TABLE OF CONTENTS: A full-color cover by Mark Maddox I Bid You Welcome… (Editorial) Frankenstein Conquers the World! Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein! Charlton’s Reptilicus/Reptisaurus comics Interview with EC Comics artist, Jack Davis Chicago’s Shock Theatre!
Art by Don Marquez, Andy Bennett, Mike Hoffman, and John Rozum Plus more!
Piloting a World War II dive-bomber, Captain Midnight—fighter pilot extraordinaire and expert inventor—hurtles out of a freak storm in the Bermuda Triangle and into the twenty-first century, where he’s in for more than one surprise as he enters the modern era! Collects the three stories from Dark Horse Presents #18–#20.
Joshua Williamson (Masks and Mobsters, Voodoo,Uncharted), Victor Ibáñez (Rat Catcher, The Spirit) and Pere Pérez (Aquaman, Detective Comics)!
Dark Horse reimagines radio, television, and comics’ legendary hero in an all-new ongoing series!
“Dark Horse and writer Joshua Williamson are reaching a bit further back, pulling the titular Golden Age hero from his roots in World War II and post-war America into contemporary culture.”—Comic Book Resources
Yesterday, just outside Denver, I went through an area I must have gone through long ago. My friend and I were a couple of footloose ramblers with no money in an interstice of time between being in thrall to one authoritarian institution, a Catholic university, and another, the United States Navy. (You wanna salute? Go ahead – salute!) We were hitchhiking back from San Francisco because…well, hey, it was good enough for Jack Kerouac and besides, if you’re not going to do stupid and dangerous things when you’re young, when you gonna do them?
(Parenthetical digression: Hitchhiking was stupid and dangerous back in 1961 and it’s way, way more stupid and dangerous now, and if our luck had veered a bit we could have suffered dreadfully. So don’t do it.)
Where was I? Oh yeah, in Colorado getting busted by a state cop.
But, as it happened, the cop was from Missouri as were we, and so, instead of depositing us in the slammer, he flagged down a Greyhound bus and asked the driver to haul us east. The rest of the adventure went well.
As I looked outside the car window yesterday, nothing seemed familiar except those magnificent mountains in the distance. But why would it? A half century-plus had passed and Colorado, along with everything else, had changed and my memory probably wasn’t reliable when I was 22 and is absolutely not reliable now. (Reality may or may not not be malleable, but the truth? That’s generally open to interpretation.)
We were coming from the Denver Comic Con and a pleasant weekend. We were expecting the show to pull in…I don’t know… a couple-three thousand fans? But there was the energy of over 50,000 attendees percolating through the Colorado Convention Center. Plus a lot of comics guys and a whole lot of dealers. And a full complement of celebrities. This was only the second year the con was held. In its infancy and already a monster.
There was a lot to like, but what most pleased us, both at the con and the Hyatt across the street, where we stayed, was the pervasive atmosphere of courtesy. Everyone was extremely polite and extremely nice. Many of the fans who came for autographs thanked me warmly for, let’s face it, not doing much more than signing my name, a trick most third graders have mastered. They also thanked us for coming to Denver – not necessary, because Denver itself had already taken care of that.
In the airport, I was astonished and delighted to see, in large, bas relief lettering, this quotation from Zen master Thich Naht Hanh: I have arrived. I am home. My destination is in each step. Appropriate, but not what you’d expect in a thriving center of commercial journeying.
Then we went over, and past, the geography I’d traveled long ago and when we arrived at our house everything was in good order. Life can be okay. Just remember that the step you’re taking is your destination.
RECOMMENDED READING: Google something like Thich Naht Hanh quotes. Read a few, or a few dozen. Then you might want to try one of his many books.
Here’s your first look at one of artist Nik Poliwko’s finished illustrations for the story “Mars McCoy is Dead” by Alan J. Porter, appearing in Airship 27 Productions’ upcoming detective noir anthology, The Ruby Files Vol. 2. Other stories in this volume are by Sean Taylor, Ron Fortier, and Bobby Nash.
The award-winning The Ruby Files returns for a second volume of pulpy detective yarns in 2013.
FOR REVIEW IMMEDIATELY! PRO SE PRODUCTIONS PROUDLY ANNOUNCES HUGH MONN, PRIVATE DETECTIVE: CATCH A RISING STAR by Lee Houston, Jr.!
