Greetings Loyal Airmen, we thought today we’d discuss a few new Airship 27 titles that are now in production and coming your way.

METROPOLIS PREQUELS

The late movie genius, Fritz Lang’s greatest cinema marvel was his 1927 silent sci-fi classic, “Metropolis.” Having read about most of our youth, we finally saw a screening one night at the World Science Fiction Con in Boston many years ago. It mesmerized us. To think such a great movie could have been made in those days, with spectacular special effects. Wow. Jump ahead to our starting Airship 27 Production with Rob Davis and the idea of doing prequel Metropolis anthologies. Lo and behold, the wonderful Mike Kaluta, upon hearing of our plans, offered up the cover, a left over from his own amazing illustrated edition of the novel by Lang’s wife, Thea van Habou. (Above center) Then earlier this year, we finally were able to deliver as yet a second volume of “Towers of Metropolis” and this time artist James Lyle came aboard with his dazzling cover and breathtaking interior illustrations. (Above right) But we aren’t finished yet, in just a few short weeks, Airship 27 will be releasing a prequel novel, “Metropolis -Resurrection” written by Michael Panush and Charles Santino. It is one of the most brilliant prequels the Air Chief has ever read and much to our delight, James is back on board, delivering all the artwork. Oh, and without revealing all our secrets, we’ve a special edition for this title in the works. You Metropolis fans are not going to want to miss this one.

SHERLOCK HOLMES – CONSULTING DETECTIVE

Of course the best selling series from Airship 27 has since day one been our Sherlock Holmes anthology series, Consulting Detective. From the first volume, launched a decade ago, with Mark Maddox’ gorgeous covers to the next eighteen volumes, these collections have brought Holmes & Watson fans the most exciting, captivating, and thrilling stories ever envisioned by today’s top pulp scribes. At present Rob is busy at work on Volume Twenty, which will be something truly special. Not only will it be a bigger book with more stories than we normally release, but Rob is designing to look like an actual issue of the classic Strand magazine, the London periodical that first introduced the world to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s amazing detective. We’ve seen the first chapter, from a brand new I.A. Watson mystery and we’re excited. Really excited. If you Loyal Airmen have enjoyed this series from the start, you can consider this extra big volume our humble thanks for your continued support.

THE ETERNAL SWORD

The Air Chief, along with Rob Davis, publisher of Redbud Studio, are proud and excited to announce the release of writer/artist Gary Kato’s new graphic novel, “The Eternal Sword.” It is a fantastic 48 pg dramatic retelling of the King Arthur legend. Done in black and white and suggested for mature audiences, it is now available at Amazon. Trust me, Loyal Airmen, this is a great and beautiful read.

JIN & TONIK

Never one to let dust gather under his feet, artist Cesar Feliciano, over the the week-end whipped up these new JIN & TONIK pin-ups for a very special occasion. The Air Chief isn’t at liberty to say more right now, but when Cesar gives us the all-clear, you Loyal Airmen will be the first to know.

THE WOODEN BLADE # 3

The adventures of our magic sword wielding ram, Raizee continue in this third issue wonderfully illustrated by Olivia DeGaine. The book is in its final stages of production and we hope to have it available to all our fans at this year’s Rocky Mountain Con in Nov in Denver. Stay tuned.

BEYOND THE STARS # 4

And of course artist Andrea Bormida and his colorist Angelo Vecciarelli continue to finish the remaining few pages of BEYOND THE STARS # 4 as seen above.

And that, Loyal Airmen, is it for this week’s rambling. As ever thanks for stopping by and try to stay cool out there.

Ron – Over & Out!

Greetings Loyal Airmen, as the summer presses on with scorching heat waves, we at Airship 27 continue to assemble and get lots of new titles out. Recently, we’ve begun to put out books in the classic Sword and Sorcery genre made so popular by writers like Robert E. Howard and Edgar Rice Burroughs. When the air chief was growing up, he bought lots of Ace paperbacks of these two writers and was taken by their exciting, colorful covers.

One of the most popular cover artist of these titles was the late Roy G. Krenkel (July 11-1918, Feb 24-1983). Above are three of his amazing works. This year we at Airship 27 we’re lucky to recruit an extremely talented artist whose work reminds me of Krenkel in so many ways. His name is Ron Hill and we recently assigned two S & S titles by writer Gary Lovisi; “I, BARBARIAN” which we published a few months ago and the soon to be released “WARRIOR OF RIGEL.”

Above left and center are two of the published illustrations from “I, BARBARIAN,” while at left his Ron’s preliminary roughs for what will be his wrap-around covers to “WARRIOR OF RIGEL.” Stay tuned for more about this terrific fantasy artist.

