TIPPIN’ HANCOCK’S HAT-Pulp Reviews by Tommy Hancock ‘KRAMPUSNACT’ A Charles St. Cyprian Tale written By Joshua Reynolds distributed in limited time as free tale from Author
We oftentimes get the attitude that just because a story has a theme or is centered around an event, especially a holiday, that it is just that…a special novelty tale in remembrance of so-and-so and/or when-and-when. We feel these sort of stories don’t usually have anything to offer to the general literary field or to the character they deal with, that they’re simply a trumpeting of a special time and that’s it, that they sort of stand alone. I hate that because we miss the fact often that these stories have great things to contribute, that because they do deal with a holiday or special event, there are aspects of said day and event that can be mined, made literary, and transformed from an obscure detail or more hokum into sparkling tools of storytelling and even horrifying figures we are not likely to soon forget.
Joshua Reynolds, fortunately, did not miss that fact. Not at all.
KRAMPUSNACHT is a tale that Josh wrote last year to introduce a new series character he’s doing for Pro Se Productions’ FANTASY AND FEAR magazine. Charles St. Cyprian is the Queen’s handler of occult oddities and mystical mysteries and comes with a skillset all his own in dealing with such things. This tale, however, finds St. Cyprian and his very well crafted assistant Ebe Gallowglass (maybe it’s the whole British motif, but I got a very Emma Peel feel for Gallowglass) at Cyprian’s residence when he receives a visit from an old acquaintance. This acquaintance has run afoul of one of the lesser known and much less liked aspects of Christmas mythology, the antithesis to Santa Claus, the creature known as The Krampus. The tale involves St. Cyprian’s attempts to deal with the Krampus, determine if his friend’s place on said naughty list is valid, and to wrap it all up with a nice Christmas bow, which he does. And so, as an author, does Reynolds.
Reynolds paints not only a horrifying yuletide haunt with this tale, but he also sets up St. Cyprian and Gallowglass very well. Their dialogue, their interactions, and their overall personalities are so well established that the reader wants more, but also feels like they already know them. And as for St. Cyprian’s ‘client’, Joshua builds this character from the first word to the last in such a way that he himself is a mystery and the way it unfolds is completely and totally satisfying.
For those of you who missed KRAMPUSHNACHT, I’m sorry. You can catch St. Cyprian every third month in FANTASY AND FEAR. For those who got the pleasure of this great Christmas introduction to the characters, it was a good holiday, wasn’t it?
PULP HERO ENCYCLOPEDIA WELL UNDERWAY, BUT STILL WANTS MORE!
Tommy Hancock and Barry Reese, editors and writers of TURNING THE PAGE, a volume dedicated to modern Pulp heroes created since 1955, report that they are well into completing essays and formatting this extensive volume. Although originally planned to be a self published tome, TURNING THE PAGE will now be the first of hopefully many similarly themed volumes from Reese and Hancock published by Pro Se Productions.
TURNING THE PAGE is a collection of essays and, when available, art that spotlights and gives brief histories and commentary on characters that have arisen since 1955 in the Pulp genre. Reese and Hancock, working on an inspiration from Pulp legend Tom Johnson, announced this planned book late last year and both report that progress is being made, but they also want more characters to fill the pages!
“This,” Hancock states, “is to be the definitive reference guide for the Pulp Renaissance, at least that is our goal. To do that, we need all the characters we can get that would qualify as pulp heroes. We have an awesome cast already, don’t get me wrong, some of them dating back to 1955 and some created within just the last few weeks. But we want more. Lots more. If you have a character that you’ve created that fits a pulp genre (action, adventure, crime, western, fantasy, etc), then we want it in TURNING THE PAGE!”
If you are interested in your published creations (either in print or in e form in an e-publication and/or a well done, organized site) being reviewed for inclusion in TURNING THE PAGE, email the TURNING THE PAGE staff at thpulp@ymail.com. If you have submitted your character already and have any new information or stories to add, Hancock encourages you to email that also. Originally announced as being slated for March, Hancock reports that with the desire to include more characters as well as the move from self publishing to Pro Se, the more likely publication date will be April, 2011. Stay tuned to ALL PULP for any and all updates!
BOOK CAVE CATCH UP!
Due to being ill and such, ALL PULP has not kept its stalwart readers caught up with the latest BOOK CAVE episodes. Apologies to all who have waited with baited breath, but most of all to Ric and Art! Find the last two weeks of BOOK CAVE episodes discussed below…
Ron Fortier and Rob Davis joins Art and Ric to talk about the second annual Pulp Factory Awards coming to Windy City. My recording program stopped close to the end and muted my mic. You aren’t missing much, just Ric yelling like a crazy nut trying to tell the others that he was no longer recording. I think it was a couple of minutes before they realized I was gone. ;-) no All Pulp news this week, Tommy Hancock couldn’t get the nurses to let him out of his room in the nursing home. Be sure and check out the All Pulp site to see what is going on for this week.
Get the complete run of the first series of the most violent and relentless crime fighter of all time! Justice served!
Contains: The Spider Judgement Knight #1-3, “Chaos Maker”, and The Spider short from The Phantom Noir #6.
BONUS: Exclusive to this volume: a BRAND new Nita and Ram team up story!
DOMINO LADY: Blonde Ambition Lt Ed HC
Author: Nancy Holder
Art: Steve Bryant, etc
Cover: Mark Sparacio
ISBN: 978-1936814-04-6 978-1936814-04-6
162pgs, color, HC, $41.99
This will be the only time this material is reprinted in color!
Join NY Times Best Selling author Nancy Holder as she makes sure that Domino Lady gets embroiled in all kinds of mysteries that need her special touch. She will bring the bad guys to their knees any way she can! Domino Lady, the avenging angel
This volume collects Domino Lady #1-5 of the regular series.
BONUS: Exclusive to this volume: a BRAND new Domino Lady-Boston Blackie CTHULHU tale!!
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SHERLOCK HOLMES: Crossovers Casebook
Written by: Barbara Hambly, Will Murray, Kevin Van Hook
Sherlock Holmes…teams up with other adventurers and investigators!
With the success of the Sherlock Holmes film with Robert Downey, Jr and Jude law, and the BBC television updating of the character (“Sherlock”), interest in him is at an all time high!
Moonstone Books is proud to present this original anthology featuring never before seen tales of the world’s first consulting detective, Mr Sherlock Holmes!
Barbara Hambly, Will Murray, Kevin Van Hook, Martin Powell, Matthew Baugh, Martin Gately, Don Roff, Win Scott Eckert, Chris Sequiera, & Joe Gentile
**See it here…a secret sequel to the classic Holmes novel “The Sign of Four”!
**Sherlock and Conan Doyle’s own “Lost World” Professor Challenger!
**Holmes teams up with one of the most famous thieves of literature, Arsene Lupin! Lawrence of Arabi?, Calamity Jane? Sexton Blake? Houdini?
The Thinking Machine?
How about Doc Savage’s father, Colonel Savage? They are all here working with Sherlock Holmes in these brand new stories!
Holmes, as he was created, in his lodgings at 221B Baker Street: Victorian London
This book keeps Holmes in his own enviroment, in the Conan Doyle tradition, with all of the customary trapping Holmes fans crave!
