“You can’t go back home” Thomas Wolfe wrote in a novel and I cry, amen. When I return to visit relatives in Missouri, I find the city I left almost 50 years ago strange and, in places, unrecognizable – alien, even. And last week I visited DC Comics, my employer and sustainer for decades, and found it much changed, beginning with the entrance to the building and the security forces guarding the lobby. I was told that if I wanted to see the floor that once housed Mad Magazine, I’d better hurry because it was being gutted, and the corridors leading to where I had to be were cluttered with cardboard boxes.
Maybe the whole experience was just a little forlorn?
But after a long and pleasant conversation with Dan DiDio, who honchos the company’s editorial department, I thought that perhaps the company is, in a modest, limited, yet quite good way going home again and we funny book aficionados will benefit.
The home that’s DC’s destination? Why, old comics. I mean, really old. Really old. Your grandpa’s comics, published before Marvel made continued stories the norm in the 60s. Stories of six, eight ten, maybe 12 pages, complete in one issue. (And a bunch of them in the – sigh – 52 page total package. Which cost a dime.)
An eight page story? A story even shorter than eight pages? Bizarre, you say?
No, not bizarre, Maybe even beneficial. Indulge me while I quote something I wrote a while back: Every story has to end with a lesson learned, an evil thwarted, a problem solved, a defeat, a triumph – some kind of resolution. The events of the story show how that resolution occurs. And if the writer doesn’t know how his story will end he can’t create a logicalprogression of scenes leading to that ending…writing an eight-pager forces the writer to know his ending before he submits the manuscript. (Except in rare cases, the beginning and end are in the same sheaf of pages, or email.)
So, knowing what his destination is, the writer can move toward it confidently instead of – brace for metaphors! – stumbling around the narrative thickets hoping to find a path. And limited length forces the writer to write only those scenes that move the plot along and this, in turn, tends to keep the story interesting: no pointless digressions to create ennui and yawns.
So: DC Comics is going to give us a glut of short fiction? No, of course not. But Dan told me that most story arcs would be limited to six issues – not exactly haiku territory, but not a completely open-ended narrative that will meander into the murk until somebody figures out how it might end, either. And writers must tell someone – probably an editor – something about the tale that’s to be told. Again, no making it up as you go along, with no clear plan on how the pieces will fit together.
Usually, I question looking to the past for answers. But every so often, answers might be found there. Don’t try to go home again, not permanently. But a now-and-then visit? To capture a bounty?
Recommended Reading: Pretty obvious, isn’t it? I should be recommending You Can’t Go Home Again, by Thomas Wolfe. But in the interest of keeping myself honest, or at least honestish, I try to read before I recommend, and if I’ve ever read Wolfe’s novel, it was long, long ago and I have no memory of it. So instead of recommending a book, let me recommend the author’s hometown. Last year, Mari and I toured Wolfe’s boyhood home in Asheville, S.C. while visiting Mars Hill College and found the house interesting, the school welcoming, and the city delightful.
Dillon and The Legend of the Golden Bell: From a Modern Black Perspective
As written by Brent Lambert, ALL PULP Staffer
When I first heard the term “post racial” being thrown around I was put off by it.It seemed like terminology invented for the sole purpose of creating a false reality and to create cultural repression.Whoever thought the advent of an African-American President somehow spelled a symbolic end to racism was smoking something real good and I still want some of it.
The other idea proposed by this concept of “post-racial” was a bit sneakier and less obviously wrong because it’s an idea that’s been pushed on those America has considered “other” since its inception.Assimilation.That was what I felt was at the real core of this “post-racial” word.Minorities were being called to lay down their cultural heritage and grievances in the name of this unseen new racial harmony that supposedly miraculously sprung up after November 2008.Fortunately, most of us weren’t that stupid.
So what does any of this have to do with Derrick Ferguson and his novel, Dillon and The Legend of the Golden Bell?Well, some might look at the novel, see the character of Dillon and see what might be the world’s first post-racial pulp hero.Dillon is African-American, but you could see him as any race and he’d be just as enjoyable.One of his best friends is a white man and the friendship, thankfully, is one that exists without any sort of racial footing.In fact, one could argue that every character in the novel could be white and you’d enjoy it all the same.I agree except for the fact that it would be implying Derrick had no racial concerns when constructing this story, which is something I just can’t buy.
