NOBODY DIES FOR FREE by Aaron Smith from Pro Se Productions features the debut of Richard Monroe, former CIA Operative turned one Man Espionage Force for the Missions no one else can handle! Want to check out Monroe’s first full length novel adventure? Maybe NOBODY DIES FOR FREE, but you may get a FREE ebook of Aaron’s spy novel for You and Your Closest Spy friend by taking on the following mission yourself!
In 500 words or less, Tell Pro Se Productions who YOUR favorite fictional spy is- From Literature, Television, Movies, Comics, etc– and WHY they are the best Spy fiction has to offer! Email your entries to MorganMinorProSe@yahoo.com by June 30th, 2013! Aaron Smith will select the winning entry and the winner will be announced across the internet on July 1, 2013! While it’s true NOBODY DIES FOR FREE, You have a chance to get a Pro Se Ebook for just that much!
From New Pulp Press: New Pulp Press is thrilled to release our 25th novel in conjunction with Blasted Heath: Hard Bite by Anonymous-9. Hard Bite is wholly unique take on the crime novel, complete with a murderous paraplegic and his vicious monkey side-kick. T. Jefferson Parker, three-time Edgar winner and New York Times best-selling author of says: “Hard Bite is outlandish in every way—a crazed noir excursion into an unprecedented heart of darkness. From the opening line on, it challenges and confronts, attacks and confounds. Violent and sometimes funny, always entertaining.”
About Hard Bite: Hard Bite is a swirling, rambunctious thriller about a paraplegic man named Dean Drayhart who—with the help of his deadly sidekick, Sid the monkey—seeks out hit-and-run drivers in retaliation for a tragic accident that took everything he had. Dean’s annoying but endearing nurse knows nothing about what he’s up to, and when Sid tears out the throat of a Mexican Mafia member, Marcie gets kidnapped in order to force Dean’s surrender. Armed with nothing but his wits, a monkey, and a sympathetic streetwalker named Cinda, Dean manipulates drug-cartel carnales and the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department in a David-against-Goliath plot that twists and turns to a heart-pounding finale.
Fantagraphics co-publisher Kim Thompson died at 6:30 this morning, June 19, at the age of 56. “He was my partner and close friend for 36 years,” said Fantagraphics co-publisher Gary Groth.
Thompson was born in Denmark in 1956. He grew up in Europe, a lifelong comics fan, reading both European and American comics in Denmark, France, and Germany. He was an active fan in his teen years, writing to comics — his letters appeared in Marvel’s letter columns circa early 1970s — and contributing to fanzines from his various European perches. At the age of 21, he set foot, for the first time, on American soil, in late 1977. One “fanzine” he had not contributed to was The Comics Journal, which Groth and Michael Catron began publishing in July of 1976. That was soon to change.
“Within a few weeks of his arrival,” said Groth, “he came over to our ‘office,’ which was the spare bedroom of my apartment, and was introduced by a mutual friend — it was a fan visit. We were operating out of College Park, Maryland and Kim’s parents had moved to Fairfax, Virginia, both Washington DC suburbs. Kim loved the energy around the Journal and the whole idea of a magazine devoted to writing about comics, and asked if he could help. We needed all the help we could get, of course, so we gladly accepted his offer. He started to come over every day and was soon camping out on the floor. The three of us were living and breathing The Comics Journal 24 hours a day.”
Thompson became an owner when Catron took a job at DC Comics in 1978. As he became more familiar with the editorial process, Thompson became more and more integral to the magazine, assembling and writing news and conducting interviews with professionals. Thompson’s career in comics began here.
In 1981, Fantagraphics began publishing comics (such as Jack Jackson’s Los Tejanos, Don Rosa’s Comics and Stories, and, in 1982, Love and Rockets). Thompson was always evangelical about bandes dessinées and wanted to bring the best of European comics to America; in 1981, Thompson selected and translated the first of many European graphic novels for American publication — Herman Huppen’s The Survivors: Talons of Blood (followed by a 2nd volume in 1983). Thompson’s involvement in The Comics Journal diminished in 1982 when he took over the editorship of Amazing Heroes, a bi-weekly magazine devoted to more mainstream comics (with occasional forays into alternative and even foreign comics). Thompson helmed Amazing Heroes through 204 issues until 1992.
