Courtesy of The Official Philip José Farmer Newsletter
Happy Holiday! And by “holiday” I of course mean Wold Newton Day!
So the strain of maintaining the website, and trying to run a small publishing company in my spare time, and having a full time job, wife, and kids is definitely being felt by the website, which keeps complaining that it is being neglected. It is correct, the website does get a lot less attention than it used to. But, I do hope to get some more updates done in January, including more reviews, letters, and inscribed books.
In the meantime, the website was updated this morning with three announcements:
1. FarmerCon will once again be held in conjunction with PulpFest! Start making your plans now for the weekend of July 25-28, 2013. It’s a long weekend of books, panels, pulps, and the 80th anniversary of Doc Savage!2. Today ONLY you can purchase all three volumes of THE WORLDS OF PHILIP JOSÉ FARMER, along with EXILES OF KHO and save $13 off the already discounted combined prices. 3. Today through Monday (or while supplies last) you can purchase a hardcover trade edition of GODS OF OPAR (which contains HADON OF ANCIENT OPAR, FLIGHT TO OPAR, and THE SONG OF KWASIN –by Philip José Farmer and Christopher Paul Carey), signed by Carey for $40. That is $5 OFF the cover price and we’re throwing in FREE SHIPPING (in the US). We’re also throwing in another bonus but you have to go to the website to see what that is.
If you are on facebook, please don’t forget to like our facebook page which is being updated more often than the website lately. Less than half of you getting this email have done this so far.Hope you enjoy the rest of the holiday season! Mike Croteau The Official Philip José Farmer Web Page www.pjfarmer.com
Using the new Doctor Who Limited Edition Gift Set, your noble author will make his way through as much of the modern series as he can before the Christmas episode, The Snowmen.
It’s mauve, and dangerous, and thirty seconds from the center of London. The London of the Blitz, where one more metal canister falling from the sky barely got noticed. But this one is a bit special, as it creates..
THE EMPTY CHILD / THE DOCTOR DANCES
by Steven Moffat
Directed by James Hawes
“Gimme some Spock, for once! Would it kill ya?”
Chasing a mysterious drone ship through time and space, the TARDIS lands in London during a German attack in the Blitz. A band of homeless children are sneaking into homes during raids and eating people’s dinners, Rose meets up with a staggeringly handsome time agent from the 51st century (I know, what are the odds?) and a young boy in a gas mask is looking for his “Mummy”.
The drone ship is a mobile alien ambulance, the young boy is transforming people into empty zombielike creatures like himself, and the head of the homeless children has quite a secret to hide. Captain Jack Harkness has grabbed the remains of what he claims is a Chula warship, and dropped it into the timestream to attract the attention of a passing Time Agent. His plan is to sell it to them, but before they can inspect it, he’s placed in a spot where it’ll be blown up by a German bomb. It’s basically a con job, to get back at the Time Agency for deleting two years of his memories. Problem is, the ship wasn’t empty; it was filled with nanogenes, programmed to repair living beings. the first one they found on earth, a small boy killed in the crash of the ship, was badly damaged, and once they fixed him, thought he was the proper template for the rest of humanity. Only by showing the nanogenes how humans actually work can they fix things, and there’s only one person who can do it, if she makes a very brave choice. And for once, nobody dies.
An absolutely chilling pair of episodes. Using the darkness of a blacked-out London in an air raid, the mood of the story is dark and tense. The transformation of the victims of the child is one of the scariest bits of work the series has had. They actually edited out some additional sound effects of cracking and groaning flesh, because they thought it went too far.
Steven Moffat first offered his services to the BBC as a writer for Doctor Who at the age of eight. His entire career has been aiming toward the chance to finally do so, and this was his official shot, and he brought his A-game. I say “official”, because as most fans know, he got to write the Comic Relief sketch “The Curse of Fatal Death”, starring Rowan Atkinson (et al) as The Doctor. Moffat was able to keep to a promise The Doctor made in all of the episodes he wrote before taking over the series – “Everybody lives”. For a show with a surprisingly high casualty rate for children’s entertainment, Moffat kept his death toll to zero for his entire series of episodes. Not something he was able to do once he took over; indeed, some say he made up for lost time.
