Tagged: fan

RADIO ARCHIVES PULP BOOK STORE MANAGER INTERVIEWED!

  • News
  • October 25, 2011
TOMMY HANCOCK
Store Manager, www.pulpbookstore.com, Radio Archives
ALL PULP: Tommy, thanks for joining us today to talk about yet another project that you’re involved in!  Lots going on in Pulp with you these days, it seems.
TOMMY HANCOCK: Yeah, there is.  But it’s okay, I like it that way.
AP:  With everything you’ve got going, we’ll let our readers Google you or search through our page to get a handle on all the stuff you’re doing and jump right into the interview.  One association you have is with Radio Archives.  What does Radio Archives do and what do you do for them?
TH:  Radio Archives is the leading company in, well, several things really.  Probably most known for high quality restorations of old time radio programs, now with around 180 in their catalog, Radio Archives is also providing brand new audio entertainment to Pulp fans today.  Through both enhanced audio books as done by Roger Rittner Productions as well a more traditional line of audiobooks, Will Murray’s Pulp Classics, audio versions of both new stories as well as Pulp classics are seeing life over at Radio Archives.   It’s also the go to place for Pulp reprints, particularly if your interest is Doc Savage, the Shadow, and the Spider.
I am the newsletter editor for Radio Archives and I provide liner notes for products as well.   The newsletter comes out every two weeks and thanks to All Pulp for posting it like you guys do.   Recently, I’ve picked up another title.  I am Store Manager for the Pulp Book Store.
AP: What is the Pulp Book Store?
TH:  It’s something a lot of people in Pulp have talked about off and on for awhile.  Whether they publish classic reprints or New Pulp, many publishers have discussed having a ‘one stop shop’ for Pulp somewhere online.  A place that a consumer could go and browse for Pulp products from a whole variety of Publishers.  Radio Archives has set that very thing up at www.pulpbookstore.com.
The concept’s easy.  The product sold at the Pulp Book Store will be at the same price it’s sold elsewhere, there’s no increase in cost at all.   The convenience for the consumer is amazing.  If someone is a fan of a particular company, they usually just go to that publisher’s site and nowhere else and that’s fine.  But, speaking as a fan myself, most of us enjoy Pulp stuff from a variety of sources.   With The Pulp Book Store, I can go and find several companies providing and promoting books I want.  Each company that signs on will have its own ‘store within a store’ and it can be designed basically however they want it to make their wares more appealing.
AP:  Why would Pulp publishers be interested in being a part of this?  And if they are, how do they sign on?
TH:  Well, as I mentioned already, this puts several Pulp companies together in one place.  So there’s the possibility of cross shopping.  A customer goes looking for the latest Shadow reprint and they see Moonstone, Pulpwork Press, Twit Publishing, and other companies listed on the same page.  Curiosity takes over and suddenly their shopping horizons have expanded.
Delivery and such is easy as well.  A publisher sends Radio Archives stock and Radio Archives handles all the processing and shipping. So as long as companies keep stock in the hands of Radio Archives, then that’s really all they have to do other than collect the benefits.
Another great benefit is the marketing and promotion that Radio Archives will be providing.  The newsletter goes out to thousands of people every two weeks.  Also, as store manager, I will be handling regular promotion by providing sites like All Pulp, Coming Attractions, and other Pulp and press outlets with at least weekly updates and news and such, including new Publishers coming on board or even new product being available. 
The Pulp Book Store isn’t meant to replace anything a Publisher is already doing.  It’s simply an additional resource that brings with it exposure to a whole host of fans that may not be seeing a Publisher’s product yet and also marketing and support provided by the Radio Archives team.
AP:  When does the Pulp Book Store open?

TH: It’s already open!  The grand opening was this past Friday and several Pulp publishers, including Pro Se Press, are already there.   We’re still in the ‘construction’ process and working out details like store design and such, but we’re very pleased with the response so far and hope to have even more companies become a part of it.

AP:  If a publisher wants to get involved or to simply ask questions, whom do they contact?
TH:  TommyHancock@RadioArchives.com and I’ll not only answer questions, but I plan to help Publishers with making their stores as awesome as they want to be by assisting with liner notes and things such as that if requested.  Also, if a publisher is interested, but isn’t sure if their material qualifies as Pulp, either in the classic or new sense, I can help with that as well.
AP:  Tommy, thanks again for joining us!
TH: Thank you!

