Tagged: Los Angeles

Snow White and the Huntsman News and Notes

With Snow White and the Huntsman about to be released on home video, Universal Pictures has released a variety of short news items. While awaiting the disc and the confirmation of the sequel’s content, check this out:

Snow White & the Huntsman Magic Mirror Takeovers

Approximately 165 bars and restaurants in seven cities will transform their restroom mirrors to offer personal photo opportunities for patrons to emulate either Queen Ravenna or The Huntsman via specially designed window clings of the characters.  Just position yourself within the image and snap a photo to upload to Facebook, Twitter or Instagram and share with friends and fans.  Look for the “Queens” or “Huntsman” restroom door signs at locations in Atlanta, Boston, Philly, Chicago, NYC, Los Angeles and San Fran from Sept 5 – 12.

Free ‘Queen Ravenna Red’ Nail Changes at Participating Nail Salons

Twenty participating nail salons around the country will offer FREE “Queen Ravenna Red” polish changes and a keepsake mirrored key chain to the first 50 patrons to make an appointment from Sept 4 – 14 at locations in Detroit, Dallas, Salt Lake City, Atlanta, Orange County, Chicago, Tampa, Cleveland, St. Louis, Boston, Minneapolis, Denver, Houston, San Diego, Phoenix, Los Angeles, New York, San Fran, Washington, Philly. Look for the special flyers distributed at malls and bring your friends, post your new look and enjoy watching sneak peek clips from the upcoming “Snow White & the Huntsman” Blu-ray/DVD.

Kelly’s Coffee & Fudge Shops Celebrate Snow White & the Huntsman

Thirteen participating Kelly’s Coffee & Fudge shops in the SoCal area will feature specially-created ‘Snow White & the Huntsman’ candied apples along with complimentary promotional items from Sept 7 through October 7. And don’t forget, an exclusive game code to play the online game “Conquer the Kingdom” is contained on signature coffee cup sleeves while supplies last.  Look for store posters and tags for more information about the game and a chance to win daily prizes and qualify to win a grand prize free trip to Ireland.

Snow White & the Huntsman Conquer the Kingdom Game

Launched online Aug. 29 the Conquer the Kingdom game allows fans to uncover “spell codes” by participating in various Snow White & the Huntsman activities, both online and offline.  Fans submit their “spell codes” to the Mirror (for a chance to win prizes throughout the promotion, accumulating multiple entries for the chance to win the Grand Prize.

The Conquer the Kingdom website is the main hub for activation.  It will feature four challenges, each with a unique environment based on locations in the film.  By playing the various challenges, consumers earn “spell codes” to submit to the Mirror. The website will also feature videos to watch to as an incentive to earn additional “spell codes”.

Snow White & the Huntsman Collector’s Bags at Comic Book Stores

Over 125 comic book stores around the country are distributing over 120,000 colorful limited edition Snow White & the Huntsman bags and promo items from Sept 6 – Oct 6 and offering exclusive game codes to visitors to play “Conquer the Kingdom” for a chance to win daily prizes and qualify for the grand prize trip to Ireland.

Snow White & the Huntsman Gameplay Tour at Simon Malls Properties

Over fourteen Simon Malls locations are hosting Gameplay, the interactive gaming tour that connects fans of all ages to the hottest video games before they are officially launched and available in stores. From Aug 7 – Oct 3, visitors can get an advance look at the upcoming Blu-ray/DVD release of Snow White & the Huntsman and play the popular online games created for the release.  In addition as an exclusive for the malls, an exclusive game code will be given to participants to play the new online game “Conquer the Kingdom” to win daily prizes and qualify to win a grand prize free trip to Ireland.

October 5 Declared Global James Bond Day

In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the James Bond film franchise on the anniversary of Dr. No, which enjoyed its world film premiere in London on October 5, 1962, and in anticipation of the worldwide release of the 23rd James Bond adventure SKYFALL(TM), Albert R. Broccoli’s EON Productions, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Sony Pictures Entertainment and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment announced today that October 5, 2012 will be Global James Bond Day, a day-long series of events for Bond fans around the world.

