Our latest entry Fight Card: Can’t Miss Contender is now available on Amazon. Behind our Jack Tunney pseudonym this month is Kevin Michaels. Fight Card: Can’t Miss Contender is Kevin’s second Fight Card fisticuff. This puts him in good company with David Foster and Eric Beetner, who have both written two epic punch-ups in the Fight Card series.
While Fight Card: Can’t Miss Contender is not a direct sequel to Kevin’s Fight Card: Hard Road, there is some minor character crossover.
FIGHT CARD: CAN’T MISS CONTENDER
St. Louis, Missouri, 1958
Billy Flood was the kind of boxer who had ‘can’t miss’ written all over him. He had the tools and talent to make him a middleweight champion. But a few wrong turns changed everything. Now, after a hard three year stretch inside the Missouri State Penitentiary, Billy is determined to get back in the ring and punch his way to the top. But, while other fighters his age have risen through the ranks, Billy is back where he started – fighting palookas, catchers, and tomato cans.
With his past on his heels and his future filled with obstacles, Billy finds himself backed into a corner by false friends and an unscrupulous promoter. He may get his shot at becoming a contender, but will it cost him his future? Can’t Miss Contender is another hard punching Fight Card tale…
August will see the debut of both Fight Card: Barefoot Bones from Bobby Nash and our first Fight Card Romance from Carol Malone, Fight Card Romance: Ladies Night. On the horizon are Fight Card: Union Of The Snakes from Anthony Venutolo, Fight Card: Fight River from Tommy Hancock, and Fight Card: Sherlock Holmes from Andrew Salmon.
The Book Cave’s Art Sippo recorded Rick Lai’s Fu Manchu panel at the 2013 PulpFest Convention.
You can listen to Panel Fest Episode 16- PulpFest 2013 Rick Lai here.
About The Pulps After Fu Manchu:
Wu Fang 36-03“Tall, thin with lizard-green eyes, yellow robe and black cap embroidered with coral bead, Fu Manchu was the very picture of warped genius. Such unusual potions as spiders, scorpions and plague-carrying tsetse flies were just part of Fu’s prescription to foreshorten the white race’s actuarial expectations. Master of super science and creative toxicology, he . . . was the Yellow Peril.”
Although it is believed that Kaiser Wilhelm coined the term “Yellow Peril,” it was Sax Rohmer who profited most from the idea, largely through the villainous Dr. Fu Manchu. Little wonder that countless pulp writers, from Walter B. Gibson and Norvell W. Page to Robert E. Howard and George Worts, turned to the devil doctor to find inspiration for their lurid pulp tales.
To begin PulpFest‘s celebration of the 100th anniversary of Sax Rohmer’s infamous creation, Rick Lai looks at “The Pulp Descendents of Fu Manchu,” beginning at 8 PM on Thursday, July 25th in the Fairfield Room located on the second floor of the Hyatt Regency Columbus. Rick will discuss the influence of Sax Rohmer’s devil doctor on the pulps with a look at villains such as Wu Fang, Shiwan Khan, The Blue Scorpion from Peter the Brazen, and Robert E. Howard’s Skullface and Erlik Khan.
Best known for his articles expanding on Philip José Farmer’s Wold Newton Universe concepts, recently collected by Altus Press as Rick Lai’s Secret Histories: Daring Adventurers, Rick Lai’s Secret Histories: Criminal Masterminds, Chronology of Shadows: A Timeline of The Shadow’s Exploits and The Revised Complete Chronology of Bronze, Rick lives in New York. His short fiction has been collected in Shadows of the Opera (Wild Cat Books, 2011) and two upcoming Black Coat Press collections to be printed this year–Shadows of the Opera: Retribution in Blood and Sisters of the Shadows: The Cagliostro Curse.
You can listen to Panel Fest Episode 16- PulpFest 2013 Rick Lai here.
Visit The Book Cave here.
Best-selling author, Mel Odom chronicles the latest adventure of The Dead Man as Crucible of Fire ebook adventure is released.
About The Dead Man: Crucible of Fire–
Matt Cahill was an ordinary man leading a simple life until a shocking accident changed everything. Now he can see a nightmarish netherworld that exists within our own. Now he’s on a dangerous quest for the answers to who he is and what he has become…and engaged in an epic battle to save us, and his soul, from the clutches of pure evil.
