New Pulp Author Ron Fortier returns with another Pulp Fiction Review. This time out Ron takes a look at Junkyard Dogs, a Walt Longmire Mystery by Craig Johnson.
JUNKYARD DOGS (A Walt Longmire Mystery) By Craig Johnson Penguin Books 306 pages
Happily one doesn’t have to read the Walt Longmire series in order to enjoy their levity, fast paced action and classic mystery formulas. We should also point out that the highly popular television series, which is also a great deal of fun, is decidedly different from the books to make both unique and worthy of your attention for various reasons.
When the owner-manager of the local junkyard and landfill dies under mysterious reasons, Sheriff Longmire naturally suspects the big time land developer making noises to move the refuse facility. But when that individual, upon escaping from custody, is shot to death in a small park in the middle of a snow blizzard, Longmire finds himself back to square one.
As anyone who has been following this series knows by now, the rugged high plains of Wyoming are as much a part of these tales as are the convoluted plots themselves. Whereas with this particular case, poor old Longmire is really put through the physical ringer as he gets sprayed in the face with a heavy dose of Pepper Spray, bitten on the butt by a mean German Shepherd and in the end has a stack of scrapped automobiles dumped on him. He somehow manages to survive all these challenges and bring the murderer to justice making him the quintessential western hero.
Of course this book has references to past exploits and although they don’t impede the enjoyment, they will make you want to go out and pick them up. This is one series you won’t want to miss a single installment.
Neil Gaiman’s latest work, The Ocean at the End of the Lane, began as a short story and unexpectedly grew into a novella and then a novel. Neil also wasn’t sure at first whether it was going to be a story for children or adults, since much of the story, while narrated by an adult, takes place when the protagonist is seven years old. Finally the marketing dial landed on “adult;” and that makes sense, for the most part.
There is a lot of darkness in this book, which is also of a more personal or intimate nature than some of Neil’s more fantastical works. There is more of “Neil” (himself) in it as well; not in that it is his autobiographical experience, but in that it was born more truly from his personal history. This makes Ocean feel more solidly rooted in, not the almost-realistic fantasy world of many of his stories, but an almost-fantastical reality instead. The fantasy elements are tied so tightly into some pretty ugly human truths that it might be easier to view this book as reality through the eyes of an imaginative child now grown into adulthood than as a fantasy adventure.
And yet, despite the darkness and ugliness that are frequently present, there is light in this book as well, and comfort. In the Hempstocks, a solidly reliable family of women who “know things,” and are comfortably situated on the side of all that is warm and good and naturally right; in an adult’s memories of childhood haunts, which can be as bright as they are at other times dark; and in the more lighthearted flights of fancy, such as the discovery of some very unique kittens in a field. This is a book that faces darkness but also “takes pleasure in small things, even as greater things crumble.” It reminds adults of a time when they were children and took a child’s pleasure in the small things.
Yes, this is a book that will be enjoyed by adults; and yet despite, or in fact possibly because of some very intense and disturbing scenes, mostly involving the narrator’s father or Ursula Monkton, this is indeed also a book that I would have enjoyed as a child. Children’s worlds are not always made of sunshine and unicorns, much as we’d like them to be. They are often at least a little dark and twisty – whether that darkness originates in the home, or in the schoolyard, or elsewhere. From experiences like a childhood birthday party which none of our classmates attend; to the frustrations and helplessness of dealing with a controlling adult; to the threatened or actual dissolution of a nuclear family, children often experience darkness without any prior experiences to ready them for it, or guidance on how to deal with it.
For children who read, books can serve as a guide; or an assurance that one is not alone in the darkness, and that there is someone else out there who understands what it’s like to be a child in a world of adult things that are as yet only half understood. Books can be an escape, but they can also help children face realities. And books can be a comfort, when the darkness inherent in the story is balanced by light. This is one of those books that might serve these functions; for the right sort of child.