Boldly Going

  • News
  • October 24, 2011

I wrote a while back, lamenting over not writing much for or about Star Trek these days and it appeared that my involvement in the franchise was going to become a fading memory.

Perhaps I wrote too quickly.

Back in August, I was contacted by an editor at Voyageur Press on the recommendation of fellow Trek writer, and Voyageur employee, Scott Pearson. Grace LaBatt kindly asked if I was perhaps interested in tackling an Unauthorized History of Star Trek, tracing not only the TV series but the movies, the spinoffs, the merchandise and most importantly, the fan following that kept the dream alive.

(more…)

JOHN OSTRANDER: Max Allan Collins sez Bye Bye Baby

Nate Heller is back, and I’m a happy man.

For those of you who won’t have a clue to what I’m talking about, let me explain.. Nate Heller is a fictional private eye in a series of historical hardboiled detective novels and short stories written by the redoubtable Max Allan Collins. Some of you will know Max from his comic work on Ms.Tree and Wild Dog and more will know him from his graphic novel, Road to Perdition, which was made into a terrific movie by the same name which maybe even more people will know. (Actually, it’s fun to spring that on a lot of non-comics reading folks. The usual comic book movies – Superman, Batman, Iron Man, X-Men and so on – they know but lots of unsuspecting folks are stunned they when get told that Road to Perdition started as a graphic novel.)

What you should know Max for, though, is the Nate Heller series as well as the rest. A quick disclaimer – I know Max personally and like him but I got into the Heller novels before I met him and was a big fan of the series from the start. Heller is a private detective set largely in Chicago in the 1930s when the series begins and he gets neck deep in cases involving the famous, the infamous, and the scary from that time. Max, along with his research buddy George Hagenauer and, early in the series, Mike Gold, aids in the research on these cases and often comes up with interpretations and theories that I think are rock solid.

For example, in his Heller book on the kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby, Stolen Away, for which he won his second Shamus Award in 1992, Max posits that the “corpse” of the baby that was found could not have been the Lindbergh baby so convincingly that I think it should be in every history book.

Above all, what Collins does over and over again is take historical characters, people we know from histories or news reels or whatever, and make them real in ways that, perhaps, regular history can’t. They’re complicated, conflicted, contradictory human beings. Yes, Max makes up things for them to say and do but they are so close to what we know of their historical selves that it rings true to me, over and over again.

A case in point is the latest in the Heller series, and the first in nine long years, named “Bye Bye Baby.” It deals with the death of Marilyn Monroe and this is the place where you get the standard SPOILER WARNING. I may reveal things that are in the book and if you want to not take a chance I’ll spoil it for you, skip to where it says it’s okay to read again.

Heller, and Collins, make a strong argument that Marilyn Monroe did not commit suicide, so strong that its past arguing as far as I’m concerned. What’s more important is that Max fleshes out Marilyn as a person and a creative artist and not some poor bimbo who was a victim of her own success.

She’s not the only historical character Max brings to life in this book. Frank Sinatra, Sam Giancana, Jimmy Hoffa, Peter Lawford, Joe DiMaggio (in a not very flattering portrait), and especially Bobby Kennedy are all featured and really well drawn. While I’m not totally crazy about the solution to the mystery of Marilyn’s death, it plays and works within the context of the novel. I’d be really interested to talk to Max and find out who he really thinks was responsible but this is a mystery novel and something has to be worked out that is satisfying to the genre, the lead character, and ultimately the reader.

OKAY, IT’S SAFE TO COME BACK NOW. I’m recommending not just this latest addition to the Nate Heller series but all of the books which I believe have come back into print. Max himself suggests starting with his “Nitti trilogy” of True Detective, True Crime, and The Million Dollar Wound but it’s also true you can pick up just about any of the novels and start there. He also a collection of the Heller short stories out in paperback called Chicago Lightning. I haven’t read it yet but I’m going to and soon. Max says it’s also a good place to sample Nate Heller.

