Greetings Loyal Airmen, well summer for most students across the country is now finished and they are back in school. When young, we thought summers lasted forever. On becoming an adult the reality was something else. They all too short. Okay, so soon Fall will be upon us and meanwhile the Air Chief is pounding away at his newest writing gig.

CODE NAME INTREPID – CLASSIFIED

Few years ago, writer Robert J. Mendenhall came to Airship 27 with an idea about a super military team that operated in the time between World War I and II, taking on only the most crucial, special assignments that often dealt with the supernatural. He titles his collection of stories “Codename – Intrepid” and we were only too happy to publish it. (Above left.) Later, having gotten the New Pulp in a big way, Robert made the decision to create his own publishing imprint from which to continue the team’s adventures. (Note..all of them are available on Amazon – check them out.) Then last year he had the idea of inviting other writers to do stories with these characters and launched a series he called “CNI-Classified.” (Above right.) A really awesome idea. When we hooked up with Robert earlier in the year at the Windy City Pulp & Paper Con, we congratulated him on the series’ success and suggested we might be interested in writing one of those tales. Happily Robert loved the idea and so we committed to having a story to him by the end of this year. After a few months of dealing with tons of other comic book projects plus all our new Airship 27 titles, we managed to come up with a plot and this past week have been hammering away at the keys. The story is coming along. Wahoo. We’ll keep you posted.

JEFF’S HORNET FUN

The first time we met artist Jeff Butler, at a San Diego Comic ages ago, he showed us a portfolio of his work and there was this pin-up sketch of the Green Hornette. (above left) We loved it and within months of that meeting, we recruited to Jeff to be our partner in producing the Green Hornet comic book for the now defunct Now Comics out of Chicago. Recently, on Facebook, fan Scott Garrison, has been talking about how he’s been collecting, through various sources on line ala E-bay etc, the entire run of that series. That’s quite an achievement in itself. Well eventually we saw that post and added a few comments of applause for his efforts. Then Jeff saw and the other day added as yet another Hornette (above right) this being our lovely Mishi Kato. So here they are side by side. We thought all you Loyal Airmen would get a kick out of seeing them. Enjoy…and thanks Jeff.

CAPTAIN JAIN’S OWN COMIC!

As many of you Loyal Airmen know, the Air Chief has been writing the comic strip adventures of Captain Jain Marlee Space-Smuggler for a long-long time now. If memory serves us correctly, we’ve written at least six of these short tales. In fact the last, an 11 pager called “Ghost World” has yet to see print.

Very recently a fellow writer approached us with an intriguing proposition regarding our lovely space rebel. Enough so that it got us thinking maybe it was time we collected all those stories into one comic book. And that is indeed what we are setting out to do. Most likely through pal Rob’s Redbud Studio. As it comes together, we’ll keep you Loyal Airmen updated. As to what that idea presented to us entailed, well we’re going to keep that under wraps for a little while longer. Keep you guessing a bit. Till then, look forward to this one shot comic project.

And that’s a wrap for this installment, Loyal Airmen. As ever, thanks so much for stopping by we hope to see you back here next Friday. Till then stay well and God bless.

Ron – Over & Out!

Greetings Loyal Airmen, the past week and weekend have been wicked busy at Hangar 27 so lets get cracking.

METROPOLIS RESURRECTION

After week’s of promotion, we are thrilled to announce the release of our newest Airship 27 title, “Metropolis – Resurrection” by Charles Santino & Michael Panush. This is a brilliant prequel novel to the classic silent sci-fi film, “Metropolis” produced by Fritz Lang. The book is so amazing, with all the art, both interior illustrations and cover, were done by James Lyle. So special is this title, that it is now available from Amazon in three formats; paperback, on Kindle and hardback. Trust us, Loyal Airmen, if you are a fan of the classic film, you’ll want to read this novel. As ever, thanks for your continued support.

AIRSHIP 27 RETURNS TO AUDIBLE

After a few years of focusing solely on print formats, Airship 27 has returned to the audio media. Audible is currently producing their titles via virtual voice. It was something both Rod and the Air Chief had been intrigued by. Finally Rob took the plunge and from what we’ve heard via their three minute sample, the quality is very good. Chosen as the first to be recorded in this manner was Nancy Hansen’s latest volume in her pirate queen saga, Jezebel Johnston – Captain Johnston. It can be found by simply going to Audible and putting that title in their search engine. Note, it is a female voice that narrates the adventure.

BROTHER BONES – GRAPHIC NOVEL

After almost a year, artist Joe Arnold has once again returned to working our Brother Bones graphic novel. This is the complete origin story of our Undead Avenger told for the first time in comic form.

