Chris Barnes of Dynamic Ram Audio joins host Van Allen Plexico this week on the White Rocket show to discuss the art of creating audiobooks and audio dramas. From how to produce them to how Chris got interested in the first place, it’s a wide-ranging discussion of a classic form of entertainment that is suddenly new again.
This White Rocket episode is available via iTunes (subscribe and don’t miss an episode!) or you can visit the podcast site at http://whiterocket.podbean.com/
The White Rocket Books page at http://www.whiterocketbooks.com/
The Shadow Fan podcast returns for Episode 37! This time around, New Pulp Author Barry Reese reviews “The Seven Drops of Blood” (1936), “Death from Nowhere” (1939) and The Shadow # 14 (Dynamite Comics). Plus: Listener Feedback focuses on Dynamite’s Masks series! It’s a packed episode, all of it dedicated to pulp’s greatest crimefighter!
If you love The Shadow, this is the podcast for you!
The Shadow Fan Returns for Episode 36! This week, Barry Reese responds to some listener feedback concerning Dynamite’s Masks series, reviews “The Ruby of Karvahl” (radio episode 10/19/1947) and shares his Top Five Shadow Artists.
If you love pulp’s greatest crimefighter, then this is the podcast for you!
Shadow FanBarry Reese returns with Listener Feedback and two exciting reviews: “The Green Hoods” from The Shadow Magazine 8/15/38 and The Shadow Year One # 3 from Dynamite Comics! These are some truly classic stories featuring our favorite hero and both are well worth your time in tracking down!
If you love The Shadow, this is the podcast you’ve been waiting for!
I’ve been revisiting my childhood on YouTube and podcasts a lot lately; and for this I place the blame squarely on voice actor Rob Paulsen – voice of Yakko Warner, Dr. Otto Scratch’n’sniff, and Pinky, of Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain. Well, if I was going to be fair, the daisy chain of blame would stretch all the way back through Twitter; Billy West; the organizers of Awesome Con; Mike Gold; Deadpool; a couple of federal judges; Glenn Hauman; Glenn’s lovely wife Brandy; YA author Esther Friesner; and Terry Pratchett and the Discworld. But that’s way too convoluted, so Rob, it’s all your fault!
At some point in my childhood, I became a latchkey kid. Both of my parents worked until after school let out, and although there was a lot of “homework time” and “chore time” in my day, I fondly remember the period of time between when I arrived home from school and when my parents returned home as “snacks and TV with no parents anywhere in sight” time. Thanks in part to this, I watched a lot of cartoons growing up – Thundercats, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, DuckTales, TailSpin, Rescue Rangers, Looney Toons, Tom & Jerry, The Jetsons, The Flintstones, Scooby Doo, The Smurfs, Yogi Bear, Rocky & Bullwinkle, Gummi Bears, X-Men, Batman: The Animated Series, Doug, The Ren & Stimpy Show, Transformers, He-Man, She-Ra, Darkwing Duck, Goof Troop, Gargoyles, and Tiny Toon Adventures, to name a few. But hands down, Warner Bros.’ Animaniacs was one of my absolute favorites.
I don’t know how exactly, but I managed to be watching TV when the very first couple of episodes of Animaniacs, which included the consistently excellent shorts De-Zanitized, The Monkey Song, Nighty-Night Toon, Yakko’s World, Cookies for Einstein, and Win Big first aired – and just like that, I was hooked. The show arrived at pretty much the perfect time for me – I was twelve years old, so young enough for my TV diet to still include a regular fix of cartoons. But given that I was the sort of child whose favorite book in the fifth grade was Mark Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, I was also able to appreciate a lot of the more sophisticated humor and pop culture references going on beneath the gags. Also, let’s be frank – I love cute things, and the characters in Animaniacs (particularly little Wakko Warner, and Pinky of Pinky and the Brain) are pretty darned adorable.
