Greetings loyal airmen.  Valerie and I are jumping aboard Airship 27 bright and early tomorrow morning and sailing down to Bethel, Conn. to spend the Halloween weekend with our oldest son, Scott, and his family.  Meaning we'll get to Trick or Treat with our grand kids, Taryn (7) and Logan (3).  We are really looking forward to this trip.  Ergo, there will be no Friday log entry this week.  But we didn't want to Up Ship without wishing all of you loyal airmen a ghoulishly fun holiday weekend.  Now don't go eating too much candy, and don't scare the old lady who lives next door.  Ha.

                                       HAPPY HALLOWEEN TO ALL LOYAL AIRMEN

Ron – Over & Out!

Greeting loyal, airmen.  After a truly hectic, all out week (as reported in our last journal entry) the past seven days have returned us to a semblance of normalcy and routine.  Much to our satisfaction. The new leaf vacuum that I mentioned last week is working like a dream and the yard has never looked better.  Which I'd have had one of these years ago.  Speaking of Fall Classics, here we are in the midst of Baseball's World Series and our beloved Red Sox are not there.  After a truly valiant seven game effort, the Walking Wounded (and I've come to call them this season) just didn't have enough gas left to defeat the powerhouse Tampa Rays.  So our applause to the Rays for a great series and well deserved American League Championship Pennant.  As for the Sox, we also applaud their winning season and some truly amazing baseball memories.   For them its time to take the winter off, heal and relax.  As the old baseball goes, “Wait till next year!”

On the home front, your old Air Chief is gearing up to make a few personal appearances at the start of next month.  On Tuesday, 11th Nov.  (Veteran's Day) I will be doing my first ever bookstore signing at the Barnes & Nobles in Manchester, N.H.   Their address is 1741 So.Willow St.  This was all arranged by my brother-in-law, Norman Cormier.  Norm is the football coach at Raymond High School and this will be part of a bookfair fund raiser to help his sports program.  Folks can pick up a voucher and when making purchases that day, Barnes & Noble will donate a portion of each sale to that sports program.  So it's a real worthy cause.  I will be there at 3 P.M and am scheduled to do a reading, followed by an answer and question period and the actual signing of whatever of my pulp books they will have on hand.  At this point, I don't even know.  The Barnes & Nobles event planner informed me they would be ordering several of my Airship 27 Prod. pulp titles for the signing.  So I really have no clue which of my books they will have there.   Your old Air Chief is has done tons of comic book conventions in the past 35 years, but this will be my first book signing, so I'm a wee bit excited. Ha.  And I sure hope lots of you loyal airmen in the area will be able to make it down.  Should any of you desire copies of the voucher above, simply drop me an e-mail and I'll get them off to you pronto.

Six days after the Barnes & Nobles signing, I will be one of dozens of comic book creators appearing at the Portsmouth Comic Book Show to be held at the Best Western Motel on Sunday 16th Nov.  That's located in the Portsmouth Traffic Circle and it looks to be one hell of a great show.  Promoter, and good pal, Ralph DiBernardo has really lined up lots of great comic book talent to include two of my personal favorite artists, Scott Wegener who does Atomic Robot and Craig Rousseau of the Perhapnauts.  And please, don't fret that my name isn't on that poster.  Ralph truly does have so many guests, he simply could not put them all up and still have a visually decent poster to show off.  This is really going to be a great show.  I plan on having copies of my new Brother Bones comic and Daughter of Dracula (for adults only) graphic novel on hand, plus many of my Airship 27 pulp novels.   And don't forget, anyone who comes to my table wearing any Airship 27 gear (from our on-line shop…see icon above to left), they will get any one item for half price.  Just my way of saying thanks for your support.  We also have Free Passes to this show, so if any of you would like some, again, drop me a letter quick and I'll get them off to you.

So there you have my calendar of personal appearances for Nov.  Of course between now and then we've still got Halloween coming up, one of my favorite holidays.  Then within days of Halloween comes the British version, Guy Fawkes Day, on Nov.5th.  Which you knowledgeable airmen will know is my birthday and I'll turn 62 years young!  Yahoo. Can't wait to see what the next 62 will bring!

Take care, have a great week one and all.
Ron – Over & Out.

