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| July 11, 2008 |
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ALL ABOUT RON - REALLY read... |
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Greeting loyal airmen and welcome to another week's Log Entry where the old Air Chief's ego takes flight, soaring to new heights of humility. Ha. But before launching into what that's all about, we want to give a sharp Airship 27 salute to Airman Wayne Reinagle who provided us with that amazing picture of the USS Akron on one of its flights over Manhattan. Simply majestic, these grand and graceful cloud cruisers. Is it any wonder your old Air Chief loves them so much? Thanks again, Wayne.
If you're a fan of the TV cops and robbers shows, you'll know that every time detectives interview possible suspects in a murder investigation they will invariably ask about the victim, "Did he have any enemies?" Many times while watching those shows I'll wonder about that question in regards to my own life. It would be really wonderful to go through life and never have a single enemy. Sadly, we humans being imperfect souls at best, just can't seem to get through this life without at one time or another offending others, be intentional or not. I sometimes imagine a story wherein the TV investigator would look at the widow and ask instead, "Did he have any friends?" You see, at the end of the day, its not whether we have enemies or friends, but rather how many of both?
A few years ago I had Valerie snap the above photo of yours truly. It was intended for the back of the very first pulp book we ever had published. I purposely posed ala those serious "author" shots you always see in books. Whenever I look at it now, it just makes me laugh. Why? Because as serious as I might want people to take me, the most honest thing about this picture is the Captain Specter lightning patch on my jacket identifying me as a member of the Lightning Legion. Yeah, that's how serious I get.
How do others see us? One night while surfing the web, I pulled up the free encyclopedia site, Wikipedia and punched in the name Ron Fortier. Holy smokes, what came up stunned your old Air Chief! There was this humongous entry detailing 98% of my writing career in chronological order. It was so detailed, I simply couldn't believe it. Or that someone out there on the net, obviously devoted loyal airmen, had spent so much time doing up this truly marvelous history of my writing career. Whoever you good people are, my sincerest and most humble thanks. Looking over that long lists of credits (way more than I've got listed here...ha), was a trip back in time for sure. One I had the good pleasure of repeating again this past week on the air.
About a year ago, a loyal airmen named Chuck Moore invited me to join his growing website, Comic Related. He was kind enough to offer me my own dedicated forums at this terrific site. He wanted me to have a place where I could go one on one with all of you. Something we never added here. So I signed on and within weeks Chuck and I became fast amigos. I know of very few people who love the world of comics and everything about them as does Chuck. He recently started doing a series of weekly Comic Related podcast and they are so much fun to listen to. A few days ago Chuck asked me if I'd like to be his next podcast subject. Owing him so much for my forums at CR, I happily agreed. He gave me a call one night and we spoke for almost two full hours about comics, pulps and my blessed career in the field. It was all about the Air Chief, loyal airmen, and I got to tell many of my "war" stories. So if you've ever wondered what the Air Chief actually sounds like, or are curious at all about some of the things I've briefly touched upon in this journal, you really should check these out. Simply go to our Links page, click on the Comic Related logo there and away you go. Chuck broke our conversation into two one hour podcasts ( # 21 & # 22) and they are both right there on his front menu page. As Chuck is another loyal airmen who stops by here every single week, THANKS AMIGO!!! It was so much fun rapping with you about things we both love dearly. I only hope I didn't put too many of your listeners to sleep. Ha.
On to other fronts. I've just finished one of the finest fantasy adventure books ever, LAMPLIGHTER by D.M. Cornish. Click on my Pulp Fiction Review link above this column for my full review. If you love this kind of imaginative fiction, don't miss this truly amazing work. It's a rare find.