**Retailer incentive: any retailer who orders BOTH the CD set and the Crossovers Casebook will receive one CD radio drama sample and one free Holmes GN!!
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The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, CD’s Volume 1 5-CD Set Retail Price: $14.98
ISBN: 9781610812016
For many long-time fans, Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce will always personify Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson – but it may come as a surprise to even the most devoted Baker Street enthusiast to discover that, for one radio season, the World’s Greatest Consulting Detective was successfully portrayed by actor Tom Conway, best remembered for playing The Falcon in a series of 1940s films. Now Radio Archives is releasing a new 5-CD set of rare original radio broadcasts featuring Tom Conway and Nigel Bruce, starring in ten full-length episodes of “The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes”, just as originally aired over the ABC Radio Network in 1946. Transferred directly from the original master recordings and fully restored for outstanding audio fidelity! 5-CD Set Retail Price: $14.98
ISBN: 9781610812016
For many long-time fans, Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce will always personify Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson – but it may come as a surprise to even the most devoted Baker Street enthusiast to discover that, for one radio season, the World’s Greatest Consulting Detective was successfully portrayed by actor Tom Conway, best remembered for playing The Falcon in a series of 1940s films. Now Radio Archives is releasing a new 5-CD set of rare original radio broadcasts featuring Tom Conway and Nigel Bruce, starring in ten full-length episodes of “The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes”, just as originally aired over the ABC Radio Network in 1946. Transferred directly from the original master recordings and fully restored for outstanding audio fidelity!
**Retailer incentive: any retailer who orders BOTH the CD set and the Crossovers Casebook will receive one CD radio drama sample and one free Holmes GN!!
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SAVAGE BEAUTY #3
Story: Mike Bullock
Art: Jose Massaroli
Colors: Bob Pedroza
Cover: Dave Hoover
Ripped from today’s world news comes a reimagining of the classic jungle girl genre debuting a new hero for the modern age!
The bombastic fist story arc of your favorite new jungle girl comic is here! Lacy and Liv have cornered the slavers but who is the predator and who is the prey? Follow the trail of political upheaval down the streets of human trafficking as Lacy and Liv unleash their Savage Beauty!
Mike (The Phantom) Bullock presents a fresh new spin on the jungle girl genre, featuring real world conflicts in Africa and beyond.
“Issue Grade: A!” – The Pull Box – The Pull Box
“Fans of Adventure comics will definitely want to check this one out” – Comic Book Bunker– Comic Book Bunker
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HEAP #2
Story: Charles Knauf
Art: Sami Kivela
Colors: Renato Guerra
Cover: Rick Sardinha
32pgs, color, $3.99
The return of the original muck-monster continues!
Join CHARLES (Iron Man) KNAUF as he takes the HEAP on a journey of self-discovery through Norse magics and mythology, while sorting through the horrors of Nazi mayhem!
It is time for Midgard’s last defender to arise, amidst the devastation and inhumanity of World War 2.
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CAPTAIN ACTION King Size Special#1
Story: Steven Grant, Paul Kupperberg
Art: Reno Maniquis, John Hebert
Color: Jason Jensen
Covers: John Byrne, Mariah Benes, Mark Wheatley 72pgs,color, $5.99
THRICE the Action, as Captain Action’s Season 2 supersizes with two new episodes of the new Captain Action & Action Boy plus a new Captain Action Classified spy thriller! Though presumed dead, Captain Action’s actually in the secret city of Aggartha, getting a history lesson they don’t teach in schools in “Journey thru the Past” Then it’s an international catfight as the USA vs. the UK! Lady Action battles Liberty, of the sinister new super-team, Patriot Power! As the intrigue builds to a crescendo, everyone’s asking, “Where is Captain Action?” And in this lost tale from the swinging sixties, the original Captain Action is determined to stop the assassination of RFK. This can’t end well…
(Covers: Byrne = 75%, Benes = 25%)
**for every purchase of 3 or more, and you can buy one ultra rare MARK WHEATLEY variant cover for a retail of $6.99**
**Retailer incentive: buy 3 copies or more, and get one free!
LAI WAN: The Dreamwalker HC
Author: CJ Henderson
Art: Kieran Yanner
Cover: Michael Stribling
124pgs, grayscale, HC, $19.99
ISBN: 978-1-936814-06-0978-1-936814-06-0
Lai Wan: the Dreamwalker, seer and prophet, able to walk between realities, feared by any who embrace evil because of her one, terrible power–the ability to always know the absolute truth. At long last, Moonstone has gathered all the graphic stories of Lai Wan, CJ Henderson’s fantastic break-out character from his popular Teddy London series, into one beautiful collection, while adding two great print bonuses: a team-up between Lai Wan and Kolchak the Nightstalker, and a never-before seen novella, Terrible Anticipation, a sequel to H.P. Lovecraft’s The Dunwich Horror!
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ROTTEN : The Lost Diary of John J. Flynn, U.S. Agent Written by: Robert Horton
Art: Dan Dougherty
96pgs, b/w, squarebound, 6”x9”, $9.99 ISBN: 13: 978-1-936814-00-8ROTTEN : The Lost Diary of John J. Flynn, U.S. Agent Written by: Robert Horton
“More than just a blood-and-guts affair” (USA Today)
“Genius” (FHM).
ZOMBIES…SPIES…THE OLD WEST!
Strange accounts of the dead walking the earth.
A top-secret assignment from President Rutherford B. Hayes to investigate.
A detour on the journey West, involving none other than Jesse James.
Before the zombie mayhem depicted in the sold-out Rotten #1, Special Agent J.J. Flynn kept a diary of the bizarre events preceding his arrival in the West—all revealed here, in a document officially suppressed for generations. This bonus book to the Rotten universe fills in key elements of the acclaimed comic-book series.
Moonstone Books and ALL PULP are proud to present a two fisted detective pulp tale from MOONSTONE CLIFFHANGER FICTION featuring the radio icon YOURS TRULY, JOHNNY DOLLAR ! This is a pulse pounder from Pulp author Eric Fein! This tale can be found in the SEX, LIES, AND PRIVATE EYES collection available from Moonstone at http://www.moonstonebooks.com/
THE PRETTY CORPSE MATTER
by Eric Fein
When the phone rang, I was in the middle of totaling up my expenses for my most recent case, the Upjohn Matter.
“Johnny Dollar,” I said.
“Johnny, it’s Pat McCracken from the Universal Adjustment Bureau.”
“Hello, Pat.”
“I’ve got something that needs to be handled with great care,” he said.
“I’m all ears.”
“A 22-year-old woman has been murdered and her $25,000 diamond necklace, which we insured, is missing.”
“That’s a lot of ice for a girl her age.”
“Not when she’s Alice Allard,” Pat said.
“Of Allard’s Department Store fame?”
“The one and the same,” he said. “I just got the call from her father, Stephen Allard. It happened this morning at her apartment in Manhattan. He’s there now with the police. The homicide detective in charge of the investigation is Ed Lundy of the Fifth Precinct.”
He gave me the apartment’s address. As he did, I slid my gun into its holster.
“I’m on my way.”
* * *
September 23, 1954
Expense account, submitted by special investigator Johnny Dollar. To Pat McCracken, Universal Adjustment Bureau. The following is an itemized account of expenses incurred during my investigation of the Pretty Corpse Matter. And what a case it was.