Greeting loyal airmen.  Sitting down trying to decide what I was going to write this morning, the realization hit your old Air Chief of just how much happened in the past few days.  Sometimes you can go through days and days of the same old routines, not to say that is a bad thing mind you, but there's nothing to report on.  And then suddenly, WHAM!  A week comes along that is so filled with non-stop activity from every aspects of one's life, it seems like an avalanche of experiences.

MONDAY 13th Oct.  Better known as Columbus Day.   After twenty-five years of dealing with a kazillion leaves every single Fall, we finally discovered a solution to our yard care woes.  It's called a BILLY GOAT.  No, not a real four legged one.  Ha.
 
                                       

It arrived Monday afternoon, having purchased it from a nearby small engine shop.  We were given a thirty minute operation demonstration and then it was all mine.  Sorry if this sounds like a bloody commercial, but airmen, I love my new Billy Goat.  This little machine works like a dream and it means no more raking, no more bagging and most of all no more paying constantly rising fees to lawncare outfits.  We have cleaned up the yard several times since its arrival and will most likely do it lots more before all those brightly colored leaves come down.  But now we watch them sailing to the ground and we smile.  It's such a nice feeling.

TUESDAY 14 Oct.   Valerie and I were up at 5 AM to have coffee and get ready for our sunrise drive up to Raymond NH.  Our destination, Raymond High School, where, at 7:30 AM, I have the fun of speaking to the Art Class about the history and production of comic books.   Kathy Mutch, the art teacher there, is an old friend and she had called me a few weeks ago asking if I would come down and talk to her talented kids.  Several of them are very interested in pursuing a career in comics and I hope my ninety-minutes with them helped inspired them to follow that dream.  Having worked in comics for the past thirty-five years, I can attest to the satisfication of working on the things you loved as a child all your life.  It's very much a dream job.  So thanks to all you wonderful students at Raymond High for making us so welcomed.

WEDNESDAY 15th Oct.   Valerie and I were up at 7 AM.  By now your old  Air Chief was wondering what part of retirement covers these early morning rising that are a killer.  Well, airmen, one of the candidates I am supporting on Election Day was coming to New Hampshire for the very first time and there was going to be a rally at nearby Dover, High School.  Normally we would have let this pass, having never attended anything like this before, but this year we had a connection.  You see, somebody we know is working for our candidate and had told us they could get us into any such event if we ever chose to attend.  It was too good an offer to pass up, as neither Valerie or I had ever participated to this extend before.  So off we went bright an early to Dover High.

By the time we got there, the place was mobbed and line stretched down the road for several miles.  We would later learn that over 1,200 people had come hoping to get into the gym.  They were only going to allow 500 to enter.  When we saw that line, Valerie took out her cell phone and called our “contact”.  He told us to walk around to the back of the gym and wait there.  Which we did, stopping at the barricades to chat with the police officers on duty.  A few minutes later our friend came out, ushered us in the hall (we were screened by security) and then he brought us to the first row of empty seats directly behind the podium where our candidate would speak.  There was NO ONE ELSE in the hall!!   Not too often in life has your old Air Chief ever had this kind of VIP treatment.  It was sweet.  After about a half hour, they finally started letting 200 school students in and then filled the rest of the seats with those lucky folks in the front of that line pictured above.

Out candidate, due to flight glitches, was almost an hour late, but by the time she arrived, the mood was one of excitement and enthusiasm, as all of us were yelling, screaming and cheering to the top of our lungs.  They don't call these things rallies for nothing.  It reminded me of my own high school days and those familiar pep rallies before the big sporting games.  Anyways, this is not about politics, as it is about how much fun Valerie and I had in participating in the process.  Which is what I hope all you loyal airmen will do should you ever have a similar opportunity.  Sometimes democracy is just getting out there and cheering for your political home team.  It truly was a fun experience we will never forget.

And Wed. ended with a call to my son, Kevin, to wish him a very Happy 35th Birthday.  Poor guy had a cold, but was in good spirits and delighted with the Batman Pez dispenser set Valerie and I got for him, along with his more traditional gift.  All my children have a weakness for toys (gee, wonder where they get that? Ha.)  And Kev is a big Pez collector. 

THURSDAY  16th Oct.  Fenway Park, last night.  The Red Sox are behind in the American League Pennant race, 3 to 1 against the monster machine that is the Tampa Rays.  All the Rays need to do is win this game and they are on their way to the World Series.  And they come out swinging, getting home run in the very first inning .By the seventh inning, they are beating the Sox 7 to 0.  It looks bad.  Very, very bad.

