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| July 22, 2010 |
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MORE FROM NEUTRAL WORLD read... |
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Greetings Loyal Airmen, well in exactly one week ye Old Air Chief will be sitting here writing his Flight Log
and preparing to leave for Columbus, Ohio to attend the second annual Pulp Fest convention. Airship 27 Productions will be there with flying colors, our table filled lots of great pulp novels and anthologies, a few comics and some odd posters or two. Our partner, art director, Rob Davis, will even do sketches for anyone wishing to commission him. Reasonably priced, these make a great treasure for any graphic lover.
ISSUE OF CLUES WITH I.V. FROST
There will be close to two dozen vendors selling and trading all kinds of great old pulps like the one pictured above. We chose this particular cover as it features Prof. I.V. Frost, a character we have recently been writing for Moonstone Books. More on those as things develop. So, if any of you Loyal Airmen are in the vicinity of Columbus, starting 30th Aug., please, drop on by Pulp Fest, come to our table and say hello. We'd love to see you.
Several weeks ago I posted some amazing comic art by Brazilian artist Joe Bennett. Joe and the Air Chief are now putting together a proposal about his mega science fiction saga called NEUTRAL WORLD. The Air Chief has written a five page sample script and Joe is busy illustrating it. He's also done some pin-up sketches of some of Neutral World's characters that we can share with you this week.
A MENTANQUE
Above is robotic warrior known as a Mentanque. As yet we have no idea if he's one of the good guys or one of the bad guys. Stay tuned. We still think the character is awesome to behold.
ABSSARA THERU
And this is the beautiful, sexy and oh so cruel and deadly Abssara. She is THE major villain of the saga. She's also a shape-shifter and you will not believe what her true guise looks like. Yeouch. Again, stay tuned,there is lots more on the way.
With the return of dry heat and cool nights, summer has really become wonderful here in New England. Fingers crossed it remains this enjoyable throughout the rest of our limited season. Hope all you Loyal Airmen are having a great summer too.
Ron - Over & Out!
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| July 15, 2010 |
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FRIENDS AT THE END read... |
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Greetings Loyal Airmen. We write tonight's entry with a heart filled with both sadness and happiness. We've a story to share we think is beautiful. It is the story of two women and their friendship. Mona K was a fun loving woman all her life. She was one of those people who live loud. Always boisterous, enjoying life to the max in all she did, from being a loving wife to a loving mother to her only son, Dick. After her husband died, Mona lived alone in their big house until a year and a half ago it just became too much for her. She was having health issues and in the end she realized it was time to find a better environment and so she became a resident of the Wentworth Home and it was there that she met my Mom, Gaby. Only in their early 80s, Mona and Gaby were the youngest of the thirty five residents and they hit it off instantly. Gaby had never met anyone so full of life, so energetic, wild and mischievous. Mona still drove and so together, the two of them began to go off on all kinds of day trips. Together they became a storm of playfulness that had the residence and staff all laughing and in cheer. They were soon labeled the Themla & Louise of the Wentworth Home.
Mona in the blue at left front row, Gaby in the red in back.
It was such a great friendship that so enriched both their lives. Then two weeks ago Mona's health began to fail and she was taken to the hospital. It was serious and the doctors advised chemo-therapy, but Mona wanted no part of it. At best it would only prolong her life a few months and most likely they would be painful months. So she opted to forgo the chemo and face her end with as much courage and dignity as she could muster. All of the folks in the Home were saddened, but none more so than Gaby. Last week Mona was taken to a wonderful hospice home to be cared for until she passed. Gaby visited her day and night, along with Dick and his wife. When Gaby arrived there this morning, the nurses told her Mona was having a difficult time of it and couldn't relax. Her breathing was labored and she was struggling. Gaby went to her, sat on her bed and cradled her dear friend her arms. She bent down and whispered that she was there and that it was time for Mona to let go. To simply let go. And so for the next hour, Gaby sat there, tenderly holding her best friend telling her it was okay to let go. Mona calmed down and gently went to sleep...that perfect, peaceful, eternal sleep. From her friend's loving embrace to that of her Creator.
Later in the afternoon, Mom called to tell us the news and of Mona's last hours. I have never been so proud of my mother. She needs her rest now. I'll be calling her tomorrow to make sure she's alright. We'll all be going to Mona's funeral mass when it is scheduled. Oh, we'll cry, we all loved that wild woman. But we will also laugh a lot and celebrate her life. She made the world a better place for her being in it. You can't ever ask for any more than that.
Have a great week, Ron. Over & Out.
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| July 9, 2010 |
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SUMMER READING read... |
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Greeting Loyal Airmen. Well the heat wave that has blanketed the country this past week continues unabetted here in New England with high temps and bloody high humidity. The Air Chief and Val have pretty much become in-house dwellers, venturing out doors only when absolutely necessary, or that occasional dip in the backyard pool. Of course we assume many of you Loyal Airmen have found release either at lakes or beaches to find those elusive cool breezes. If so, we are also assuming you have brought along reading material to entertain yourselves between swimming plunges. The Air Chief rarely mentions books here in the Flight Log, as we also write the Pulp Fiction Review blog (see the link above this column). A few days ago we reviewed a marvelous thriller we want to bring your attention.