So is this a story for adults or children? Well, both. It is a book of many layers that can be approached from many angles. It is a thought-provoking story, and one that is worth re-reading and thinking about. It is a book that could be about a wondrous and frightening adventure; or about looking back at childhood through the eyes of an adult and realizing how past experiences have shaped you; or even a reminder to adults of the way our actions will impact our children, who are our responsibilities. It might also be an assurance that even if you’ve been through a childhood that gave you a hole in your heart – in which adults fought children, and the adults won, or in which your kitten was lost to you and any replacement for it was never your kitten again – you can bear it, and gradually heal, and never stop becoming a little more whole again.
There is so much substance to this short novel that I could write about what it is or is not for a long time. Instead, I recommend that you go and read it.
The Revelry
As I’ve mentioned before, this is a particularly prolific year in the life of Mr. Neil Himself. Possibly in reaction to all of the busyness, Neil decided to do a massive signing tour for The Ocean at the End of the Lane, after which he plans to take a long and well-deserved break from such events.
Washington, DC was the fourth stop on the tour, and fortunately I was able to attend. It was a great event, organized by Politics & Prose Bookstore but held at the Lisner Auditorium on The George Washington University campus. The auditorium was packed, with somewhere around 1,500 fans in attendance.
Neil took the stage at 7 p.m. and kept everyone enthralled for the next hour-and-some; first discussing the genesis of the book, which contains more “feelings” than some of his other works. “I don’t do feelings very much, being both English and male,” joked Neil. He then read from Chapter 4 of the novel, in which the narrator and Lettie Hempstock meet a very scary Thing. It is quite creepy.
After the reading, Neil answered questions collected from the audience beforehand. Some he answered with humorous efficiency:
“What was it like to work on Doctor Who?”
“It was enormously fun.”
“Do you choose your audience (adults or children) before writing?”
“Mostly!”
“Once someone has written things, what is your advice for getting published?”
“Sell the things you’ve written!”
Others he devoted more time to. A question about where the idea of the Hempstock family (members of which have also made appearances in Stardust and The Graveyard Book) originated resulted in a story about when Neil was young and his mother told him that the farm nearby was in the Domesday Book, which meant it was about a thousand years old – “and it didn’t occur to me that it would have been a hovel at that time. I just assumed that the red brick farmhouse had always been there, and that the same family would have been living there for a thousand years as well.” Neil named that imagined family the Hempstocks, and in reference to their appearances in other books, said “it just made sense that some of them would have gone off into the world.”
After answering a plethora of questions, Neil closed with a short reading from a more humorous bit of Ocean, and then stated that he would sign for us “until my hand falls off.” And so he would have, I am sure, but thankfully, despite signing well into the night, I believe he still has both of his hands. Which is good, because it’s much easier to write with hands, and I want Neil to keep on writing more amazing stories like The Ocean at the End of the Lane for a long time to come.
If you haven’t read the novel yet, I highly recommend it. And until next time, Servo Lectio!
New Pulp publisher, Big Pulp has released their June newsletter.
Big Pulp Newsletter June 24, 2013 LGBT Collection now in print and for the Kindle! + Big Pulp Summer 2013 and APESHIT!
Looking for great fiction? Visit the Big Pulp Store on Amazon!
Every issue of Big Pulp magazine is available for the Kindle for just $2.99!
But there’s more! You can also find links to short stories, novels, and story and poetry collections by our Big Pulp authors, in either print or ebook editions.
There are literally hundreds of thousands of books competing for your dollars on Amazon. Let us help you find the good stuff! Though these collections are not published by us, these authors have all received the Big Pulp thumbs up, appearing at least once in our pages. Why gamble when we’ve gone through the slush pile for you?
Like Big Pulp, our Amazon Store has a wide range of work – SF, adventure, horror, fantasy, mystery, and romance. Check it out! You’ll be glad you did!