And then in the seventh inning, with two outs, David Ortiz hits a two run homer and everything changes.  The seventh ends with the Sox having 4 runs.  By the end of the 8th, Coco Crisp ties it all up at 7 to 7.  Then in the bottom of the 9th, the miracle is completed as J.D. Drew hits a line shot into right field to score Kevin Youkalis and the Red Sox win the greatest play-off comeback in all of Major League history since 1929 with a score of 8 to 7 and stymie Tampa's championship dreams!!   It was a night no one in Red Sox Nation will ever forget, when those amazing, walking-wounded somehow dug deep and once again found victory on the steps of defeat.  Now its on to a Game Six in Tampa tomorrow night.  We continue to keep our fingers cross.  It ain't over until the last and final out.  GO SOX!!

So here we are, loyal airmen, Friday 17th Oct. a wee bit tired, but happy as can be.  What a great week.  Hope yours has been as pleasurable.  In the coming weeks, your old Air Chief will be making some personal appearances to promote some recent work in both comics and pulps.  On the 11th of Nov. (a Tuesday) Veteran's Day, I will be at the Barnes & Nobles bookstore in downtown Manchester, NH. doing a book signing.  Soon as I have further details, ala times and which of my pulp titles will be available, I'll let you know right here. Then six days later, Sunday, 16th Nov. I'll be one of many guest at the new Portsmouth Comic Convention to be held at the Best Western Motel in the Portsmouth traffic circle.  The show goes from 9 AM to 4 PM, so if any of you loyal airmen are in the Southern New Hampshire area that weekend, come on down and say hi. As always, we'd love to meet each and every one of you. 

And that's a wrap.  The Air Chief needs a nap.  See you all in seven.  Ron – Over & Out.                       

Greetings loyal airmen.  I'll bet the last thing you ever expected me to tell you is NOT to buy one of my books.  But that is exactly what I'm saying in regards to something I discovered only yesterday afternoon.  A kind fan dropped me a nice letter saying he had just finished our new pulp GHOST SQUAD and hoped we would do more of these.  Then he went on to ask if I was aware of how much some of our older titles were selling for on-line at Amazon.com.  Eager to learn what he was talking about, I logged on and discovered someone was asking $258 for a copy of our second Captain Hazzard book, The Citadel of Fear.  Pictured above.  Wowser!  That's just nuts.  Then I found some enterprising book dealers were asking $262 for a copy of our first Hazzard pulp, Python Men of the Lost City!  So what exactly is going on here and why am I trying to raise a red flag warning you away from these sellers.  Let me explain in detail.

Airship 27 Prod. started publishing through Wild Cat Books and for a year and half they were the folks who put out all our books.  Then, as happens in life do, things changed and WCB opted not to continue its partnership with us.  It was a friendly parting of the ways and they agreed, as of Jan. 1st, 2008, to stop printing any more of our titles.  Which they honored.  So as the year went on, places like Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com continued selling what titles they had in their inventories.  As each stock was depleted and new orders kept coming in, these outfits would go back to the publisher to buy more copies.  Only in the case of these Airship 27 Prod. they were told by WCB that the books were no longer available.  Another way of saying, out of print.  Of course it was never our intention at Airship 27 to keep these books out of the hands of our loyal fans and soon as the new year kicked in, we had made a new deal with Cornerstone Book Publishers to become our new publisher.

Then came the balancing act of both producing brand new books, while at the same time working on reprinting the old books in new, deluxe editions.  As this past year rolled on, we made lots of progress along that reprint goal.  But of course there were still orders coming in at the book sellers' sites and they had to keep telling would be buyers that they no longer had the product.  Which is when other sellers (usually small book stores) who did have some copies realized the demand was much greater than the current supple and so in good economic fashion, they started jacking up the prices.  Which is what is now reflected at those sites.  The thing is we ARE going to reprint those books and when we do they will be sold at our usual low, retail prices.  The last thing we want is our fans having to shell out ridiculous amounts for these books.  Oh, sure, I do understand the nature of collectibles and am aware some people do place a higher value on first editions.  So, in a sense, every time we do a second edition reprint, it does raise the asking price of the older books.  We get that.  But I've never ever bought any book except to read it.  Not save it because it's a first edition. And keep in mind, when people pay these kinds of monies, not one cent ever goes back to the writers and artists who made the book. There's something very wrong about that too.  I would trust most of you loyal airmen feel the same way. 

