Greetings Loyal Airmen, as most of you are reading this Flight Log, the Air Chief is flying off to Akron Ohio to be a guest, along with Rob Davis, at the the Akron Comic Con which runs Sat and Sun this weekend. We invited to be guest by Michael Savane, one of the show’s founders and tomorrow, at 11 a.m. we’ll be offering a one hour panel presentation on how comics evolved from pulps and now have brought up the evolution of New Pulp. Joining us on this panel will be our writing pal, Jim Beard. Looks to be a fun time and show.

Now yesterday was the Air Chief’s 69th birthday, and one of the most beautiful gifts we received was the original Doug Klauba painting of my character Nighthawk the Flying Spy which was the cover to my Moonstone Book released earlier in the year. Knowing how much we loved that gorgeous painting, Valerie bought it from Doug and is going to have it framed and put on a wall in our office. Doug sent the painting along last week and other day we went to the local Hobby Lobby here in Fort Collins to have it matted and framed.  You should have seen the eyes of the young clerk double in size when we revealed the painting. Within minutes one of his co-workers, another framer, came out of the back room to see what all the oohing and ahhing was about.  Both of them were blown away by how beautiful the piece was. During our discussion with the young man, his name was Justin, he was showing us varies colored mat pieces, frame colors etc. all of us trying to match what would good perfect with the painting’s palette. Somewhere in this back and forth, Justin inquired as to what the book itself was all about and the Air Chief began to tell him about the plot, the character and ultimately New Pulp in general. We could see this young man was intrigued beyond mere curiosity and he eventually told us he was a writer and tabled in short horror fiction. At which point we gave him our Airship 27 business card and urged him to contact us later on. It looks like our trip to Hobby Lobby may have unearthed as yet another New Pulp creator.  We’ll keep you posted. And once the painting is framed and on our wall, the Air Chief will snap a few pix and posted them right here, Loyal Airmen.

We have so few pictures of father, George Joseph Fortier.  Wish we had more, but we do love this one, which was taken only weeks before his passing.  Dad was in the Army in World War II and served in the South Pacific where he came down with malaria…which nearly killed him. Upon his return stateside, he married Mom and proceeded to have a family of three boys and one girl. Our memories of him are all good ones and he was a kind, generous soul with a heart as big as the world. Sadly the malaria he endured would have lasting negative effects on health throughout the years and he would always tease us that he would never live to reach 60 and collect Social Security. And was right, as he passed away of pancreatic cancer at the young age of 59. We miss him every day and he is always in our thoughts. Thus you can imagine how we looked at reaching that particular age with a slight degree of trepidation. And now, this week, we’ve actually added another decade to our own history. We’ve often wondered what experiences we might have been able to share with Dad had he gotten ten extra years. In looking back on the past decade, the Air Chief is filled with wonder and gratitude. Not only did we and Valerie get to retire, move to Colorado and enjoy watching all six of our grand kid grow up, our personal career reached unbelievable new heights of satisfaction with the creation of Airship 27 Productions and the graces of all the people we’ve come to know and befriend in those ten years has been nothing but a blessing to our lives.

69 years old.  Wowser.  Of course being people of faith, we often think what it will be like some day to be reunited with all our loved ones in heaven.  And that’s what make us chuckle, you see, our Dad is actually going to be younger than us.  Now there’s food for thought.

And finally, what the Air Chief considers his own personal birthday gift, Rob Davis finally, after days of dealing with the folks at Amazon, finally manage to upload the third issue of  AIRSHIP 27 presents ALL-STAR COMICS.  Cover above is by Rob with colors by Warren Montgomery.  We think its our best issue yet and here’s the line up of pulp comic strips you’ll find inside.

“Sinbad and the Isle of Stone”
Scott “Doc” Vaughn

The Black Bat in “Blind Justice”
Ron Fortier & Eric Johns

The Purple Scar in “Breaking Point”
Percival Constantine & Carl Yonder

Lance Star Sky Ranger in “Gods of the Molten Sea”
Bobby Nash & Rock Baker & Jeff Austin

Mars McCoy Space Ranger in “Crazy Horse”
Mike Baron (with Ron Fortier) & Eric Hurley & Warren Montgomery

The Crimson Mask in “Killing Rain”
Aaron Smith & David Nehaus

The Moon Man in “Dance of the Black Flamingo”
Michael Leonard & James Lyle & Greg Keyzer

You can order a copy here:

Available at Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/dp/0692569537)

We think you will love this issue.  As ever thanks for your support and for stopping by. Till next week, take care and be good.