THE BLOOD RUNS DEEP

A few weeks ago we told you about our latest short story having just been printed in a new anthology from Valhalla Press and our pal Adam Messer. Well the book is up at Amazon and yesterday the Air Chief got his copies. The printing is great, and Valerie loves the white pages.  They’re easy on the eyes. We hope you Loyal Airmen will check it out.

THE CRIMSON NUN # 1

Finally we’ll end on a little teaser. Earlier in the week we were contacted Antarctic Press publisher Ben Dunn asking if we’d write an introduction to issue number of the new series, “THE CRIMSON NUN,” as the book is about to go to the printers. Ben wanted us, in the intro to explain a bit about the series but without giving away the entire plot. Hmmm, a challenge indeed. We managed to get it done and off to him. In it we alluded to a few things that readers should take note of in the story. One, it is connected with Saint Joan of Arc, the patron saint of France who led their army against British invaders. Two, set against an historical background of the 1930s, the tale will also feature Pope Pius XI seen above. We writers love to research history when we can. The goal being to inform well entertaining. And there you have it. Hope the next time we mention this comic it will be to announce its arrival. Till then, Loyal Airmen….we’re signing off.

Ron – Over & Out!

Greetings Loyal Airmen, the summer continues to be one super busy one for the Air Chief. So many projects coming to fruition and we are so eager to share all of them with you. But first….

GO JARRETT MAZZA!

Rob Davis and yours truly have never claimed our little publishing venture is anywhere near the big boy outfits out there. We see ourselves as a possible stepping stone to those writers and artists looking to advance their skills and careers. Jarrett Mazza is an up and coming new pulp writer who has worked for several publishers including our own Airship 27 Production. He recently sold a new action series to Rough Edges Press and book number is out. Brazo, Jarrett.  You can find “Dawn of the Trade” at Amazon. From this point on for Jarrett, the sky’s the limit.

THE CRIMSON NUN # 2

With the recent success of our Kickstarter Campaign for issue #1, now at the printers, artist Jesse Thomas isn’t wasting any time all get issue # 2 rolling along. Above are the pencils and inks for the first three pages of issue # 2.  Alright, Jesse.

THE WOODEN BLADE # 3

On to our series with artist Olivia DeGaine, here’s her first stab at the cover to # 3. This is a work in progresses and Olivia hopes to embellish much more before it is finished.

CHIVALRY INC.

After a brief hiatus, production on CHIVALRY INC. # 1 has started up again with inker Jesse Hassen once more hard at work inking Javier Lugo’s beautiful pages. A reminder, this will be a three issue full color mini-series coming from Silverline Comics, my publishers on BEYOND THE STARS. We’ll keep you posted as ever.

And that’s it for this quick Flight Log, Loyal Airmen. What with record heat being felt across the country, we urge all of you to be smart. Stay cool and hydrated if you have to be out in this stuff and protect your skin with the proper lotions. Skin cancer is no fun.

Ron – Over & Out!

Greetings Loyal Airmen, what with the 4th of July now behind us, we start kicking back and enjoying the rest of this wonderful summer season with all the great projects, old and new, we have in the works. Let’s check some out.

THE THREE MUSKETEERS Vol 2

One of the many projects on the way from Airship 27 Productions is a second anthology of brand new Musketeer stories with the amazing Ed Catto providing the illustrations and cover. Here’s a peek at his sketch of Aremis.

THE CRIMSON NUN # 1

The funding campaign for The CRIMSON NUN #1 was a huge success thanks to all you Loyal Airmen. Above is the finished cover with art by Fred Lang. The books will ship in Oct. Honestly, the Air Chief can’t wait to have this beauty in his hands. Oh, yeah.

BEYOND THE STARS # 4

Andrea’s pencils for pages 15, 16 & 17 of book # 4.  Coming along super.

POPEYE GOES PUBLIC DOMAIN

So the Air Chief is told that in 2025 POPEYE will fall into public domain. Hmm, wondering how many of you Loyal Airmen would like to see this origin comic done by Ben Dunn and yours truly reprinted when that happens? Let us know. It would be cool to have it back in print.

JIN & TONIK

The overseas printers notified artist/creator Ceasar Feliciano that our copies of JIN & TONK # 1 have shipped and he should have them in a week or so. Then another week to package and mail them off to all of you great Loyal Airmen who supported this comic. Personally, the Air Chief can’t wait to hold this issue in his hands. Oh, yeah.

