Tagged: novel

Mike Bullock-TAKING ON NEW PULP WITH A VENGEANCE

  • News
  • August 22, 2011

Mike Bullock is fast becoming one of the most prolific New Pulp writers today. His work has ranged from comics like the Phantom and Black Bat to prose stories like Death Angel. All Pulp spoke to Mike on what is currently going on with his comics, his prose and to talk about his influences in general.

ALL PULP: Have you always wanted to write pulp stories?


Mike Bullock: Yes and no, I guess. I’ve wanted to write since I was four years old. I discovered pulps when I was ten or eleven when I walked into a book store and saw Michael Whelan’s cover for “A Princess of Mars.” That cover captivated my senses and to this day it’s one of my favorite pieces of sci-fi/fantasy artwork. I’d already been a comic book junkie for as long as I could remember at that point and pulps seemed, to me at least, a natural progression of that love. Action-packed, speculative fiction where imagination was the only limitation to where the story could take the hero and that really spoke to me. It wasn’t much later when I realized people actually wrote for a living and that’s when the proverbial light bulb went off over my head.

AP: What writers have influenced your work?

MB: There’s quite a few, but the ones that immediately come to mind are Edgar Rice Burroughs, Robert E. Howard, Bill Mantlo, Roy Thomas, Alan Dean Foster, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Lee Falk, Ron Marz and JM DeMatteis. I was also heavily influenced by the original Star Wars trilogy, and by default Joseph Campbell.

AP: Will we ever see you do the Phantom again? I enjoyed the run, and I’d love to see you tackle a one shot or special again.

MB: I certainly hope so. I felt like I was just hitting my stride when I found out Moonstone wasn’t going to renew the license. I still have a pile of Phantom story ideas sitting on my hard drive and rattling around in my head and each one I read through sparks new ideas. I certainly wasn’t done kickin’ it in the Skull Cave and God willing the opportunity to go back will present itself in the future. Thankfully, Phantom artist Silvestre Szilagyi and I are working on another pitch together, so I’ll get to work with Sil again if nothing else.

AP: Looking back on your Phantom run, which story are you most proud of? Are there any dangling threads you wished you could have finished?

MB: I don’t know that I’m necessarily proud of any of it, but the one that brings the closest thing to satisfaction is the “Checkmate” arc. If I hadn’t had to abridge the final arc in Ghost Who Walks, that might be my favorite. Looking back, “Final Roar”, which oddly enough ended up being the last Phantom story printed by Moonstone, is the one I believe is the best Phantom tale I wrote, though. I also miss working with Silvestre and Fernando on Phantom tales, but thankfully, Fernando and I are doing Joe Palooka together now. As for dangling threads, there’re quite a few. My original goal with the Ghost Who Walks series was to hit issue 75 before I’d step down from it, so I was laying a lot of ground work for things to come throughout the twelve issues of that series.

AP: You have four prose books coming next year. Does that mean you won’t be doing any more comics for the time being? Why the emphasis on prose?

MB: Well, I actually have several comics/graphic novels coming out over the next eighteen months as well including all three “Lions, Tigers and Bears” graphic novels (volume III for the first time and vI and II for the first time in the new format). The focus on prose is something that’s been coming for a long time. I was writing prose and poetry long before I was fortunate enough to do comic books, so going back to that just seems to make sense. I do hope that I can take these prose novels and have them adapted to comics, however. I think “Runemaster” especially would make a great comic series. And, Death Angel debuted as a New Pulp hero in comic books, so it’s not like I view the two formats as mutually exclusive.

AP: Can you tell me something about Lions, Tigers and Bears vol. 3 that hasn’t been said elsewhere?

MB: It’s the coolest book you’ll ever buy in your life. In fact, it’s so cool, you should buy dozens of copies and pass them out to random strangers to increase your own personal happiness quota as doing so prevents cancer and immunizes you from chronic frowning. Don’t know if that’s true, but I don’t think it’s been said elsewhere. On a more serious note, it has some truly amazing art from Michael Metcalf, Adam Van Wyk and Dan Hipp inside. That’s worth the price of admission alone, if you ask me.

AP: Any other graphic novels/comics you can tell me about?

MB: I’m not sure if I mentioned Joe Palooka and Fiefdom of Angels upstream, but expect to see those coming as comics and graphic novels beginning with Fiefdom of Angels #0 debuting in September.