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Clones, Fairies
& Monsters in the Closet
Gay warlocks, lesbian warriors, bi-curious neighbors, super-queeroes, prison bitches, freedom fighters, and drag queens occupy this collection of LGBT-themed SF, mystery, horror, fantasy, and romantic fiction! Available now in print and for theKindle on Amazon!
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Big Pulp Summer 2013: Catskin
The son of a smalltown sheriff takes crime prevention into his own hands, but curiosity may kill the cat, in Arley Sorg’s “Catskin”, the cover feature to the Summer 2013 issue of Big Pulp! This issue has a spooky cateye cover by Phil Good and more than 20 SF, Horror, Fantasy, and Mystery stories and poems!
APESHIT
Who doesn’t love a monkey? This collection is chock-full of 200+ pages of giant apes, detective chimps, helper monkeys, gun-toting gorillas, occult orangutans, militant marmosets, time-traveling capuchins, zombie fighters, winged servants, astronauts, missing links, ice cream treats and infinite monkeys at infinite typewriters!
Big Pulp’s latest submissions period closed on May 31. We are reading and selecting work for publications scheduled for 2014. If you submitted during this period and haven’t heard from us, be patient! We’re reading and re-reading and making tough decisions from among the great work we received.
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James Rhodes, a.k.a. War Machine, is the Marvel character also known as the black Iron Man.
I have absolutely no opinion of War Machine. I do, however have an opinion of James Rhoades – but not the character James Rhodes. The James Rhoades I’m talking about is graduating from UCLA today (today being June 16th 2013) and has been my apprentice for the last four years.
That James I was introduced to some five years ago by Whitney Farmer at the San Diego Comic Con. James wanted to meet me and have me look at some of his work. It’s real hard for me to view portfolios at Comic Con because my days and nights are crazy busy. If I’m looking at someone’s work I like to be able to spend some time with that person. For me looking at a young artist’s work require a conversation not just canned advice many professionals give young talent.
I had no time to really talk to James, but both he and Whitney gave me big puppy dog eyes so what else could I do?
His work consisted of a small sketchbook, which I looked though. Clearly the kid had talent. At 16 he was a better artist than I was at that age. I gave him what advice I could with the little time I had to do so. I told him to work bigger, fill the page and to look at drawings from the old masters.
Before I ran off to my next appointment I asked James what sort of artist he wanted to be. “I want to write and draw comics.” He said. In all my years of looking at portfolios rather as a mentor, instructor, illustrator or lecturer that was the fist time anyone had ever said to me that they wanted to “write and draw” comics. I have to admit that really impressed me but his sketchbook had no comic book work in it.
When I mentioned that to James he told me why he had not brought his finished comic book work and blah, blah, blah, blah blah and blah.
No matter what the kid said he sounded to me like an excuse and all excuses sound to me like blah, blah, blah.
I had no more time. so I gave the kid a good luck’and I was out.
That was what I thought was that.
Nope, that turned out to be the start of the Whitney Farmer Project. Since Whitney is always included in all of my Comic Con events I saw her later at my annual dinner…
“So what did you think of James?”
Before the Black Panel…
“He’s an amazing talent, is he not?”
After the Black Panel…
“You should look at his finished work!”
At my annual Comic Con party…
“He would love to see your studio!”
Having drinks at the Hyatt with some friends…
“You know, you should mentor James!”
Finally I had enough and agreed to look at James’ finished work at my studio. I told Whitney to give the kid my number and to have him call me after the con.
After the con, rightafter the con, James called me.
James continued to call me…often…for about six months until I saw him at my studio. He made it crystal clear, (well crystal clear after he stammered for about an hour) that he wanted to apprentice in the studio.
“Kid, you don’t even have a car. How are you supposed to get here?”
Ha! Game! Set! Match! Davis!!
Look, I had nothing against the kid but I take apprenticing very seriously and with the work load I have taking the time to show someone the ropes is ripe with complications and complications equal lost revenue. In other words, taking James on could cost me, literally.