If you like a good hard boiled tale told well or just a chance to watch history really come alive on the page, give ‘em a try. You’ll come back and say, “Ostrander, I owe you one.” Glad to do it, my friend. Glad to do it.

MONDAY: Mindy Newell

MARTHA THOMASES: Good Times At Comic Con High

It is something of a movie cliché, especially in buddy-movies, for one of the two, in the heat of battle, to mutter, “I’m getting too old for this.”

That’s how I felt before New York Comic Con.

It’s another cliché that, just when you think you have life figured out, it changes. I had a pretty good time.

Granted, I was frustrated by the crowds, and the noise aggravated me (and yet, I live in New York City!). Also, I wasn’t there on Saturday, when I’m told the crowds were the worst. And I’ve been to so many shows by now that I know how to edit my experience.

So, despite the backpacks and the people who thought that because they were taking photographs they were entitled to take away an entire aisle from pedestrian traffic, and the plethora of booths devoted to gaming, not comics, there’s a fun time in there.

Let me count the ways:

• Even before the show, the press coverage was so much better than comics used to get. Sure, there was a lot of attention paid to people in funny costumes, but there were also stories like this in the New York Times, which focused on people who are cool and creative and artists worthy of attention, just like other New York talents.

• Not only are talented writers and artists getting some respect, but so are the fans. True, there was lots of pandering to people’s desire to get something for free, but there were also some unusual businesses setting up booths. The Museum of Natural History promoted their planetarium. Chevrolet not only had a booth, but they also had artist-painted cars around the show, including one by Neal Adams. This is so much better than the first show, where there were military recruiters.

• There are so many kids (who probably hate being called kids, but indulge this old fart) who are excited enough by comics to want to make them. For example, Joe Corallo recognized me and chased after me to give me his self-published comic, The Uncanny Undergrads. Comics remain one of most democratic of media, where anyone with an idea and guts can make something amazing and try to make a career out of it.

• Best of all is seeing old friends. I never went to comic conventions as a fan. It was never part of my social life. When I met Denny O’Neil, I started to go to convention parties, back when they were easier to crash. When I had to go to cons for work, I found out that, for me, Artists’ Alley was the most fun place. It still is. At a big show, it’s a place where you can usually avoid mobs, and actually talk to the people who make the comics we love. This year, I was blessed to run into Bob Camp, whom I hadn’t seen in more than 20 years. He’s still sweet and funny and brilliant.

So maybe, if I have to go to more comic shows, I’ll go. I’ll kvetch, but I’ll be secretly pleased about it.

Martha Thomases is proud of herself for not buying a rabbit on Saturday.

SATURDAY: Marc Alan Fishman

We Don’t Know How Big DC’s September Sales Victory Over Marvel Is

We Don’t Know How Big DC’s September Sales Victory Over Marvel Is

  • News
  • October 8, 2011

While DC triumphed over Marvel in September’s charts — if they hadn’t, it would have been the greatest shock of the year — but some folks, like Warren Ellis were unimpressed with the margins:

But all those units DC sold are returnable.

Thank god all those DC execs told everyone they weren’t interested in market share. Otherwise someone might have come away with the notion that DC really intended to give Marvel a fight in the marketplace and make Marvel sort their own shit out. What a stroke of luck for everybody.

However, one thing that these figures Diamond released today don’t take into account is that when comics are returnable, they are automatically downgraded by around 10%.

via DC’s victory over Marvel was bigger than Diamond figures show — UPDATED.

One more time: WE DON’T KNOW WHAT THE SALES FIGURES REALLY SHOW.

The only numbers we have to work with are Diamond’s numbers. In addition to not knowing newsstand and overseas sales, we do not know what the sales figures are for digital. Since the digital editions will be available forever (or close enough as makes no difference) with infinite copies available, sales will continue on these books for weeks and months afterwards.

And we have no idea what the market looks like for digital editions, or how it will expand in the upcoming months and reach people who have not stepped in a comics store in years, if ever.

We have now reached the reverse of the original Phil Seuling days. When he first started selling books, publishers would not include them in their calculations because they only sold to a narrow fan market. Now, we aren’t counting sales that don’t sell to that narrow fan market. We have no idea what the market share is in the brand new markets.

