[[[Dragon Puncher]]]
By James Kolchalka
Top Shelf, 40 pages, $9.95
James Kolchalka is an inventive cartoonist who likes to have fun with his subject matter and his artwork. In his latest offering from Top Shelf, this whimsical children’s tale mixes photography with simply drawings in an appealing way.
In his own words, the book is “about a cat in a battle suit that punches dragons, basically.” The title character is a figure with a picture of his family cat in place of a face, while his seven year old son Eli plays the eager Spoony E and the artist himself lends his face to the fierce dragon.
This is certainly a fast-moving story about good versus evil and friendship, making it an engaging children’s book. The art and photography are not seamless but play nicely with one another, with the figures set against green grass and blue skies. His offbeat humor comes through as the hero does not want a sidekick and Spoony E remains eager and oblivious to the cat’s distaste for him.
Together, the two have endure the dragon’s stinky breath and slimy drool. There’s a simplicity and an originality to the book that should enchant the parents who read this to their children or the children using it to launch their own imaginations.
JR: An influential 18th Century English painter with a fondness for portraits. Also, me. I was born in the great state of South Carolina, the only state too small to be a country and too big to be an asylum. I come from a long line of pirates, swindlers, preachers, bandits, judges and opportunists and I like to feel that I’m keeping my end up in regard to them, having fancied a career in at least two of those occupations. I’m married to a wonderfully supportive Englishwoman, who snatched me from the backwoods of rural Cackalackee and brought me to the disturbingly sedate region of South Yorkshire as soon as everyone’s back was turned.
AP: Where do you live and what do you do to keep the bill collectors at bay?
JR: Currently I live in Sheffield, England with my lovely, patient, tolerant, calm, patient wife, and besides the occasional bit of ghostwriting and copywriting, I mostly use what any red-blooded American uses against the bill collectors-caller ID and a good pair of running shoes. I kid, I kid. I’ve never run from a bill collector in my life.
I bury them in the backyard, like a sensible person.
AP: You’ve had around seventy-five short stories published as well as the DRACULA LIVES! novel. Add to that the reviews and essays you’ve done. Where does the energy come from to write all that?
JR: I sold my soul to the Devil at the crossroads for a heart made of ten hearts. Baboon hearts, too. High performance, all the way. Seriously though, I write fast and I don’t sleep much. It works out well, don’t it?
AP: You’ve written in a lot of genres; pulp, horror, steampunk, fantasy, sword and sorcery, southern gothic…what’s your favorite?
JR: All of the above! I’ll write most anything as long as its got a good beat to it.
AP: What’s your definition of Pulp?
JR: Fast-paced, plot-orientated fiction, with little regard for the rules and conventions of modern genre. If its got Hitler’s brain in a robot body fighting a ghost-hunter who’s also a zombie, WITH NO EXPLANATION for how those characters got that way? And no need for said explanation? That’s pulp. It’s the equivalent of a literary adrenalin shot into the brain. Good pulp should make the reader see sparks and smell stories.
AP: You’ve written a lot of horror stories set in your native South Carolina. Why is South Carolina so full of terror for you?
JR: Instead of a straight answer, here’s an anecdote. In South Carolina, there is a county. And in this county is a town. And just outside of this town is a road. And branching off of that road is a dirt trail. And lining that trail is a chicken wire fence, blocking off the dark trees from the rutted path. The fence goes the length and width of that patch of woods, cutting across property lines and walking paths. And on that chicken wire fence are bones. Hundreds of bones, of all shapes and sizes, from all manner of formerly living things. And above these bones, in the branches of the trees that shade the path are wind chimes made of yet more bones, and they rattle ALL THE TIME.
I have never seen the house at the end of that path, though I know it’s there. I don’t know who lives there, or why they line their fence with bones. I just know that there are more bones every time I see it, and there are more wind chimes and that the sound they make gets louder every year.
And sometimes, just sometimes, at night, before I go to sleep, I wonder what that fence is supposed to keep out…and then, I wonder if it’s keeping something in.
AP: You have an affinity for classic horror characters such as Dracula and Frankenstein. Why do those characters fascinate you?
JR: Short answer? Because they persist. I’m fascinated by what makes some characters stick around in the public consciousness while others fade away. Dracula wasn’t the first literary vampire, but he’s the best known…why is that? Why did he become a pop-culture powerhouse instead of Carmilla or Ruthven or Varney? Why do these characters resonate so strongly with us? Why is Frankenstein a cultural slang term for ‘bad science’?
Also, I just dig ’em, y’know? I mean Frankenstein, dude. With the lightning and the arms and the GRAARGH and the ice floes and stuff? That’s just cool. That dude needs to fight a Yeti ASAP, know what I’m saying?
AP: Tell us about DRACULA LIVES!
JR: No.
Fine, if you insist. Dracula Lives! is the first in a series of short novels concerning the resurrection of Dracula into the modern day and the unpleasantly gory hi-jinks which ensue. There are spies, secret organizations, Satanists and, of course, vampires. Also an Aztec mummy. It wears its influences proudly on its bloody sleeves-from Ian Fleming to Brian Lumley to Colan and Wolfman’s Tomb of Dracula comic. If any of that trips your interest meter, this is the book for you.
AP: One of the most interesting things about your work is how you mix genres. Such as horror and espionage in DRACULA LIVES! is this something you do deliberately or is that just how your brain is hardwired?