Thus began another six months of James calling me and inquiring about an apprenticeship. It’s important to state something for all you aspiring artists out there and that’s this, James called me consistently for a solid year and at no time did I think the kid was bugging me.
That is a hell of a feat – and I cannot stress this enough.
One fateful day James started his phone call like this: “My parents got me a car so I can study with you.”
Whoa.
This kid had talked his parents into buying him a car so he could hopefully apprentice with me. They brought him a car on the chance that he could study with me.
Like I said.
Whoa.
That very next week James was in the studio and has been for the last four years. James not only graduated from UCLA today but as of Monday the 17th he becomes a full-fledged studio assistant and professional artist writer with a fantastic future.
Today happens to be father’s day and I’m sure James’ dad (and mom) are very proud of him as am I. His family is mad cool (even his rotten sister) and I’m glad to know them.
In fact he has become a real part of my family and like the son I never had.
Of course any son of mine is subject to FBI, NSA and CIA investigation and as my son he is required to take the rap for anything I may have done.
A Review of Michael Patrick Sullivan’s THE AUSLANDER FILES
by Andrew Salmon
The debate has raged on since New Pulp first burst on the scene: what exactly is “new” about New Pulp? Should today’s pulpsmiths be trying to recapture the style and tone of the great pulp yarns of yesteryear or should they be trying to re-invent the form for a modern audience?
Here’s another question: what if you can do both?
THE AUSLANDER FILES by Michael Patrick Sullivan is the answer to that last question.
The premise is deceptivelysimple: a WW2 German agent wakes up in a hotel room in the US. He can’t remember who he is and he has false identification for multiple identities. He calls himself The Auslander, the Outsider. He dreams of terrorist acts, espionage, sabotage and concludes that he is the architect of these pending crippling attacks on the US war effort. Yet his devotion toNazism has been lost along with his name and identity and he must race against the clock, and around the country, to prevent the operations from taking place.
What follows from this are 10 punchy tales collected for the first time by Pulp 2.0, 10 sustained, machine-gun blasts of pulp action! THE AUSLANDER FILES is one of the best New Pulp releases of the year – hell, it’s one of the best New Pulp books I’ve ever read.
Each tale kicks off in the middle of the action. The Auslander is on the scene and fighting not only his own people but the average citizen as well, trying to save the day while every hand is against him. Assassinations, abductions, sabotage, bombings… The Auslander frantically attempts undo the evil he himself has devised before it’s too late. The tales are short, quick, addictive reads averaging out to about 10 pages a pop. Yes, they are formulaic but this must be overlooked inlight of the fact that they were originally published months apart, which required some recapping of the overall premise. This minor stumbling point is easily sidestepped by the intense writing and pace of each actioner. The Auslander is a complex character and this is no small feat as we do not learn who he is by the end of the collection. What does come across is his willingness to do whatever it takes to prevent the destruction he has set in motion.
I enjoyed all of the tales in this collection. If I had to pick a favorite it would be “The Yellow Star of Antwerp” for its emotional resonance as well as how it depicts just how far The Auslander will go to prevent further bloodshed. Ultimately, all of the stories work very well. Very well indeed.
My only knock against the collection is the odd problems with tense and a typo or two. Jarring, yes, but not debilitating. Bumps along this roller-coaster ride do not derail the train. Trust me, pulp fans, you want to get on board The Auslander express. If you like quick, shot-to-the-gut action tales, look no further. If you like a tormented lead character, THE AUSLANDER FILES has your poison. A great read, start to finish, don’t miss it.
In the wake of revisionist takes on classic fairy tales, it was only a matter of time before someone came up with an approach that was tongue-in-cheek or so over the top it was going to be a wacky delight. I thought that was going to be Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters as the adult versions of the classic kids were first seen with crossbow and rifle, decked out in black leather and ready to kick ass. The trailers made it look like it could be tremendous fun and the cast of Jeremy Renner, Gemma Arterton, and Famke Janssen made it appealing.
