Tagged: Hero

FORTIER TAKES ON BLOOD OF THE REICH!!

  • News
  • June 29, 2011

ALL PULP REVIEWS by Ron Fortier

BLOOD OF THE REICH
By William Dietrich
Harper Books
417 pages
Available July 2011
ISBN 13 – 978-0-06-198918-6

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You realize there are books reviewers are predisposed to like by the title alone.  When the good folks at the New York Journal of Books offered to send me this book, it was because I’d already reviewed an earlier book by the same author and liked it a great deal.  But being brutally honest here, I’d forgotten what that title was until they showed me the cover image to “Blood of the Reich.”  Ah, yes, William Dietrich, I thought, the fellow who created that Revolutionary version of Indiana Jones in his first book, “Napoleon’s Hero.”  Yes, I had enjoyed that historical romp and was curious as to what this new stand alone offering might contain in the way of a fun reading experience.

Once I read the marketing copy, I was hooked.  Nazis scientists racing to Tibet in hopes of finding a hidden mystical power in the lost city of Shambhala.  These plot elements scream pulp pleasure and I knew immediately this was my kind of book.  Dietrich’s background as a naturalist and historian allow him to create outlandish plots against authentic, real world settings and it is that richness of historical data that catapults “Blood of the Reich” into action from page one.

In 1938 Kurt Raeder, a German archeologist, is given an assignment by Hitler’s personal advisor, SS Chief Heinrich Himmler.  Raeder and a handful of loyal Nazis scientists are to travel to Tibet, seek out the lost city of Shambhala and there retrieve an ancient power known as Vril.  Himmler and the members of the arcane Thule Society believe this Vril could tip the balance of the coming war in Germany’s favor and fulfill Hitler’s mad dreams of a Third Reich world conquest.

Raeder is an intellectual sadist and the temptation to achieve personal glory, maybe even immortality, through the success of such an undertaking is much too great for him to resist.  And so the mission is launched.  At the same time, American intelligence agencies discover Raeder’s purpose and recruit their own academic agent, zoologist Benjamin Hood, to go after the Nazis and beat them at their own game.  Failing that, he is to sabotage their efforts and assure Vril never becomes a German weapon.

Now this rollicking race across the world is exciting enough but Deitrich ups the ante by creating a second storyline; this one taking place today.  Rominy Pickett is a computer publicist living in Seattle when she is kidnapped by a mysterious, handsome journalist, who claims her life is in danger from Neo-Nazis.  They believe her to be the great granddaughter of Benjamin Hood.  These want-to-be Nazis have uncovered the records of Raeder’s Tibetan mission and hope Rominy will lead them to rediscover what was found in those rugged mountains back in 1938.  Thus is a smart, witty, normal young woman suddenly hurled head first into a life-or-death race around the globe accompanied by a charismatic stranger who appears to be a physical embodiment of all her romantic fantasies.  But is he really her knight-in-shining armor or someone with ulterior motives using her to achieve his own dark agenda?

“Blood of the Reich” is a barn-storming novel that sets its sights high and never fails to deliver on them.  My singular criticism is that the convoluted mystery of Rominy’s past and her evolution from frightened victim to pistol toting survivalist challenged even my willing suspension of disbelief.  Deitrich’s prose is much more accomplished when dealing with the 30s whereas his modern sequences aren’t as assured.  Still, this book has so much pulp goodness within its pages, I can’t help but recommend it enthusiastically.  It would make one hell of a great film. 

ALL PULP INTERVIEWS THE FACE OF NEW PULP-THE PULPTRESS!