Finally, should anyone ever walk up to me at a con and hand me one of these WCB editions and brag about “how” much they had to pay for it, look out!  Why?  Because if they can spend over a hundred dollars for a book we sold at $18, I promise you I am then going to charge them $30 for my autograph.  Count on it!  Ha.

The Red Sox are still alive!  Unbelievable as it seems, our beloved Sox beat the Anaheim Angels in the first round of play-offs, 3 games to 1 to move on to the American League Pennant Championship against the super strong Tampa Rays. The same Rays who won the division in the first place.  The Sox are banged up bad, with several of their key players out of the line up to include Mike Lowell at third base, and our star slugger, Dustin Pedroia (in photo) only had one decent hit in the Angels series.  Not what you'd call comforting.  But again, this October baseball where anything can, and usually does, happen.  Game one in Florida tonight.  GO SOX!!

When not watching baseball, your old Air Chief has been sampling some of the new fare on the boob-tube and I thought I'd share some of my new and old likes.  Cartoon network is now running the Star Wars Clone Wars series, which kicked off with the feature film this past summer (poster above).  I've caught several episodes and have to say they are a lot of fun.  The animation is great and the stories all pack a good 30 minute punch.  And if that wasn't enough, Cartoon Network has slotted a truly wonderful family action series THE SECRET SATURDAYS before it.  This one is so much like the old Jonny Quest series and is a rollicking good time.

On the more serious side, I've already mentioned how much I'm enjoying FRINGE and now LIFE is back.  The latter was the shortened cop drama about a detective who spends 11 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit and when released, is given his old job back.  Now he's out to find the real criminals and those in his own department who framed him.  It sounds deadly sober, but the twist is that while in prison, this fellow learned Zen philosophy and it helped him survive his ordeal.  Now he uses it to keep focused on his mission.  It's really a refreshing, different kind of cops and robbers show and I really like it a lot.   Enough good stuff to keep me occupied until LOST comes back at the start of next year.  Oh, yeah.

And finally, as you'll recall, I recently posted here that I was looking for new pulp writers to help with our ambitious plans for the future of Airship 27 Prod.  Well I am so happy to report we've had a huge response to that plea from some truly terrific young (and mature) would be pulp writers.  You'll soon be seeing their fantastic work in our titles. Thanks to one and all for answering the call.

And there you have it, loyal airmen.  Hope all of you have a great Columbus Day weekend and see you back at the hangar next week.  Ron – Over & Out.
 

Greetings loyal airmen.  Last week I mentioned we were actively looking for new writers at Airship 27Productions and mentioned the possibilities that we might being doing a Sherlock Holmes anthology in the near future.  Well first of all, let me thank all the terrific, and talented, writers who've contacted me this past week.  I was very much impressed with all of you and am delighted to have you on board.  This bodes well for all you loyal airmen, as these new pulpsmiths are very eager to start writing new and thrilling pulp yarns of your favorite classic heroes.  Stay tuned and as always, I'll be keeping you posted.

Of course discussing those old Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes movie was enough to make me sit down one night and watch one of them from extensive DVD collection.  By random, I chose THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES, one of my favorites as it pits the Consulting Detective against his arch nemesis, the Napoleon of Crime, Prof. James Moriarity, who in this story desires nothing less than to steal the Crown Jewels of England.  Okay, so I'm sitting here, in the batcave that is my den, watching this fun black and white movie when all of a sudden this actor walks onto the a scene, playing the love interest of the female lead, and your Old Air Chief about fell off his plush recliner.  The guy looks exactly like my pulp hero, Captain Hazzard!  I kid you not.  He was the physical embodiment of the Champion of Justice.  Fit, tall, muscular and brutally handsome with piercing eyes and a dashing, thin mustache.  One of my good pals, Canadian writer Charles Saunders, had recently posted over on his website pictures of those actors he thought could portray the characters from his IMARO series of books. And here I was watching a fellow who could have easily been Hazzard in a 1930s cliff-hanger serial.