Unfortunately, writer/director Tommy Wirkola couldn’t decide on a consistent tone for the film so sometimes it was a straight drama, sometimes a dark comedy, sometimes just boring. He’d been harboring the concept since 2007 and the pop culture zeitgeist caught up with him, allowing him to bring the notion to life. Originally slated for 2012 release, it was finally unleashed in 3D in January and now, on Tuesday, it comes to home video from Paramount Home Video. Surprisingly, despite tepid reviews and so-so box office, just this week there’s been talk of a sequel percolating.
In short, Hansel and Gretel survived their encounter with the witch when they were children and grew up to hunt down the rest of the black-hearted breed, hiring themselves out to towns in need. Wirkola amends the legend, codified in print by the Brothers Grimm in 1812, by having the parents gone early on. Additionally, he posits that mom was a white witch, an extremely rare breed whose blood contains special properties.
Muriel (Janssen) wants that blood and knows that Gretel has the blood flowing through her veins. Her goal has been to capture children from around Germany and sacrifice them in a Sabbath ritual that, coupled with Gretel’s blood, will make them immune to fire, the one thing that can kill them.
Things fall into place in the small town of Augsburg where the siblings have been summoned to find the missing children. While the mayor is smart, the sheriff is the stereotypical fists-first narrow-minded sort, expertly played by Peter Stormare.
Renner and Arterton work well together and Wirkola cheats the audience by keeping them apart for long stretches. The heart and soul of the film is their bond and the script gives them too few opportunities to demonstrate that. While we know Renner can handle the action, Arterton is a revelation and she clearly is having a good time, even without her normal accent.
There are witches aplenty and a lonely troll Edward (Derek Mears) who works for the witches until he encounters Gretel. There’s also an annoying proto-fanboy in the form of Ben (Thomas Mann) to help with some of the exposition. The posse also gains the help of another white witch in the form of the redheaded Mina (Pihla Viitala), which sets up the climax which features a visually interesting assortment of witches.
The film features anachronistic dialogue, mannerisms, cultural mores and most blatantly, the weaponry employed by the title characters. They make the film quirky but Wirkola does not do enough with them so things plod along with few surprises and weak dialogue. No wonder the theatrical release clocks in at a brisk 87 minutes. The Blu-ray, though, comes complete with an extended cut, adding ten minutes of promised comedy and mayhem which just makes things a little better, but not enough to change your overall opinion.
The transfer is lovely and looks nice with solid sound. There are just three short extras including a too-brief Reinventing Hansel & Gretel (15:41), which whisks you through the Making Of; The Witching Hours (9:01) with an emphasis on the inventive designs for the evildoers; Meet Edward the Troll (5:25), a look at how Mears and an animatronics team brought the troll to life.
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?
Christian Jacobs started out as a child actor playing the slightly older Joey Stivic in the All in the Family spin-off Gloria. Since then, he’s not only triumphed as the creator of kid show juggernaut Yo Gabba Gabba, but as The MC Bat Commander, has been the charismatic leader of superhero ska band The Aquabats. After a long career in the clubs of the world (coming up on their twentieth anniversary) the band broke into television last year with The Aquabats Super Show on Hub Network. Lauded by critics and attracting kids in droves, the show’s second season premieres this Saturday on the network (check local listings).
Christian took the time to speak to ComicMix about the series and the long strange trip it took to the screen. He’s proud to get the show on the air, and even more happy for it to make a second season. “We’re blown away” he explained. “We would have been happy just to get ONE season. But having said that, we put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into that one season, and to be ‘one and done’ would have been a little disappointing. But if you take a step back and think about the miracle that The Aquabats even got to make a TV show…having a second season is just mind-blowing. A real-life band that got to make a fake, goofy show about themselves…I don’t think that’s ever happened before. You have shows like The Monkees, where the bands were put together by the studios; Big Time Rush, things like that. But a real band…being a part of that miracle, and getting to do it twice, is just unbelievable.”
