ATHENA VOLTAIRE FLIES TO SEQUENTIAL PULP ON A DARK HORSE
Globetrotting aviatrix Athena Voltaire battles Nazis, occult science, and mythical creatures against the backdrop of the pulp era. And now she’s coming in for a landing with Sequential Pulp Comics. Co-publishers Sequential Pulp Comics and Dark Horse Comics are pleased to announce their publishing plans for writer/artist Steve Bryant’s 1930s heroine.
“Steve and I share a common love for all things pulp and for telling great stories. His character, Athena Voltaire, could not be a better fit for our line of graphic novels,” said Sequential Pulp president Michael Hudson. “These stories will have a beginning, a middle, and a true end to them, giving the reader a complete and fulfilling experience. The art and the writing are masterful. I can’t wait to see how Steve and his team develop this wonderful property as we move ahead.”
“I can’t think of a better home for Athena Voltaire than the Sequential Pulp imprint. Their commitment to adapting genre classics and creating new pulp icons is second to none,” said Bryant. “To be published through Dark Horse is the cherry on top. Hellboy, B.P.R.D., Buffy, Battlepug—they put out some of the best comics on the stands today. I’m flattered and humbled to see my book added to such a prestigious line!”
Athena Voltaire
In addition to covering representational rights, the exclusive print and digital publishing agreement calls for an Omnibus edition containing remastered versions of the previously published Athena Voltaire material followed by new adventures, including two graphic novels and an illustrated prose anthology.
With titles scheduled into 2015 and beyond, Athena Voltaire is sure to continue to please her existing fan base as well as those who will be coming aboard through this relaunch. Anyone who enjoys pulp, classic adventure stories, classic and modern comics will fall in love with this heroine who is unlike any other in comics today.
About Dark Horse Comics: Since 1986, Dark Horse Comics has proven to be a solid example of how integrity and innovation can help broaden a unique storytelling medium and establish a small, homegrown company as an industry giant. The company is known for the progressive and creator-friendly atmosphere it provides for writers and artists. Today, Dark Horse Comics is the third-largest comic-book publisher in the U.S., and is recognized as one of the world’s leading publishers of licensed comics material.
About Sequential Pulp Comics: Sequential Pulp is a new imprint and production house whose focus is on publishing graphic novels based on classic to neo pulp of all genres. Its books will include both licensed and creator-owned material. launched as a part of the Modern Tales family of webcomics in 2002 and was nominated for a Best Digital Comic Eisner Award in 2005. The feature was also included in St. Martin’s The Year’s Best Graphic Novels, Comics and Manga (2004 edition).
About Steve Bryant: Steve Bryant began his comics career with the launch of Athena Voltaire as a webcomic, eventually earning him an Eisner Award nomination in 2005, and a nomination for the Russ Manning Most Promising Newcomer Award in 2007. Bryant has contributed artwork to publications from Image, IDW, and Ape Entertainment, as well. Outside of comics, Steve has produced illustrations for everything from clip art and greeting cards to theme park design and roleplaying games. You can learn more about Sequential Pulp Comics at http://www.sequentialpulpcomics.co/ You can learn more about Dark Horse Comics at http://www.darkhorse.com/
One of the busiest people within the New Pulp movement is author Bobby Nash. Amongst his credits is co-creating and contributing to the new anthology from Airship 27: The Ruby Files. Bobby was nice enough to take a few minutes out of his busy schedule to grant The Free Choice E-zine an interview.
A leader in New Pulp Fiction, Pro Se Productions announced today openings in several upcoming anthologies and a new way that the company would be soliciting writers to participate in upcoming collections. “One of the thrills,” stated Tommy Hancock, Partner in and Editor in Chief of Pro Se, “of being a New Pulp writer and publisher is the need to write and offer opportunities for others to write all the cool ideas that could possibly fit between the covers of a book. This fact is something that Publishers, small and large alike, recognize. As Pro Se’s presence increases at Conventions/Conferences, one question more than any other comes up constantly. And it’s the question a Publisher wants to hear, one that, fortunately for Pro Se, has been unsolicited. That is, writers and artists seeking out Pro Se and asking this most favorite of questions- “You got anything open for submissions?” or the very similar “What anthologies can I submit to?”