* * *
Expense account item one: $13.95, train from Hartford, Connecticut to NYC.
Expense account item two: $2.15, cab fare from train station to East 89th street.
The crime scene was a two-bedroom apartment in a luxury building. The apartment was on the fourth floor. There were a lot of people packed into it: plainclothes detectives, the coroner’s men, and crime lab technicians.
A detective stood by the couch where a young woman sat, hugging a teddy bear to her chest.
Two other men stood nearby watching. Both wore well-tailored clothes. I recognized Allard from seeing his picture in the papers on several occasions. I didn’t know the other man.
“You must be Dollar,” a man said.
I turned to face the speaker.
“That’s right,” I said. “Lundy?”
“Yes. McCracken called to tell me you were coming.”
We shook hands.
Lundy introduced me to Allard and the other man, who turned out to be Allard’s lawyer, Thomas Cotton. Allard appeared calm. Like this was a corporate board meeting and not an investigation into his daughter’s homicide. The one thing that gave away his grief was his red-rimmed eyes.
“Any leads?” I said.
“Not much to tell,” Lundy said. “The roommate, Marie Davies, says she came home after work at about 4 a.m. and found the door unlocked and Alice dead on the floor.”
“Her story check out?”
Lundy shrugged.
“So far. If she’s not telling the truth now, she will be by the time I get done with her.”
“That young lady has had an awful shock,” Allard said. “She doesn’t need your abuse.”
“And she won’t get any as long as she answers my questions,” Lundy said.
“Can I see the body?” I said.
“Is that really necessary, to trample on my daughter’s dignity?”
“Mr. Allard,” Lundy said. “With all due respect, you have been on my back since we arrived. If you were anyone else, you’d have been tossed out of here hours ago.”
“Stephen,” Cotton said. “The detective is right. Why don’t we get some air and let them do their work?”
Allard looked like he wanted to slug Lundy. But, he thought better of it. His mental defenses were starting to crumble. He hadn’t been there to protect his daughter so now he would supervise the manhunt for her killer. Only, the police didn’t want his help. It was a cold slap in the face for him.
“Yes, Thomas,” he said.
We waited until they were out of the apartment before continuing.
Lundy motioned to a technician, “Hogan, lift the sheet.”
The technician did as he was told, doing it in such away that it blocked Marie’s view of the body.
Alice Allard had been a beautiful blue-eyed blonde. That was apparent even in death’s cold grip. She wore a see-through negligee that revealed a body that would have made Bette Page jealous. There were ugly, dark purple bruises on her neck.
“That’s enough,” I said.
Hogan let the sheet fall back over the body.
“You done here?” Lundy said to him.
“Yes, sir,” he said. “The coroner can have the body.”
Lundy motioned to the coroner’s men. They set about their business.
“She was a good person,” Marie Davies said. “Why would anyone want to hurt Alice?”
We turned to her. Marie was young and beautiful. Her black hair hung down to her shoulders. Her brown eyes were almost too large for her face. It gave her a vulnerable quality.
“Maybe you can help us figure that out,” Lundy said.
“I don’t know what else I could tell you that I haven’t already told you and Detective Clancy.”
“Humor me,” Lundy said. “By the way, this is Mr. Dollar. He’s an insurance investigator. He’s looking for Alice’s diamond necklace.”
“How did you meet?” I said.
“The Grove Club. We were both hostesses there and became friends when the club put us up in this apartment.”
I exchanged a glance with Lundy. The Grove Club is a mob run joint that fronts an illegal gambling parlor and prostitution ring. They didn’t put up just anyone in a fancy apartment.
“Don’t look at me like that,” Marie said.
“Like what?” I said.
“Just because the club has a bad reputation you think that Alice and I were hip deep in trouble. Well you’re wrong, just like her father.”
“They had a falling out?” I said.
“Yes,” Marie said. “Her father threatened to disown her because she was dating, Ed Crowley, the club’s manager.”
I wanted to say that I agreed with him. Instead I just said, “Okay.”
“Alice was working there because Mr. Crowley, promised to help her become a singer,” she said. “She was good, too. She could have been a star.”
Her voice cracked, she sobbed.
“Okay, Clancy,” Lundy said. “Take her down to the precinct so she can make a formal statement.”
When Clancy led her out, she was still clinging to the bear.
“Well, I think I’ve seen all there is to see here, Lundy,” I said. “I’ll be in touch.”
* * *
Allard was waiting for me on the street. He looked almost contrite.
“I wanted you to know that you have my complete backing,” he said. “Anything you need let me know. I have friends in high places and I am not afraid to use them.”
“Do you have a picture of the necklace?” I said.
He took out a photograph from his wallet of Alice, in a stunning gown, at a party. The diamond rested between her breasts, glittering like the morning sun.
“It’s a family heirloom,” he said. “My mother gave it to her for her Sweet Sixteen.”
Expense account item three: $3.65, cab fare to the Grove Club.
* * *
It took a promise to return with the police for me to get in to see Crowley. We met in his office while he devoured a steak. He didn’t bother to look up from it when I introduced myself. I sat in the chair opposite his desk.
“Poor, Alice. It’s a tragedy,” he said. “I’m all torn up over it.”
“Yeah, I see the way you’re crying into your steak.”
“I’m a busy man, Dollar, so ask your questions.”
“How long had you been dating Alice?”
“About a year. I was even thinking of proposing to her.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. I figured marrying into her family would be a good way to boost my respectability.”
“Sure. Of course, not being a gangster and a pimp would help, too.”
“You’re a funny guy, Dollar.”
I smiled.
“I hate funny guys. You think you’re better than me just because you work with the law? You’re a snoop. You crawl through other people’s garbage to make your living.”
“And yet, you’re the one who stinks.”
When he didn’t shoot me, I continued.
“You paid for Alice’s apartment. Was she turning tricks for you?” I said.
“No. She was my girl. I’d never do that to her. Besides, she loved me. If I had asked her to, she would have. Just to make me happy.”
I wanted to shoot him in the face. Instead, I said, “What about Marie Davies?”
“Yeah. I’d have her take a customer home from time to time but only when Alice was spending the night with me.”
“You have any customers who got a little too attached to Marie or Alice.”
“There was one guy,” he said. “About a month ago, he got too rough with Marie. Gave her a black eye. I had someone talk to him.”
“You mean beat the crap out of him?” I said.
“Yeah,” Crowley said. “And it worked. He never came back.”
“Until last night,” I said. “What’s this guy’s name?”
“Frank Brody” Crowley said. “A crazy son of a bitch.”
“You have an address for him?” I said.
“Better,” Crowley said. “I have his wallet. My guy took it, thought it might come in handy one day.”
“Today’s the day,” I said.
Crowley took the wallet from the top draw of his desk and tossed it at me.
“Thanks,” I said.
“We’re done. Get out.”
Expense account item four: $2.25, cab fare to West 57th Street and 10th Avenue.
* * *
Brody lived in a furnished studio apartment not far from the club. The lobby stank of booze and stale cigarette smoke and unwashed old men. I took the metal cage deathtrap they called the elevator up to the eighth floor. The stench from the lobby rode up with me.
Brody’s apartment was at the far end of the hall. I knocked and called his name. He responded by shooting at me through the door just missing me. I dived to the side. The door swung open and Brody charged out, into the stairwell.
