Tagged: Superman

MIKE GOLD: Steve Niles’ Courageous Act

gold-column-art-120104-150x112-9029409If you you’re inclined to keep an eye out, heroes pop up like Kleenex. Steve Niles just made the cut.

At the 2010 Baltimore Comic-Con Harvey Awards dinner, Mark Waid offered a courageous keynote address which offered a simple message: digital comics are here to stay, there is an international bootlegging community and we as creators and industry doyens must learn to deal with it. For this, Mark was roundly booed, hassled and harassed by his peers. Astonishingly, one of his tormentors was the otherwise quite gentlemanly Sergio Aragonés.

I don’t recall if Steve Niles was at the dinner, but if not, it’s likely he heard about it. Suggesting that any acknowledgement of those who pirate comics is akin to taking a dump on the bible. This is true throughout the media: records (yeah, it’s okay to call them “records;” look it up), movies and teevee shows, even books. And you thought nobody was reading.

The media industry’s response to this has been to advocate passage of the Stop Online Piracy Act, a.k.a. SOPA. Simply put, SOPA allows any intellectual property (IP) owner to legally compel any Internet Service Provider (a.k.a. ISP; we’re shooting for the entire alphabet this week) to kick off any website suspected of copyright infringement.

Well, here’s a clue for you. Well over 99% of the websites on the Internet infringe copyrights and trademarks. Pick-ups of news items, graphics used to illustrate anything, sound bytes and even some You Tube links – they are all infringing upon somebody’s IP. You rip off the Superman logo font because you’re artistic and just being cute? Well, that logo is a registered trademark, and you are now Lex Luthor.

So Steve, bless his 30 Days of Night heart, took a stand. “SOPA does more than go after so-called ‘piracy’ websites,” said he. “SOPA takes away all due process, shuts down any site it deems to be against the law without trial, without notification, without due process… Nobody seems to give a shit, or either they’re scared. Either way, very disappointing. I guess when it affects them they’ll get mad… I know folks are scared to speak out because a lot of us work for these companies, but we have to fight. Too much is at stake.”

He tweeted all these comments; I got them from our pals at Digital Spy, except they asterisked “shit.” We here at ComicMix are beneath that.

Here’s some facts. Every time somebody unlawfully downloads IP – and note I said “unlawfully” because it is unlawful – the media racket sees that as a lost sale. This is overwhelming bullshit. People sample, people are curious, people’s friends make a recommendation and said people check ‘em out. There’s plenty of stuff that you’d check out before laying down your plastic sight unseen. The actual number of downloads that defraud the owner (which is usually not the creator) is a fraction of the total. These downloads are still illegal, but IP moguls should pull the stick out of their ass and tell the truth when they are babbling about how much bootlegging is costing them. They are liars.

There are a great many services that allow you to legally purchase IP, and the largest of these is Apple’s iTunes, which offers music, television, movies, books, magazines, newspapers, software (a.k.a. “apps”) and probably jpg’s of papyrus scrolls. As of around October 2011 – the date varies by category – iTunes has sold over 16 billion songs, about one half-billion movies, videos and teevee shows, some 20 billion apps, and Crom knows how many books, magazines and newspapers.

Here’s the rub: in each and every one of these approximately 40,000,000,000 cases, the purchaser could have downloaded the damn thing for free. In most cases, it is far easier to illegally cop a boot than it is to purchase one. Let’s start with the fact that you don’t need to have a credit card or room left on your credit limit to procure your illegal bootie.

So. 40 billion downloads from just one – the biggest one – online merchant in a world that only houses seven billion people. That’s an average of four and one-half perfectly legal downloads for each and every person, including babies in the Amazon who don’t even have access to Amazon.

Hey! People are inherently good. Go know!

Of course SOPA is being supported by all the big IP companies, including Disney (Marvel) and Time Warner (DC). If only they were so moral about how they treat their creative talent, without whom both companies would constitute another real estate bust.

On the other side: Facebook, Google, Twitter and Wikipedia, the latter of which threatens to disappear should SOPA pass. Then students will actually have to do research, and we can’t have that.

Also standing proudly on the other side: Steve Niles. Good for you, pal.

Good grief. Now Mark Evanier is going to hate me.

Thursday: Dennis O’Neil

MICHAEL DAVIS: Why I Like The New 52

Because I’m trying to kiss the ass of DC Comics.

The end.

Well that’s not really true. If you know anything about my history you will know the last thing I’d ever do is kiss ass.

It’s simply not in my DNA not now, not ever. I’ve been in many a situation where a well place smack on someone’s ass would have been very beneficial to me but I just couldn’t do it.

I’ve tried to kiss some ass. I really have. I wanted to kiss some ass. I was even looking forward (she was fine) to kissing some ass at one point but I just… could… not…do it.

What always stops me is my inability to show respect to those who do not deserve it.

Respect is a very big thing with me. I’d rather have someone’s respect than just about anything else. To get my respect is not hard on a personal level all I really need on that level is for you to treat me with respect and you have mine.

On a professional level getting my respect is not easy. I’m not the guy to tip toe around people’s absence of professionalism. If you have ever read any of my articles on Michael Davis World (plug!) then you may have noticed a recurring theme in my rants: customer service or the lack there of.

I don’t care if you are an artist, IBM or Larry the Hot Dog Vender, if I’m going to write you a check for your services your professionalism had better be your A game.  Anything less than an A game I’ll never work with you or use your services again. You can forget any respect I may have had for you because that my friend, like the old south, is gone with the wind.

Chief among all the reasons I have for liking The New 52 from DC is the massive amount of respect I have because DC went there.

DC comics went where no other comic book company in the world went before: they started over. If the books sucked which they still would have had my respect. There are some in The New 52 that have left me wondering why they went into the direction they went but for the most part I like or love what they have done.

Liking or even loving what DC Comics did with the re-boot creatively is not the main reason I like The New 52. It’s really about respect and balls.

I respect the balls the editors at DC showed in going there.

Every die-hard comic book fan has thought how cool it would be to completely overhaul a comic book universe. The fan forums are filled with what’s wrong with DC, what the problem is with Marvel, or what was Dark Horse thinking? I don’t think there is any comic book universe that is so darn cool that everyone agrees they are doing everything right. I’ll let you in on a little secret; I’m a closet Archie fan. Actually, I’m a huge fan of Little Archie. I’m not sure they even do Little Archie stories anymore but when I was a kid I loved me some Little Archie.

That’s the only comic book universe I had no problem with. The Little Archie universe was perfect to me. Because I was such a fan of Little Archie I tried the regular Archie books.

After reading the regular Archie books for a while I decided if I ran the Archie universe the first thing I would do was have Archie tap Veronica and Betty’s ass.

Hell, I’d have Archie tap them both at the same time. You think that’s bad? Then you don’t want to know the plans I had for Mr. Fantastic.

That’s why it’s good not to have fan’s revamp comic book universes.

Like any young fan, I often wondered why comic book companies don’t do the obvious. Why can’t Uncle Ben come back? Why did Gwen Stacy have to stay dead? Why doesn’t Superman tap the ass of all those people whose initials are LL?

Lois Lane, Lana Lang, Lucy Lane, Lori Lemaris? If I were in charge of the Superman Universe Clark would have had some serious LL booty. I mean the LL list is endless!

Lara Lor, Linda Lang, Lighting Lad, Lex Luthor…eh…wait a sec…maybe tapping all the LL’s is not a great idea after all.  Another reason it seems that fans should not be in charge of universes.

