Greeting Loyal Airmen, this week we thought we'd have a little fun showing you several cartoon depiction of the Ye Old Air Chief.  A few weeks ago we informed you that a talented Australian artist named Andrew Law had begun work on a weekly webstrip based on the ZONE 4 podcast the Air Chief co-hosts every week with Brant Fowler and Gordon Dymowski.  Originally when we joined the show, there were four hosts, the other two being Chuck Kennedy and Cary Kelley who have since departed for various reason.  Still as Andrew was starting to plot out his comic adventure, it was the four of us and so what he did was depicted us in our heroic Zone 4 hero guises, thus the Air Chief became Airship Captain Ron.  Well, we are happen to announced the strip went live four weeks ago and you can catch it every single Monday at the Comic Related website.  Above was strip number three which featured this adventure quartet all ready for action.  The Air Chief has been helping Andrew with scripting and Brant is doing the lettering, whereas another Comic Related creator, Lisa Moore is providing the amazing colors you see here.

We truly hope you check out the strip and while you are at it, listen to our show which post on Comic Related every Friday evening.  This week we talk about Freedom of Speech and censorship and are joined by guest host and radio DJ, Mike Luoma.  At the same time you can join the proud ranks of Zone 4 Legionnaires by going to the Zone 4 Facebook Page and hitting the “like” button to join the other 200 folks who have already joined up.

                
                                    Liana & Sherman Sanders of Gryphon Games & Comics

Last week we had the good pleasure of doing a comic shop signing here in Fort Collins, Colorado at Gryphon Games & Comics, a truly cool comic shop with lots of great fans.  We were there at the invitation of shop owners, Liana & Sherman Sanders and they truly rolled out the red carpet for the Air Chief.  We can't thank them enough for helping to make it a fun day.

              
                                      Todd Jones  –  The Air Chief  –  Jeff Herndon

Among the folks who stopped by to support and wish us well were two of the Air Chief's new amigos here in Fort Collins, writer Todd Jones and artist Jeff Herndon.  They were among several of our pals who came in to pick up a copy of our latest comic titles, “Ron Fortier's Tales of the Macabre.”  Speaking of which, even as we pen these words, editor Bill Gladman is busy at work assembling issue number two of this series and has recruited Canadian artist Olivier Raymond to draw and color the cover.  We really do not want to show off that stunning piece of art just yet, waiting until the book is completed to do so.  But as it also depicts the Air Chief, this time in a more whimsical fashion, we thought we shared an early piece of the composition here.

Believe me Loyal Airmen, when you see the final, complete cover with the finished art and knock-out coloring, you will be simply amazed.  Thank you Olivier Raymond.  Bill hopes to have the Twilight Star Edition of the book out by Halloween and we (Rob Davis and the Air Chief) hope to have the Redbud Edition available on-line shortly thereafter.

And there you have it for another fun week, Loyal Airmen.  As always thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend.  We'll see you back here next week.
Ron – Over & Out.

“We hold these truths to be self evident…”

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…”

“Our Father, who art in heaven….”

“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me.”

Greetings Loyal Airmen.  This week our topic is the power of words and believe us, it is a power we are intimately aware of.  Thus we thought it only fitting to begin our Flight Log with Norman Rockwell's beautiful interpretation of one of our country's fundamental rights, THE FREEDOM OF SPEECH.  The Air Chief chose this particular topic this week to underscore a reality of life, no freedom is ever safe in perpetuity, it mus be cared for daily and protected with constant vigilance.  As history has shown us time and time again, any people who take their God given liberties for granted will one day lose them.  Amen.

Tomorrow, Sat 24th Sept, we begin BANNED BOOKS WEEK.   Yes, we know its an odd sounding idea for a week of national recognition and we urge all of you to visit their website on-line at (www.bannedbooksweek.org/) to learn more about this important theme.  The Air Chief would guess most of our Loyal Airmen are unaware that to this very day, censorship is still a threat that is constantly rearing its ugly head in schools and libraries across the land.  Small minded souls attempting to curtail the freedom of speech through whatever means they can devise, all in the guise of serving the general good of the community.  Did you know books like “To Kill A Mockingbird” and certain Sherlock Holmes stories were banned in American at one time or another?  Pretty frightening when you think about, and that's all true.

               
                           Ron Fortier – Writer

The Air Chief has a personal stake in this issue, as all you Loyal Airmen know.  We love words, we love their beauty, their poetry, their ability to educate us, to move us and to make us better by firing our imaginations and making us think.  There is a power in words and one we never take lightly.  When used to spread lies, gossip and evil, words can topple governments, destroy lives.  When used to declare the truths of the heart, they can raise up souls, dispel the darkness of ignorance and prejudice and raise up human nature to a grand nobility of love and self-sacrifice.  Words.  It's how you use them.