Above are first-drafts only of some of the early pages and character sketches. If you are familiar with the book series, you’ll easily recognize what’s happening and who these characters are. To say the Air Chief is excited is an understatement. We’ll continue to keep you posted, Loyal Airmen.

WARRIOR OF RIGEL

And finally, we end this week’s Flight Log with out second Airship 27 title release in one week. “Warrior of Rigel” is a sword and planet fantasy adventure by writer Gary Lovisi, with all art, both interior illustrations and that cover above by artist Ron Hill. If you’re a fan of the old Edgar Rice Burroughs off world adventure, this book is for you Loyal Airmen. As always, available at Amazon in paperback and on Kindle. Thanks always for your support.

And that’s a wrap. But we’re not slowing down one bit. See you back here next Friday morning.

Ron – Over & Out!

Greetings Loyal Airmen, as of 1st of Sept, we will only be using our new e-mail address. (ronfortier104@gmail.com) Please, drop us a quick one line letter telling us you received this information and have logged this into your own files.  When you do that, we can add you to our new address file as well. Thanks.  Now on to this week’s Flight Log.

BEYOND THE STARS # 4

So here’s page # 21 of BEYOND THE STARS # 4.  Meaning artist Andrea Bormida has only one more page to draw and he wraps up this issue.  Will be nice to see this one out. Leaving us only two more issues to finish the series.

GEEZERS 2

Am thrilled to announced the release of our Airship 27 title, GEEZERS 2 by writer Darryle Purcell. This continues the adventures of the likeable group of Vietnam veterans living in a California senior facility. And adventures they do have, show patriotism never grows old. Purcell himself is a vet and with writing the novel, also drew all the black and interior illustrations. While that stunning cover above was created by the amazing Adam Shaw. As ever now available at Amazon in paperback and on Kindle. We thank you for your support, Loyal Airmen.

Happily we here in Colorado have finally starting getting rain, which has been a blessing in helping firefighters combat and end the many forest fires that have been plaguing us these past few weeks thanks to the hot temps. With them quench by the remains, hopefully we’ve seen the last of the scorching weather and can start looking forward to more moderate Fall weather.

And that’s a wrap for this week, Loyal Airmen, as ever thanks for stopping by and we’ll see you all back here next Friday.

Ron – Over & Out!

Greetings Loyal Airmen, here we are in August and once again summer is disappearing on us faster than we’d like. Such is life. But here at Hangar 27 we continue to work on our pulp and comic projects. So let’s get started.

JIN & TONIK

Last we we showed you the black and white version of this beautiful drawing by artist Cesar Feliciano. For those of you who were unable to support our funding campaign and thus weren’t able to obtain a copy of JIN & TONIK, don’t despair. There are some talks in progress with a major independent comic company that might all of you smile. More as things develop.

CHIVALRY INC.

Work continues on CHIVALRY, INC. #1 with pencils by Javier Lugo and really nice inks by Jesse Hansen. Above the latest completed page. The book will be colored and when completed coming to you from Florida’s own Silverline Comics.

BEYOND THE STARS # 4

Artist Andrea Bormida is whipping through the last few pages of “Beyond the Stars” # 4. Above are his pencils for pages #19 and # 20. That leaves him only two pages left to complete the issue. Next up Angelo Vecciarelli adds his colors. When all 22 pgs are drawn, Mike Belcher letters them and then they are off to Silverline Comics. Keep in mind, this is a six issue series, ergo the publishing of #4 leaves us two left to wrap it all up.

A SWIPING COINCEDENCE

Norman Saunders was one of the finest pulp cover artist of his time. One of the many covers he painted was for the one and only issue of Captain Hazzard – Champion of Justice; Python Men of the Lost City. The first time we saw this image, it was in black and white on a small facsimile edition published by the late Bob Weinberg. Which is why we didn’t make the connection when many years later we saw Jim Steranko’s cover for the first issue of our Green Hornet comic series from Now Comics. Then again, another few decades elapsed, and we found ourselves writing brand new Captain Hazzard novels. And lo and behold, putting these two images side by side, realized Steranko had actually swiped Saunders. Not that swiping is anything new, it’s a standard practice among professional illustrators. What was unique was the fact that the Air Chief would be so intimately involved with both these two fictional heroes. Now that’s a coincidence.

And that wraps up this week’s Flight Log, Loyal Airmen. As always, thanks for stopping by and we’ll see you back here next Friday.

Ron – Over & Out!

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!