Tagged: novel

HANCOCK TIPS HIS HAT TO THE DEBUT OF PI NICHOLAS COLT!

  • News
  • February 14, 2012

TIPPIN’ HANCOCK’S HAT-Reviews of All Things Pulp By Tommy Hancock

POCKET 47

By Jude Hardin

OceanView Publishing

One of the best liked, most lampooned, often replicated, sometimes screwed up, extremely action packed, twisty and turny sub-genres of Pulp is the Private Eye tale.   Everything from Hard Boiled to Cozy to Armchair to Science Fiction to Western to on and on ad nauseum, the PI story has endured many a different take and new coat of paint and withstood rather well.  But sometimes the best way to treat a PI is straight ahead and direct, even if it’s a tale clothed in modern trappings.  There’s never anything better than a two fisted, guns blazing gonna do what he’s gotta do gumshoe.   And it’s even better when characterization rides alongside the plot like Tonto following The Lone Ranger.

That is ‘Pocket 47’.

Jude Hardin introduces PI Nicholas Colt in this novel and Colt comes in with a ton of tragic baggage and a moral code akin to Chandler’s Marlowe and Parker’s Spenser.  A former top selling blues guitarist in a band, Colt’s life took a horrible turn when a plane crash claimed his band and his wife and daughter, leaving him as the only survivor a different man.   Years later, Colt lives in an Airstream trailer in Florida, fishes when he wants to, doesn’t play the guitar, and works as a private eye with a reputation for working runaway cases.

A client enters into Colt’s life as the novel opens, a young nurse desperate to find her fifteen year old sister who she had rescued from foster care and who has now ran away.   What starts as a typical case of tracking the girl to her favorite haunts and hiding spots takes a turn when Colt finds her and she claims someone is trying to kill her.  What ensues is murder, kidnapping, fist fights, good and bad cops, a religious white supremacist leading an army of zealots, and most of all secrets.  Secrets surrounding the runaway.  Secrets that engulf almost everyone Colt meets along the way.  And most of all, secrets that may very well tie into the most horrible event in Nicholas’ Colt’s life. 

In ‘Pocket 47’, Hardin makes everything count and matter.  Including the cryptic title.  Colt is a solid entry into the hard boiled PI school, even though he may wear shorts and spend long days fishing.  He has a serious set of rules, so serious he often quotes them and lives by them, a tried and true proof that he’s cast in a classic light.  But he’s also not Superman.  The plane crash in his past, Colt encounters enough problems in his present life to send most men spiraling into a bottle never to float to the top again.  But he barrels on, putting clues together in a solid whydunit, and taking on the police, pimps, wealthy doctors, and a Nazi like religious group to boot. 

The only problem I had with ‘Pocket 47’ and it’s one that is minor overall, is that it really could have been two books.   There’s a point in the tale where for the most part all seems resolved and it could easily be the end of the tale and yet it’s not.  By the end of the book, it’s obvious how it all ties together, but it did get slightly disjointed before it roared on to its more than satisfying ending.

FOUR OUT OF FIVE TIPS OF THE HAT- ‘Pocket 47’ is a welcome addition to my PI shelf and Nicholas Colt is definitely a character that needs to play his way into another novel….or five.


REVIEW: A Trio from Hitchcock — “Notorious”, “Spellbound”, and “Rebecca”

rebecca-4630180Alfred Hitchcock is today best known for his work in the 1950s and 1960s, thanks to Universal and Warner Bros. steady stream of restored re-releases on Blu-ray but recently, 20th Century Home Entertainment reminded us that the master director wasn’t exactly idle in the years before. A trio of his 1940s works – Notorious, Spellbound, and Rebecca – are now out on Blu-ray for the first time and it begs a fresh look at his black and white thrillers.

Hitchcock began his stormy relationship with MGM producer David O. Selznick with 1940’s Rebecca, a psychological drama which is noteworthy as the director’s first American film. Adapted from Daphne du Maurier’s bestseller, it featured Laurence Olivier, Joan Fontaine, and Judith Anderson. Being a gothic tale of loss, while gently questioning whether or not Olivier killed his first wife, it was a good fit for Hitchcock, introducing him to the American way of shooting a feature film. Clearly it worked since it went on to win a Best Picture Oscar. (more…)

FORTIER TAKES ON DOC VOODOO!