A new feature documentary from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, Columbia Pictures, Passion Pictures and Red Box Films, Everything or Nothing: The Untold Story of 007, will be also be unveiled, country-specific details to follow. Directed by Steven Riley (Fire In Babylon), Everything or Nothing focuses on three men with a shared dream – Bond producers Albert R. Broccoli, Harry Saltzman and author Ian Fleming. It’s the thrilling and inspiring narrative behind the longest running film franchise in cinema history which began in 1962.

Further worldwide events celebrating Bond’s golden anniversary include a global online and live auction charity event of 50 lots to benefit twelve charitable institutions organized by Christie’s in London (full details at www.christies.com/bond ), a global survey to discover the favorite Bond film by country, a film retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, a Music of Bond night in Los Angeles hosted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and an exhibition, “Designing 007: 50 Years of Bond Style,” at TIFF in Toronto. Leading up to Global James Bond Day, for the first time ever fans can own all 22 films in the franchise on Blu-ray Disc in one comprehensive collection with BOND 50, releasing worldwide beginning September 24. Further updates by country will be announced in due course on 007.com and facebook/JamesBond007.

Commenting on Global James Bond Day, Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, producers of SKYFALL, said, “We are absolutely thrilled to be celebrating James Bond’s golden anniversary on film with this special day of events for Bond fans around the world.”

Daniel Craig is back as Ian Fleming’s James Bond 007 in SKYFALL(TM), the 23rd adventure in the longest-running film franchise of all time. In SKYFALL, Bond’s loyalty to M is tested as her past comes back to haunt her. As MI6 comes under attack, 007 must track down and destroy the threat, no matter how personal the cost. The film is from Albert R. Broccoli’s EON Productions, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, and Sony Pictures Entertainment. Directed by Sam Mendes. Produced by Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli. Written by Neal Purvis & Robert Wade and John Logan.

Glee, Ad Council and Transportation Team for “Stop the Texts” Campaign

Washington, DC and Los Angeles, CA (August 22, 2012) – Today, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the State Attorneys General and Consumer Protection Agencies and the Ad Counciljoined with Twentieth Century Fox Television and Twentieth Century Fox HomeEntertainment to unveil new public service advertisements (PSAs) featuring scenes from season three of Fox’s award-winning television series “Glee” to educate young adult drivers (16-24) of the dangers of texting while driving.

Earlier this year, the Golden Globe winning series made headlines when a pivotal cliffhanger episode ended with a shocking and catastrophic crash due to texting and driving. Quinn Fabray (Dianna Agron) was driving to her friends’ (Rachel and Finn, played by Lea Michele and Cory Monteith) wedding when a she received a text. She took her eyes off the road to read it and to type the words “On My Way” for a matter of seconds, but in her distraction she swerved out of her lane and was hit in a tragic accident by an oncoming vehicle. It was months before the audience and “Glee’s” millions of young adult viewers would know the fate of her character, but the message was clear: texting and driving can have horrific consequences.

The new television and digital PSAs employ this powerful scene to emphasize that five seconds is the average time your eyes are off the road while texting and driving – when driving at 55 miles per hour, that is enough time to cover the length of a football field. The PSAs direct young adult drivers to the Texting and Driving Prevention campaign web site, StopTextsStopWrecks.org, where teens and young adults can find facts about the impact of texting while driving and tips for how to curb the behavior.

NHTSA reports that in 2010, more than 3,000 people were killed and an additional 416,000 were injured due to distracted driving, which includes texting while driving. The “Glee” PSAs are part of NHSTA, the State Attorneys Generaland Consumer Protection Agencies and the Ad Council’s national Texting and Driving Prevention PSA campaign. Launched in October 2011, this campaign is designed to curb the behavior of young adults who text while driving, address the compulsion of this behavior and demonstrate to overconfident young adult drivers that it is not safe to text while driving.

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“Texting and driving is an epidemic on America’s roadways, but these crashes are preventable. Distracted driving does not just happen, it’s a choice,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “The first line of defense must be personal responsibility by all drivers to put theirwireless devices away and keep their focus on the road, which is why we are working closely with our partners to build public awareness around this important safety issue.”