                      
                              Alan Marshall as Captain Hazzard

As soon as I finished watching the movie, I jumped on to the internet and went hunting for this fellows biography. The DVD cover told me his name was Alan Marshall and I had no trouble finding several sites dedicated to his life and career.  Apparently he was extremely successful in the late 30s and 40s as a leading man type and made lots of very good movies for various studios both here and in England.  The thing is, loyal airmen, in all the photos posted at these sites, every single one of them reaffirmed he WAS Captain Hazzard.  Later that same night I sent the link to his site to my artists, Rob Davis, who does all the interior illustrations for our Hazzard adventures and Mark Maddox, the fellow who paints those amazing covers.  Both of them were stunned by the likeness and agreed with my assessment.  Rob even went the extra step and using Photo-Shop, played with one of Marshall's photos to add the famous scar over Captain Hazzard's left eye.  (See above.)  And of course both artists downloaded lots of these photos as now they will have some wonderful “real” references for future Hazzard illustrations.  Amazing, don't you think?

Getting back to our books, we are thrilled to announce the release (today) of our reprint edition of one of our most successful Airship 27 Prod. titles, SECRET AGENT X – Vol. Two.  The first edition sold out within months of its release and we are delighted to have it available once again.  It contains three of the original tales from the first edition and a brand new, never before published thriller by B.C.Bell.  B.C. is one of those new recruits I've been gushing about lately and his X story here is just fantastic.  You don't want to miss it.  The book also contains twelve dynamite illos by Rob Davis and that stunning cover above by Rob and digital color wizard, Chris Carney.  As always, like all our books, it is avaible through all major book distributors ala Barnes & Noble and Amazon.  And you loyal airmen can get it via our on-line store for a 25% saving off retail.  Just click to onto the dirigible logo to the upper left of this column.

The added excitement about all this is that this release not only makes both Vol One & Two of our Secret Agent X books available once again, but now paves the way for all new anthologies, the first of which, Vol. Three, we hope to have ready within a month or so.  If you have never ever read a Secret Agent X story, I hope you'll give this book a try.  He was the original pulp super spy and the true precursor to all the heroes like James Bond that came later.  This is pulp adventure at its best.

Finally, I want to leave you airmen with this amazing photograph that surfaced on the internet this past week and was forwarded to your Airchief by a good friend.  I'm sorry the reproduction is so bloody small here, but if you come up real close to your PC monitor and squint, you'll realize what it is your are seeing; eighteen thousand U.S. Soldiers standing in a formation of the Stature of Liberty.  There is no date to the photo, but the uniform suggest it would have been during the World War One years.  It does state that it was posed and taken at Camp Dodge in Iowa.  When I first saw it, I knew immediately it was something I had to share with my loyal airmen.

And there you have it, airmen.  Fall colors are filling the New Hamshire landscape, political debates and annoying ads fill the airwaves and our beloved Red Sox took game one in the play-offs against the Anaheim Angels, beating them 4 to 1.  All in all, I think its been a great week.  I hope the same for you.  See you in seven.
Ron – Over & Out

Greetings loyal airmen.  We are finally into the Fall season and rain is pouring down outside Hangar 27 as I write this week's log entry.  Valerie comes home from her trip out west in four more days, so your Old Air Chief is going to be busy sprucing up and getting things ready for her homecoming.  She has had a great time out in Ft.Collins CO, visiting our son and his family and this time around they had the opportunity to visit the Custer Memorial Park in Montana.  She was truly impressed by seeing the Little Bighorn Battlefield and all the history behind it.  We can't wait to hear the stories she has to tell.

On the political front, unless you've been living in a hermit's shack in the woods somewhere, you've no doubt heard about the economic dire straights our economy is in these.  All of course revolving around the debate whether to bail out Wall Street or let them sink or swim on their own.  Personally, I'm ambivalent and can see the pros and cons for both side.  But in the end, my true concerns are for the decent, hardworking Americans who sadly tried for the brass ring of home ownership and got in way over their heads.  I don't believe for wanting a piece of the American dream, they should be penalized and have to lose their homes.  But it is not for me to decide.  Right now its up to the folks in Washington, who, through the last thirty years, both Democrats & Republicans, have created this mess, to clean it up.
 