“After giving this some thought and looking at how not only the New Pulp crew does it, but also at how larger presses and even the largest of the Publishers handle such things, Pro Se has decided to change up its Anthology process a bit. This will not affect how PULP OBSCURA or future ‘invite only’ Anthologies are done at all. There will still be special projects, of course. But there will also be the PRO SE OPEN.”
“Essentially,” explained Hancock, “The Pro Se Open will be a list of Anthologies that Pro Se plans to do in the future. This is an open call on all the books listed in the Open, that is anyone can submit a story for any of the books in the list. There is no deadline essentially, that is until all the slots open in any given book are filled.”
The Process will be as follows-
1. An upcoming Anthology is listed in the Pro Se Open.
2. Submissions are accepted (a 2-3 paragraph proposal for the story and at least a two page writing sample if you are a new writer submitting to Pro Se)
3. When the slots for the collection are all filled, a deadline will be set of approximately ninety days from the closing of the anthology. This will give writers time to complete their tales, artists time to do covers, etc.
4. The book will be published within approximately 30 days following the passing of the deadline.
Even though the deadline will be 2-3 months out once a book is closed, Editors assigned to these projects will follow up, monitor, and make sure work is being done. Steps will be taken to move the anthology along as planned if work is not being done in a timely manner. This means, however, that until all the slots are filled on an anthology in The Pro Se Open, it will remain open, but it is Pro Se’s commitment that once all the works are in for a particular collection, that that collection move into high gear toward publication, regardless of current publishing schedule.
The Pro Se Open will be updated periodically as to adding new collections and removing ones that have been filled.
Anthologies currently listed in the Pro Se Open are as follows-
PULPOLOGY- It has been said often that Pulp has its origins in ancient tales, legends, the mythologies of many lands. Taking this to heart, this anthology will feature stories starring characters from mythologies around the world! Actual mythological characters in new adventures set in their own era, the ancient world of heroes and monsters, or updated takes on classic myths (Jason and The Argonauts in the Old West, for example). Either way, these stories will spotlight the characters and strengths of mythologies world wide and put a two fisted, high octane Pulp spin on the legends themselves! 6 Stories, 10,000 words each.
THE ADVENTURES OF MOOSE AND SKWIRL, TROUBLETAKERS- Trouble happens everywhere in the universe. Any time. Any place. And to make sure whatever cockeyed balance there is is kept, the universe takes care of itself, assigning special individuals to the unpredictable, unrewarding, and usually life threatening task of just being in the completely wrong places at the totally right times to hopefully keep everyone…or most everyone from dying. But the universe doesn’t trust just one person to do this, no it works in groups of two. Moose-Stocky, barrel chested, two fisted, sarcastic, and ready to deliver a soliloquy over the bodies of whoever stands in his way… And Skwirl-Seductive, sexy, and with a sense of humor that could kill….literally. These two ‘Trouble Takers’ travel space and time very much at random, figuring out whatever issue they are thrown into and then fixing it. In their own unique, usually very destructive, bloody way. Five slots, 12,500 word stories ( If interested, request short bible for this one).
SIX GUNS AND SPACESHIPS- This is a wide open, do it as you want Space Western Anthology. The requirements- It’s got to be a mash up between classic westerns and space opera (Firefly, Outland, Bravestarr, just a few examples). It doesn’t take place on Earth at all, has to be off planet, but time period and location beyond that are up to the writer! 5 open slots, 12,500 word stories.