Finally, a perfect way to close out this week's Log is to remind you all that the Air Chief will be appearing tomorrow (24th Sept) at Gryphon Games & Comics here in Fort Collins, Colorado, located at 2020 S.College Ave. Unit B (between Drake & Prospect streets) between 11 am & 2 pm.  We'll have copies of our latest title, “Ron Fortier's Tales of the Macabre”, all our Mr.Jigsaw issues and a few other surprises.  We hope to see many of our comic book pals there to help us celebrate the freedom of speech, in all its glories.

“I may not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”

Ron – Over & Out! 

Greetings Loyal Airmen, well the weather is starting to get a wee bit cooler about Fort Collins these days, a sure sign that Fall is here and soon we'll be taking out the heavy clothing again.  Next month rings Halloween, to be followed in Nov. by Thanksgiving and whammo, we're into the holiday season once again. Time has a way of flying past us when we aren't looking.

Last year, in 2010, Rob Davis and the Air Chief put out twelve of our Airship 27 Productions pulp titles.  Which almost killed poor Rob.  The guy does still have a day job, unlike the retired Air Chief here.  So this year we made vow we'd slow thing down a bit. Of course getting our super talented writers and artists to do that….slow down is virtually impossible and here comes our seventh book of the year.

We are sure all  you Loyal Airmen will recall only a few weeks ago we did an entire Flight Log on how this gorgeous cover came together thanks to super talented painter Jeff Herndon.  So now the files have gone off to our Publisher Cornerstone Book Publishers and the official release date for hard copies is the 30th of Sept. whereas you can pick up a digital copy for your Nook or other E-reader for only $3 right now at our Digital Hanger Shop. Simply click on the Airship Logo to the left of this column and you'll be taken to a page where there is an active link to the digital store.  Once there merely scroll down our list of titles till you find this great cover.  And so JIM ANTHONY – SUPER DETECTIVE Vol III – The Mark of Terry by Joshua Reynolds officially becomes our seventh release of 2011.  And yes, the Air Chief and Rob are hoping to get out another three books before the end of the year, bringing our total to ten.  Which will be a sweet victory for two guys who planned to just “take it easy” this year.  Stay tuned.

         
One of the coolest movies we saw earlier this summer was the film adaptation of Marvel's comic book hero, THOR.  A character created by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee back in the early 1960s when Ye Old Air Chief was all of thirteen years old.  Thor was always a cool comic book hero and now comes this truly awesome movie version.  Valerie and the Air Chief loved it at the theater, with Chris Helmsford as Thor and Natalie Portman as Jane Porter and Anthony Hopkins as the Norse God Odin, the movie had an epic sweep of adventure to it. Well we picked up the Blu-Ray DVD version this week and last night enjoyed it on our big screen TV.  And let me tell all you Loyal Airmen, seeing it in this high definition was like seeing it for the very first time.  The imagery is so intense, colorful and breathtakingly beautiful, this is truly the ONLY way to watch movies you like.  And we really liked THOR, even more so now.  We can't wait till CAPTAIN AMERICA – FIRST AVENGER comes out next month.

And finally, our own copies of  RON FORTIER'S TALES OF THE MACABRE # 1 arrived in the mail this week from Ka-Blam and they look awesome.  The printing job is amazing and we can't wait to hear the feedback from all you Loyal Airmen.  Again, remember, the book is now on sale at (www.IndyPlanet.com) so go over there and order a copy.  As for the Air Chief, he'll be bringing a bunch to Gryphon Games & Comics here in Fort Collins on Sat. 24th of Sept. to autograph and sell to the local fans.  Should be a grand time.

And that's what we have this week, Loyal Airmen.  Stay away, avoid watching politics on TV, it will only get your blood pressure up.  No matter what side of the aisle you favor, they are both action like idiots these days.  The best police is to ignore them completely.  Trust the Air Chief, you'll sleep better at night.  See you back here in seven days.

Ron – Over & Out! 

Greetings Loyal Airmen and welcome back to the Airship 27 Flight Log. We want to thank all of you who wrote to say how much you all enjoyed last week's How To Make A Pulp Cover entry. The piece, with all the accompanying pictures was so well received, it was actually reprinted at two popular pulp sites; All Pulp managed by Tommy Hancock and New Pulp managed by Mike Bullock. Thanks gentlemen for sharing the fun.