AP:  It is indeed a pleasure to have you at ALL PULP today!  I’m fairly sure this will be a short answer, but can you tell us something about you personally?  Some background maybe?
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PULPTRESS: (laughs) Sorry, but the mask is my free pass on most of that question.  Let’s see, I’m twenty something…maybe.   I have august red hair…unless I don’t.   My eyes are brown with hints of green…except when they aren’t.  I’m just your every day average girl…who can use any weapon put in her pretty porcelain hands.  I will say that I came into the world much like everyone else did, even though things changed dramatically not long after my auspicious beginnings.   But looking back on it, I don’t think I’d change a day.  Except maybe one, my ninety third one, so I’ve been told.
AP:  Your…when you were three months old.  That would be when your parents…
PULPTRESS:  Yes, when they disappeared.    They were well known in the Pulp crime fighting circle, probably the best known.  I haven’t been told much about them, only that they had made a plan in case something like….them disappearing happened.  Which it did, so I’m thankful they planned ahead.
AP:  Best known?  Many people speculate that your parents weren’t just any crimefighters, but-
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THE PULPTRESS as drawn by
Rob Davis
PULPTRESS:  Ah, ah, ah. (shaking a single red nail tipped finger playfully) Not something to discuss on, off, or even to break a record.  I didn’t have them at all that I can remember, but they gave me the next best thing.  A family like none anyone has ever had.
AP:  Yes, you had a particularly interesting raising.  Can you talk about that at all?
PULPTRESS:  Enough just to tease your readers, certainly.  The plan that my parents had devised in case of their…being unable to raise me was basically the next best possible option.  I was left with one of my parents’ closest confidantes until I was able to walk and talk. At that point, my training began.  I have lived with Cherokee Indians, Inuit tribesmen, Shinto priests, and any other group of experts in anything you can think of.  I’ve been taught every style of fighting by the fiercest warriors, academics by today’s greatest minds, science and other disciplines by people that most only believe are legend and rumor.  From my first steps until my 18th birthday, I was steeped in disguise, strategy, espionage, and every learnable skill, field, and technique that the world had an expert in. 
AP:  Really?  To what purpose?
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PULPTRESS:  That’s another thing wrapped in innuendo and smoke.  Some say that there’s a greater good I’m being prepared for, something my parents knew I would have to be ready to face.  Others say it wasn’t so grand, that they just wanted to groom me to follow in their footsteps.  (Chuckles)  There’s a few who think that I was brought up that way because it was the only life my parents ever knew.  Regardless, I consider myself the luckiest gal in the world for the way I came up in the world.
AP:  And now that you’ve survived until adulthood, you seem to actually have taken up where your parents left off.  Why?
PULPTRESS:  Not just my parents, but most of my foster family as well.  And the why is fairly simple.  Even though I learned many different things from all the teachers and mentors I had around the world, they each imparted one common idea to me, almost a mantra.  ‘Regardless of how the world changes, it will always need a Hero.”  I had other options, choices I could have made.  Any career I wanted was an open door.  But those words were etched in my heart and wear heavy on my mind every day.  And there’s not a truer statement.  So, yeah, that’s why.
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THE PULPTRESS as drawn by
Ralf van der Hoeven
AP:  Interesting.  All right, what is it you do, then?  How do you describe your chosen vocation?
PULPTRESS:  Adventurer, Explorer, Problem Solver, a gal who likes a good fight and is good at fighting?  All of those fit and a few more.  Basically I’m the person that Henry Fonda described even better than Steinbeck himself wrote it.  Wherever someone is need, wherever someone is hurt and abused, wherever there’s absolutely no chance to survive, no way out, no justice at all, I am there.  I do all I can to meet the need, fix the hurt, save all I can, cut a door where there isn’t any, and bring justice in the prettiest package ever.  That’s what I do.
AP:  And on top of that, you recently debuted as the public face and voice for Pro Se Productions and even more than that, for the New Pulp Movement at the recent first PULP ARK Convention/Conference.  How did that happen?
PULPTRESS:  Have you met Tommy Hancock?  That man could talk the North Wind into blowing from the South if he wanted to.  (Laughs) Among many of the attributes that I picked up through the years was reading.  I often would rather read than eat and sleep and almost more than punching bad guys.  (Grins) Almost.   I’ve read thousands and thousands of volumes, tomes, and manifestos, but my favorite genre has always been Pulp.  I know, right?   But it has.  The classic heroic fiction rendered by Gibson, Burroughs, Dent, and others has a special place in my heart.  Part of that has to do with it being so reminiscent of people I have known throughout my life, heroes who lived Pulp lives all their own.
When I got to know Tommy due to our paths crossing, and that’s a tale someone should one day write, he exposed me to the writers and artists that have made New Pulp the force it is today.  And he brought up the fact that many consider me the New Pulp Heroine of the 21st Century and that New Pulp, while continuing the traditions established by the classics, is its own Movement, so there’s a relationship of sorts between the two.  And it doesn’t hurt a girl, even one in a mask, to be associated with the best stories told today for the readers of tomorrow!
AP:  So, you signed on just because you liked to read Pulp?  Or is there more, does New Pulp have an importance all its own?
PULPTRESS:  Of course it does.  Actually, it’s the same importance, the same mission that I feel like I have.  Regardless of how the world changes, it will always need stories about Heroes.  New Pulp provides that in spades and aces.   You don’t just get a rapid action high adventure tale with New Pulp stories.  You get ideals to reach, models to follow, and the reassuring fact that no matter how dark reality gets, the light eventually shines through.  You can’t get more important than that. 
AP:  What about your stories?  Any plans for a New Pulp writer to tackle the life and times of The Pulptress?  Or are you more of a to yourself kind of girl?
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PULPTRESS:  Are you kidding?  The lady who, depending on what the adventure is, comes dressed as a cowgirl, a space explorer, pirate, or whatever fits being a to herself kind of girl?  Yeah, right.  Stories are not only underway, but multiple authors, like Barry Reese, Derrick Ferguson, Ron Fortier, and Robin Bailey, are already committed to a collection spotlighting me and my rollicking adventures. The collection, when ready, will be available from Pro Se Productions. And, on the ball as he is, Tommy has already completed one story about me in the Big Apple and is hard at work on another one…one about me at home. 