AP: Fiefdom of Angels. Sounds cool. What’s it about?

MB: The first war. Ever. Brought to life from a story created by Grammy Award Winner Kevin Max by myself and artists Tyler “Dungeons & Dragons” Walpole, Peter Mohrbacher and Rob Schwager.

AP: Let’s talk about your books. First off, The Runemaster. I read the premise and am intrigued. Who is he? And what is the novel about?

MB: The Runemaster is his tribe’s leader and holy man of sorts; the character given that designation is Skarl Kirwall, a young man preparing to take over the mantle of Runemaster from his father. Mere weeks before the responsibilities are passed down to him, he’s betrayed by a fellow clansman and exiled while his father is away at a summit of all the northern clans. Skarl seeks a meeting with the clan elders to allow him back in to the Kirwall village on the day his father is to return. But, when he arrives that morning Skarl discovers the entire village has been ransacked, his father murdered and his love taken to be sacrificed to a demon worshiped by the hated Yslings. Now, it’s up to Skarl to save her and avenge his clan.

The novel is the first in a projected series from Airship 27 that will hopefully feed the hunger of those looking for New Pulp sword and sorcery adventures.

AP: Cool book. I can’t wait to read it. Now describe Janus: Guardian of Worlds.

MB: Janus is a legacy hero of sorts coming from Pro Se Press. The character is always two people, the ghost of the grandfather acting as mentor and sidekick to the living grandson. Armed with a totem staff and armband that provides them with the ability to draw on an ancient arcane power source, they’re charged with guarding our world against invasions from those beyond.

Unlike Runemaster, the Janus novel takes place in the early 20th century. However, there has been a Guardian of Worlds in their family line since 2012 BC, so future tales may take place in the past. While the cover artist for Runemaster has yet to be determined, Manny Trembley has signed on to do covers for the “Janus: Guardian of Worlds novel series.”

AP: The third book I saw forthcoming was Death Angel. I saw that the first prose story I could find for it was on iPulpfiction.com. Explain a bit about Death Angel and how it came to be?

MB: Death Angel is an evolution of a character I created a long time ago called Revenant. After creating that character to tell some street-level super hero tales, I discovered there was several other characters named Revenant in comics and I didn’t want to just toss one more onto the pile. So, I set it aside for awhile, then when Joe Gentile over at Moonstone Books and I first dreamed up the Moonstone Pulp universe, I dusted off the old Revenant character and injected it with a whole new life, new origin, new name and new set of motivations. Michael Metcalf came aboard to handle the art chores and he really brought the image of Death Angel to fruition with his more experimental style that those who are familiar with his all-ages work never saw coming.

After Death Angel debuted in the pages of “Phantom: KGB Noir”, the feedback was overwhelmingly positive which led to doing more and more with the character, including the tales that saw the light of day in the first Black Bat graphic novel. Once I discovered iPulpfiction, the desire to do something of a serial nature infiltrated my mind and Death Angel seemed like the right character to explore that. I turned in the second story to iPulpfiction a few days ago and it should be available on the site in August some time.

AP: Did doing books like the Phantom and Savage Beauty teach you anything with how to develop your own properties in the sense of world building?

MB: Not really [Laughs] I’m not that smart. I built the Savage Beauty world from the ground up and did inject some of what Lee Falk did in Phantom, but I’m not sure it was a learning experience, per se. It was a lot of fun, however. The most gratifying thing about the world building is watching others take the ball and run with it, like artists Dave Hoover, Mark Wheatley, Thomas Yeates, Paul Gulacy and Jose Massaroli. It’s one thing to rattle all these ideas and images around in your mind, it’s a whole new level of ‘kid at Christmas time’ to see high caliber artists bring those ideas to vivid, living color.

AP: What do you prefer, working with older properties like Black Bat or The Phantom, or your own creations?

MB: That depends on the time of day [laughs]. It’s nice to be able to switch back and forth as the muse guides me. Ultimately, I’d rather work strictly with my own creations, but there’s a great deal of joy to be had playing with other people’s toys. When I wrote the Phantom for all those years, I didn’t need to wrestle with the world-building, as Lee Falk had already done that, and done it masterfully, for me.