Now this week we are going to talk about two of the Air Chief's special projects for Moonstone Books and one unique cover that truly is a display of one man's abounding courage against a serious, life threatening ailment.  As most Loyal Airmen are aware, beside writing and managing Airship 27 Productions, the Air Chief also contributes short pulp fiction to other publishers, one of these being Moonstone Books managed by our good friend, Joe Gentile.  When Moonstone first obtained the prose rights to the Green Hornet, Joe invited me to contribute a story to their first volume and the Air Chief was only to happy to do so. At the end of last year, Moonstone began planning their second book in this series and this time they invited us to write the introduction to this new collection, a really distinct and flattering honor.

         
                Cover Art by Ruben Procopio
A few days ago THE GREEN HORNET CASEFILES rolled off the printing presses and our copies arrived in the mail.  The book features a terrific cover by the Air Chief's good friend, Ruben Procopio.  Note the book will not be available until the last week of this month, but there is plenty of time for all you Loyal Airmen to pre-order it at Amazon, other book dealers and even through your local comic shop.  Our introduction is called THE OUTLAW HERO and details the Air Chief's experiences writing the Green Hornet comic series for Now Comics back in the early 90s.  Brought back lots of happy memories.

      
                Cover Art by E.M.Gist
One of the Air Chief's favorite classic pulp hero is the Avenger first created by veteran pulp scribe Paul Ernst back in the 1940s.  The Avenger is Richard Henry Benson, a man whose wife and daughter were murdered by criminals sending his life into a dramatic tailspin.  Vowing vengeance, Benson then devotes his life to bringing all manner of villains to justice and establishes a group known appropriately as Justice, Inc.  Now several years ago Moonstone put out an anthology featuring all new Avenger stories but alas we were not invited to that party.  The Air Chief teased Joe about this fact and he said should they ever do a second, we would loved to be called on. Well that very fact has happened and late last year we were asked to contribute to the new book to be called THE AVENGER – JUSTICE INC.  Knowing this had to be a truly special story, we came up with the idea of telling the origin story of Benson's two truly unique weapons, Ike & Mike.  Ike is a perfectly balanced throwing knife and Mike is a small, tubular pistol that fires four .22 caliber bullets. Ernst never fully explained how Benson had come by these two amazing items in his arsenal and the challenge to tell that story was too tempting to ignore.  Thus this week also saw the release of that volume with the Air Chief's story, VENGEANCE IS MINE.  Honestly, Loyal Airmen, its a tale we are extremely proud of and hope you'll check out.  The cover to this book was done by one E.M. Gist and like the Green Hornet title, will only be available at the end of the month through the same sources as mentioned above.  As you can see, ye Old Air Chief does keep busy.

     
                Faux Cover Art by Mike Fyles
And now for the coolest cover of them all.  Several years ago, via our Airship 27 Production books, the Air Chief and Art Director Rob Davis, became acquainted with a super talented British artist named Mike Fyles.  Mike first hooked up with us by painting the cover to our very first Green Lama anthology at the same time he was doing dynamite comic covers for Marvel's Iron Man Noire series.  One of the writers in our GL collection was Adam Garcia and Adam was so taken with Mike's work that when he began writing his full length Green Lama Unbound novel, he asked Mike to do both the cover and interior illustrations for it.  Rob and the Air Chief totally supported that idea and happily Mike signed on.  That amazing book won Adam the 2010 Pulp Factory Award for Best Pulp Novel and for Mike, the 2010 Pulp Factory Award for Best Interior Illustrations.  Both fellows were extremely thrilled and delighted.

Along about this time, way back at the start of the year, Mike became ill and was diagnosed with serious stomach cancer.  All too soon his life was taking a very serious detour.  Mike, his wife and their doctors began outlining a strategy to defeat this dreaded ailment and return him to complete health. The process would start with some powerful chemo treatments to allow him to ultimately be well enough to undergo surgery.  Over the past few months Mike Fyles endured those treatments and they were rough.  Meanwhile all of us who know him were praying daily and sending him our good thoughts, our letters of hope and encouragement.  Adam even flew out to England on a summer trip and personally hand delivered Mike his Pulp Factory Award.  Throughout all this Mike never once faltered or lost hope.  Now the chemo is finished, it did what was necessary and the surgeons have deemed him strong enough for the planned surgery. That is scheduled for next week, the 14th of Sept.  Needless to say, all of us at Airship 27 and the Pulp Factory have underlined that date on our calendars and will be praying up a storm, that the Good Lord and his angels will rain down their love on Mike and his family on that day.