So, as fans we don’t have the power to make massive changes in our comic book universes but why don’t the comic companies make massive cool ass changes a lot more?

Yes. Every so often some new event happens that sorta, kinda, changes stuff but not really. Not like you are I would have changed it.

Massive, cool, earth shattering new shit that will be the envy of all of comicdom!

DC went there.

However, as easy as it may seem to fans to simply hit the reset button it’s not easy at all. You may think as I did when I was just a fan that imagination is all you really need to run a comic book universe and you would be as wrong as I was.

If you are Larry Comics and you started your comic book company a couple of years ago you can reboot all you want and the only people you have to please is your new fan base.

DC Comics has been around since 1935. That’s a lot of history to muck with.

The people at DC Comics just couldn’t sit in a room and decide to do this. That’s not how it works in the real world. The people who came up with the reboot idea had to sell that idea to the parent company and that parent company is Time Warner. Time Warner is one of the biggest entertainment companies in the world.

I’m not sure what kind of relationship DC has with Time Warner. Time Warner could be completely hands off. I doubt it, but that could be the case. DC may have complete control over the comics and Time Warner may not give a sheet.

I’d think something this big would have had to be run up the flagpole at corporate on some level. Again, I’m not aware of DC’s relationship with Time Warner so I can only speculate from my own corporate experience.

I’ve been President or President and CEO at a few entertainment companies and any major decision over a certain dollar amount I made had to be at presented to the powers that be on some level.

When I ran Motown Animation & Filmworks I was hired to create, develop and sell film and television properties. When I decided to do a comic book line, Motown Machineworks, I had to create a business plan, present it to my boss and hope to God it did not crash and burn.

That’s what a lot of fans don’t understand about comics. It’s a fantastic medium and great entertainment, but it’s a business.

Whoever came up with the reboot and then sold the idea to corporate had good creative intentions to be sure but something that big has a lot more to worry about than creative ideas.

Regardless if the ideas were great or if Time Warner is hands off or not, if the reboot would have been a dismal failure heads may have rolled.

This is the real world folks, with great power comes great responsibility is truer in the real world than in comics. Peter Parker fails to stop a guy who then busts a cap in his Uncle is tragic but at any point Marvel could change that.

Real people put their careers in play on some level. I don’t know to what extent those people were at risk if at all but something as big as a reboot it stands to reason that someone’s ass would be on the line if it went south.

It’s easy to talk a big game when it’s not your ass on the line. It’s not so easy when that great power comes with a great responsibility that could result in you having a real bad ending to your story.

That takes balls and that gets my respect.

WEDNESDAY: Mike Gold

MINDY NEWELL: The Enemy Within

I stink at writing battles between the superhero and the bad guy.

Oh, I’ve always managed to struggle through – and through the years I’ve learned how to choreograph them pretty well, thanks to watching great action movies, anything from Bullitt to the Die Hard series to the Matrix Trilogy and Kill Bill, Vols. I and II. But I was always happier to write a fight scene “Marvel style,” especially if I was working with an artist I trusted. Full script, though? Talk about pulling teeth!

So why the hell do I love writing comics?

That’s a good question. And here’s the answer.

What has always interested me about the superhero is the what makes them tick?, the what’s going on in their lives?, the how does having special abilities affect a person? Questions. Of course I wasn’t the first comic writer to address these issues. There’s one or two columnists here at ComicMix who have done so and continue to do so – yeah, I’m talking ‘bout you two, John Ostrander and Denny O’Neil. But John and Denny are also able to write great battle scenes. I can’t.

Way-back-when I sat down to try my luck at writing an entry for DC’s New Talent Showcase program, I thought about what was lacking in the super-hero biz. Hmm, I thought. There are superheroes who are men, and superheroes who are women. There are superheroes who date or are married to ordinary women, and there are superhero married couples. But I couldn’t think of any super-hero women who were married to “ordinary” guys. “That could be really interesting,” I thought to myself.

Then something clicked in my brain. “What if,” I said to myself, “these two people are just regular young marrieds, very much in love with each other, expecting their first child, and believing they’ve got the world on a string? And then everything goes wrong. She gains super-powers, but the trade-off is: she loses the baby. And he just can’t deal.  What happens to them? What happens to the marriage?”

And that’s the way I’ve always tried to approach the superhero. Treating them like real people, with real personalities and all the positive and negative traits that real people have. Facing real problems with paying the bills and trying to lose weight.

Let’s take Wonder Woman. I don’t remember the issue number, but it was one of the last few issues before the book went on hiatus until George Pérez reintroduced the character. One of my favorite scenes was the one in which Diana tried to make breakfast, only she burned the toast and undercooked the eggs. It was only about two or three panels, but it made sense to me that as an individual who grew up on a magical island on which time had stopped in the Hellenic Age, a toaster and a frying pan would be as strange to her as, well, the appearance of an Amazon princess in the middle of New York City would be to us here on Earth-Prime.

And, although I’m a staunch pro-choicer, I’ve always believed Diana should be a staunch pro-lifer. Why? Well, think about it. An island of immortal women called Themyiscyra, where men are forbidden. For 3,000 years, cut off from the outside world by powerful magiks, babies are unknown…yes, pregnancy, the unborn child, would be ultimate, holy, sacrosanct, untouchable, inviolable object of worship of a woman raised in this environment.

(Of course, when I mentioned this to Karen Berger once, I believe she was intrigued, but what with Jenette Khan, then publisher of DC, being a friend of Gloria Steinem, and Steinem being one of the “ultimate, holy, sacrosanct, untouchable, and inviolable” feminists of the day, along with being editor of Ms. Magazine, she basically told me to “forget it.”)

I’d like to explore the loneliness of the last survivor of an alien civilization. (Superman, J’onn J’onzz.)

What does it do to a person to be able to run “faster than a speeding bullet” and get stuck in traffic? (Flash, Quicksilver).

How do you not go insane when you’re trapped in a body of rock? (Thing, Concrete.)

If you can fly, would you resent having to walk?

If you have x-ray vision, can you resist taking a look the boss’s e-mails? Or your co-worker’s paycheck?

If you can read minds, do you really want to know what people are thinking?

If you have telekinesis, would you ever get up off the couch?

One of my favorite science fiction movies, definitely on my top five list, is Forbidden Planet, in which the monster is a creature risen from the jealousies and fears that lurk within the human mind.

“Creatures from the id.”

Yes.

The enemy within.

TUESDAY: Michael Davis

MIKE GOLD’s Top 10 Comics Of 2011

It’s the end of the year and everybody’s got their Top 10 list, and since I went to journalism school I’m obligated to list mine. I’m looking at titles that were released in 2011 because cover dates are meaningless. I’m not looking at original graphic novels or reprint projects, even though in dollar volume they constitute the majority of my purchases. Besides, original graphic novels are done to very different standards. Finally, some of these titles are done by friends of mine; I refuse to disqualify them because they just might buy me lunch. Having said all that…

#1 – Life With Archie Magazine (Archie)

Top of my list for the second year straight. Two stories – Archie marries Veronica, Archie marries Betty. Parallel worlds which converge, but that’s not why this book is great. There’s very real character development here, layered on personalities that existed for 70 years without it. We watch them grow, not into adults, but as adults. Better still, the most interesting character in both series is Reggie Mantle! Paul Kupperberg writes this, with art from Norm Breyfogle, Fernando Ruiz, Pat and Tim Kennedy and a host of others.