Among Thompson’s signature achievements in comics were Critters, a funny-animal anthology that ran from 50 issues between 1985 to 1990 and is perhaps best known for introducing the world to Stan Sakai’s Usagi Yojimbo; and Zero Zero, an alternative comics anthology that also ran for 50 issues over five years — between 1995 and 2000 — and featured work by, among others, Kim Deitch, Dave Cooper, Al Columbia, Spain Rodriguez, Joe Sacco, David Mazzuchelli, and Joyce Farmer. His most recent enthusiasm was spearheading a line of European graphic novel translations, including two major series of volumes by two of the most significant living European artists — Jacques Tardi (It Was the War of the Trenches, Like a Sniper Lining Up His Shot, The Astonishing Exploits of Lucien Brindavoine) and Jason (Hey, Wait…, I Killed Adolf Hitler, Low Moon, The Left Bank Gang) — and such respected work as Ulli Lust’s Today Is the Last Day of the Rest of Your Life, Lorenzo Mattotti’s The Crackle of the Frost, Gabriella Giandelli’s Interiorae, and what may be his crowning achievement as an editor/translator, Guy Peelaert’s The Adventures of Jodelle.
Throughout his career at Fantagraphics, Thompson was active in every aspect of the company, selecting books, working closely with authors, guiding books through the editorial and production process. “Kim leaves an enormous legacy behind him,” said Groth, “not just all the European graphic novels that would never have been published here if not or his devotion, knowledge, and skills, but for all the American cartoonists he edited, ranging from Stan Sakai to Joe Sacco to Chris Ware, and his too infrequent critical writing about the medium. His love and devotion to comics was unmatched. I can’t truly convey how crushing this is for all of us who’ve known and loved and worked with him over he years.”
Thompson was diagnosed with lung cancer in late February. He is survived by his wife, Lynn Emmert, his mother and father, Aase and John, and his brother Mark. Our condolences to his friends and family.
Marvel Comics announced today Spider-Man: Family Business, one of Marvel’s new line of original graphic novels debuting in May 2014. And if you’re a big Spider-Man fan, you may note that the story seems a bit familiar. Spoilers follow…
LEGION 1 : LORDS OF FIRE By Van Allen Plexico White Rocket Books 311 pages
Something foul has invaded the galactic empires of mankind; something ancient and powerful beyond imagining. Veteran space opera author, Van Plexico once again spins a tale of cosmic proportions but narrates it through the eyes of several believable characters thus bringing the reader along intimately for yet another thrill ride.
Military Colonel of the First Legion, Ezekiel Tamarlane is the protagonist in this book, the first of a new series, and he jumps onto the stage in full action mode having been ordered to steal one of the empire’s more treasured artifacts; an artifact he is personally in charge of protecting. Thus successfully completing his secret mission he is then publicly demoted for allowing the artifact to be stolen.
Sound convoluted? You bet it does and soon Tamarlane finds himself the target of cleverly disguised murder attempts. When he takes his suspicions to his trusted superior and mentor, General Nakamura, he is forced to confess his own part in the theft which has created dangerous political and military ripples throughout the known worlds. To his credit, the General’s faith and trust in his subordinate motivates him to dig deeper into the affair all of which leads to their witnessing the Emperor’s disappearance into another realm where live gods and demons.
A rescue sortie is launched with Nakamura and Tamarlane in charge and what they find on “the other” side is far beyond their scope of reasoning. That they manage to save the Emperor and his retinue is the catalyst for further attacks on both their lives until both must accept the undeniable truth that they are mere pawns in a vast conspiracy that threatens all the star kingdoms of man.
Plexico amps his already manic writing pace in this volume and readers had better buckle up because the action never stops from page one to the end. In fact the climatic battle in the off world cathedral had this reviewer getting paper burns for turning the pages so fast.
In the end this is of course all a set up for much more intrigue and dastardly alien shenanigans. LEGION 1: LORDS OF FIRE is a fiction stew that is both new and familiar. Imagine “Dune” as written by Robert E. Howard and that’s the gift we have here. This is one of the best new pulp titles of the year thus far. Miss it at your own peril.
How was your holiday weekend last week? Mine was great. I spent Sunday sitting in the sun by a lake, talking about graphic storytelling.
There were six of us, plus a pre-teen who just wanted to play video games, a form of graphic storytelling perhaps but not one we are going to discuss. At least four of us had a jones for newspaper strips. Four of us liked comic books. And at least five of us liked gag panels. It’s also possible that all of us liked all forms, but I’m not sure, nor does it really matter.
I was especially intrigued by the love given to newspaper strips. When I was a girl, they were my favorite part of the newspaper. I read everything, even Mary Worth and Dondi. I loved Li’l Abner even when Al Capp went right-wing crazy.
But I loved the funny strips more. Peanuts,Blondie, and later Calvin & Hobbes My parents had a subscription to The New Yorker, and a book that collected New Yorker cartoons from 1925 to 1955, and it is from these that I learned what funny drawings looked like.