JR: Well, first off, I’m not a big believer in ‘genre’. It’s a marketing ploy that I think is, at the best of times, unfortunately necessary, and at the worst of times is an active disservice to the books that it’s applied to. That said, I have one real rule when it comes to writing: ‘whatever sells the story’. I’ll mix and match whatever elements seem necessary to produce a saleable work of fiction…if that’s gorillas on blimps or cowboy-vampires, I’ll do it. Too, continuing along that mercenary line, I’ve found that you need to do something a bit different to get noticed by editors and readers alike. Something simultaneously recognizable and unique is the best bet, so I often juggle genres to achieve that.
Basically, I do it because it works.
AP: What are your plans for future Dracula novels?
JR: Well, short-term, there are two more books forthcoming-Dracula Unbound! in October 2011 and an as yet unnamed third book slated for 2012. After that, well, I guess it just depends on how well they sell. I’d love to write one a year for the next ten years, but really, it all relies on how popular the series is with book-buying public.
So, if you like the first book, buy multiple copies. Seven or eight apiece should do nicely, I think.
AP: What can we expect from you in 2011?
JR: Oh heck, lots of stuff. The aforementioned Dracula Unbound!, of course. I’ve got a story in Airship 27’s upcoming third volume of Sherlock Holmes, Consulting Detective. I’ve got stories being turned into audio productions, I’ll be appearing in a number of short-fiction markets, including Innsmouth Free Press and a forthcoming time-travel anthology from Permuted Press. Too, there’s several things I’m waiting to hear about as of yet.
AP: What’s a typical Day In The Life of Joshua Reynolds like?
JR: I’m up at six in the AM to see the wife off to her job, then it’s an hour or so on the interwebs as I guzzle my morning coffee, checking e-mail and hunting for new short-fiction markets to submit to. After that, I spend a few hours editing what I wrote the day before, then I dive into whatever I’m working on for the day. Once I hit my page count for the day on that particular project (barring deadlines), I switch up and move onto something else. I generally have short stories on the go at once, staggered according to relative deadlines, and at least two novel-length works, as well as the odd book review. I take a break about five to update my various blogs and facebooks and such, cook some dinner for the wife, then it’s back to work for another hour or two.
I try and get in a good eight to twelve hours a day, five to six days a week, if possible. Sometimes it’s less, sometimes it’s more.
I keep busy, is what I’m saying.
AP: Here’s your chance for a gratuitous plug or shout out. Go.
JR: Ooh, there’s so many people I could give a shout out to…too many, in fact. So instead, I’ll opt for the gratuitous plug(s): Dracula Lives! is on sale now at Amazon for the amazingly low price of $8.95, which is a bargain, when you think about it. Then again, you could splurge and grab a copy of Jim Anthony, Super-Detective: The Hunters written by myself and Micah Harris. That’d be great. Oh, you could pick up the two new anthologies from Woodland Press, Specters in Coal Dust and Mountain Magic: Spellbinding Tales of Appalachia, both of which feature stories by me.Or, you know, if free stuff is your bag, you could head over to Dunesteef Audio Fiction Magazine or Cossmass Infinities and give a listen to what stories of mine they done produced into some really stunning audio-performances.
AP: Anything else we should know about Joshua Reynolds?
JR: Plenty, but you wouldn’t believe me if I told you.
A complete listing of the published works of Joshua Reynolds can be found here:
AP: Bill, thanks for taking some time out of your schedule to visit with All Pulp. You seem to be keeping busy, but before we get to that, would you tell us a bit about yourself?
WMP: I’m a 39 year-old husband and father. I work as a National Sourcing Manager by day. I write when my work and home schedule allow which means late nights at home and in hotels. I’m a native Clevelander and still call Northeast Ohio home when I’m not on the road for my day job.
AP: You have your hands in pulp a couple of different ways. Let’s talk about your writing? How about a quick rundown of your authored works?
WMP: My first book, THE TERROR OF FU MANCHU was published by Black Coat Press in 2009. I contributed a Sherlock Holmes story to the anthology, GASLIGHT GROTESQUE published by EDGE Publishing in 2009. I wrote a Fantomas story for 2009’s TALES OF THE SHADOWMEN anthology, GRAND GUIGNOL published by Black Coat Press. That story was also published in French earlier this year by Riviere Blanche as part of a different anthology series, LES COMPAGNONS DE L’OMBRE. I’ve also written articles for magazines like BLOOD ‘N’ THUNDER and VAN HELSING’S JOURNAL. The former was also published in French by K-LIBRE. I was a weekly columnist for THE CIMMERIAN before it closed up shop and currently I contribute articles every Friday to THE BLACK GATE. My articles for both sites are cross-posted on my blog, SETI SAYS.
AP: ‘The Terror of Fu Manchu’ highlights a character with quite an extensive background. What’s the story historically behind Manchu? Who is he? Who created him?, etc.
WMP: Dr. Fu Manchu is an alias assumed by a brilliant and honorable, but also ruthless and obsessive Chinese scientist who opposes Western imperialism in the East. He wasn’t the first criminal mastermind in fiction, but he was certainly the most infamous and influential. He was created in 1912 by a young Englishman named Arthur Ward, who wrote under the exotic pseudonym of Sax Rohmer. He continued to write about his exploits in a series of novels and stories up until his death in 1959. There were 13 novels, a novella and 3 short stories by the original author.
AP: According to your blog (setisays.blogspot.com) this is the first licensed Fu Manchu novel in 25 years. What does that mean exactly and how was the license acquired? What was your involvement in that process?