Houston’s futuristic detective with the 1950s sensibilities is back once again, this time in his first full length adventure! Hired as a security consultant for actress Ruby Kwartz’ latest project, Hugh discovers that everyone around the starlet has an agenda all their own and someone wants to make sure this production will be her last. Find out if Hugh can catch a rising star before she falls…to her death! If you are an established reviewer and wish a copy of this book to review, contact Morgan Minor, Pro Se Director of Corporate Operations at MorganMinorProSe@yahoo.com and she will send you a pdf copy for review. An established reviewer either writes reviews for another site or has established a site of his/her own for review purposes. This book will be available for three weeks for review before it is published on or about June 26th, 2013!
From Pro Se Productions and its first author imprint, Reese Unlimited, comes THE ADVENTURES OF LAZARUS GRAY VOLUME THREE: EIDOLON by Barry Reese! One of Sovereign City’s greatest heroes returns as Gray and his team, Assistance Unlimited, finally meet their match literally- Murder Unlimited! Also, this volume introduces Eidolon- Is this mysterious figure finally the foe Lazarus Gray cannot vanquish! Featuring stunning cover and interior art by George Sellas, this volume also features a two page comic spotlighting the origin of Lazarus Gray, written by Award Winning Author Reese and illustrated by Award Winning Artist Sellas! THE ADVENTURES OF LAZARUS GRAY VOLUME THREE: EIDOLON! The book that changes everything!
If you are an established reviewer and wish a copy of this book to review, contact Morgan Minor, Pro Se Director of Corporate Operations at MorganMinorProSe@yahoo.com and she will send you a pdf copy for review. An established reviewer either writes reviews for another site or has established a site of his/her own for review purposes. This book will be available for two weeks for review before it is published on or about June 19th, 2013!
Crimson Cutlass and The Chameleon. Art: Scott “Doc” Vaughn
On his Facebook page, Scott “Doc” Vaugn shared a sneak peek at an upcoming project.
From Scott: While we continue to promote the WARBIRDS OF MARS: Stories of the Fight! anthology recently published by myself and Kane Gilmour (not to mention while I work on new strips for the warbirdsofmars.com webcomic) I’ve been writing a brand new pulp novella: Introducing CRIMSON CUTLASS & THE CHAMELEON! I recently finished their character designs, and here’s your first look!
Shadow FanBarry Reese returns with Listener Feedback and two exciting reviews: “The Green Hoods” from The Shadow Magazine 8/15/38 and The Shadow Year One # 3 from Dynamite Comics! These are some truly classic stories featuring our favorite hero and both are well worth your time in tracking down!
If you love The Shadow, this is the podcast you’ve been waiting for!
Would you like to meet ComicMix writers and staffers Martha Thomases, Marc Alan Fishman, Robert Greenberger, Adriane Nash, Glenn Hauman, and me?
Why? Geez, get a life.
All seriousness aside, the Heroes Convention in Charlotte North Carolina is one of the few large conventions that is actually still about comics. As people who memorize my columns know all too well (when they’re not wandering about Times Square mumbling to themselves), I dislike those huge shows that call themselves comic book shows or, worse, comic cons yet are nothing more than mass media B-list star feeding frenzies. Not that those shows don’t have their place; they do. Just don’t call them comic book shows unless they are actually about comic books.
You know, like the Heroes Convention in Charlotte North Carolina… this very weekend, from Friday, June 7 through Sunday, June 9, at the Charlotte Convention Center, 501 S. College Street.
It’s also a damn good show, well-run by a seasoned staff under the direction of show founder and all-around swell guy Shelton Drum.
Here’s your reward for making it this far into my column: on Saturday at 1:30 pm in
Room 207CD, ComicMix is going to have a panel called “Your Comics Your Way.” We will be making several major (honest) announcements regarding this here ComicMix thing, including the first public reveal of our new ComicMixPro Services!
Wow!
Just go there. You’ll have a swell time. Seriously swell. Tell ‘em Groucho sent you. Maybe they’ll give you a DeSoto.
Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. shared a sneak peek at the upcoming webstrip comic, The Eternal Savage by New Pulp Writer Martin Powell and New Pulp Artist Steven E Gordon.