I can’t say for sure, but I’m guessing I watched at least 3/4 of Animaniacs when it first aired. Even after other cartoons sort of fell by the wayside, what with high school and extracurriculars and all, I still watched it; and when Pinky and the Brain spun off into its own show, I watched that too. Of course, eventually (and sadly) the shows ended. And I went to college, and then I went to law school, and you know how it is, things move along. But I never forgot about Animaniacs; and I am sure that in ways that could never be quantified, it influenced the development of my personality. Certainly, years later, I have found myself referencing the show without even realizing it until after the fact, such as when writing my hamster Izzy’s Twitter bio.
Recently, as ComicMix readers will know, I interviewed the amazing Billy West. And when I shared the interview on Twitter, the inestimable Rob Paulsen retweeted it. And so I was scrolling along his Twitterfeed, and recalled that I’d always meant to listen to his podcast, and began listening to it. And then I heard him mention that he was doing live appearances, and asked him if he’d ever done one in DC, and he said he’d like to, and a few weeks later, lo and behold, we were able to set something up, and so now Rob Paulsen will be appearing at The National Press Club in DC on August 1 (get your tickets now!). Hurrah! I am very excited.
Of course, during the course of getting that all set up, I ended up on YouTube re-watching some Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain, and realized I’d forgotten just how many episodes of those shows I’d originally watched. Nearly every video I clicked was like re-visiting an old friend – one that I hadn’t seen in ages, and maybe even thought I’d forgotten about – until the moment the video started playing and I realized I still remembered all the words to the theme song, and all of the popular catch-phrases from both shows, and oh yes, this episode where the Warners meet Satan, and that episode where they meet the boring guy at the party, and the one where Death takes poor Wakko away (the whole bit with, “Are we dead?” “Or is this Ohio?” still kills me). And also the one where Buttons and Mindy are in space, and the one with Slappy and the can, and the one where Brain is a jockey and Pinky falls in love with a horse, and the one with Minerva and the werewolf, and the one where Billy West is doing Larry Fine from the Three Stooges as a mouse, and, and, and ye gods, I could go on forever. So many good episodes.
And that’s not even counting all of the amazing songs sung by the Warner Brothers and their sister Dot, and other characters, throughout the series. Like the clever and cute I’m Mad, and the excellently harmonized The Ballad of Magellan, and the catchy Senses Song, and Wakko’s 50 States Song, and the Gilbert and Sullivan parody Cartoon Individual. Plus Pinky’s song from the Cats parody “Broadway Malady” (for which Rob Paulsen won an Emmy Award, mind you), and the very impressive Les Miserables parody and West Side Story parody. Here’s a whole playlist of them, if, like me, you can’t get enough.
This year, in case you don’t know, marks the 20th anniversary of Animaniacs, which first aired in 1993 – and here’s a pretty cool brief history of the show, with first-hand information courtesy of creator Tom Ruegger. One amazing thing about Animaniacs is that it still holds up, twenty years later. Through a combination of humor that appeals to both children and adults, stellar and clever musical compositions and lyrics, unique characters, and, of course, the award-winning voices behind those characters, the show is just as enjoyable to me today, as an adult, as it was when I started watching it at twelve years old. In fact, it’s even more enjoyable because I can appreciate some of the cleverness and references more as an adult; and because I am now also interested in the voices and creators behind the show, something I never really stopped to think about when I was a child. This is another area in which much of the blame lies squarely on Rob Paulsen, whose wonderful, amusing, amazing, fascinating Talkin’ Toons podcast – seriously, it’s awesome – includes not only discussions of his work, but interviews with a myriad of other amazing talents behind Animaniacs and pretty much every other animated show out there. (FYI, you can listen to the podcast via his website, iTunes, or even a super-handy and easy to use smartphone app. Check it out – because if you are not listening to it, you are missing out.)
From the frequency of Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain questions on Rob’s podcast, to the reception the voice actors involved receive at fan conventions, it seems to me that I am far from the only one out there who watched the shows as a child and has rediscovered my love for them as an adult. Animaniacs was and still is a gem in the realm of animated shows. And given that many of the folks who watched it when it first aired now have children who watch the DVDs with them and also love the show, it doesn’t seem like a stretch to wonder if the time might be ripe for a new season of Animaniacs. After all, one great thing about animated shows is that the characters don’t have to age unless the creators want them to – so twenty years later, they could easily make new episodes that picked up wherever they wanted them to. I, for one, would really love to see that happen; and from what I’ve heard via the podcasts, so would at least some of the creators. So hey – you never know!