In the meanwhile Mike, feeling like his old self again, decided to go back to his drawing table this past week and make up a very special pulp cover, one in which he would lay out all his fears and expose them for all the world to see.  In that way conquer them, leaving only room for courage and hope in his heart. That art piece he posted on Facebook and when the Air Chief saw it, he smiled from ear to ear and knew he had to share it with all you Loyal Airmen.  Mike Fyles is one of the kindest, bravest souls we've ever known and we have absolutely no doubt he is going to beat the stuffing out of the Big C.  And so we humbly ask all you Loyal Airmen to add your prayers to ours in wishing him a successful surgery and quick, complete recovery.  The world needs his amazing art more than ever.  God bless, Mike…and stay strong!

Ron – Over & Out!

Greetings Loyal Airmen.  This week we are going to do something we've done several times before on this Flight Log that many of you have enjoyed a great deal; show how we put together one of our Airship 27 Productions pulp covers.  Step by step you'll see our planning and how we helped our artist execute the final image for a book now going into final production.

Earlier in the year one of our regular writers, Joshua Reynolds had submitted a full length Jim Anthony Super Detective novel entitled MARK OF TERROR.  It's a great read and somewhere in the middle of the book there is an action sequence wherein Jim chases an assassin wearing a gargoyle mask out of a theater and onto a busy nighttime New York street. The killer jumps into a sedan driven by another mask wearing colleague and they peel away, only to have the Super Detective come charging off the sidewalk and leaping onto the top of the vehicle. As it careens wildly through the streets of Manhattan, the killer leans out the passenger window and attempts to shoot Anthony off the car.  Upon reading this sequence in the book, we knew immediately it was what we wanted for our cover.  Then came a stroke of real good fortune. Earlier in the year, we had the opportunity to meet several local artists who live here in Fort Collins. One of them is a truly talented young fellow named Jeff Herndon.  When Jeff learned about Airship 27, he offered to paint a cover for us and we immediately recalled the that Jim Anthony book waiting in the wings.

        
               Actor -Body Building Champ Steve Reeves
The first thing we did was explain the character to Jeff and told him our ideal image of the Super Detective was none other than the late body-builder turned actor, Steve Reeves, who made some classic Hercules movies back in the 1960s.  We then sent Jeff half a dozen shots of Reeves we found on the internet like the one above.  This was how we wanted our Jim Anthony to appear on the cover.

       
                  Cora, Alex and dad, Alan Posing for Action.
Next we explained in great detail to Jeff what action scene we wanted him to bring to life with his paints.  To help him better visualize that dramatic moment in the book, one Sunday afternoon our son Alan and grand kids, Cora and Alex, allowed their granddad to photograph them on one of our cars in a set-up pose mirroring the action in the book.  We took several photos from different positions. The one above was the one that best suited our needs and would help Jeff better mentally envision what we were after.

     
                                              Old 1930s Sedan in New York City.
But a neighborhood street in modern day Fort Collins, Colorado bears no resemblance to a busy Manhattan downtown scene.  So once again we headed for the internet and found a photo of a New York city street and another of a proper mid-1930s automobile.  We sent these off to our Art Director Rob Davis and he photo-shopped them together into the above picture.  Now Jeff could use these elements as the basis for his drawings and eventual painting.

         
                Jeff Herndon's Final Drawing.
Using all the various elements we had provided him with, along with our description of the action, Jeff then proceeded to whip up this amazing drawing.  Note the moon in the background sky, indicative of how this was about to become a night time image.  Once we gave him the thumbs up to commit to paints, he really went to town.

        
                    Completed Painted Cover
For the next few weeks Jeff worked diligently at bringing his drawing to full color life and he succeeded far beyond our wildest imagination.  The night he sent us a jpg. image of the finished painting, Rob and the Air Chief were delighted.  Now here was a truly dynamic pulp cover.  There remained only one final step, for Rob to design the text and logos etc. to finish the entire cover.  So inspired by the art Jeff had accomplished, Rob wasted no time in bring this dazzling project to a proper conclusion.

      
                       COMING SOON!!
And above is the finished cover to what will be our 39th title – JIM ANTHONY – SUPER DETECTIVE – MARK OF TERROR by Joshua Reynolds, cover painting by Jeff Herndon, with nine terrific black and white interior illustrations by Isaac “Bobit” Nacilla and designs by Rob Davis.  Currently the book is in the final stages of proofing and we hope to have it out within the next two weeks.  Rest assured we will reprint that cover shot here when it is finally on sale. This is our third book in our Jim Anthony series and we are all damn proud of it.