#2 – Tiny Titans (DC)

If you see this as a kid’s comic, that’s great, particularly if you’re a kid. If you see this as a brilliant loving satire of DC Comics and its convoluted universe, that’s great too, particularly if you’re an “adult.” Art Baltazar and Franco are pushing towards 50 issues here, and there ain’t a clunker in the bunch.

#3 – Elric: The Balance Lost (Boom)

Michael Moorcock’s Eternal Champion has been in the hands of a lot of comics creators and a lot of comics publishers, and the output has been… inconsistent. This latest series is among the very best: all of the various shades of Elric are here, and interweaved through the storyline are very contemporary elements and environs. Good stuff from Chris Roberson and Francesco Biagini.

#4 – Daredevil (Marvel)

Once again, Mark Waid does what he does best: he takes a well-established character that, like all well-established comics characters, has been covered in paint about a dozen too many times and strips it back down to the wall, preserving everything that made the character work while imbuing it with a contemporary environment. On this series, he’s going just that – and he’s doing it better than ever. Penciler Marcos Martin ain’t no slouch, neither. This is a real superhero book.

#5 – Justice League Dark (DC)

This one’s my surprise of the year. While very little of DC’s New 52 answers the question “why bother,” this one takes a bunch of characters of a somewhat mystical nature and thrusts them, Justice League like, into a trauma vastly larger than any one of them… and maybe all of them. Sort of like The Defenders, with all the style and John Constantine’s wit. Peter Milligan’s DC work has been inconsistent for me (I tend to prefer his U.K. work), but I’m glad I checked this one out. Mikel Jann draws the series. Very different… and very good.

#6 – Fly (Zenoscope)

I reviewed Raven Gregory and Eric J’s series about a recreational drug that gives kids the power to fly way back here. I liked it then, I like it now. Of course it’s out in trade paperback, so if you blew me off in August, give it a shot now.

#7 – Red Skull (Marvel)

Retrofitting a backstory onto a well-established character is a gambit that is often ill conceived and, worse, boring. Not this one. Greg Pak and Mirko Colak take us back to the villain’s adolescence where we learn – definitively – where his allegiances truly lie… and why. The fact that it’s got the best covers I’ve seen on a mini-series in a long while doesn’t hurt, either.

#8 – Batgirl (DC)

I don’t have a clue about how this series fits into any continuity, current or past. I’m told it does. What I do know is that this is a series about a young woman who’s trying to reestablish herself as a superhero after enduring traumas that shattered her body and soul. She’s not necessarily great at being a superhero, but she’s giving it all she’s got. This is exactly what I expect out of Gail Simone, and that is a very high standard. Adrian Syaf offers solid and exciting storytelling.

#9 – Action Comics (DC)

I went here because of Rags Morales’ art – I’d buy Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes if Rags drew the box – and I stayed for Grant Morrison’s innovative and engrossing script. This is the all-new young Superman, before he figured out what to wear on the job. It’s set well before the all-new older Superman in his eponymous title. I don’t know how this leads up to that, and I don’t care. This is supposed to hold up on its own, and it does. I’ll get over the slap in history’s face with the numbering (if such lasts); this is the best-produced Superman title in a decade-and-a-half.

#10 – To my friends who didn’t make this list: each of you came in tied for #10. Now go fight it out.

Notice how there aren’t any teevee or movie tie-ins? I never warmed up to that stuff. Not even as a kid. Which means it took me a while to realize Steve Ditko actually drew Hogan’s Heroes.

I have no doubt that within weeks at least two of the above-named will start to suck. Like all commercial media, comic books are subject to the whims of the lords and ladies of irony. But as a professional cynic, these titles and perhaps another half-dozen meet and exceed my bizarrely encrusted standards. Your opinions might differ, and that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re wrong.

Of course not.

Extra: Happy birthday wishes to fellow columnist Marc Alan Fishman, who turns 30 today and, therefore, is old enough to know better. His son turns 0 in about a month.

Extra-Extra: Thanks to Gatekeeper Glenn for saving my life this year.

THURSDAY: Dennis O’Neil

MICHAEL DAVIS: Comics in Black… And White

I am a black man.

Well that’s not really true. I’m a tall and unbelievably handsome black man. I work in television, mainstream books and comics. Most of the works I’ve created in all of those mediums have featured black people in foremost roles.

I create black characters because I’m a black creator and I’d like to see more black people represented in the media and I think it’s my job to…yada, yada, yada…

Over the years I’ve said a zillion times that the reason I create black characters is because I felt we were under represented and I did believe it was my responsibility to create characters so young black kids can feel themselves represented.

But is it really my responsibility to create black characters because I’m a black man now? Have we come far enough in the country and the industry for me to give up the fight?

When I was growing up there were no black superheroes of color except for the Black Panther and Luke Cage, Hero For Hire. So my two black superheroes role models were an African King and an ex-con who was a superhero only when he got paid to be.

As hard as I tried I just could not identify with The Black Panther; he was an African king in his secret identity. “Oh, that’s a wonderful black man to aspire to be like.” I’m sure some of you are thinking.

Really?

I was born in Queens and the last thing I wanted to imagine myself growing up to be was an African king. I’d seen enough Tarzan movies as a kid to know I would not look good with a bone through my nose. I mean… ugh.

What about, Luke Cage Hero For Hire?

Really?

Hero for hire?

Really?

Like I said, I grew up in Queens or to be more precise, the hood in Queens. I could not imagine being a superhero that sold his services, that as they say in the hood is ghetto.

The young Harlem mother and her child were coming home very late one evening. The bus they were on was empty except for the driver and some gang bangers who looked like they wanted to start some trouble.

She was not worried, there was a rule written in stone in the hood among gangs, mothers and kids were off limits.

Written in stone…

The problem was these gang bangers could not read.

 “Yo, (bad word starts with B) what cha lookin at?”

He rose, slowly removing a gun from his jacket.

 “I said (bad word starts with B) what cha lookin at?”

She was frozen in place. She had never seen a real gun before and it was at the moment she knew this was the end of her life. She held her child close to her and said softy, “Close your eyes honey it will be OK.”

The bus stopped. Cage entered the bus. Paid his fare and stared down the thug with the gun. The woman’s face lit up as she realizes she is saved!

 “Oh, thank God! He was about to shoot me! I’m sure of it! He called me a…”

Cage puts his hand up to silence her then says; “I can save you for $500, your kid for another $500 so that’s $1000,00.”

The woman looks at Cage, she can tell by the stern look on his face he is not kidding. “ All I have is $500 to my name!”

 “Then you better tell your kid to keep his eyes closed.”

Really? Hero for Hire? Really?

Neither The Black Panther nor Luge Cage, neither of those black heroes seemed as good as the white heroes I was so in love with. Superman, Batman, Spider-Man and the like.

Superman was an orphan from another planet whose parents were blown the F up and he had a cool ass secret identity. He was Clark Kent, reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper. Batman’s secret identity was equally as badass, another orphan whose parents were shot the F up. His cool ass secret identity was rich ass playboy Bruce Wayne.

Spider-Man was another orphan whose parents were shot the F up AND as a bonus he was responsible for his Uncle Ben being shot the F up. His cool ass secret identity was a high school student and he worked for a great metropolitan newspaper as a photographer.

Why couldn’t I have a black hero whose parents were shot the F up? Why couldn’t I have a black hero who was an orphan? Why couldn’t I have a black hero whose cool ass secret identity was to work for a great metropolitan newspaper and not as a janitor?

No. I got an African king. In my mind, Tarzan (according to the movies my seven year old ass was watching) would soon rescue a white couple from a boiling pot the Black Panther had placed them in while waiting for a visit from The Fantastic Four, and I got a hero who people had to pay to protect them or in other words…

Super Pimp.