TO LOVE AND DIE- Pulp Romance is back! And its deadlier than ever! These stories will be set in any time period up until modern day and must feature two things-Romance…and Treachery. These stories may be mysteries, horror tales, adventure yarns, whatever, but there must be a strong core of romance mixed with danger throughout. Six Open Slots, 10,000 word stories
NEWSHOUNDS! – Dogged reporters, crusty editors, copyboys and cub photographers with dreams of grandeur, Pressmen who know the city lives and breathes by what they print! One of the most fertile grounds for action packed pulp has always been the newspaper office. And all those wonderful character types and more all work for The Partisan, a 1950s paper partial to the common man, to righting the wrongs done against the innocent and the weak! And this gaggle of hard bitten, hard fighitng men and women are known near and far to those who love them and those who wish to see them dead! Do No Wrong in Their City unless you want it covered by the Newshounds! 5 open slots, 12,500 word stories (If interested, request short bible for this one)
THE NINTH CIRCLE-VOLUME ONE, This collection centers around a crime ridden precinct and borough in a city that shuffles its misbegotten and forgotten to THE NINTH CIRCLE. Six Slots-10,000 word stories (If interested, request short bible for this one)
DEAD MAN WALKEN- This western adventure has enough intrigue and mystery to choke a horse! A town is savagely attacked by a ruthless band of outlaws and most of the citizens killed, including the promising sheriff elect, Fitch Walken. A month after the massacre and all the bodies are buried, Fitch Walken stumbles into town, the last three months of his life gone from his memory! The mystery deepens when Walken’s grave is exhumed…and he’s IN THE COFFIN! What follows is the classic struggle of a man to find out who he is, what happened to him, and just which side of good and evil he will stand on! Five Slots Open-12,500 word stories (If interested, request short bible for this one)
THE BLACK FEDORA-A BOOK OF VILLAINS- This is just what it says it is, an anthology dedicated to stories about the bad guys we love to hate. These stories will focus on original villains and of course the heroes they face, these tales similar in style to the FU MANCHU stories of the past. But this isn’t only for yellow perils!! Any type of villain that populates pulp is welcome to try on THE BLACK FEDORA! Two slots open, 15,000 word stories
HIGH ADVENTURE HISTORY-Ever wanted a chance to write a masked man enforcing justice in ancient Egypt? Or a larger than life genius and his team of heroes righting wrongs in renaissance Italy? Or mad scientists terrorizing the Arizona desert towns of the Old West? Then here’s your chance! HIGH ADVENTURE HISTORY will include stories of traditional pulp concepts and tropes plopped into our very own past, pre 1900! Take your favorite pulp stereotype and wrap it up in ancient or not so ancient places and people and join us in HIGH ADVENTURE HISTORY! Five Slots open, 12,500 words stories.
THE SHAMUS DIRECTIVE is a project actually founded in historical context. Just prior to and all during World War Two, The United States government via the FBI as well as members of the Armed Forces, developed dossiers on all licensed Private Investigators in the country. A list was then comprised of the ones deemed appropriate and ‘good’ and they were then considered to be ‘cleared’ to be used in espionage missions, mostly on the homefront, or missions that regular forces just could not deal with for various reasons. THE SHAMUS DIRECTIVE poses the theory that not only was this list compiled, but the people on it were truly the world’s greatest detectives and they were formed into sort of a team to handle major issues in conjunction, even maybe saving major parcels of land and people in the process. Three Slots Open, 10,000 word stories (If interested, request short bible for this one)
If you’re a writer or artist and are interested in these anthologies or have questions, email Hancock at proseproductions@earthlink.net! And check out Pro Se at www.prosepulp.com and www.pulpmachine.blogspot.com.
A few weeks ago my dear friend Lisha invited me to a dinner party.
I hate dinner parties.
I especially hate those where I don’t know the majority of people at the table. I hate them with a passion. I’d rather sit at home alone with a bowl of Frosted Flakes watching movies than attend 99.9% of the dinner parties I’ve been invited to.
I don’t care if they are serving my three favorite foods in the world, steak, lobster or bacon.
I’d do anything for bacon, but as Meat Loaf says “I won’t do that.”
At most dinner parties it’s always the same kind of people. Boring. Boring people.
I just cannot abide people sitting around a table getting drunk and talking smack about things I just could give two cents about. I always end up in a debate with someone over something and the person who invited me in the first place always ends up apologizing for me pimp slapping someone verbally.