VAMPIRE ANTHOLOGY

And finally, we end this week’s entry with the news that our latest short story is now available in a new vampire anthology, “The Blood Runs Deep.” It’s now up at Amazon and features some of the finest in New Pulp. As for our story, it features Sister Blood from our Brother Bones series. Hope you’ll check it out. And as always, thanks for your support.

Ron – Over & Out!!

Greetings Loyal Airmen, as always we’ve got a things to share with you this week, so let’s get to it.

BOSTON BOMBERS Vol 2

After several months, artist Rob Davis has finished drawing (pencils, inks & letters) the second issue of The Boston Bombers Vol 2. Chapter 2, “A Story to Tell” picks up where issue # 1 left off and begins the extended flashback sequence that will at long last reveal the earth-shattering secret that was locked away in volume one of this alternate world series. Above is Rob’s preliminary pencils for the cover. Wait until you see the finished product. And a two-page spread that is at the heart of this issue. Getting back to the world of Indra Devine and the Bombers has been a real joy for ye old Air Chief. This issue, like the first, will be published via Ka-Blam out of Florida. Once the book is finished, Rob and the Air Chief will sell it at cons and you Loyal Airmen will be able to buy it at (www.IndyPlanet.com) We’ll keep you posted.

BEYOND THE STARS # 4

Work continues on issue # 4 of this six part mini-series from Silverline Comics. In the past few months, artist Andrea Bormida found himself stretched too thin on various series and so in the end went and recruited a fellow artist to take over the coloring chores on Beyond the Stars. Thus it is we welcome his fellow countrymen, Angelo Vecciarelli. Angelo’s work will be see starting with pg 12 of this series and continuing on to the finale of issue # 6.  Welcome aboard, Angelo. Happy to have  you with us.

JIN & TONIK

Artist Cesar Feliciano reports that copies of JIN & TONIK # 1 will arrive sometime at the end of July. Once he has them, he will start mailing them out to all you Loyal Airmen who were so gracious to support the campaign at Indie-Go. We can’t thank you enough and we think once you have them in your hands; this comic is going to blow you away!

THE CRIMSON NUN

By this time next week the Kickstarter Campaign will be finished. Having an original goal of $500, the campaign came close to getting almost $2,000.  A huge thanks to all of you who supported it. According to Antarctic Press publisher, Ben Dunn, issues will be delivered by October. Meanwhile artist Jesse Thomas is hard at work on issue # 2.

And that’s all for this week, Loyal Airmen. As always, thanks for stopping by and we’ll catch up with you next Friday.

Ron – Over & Out!

Greetings Loyal Airmen, well this week we’ve huge milestone to celebrate. The Air Chief, and Airship 27 Production Art Director, Rob Davis, have released our 300th Airship 27 book title.

RAVENWOOD – Stepson of Mystery Vol 5 is that that title.  300 books and it only took us approximately 14 years to do. Thanks to all you Loyal Airmen for your constant support from day one. This volume features a novella by writer Dexter Fabi, with two shorts. One by Michael Housel and the other by Carson Demmans. Ace artist Adam Shaw provided the creepy cover and all interior illustrations were done by Fort Collins local artist pal, Sam Salas. As ever, the book is available from Amazon in both paperback and on Kindle.

BEYOND THE STARS # 4

Meanwhile Italian artist continues his masterful work on our BEYOND THE STARS.  Here are the pencils and inks for Issue # 4’s pg 14 and the pencils for pg 15. We so love Andrea’s work. More to come Loyal Airmen.

FOUND IN AN ANTIQUE STORE

So last Sunday, Father’s Day, a colleague, writer John Simcoe, and his wife, were browsing through an antique store and he came across boxes with comics. He started digging through and lo and behold comes across an early Ocean Comics edition of our Mr. Jigsaw – Man of a Thousand Parts. John was tickled and sent us the attached picture. He bought the issue, read it and said it was lots of fun. Thanks, pal. Great story. Nice to know some of those early issues are still out there.

SPEAKING OF JIGG

For those of you Loyal Airmen curious as to our current writing schedule, we just finished writing an issue of Tomorrow Girl, that’s Ben Dunn’s superhero character from his Ninja High School universe. A while back, when discussing Crimson Nun, Ben asked if we’d like to write a Tomorrow Girl adventure and have our Mr. Jigsaw guest start. And so this past week we got that done. Ben is eager to draw whereas we’re going to suggest he get Gary Kato to do the cover. We’ll keep you posted once it gets drawn and published.

And that, dear Loyal Airmen is it for this week. As ever, thanks for stopping by.

Ron – Over & Out!