“This was a story we wanted to tell because we know the influence our show can have in starting conversations and raising awareness,” commented “Glee” executive producer and co-creator Ryan Murphy. “We were inspired by Oprah Winfrey’s campaign encouraging everyone to sign a pledge not to text and drive, which we all signed when we did her show a few yearsago, and we had been looking for an opportunity to tell the story of how a few seconds of carelessness could have a devastating impact on people’s lives. We’ve already heard from thousands of our fans how this story touched them, and we loved the idea of a PSA campaign to keep this important issue front and center.”

“’Glee’ has always told stories that speak to young people in an incredibly entertaining way, provoking conversation and raising awareness in the process,” said Dana Walden and Gary Newman, Chairmen of Twentieth Century Fox Television.  “When Ryan and the producers told us they were going to tackle this issue, we knew that beyond telling agreat, dramatic story about our characters, it could have very real impact on the lives of our viewers. We couldn’t be more proud of the work they and the cast have done on this incredible series.”

According to a new, national survey conducted by the Ad Council, there has been progress with the attitudes and behaviors among young adult drivers regarding texting while driving.  Fifty-one percent of young adult drivers report that they are “extremely concerned” about their peers texting while driving, which represents an increase of seven percent since September 2011.  Most notably, in regards to their current behavior, thirty-four percent of respondents said that they never text while driving, a significant increase from twenty-eight percent in 2011.

“Driving is one of the most dangerous activities for young adults. Texting while driving is a distraction that young drivers can live without,” said Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen, the father of two teenage boys. “Drivers of any age should be aware that texting while driving may not only jeopardize the safety of themselves and others, but it can violate state motor vehicle laws against distracted driving and result in hefty fines or loss of driving privileges.”

“We are thrilled to join Twentieth Century Fox Television, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment and ‘Glee’ to unveil a new series of public service ads to further extend our texting while driving prevention messages to their vast audience of young adult drivers,” said Peggy Conlon, president and CEO of the Ad Council. “Our latest research shows a nation that is now on the right track in improving the safety of our roads, but there is still more work to be done. We will continue to broaden our campaign messages to help reduce driver distraction, prevent injuries, and ultimately save lives.”

Since 2006, the Ad Council has partnered with the State Attorneys General to address reckless driving among teens. The “Stop the Texts. Stop the Wrecks.” campaign effort has received more than $20 million in donated media support to date.  For more than twenty-five years, the Ad Council and NHTSA have worked together on consumer safety PSA campaigns. Per the Ad Council’s model, all of the new PSAs will run and air in advertising time and space that is donated by the media.

Martha Thomases Is Talking Dirty

Martha Thomases Is Talking Dirty

They say “shit” on cable now. And “ass.”

And not just pay cable where not only has this been going on for decades, but it’s often a selling point. Need proof? Watch the reruns of The Sopranos on A&E, where they bleep so much that it sounds like having the hiccups is a requirement for being in the Mafia.

I don’t know when things changed. So many people in my daily life say “shit” and “ass” (and lots of other things) on a regular basis that I don’t really notice. This is how people talk in 2012. It’s how people have talked for the last 50 years, maybe longer (my memory is limited to my lifetime).

Still, when Ellen Burstyn said “Shit” on Political Animals. I had to pay attention. I think it’s in her contract that she has to say “shit” at least five times per episode.

Next up, I noticed they say “shit” on Suits, a show I started to watch because Gabriel Macht struggled so nobly in Frank Miller’s The Spirit that I rooted for him. I don’t think anyone says “shit” in Don Quixote, but if someone did, he would sound like Macht.

I didn’t notice if they said “shit” on Common Law, but they do say “ass.” I wonder if there are rules on the USA Network that you can say one word formerly deleted on basic cable, but not all of them.

On Louis, I think I heard them say “fuck.” I also saw a scene set in my local drug store, so I may just be projecting the neighborhood ambiance.

All of these shows (except Louie) are on in prime time. Louie is on at 11. So is the Daily Show with Jon Stewart, but they are still bleeping “shit” and “ass” on that show. I don’t know why there is a difference.

