Greetings Loyal Airmen, the Air Chief is thrilled to announce the launch of the funding campaign for issue number one of JIN & TONIK by yours truly and artist/creator Cesar Feliciano.

The official campaign launches at 9 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, Friday night, 17th May. Below you’ll find a link to the site. Up front, thanks so much for all your support, Loyal Airmen. It means the world to me, Cesar, Matt & Mike.

THE CRIMSON NUN

Meanwhile artist Jesse Thomas isn’t wasting any time getting issue two of THE CRIMSON NUN underway. Over the past weekend he delivered rough thumbnails of all twenty-two pages of that second issue. Above are pages one and two. We are psyched. Meanwhile, Ben Dunn at Antarctic Press is busy putting together the funding campaign for issue number one which he hopes to launch at the start of summer. No worries, Loyal Airmen, we will keep you posted.

BEYOND THE STARS

With issue# 3 of BEYOND THE STARS published and out, artist Andrea Bormida is working feverishly on getting issue # 4 into your hands. Above is the completed Pg 11, meaning he’s now half-way through the issue. We’ll keep you posted. Trust us, Loyal Airmen, the action is only heating up.

While jumping through hoops getting up a brand new PC, the Air Chief did manage to get some writing in. We finished script #2 for the western series HAMLET’S END we are doing pal, artist Zane DeGaine. Believe me this is a rip-roaring shoot’em up. Hopefully we’ll see issue # 1 out in Nov to debut at the Rocky Mountain Con in Denver. All fingers crossed.

And that’s it for this week, Loyal Airmen. Again, as always, thanks for all your support. Do check out the campaign for JIN & TONIK.

Till next week, Ron – Over & Out!

Greetings Loyal Airmen, before we launch into this week’s news, the Air Chief wants to thank all our wonderful fans who stopped by Gryphon Games & Comics here in Fort Collins, last Saturday, Free Comic Book Day, to say hi and to buy some of our titles. By day’s end we’d completely sold out of The Boston Bombers Vol 1, Daughter of Dracula in regards to comics, and the first Brother Bones The Undead Collection, plus lots of other titles. Our local fans never let us down and the day was a real joy for the Val & the Air Chief.  Again, many, many thanks.

JIN & TONIK ALMOST HERE!

JIN & TONIK creator/artist Cesar Feliciano has started putting together the promotional package for the funding campaign which he hopes to launch for issue one within the next week or two. Above is a sketch of Daray Tonikova, one of the lead characters in this action packed spy thriller. Stay tuned, Loyal Airmen, the second that campaign launches, we’ll be posting the link all over the internet.

R.I.P. DAVE DARRIGO

We learned this past week that our old friend, Canadian comic writer Dave Darrigo has passed away.We first encountered Dave when he created and wrote the independent comic series, “Wordsmith.” It told the story of a 1930s pulp writer living in New York City and was brilliant. Every issue our protagonist would get a new writing assignment for various pulp titles and was always having to imagine the adventure stories of pirates, cowboys or masked avengers. Taken by the series, we wrote Dave and soon became correspondent buddies. After the Now Comics Green Hornet series that we’d been writing folded, Dave wrote me suggesting the two of us create our own modern hero in the Hornet mold and call him The Black Scorpion. Each of us would write one story per issue, both of us using the pen name George Stryker. Dave published three issues under his Special Studio banner. He was truly one of the good guys.  May he rest in peace. (https://joeshusterawards.com/hof/dave-darrigo-1954/)

BOSTON BOMBERS Vol 2 Issue # 2

Artist Rob Davis is nearing the completion of Issue # 2 of THE BOSTON BOMBERS Vol 2 and is producing by far the most beautiful work of his long career. Every single page, ala the one above, has been gorgeous. With only four pages left in this issue, the Air Chief is getting more and more anxious for all of you Loyal Airmen to see the final comic. Stay tuned.