This two-parter also features the first appearances of what may be the most popular new character of the new series, the inimitable Captain Jack Harkness. Jack Harkness plays a perfect foil to The Doctor, with plenty of tension and pissing contests for all. Russell took him and ran, bringing him on as a Companion, making him immortal, and then over to Torchwood, where he had quite a run indeed. John Barrowman fit the role like a glove, and he gained the popularity an actor of his ability deserves. In addition to being a host and presenter for many British TV shows, he’s made it to these shores on Desperate Housewives, and currently on Arrow as Malcolm Merlyn. He is also firmly on my “‘I’m not gay, but” list.
This may surprise you. Here I am, a well-educated woman in the media capitol of the universe, someone who reads a few dozen comics every week, who goes to the movies when she can and stays in watching movies when she can’t.
And yet, I spend an inordinate amount of time playing fetch with my cat, and, when she lets me, knitting. So, on weeks such as this, when no news story catches my attention, I’m stuck treading water.
Which I will do now, with the following random observations:
• The ongoing debate about “fake” geek girls continues, with this, which is hilarious mostly because of the comments. Some boys get really really scared when girls do their own thing, and I find it even more amusing when they try to sound reasonable about their castration fears.
• As nearly as I can tell, the most famous knitter in comics is Martha Kent, who unravelled the blankets she found in Kal-El’s rocketship to make his costume. Since The New 52, I haven’t seen this story, so perhaps it is no longer canon. In any case, it’s a lot of work to knit a costume like that, presumably on rather small needles, and in the round, since we never see any seams. Is that why we don’t see her knitting again very often?
• When my cat permits, I’ve been watching the revamped Doctor Who on Netflix. I’m late to this party, and I’m only halfway through Season 4, so I have nothing particularly new to say. It’s a fun show, but I don’t entirely feel the fanaticism that so many of my friends enjoy. To me, the best part (aside from the cheesy special effects, which are one of my favorite things about British television) is the sheer glee the characters have about being alive.
• I hate the hype around the holidays, and therefore don’t pay much attention to Black Friday and the attendant promotions. Still, I’m rather encouraged that comic book publishers and retailers are getting on the bandwagon. It suggests that comics are mainstream enough to make the “fake geek girls” meme even more irrelevant.
• The season finale of NBC’s Revolution had the homoerotic undertones of a bowdlerized 1950s Tennessee Williams movie. The hero and the villain were friends since childhood, but now they are separated. The villain wants the hero back, and there are many long, smoldering looks between them. These looks last so long, in fact, that I started to notice that, in a society that has no power, and everyday living is a struggle for survival, these men have time to color their hair. The women not only color their hair, but also pluck their eyebrows. Even the fat guy, the shameful nerd, has highlights. If the revolution ends up being televised, at least they’ll be ready for their close-ups.
Ye Editor apologizes for the late posting of today’s column. He was probably drunk or something.
Meteor House Press announces a wonderfully strange, wild new novel and and a contest! And even offers a free excerpt below!
The Abnormalities of Stringent Strange
The Abnormalities of Stringent Strange
The exploits of an apeman test pilot
By Rhys Hughes
The world has never seen an aviator quite like Stringent Strange. Half man, half ape, half badly added fraction, he can fly anything with wings and many things without. Under the mentorship of the unorthodox genius Professor Tobias Crinkle, our hairy hero soon gets much more than he bargains for when he finds himself up against a fiendish Nazi plot to invade and conquer America before the war has even begun!
Fortunately there exists an invention that can help him fight back against the warlike scoundrels, but the consequences of using it will propel him into even greater peril, into an alternative future where the themes and tropes of early magazine science fiction are menacingly real and coexist in perfect disharmony! Into a bracing reality where the only weapons he can rely on are the three special abnormalities he was born with…
Come and join Stringent Strange in a stupendous, mysterious, inventive adventure set in a far-flung time When Pulps Collide!
In addition to buying the book, which will be a signed limited edition, customers can order a “deleted scene” which Rhys will write specifically for them. It will not appear in the book but will printed out from the “manuscript” and mailed with the book. In this (short) scene the reader will be killed by the author of their choice in the arena as they battle as gladiators. Here is an example: http://meteorhousepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/deleted1.pdf
Also, Rhys is currently writing a new novelette featuring Stringent Strange, “The Further Fangs of Suet Pudding,” http://rhysaurus.blogspot.com/2012/11/suet-pudding-returns.html. Everyone who preorders The Abnormalities of Stringent Strange, will get the ebook of “The Further Fangs of Suet Pudding” for free.