  • News
  • February 5, 2012

ALL PULP REVIEWS by Ron Fortier
DOC VOODOO
Aces & Eights
By Dale Lucas
Beating Windward Press
201 pages
Last year well known fantasy author Charles Saunders delighted the new pulp community by releasing his novel DAMBALLA, making it the very first pulp novel set in the 1930s to feature an African American hero.  Just this week that same book has been nominated for the Pulp Factory Awards of 2011 for Best Pulp Novel.
Of course good ideas often emerge simultaneously amongst multiple creators and this was the case here.  While DAMBALLA was making its big splash from its widely respected new pulp publisher, Airship 27 Productions, another hard hitting new pulp thriller was debuting from a little known outfit called Beating Windward Press.  This one also featured an African American avenger operating in Harlem, only this one was set in 1926, the heart of the Roaring Twenties.  Written by California based Dale Lucas, “Doc Voodoo” shares several iconic similarities with Damballa to be sure, yet there are also enough differences to define each hero as unique and original in the world of pulpdom.
The hero is a World War One veteran of the famous Harlem Hellfighters 369th Infantry Division named Booker Dubois Butler Corveaux, a practicing M.D. known in his community as Doc Dub Corveaux.  Raised in Haiti and  having traveled the globe during his service years, Doc Corveaux is well versed in the Voodoo Religion and has become the physical agent of three  powerful entities who, when possessing his physical body, imbue it with supernatural abilities that make him virtually indestructible.  Thus in this state, he dons the garb of the Cemetery Man, black clothes, twin .45 automatics, magical clay bombs, a top hat and white painted face to resemble a skull. This frightening entity has assumed the mantle of Harlem’s protector and as we learn in this first book, she needs one desperately.
Two rival gangs are battle for control of the streets and the action is focused on a tough minded woman known as Queen Bee attempting to open a posh speakeasy called Aces & Eights.  Her opponent is a sadistic gang lord called Papa House who will do anything to ruin her plans even if it means unleashing a terrifying magic to corrupt the entire neighborhood and bring about untold suffering and misery.  Into this vicious contest comes the Cemetery Man, guns blazing, determined to thwart that black magic and save the innocent souls caught in the crossfire.
Dale Lucas is a superb writer with an eye for period detail. His research is meticulous and he knows New York from one end to the other, painting a virtual setting that is truly authentic for its period.  His command of slang and mood of the times pulls the reader into a world in flux, a world caught between the past horrors of the first world conflict and the heady exuberance of a social order challenging the mores of the future.
And like any classic pulp tale, the pacing is fast, the characters brilliantly etched and the action non-stop.  This is a true page-turner that will have you cheering with each new gun battle, from this new pulp hero’s first appearance to his last.  And Lucas wisely leaves the finale open ended for many more sequels, all of which we eagerly await.
“Aces & Eights” is as good a pulp actioner as any other there on the market today.  It’s one and only flaw is its packaging.  Most new pulp publishers are aware of the demands of the genre in regards to marketing.  True, one cannot judge the contents of a book by its cover, but then again, one can’t sell a good book with a bad cover.  “Aces & Eights” isn’t so much a bad cover as a non-existent one.  The tiny image of a white skull and a little color design manipulation do not make a great pulp cover.  I would argue this book would have won lots more attention had it sported a traditional pulp painted front, visually debuting Doc Voodoo in full regalia, guns firing away.  So please, Dale Lucas, if you do indeed have more of his wonderful adventures in store for us, give your packaging the extra attention it really deserves.

MOONSTONE AND NEMO PUBLISHING BRING CAPTAIN MIDNIGHT AND COMMANDER X TOGETHER!

  • News
  • February 3, 2012

New Captain Midnight Comic Book Coming in 2012

Take to the Skies with Captain Midnight and Commander X: New Comic Book on the Horizon from Moonstone Books and Nemo Publishing

cmcx01-9674100At the end of this year, Nemo Publishing and Moonstone Books will publish a cross-over one shot comic book featuring the legendary Captain Midnight and Commander X from Nemo Publishing’s “The Undersea Adventures of Capt’n Eli” graphic novel series. This 28 page, full-color book will be written by longtime DC Comics writer and editor Brian Augustyn. Artwork and co-plotting will be by Jay Piscopo, author and illustrator of “Capt’n Eli.”

“When real life casts long shadows over us and time seems to be running out, that’s the time to look to the skies for the antidote to modern worries,” said Augustyn. “I couldn’t be happier to be working with Moonstone, Nemo, and my great friend Jay Piscopo on this thrilling and timely project.”

This new book will feature guest stars from other Moonstone books, including Airboy and the Air Fighters, and will pay homage to the great heroes of yesteryear, particularly aviation heroes.

“I’m a huge fan of Captain Midnight and what Moonstone has done with the character. I see this as an opportunity to introduce new fans to this once very popular hero from American pop culture,” said Piscopo. “Working with a friend and a creator I admire so much and to team up with Moonstone is a dream come true.”

Captain Midnight is relevant today because he existed in a time similar to our own when the United States was in the midst of economic upheaval and the world was at war.

Augustyn noted “Captain Midnight has been a multimedia legend for 70 years and remains as vital today as when he first took wing. As ever, Cap delivers sky-high adventure and heroism in the classic style. Commander X is completely in sync with those ideals and will be the perfect partner in crime-fighting. Featuring the Air Fighters only makes it all that much more thrilling.”

Piscopo think it’s perfect timing to reawaken these WWII era characters and see what made them strong and interesting. “These characters stood for ideals; particularly the ideals of freedom, equality and fighting against fascism. The superhero genre blossomed during WWII because this is what they stood for.”