There’s something to be said about running with the excitement that other writers ignite in your heart. For instance, I’d love to write Moon Knight or Conan and I greatly enjoyed penning Phantom tales for seven years. But, if I had to choose, I’d stick with my own stuff.

AP: This is the last question of the interview. Say anything you want here.

MB: I’ll resist the urge to say “anything you want here” as that joke’s ship has sailed. I would like to encourage people to invest in imagination. Yours, your family’s, friend’s, anyone you encounter. Imagination is the key that unlocks a bold new future, so don’t lose it, leave it behind or forget to use it every chance you get.

NEW REVIEW COLUMN AT ALL PULP- PULP CLASSIC!

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  • August 4, 2011

PULP CLASSIC- Reviews by Joshua Pantalleresco
TARZAN OF THE APES by Edgar Rice Burroughs

Ask me to pick my all time Edgar Rice Burroughs creation, and I think most people would say John Carter.  To me, however, Tarzan was Burroughs at his most refined.  There is a level of sophistication in Tarzan that is unsurpassed with any other of Burroughs’ characters.  In fact, I’ll go so far to say that Tarzan of The Apes is probably Edgar Rice Burroughs’ most complex book in terms of character development, as the Tarzan that starts the novel is not the Tarzan that finishes it.  Part origin, part coming of age and part adventure,  I’m amazed with just how layered Tarzan really was, and it makes me realize just why this character is still so popular to this day.

Tarzan of the Apes begins with his parents arriving in to the harsh unforgiving jungle.  Alice and Clayton battle the jungle valiantly, yet ultimately succumb to the harsh terrain, leaving baby Tarzan alone in the jungle, where he is eventually adopted by apes.  The first half of the book is about Tarzan growing up in this environment.  This stuff is among my favorite writing of Burroughs period.  From covering the harsh realities of the jungle, to Tarzan discovering how to use tools, Burroughs does a great job separating Tarzan from a conventional savage and was able to show that Tarzan had a lot of cunning, reason and a little bit of a sense of humor.

One of my favorite scenes is Tarzan discovering his parent’s house and discovering the books in the library.   The fact that he spends his time learning how to read astounded me when I first read it as a kid and still astounds me now.  The thing I tend to hate with Tarzan in most of the television shows is that they make him out to be an above average ape man and nothing more.  I can’t think of anything cooler than the fact that he used a children’s book to teach himself how to read in English.  That’s an incredible feat and I’ve always thought that always having him be the simple ape man he is in most movies and television shows takes away a real important aspect of his character – his desire to become more than he is.

tarzanapes-6184294This facet of him is presented best when Jane enters the story.  He sees her and feels an instant attraction.  He starts communicating with her with the English he learns through letters.  He is sprung into action when one of his local enemies captures Jane, which leads to Tarzan rescuing her.  When he attempts to woo her with a very simplistic approach and is rebuked, he takes the first steps into becoming the gentleman English lord he is descended from.  When she leaves, Tarzan seeks her out, learning more how to communicate, act like a man, and all the while making some acute observations about the ways of men he doesn’t approve of.

In the end, he saves Jane from a marriage that would have made her miserable, yet doesn’t walk away with the girl.  All in all, it left me wanting more, just like it did when I first picked up the book years ago.   Tarzan is everything you want in a great story.  Despite the savage setting, there is something we can all relate to in Tarzan in this first book.  It’s one of my favorites.  I can’t recommend it enough.  It’s a solid five out of five stars.

GUEST REVIEW-DAMBALLA MAKES HISTORY AGAIN!

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  • August 4, 2011
Charles Saunders Makes History—Again!

A review of Damballa, by Charles Saunders.

Guest reviewer Joe Bonadonna
air-37-4757295Charles Saunders created Imaro, the first black sword and sorcery hero, over 30 years ago. He made history with that one, folks. Now, with his new novel, Damballa, Saunders has once again made history—giving us the first black crime-fighting superhero in pulp fiction. But this novel is a lot more than an action-adventure story. This one is set in the world of boxing, in 1938 Harlem. It’s film noir and hard-boiled detective, with a wonderful cast of characters. Filled with Nazis, gangsters and jazz, cultural insight, plenty of atmosphere, and a serious subtext dealing with bigotry and racism, this action-packed novel climaxes in one blistering boxing match, and an ending that is both justice served, as well as emotionally satisfying. Saunders knows how to write, how to tell a story and fill it with twists and surprises, and he is an authority on boxing. I highly recommend this novel to anyone who likes a great story with characters who live and breathe. You won’t be disappointed. I guarantee it.