Greeting Loyal Airmen, this week the Air Chief wants to start by recommending all you Loyal Airmen be sure to keep up with your medical well-being. That means regular yearly check ups and procedures. This past Monday the Air Chief, now 77 yrs young, had his third colonoscopy at a local clinic.  We had our first back in our mid-50s and polyps were detected and removed.  Then after moving to Colorado, sometime in our late 60s we had our second it everything fine.  Monday’s result were totally fine with the resulting goal of being told we have a healthy colon…and because of our general well being and age, this was officially our last. We bother to bring that up here because, unless you’ve all been living under rock, we suspect you already know that colon-cancer is one of the leading causes of death among men in this country. All of which could be easily avoided if all men had this procedure after turning 40 yrs of age on a regular basis. So please, do it not only for yourselves, but also those who love and depend on you. Sure the prep procedure is annoying, but a small price to pay for good health and peace of mind.

CRIMSON NUN ROCKETS TO SUCCESS

Last Friday night, Antarctic Publisher Ben Dunn launched the funding campaign for issue # 1 of our series The Crimson Nun based on a character he created back in the 1990s as part of his Warrior Nun universe. The Air Chief is writing this new 4 issue mini-series, with artist Jesse Thomas doing art and coloring and artist Mike Belcher the lettering. Above are the two alternate covers, on the left by Fred Lang and on the right by Ben himself. The funding campaign was launched at the Indiego site with a goal of $500.  By noon on Sat that goal had been met and exceeded. By that evening it was past $800 and today, Monday afternoon, it is already at $1,100 and still climbing. The Air Chief is still is shock. It’s obvious Ben and Antarctic Press have a really loyal fanbase and they are making this project fly. To all you Loyal Airmen who kicked as well, our sincere gratitude. The campaign still has 15 days remaining and one can only wonder where the fund will be when it does so.

AIRSHIP 27 PRODUCTION

Airship 27 Production’s latest release is a great action packed pulp adventure.  In “The Devil You Know” by writer Glen Held, a group of heroes; Ravenwood Stepson of Mystery, Ascott Keane, Major Steele and Secret Agent join forces to battle the insidious master criminal Doctor Satan. Our own art director, Rob Davis provides not on the great black and white interior illustrations and the amazing cover you see above. As ever available now at Amazon in paperback and soon on Kindle.

CONGRATULATIONS LOGAN!!

This past Monday our youngest grandchild, Logan Fortier, graduated from Bethel High School. Now he moves on to college and his goal of becoming a music teacher. Val and the Air Chief are so proud of him. That’s his mom Katie and Dad Scott with him. Way to go, Logan!!!

JIN & TONIK ONE LAST TIME

Finally, the Air Chief has been writing comics for a long-long time. JIN & TONIK is one of those comics that both gives tons us fun a challenges all at the same time. Cesar Feliciano’s art is gorgeous. Only three short days till the end of our campaign. Thanks to all you supported us. (https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/jin-and-tonik-of-shaman-s-assasins-and-soldiers?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR1gWsC552OzFqAxE3-Uf4_I3DIVZf6DH4iy_CPzK9IUlW_jVN8PX0jAZHc_aem_ZmFrZWR1bW15MTZieXRlcw#/)

And that’s it for this week, Loyal Airmen.  As ever thanks so much for stopping by. We’ll see you back here this time next week. Until then, God bless.

Ron – Over & Out!

Greetings Loyal Airmen, while our funding campaign is still underway for JIN & TONIK # 1, other projects are moving along the assembly line as well. Let’s take a look at a few.

CRIMSON NUN # 2

Having wrapped up his great art on CRIMSON NUN # 1, artist Jesse Hansen has been really buys working issue # 2 as you can see above. These are the finished pencils for the first three pages of that issue. We are simply bowled over by Jesse’s work and enthusiasm. This also tell the Air Chief he better get busy writing script # 3.  Ha.

CRIMSON NUN #1

Meanwhile publisher Ben Dunn of Antarctic Press has started putting together the Kickstarter Campaign for issue number one which will feature a cover by Fred Lang plus alternates like the one above by Ben himself  We are all wicked excited about this, Loyal Airmen. Stay tuned.