Anyone who orders a deleted scene before the end of November (Two days left!), will be Tuckerized as a character in “The Further Fangs of Suet Pudding.”
Go on a wild ride and learn all about THE ABNORMALITIES OF STRINGENT STRANGE! Start with the excerpt below!
Excerpt from
The Abnormalities of Stringent Strange
THE PLANE TRUTH
Sunlight flashed on the wings of the single-engine Northrop Gamma as it banked around the small cumulus that was the only cloud in the sky. The monoplane performed a final barrel roll before coming in to land and the Pratt & Whitney R-1830 14-cylinder radial engine droned comfortably as the pilot adjusted the fuel/air mix. The overinflated wheels bounced once on the hot tarmac and the propeller clattered to a standstill. Then the pilot emerged and rubbed his gloved hands.
“She’s a beauty, no doubt about it, doc. Handles like a French whore. I mean that the frills serve a purpose…”
“I comprehend the allusion,” sighed Crinkle.
“Another winner, in my opinion.”
The pilot removed his goggles and grinned. Stringent Strange was tall and muscular with a manly chin and the clear blue eyes of a hero. He was exactly the sort of fellow that girls should go wild over, but in fact he had to spend an unhealthy percentage of his test pilot’s salary on prostitutes. It was his body that was the cause of this discrepancy. It was hirsute beyond belief, the torso of a gorilla balanced on the legs of a giant lemur; and the hairs were malodorous in the extreme.
“My worst fear has been confirmed,” continued Professor Crinkle, as he rubbed his bleary eyes, “but there’s nothing we can do about it. Jack is the winner and that’s a plain fact.”
“Knowing when to quit is a useful talent, doc!”
“Yes, I suppose so, dear boy.”
Stringent began walking back to the control tower. He was in a good mood but he tried to hide his exuberance for the sake of his mentor, who trailed behind him with pouting lips. When a man’s dreams are shattered in front of him, it’s poor taste to whistle and skip. Tobias Crinkle, Ph.D., had devoted almost twenty-five years to the cutting edge of the aviation industry but dedication isn’t enough on its own. Genius counts for more and his main rival had plenty of that.
His main rival had a name. Jack Northrop.
Although Stringent felt empathy for Crinkle, his recent flight brimmed him with an almost sexual joy and he strode ahead rapidly, not caring to be brought down by the glum expression and nihilistic mutterings of the disappointed professor; but at the entrance to the control tower he turned for a last glance of the gleaming Northrop Gamma, its aerodynamic spats giving the airplane a curiously anthropomorphic appearance, like a jazz musician performing a primal dance.
Stringent’s psychology wasn’t quite that of a normal man and he often saw resemblances that no one else could perceive, or would even want to, but on this occasion he could be forgiven his conceit, for the machine did actually have the semblance of a speakeasy reveler. Three steps at a time he climbed the spiral stairway to the control room and grinned at the man who sat on a leather chair in front of a transmitter. This man had been in constant radio contact during the flight.
“A beautiful plane, Mr. Northrop,” Stringent said.
The seated man nodded once. “I’m glad you like it. I do feel bad about Tobias, but it’s a cutthroat business.”
“That’s true. We appreciate the situation.”
“Well, Jack,” cried Professor Crinkle as he emerged into the room. “It only remains for me to throw in the towel and admit I’m beaten. Stringent here says your new Gamma is something really special and I know better than to ever distrust his word on anything connected with aviation. So I’m going to quit the business and sell up.”
“That’s a shame,” said Jack. “You’re a good designer.”
The professor smiled wistfully. “Sure, but not a patch on you, and I’m not too proud to acknowledge the obvious. My own rival prototype, the Crinkle Crisp, just isn’t up to scratch. Sure, it’s faster than diarrhea in a Malay Peninsula missionary, but it doesn’t have the maneuverability of your model. Look, I don’t have a towel on me, just a pocket handkerchief, so I ought to throw that in instead.”
He bunched up the square of filthy cloth and hurled it at Jack’s head. It missed and struck the wall behind: a wholly symbolic gesture. The mucus acted like glue and it remained stuck on the wall. Stringent thought about wrenching it off, then decided not to.
Jack Northrop leaned back in his chair until the leather creaked and he made a pyramid with his fingertips. “Listen, Tobias, my new Gamma is a superb small cargo plane and does everything it should to make it the best of its kind in that category, but that doesn’t mean you should abandon all your ongoing projects. I’m extremely interested in some of your proposed innovations. The Flying Tail, for example. An aircraft without fuselage or wings, cutting drag to the minimum!”