Also, Super Pimp didn’t even have a secret identity. Like I said, ghetto.

That’s what I grew up with. That’s what the African American comic book artists of my generation grew up with. It’s no wonder many of us felt it was our responsibly to create black heroes that our black kids could use as real role models, heroes that spoke to them not just in skin color but in experience.

When I was a kid a black GI Joe action figure was just a white GI. Joe painted brown. That made him black to me back then but that was not good enough for my kids when I had them.

Don’t get me wrong; I grew to love Lee and Kirby’s Black Panther. I realized just how cool it was to have an African king be his secret identity. That’s around the time I also realized those Tarzan movies were racist bullshit. Hasbro eventually came out with a black version of GI Joe that was a Black Joe. The lips, nose and even hair were modeled after black features. I still remember when I got my first real Black Joe. It was so damn cool.

As for Luke Cage, Hero for Hire?

That, in my opinion was and will always be ghetto. I mean damn, a Super Pimp? Come on! Really?

I grew up wanting and frankly needing black heroes that I could look up to and that spoke to me.

That was then.

Now, there is still need for more black superheroes as there is a need for many heroes of color but is it the job of people of color to create them?

Or…

Are the characters of any creator as valid as any other creator regardless if the creator is black or white?

In other words, would Blade be even cooler if a white guy did not create him? Would Spawn be even more badass if a black creator had created him?

Can white creators create viable black characters and vice versa? It seems the answer is an easy “yes” if you look at the success of some black characters created by non-black creators. It’s a easy yes in the marketplace to be sure but how about in the industry and the homes of those black kids who grow up wanting to be Blade?

Does it matter that an white guy created Blade? Should it matter? A great white guy and my dear friend Marv Wolfman but a white guy nevertheless.

Should we even care?

Anyone? Bueller? Bueller…?

WEDNESDAY: Mike Gold

MINDY NEWELL: Blocked!

I’m having a good case of writer’s block today.

You know how a few weeks ago I talked about what it’s like to be a writer? One thing I didn’t mention was the awfulness of staring at a blank screen – or a blank piece of paper for those who still use a typewriter, and yes, they are out there – without a clue in the universe of what you’re going to write about.

That’s when procrastination sets in.

After a half-hour, or maybe even an hour, of sitting at the computer and absolutely nothing is coming, I suddenly realize that the bathroom really needs to be cleaned. I gather up the Comet Bathroom Cleaner and the SOS and go to it, attacking the bathtub and the toilet, the sink and the floor. I Windex the mirror. Then I decide to rearrange the shelves. Then I realize that I need to put some clean towels out.

Okay, done. Bathroom looks and smells great.

Now I’m ready.

And still nothing comes.

I pick up the pile of comics that’s lying on my rocking chair. DC’s Legion: Secret Origin #2. Superman #3. Star Trek #3 from IDW. A bunch of others. Nothing sparks my interest really. I throw them back down and go into the living room. I slept on the couch last night, falling asleep while trying to stay awake and watch The Best Of The Dr. Who Christmas Specials on BBCAmerica. The blanket and pillow are still lying on the sofa.

I fold up the blanket and put it away, throw the pillow back on my bed. I sit down at the computer again.

Fifteen minutes later I’m back in the living room. I’ve been watching Battlestar Galactica repeats on BBCAmerica and all the commercials have been driving me mad – plus it annoys me that they cut out the “Previously on Battlestar Galactica” and I’m sure they’re cutting other scenes out too. I resolve to pull out my DVDs of BSG, watch an episode or two, and then sit down and do the column. It’s only 2 P.M.; lots of time left. I put Disc One of Season Four into the DVD and sit down to watch.

Three hours later it’s 5:30.

Okay, this is bullshit. Mike is going to kill me, and I’m being really, really unprofessional here.

Back at the computer. Maybe I should write about Christmas Eve.

Drove down to my brother and sister-in-law’s with the parents, Alixandra and Jeff. The plan was to be at my brother’s in time for the start of the Giants-Jets game, which started at 1. Alix and Jeff were supposed to pick me up at 10; they got to my house closer to 11. The radio was turned to NPR and Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me (which is one of my favorite shows on NPR) was on, and surprise! surprise! – Neil Gaiman was the guest. Haven’t seen Neil in too many years to count, so it was fun to listen to him play “Not My Job” and answer questions about Will and Kate – he nailed them, and so won Karl Cassel’s voice for some guy from Chicago’s voicemail; no, it wasn’t you, Mike.

Settle down at my brother’s to watch the game. First half – well, let’s not talk about that – except for Victor Cruz!!! What a runback! What a catch! Then the second half – Gaints come alive. And then it’s deep in the fourth quarter, it’s a long game, it’s 4:18 – New York is leading by 6 – the score is 20-14 – and FOX switches to the Eagles-Dallas game because of “NFL rules.” Chaos reigns! I throw a hissy fit, I yell at my brother, “I told you should have gotten the NFL Network!” while he cursed and ran for a radio. Jeff, always a calm in the center of my storms, suggests streaming it on the computer. I think, “what a great idea!,” so I run to my sister-in-law’s computer and hook into ESPN.com. No visual, just real-time audio, so I might as well go back and listen to the radio with the rest of the family. But I stay long enough to hear the Gaints make a safety. And between the time I left the computer and got back to the rest of the family, there was an interception, a touchdown – and I still don’t know who made it – and Tynes hit a field goal. 29 – 14. And Corey Webster intercepted to end the game.

Go Giants!!!!

Still don’t know what the hell to write about.

Oh, I know.

Gave my eleven year-old niece Isabel the original Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld maxi-series by Dan Mishkin, Gary Cohn and Ernie Colon along with the Amethyst mini-series by Keith Giffen and the late Esteban Maroto… oh, yeah, and me! She was delighted and wanted to sit down and start reading right away – but her mom (rightly so) said no, not now. This could get me writing about the continual ignorance of the comic book business when it comes to attracting young female readers; I mean, Amethyst was back in the 80’s, and the honchos are still trying to figure it out? Some things, as the saying goes, never change.

I could tell you about how we all stuffed ourselves on an introductory course of smoked salmon, white fish, and smoked trout on various breads and crackers served with bloody mary’s, followed by a dinner of tender romaine hearts with baby cherry tomatoes in a vinaigrette dressing, braised beef tenderloin in a garlic and horseradish sauce, roasted cauliflower with parmesan, latkes (potato pancakes, as I mentioned last week) and fresh grilled squash with red onions sprinkled with honey; followed by an upside down orange polenta cake served alongside a Carvel “Frosty the Snowman” ice cream cake.

What else could I write about? Don’t feel like saying anything about politics this week. Well, I could talk about the House Republicans trying to block the extension of the payroll tax cut and how they had to cave and how the “orange man” sounded like a fool when he tried to make it a Republican victory, but, nah, just not in the mood.

I give up.

Sometimes the block wins.

TUESDAY: Michael Davis

 

Justice League: Doom to Debut at the Paley Center for Media in February

Warner Home Video, MTV Geek and The Paley Center for Media proudly present the World Premiere of Justice League: Doom, the next entry in the popular, ongoing series of DC Universe Animated Original Movies, in New York on February 13, 2012. Filmmakers and members of the voice cast will attend the event for red carpet media interviews and a post-screening panel discussion.