Ron – Over & Out!

Greetings Loyal Airmen, as most of you know Valerie and the Air Chief spent two fun weeks back in New England earlier this month visiting with family. Our first week was spent in Bethel, Conn with our son Scott and his family, wife Katie and children Taryn and Logan.

Taryn started high school this year and joined the school marching band. While there we had the fun of watching her march.  Once at a public event and another during an actual band competition. Taryn plays the trumpet. Well last Friday her band was in another such competition and they won several awards including First Place.  Above is a great pix of Taryn holding the trophy.  We couldn’t be more proud of her.

After a slow up this year, the Air Chief is happy to report that Airship 27 Productions is once again putting out new titles at a steady pace.  Last week we announced the released of our newest Sherlock Holmes title. This week we are happy to tell you about BLACK BAT MYSTERY Volume 3. It features four new stories of this classic pulp hero from Greg Hatcher, Gene Moyers, Gordon Dymowsky and Erik Franklin. It has 12 interior illustrations and a fantastic cover by Graham Hill (above). As ever the book is on sale at Amazon in both hard copy and on Kindle…and eventually there will be an audio version. As ever, we thank you so much for your continued support.

Meanwhile Radio Archives continues to turn our titles into excellent audio books. The latest two now available from (www.audible.com) are Black Bat Mystery Vol 2 and The Ghost Squad – Rise of the Black Legion. Both are tons of fun to download and listen to on your PC or portable devices.

And lastly, the 9th episode of our AIRSHIP 27 PODCAST went up this past week. If you haven’t listened in yet here’s the link.  Once again Rob and the Air Chief talk about what we’ve just released, what’s coming down the road and where we are heading in the next few weeks.  A solid hour of New Pulp goodies for all you Loyal Airmen. (http://www.zone4podcast.com/airship-27-podcast-9-secrets-of-the-dead/) And do keep in mind, if you have any questions at all you’d like us to answer on the show, send them along. We do love feedback from all you Loyal Airmen.

And that wraps up this Halloween edition of the Flight Log.  Have a great Halloween and be safe out there Trick or Treating.  We want you all back here next week.

Ron – Over & Out!

Greetings Loyal Airmen, with Fall in full autumn regalia, we’ve got the Hangar 27 all decorated for one of favorite times of the year, Halloween.  Time whip up new costumes, read a little Edgar Alan Poe and stock up on tons of candy for those little spooks and goblins who’ll come Trick or Treating.   Fun times for sure.

And keeping up with the horror theme, it’s with a giant smile on our face that we announce the release of our latest Airship 27 title, SHERLOCK HOLMES – Secrets of the Dead by writer Jack Beddows. This is an incredible, full length starring the great detective and his ever present loyal ally, Dr. Watson, as they unravel a deep, dark mystery which takes them to the notorious London cemetary/rail station known as the Necropolis. Believe me Loyal Airmen, once the Air Chief started reading this, he could not put it down. The book features a gorgeous cover by artist Adam Shaw and has nine black and white interior illustrations by our own Rob Davis. It is available now from Amazon in both hard copy and on Kindle. A perfect reading experience for the season.

The Air Chief has always had a fascination with aviation in all its forms and one of the most fun days while on our recent vacation back east was visiting with our sister-in-law Sandy and her husband, Andy Fagan. Andy is into model airplane flying and took us along one morning to a nearby field where he and the members of his model plane club gather.  That’s him and the Air Chief above as he prepares one of his two planes. This one being a traditional prop model.

Up next was his red and white jet plane. Watching this beauty cut through the air was a real hoot.

Here is she about to take-off.  Both models were radio-controlled by a hand-held controller and it takes a really deft hand to handle these amazing models once they are airborn. We cannot thank Andy enough for allowing us to spend those great few hours with him and his pals. Truly wonderful memories we’ll cherish over the winter months when the cold sets in and snow covers the ground. Oh yeah.

As ever thanks for stopping by and we’ll see you all back here next week.

Ron – Over & Out!

Greetings Loyal Airmen, here we are back at Hangar 27 after two glorious weeks back in New England. Valerie and the Air Chief had a great time visiting with family and friends. And we took lots of pictures to share with all of you. Like the one above of a giant lobster sculpture on the back of a flatbed truck we passed on the highway. Obviously going to be set as an advertising piece from a seafood restaurant.  And yes, Loyal Airmen, we did have some great seafood meals while there…to include fresh Maine lobster. Yummy.