I drew my gun and followed. I could hear Brody scramble down the stairs two flights below me. I took a chance and leaned over the railing. I could see him reach a landing. I took aim and shouted, “Freeze, Brody.”
He took another shot at me. He missed. I didn’t. I hit him in the foot. He screamed and crumpled to the floor. He raised his gun again and opened fire. I stepped back. When he was out of bullets, he threw the gun up at me, but it missed.
A man came out of his apartment to see what all the commotion was about. I gave him Lundy’s phone number and told him to call it.
* * *
Tune in next week for the conclusion to THE PRETTY CORPISE MATTER! And check out http://www.moonstonebooks.com/ for this and other collections and tales!
Let ALL PULP know what you think of MOONSTONE CLIFFHANGER FICTION on the Comments Page!!!
Every writer of pulp and heroes I know at one point or another comes up with their very own universe, a place where history is theirs to manipulate and their characters thrive, live, die, succeed, and fail.Sometimes these universes we creative minds come up with actually have histories similar to ours, histories that we allow our creations to influence and change even.So we have these great concepts where our personal ideas mingle and interact with real or other fictional beings and history becomes our playground. We all usually have these ideas and sometimes we explore them in a story or two.Sometimes, though, there is a writer who is so involved, so an integral part of what he creates that this universe of his not only shows up in a place or two, but becomes his body of work, is the focus of all that he does, and represents not only words by the author, but what the author intends to be remembered for.
If you haven’t yet, meet Chuck Miller.And welcome to the world of The Black Centipede.
Describing TALES OF THE BLACK CENTIPEDE in a short paragraph is problematic as it has so much involved.So, instead of stringing together sentences, I’ll do this.If you’re interested in pulp style heroes, true crime, mystical serial killers, super hero ghosts, drunk optimistic former sidekicks, a conspiracy headed up by a shadowy crime figure, Sherlock Holmes, Lizzie Borden, Fredric Wertham, Professor Moriarty, famous historical personages as vampires, lots of drinking, secret lairs, machines that should never exist, homicidal maniacs that stopped aging at nine years old, and sex charged surname obsessed tulpas, then you need to wrap yourself in the disturbing cape of The Black Centipede and hang on.
Now, to get to specifics.Before we get into this review, let me explain how TALES is set up.For the last year or so Chuck has ran his stories on the address noted above as he finishes them.They are of varying lengths, some short-short stories, some novel length.I’m going to review each story individually in no particular order, then offer a review of the concept and site as a whole.
FORTY WHACKS
The Origin of The Black Centipede
Chuck’s titular character finds his beginnings in this story.Written as if by the Centipede himself, it details the story of his move to Fall River, Massachusetts in the early 20th Century and his meeting with one of the town’s more infamous citizens, Lizzie Borden.Although not your typical pulp tale completely, this origin fits the mold of the other stories.The Centipede and Lizzie’s relationship is at the center of the tale, but the introduction of Bloody Mary Jane, a figure who is prominent across the Centiverse as well as the explanation behind how the Centipede took his name and had his becoming are the real jewels here.The writing is very personal and evokes emotions from beginning to end.Miller starts his world off with a subtle bang with this story that uncorks a whole universe of conspiracies, chaos, and cacophony.
FOUR OF FIVE TIPS OF THE HAT
WISCONSIN DEATH TRIP
This is yet another Black Centipede story.It establishes that the Centipede, once again the narrator of the tale, enjoyed popularity when a publishing company began publishing fictionalized Centipede tales in the 1930s.This story, set in the 1950s, has one of the Centipede’s fans send him a letter and ask for help dealing with the fan’s mother.The Centipede goes to help the fan and supernatural and murderous events ensue.The fan’s name…Edward Gein.Possession, killer matriarchal spirits, and more oedipal confusion than you can shake a speare at fill this tale with lots of turns and twists and does quite a bit to give the reader a fairly concrete view of just who the Black Centipede is and establish him as a viable, even likable character to a pulp fan.Miller’s use of such a heinous individual as Gein as a sympathetic dupe in this tale on one hand seems to be pure genius, but on the other hand is almost so disturbing it makes the story hard to stomach.This is somewhat relieved with the way the tale ends, however.
FOUR OUT OF FIVE TIPS OF THE HAT
THE RETURN OF LITTLE PRECIOUS
This tale involves a couple of different characters from Miller’s mind.Dr. Unknown, Junior, the child and inheritor of her father’s supernatural heroic legacy, and Jack Christian, a former super hero sidekick turned drunkard and once more reluctant hero, star in this tale, a first parter of however many parts to come.This is a quick little one two punch tale that fully fulfills its one purpose…to explain who Little Precious is.This character, like Bloody Mary Jane, is an evil sort that will leave all sorts of bloody prints across the Centiverse, but is extremely original in conception.Miller’s storytelling here performs a similar task to what it did in WISCONSIN DEATH TRIP, putting just a hint of sympathy on a dark shadowy villain that should have no redemptive qualities.
FOUR OUT OF FIVE TIPS OF THE HAT
VIONNA AND THE VAMPIRES
This is a novel length tale starring as narrator Vionna Valis, yet another of Chuck’s varied cast.Vionna is a young lady who in her youth enjoyed adventures alongside super hero types as a sort of ‘street kid hero’, popping up in the middle of derrings-do aplenty.She now, much like Jack Christian, has become a disaffected soul who has little memory of most of her life and finds solace in a bottle.She has, however, found Jack and companionship with the Whitechapel Vigilance Committee, five women who hold a special place in history-They were the victims of Jack the Ripper in the 19th Century who, due to a ritual to banish the Ripper’s Ghost, have returned to the modern world in brand new bodies.The WVC is a sort of private detective outfit and this is the capacity in which Vionna and the hardest worker of the five, Mary Kelly, end up involved with the ghost of Sherlock Holmes, Professor Moriarty as a vampire, and a host of other vampiric historic celebrities.Take that and mix it with a creepy old house, a machine of mass destruction hidden somewhere, and intrigue and triple crossing and you end up with what should be a rollicking adventure tale of blood sucking and world threatening evil.And it is, mostly.
One major fault of this tale is a trope of Miller’s work.He writes from the perspective of his characters, not simply with them narrating, but as if they have a real awareness that they are writing, so they will at times to refer to why they aren’t writing a certain accent a certain way or when voices change, they make a point to say that they have this person’s narrative on voice recording, so we can get their side.This is a device that is ok and even works well in most of these stories.In this one, however, the technique takes largely away from the flow of the story and distracts the reader with trying to keep up with who is speaking and/or why Vionna feels like she shouldn’t be writing this tale or how others might do it well.The story has strong elements and potential in several areas, but Vionna’s voice, unsure and inconsistent, weighs it down and makes it difficult to read and follow in a flowing manner.
TWO OF FIVE TIPS OF THE HAT
THE JOURNAL OF BLOODY MARY JANE
This is exactly what it says it is, words from the mouth of one of Miller’s wildly imaginative, over the top villains, truly a vile spirit that haunts the world of the Centipede and his cohorts.This is Bloody Mary Jane’s origin in her own words, an explanation of what she is and what leads her to encounter a strange settlement of people who live rustic lives around a bubbling pool of mud…people name Ponce De Leon and Cotton Mather.This is probably one of the best of Miller’s works.He captures Bloody Mary’s voice as if he is channeling her, God forbid, and the tension builds evenly and steadily to the reveal at the end.