Professor Crinkle shook his head. “I suspect you’re just flattering me, Jack. Agreed, my Flying Tail is a pretty neat idea, but the tests I’ve run on miniature models prove that it’s very unstable. And you’ve got your own low drag project, the Flying Wing.”
Jack licked his lips and lowered his voice.
“Yes, that’s a particular favorite of mine. But I’m going to come clean with the pair of you. There’s something even more special in the works. A stratospheric cruiser with a highly experimental propulsion system that’ll generate vast amounts of free power if it works properly. Forgive me if I don’t say much more at this stage.”
“You never cease to amaze me, Jack,” said Crinkle.
The leather creaked again as the occupant of the chair stood up. “Time is passing rapidly and I have an engagement in Los Angeles this evening, so I should make my farewells now.”
Stringent nodded. “Thanks for inviting us over, Mr. Northrop, and for letting me fly your Gamma.” He turned to the professor. “I know you are sore disappointed, doc, but at least you’ve been saved pumping more cash into that ridiculous Crinkle Crisp.”
“Yes, that was a rather large favor, dear boy.”
“Think nothing of it,” said Jack.
“Keep us updated about your triumphs, will you?” asked Crinkle. His reddening eyes blinked rapidly.
“Of course I will, Tobias. Maybe I’ll see you again before 1932 is out, and if you decide to let Stringent go, there’ll always be a job for him here. Have a safe journey back to…?”
“Tallahassee. That’s where we’re based.”
Jack’s eyebrows shot up. “In Florida? But I always believed you had headquarters somewhere in Nevada.”
“We did. Then a freak sandstorm destroyed all our hangars. We had no choice but to relocate and now we’re on the far side of the continent. Rent is lower and the climate isn’t so harsh, plus I prefer the food and the local Seminole workers are reliable.”
“And I enjoy swamp whores,” added Stringent.
There was an awkward pause.
“Ahem… Yes, well, many factors contribute to the desirability of the Florida Panhandle as a suitable location for our operations, not that there will be any further products rolling off my production line. My intention is to cancel all Crinkle Industry programs. I’ve had it with aviation, Jack. I can’t even face getting in a plane to return home. I think I’ll take a train instead. Is that fine by you, Stringy?”
Stringent nodded dubiously. “I guess so.”
Jack Northrop pulled on his coat and perched a hat on his head. “If I’d known you had to come so far, I wouldn’t have invited you over just for a few hours and a solitary test flight. Damn it, Florida’s two thousand miles distant and by locomotive it’s a monstrous and vaporous journey. And I’m not referring to California when I honestly point out that you don’t look in any fit state to go back right now.”
“I amrather tired,” admitted the professor.
Jack puffed out his cheeks. “In that case, why not spend the night here on the airfield? There’s a cabin on the edge of the runway with a bunk bed and a kitchen and other facilities. I had it built so I could sometimes work late without having to go home.”
Moonstone, a leading Publisher of New Pulp and Heroic Fiction, announces the debut of unabridged audiobook versions of two of its best titles written by a fan favorite author and featuring characters familiar to fans of genre fiction everywhere! In conjunction with Dynamic Ram Audio Productions, a company bringing several New Pulp companies’ works into audiobooks, Moonstone released “PARTNERS IN CRIME” written by CJ Henderson with Joe Gentile and read by Fiona Thraille and “KOLCHAK THE NIGHT STALKER: A BLACK & EVIL TRUTH” also written by CJ Henderson and read by Mark Kalita.
In Partners in Crime by CJ Henderson and Joe Gentile, the Past meets the Future to defeat an unspeakable evil! Europe, 1945, the final days of World War II. A sinister plan to defeat the Allies using black sorcery is thwarted, only to be resurrected again in a form more terrible than ever before! Now, over six turbulent decades, across multiple continents, and through the darkest alternate dimensions, a force of unimaginable power is poised to subjugate all mankind! Bound by time, a band of heroes will rise! Their names are legend; their exploits are known around the world: Kolchak: the Nightstalker, Boston Blackie, Johnny Dollar, Lai Wan, Candy Matson, Pat Novak, Blackshirt, Mr. Keen, and Jack Hagee. Now, this amazing group will find themselves pitted against a power that transcends time and space… an evil so corrupt that the fate of humanity may hang in the balance! Listen as these classic characters of Television, Novels, and Radio explode into being as read by Fiona Thraille. Download Partners in Crime for only $9.99, over 7 hours of mystery and intrigue at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/fionathraille.