WMP: Rohmer had no children. When his widow passed away in 1979, she bequeathed the literary rights to The Society of Authors and The Authors Guild to protect the characters and control the copyrights. The Rohmers were frequently unhappy with how the character was adapted in other media and she wanted to protect the integrity of her husband’s work. Shortly after Elizabeth passed away, Cay Van Ash (who had been their friend and was Rohmer’s secretary and later his biographer) acquired a license to continue the series. He wrote two more Fu Manchu thrillers in the 1980s before he passed away in 1994. For my part, I sought out the rightsholders a number of years ago and presented a story outline and sample chapters. They liked my approach which was to fill in the gaps in the existing narrative by picking up on clues left behind by either Rohmer or Van Ash and embroidering on the established history of the character. THE TERROR OF FU MANCHU was my first one and is set on the eve of the First World War. THE DESTINY OF FU MANCHU is the one I’m working on now. That one is set on the eve of the Second World War.
AP: We’ve talked historically. Now let’s talk about your vision. Tell us how you see Fu Manchu? Is he the embodiment of evil, simply misunderstood, or something else?
WMP: I see him as Nayland Smith’s true counterpart. Not two sides of the same coin like Holmes and Moriarty, but almost twins born in opposite hemispheres. Their separation is political more than ideological. Rohmer’s characters aren’t traditional good guys and bad guys, they’re more flawed and more complex as a consequence. Fu Manchu is an honorable villain and Nayland Smith is an intolerant hero. Neither is perfect, but both are fascinating.
AP: Any other characters you’ve written about you’d like to discuss, either established or your own original creations?
WMP: Well I wrote a Holmes story because the editor of the GASLIGHT anthologies, Charles Prepolec liked my Fu Manchu. I love Holmes and I’m putting together my own collection of Holmes stories now. The book is called THE OCCULT CASE BOOK OF SHERLOCK HOLMES. I wrote a Fantomas story, but I have no ambition to do something larger with the character although I am a fan and greatly enjoyed David White’s recent FANTOMAS IN AMERICA book. I see that as more David’s territory than mine. He can certainly do it justice better than I can and probably better than anyone else since he can get right inside the mind of an anarchist and still make you enjoy the character. I am working on another licensed property, but we’re still at the proposal stage so it’s too soon to expand on that unless it comes to pass. I do have an original detective character I’m working on as well that I hope will launch in 2012. He’s a hardboiled detective who is also a devoted husband and father. The setting is America in 1960 right at the cusp of the nation losing its innocence with Kennedy’s assassination and all that followed in its wake. The book and character are called LAWHEAD and that’s something I’m really excited about getting off the ground.
AP: You’re also a columnist. Who do you write columns for and how would you define what a pulp columnist’s job is?
WMP: I started my blog out of boredom between shifts shoveling snow out of my driveway last January. I didn’t really know if I would really maintain a blog or not. At the time it just struck me as a good way to get more search engine hits with my name and work. The mercenary approach didn’t quite last because I quickly found people who enjoyed it. The first was Deuce Richardson who was an editor at THE CIMMERIAN. Deuce invited me to become a weekly columnist and cross-post from my blog. The discipline of writing a weekly column was something I was wary of, but I realized the benefits reaped in terms of exposure to people who have never heard of me outweighed any other considerations. I patterned what I did to fall between three of my favorite blogs: Ron Fortier’s PULP FICTION REVIEWS; Michael Cornett’s DUST AND CORRUPTION; and James Bojaciuk’s EXPLORERS OF THE UNKNOWN. Between the three you have pulp old and new, dark antiquarian fiction, and the Wold Newtonian perspective. That’s what I looked to for inspiration and I just decided I would try to work my way through my own library, books I borrow from the public library, and all roads in between. I jump around a lot from pulp to mystery to sci-fi to horror and there are all of these multi-part articles that start and stop along the way. It seems to have found a good home in THE BLACK GATE which is where we moved to after THE CIMMERIAN ended. John O’Neill has been a huge help in getting me over my technophobia to where I can sort of function somewhat competently now without relying on help with formatting. Obviously, I owe Deuce and John a debt of graditude for championing me and helping to bring my writing to greater attention. Thanks to them, sales of my book have remained consistent as well which is certainly a substantial advantage to blogging.
AP: How do you pick topics to cover? What are some of the topics you’ve addressed as a columnist?
WPM: Well, I start with influences and it often reflects what I’m writing or would like to write. I’ve done DRACULA to death and I’m still not finished and I’ve barely scratched the surface on hardboiled mystery. When LAWHEAD is published in a couple of years, we’ll shift gears in that direction a bit more. Now we’ve stayed close to the lineage that starts with Shelley and Stoker and turns to Rohmer and Alex Raymond. This winter I hope to dig deeper into French pulp fiction with Pierre Souvestre and Marcel Allain as well as Paul Feval. A year from now and I’ll look at how Rohmer approached a second Fu Manchu thriller when I’ll have done the same. It’s fair to say you can chart things in my life and work by watching what I review or discuss.
AP: Some would say that to do a column over something, your subject needs to be relevant. In your opinion, what makes pulp relevant today? Answer that both as a columnist and an author.
WPM: Pulp is such a broad term the way we tend to apply it. A purist would argue that while Doc Savage and The Shadow were true pulps, Fu Manchu was not. I tend to include any genre or specific authors whose works would be considered low-brow or undignified or contemptible by the elitists when I define pulp. Once you’ve offended the bluenoses, you’re on the right track. Political correctness is just censorship under a different guise and it’s just as creatively stifling and intellectually inbred as it was in the last century. The strange thing is pulp is usually a great barometer for what is going on politically or morally in the world, but it isn’t always evident in its own time. You need distance to gauge its ability to reflect the world around it. Of course the most important facet is it functions as a literary rollercoaster. It’s the most fun you can have in a book. That is another way of determining whether you’re reading or creating pulp.