Finally, the icing on the cake arrived only last week when we learned a local art gallery here in the Fort is launching a brand new show featuring ten local artist, one of which is Jeff.  And most likely this painting will be on display there in Jeff's collection. The show runs between 3 Sept and 5 Oct. and is located at the Rendition Gallery, 251 Jefferson St., Fort Collins, Co.  Valerie and the Air Chief plan on attending opening night, we'll bring our camera along to snap some shots of Jeff and his amazing work. Stay tuned.

And that wraps another week as we head into the Labor Day holiday weekend, bidding an unofficial farewell to summer.  We hope all you Loyal Airmen will have a super weekend and we'll see you back here in seven.
Ron – Over & Out!

Greetings Loyal Airmen, all too quickly we've reached the end of another week.  Here in Colorado, kids, including our grand kids, Cora & Alex, started school this past week and for them summer is over all too quickly.  Writing wise we put the finish on a new Green Hornet short story scheduled for the third GH anthology from Moonstone Books.  They've just released the second volume and we'll talk more about that in another week.

So here it is Thursday evening and the Air Chief has no idea what to talk about. To which Valerie suggest we talk about the season finale to TEEN WOLF, an original TV series that was shown on the MTV channel the past few months.  Which got us to thinking while we were at it we'd mention a few other series we've truly been enjoying, some new some not so new, but all with a special action kick we like to call Pulp TV.

        
                                              THE CAST OF MTV'S TEEN WOLF
With all of the shows we are going to bring up here, Teen Wolf worked because it has a great cast, each of the guys and gals in this youth-orientated weekly horror fest is perfectly suited to their roles.  Tyler Posey as Scott, the naive, awkward boy who suddenly becomes a werewolf is just great and easy to like.  Whereas the actor playing his best friend Stiles is so much like a  young Jim Carey, the Air Chief wonders if he isn't somehow related to that awesome comedic actor. This young man has Carey's mannerisms down to a science. Anyway the first season wrapped up and did so nicely, ending one dramatic storyline while laying the foundation for things to come in season two.  Here's hoping that sophomore season is just as much fun.

        
                                                THE CAST OF LEVERAGE
Now wrapping up its third season on TNT is the light-hearted crime series, Leverage.  The concept here is a group of criminals, each a specialist in his or her particular field, are brought together by a former insurance investigator played by Timothy Hutton to work as a secret force to obtain justice for those preyed upon but the rich and powerful in the world.  In other words, Hutton's character Nate Ford is a modern day Robin Hood who, with is band of merry-crooks, defends the innocent and exacts both justice and retribution on the powerful villains. Because of the charismatic team members, this show reminds us of the old classic Mission Impossible show, as every week Ford and his band have to pull of elaborate cons to trick the bad guys and the fun is always watching them stay two steps ahead of both their targets and the police.  Here's hoping it is around for another three years and more.

        
                           PRIMARY CAST OF WAREHOUSE 13
The SyFy Channel has always been a hit or miss affair to the Air Chief, but three years ago they hit a big old bullseye with a quirky action/adventure show called Warehouse 13.  It seems buried in the deserts of South Dakota there exist a secret government facility which houses strange and weird artifacts all possessing strange powers which, if left unchecked, could wreak havoc with the world  Thus it is the job of Warehouse Agents to locate these objects, capture them and bring them back for safe keeping in the Warehouse.  The fun with this series is the wide range these historical artifacts take, each somehow involved with a famous personage from the past.  Artie is the chief agent, whereas his two field subordinates, Michah & Pete do most of the leg work. Again a great cast, zany episodes and tons of fun.  We were happy to learn the show has been picked up for a fourth season, a real cause for celebration.

             
                          THE CAST OF ALPHAS
Our last entry is a new SyFy series which premiered this year and has really become one of our favorites.  Back in the early 1960s, comic writer Stan Lee created a comic book series about a professor who had the mutant power of telepathy, his name was Charles Xavier.  Prof. X as he became known to comic lovers everywhere, assembled all the young mutants he could locate, each with different abilities, each looked upon as freaks by society and he both trained them to use their gifts wisely and protected them from the prejudices of others. Alphas is very much that comic book conceit brought to reality.  Actor David Strahairn is the scientist doctor who has discovered certain humans possessing unique mental capabilities far beyond the normal and is striving to help them find their place in this world.  Unfortunately his team is being manipulated by the government to act as bloodhounds to capture other Alphas and imprison them in a secret government facility where they are subjected to cruel and inhuman experiments, all unknown to the good doctor.  Again a top-notch team of actors has come together to breathe real life into what could easily have been a train-wreck.  Alphas is what NBC's abortive show Heroes should have been, before it went off track into over-the-top silliness.  Here's hoping the creative team behind this very adult drama keep it focused and intense.  If so, it could easily become one of the network's biggest hits ever.