Kolchak: The Night Stalker A Black & Evil Truth by CJ Henderson stars everyone’s favorite reporter of the weird and strange, Karl Kolchak, in his most bizarre adventure yet. Carl Kolchak was just your average reporter until the day he put two and two together and came up with evil. A reluctant paranormal investigator, Kolchak couldn’t stop tripping over the unusual even if he wanted to. And for all of his efforts of seeking the truth… unemployment and ridicule have followed him like the plague. Someone, or something, is tearing people up into little pieces in small town West Virginia. It’s up to Kolchak to wade through the bloody science jigsaw puzzle, while watching his back against an unseen foe! It’s a cat and mouse game, as he battles a maelstrom of terror that everyone around him gets sucked into. Chills and thrills abound in this Adventure Horror tale thrillingly voiced by Mark Kalita. Over 7 Hours of Kolchak for only $9.99! Download Kolchak the Nightstalker: A Black & Evil Truth from Moonstone and Dynamic Ram at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/markkalita.
Titles are and will be soon available to multiple online providers of Audiobooks!
Put yourself in the action, adventure, horror, and terror of two of Moonstone’s most popular novels by downloading and listening to the Audiobooks today!
Readers of this column know very well my love of Kara Zor-el, i.e. Supergirl, as she was portrayed during the Silver Age. Debuting in Action Comics #252 (May 1959), Kara’s look was designed by Al Plastino with her continuing adventures drawn by her quintessential artist, Jim Mooney for the next ten years. I was 5-going-on 6 in May of 1959, and Kara, depicted as a healthy young girl just entering adolescence, was athletic and slim, but not overly muscular, and especially not overly endowed in her chest area. It wasn’t just her powers or her ability to be Superman’s secret weapon that captured my imagination – I wanted to be like her when I grew up. Yes, I had dark hair and brown eyes and I was born in Brooklyn and not in Argo City, the last surviving city of the planet Krypton, but she was a role model for me in that I wanted to grow up to be athletic and slim and strong and capable.
In other words, Kara gave me a healthy sense of my body and what it could be.
A few years ago I was riding on the PATH train into New York City when an ad caught my eye, partly because I knew the doctor who was advertising on the placard and partly because of what he was advertising: a labioplasty. This is a plastic surgery procedure for altering shape of the labia majora and labia minora. Yes, as an operating room nurse, I have participated in these procedures, and I do remember one patient whose labia majora was “overly endowed” to the point that it was embarrassing to her when she wore a swimsuit.
I’m not talking about that type of legitimate need. But 99.9% of these women who underwent the procedure did it for purely “cosmetic” reasons. Of course I couldn’t say this out loud, but what I was thinking was “are you fucking kidding me?” (Honestly, girlfriends, have you ever fretted about the anatomy of your labia majora or labia minora?) Apparently these women believed there was something wrong with their natural formation – meaning that it wasn’t “perfect.” I always had a suspicion that these women caught their men looking at the Playmate of the Month or the Penthouse Pet of the Month and felt inadequate. But, although of course I couldn’t ask them, I also wondered if their men had complained. I doubt it. (Guys, do you fret about the shape of your woman’s labia majora or labia minora?) At least I’ve never had a man break up with me – so far as I know – because of that particular part of my anatomy.
But most girls don’t read comics, you’ll say, and if they do, it’s Betty and Veronica or manga comics. Well, first of all, I don’t believe that’s so true anymore. Like football, I think the fastest growing segment of the comics audience are girls and women. I’d like to think that most adult women are grown-up enough to understand that comics are fantasies, and that they are capable of ignoring the bubble breasts, wasp waists, and lengthy legs of female super-heroines (if the writing and story is good, of course) without going into hyperventilation and toxic shock about their own anatomy.
But young girls, even if they don’t read super-heroes, are exposed to it when they visit their local comic book emporium. And exposure is 9/10ths of the law when it comes to thoughts about body image and self-respect and self-actualization.