A limited number of free tickets are available for the general public. Fans in the New York City area wishing to receive free tickets to the NY event on Feb. 13 must RSVP via email to JLDoomNY@yahoo.com. Email RSVPs should include the fan’s first and last name, and a valid email address.

Tickets to the event will be distributed on a “first come, first served” basis. MTV Geek will also be giving away special seating for the event.

Justice League: Doom finds Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, Cyborg and Batman on their heels when a team of super villains discover and implement the Dark Knight’s “contingency plans” for stopping any rogue Justice League member. The story is inspired by Mark Waid and Howard Porter’s much-heralded JLA: Tower of Babel.

The film features the voices of Nathan Fillion (Castle) as Green Lantern, Tim Daly (Private Practice) as Superman, and a grand reunion of actors who provided the voices of the Justice League for the cartoon of the same name and its follow-up, Justice League Unlimited, including Kevin Conroy (Batman: The Animated Series) as Batman, Michael Rosenbaum (Smallville, Breaking In) as Flash, Susan Eisenberg (Superman/Batman: Apocalypse) as Wonder Woman and Carl Lumbly (Alias) as J’onn J’onzz/Martian Manhunter. Bumper Robinson (A Different World, Transformers: Animated) joins the cast as Cyborg. The cast features three villainous alumni of the Justice League animated series: Phil Morris (Smallville, Seinfeld) as Vandal Savage, Olivia d’Abo (The Wonder Years) as Star Sapphire, and Alexis Denisof (Angel) as Mirror Master. Also opposing our heroes are Carlos Alazraqui (Reno 911) as Bane, Paul Blackthorne (The Dresden Files) as Metallo, and Claudia Black (Farscape, Stargate SG-1) as Cheetah. David Kaufman (Danny Phantom) also reprises his Justice League role of Jimmy Olsen.

The filmmaking team includes executive producer by Bruce Timm, director Lauren Montgomery, producer Alan Burnett and dialogue/casting director Andrea Romano. Justice League: Doom is the final DC Universe film script from the late Dwayne McDuffie.

Voice cast members and filmmakers will be announced as confirmed for the event. The Paley Center for Media is located at 25 West 52nd Street, New York, NY.

Produced by Warner Premiere, DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation, the all-new Justice League: Doom arrives February 28, 2012 from Warner Home Video as a Blu-Ray™ Combo Pack and DVD, On Demand and for Download. Both the Blu-Ray™ Combo Pack and DVD will include an UltraViiolet™ Digital Copy.

 

 

Eduardo Barreto

Eduardo Barreto: 1954-2011

Eduardo BarretoVeteran comic book artist Luis Eduardo Barreto has passed away from complications of meningitis. He was 57.

Born in Uruguay, Barreto’s work was seen most often in DC Comics titles in the 1980s and early 1990s. He may be widely known for his run on The New Teen Titans, but it was his more noirish work where he truly excelled, bringing a darker touch to Superman: Speeding Bullets, Batman: Scar of the Bat, Batman: Master of the Future, Batman/Daredevil: King of New York, The Shadow Strikes, Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, The Phantom, and my personal favorite, Lex Luthor: The Unauthorized Biography.

Later in his career, Barreto took over the long-running newspaper comic strip Judge Parker before being diagnosed with meningitis. Most recently, he drew the Superman Retroactive: 70’s for DC, and he and his son Diego succeeded Peter Krause on Mark Waid’s Irredeemable for BOOM! Studios.

His following was truly international: a skim of Twitter feeds shows as many tributes and remembrances of him in Spanish as in English. He will be missed.

A BIG NOSE, A JADE OGRE, PULPWORK, PRO SE, AND BOB & RAY-ALL FROM RADIO ARCHIVES!

  • News
  • December 16, 2011

RadioArchives.com Newsletter

 
December 16, 2011
 
From Radio Archives To You – Lightning Fast Delivery!
 
Running out of time to order that last great gift for someone on your list? No problem at Radio Archives! With our Lightning Fast Service, you can place your order by 7:30 PM Eastern and we will ship your order the same day!
 
Flat Rate ground shipping to the West Coast takes 3 to 5 days and only 7 to 8 days if you live on the East Coast. Priority Mail takes only 2 to 3 days for delivery! Order Saturday morning and receive your order on Monday. With Radio Archive’s Lightning Fast Service, you can order through December 21st using Priority Mail for Christmas Delivery!
 
Radio Archives also offers Digital Downloads and Gift Certificates that are delivered instantly! Lightning Fast Service for you from Radio Archives!

NEW Radio Set: The Jimmy Durante Show, Volume 3

He butchered the English language. He sang as if he gargled with gravel. He dropped pearls of wisdom disguised as one-liners. And he had a nose that got everywhere ten minutes before he did. All of this and a genuine love for his craft and the people who enjoyed it made Jimmy Durante a star in the Golden Age of Radio and makes The Jimmy Durante Show, Volume 3 a must have for fans today.

 
Nicknamed “Schnozzola” for his oversized nose, Jimmy Durante first came to prominence as a teenager, playing New York’s restaurant and nightclub. Bitten by the show-biz bug, he dropped out of school in the eighth grade and soon joined a musical comedy trio that wowed nightclub audiences with its boisterous unpredictability, Durante’s aggressive interaction with the musicians, and his penchant for destroying pianos in mock frustration took the group into Vaudeville and onto Broadway, where Durante became a star.
 
Jimmy continued his Broadway success in a string of popular shows and revues throughout the 1930s. But he didn’t limit himself solely to the Great White Way. On the radio, Durante’s broad delivery, overwhelming personality, and penchant for mangling his words only increased his popularity with laugh-hungry Depression-era audiences. In 1943, Durante relocated to Hollywood, where he was signed to headline a CBS series titled “The Camel Caravan”. Initially co-starred with Garry Moore, the mismatched duo instantly clicked as a team, ratings went through the roof, and Durante’s patented brand of language mangling and outraged interaction with the orchestra introduced him to radio audiences all over again.
 
When Moore left the show in the fall of 1947, Jimmy Durante signed a contract to host a new series on NBC for the Rexall Drug Company. The Jimmy Durante Show proved just as popular as its predecessor.
 
The Jimmy Durante Show, Volume 3 consists of five hours of what makes Durante a legendary character. His tirades with the orchestra and whatever star crosses his path, his gruff, yet playful singing voice, his deliberate degradation of English verbiage, and of course his own jokes about his very own nose endear him to fans, old and new. Also, Durante is a statesman, philosophizing in pithy one-line comments on the world, on society, but most of all on how we should all get along. Taken directly from original master recordings and fully restored for sparkling audio fidelity, The Jimmy Durante Show, Volume 3 is proof that Jimmy Durante can still leave ‘em laughing! Find out for yourself by getting this great collection for $14.98 on Audio CDs and $9.98 as a digital download!

 
 

“Personal Notice: Danger’s my stock-in-trade. If the job is too tough for you to handle, you’ve got a job for me, George Valentine.”
 
Have a High Adventure Holiday with the all purpose hero himself! Let George Do It, Volume 1 for only 99 Cents! Follow George and his Girl Friday Brooksie through all the harrowing twists and turns of each and every startling, fantastic case!
 
Swing into action with George in 10 hours of wonderfully restored audio CDs for only 99 Cents with a $35.00 Order! Just add Let George Do It, Volume 1 to your shopping cart, and then add $35.00 or more worth of additional merchandise to your cart as well. Before checking out, be sure to enter the coupon code BONUS to Let George Do It for just 99 Cents.
 
