Greetings Loyal Airmen, it's been an up and down week ever since we got back last Sunday night from our guest stint at the Bangor, Me. Bang Pop Convention.  Before anything, we need to thank promoter Gabrin Graham for a truly fun show and inviting us.  We had a great time meeting Maine fans and talking comics with them.  As you would expect, our Mr.Jigsaw, Man of a Thousand Parts books were a big hit.

Keep in mind, Loyal Airmen, this was the very first Maine comic con we've done bringing along copies of Jiggy, who is a Maine based superhero.  Once Ye Old Air Chief start announcing that fact, the fans stopped to take notice and soon were picking up copies right and left.  We sold out of number one and most of number three.  So Jiggy was a hit in Bangor, which, as stated above, really was no surprise.

One of the real joys of attending comics, aside from meeting new fans, is getting to meet other comic creators and this show was no exception.  We traveled to the show, and roomed with Jason Casey of Manchester, NH.  Jason is a dynamite artist and a huge LOST fan, so we had lots in common and it was a blast getting to know this talented young man.  He does lots of New England shows where he sells his prints of genre heroes from STAR TREK, HARRY POTTER and LOST characters.  All are amazing. 

Also at the show we had the good pleasure of meeting artist Bob Raymond, who was our con neighbor.  Bob is doing a brand new book for Jetpack Press, as managed by Jetpack Comics own Ralph DiBernardo.  Bob and his wife Melissa are fun people and we hope to see them again soon.   Another new creator on hand at this show was writer, William Ward.  William is responsible for a new comic fantasy anthology released by Ape Entertainment called – FABLEWOOD.

This amazing book contains 13 tales of the weird and fantastic, all edited by William.  It is available in comic shops around the country.  If you like top-notch fantasy, then go find this book.  You'll be glad you did.

Beside meeting new friends, we also had the fun of getting caught up with an old one, our good pal, artist Jay Piscopo.  Jay's a native of Maine and it was much fun hooking up with him again.  For the past few months Jay has been entertaining all of us on the social network, Facebook, with his beautiful pin-ups of great golden age comic heroes.  Well, he went and collected these pin-ups and self-published them in a marvelous little comic called HEROES – Lost & Found and I was quick to snag one Sunday morning. If you'd like to get one, just go to (www.IndyPlanet.com) and pick one up.  Jay's work is always stunning.

So as you can see, Ye Old Air Chief really enjoyed himself to the max while up at Bang Pop.  Unfortunately we came home to discover our PC system had been infected by an annoying virus that was gumming our all our programs.  Eventually we took out the hard-drive from our PC and sent it off to our son, Scott, the PC guru of the family.  Happily he was able to clean it up, effectively deleting that pesky virus and we should have back within a few days. Right now we're working on a spare PC we keep just for these kind of emergencies.

So far the start of Fall has been really beautiful here.  We hope the same for you. And of course our prayers and well wishes go out to all our Loyal Airmen living in the South this past week who were affected by those awful floods. Hopefully the waters have receded and folks down there, with the help of the government, can start getting their lives back on track.

Finally a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our grandson, Alex, who turns 12 today.  Have a great day, Alex!!!

And that's it for this week, Loyal Airmen.  Take care one and all.  Ron – Over & Out!

Greetings Loyal Airmen.  Well ye old Air Chief has had way better weeks.  It started off well enough, what with my being invited to speak to the York County Women's Connection group last Monday.  My daughter, Michelle, is a member and as the guest coordinator for this month's dinner, she needed to find a speaker and she asked her Dad to help her out.  Over the years the Air Chief has spoken at various functions to all kinds of groups, but most of have been of a younger age.  Realizing we would be talking about comics to men and women in their primarily in their 40s and above, it was a tricky decision to find just the right topic to enthrall them with for all of 15 minutes, the amount of time we would be allotted.  Then again, it wasn't all that difficult.

            
                             Michelle Leclerc introducing her dad, the Air Chief.

The subject of my little talk was all about my involvement with one of America's iconic cartoon superstars, POPEYE.  Way back at the start of our comics career, we were given the opportunity to write two Popeye comics for small Rhode Island publisher called Ocean Comics.  In that first one, we were given the distinct honor of writing Popeye's origin for the very first time, meaning we got to create his mother, Roxanne Crusher, and to tell the word Popeye's actual name.  It's Ugly Kidd.  Don't believe us, go find those books. If you can, that is, they are very much collector's items these days.

         
                                        The Air Chief tells his Popeye stories.

We're very happy to say the talk was a hit and after the dinner, many kind people stop by to discuss their own childhood memories of the crusty, one-eyed sailor.  People thanked me graciously for attending and telling them those stories.  It was a fun evening all around.