It’s also possible that, on scripted shows, the writers insist that “shit” and “ass” are necessary for the artistic integrity of their work. I’d agree that it’s hard to imagine back-room politics, high-powered law firms, or Los Angeles police departments where such language isn’t used. And the life of a stand-up comedian is an f-bomb waiting to happen.

Comics are still following the old rules. If a writer wants to say “fuck,” there will be a “Mature Readers” warning on the cover. When I was publicity manager at DC, part of my job was to answer the letters from parents outraged that a bad guy in a Superman comic said, “damn.” I think I told that parent that it was a way to demonstrate the person was a bad guy.

I didn’t lecture the parent about how, if I was trying to protect my impressionable child against bad influences, I might be more upset that a character in Superman had a gun and shot at people. I might have started a discussion about Bruno Bettelheim and The Uses of Enchantment. I might have said that the word “damn” is in the Bible. Instead, I commended that mother for being so involved as a parent.

I was really good at my job.

The language on these shows is realistic, within the boundaries of the form. In real life, we use profanity, but we also talk aimlessly about the weather, politics, sports, and what we’re going to eat for lunch, none of which is normally found in television dialogue. Many brilliant scripts have been written without cussin’ (see Casablanca  for example), but, for the most part, I think writers should have as many tools at their disposal as possible to show character.

I can’t recall any discussion about this in the media, certainly no outrage. Perhaps these shows are so focused on their target demographics that those who fall outside that range don’t even know this is happening.

Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.

Does anybody?

SATURDAY: Marc Alan Fishman

 

iVerse Adds Contraband Comics for Digital Distribtion

iVerse Adds Contraband Comics for Digital Distribtion

(August 15, 2012—Waco, TX) – iVerse Media, creators of some of the world’s most popular and widely used technologies for reading and distributing digital comics, announced today that the company’s Comics Plus platform has been selected as the exclusive digital distribution platform for Contraband Comics, a new independent, creator-owned comics publishing initiative.

“We’re extremely happy and excited that Contraband Comics has decided to launch with us exclusively,” said Michael Murphey, iVerse CEO. “Their creative team is outstanding and, from the work we’ve seen so far, we know that our readers are really going to enjoy their lineup.”

“iVerse’s dedication to creator-owned projects is what we were looking for in a distribution partner,” said writer/artist and Contraband founder, Jon Goff. “Their ability to deliver content on a level that meets the high standards everyone at Contraband strives for made this a very easy choice for us. We plan to utilize the Comics Plus app’s many features to their fullest, as Contraband continues to roll out titles that push the envelope of storytelling and innovation.”

The first wave of Contraband titles that will be available exclusively on Comics Plus include:

  • BLINDSIDE by Marat Mychaels (creator/illustrator) and Jon Goff (writer) – The worlds of superheroics and espionage merge head-on in an all-out, bullet-riddled, adrenaline rush blockbuster! Debuts August 22nd exclusively on Comics Plus.
  • BIG HITTERS by Travis Sengaus (co-creator/illustrator) and Jon Goff (co-creator/writer) – This science-fiction action/adventure follows the exploits of a pair of sanctioned hitmen – called “Hitters” – as they navigate the seedy underbelly of an advanced post-war universe. Debuts September 5th exclusively on Comics Plus.
  • JACK RABBIT by Jim Hanna (co-creator/illustrator) and Jon Goff (co-creator/writer) – A supernatural crime-noir thriller that follows an ex-boxer-turned-private detective as he investigates the darker corners of 1930’s Los Angeles, where truth and myth merge in a surreal mixture of violence and hope. Debuts September 19th exclusively on Comics Plus.

“A big goal for us at iVerse is to help talented creators like Jon get their creations out to millions and millions of people,” said Steve May, iVerse Director of Business Development.  “There are many amazing creator-owned books out there just needing the right distribution partner to take them to the next level.  With talent like Jon, Marat, Travis and Jim on board, I have no doubt that Contraband Comics will quickly reach that level and grow beyond it.”