MAN IN THE MASK REBORN

A few years back comics writer/artist Mike Belcher produced a fantastic original graphic novel called “Man in the Mask.” It was, and remains, one of my all time favorite comics. Mike’s ability to tell a dramatic story about believable characters is wonderful and shines in this particular setting inspired by his own family. So imagine all our surprises when we learned last year that Mike wanted to re-do “Man in the Mask” and expand it in a deeper, more relevant retelling. Now that’s not something you hear off in this business. Mike sincerely felt there were other subplots that needed to be examined closer and in more detail and so at the start of the year he launched into this retelling project. Thus far two issues have been released (see covers above). They are wonderful and totally prove his idea had tons of merit. We like “Man in the Mask” even more and we think you Loyal Airmen will as well. You can purchase these two issues at (www.IndyPlanet.com) or learn more about Mike’s projects at (amk-comics.weebly.com) or (facebook.com/amkcomics). Tell him the Air Chief sent you.

REMINDER

And that’s it for this week, Loyal Airmen, save one final reminder.  The funding campaign for JIN & TONIK is now less than a week away. More info on how you can sign on to support us next week.

Ron – Over & Out!

Greetings Loyal Airmen, we’re sure by now you are looking at those comic pages above and totally impressed by the artwork. As you should be. These are Javier Lugo’s pencil pages for the three part mini-series CHIVALY, INC. which we are doing for Silverline comics. This is a project the Air Chief first conceived ages ago when first getting into this comic writing stuff. Maybe 35 to 40 years back is when we began thinking about a Montreal based cop who…. Well, hey, we don’t want to give away too much too soon. After all, we do want you to pick it up when published. The rest of the creative team includes inker Jesse Hassan (inked panel above right) and the father and son team of Mike & Aiden Belcher. Mike will letter and son Aiden do the colors.  The Air Chief wrapped up the scripts last week and so now it’s up Javier and the gang to bring Valerie Chevalier to life.  And yes, the Air Chief took his wife’s name for the hero of this story. We truly hope you’ll support the project when the time comes.

AIR CHIEF’S CREW

After posting last week’s report on this year’s Wicked West Comic Expo, we received the picture above from con photographer Mike Barry.  It features the Air Chief (center, arms folded with white baseball tee) and some of the folks who were students of my How to Write Comics course.  Kneeling (left to right) is Evan Hundsman, Gabriella Saenz (in cos-play make up) and Stephen Beer. Middle row (again left to right) Terry Crawley, Zane DeGaine and the Air Chief. Standing back row are Olivia DeGaine, Scott Ladzinski and Aaron Powers.  All of them are terrific, talented folks and it was my privilege to be their teacher.

JIN & TONIK

Now that all the artwork for JIN & TONIK # 1 is finished and turned in, artist Cesar Feliciano is busy putting together the funding campaign will most likely launch within the first two weeks of May. Stay tuned for more updates as the project progresses.

And that’s it for this week, Loyal Airmen. A we bit short, but trust me we’ve lots of things popping here at Hangar 27 so stay tuned and we’ll see you back here next Friday morning.

Ron – Over & Out!

Greetings Loyal Airmen, well Todd’s Wicked West Comic Expo is now history after a truly awesome fun weekend. The Air Chief and Valerie really had a blast at the show reconnecting with old friends and make lots of new ones.

Consider the above left witch an unofficial greeter to the con. She was TOTALLY CREEPY!! Our pal, photographer Mike Barry was also on hand doing his thing, snapping pix of the show. He was gracious enough to stop by our table and take this really nice pix of Val and the Air Chief.

Our con neighbor to the left was pulp writer and former student, Terry Crawley. Terry and the Air Chief recently wrote a horror movie screenplay which we hope to show independent filmmakers. Next was the lovely and ever bubbly Gabriella Zaenz, another former student now in college studying art and education.

Across the aisle from us were Zane & Olivia DeGaine. The Air Chief is working with both these super talented artist on various projects. This includes the western comic project of which you’ll see pages below. To their left was legendary comics writer Mike Baron showing off a cool new con banner.

