Greetings airmen. This week I want to discuss two truly entertaining stories that I think you airmen will both enjoy and appreciate. One is a childrens book that deals with comic books and the other is a foreign movie set against the history of World War II and has some very unique connections to a very popular American comic book series of that era. Intrigued? I hope so. Read on.

My two granddaughters from Lebaon, Maine, are both avid readers. Something we, and our daughter Michelle, have instilled in them since birth. When Kristi and Chelsea were just toddlers I would spend hours playing with them and making up tall-tales to amuse them. Ergo, they both took to reading like fish to water and now one of my routine questions to either of them upon meeting is always, “So, what are you reading now?” Kristi is 14 and going into high school next years. And of course making us grand parents feel way-way too old. Ha. Whereas Chelsea is finishing up 5th grade in Middle School. It was she, who during our Easter visit, told me all about this new writer she had recenlty discovered named Andrew Clements and his books. One in particular she thought I would love and she let me borrow it. And she was 100% right, enough so that I’ve since recommended it to two middle school teachers I know that are both involved with using comics in the classroom. You see, LUNCH MONEY deals with the adventures of young Greg Kenton and his constant desire to make money. This kid is born with an entrepeneur’s soul. Reminds me a lot of my son, Alan. By the time Greg reaches middle school he has come up with a plan to make his own mini comic books and sell them in the cafeteria during lunch time. As well written and lively as this book is, what completely charmed me was just how accurate Clements is about comics and the actual process of making them, both creatively and physically. If you know any young children who would like this kind of delightful information, please, direct them to this wonderful book. The plot deals with how Greg has to make peace with his chief business rival,his next door neighbor, Maura Shaw and together win the approval of the School Board to sell their mini-comics in school. I can’t thank Chelsea enough for putting this book in my hands and I’m keeping my fingers crossed its popularity will continue to grow. I would so love to see a movie made from this.

Speaking of movies, I’ve always had a strong fascination for war movies. Nothing defines a character’s true identity more intensely than the danger of dying. Combat is a magnification at times of what is the best and the worst of human nature. I am particularly
enamored of those movies dealing with aerial warfare and as some of your regular visitors are aware, I am currently editing a new pulp anthology featuring a classic flying hero from the 1930s. So bottom line, I’m hooked on movies that depict dogfights. DARK BLUE WORLD came out in 2002 and is one of the finest such films ever made. During the early years of the war, many pilots from the countries Hitler invaded, Poland, Hungry, Czechoslovakia, etc., fled to Great Britain where they joined the R.A.F. so they could continue fighting and ultimately return to their rescued homelands. Now you savvy comic book fans will know that very concept of European nationals forming a flying squadron to fight alongside the allies was the concept of the popular BLACKHAWK series that debut during the war years. This movie is about as close to that terrific series as we airmen will ever find the big screen. Directed and co-written by Jan Sverak, it tells the story of
two Czeh pilots, the senior Franta Slama and
his young protege Karel Vojitsek, and their breath-taking adventures in the skies over Europe. They form a special Czeh squadron of the R.A.F. and hurl themselves bravely against the onslaught of the attacking Blitzkreig.
The scenes of air combat are just fantastic and harrowing at the same time. The tragedy of this
film is the revelation of what happened to these patriots after the war ended. They returned to
a Communist ruled land and were immediately imprisoned as criminals. The Communist were afraid they would continue to fight for freedom.
Those who did not die in the labor camps were eventually released, some after twenty years of captivity. This film is a tribute to their sacrifices and courage. If you like high-flying adventure, DARK BLUE WORLD is a must see. Note, I picked up my copy for peanuts over at Deep Discount – see my links page.

One of the true joys of having a website is all the nice folks who drop by and become new
friends almost overnight. Seems like every week I’m getting some new hellos and adding to the ranks of loyal airmen. This week I’d like to
officially say welcome to four of these. Joe
Kenworthy, Jim Bryant, E.J.Morges and Michael Mitchell. Mitch has a fantastic blog site where he has started something called Coffee Break Comics which is just plain fun to the max.
mitchellcomics.blogspot.com Check it
out.

That’s it for another week, crew. Ron, over and out.