The desire to get The Aquabats to the small screen has been part of the plan almost as far back as the band’s been in existence, Jacobs explains. “Right about the time we did The Fury of the Aquabats, Between that and Floating Eye of Death!, we did a pilot for Disney. And that was something we all thought was going to go somewhere. But looking back, looking at that pilot, I was all, ‘Oh, wow, THAT didn’t work out…’ “
He’s got a good idea as to why the show worked now, as opposed to years back – “It seems like the timing, although it’s been almost twenty years, the timing is almost perfect. I think the sensibilities in the show…kids are more sharpened to stuff that’s random and silly, and doesn’t make sense sometimes. I think maybe even more than kids, cause kids are always down with that. I think there’s enough shows that doing stuff like that, and being successful, that studios are letting things go. Like, there’s no chance there would have been an Adventure Time, fifteen, twenty years ago; it’s just too crazy and random. And that’s rad! And it’s the same with [us]; without a network like Hub Network, you don’t have a show like The Aquabats. Because people don’t wanna take risks.”
The show has been the hit with kids as it was intended, and that new audience has started to flow back to the band’s live performances. “We played a local show here, last summer, right after the show started airing. And the influx of young kids at the show definitely created the thought, “Wow, we definitely need to have a different show when we go tour; do a matinee and an evening show. It’s not that the crowd doesn’t mix, we have kids that want to slamdance and get rowdy, and that’s okay, it’s always been like that. But when you have SO many kids, nine and ten year olds, in the pit, it makes things a little bit different.”
Christian and the band are quite proud of the show. “What’s been great, and really gratifying, is that all of us in the band have been so close to the show, for so long…in the back of my brain…heck in the front of my brain, I’m thinking, ‘I hope kids like this, because I like it, I think it’s funny.’ I like all the references and everything in the show, but is it gonna resonate with kids? Cause it sure resonated with me, I like all that stuff, I think it’s stupid. But there’s a lot of inside jokes, a lot of references, that adults get, but kids maybe not so much. But the fact that kids do love it, and that’s the demographic we’re aiming at, that’s a big relief.”
Part of the show’s appeal is the constant barrage of references to pop culture, both old and new. Their mobile headquarters, the Battletram, is equal parts the eponymous vehicle from Ark II, the Doctor’s TARDIS, and the Big Baloney from The Kids From CAPER. “We want to wear our references on our sleeves. We don’t want to rip any of that stuff off, we want to glorify it; we want to say “How awesome was the stuff we grew up watching?” Now here it is again, in a big loaf. That’s what The Aquabats show is – it’s a loaf, it’s a big loaf of stuff. You can quote me on that. “
While trying to get The Aquabats on the air, Christian took a big of a turn and started looking at the state of entertainment for an even younger audiences. “We were really having trouble getting the Aquabats show sold, getting people to buy onto it. We had a couple of ten-cent pilots, and a couple of things we’d done, but we were having trouble getting people to say ‘OK, yeah, you can go and make your crazy show’. And a big part of it was the climate in TV at the time. Reality shows were just breaking, and they were just breaking HUGE. Survivor was getting really big ratings, so it was hard to get people behind our show. So my buddy Scott (Schultz, YGG co-creator) and I, around that time we were trying to develop the show, we started having families of our own. We were watching kids’ TV, and I noticed there was a big shift in younger kids’ programming. It seemed like everything was very compartmentalized, like “this show is for kids aged 1.5 to 3.2”. Very homogenized. Whereas we grew up watching The Electric Company, and Sesame Street and Zoom, all this variety. All this singing, and songs, and you never knew what was coming around the corner. And my parents would watch the shows with us, and chuckle, at like, Ethal Merman jokes. I didn’t know who Ethel Merman jokes, but my parents would laugh. You don’t get that from the majority of preschool shows today – they don’t have pop-culture references in them.