More about Moonstone Books: Moonstone publishes fine and distinct comic books, graphic novels, and prose featuring classic and new heroes in thrilling tales of adventure, mystery, and horror including wayward thriller-adventure heroes like Kolchak the Night Stalker, Buckaroo Banzai, Captain Action, The Green Hornet, The Avenger, The Spider, The Saint, The Justice Machine, Domino Lady, Zorro, The Phantom, Operator 5, G-8, The Green Lama, Honey West, Sherlock Holmes, Airboy, Zeroids, Secret Agent X, The Phantom Detective, and more. www.moonstonebooks.com

More about Brian Augustyn: Augustyn is an award-winning comic book editor and writer. He got his start in the industry in 1984 as an editor for Tru Studios’ “Trollords.” He then edited “Syphons” and “Speed Racer” for NOW Comics. In 1987, he joined DC Comics, starting out as a co-editor on “Action Comics” during its period as a weekly title. He then went on to edit “The Flash,” “Justice League” and the “Impact Comics” line of titles. Augustyn was recognized for his work in the industry with the Wizard Fan Award for Favorite Editor in 1994.

More about Jay Piscopo and Nemo Publishing: Piscopo is the author and illustrator of Nemo Publishing’s “The Undersea Adventures of Capt’n Eli” graphic novel series and “The Sea Ghost #1: The Sea Ghost in the Machine” comic book. Captain Midnight and Commander X are similar and unique in that they both were created as a vehicle for advertising a product. In the case of Captain Midnight, it was Ovaltine in the 1940s. Commander X is part of the Capt’n Eli universe of characters tied to the Capt’n Eli’s line of hand-crafted sodas from Portland Maine. Capt’n Eli is the namesake of real-life World War II veteran Eli Forsley who was also the inspiration for Capt’n Eli’s soda. Read the story behind the story at this link. On the web atwww.captneli.com and www.theseaghost.com.

PRO SE ANNOUNCES NEW BOOK AND IMPRINT-PULP FANTASY DONE ‘HANSEN’S WAY’!

  • News
  • January 26, 2012
Pro Se Productions

Press Release for Immediate Release-

FANTASY DONE ‘HANSEN’S WAY’-NEW IMPRINT AND NEW BOOK FROM PRO SE!

Pro Se Productions, a leading Publisher in the New Pulp Movement, announced its latest release today!  A three story collection entitled ‘Tales of the Vagabond Bards’ written by Nancy Hansen is now available.   Hansen, a prolific author in Pulp Fantasy, follows up her first novel, “Fortune’s Pawn” with this trio of tales set in the same world as the novel, but looking at events through a different set of eyes.

According to Pro Se, “In a time of upheaval, where magick and religion often collide, those who keep the old ways are increasingly shunned and ridiculed. The Vagabond Bards, a dedicated group of musicians, singers, actors, poets, and teachers of the unwritten oral folklore of the Terran Worlds, are finding themselves coming under pressure to disband or face probable imprisonment—even death. For generations these roving men and women have spread throughout the population, dedicating their lives to educating and assisting their fellow Humans while recording and preserving their knowledge and experiences, making sure the tales of the past are kept alive throughout the mostly illiterate masses. Sworn to Understand, Love, and Keep the Truth, they now face strong opposition from the upstart religion of Helios the Sun God, whose belief is sweeping the countryside, rewriting history and changing views of the past in the most alarming manner. These are the tales of those heroic troubadours, who fight for justice not with weapons, but with words.”

This exciting collection of fantasy fiction from one of New Pulp’s brightest stars in the genre not only debuts a whole new cast of characters and tales from Hansen, but is also the first volume in Pro Se’s latest author focused imprint-Hansen’s Way!

There are times when it is mindboggling,” commented Hansen concerning her work leading to her own imprint, “and I’m surprised I can keep the details straight. When I was approached about having my own imprint—which is an honor for someone who previous to 2010 was an unknown writer—I immediately thought about all those Terran World (the home of the Vagabond Bards) short stories, and bringing them in under one banner. I have 5 different series amongst those right now; each series with its own unique setting and recurring characters, and there have been some crossover characters and settings between them. It just makes more sense to keep them under one flagship imprint than scattering them hither and yon in other publications.”


“Nancy is a hit,” stated Tommy Hancock, Partner in and Editor in Chief of Pro Se, “both with the company and readers eager to follow her work.  “Fortune’s Pawn” had a great showing as a debut novel and Nancy has so many stories bubbling and ready to boil over, stories that appeal to all sorts of readers-Pulp fans, fantasy followers, and more!  And now they can all easily find her work by following ‘Hansen’s Way.’”


Hansen’s Way is the latest Pro Se imprint.  Following the announcement mid 2010 of Reese Unlimited, the first Pro Se imprint, Hansen’s Way is the second Author Focused Imprint from the publisher.  “When an author,” Hancock commented, “presents not only with a large, but a solid body of work, such as the imaginative worlds of fantasy whirling around in Nancy’s mind, it makes sense to put them in a package, in a sense.  Especially when the stories hit a vein with fans as Nancy’s obviously have.” 