 AP:  That brings up a good final question.  Where is home?  Who are you when you hang up the mask on the hook beside your fedora?  Who are you when you’re not The Pulptress?

PULPTRESS:  Home is…the only place where The Pulptress isn’t.  Other than there, I can’t be…don’t want to be anything other than The Pulptress.
AP:  And the New Pulp Movement and the world are thankful for that.  Thank you so much for taking time to talk to ALL PULP.
PULPTRESS:  Hey, anytime.  It’s not often bullets stop flying and villains stop trying to conquer the world long enough for me just to visit. So thank you!


(Want to follow The Pulptress daily?  Then join ‘The Pulptress’ Page on Facebook!!!  And follow her here at ALL PULP, as well as at pulpmachine.blogspot.com and http://www.newpulpfiction.com/!)

The Contest Catch-Up Plus a New Offering

  • News
  • October 7, 2010

We’ve been remiss in announcing our prize winners and here’s a recap for those of you keeping score at home.

Tommy Williams is the winner of a free digital download of 300 with Extras, courtesy of Warner Digital.

Sean D. Martin is the winner of the free digital download of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, courtesy of Warner Digital. The craziest thing he has seen in a comic was turning the page to see Animal Man looking Right. At. Me. and saying
“I can see you!” It actually made me slam the book shut before sanity
returned a split second later and I sheepishly re-opened it.

The winner of the Lord of the Rings on Blu-ray trilogy, courtesy of Warner Home Entertainment, is Shanti Whitesides. She wrote:

Are you asking who is the protagonist, or who is the hero? The protagonist is certainly Frodo. The story opens with him being given the ring, he goes on to choose the burden willingly, and it’s his footsteps in which we follow the story. And it is his act of compassion toward Gollum that allows the quest to end in any sort of triumph.

On the other hand, if you’re asking who is the hero, I would have to say Sam. As I wrote in my essay, “A Fool’s Hope,” the ring-quest is one that can only be completed by a fool, not a traditional hero, and Sam is the epitome of the fool-hero – simple, humble, stout-hearted and loyal, driven by his devotion to Frodo to follow him through the hell of Mordor. It is a testament to Sam’s strength that he is able to heal from the ring quest and go on to live a happy life, where Frodo cannot.

Paul Go wins the LOTR gift set by writing, The lead character is Samwise. He manipulated the Baggins clan to reveal the ring, used Gandalf to research it and create the fellowship, and then made sure that Frodo disposed of it properly. This is his story: everyone else just serves it.

Warner Digital provided us with a copy of Atlantis: The Lost Continent, one of George Pal’s underrated fantasy films. We’re accepting entries until 11:59 p.m. Sunday. All you have to do is give us your best theory of what really happened to Atlantis. Best answers wins the DVD.