Saw the movie version of GET SMART with my daughter, Heather, last week. It, and dinner afterward, were her belated Father's Day treat for me. Both of us really liked the movie a great deal. It is funny and captures the warm zaniest of the original Don Adams TV series. The Air Chief gives it thumbs up. Of course my Canadian colleague, Andrew Salmon swears up and down he will not see this movie. Andrew's a diehard fan of the TV show and is boycotting this flick. Too bad. He's missing a really funny time. Then again, I've been keeping the guy busy writing our newest pulp blockbuster, GHOST SQUAD. Andrew and I finally slapped THE END on the 127 page manuscript two days ago and now the book is in production with Rob Davis getting ready to do his illos and design work. Fingers crossed we'll be announcing its release within a month or so. You airmen are going to love this one. Tons and tons of pulp action from page one to the climatic finale. Hang in there, its on its way.
This coming weekend marks the half-way mark of the baseball season. The Red Sox are holding on to second place behind those come-out-of-nowhere Tampa Bay Rays. Here's a team that was in last place last year as the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Now they take the word devil out of their name and all of a sudden they can't lose. Hmmm, think about that for a while. Anyway, next week is the All Star game, and then it's back at it. GO SOX!!
Ron - Over & Out.
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| July 4, 2008 |
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA!! read... |
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Happy 4th of July, loyal airmen, and anyone out there who just happens to stumble on this site. Today is July, 4th, 2008, the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence by our Founding Fathers. The bravery of those congressional delegates in Philadelphia was matched by the citizen farmers who took up arms against a government that unjustly taxed them without fair and equal representation. Men like the brave Massachusetts lads depicted above in the Battle of Bunker Hill, who were willing to lay down their lives for a country free of the yoke of tyranny, where every man, woman and child could live in peace and pursue their dreams without fear of reprisal or religious and political persecution. What our ancestors did in 1776 was create an ideal and from it they shaped an amazing land, the United States of America.
To this very day it stands as the very beacon of hope and democracy in a world still suffering from ideological monsters and modern day tyrants. Having served in the military and seen foreign lands, I came home to the belief that she is worth fighting for and dying for, as those brave Massachusetts lads did long ago. So today my heartfelt thanks go out to all those who have ever worn the uniform of our military forces, past and present. Those of you now in service, both home and on those far off distances shores, God bless and keep you strong, safe and soon bring you home to this "home of the brave."
Now in reflecting on America's history, I found myself remembering all those glorious stories of heroic men and women I was taught as a child in grade school; from Paul Revere to George Washington and Betsy Ross. They seemed like figures of myth to me, way larger than life. As a teenager I loved Walt Disney's efforts in regards to celluloid patriotism with their JOHNNY TREMAINE, the story of a Boston boy who becomes a member of the Sons of Liberty. Then there was the SWAMP FOX, a series of about Francis Marion, the Southern soldier who practically invented guerrilla warfare, using his knowledge of the land to confound the British troops. These were lots of fun but they were really glamorized in the Hollywood fashion. No one made a real effort to show how it truly must have been.
Until, that is, historian David McCullough wrote is two books, 1776 and JOHN ADAMS, the latter winning him a Pulitzer Prize for history. Then along came Tom Hanks and HBO. They adapted McCullough's epic into a memorable, inspiring sever part mini-series that is now available on DVD. The joy of this book, and the series adapted from it, is that the characters we thought we knew now appear as real flesh and blood, imperfect people, all of them filled with fears and doubts about the events that ensnared them. Somehow seeing them with all these misgivings suddenly allows us to realize just how courageous they truly were. Had the American Revolution failed, and at the time of the signing, the odds were very much against us, all our leaders, both military and political would have been hunted down by the British and tried and hung for treason. This is one of the most profound, eye-opening series I've ever had the pleasure of viewing. If you, like me, are enthralled and fascinated by history done to this excellent caliber, then I recommend you pick these up, both the book for its dept of fact and research and the DVD for the deft performances of Paul Giamatti, Laura Linney and John Adams and his wife Abigail and Stephen Dillane as Thomas Jefferson. Believe me, you won't be disappointed you did.