“Tales of the Vagabond Bards” is available via Amazon as well as via Pro Se Pulp’s CreateSpace store (https://www.createspace.com/3778916) in print and will be available via Smashwords and Amazon as an ebook within the next week!


For more information on this title or any Pro Se publication, email Hancock at proseproductions@earthlink.net and check out Pro Se at www.prosepulp.com!


Exploring The Power Of The Centipede with Chuck Miller

  • News
  • January 24, 2012
smallnewblackcentipedecreepingdawn-4892121
One of the great things about being part of the all pulp staff is the ability to read great pulp.  The Black Centipede was given to me generously by Chuck Miller, and the book is a fascinating read.  This doesn’t have a very one dimensional approach to it.  Heroes could very easily be villains, and even the staunchest villain has some heroic qualities to them.  The dark side of humanity is made commonplace, and Chuck Miller does it seamlessly.  The characters are believable and they feel human, much more so than many other stories.
 Chuck himself is a fascinating man.   I discuss with him Black Centipede, his other projects and the nature of man.
All Pulp:  Who were your writing influences growing up?
Chuck Miller:  I guess comic books would be a major one, since i’ve been reading them since literally as far back as I can remember. When I was 8 years old, I was given a copy of the Complete Sherlock Holmes, which made a huge impression on me. I’m a die-hard Holmes fan to this day. And not just the Conan Doyle stories– I really love a lot of the pastiches that have sprouted up, beginning with The Seven Per-Cent Solution and The West End Horror by Nicholas Meyer. I loved the way Meyer involved Holmes with genuine historical persons and events, and I do the same thing with the Black Centipede. In Creeping Dawn,  he has encounters with Lizzie Borden, H.P. Lovecraft, Frank Nitti, and William Randolph Hearst.
I also started reading the paperback reprints of the Shadow and Doc Savage stories when I was still a pre-teen, and those stuck with me. I very much preferred the Shadow, because he was so mysterious and had an air of the supernatural about him, though there was never any hint of the occult in any of the stories. Later on, I got into the Nero Wolfe books by Rex Stout, and those would become a major influence in terms of narrative voice. I was really captivated by the way Archie Goodwin’s personality came across in the writing, and I try to do the same thing myself, as best I can. Just about everything I do is in first person. I like to get really deep inside a character’s head, and I’m really not very comfortable as an omniscient third person.
There have been a huge number of influences on my writing, in terms of both style and content. Hunter S. Thompson, Philip Jose Farmer, Flannery O’Connor, William S. Burroughs, Dorothy Parker, Raymond Chandler, Philip K. Dick… it just goes on and on, really. I have taken a little something from each of them. And not only books, but movies and music as well. I bring in a lot of very diverse elements. It has been said that my work is very unique and original. The fact is, the Centipede is very derivative character, but he is derived from so many wide-ranging sources that he appears to be completely original.
AP:  Why pulp?
CM:  That happened sort of by accident. About 20 years ago, I came up with an idea for a comic book called  The Optimist.  It never went anywhere, but I had a huge cast of characters I had created for it, and they continued to simmer in my head after the project was finally abandoned completely back in 2001.

hopedecopy-3907056
A couple of years ago, I decided to really get serious about the writing. I’d always wanted to do it, and I was in a position where I could devote a lot of time to it, so I did. For subject matter, I went back to The Optimist. The original concept was a post-glory-days superhero saga, vaguely similar to The Watchmen. I didn’t want to do a comic book– and had nobody to draw it even if I had– so I just did it as an ordinary prose piece. The protagonist, Jack Christian, was a grown-up superhero kid sidekick whose mentor had died under dodgy circumstances 12 years earlier. Jack, a down-on-his luck alcoholic by this time, returns to the city of Zenith, where the tragedy took place. He encounters a number of retires heroes and other oddballs. Among these was the Black Centipede, who was originally intended to be a fairly minor character. I wanted him to be a genuine oddball– he is based in part on William S. Burroughs– and he was the only character cast in the mold of a traditional pulp action hero from the 30s.
So, anyhow, I wrote this novel, and the Centipede started stealing scenes. He ended up with a much bigger role. When I finished, I started promoting it myself on the web, making it available for free in hopes of attracting a publisher. It really didn’t stir up much of anything, though.
At one point a friend of mine told me she didn’t think many people would want to sit and read an entire novel online, and suggested I do some shorter pieces if I really wanted to get noticed. Since The Optimist didn’t lend itself to that, I decided to explore the past of one of the supporting characters. The Centipede was the obvious choice for this. I wrote a story set in 1957, “Wisconsin Death Trip.” I enjoyed doing it, so I went ahead and wrote a novella called Gasp, Choke, Good Lord, an homage to the EC horror comics of the 1950s, guest-starring the infamous Doctor Fredric Wertham, author of Seduction of the Innocent, and EC publisher William M. Gaines. And I posted all of this for free on a blog I put together. I created a rather elaborate history for the Centipede, which included him being not only a “real-life” crime fighter, but also the star of a highly-fictionalized pulp adventure magazine published by William Randolph Hearst.
Well, to cut a long story short, I got noticed by Tommy Hancock of pro Se Press, who was very enthusiastic about my work. After a bit of back and forth, it was decided that I should write a novel for Pro Se, which I did. That novel was Creeping Dawn: The Rise of the Black Centipede.
AP: What did writing Creeping Dawn teach you as an author?