FIVE OF FIVE TIPS OF THE HAT
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE KIND WE’D RATHER NOT THINK ABOUT
This story is yet again an adventure of The Whitechapel Vigilance Committee and is once more narrated, much more successfully than VIONNA AND THE VAMPIRES, by Vionna Valis.Here, Miller keeps the pace going briskly, Vionna’s voice moves well and not only makes sure the story flows, but adds to the consistency and intensity of the story.This cheating spouse case turned alien abduction conspiracy has so much in it that Miller explored and so much more he could have, it’s a story pregnant with possibilities.
FOUR OUT OF FIVE TIPS OF THE HAT
THE LAST VENUSIAN SUPER HERO
This story is not so much a stand alone tale, although it works well by itself, but more or less it’s the glue that sticks some things together.We get Jack, Dana, Mary, Vionna, The Centipede and others in this tale, but its biggest purpose is to peek even further into the mystery of what happened to all the super heroes and to announce the return of yet another great evil…the ghost of….well, that would be telling.For what it is, this one pops right into the mix and serves its purpose well.
THREE OUT OF FIVE TIPS OF THE HAT
THE OPTIMIST, BOOK ONE: YOU DON’T KNOW JACK
This is another novel length escapade and all the favorites end up in the mix.This tale is told by Jack Christian and is the reunion of he and Vionna and tells the story of the return ofThe Rippers’ five victims, the origin of the Whitechapel Vigilance Committee, and introduces the Centipede’s paranoid, but likely true concept of there being a ‘Moriarty’ of crime pulling criminal strings in the modern world.This tale is full of magic, ghosts, blood, death, revealing character moments, and scenes that make your skin crawl, all Miller trademarks by this time if you weren’t aware.
This tome, however, suffers from a couple of things, one of them evident in another of Miller’s longer pieces.The use of Jack as the narrator is fine, but Miller continually reminds the reader that Jack is writing this and has Jack comment on that fact.This is almost breaking the fourth wall in a way and it is horribly distracting.There are at least three significant places where this occurs that forced me to go back and start over just to be able to keep up.The use of this as a storytelling device seems to work much better in shorter tales, but ties a weight around longer stories.
Another issue I have with this story is the use of cursing.Now, I’m in no way a prude and other of Miller’s stories use it quite efficiently, but within THE OPTIMIST, cursing is extremely overused and even completely changes what Miller has spent so much time building up regarding one character.The cursing goes with some characters, such as Jack, but by the middle of the story everyone is flashing expletives like gang signs in a high school.It takes away from the story, makes everyone sound the same, and loses any effect the words might have.One character does it as a sort of recurring joke, but even the effect of that humor is lost because everyone else is cursing.And Miller’s allowing of the Black Centipede to be in this cursing chaos surprises me a lot and does not ring true of the Centipede Miller created via the other stories.
TWO OUT OF FIVE TIPS OF THE HAT
GASP, CHOKE, GOOD LORD!
This tale of the Black Centipede is from a period in the character’s history, in the 1950s, when he’s considered a hero in Zenith, his home city, and even has a close working relationship with the police.A call from the Commissioner to a strange crime scene at a ball park starts off this tale that ends up with Fredric Wertham, William Gaines (of EC Comics fame), a cast of three horror hosts, Albert Fish, and enough animated corpse bits to shake your lunch at!This story is really one wild ride that, while its throwing decapitated pitcher’s arms and wronged pedophilic cannibals at you, also does a wonderful job of not only adding layer upon layer to the character of the Centipede, but also paints all the characters, every single one of them in bright pastel colors on wonderfully conceived canvases.This is one of the best tales in the bunch.
FIVE OUT OF FIVE TIPS OF THE HAT
THE PRESENTATION/THE SITE
As a whole TALES OF THE BLACK CENTIPEDE is obviously a labor of love, a project of intense time and research, and overall a slam bang action packed thrill ride that we’ve only really seen a corner of.
This is no more evident anywhere than on Miller’s site.It is chock full of images, pictures, premiums, you name it, Chuck has covered the TALES site with enough eye candy to almost convince any reader that these people really did exist.
BOOK BLURB: A series of bizarre deaths leaves the victims unnaturally desiccated and decaying, sending Jason Dark into the dangerous world of the London dockyards in search of a supernatural murderer. But is the paranormal investigator prepared to duel a full-fledged demon on a Hell-bent mission to create chaos and catastrophe throughout the earth, a fiend determined to wreak more death and destruction than his even more ominousMaster?
I love a good occult detective story. There’s something about intrepid investigator battling horrors from beyond space and time that really perks my interest as a reader.I dig characters like Doctor Orient, Inspector Legrasse, Thomas Carnacki…and Jason Dark.
Demon’s Night, the first volume inGuido Henkel’s JASON DARK: GHOSTHUNTER series is a thrilling introduction to the eponymous protagonist, the newest name on the roster of occult detectives. Dark, a scholar as well as a man of action, is very much in the tradition of the old-school Victorian ghost-breaker, facing his supernatural opponents with both an esoteric knowledge and a ready fist.
Henkel goes to great lengths to establish Dark’s personality right off the bat, doing his best to give the reader a fully-fleshed out hero in just a few pages. With hints of Sherlock Holmes and a bit of James Bond, Dark is by turns callous and comforting, his mind on the mystery before him even as he belatedly attempts to comfort a victim of the titular demon’s attack.
Said victim, Siu Lin, is an interesting character in her own right-a Kato to Dark’s Green Hornet (in more ways than one…Dark’s a fair pugilist, but Siu Lin goes toe-to-toe with a demon without blinking, and without a weapon! Now that’s a heroine!), and her transformation from victim to demon-hunter is handled believably, if a tad swiftly.
That’s not a complaint, mind-like any good pulp story, Demon’s Night moves at a fast clip, and Henkel is adept at crafting a taut action sequence, delivering carriage chases and back-alley brawls with cinematic fervour.Too, Henkel takes care in crafting his world, tossing off directions and regional nods Lester Dent-fashion in order to deliver a fully-developed world for his protagonist to adventure in.
The story itself is a straight up Gothic mystery, with creepy graveyards and opium dens galore. The characters bounce from one horrific discovery to the next as they try and pierce the veil of secrecy that surrounds the demonic predations, with Dark spitting facts about the Court Infernal the entire time, even as he and Siu Lin begin to create a working dynamic they will keep to in future instalments in the series.Over it all, however, is the mystery itself-What is the demon after? What-or who-is it hunting? And what does it intend to do when it’s found them?
The answer will leave you breathless for the sequel. Luckily, that sequel (as well as the next seven stories in the series!) is now available via www.jasondarkseries.com. You can read them free online, or purchase them in electronic or print format. The print version retails for $2.99 USD.