So we said, hey, let’s shift things up a bit; let’s keep The Aquabats in our pocket. What if we try and do a preschool show? Let’s try and do a classic magazine-format show that could include parents. That could have hip-hop and punk, and electronic and dance, and different things in the show. Not just musically, but visually; art, animation, and style. And almost immediately we thought, it has to be a show with walkaround characters, like The Banana Splits or H.R Pufnstuf. And we’ve got two walkaround characters we’ve already built (Cyclopsis and Weedy, who became Muno and Brobee respectively), and they got great responses live (at Aquabats shows). People would go nuts when they came out on stage, people loved the characters. So I knew right away, from the audience, that those characters would work.”
With next year being the twentieth anniversary of the band, Christian has more than a few events planned, including a new Cadet Summit (their recurring fan conventions) and most importantly to newer fans, new Cadet Kits. “Definitely next year! The cadet kits have always been such a rad thing, but we’ve always done it ourselves. It’s been very hard to find the right fulfillment partner, cause we need help. We can’t do it ourselves anymore; to put it in the envelopes, and lick the stamps, it’s crazy. “
About The Scarlet Jaguar: When we last saw Patricia Wildman, daughter of Doc Wildman, the bronze champion of justice, six months had passed since the main events of The Evil in Pemberley House. She and her associate Parker, an ex-Scotland Yard Inspector, had set up Empire State Investigations at her Pemberley House estate—and she just received a mysterious phone call from her supposedly late father . . .
Several months later, Pat receives a visitor, a young girl named Emma Ponsonby, whose father, a British diplomat to a small Central American country, has been kidnapped by the Scarlet Jaguar. Pat, following in her father’s footsteps of righting wrongs and assisting those in need, agrees to help, but before they can set off on their quest the Scarlet Jaguar sends a gruesome warning.
Undeterred, the investigation takes Pat, Parker, and their young charge from Pemberley House in the Derbyshire countryside . . . To New York, where they battle agents of the Scarlet Jaguar and meet Pat’s old friend, the icy, pale-skinned beauty Helen Benson, who agrees to join them on their quest . . . To the small nation of Xibum, where the Scarlet Jaguar’s reign of uncanny assassinations threatens to expand to the rest of Central America—and beyond!
Now, it’s a race against time deep in the wilds of the Central American jungle, as Pat Wildman and her crew search for Emma’s father, and confront the Scarlet Jaguar’s weird power to eliminate his enemies from afar, marked only by a wisp of crimson smoke—smoke resembling nothing so much as the head of a blood-red screaming jaguar. But who—or what—is the Scarlet Jaguar? A power-mad dictator determined to reclaim power? A revolutionary movement bent on taking over the country, and the rest of Central America?
Or a front for something even more sinister . . .?
The Scarlet Jaguar is the second in Meteor House Press’ series of signed limited edition novellas. Just like (the now sold out) Exiles of Kho, the print run will be determined by the number of copies preordered. Also, if you preorder before June 30th, your name will appear in the book on the acknowledgements page. You know you want to see your name near the top of that list, so don’t delay, preorder your copy now!
I’m not sure we’ll get every story of heroism, bravery, and ingenuity that made World War II so endlessly fascinating, but by now we seem to have gotten the best of them. The war had a scope involving millions of people on a global scale never seen before so the stories of the atrocities and acts of mercy continue to be uncovered and justly celebrated. And yet, one of the most enduring tales was not about a battle. Instead, the true story of the massive escape from Germany’s Stalag Luft III demonstrates a never-say-die attitude that demoralized the enemy. Thinking themselves clever, the Nazis collected their most troublesome prisoners and placed them in one facility, thinking they would be able to keep a better eye on them. They were all officers and treated a such, with the expectation that they would not cause trouble.