Matt Cahill is part of a team of smokejumpers who are dropped into the heart of a raging forest fire that is fueled by a flamethrower wielding madman under the sway of Mr. Dark. Almost every living thing in this hellacious inferno, including Matt’s fellow firefighters, are falling prey to Mr. Dark’s evil touch and bowing to his furious command: Kill the Dead Man!
The Dead Man series created by Lee Goldberg and William Rabkin.
Learn more about The Dead Man here and here and is available for purchase here.
New Pulp Publisher, Warren Murphy Media has announced that volume 2 of the Legacy Book Series will be released this week.
From the Legacy Book Series Facebook page:
It’s time to start saving those nickels and dimes, Stone and Freya fans, cause the second book in the Legacy series will be available for purchase July 31st.
That’s the Amazon paperback version only. eBooks and other channels will follow a few days afterwards!
Here is the inside front cover teaser scene!
A video appeared on the screen, taken from a surveillance camera in a nightclub. Despite the erratic lighting, a woman in a torn dress instantly stood out to Freya as a threat. She knew that the woman was not there to dance — she was there to kill.
Available July 31
“That woman is dangerous,” Freya said. “She’s looking for someone.”
The screen changed back to a close-up of the killer’s face, taken as she turned her head. Though the image was grainy, Freya could see that she was not smiling, as she had originally thought.
She was yawning.
Learn more about The Destroyer and Legacy here and here.
The following article is a lesson for young creators entering the business.
Remember, the comics industry is made up of relationships and the industry is filled with the bodies of young professionals who choose to go with the flow regardless of where that flow takes them or who that flow screws with.
Bad idea.
Be very careful who you hitch your wagon too and don’t throw a good friend under the bus just because it’s what everyone else does.
Thus begins the lesson…
There is a very short list of people I’d take a bullet for. Mike Gold is on that list. Mike and I have known each other for over 20 years. I was around three when I met him.
What?
During the time I’ve known Mike, he has not only been a good friend but also a real confidant and staunch supporter. Look, it’s not easy being my supporter. I’ve been known to bring drama into certain situations and the easy (if not smart) thing to do when that occurs is to step away.
Step away, quickly and with purpose.
Mike has always stood by me even to the point where that decision could have caused real risk to his position at the time.
Mike is like family to me.
Mike does not like the San Diego Comic-Con.
I love the San Diego Comic-Con.
Mike thinks SDCC has very little to do with comics and a bunch of other not nice things.
Mike is entitled to his opinion. I respect but disagree with Mike’s opinion.
Mike and I are still like family.
Thus ended the lesson.
WEDNESDAY MORNING: Mike Gold
WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON: Even MORE Emily S. Whitten!!!
Hey ComicMixers! It’s time for more news from SDCC. W00t!
While at the San Diego Comic-Con, I was happy to get to see the panel for I Know That Voice, the new documentary about voice actors that is slated to come out this fall (and don’t forget to visit that link and sign up for DVD pre-order news!). The panel was moderated by executive producer John DiMaggio, voice of Bender Bending Rodriguez on Futurama and Jake on Adventure Time (and many other voices as well!). It featured IKTV producer Tommy Reid; co-producer and director Lawrence (Larry) Shapiro; voice actors Rob Paulsen, Dee Bradley Baker, Fred Tatasciore, James Arnold Taylor, and Tom Kenny; casting director Andrea Romano; and Adventure Time creator Pendleton Ward. And it was a blast!
I’ve talked about how excited I am for this documentary before, and this panel definitely highlighted the reasons I am looking forward to it. Not only do I find the whole process of voice acting for animation fascinating, but I also think voiceover actors and those who work with them are, from my experiences so far, not only some of the most talented creators out there, but also uniformly very nice, warm, funny people who love what they do and are just as enthused about it as the fans are. And who wouldn’t want to watch a video consisting of awesomely talented and nice people talking enthusiastically about their work in a fascinating industry? I know I can’t wait to see it.
I was also really interested in what led to the making of the documentary, and the process of putting this piece of (I predict now) fried gold together. To that end, after the panel I chatted with John DiMaggio, Tommy Reid, and Larry Shapiro about all of that and what we can expect. Here’s the interview (and you can also watch it on YouTube)!