About iVerse Media. LLC

iVerse Media (http://www.iversemedia.com) is a digital content distributor focused on the world of comics and popular culture. Founded in 2008, the company was one of the first to launch digital comics on Apple’s iOS platform. As of April 2012, over 12 million products in the iOS App Store have been downloaded that are powered by iVerse, making the “iVerse Engine” one of the most popular and widely used platforms for reading digital comics in the world. The company is principally located in Waco, TX. For more information, visit www.comicsplusapp.com.

About Contraband Comics

Launched in 2012, Contraband Comics is a creator-owned, independent comic book publisher with a focus on providing quality titles across multiple genres. Founded by writer/artist, Jon Goff, and featuring a talented line-up of comic book creators, including Travis Sengaus, Marat Mychaels, Jim Hanna, Fco Plascencia, Comicraft and more, Contraband’s only goal is to entertain. Contrabrand Comics are available exclusively on iVerse Media’s ComicsPlus digital platform. Learn more about Contraband Comics on their Website: http://www.contracomics.com

About Jon Goff

Jon Goff has developed content for comic books, action figures and video games while working with many of the top companies across the entertainment industry, including The McFarlane Companies, 343 Industries, Microsoft Game Studios, Marvel Comics, MEGA Brands, Gentle Giant Studios, WETA Workshop, ABC Studios, Tor Books, DK Publishing, Prima Games and more. Jon’s credits include Tor Books’ Halo-themed anthology, Halo Evolutions, the monthly Spawn comic book title and The Adventures of SPAWN online comic. Follow Jon on Twitter: @Jonathan_Goff

About Marat Mychaels

Marat Mychaels (Grifter, Deadpool Corps) is a veteran of the comic book industry, having provided artwork for Marvel Comics, DC Comics, Image Comics and more. Marat’s current focus is the launch of his creator-owned title, Blindside, as part of Contraband Comics, along with steady work on DC Comics New 52 titles, including Hawk and Dove and Grifter.  Follow Marat on Twitter: @MaratMychaels

About Travis Sengaus

Travis Sengaus is an illustrator and animator from Calgary, Alberta, who has provided artwork for various comic, video game and animation projects. His credits include The Adventures of SPAWN online comic book and production work for Table Taffy Studios. Follow Travis on Twitter: @TravisSengaus

About Jim Hanna

Jim Hanna is an artist/writer based in Mesa, Arizona. He has provided art for Arcana Studio, Upper Deck, Red 5 Comics, Cryptozoic Entertainment and Marvel/The Hero Initiative. Jim’s newest project is the creator-owned title, Jack Rabbit, part of Contraband Comics’ initial wave of titles. Follow Jim on Twitter: @jimhanna

Martha Thomases: Heroes and Big Hair

For no reasons that are indefensible intellectually, I went to see Rock of Ages the other day. I like Alec Baldwin, okay?  It’s loud and it’s fun, and while hair metal was never my genre, I kind of like the power ballads that dominate the soundtrack.

The main plot is almost identical to Get Crazy,  one of the greatest movies ever made. A sincere rock club on the Sunset Strip (in this case, The Bourbon Room), run by Alec Baldwin and Russell Brand, is in the rapacious site of greedy real estate developers. Our heroes must put on a show that will sell enough tickets to raise money and thwart the evil plans. Meanwhile, a sweet young girl (Julianne Hough) from the heartland comes to Los Angeles with dreams of rock stardom, and falls in love with a boy with similar dreams (Diego Benota).

Mixed up in all this is Tom Cruise as Axl Rose, Malin Ackerman as a Rolling Stone reporter, Mary J. Blige in not enough scenes, and Paul Giamatti as Cruise’s manager.

Will the sincere and noble rockers triumph over the skeevy politicians and music executives who want to replace The Bourbon Room’s metal with malls and boy-bands? What do you think?

The acting is broad and fun. My only quibble with the casting is that Diego Benota looks a lot like Jonathan Groff, only he’s not, and that was distracting. I’m sure he’s a lovely human being in his own right.

And yet, as I watched it, I found myself getting irked. “That’s not historically accurate,” I would think, and then I’d remember that it’s a movie based on a Broadway jukebox musical. It’s like complaining that F Troop isn’t historically accurate.