See, I’ve had the unique pleasure of discussing race in general and in terms of writing with Derrick.So can I assure everyone that he is without a doubt a black man and is smart enough to not buy into the political correctness of the supposed “post-racial”.The thing with Derrick is that he’s nuanced and I believe he’s so nuanced that some things in this novel could only be picked up on by someone who’s had the black experience.So race is very much in Dillon and The Legend of the Golden Bell, but it does not have to be shouted from the rooftops.
Too much of our media with a black focus has to scream “black, black, black” and Derrick avoids that trap.It’s a tempting trap to fall into because there is such a severe lack of quality black media that aspiring black artists feel the need to take the entire burden on their shoulders.Derrick contributes even more than I think he realizes because he avoids that pitfall.
Let’s look at Dillon to see the nuance I was talking about.Derrick gracefully dodges the “Macho Guy” stereotype that plagues African-American male characters from TV to comic books.Yes, Dillon is tough and he is undoubtedly an ass kicker, but the difference is that the core of his character isn’t centered on those things.Derrick defies the stereotype of the black man as a mere macho and as a deadbeat father in a one-two punch through the character of Brandon.
Dillon shows a great deal of vulnerable emotions through his interactions with Brandon and becomes the boy’s surrogate father throughout the story.He takes full responsibility for the young man and seems to really be the only character truly concerned with taking this young man on a dangerous mission.Without ever having to get preachy, Derrick uses Dillon to spit in the face of the idea that the black man is lacking in paternal instincts.
A term popular amongst urban inclined people my age and younger is “swagger” or “swagga” if you want the hip spelling.I think the term holds a particular affinity for black men because it harkens back to the 20s and The Harlem Renaissance.Our vision of that time was everyone was cool whether they were a slick gangster or a skit skatting musician.There’s a sense that black men in that time period commanded their respect simply by their presence and got it.It’s something to aspire to and therefore those who seem to command that kind of presence are admired.
Even though the word has seen a bit of a resurgence, the essence of “swagger” is something that permeates the black male consciousness as far back as The Great Migration.Look at the classic character of Shaft if you want a more modern example that represents this ideal.He’s nearly unshakeable in his self-confidence and makes everyone around him better as they admire his bravado.It’s easy to venture into Mary Sue territory with these kind of characters, but thankfully Derrick knows better.Dillon is a worthy inheritor of this tradition.He displays soap opera worthy suave with an equal dose of Herculean bravado.On top of all that there’s a good bit of Imaro’s raw intensity thrown in the mix.
Dillon ultimately is a critique of this idea that to create racial harmony one must let go of culture.He is a guy entrenched in a very racially focused world, but he elevates himself past it without giving up his identity in the process.Dillon is capable of loving a white man as a father figure without having to worry about the oft-used label of Uncle Tom.The fact Derrick is able to work past that sub-conscious complex and get a black audience to genuinely believe in Dillon’s blackness without divulging into the insanely urban is a testament to his skills as a writer.
Brian Selznick’s award-winning hybrid novel/graphic novel The Invention of Hugo Cabret is being released this November 23 as Hugo, a big budget film directed by Martin Scorcese. Yes, that Martin Scorcese. Coming from Paramount Pictures, the movie adapts the novel and will be available in (ugh) 3-D and 2-D and the studio kjust released both a new trailer and one-sheet which we present here.
The film, set in early 20th Century France, tells the story of not only a boy who lives in the train station but involves a mystery leading to secrets about pioneer filmmaker Georges Méliès. It’s pretty fun stuff and worth a look.
Author Martin Powell recently announced that he is writing a graphic novel of TARZAN AT THE EARTH’S CORE that will be illustrated by Tim Burgard, for Sequential Pulp/Dark Horse Comics.
The Tarzan At The Earrth’s Core graphic novel is officially licensed and authorized by the estate of Edgar Rice Burroughs, and will be published as a special edition in celebration of the ape-man’s 100th Anniversary in 2012. “Tarzan has always been at the top of my list for characters to write,” Powell said on his blog. “And this is possibly the biggest project of my twenty-five year career. I honestly never thought I’d get this chance. Very special thanks to ERB, Inc. and Michael Hudson for making this possible.”
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.
Airship 27 Productions and Cornerstone Book Publishers are excited to announce the release of their third Jim Anthony Super Detective book, a full length novel, THE MARK OF TERROR.
From the early days of his crime fighting career, comes this brand new adventure of the man known as Jim Anthony; Super Detective. Half Irish, half Comanche and All American, Jim Anthony finds himself caught up in a world-wide conspiracy of murder and carnage as two ancient Greek cults square off against each other in modern times; each vying for world dominance over the other.