If you’ve never seen Animaniacs before, YouTube is your friend and I highly recommend you give it a try; and if you love Animaniacs as much as I do, maybe you’ll join me in raising a glass to its 20th Anniversary, and wishing upon a star that Yakko, Wakko, and Dot might escape the water tower again someday soon.
Pro Se Productions, a continually expanding and growing company focusing on Genre Fiction, New Pulp, and cutting edge Action and Adventure Books and Anthologies, announced today the addition of a new position within Pro Se Administration- Global Relations and Accountability Coordinator. “Pro Se,” Tommy Hancock, Partner in and Editor in Chief of Pro Se, states, “has grown tremendously since opening our doors so to speak in early 2010. We have every single writer, artist, editor, and administrative person that’s done even one little thing to thank for that. With the fact that we intend to produce the most books we have yet in our history this year and next year as well, it’s become necessary to bring in others to help handle the growth. To that end, we created a position that actually has two duties- Marketing and Social Networking as well as managing day to day affairs from the Editor in Chief’s office. Essentially, making sure I get my myriad projects and jobs done successfully.” The Global Relations and Accountability Coordinator will act as executive assistant to the Editor in Chief and will handle daily operations outside of the Editorial/Writing/Creative Staff. The GRAC will also assist the Editor in Chief in creation of and distribution of press releases, setting up blog and podcast appearances, and utilizing Social Media of all types to its fullest extent.
“Pro Se,” Hancock says, “has a great catalogue that will continue to grow and be even greater. We’ve spent three years intentionally growing our personal library of books and now it’s time to promote them, old and new, from the first book published to the latest and greatest, with every technique and tool we can come up with. And as our Global Relations and Accountability Coordinator, Beth Alvarez will help us do that and we are proud to welcome her to Pro Se Productions!”
Beth Alvarez is a previously self-published author residing in Memphis, Tennessee with her growing family. A voracious reader in her free time, Alvarez specialized in the study of fine arts with a focus on visual arts and teaching. An accomplished programmer, she has spent time working as a freelance web development specialist and graphics designer since 2005 and now adds Global Relations and Accountability Coordinator for Pro Se to her accomplishments. Beth can be contacted at BethAlvarezProSe@gmail.com and will in the future be making contact with reviewers, bloggers, websites, other publishers, and other parties related to Pro Se business. Pro Se Productions- www.prosepulp.com
Last weekend, New Pulp Author Van Allen Plexico was a guest at the 2013 Alabama Phoenix Festival. He spent some time with several other notables in attendance– Bobby Nash, Sarah White, Sean Taylor, Doc Osborn, Mike Gordon, and David Wright– discussing what they’re up to and what they think about the Festival. A good time was had by all! So load up on Zaxby’s and grab a seat in the Cahaba Center–good times await!
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!
It’s been a few weeks since my pro-pro-wrestling tirade. With another pay-per-view about to hit the airwaves in a day, I figured I’d check in on my on-and-off-now-on again male soap opera. And just as I remembered it, here I sit with a head full of opinions and 1062 words to blather out into the interwebs in hopes one Vincent Kennedy McMahon stumbles upon it and makes sweeping changes to his on-air product I know he never will. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
For those uninitiated (but still here, considering that I’ve mentioned pro-wrestling in the intro, and somehow you weren’t instantly turned away), the smart marks of wrestling have long known the biography of Vinnie Mac. The studious entrepreneurial son of a small regional promoter, Vince grew up in the biz but longed for more than just bingo halls and the occasional stadium show.
After his father’s passing, Vince soon acquired more and more territories. In time, his WWF had laid waste to the independent circuits, giving birth to what would end up becoming the largest ‘sports entertainment’ promotion in the world. Per his worked-shoot (or for the laymen, a pre-approved scripted performance that appears to be off the cuff, drenched in 4th wall breaking commentary), Paul Heyman put it best: “…your father shook the hand of every promoter in this country (and said) that he’d never compete against them, that his son would never compete against them. And when your father died, you competed! And with your ruthless, merciless, take-no-prisoners attitude, you drove everybody out of business, didn’t you, Vince? You ran all the competition into the ground and you stole all their ideas and you made yourself a billionaire out of it!”