—Joe Bonadonna, author of Mad Shadows: The Weird Tales of Dorgo the Dowser

Reviews from the 86th Floor: Barry Reese looks at The Good, The Bad and The Unknown

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  • August 1, 2011


The Good, The Bad and The Unknown
Written by Mike Frigon
Art by Verne Anderson
Wild Cat Books
ISBN 0982311680
276 pages, $13.50

This one’s an odd mix: a novel length tale of the Moon Man followed by short stories of Doctor Satan and then Secret Agent X. The Moon Man tale is an epic one and very exciting — it is definitely the standout tale of the bunch. It does lag a bit in the middle and I think the whole thing could have been trimmed a little to make it punchier but there are some great action sequences and the Moon Man and his cast are handled very well.

The Doctor Satan story is fun — it’s hard to get Satan wrong — and I enjoyed the twists and turns the story took.

The Secret Agent X story… eh. I’ve never cared for X so I’m a hard sell here. It’s well written and the notion of an “evil” Secret Agent X is a fun one. I think I honestly enjoyed this story more than any of the old Secret Agent X tales.

The art by Verne Anderson is interesting. It’s very different from traditional pulp artwork but it works here. There are 26 (!) pieces of art and some work far better than others but overall I really liked it. It’s cartoony in places but I don’t think that’s a bad thing at all. It’s fun to see a different take on Moon Man and Doctor Satan in particular.

I give it 3 out of 5 stars.

NEW PULP PARTNERS WITH STAN LEE FOUNDATION

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  • July 21, 2011

NEW PULP ANNOUNCES ROUND ROBIN TO BENEFIT STAN LEE FOUNDATION

New Pulp, a recently organized Branding Movement to unite creators and publishers of modern Pulp fiction under a collective banner, announces today its first collective New Pulp publication. According to New Pulp founder Tommy Hancock, this project is a twenty chapter novel currently being written in a round robin style, that meaning each chapter is written by a different author. This multiple author narrative, entitled PARIAH AND THE PURPLE PRINCE, is the inaugural project of writers and publishers under the New Pulp Banner.

“New Pulp,” according to Hancock, “is a designation that applies to creators and publishers who, having found their inspiration in the stories and style established by the writers of classic Pulp stories in the early Twentieth Century, are continuing to write, draw, and publish tales of action and adventure in that tradition. New characters, new stories, new ideas, all owing a debt to the Pulp greats, but also written to be the two fisted, high octane adventure stories of today and the New Pulp classics of tomorrow.”

“This current project,” Hancock states, “actually sprouted out of the first New Pulp convention, Pulp Ark, held this past May in Arkansas. Possibly the single largest gathering of New Pulp creators to date, more than 25 creators representing at least nine publishers attended this convention and, of course, many ideas and concepts were discussed and debated. One of those discussions centered around how this collection of writers, artists, and publishers, now standing together under the banner of New Pulp could not only present and produce a unified product, a work representative of all the variety that New Pulp has to offer, but also a way that we could contribute something worthwhile, not just great stories. That desire quickly became an idea for a novel, round robin style.”

PARIAH AND THE PURPLE PRINCE is a novel in progress that started with a bare bones minimalist plot suggested by Hancock. Twenty authors were invited to participate in this project, their names being written individually on single strips of paper. As these names were drawn, each writer was assigned a chapter in the order their name was selected, the first writer getting Chapter 1 and so forth. Each writer gets a month to complete their chapter, although Hancock reports that the fourth writer is nearly done with Chapter Four and the project is just over a month along. “We are all taking this very seriously,” Hancock reports, “not only because we want the world to see what New Pulp is about, but also we are excited about the opportunity to give of ourselves, our time and effort and whatever money this novel might raise to not only a worthy cause, but toward something we all have a stake in-Improving education and literacy.”

All proceeds resulting from the sale of PARIAH AND THE PURPLE PRINCE will go to The Stan Lee Foundation. Founded to carry on the legacy of Stan Lee, the creative genius behind Marvel Comics and creator of a literal universe of iconic characters, the Stan Lee Foundation’s primary goal is to make literacy, education, and involvement in the arts accessible across America. A non-profit organization, The Stan Lee Foundation develops, designs, and sponsors programs and events with the singular purpose of bringing literacy, knowledge, and artistic enrichment to Americans from coast to coast.