We started our vacation in Bethel, Conn visiting with son Scott, his wife Katie and our two awesome grandkids, Taryn and Logan. Here’s a great shot of 14 yr old Taryn who is now a freshmen in high school. She belongs to the school’s marching band and Valerie and the Air Chief actually got to see them performance twice. She’s becoming a beautiful young woman and so talented.

And not to be outdone by the girls in the family, here’s a fun shot of son Scott, grandson Logan (9) and the Air Chief. The three amigos. Logan’s in Cub Scouts and he and his dad enjoy their time together. Scott is really a great father we are so proud of him. Our week with them went by all too fast.

Soon as we got into southern New Hampshire, we realized we had gotten into peek foliage season and snapped dozens of great photos showing Mother Nature’s autumn quilt.

The colors were simply breathtaking.  We also made a point to head out to the coast. As living in Colorado, we do miss seeing the beaches and the mighty Atlantic.

Above is a shot of the Nubble Lighthouse on York Beach, Maine, the place where Valerie and the Air Chief had their very first date. Great shot of her there, it was such a beautiful, glorious day.

Of course one of our major reasons for our trip was to see Mom, Gabrielle Fortier, who will be turning 91 on Nov 1st. She is doing great and that’s us together in her room with one of her many beautiful paintings on the wall behind us. We saw her every single day that second week in New Hampshire.

On our last night there, we hooked up with some of Valerie’s family and went out to dinner together. Our friendly waitress was kind enough to snap this group shot. Left to right, the Air Chief, Andy Fagan and his wife Sandy (Valerie’s younger sister) Gus Pappajohn and his wife Barbara (Valerie’s older sister) and of course Val. A wild and crazy bunch. We had a great time seeing them all again. Of course we visited with our daughter Michelle and her husband Chris and saw our dear friend Linda and Justin. All in all a truly awesome trip.  We miss them already.

Ron – Over and Out!

Greetings Loyal Airmen, and welcome back to our second October Flight Log. We thought it might be fun to talk about give-away premiums this week. A few years ago, while planning our convention trips, the Air Chief and Art Director Rob Davis got to talking about what kind of Airship 27 branded premiums we could produce economically and offer as give-aways at these shows.

The first one we came up with was our Airship 27 Productions cloth patch. Rob even whipped up a gorgeous flier to advertise them. We had 100 done up and over a two year period either sold them or gave them all away.  The idea of any premium is to work as an incentive to the customer at the same time be something to help advertise the company. For the patch, if any of our Loyal Airmen bought two or more of our titles at a convention, they would get a “free” patch.  Should they simply wish to buy one, we sold them for $3 each.  Needless to say they were a big hit among all our Loyal Airmen.

Last year we thought it was time to try doing coffee cups.  Unlike the patches, we could only sell these, so we conservatively had 5 made up. We sold the first four at the Windy City Pulp & Paper show and the last one went at PulpFest. It would be nice to do these again some day. But high priced items are always a tricky sell.

So what about next year, 2016?  Well, keeping in mind that Scaldcrow Games will be releasing their rpg module “Ron Fortier’s Cape Noire” game based on our Brother Bones series of pulp books, we started thinking it might be nice to do up some custom dice. Rob found a company on-line and began working with them to create the perfect set.  Eventually they came up with two designs.  One die would feature the Undead Avenger himself, Brother Bones and the other our dirigible log. See above. The middle die was that with the logo and sadly, the process of shrinking it down to fit the die made the lettering on the bottom banner undecipherable. After some back and forth, the production agent suggested the third image, that with our company name wrapped around the bottom of the logo. That works and so that will be the second piece to accompany the Brother Bones die.  Like the patches, these are cheap enough where we will either sell them for $3 a set, or give a set away for free to anyone who buys two or more of our titles.  We think they will make a very cool premium and hope please our Loyal Airmen.

These kind of things are fun to whip up and the Air Chief hopes all you Loyal Airmen appreciate them. We are always open to new ideas for such, so feel free to let us know. As the patches are all gone, we’re looking at new a brand new one for 2017.  What do you think?

Ron – Over & Out!

Greeting Loyal Airmen, with the regular baseball season coming to an end and the start of the play-offs just around the corner, we thought we’d look back on this season and the up and down struggles of our beloved Red Sox. If you aren’t into sports, feel free to skip this week’s entry and we’ll see you back here next week.