 
With Christmas approaching faster than eight reindeer pulling a sled, The Treasure Chest is the best place to find last minute gift ideas at fantastic prices. For this most special of Holidays, every DVD in the Treasure Chest is now discounted 70%! Classic Movies, Timeless Television, and More! Something for everyone on your list can be found in The Treasure Chest and at a remarkable 70% off!
 

Up, Up, and Away with classic serial super heroics! The complete 1948 and 1950 Superman Theatrical Serials on 4 DVDS! Classic Crooning From Hollywood’s Golden Age with Bing Crosby: The Screen Legends Collection!
 
Ride the Range with the likes of The Cisco Kid and Zorro, each one featured in his own 3 DVD set! Laugh at the antics of Harold Lloyd and Burns And Allen, all taking center stage in their own DVDs! Thrill to the original classic King Kong! Fly off into adventure with Sky Captain and The World of Tomorrow! Sing under the Western Sky with Roy Rogers in three of his classic films! Guffaw at the Country Comedy of Lum and Abner in three movies! Enjoy the hilarity of one of History’s Greatest comics as Jack Benny is featured in two different sets!
 
Inventory of these DVDs are getting low. This is the last week they will be available as we are removing the remaining DVDs from the website after Christmas.
 
Great DVDs! Unbelievable Prices! And all at Christmastime! The Treasure Chest is full of Holiday Gift Ideas for You!
 

 

Like your Action Fast Paced? Happy about Horror and Suspense? Needing that extra tickle that only Comedy can Provide? Enjoy Music and Variety from a bygone Era? And want that and more this Christmas? Then Radio Archives is just the place for you! Restored to the highest audio quality possible, the best in Old Time Radio is available here, like these awesome collections.
 
Ride the High Seas with History’s Greatest Privateer! Fight Pirates, hunt for treasure, and write history alongside one of the most legendary seafarers ever! Get on Board with Afloat with Henry Morgan, Volume 1. Seven hours on audio CDs $20.98 or as a Digital Download for $13.98!
 

 
Remember Archie and Jughead? Betty and Veronica? And all the Gang in Riverdale? Yep, that’s right, those fantastic characters from Archie Comics took stage front and center in their own Radio show, The Adventures of Archie Andrews! Go along with Archie and the Gang as they get in and out of hilarity each episode in this 7 hour collection, available on audio CDs for $20.98 or as a Digital Download for $13.98!
 
Great Mysteries, Witty Humor, and a Fantastic Singing Voice to beat! This and more you’ll find in Richard Diamond, Private Detective, Volume 1. Starring Dick Powell, this classic radio detective program set the standards for many of the shows to follow, both on radio and television, and features the earliest work from the fantastic Blake Edwards! And this clever criminal catching can be yours, 10 hours of a Singing Sleuth for $29.98 on audio CDs and $19.98 as a digital download!
 

 
Thrill to one of the greatest and most controversial performers ever, putting his vision out for the audience to hear with The Mercury Theatre on the Air! This 10-hour collection is Orson Welles at his creative pinnacle, doing adaptations of classic works his way and providing us with some of the best audio drama ever! And it can be yours for $29.98 on audio CDs and $19.98 for the Digital Download!
 
Six Guns! Guitars! Knee slapping Cowboy Comedy! All this and more can be found on All Star Western Theatre! A perfect mix of everything audiences loved about Saturday Matinees comes together in this classic Cowboy variety program! Saddle up for 10 hours of All Star Western Theatre for $29.98 on audio CDs and $19.98 as a Digital Download!
 

 
Suspense! Adventure! Pulse Pounding Action! And Twists You don’t see coming! And all of that in fifteen minute doses! That’s what you get on The Unexpected, Volume 1. Featuring some of the greatest stars of classic radio, The Unexpected, Volume 1 puts the listener right into the thick of the action and just when you think you know where it’s headed, it takes a turn to The Unexpected! Thrill to this one of a kind suspense program, 5 hours on audio CDs for $14.98 and Digital Download for $9.98!
 
Want to get a taste of what Classic Radio was like all in one Collection? If so, then The Classic Collection is for you! In addition to thirty full-length original broadcasts, you’ll also hear a series of insightful interviews with many of the people who created and starred in some of the best-loved shows of all time. Twenty full hours of delightful entertainment on audio CD for $39.98!
 
“Get this and get it straight: crime is a sucker’s road, and those who travel it end up in the gutter, the prison, or the grave…” The immortal opening of one of the most popular and best produced detective dramas of Radio’s Golden Age! Join Raymond Chandler’s modern day Knight on the mean streets of Los Angeles in The Adventures of Philip Marlowe, Volume 1! 10 hours of Crime Solving at its best for $29.98 on audio CDs and $19.98 for Digital Download!

 

 
 

 

The RadioArchives.com audiobook of Will Murray’s monumental Doc Savage adventure The Jade Ogre is sure to delight fans of audio adventure this holiday season … and into the New Year.

 

“The Jade Ogre makes a wonderful listening experience,” Producer/Director Roger Rittner says. “Will has packed a cast of colorful characters, plus mystery, intrigue, action, adventure, and a bit of mysticism into an heroic tale. It’s an epic adventure to be savored.”

 

Based on an outline by Lester Dent, the massive The Jade Ogre tells the story of one of Doc Savage’s most exciting and exotic adventures.

 

Accompanied by his aides Monk Mayfair and Ham Brooks, his cousin Pat Savage, and a cast of unique characters, Doc races to unlock the secret of the Jade Ogre, a fantastic Oriental villain who unleashes death in the form of disembodied flying arms, capable of disintegrating its victims in a flash of fire. But the lethal flying arms are merely the cover for a more deadly menace – the mysterious Jade Fever, which strikes down its victims with a deadly virus that turns its victims green as jade.

 

“The Jade Ogre will carry the listener from the fog-shrouded streets of the Chinatown of 1935 San Francisco, to the crumbling ruins of Cambodia, as the armless and ruthless Jade Ogre attempts to blackmail the world with his lethal Jade Fever,” author Will Murray says in his liner notes.

 

Narrator Michael McConnohie essays every role in the story with unerring vocal impressions that give life to Murray’s distinctive characters.

 

In addition to the 36-chapter story, the 12-CD set includes two bonus audio features: a continuation of Will Murray’s discussion of the creation of Doc Savage, and his memory of creating The Jade Ogre from Lester Dent’s notes, plus how Pat Savage has contributed to the Doc Savage canon.

 

The Jade Ogre is available now from RadioArchives.com at $37.98 for the deluxe 12-CD set, or $25.98 for instant digital download.

 

 

Just in time for that last-minute holiday gift, RadioArchives.com brings to audiobooks Secret Agent “X”, the man of many identities.

 

A nameless mystery man with a wartime past in the Intelligence service, declared dead by the Department of Justice, and backed by a shadowy group of powerful philanthropists, Secret Agent “X” infiltrates the Underworld to crush crime in all of its hideous manifestations.

 

The Torture Trust, the audio version of the very first Secret Agent “X” adventure, introduces the mysterious nemesis of the most nefarious criminals the pulp writers could dream up. In it, Secret Agent “X” pits all his secretive skill and devious daring against a criminal triad that wields face-destroying acid as an instrument of blackmail.

 

Read by noted voiceover actor Dave Mallow, The Torture Trust is a danger-a-minute audio introduction to this fondly remembered pulp avenger of the 1930s.

 

The Torture Trust, the latest entry in RadioArchives.com’s Will Murray’s Pulp Classics series, will provide thrills and chills to pulp and audiobook fans alike.