Martha is right about comics being a small part of the media culture’s obsession with how women should look. But some companies are doing it right – Dove ran a very successful campaign featuring women whose body types ranged from svelte to chunky. And More magazine ran a feature a few years ago on Jamie Leigh Curtis with pictures of Ms. Curtis au natural – no makeup, no Photoshopping, no special lighting, no Spanx or body tape to hide or pull up sagging body parts. And by the way, it was Ms. Curtis’ idea to photo shoot herself as she is in “real life.”
It was part of an issue whose entire focus was accepting yourself.
Accepting yourself. It sounds so easy.
But it’s so hard. After all, we can’t all look like Wonder Woman, unless your name happens to be Lynda Carter.
But it’s worth every minute of sweat and every tear that’s shed.
It starts with notes on a piano, played in the upper register, sounding like a child’s piano. We focus in on an old cigar box as a child’s voice, a girl, hums tunelessly as small hands open the box, revealing what looks like junk but is a child’s hidden treasures. The hands explore what is there, picking out a dark crayon and rubbing across a piece of paper. Letters emerge giving us the title of the film as the main theme returns, first with flute and harp and then a full orchestra. It’s a waltz, elegiac and slightly sad, evoking times past.
So begins To Kill A Mockingbird, Robert Mulligan’s 1962 film based on Harper Lee’s 1960 novel. Set in rural Alabama during the 1930s and the depths of the Depression, the story is told from the viewpoint of young Scout Finch, includes her brother Jem, and their father, the widowed lawyer Atticus Finch. It covers a year and a half during which time Atticus is called on to defend Tom Robinson, a black field worker accused of attacking and raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell.
I had the inestimable pleasure recently of seeing To Kill A Mockingbird up on the big screen as part of the film’s Fiftieth Anniversary celebration. I can’t recall if I saw it on the big screen when it first came out; I certainly haven’t seen it that way in decades. It has a force and emotional impact that I don’t feel from the small screen viewings of it. Mind you, I’m happy to watch DVD versions but I was happier to see it on the big screen.
The film brims with talent. It won a best actor Oscar for Gregory Peck who embodied Atticus Finch as well as the Oscar for best adapted screenplay, won by Horton Foote. Elmer Bernstein, drawing heavily from Aaron Copland, wrote one of the most beautiful film scores I know. Robert Duvall made his film debut here, as did Alice Ghostley and Rosemary Murphy. The two young actors playing Scout and Jem, Mary Badham and Philip Alford, are so natural and unforced that it amazes me that both had never acted before their debuts here.
Something else that strikes me in the movie is the depiction of African-Americans. There is a context for the film in its time that younger filmgoers may not know. The major Civil Rights legislation, such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Civil Rights Act of 1968 had not yet occurred. The Selma to Montgomery march in Alabama wouldn’t be until 1965. The March on Washington, where Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his famous “I have a dream” speech, would happen a year later. In his inauguration speech as governor of Alabama on January 14, 1963, George Wallace proclaimed “I say segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever.” In June of 1963, he stood in the entry way of the University of Alabama in an attempt to keep two black students from entering.
That’s what the country and the South and Alabama looked like when To Kill a Mockingbird premiered. In the face of this massive refusal to see African-Americans as anything but second-class citizens (when they weren’t portrayed as subservient and altogether inferior), the movie gives us people of color, individuals, rich in humanity. It leaves no doubt that the accused, Tom Robinson, is innocent; it is Mayella Ewell’s father, Bob Ewell, who is probably the guilty one and he emerges as the vicious, racist animal. Brock Peters’ portrayal of the tragic Tom Robinson captures the fear of the doomed man. There is a dignity to all the black characters that gives the lie to the segregationist’s creed. The movie allowed white audiences to look at black characters and empathize with them, see themselves in the oppressed people, to identify with them. In Gregory Peck’s great speech at the end of the trial, we are sitting in the jury box. We, the audience, are being asked to judge. And we must confront the guilty verdict that the jury in the movie brings in and ask ourselves how we would have decided.
What was true in the 30s in Alabama was true in 1962 when the movie premiered. I would not presume to speak to the experience of African-Americans today. I am white, male, getting older, and I am a product of my times. I have heard too many whites I know still using the “n word”. They assume its safe to do so around me; after all, I am white as well. I correct that assumption as it comes up. I have also heard whites saying that they would never vote for a black man for president. Almost three fourths of the white males who voted in the last election voted against Barack Obama. Perhaps some of it was a difference with the President’s policies but how much more of it is because the President is black?