“It is an honor,” Hancock states, “for each and every writer and creator involved in this project to be a part of giving something to an organization started by a man that has given us as fans and the world itself so much. The chance to contribute to The Stan Lee Foundation, to help this group further the fantastic efforts into education it has already initiated, to be just a little part of the progress and success that its various endeavors will see, is the best payday any of us could receive. With the opportunity of New Pulp working with the Stan Lee Foundation in other ways in the future also being possible, we truly want to give our best to this novel project and intend for this work to benefit future artists, learners, and readers everywhere.”

PARIAH AND THE PURPLE PRINCE will be published by Pro Se Press, the New Pulp publisher Hancock is a partner in. The writers contributing a chapter each to the novel include Hancock, Joshua Reynolds, Ron Fortier, Barry Reese, Thomas McNulty, Megan Smith, Wayne Skiver, Terry Alexander, Sean Ellis, Van Allen Plexico, Derrick Ferguson, Nancy Hansen, Adam Garcia, Wayne Reinagel, Mike Bullock, Andrew Salmon, Jim Beard, Bill Craig, Rich Steeves, and Tim Byrd. Collectively, these writers represent work in nearly every genre imaginable, from western to science fiction to crime to horror and beyond within New Pulp and as a group have worked with multiple prose and comic publishers producing the finest New Pulp has to offer.

For more information concerning New Pulp or the round robin novel PARIAH AND THE PURPLE PRINCE, contact Hancock at proseproductions@earthlink.net and follow New Pulp on http://www.newpulpfiction.com/.

Reviews from the 86th Floor: Barry Reese Reviews Python Isle (Audiobook)

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  • July 19, 2011


Python Isle
Written by Will Murray, Based on a concept by Lester Dent
Unabridged Audiobook
Radio Archives
ISBN 978-1610814010

Radio Archives has just released an audio version of Will Murray’s classic Doc Savage novel and it’s the same level of high quality that listeners have learned to associate with the company. Production values are top notch and the narrator (Michael McConnohie) does a fine job with story, capturing the essence of each character. The story itself leads Doc and his crew to the titled island, where a mystery that dates back to the Bible awaits. It’s a fine addition to the Doc Savage mythos and “feels” right. The concept was from Lester Dent but Murray does an admirable job remaining true to the overall style while also inserting a few of his own ideas and stylistic choices. I read this novel in book form upon its release but had never gone back to it since: I was pleasantly surprised how much I remembered as the narration carried me through.

Well worth your money!

I give it 5 stars out of 5.

FORTIER TAKES ON TWIT PUBLISHING’S ‘PULP!’

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  • July 15, 2011

ALL PULP REVIEWS- By RON FORTIER

PULP!

Edited by Chris Gabrysch

Twit Publishing LLC

213 pages

I make no bones about loving anthologies as I’m a huge fan of the short story format.  And with pulp anthologies of this kind you are bound to find some really amazing nuggets as well as an assortment of lesser quality entries.  Overall, if the number of excellent, fun tales outweighs the bad, you’re in good hands. Which is why it is easy for me to recommend this book edited by Chris Gabrysch as the majority of the twelve included within are truly worth your perusal.

My favorite was easily “A Shot in the Dark” by Peter Michael Rosenberg which features a marvelous protagonist in Cairo based Chief Inspector Walaa Yousesef.  This Egyptian Hercules Poirot won me over from his first appearance revolving around the body of an English photojournalist found crammed in an old cabinet in her hotel room. I hope Rosenberg writes many more cases for this unique detective.

Another enjoyable entry was “Balalaika” by Jennifer Loring.  It deals with vengeful vampire stalking the citizens of an isolated Russian village.  It is well written and haunting in its depiction of rural Russian settlement and the horror visited upon it. Whereas “The Schitzel Connection” by Cyril C. Young Jr. had me in stitches.  It’s a cautionary tale wherein we are warned evolution can easily go backwards instead of forward depending on how much pretzels and beer one consumes.  If you can’t chuckle after reading this, there’s something totally wrong with you.