CEMETERY DANCE by writers Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child is the thirteenth Special Agent Pendergast mystery and we love this series. A few years back one of our oldest friends sent us a Pendergast novel and we ate it up. Special Agent Pendergast is by far the coolest, modern day pulp hero on the market today. He is so the heir to all the great pulp heroes like the Shadow and Secret Agent X. He is a brilliant, Southern born gentlemen whose knowledge of the arcane is amazing. Each of his cases involves some elements of the supernatural and each is a gripping roller coaster ride of suspense and action. If you've never read a Pendergast book, what are you waiting for? Check out my full review of this particular title at the link above.
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RAFAR THERU
Last week we told you all about Brazilian artist Joe Bennett and the new comic book project he and the Air Chief are now putting together called NEUTRAL WORLD. Here's another look at the main character of that science fiction saga, Rafar Theru of the Impossible Men. Enjoy.
GIDEON CAIN - DEMON HUNTER
On the pulp front, Airship 27 Productions is in the last stages of putting together our next pulp anthology and this one will feature a brand new hero, Gideon Cain, the puritan soldier who travels the globe in search a monster demon that murdered his wife and daughter. Rob Davis is providing the artwork and the illustration above is his first depiction of our grim protagonist. Look for this book to be out before the end of the month.
And speaking of the end of July, Rob and the Air Chief are once again packing up the good old Airship 27 for our second trip to Columbus, Ohio for Pulp Fest. This is one of the finest three day get togethers of all things pulp in the country. We are hoping, as last year, we will be seeing many of you Loyal Airmen on hand to help us celebrate this nostalgic literature of the past. And if you've never been to a convention, let the Air Chief assure to you there tons more cool things to browse beside pulps. Old paperbacks, golden age comics, movie serials on DVD. Tons of fun treasures to be found. Plus the real fun of spending a few days with creative folks who share one's passions. Really counting the days till Pulp Fest.
That's it for this week, Loyal Airmen. Please stay well and cool. We'll be back in seven.
Ron - Over & Out!
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| July 1, 2010 |
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THE DIVIDENTS OF KINDNESS read... |
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Greetings, Loyal Airmen. The Air Chief has always believed that no act of kindness ever goes unrewarded in this world. No matter how small that kindness may be, one never knows how it may some day come back to you. Which is what happened recently to the Air Chief. You see, long ago back in the early 80s we were writing the second Volume of Green Hornet adventures for Now Comics. At that particular time there was no regular art team assigned to the book and it seemed like every other issue there was a new artist on board. Now most of these were professionals we had heard of in the business and then there were the new kids whose names were totally alien to us. Such was the case with issue # 21 titled The Return of Mr.Death.
Green Hornet # 21 Vol. Two
We were told by our editor that a new kid, one Joe Bennett, would be drawing that particular issue. Okay, all well and good. Several months later the book is published and for the first time we saw Mr. Bennett's work. And we liked it, a whole lot. There was something really original about his style with both pencil and inks. Delighted by his work on that single issue, we wrote him a letter telling him so and sent it off to him via the publisher. End of story. As far as we were concerned you see, because Joe never did another issue of the Green Hornet. Eventually the series and Now folded and all of us moved on.
As time passed, we did lots of other comics and eventually drifted out of the industry to devote ourselves to prose writing etc. and quite frankly we never heard the name Joe Bennett again. And had absolutely no clue as to what had happened to him. Until two weeks ago when out of the blue Joe sends us an e-mail asking if we would like to join him in creating an original science fiction adventure comic project that he has been working on for the past ten years called Neutral World. At first we honestly didn't recognize who he was, although the name struck a faint bell in our memory gray cells. Joe mentioned how we had sent him a letter and how much it had meant to him and now he very much wanted to work with us again. Oh, and in his second letter he send along some artwork.
Art From NEUTRAL WORLD by Joe Bennett
And our eyes widened in sheer amazement. Above is just one of the awesome illustrations Joe sent us. Well, Loyal Airmen, by now the Air Chief was really-really curious as to who this guy was and what he had been doing the last eighteen years since that long ago Green Hornet comic. So we surfed over to the internet and lo and behold we discovered some pretty fantastic things about Mr.Joe Bennett. Bron in 1968, his real name is Benedito Jose Nascimento and he hails from Belem in Brazil. He obviously changed his name to appease American publishers. He is a self-taught artist and for the past eighteen years has had a remarkable professional career having worked on such characters as Spider-Man, Captain American, Fantastic Four, Incredible Hulk, Teen Titans, Hawkman, Birds of Prey and many, many others. He is considered one of the finest comic book artist in the business today.