What was the genesis of the documentary, and how did you start working on it together?
John: Larry and I were in Amsterdam, working on a music festival that we’ve done a bunch of times called Jam in the ‘Dam. I was MCing it, and he was filming it; and we were just talking, and came up with the idea, and we were like, “Well let’s try something.” We worked on it for a little bit, tossed some ideas around, shot some stuff, and then we were like, “Well, you know, it’s not really coming together.” And I’ve worked with Tommy on a bunch of projects – a bunch of documentaries; and I said, “Dude, we need to bring in Tommy.” And Tommy was like, “I’m all over this, this sounds like a great project.” So that’s pretty much how it started.
Awesome. And how did you three know each other?
Larry: We’re all 15 year-old friends.
John: We all lived in the same building in Hollywood; and so that’s how we know each other.
Larry: I will add that I was doing this music festival, and then John got on board to do the MCing of it; and then one night, in Amsterdam, Johnny started doing the voice of Bender and these German tourists heard him – and they don’t even speak English, and they still recognized John’s voice, and fluttered over and couldn’t believe it was him. And I’d never seen someone get star-struck over a voice in a language they didn’t even understand. That kind of gave me a clue as to how important something like this is to cover.
What was the process for making the film, and what did you all find the most interesting or challenging about making it?
Tommy: Our process began with the genesis of the idea; then it taking shape and us saying, ‘Well how do we actually get into the system?” and setting up interviews; and then having an end date where we knew we were going to capture enough interviews of every section of the voiceover industry that we were happy with. To go after the top and the best of that part of it. And then once we compiled all the interviews together it was just literally chiseling, getting it down from three hours to two hours, and then constant notes and notes and notes, where you’re constantly figuring out what’s the best story to tell in 90 minutes or less. And that’s where the final product came about. But it’s a very long process, when you’re making a documentary, and here we are 20 months later [at Comic-Con], and we had a packed room with over 3,000 people in it.
John: It’s pretty exciting. I think the biggest problem was the logistics of the project. Just getting everybody gathered; and having that done.
How many people are featured in this documentary?
Larry: Over 150. I will say that each person was at least an hour-long interview. And we had 150 people. So if you just give one minute to each person; just one great minute, you still have an extremely long movie. So it was pretty much like trying to choose between your children, what to use and what not to use. Because these people are brilliant people, and it was basically like trying to use the best stuff that we could get to make the best movie possible.
There are a lot of people in the industry; so how did you choose your focus of which voice actors to include, and which areas, e.g. TV animation, and movies, and the like?
John: I think basically it was just like, “Alright, well we need to get talent. We need to interview people.” And I just said, “Okay, well who am I working with today?” And I just asked them: “Hey man, I’m doing this documentary about voiceover. Do you want to be involved?” And we would get them on film. And once we got the ball rolling, once we got people interested in it-
Tommy: -the floodgates opened.
John: Yeah, people started talking about it, and then we had agents calling us.
Larry: The community really helped.
John: Yeah, the community definitely helped us out.
Tommy: It was like wildfire.
John: And that’s the thing about the people I work with. They’re just the most giving, the most wonderful people. The camaraderie involved in my industry is bar none…it’s unbelievable how generous of time and talent folks are. That’s one of the reasons why we made the film, too – just to showcase that.
Larry: And that’s an actual part of it. We talk about how we’re used to, in Hollywood, how people will backstab someone for a part or whatnot. And we noticed in this industry, people actually say, “You know what? I could do this, but do you know who would be better? John. You should give the job to John.” Or someone else.
John: Or I’ll be like, “Dee Bradley Baker, he needs to do this; you need to bring him in.”
Larry: They’ll really refer them other people.
John: Yeah, and it’s for real, you know?
That’s great! Now, with the rise of the internet, and fan conventions being more commonplace, do more people know your face? Has the experience of celebrity as a voice actor changed since, say, Mel Blanc’s time, and do you think that’s helped with getting interest for this film?
John: I don’t know, it’s kind of funny, because with voiceover – only down here do you get mobbed. Only at a convention do you get mobbed, where people know specifically what you do. Anywhere else…
Larry: And in Amsterdam.
John: Yeah, in Amsterdam, with German tourists; which freaked me out. But, well, anything will freak you out in Amsterdam, really, so; you know.