Another old friend, Scott Ladzinski, stopped by to give us an autographed copy of his just published first novel, “The Twins of Aimsire,” which we’d helped edit for him the past few years. It was a joy to see his labor of love finally in print. It is the first in a truly wonderful fantasy series and now available at Amazon. If you liked books such as “Lord of the Rings” you will love “The Twins of Aimsire.”

Also at the even were Lee Oaks (left) with his table full of really fun mini custom figures. Then there was the creator of the Rocky Mountain Con himself, Tim Moret (right). Val and the Air Chief consider his show, RMC, our home con and look forward to be guests there every November.

Two other con guests included Aaron Powers, a really terrific writer who does both comics and prose. He’s written for Airship 27 in the past and is currently working on another short for our Rick Ruby Private Eye. Series. To upper right, was a truly welcome sight, artist Felipe Echevarria, a dear friend who had, up until this weekend, been absent from the con circuit for six years. Having him there and getting reacquainted was a really joy.

Having artist Joe Arnold on hand was also terrific as Joe is the artist currently bringing to life the new Brother Bones graphic novel which will for the very first time tell the entire origin story of our Undead Avenger in comics. The pages he’s finished are fantastic. All you Bones fans are in for a real treat.

And finally we end our Wicked West report with our buddy, official protege and con found, the one and only Todd Jones. Putting on a con is hard work, Loyal Airmen. Work Todd never shirks in making sure his show is fun for everyone, from out of town guests, to the local fans. And it is a goal he never fails to achieve. Thanks ever, Todd, once again you rocked it!!

HAMLET’S END

As promised above, here are some of artist Zane DeGaines’ newest pages for our western comic series, “Hamlet’s End.”  Issue # 1 will be 22 pgs. The book will be funded via Kickstarter. Stay tuned for more as the project develops.

DOMINO LADY CASEFILES Vol One

This is a Kindle only title that reprints all of writer Gene Moyers previous five DL stories. Accompanied by all the interior illustrations by James Lyle. Again, available from Amazon only on Kindle.

JIN & TONIK – COMPLETED

We are thrilled to announce that issue number one of JIN & TONIK by the Air Chief and artist/creator Cesar Feliciano is finished. Artist/letterer Mike Belcher completed the lettering last week and now all thirty-nine pages are back in Cesar’s hand to launch the funding program. Stay tuned for more info as soon as we have it.

And that, Loyal Airmen, is it for this past week. Phew, first the Windy City Pulp show in Chicago and now Wicked West Comic Expo.  We aren’t as young as we use to be ha. Time for a little more rest. See you back here next Friday,

Ron – Over & Out!

Greetings Loyal Airmen, last weekend Valerie and the Air Chief joined Rob & Theresa Davis and traveled to Lombard, Illinois to attend the annual Windy City Pulp & Paper Con. To say we had a great time would be an understatement. The show as a blast. Check out all these pix.

Above Air Chief, Val, Theresa and Rob Davis. Across the aisle from us, Jonathan Sweet and his son David who happens to be a big Minnesota Twins fan.

So many of our great New Pulp amigos were there. Above left writer Andy Fix stops by writer Van Plexico’s table while down the aisle representing Pro Se Press were Aubrey and head honcho Tommy Hancock.

Robyn and Mark van Zanden above left and to right, writer pal George Tackes and Air Chief.

Above left writer Matthew Bienek and then Val and Air Chief enjoy a coffee break.

Above left, Air Chief, artist Steve Bryant of Athena Voltaire fame and Rob. At right, voice actor Mark Kalita in baseball cap meets New Pulp writer historian Will Murray.

Above left, the New Pulp gang heads for Portellos for Friday night get together, then it was back to the con for the Pulp Factory Awards handed out by Rob and the Air Chief, above right.