What the Germans forgot was that a prisoner’s first job was to escape and that’s exactly what these disciplined, highly-trained and clever men managed to do. It was an international effort that saw them survey and engineer three tunnels (cheekily nicknamed Tom, Dick, and Harry) that would allow 250 soldiers flee captivity. Paul Brickhill who was there, immortalized the effort in his 1950 nonfiction account The Great Escape.
It was a story ripe for Hollywood but studio after studio turned it down until finally John Sturges finally convinced United Artists to finance the production. Sturges both produced and directed from a screenplay credited to James Clavell, W.F. Burnett, and Walter Newman. Compromises had to be mader to make it palatable to Hollywood and its audiences. The American POWs who helped dig the tunnels were relocated seven months before the escape so reality was twisted to keep the yanks on hand. Additionally, characters became composites of real people, so it had the look and feel of what happened without the exact details.
The film is headlined by Steve McQueen, looming large in the marketing but small in the grand scheme of things, James Garner, Richard Attenborough, James Donald, Charles Bronson, Donald Pleasance, James Coburn, and David McCallum. (McCallum at the time was married to future Star Trek guest star Jill Ireland, who fell in love with Bronson during the shoot.) The Stalag was reconstructed with frightening attention to detail in Bavaria and the film benefitted from a fine Elmer Bernstein score. Technical advisor Wally Floody, a former prisoner at the dreaded place, was stunned at how real it felt.
A movie about digging tunnels for much of its 172 minutes might sound dull, but Sturges kept thigns interesting by showing how the men forged bonds and overcame fear and adversity. None of the characters were especially deep but all were idiosyncratic enough to remain interesting. Some action pieces, such as the iconic motorcycle, were added. When released in 1963, it was a surprise hit and has showed enduring staying power, referenced in countless pop culture sources and is credited as an inspiration for the questionable sitcom Hogan’s Heroes.
Now 50 years old, the film remains entertaining viewing and 20th Century Home Entertainment has just released it on Blu-ray for the first time. Unfortunately, they did not use the occasion to remaster the film; merely transfer it from the 2004 two-disc release. As a result, it looks fine but should look better.
The film was great fun and serious drama but it won no awards except from the men who were there, who later told Sturges what a fine job he did. Those anecdotes, recorded in 1974, survive on one of the many commentary tracks that were also ported over from the last release. Coupled with the fine lossless DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio, it is satisfactory but not what the movie and today’s viewers deserve.
The bonus features from the 2004 release are here with the exception of the trivia track and the photo gallery. But we do get:
Commentary with Director John Sturges, Cast and Crew, as Steven Jay Rubin, author of Combat Films: American Realism, 1945-1970, stitches together a series of interviews into this track. He managed to speak with Sturges in 1974 and later Coburn, Garner, McCallum, Pleasance, Jud Taylor, Sturges’ former assistant Robert Relyea, stuntman Bud Ekins, art director Fernando Carrere, and McQueen’s one-time manager Hilly Elkins.
The Great Escape: Bringing Fact to Fiction (12:21) which originally ran on History Channel, narrated by Burt Reynolds.
The Great Escape: Preparations for Freedom (19:50): Another History Channel featurette looking at how the escape was really executed.
The Great Escape: The Flight to Freedom (9:22): Another History Channel featurette compares the reality versus the Hollywood version of events.
The Great Escape: A Standing Ovation (5:58): Another History Channel featurette examining the 1963 reaction by POWs to the film.
The Great Escape: The Untold Story (50:47): Made for British audiences, this used a mix of interviews and re-enactments.
The Great Escape: The Untold Story—Additional Interviews (9:35).
The Real Virgil Hilts: A Man Called Jones (25:01): American Army pilot David Jones, who participated in the famed Doolittle Raid, was the template for McQueen’s character and gets a nice profile here.
Return to The Great Escape (24:09): Rubin directed this 1993 Showtime entry with Garner, Pleasance and Coburn, reminiscing.
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