Of course one of the hallmarks of a free society is commerce and after telling you all about our new Airship 27 store (go to Air Fare Page), I had to share the above with all of you. Your beaming Air Chief is tickled pink (or this that an off rouge?) with his Airship 27 baseball cap, coffee mug and that awesome Brother Bones Comic Cover tee. I know, the book isn't even out yet. Ha. Patience, loyal airmen. We'll be making that announcement within the next few weeks for sure. Anyway, here's the deal, guys and gals. We are so happy with the quality of the gear on-sale at the shop, I'm making you this offer. Any loyal airman who approaches me at a convention wearing any of our Airship 27 gear, or carrying an Airship 27 cup, notebook or whatever purchased from our shop will get to buy any one Airship 27 pulp title on our table for 50% off the selling price! That's our way of saying thanks for supporting us and joining in on all the fun.
So there you have it, loyal airmen. Now before this happy day is over, go out and barbecue and set off a few dozen firecrackers. HAPPY 4th of JULY & GOD BLESS AMERICA!!
Ron - Over & Out.
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| June 26, 2008 |
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CAPS, MUGS & ROSES read... |
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Greeting loyal airmen. It's been a really terrfic week around Hangar 27 thanks to your enthusiastic response to the release last week of our latest Captain Hazzard adventure - CAVEMEN OF NEW YORK. I've received so many gracious e-mails from many of you excited about the book's debut and sales kicked off the day we announced it's availability. Thanks so much to each and everyone one of you for your continued support of this series. And remember, after you've read the darn thing, drop us a line and give us your reactions.
At the same time we were busy releasing this volume, our publisher, Michael Poll of Cornerstone Book Publishers was also burning the midnight oil in a really fun way. Michael thought it would be very cool if we could provide all you loyal airmen with some authentic Airship 27 gear and fun items. Thus he went and opened up a huge on-line merchandising shop simply cram-packed with tee-shirts, sweatshirts, coffee mugs, notebooks etc. etc., all with Airship 27 book logos and cover images. The idea here was simply this. If you've purchased any of our books recently, and enjoyed them, we thought you might like wearing something to publicly show your support of Airship 27 Prod. To help promote this nifty shop, Michael whipped up this new version of our familiar logo. See above.
The very cool coffee mug and baseball cap shown above are two of the three items I've already ordered for myself. So please, go to the Air Fare page on this site, find the new logo image and click on to the link and that will take you to the store. Believe me there is so much stuff to look at, take your time and browse. We're betting you'll get a big kick out of what you find there.
Finally, less you think I'm a heartless capitalist, here is a story about nature and its resiliency. Over the twenty-five years since we've lived in our home, Valerie and I have tried to spruce up the back yard. Every Spring we plant all kinds of flowers, both perenials and annuals. My favorite flower has always been the rose and my success rate with them has been dismal at best. Two years ago I planted sevearl new rose plants by the back fence and hoped for the best. Not two weeks later, while mowing the lawn, I forgot all about one particular plant and cut it down. When I realized what I'd done, I was more than a little upset. But I still had two others intact and concentrated on keeping them alive and healthy. Both these plants did so-so and then at the end of the season died out over the winter months. The following Spring, while planting new assorted flowers, I came upon the plant I'd mowed down and lo and behold, its shoots were coming up out of the ground. Amazed, I carefully nurtured it with plant food and water all last summer and to my utter bewilderment, it actually grew. Thing was, it only yielded four or five roses, and then stopped blooming altogether. Now the plant continued to grow and weave itself around our fence, but it would produce no more flowers. What the heck? I simply could not figure out this stubborn plant that refused to die, but then again was only giving me new branches and leaves. I continued to nuture it nonetheless, wondering what a third Spring would bring.
Well the picture above is the answer to that question. Not only did this plant survive perhaps the coldest, snowiest winter we've had in the last thirty years, but all of a sudden it was growing taller and sprouting blooms everywhere. Thus far I've counted almost two dozen roses and they keep coming. It's become the center piece of the yard and looking at it every day simply buoys my spirit. The plant that simply would not die! Nature is truly miraculous and always beautiful. Sometimes when we least expect it, we are rewarded more than we could ever imagine. The lesson here is that if you give life a chance, then you allow for these kind of wondrous surprises. Think about that and while you're at it, go plant something. It will put a smile on your face at the same time making the earth a little greener, and that's always a good thing.