XANDER BOAGEARTS                      &           BROCK HOLT

After last year’s disastrous season, it was general accepted it was the Sox lack of hitting that doomed them thus over the winter months between 2014 and 2015, management set about bringing in more sluggers and thus picked up Hanley Ramirez and Pedro Sandoval to join Mike Napoli and Shane Victorino in backing up its regulars ala David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia.  What was obvious from the start was the fact that no real focus was put on going after super Ace Pitchers.  It became a regular debate in Spring Training. Could the Sox bat their way to victory with a mediocre pitching squad.

MOOKIE BETTS                                 &        RUSNEY COSTILLO

When April came along, the mixture of old players with new was almost 50/50.  Xander Bogaerts returned to play short-stop with the hopes that this season his hitting would improve. Brock Holt returned as a super utility player who could play most of the outfield and infield positions. In fact the only two positions he didn’t play that first half was pitching and catching. He would ultimately get picked to play in the All Star Game.  Mookie Betts, the speedy outfielder also returned along with Rusney Castillo and Jackie Bradley, Jr. Unfortunately Jackie was in a hitting slump and sent back down to Triple A soon.  Of course as all of us know, the season start was an abject failure, as the pitchers just weren’t up to winning games and all too soon the Sox were dropping to the bottom of the AL East.  Then they lost Pedroia to the Disabled List and their primary catcher, Vasquez for the entire season.

BLAKE SWIHART                             &          JACKIE BRADLEY JR.

Blake Swihart was brought up from Trip A to be the new catcher and he delivered. Not only could he play in the big leagues, but his hitting was great. By the All Star Break Victorino was let go and Napoli soon followed and Ramirez, a total failure in left field was injured and sidelined.  So Bradley Jr. was brought back from Triple A and he was a totally different player.  Now the outfield was guarded by three of the finest young players in baseball, Rusney Castillo in left, Jackie in center and Mookie in right and just like that the outfield was one of the finest in all of baseball.

TRAVIS SHAW

And with Napoli gone from first base, as yet another rookie was brought up. This time it was power hitter Travis Shaw who would be put in the line up after Ortiz and there deliver constantly.  When Pablo Sandoval came down with pneumonia, Brock Holt was set there thus giving us an infield of Hold, Boagearts, Pedroia (back from the DL) and Shaw.  Again, top notch, super talented young players.  And somehow the enthusiasm these seven rookies brought to the team was infectious as the lackluster pitching also started turning around with both Porcello and Miley at long last finding their groove.

Thus for the second half, we Red Sox watched a team with absolutely no hopes of making the play-offs go out night after night with nothing to lose…play their hearts out.  And guess what, they started winning…against the top tier teams.  Night after night putting such amazing displays of hitting and jaw-dropping defensive catches to make us once again cheer and smile.  Yup, the losing first half of this 2015 season was certainly brutal, but its end result, with these Magnificent Seven rookies has been so much fun to watch.  We only pray Red Sox management is paying attention and will hold on to this roster for next season, while being smart enough to go out and find some Ace pitchers to deliver solid outings.  If they can do that, then, if only by sheer whimsy, they’ll have taken victory out of defeat.  GO SOX!!

Ron – Over & Out!

Greetings Loyal Airmen, we’re coming to you a wee bit late today, but still making our Friday morning posting.  This week we thought we’d share a few reactions we’ve had to the new shows that started up on the various TV networks this past week.

First up is Minority Report, one of two sci-fi series that actually spun off major movie features.  The movie, “Minority Report,” starred Tom Cruise, was directed by Steven Spielberg and was based on a book by the late Philip K. Dick. This series picks up about five years after the events of that show.  It takes place in Washington D.C. of the future and deals with a lady copy teaming with a fellow who has the psychic abilities to see crimes before they happen.  Again, if you liked the movie, as the Air Chief did, you might want to catch this one.  If not, then take a pass.