AP: In reviewing your columns, I find you to be almost as much historian as columnist? What appeals to you about the history of pulp? What do you feel like the pulps of the past have to offer readers and creators today?
WPM: There is a certain amount of innocence in their appeal despite the heavy doses of S&M and all sorts of general nastiness. Pulp is handled with a light touch and is always enjoyable like a good scare or thrill. From a historical perspective, they are modern myths whether you’re talking Mary Shelley or Doc Savage, they function in the same way that myths did in the Classical World. Hollywood recognizes this now, it’s part of what signalled the transition from campy genre films to summer tentpoles that are expected to reinforce moral integrity and make audiences feel like cheering a hero again. George Lucas is the gentleman who claims the honor of changing that mindset with STAR WARS and INDIANA JONES, but it took a couple more decades before the rest of the industry caught up with Peter Jackson and Sam Raimi leading the pack. Now everyone wants pulp in some format. That really helped pave the way for pulp-specialty publishers and the pulp revival currently underway in comics. Now if only mainstream publishers would get on board, but the tide is turning. It is a great time to read and create pulp.
AP: Do you have anything in the works for the future pulpwise you’d like to share with ALL PULP?
WPM: I think that THE OCCULT CASE BOOK OF SHERLOCK HOLMES will be ready this Spring to get to print by Summer, hopefully. I really hope the proposal I have hanging out there for another property is approved by the rightsholder and publisher as I think it’s a property that is a natural fit for me. You really have to believe you can do what you do better than anyone else. You have to believe you were born to write certain characters. If you lack that confidence so will your reader. The trick with writing pulp today is appealing to the classic and modern sensibilities at once. You can do both and All Pulp is a testament to those who show you what can be done with the form. Probably the best lesson for anyone out there who wants to write, but hasn’t finished anything is to learn the dynamics of storytelling, read everything you can get your hands on and understand how it is built and what makes it work. Understanding that will help your own work and help build your confidence.
TIPPIN’ HANCOCK’S HAT-Reviews by Tommy Hancock “EPISODES FROM THE ZERO HOUR: VOL THREE” Written by Jason Butkowski, S. E. Dogaru, and Anthony Schiavino Art by Rich Woodall, Duane Spurlock, and Dave Flora Production and Design by Anthony Schiavino
Reviewing a magazine or collection format book is a bit different than just a straight story or book review.Each tale has to be looked at almost individually, then as a group.Art has to be considered in the same way and I, at least, also give a lot of weight to production and design in magazine type things simply because that is almost more important to a book that expects readers to buy its next installment or issue than the writing or art.
So, let’s get the easiest bits out of the way first.The art in this work is outstanding.Each artist delivers fantastic images, every one extremely evocative of the tale being told.The lineup of artists makes the excellence no surprise.Flora, Spurlock, and Woodall deliver one two punches with each illustration, in many ways adding almost extra chapters to the tales themselves.Top of the line art makes this collection a joy to view.
Anthony Schiavino’s design for this volume only adds to its appeal.The presentation of the stories, the placement of the art, and the design that went into font and even things so many people overlook, like the Table of Contents page, make viewing and navigating this work an awesome experience.It’s very clearly laid out and presented in a way that makes it easy for any reader, the Pulp diehard or the new novice, to enjoy all it has to offer.
Now to the stories-
“Rex Rockwell: Weird Game Hunter” is simply amazing.This story takes several stereotypes, archetypes, and cryptids and mixes them together in an exciting, believable fashion. The premise of the story is that Rex Rockwell, a big game hunter type, is actually less hunter and more rescuer, and less big game and more unbelievable, mythological quarry.Rockwell’s mission-To find and capture creatures that are the stuff of rumors and legends and bring them to his preserve, named for his beloved wife, to insure their safety and for study.On this mission, Rex brings a team of his own, including a Texan cowboy, a morose psychic, an Indian bodyguard and ward, among others.The stories within this volume center on the arrival of a new member of Rockwell’s team, Daniel Whitlock, a noted folklorist.Through Whitlock’s eyes, we see how this odd team works together while getting some over the top action, creatures, and overall pulp thrills and chills.The dialogue is convincing, the description is dead on, and the narrative flows like good pulp should.
“Mac Sampson: Secrets of the Lost City” is one heckuva rollicking adventure tale.The storytelling in this action packed romp is top notch for the most part.Mac Sampson, the titular character, has all the heroic aspects a pulp icon should have, plus a few foibles that make him somewhat human and interesting.The strength of this story, though, rests in an odd spot-with the supporting cast.The characterization of almost all of the characters in this tale is dead on, inspiring, and just leaves this reader wanting more and more of the most basic of characters.The pilots, Mac’s buddies, even the bad guys had a charm that endeared them to me as I read.I enjoyed this cast of characters, in fact, more than I liked the main character.Mac reads more like a plot device instead of the character stirring the action that this story is full of.Hopefully later installments make me care about Mac more than I do everyone else around him, but fortunately I care enough about them that I will be back again for wherever this ride goes.