“Install” by Drew Wilcox is a scary tale of a cable guy’s visit to a very bad address. Horror shorts are hard to do but Wilcox pulls it off and this one really had me flipping pages to get to the end.  Noire crime stories were also well represented with two nifty yarns.  “Smooth as Sharkskin,” by Slade Grayson is a classic crime pulp story and delivers as neatly as its title portents while “My Date with Red,” by Tom Swoffer, is an oddball, highly readable story of a drug dealer scared witless done in a Quentin Tarrentino style.

As this collection is eclectic in subject matter, I was pleased to find “Montana Jack” by Dave P. Fisher, a no-frills classic western tale; truly superb writing.  Another contender for my favorite in this book.  Fisher really should stretch his writing muscles and try a full length western novel.  He’s that good.

And finally there is the fantasy comedy “Whatever Happened to the Dark Lord?” by Frank R. Sjodin that has some really hilarious moments and twists nicely on its own logic.

The remaining four stories did nothing for me at all; obviously not my cup of tea. One, a long crime piece, “Double Take,” by Chris O’Grady was competently written, but in his attempt to mimic other successful hard boiled writers, he completely homogenized his tale so that it comes across bland and spiritless.  Even the toughest, most cynical writers of this genre know you need to inject some melodrama to grease the plot wheels.

So eight out of twelve gives this collection a big thumbs up in my accounting.  Try a copy and let me know if you agree with me.  Or not?

MORE SKY RANGER! MORE AUTHORS! MORE IPULP!

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  • July 10, 2011

The Lance Star: Sky Ranger interviews – Author Frank Dirscherl

Frank Dirscherl

With the announcement of Lance Star: Sky Ranger joining the iPulp Fiction Library, we wanted to introduce readers to some of the Honorary Sky Rangers involved with making these stories happen. Next up is Lance star: Sky Ranger Author Frank Dirscherl.

LSSR: Tell us a little about yourself and where readers can find out more about you and your work?

FD: I’m a 38 year old librarian, live in Australia and have been writing off and on my whole life, professionally for about 10 or so years now. I’ve mainly been writing the adventures of my modern day pulp paradin, The Wraith, in both comic book and prose form, but I’ve worked on some other projects as well. My two websites contain further information and links to buy my work – http://www.trinitycomics.com/ and http://www.frankdirscherl.com/.

Attack of the Bird Man Now Available.

LSSR: How did you become involved with the Lance Star: Sky Ranger series?

FD: I don’t quite recall how I was introduced to Mr Ron Fortier online, but ultimately, he invited me to contribute to this, and other works, from his publishing venture Airship 27, and I eagerly signed up. I only wish I’d have had the time to contribute more than I thus far have, but there will be more from me coming, rest assured. Pulp storytelling is my absolute favorite, and the more I can contribute to this genre, the better.

LSSR: Who is Lance Star? What makes pulp characters like Lance and the Sky Rangers appeal to you as a writer and a reader?

FD: Lance Star is an aviator adventurer who surrounds himself with a team of fellow enthusiasts and who end up fighting crime and seeking adventure the world over. I think characters such as Doc Savage and even Indiana Jones are probably of a similar ilk to Lance. What I love about all such pulp novel characters is that their stories are, for mine, true adventures. When coming to the end of such a story, one gets the feeling you’ve been on a real ride, unlike any other in fiction. The adventures are often fast-paced and even, at times, feverish and melodramatic—the characters go through so much in the course of their adventure, and I love that. Above all else, I’m a reader of the genre, so that makes it all the more special to also be a writer of such stories. I feel privileged to be able to contribute in some small way to the genre.

The Wraith: Valley of Evil

LSSR: Digital content has changed the publishing landscape. As a creator, what excites you about digital content? As a reader?

FD: What excites me is that all our work can now be accessed by as wide a range of readers as possible. Never before has the work of all authors been as easily accessible as they are now with the ‘digital revolution’. This can only be of benefit to all creators. For just a few dollars—often as low as two or three—a reader can download a book and have it instantly available to read on their e-reader. I myself own a Kindle, and it’s an amazing tool.