When several of New York’s leading business men suddenly go insane and begin committing suicide, the police are baffled and reluctantly look to the Super Detective for help. Soon, with the aid of a renowned archeological historian and a spunky, fearless female reporter, Jim Anthony is quickly caught up in a mystery like no other he has ever faced before. With danger from deadly masked assassins at every turn, the famous adventurer’s own life is soon hanging in the balance as he becomes the primary target of both warring cults.
Acclaimed New Pulp scribe, Joshua Reynolds delivers a fast paced, non-stop action thriller that is pure pulp gold. “This is Reynold’s second Jim Anthony story for us,” reported Airship 27 Productions’ Managing Editor Ron Fortier. “It’s very clear in how well he writes this classic hero that he has a genuine affection for the character and that comes across on every page.” Accompanied by nine illustrations from artist Isaac Nacilla and a stunning cover by painter Jeff Herndon, with designs by Rob Davis, JIM ANTHONY – SUPER DETECTIVE – THE MARK OF TERROR is the latest in an on-going series of brand new Jim Anthony adventures.
Cornerstone Book Publishers also publishes Masonic and esoteric books, selected pulp fiction, art literature, limited children’s books, and poetry collections. For more information about Cornerstone, go to www.cornerstonepublishers.com.
Airship 27 packages and publishes anthologies and novels in the pulp magazine tradition. In addition to Weird Horror Tales, Weird Horror Tales: The Feasting, and Weird Horror Tales: Light’s End, Airship 27 has released Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective, a series of “Captain Hazzard” pulp thrillers, more pulp fiction in The Green Lam,a and Secret Agent X. For more information on Airship 27, go to www.airship27.com.
AIRSHIP 27 PRODUCTIONS – Pulp Fiction for a New Generation!
Sometimes words and pictures come together in the same story. There’s more than one way of accomplishing this — comics is the most obvious, with the story told in a sequence of pictures and text (captions and/or dialogue), but there are other options — and books for pre-adults have typically made more use of pictures than those in the more adult portions of the library.
Remember: adults are dull and staid, and must not be upset or disconcerted by mere pictures in their very, very serious books. Children are more mentally flexible, and can handle the shock of the pictorial.
Teens are somewhere in between: they usually want to be adults, but they’re still young enough to question that dull stolidity, and still, sometimes, will gravitate to books with pictures in them. The two books I have in front of me today were published to be read by pre-adults of various ages — though I think the first had an older expected reader-age than the latter — and they’re chock-full of pictures. In fact, both of them are stories told through and about their pictures, in different ways — and, more interestingly from my point of view, neither of these books use the language and techniques of comics. They both use pictures as part of their storytelling, but come at it from different traditions, and don’t tell their stories from image-to-image the way that comics do.
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children is the more conventional of the two books; it’s a novel by Ransom Riggs (his first), illustrated by a sequence of real, mostly unaltered vintage photographs. (Riggs is clear about the “mostly unaltered” stipulation, since some of these are quite odd photographs, as with the cover shot, showing a hard-faced girl standing rigidly still a foot off the ground.) Those photos are part of the story in the most basic, literal way — every so often, a character talks about looking at a photograph, and then, lo! the actual photo appears on the next page.
Howard Hopkins is a prolific writer of novels, comic books, and short stories as well as an editor and musician. It was recently announced that Howard would be writing the first new Lone Ranger novel of the 21st Century, which will certainly be a future Trivial Pursuit question. All Pulp sat down to discuss the new novel, Lone Ranger: Vendetta as well as Howard’s other writing and editing projects.
AP: Tell us a little about yourself and your pulp interests.
HH: I’m a horror, western, kids’ horror, pulp, comics writer who lives in Maine, in a small seaside community haunted by sea captains’ ghosts and tourists. It’s a very mysterious place of snaking mist and strange happenings, most of which occur on beer night, which is basically every night in these parts! I’m not sure I can really label myself a “pulp” fan, but I am a huge fan of certain pulp characters, such as Doc Savage, The Avenger and The Shadow, maybe a handful of others to a lesser degree. I grew up on the Doc Savage paperback reprints with their gorgeous Bama covers, as well as The Avenger with their Caras and Gross covers. As a kid I didn’t know what a pulp was, only that there was the occasional odd reference in the books to running boards and wire recorders. It was only in my 20s I got my hands on an actual, honest-to-goodness-crumble-my-hands-as-tried-to-read-it pulp and learned of some of the other characters, like The Spider, Captain Future and The Moon Man.