Lastly, “CT and The Savage Chimps of Cannibal Mesas” is last not only in magazine placement of stories, but it is unfortunately last in quality.The idea of a ‘cowboy meets mad monkeys’ western is interesting, even intriguing on some level, but in this story it barely makes it to intriguing.The main character, Cowboy Tony, is supposed to be driven by vengeance and a desire for….I was never really sure what.And his enemies are the aforementioned savage primate types.The entire story seems implausible even in the realm of pulp and characterization is one dimensional.Although the idea has merit, the execution of it in this story just didn’t make me want to know what happened to CT next, monkey hand or not.
Overall, EPISODES FROM THE ZERO HOUR: VOL THREE delivers as a whole package.The set up, the art, and most of the stories hammer home why pulp is good stuff and offer fans a plethora of action, great characters, and all in all, a volume worth having.And yes, a volume that does its job-making sure I’ll be back for #4.
Four out of Five Tips of Hancock’s Hat (usually reserved for heads of state, arresting officers, and little old ladies, which is pretty darn good.)
Wolverine and the X-Men was created to capitalize on the anticipated success of the Hugh Jackman Wolverine movie. The series aired on Nicktoons and freely adapted stories taken from the decades of [[[X-Men]]] stories. Despite being the title character, Wolverine was often taking a step back to let the army of mutants take on the stories.
Lionsgate has been releasing the episodes in low priced sets, but now, in time for the holidays, the entire series has been put in one set, now on sale. ComicMix has previous reviewed the final three releases in the series and overall, I have not been overly impressed. Visually, the animation designs are satisfactory but Marvel has never gotten a good handle on their voice casting and the show suffers for it.
Structurally, I previously noted “this has fewer sub-plots that require episode to episode viewing. On the other hand, there are plenty of sub-plots running through the 26 episodes comprising the first season. There are also dozens of characters to meet and recall and often they arrive unnamed or their powers unspecified. As a result, you’re required to watch knowing which version of the x-verse you’re paying attention to.”
Despite reasonably good ratings, the second season was canceled after work had begun so this set is all you will get. If you’re a fan of the characters or really liked the series, then this is for you. Frankly, you’re better off with the original source material, all of which has been collected in one form or another.
Steve Gordon, Greg Johnson, Craig Kyle, Joshua Fine, Nick Filippi, and Boyd Kirkland mastermind the series and bring their previous Marvel animation experience with them. The writing is sharper than before In reviewing the final volume, I noted, “All the threads and main players throughout the season turn up and have their moment as the conflicting timelines and threads are woven together into a massive climax.” There’s even a final scene hinting at the direction of the second season that will never be.
Other than trailers, there are no special features on this set so it’s for collectors and fans only.
TIPPIN’ HANCOCK’S HAT-Reviews by Tommy Hancock “THE TALL TALE OF PAUL BUNYAN” Writer-Martin Powell Artist-Aaron Blecha
Second of Four Reviews of ALL PULP FOCUS-KIDS’ PULP, YAY OR NAY?
Pulp fiction requires a few things.A hero, able to do amazing feats of some sort somehow; a villain and/or villains that are as or more over the top than the hero and defeated in the end; bright, engaging supporting characters who might be able to carry a tale or two on their own; and imagination gone wild as seen in the art, the turn of phrase, the crazy innovations and creations scattered throughout the story.
“THE TALL TALE OF PAUL BUNYAN” has all of that in spades.
Powell takes the classic tall tale of the giant baby born to hard working parents that grows up to be the oversized hero that shaped most of what we know as geographic America today and makes it enjoyable and as pulpy as can be.Blecha’s art, although cartoony and humorous in nature, adds an outlandish quality to a truly over the top story.The dialogue and narration ring true with the art and make the story almost a song more than a narrative.The villains are there and Paul’s superhuman reaction to them as well.All in all, Powell and Blecha use the comic art form in a phenomenal way to tell a story we all think we know and turn it just enough that it could have been a prose tale once upon a time in a good ol’ pulp magazine.
Five out of Five Tips of Hancock’s Hat-Yes, yes indeed.
For those of you who haven’t read the three-issue comic book miniseries Red, by Warren Ellis and Cully Hamner, don’t worry. The movie version is to the comic book as [[[Blade Runner]]] was to Philip K. Dick’s novel [[[Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?]]] That is, Red takes the comic book’s basic concept—a retired CIA assassin, Frank Moses, finds himself under attack and comes out of retirement to deal with the problem—and then spins it off in a new direction. In this movie’s case, that direction is a fast, fun film with a fantastic cast, great action, great lines, and more than a little bit of humor.
Let’s start with the cast. You’ve got Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich, and Helen Mirren. That’s a fantastic lineup all by itself. But then throw in Mary Louise Parker, Karl Urban, Brian Cox, and Richard Dreyfuss, and this movie could be about pretty much anything and it would still be fun. Hell, I’d watch that group doing an improv of strangers meeting in a supermarket checkout line!
But don’t worry about the plot. It’s there. Oh, is it there. And it all works. It’s straightforward enough to follow without a problem, but has plenty of depth to keep you interested. There aren’t any of those cinematic asides Hollywood is so fond of these days, either—I think there’s all of one flashback, and it’s short and to the point.
There’s also a lot of humor to this movie. Plenty of laugh-out-loud moments, especially with Willis and Mirren’s droll delivery, Freeman’s cheerful amiability, and Malkovich’s off-kilter antics. If anything, Malkovich steals the show, but only barely. This isn’t a group you can steal much attention from.
There’s a lot of violence, of course. But no real gore. No nudity either, and not much profanity. Plus the light tone and the romantic element offsets all the talk about killing and killers. The film’s rated PG-13 and I think that’s fair.