TIPPIN’ HANCOCK’S HAT-Pulp Reviews by Tommy Hancock
RAVENWOOD, STEPSON OF MYSTERY VOL. 1 Frank Schildiner, BC Bell, Bill Gladman, Bobby Nash Published by Airship 27 Productions/Cornerstone Book Publishers http://www.gopulp.info/ 248 pages
Airship 27 Productions and Cornerstone Book Publishers have made a name for themselves in modern pulp publishing. Turning out quality product, pulling together top talent, and giving writers and artists a platform to ply their trades are all accomplishments of this Airship/Cornerstone partnership. One other thing, though that they stand out as a leader for is revitalizing forgotten and obscure pulp characters in new stories for a modern audience.
With RAVENWOOD, STEPSON OF MYSTERY, Airship and Cornerstone have done that once again.
An occult investigator and supernatural crime fighter, Ravenwood had a handful of appearances in the heyday of the pulps. Although the stories were of interest to some, they regrettably were pedestrian for the most part and didn’t really stand out. These four new stories, however, not only stand out, but shine as the way this character should be written.
Raised by The Nameless One in Tibet, Ravenwood grew up to be the best at dealing with magical and supernatural crimes. Losing his parents at an early age, Ravenwood benefitted from a pledge The Nameless One made to take care of him. The stories in this volume are set in the 1930s and find Ravenwood, extremely wealthy, ensconced in a penthouse, The Nameless One there with him as well as Sterling, Ravenwood’s trusted butler. From the position of entrepeneur, lackadaisical playboy, criminologist, or intense supernatural crimefighter, Ravenwood rights wrongs using his own intuition, magical knowledge and abilities, and an usual convenient helping hand from his ‘stepfather.’
Each author took hold of this obscure character and made him their own. The interpretations here have the basic concepts in common, but each writer sees Ravenwood the man in a different light, giving the reader four enjoyable tales that spotlight four different pulp tomes, our hero cast in four different traditional pulp lights. Combine this with the fantastic book design and the simplistic, yet evocative interior art and RAVENWOOD, STEPSON OF MYSTERY is a more than suitable reestablishment of a character who never should have vanished from pulp consciousness to begin with.
FOUR OUT FIVE TIPS OF THE HAT-Reread potential of this volume, particularly the first and last stories, is extremely high. Definitely one to own.
THE WHO IS JOHNNY DOLLAR MATTER? by John C. Abbott published by BearManor Media http://www.bearmanormedia.com/ 3 Volumes
Pulp is on a comeback, we all know that. One aspect of pulp that is still waiting to be fully realized, but is finally gaining notice is Audio Pulp. Not only are new groups and companies stepping up to the plate to dramatize classic and new pulp tales, but there’s a whole collection of Pulp audio that has existed since and even before the heyday of the newsstand pulps-Radio shows. And one of the best examples of pulp radio, which thankfully has over 700 of its over 800 episodes in existence and available, is YOURS TRULY, JOHNNY DOLLAR.
Johnny Dollar, ‘the fabulous freelance insurance investigator with an action packed expense account’, came to the airwaves in 1949 and ushered out radio drama when it finally left the air in 1962. In that time frame, eight actors, including Dick Powell, Gerald Mohr, Edmund O’Brien, and Bob Bailey, portrayed this sometimes hard boiled, sometimes cynically sensitive, always two fisted and determined insurance investigator week in and week out. YOURS TRULY JOHNNY DOLLAR is truly an epic example of old time radio and audio pulp.
John C. Abbott has given this fantastic show its due by producing one of the most epic, complete reference materials ever seen on any one topic. Not only does Abbott include extremely detailed descriptions rife with bits of trivia and comment of every Dollar episode, he also provides a biography of Johnny. Written as if Johnny Dollar could have been a real person, Abbott puts the many aspects of Dollar’s life into a concise, well written outline of his life, including his birth, where he went to school, how he became an investigator, and so much more. And this is not a dry read in any way at all. Abbott brings an obvious love for the DOLLAR material to the table and fortunately for the reader leaves that love all over the page.
FIVE OUT FIVE TIPS OF THE HAT-Truly, this book could be the model for anyone if they want to know how to do the best reference book possible. Add that to the excellence of the subject Abbott covered and THE WHO IS JOHNNY DOLLAR MATTER ranks as a new classic in my reference library.
Magic in a Pair of Horn-Rimmed Glasses Voted “Best Book of 2009” by Classic Images magazine!
You know the films. You know the characters. You may even know the man behind the glasses. But do you really know the events and happenings that most changed Harold Lloyd? That define him? The turning points in his life and career?
From birth to death, Harold Lloyd grew and evolved because of the things that were happening around him,, and he was always aware of the importance of these events. These are the turning points that fashioned the magic . . . the coin flip that got him to California . . . meeting a fellow extra at Universal by the name of Hal Roach . . . creating his revolutionary Glass Character . . . a death-defying bomb accident . . . patenting his legendary thrill comedies . . . building his Greenacres . . . making a too-quick leap into sound . . . taking perpetual control of his films . . . deciding to raise his granddaughter . . . leaving two film compilations for posterity . . . not allowing his films to be aired on early television . . . winning his Oscar.
Friends, family, and Harold Lloyd himself, together with author Annette D’Agostino Lloyd, tell the story that gives us a clear picture of this comedy legend.
Tommy Hancock, Editor in Chief of Pro Se Productions and author of his first novel, which is also Pro Se’s first foray into novels, YESTERYEAR, announces today that the interior artist for the novel will be Peter Cooper.
Cooper, an artist who has worked for Pro Se recently as well as others for both comics and book covers, is an excellent largely self trained artist continually pushing to improve his craft. Hancock said, “These four examples of what Pete can do are the best work I’ve seen him do in the almost ten years I’ve known him. The book will contain probably 15 illustrations, these four included, spotlighting the Heroes and Villains of YESTERYEAR’s first era of Heroes, basicallyfrom 1929-1955. There will be a mixture of styles as well as genres, including comedy, pulp, and straight super hero and Pete adjusts extremely well to the demands put upon an artist to make such transitions. The love he has for his craft comes through in his work, especially in these images.”
With the help of Cooper’s interior art, the cover art by Jay Piscopo, and the fantastic design skills of Sean Ali, Hancock endeavors to tell a satisfying complex tale with YESTERYEAR. Focused around a manuscript that has been missing for over fifty years before it finally reappeared, this novel will not only detail the chase and mystery surrounding the newly recovered artifact, but it will also dissect this particular universe’s first era of Heroes and Villains, looking at both the public perception as well as the shadowy truth behind that concept. This novel is on track to be available from Pro Se Productions in the next 4-6 weeks. For more information, contact Hancock at proseproductions@earthlink.net or check out Pro Se’s new blog site, http://www.pulpmachine.blogspot.com/.
AP: Tell us a little about yourself and your pulp interests.
KB: All my life I wanted to tell stories, and most of those stories were and are about masked mystery men and super heroes. From an early age I did what I could to make that my career. I began with the plan of being a comic book artist, though as I went through my education I discovered my passion was more about the story than the art.
I’m still an artist. My first professional comic assignment was drawing backgrounds and doing color comps for the early issues of SUPREME for Image Comics. I want to continue to draw more in comics, but I’m really a writer at heart. Maybe not the greatest of scribes, but I write the best stories I enjoy and hope others will too.
As a young kid I had trouble reading, but after starting to read comic books the teachers encouraged me to keep at it. It was helping. Yet it was even before comics that my love for the MASK began. Late at night our local news radio station would play their “old time radio theater” introducing me to the Green Hornet, The Shadow, Lone Ranger, and many others.