I wasn’t in Los Angeles in 1987. I was in New York. Not only that, but I had a three-year-old child, so I didn’t spend a lot of time in rock clubs. Still, my memory of popular music of that time includes a lot that wasn’t metal. The biggest album for most people was Michael Jackson’s Bad. The biggest albums for me were Springsteen’s Tunnel of Love and Warren Zevon’s Sentimental Hygiene.

From this movie, you wouldn’t know there was any hip-hop. You wouldn’t even know there was any punk, even though the black leather and studs that denote authenticity among the rockers owe nearly as much to punk as they do to rockabilly. I don’t know what it’s like in L.A. these days, but you can see every one of those outfits today on St. Mark’s Place in Manhattan.

The other place you can see all these fashions is superhero comics. For some reason, the big hair, the fringe, even the shoulder pads live on at DC and Marvel. I guess once your creative vision of women is limited to bitch, naif, and slut, your visual imagination is similarly locked in the past.

The difference is that in Rock of Ages, they know they’re being camp. It’s funny, and they expect the audience to be in on it. For those of us who are superhero fans, the joke is on us.

SATURDAY: Marc Alan Fishman

 

Ray Bradbury, 1920 – 2012

Ray Bradbury, generally considered to be among America’s greatest writers, died Tuesday night in Los Angeles. He was 91.

The author of such modern classics as Fahrenheit 451, The Martian Chronicles, Something Wicked This Way Comes and Dandelion Wine, Ray Bradbury was born August 22, 1920, in Waukegan, Illinois, on Lake Michigan near the Wisconsin border. From these placid roots came a gargantuan imagination that gifted the world with nearly 30 novels and collections of his 600-plus short stories, helping the fantasy and science fiction genre shake the coils of its adolescent, bug-eyed monsters and big-breasted blondes image.

Heavily influenced as a child by futuristic imagery of Buck Rogers, Bradbury maintained his enthusiasm for the comics medium. When EC Comics William M. Gaines publisher “inadvertently borrowed” one of his stories for adaptation, Ray sent him a polite note informing Gaines that his payment check must have been lost in the mail. An enduring relationship quickly followed, and Bradbury’s work was adapted by such great artists as Wallace Wood and Al Williamson.

On a personal note, I had met Ray several times – the first at the premiere of his first play, The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit, directed by Stuart Gordon (later made into a movie by Gordon starring Edward James Olmos, Joe Mantegna, Esai Morales, Gregory Sierra and Michael Saad). One of those great moments in life came when I was asked to share an autograph table with Ray at the San Diego Comic Con; we spent some time talking about his fellow Waukeganite, Jack Benny. He was a marvelous, charming man – a surprisingly opinionated man who, despite his reputation as a science fiction author (which he denied; he was a fantasist), Ray Bradbury declined to fly in airplanes.

He helped inspire the imaginations of several generations. I can think of no greater tribute.

 

REVIEW: Red Tails

One of the reasons World War II is called the last good war is that the stakes were clear and unambiguous. Those years spawned countless stories of heroism, sacrifice, and loss that never cease to fascinate subsequent generations. Some movies have gone to great lengths to recreate what the horrors of war must have been like while others go for a different approach, going for a stark contrast to exemplify the acts of one or a few. The pilots resulting from the Tuskegee training program deserve proper treatment in mass media of their experiences.

It was long known that this was a passion project for filmmaker George Lucas, who has been discussing making this story for over 20 years. Not surprisingly, the bean counters at the studios balked at an all-Black film fearing it wouldn’t play well domestically and fare even worse overseas. Thankfully, Star Wars made Lucas a wealthy man and allowed him to help finance and see his project to fruition. During the intervening years, he brought survivors of those years to his ranch and interviewed them, capturing their tales while the men were still around to provide first-hand accounts.