When I was old enough to appreciate the skills involved in graphic storytelling, I enjoyed Milton Caniff. And I wanted to like Little Orphan Annie and Dick Tracy, but they never grabbed me on an emotional level. I never had to read the next day’s strip.
By this time, I was rabidly into comic books. Instead of waiting weeks to read a whole story, as required by newspaper strips, I got the whole thing between two covers. I liked this better.
In modern times, there aren’t very many comic books that tell a complete story in a single issue. There are fewer and fewer newspapers comic strips (and fewer and fewer newspapers), and serial dramas seem much less popular than humor strips. And there are fewer and fewer markets for gag panels.
Each of these forms combine words and pictures. Each needs to communicate story and character quickly, in a small space. And yet, each is completely different, one from the other.
I personally don’t enjoy collections of newspaper story strips. I find that the form requires a grey deal of repetition, and it hurts my head after a while.
I frequently don’t enjoy collections of comic book stories for the same reason. The passing of time between individual episodes requires something that will jog the reader’s memory, but it is less effective in a collection. A graphic novel should stand by itself, and so should individual issues.
I love gag panel collections, and feel that is the best reason to have bookshelves in the bathroom.
Is there is any title that works best in all three genres?
New Pulp Author Barry Reese returns for Episode 33 of The Shadow Fan’s Podcast! This time around, he reviews a 1942 novel that features the villainy of King Kauger and takes a hard look at Chris Roberson’s debut issue on the Dynamite Shadow comic (issue 13). There’s also a bit of Shadow news and some listener feedback!
If you love pulp’s greatest crimefighter, then this is the show for you!
TIPPIN’ HANCOCK’S HAT-Reviews of Pulp and Genre Fiction in All Media by Tommy Hancock
MAN-MADE TROUBLES:THE FIVE-MINUTE FRANKENSTEIN An Anthology by L. Andrew Cooper, Georgia L. Jones, LS King, Christopher Kokoski, Brad PArnell, Thomas Rafalski, Teddi Robinson, Divinity Rose, and Jason S. Walters BlackWyrm Publishing 2013
There aren’t many fictional names that conjure vivid images in young and old, fan and neophyte, expert and novice, reader and nonreader, like Frankenstein. Originally a novel of course by Mary Shelley, a fact almost every modern person in existence over the age of 12 probably knows, the concept of Victor Frankenstein stitching together parts of various corpses and charging it with life has gone so far beyond Shelley’s original pages. The indelible images of the Doctor and his Monster are so engrained in our society and consciousness that effort is made by many to prove that both the human and the created being actually existed or at least had basis in reality. Still others have taken the Frankenstein tale and retold it in different settings, updated it for modern consumption, or simply taken the themes of the original tale and woven those now classic tropes into new tales.
All of that and more is exactly what the writers of MAN-MADE TROUBLES: THE FIVE-MINUTE FRANKENSTEIN have done with some success.
As stated in the book’s introduction, this is a collection that came out of a group of writers associated with BlackWyrm Publishing discussing doing a Frankenstein anthology. The plan for the collection seems fairly simple and straightforward, with an interesting twist. Writers were to write a tale about or inspired by Frankenstein, either the doctor, the monster, or both, and to link either directly or thematically to the source work. The kicker was, however, that each writer only had four pages to do so, about 1200 words to tell a complete story.
The result of this interesting set of rules turned out to be a rather enjoyable mix of horror, humor, and even adventure as well as a revealing look at just how much we as mere humans connect to the Frankenstein mythos. The stories range from starring the Monster himself as well as various Frankensteins to simply being about the feeling of one’s life being nothing but mismatched parts of others’ experiences. Dystopian futures are a common element in more than one tale. An interesting twist on a classic fairy tale with a hint of Monster is included as well. Ranging from the straightforward to the abstract, the short short tales in this collection pretty much all hit the mark they aimed for.
Were some better than others? Sure. The stories by Georgia L. Jones, Divinity Rose, Christopher Kokoski, and Jason S. Walters stand out, but all the tales were fine entries in this quirky collection.
A setback for readers, however, may be the price of the print edition. It’s a ten dollar book on paper, but the ebook is only 99 cents. It’s well worth that and more to enjoy this, so if the money’s an issue, pick it up digitally!
THREE OUT OF FIVE TIPS OF THE HAT-The stories are overall fun and engaging, with a few near misses, but definitely an interesting read overall!
Marvel Comics announced today Spider-Man: Family Business, one of Marvel’s new line of original graphic novels debuting in May 2014. And if you’re a big Spider-Man fan, you may note that the story seems a bit familiar. Spoilers follow…