Happily Airship 27 Production’s Vol 9 of our hit series, “Mystery Men (& Women) won for Best Anthology, while Art Director Rob Davis won for best interior illustrations and among our four writers in the book, Jaime Ramos, Jonathan Sweet, Mark Allen Vann & Jarrett Mazza, Jaime’s story, “Exile of Avalon” won for Best Short Story. That’s his character, Steelgrave above at right. Other winners included Jeffrey Hayes for Best Cover and Charles Millhouse for Best Novel.

The following day was New Pulp Sunday and we saw two really great panels this year. Above left, Fred Adams Jr. moderated a panel on AI and its impact on publishing, which featured writers Dale Cozort, David C. Smith, Fred and George Tackes. The next panel was an interactive build a pulp story, wherein writer/moderator Andy Fic (at easel) took ideas from the audience when the writers, Van Plexico, Gordon Dymowski, Mark Van Zander &  Tommy Hancock will write stories. These will be published and made available to the public. Hopefully a panel that will become a tradition at Windy City.

And with Sunday afternoon the show wrapped up. We packed all our boxes and stuff and head out to downtown Chicago for real highlight, dinner with our daughter Heather, who lives there. She took us all to a wonderful Italian restaurant and we had a really great time. All in all another memorable Windy City Con. Our thanks to promoters Doug Ellis and John Gunnison. See you again next year.

JIN & TONIK

While in Chicago, artist co-creator Cesar Feliciano was busy putting the finishing touches on “Jin & Tonik #1″ Above left are the official covers. Back cover to left, front cover in the center and to the interior credits page is to right. The book is now being lettered by artist Mike Belcher. Once done, Cesar will move on to getting a funding campaign going. You can only imagine how excited we are about getting this book out to you Loyal Airmen. Oh, yeah.

TERMINATOR RETURNS

We were recently made aware that Dynamite Comics has gotten the rights to produce special editions of old Terminator graphic novel series. One of these “The Burning Earth” series we wrote and Alex Ross illustrated for the defunct Now Comics. Others were done for Dark Horse comics. The project is being funded by a Kickstarter Campaign. Seems like folks just can’t get enough of those stories. Be nice if the powers that be send me a few. Doubtful, but one never knows.

WICKED WEST COMIX EXPO YEAR THREE

Tomorrow, Sat April 13th, we’ll be guest at the nearby Loveland, CO for the third annual Wicked West Comic Expo put on by our pal Todd Jones. Also on hand will be Zane & Olivia DeGaine, both of whom the Air Chief is working on. Zane hopes to have a completed mock up of the entire issue # 1 of our new western series “Hamlet’s End.” Hope to see lots of our Colorado and Wyoming fans there.

Phew, and that’s it for this week, Loyal Airmen. As ever thanks for stopping by and we’ll see you right back here next Friday morning.

Ron – Over & Out!

Greetings Loyal Airmen, by the time you read this Flight Log, we’ll be in Chicago at the annual Windy City Pulp and Paper Con. An event the Air Chief and Rob look forward to every year. What with the presentation of the Pulp Factory Awards on Friday night and of course the New Pulp Panels on Sunday. Never mind that we’ll also be having dinner Sunday evening with our daughter Heather, who lives in the Windy City. Hopefully we’ll have pictures to share next week. Meanwhile things haven’t slowed up at the old Hangar 27 one bit.

AIRSHIP 27 PRODUCTION

Our latest pulp releases from Airship 27 is Frank Schildiner’s novel, “Count Rochefort and The Seven Circles of Satan.” A swash-buckling adventure set in the world of the Dumas’ Three Musketeers. British artist John Gallagher provided the black and white interior illustrations and our own Rob Davis above left. It is now available at Amazon in both paperback and on Kindle. As always thanks to you Loyal Airmen for your continued support.

THE MUSIC OF MAX STEINER

Years ago the Air Chief became friends with music historian and re-constructionist John Morgan. When we learned that he and conductor Bill Stromberg were going to record these two scores by the great Max Steiner, we wrote John a long letter about the story behind those films. He liked our letter so much, he had us tweak it and it became an essay in the CD’s liner notes.