He assigned the scripting to John Ridley and the direction to Anthony Hemingway and the story was shot in 2009. Dissatisfied with the results, Lucas himself helmed reshoots using script material from Aaron McGruder. The resulting film was released earlier this year and will be out Tuesday from 20th Century Home Entertainment. Given the amount of time devoted to research and the passion from Lucas, one would have hoped for a more satisfying yarn. Once more his vaunted storytelling skills failed him as Lucas neglected to make the characters anything more than cardboard constructs, each filling an archetype but denying them a chance to shine via personality or dialogue. Instead, the 332d Fighter Group are as flat and wooden as the war movies made decades ago. (more…)

FORTIER TAKES ON ‘TEN-A-WEEK STEALE’!

ALL PULP REVIEWS by Ron Fortier
TEN-A-WEEK STEALE
By Stephen Jared
Solstice Publishing
303 pages
In the early 1920s, former Army Lieutenant Walter Steale has returned to civilian life and settled down in Los Angeles amongst the glitz of the silent movie world.  His one ambition is to put the horrors of World War One behind him and get on with a normal, peaceful life. Unfortunately his brother, Sam, the state’s Lieutenant Governor, coerces him into working as hired muscle for his crooked boss, Governor Davies.  This leads Steale into brutal confrontations with crazy mob gangsters and a prostitution ring tied to several corrupt politicians.
When a gang boss is murdered in a bombing and then Steale himself is targeted in another, even in his wounded condition he is savvy enough to realize he’s been set up as a patsy by his own brother. To clear his name and stay out of jail, Steale must rely on the courage of Virginia “Ginny” Joy, a beautiful young movie actress whose star is on the rise. As unlucky a couple as can be imagined, Ginny has fallen hard for the veteran doughboy and is willing to jeopardize her own career to save his neck.
Author Stephen Jared is an accomplished film actor with a vast knowledge of early Hollywood history which he deftly employs here by creating a truly authentic background for his wonderfully crafted mystery.  Refusing to mimic classical noir settings, Jared presents a truly straight forward and original narrative that moves at its own leisurely pace.  Then when the reader least expects it, he delivers scenes of gut wrenching violence in such a cold, calculating style, this reviewer was reminded of the late Mickey Spillane’s work.
TEN-A-WEEK STEALE was a nice surprise in many ways, exceeding my own expectations and in the end delivers a better than average tale in a field overrun with cheap knock-offs.  Wally Steale and Ginny Joy make a nice team, let’s hope we get to see them again real soon.

UCHRONIC PRESS RELEASES -THE HORN!

The Uchronic Press is proud to announce that “Uchronic Tales: The Horn,” our second release, is now available for Nook and Kindle. This thrilling 17,000 word novella by W. Peter Miller has a stunning cover by the talented Mike Fyles (Amazing Spider-Man and Iron Man Noir covers) and features the Ace Insurance investigator Clark Tyler, a man that trouble seems to find. Or perhaps he is just good at finding it. This story is available now at the special introductory price of 99 cents on Kindle and Nook with other formats to follow.

Uchronic Tales: The Horn follows Clark Tyler, an investigator for the Ace Insurance Company, as a simple job spirals toward an Earth-shattering conclusion all set against the backdrop of the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles. What is the Horn and why do some distinctively nasty visitors want to get their hands on it? What would happen if someone decides to give it a blow? Clark is there to stop that from happening. Clark is joined in “The Horn“ by a daring aviatrix, a charming archaeologist, and a strange mercenary from Clark’s past.

Join us for the mysteries, the thrills, and the startling conclusion of…
The Horn.

The Uchronic Press is here to serve all readers that crave action, excitement, and a bit of an edge in their pulp adventure fiction. Our stories take place in an alternate past, a Uchronic world greatly like our own, but with a dash more mystery, danger, and the macabre. Here you will find heroic adventures, outlandish science, ferocious alchemy, mystic forces, and an alternate history just slightly larger than our own.

In the months ahead, danger will put Clark in middle of many Uchronic Tales. Look for stories featuring the classic days of Hollywood, earth-shattering danger, lost civilizations, and bizarre visitors from the unknown aether.

The special 99 cent introductory pricing on Uchronic Tales: The Zeppelin will be good until March 23, so get ’em while they’re hot!


Welcome to Uchronic Tales

More information can be had at www.docsavagetales.blogspot.com