LSSR: Your Lance Star: Sky Ranger story, “Attack Of The Birdman” is currently available in print, as an eBook, and soon to be released individually at iPulp Fiction. What can you tell us about this story? (plug it, tease it)

FD: I was somewhat inspired by the Alfred Hitchcock film, The Birds, but also by an incident which happened while I was pondering my Lance Star story. On that day, I looked outside my (then) home and saw dozens of birds congregated on a power line that weren’t there moments earlier. That really gave me the spark of an idea as to where to take my story. But, what if a master criminal was behind the appearance of the birds. What if he was controlling them, using them to further his own nefarious plans? And, what if he was possibly not even human? Once I’d established that, a Birdman threatening the country, everything flowed easily from there. It turned into a rollicking adventure, one which links very well into the established Lance Star mythos, and I think is one of the best stories I’ve thus far written.

The Wraith: Cult of the Damned

LSSR: Any upcoming projects you would like to plug?

FD: My latest novel in The Wraith Adventures series, Cry of the Werewolf, will be out either later this year or early next year, and I’m very excited about that. The Wraith is truly out of his comfort zone in this one as he vacations with his girlfriend in the countryside and battles with werewolves, a Satanic cult and much more. I’ve also just completed my Wraith short story, titled Sundown, for the upcoming Airship 27 Wraith anthology and another Wraith short story, Zombies Attack!, for an anthology titled Superheroes vs. Zombies (from Coscom Entertainment). More short stories to come, and readers can always access the various comic books I’ve also written and published from my aforementioned websites.

LSSR: Thanks, Frank.

You can find Lance Star: Sky Ranger “Attack Of The Bird Man”
at http://www.ipulpfiction.com/bookstore.php?sort=Title

LANCE STAR’S ORIGINAL PUBLISHER TALKS ABOUT IPULP VERSIONS!

  • News
  • July 10, 2011

The Lance Star: Sky Ranger interviews – Author/Publisher Ron Fortier

Ron Fortier

With the announcement of Lance Star: Sky Ranger joining the iPulp Fiction Library, we wanted to introduce readers to some of the Honorary Sky Rangers involved with making these stories happen. Next up is Lance star: Sky Ranger Publisher Ron Fortier.

LSSR: Tell us a little about yourself and where readers can find out more about you, your work, and Airship 27 Productions?

RF: Okay, Reader’s Digest version here. Been writing professionally for past thirty-five years, mostly comics and now pulps. Folks can visit my website (www.airship27.com) to see what I’m up to on a weekly basis and learn more about Airship 27 Productions etc.

Airship 27 Productions

LSSR: How did you become involved with the Lance Star: Sky Ranger series?

RF: Having been a fan of the old pulp aviation heroes, we wanted to do our own series and Lance Star was the answer. He and his Star Rangers are classic aviation heroes with tons of adventures to tell.

LSSR: Who is Lance Star? What makes pulp characters like Lance and the Sky Rangers appeal to you as a writer, a reader, and a publisher?

Lance Star: Sky Ranger Vol. 1

RF: Lance Star is an flying adventurer and veteran of World War One. He and his crew travel the globe of the 1930s and setting them against this ear as historical background is always fun.

LSSR: Digital content has changed the publishing landscape. As a creator and publisher, what excites you about digital content? As a reader?

RF: Obviously the ability to get our books out to a much larger audience, folks who own Kindles and Nooks, is the biggest attractions. We want lots of people to have the fun of reading our books and the digital market has opened that possibility far beyond our wildest dreams.

Lance Star: Sky Ranger Vol. 2

LSSR: Airship 27 currently has two Lance Star: Sky Ranger anthologies in print and available as eBooks with several of those stories soon to be released individually at iPulp Fiction. What’s next for these pulp heroes?

RF: Simply more of the same. We have a third Lance Star anthology in production and hope to follow it up with his first ever full blown novel.

And I’m told there are more shot comics in the works. We plan on keeping Lance and the Sky Rangers flying high for a long time to come.

Damballa

LSSR: Any upcoming projects you would like to plug?

RF: Airship 27 Production just released its third SHERLOCK HOLMES – CONSULTING DETECTIVE anthology and will soon be releasing the first ever African American 1930s avenger, DAMBALLA by novelist, Charles Saunders. It’s a book we’re damn proud of.

LSSR: Thanks, Ron.

Sherlock Holmes Vol. 3

For more information on Airship 27 Productions, please visit http://www.gopulp.info/
For more information on iPulp Fiction, please visit http://www.ipulpfiction.com/

AUTHOR SPANGLER, LANCE STAR, AND IPULP!!