In comics I found myself far more interested in the Golden Age heroes that were then appearing in All Star Squadron, instead of their modern day counter parts. There was so much mystery in those heroes that had started it all.
I may not have regularly been reading the pulps, but I was drawn to them and I was drawing them far more than the current models.
Alan Scott is Green Lantern to me, not Hal Jordan.
AP: What does pulp mean to you?
KB: I suppose it was discovering the mysteries of what was in those pulp heroes that excited me, just as much as when I dug through the secrets hidden in my grandparents’ basement. It was the same magic. I remember the first time I bought a Comic Book Price Guide. The cost of the old books was staggering, but what I really got out of it was discovering the names of characters I had never heard of before; who was this Blue Beetle, Black Terror, Spy Smasher, Phantom Lady, Air Boy, and so on. I wanted to know each and every one of them.
On a more scholarly line, which the child in me would never have thought of, the pulp authors continued the thread of the pedestrian ‘dime novel’ going back to Arthur Conan Doyle and Charles Dickens with the same magic and mystery for less than a penny a word. Which in my mind makes the pulps and comics very much literature.
I didn’t begin to read the actual pulp novels until much later, but with that same childlike love for them.
Which led to about six months ago and an idea for a pulp style mystery man of my own.
AP: Tell us about your serialized pulp novel, Revenge of the Masked Ghost.Where readers can find it?
KB: My Masked Ghost character came out of a question I asked myself one day. How do the families of our heroes handle them putting on masks and running off into the night and to certain death? Which led to the next question: What happens when the family discovers what he’s been doing only upon his gruesome death?
That was the kernel of an idea that in the next few hours grew into a two-page outline and what I thought would turn into a pretty good story. Working from there I knew it had to take place in the “golden age” of the pulp heroes and not in modern day.
While I have been working on a novel, I didn’t want this new story to take a back seat and wait. So I decided to put it on the web chapter by chapter as I completed each one.
So the REVENGE OF THE MASKED GHOST began.
Our hero stumbles into the apartment of his sister and brother-in-law and dies in their arms of multiple gunshots. Shocked to discover he had been going about town as this masked vigilante, they must find out why and who killed him. It may require that Masked Ghost come back from the dead to do so. Someone must wear the mask.
I began posting the chapters once a week, but now because of employment I am posting them every other week. I have warned my readers that what they are reading is a first draft, with all the grammatical errors that go with it. I’ll be making corrections on the early chapters over the next few weeks.
You can follow the story at: http://revengeofthemaskedghost.blogspot.com/
This past week I also provided what I hope to be the first of many illustrations to go along with the story. This first image has the feel of an old movie serial.
AP: You’re the co-writer and artist for the webcomic, Flying Glory and the Hounds of Glory, which has been running for nearly ten years. Tell us about it.
KB: As stated earlier I fell in love with masked heroes from childhood and it isn’t surprising I came up with many of my own. As Marvel and DC had their own universes I soon had notebooks and three ring binders full of my own heroes and story ideas, which I labeled “My Universe”.
Later, I joined an online writers group, on the GEnie bulletin boards, that included writer workshops, and one focused on comic book scripts. So I grabbed one of the heroes from of my notebook and turned it into a full script.
This would be the first story about the wartime super heroine known as Flying Glory.
I was surprised by the positive responses I received, some from well-established professional writers. Because of that, a while later I assembled a pitch package and brought it to the San Diego Comic Convention with the hope that someone might be interested in publishing a FLYING GLORY comic. It was a long shot, being really impossible to have meaningful long conversations with anyone in that crowded arena. However, I did get to hand out a few copies of my pitch.
Surprised once again, a few months later I heard back from one of the publishers. We had a few phone conversations about the property and what could be done with it. Unfortunately the publisher eventually passed on it. They closed shop within the year, so maybe it was a good thing nothing came from it.
Yet Flying Glory refused to go back into the folder quietly.
About the same time I had met up with fellow animation writer Shannon Muir through GEnie, and she happened to be moving to the Los Angeles area. Together we began looking for a way to update Flying Glory for a ‘modern audience’ (whatever that really means), including development plans for a movie and animated TV series, as well as a comic.
We soon learned that we needed more exposure on our own first, and decided after exploring several options (including the more traditional ‘ashcan’ sampler format), the best way for us both time and money wise was to tell the story as a webcomic. Our initial release only ran as a full color four-page mini-comic, at that point we didn’t envision posting a page a week coming up on a decade.
With that, the granddaughter of the original heroine put on the mask and FLYNG GLORY AND THE HOUNDS OF GLORY began their musical entry on to the stage.
Shannon and I co-write every issue; she provides song lyrics included in each tale, and I draw every page of art using my computer, Corel Painter, and a Wacom tablet. I also do fully painted color covers for each issue.
The webcomic is about teenager Debra Clay who already has dreams of becoming a rock star when she discovers she has inherited the super powers of her grandmother the wartime super heroine Flying Glory. Convinced that it will help her celebrity status; Debra puts on the mask and gets her fellow high school band mates to also become super heroes as they perform on the stage. But they soon discover that they must become real heroes in and out of the mask.
AP: What’s the secret to keeping the webcomic going for nearly ten years and keeping it fresh?
KB: After the first story, we soon learned to listen to what our characters wanted to do. There was a plan of course, an outline of where we intended the stories to go, but that wasn’t always where they ended up.
We also decided to shorten the stories so that they could be published in single issues or collected together.
With each issue we tried something new and the characters went where they wanted.
In issue five we had our band of heroes meet a Japanese schoolgirl heroine. I attempted to switch back and forth between my own “western” art style to a manga style. As an artist, I will be the first to admit that it was a failed experiment. However, the story still told us a lot about our characters. Several secondary characters in the story have made their presence known.
As we were working on that Shannon pitched a story for Issue 6. She had recently returned from a convention in Las Vegas. Her experiences there gave her an idea for a far more serious story. I wasn’t too keen on the idea at the start. After bouncing it back and forth we found a story we both liked and could work with. It involved the pull and temptation of the celebrity life, which our heroine was already falling for, and the terrible things that could happen. It involved a potential date rape, which her friends save her from. We discovered that the best way to expand and grow our characters was to force our lead to her lowest point and shake her to the core and then follow her journey as she re-emerges as a stronger woman and hero. We also worked hard to make sure every page was done right carefully in both story and visuals. Even with my earlier reservations, we are both very proud of this story, and the resulting consequences are still affecting our characters now over half a dozen issues later.
We have a lot planned for FLYING GLORY AND THE HOUND OF GLORY, and even TALES OF FLYING GLORY about the original patriotic heroine and other characters around her. These characters have a lot more to tell us, and they could for years to come. Am looking forward to people following along whether it’s on the web or in printed form.
AP: In addition to pulp and comics, you’ve also worked in animation and film. Creatively, how different did you find each medium?
KB: Creatively, they all begin at the same point: with an idea that becomes a story. The medium has its own rules, but if you can’t start off with the story it doesn’t matter if there are pictures, sounds, or cave paintings. There are some animators who believe they can do great cartoons without a writer, but they don’t realize they themselves are writers with their art. We are all storytellers first, no matter the media used.