And it will be this way going forward, unless Comixology and Graphicly start releasing their numbers. Don’t hold your breath waiting for them.

Related articles

“A Never-Ending Battle” Celebrates Comics’ Super-Heroes and Their Creators

New York, NY  (October 3, 2011)   A Never-Ending Battle, the first episode of a new film from the creative team responsible for the award-winning PBS documentaries Broadway: The American Musical and Make ‘Em Laugh: The Funny Business of America, will be screened in front of an audience for the first time at the New York Comic Con, the East Coast’s largest and most exciting pop culture convention.

Featuring rare footage along with new interviews with legends such as Joe Simon, Stan Lee, Jim Steranko, Neal Adams, Michael Chabon and Jules Feiffer, segments of the first episode – “A Never-Ending Battle: 1938-1954” – will be previewed on Friday, October 14, 2011 at 4PM in Room 1B01 of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center at 655 West 34th Street in Midtown Manhattan.  An on-stage interview and Q&A with filmmakers and cultural historians Michael Kantor and Laurence Maslon will take place immediately following the screening.

“We’re really excited to preview our film to fans at New York Comic Con,” said Emmy Award winning filmmaker Michael Kantor. “Because so many incredible talents have given us interviews, I think of this screening as kind of like attending six all-star panel sessions at once.  We are also very eager to get fan reactions and feedback.”

“As a comics fan from back in the days of Second Sundays at the McAlpin Hotel, it was a privilege for me to sit down and hear so many legendary creators spin new tales I had never heard before,” added Maslon, the film’s co-writer, as well as an associate professor at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. “This documentary series will mark the first time that we’re able to tell the grand epic of the American comic book heroes on a scale that they deserve.”

The event is open to all registered attendees of the New York Comic Con, space permitting, and has been made possible by special arrangement with Ghost Light Films, Inc., Reed POP and Bonfire Agency, LLC.

‘A NEVER ENDING BATTLE’! DOCUMENTARY SET FOR NYCC SCREENING!

‘A NEVER ENDING BATTLE’! DOCUMENTARY SET FOR NYCC SCREENING!

  • News
  • October 4, 2011
NEWS RELEASE 

Contact: Ed Catto

O: 917.595.4107

Ed.catto@bonfireagency.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 New PBS Documentary to Preview at New York Comic Con


“A Never-Ending Battle” Celebrates Comics’ Superheroes
and their Creators


New York, NY  (October 3, 2011)   “A Never-Ending Battle,” the first episode of a new film from the creative team responsible for the award-winning PBS documentaries “Broadway: The American Musical” and “Make ‘Em Laugh: The Funny Business of America,” will be screened in front of an audience for the first time at the New York Comic Con, the East Coast’s largest and most exciting pop culture convention.


Featuring rare footage along with new interviews with legends such as Joe Simon, Stan Lee, Jim Steranko, Neal Adams, Michael Chabon and Jules Feiffer, segments of the first episode – “A Never-Ending Battle: 1938-1954” – will be previewed on Friday, October 14, 2011 at 4PM in Room 1B01 of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center at 655 West 34th Street in Midtown Manhattan.  An on-stage interview and Q&A with filmmakers and cultural historians Michael Kantor and Laurence Maslon will take place immediately following the screening.


“We’re really excited to preview our film to fans at New York Comic Con,” said Emmy Award winning filmmaker Michael Kantor. “Because so many incredible talents have given us interviews, I think of this screening as kind of like attending six all-star panel sessions at once.  We are also very eager to get fan reactions and feedback.”


“As a comics fan from back in the days of Second Sundays at the McAlpin Hotel, it was a privilege for me to sit down and hear so many legendary creators spin new tales I had never heard before,” added Maslon, the film’s co-writer, as well as an associate professor at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. “This documentary series will mark the first time that we’re able to tell the grand epic of the American comic book heroes on a scale that they deserve.”


The event is open to all registered attendees of the New York Comic Con, space permitting, and has been made possible by special arrangement with Ghost Light Films, Inc., Reed POP and Bonfire Agency, LLC.