So there you have it Loyal Airmen. As you can see, the Air Chief doesn't only read for entertainment.  We wonder what shows you've become fans of and hope you are enjoying them as much as we do these four.
Take care and we'll see you next week.

Ron – Over & Out! 

Greetings Loyal Airmen, we've truly got some exciting news for all of you this week.  But let us fill you in with the back story here.  Last year colleague and good friend Tommy Hancock launched his own pulp publishing venture called Pro Se Productions by producing three different pulp magazines.  One of these was called FANTASY AND FEAR and the Air Chief contributed a short story to it called, “Beast of the Mountains.” The magazine was published, sold relatively well and we happily received our copies in the mail.

Never one to rest on his laurels, a few months ago Tommy entered into a partnership with a recording outfit based in New Zealand called Broken Sea Productions to produce audio versions of his three magazine titles.  Just a few weeks ago, Broken Sea delivered those files and now all three books are available as audio downloads in MP3 format.  To include FANTASY AND FEAR # 1 which contains my story.  The entire book is read by a truly talented voice actor named Fiona Thraille.  Having heard her reading of our story, we were totally blown away and would urge all our Loyal Airmen to visit (www.pulpmachine.blogspot.com) where Tommy has all three adio titles on sale for the very reasonable price of $7.50 each.  This for over six hours of entertainment.  Now that's a great deal.

Thrilled by this entire process, the Air Chief contacted the President of Broken Sea Audio, Paul Mannering and we discussed the possibility of their doing audio versions of our Airship 27 Pulp titles.  In the end we agreed to proceed with Broken Sea doing an audio version of CAPTAIN HAZZARD # 1- PYTHON MEN OF THE LOST CITY.  We sent them the files for the book and early this week Paul, along with his chief sound engineer, Chris Barnes, began holding auditions for possible voice actors to read this novel.  Today we had the opportunity to listen to those excellent samples and eventually chose a very talented reader named Joe Stofko.  Broken Sea will begin recording the entire book on the 1st of Sept.

        
         COMING SOON AS AN AUDIO BOOK!
All of us at Airship 27 Productions are simply thrilled by this new and exciting association.  Once Broken Sea delivers the files to us, we will be selling them first as audio downloads from our own Digital Hangar website.  We will also be making discs and packaging them in really beautiful design cases to also sell via mail orders and at our future conventions next year.  You've come to expect only quality merchandising from Airship 27, believe me when we say, these new audio books are going to be of the same high standard of quality.  If PYTHON MEN OF THE LOST CITY proves to be a good seller for us, as we hope it will be, you can expect to soon see many others of our current 39 titles becoming a part of this new audio venture.

And there you have it for this week, Loyal Airmen. Again, we highly recommend the three Pro Se Audio books, they are much fun.  And stay tuned as we will naturally keep you posted on the future Airship 27 audio titles coming your way.  Also, before we forget, we are in still the process of transferring all our pulps books to our new print-on-demand outfit, Ka-Blam, who will in turn soon be offering them for sale via their retail site, (www.IndyPlanet.com).  Again, we'll keep you posted on these developments.  As you can see, we are truly buys, busy, busy.  And loving every minute of it.

Ron – Over & Out!

Greetings Loyal Airmen, this week we are announcing the release of Airship 27 Productions' 39th title and some major new changes in our selling operations, so read carefully.  And lastly will give you a sneak art preview of a new anthology in the works.

LANCE STAR – SKY RANGER Vol III is our newest pulp anthology from Airship 27 Productions.  It features four brand new stories featuring classic aviation hero Lance Star and his high flying group of daredevils, the Sky Rangers. The stories are by Bobby Nash, Van Allen Plexico, Bernadette Johnson and Sean Taylor and you can download a digital copy at our Digital Hangar site.  Simply click on our Link button to upper left of this column.  Now in the past, we had been offering two editions of each title, one from our traditional publisher, Cornerstone Book Publishers of New Orleans and the other from a print-on-demand (POD) outfit on-line called Lulu.  Well as of this week we have shut down our Lulu store permanently and over the next few months will be transferring all our books to a new POD operation called Indy Planet.