Sadly the next morning, ye old Air Chief awoke with a scratch throat and things went downhill after that, until several days we had us a nice full blown-head cold.  Now this wouldn't be so awful save for the fact we are heading up north to Bangor, Maine, later tonight for the big two day show, Bang Pop Con.  Obviously we did not want to disappoint the show's promoters or our fans.  So we began a regiment of vitamin C, lots of rest and finally yesterday got in to see our family doctor, who was a real angel and put the Air Chief on antibiotics.  You see, unlike most folks who get a cold and it's strictly a viral infection, what with my lung condition, there is always the threat of bacterial infection leading to pneumonia.  So it's simply a preventive measure to douse ourselves with these miracle drugs.  As of 10AM, as we write this, most of the aches and pains are gone and it looks like it is going to be a fun weekend in Maine after all.  Should any of you Loyal Airmen in the area want to stop by and say hi, the show is being held at the Civic Center – 100 Dutton Rd. Bangor, Me. 

Finally, our last item of the week and one totally on the good and fun side.  MR.JIGSAW # 5 was released this past week from Ka-Blam and is now on sale at their on-line store, Indy Planet.com –  The link is posted in our Air Fare page.

This issue has two brand new stories by yours truly and artist Gary Kato.  The cover tale, “Charlie's Best Friend” stars none other than Zeke the bulldog, who happens to belong to my son, Kevin, and his fiancee, Melanie.  We took lots of photos of the lovable guy and sent them off to Gary along with the script and he did a fantastic job of capturing him perfectly.  This is then followed up by a short Jiggy tale called “The Bully & the Knight.”  As always we hope you'll pick up a copy and help us keep doing these new adventures of “Maine's only living superhero.”

And there you have it for this week, Loyal Airmen.  We have heard from several of you recently, and this cold/flu season is very much upon us all over the country.  Do be careful in public, wash your hands often and stay well.  Trust me, these past few days were not fun. 

Ron – Over & Out.

Greetings Loyal Airmen.  Well, the pool man came over today and together we closed up the back yard swimming pool for another season.  Always sad to look out the kitchen window and see that drab green cover stretched over it.  Still, it was a great summer, what with our grand kids visiting and all. One filled with terrific memories we won't ever forget.  So, bring on the Fall and the most colorful season of them all.

During the Great Depression, many people turned to crime to supposedly better then lot in life.  Of course this wrong headed thinking only led to their incarceration or demise, as all of these outlaws, both  famous and petty, all soon learned crime never pays.  Many, like John Dillinger pictured in the official wanted poster above, became celebrities to a populace that saw them  as romantic figures taking on the heartless establishment of the times.  It was misplaced idol worship, as Dillinger, Bonnie & Clyde, Baby Face Nelson, Machine Kelly and all the others were nothing more than criminals out for their own selfish interests.  Most were cruel, sadistic and cold blooded killers. It would take brave and dedicated law enforcement agents to track them down and bring them to justice; men like Elliot Ness and Melvin Purvis, amongst many others.

Their stories went on to inspire the pulp writers of the time and one of the most popular such fictional crime busters ever to appear in the pulps was none other than….DAN FOWLER G-MAN.

Airship 27 Productions is proud as punch to announce the release of our 19th pulp title, the anthology DAN FOWLER G-MAN.  It features four brand new, action packed stories starring the intrepid Fowler and his fellow agents as they hunt down America's Most Wanted during the days of the Great Depression.  Stories by Greg Bastianelli, B.C.Bell, Aaron Smith and Andrew Salmon all deliver action and adventure in the grand style of the classic pulps.  Our cover is by the talented Robert Brown and the interiors by Canadian artist, Kelly Everaert.

                
                            Dan Fowler grilling a suspect.

We're damn proud of this book and hope you'll check it out.  As always the book is on sale at our on-line store and you can go there simply by clicking on the dirigible logo to the left of this column.  Books sold at our store are always 25% off from retail. Of course if you'd prefer to buy it via the more popular outlets ala Amazon or Barnes & Noble on-line, it will appear there in another week or so.  Again, do check it out.  We think it's a winner.

And that wraps up this week's Flight Log. Next week we'll be all set to head up to Bangor, Maine, for the big two day Bang Pop Comic Con.  Looks to be a fun time for all.  The Air Chief will have more info etc. come next Friday.  As always, thanks for stopping by and enjoy the weekend, Loyal Airmen.

Ron – Over & Out!
 

Greetings Loyal Airmen, here we go into the Labor Day weekend and the unofficial end of the summer season.  Weather is become a bit more seasonal with warm days and cooling nights.  And the old Farmer's Almanac is predicting a very cold and snowy Winter ahead.  But then again this is New England and this is what we usually expect.  Two nights ago, on Wednesday, as we related last week, Valerie and I drove up to Portland, Maine
and the downtown TV studios of WCSH Channel 6.  The Air Chief was the first guest on their nightly feature magazine show, 207.  All this having come about because years ago we put news anchors Pat Callaghan and Cindy Williams into one of our Mr.Jigsaw comic book stories.  So the Air Chief was invited to the show to talk about his comic career and that particular comic tale.  Pat is a lifelong comic collector, and good friend, whereas Cindy truly is an exuberant person and a lot of fun to talk with.  Both of them made the Air Chief relaxed and our five minute spot went extremely well…and fast.

