Greeting Loyal Airmen, and here we are with another Flight Log filled with all kinds of odds and ends. Ever since coming home from this year's Pulp Fest, we've been trying to play catch up and keep you all posted on what we have going on in both the pulp and comic fields.  But first we want to discuss a couple of TV series we've truly been enjoying lately.

BBC America just finished airing THE MUSKETEERS, and wonderful retelling of Alexander Dumas' classic adventure novel, THE THREE MUSKETEERS.  Always one of the Air Chief's favorite classics, we enjoyed lots of film adaptations over the years and were happily delighted at just how well this series was done.  The stories to find their inspirations in Dumas' original but having the luxury of many hours, the writers have added lots more depth and characterization.  It also doesn't hurt that the cast is great.  Artos (Tom Burke) d'Artagnan (Luke Pasqualino) Portos (Howard Charles) and Aramis (Santiago Cabrera) are all spot on with their roles.  And kudos to BBC America for casting a mulatto in the role of Portos, paying tribute to Dumas who was himself of mixed ancestry.  And of course we be remiss if we didn't mention Peter Capaldi (the new Dr. Who) as the villainous Cardinal Richelieu.  The first season just wrapped last week and if you haven't seen it, cheer up as it has just been released on DVD (see cover above) and a most reasonable price. The Air Chief loves the series that much that we picked this up today and plan on watching it all over again.  Of course it is fun to hear what are classic French characters speaking British English, but that is easily forgotten as each tale unfolds.

Speaking of French history, the Air Chief has been enjoying the show WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE, produced by Ancestry.com wherein famous celebrities try to search their own family trees in order to uncover their lineage.  The series has been on for several years and is truly fascination.  As for the Air Chief, both my parents were of French Canadian heritage.  My grandfather, John Baptiste Fortier move to Southern New Hampshire when he was 13 years old, from Quebec.  His father was Pierre Fortier. We've often wondered what prompted them to make such a radical exodus from their homeland.  My mother's maiden name was Richer, her father was Donat Richer and his family settled in the nearby town of Sanford, Maine.  Growing up, we spoke both French and English, though we are sad to say we've forgotten most of our French over the years.  Mom once told us that her father was embarrassed as a child growing up in Quebec because his mother did not speak French.  We then learned that her maiden was Hamlin and her people had migrated to Canada from England.  We've never really sat down to explore our ancestry but several years ago our oldest son, Scott, found a Fortier Association headquartered in Canada and there a family coat-of-arms.  According the records of this organization, the first Fortier to travel from France to Canada was one Antoine Fortier, a master shipbuilder, ergo the sailing ship at the bottom of the crest.  He was supposedly from Normandy, represented by the twin lions and settled in an area of Canada known for fertile soil good for planting fruit.  Finally the parapets represent the name's translation, Fortier meaning someone who works in a Fort…someone strong.  One of these days, the Air Chief is going to have to explore this in a whole lot more detail.  Right now, we love to have this coat-of-arms sculpture in wood. Would look very cool hanging up in our office, don't you think?

As we stated at the start of this Flight Log, we've been keeping busy and are happy to finally announce the availability of our two latest comic projects from Redbud Studio.  PARADISE FALLS is the first issue of a sci-fi thriller. It's a crime story told in a futuristic city and was written by yours truly with art by John D. Williams and lettering by Warren Montgomery.  Warren also did a great job in coloring the cover; the book is in black and white and we had a lot of fun putting it together.  The second release is our very first full color comic book from Redbud Studio and it is based on a little pulp hero from the 1930s, I.V. Frost a character created by pulp writer Donald Wandrei who penned 18 Frost short stories for CLUE magazine.  Frost was a cross between Sherlock Holmes and Mike Hammer, a scientific detective not afraid to get his hands dirty.  He was accompanied by the smart and sexy Jean Moray.  This one shot comic features two complete stories by me again, art and lettering by Gary Kato, the cover art was by Jake Minor and all coloring to include the marvelous interior pages was by Casey Beamis.  Both books were edited by Rob Davis and can be purchased on-line from (www.IndyPlanet.com)  We truly hope you'll give them a look see.

                             
                                  RAVENWOOD – Stepson of Mystery

And finally to close things up this week we thought we'd let you know what the Air Chief has been working on his coming back to Hangar 27.  Later this year Airship 27 Productions will be releasing a new anthology called THE OCCULT DETECTIVES and it will feature four stories all starring occult detectives.  On board are writers Joel Jenkins, Joshua Reynolds, Jim Beard and the Air Chief.  Yup, we are putting the finishing touches on a brand new Ravenwood – Stepson of Mystery.  After publishing two anthologies starring this very cool pulp hero, we just couldn't turn down the chance to write him and his supporting characters just one time.  The story is called JAZZY and that's all we'll say for now.  But it is a really special project for us on a personal level which will become quite clear when the book is released.  Stay tuned, we'll certainly keep you all posted.

And there you go, another week done and into the Labor Day Weekend.  The end of Summer is only weeks away.  Enjoy the holiday weekend, have fun, be careful on the roads and see you back here next Friday.

Ron – Over & Out!