About “A Never-Ending Battle”


With principal production funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts, “A Never-Ending Battle” is slated to air as the first episode of a three-part series on PBS stations early in 2013.  The series will explore the American art form of the comic book superhero and its complex interrelation with American culture over the last 75 years.  Throughout this period, comic books artists, writers and publishers have unleashed thousands of exotic, bizarre, heroic and seductive adventurers upon the American public; some have become instantly recognizable all over the globe, many have crashed miserably under the weight of their own lack of inspiration—all were created in the hopes that they connect with some aspect of the American consumer.  In this regard, the film explores how the evolution of the costumed crusader reflects our social, political and cultural history.  Fervent fans, casual viewers, and everyone in between will discover much to marvel over in this informed overview of the adventures of America’s most popular genre of historic fiction.


About Ghost Light Films, Inc.

Founded in 1996 by Michael Kantor, Ghost Light Films has produced a range of award-winning documentary films for PBS and cable television that explore the history of the arts in America. Most recently, Kantor served as Executive Producer on “Give Me the Banjo” which was narrated by Steve Martin and will air on PBS on November 4, 2011.  In 2009, Ghost Light created the six-part PBS series, “Make ‘Em Laugh: The Funny Business of America,” which was produced with Thirteen/WNET, New York in association with BBC-TV.  The series, hosted by Billy Crystal and narrated by Amy Sedaris, garnered both critical acclaim and outstanding ratings, earning Mr. Kantor and his co-writer Laurence Maslon, an Emmy nomination. In 2005, Ghost Light Films produced three hours of documentary material to accompany the 40th anniversary release of “The Sound Of Music,” including a documentary hosted by Julie Andrews.  That same year, Ghost Light garnered the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Nonfiction series by co-producing “Broadway: The American Musical” with Thirteen/WNET New York, NHK Japan and BBC in association with Carlton International.  In association with Metropolitan Entertainment, Ghost Light produced “The Lullabye of Broadway: Opening Night on 42nd Street” for PBS, and has produced segments on artists such as Quincy Jones, David Mamet and Arthur Miller for the Bravo cable network and for Thirteen/WNET’s “EGG: the arts show.”  “A Never-Ending Battle” is a co-production with Oregon Public Broadcasting.


About Bonfire Agency LLC

Bonfire Agency LLC is the marketing community’s first advertising and promotional agency specializing in helping brands reach and deepen connections with highly influential, but difficult to engage, pop culture consumers. This demo, labeled by some as geek or comic culture, is comprised of incredibly passionate, tribe-wired fans of everything from comic books, video games and action films to underground music, sci-fi inspired television and cutting edge adult comedy. Bonfire’s mission is to find ways to build relevant bridges between brands and a diverse audience of consumers that just might become their most effective advocates.  The agency was founded in January 2011 by marketing veterans and pop culture specialists Steve Rotterdam (former Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing at TimeWarner’s DC Comics) and Ed Catto (former Senior Vice President at Ogilvy and Reed Exhibitions). For more information, visit www.BonfireAgency.com.


About ReedPop

ReedPOP is a boutique group within Reed Exhibitions that is exclusively devoted to organizing events, launching and acquiring new shows, and partnering with premium brands in the pop culture arena. ReedPOP is dedicated to producing celebrations of popular culture throughout the world that transcend ordinary events by providing unique access and dynamic personal experiences for consumers and fans. The ReedPOP portfolio includes: New York Comic Con (NYCC), Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo (C2E2), Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) East & West, Star Wars Celebration V, New York Anime Festival (NYAF), and UFC Fan Expo. The staff at ReedPOP is a fan based group of professionals producing shows for other fans, thus making them uniquely qualified to service those with whom they share a common passion. ReedPOP is focused on bringing its expertise and knowledge to world communities in North America, South America, Asia and Europe.



#   #   #


The Point Radio: Being Morgan Freeman


This weekend, DOLPHIN TALE opens in theaters and we talk to Harry Connick Jr and Morgan Freeman on what is was like doing a strict “family” film and how Morgan just can’t seem to get away from his fans. Plus more with Kathy Bates on the new season of HARRY’S LAW and a 24/7 SIMPSONS Channel? It could happen!