AP: It was recently announced that your next novel will be The Lone Ranger: Vendetta from Moonstone Books. With your history writing western novels, this seems like a perfect fit. What can we expect from the first Lone Ranger novel of the 21st century? HH: You can expect the true Lone Ranger, no re-imaging and political correctness. Set in a more realistic and gritty West, dealing with authentic issues and vicious villains. The original Lone Ranger series on the radio and TV—which, make no mistake, I love dearly—was largely intended for a younger audience. Moonstone’s series is not aimed at kids, but it is aimed at Lone Ranger fans and Western readers, as well as adventure readers and folks who just enjoy a thrilling story. The Lone Ranger and Tonto—I don’t like to use the term Blood Brothers because it was a term not used by the Native Americans, but that’s what they really are—are equal parts of a whole, dealing with a West full of prejudice, sudden death and human corruption. Yet The Ranger also stands above that. He is The Lone Ranger and I have taken great pains to keep the soul and spirit of the character intact. I have a great love and respect for this character and have done my best to make sure to respect Rangers fans in writing the book. There’s nothing I hate more than seeing a cherished character so totally redone as to be not only unrecognizable but alienating. These are great, iconic characters. They were popular and loved for a reason. I see no need to screw with that. At the same time, the Old West is a violent, vast and even lonely place, and The Lone Ranger and Tonto are operating within it. Basically I have done my durndest to preserve everything that makes The Ranger The Ranger, and set it against a backdrop of a Deadwood styled West (without the cussing). I believe fans as well as many non-Western readers will like it. I am hoping there will be a few of those goosebump moments we all look for in our favorite characters when they appear in new books or movies.
You can also expect a pretty vicious villain seeking revenge. The story is called Vendetta and the lead villain has a hell of a score to settle. Unfortunately this means bad news for some of the Masked Rider of the Plains’ acquaintances.
AP: In addition to writing, you also have a couple of anthologies coming up that you’ve edited as well. Tell us a bit about the upcoming Sherlock Holmes and The Avenger collections.
HH: Yes, indeed. A Honey West anthology too, in fact. The Sherlock Holmes antho is called Sherlock Holmes: The Crossovers Casebook, and involves the Great Detective working with some of history’s fictional and real characters, solving a crime. My own story, called The Haunted Manor, teams Sherlock with Calamity Jane. He teams with Arsene Lupin, The Great and Powerful OZ, Lawrence of Arabia and many others. We have some truly excellent writers involved with the project and an awesome cover. I believe Holmes fans will enjoy it and if I may say so myself it’s going to be one kick ass anthology. I have also been co-editor with Joe Gentile on three Avenger anthologies, the first two of which are out now and available from comic shops and Amazon.com. These are labors of love for me, since The Avenger is one of my all time favorite characters, second (or perhaps even tied with) Doc Savage. I’ve done stories for all three volumes, and the second volume, titled The Justice, Inc. Files, includes, in the special hardcover edition, the first three of six vignettes focusing on the original Man of Steel’s aides. In this case, Nellie, Mac and Cole Wilson. The next will spotlight Smitty, Josh and Rosabel. And of course this is THE Richard Benson, not somebody named Benny or a drastic updating of characters.
AP: What is The Chloe Files?
HH: The Chloe Files is my paranormal horror series focusing on Chloe Everson, a dancer at The Red Lagoon who gets herself into all sorts of supernatural problems. She’s not a wizard like Harry Dresden, but she does take on others’ ghostly problems and something quite special about her will be revealed as the series progresses. Two books are now available on Kindle, Nook and in paperback. The action takes place in the cursed seaside town of New Salem, Maine, and this is not your sparkly vampire lovefest. The monsters Chloe faces are classic style and mean as hell. She’s Kolchak with boobs. She’s also going to find out some rather dark and startling revelations about her past and the reasons the supernatural is after her. In the meantime, she’s kicking Evil’s ass—one demon at a time.
AP: Your books have spanned multiple genres including westerns, horror, mystery, pulp adventure, and more. Do you have a favorite genre to write? What appeals to you about switching genres?
HH: The spooky genes are probably my favorite. I love things that go bump in the night and I love to scare readers. But I enjoy all genres I write in because it all boils down to the same thing–I read to escape…I write to help others escape. I like working in genres that take folks away from their worries and day to day problems, at least for a couple hours. I do not strive to be literary, though I do strive to make my characters live and drive the story. I am an entertainer and that’s just fine with me. It’s all about the escape. When I was a kid, I went through some tough times—and if not for some of the heroes and books I love, honestly, I might not have made it. They saved me from at least some addictions that might have proved destructive. I owe the writers of those stories more than I can repay and I owe my readers what I was given.