I certain wouldn’t say that either a prose story or a script is easier to write. With a script you rely on an artist to draw the comic or storyboards and the writer sets the stage on which they work. But they still need to understand the scene and the story they’re drawing. So the writer better have a good idea of what the artist is expected to draw because if they don’t understand you’re either going to get tons of e-mail questions, or the final production is going to be miles off from originally intended.
AP: Where do you (or would you) like to see the publishing industry in the next five years?
KB: Publishing more of my work from the previous five. Is that a good answer?
Truthfully, I don’t know where publishing will be in five years or in one year.
A lot of people are concerned for the future of book publishing, especially when reports are being made that Amazon now sells more e-books than actual hardback or paperbacks. But isn’t that an answer into itself, there are hardback books, paperback books, and e-books, what is important there is that they are all books. Books are being published in one form or another.
In the last two years that I have been on Twitter I found more and more authors online to network with. I’ve followed as many of them have published, some even their first books. Some go the traditional way, others through online companies doing print on demand, and still others go directly to the e-book form. Because of the computer and the Internet we are now in an age that anyone can publish his or her own stories. I know that my webcomic and my serial aren’t making me any money, but I do it out of pure joy knowing that even a few people will see what I have created. I would warn people however of the so-called ‘vanity presses’ out there, which you have to pay to publish, or take more rights from you than they should.
I don’t think the book, or even the comic book, will completely go away, someone will publish them, but now we just have more ways to get our creations out there.
As to digital comics, I have two concerns. The first out of ego: what happens to the collector? Maybe that’s a good thing, and we won’t have a speculator’s market again. What does it do to Comic Conventions? The second concern is; do I really own my copy of the comic when it’s just out there in the ‘cloud’ and I have access to look at it when I want but not really hold?
AP: What, if any, existing pulp, comic book, or other media characters would you like to try your hand at writing?
KB: I’d love to sink my creative teeth in to a whole assortment of characters, but most of all as mentioned earlier; would love to write the original Green Lantern, Alan Scott. The mystical magic lantern holds a close connection to many other pulp fantasies of the time, and I think there is still a lot there to be mined, both in the magic as well the man.
Writing the Shadow would be fun, I think, though in my mind he exists as this voice from the radio than from the pulps. Recently I thought about taking a crack at a Flash Gordon type character. I found it interesting that the ‘present day’ world existed while he fought on Mongo as well. I’d love to do something with that. Do it in the time of the original comic strips and pulps, not like the poor TV series from a few years ago.
AP: Who are some of your creative influences?
KB: My influences began in comics with artists Jerry Ordway and George Perez. Their art was perfect to show the difference between the Golden Age magical based stories on Earth 2 and the modern scientific stories on Earth 1. So they became a perfect pair on CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS when Ordway inked Perez, the combining of the worlds and the art.
In writing it started the same with Roy Thomas on ALL STAR SQAUDRON, and Marv Wolfman on THE NEW TEEN TITANS. Everything else was compared to the measuring stick these men handed me as a child.
In prose writing, my first and major influence comes from Ray Bradbury. For many years I saw myself as him while I read his stories and about how he got started. Mr. Bradbury once wrote me about a story of mine, and took the time to point out what I had done wrong and how to improve it. Harlan Ellison is also a big influence on my work, but more so in my non-fiction, even my blogs.
During college, I was also influenced by Douglas Adams, but I found that my humor was overpowering the story when I attempted to emulate him.
So there’s this melting pot of influences in my mind and what comes out is me. Maybe not the greatest artist or writer, but it’s me and I’m pretty happy with everything I write and draw. Hope people like it too.
AP: What does Kevin Paul Shaw Broden do when he’s not writing?
KB: What do I do when I’m not writing? The answer is I write.
Currently I am working for my local community college writing and designing their alumni newsletter. Starting in the next week or so, I maybe writing and designing two other projects for them. So I’ve been blessed to have a nice “day job” for a few months. Though I continue pursuing an ongoing job in the entertainment industry at one of the animation or television studios. The important thing is that this gives me the opportunity to write. Maybe writing will be my career after all.
AP: Where can readers find and learn more about you and your work?
KB: Much of my work can best be found here on the internet.
FLYING GLORY AND THE HOUNDS OF GLORY:www.flying-glory.com
REVENGE OF THE MASKED GHOST: http://revengeofthemaskedghost.blogspot.com/
FOUR NAMES OF PROFESSIONAL CREATIVITY is my blog on writing, comics, and employment, can be found: http://kevinpsbroden.blogspot.com/
The online comic news site www.ComicBooked.com did an article on me at the new-year.
Suppose if you’re ever in Japan you might find a DVD of the series MIDNIGHT HORROR SCHOOL, which I co-wrote several episode of. Unfortunately it never aired here in the U.S. I’ve been told it’s shown up in Europe. (http://www.milkycartoon.co.jp/official/mhs/eng/op.html)
Other samples of my writing and art can be found in GARDNER’S GUIDE TO WRITING AND PRODUCING ANIMATION and GARDNER’S GUIDE TO PITCHING AND SELLING ANIMATION both books written by my partner and now fiancée Shannon Muir. You can find information about her books here: http://www.duelingmodems.com/~shan/books.htm
AP: Any upcoming projects you would like to mention?
KB: I wish there was something I could shout out and say to keep an eye on in the future, but right now there isn’t. Am currently finishing up a contemporary fantasy novel, but it doesn’t have a publisher yet, and I don’t have an agent. Soon, I pray, soon.
FLYING GLORY AND THE HOUNDS OF GLORY which will be celebrating its 10th anniversary starting this summer with a special year-long ‘annual’ style story that will let us in on the background of several of our main characters and give hints of our future stories, preceded this Spring by as a mini Issue 0 showing a bit of Debra and her friends before the powers awaken. We are looking at ways of publishing the early issues as a trade.
Am also pitching a new comic about pulp style mystery men existing in the current economic recession.
AP: Are there any convention appearances or signings coming up where fans can meet you?
KB: That would be nice. Years ago I got to participate at the signing booth for Image Comics, back when Image and the ATM were the longest lines at Comic-Con. Seen nothing like it since; maybe soon.
AP: You have served as a writer and an artist. Are there any creative areas you’ve not worked in that you would like to try your hand at doing?
KB: Besides being a writer and artist, not much. Doubt I’d make a very good actor.
I’m a storyteller. I’m looking forward to writing for television someday (would love to write for Castle), but no more so than writing a book, comic, or animation. Just give me the opportunity to write. Paying me would be nice too.
AP: And finally, what advice would you give to anyone wanting to be a writer?
KB: The best advice is also the simplest, but a lot of writers don’t want to hear it. The advice is write and write all the time.
Write about anything, even if you don’t have a story yet.
Several months ago, when I began my blog about writing (http://kevinpsbroden.blogspot.com/), I made the suggestion to look around you and find something, anything, and write about it and discover the story in it. At the time, over ripe fruit was falling from a tree outside my window. So I wrote about the sound it made rolling down off the roof as an example for the blog. The resulting story, which I posted to the blog the next week, was about a woman being stalked by an ex-boyfriend, it doesn’t end well for either of them.
So write, write every day. It doesn’t have to be good. That will come later. Just write.
Now I need to go write about more masked mystery men.