CLASS OF 1964

Sixty years ago, the month, the Air Chief graduated from the first ever class of Saint Thomas Aquinas High School in Dover, NH.  Two weeks ago was our 6oth class reunion and quite a few of our classmates were able to attend the festivities. Sadly, due to a medical issue, we were unable to attend. Then the other day, one of our class, posted the above poster he has put together from our yearbook featuring those fifty-six who have since passed away. In looking at those bright, happy, smiling face, the Air Chief was able to recognize quite a few of those boys and girls he shared so many happy days. And now, they are gone and those of us remaining will naturally dwindle more with each passing year. Life is fleeting, like a Carly Pearce song laments, “…we fireflies, burning way too fast.” Rest in peace, fellow Saints. May our Love God keep you safe in his eternal embrace, as you enjoy the love that surrounds while awaiting the rest of us to join you eventually.  And what a grand reunion that will be truly be.

God bless all you Loyal Airmen.

Ron – Over & Out!

Greetings Loyal Airmen, and as the heading applies, here comes June and we are officially into the summer season. You have notice, this week’s Flight Log is coming to a day early; on Thursday instead of Friday. The reason for that being, tomorrow morning, bright and early, the Air Chief will take Val to the orthopedic clinic for minor surgery to repair a tear in her right rotator cuff. It has been paining her for a few months now and tomorrow we get it fixed. Will certainly appreciate any of your prayers for her quick and speedy recovery.

CHIVALRY, INC.

The comics project front, work progresses on artist Javier Lugo’s pencil pages currently being inked by Jesse Hansen. We hope to show you more of those as the project develops.

INDIEGO CAMPAIGN GROWING

When writing the character of Darya Tonikova for JIN & TONIK, this was the model we had in mind. The Indiegogo campaign is still on-going and we do need your help, Loyal Airmen, to reach our goals. (https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/jin-and-tonik)

AIRSHIP 27 PRODUCTION

After an extended hiatus, we’re happy announce the latest title from Airship 27 Production. “The Sheriff of Hell” is a weird western novel by Canadian Carson Demmans about a British dandy who ends up in the western town called Hell. How he becomes its sheriff and what happens then is a fun read. Artist Adam Shaw provides the stellar cover and Sam Salas the nine black and white interior illustrations. As ever the title is available at Amazon in paperback and on Kindle. Thanks for your continued support, Loyal Airmen.

And there you have it for this shortened week, Loyal Airmen. Thanks for stopping by and for all  your support on our many projects, both in comics and pulps. God bless.

Ron – Over & Out!

Greetings Loyal Airmen, as most of you know, last weekend was wild around the old Hangar 27 what with the JIN & TONIK campaign finally going live on the Indy-Go funding platform. Within 24 hours we had reached half our goal!

But as Darya reminds us all here, we need to keep those pledges coming, Loyal Airmen. Even if you personally can’t do so at this time, we’d ask that you share the link with your comic loving friends. As ever thanks for you support.

CHIVALRY INC.

Meantime, while JIN & TONIK is rocketing its way to publication, we’re equally excited to report all twenty-two pages of CHIVALRY, INC. # 1 have been penciled by artist Javier Lugo. Easily some of his best work to date. Two fine examples above at left and right. While at center a completed inked page by artist Jesse Hassen. He and Javier make a great team. When they are done, pages will go to Mike Belcher for lettering and and Aiden Belcher for coloring. Honestly, Loyal Airmen, this book is going to rock!

BEYOND THE STARS # 4

At the same time super artist Andrea Bormida is whipping along on issue # 4 of our six part sci-fi saga, BEYOND THE STARS. Above are pencils for pages 12 & 13. As always, he’s delivering amazing work. The Air Chief loves working with Andrea.

THE CRIMSON NUN

Artist Jesse Thomas is now doing preliminary sketches of locales for issue # 2 of Crimson Nun. As we reported recently, he’s already completed the pencil roughs for all 22 pages. These are sketches of places that appear in the story to include a very special chapel devoted to the series titular saint. Stay tuned.

THE WOODEN BLADE # 3

Continuing the adventures of Raizee the Ram in THE WOODEN BLADE issue # 3. Above is a sketch of our hero by Rob Davis and to the right another completed page from issue # 3 by co-creator Olivia DeGaine. She hopes to have his issue done by Aug.  Wahoo.

HAMLET’S END

Meanwhile Olivia’s husband, artist Zane DeGaine continues to work on the first issue of our western series, HAMLET’S END which, with fingers crossed will be done by this Nov.  Whereas the Air Chief turned in the finished script for issue # 2 two weeks ago. Moving right along.

WE MUST NEVER FORGET

Finally…and most importantly, Americans this coming Monday celebrate Memorial Day. It is the Air Chief’s fervent hope that amidst whatever gathering you participate in, each of you will take a moment to remember all those American men and women who sacrificed everything to keep our country free. We will always owe them and must never forget them. They didn’t come home….so we could have a home.

Ron – Over & Out!