Superman Can Come to Your Home Town

  • News
  • June 23, 2010

As reported this morning in USA Today, DC Comics is hosting a contest tied to the arrival of J. Michael Straczynski as the Man of Steel’s new writer. As Superman walks from coast to coast in his quest to understand America, readers can lobby for the hero to pay their hometown a visit.

This is a stunt reminiscent of a long-running feature in Captain Marvel’s 1940s adventures as he paid visits to towns with prominent newsstand wholesalers, attempting to boost circulation around the country.

Here’s the formal announcement:

New York, June 23, 2010– Starting in July 2010, coinciding with the 700th issue of Superman, DC Comics will be celebrating this remarkable anniversary of America’s greatest hero with a historic journey…not to alien worlds or distant galaxies, but through the streets, roads, highways, homes, farms, suburbs, and inner cities of America. And America itself, in the person of those very real places, is invited to the party.
 
Beginning with the city of Philadelphia, Superman will walk across America, a journey that is expected to take most of a year. He will pass through Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, California, Oregon and Washington. Along the way, Superman will be passing through real towns, real cities, real neighborhoods. And your town, your city, your neighborhood may be among those chosen for his historic journey. Superman will literally pass through your town as visualized in the pages of his book. If your town is within 50 miles of the line marking Superman’s journey, then you are eligible to participate.
 
If your town is chosen, then it will become part of an issue of the Superman comic. For over fifty years, Superman has been America’s greatest hero, and now he is returning to those roots. The series of issues will examine how Superman sees America, and how America sees Superman. And for those towns selected, it will be a once in a lifetime opportunity to be part of his historic journey.

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Review: ‘Justice League the Complete Series’

For those who only knew the Justice League of America as the Super Friends must have been in for a rude awakening when they sat to watch the Justice League
animated series with their kids. From 2001 through 2006, the Cartoon Network offered up what has since gone on to be recognized as the greatest comics adaptation of all time.

Super-heroes moving from the printed page to animated film have had a checkered path from Filmation’s 1966 [[[Superman]]] through Ruby-Spears’ 1988 effort with the Man of Steel. In between, there were some highlights such as 1968’s [[[Spider-Man]]] and some really low moments including the 1977 [[[Batman]]] show. The problem is that super-heroes need conflict in which to use their powers and abilities. With every passing year, parents fretted over the amount of violence their children were expose to, coupled with concerns over the kids imitating the exploits in real life and causing themselves harm.

Any super-hero in the 1970s and early 1980s found that they could no longer duke it out with villains and their powers were used instead to stop natural disasters or rescue the proverbial kitten stuck in a tree. Some shows rose above the restrictions and proved entertaining but largely they were weak and short-lived.

That all changed thanks to Tim Burton. His 1989 Batman feature film reminded audiences what was good about comic books and their heroes. It forced everyone to re-examine comic book adaptations and prompted Warner Bros. to try a new Batman animated series. In the hands of producers Bruce Timm and Paul Dini, they rewrote the rule book and produced an amazing series.

That in turn gave us Superman so it was logical to follow with the Justice League. Along with James Tucker, Dan Riba, Dwayne McDuffie and others, the JLA never looked better. Now, all 91 episodes are collected for the first time in a two volume tin boxed set and it’s a joy to behold.

Warner Home Video essentially took the season sets and repackaged them for Justice League: The Complete Series
, so the discs are broken down by season and disc number while the accompanying booklets count the discs from 1-14, so you have to carefully count discs to find a favorite episode. One nice aspect is that all the original extras are therefore included so there’s a rich amount of material to sift through. Unique to this set, on sale Tuesday, is a 15th disc containing “Unlimited Reserve: Exploring the Depths of the DC Universe”, a 16 minute chat with the producers discussing the joys of adapting the comics for a new generation of fans.

The nicest thing about the show, as either [[[Justice League]]] or [[[Justice League Unlimited]]], is the fidelity it paid to the source material. Yes, they altered a great many things, but nothing felt gratuitously done. The heroes and villains looked and acted appropriately plus the comic book conventions of sub-plots and continuity carried over nicely. There was a strong emphasis on characterization, for all the players. As a result, many JLAers had nice arcs, notably [[[Wonder Woman]]] who went from rookie hero to a true Amazon Princess. Hawkgirl’s seeming betrayal and subsequent redemption played well, too.