               
                             Pat Callaghan  – Cindy Williams & The Air Chief on the set of 207.

After we'd finished, Valerie snapped a nice shot of us together on the set.  Anyone wishing to view the clip need only find the WCSH Channel 6 website on their computers.  On their main page, look up to the heading marked 207 and click on it.  There you'll find the middle column has a long list of this week's guest clips.  Simply scroll down till you find my name, click on it and it should pull up my 5 minute interview.  Friends and colleagues who have seen it today have been writing to let me know how much they enjoyed it.  All of this was due to Pat and Cindy making it so much fun.  And bless them, here they are holding up a copy of the latest Mr.Jigsaw.

And while on the subject of fine state of Maine, Ye Old Air Chief has been invited to be a special guest at a two day comic con to be held in Bangor, Me. on Sept. 19-20.  It looks to be a fun event with lots of local comic writers and artist on hand, to include my pal Jay Piscopo.  If you'd like to learn more about this show, simply go to their website at (www.BangPopMaine.com) tell them the Air Chief sent you.

                      
                       Air Chief models his Wild Wolf  Tour tee-shirt.

Meanwhile moving westward, a few weeks ago the Wild Wolf Entertainment group led by owner/managing editor Sean Collins, went out on a tour of half a dozen comic shops in the grand state of Ohio.  Sean, his assistant
Bill Gladman and several writers and artists visited these stores and showed off their wares to the fans who came in to meet and greet them.  Among which were Wild Wolf's editions of our DAUGHTER OF DRACULA graphic novel and our ADVENTURES OF MR.JIGSAW collection, which I'm holding up in the picture above.
It contains the complete first three issues of our Mr.Jigsaw series and is available at Amazon.com, so if you'd like a pick up a copy, simply click on to our Air Fare page and find the appropriate link posted there.  Anyway, Sean was generous enough to send the Air Chief his own Wild Wolf Tour 2009 tee-shirt, which he had made up for the gang to wear while on their circuit.  Much appreciated, Sean, I'll wear it proudly.

And that wraps up another week, Loyal Airmen. Hopefully next week we'll be announcing the release of another Airship 27 Prod. pulp.  The Red Sox took two out of three from the Tampa Bay Rays this week, maintaining their hold on the Wild Card position in the American League East Division, so for now, all's well. Ha.  Hope all of you have a great holiday weekend.  If you are traveling, be safe.  We want you back here next week.

Ron – Over & Out!

Greetings Loyal Airmen, we've got some exciting news to pass along to all of you, but most especially you Airmen who live in New Hampshire and Maine.  Many years ago when Ye Old Air Chief was starting his comics writing career, we were guest at a Portland, Me. convention. It was there we met a familiar face, Pat Callaghan.  Pat, at that time had just become the anchorman for Portland's WCSH Channel 6 evening newscast.  As Valerie and the Air Chief watch this program daily, we recognized Pat immediately when he came to our table and there discovered he is a life long comic book fan. 

During the course of the next decade our association with Pat continued to grow, as we would see him at most of these Maine conventions.  All of which led to his coming to our home one year to tape an interview with the Air Chief concerning the debut of our new, original character, MR.JIGSAW, Man of a Thousand Parts.  As the character lives and operates in the city of Portland, Pat saw an opportunity to give us the spotlight and that interview ran during the Christmas week of that year.  Pat instantly became a huge Jiggy fan.

                            
                              Pat Callaghan & Cindy Williams of Channel 6

Over the years Cindy Williams joined Pat as co-anchor and for as long as the Air Chief can remember, they've been THE news team for Channel 6.  Several years ago, we found ourselves writing Mr.Jigsaw stories for a website called Adventure Strips.  Before it folded up, artist Gary Kato and the Air Chief managed to produce three new Jiggy stories for that project.  One of these was called…THE ICEMEN COMETH!

In the tale, Jiggy survives a massive explosion when a robot snowman he is battling blows up under him.  When his friends recover the dis-assembled parts of his body, they discover his head is still missing.  As we were writing this scenario, it dawned on us that this story-line might be the perfect opportunity to put Pat and Cindy in a Mr.Jigsaw comic.  We taped one of their broadcast, then sent that tape, along with the finished script, to Gary to draw.  He did a magnificent job of capturing these two and the page has Pat asking the public's help in finding Mr.Jigsaw's head.

                     
                                      Pat & Cindy in a Jigsaw adventure.