Up next we had the highly anticipated Blindspot.  Anticipated because it stars the beautiful Jamie Alexander, who some of your Loyal Airmen will immediately recognize as Lady Sif from the three Thor movies Marvel Studio put. In this one she plays an amnesiac who is found naked in a bag in the middle of Times Square New York. She has absolutely no memory of who she is or how she got there, BUT…her entire body is covered with recently added tattoos…one of which is the name of a particular FBI agent.  He is called on to the case and before the first hour is over, one of the mystery woman’s tattoos has been instrumental in help to foil a terrorist attack. Now this is a twisty style mystery show and we did enjoy the first episode. We only hope the writers are playing fair with as and have an actual solution to everything.  Oh, and fans of the Cinemax series Strike Back will be happy to note that one of the two male action heroes of that old series is playing the FBI agent.  Forget his name.  He’s the fellow who starred in the recent 300 RISE OF AN EMPIRE.

Next up we have the second of our sci-fi entries and also another movie spin-off, Limitless.  In the feature film, Bradley Cooper played a down and out writer who is given a miraculous pill that allows him to use 100% of his brain capacity, thus making him an instant genius. The pitfall was the drug had disastrous effects in aging people rapidly to the point of eventual death. By the movie’s end, Cooper had funded a lab, came up with a counter drug that, when taken once a year, nullified the bad effects of the genius-pill and he is the new state senator of New York.  The TV show picks up about a year later and with another down and out fellow, this time a would be rock musician. When, through a series of events, he ends up with the same pill, he immediately uses it to save his father’s life, the gentlemen being sick from a rare malady the doctor’s can’t diagnose properly.  Oh, and he also gets wrapped up in a murder investigation and helps the FBI solve the crime. At the end, Bradley Cooper makes a rare TV guest appearance as the senator, now with ambitions to be president some day. He tells the young man about the antidote making him swear to never reveal its existence, thus he can continue to take the pill and help the FBI with his new found brain power.  A lot of fun, with charismatic actors in the various roles and the series will attempt to do what the movie never did, find out where the genius-pill came from in the first place.

Of course as much as the Air Chief loves sci-fi action tales, we also like to laugh and in this case that included the brand new Muppets show. Rather than repeat the old set up where everything revolved around their actual variety show, in this one they do a rift on reality shows in that Miss Piggy has gotten her on late night talk show, and Kermit is the show’s producer.  Problem is the two have broken of their romantic relationship and that traps all the familiar characters in the middle of that awkward day to day tension.  Honestly, we loved this show and it had us in tears. The scene with Fozzy Bear, in love with a real young lady, has dinner with her parents and the father brings up the question of what would have if they had children, was hilarious. Major thumbs up for the new Muppets.

And finally, remember that actor from Strike Back we mentioned being in Blindspot, well his partner from the Cinamax series also debut his own new project this week. The Player is a fast paced action series set in Los Vegas and proposes that the world’s richest people, being bored with all their wealth, have established a game wherein they bet on crime; that is crime that is about to happen.  In the set up Alex Kane, a former secret agent with a dark past, is recruited to be the Player whose job it is to foil these would be crimes.  His support team is a lovely young tech expert who represents the dealer, where as Wesley Snipe, in his first regular TV series, plays the House representative muscle, the Pit Boss.  Thus the rich folks either bet on Alex foiling the crime, on on the criminals succeeding. If you catch this opening episode you’ll see how Alex is pressured into becoming the Player. There is a mystery involving the murder of his wife that is at the core of his manipulation and will obviously be revealed as the series progresses from week to week. Again, an intriguing set-up and lots of cool action.  We’re going to give it a go.

And of course we had old favorites come back as well, in particular Castle and the Big Bang Theory.  Next week our favorite comicbook series return in Arrow and the Flash and we are eagerly awaiting the premier of the new Supergirl.   As for Gotham, we’ve dropped it.  Having stuck out its premier season, we decided it is really nothing we could get excited about.  Here’s hoping you’ve found some new favorites as well.

Ron – Over & Out!

This past Sat, the 12th of Sept. saw the premier of the new Fort Collins Comic Con, not to be confused with the FoCo Comics and Gaming Convention. Thus it became the third such convention to take place here in my new home town of Fort Collins, Colorado.

Upon learning of the event months ago, we were approached by the con’s promoters and asked if we’d attend and help them promote the show.  Both we were only too glad to do. Then week’s prior to the show we were informed that we’d be receiving a Legends of Comics award at the show. That came as a surprise and the Air Chief was more than a little nervous about that. Getting awards is always an awkward thing, as in all honesty, we simply don’t feel worthy of such. It is as if someone is going out of their way for thanking you for doing something you love to do. And yet saying no, you don’t want the award is a very rude thing to do.  And so manners, which our loving parents long ago, dictate we bite our tongues and agree to be thus honored.  Above is a photo of the Air Chief accepting this Legends of Comics award from Nathan, the show’s main promoter and organizer. It was still awkward, but the Air Chief was sincere in his thanks to the gathered crowd and especially the folks who put on this fun new show.  The day was a huge success, we met lots of old friends and made lots of new ones.  Here’s hoping this becomes an annual event. Who knows, maybe next year they will let me hand out the award to some other guy.  Now THAT would be fine by me.