Which is why we were bowled upon learning of Joe's truly great career. Off all the pro comic writers out there he could have tapped to work on this, his personal dream project, he came to us. Why? Because Joe is at heart a sentimental guy and he always remembered his first ever comic book gig and the nice letter he got from that writer telling him how good an artist he was. And that, Loyal Airmen is a hell of a moral to remember. Right now, Joe and the Air Chief are packaging Joe's notes into a workable presentation package and we have a great comic book publisher very interested in seeing it once done. So hang in there, keep your fingers crossed for us and we will keep you posted as NEUTRAL WORLD moves ahead.
Jumping further back into the Way-Back Time Machine, we wonder how many of you remember a wonderful movie called THE GOONIES. Written by Chris Columbus and directed by Richard Donner, it is the stories of a bunch of kids who lived in the Goon Dock neighborhood of Astoria, Oregon in 1985. When the city starts making plans to raze the neighborhood for whatever reasons, the gang, led by actors Sean Austin and Corey Feldman decide to find the treasure of a 17th Century pirate named One-Eyed Willy and save the day. The movie, produced by Steven Spielberg, celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. We tell you all this because our daughter Michelle and her family gave the Air Chief a Goonies tee-shirt for Father's Day a few weeks back and we love it.
The Big Goonie
All of which got us thinking, why hasn't Spielberg and company gotten around to doing a sequel? There had been some talk a few years ago that someone wanted to do a "remake." Which we find stupid. All they would have to do is bring back the original kid cast, now all grown up and with their own sons and daughters who would naturally become the "new" Goonies. It such as logical progression. We mentioned this idea over on Facebook and many, many friends chimed in affirmatively. So come on, Spielberg, give us GOONIES 2!!
And with that we wrap it up for this weekend. HAPPY 4th of JULY to all our Loyal Airmen and God Bless America. She's still young as ever.
Ron - Over & Out.
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| June 24, 2010 |
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COUSIN ADA'S FILM DEBUT read... |
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Greeting Loyal Airmen. First up, I want to thank all of you who wrote concerning my Father's Day entry last week. It seems like the theme of Dads & Cowboys was a very familiar one with many of you and some of your stories and comments were marvelous and touching. Thanks so very much. This week we are going to be talking again on our favorite topic, family, in a rather special way.
But before we do that, we have to report that the Sanford Maine Stage Theater's new production of our play, Where Love Takes You had to be postponed. Our directors simply could not fill the large cast required in time to put on the show for their targeted July dates. So they are going to reshuffle their schedule and do a series of smaller shows and come September, revisit the situation. Hopefully by then they will have made numerous connections with various acting groups in the area and the casting will not be a problem. It was disappointing news, but again, only a bump in the road. As the pros say, the Show must go on!!
Our Cousin Ada
Coming from a huge French Canadian clan, we grew up with literally dozens of cousins on both sides of my family. Our Mom was one of ten kids and so you can imagine the number of children born to my generation. One such was my cousin, Elaine. Only a year younger than the Air Chief, Elaine and we older cousins grew up together. After high school, she joined the Air Force to see the world. There she met a civilian contractor named Dennis and fell in love. They had several children, the oldest a daughter named Karen. Karen grew up, married and gave them a sweet granddaughter named Ada. Tomorrow, Ada will appear as one of the children of the main cast in the new Adam Sandler comedy, GROWN UPS. Mom had told us all this months before we ran into Cousin Elaine a few months ago at a local restaurant. When we told her we'd heard about her granddaughter's movie, she reached into her purse and whipped out the postcard you see above. Talk about one proud grandmother. So, tomorrow morning, Val and the Air Chief are picking up Mom at her home and driving to the cineplex to watch and cheer on our cousin Ada. We now have a movie star in the family. That is just so cool.
PROF. I.V. FROST & JEAN MORAY
On the creative front, we've been busy knocking out a second Frost comic script for Moonstone. In fact today we learned that our first 12 pg. Frost adventure, art by the talented Jake Minor (that's his work above) will be the back up feature in Moonstone's new Secret Agent X title. The Air Chief will keep you posted when the title is solicited. Writing this little known pulp hero has proven to be a real treat and we are having fun chronicling his new adventures with his lovely and brilliant assistant, Miss Jean Moray.
Lastly, after much procrastination, we have indeed begun writing a new Captain Hazzard novel. When finished this will be the fifth in the series. If we've already announced this, please forgive the Air Chief. So many things are happening all at the same time, it's easy to forget an item or two. Ha. Speaking of which, as yet still no takers on the house, but we remain optimistic. We opened our in-ground pool this morning and all the real estate people who have seen the property agree that pool is a major asset. We tend to go along with that, especially for a family with young children. All our kids and grand kids learned to swim in that pool. Like the house, it contains lots of great memories.
There you have it for another week, Loyal Airmen. Thanks ever for dropping by and we'll see you next week.
Ron - Over & Out!
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