The Point Radio is on the air right now – 24 hours a day of pop culture fun for FREE. GO HERE and LISTEN FREE on any computer or mobile device– and please check us out on Facebook right here & toss us a “like” or follow us on Twitter @ThePointRadio.

MARC ALAN FISHMAN: “This is not MY _______!”

So, there I was, doing what I suppose I do far too often… scouring Facebook for status updates. A quick refresh, and there was an update from a friend saying how “This is not my Bucky Barnes.” He was referencing a purchase he’d recently made of a golden age Bucky figure, and how he hated the new Winter Soldier-era Barnes figure. Suffice to say, after seeing his umpteenth remark how a modern interpretation of one of the classic comic book heroes he loved so dearly rubs his rhubarb the wrong way, I had enough.

Call it being cantankerous in my own “Hey, I know you think I’m too young to form a real opinion, but screw you, I can anyways” way… but I’d like to say that this kind of general malaise towards interpretation and experimentation grinds my gears to a screeching halt. In short? Quit your bitchin’ gramps. It’s 2011. Your childhood memories remain intact, in spite of your fear that they won’t.

It’s this common thread amongst the older comic book fans that I truly find offensive. Maybe that’s not the right word. I’m not implying it’s anyone here on ComicMix mind you, but the conglomerate of silver/golden-age dick-chuggers who poop their pampers anytime anything changes in the fictitious worlds of their youth, drags us all down. We’re all entitled to our opinion, mind you, and I don’t deny anyone their right to express that opinion. See folks, I’m young, under-appreciated, and don’t know shit-about-nothing; But I’m taking this time to start a large debate. Mind you no one will answer my call, but I’ve never not had fun at screaming into the black abyss of the internet before.

This notion, that the creators of today can’t reinterpret a character because it’s not their version of the character, is a waste of breath. Ed Brubaker’s retcon of Bucky Barnes as the Winter Soldier was an amazing feat. He took a character that was long gone, and brought him back in a story that got real attention from new fans. Here was this relic of another era, repurposed for modern times, done with a deft hand. His origin remained intact. He never took away from the character who he was. Yes, he turned a once chipper, bright-eyed innocent kid (who had no problem murdering Nazis with guns) into a cold and ruthless killer.

(more…)

Janet Waldo the Ageless Teen Reviews her Career

  • News
  • August 22, 2011

For some, age defines you. You are either young or old. For others, age is a number and you remain your youthful, exuberant self.  Then there are the ageless wonders, among them actress Janet Waldo. Generations of people have grown up with Janet’s work even though her name may not be a familiar one. The 87 year old actress sounds as vibrant as she did when she first wowed audiences on radio with Meet Corliss Archer.

Today, she is best known as Judy Jetson or Penelope Pitstop, but she has portrayed countless characters of all ages in a rich career that includes stage, screen, television and tons of animation. After high school in Seattle, Waldo, a distant relative of Ralph Waldo Emerson, was performing in local theater when she won an award presented to her by fellow alum Bing Crosby, who was accompanied by a latent scout. She left for Los Angeles where she appeared in several films before beginning her radio career.

She did numerous roles in comedies and dramas before CBS cast her in Meet Corliss Archer, a teenage sitcom series designed to compete with A Date with Judy. She played the part from 1943 until it ended its radio run in 1956. By then she was married and turned down the part for television in order to raise Lucy and Jonathan with her playwright husband Robert Edwin Lee (Inherit the Wind).

When Waldo resumed her career, she wound up doing some television work, such as the recurring character Emmy Lou on The Ozzie & Harriet Show, commercials and the then-new field of television animation. She was cast as teenage Judy Jetson in Hanna-Barbera’s The Jetsons and has voiced the character exclusively ever since (the one exception being having her recorded voice replaced by pop star Tiffany for the 1990 movie).

During the 1960s, Waldo could be heard on all three networks and in multiple roles from Granny Sweet and Anastasia on Secret Squirrel to Penelope Pitstop (first seen in Wacky Races), and of course, Judy. (more…)

Categories

Archives

Everything you need to make great comics!

comicmix-pro-300x69-2

Nucleus X

Bookshop Zaks