Till next week, Ron, Over & Out.
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| June 20, 2008 |
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HEROES TIMES THREE read... |
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Greetings loyal airmen. Every now and then events both public and private seem to cross the flight path of my life and just naturally provide me with a theme. Thus was the case over this last week. Which ended up my being able to discuss heroes with all of you, especially three of them.
STAN WINSTON 1945 - 2008
Last weekend, while the country mourned the loss of cherished newsman, Tim Russert, the movie community suffered their own loss in the Father's Day passing of special effects genius Stan Winston at the young age of 62. For those of us who love the fantastic, Stan was an invaluble part of so many of our favorite movie moments from TERMINATOR to JURASSIC PARK. In fact Stan's last work was developing the marvelous IRON MAN suit now seen in that current blockbuster. He always appeared, when seen in interviews or documentary features to have that childish twinkle in his eyes and you just knew here was a man who truly loved what he did for a living. After the late Willis O'Brien and his protege (still with us to this day) Ray Harryhausen, Stan was easily the most successful FX guru ever. Thanks for all that magic, Stan, and God bless.
KG
People who love what they do. A nice way to segue into our second hero this week, basketball superstar Kevin Garnett. Unless you've been living a cave all year, you may have heard that at the end of last year's basketball seaons the Boston Celtics had the worst record ever. They were a team being sucked into a constantly losing spiral. Then management, under the guidance of former player Danny Ainge, went out and recruited two incredible players to assit their own team star, Paul Pearse. They signed on Ray Allen and the man with perhaps the biggest heart in the entire world, Kevin Garnett, known to one and all as KG. All of these three men were veteran players who had never won a championship. That was all about to change. Coach Doc Rivers, another genius of the courts, was able to preach his philosophy of team work and total defence to this ultra talented trio. If they could leave their egos at the door and all work towards a common goal, success would be theirs at the end of their journey. All of a sudden Celtics fans woke up one morning to see that their beloved team was in the win column and they would stay that way throughout the entire season compiling the best record in the entire NBA. This past week, the Boston Celtics won their 17th Championship, another NBA record. Every member of that team from management to the guys on the bench contributed to this astounding come-back year of victory. Still one man was the passion, the heart of the Celtics. That man was KG!!! Bravo!
20008 World Champion Celtics
Above (left to right) are the great Bill Russell with Ray Allen, Doc Rivers, Kevin Garnett & Paul Pearse.
THE CELTICS!!!
Finally, loyal airmen, we come to one more hero, one of the fictional variety, but still oh so important to your old airchief. CAPTAIN HAZZARD - THE CHAMPION OF JUSTICE.
As promised last week, the fourth book in this new series starring this classic pulp hero from the 1930s is now available for purchase at our on-line store. See the Airship logo to the left of this column. One click takes you to the store where you can buy this volume and seven other Airship 27 titles at a special discount price off retail. In this all new adventure, two evil madmen scientists devise a way to bring the city of New York to its knees under a mountain of freezing snow. Only Captain Hazzard and his Fighting Five can save the day, but to do so they will first have to conquer an army of mutated cavemen. CAVEMEN OF NEW YORK is an all new, original pulp novel by ye old airchief, with interior art and design by Rob David and an absolutely stunning cover by Mark Maddox. Guys, I put everything but the kitchen sink in this one. Please, check it out. I'm on pins and needles here until you do so and let me know if its a winner or a dud. So pick it up, read it and then drop me a line. I always appreciate your feedback.
And there you go, airmen. Another week, albeit a busy one, has flown by. Summer is officially here now, according to the calendar and I hope all of you are enjoying it to the max. Valerie and I did see THE INCREDIBLE HULK last week and both of us give it thumbs up. Great special effects coupled with a good story and really good acting. It stands toe to toe with IRON MAN. Wow, Marvel movies are really taking off aren't they? Talk about feeling like a kid again. I love it.