CM: I’m not entirely sure. I guess I learned to tell a story with a specific word count. Now that it’s published, and I have read it in book form, I noticed several things I really didn’t like about it, and i have tried to avoid those while writing the next one.

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AP: One of the things that I really found fascinating with Creeping Dawn was how you write about the more monstrous parts of people.  From Lizzy’s past to William’s own acceptance of things.  You make it seem so normal.  I’m kind of jealous, but also wondering where those ideas came from.  Is this something you’ve always thought?  Or did it just fit the context of your story?

CM: All of that comes from my own life.  My mother died when I was very young, and my father just sort of went nuts after that. He deteriorated mentally and emotionally for about five years, and then ended up killing himself. And I had a front row seat for the whole thing. So I have always been conscious of this darkness in the world, that seems to be just under the surface of everything. That is somewhat analogous to what the Black Centipede refers to as the “Dark Power,” though in his fictional world, it is more literal and manifests itself in more overt ways. But, in my own life, I’ve always been aware that things and people are not really what they seem to be, not exactly. And if you look even just a little way beneath the surface, you’re apt to find a nasty surprise.

But I don’t think you have to give in to it. I think there is good in the world, too, but sometimes you have to wade through some pretty toxic sludge to find it. In “Creeping Dawn,” the young Centipede seems to believe that the darkness is the true power, the only thing worth striving to understand. But, being the kind of person he is, he doesn’t want to give himself over to it. Instead, he decides to oppose it, as a way of measuring its scope and capabilities. In the beginning, he isn’t motivated by a desire to see justice done. He is simply curious. He wants to understand the world in a way nobody else ever has. Quite a bit of hubris on his part, really.

In the second section of “Creeping Dawn,” which is set six years after his experience with Lizzie Borden, we see how he becomes a crime fighter, and how he goes about establishing himself in the city of Zenith, in a series of events that revolve around the rise of a shadowy new crime lord called Doctor Almanac. In the beginning, the Centipede is very ruthless and reckless and he ends up in trouble with the law and the press. But his cause is taken up by newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst. Hearst is a fascinating historical figure, whose public and private life make him a great cast member for the Black Centipede series. Through some devious and underhanded maneuvering, Hearst transforms the Centipede– in the mind of the public, anyhow– from a dangerous, psychotic vigilante into a national hero. In addition to this, Hearst launches a Black Centipede pulp adventure magazine, featuring highly fictionalized accounts of our hero’s adventures. This is another example of how things appear to be a certain way, but are really something entirely different. The real Black Centipede is not the Doc Savage-style paragon the public perceives.

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The Centipede is a celebrity akin to Doc Savage and other classic pulp.
Nothing is black-and-white. But there is right and wrong, I believe. Sometimes it takes even a good person a long time and a lot of mistakes to make the distinction and choose one or the other. Most of my villains have some heroic qualities, and most of my heroes are criminals at heart. They do kind of believe they are somehow above the rest of society, and have a right to disregard the rules. Life is a process, a constant parade of choices. A villain can choose to be noble, a hero can choose to act deplorably.

In “Blood of the Centipede,” the next book in the series, the Centipede gets a bit of a moral compass in the form of Amelia Earhart, who has been asked by President Roosevelt to keep an eye on our hero. I don’t want to go into any more detail about that now, except to say that, as the series progresses, we will see our hero evolve in some interesting and unexpected ways.

AP: If you had to pick just one scene, what was your favorite in Creeping Dawn and why?

CM: I guess the one I had the most fun writing was the Centipede’s accidental invasion of doctor Almanac’s secret headquarters. I got a kick out of
 describing his sort of gleeful approach to lethal violence. And then, of course, that whole episode led up to his first encounter with Stan Bartowski, a Zenith police officer who becomes a friend. He’ll be an important mainstay character throughout the series. He’s also sort of a comic foil, since a lot of things the Centipede says to him sail right over his head. I put a lot of humor in the stories, and strive to strike a good balance.

AP: Can you tell us a bit of where you want to take the Black Centipede. He’s gone from supporting character to a mainstay.  Would you be happy to continue writing him or are there are other things you like to work on?