As people from the show are still sharing pictures on-line, we thought we’d post this one of the Air Chief on a panel dealing with independent publishing. To my right was Radio Station-Manager-Turned-Comic Writer, Brian Hughes and to my left was an award winning novelist of young-adult books named Todd something, sorry, we really aren’t that good with names.  Anyway, upon seeing the above photo, the Air Chief’s immediate thought was imply, “Oh my God, I look just like my grandfather Fortier.” Amazing, what time does to all of us.

Meanwhile Airship 27 Productions has just launched its newest title – GHOST BOY Vol Two – featuring another quartet of stories starring the comic book hero of the 1960s, Ghost Boy. This volume features stories by J. Walt Layne, Lee Houston Jr., Terry Alexander and Erik Franklin.  The cover, painted by the amazing Zachary Brunner is based on a scene from Franklin’s story and is an homage to that classic Jack Kirby cover to Marvel’s Fantastic Four # 1.  We hope you give this book a look-see.  With fingers crossed, by the time all you Loyal Airmen are reading this Flight Log, it should be up at Amazon as a hard copy and then within a few days as a digital copy for Kindle.  Thanks ever for your continued support.  Up next will be a brand new Sherlock Holmes full length novel.

And that’s all for this week, Loyal Airmen. See you back here next Friday.

Ron – Over & Out!

Greeting Loyal Airmen, and welcome to this week’s Flight Log.  This week we want to tell you about a truly strange experience we encountered earlier in the year which once again proved how often the line between what is real and what is make believe can be blurred.  Especially for a writer.

At the start of this year, the Air Chief was working away at writing the first ever Lady Action prose adventure would ultimately become “The Sands of Forever.” Above is the pencil composition Art Director Rob Davis whipped up for the cover and next to it the finished painting based on that composition by the super talented Ted Hammond. Now some books are easier to write than others. In the end it pretty much depends on one’s inspirations, those elusive muses that at times can bless the scribe with dozens of fantastic ideas while at others leave him or her floundering on the shore like a stranded guppy unable to come up with any kind of direction.

Thus is was for the Air Chief when at the first of the year we began writing this Lady Action book.  In the first few weeks we threw out several false starts and were at the hair-pulling stage. Oh, we knew the general shape we wanted to capture. In our minds this characters was always intended to be a female amalgamation of Indiana Jones and James Bond, half-spy, half-global adventurer. That was the one we needed to establish in a fast paced narrative. And so we kept plowing away at it, page after page doing our best to invent exciting action sequences that would entertain our readers and keep them turning those pages.  After about a month, we manged to make our way into the section where Nicola Sinclair, a.k.a. Lady Action, returns to A.C.T.I.O.N. headquarters for further assignment.  It was in this section that we began seeing just who the head of British ACTION really was…it was Nicola’s own mother, who everyone simply referred to as The Commander.  Okay, so that was a cool idea and the more we envisioned her the more she began to emerge fully developed out of our imagination.  The Commander had early on been one of the top secret agents for the British Government and being drop-gorgeous, her cover was that of a fashion super-model which allowed her to travel the world carrying out her mission’s for Queen and Country.  It was during this career that she ultimately married Lord Sinclair and had Nicola. But she still continued to work until one day an old foe planted a bomb in her sports car in an attempt to kill her. By a miracle, she survived but lost her left leg in the explosion.

Thus ended this vibrant woman’s spy career and she retired to become a full time mother.  It wasn’t until a few years later that representatives of A.C.T.I.O.N. approached her to assumed to leadership spot of their newly opened British HQ. At first she thought them mad. How could a one-legged woman be the commander of a super secret spy organization?  Upon posing this question, she received the one answer she never imagined; A.C.T.I.O.N. scientist had built a super prosthetic leg for her that was capable of incredible strength and dexterity. Once fitted to her, it would work ten times better than her original organic limb.  In the end Nicola’s mother tried on this amazing prosthetic and discovered it was just as great as the scientist had claimed and within days of putting it on, she assumed the leadership of British A.C.T.I.O.N. thus becoming The Commander.