Although the page was completed, the strip site folded before it could be posted and so for the past eight years Pat and Cindy never knew they had been guest stars in a Mr.Jigsaw comic adventure.  Until a few months ago, that is.  As all you Loyal Airmen know, we've brought back the character in a brand new comic series which we are self-publishing with the help of Rob Davis and Redbud Studio.  The first three issues being reprints of all the earlier Jiggy tales to include, The Icemen Cometh.   Once that issue was printed up, the Air Chief immediately sent a few to the Channel 6 studios in Portland, addressed to Pat.  A few days later Pat e-mailed us relating how the books were a big hit among the entire crew and passed around from studio hand to another.  Of course both he and Cindy were delighted with their comic cameos.

It was then that Pat suggested we come up to Portland one night and appear on their live half-hour feature show entitled 207.  (That's the phone area code for Maine.)  The show features two to three segments a night focusing on anything doing with the state of Maine.  Whereas both Pat & Cindy appear in this comic and Jiggy is a Portland resident, Pat brought the idea of our being a guest to his producers and they enthusiastically agreed to make it happen.  SO….this coming Wednesday evening, 2 Sept., at 7 PM, Ye Old Air Chief is going to be guest on Channel 6's 207.  And as it turns out, the regular host, Rob Caldwell, will be on vacation next week and Pat will be filling in for him.  So, it will be me and Pat, and co-host Kathleen Shannon, talking about Mr.Jigsaw on live TV.  To say Ye Old Air Chief is excited would be a real understatement.   This looks to be a really fun experience and again, we're hoping those of you Loyal Airmen who live in the area will be able to tune in and catch our first ever live-TV appearance.   As always, we so appreciate the support.

Finally, to wrap this week up, we have to tip our baseball caps to Red Sox short-stop, Nick Green who during last night's trouncing by the Chicago White Sox, was asked by manager Terry Francona to go out and pitch the 8th and 9th innings!!  Yup, a position player put on the mound in sheer desperation, to save the bullpen, which Francona obviously believes had been over-taxes lately.  Well, Mr.Green certainly gave up hits, but none of them scored, in other words he pitched two complete innings against batters who earlier in the game had tallied up 9 runs by the fourth inning and shut them down…most impressively!  Way to go, Green.  As for the rest of the Red Sox pitching staff, if you feel a wee bit embarrassed by all this…well, you should be!!!

Till next week, “We're ready for our close up, Mr.DeVille.”  Ha.
Ron – Over & Out

Greeting Loyal Airmen.  Sometimes when thinking about this log, we look over events of the past week to find some reoccurring theme.  And finding one this week was rather easy.  As most of you who logged on last week saw, British artist Mike Fyles had done an amazing job with the cover painting to our newest Airship 27 Prod. pulp title, THE GREEN LAMA.  Well, what most of you don't know is that Mike loves to take brand new illustrations and then using a little PC magic, age them to appear worn, used and old.  Of course once he'd handed over his dazzling cover to our book, he could not resist the temptation to play with it in the manner discussed.

              
And here it is with worn, yellowed and wrinkled edges, as if it were an authentic 1930s pulp that had been locked away in somebody's trunk all these years.  All of us involved with the book thought it was just too cool.  And as one of our gang pointed out, this is most likely just how our book will look in another 30 years.  Amazing.  Sort of like a handy time-machine experience.  Two days later, we signed up for Social Security.

We were given early retirement from our day jobs upon turning 55.  The company gave us a full monthly pension plus a nice settlement until we were ready to sign up for Social Security.  Whereas the Air Chief will turn 63 in November, it was time to sign up now as to make sure we are on the rolls and our first check arrives when it is suppose to, as that same month our supplement will end.  So there we were on-line, filling out the forms and becoming the latest post-World War II baby-boomer to sign up.  Which led to lots of thoughts about aging these past few days.

My father worked hard all his life and always predicted he would never get a single penny of social security.  He was in ill-health and his prediction was realized when he died at the age of 59.  Just wasn't fair at all.  Yet we here we are, surviving with lung cancer, feeling good (save for a few extra pounds) and planning on being around for a bit longer.  As for the extra pounds, Valerie, since her return from Colorado, has gotten us on a really good exercise regiment and portion control.  Goodbye snack foods, hello fruits and veggies.  Still, 63!  Just how the hell did that happen?

Val says the older we get, the more we look like the actor Wilford Brimley.  Ha.  Don't worry, we're not about to start selling you oat meal, although it “really” is good for you.  The Air Chief dug around in his files to find a decent mug shot of himself to show how he looks these days.  We picked the photo above.  It's the Air Chief in the Batcave hard at work on a new comic script, and surrounded by all his posters and toys.  Not exactly the decor of most soon-to-be-63 yr. old seniors is it?  And that's the point.  Aging is about both the body and the spirit. We certainly have no illusions about the physical limits time and nature have placed on us.  Gravity is a bitch.  But then again, we still love to laugh, to play, to read comics, to see dumb aciton movies like G.I.JOE, and to truly get a whopping big charge out of life.  Somehow wisdom has managed to creep into our youthful imagination and that's a strange and very new aspect to our identity.  One we hope to explore in much greater depths in the years ahead.  You see, like everything else in life, aging is what you choose to make it.  We think it's an adventure, one we're very happy to be on.