Case in point: the last dinner party I attended was around four years ago. If that seems like a long time it is, now consider this, I’m invited to a dinner party at least at the very least 5-10 times a month. That’s a lot of dinner parties, is to not?
The previous dinner party I went to I got into it with a woman on, of all things, being black. She thought I didn’t know how to be black.
She was a white wasp in her mid-fifties and she just could not understand why I was not supporting Obama. This was during the Democratic primary season and at the time I was a Hillary supporter. This woman could not imagine a black person who was not prepared to vote for Obama. I tried to explain to her that I supported Hillary because I thought she was a better candidate and I just wasn’t prepared to vote for Obama just because he was black.
She didn’t get it. She refused to get it. After a good 20 minutes of her telling me how ignorant I was I had had enough so I went… here… “Voting for Obama just because he’s black would be like marrying a women just because she’s a Ugly Bitch. It makes no sense to me, but clearly it made sense to your husband.”
Like I said. I went there.
She went away.
That sort of things always happens to me at dinner parties, so I simply do not go.
This occasion, I did go. I went because lovely Lisha invited me. Truth be told, I trust Lisha like I trust few people. I figured if the people there were Lisha’s friends I was in good hands…and there might be bacon!
The party started at 7:30 pm and I didn’t get to the house until 8:30. I had a few challenges finding the home and more than once I considered just going home. Home to my Frosted Flakes, movies… and bacon.
Right when I decided to go home I found the residence (guided by Lisha’s phone call) so I walked in to the Lion’s Den trusting that Lisha had not put me in the middle of a Herman Cain rally.
Guess what?
Everyone in the party was ultra cool. Well except for this one black guy who kept eyeing me… (It’s a Black Man thing; you wouldn’t understand) but discounting him these were all great people.
At the party I noticed a young lady who was breathtakingly beautiful. I mean she was stunning. She also had a great smile and there was an empty seat next to her so
I ended up sitting next to her… what???
Her name was Paige, she was beautiful, smart and she was also something that almost knocked me off my feet…
She was 14.
I was amazed that she was 14, not because she was attractive but because she was so well spoken and she was smart. I’m talking real smart. Paige was sitting next to a woman whom at first I thought was her sister but turned out to be her mom. I knew it was her mom not because I was told but because she was giving me the “I’ve killed before and I’ll kill again” look only a mom can give when defending their children.
Paige, her mom and I hit it off pretty well mostly because they both have a sense of humor and, as most people know, I’m a funny guy.
Now here’s the kicker… Paige is not just pretty, smart and mature. She’s… wait for it… wait for it… an artist.
She’s a fantastic artist. She showed me some of her work and again, the level of sophistication to what she was showing me was wonderfully beyond her years.
Paige and I spent most of the party talking about art. She loves to draw and is going to a prestigious high school for the arts.
Paige wants to be an interior designer.
That’s a problem.
Don’t misunderstand me, Paige would be an incredible interior designer, in fact she already is. Her mom told me Paige designed their home and it looks fabulous.
The problem is I want Paige in the comic and related industries and I’m trying to figure out a way to get her interested in such. Not too long ago I wrote an article about what it takes to make it in this industry. Paige at 14 has everything I was talking about.
Did you hear me, industry? She’s 14 and more professional than some artists I’ve met who are twice her age. We need people like Paige in the industry; we want people like Paige in the industry.
Over the weekend I attended Wonder Con and caught up with my dear friend Barbara Randall Kesel. She was sitting with a few other women artists signing this incredible book from IDW called Womanthology / Heroic.
It’s a hard cover anthology featuring women artist. I brought two, one for myself and one for my girl Tatiana. The book is simply wonderful. I need to buy another one because even though the artist signed my book to me, I’m giving my copy to Paige.
If anything can cause her to take a look at comics as a career it’s this book!
Paige is going to be my guest at Comic Con. I’ll take the time to introduce her to the playa’s in the industry and hopefully she will take an interest. Who knows maybe she will decide to be a comic book creator and an interior designer? I’m sure she could do both-she’s that talented.