We are thrilled to announce artist Cesar Feliciano has finished coloring all 39 pages of our spy action thriller, JIN & TONIC.  Above is the official comic book logo. Now the book is off to artist Mike Belcher for lettering. Wahoo!! Stay tuned Loyal Airmen, this comic book is going to knock your socks. Below is that final page of issue # 1.

EASTER FUN

Last Sunday being Easter, we are now finally in the Church’s Easter Season. As always we celebrated with a morning mass and then getting home, Valerie put the finishing touches on our Easter dinner where our little family gathered.  During the afternoon, daughter-in-law Nicole thought it fun to pose her giant Cadbury Easter Egg next to our Grogu toy and the kids got behind it for a pix. Looking at them, left to right we have Cora, her brother Alex, her husband Calvin and the family pet Boomer. He was such a good dog all day, he loves being surrounded by family. Though the Air Chief will admit, our right arm was tired after throwing the frisbee with him in the backyard for almost thirty minutes. We hope your Easter was as blessed.

CHIVALRY INC.

Last week we finished script # 2 for this three part mini-series.  One more to go. Hope to have it wrapped up after we get home from Chicago.

BARRY BASKERVILLE # 9

And finally we’re thrilled to announce the release of the 9th Barry Baskerville boy-detective book. In this one, the family car is stolen and Barry accept the challenge to find it and bring the car thief to justice. Written by Richard Kellogg with illustrations by Gary Kato. Now available at Amazon.

And there you have it for this week, Loyal Airmen.  Next week we hope to show you some pix from the con. Till then be good and God bless.

Ron – Over & Out!

Greeting Loyal Airmen, as we come to the end of Holy Week and are about celebrate Easter, Val and the Air Chief wanted share a few our of pictures from our recent vacation in Fort Myers, Florida.

Fort Myers has a lot to offer tourists including the Edison & Ford estates where both men built beautiful winter homes and brought lots of attention to what was once a small Florida village. Above is the Air Chief and Val. To the right the Air Chief relaxes in the lobby of the Margarita Hotel on the beach.

To left is another shot the Margarita complex, the Atlantic in the background. To the right is Val with her siblings and their spouses. Front left to right, Val, her sister Barbara, her sister Sandy, Sandy’s husband Andy (really) and Desirare, married to Val’s brother Ronnie. Standing in back, again left to right, Air Chief, Barbara’s husband Gus and Ronnie. First time in many years Val was able to be reunited with family like this. Needless to say we all had a great time. Family is one of God’s greatest blessings to all of us.

JIN & TONIK NEWS

Above is page # 36 of issue # 1. Artist Cesar Feliciano has only two pages left to color. And our big news is we’ve added a great new member to our team. Artist Mike Belcher has signed on to letter this series. So once he finishes issue # 1, Cesar will start putting the Kickstarter campaign. Stay turned, Loyal Airmen, more as things progress.

AIRSHIP 27 PRODUCTION

With the Windy City Pulp & Paper con only two weeks away, Airship 27 continues to release exciting new titles. This week we offer up GEEZERS, a story about a group of Vietnam veterans living in a California senior facility who take on a bunch of secret communist terrorist in their community. It was written by Army vet Darryl Purcell, who also provided all the interior illustrations and artist Adam Shaw whipped up that wonderful cover (above left). This one is a special title for the Air Chief as well. As ever available at Amazon in paperback and on Kindle.

CHIVALRY, INC.

We are currently half-way through the script for CHIVALRY, INC. # 2. As artist Javier Lugo had finished issue # 1 over a week ago, we were nudged to get # 2 done so as to keep him busy. Chuckle. Sit tight, Javier. It’s on its way. Oh, and above are two of the supporting cast, Father Peter Dumont and Donat Richer, an ex-cop.

BOSTON BOMBERS Vol 2

Morgan Freeman as a Catholic Cardinal continues his guest appearance in The Boston Bombers Vol 2 Issue # 2 courtesy of the amazing Rob Davis.  This comic is gorgeous and only a few more pages from completion. Wahoo!