Till next week, you youngsters take care,
Ron – Over & Out

Greetings Loyal Airmen.  While attending the gigantic New Comic Con way-way back in Feb. of this year, we had the good fortune to meet a talented young writer named Adam Garcia.  Our meeting let to Adam signing on to write pulps for Airship 27 Productions and the character he asked to write was none other than the Green Lama, one of the coolest, most fondly remembered pulp heroes of them all.  As it happened, one of our veteran writers, Kevin Olson had been asking me to do this character as well for several years.  Now that we had two writers on board, we officially launched the project, and sought out one more writer to complete the package. Within a week of all this, writer Peter Miller wrote and said he wanted in.  Voila, we had our writers and the book started to happen.  Of course the next big step at Airship 27 is finding the art team to do the interiors and the cover.  We hit a gold mine in that department, thanks to my friendship with Maine artist supreme, and all around nice guy, Jay Piscopo.

When Jay learned we were going to be doing a Green Lama book, he whipped up the above, very, very cool pin-up of that mystic avenger.  We were immediately blown away and signed Jay on to handle the twelve black and white interior illustrations that grace the volume.  And don't fret, Loyal Airmen, we never ever waste a gorgeous piece of art.  The above colored piece is part of our back cover.  Okay, so we had the illustrations taken care of, but who to do the painted cover.  It was Jay again to rescue in that months earlier he had introduced us, via the internet, to British artist, Mike Fyles.  Mike has an unabashed love for pulp covers and is an expert of creating aged-looking pulp covers that appear to have come from someone's attic box.  We wrote Mike and offered him the gig, if he could do the cover in traditional oil/acrylic paints.  Mike responded instantly a big fat, YES.  And so we were off and running.

Somewhere in Kevin's adventure story, the Green Lama and a young boy are confronted by a fericious snow leopard while trekking through the mountains of Tibet.  Jay had done this scene as a black and white illustration for us and we thought it might also make for a really great, dramatic pulp cover.  We explained the scene to Mike and he composed the above on his computer and sent it in.  The cat was great but we needed the Lama and the boy to be further in the picture, with their backs against a cliff's edge to added even more drama.

                
This pen and ink-wash progression was much in keeping with our vision.  Yet it too still had problems.  One being the cat's head was way too close to the Lama.  Plus the Lama's posture, though protecting the boy, just didn't seem to work right.  We suggested to Mike that he have the Lama's hands up weaving some mystical signs to ward of the cat.

With each new step, the picture was evolving into what we had imagined, and a truly great pulp cover.  The cat had become a lot more menacing, there was the narrow cliff's edge at our characters' backs and now the Lama looked to being doing his mystic thing and warding off the threat.  One single element needed to be altered, and that was the tiny Tibetan monastery in the background.  Airship 27 Art Director did a little photo-shop magic on it and expanded it into a complex type affair to show Mike what we needed.  Now it was time for color.

When we saw this rendering we were thrilled.  The cover was almost 100%.  But the one nagging element was the boy's white tunic.  We felt there was already so much white with the snow and all, that it just caused our eyes to look away from the rest of the scene, in particular our hero.  We asked Mike to make the boy's clothing all one color.  He did so happily and we knew we had a solid, stunning pulp cover.  Mike's amazing contribution was finished.  Now it was up to Rob to do his design magic.

And above you have the completed cover to Airship 27 Productions 18th pulp title, THE GREEN LAMA Vol One.  The book is now available for sale at our on-line store.  Simply click on the dirigible logo to the left of the column.  We hope it is only the first in a long running series.

We hope you Loyal Airmen have enjoyed seeing how this book came together and as always we thank you from the heart for you continued support of all our efforts.  A special Air Chief salute goes out to Adam Garcia, Kevin Olson, Peter Miller, Jay Piscopo, Mike Fyles, Michael Poll and my good pal and partner, Rob Davis. Thanks all for your great work on this super cool book.

Ron – Over & Out

Greetings Loyal Airmen. Well, we're back in Hangar 27 and slowly getting back down to the normal routine of things. What with the grand kids here for three weeks and then last weekend flying off to Columbus, Ohio for the premier of Pulp Fest, Ye Old Chief has been on the go.  And let me tell you, Loyal Airmen, Pulp Fest was truly the best pulp convention we've ever attended.  From Friday to Saturday it was simply non-stop fun, as lots of our Loyal Airmen and Pulp Factory amigos went out of their way to come to the show and join us, making those three days super special to both the Air Chief and his partner, Rob Davis.

        
                                       Rob Davis Holding Down The Airship 27 Hangar

Rob picked me up at the airport and happily the con hotel was only fifteen minutes away. Once registered into our room, we went back to his truck, took out the boxes with our books and comics and made it to the convention hall to sign in.  By 12:30 PM, Friday, we just getting situated. As the image above indicated, there were lots of other vendors who had yet to arrive.  By 2 PM, everyone seemed at their tables and the show really start hopping.