No idea if Paige will see this as I’m sending it to her mom first to make sure it’s OK. If you are seeing this, Paige, I hope you consider becoming a creator in an industry that is great and can use new blood like you.
If not-I want my book back and I’m spreading a rumor on Facebook that you have been in and out of jail since you were three.
Our latest anthology presents stories about the places where reality is thin and easily torn, where things we accept as part of everyday life (science, religion, What Lies Beyond) become myths, and where the world is not the most important thing going. These stories tell us what happens to the people who find these places, for pure and impure reasons, and discover whatever lies on the other side. These stories will leave you unable to turn out the lights and fearful of looking up into the night sky.
Airship 27 publisher, Ron Fortier unveiled the cover artist and cover sketch for the fourth volume in the highly popular Lance Star: Sky Ranger pulp anthology series.
Cover mock up ad
The cover sketch by Felipe Echevarria included with this entry is just a tease of the upcoming painted cover, which depicts a scene from Bobby Nash’s story from this volume called “Ring of Fire.”
Lance Star: Sky Ranger vol. 4 includes stories from New Pulp Authors Bobby Nash, Andrew Salmon, Tom Novak, and Sean Taylor. Edits by Ron Fortier. Production design by Rob Davis. Cover by Felipe Echevarria. Interior art by Scott “Doc” Vaughn.
Look for Lance Star: Sky Ranger vol. 4 coming from Airship 27 Productions.
Airship 27 Productions is very excited to announce the release of its latest pulp anthology featuring a classic hero from the past; the Moon Man.
Detective Sgt. Stephen Thatcher is the son of Police Chief Peter Thatcher. Sickened by the effects of the Great Depression on Great City, the young lawman cannot reconcile the rich society elite living the good life while across town the poor of Great City go hungry. Unable to correct this injustice through the system he represents, Thatcher assumes the role of the vigilante thief the Moon Man by disguising himself behind a one-way Argus glass globe. In this get up he then proceed to rob the rich and give to the needy via his loyal aide, former boxer Ned “Angel” Dargan. He is also aided by the lovely Sue McEwen, the daughter of the man sworn to capture him, his own boss, Lt. Detective Gil McEwen.
Created by pulp legend Frederick C. Davis, the Moon Man’s exploits appeared in the pages of “Ten Detective Aces” and were all reader favorites. “It really is amazing how many old pulp fans still recall this character with so much fondness,” commented Airship 27 Managing Editor, Ron Fortier. “He was so unique and outlandish, fighting villains and avoiding the police all the while wearing that fish bowl on his head.”
Now he returns to the streets of Great City in five new thrilling adventures written by writers Ken Janssens, Gary Lovisi, Erwin K.Roberts and Andrew Salmon. Pulpdom’s most bizarre hero is back on the case with a cover by Rob Davis & Rich Woodall and twelve interior illustrations by Ralph Van Der Hoeven.
“This is just kind of book we started Airship 27 Productions for,” added Fortier. “To shine a spotlight on these classic pulp heroes and showcase them to a new audience. For many, this will be their first introduction to the Moon Man. Hopefully while enjoying these new tales, they will be intrigued enough to go find reprints of the originals.”
Airship 27 Productions – Pulp Fiction For A New Generation!
New Pulp Author, Martin Powell shared the news of a team up he’s writing featuring pulp heroes The Spider and Operator 5.
“Well, I thought I was done with THE SPIDER,” Powell said. “Until I was approached a few days ago to write a historic first-time-ever team-up prose novella of THE SPIDER with OPERATOR 5. This will be featured in Moonstone’s upcoming OPERATOR 5 anthology, along with other thrill-a-second adventures from some of the finest pulp authors today. I’m dedicating my tale to the memory of the late Howard Hopkins, a great friend and brilliant writer, who surely would have been included in this volume. This one is for you, pal.”
Pulp Empire’s newest anthology is now available in print and ebook editions!
Heroes of Mars tells five new stories set on the savage world of Mars! Great new tales by Geoff Gander, Evan Dicken, Mark Brandon Allen, Travis Hiltz and J.M. Stewart, plus an essay by Teel James Glenn!