AP: Is there a genre you’ve not written that you would like to try your hand at some point?
HH: Well, actually there’s one I am just now getting a chance to write in I haven’t done much with before and that’s 50s noir. I will be writing a 15,000 word novella (novelette?) for a brand new anthology based on the old radio show Nightbeat, about a reporter who stumbles into serious crime. And the best part is I am getting to be in it with some super talents. What more can a writer ask? It will be a lot of fun slipping into that noir world.
AP: There seem to be many different opinions about what can be defined as pulp. How do you define pulp and what do you look for in a pulp story as a writer and a reader?
HH: Oh, man, this may get me into some trouble, but I don’t define pulp. Pulp was a type of paper novels and stories were printed on, in magazine format. In every genre. Now stories are printed in paperbacks and in ebooks. It was cheap fiction, but still just fiction, often written hastily and for the specific reason of entertaining its audience. Escapism, again. I don’t write pulp, because pulp does not really exist as a genre, in my opinion. I write about some characters who appeared in pulp magazines, but I make no deliberate attempt to write in the same style or emulate the technical mistakes they made. I believe the authors, had they been paid better and given the opportunity, would have polished their stories more. But they weren’t and didn’t have time. When I write about those characters, I do my best to flesh them out and present as highly a polished story as my ability allows. Some are hero stories, some horror, some adventure. I think the modern audience expects more from authors now. While I think it’s a huge mistake to reinvent the wheel with these characters—I do my damnedest to maintain the core and soul of the characters and let’s face it, these characters have cult followings because there was something special that didn’t need changing—I do feel writers handling them have to give them more depth, along with slicker writing and better plot. I love reading these characters’ original adventures, but I accept them for what they are and when they were written. I won’t accept that from modern writers who have the time and talent to avoid the things the original writers would have avoided had they gotten the time for rewrites. If you look at The Avenger Chronicles and Justice, Inc. Files, you won’t see “pulp” stories; you’ll see very talented authors telling great stories. I don’t label anything “pulp.” I label them good stories using pulp characters. They are adventure, hero stories in genre. They cross into mystery, horror, western, etc.
Not Actual Cover
That said, anyone who wants to call it pulp or call me a pulp writer is certainly free to do so and it bothers me not in the least. I just don’t feel it’s even an argument and worth the time debating, to be honest. I’d rather read and write the stories!
AP: Where can readers find information on you and your books?
AP: What upcoming projects do you have coming up that you can tell us about at this time?
HH: Well, The Lone Ranger novel, of course, and a Lone Ranger short story for an anthology, along with another story for The Green Hornet 3, the novella for Nightbeat, a new Chloe Files novel in the works, an Avenger story, Honey West story, a new Western novel, a comic book called Threesome that involves my own—dare I now say “pulp”?—heroine called The Veil and the return of the Golden Amazon (with The Domino Lady and co-written with NY Times bestselling author, the lovely and talented Nancy Holder), A Golden Amazon novel called Ripper, Burning Bright, three Spider widescreen graphic novels from Moonstone, new Golden Amazon short stories, a YA series novel, and some other stuff. Two upcoming Westerns called Hell of Hoofs and Twilight Trail. Then a kidnapping of myself by Jennifer Love Hewitt, but shhhh on that…
AP: Do you have any shows, signings, or conventions coming up where your fans can meet you?
HH: Nothing scheduled at present. I haven’t done many shows, but I’m hoping to change that soon.
AP: And finally, what does Howard Hopkins do when he’s not writing?
HH: Um, what do you mean by that? What is this not writing thing of which you speak? My ass is superglued to the office chair. Well, ok, I am a musician—mandolin, keyboards, guitar, singing—so when I have time I do that, read, of course, collect comic books and DVDs of old TV shows such as UFO, Hulk, Dark Shadows, etc. Sometimes I sleep, but try not to let that get in the way.
AP: Thanks, Howard.
HH: Thank you, All Pulp Potentates!s
About The Lone Ranger – Vendetta:
The Masked Man in a brand-new adventure! From out of the past comes a mysterious killer systematically murdering anyone with a connection to the Masked Rider of the Pains former identity. When all signs point to Butch Cavendish, a man long dead, The Lone Ranger finds himself trapped in a deadly game of cat and mouse with the life of his faithful Indian companion hanging in the balance!