HAPPY & BLESSED EASTER!

We are writing this on Holy Thursday of Holy Week. The night we Catholics celebrate the Eucharist, when our Lord Jesus shared his last supper with his apostles and gave them his body and blood. The following day, he would complete the Father’s mission and die on that cross for you and me. For the salvation of our souls. It is our wish that all of you have a truly beautiful and blessed Easter Sunday, seeing in your hearts that He Has Risen!!!  Alleluia!!

Ron – Over & Out!

Greetings Loyal Airmen, well Val and the Air Chief are back from our ten day vacation in Fort Myers, Florida and we had a great time. That R & R was just what the Air Chief needed. While away, Chief Engineer Rob Davis kept things at Hangar 27 hopping, to include release two brand new titles, so what say we get to them and lots of other stuff.

AIRSHIP 27 PRODUCTION –

First up a collection of great sword and sorcery stories by one of the best writers in New Pulp today, Gary Lovisi. All the art for this issue, plus the colorful cover were turned in by artist Ron Hill. As ever, available at Amazon in both paperback and on Kindle.

The next week saw the release of TOWERS OF METROPOLIS Vol 2. This is our second anthology featuring stories based on director/producer Fritz Lang’s classic silent sci-fi movie, Metropolis. This volume includes stories by Dexter Fabi, Carson Demmans, Harding McFadden and Gary Lovisi. (He’s a busy guy.) All art from interiors to that wonderful cover by artist James Lyle. We love this series and hope you’ll enjoy this new collection. Again available from Amazon in both paperback and on Kindle. As ever, Loyal Airmen, thanks so much for your support.

JIN & TONIK

Artist Cesar Feliciano turns in the colors to pg # 35 of our JIN & TONIK issue # 1. As ever his work is beautiful and he has only 3 more pages to go. Cannot wait to see this one out there for all you fans.

CHIVALRY INC.

We are thrilled to announce that artist Javier Lugo has finished the pencils to all 22 pgs of our new series CHIVALRY INC.  Above are a few rough samples of the action. Honestly, this is some of Javier’s finest work ever and the Air Chief is really excited about bringing this to all you Loyal Airmen. Stay tuned. Now comes inking, coloring and lettering. We’ll keep you posted.

Phew, and that’s all just the tip of the iceberg, Loyal Airmen. We’d hope to show you a few pix from our Florida vacation, but like the Air Chief, Val is swamped with catch-up work. Hopefully we’ll have some downloaded by next Friday. Till then stay well and God Bless,

Ron – Over & Out!

Greetings Loyal Airmen, this will be our last Flight Log before flying off to Florida in two days. Valerie and the Air Chief are going on vacation for the next week and a half. Looking forward to nothing but sun, sand and beaches. There will be no Flight Log next, but rest assured, we’ll be back on the 22nd with our steady fun stuff.  And boy do we have a lot of great things to discuss this week.

BEYOND THE STARS

Having earned nearly $1,800 in its funding campaign, we are delighted to announce it was a success and issue # 3 will soon be off to the presses. Meanwhile Andrea continues his awesome work on issue # 4.

Above are pages 8 & 9 of that issue. The saga takes a pivotal turn with this chapter and we are anxious for all you Loyal Airmen to see it. We’ve crossed the half-way mark to this six-issue tale.

THE CRIMSON NUN

Meanwhile artist Jesse Thomas has wrapped up drawing and coloring the entire 22 pages of Crimson Nun # 1 and it is now in artist Mike Belcher’s talented hands for lettering. The entire book, along with artist Fred Lang’s stunning cover, should be completed by the time Val and the Air Chief get home. Then its off to Ben Dunn and Antarctic Press. Oh, yeah.

And there you have our Flight Log for this week, Loyal Airmen. Thanks ever stopping by and we’ll see you back here on Friday, March 2nd. Till then be well and God bless,

Ron – Over & Out!