 

The deluxe five-CD set of The Torture Trust is just $14.98. The instant download version is just $9.98.

 

The Spider Offers A Unique Listening Experience

 

For over-the-top thrills, you can’t beat Prince of the Red Looters, the first audiobook from RadioArchives.com featuring the pulp hero, The Spider.

 

“With extensive sound effects and complete period music score, Prince of the Red Looters is an almost ‘cinematic’ experience for listeners,’ says Producer/Director Roger Rittner. “Customers are telling us it’s like a movie playing in your mind.”

 

Narrating Norvel Page’s propulsive prose, stage and screen stars Nick Santa Maria and Robin Riker give life to the sword fights, escapes, insurmountable odds, nail-biting suspense, and unexpected twists in Prince of the Red Looters.

 

Prince of the Red Looters is available in a 6-CD deluxe set at just $19.98, or as an instant digital download at just $14.98.

 

More Audio Adventures Ideal for Holiday Giving

 

Listeners continue to discover and delight in Python Isle. In Booklist, the 100-year-old journal of the American Library Association, Kaite Mediatore Stover says that Python Isle, the first Doc Savage audiobook from Radio Archives.com, “takes listeners on a breathless, roller-coaster adventure ride. Michael McConnohie’s masterful pacing keeps the tension and suspense tighter than a python’s grip, and a superb blend of sound effects and music enhance the mood, lending the production a cinematic feel.”

 

The full-cast NPR series The Adventures of Doc Savage presents special adaptations of “Fear Cay” and “The Thousand-Headed Man” by Roger Rittner and Will Murray. Featuring a full cast of voice actors, extensive sound effects, and period music score, The Adventures of Doc Savage is non-stop action in 13 exciting installments.

 

A super-criminal emerges in White Eyes, the second Doc Savage audiobook from RadioArchives.com. From his skyscraper headquarters high above the streets of New York City to the sugarcane fields of Cuba, Doc Savage races to crush gangland’s latest uncrowned king. White Eyes features dramatic narration by Richard Epcar, cover art by Joe DeVito, plus fantastic extras.

 

The first Black Bat audiobook, Brand of the Black Bat, is a stirring story of crime and corruption, and of a courageous avenger determined to track down the vicious gangster who robbed him of his brilliant career, all the while thwarting Captain MacGrath of the N.Y.P.D., who suspects Quinn and the Black Bat are one and the same. Michael McConnohie reads this fantastic tale.

 

RadioArchives.com resurrects the wild and wonderful Doctor Death, one of the rare unabashedly supernatural pulp series. Equal parts Doctor Frankenstein and Albert Einstein, with a dash of Fu Manchu, Doctor Death’s supreme goal in life was to crush civilization. His first fatal foray into reversing mankind’s fortunes, 12 Must Die, is now available in an audiobook read by television and anime star Joey D’Auria.

 

 

 
 

Pulp Fans know how their favorite writers work magic with the English Language.  The Pulp Book Store is now proud to feature the works of two men who influenced radio, television, movies, and even modern day Pulp writers with their subtle manipulations of the Language, bringing humor and philosophy out of every day situations into the every day lives of Americans.  Now a part of The Pulp Book Store: Bob and Ray!
 
Bob Elliott & Ray Goulding, legendary American humorists, were loved by fans and by fellow humorists, comedians and broadcasters. Every humorist and comedian from 1946 to the present was influenced by Bob & Ray, including Johnny Carson, David Letterman, Jay Leno, George Carlin, Al Franken, Garrison Keillor and Kurt Vonnegut, who wrote: “Their jokes turn out to be universal…because much of life presents itself as the same dilemma: how to seem lusty and purposeful when less than nothing is going on.”
 
Bob & Ray’s 40-year career began at WHDH, Boston. Bob was a disc jockey, and Ray a newscaster. When the Red Sox games were delayed on account of rain, they began to amuse each other to fill the time. Soon they had a daily show of their own, “Matinee with Bob & Ray,” an improvised, madcap exercise in controlled chaos. Over their long career, they created more than a hundred characters, all played by Bob or Ray. Wally Ballou, the hapless journalist, Mary McGoon, whose recipe for frozen ginger ale salad prefigures Martha Stewart; Biff Burns in the sports room, Webley Webster, Barry Campbell, a third rate actor with an ego the size of the universe, Mary Backstayge, Noble Wife whose pals travel the world in search of goofy adventure.
 
Their humor is subtle, dry, intelligent and clean. Bob & Ray have a keen ear for language, how it is used and misused by the con artists, hucksters and hustlers who populate radio and television. Their humor is timeless. Bob & Ray ‘s satire of soap operas, game shows, radio shrinks and other self-appointed “experts,” and commercials, is as pertinent today as it was in 1946. 
 

Bob And Ray were wizards of comic timing and practiced linguistic legerdemain like no other pair before or since!  If you enjoy your humor the way you enjoy your Pulp, clever and delivered subtly and sharply, then the Pulp Book Store now has what You’re looking for!  Bob And Ray!
 

 

Tired of giving the same old ties and gift boxes of sausage and cheese for Christmas? Bored with shopping the usual places, browsing the same sites day in and day out? Then stop! Radio Archives has just the place for you to shop and fill every need on your Christmas list with unique collectibles and fantastic books and more! The Pulp Book Store!

Pulp Fiction, thought by many to be an artifact of the past, a lost treasure of days gone by, is alive and well, both the classic tales and New Pulp stories! And the best Tales and Providers of Pulp can be found right here at The Pulp Book Store!

 
The Pulp Book Store provides both Pulp enthusiasts and those who are simply curious a one-stop opportunity to browse and shop the best the Pulp market in all its many facets has to offer every single day!
 
Pulp Fiction, even though its heyday was in the early 20th Century, has been popular as long as it has existed and continues to excite readers today. Often fast paced, action packed, and full of fantastical ideas, over the top characters, and imaginative adventures, Pulp can be about cowboys, aliens, ancient gods, two-fisted detectives, bigger than life gangsters, femme fatales, and so many other sorts of characters as it reaches into nearly every genre imaginable.
 
Pulp is also all about variety. Not only are there classic and new pulp stories, but nearly every genre has stories within it that are clearly pulp. Be it science fiction, hard boiled crime, rootin’ tootin’ westerns and so many others, Pulp discriminates against no genre. This, along with the resurgence of Pulp publishers and its popularity, is why Radio Archives has established the Pulp Book Store.
 
“The concept’s easy,” according to Pulp Book Store Manager, Tommy Hancock. “The convenience for the consumer is amazing. If someone is a fan of a particular company, they usually just go to that publisher’s site and nowhere else and that’s fine. But, speaking as a fan myself, most of us enjoy Pulp stuff from a variety of sources. With The Pulp Book Store, I can go and find several companies providing and promoting books I want. Each company in The Pulp Book Store has its own ‘store within a store’ designed as they want it to draw attention to their wares.”
 
If you’re interested in Pulp Classics, then the Pulp Book Store features the best in Pulp Reprint Publishers. Ride along with the well remembered classic Pulp heroes as they fight wrong and make right! Or, if your interest leans more toward more obscure characters, you’ll find those too in some of the great replicas and reprints produced by leading publishers in the Pulp world, all right here at The Pulp Book Store!
 
Looking for something new? Pulpy tales written by modern writers and using either original characters or simply new stories about existing characters, are growing in popularity. Pulp icons blaze new trails in original adventures, such as Will Murray’s all new Doc Savage novels. A pantheon of modern original heroes step front and center to keep up the good fight as well. New tales in a classic style keep Pulp Fiction current and alive and can be found here at the Pulp Book Store!
 