The creation of The Commander was the one element that finally unlocked the puzzle of this project for the Air Chief.  Once we had her fully fleshed-out, the rest of the book began to fly off the pages. It was her creation that help identify Nicola to us and their tempestuous relation over the years in an almost love-hate manner. That the Commander was her mother only added to the tension of Nicola’s role as Lady Action and made the book work beyond our wildest dreams.  So we wrapped it up, got it published and the Air Chief is happy to say it has become one of our best sellers this year.

So you can imagine our utter shock when months after the book had been released, while surfing the internet one evening, we found these amazing pictures of a beautiful super model who had only one leg!!  Dear God in heaven, the Air Chief remembers thinking…”She’s real!  The Commander is real!”  The young lady pictured about above is Viktoria Modesta and she is one of the most sought after super models in the world today.  Unlike our fictional character, Viktoria is a real hero, who, despite a tragic amputation, refused to let go of her dreams and set about turning what looked to be a handicap into a something visually artistic and beautiful, this recreating herself ala a moth into a stunning butterfly.  And honestly, we had no clue this young lady existed when writing our book, thus upon discovering her, we could only shake our heads and smile. Sometimes life and fiction do mirror each other in the most fantastic ways.

Finally, to wrap up this week’s entry, Art Director Rob Davis put together the first draft of the cover to the giant benefit anthology we are doing to assist fellow new pulp creator, Tommy Hancock, so we can get a feel for how it would appear. Note, there are flaws in the image about, some names being broken up, and they will be corrected long before the final copy is set and the book is published.  What truly caught us by surprise was when we added just how many writers we had in this thing, 62, and how many graphic artists, 38.  Yup, if you just did the math in your head….we by nothing but dumb luck have ended up with 100 CREATORS!!!  Pretty darn amazing if you ask the Air Chief.  Now we have to put it all together.  Still looking for a late Oct, early Nov release.  Stay tuned.

Ron – Over & Out!

Greeting Loyal Airmen, it looks like we’re going to kick off the Labor Day weekend with a really special new Airship 27 Productions book release.

JEZEBEL JOHNSTON – Devi’s Handmaid is the first book in a new saga by Nancy Hansen, a dear friend and one of the finest new pulp writers working today. It is a straight out, old fashion pirate adventure about a young girl who disguises herself as a boy to sign aboard a pirate ship. This is one of those book’s the Air Chief simply could not put down once we started reading. Nancy is such an amazing writer and all our Loyal Airmen should grab a copy of this soon to be classic right now. It features a cover by Terry Pavlet and interior illustrations by our own Rob Davis. The book is now available from Amazon in both hard copy and on Kindle.

On the comic front, the Air Chief’s work for Moonstone comics continues at a steady pace.  Recently super artist Michael Stribling turned in this cover for the first issue of GUNS OF THE BLACK BAT. It blew us out of the water when we first saw it. Naturally we’ll keep you posted as to when the first issue is completed and on-sale.

It was also a big week the Tommy Hancock benefit anthology project we’ve been putting together for over the past month.  At midnight on Monday, the deadline for story submissions ended and we woke up Tuesday to having logged in 62 brand new pulp stories by some of the finest writers in the business today. Thus ended phase one. Now it is on to phase two, getting 62 illustrations, one for each of the stories. To that end we’ve recruited a dozen gifted graphic artists who have begun turning in some amazing pieces. One such came in from our Art Director Rob Davis and it is the illustration for the Air Chief’s newest Brother Bones short that appears in this anthology.  Called “The Hideout,” the story features the three contest winners of the Scaldcrow Games Kickstarter campaign of a few months ago.  All three winners were written into the tale as hitmen trying to rub out the Undead Avenger.  Rob did a fantastic job of capturing their likeness; that’s Mark Kalita about to kick down a door, behind him with long hair is pal Gerald Kuster and then behind him holding a shotgun is Michael Brown. We hope our pulp fans enjoy their cameos. We’ll keep you posted on the book’s continued progress as ever.

So, where did summer go? Here we are entering into the Labor Day weekend and time continues to whip by.  The Air Chief will be the guest at a new one day comic con here in Fort Collins in another week, more about that next week.  Till then, have a great holiday weekend, be careful on the roads if traveling and thanks as ever for dropping by.  See you next Friday.

Ron – Over & Out!