Cornerstone Book Publishers will be releasing this book on the 25th of Aug for the retail sale price of $16.95 and after that date it will soon be available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble on-line and all other well known book distributors.  In the meanwhile, Rob Davis will be setting up the Indy Planet account for this title along with the first two Lance Star volumes so that all three should be available from them on-line at the same time. Note, all our books to be printed at Indy Planet will sell for $15 each, plus shipping and handling of course.  As soon as the titles are there for sale, we will let you know.  Having 39 titles to carry to another outfit is going to take some time and to all of you who bought our books from Lulu, we apologize for the inconvenience.  But Indy Planet will offer the exact same quality for a lower price and in the end that has always been our goal, to bring you the best books possible for the most affordable prices. Thanks for you continued support of our efforts.

       
              BAR OWNER – CORKY O'BRIAN
Okay, so now for a little future peek at a new project now in the works at Airship 27 Productions. It is the brain child of writer Bill Craig.  Somewhere in the South Pacific during the late 1930s there was a bar called The Hanging Monkey located on a deep harbor port called the island Motugra.  The place was a colorful dive where some of the most adventuresome rogues would gather and it was operated by an ex-Irish boxer named Corky O'Brian, whose past was also checkered with a few run ins with the law.  Craig created a very fun and exotic setting and peopled it with some iconic pulp characters.  He then shared his “bible” with several of his writing colleagues to include Derrick Ferguson, Tommy Hancock and Joshua Reynolds who are all now busy at work writing original stories for the first volume of, TALES FROM THE HANGING MONKEY.  We are also thrilled to have artist Clayton Hinkle on board to illustrate these great yarns.  Accompanying the four stories that will appear in volume one, Clayton is also doing up characters sketches of all the principle figures like that of Corky O'Brian above.  With fingers crossed, we should have this book out by early winter.

And there you have it, Loyal Airmen.  The old Airship 27 just keeps right on flying.  Take care and have a great week.
Ron – Over & Out!

Greetings Loyal Airmen, this time last week, Rob Davis and the Air Chief were driving up to Columbus to attend the third annual Pulp Fest convention.  And just like that, it has come and gone, flying by faster than the proverbial speeding bullet. Only going to once again prove that when you are having a fun time, it flies.

       
                                   The Air Chief & Rob Davis at the Airship 27 table.
Once again we saw tons of Loyal Airmen who came to the show to see us again and share in the fun. And happily we, as always, had the opportunity to meet with lots of new friends.  For various reasons to numerous to mention here, Pulp Fandom is growing in leaps and bounds and it seems every year the crowd at this show gets bigger and bigger.

Our biggest selling title this year was writer Charles Saunders ground-breaking novel, DAMBALLA starring the first ever African American 1930s pulp hero.  We had sold all our stock of this one book by midday Saturday.  Out second big winner was SHERLOCK HOLMES – CONSULTING DETECTIVE Vol III which comes as no surprise, as it has been climbing the sales charts like the previous two volumes.  Fans of Holmes and Watsons have really supported this serious beyond our wildest dreams.  Note both books are very much still available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other reputable book sellers.

   
                                  The Air Chief Moderates a panel on New Pulp Fiction
As we mentioned earlier, pulp fandom is growing and one of the biggest reasons is the rise in new pulp fiction being produced today. We would guess that there is more pulp fiction being published today then any other time since the end of the pulp era, the 1930s and 40s.  The Air Chief was invited to put together and moderate a panel featuring six of the best new pulp writers in the business.  In the photo above, taken by our pal Chuck Moore, the Air Chief is seen between Janet (herself a dynamite writer) & Eli Harriet, members of the thirty plus audience.  To our left were seated our six panelist. Visible is Win Scott Eckert, note seen is Dr.Art Sippo, then there's Wayne Reinagle, Greg Gick and Bill Craig. To Bill's left and not in the shot was Duane Spurlock. Again, these are six of the finest new pulp writers in the world today.  It was an honor to moderate this fabulous group and talk about the action adventure literature we all love so dearly.

         
                                     The Air Chief  & Chuck Moore of Comic Related
It is always great to see old friends at these shows and having Chuck Moore of Comic Related come and spend the entire day with us Saturday was a special treat for the Air Chief.  Comic Related host my live forums on their website, as well as the ZONE 4 Podcast that we co-host every Friday night with Brant Fowler and Gordon Dymowski.  Note, the Air Chief is writing a full con-report that will be posted at CR later next week with lots more pictures, so check the site out regularly.  It is by far the coolest comics site on the net.

And there you have it for this week, Loyal Airmen.  We do want to give a big shout out to the promoters of Pulp Fest; Mike Chomko, Ed Hulse and Jack Cullers.  Gentlemen,once again you gave us a truly great show. Thanks so very, very much.  And come back next week, Loyal Airmen as we reveal our 39th new Airship 27 pulp title. LANCE STAR- SKY RANGER Vol III.  See you then.