  • News
  • July 10, 2011

The Lance Star: Sky Ranger interviews – Author Bill Spangler

Bill Spangler

With the announcement of Lance Star: Sky Ranger joining the iPulp Fiction Library, we wanted to introduce readers to some of the Honorary Sky Rangers involved with making these stories happen. Next up is Lance star: Sky Ranger Author Bill Spangler.

LSSR: Tell us a little about yourself and where readers can find out more about you and your work?

BS: I’ve been selling fiction for a number of years now. Primarily my work has appeared in comic books, but I’ve been selling prose short stories—such as “Talons Of the Red Condors”—too. My most recent credits are a graphic novel based on Tom Corbett, Space Cadet, the classic sf TV series from the 1950s, and “Mutual Assured Destruction,” a prose story featuring the Green Hornet. The latter is in the first volume of The Green Hornet Chronicles, published by Moonstone Books.

The Green Hornet Chronicles

You can order either of those through your local comics shop, or through Amazon.

My comic book work also includes The Argonauts, a pulp-adventure series in the tradition of Doc Savage and Buckaroo Banzai, and several series based on the animated TV show Robotech. Frankly, the best place to find them is probably in the three-for-a-dollar box at your local comics shop.

LSSR: How did you become involved with the Lance Star: Sky Ranger series?

BS: I wish I had an interesting story to tell you here, but the truth is I just don’t. Ron Fortier graciously asked me to participate, and I said, “Sure!” Ron and I have been corresponding since the late 1980s or the early ‘90s—you know, back when you actually sent paper letters to people—but, now that I think about it, I don’t think we’ve actually been in the same room together more than two or three times.

Talons Of The Red Condors

LSSR: Who is Lance Star? What makes pulp characters like Lance and the Sky Rangers appeal to you as a writer and a reader?

BS: Lance is an inventor, a pilot and an adventurer. From time to time, he and his team help out the government. You could say he’s part Doc Savage, part Indiana Jones and part Blackhawk. When I wrote “Talons,” I started to visualize Lance as a young Jimmy Stewart…or, his modern analog, Tom Hanks. He’s smart and competent, but a bit of a dreamer.

Personally, I’ve always found that to be an appealing mix. Some of my favorite characters fall into that tradition, like Tom Swift Jr., for instance, and the Tracy family from the Thunderbirds TV show. And I think some of the exotic airplanes in these stories are the ancestors of the gadgetry and vehicles in anime.

LSSR: Digital content has changed the publishing landscape. As a creator, what excites you about digital content? As a reader?

BS: I’m hoping that the minimal overhead of doing digital books will encourage publishers to take chances on stories and authors that you don’t see often in the big book store chains. With a little luck, publishers will be more willing to give authors the time to develop an audience or not demand that every title make Steven-King level profits. I guess that applies to me both as a creator and a reader because, in general, the stuff I want to write is the stuff I want to read.

Lance Star: Sky Ranger

LSSR: Your Lance Star: Sky Ranger story, “Talons Of The Red Condors” is currently available in print, as an eBook, and soon to be released individually at iPulp Fiction. What can you tell us about this story?

BS: Basically, I started out with the idea of wanting to do a big springboard, a big McGuffin, and I wanted to set it in a foreign country. So, “Talons” is set in Panama, and the bad guys perform an audacious…well, let’s call it a hijacking. There’s a lost city and a woman who changes sides during the course of the story, along with some other pulp riffs. I had a lot of fun researching it, and a lot of fun writing it.

LSSR: Thanks, Bill.

http://www.ipulpfiction.com/

Release schedule for Lance Star: Sky Ranger tales on iPulp:
06/17: Lance Star: Sky Ranger – Vol.1 #1: Attack of the Bird Man by Frank Dirsherl (now available)
07/07: Lance Star: Sky Ranger – Vol.1 #2: Where the Sea Meets the Sky by Bobby Nash
07/27: Lance Star: Sky Ranger – Vol.1 #3: Talons of the Red Condors by Bill Spangler

For more information on iPulp Fiction’s offerings, please visit http://www.ipulpfiction.com/
For more information on Airship 27 Productions’ offerings, please visit http://www.gopulp.info/

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