To deny another their humanity for whatever reason is to deny our own. In context of our time as well as the time it was made, To Kill A Mockingbird remains relevant. It also remains a beautiful, heartfelt film. It makes us feel for another person different from us and with that empathy, breaks down barriers. It’s what pop culture does that nothing else can quite do. It entertains as it opens our hearts and that can change minds. That is where hope lies.
From the review: “The whole story moves on at a cracking pace and no part of the plot is wasted no matter how trivial it may seems at the time of reading it, the whole book is littered with small clues throughout that take you on the same ride as the characters to the final conclusion of the book and what a conclusion it was.”
“I was hooked on the book from the first paragraph, and read the book in the space of a week which for me is a quick read; it’s also an indication for me on how good I think a book is if I read it that quickly.”
(Disclaimer: Andrew Salmon writes for Pulp Obscura)
When Pro Se Press got together with Altus Press to create the Pulp Obscura line, it was a match made in Heaven. As Altus gave rabid pulp fans top-notch collections of forgotten heroes from the Golden Age of pulp, Pro Se wrangled together a bevy of New Pulp’s finest authors to create anthologies containing new tales featuring these forgotten heroes – the perfect melding of past and future.
Submitted for your consideration is first release in the Pulp Obscura line: The New Adventures of Richard Knight.With Altus’s first collection of original Knight tales comes this first volume of new Knight stories by some of New Pulp’s best. And it does not disappoint.
But first a little background. For those of you who don’t know, Richard Knight was a 1940s pulp hero in the rich playboy by day, ace pilot and secret spy designated Q by night. Created by Donald Keyhoe, Knight and his trusted assistant Larry Doyle worked for General Brett who gave them strange cases featuring science-fiction elements solved with espionage, aerial escapades and two-fisted action. A fine introduction by Tommy Hancock provides all the information you’ll need before diving into the tales themselves.
In The New Adventures of Richard Knight, we get six brand new adventures to add to the original canon. New Pulp scribes Josh Reynolds, Barry Reese, Terry Alexander, I. A. Watson, Frank Schildiner and Adam Lance Garciado the honors this time out and the result is a mixed bag of pulp goodies.
Reynolds gets things going with Hell’s Hands, a tale featuring aerial pirates threatening European skies. There is a lot of great action in this first outing and the villain is well drawn. For all its merits, the tale does suffer from a little too much character set up since the tale wraps up without giving us a true look at the villain. I can’t help thinking that Reynolds has plans for this baddie which will play out later. All well in good, but the absence of sufficient details in this story lessens one’s enjoyment of it. The story more than makes up for it with its lightning pace and great action sequences and is a great way to get this party started.
Richard Knight and the Stones of Heavenby Barry Reese is next up. In this yarn, Knight goes up against a group of artifact-hunting Nazis bent on created a death ray for nefarious purposes by collecting the six stones of Heaven and harnessing their strange power. Most of the action takes place on the ground, rather than in the air, but the tale moves well and is an enjoyable traditional pulp actioner that would not be out of place in Knight’s original run. Good writing and clear characterization are on display here as well, making for a fun read.
Terry Alexander gives us The Bapet, a tale with traditional horror elements as a small town is terrorized by a supernatural creature. All the makings of a good, scary action tale. However it doesn’t quite gel here. It’s as if Alexander is fitting Knight and his supporting cast to an existing plot rather than The Bapet reading like a true Knight tale. The result is a somewhat engaging read with gore and scares aplenty yet feels somehow out of place.
The Hostage Academy by I. A. Watson is another strong entry in this collection. The death of a senator in a plane crash barely crosses Knight’s radar but when the love of his love, Benita, meets a similar fate, then it’s time for this Knight to go on a crusade. Strong characterization highlight this very personal mission of Knight’s and emotions run high as the airman tries to solve a compelling mystery in his search for vengeance.
Fear From Above by Frank Schildiner has Richard Knight going it alone in an intriguing adventure slightly hampered by its wordiness. The strange disappearance of the crew of a ship out of Jack London’s The Sea Wolf leads Knight on an adventure that sets itself apart from the norm. Some great action and vivid description make for a rousing adventure in the air, on the ground and on the high seas.