One of the best things about this movie is that you can tell everyone had a great time making it. Willis is definitely on as the calm, cool, slightly amused Frank Moses. Malkovich is perfect as the addled but still deadly Marvin. Parker is delightful as the confused but sweet Sarah. Mirren is wonderful as the wickedly serene Victoria, Freeman is endearing as the easy-going but utterly competent Joe, Urban is excellent as the focused and competent Cooper, and Cox is charming as the smooth-talking Ivan. And watch for a cameo by screen legend Ernest Borgnine.
Red is definitely a movie well worth seeing. If you’re anything like me, you’ll walk away grinning—and with a new appreciation for postcards from cities around the world.
By Alan Cowsill, Alex Irvine, Matthew K. Manning, Michael McAvennie, Daniel Wallace
352 pages, DK Publishing, $50
This is a tough book to review given growing up reading the majority of titles covered here in addition to working on staff for twenty years plus continuing to contribute to the company today. It’s also a book I wish I had written. That said, this is a mighty undertaking that is strong and eminently readable. This is a worthwhile 75th anniversary collector’s item and a great way to encapsulate DC Comics’ rich history. By all means, this belongs on your bookshelf.
It is almost impossible to properly encapsulate the 75 years of DC Comics alone but this book also attempts to weave in the histories of the companies or properties now owned by DC, including Fawcett’s super-heroes, Charlton’s Action Heroes, and the Quality Comics library. Unfortunately, these all get lip-service rather than a proper meshing of titles therefore significant publications are absent.
DC Comics began as one title, New Comics, released in 1935 by Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson. It added titles slowly and when there was a disagreement over the size of the company, Jack Liebowitz, who bought out Wheeler-Nicholson with Harry Donenfeld, decided to expand in partnership with Max Gaines, forming All-American Comics. It would be years before Gaines sold out and the two companies became National Comics.
When Quality went out of business in the 1950s, DC took over their titles, continuing several of them, notably [[[G.I. Combat]]] and [[[Blackhawk]]], without missing a beat. In the 1970s, DC acquired rights to their heroes, from Captain Marvel to Spy Smasher, fully coming to own them within a decade. And as a gift to their executive editor, Dick Giordano, DC also acquired the Charlton heroes that Giordano once edited, headed by Captain Atom. When Bill Gaines died, DC became the parent to Mad, but the EC line of titles from [[[Picture Stories from the Bible to Weird Science]]] are missing. The purchase by DC of WildStorm changed the company. You’ll see some of this throughout the year-by-year presentation.
We get anywhere from one to two spreads per year when many years were bursting and deserved twice the space. Unfortunately, as happens with these DK projects, entire spreads are devoted to cover or panel blow-ups that unnecessarily take up space. As a result, you may scratch your head at the emphasis given to some titles and the absence of others.
THE BLACK HAND (A Barker & Llewelyn Novel) By Will Thomas Touchstone Books 289 pages
When a notorious Italian assassin and his wife are found stuffed in a barrel and floating down the Thames River, Scotland Yard puts out a call to Inquiry Agent Cyrus Barker to assist them in foiling a bloody gang war for the control of the London docks. A new criminal element has arrived from Sicily known as the Mafia and they want nothing less than complete control the entire London underworld.
THE BLACK HAND is the fifth in this series of mystery adventures starring the enigmatic Barker and his assistant, Thomas Llewelyn. Like the others that preceded it, the joy of this volume is the amount of historical research Thomas embellishes the background. He has a fondness for history and it shines throughout the book, as his accurate depiction of London during Victoria’s reign is vibrant and mesmerizing. He relishes offering up tidbits of long forgotten lore that adds a true richness to the world in which our heroes operate.
From the first time Llewelyn met Barker, he has been slowly piecing together his employer’s colorful and mysterious background as a ship’s captain in the Far East. In this book more is revealed about Barker’s past, filling in the gaps to a man who is clearly Sherlock Holmes’ equal and not some half-baked copy. Both Llewelyn and Barker are original characters and their exploits a joy to read. This time the body count mount quickly as the mysterious unknown agents of the Black Hand attack ruthlessly, brutally eliminating anyone in their path. In the end Barker must form a coalition of London gangs to challenge the Sicilians and put an end to their vicious threat.
If you’ve yet to pick up this series, I would urge you to do so immediately. Historical mysteries simply do not get any better than the Barker & Llewelyn books. I cannot wait for number six.
AP: Ron, ALL PULP really appreciates you putting all those irons you have in the fire down for a bit to answer some questions for us. First, tell us about yourself.
RF: I’ll be 64 born on Guy Fawkes Day, Nov.5th. A post war baby who grew up reading comics in the 50s and 60s and fell in love with them. Enough to want to pursue a career as a comics writer, while at the same time working for a local GE Plant in New Hampshire and raising a family of five (three boys and two girls) who in turn gave us six wonderful grand kids (four girls and two boys). Retired from the day job with a full pension almost eight years ago now and devote most of my time to the family and my writing. We recently sold the home in N.H. and moved to west to Fort Collins, Colorado where I am just now setting up my new office.
AP: Now, although this is an interview about your work in the pulp genre, you also have a background in writing in other fields, both past and present. Briefly, tell us what other mediums you’ve written and work in?
RF: Well, I mentioned the 30 yr. comics writing career which had me writing such diverse licensed characters as Popeye, Peter Pan and Rambo and my own inventions like the every popular Mr.Jigsaw Man of a Thousand Parts. I’m most known for my work on the Green Hornet for Now Comics and having written the first comic script ever illustrated by Alex Ross; Terminator – Burning Earth. About ten years ago I started writing pulp fiction and with Texas fantasy writer, Ardath Mayhar, wrote three paperback fantasy adventures. About the same time I wrote a play; a romantic comedy called Where Love Takes You that was performed by a local theater company. So I’ve dabbled in lots of various venues with this writing thing.