In short, Vince McMahon built an empire the way we assume Lex Luthor might. On the backs of the broken men he stepped on. And we the people lap up his product like the faithful slaves we are. But what else are we to do? The only other promotion with national distribution is TNA. And their roster, for better or worse, is comprised mostly of people who used to work for the WWE (nee WWF; they lost a lawsuit). I know that I should appreciate their shows more, but when I watch it, it reeks of why I end up tuning into Raw or Smackdown instead: the best production values, larger than life personalities, and every now and again… an amazing in-ring performance that can’t be topped. In their heyday competitors like WCW and ECW were able to match Vince through sheer will power and creativity. But Vince like all great moguls found ways to literally steal the ideas of those who could bump his ratings a notch, and become all the stronger.
When ECW redefined hardcore, and WCW turned Hulk Hogan into a venomous heel, Vince gave birth to the Attitude Era. He poached ECW’s star pupil Steve Austin. He created the Hell in a Cell match to push his very best punching bag – Mick Foley – into the forefront of extreme entertainment. And in due time, both promotions collapsed in a heap under Vince’s checkbook. Their rosters were absorbed, bleached, processed, and what little was left remained a now redubbed WWE Superstar. So WCW and ECW can join Milestone and Wildstorm in the graveyard of the creative. Meanwhile, Vince boldly went where no promoter had in the past: he became his own greatest star. Casting himself as both the evil genius and fool, the McMahon/Austin feuds of the late 90’s are what helped eventually destroy McMahon’s competition. Don’t believe me? It’s the actual story mode of the WWE ’13 video game.
I entitled this article “The Devil In Plain Sight” because I’m truly tickled by the fact that Vince McMahon’s power only continues to rise and ooze out from his Stamford, CT offices. How so you ask? I’ll cite my two favorite examples. The first, C.M. Punk. The Chicago King of the Indies was brought into the WWE and was immediately shoved towards the mid-card. In spite of being an astounding in-ring performer and solid promo-talker, Punk epitomized everything Vince loathed. A natural and fit physique untouched by recreational steroids, a plethora of tattoos, and an attitude that was built to mock authority. Yet, over time, as the crowds continually reacted positively to Punk’s performances, he slowly rose the ranks. I’ll spare you the lengthy diatribe: Punk won the title, threatened to quit, did a Heyman-esque worked shoot, and ended up holding the World Title for over a calendar year. It was an unheard of achievement. But then, as the devil is prone to do, Vince called in his contract. Punk lost the title to the Rock (a far more commercially viable champion), and was forced to lose to the Undertaker at this past Wrestlemania. Given everything he ever wanted, and then tossed back out with the bathwater. When Punk returns, can we still believe he is ‘the voice of the voiceless’?
And sadder still, begets the souls of those never even given the offer. Colt Cabana, C.M. Punk’s friend and Chicago compatriot, grew up a WWE fanatic. He attended wrestling school, and developed his character. He rose the ranks of the independent circuit, all while showing his entrepreneurial spirit. And then, with literally dozens of WWE wrestlers vouching for him, McMahon yielded to give young Cabana a developmental deal. Much like being handed a property like Voodoo in the New52, Cabana was given an uphill battle from the start. A few “squash matches”, and pretty soon Colt was told creative has nothing for you, and with it so too went his dreams. In the wake of this, Cabana doubled down. He started up a podcast and hit the independents harder than he ever had before. And here he continues to exist, lamenting on the life he never truly got a shot at. And when the topic comes up week after week… does Cabana say one ill word of the man who could still yet make his dreams come true? Nay.
Because the Devil is always there, and there’s always a price to pay.
Shortly after writing this article, Marc was offered a staff writer position at WWE. He sent in his résumé, and was promptly smashed in the head with a steel chair.