Larry: It’s like a living cartoon.
John: But it doesn’t really bother me [when I’m not recognized]. I didn’t get into it to have people go, “Oh my God, it’s him!” I just love to work. This is a perk, having people be a fan of your work. I love it; I mean it’s great, and I’m honored, you know – 3,000 people in a room freaking out, it’s incredible. But all I wanted to do was just showcase everybody; and I think we did that.
Larry: I would say also that we wanted to make the point that you might think it’s gimmicky being a voice of something and all that, but I really think our film kind of shows that these people aren’t so much ‘voice actors’ as much as they’re the best character actors you’ve ever seen in your life. And it just happens to be you’ve only heard them through their voices.
John: (in character) Thanks, Larry.
Larry: No problem, buddy! Promooootion!
So obviously people who are already fans are going to want to watch this; do you think you’re going to draw in a new crowd of people as well?
John: I think word of mouth will get around, I think people will be excited about it, and I think, like I said before: people love cartoons. People love cartoons. And I think that something will happen from that.
Tommy: Well I’m like the perfect example of the audience member. So basically, I liked cartoons, growing up as a kid, and then took a hiatus from them; and then the Simpsons kind of brought me back in there, but not knowing what goes on behind the scenes. Now after actually making this movie, now I know everything that goes on behind the scenes.
So do you think the documentary is also going to be a great resource for people who want to be voice actors?
John: It’s going to be a video bible for them.
Tommy: It’s very educational and very entertaining at the same time. A lot of laughs.
Did you learn something new while making this documentary?
Tommy: Don’t move John’s furniture.
John: Yeah – don’t move my furniture. Larry came into my house and started moving my furniture around during my interview.
Larry: It looked so much better, let me tell you.
John: Don’t move my goddamn furniture! Larry, get off my furniture! Goddammit!
Larry: The scratches are going to come out.
Okay, so now we know, don’t ever touch John DiMaggio’s furniture. He’s tall; he will hurt you…
John: Don’t ever touch my furniture! That shit is there for a reason. Dammit.
Can you say that like Tracy Morgan?
John: (in character) I’m tellin’ you that shit is there for a reason! You came in and moved my sculptures around, shiiiit. I’m tellin’ you right now.
What was the coolest experience each of you had making the documentary?
Tommy: Probably going to Big Bear Lake and going into Mel Blanc’s house, and interviewing his son Noel Blanc about Mel and listening to how Mel came out of a coma talking like Bugs Bunny.
John: Seeing the finished product. That was thrilling. And being here [at SDCC] and seeing everybody here for it.
Larry: Honestly I’d say all the interviews. With so many people I wouldn’t want to single anyone out; but I will say that actually going in to certain Futurama sessions, and getting to see John actually perform with some of the cast members; just getting to see that happen organically for me was probably one of the biggest treats.
That’s awesome; and thank you guys so much for your time.
Well, I hope you all enjoyed reading that as much as I enjoyed the interview! Not only were the guys awesome to talk to, but at the veeeery end, Bender even made an appearance. Shockingly, he wants everyone to read ComicMix.
And so I say unto all of you: listen to Bender and Servo Lectio!
TUESDAY AFTERNOON: Michael Davis
WEDNESDAY MORNING: Mike Gold
WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON: Even MORE Emily S. Whitten!!!
Continuing its tradition of action packed two fisted books featuring the best in New Pulp and Genre Fiction, Pro Se Productions announces the first in a Crime/Noir Series from Author J. Walt Layne! A WEEK IN HELL will hit the hard bitten streets on August 15th and Pro Se wants established reviewers interested in an advance digital copy to get there first!
Welcome to Champion City. A megatropolis it isn’t. But you couldn’t arrive at that conclusion by looking at the police blotter. Most everyone in the city would tell you that a day in Champion is like… A WEEK IN HELL!
Pro Se Productions introduces the first volume of theChampion City Series of Novels by author J. Walt Layne! A WEEK IN HELL
It all starts with a girl and a bag of cash. Candi was the kind of gal who could give a guy indigestion. She was poison, with looks to kill, a reluctant moll looking for a way out. Thurman was a young flatfoot, not necessarily the knight in shining armor. He went to shake out a brawl and nearly fed her his gun, was it any wonder he got a date? They spend an evening on the run, but where does it lead? Just when it looks like its over, BOOM! Is it a dead girl, a bag of somebody else’s dough, or both?