There far more hits than misses and no doubt everyone has a favorite story or arc. The eight-episode arc of the League versus Cadmus holds up very well and shows many sides to the issue of, ahem, “[[[Who Watches the Watchmen?]]]”  During this, the Question quickly becomes a major player and wonderfully used. Similarly, the League’s rejection of the Huntress or Captain Marvel’s resignation show that not everyone is cut out to be a hero or a team player. All the characters have distinct personalities, which was most welcome.

The show is crammed full of super-heroes drawn from throughout the entire DC Universe from Spy Smasher to Aztek. Just about everyone is superbly voiced from the familiar Kevin Conroy as Batman to Jeffrey Coombs as The Question. Guest voices are also welcome, with some sly winks from the producers such as Jodi Benson’s Aquagirl or The Wonder Years’ Fred Savage and Jason Hervey as Hawk and Dove.

This is most definitely worth owning or finding under your Christmas tree this season.

Reminder: ‘Iron Man: Armored Adventures’ cartoon premieres 7 PM tonight on Nicktoons

First Look: Iron Man: Armored Adventures Animated Series

“[[[Iron Man:Armored Adventures]]]” returns Shellhead, and the first two of 26 animatedepisodes will begin airing on Nicktoons tonight at 7 PM.

Here’s a brief description of this high tech new action adventure series:

Tony Stark, heir to a billion-dollar corporation, lives a life of luxury,free to pursue his chief interests — seeing extreme thrills, solving scientific mysteries, and creating mind-boggling inventions.

But everything goes horribly wrong when a tragic accident robs Tony of his father and nearly costs him his own life. Now dependent on his ownamazing technology for survival and dedicated to battling corruption,Tony must reconcile the pressure of teenage life with the duties of asuper hero.

Inside his remarkable invention, Tony Stark is geared for high-speed flight,high-tech battles and high-octane adventure! He is IRON MAN!

And here’s a preview:

On fan battles, audience interaction, what’s real, and who’s stronger, the Thing or the Hulk?

  • News
  • January 16, 2009

Patrick Nielsen Hayden makes a comment on Tor.com that really deserves wider dissemination:

"SF fans in general tend to be discursive sorts…"

Which is another way of saying that SF readers tend to get invested in not just the story, but the argument.

And once you care about the argument, you care about the people pursuing it.

There are dozens of ways to make this dynamic seem trivial or pathetic, but really, it’s just people caring about what’s real.

Speaking just as a reader, forget about as a professional, the plain fact is that in a world of limited time and options-that-exclude, given the choice between a new Charles Stross novel and a new Greg Egan novel, I’m going to read the Stross, because I know that if I want to talk about it afterwards, Stross is available for conversation and Egan isn’t.

There are dozens of ways to frame this as evidence of Egan being a hero of artistic independence, but you know something, I don’t care. I’m just a reader trying to have an non-boring life. Stross goes out of his way, via extra levels of interaction and availability, to make the whole business of novels and art non-boring. Egan doesn’t. Life is short.

It’s true. And in a field where the arguments are even more passionate (see above picture) the fan base can be even more intense, and it carries over to the field.

And the Internet makes it even more intense. Think about it: who constantly tops the lists of favorite comics writers? Neil Gaiman, Brain Bendis, Peter David, Mark Evanier, Warren Ellis, JMS… even if they don’t have a series running at the moment, they have a dedicated fan base because they immerse themselves in the arguments, in the culture. And yes, every one of the people listed have a blog. That’s where fans are nowadays. You’re here, aren’t you?

Mark Waid, the pre-eminent fanboy-turned-pro-turned-recent-blogger, has a great example this week where he talks about the six traits that a hero should possess, and then provokes a fight by asking people to try and convince him why Indiana Jones should be considered a hero– which makes a few readers ask him why, by his criteria, Spider-Man should be considered a hero. (And since he wrote what’s going to be the best selling issue of Spider-Man this year, if not this decade, he should probably have an answer.) The argument was compelling enough that I took an hour to formulate an argument and contribute when I should have been finishing this blog post. And that’s the point.