Here comes THE MIRACLE SQUAD, the 1980′s indie comic that Pulp 2.0 has redesigned into a graphic novel. Thrill to the adventures of the cast and crew at Miracle Pictures, a poverty row movie outfit in 1930′s Hollywood, as they use all of their skills at movie magic to thwart a hostile takeover by a local gangster who aims to launder his dirty money.
Created by writer John Wooley and artist Terry Tidwell, The Miracle squad was originally published in 1987 by Fantagraphics. It has never before been released in a collected format such as this edition.
This collector’s treasure features:
The special preview and all four chapters.
John Wooley’s original essay on the B-Movies featuring all new photos and illustrations from his personal collection.
The original short story, “The Return of Mr. Mystery” which featured the first incarnations of the Squad.
Wooley casts the Miracle Squad serial with famous B-Movie greats from yesteryear.
A gallery of images by Terry Tidwell showcasing the development process for the series. Many of these images have never before been seen.
And much, much more!
All in all, over 50 pages of bonus features sure to thrill fans of the series as well as B-Movie enthusiasts!
PLEASE NOTE: A DIGITAL EDITION OF THIS GRAPHIC NOVEL WILL NOT BECOME AVAILABLE UNTIL 2012.
The Internet tells me that this weekend’s New York Comic-Con anticipates attendance of about 100,000. I’m not sure if that means 100,000 individuals over the three days (plus Thursday night) or 33,000 going each day, or something in-between.
In any case, it’s a lot of people.
San Diego Comic-Con gets around 125,000 people. That’s more. And it has more of an impact on the city, where 125,000 people dressed funny are noticeable. In New York, that’s pretty much one block of the Village Halloween parade, or Times Square on a Saturday.
NYCC is a relatively new show that grew very fast. I remember when we thought San Diego was a big show with 60,000 attendees. Of course, that was back in the 1990s, when San Diego was still mostly about comics.
The New York show is still mostly about comics. Yeah, there’s a bunch of TV and movie hype, but most of the programming and the celebrity guests are from comics. Since DC and Marvel are headquartered here (for the time being, at least), that’s easy and cost-efficient.
The San Diego convention center is much nicer than the Javits Center, and much closer to the amenities one expects of a major metropolitan area. It’s set up much better for mass transit, too, which is surprising, given the Big Apple’s reliance on MetroCards. On the other hand, New York in general is set up better for tourists, with better restaurants and better hotels (with more rooms available). Be warned, though – you get what you pay for, and in New York, you really have to pay. And if you want to look like a New Yorker, you’ll walk.
When the show is in New York, I get to sleep in my own bed, with my own husband. And when the show is in New York, I have to clean up my own mess and deal with my own life.
The timing of the show is wonky. True, autumn in New York is beautiful and the Broadway season is in full swing. On the other hand, it’s the same weekend as the New York State Sheep & Wool Festival in Rhinebeck, and I hate to have to choose which geeky aspect of my personality to indulge.
This year is going to be a little bit different for me. I actually have a project to hype. Mary Wilshire and I are working on a graphic novel. I’ve been in the business long enough to know that one doesn’t actually pitch something at a show, because the editors working the booths are too frazzled by fans to focus on freelancers. Nor should they. The show is for the customers. Still, I hope to at least chat up an invitation to send in our pitch. Which means I’ll have to be nice to everyone, just like I was working a booth again.
Martha Thomases doesn’t know what she wants to buy more – original art or hand-spun yarn.
“You can’t go back home” Thomas Wolfe wrote in a novel and I cry, amen. When I return to visit relatives in Missouri, I find the city I left almost 50 years ago strange and, in places, unrecognizable – alien, even. And last week I visited DC Comics, my employer and sustainer for decades, and found it much changed, beginning with the entrance to the building and the security forces guarding the lobby. I was told that if I wanted to see the floor that once housed Mad Magazine, I’d better hurry because it was being gutted, and the corridors leading to where I had to be were cluttered with cardboard boxes.
is the more conventional of the two books; it’s a novel by Ransom Riggs (his first), illustrated by a sequence of real, mostly unaltered vintage photographs. (Riggs is clear about the “mostly unaltered” stipulation, since some of these are quite odd photographs, as with the cover shot, showing a hard-faced girl standing rigidly still a foot off the ground.) Those photos are part of the story in the most basic, literal way — every so often, a character talks about looking at a photograph, and then, lo! the actual photo appears on the next page.