       
                            Pulp Writer and Con Neighbor William Maynard

Now when going to a  new show there always seems to be one book out there that the Air Chief is on the hunt for.  This time I was going to be looking for the brand new Dr. Fu Manchu novel that's been creating a stir on the internet circles, THE TERROR OF FU MANCHU by some fellow named William Maynard.  Well, as luck would have it, and clearly a terrific omen for the whole show, as Rob and me were setting up, I looked over at this fellow whose own table was backed up to ours and was totally surprised to see that very book I was after.  And as there were lots of them, I put two and two together, looked at the fellow and said, “William Maynard?” He, we shook hands, and the Air Chief had made a new friend.  I wasted no time grabbing a copy of his book and had him autograph it for me, thus making his first sale.  By the time we closed up Sunday afternoon most of Bill's copies would be gone.  Likewise for our Airship 27 titles.  This really was a super show in all ways.

        
                                 Pulp Writer & Loyal Airman Greg Gick

So here we are, Rob and the Air Chief just sitting there getting to know Bill when up walks this gentlemen and introduces himself as one of our long time Airship 27 pulp writers, Greg Gick.  Greg wrote a Secret Agent X story for our very first volume of that series and recently turned in a new tale for our forthcoming space opera book, Mars McCoy – Space Ranger.  We had not idea Greg was going to be at the show and his presence was such a great surprise.  He drove up just to meet with us and we thank him so much for that.  Happily the hall wasn't crowded yet and we had a really nice, long chat.  It is so much fun getting to meet such talented and wonderful people.  Greg, if you are reading this, we sent you an official invite to join the Pulp Factory. Hope you received it alright.

As the afternoon wore on, more and more pulp fans started entering the hall and very shortly Rob and I were doing a brisk business meeting with them and selling our books.  Usually most Fridays are slow at cons, but not this one.  It was off to a flying start.  And then several other Loyal Airmen arrived to include our good pal John Bruening, one of our proof-readers.  Soon after, cover artist Mark Maddox arrived and my old pulp amigos
Mark Halegua and David Walker.  When they closed the doors at 5 PM, four of us got together and went off to dinner at a super Italian place called the Spaghetti Warehouse.  Food was great and so was the company. By the time Rob and the Air Chief made it back to our room, both of us had been up almost eighteen hours.  We fell onto our beds and slept like babies.

          
                Bill Gladman, his daughter Raichel, Mark Maddox, Air Chief, John Bruening

Now Saturdays are traditionally the biggest day of a three day show and this one proved no exception. After a nice breakfast in the hotel restaurant, we once again headed for the con floor.  Knowing that several other Loyal Airmen would be arriving later.  The first to do so were Bill “G-Man” Gladman and his lovely daughter, Raichel.  Bill and I belong to Chuck Moore's amazing comic book site, Comic Related' and we've exchanged hundreds of posts over the past year, plus co-anchored a podcast together for the site.  He's a terrific guy and it was so great to finally meet him and Raichel, who loves comics as much as he does.  Valerie had let me bring her digital camera to the show and soon we were all snapping away, like the group shot above.  Of course that meant taking lots of zingers for why the Air Chief's camera case was pink!

             
                                        Writer Steve Bennett & Ye Old Air Chief

Way back when we first launched our comic writing carers, we made friends with an Ohio writer named Steve Bennett.  That was twenty-sever years ago and he remains, to this day, one of the Air Chief's dearest pals. Aside for all his work for the old Malibu Comics, Steve is also a reviewer for the Comic Buyer's Guide, an industry standard.  The guy has a charming sense of humor and getting together with him is always a treat.  We just don't do it often enough. Thanks for coming up, Steve, and for bringing your friend, Ann, along.

          
                     Mark Maddox and the complete Daughter of Dracula painting.

When Mark Maddox told us he would be joining us at Pulp Fest, Rob suggested he do up prints of some of his wonderful cover paintings for us.  We offered to put them on our table and sell them for him.  Mark was delighted and took his advice. The prints were gorgeous.  At the end of the show, he gracious made a gift of several to us.  Mark also had his portfolio to show off some of his other amazing artwork to include the Daughter of Dracula painting he did for our graphic novel.  You'll note, the comic book crops the woman's face at the bridge of her nose, so fans of our book were thrilled to view this rarely seen “complete” picture.

       
                         Loyal Airman Chuck Moore & the Air Chief

We mentioned Comic Related's Chuck Moore and as promised he too arrived Saturday midday.  Chuck's is a great guy and will go out of his way to support his friends.  At 1:30 PM on that afternoon, we did a dramatic reading from our latest Captain Hazzard novel, CAVEMEN OF NEW YORK, and not only were Chuck and the rest of the CR crew on hand to offer moral support, but Chuck also taped the entire session and it is now available to download and listen to at (www.ComicRelated.com).  Check it out if you get the chance.