Written in the style of slang ridden, bullet riddled classic crime Pulp and mystery fiction, Layne’s A WEEK IN HELL drops the reader square into all the corruption and corrosion of human spirit that is Champion City. Dames, gats, gumshoes, and brass cupcakes die, shoot, run and glitter from every page. Edited by David White and David Brzeski, this book features a beautiful cover by Terry Pavlet with design, logo, and print formatting by Sean Ali and Ebook formatting by Russ Anderson. A WEEK IN HELL by J. Walt Layne courtesy of Pro Se Productions!
If you are an established reviewer of books either through a site or other venue or you have established yourself as a reviewer with a site of your own, contact Morgan Minor, Director of Corporate Operations at MorganMinorProSe@yahoo.com to request a digital copy for review. Also anyone interested in interviews with the author or other information concerning the book or Pro Se Productions may contact Morgan at the above address as well as going to the Pro Se website- www.prose-press.com
A newly released action packed ePulp anthology unleashes 5 new tales inspired by the pulp magazines of the 1920s – 1940s. They are not for the faint of heart. Things will get intense and stuff on these pages can’t be unread.
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Get ready to explore strange worlds, visit forgotten pasts, and delve into parallel histories. Prepare to encounter an eclectic mix of heroes walking the line between life and death.
* Duck as Rurik’s blade carves demons in the Celtic landscape of dark fantasy.
As a rite of passage young Rurik faced a Demonhound. During his trial the creature’s flaming tentacles scarred Rurik leaving a mark coiling up his arm, shoulder and chest. After he triumphed in battle, Rurik carved a bone from the slain creatures body then sharpened it into strange looking sword. Now he patrols the badlands for more monsters and slays them with the very remains of their dead brethren. As the man grew so did his and legend.
* Witness the Dead Reckoner, a battlefield ghost looking for absolution in a weird war tale.
Anaxander Jones enlisted in the British Imperial Army when he was 18. That was in 1876. While assigned to the colonial troops in darkest Africa he found himself embroiled in the Zulu Wars. Armed with superior firepower and roman pride, the British war machine outclassed the savages toting spears and superstitions, but something misfired. Anaxander was infected by a Zulu curse, resurrected as the Dead Reckoner and damned to atone for the sins of empire. Now he’s yanked from battlefield to battlefield throughout history to witness the horrors of war, over and over again.
* Face Nazi occupation of USA with Wild Marjoram in an alternate history.
Wild Marjoram is a blonde haired blue eyed mechanic with a locket that holds the key to her past. This perfect Aryan specimen lives in hiding from the Nazi occupation. If they discovered her, she’s be condemned to the fate of a broodmare. But she’s not the type of girl to give up without a fight.
* Race through the Great Depression on an errand of mercy with Pandora Driver, a noir superheroine.
Pandora Driver was the relentless avenger of the common man. She sifts right from wrong in a realm where the villains were the local gentry and the heroes were outlaws. Pandora was a mistress of disguise who used sly audacity and an unstoppable Car-of-Tomorrow to unleash chaos into the halls of wealth and power.
* Fly across the universe with the Skyracos in a retro sci-fi adventure.
Skyracos are winged warriors who struggle to keep their humanity while executing unsavory missions on alien worlds. Though they hail from the planet Centrus, their technology is based in WWII with a hint of alien super-science. They operate on the frontier of the known and unimagined where they are forced to interpret crises and dispense justice on their terms, or so they think.
Whether you’re a nostalgian, dieselpunk, pulp fan, sci-fi and fantasy aficionado, or ebook spelunker, there’s something in this collection for you to explore. However, I suggest you sample them all.
They ain’t Shakespeare. They’re pure Pulp!
“ePulp Sampler Vol 1” is currently available on your favorite eBookstores. Download your free copy before it’s too late!
As you may know, there’s a new DC Animated movie coming out: Justice League: The FlashPoint Paradox, based on the FlashPoint crossover event of a few years ago that preceded DC’s New 52. What you may not have known is that Sam Daly is doing the voice of Superman, taking over the role from his dad Tim Daly, who voiced him in Superman: The Animated Series.
And what you certainly didn’t know is that this puts Sam into a very special league of his own…