Ron – Over & Out!

Greeting Loyal Airmen, here we are a few days early this week, as by the time most you will be reading this Flight Log entry, we'll be in Columbus, Ohio at the third annual Pulp Fest convention.  Last week we mentioned we were excited to see the movie Captain America – The First Avenger, the one we'd been waiting all summer for.  Well we did and get ready for an exuberant earfull.  This is not only the best movie of the year, it easily ranks as one of the Air Chief's favorites of all time.

          
                       Chris Evans as Captain America
But first a little comic book history lesson. When World War II began, comic artist Jack Kirby signed up and went off to fight.  He was wounded early in the struggle and honorably discharged and sent home. Back at Timely Comics, he and writer Joe Simon turned to inventing a hero who would embody the spirit of America, a hero all could look up to and be inspired by.  A hero to give our country hope. Kirby, a veteran, went all out and draped him in the American flag, giving him those bold red, white and blue colors as if to slap the enemy in the face.  Captain America went on to become, and remains, one of the greatest comic book heroes of all time. Thus when Marvel began bringing their amazing characters to the big screen with successes such as the X-Men, Spiderman and the thrilling Iron Man, all of us comic fans held our breaths wondering when and if they would ever get around to doing Cap.

It has always been the Air Chief's belief that the most important person on a movie set is not the writers, the actors or even the stunt people, it is the director.  The director is the force whose vision shapes the final product and makes it either good or bad. Thus when Marvel announced two years ago that they were going to film a Captain America movie, we were naturally anxious.  But we had a dream.  You see, Loyal Airmen, there was one man the Air Chief totally knew was capable of delivering a great Captain American epic.  That man was Joe Johnson, who directed the cult-favorite, underrated gem, The Rocketeer. 

Johnson began his career as a concept artist and effects technician on the original Star Wars for George Lucas. His association with Lucas and Spielberg proved positive as he won an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects for Raiders of the Lost Ark.  His first directorial debut was Honey I Shrunk the Kids for Disney studios. He then followed this with the Rocketeer, then Jumanji and October Sky.  After Spielberg's second Jurassic Park installment, Lost World, proved to be a cinematic turkey, Johnson stepped in and delivered the third Jurassic Park, making it another critically well received movie thus saving the franchise.  Knowing how well Johnson understood the era of the pulps and cliffhanger serials so well demonstrated in both the Rocketeer and Raiders of the Lost Ark, it was only logical that he was the one man to “get” Captain America and the world in which he was born. When Johnson was announced as the director, we knew immediately that Cap was in good hands.  And he didn't let us down.

The second most important man, especially in an action film of this caliber had to be the actor chosen to portray Steve Rogers, the 90 lb. weakling who is gifted with a miracle drug that transforms him into the ultimate super soldier.  Again, Johnson and Paramount hit a home run when they chose Chris Evans. Up until this time, the handsome young man's chief claim to fame had been playing the Human Torch in the Marvel Fantastic Four films. Many of our friends were apprehensive that he could not pull off such a role that would demand a great deal of depth and characterization. They were wrong as Evans picture perfect portrayal makes the movie work. He is totally Steve Rogers, with a little help of movie magic, the gutsy, puny everyman so desperate to get into the action and do his part to defend his country.  When he becomes the epitome of human perfection, Evens manages to retain that innocent, humble quality throughout and he never once is not in character, which is why his portrayal of Captain America is so brilliant.

As you can see the Air Chief loved this movie.  The supporting cast from Stanley Tucci, Tommy Lee Jones, and Hayley Atwell are marvelous and each contributes so much to the whole.  Tucci as the German ex-patriot who becomes Roger's mentor/surrogate father and warns him never to lose his true self, even after gaining his new and powerful abilities.  Atwell as the spunky British agent and romantic interest, is every bit the 1940s girl next door, capable, independent and ready to do her part to help win the battle.  Captain America is a World War II movie, a love story and a super hero actioner all rolled into one.  It is a movie the Air Chief is planning on seeing again this coming weekend in Columbus with his partner Rob Davis. And you can bet he'll be the first one buying the Blu-Ray DVD when it comes out.  In fact, we've written these Flight Log tonight while listening to the movie's music score by Alan Silvestri.

GO SEE CAPTAIN AMERICA!!!  Let's make it the big hit ever and tell Hollywood, these are the kind of great movies we want more of.   Take care, thanks for stopping by and seeing you next week.
Ron – Over & Out!