CM: I don’t think I’ll ever tire of the Centipede. He’s pretty versatile, and I have lots of plans for him. But I do have a number of other characters I want to develop into their own series. “The Incredible Adventures of Vionna Valis and Mary Jane Kelly” is one of these. http://theblackcentipede.blogspot.com/2011/09/their-first-adventure.html

It deals with a peculiar pair of “psychic detectives.” I’ve done a couple stories that I posted on my blog, but they have yet to be officially published. However, they live in the same world as the Black Centipede, and they appear briefly in the second Centipede novel. So does Doctor Unknown Junior, a very businesslike sorceress whose adventures I want to get out there one of these days.


AP: Are you working on anything else at the moment?

CM: I have something coming out in February from Pacific-Noir Press. “The Bay Phantom Chronicles Episode One: The Return of Doctor Piranha” is the first tale of the Bay Phantom, a 94-year-old, retired pulp-era masked hero based in my old home town of Mobile, Alabama. In this one, he is befriended by Janie Marie Colson, a young college student who is helping him write his memoirs. Complications arise when the Phantom’s arch-foe, 98-year-old Doctor Piranha, is released from federal prison after serving a 70-year sentence.  Piranha, of course, swore revenge– no matter how long it took…

And I am involved in the Pulp Obscura project from Pro Se and Altus Press, which will be coming out throughout 2012.

NEW SHERLOCK HOLMES NOVEL FROM AIRSHIP 27 PRODUCTIONS!

  • News
  • January 21, 2012
THE RETURN OF THE BARON GRUNER!
Following the overwhelming success of the second Robert Downey Jr. film blockbuster, Airship 27 Productions is pleased to present a brand new mystery suspense novel starring the Great Detective; Sherlock Holmes – The Baron’s Revenge by Gary Lovisi.
In 1902 Sir James Damery enlisted the aid of Sherlock Holmes to prevent the daughter of an old friend from marrying a womanizing Austrian named Adelbert Gruner who was suspected of murdering his first wife.  Dr.Watson chronicled the case as “The Adventure of the Illustrious Client.”  By its conclusion, Gruner was exposed to the young lady when Holmes came into possession of an album listing his many amorous conquests.  Then a former prostitute mistress took her own revenge by throwing acid in his face and permanently disfiguring him.
Holmes believed the matter concluded. He is proven wrong when a hideous murder occurs rife with evidence indicating the Baron has returned.  Soon the Great Detective will learn he has been targeted for revenge in a cruel and sadistic fashion. Not only does the Baron wish his death but he is obsessed with causing Holmes emotional suffering.  He desires nothing less than the complete and utter destruction of the Great Detective in body and soul.
Now Gary Lovisi spins a fast paced tale of horror and intrigue that is both suspenseful and poignant, all the while remaining true to Arthur Conan Doyle’s original stories.  “The Baron’s Revenge” is a thrilling sequel to a classic Holmes adventure fans will soon be applauding.
“We are thrilled to have this as both our first release of the new year and also as our first solo effort as a publisher,” Editor In Chief Ron Fortier reported.  “As of Jan. 1st, 2012 Airship 27 Productions titles will be available at the site listed below.”
Airship 27 Productions – Pulps For A New Generation!
+++
We invite you to visit our new website.
Here you will find two links.  One to our PDF digital store were all our titles are on sale for only $3 as downloads.  Please consider registering an account which will put you on our Newsletter mailing list.
The second link is to our Indy Planet pages, where you can purchase Print-On-Demand hard copies of our titles for $14.95 (plus shipping and handling).  At present we have our latest titles available here and hope to have our entire catalogue added by the end of the year.  Thanks for your continued support.

Martheus Wade on Ninjas, Fate and Free Will

  • News
  • January 17, 2012
I fell in love with Martheus Wade’s work when I visited his website.  The series Jetta:  Tales of the Toshigawa at first glance just looks like superhot ninja babes battling, which while in itself is a fun guilty pleasure, the book is deep
Shianndrea Toshigawa, codenamed Jetta is the chosen one.  She is the one that has to beat Terminus and his demonic horde.  To make matters interesting, Terminus is her father but perhaps the clincher for me is that the last thing Jetta and she doesn’t want to be that person. 
Questions of free will and fate, the natural conflicts of wanting to be your own person over being a person you’re supposed to be is just an intriguing story to tell.  There is a depth and sophistication to the graphic novel that engages in ways few stories dare to tread. 
Martheus Wade has written a tale nearly as engaging as he is.  We discuss Jetta, and his other series Turra – Gun Angel as well as some of life’s great questions.
All Pulp:   How did you get into comics? Who were your influences?
Martheus Wade:  I got into comics when I was really young. Comics were my gateway into reading when I was a kid. It was also my gateway into art itself.   George Perez, Masamune Shirow, Jim Lee, Marc Silvestri, Adam Hughes and Adam Warren were all huge influences on me. But also early on, animation really guided my artistic eye. Anime was a heavy influence on me. Speed Racer, Voltron, Robotech. Tranzor Z. It all made me stop and take real notice.