And it’s not simply about books! Pulp has reached its adventurous tentacles into other mediums as well, including posters and audio drama! And you’ll find examples of that as well in various stores here at The Pulp Book Store!
 
If you purchase several products from several publishers, everything is shipped to you in the same box. Our Flat Rate ground postage means that no matter how many companies you buy from, you pay only one small amount for postage and you pay for everything together. Possibly the best news, Place your order by 7:30pm Eastern Time and your order is mailed the same day. Unbelievable but true.
 
“If Pulp is a part of your life or not, then browse the Pulp Book Store and enjoy,” says Hancock. “If you end up there out of curiosity or by accident, then please look around. We’re sure there is something offered by our many Publishers that will intrigue you. Regardless, Pulp is here to stay. The Pulp Book Store is the one stop shop for the Best in Classic and New Pulp today!
 
Christmas Discounts From The Pulp Book Store To You!
 
As their gift to you, several Publishers in the Pulp Book Store are offering limited time only discounts to you this Holiday Season! From Now through December 30th, take advantage of the Christmas Specials from the Best Providers of Pulp Today!
 
Whether or not you’re looking for modern action adventure, new tales of heroes stranded on lost worlds, or a brand new take on the return of the Lord of the Vampires, You’ll find that and more in the Pulpwork Press store! And, as a special Holiday offer, Pulpwork Press is offering a 20 % discount on ALL merchandise in its store! Through December 30, 2011, thrill to the New Pulp adventures of Dillon, Dracula, The Gantlet Brothers, the Dire Planet and so much more at 20 % Off!
 
Masked men! Sword Wielding Women! Private Eyes from the Future! Psychotic heroes from the Past! Pro Se Press puts the Monthly Back into Pulp with its regular production of new books as well as its magazine, Pro Se Presents, each month! And, just in time for Christmas, Pro Se offers 20% off of ALL titles currently in the Pulp Book Store! Titles like The Rook, The Adventures of Lazarus Gray, Fortune’s Pawn, YesterYear and more at a 20% Discount! From Pro Se Press to You, Happy Holidays!
 
Not only can you find the Best in Pulp Today, but from now until December 30, 2011, You can find it at a great price here in The Pulp Book Store!

 

 

The Man of Bronze battles the supernatural in classic pulp thrillers by Lester Dent writing as “Kenneth Robeson.” First, Doc Savage follows his stolen dirigible to a magic island and discovers the lost city of Ost, in an expanded novel with never-before-published text from Lester Dent’s original manuscript. Then, Renny Renwick awakens in the body of a fugitive gangster after encountering a strange impish man. What is the bizarre connection between the One-Eyed Mystic, a stolen military secret and a Nazi plot? This classic pulp reprint features the original color pulp covers by Robert G. Harris and Modest Stein, Paul Orban’s classic interior illustrations and historical commentary by Will Murray, writer of eight Doc Savage novels.
 
The Shadow’s true identity takes center stage in two classic pulp novels that inspired the classic 1940 Shadow movie serial. First, explorer Kent Allard is invited to join The Green Hoods, a hooded secret society whose true purpose is an enigma. Then, airplanes carrying wealthy passengers disappear over the Rockies, setting The Shadow on the trail of the criminal mastermind called Silver Skull. PLUS “Prelude to Terror,” a 1939 radio classic. This instant collector’s item showcases both classic pulp covers by George Rozen, the original interior illustrations by Edd Cartier and commentary by popular-culture historians Ed Hulse and Will Murray.

 

Review of “Crooks Go Straight” from The Shadow, Volume 11

By John Olsen

“Crooks Go Straight” was originally published in the March 1, 1935 issue of The Shadow Magazine. This story follows the reformed lives of two ex-crooks, Steve Zurk, a bank robber, and Jack Targon, a swinder. But both have recently been pardoned by the governor, and are now free men.
 
Aboard the Eastern Limited, headed for New York, Zurk and Targon discuss their past lives and their bright future. Both are determined to go straight and make a success of their lives. In the compartment next door, The Shadow listens to their conversation via a small wire. Although his usual task was to harry men of crime, The Shadow had more than once aided ex-crooks to go straight. And this was one of those times.
 
And so, two ex-convicts begin their new lives. Crooks have gone straight. Or have they? There are sudden murders. Robberies. And signs point to one of the two. Or perhaps, both! Only The Shadow can solve the mystery. Only The Shadow can uncover the true mastermind behind the scheme. Only The Shadow can clear the innocent and unmask the guilty.
 
This story features Cliff Marsland, Hawkeye and Harry Vincent in major roles, with Clyde Burke and Burbank taking minor ones. Police Commissioner Ralph Weston and Detective Joe Cardona appear to represent the law. And The Shadow appears in his disguise as Lamont Cranston. Moe Shrevnitz appears briefly, and is described as a reserve agent of The Shadow. I always considered Moe to be a full-time agent, but keep in mind that his was an early tale of The Shadow.
 
The story features that strange vial (spelled phial, here) of purplish liquid which restores The Shadow’s strength after being injured in a two-story fall. It’s been used in other stories, and always intrigues me because of its vague power. We’re never told exactly what it is, but its effect is immediate. Are we talking about some illicit narcotic, here? Somehow, I wouldn’t be surprised.
 
“Crooks Go Straight” and one other Shadow classic can be yours today in The Shadow, Volume 11 for $12.95 here at Radio Archives!
 

Comments From Our Customers!
 

John  Skelton:
I really enjoy your old time radio products and your great service. These old time radio programs are very enjoyable to listen to as you know.
 

If you’d like to share a comment with us or if you have a question or a suggestion send an email to Service@RadioArchives.com. We’d love to hear from you!
 
The products you’ve read about in this newsletter are just a small fraction of what you’ll find waiting for you at RadioArchives.com. Whether it’s the sparkling audio fidelity of our classic radio collections, the excitement of our new line of audiobooks, or the timeless novels of the pulp heroes, you’ll find hundreds of intriguing items at RadioArchives.com.
 
If you no longer wish to receive our newsletter, or if this newsletter has been sent to you in error, please reply to this e-mail with the subject line UNSUBSCRIBE and your name will immediately be removed from our mailing list.
 

Holiday Comic Gift Guide For Video Gamers

Holiday Comic Gift Guide For Video Gamers

  • News
  • December 14, 2011

Are you shopping for gamers this holiday season? If so, there are a lot of great comics based on some of today’s most popular video games.  Here’s just a few comic gift ideas that are perfect for gamers:

BATMAN: ARKHAM UNHINGED — Go deeper into the world of ARKHAM CITY with BATMAN: ARKHAM UNHINGED. A weekly, original digital series based on the video games BATMAN: ARKHAM ASYLUM and [[[BATMAN: ARKHAM CITY]]], each 10-page chapter ties directly in to the continuity of the game and follows your favorite characters through the bedlam.  And don’t forget that the first ARKHAM digital comic series –BATMAN: ARKHAM CITY – is now available as a collected hard cover.

UNCHARTED — The critically acclaimed and best-selling PlayStation 3 video game jumps onto the comic page, featuring an all-new action-packed story written by Joshua Williamson (SUPERMAN/BATMAN) with fantastic covers by the legendary Tony Harris. It’s just in time for the newly released [[[Uncharted #3: Drake’s Deception]]]. (more…)

Categories

Archives

Everything you need to make great comics!

comicmix-pro-300x69-2

Nucleus X

Bookshop Zaks