What about you? Do you think there’s such a thing as an anti-social comics fan, even if his social interaction is limited to arguing who’s stronger, Benjy or Bruce? And would you enjoy comics as much if you couldn’t argue them with somebody else, or is the solitary enjoyment of pleasure enough for you?

Oh, and that image reminds me of this neat Hulk vs. Thing art gallery I found. Enjoy.

The top ten influences for ‘Lone Justice: Crash!’

  • News
  • January 13, 2009

Lone Justice: Crash! is the new graphic novel from the Harvey award nominated team of Robert Tinnell and Mark Wheatley. This two-fisted pulp adventure began yesterday on ComicMix, but the roots of the creation of Lone Justice: Crash! started long ago.

Creating a new graphic novel doesn’t happen in a vacuum. And people like Robert Tinnell and Mark Wheatley are easily influenced. So readers would be well advised to take a look at what other creative efforts have had a hand in shaping the look and feel.

First – we start with what has warped the mind of Robert Tinnell, in his own words:

1.) MARTIN – First and foremost I have to acknowledge George Romero’s film, MARTIN. Much of what I write is inspired by this brilliant little deconstructionist vampire story and the way it so grounded fantasy in reality, in banality, actually. I often say, quite sincerely, I consider the film an American classic. So if you’re reading LONE JUSTICE: CRASH! and detect a deconstructionist approach to the superhero genre, bear in mind that in addition to the obvious comic book influences, Romero’s flick continues to linger in the background of my mind.

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‘Astro Boy’ Teaser Trailer Arrives

  • News
  • December 20, 2008

The first teaser trailer for the CGI-animated Astro Boy went live today.

A thrilling tale of a true hero, Astro Boy is an all-new, feature film full of action, adventure, humor and heart.  It will be brought to life on the big screen in breathtaking CGI animation on October 23rd, 2009.

Set in futuristic Metro City, Astro Boy is about a young robot with incredible powers created by a brilliant scientist named Tenma (Nicolas Cage). Powered by positive “blue” energy, Astro Boy (Freddie Highmore) is endowed with super strength, x-ray vision, unbelievable speed and the ability to fly.

Embarking on a journey in search of acceptance, Astro Boy encounters many other colorful characters along the way.  Through his adventures, he learns the joys and emotions of being human, and gains the strength to embrace his destiny. Ultimately learning his friends and family are in danger, Astro Boy marshals his awesome super powers and returns to Metro City in a valiant effort to save everything he cares about and to understand what it takes to be a hero.

 

‘Sarah Jane’ Back for Third Season

  • News
  • November 26, 2008

The BBC has confirmed a third season of The Sarah Jane Adventures, to air in the fall of 2009.

Their website reviewed their future children’s offerings and said, “Together with her companions Rani and Clyde and her adopted son Luke, Sarah Jane once again comes face to face with a whole host of weird and wonderful alien beings.”

Additionally, they will be transporting Stan Lee’s Who Wants To Be A Superhero? to England and turning it into a new show aimed at younger viewers, hosted by Sam Nixon and Mark Rhodes. The show lasted just two seasons on Sci Fi Channel before becoming a ratings victim.

The series wants kid heroes between 9-13 who “will create their own unique, never-seen-before superhero character, including original name, catchphrase and superpowers.

The BBC wrote,” The last super-hero standing receives the ultimate reward – immortality with a starring role in their very own comic book created by the master of the genre, Stan Lee (The Hulk and Superman[sic]).

“The last super-hero standing will fly to Hollywood to meet the legendary creator in person and collect their personalized comic book.

“Over the course of the series the aspiring super-heroes test their abilities and try to overcome their limitations, doing whatever it takes to prove that they are truly super.

“Each week, they face challenges designed to test their courage, integrity, self-sacrifice, compassion and resourcefulness – all the qualities that a true super-hero must possess.

“And each week, one superhero powers down, transforming back into their real identity and returning home.

“Before Sam and Mark begin their quest to find the world’s next great superhero, they are trained in ‘super-hero spotting’ by Stan Lee himself, qualifying them to host auditions for budding heroes across the country – culminating in a final audition in London.

“Eventually, 13 wannabe heroes will leave their normal lives behind and move into a secret lair to face a series of missions as they begin their transformations into real-life super-heroes.”

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