AP: Tell me a little about Jetta: Tales of the Toshigawa. What’s it all about?
MW:  Jetta: Tales of the Toshighawa is my creator owned graphic novel series that centers on Shianndrea Toshigawa. Code named “Jetta”, she is the chosen one of the Toshigawa ninja clan who is meant to defend the world from the demonic army known as the Knave. The leader of the Knave is the godlike Terminus, Emperor of Japan and the father of Jetta. In order to defeat this demon army, Jetta has been forced to leave her family and friends in order to train for the day she will be forced to face her father in combat. However, she only wants to lead a normal life away from the clan and far from any prophesied destiny.
But, she is always forced back into a fight that she does not want; fight where friends die and her hope for happiness continues to slip away.
The story is full of martial arts action. Jetta is a super powered  ninja that learns to use new and exciting powers almost every volume. She also has to deal with her on-again off-again relationship with her fellow ninja, Kim Shibata. The two of them have polar opposite ideas of what they should hold important in their lives. Kim is very much into his duty and believes in fate while Jetta believes in free will.
Even though they love each other deeply, their butting heads has dire consequences. The story also revolves around Turra Shibata, Jetta’s best friend and Kim’s sister.
Turra has rejected the ways of the Toshigawa and has gone off on her own. As the “Black sheep” of the clan, Turra is happy living her own life away from her duty. However, things take a turn when she is
forced back into action. The theme of fate verse free will runs throughout the series.
AP: To date, what is your favorite scene in Jetta?
MW: There are a couple of scenes. One scene is in Jetta: Tales of the Toshigawa – Revelations when Jetta confronts her father, Terminus for the first time in the bullet train station. This is the first time that Terminus is seen as the all powerful character that he is. Another of my favorites is a slower scene from Jetta: Tales of the Toshigawa – Defiance where Jetta is on a date with her new boyfriend, Dan, and the two are talking about their outlook on life and what they want out of it. Still another scene in Jetta: Tales of the Toshigawa – Rain is when Turra sees her father for the first time in over a year just before he dies. There are so many great moments in this series. It’s really hard to try to pick only a few.
AP:  What is it about fate and free will that fascinate you?

MW: That battle between fate verses free will has always been a very real conflict in my own head. As a creative person, there have been moments in my career (as well as personal life) where I found myself working upstream. When I let go and went with the flow, things seemed to work out with less of a struggle. However, doing so meant that I had to let go of preconceived notions of where I should be or what I should be doing. My life and career took turns that I hadn’t thought of before and I ended up a completely different person than I thought I would be.
Is that “fate”? I would think so. I don’t have all of the answers to that. However, in realizing that it could be fate, I also realized that the life I wanted to lead when I was younger was not the life I was supposed to lead. That’s a hard pill to swallow and (whether it’s right or wrong) I still struggle with that concept on many different things. I want to believe in free will. I want the ability to say that, “If I walk out this door and put my best foot forward, I will get to where I’m intending to go”. But, as we know, that’s not always the case.

This is the basic idea of Jetta: Tales of the Toshigawa. Through all of the attractive women, the martial arts action and scifi, the story is about Fate verses Free will.

AP:  Would you have been happy with the life you wanted?  They that the grass is always greener on the other side…
MW: That’s a good question. I don’t know. There would have been so many things that would be vastly different. Not better, just different. There are a lot of things that would change like my family that I could not envision living without now. Knowing me, if things did go exactly as I planned, I would still feel like something was missing.

 AP: Is it too early to ask you about Turra: Gun Angel?

MW: Absolutely not. Turra: Gun Angel – Bombs and Betrayal is a spin-off graphic novel that takes place in the Toshigawa universe. The lead character is Turra Shibata. She is the sword sister to Jetta and fellow Toshigawa ninja.
In Jetta: Tales of the Toshigawa – Rain (The second book in the Toshigawa series), Turra gets her own assignment and is ordered to return to Japan in order to help organize the splintered ninja clan. But when she gets home, she quickly finds that she on the most wanted lists of, not only the Knave, but the police, the Yakuza and a rival ninja clan. All of this and she still has to deal with her boyfriend, Cyan, and his wandering eyes.

Bombs and Betrayal is a bit lighter than the main Jetta series. Turra, as a character, is a lot more relaxed than her sword sister. She is a lot more comfortable with being an attractive ninja bad ass. In the
main Toshigawa story, she was a bit of a wildcard and this story has more tongue in cheek comedy because of the interaction of the characters involved. Cat (one of the main characters of the series and
this spin-off story) is an African American kickboxer who finds himself faced with culture shock when he makes it to Japan. Cyan is a charismatic pyrotechnic who flirts with other women just to get under
Turra’s skin. And Nica, is a young Toshigawa ninja who is just learning the ropes and idolizes the “legend” that Turra has become.

However, the story is still a serious one and Turra finds herself faced with the difficult task of being called upon by duty to lead this ragtag group in hopes of saving the Toshigawa clan from certain death. It’s a fun read and ties perfectly into the main graphic novels.