                
                                     The Air Chief reading from CAVEMEN OF NEW YORK

That reading, again thanks our Loyal Airmen went really well and we enjoyed it a great deal.  Enough to volunteer to do another at next year's show.  To all of you who attended, thanks so much for being there.  We are extremely grateful to all of you.

                     
                                         Rob Davis and the Air Chief  cutting up.

We posted the above photo to truly show all of you just how much fun was had at Pulp Fest.  This is not just hype.  Every minute we were there with our pals and all the great fans we met was just pure, unadulterated fun.  Something we just don't get enough of in our day to day lives.  Not so in Columbus. And if laughter is the best medecine, then all of us left a whole lot healthier.

                      
                                     John Bruening  – Mark Maddox – Chris Yates – Rob Davis

Another con tradition we cooked up back when attending our first Windy City Pulp & Paper show three years ago was the Sunday Morning Pulp Factory Breakfast Summit.  Seeing that we had established this so well, it was only natural to start a Pulp Fest version and five of us did just that.  John, Mark, Chris, Rob and the Air Chief invaded a local Starbucks and sat down over coffee pastries to talk pulp.  As the saying goes, a good time was had by all.  And Mr.Chris Yates was officially invited into the Pulp Factory, which he joined a few days ago.

                  
                                 Air Chief accepts copy of pulp Argosy from writer David Walker

After breakfast, we all headed back to the con for the final hours of the show.  Sunday mornings are usually when things slow down, but not at Pulp Fest.  We still met new fans and actually sold more books.  Amazing.  My good buddy, writer David Walker, surprised me with a gift of the fiction pulp mag, Argosy. This issue has an original Zorro story in.  Can't wait to dig into it. Thanks Dave, this was the perfect way to cap the show.

By two o'clock, folks were starting to pack it up and head out and Airship 27 joined the sad exodus.  We had had so much fun in such a short period of time, it was really sad to end it all.  Rob and the Air Chief would like to give our sincere thanks to all the promoters of Pulp Fest, from Ed Hulse, Jack Cullers, Mike Chomko, Chris Kalb and any others we may have forgotten.  This was by far the best pulp show we've ever attended and we owe it all to you and your superb planning and organization.  Thanks so much and rest assured, Airship 27 Prod. will be at next year's show.  After this one, you couldn't keep us away.

Take care, Loyal Airmen.  See you next week.
Ron – Over & Out.

Greeting Loyal Airmen. We're posting a day early this week because at this time tomorrow Ye Old Air Chief will be flying to Columbus, Ohio, to attend the first Pulp Fest Convention.  Rob Davis and I will be there with lots and lots of Airship 27 pulps, and on Sat. afternoon, at 1:30 PM, Ye Old Air Chief will be giving a chapter reading from the latest Captain Hazzard novel, CAVEMEN OF NEW YORK.  We really hope lots of you Loyal Airmen can make the trip and join us for this fun weekend.

Meanwhile early Tuesday morning Alex and Cora flew back home to Colorado, accompanied by Valerie. Their wonderful three weeks visit to New England seemingly over in the blink of an eye.  What follows are just some of the photos we took their third and last week here.  Enjoy.

         
                                         Alex & his Uncle Chris and a real Maine lobster.

The lobster bake at Michelle & Chris' was truly one of the highlights of their visit.  Alex had never tackled eating a Maine lobster out of the shell and his Uncle Chris was only too happy to show him how it was done.  There was also lots of other good eats that night to include grilled chicken and corn-on-the-cob plus a super creamy desert Michelle whipped up that clearly added extra pounds to all of us.

       
                           Ye Old Air Chief,   Taryn,  Cora & Alex at York Beach.

Being that it was their remaining few days, we asked Cora and Alex what they wanted to do.  They answered immediately, “Go back to the beach!”  So for the third time during their stay, we packed  up the car and headed for York Beach, Me.  Happily our son, Scott, was up for the weekend with his two kids, Taryn and Logan, and they joined us for the day.  It was another fun filled romp.  By mid-afternoon, tired of the crowds, we headed back home and continued the party in our pool.

         
                                   Scott, Logan, Taryn, Ye Old Air Chief, Alex & Cora

After a good hour of splashing, diving, jumping around and just plain acting crazy, Valerie snapped the above photo.  One of the real joys of this trip, and we thank Scott so much for driving up from Conn. to join us, was the fact that Cora & Alex at long last did get to meet all their cousins.  That was truly special.  For all of us.  Thanks, Scott.  You're not only a super dad, but your also a terrific uncle.

             
                                   Cora & Val overlooking Lake Winnipesaukee.

What with the weather being iffy all the time they were with us, we sadly did not get to travel too far north during their visit.  Still, considering they live at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, that was never a priority.  Still one day we managed to drive up to the lakes region.  We went to Weirs Beach and took the two and half hour cruise of the New Hampshire's big lake, Winnipesaukee, aboard the Mount Washington.