Ron - Over & Out!
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| June 12, 2008 |
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ALMOST THERE read... |
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Greeting loyal airmen. Here we are ending another week on a Friday 13th and all that supposedly entails. Whereas our first grandchild, Kristi, was born Nov 13th, that has ever been a lucky number here in Hangar 27. Two new movie blockbusters open today; the new Marvel comic movie, The Incredible Hulk, and the latest thriller from the mind of M.Night Shyamalan, The Happening. We will most likely try and catch the Hulk later today, and hopefully the other sometime in the next week. The trailer's look especially creepy. As for this new Hulk mega movie, we've been hearing nothing but positive reviews from our colleagues who've already seen it. It seems most people didn't care for the first one that Ang Lee did with Eric Bana. I agree it's not the greatest comic book adaptation ever done, but I still found it a decent effort and enjoy watching my DVD copy. So now we're going to have two versions. It will be fun to compare the two. Makes me wonder if somebody might decide to do another Daredevil movie, as the Ben Affleck feature was also badly received.
Keeping to this subject, one of Marvel's better comic movies was the recent Punisher with Thomas Jane in the starring role. It's a dandy crime action flick and Jane is perfect as the haunted Frank Castle who wages a one man war against the mob for murdering his family. Well, get this, the powers that be at Marvel Entertainment have decided to do a sequel to be called Punisher - War Journal and get this, they are not using Jane for the part. I've seen a few stills from the new production and they look horrible. The unknown actor they've hired to play Castle looks more like a business accountant then a deadly vigilante. I think this entire project is going to be one sorry mess by the time it's released. Too bad they simply couldn't have brought back the first productin team and Jane, now that's a sequel we all would have wanted to see.
Every now and then certain well known publications use comic graphic art to highlight particular stories or features they are running. Very recently Sports Illustrated went this route on their baseball cover to illistrate their main article about the Tampa Rays sudden winning ways. The Rays, a young team that basically owned the cellar spot in the American League Eastern division the past few years, suddenly find themsevles swapping the top spot back and forth with the Boston Red Sox.
This marvelous artwork depicting a Rays player picking up a startled Derek Jeter of the New York Yankees was rendered by Mark Bagley, a well known comic professional, with the inking and coloring chores handled by Karl Story and Alex Sinclair respectively. A big thanks to my daughter, Michelle, whose husband, Chris has a subscription to the magazine, for making me aware of this cover and allowing me to borrow it for this piece. Again, it's always fun to see comic graphics employed in other fields.
The big news this week is that after five long months, we are ready to release our fourth, all new Captain Hazzard pulp novel, CAVEMEN OF NEW YORK. All the book files, to include text and artwork, have been mailed to the publisher, Cornerstone Book Publishers. They should receive them early next week and with fingers crossed the book will finally be available by next Friday. The completed cover by Mark Maddox is just stunning and I am so anxious to show it to all of you, but since the book isn't officially ready yet, I couldn't do that in good conscience this week. So, as a sneak-peek, I am offering you a look at the back cover. It gives some hints about the book's plot and the very special guest appearance by one of pulpdom's most revered writers. So hold on to your hats, loyal airmen. Now it is just a matter of days.
On other fronts, Rob Davis and I continue to reprint our classic pulp books and along with the debut of this new Hazzard title, we will soon be releasing our new reprint edition of LANCE STAR - SKY RANGER. This was the first anthology Airship 27 Prod. put out back in 2006 and we are thrilled to have it back in print again. Also, as all of you know, earlier this year we produced a book called BROTHER BONES, the adventures of the Undead Avenger. (It is still available at our on-line store if you haven't picked it up yet.) I mentioned this because we are now producing a brand new, 48 pg, black and white Brother Bones comic book that should be out within another month. Keep watching this Log, as I'll certainly let you know when it is ready.
There you have it, loyal airmen, for this week. Come back next Friday for the release of the new Captain Hazzard and my thoughts on the new Hulk movie. Till then, be well and enjoy the summer.
Ron - Over & Out.
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