AP: How and when did your heavy involvement with pulp start? Were you a diehard fan like so many writers and artists in the genre now or did this interest and obsession come to you later in life?
RF: I’d always been aware of the pulps as having been genre of fantastic literature that spawned the comics. As my comics career grew, I kept learning more and more about those amazing magazines that entertained an entire generation during the Great Depression and that fascination led to my studying pulps and quickly becoming a devoted fan. So although I came to them late, my interest and passion for them has grown steadily over the years.
AP: You are one of the men behind Airship 27 Productions. What are the origins of Airship 27?
RF: Five years ago only a very few publishers were actively publishing new pulp adventures. Most outfits were content with reprinting the old originals over and over and over again. Wild Cat Books was one of these and I suggested to Ron Hanna the idea of publishing new material. He agreed to take a stab at it and I created Airship 27 Productions as a label for those all new books to be released under the Wild Cat book imprint. I wanted them set apart from his reprints. Hanna saw that these titles were selling extremely well and opted to do more of them himself. Whereas that would have meant we’d be competing against each other under one banner, we both agreed Airship 27 should divorce itself from Wild Cat Books and go it alone as an entirely new pulp publisher. Now along this journey, my old comic pal, artist Rob Davis, had joined me as Art Director and when we launched, he agreed to stay on as my partner in the venture wherever it took us.
AP: How would you define the mission and purpose of your publishing company. What are Airship 27’s plans and intentions?
RF: Airship 27 Productions’s mission is a simple one, to keep the pulp genre alive and healthy by publishing the best new pulp fiction and art available on the market today. Over the past two years we’ve broadened our line up to include classic characters like Sherlock Holmes and Dr.Watson. We are bringing out brand new 30s pulp heroes created by our stable of talented writers and at the same time still shining the light on the classic heroes ala the Green Lama, Jim Anthony and Black Bat. In the coming years we hope to continue this diversity of books across an even wider spectrum of pulp titles.
AP: Airship 27 is partnered with Cornerstone Publishers. How did that come about and exactly what is the arrangement between the two companies?
RF: Initially Rob and I were going to self-publish our titles via print-on-demand like Wild Cat and all the others out there. Cornerstone Book Publishers is a traditional book publisher out of New Orleans run by Michael Poll. Michael learned what we had in mind with Airship 27 and offered to become our “real” publisher. Ergo, Rob and I produce the books and Cornerstone publishes them. Note they do so traditionally through their printer and get them out to all reputable book distributors while at the same time, they also offer print-on-demand edition on all our titles for those fans looking to save some pennies via an Airship 27 Lulu store. This is our way of thanking of pulp fans by allowing them to get our books through several different options.
AP: Airship 27 publishes pulp novels. What sort of properties are you currently working with, both of the public domain and original variety?
RF: Well I mentioned several of our classic public domain series such as Jim Anthony Super Detective and Green Lama. To date we’ve done books featuring these characters and have lots more on the way. At the same time we released B.C Bell’s Tales of the Bagman, a pulp hero he created in the classic mold of 30s adventures. Bell puts a nice spin on an old style of writing. At the moment we are gearing up to do another Secret Agent X, which will be our fourth in that series at the same time looking to debut several new heroes and a brand new anthology of such called Mystery Men now in production.
AP: What does it take to be a writer or artist at Airship 27? What are you looking for in staff members?
RF: There is no staff per se, just yours truly and Rob. As for how does one get to work for Airship 27, that’s an easy question to answer. All creators need do is send me a sample of their work. With writers I ask to see two pages of fiction focusing on high speed action, whereas artists have to impress me with their level of skill and understanding of what it means to illustrate a scene. It is not comic drawing and many artists really can’t do it. The same applies to those artists wanting to do our covers. They need to understand the differences between a comic cover and a fully painted pulp cover.
AP: Are there any long term plans for Airship 27 that go beyond publishing quality pulp collections and novels or are you and company just pleased to be doing what you’re doing?
RF: I don’t really see us expanding the books department. Being basically a two man operation, we’d like to continue releasing between 10 and 12 books a year. But at the same time we have also started putting together pulp themed comic books that will tie in with our prose books. We’ve a Captain Hazzard graphic novel in the works and another starring Secret Agent X. So in that regards, Airship 27 will expand to some degree.
AP: You are a publisher, but you came into this field a writer. What are some of your writing credits in the pulp field?
RF: Hmmm, okay. I created and wrote the Brother Bones character/anthology. Co-wrote the Hounds of Hell with Gordon Linzner wherein the Moon Man battles Doctor Satan and of course my four Captain Hazzard novels. I’ve also contributed shorts stories to many of Moonstone’s Chronicles series to include the Spider, the Phantom, Domino Lady, Green Hornet and the Avenger. I am also writing a comic strip pulp series for their Return of the Original lines starring I.V. Frost with art by Jake Minor.
AP: Captain Hazzard is one of your credits. You’ve written one novel and have another in the works. But Captain Hazzard’s original lifetime in the pulp lasted all of one issue of one magazine. What appeals to you about this character so much that you breathe life into him again in the modern era?