Crimes of the Ancients by Adam Lance Garcia is my personal favorite in this fine collection. It starts with a bang and the pace does not let up. A character-driven tale, it features Knight going toe-to-toe and quip-to-quip with a former love interest. The plot is never fully explained but given that classic pulp tales generally featured the simple Good vs Evil plot to begin with, it’s interesting to see a detailed breakdown of the situation Knight finds himself in being left to the readers. It’s as if Garcia is saying to pulp fans: “You’ve read enough of these great action yarns, you already know what the story is here.” Although the banter did get annoying in spots, this new approach to a traditional pulp tale, the ending in particular, left a pleasant taste in this reader’s mouth after closing the book.
The New Adventures of Richard Knight is sure to please pulp fans, old and new, as well as any action junkie. It’s available in print and as an ebook so they’ve got your preferred method of reading covered. If you’re a fan of action fiction, then this book is for you. Don’t miss it!
As most pulp fans know, back in the late 1960s and early 70s, many paperback publishers began reprinting the old classic pulp magazines. The most popular of these reprint series were the Doc Savage books with the stylized James Bama covers and the Conan adventures as defined by master artist, Frank Frazetta. Of course many other pulp heroes also received the paperback treatment as the fad caught on for several years introducing a whole new generation of readers to these classic figures. Among some of the other heroes to find new life in the small softcover market were the Avenger, the Shadow, Operator 5 and the man known as the Flying Master Spy, G-8 And His Battle Aces.
Put out by Popular Publications, G-8 was one of many aviation heroes of the time to include Bill Barnes and Dusty Ayres amongst others. Yet his magazine was the one with the longest run. Debuting in October of 1933 it went to produce a whopping 110 issues; all of them written by Robert J. Hogan. Another uniqueness with this title was the fact that Popular allowed Hogan’s name to be used. The habit of the pulps was to create a bogus house-name for a monthly series so that they could employ multiple writers, as most of them did, without the fans being any the wiser. Not so with Hogan, who at the height of his career was writing three monthly books and numerous short stories to compile a staggering average of 200,000 words a month; a feat no other American writer has ever equaled.
Robert Jasper Hogan was the son of a Dutch Reformer minister born in 1897 and raised in Buskirk, NY. A graduate of St. Lawrence University, before turning to writing full time, he was a cowboy, a boxer, piano player, pilot and airplane salesman. Thus his realistic descriptions of G-8’s aerial combats have a ring of authenticity to them. Hogan became friends with many veteran airmen who had fought in World War One and he based a great deal of his adventures on them and their exploits while at the same adding a heavy dose of the macabre. Each of his G-8 adventures were an efficient blend of spy thriller, aviation adventure and horror fantasy.
Although aware of the character, I’d never read a G-8 story before and decided to correct that while attending this year’s Pulp Fest in Columbus, Ohio. Luckily, with the help of pulp fan David Walker, I managed to find three of those Berkley paperback reprints including the very first G-8 novel, THE BAT STAFFEL. It is a solid, rousing debut of the series introducing us not only to the mysterious G-8, whose true identity we are never to learn, but his colorful supporting cast to include his British valet, Battle and his soon to be arch nemesis, Herr Doktor Krueger, the Kairser’s number one mad scientist. Krueger has developed a deadly poison gas that, when inhaled, turns its victims into piles of ashes. The German air corps has built half a dozen flying machines resembling giant bats and fitted them with tanks to carry the deadly fumes.
No sooner does G-8 discover this plot then the Bat Staffel attacks a small French town and completely decimates it. Infuriated by this merciless savagery, G-8 flies off to combat these bat-planes single handedly and is almost done in. Fortunately he is saved by two American pilots who come to his aid. The first is the small, happy-go-lucky Nippy Weston who has a penchant for magic tricks and practical jokes and then there is the former college All American Half Back, Bull Martin is a giant of fellow with a granite-like jaw and the heart of a kitten.
Loyal to a fault, Nippy and Weston, upon discovering they have just saved the famous spy, G-8, enthusiastically sign on to be his wingmen in his campaign to foil the Bat Staffel. From that point on the three of them escape one dangerous death-trap after another, each using his flying skills and other abilities to stay alive and defeat their enemies. THE BAT STAFFEL is a fast paced, truly imaginative glimpse back into the heyday of the pulps and a fantastic introduction to one of pulpdom’s all time greatest heroes. Next time you’re at a pulp convention, follow my lead and hunt up copies of G-8 And His Battle Aces. You won’t be disappointed.
The drone ship is a mobile alien ambulance, the young boy is transforming people into empty zombielike creatures like himself, and the head of the homeless children has quite a secret to hide. 