           
                              Mount Washington cruise ship docked at Weirs Beach, N.H.

This is an amazing cruise that covers most of the lake's 13 miles, and is filled with lots of interesting history about the lake and the people who first discovered and eventually settled the area.  The kids were truly impressed and
had a great time.  Although it was cloudy and overcast when we left dockside, by the time we were coming back, the sun had broken through and it was a really beautiful, scenic trip.

         
                              Valerie & the Air Chief aboard the Mount Washington.

In looking over all the hundreds of pictures we, and they, took during these past three weeks, I was hoping to find the perfect one to end this entire series.  A photo that we would look at in years to come and fondly remember all the fun we had with these two truly wonderful youngsters.  And here it is, as if they are looking out over the majestic waters and saying a fond farewell to New Hampshire.

              
                                            Alex & Cora aboard the Mt. Washington

The afternoon after they flew home, we returned to Hangar 27 and it was sadly very, very quiet.  It had been a long-long time since Ye Old Airchief and Val hosted kids…and we loved every single minute of it.  When hugging and kissing them goodbye at the airport, we let them know how much we had loved their visit and thanked them for making this one of the best summers of our lives.  Hopefully they'll be back next year too.

On another sad but happy note, our daughter Heather, is moving this weekend.  After living her entire life in Maine and New Hampshire, she's picking up her roots and moving to Chicago, the Windy City, for a new and fresh start.  We think was she is doing is extremely exciting and wonderful (and brave) and wish her all the best in the world.  And Heather, we'll be visiting before you know it.  Good luck, Sweetheart, and God bless you every step of the way.

That's it, Loyal Airmen.  I've got a few more last minute errands to run before shutting up Hangar 27 for the weekend.  Again, if you are anywhere near Columbus this weekend, do stop by and say hi. The greatest fun of any con is meeting you Loyal Airmen in person.  That's it till next week.

Ron – Over & Out.         

Greetings Loyal Airmen.  Grand kids, Cora & Alex are finishing their second full week here in New England.

            
                                           Cora, Chelsea, Valerie, Alex & Kristi

Last weekend the LeClerc family went down to Westford, Ma. to attend a softball tournament.  Our son-in-law Chris is the coach of the team and granddaughter Chelsea a member.  So they packed up the camper and invited Val, Cora and Alex to tag along for the weekend.  This is a shot of them in front of the camper before they headed out from Lebanon, Me. on Friday morning.

             
                                                           Alex & Cora

Once there, they rented a spot at a wooded camp ground near the location of the tournament and the kids were soon off into the woods exploring.  Thankfully Mother Nature cooperated it was a really nice weekend for them.

              
                 Cora & Alex watching a softball game.  Figure over Alex's cap is his Uncle Chris.

From the phone updates sent to Ye Old Airchief, who was manning Hangar 27, the team did extremely well, winning their first four games in a row.  Coach Chris was proud of his girls in a big, big way.  They all came home Sunday afternoon tired, but having a had a great time.  Monday morning came and we headed off to the theaters to see the new Harry Potter & the Half Blood Prince, which we all loved.  Later we went to see TRANSFORMER II, a fun, action filled blockbuster.

          
                                         Cora, Alex & Aunt Heather  (eating m & m candies)

One night, our daughter Heather stopped by to meet Alex & Cora for the very first time and joined us for dinner.  When she learned they had just gotten new I-pods and were have some difficulties learning how to use all their functions, she jumped right in and starting tutoring them, as she just acquired one for herself a short while ago.  Heather is in the final stages of her big move to Chicago, coming at the end of the month.  Ye Old Air Chief is going to miss her terribly, especially our regular Sunday breakfast get-togethers, but as Valerie is quick to point out, once she's settled, we'll be visiting, and often.

The big news this past week is the release of MR.JIGSAW # 4, the first of the all new stories by yours truly and artist Gary Kato.  This issue takes Jiggy and his friend, Amy “Buck” Boucher to Hollywood to solve the mystery of The Phantom of Studio B and the cover was rendered by the super talented Nick Runge.  Nick is a regular cover artist for IDW Comics and recently did their covers for their Terminator – Salvation series.  He's a great guy and a wonderful friend with an amazing future ahead of him in this business.  As for all you Loyal Airmen now itching to get a hold of a copy, all you have to go is go to our Air Fare page and click on the cover.   

And while there, you might want to check out our Mr.Jigsaw merchandising store where you can get all kinds of very cool Jiggy apparel and other stuff, like ….

               
                                        Alex modeling his new Mr.Jigsaw baseball shirt.

 We've several different shirts, coffee cups and other neat gear there.  So check out when you get the chance.  This weekend is the big San Diego Comic Con and several of our pals are there right now soaking it all up. In another five days, Alex & Cora head back to Colorado, so we here at Hanger 27 are going all out to make these last few days really special. Thanks for stopping by to share them with us, and here's hoping all you Loyal Airmen and your families are have a super summer too.

Ron – Over & Out.