RF: I’ve actually written four Captain Hazzard novels, starting with my re-write of the one and only 1938 magazine adventure, Python Men of the Lost City. Then with Martin Powell, co-wrote Citadel of Fear, followed by Curse of the Red Maggot and finally Cavemen of New York. And yes, I am currently writing Captain Hazzard # 5 which I hope to have finished by the end of the year. Hazzard appealed to me because he very much a clean slate. Having only appeared in that one story, most of the potential inherent in the concept was never realized and I saw an opportunity to do that. To take the series in whatever direction I wanted to and make it mine. Something that would have been impossible doing pastiches of licenses stars like the Shadow and Doc Savage. Apparently the fans like what I’ve done with Captain Hazzard and want to seem more. I’m only happy to oblige them.
AP: Tell us a bit about your original characters you’ve created for pulp. Can you give us five or so sentences on any Fortier original pulp characters?
RF: Brother Bones is a former mob assassin who is sent back from the dead to atone for his sins by avenging the innocent victims of crime in the dark city of Cape Fear. He’s a zombie avenger and his stories deal with the supernatural. Whereas John Lazarus is the leader of the Ghost Squad that I created with a writer Andrew Salmon. He appeared in their debut novel, Rise of the Black Legion. He is the Lazarus from the bible and is immortal. He has led various teams throughout history in combating Satan’s legions and in this new pulp series, he puts together another team in the late 1930s to fight Hitler and the Nazis. Andrew and I hope to get a second book done in the near future.
AP: You’re also a reviewer of pulp fiction. Do you have a particular process you go through when doing a review? Do you just read the material, then write your opinion or do you have a checklist that you use when you read something, looking for certain things, or any other techniques you use in doing reviews?
RF: I have no set formula for writing my reviews. I merely read the book, allow my reactions to settle in and then write my honest thoughts about what I’ve read. Obviously for me to label anything pulp, be it a western, crime novel or sci-fi, it has to meet certain requirements ala fast pacing, exotic locales and heroic characters. If those are present, then I feel justified in reviewing the book as a pulp. Currently my Pulp Fiction Reviews are being posted on four different websites beside my original blog page. Guess you could say I’m net syndicated. Ha.
AP: You are founder and a member of the Pulp Factory? Just what is the Pulp Factory and what are the Pulp Factory awards?
RF: The Pulp Factory began as just another Yahoo Web Group for pulp fans. Thing is it just got bigger with more and more members. Two years ago, two of them suggested we create some kind of award to support and promote “new” pulp art and fiction. That year, at the Windy City Pulp Con, ten of us from the PF got together over breakfast one morning and hashed out the creation of the Pulp Factory Awards. Rob designed an actual statue and proceeded to find a sculpture to get them made. I, in turn, worked up the nomination and voting process and we created four categories to include Best Pulp Novel, Best Pulp Short Story, Best Pulp Cover and Best Pulp Interior Art. These to be awarded for material published the previous year. There were other parameters which we explained to the membership. Only members of the PF can nominate and vote on the final ballot awards. Then we contacted Doug Ellis, one of the promoters of Windy City and asked if we could make our first every presentation at their show this past Spring.
Thus we awarded the first ever Pulp Factory Awards for works done in 2009. They were a huge success and got us lots of great publicity and tons of new members, almost swelling our ranks to twice their size. Come Jan. 2011, nominations for the 2010 PFA will begin and by April, we will be giving out four more very cool statues at Windy City.
Note, any pulp fan reading this who would like to join the Pulp Factory and participate just needs to drop me a line. Membership is by invitation only.
AP: Any future projects you want to promote? Your own work? Anything on the horizon from Airship 27?
RF: Our most successful Airship 27 series to date has been our Sherlock Holmes – Consulting Detective which went to number 45 on the Amazon Mystery Anthology list. Bloody amazing. Volume Two sold just as well. I want to let all our SH fans know that we are indeed releasing a Volume Three in Jan. 2011 and the stories are as ever top notch, old fashion Holmes and Watson winners. Don Gates has created a new pulp hero called Challenger Storm and his first novel will soon be coming out and features interior art by one of the finest graphic artist in the history of American illustrations. His identity will surprise lots of people. And writer R.A. Jones has signed on to write a new series of adventure fantasy books for us that I can only describe as the exploits of a Native American Conan in a world where there were no Europeans to invade these shores. It has the potential to be something truly unique and pure pulp magic. Tentative title, Deathwalker. Look for that also in 2011. That and of course lots and lots of other cool pulp stuff.
AP: Ron, it’s been a genuine pleasure sitting down with you!
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[[[Dragon Puncher]]]
For those of you who haven’t read the three-issue comic book miniseries 
, by Warren Ellis and Cully Hamner, don’t worry. The movie version is to the comic book as [[[Blade Runner]]] was to Philip K. Dick’s novel [[[Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?]]] That is, Red takes the comic book’s basic concept—a retired CIA assassin, Frank Moses, finds himself under attack and comes out of retirement to deal with the problem—and then spins it off in a new direction. In this movie’s case, that direction is a fast, fun film with a fantastic cast, great action, great lines, and more than a little bit of humor.
There’s a lot of violence, of course. But no real gore. No nudity either, and not much profanity. Plus the light tone and the romantic element offsets all the talk about killing and killers. The film’s rated PG-13 and I think that’s fair.
This is a tough book to review given growing up reading the majority of titles covered here in addition to working on staff for twenty years plus continuing to contribute to the company today. It’s also a book I wish I had written. That said, this is a mighty undertaking that is strong and eminently readable. This is a worthwhile 75th anniversary collector’s item and a great way to encapsulate DC Comics’ rich history. By all means, this belongs on your bookshelf.