AP: Anything else forthcoming we can look forward to?
MW: There is a HUGE announcement and a sort of partnership that will be revealed coming up really soon that I wish I could spill the beans on. That will be hitting in the next month or so. I am also working with Sean Taylor (writer for IDW) on the further adventures of Turra Shibata. The first issue of the miniseries will be out later in 2012. The next Jetta GN will be out at the end of 2012 and marks the end of this story arc. It also closes this chapter on Jetta’s life so I’m excited (and a little saddened) to see what readers think of the close of our story.
AP:  You get the final say here.  Plug your books.  Where can I find them.
MW: All of our books are found at www.toshigawa.com. That is where we have every book on sale as well as art prints and specialty items. Right now, we have two new books that are available, Turra: Bombs and Betrayal and Jetta: Tales of the Toshigawa -Full Circle. These books intertwine these two beautiful ninja into two halfs of the same coin! Seamlessly follow Turra’s adventures and see where and how they effect the greater Toshigawa Universe in Full Circle. We are offering these two books together in one pack. For a limited time only ( as an added added bonus ) if you grab Jetta: Tales of the Toshigawa – Full Circle and Turra: Bombs and Betrayal together in this Ultimate Combo pack, I provide a free sketch of one of the characters in the series. That’s over 150 pages of action packed content plus a free sketch. I invite everyone to try these books and I can assure you that you will not be disappointed.
Also you can follow us on facebook under MAW Productions. Join our page and every friday at 9:00 pm, we have a live chat where the other creators and myself get together and talk about the Toshigawa Universe of characters, the comic book industry, and entertainment in general. It’s a lot of fun and I hope you join us!

Hancock Tips His Hat to SUN KOH: HEIR OF ATLANTIS VOLUME ONE!

  • News
  • January 16, 2012

TIPPIN’ HANCOCK’S HAT-Reviews of All Things Pulp By Tommy Hancock

SUN KOH: HEIR OF ATLANTIS, VOLUME 1
by Dr. Art Sippo
Published by Age of Adventure
2010

Although many of us who write and publish New Pulp sincerely and honestly feel we are producing work that needs to be read, stories that people will love to read, and books that bring life back to a genre/arena/style that so many have forgotten or never even knew, it is truly rare that a single book not only does all of that from one cover to another, but does it with such style and finesse that it could simultaneously fit right into the literature of the era which inspired it and stand on its own as a modern novel, cognizant of all the sensibilities and nuances that that would require.

Rare, but not impossible.  How do I know this, you may ask?  Because I’m holding an example of such a feat in my hand right now.  Yup.  Written by the ever fascinating Dr. Art Sippo, whose Pulp Adventures I still hope to write someday, the book in question is SUN KOH: HEIR OF ATLANTS, VOLUME 1!

Sun Koh, a character from the German Pulps of the early 20th Century, is often referred to as Germany’s answer to Doc Savage.   This is most definitely true, as answered by Sippo in his fantastic introduction to this volume, but the author also works wonders with a character that many claim to find abhorrent and reprehensible.   This agitated feeling toward a literary character comes from the fact that with the change of political climate in Germany in the 1930s and 40s, Sun Koh was used basically to further the ideological views of Hitler and his Nazi Party.   What Sippo does with this situation instead of shying away from it in any form or fashion is essentially reboots Sun Koh keeping his Atlantaean heritage intact as well as his rather limited views of politics, women, and humanity in general.  

That is what Sippo does to kick off his volume.  What he does by the end of HEIR OF ATLANTIS is the truly wonderful part of this book.  Through a natural organic process, Sippo builds up Koh as a hero, not so much loyal to Germany, but loyal to his heritage and seeking his true place as Prince of all he surveys.   His time in the modern world (the 1930s) and his interaction with people who become his team of associates, however, changes Sun Koh’s view on several subjects and actually works on the character to bring out questions.  Questions of his own morality, questions of what Hitler’s plans and goals, and most importantly questions about what is truly important to Sun Koh as the hero of the tale.   Like no other writer I’ve ever read, Art Sippo takes a character from being essentially a lifeless automaton with tyrannical tendencies to being a real person, an individual who has an evolving innate sense of right and wrong and is learning, by the end of the book, to follow that compass.

Add into that compelling story lines, exciting and interesting supporting characters that could carry (and did in their original incarnations) stories all their own, and a fantastic pacing and attention to plot, and you have Art Sippo’s SUN KOH: HEIR OF ATLANTIS, VOLUME 1.  You also have one of the best books I’ve ever read, period.  

FIVE OUT OF FIVE TIPS OF THE HAT-Truly deserving of every accolade it has, does, and will receive.

HALLOWEEN COMES EARLY THIS YEAR!

  • News
  • January 14, 2012

Martin Powell shared the above image from his upcoming Sequential Pulp graphic novel, 
The Halloween Legion. Written by Martin Powell. Artwork by Thomas A. Boatwright.

You can learn more about Sequential Pulp Comics at http://www.sequentialpulpcomics.com/

You can learn more about Dark Horse Comics at http://www.darkhorse.com/

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