s graphic novel and comic book output and coordinate the editorial side of Archie’s entire line of titles and imprints. Kaminski saw Archie’s licensed titles, including SONIC and MEGA MAN, rise to new heights of success during his tenure as editor, and will bring his keen editorial insight and managerial style to the company as a whole. A BFA graduate of the School of Visual Arts, Kaminski brings a lifelong love of comics, music and pop culture to his work.

• Alex Segura has been promoted from Executive Director of Publicity and Marketing to Vice President – Publicity and Marketing, and will continue to oversee the company’s external messaging to the press, social media and marketing outlets. Since his arrival at Archie, the company has seen an unprecedented spike in attention and critical praise, including regular and focused news, feature and review attention in the mainstream, book trade and pop culture press, including THE NEW YORK TIMES, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, CBS NEWS, THE DAILY MAIL and more. Before coming to Archie, Segura worked at DC Comics. In addition to his publicity and marketing work for the company, Segura was also the writer of the best-selling ARCHIE MEETS KISS storyline among other stories.

DENNIS O’NEIL: The Original Reboot

oneil-column-art-110922-6128104All hands brace for a confession….Yeah, you got me. I admit that all the noise surrounding DC Comics’ reboot or relaunch or reinvention…whatever you call it, all the dust raised by this activity has caused me the occasional twinge. I worked in the comics trenches for a lot of years and some of it I still miss. Not all, oh no, but – sitting with bright, talented, convivial people in a room and doping out stories to tell…that was one of life’s joys and I’m guessing that the stalwarts at DC have spent a lot of time recently doing just that.

But they aren’t the first to redact the company’s pantheon of superheroes. Way back before you were born – most of you, anyway – Julius Schwartz did pretty much the same thing. The year was 1956 (I told you that you weren’t born yet) and comics, and their primary contribution to pop culture, superheroes – they’d been sickly for about a decade, ever since some politicians, editorial writers and assorted busybodies had convinced a lot of citizens that comics were spawns of evil. (To be fair, changing publishing and retail realities had something to do with comics’ decline, too.) As Julie told me the story: he and his fellow editors were having a meeting and someone decided to revive The Flash, a once-popular character that hadn’t been seen for years. Julie’s words as I remember them: They all looked at me and I said, I guess I’m it.

They did, and he was. He didn’t merely produce a carbon copy of the original Flash, though. With writer Robert Kanigher  and artists Carmine Infantino & Joe Kubert, Julie gave the world a new Flash – new costume, new origin, new identity. He left the original concept intact – the world’s fastest human – and altered everything else to make The Flash and his world reflect this, the world we non-fictional beings in habit. Julie and his merry men taught those of us who followed them how to do it: leave whatever made the character popular and unique alone, and modernize the rest.

There was no particular fuss over Julie’s work, back in 1956. For him, it was just another day at the office. The network of fan publications was at best just a’borning, as were conventions, and websites, like this one, weren’t even science fiction because, as far as I know, nobody had even thought of them. Sure, some dedicated readers may have reacted, but the world at large…yawn. And that may have been where Julie had an advantage over his editorial descendants.

Imagine doing this complex task with hordes of the curious looking over your shoulder, waiting to see if you fail, some of them, human nature being what it is, maybe hoping you’ll fail. And of course, regardless of how well you perform, a lot of your audience will find fault because they’ve been establishing an emotional attachment to these characters for years – for decades? – and any significant changes is going to seem…well, dammit, wrong! Pretty daunting, huh?

I haven’t read any of the new stuff yet. Have I just convinced myself that I shouldn’t?

Recommended Reading: The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America by David Hajdu

FRIDAY: Martha Thomases

JOHN OSTRANDER: Pro Advice – Hit By a Bus

ostrander-110807-art-2733058From time to time I’m going to use this space to talk about professional concerns gleaned from my experiences of the past twenty-five plus years in the industry and pass on words of advice that I got in that time.

For example – if you go to a Convention and you’re a pro, you’re probably going to be asked to autograph copies of your work. Here’s something I didn’t know when I began and was taught by another pro: keep your autograph separate and different from your legal signature (the thing you sign checks and binding contracts with). Walt Simonson, for example, has a great autograph – looks like a dinosaur. I doubt he signs his checks that way. It makes sense. If your autograph is the same as your legal signature, it makes it easier for someone to forge that signature and that’s not good.

Here’s another bit of advice. I was once negotiating a contract at one of the major companies and I had a question about something in the contract that no one could answer. I was told, “Oh, John. Just go ahead and sign it. We’re all family here.”

My answer was – no, we’re not. I know who and what my family is and the company isn’t it. I applied my “Hit By A Bus” theory which goes as follows: if everyone I knew (and liked) at a given company all went out to lunch together and they were all hit by a bus and killed, all I would have would be the contract as written.

I have lots of friends at lots of different companies in lots of different positions ranging from editorial to management to production to the business end. They’re all personnel and can be promoted, demoted, fired, leave, and so on. The company itself can merge with another, change divisions, be sold, be bought, and more than one has gone out of business out from under me. Businesses will make business decisions that are usually based on financial reasons. The famous line from the Godfather, “it’s not personal; it’s just business” remains true.

I don’t fault businesses for that. It’s what they are. I may have friends at a certain business and, yes, I often depend on them to be friends. I never expect a corporation to be my friend. I don’t care what a commercial that’s trying to sell you something tells you to the contrary. A business is not your friend and certainly isn’t your family. They are a corporate entity and they will act like one. Don’t expect anything different.

Short form: read the contract, any contract, and know what you’re getting into. If you need a lawyer to explain it to you, get one. Don’t take the word of anyone working for the company as to what it means; make sure it’s someone who is not part of the corporation. That’s true outside of comics as well as in. If it isn’t in the contract, it doesn’t exist legally. There is no “understanding,” there’s only what’s on paper. Know that before you put your legal signature – not your autograph – on the dotted line. You and your family will be happier as a result.

And watch out for killer buses.

MONDAY: Mindy Newell

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Twitter Updates for 2011-03-09

  • News
  • March 9, 2011
  • Who knew? Cigarettes and whisky are acceptable during editorial meetings. Cover designers prefer hashish. http://ow.ly/49QqR #
  • Resurrecting a Genre with a Dead Man http://ow.ly/4anyj Better than resurrecting a Brand #badcomicpun #imsorryimsorryimsorry #

Ted Rall Gets Animated

  • News
  • September 19, 2008

lil-rall-5884648It’s been a good week for cartoonist / columnist / bon vivant Ted Rall.

The Mad Magazine regular and incendiary editorial cartoonist was named president of the American Association of Editorial Cartoonists. GIven how some newspapers are dropping their local editorial cartoonists in an organized effort to trim down their page count while chasing away their readership base, the position is perfect for an advocate/rabble-rouser like Rall (and, of course, I say that with the utmost respect).

Now he’s got himself his first animated editorial cartoon.

Ted wrote and drew a four-minute cartoon revealing what President Barack Obama’s first day in office might be like. In typical Rallian fashion, what you see might not please Obama’s supporters. Or McCain’s, for that matter.

Animation was provided by David Essman, a student at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (ahem; my alma mater) and it’s available at YouTube… and, of course, by clicking right here.

 

 

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