Great Loyal Airmen, here we are about to go into the last full week before Christmas and the frantic holiday season is truly upon us now.  Hopefully most of you have done all your gift getting and are now getting ready to kick back and just enjoy time together with family and loved ones.

Having enjoyed the first new Sherlock Holmes last year with Robert Downey Jr & Jude Law, Valerie and the Air Chief are very anxious for this sequel which opens nation wide today, Dec. 16th. Called “Game of Shadows” it pits the Great Detective against his most nefarious foe, Professor Moriarty.  The trailers have had us wound for sound for months now and come next month, we hope to catch the flick at a local matinee. We'll give you our thoughts in next week's Flight Log.

             
                             Victorian Streets of London

Not to be undone, we at Airship 27 Productions are now putting together what will be our fourth Sherlock Holmes title, although this one is a stand alone novel. In the past few years Airship 27 has produced three volumes of our best selling  SHERLOCK HOLMES – CONSULTING DETECTIVE.  Whereas the new book coming out in Jan. 2012 is called SHERLOCK HOLMES – THE BARON'S REVENGE and is authored by writer Gary Lovisi.  In fact it is an actual sequel to Arthur Conan Doyle's story, “The Illustrious Client” published in 1924 as a part of “The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes” collection.  It is a gripping suspense thriller wherein both Holmes and Dr. Watson become the targets of an old foe bent on their destruction.
             
We're extremely excited about the project and the Air Chief thought we'd give you a sneak peek at one of Rob Davis's ten interior illustrations that will appear in the book.  So mark your calendars, Holmes and pulp fans for Jan. 2012, when once again the game will be afoot.

                 
                             Cover art by Eduardo Barreto

Over the past two weeks the comic community has lost several well known legendary writers and artists.  First there was Bob Kane's partner on Batman, Jerry Robinson known for creating the Joker. He was well into his 80s at the time of his passing.  Today two more joined the ranks of those we've loss.  One was 98 year old Joe Simon, partner to the late Jack Kirby.  Joe helped create such iconic comic heroes as Captain American, the Fly and many others with King Kirby in the Golden Days of American Comics. Again we mourn his passing.  Yet the biggest shock was the news of Eduardo Barreto's death at the young age of 57.  Barreto worked mostly for DC Comics during his long career with them and was one of the most respected artist in the business.  He is remembered fondly by pulp fans for his awesome work on THE SHADOW STRIKES comic series with writer Gerard Jones.  Above is one of the many covers Barreto did for that series (before coloring was added) which evoked the feel of the old pulp covers. Beside Michael Kaluta, he is considered the greatest comic artist ever to adapt the Shadow to graphics.  That he will be missed is an understatement, especially at such a young age.  Our condolences go out to the families of these great men and our prayer is that their boundless talent and creativity will continue expand in a grander setting than even they could ever imagine in this world.

And that Loyal Airmen wraps up this week's Flight Log.  Stay safe and healthy and save some eggnog for the Air Chief.

Ron – Over & Out!