                                  

Now I bring up all this economic stuff because it underlines just how great you loyal airmen are.  Last week we released our latest Airship 27 Prod. pulp novel, GHOST SQUAD – Rise of the Black Legion.  All in the midst of these hard financial times, and immediately you airmen jumped on board and started ordering copies.  Yup, on that very first day.  And those sales have stayed stead throughout the past week, making your Old Air Chief both awed and humbled by your truly generous support of our endeavors.  You guys (& gals) are simply the best fans ever and we at Airship 27 Prod. applaud all of you.  Above is the gorgeous back cover to GHOST SQUAD by Rob Davis for those of you who haven't picked it up yet.  Front to back this book is a winner.

Of course we've absolutely no intentions of resting on our laurels (besides, laurels generally have thorns..ouch).  Nope, once we get one book published, we at Airship 27 Prod. immediately start work on another project ala the preliminary advertisement above which will be appearing the back pages of our forthcoming deluxe reprint edition of our SECRET AGENT X – Volume II.  Hopefully in another week or two.  And as the ad obviously indicates, we've already started putting together Volume III.  Secret Agent X is one of the most popular classic pulp heroes of the 1930s and we've had a blast bringing you his “all new” adventures by some of today's talented adventure/action writers. 

But here's the thing, we need more writers.  We have lots of plans for future titles and not nearly enough pulp writers to fulfill them, which is why we are putting out this plea to you, our loyal airmen.  We need more talented writers to help us create lots more exciting pulp books like the Secret Agent X series.  Some time later this year we will be releasing our first JIM ANTHONY – Super Detective Anthology and our very first ever pulp horror book to be called WEIRD HORROR TALES.

And we are also giving some serious thought to producing a Sherlock Holmes anthology series.  The character, as portrayed in the photo above by actor Basil Rathbone with Nigel Bruce as Dr. Watson, has always been one of my favorites and we thought it was time the Baker St. consulting detective was given the Airship 27 treatment. We've started putting out the word and have been pleased to learn, as we expected, that there are lots of writers out there who've dreamed of writing a Sherlock Holmes mystery.  But again, for all these marvelous projects to reach publication, we need talented word spinners to deliver some nifty purple prose.  If that sounds like you or someone you know, please, drop me a line at the contact link above in the menu section.  And as ever, thanks for you tremendous, unfailing support.

Finally, our beloved Red Sox made the play-offs this past week.  It is most likely, barring a crash and burn of epic proportions, that the Tampa Rays will be the American League East Division champs and kudos to them for what they've achieved this year, coming up from last year's last place to win it all.  It's quite a story and they deserve all our applause for pulling it off.  So now we head into October baseball, with the Sox traveling to Los Angeles to battle the best team (on record that is) in the Anaheim Angels.  It proves to be an exciting contest and we are glued to our TV sets, praying our familiar chant, GO SOX!

Have a great week and see you back here in seven days.
Ron – Over & Out.

Greetings loyal airmen.  Here we are in mid September and weather in New England is decidedly cool, as traditional Fall temps become the norm; warm days and cool evenings.   Soon the leaves will start changing colors and Halloween is just around our October corner.  And what could be more fitting then the release of our book called GHOST SQUAD.

GHOST SQUAD – Rise of the Black Legion is the first in a brand new series written by your old Air Chief and the amazing Andrew Salmon.  Earlier in the year we published Andrew's science fiction drama, THE LIGHT OF MEN, which is still garnering rave reviews throughout the sci-fic community.  He also made his pulp debut with a Secret Agent X tale that was featured in our updated reprint of SECRET AGENT X Vol. One.  GHOST SQUAD was a concept I had wanted to use ever since starting up Airship 27 Prod. but at the time found myself swamped with other writing obligations, not to exclude editing all our fine titles.  During one of our e-mail correspondence, I suggested the concept to Andrew and asked if he'd like to help me bring it to life. His answer was a resounding yes, and so together we set about bringing this unique team of pulp heroes together.

Rise of the Black Legion, the sub-title of the first book introduces the cast and set up.  John Lazarus is the leader and he possesses a unique secret known only to a handful of people, a secret rooted in the pages history two thousand years old.  With him are Alan Hale, a Texas flying jockey who loves a good fight and Arlene Kane, the beautiful, mysterious stage magician known as Lady Arcane.  They, and their colleagues, a super secret Washington spy network, must confront a foreign threat to America called the Black Legion; a cultist spy ring originating in the heart of Nazis Germany.  The action is non-stop with a climatic ending that we hope will leave all you loyal airmen clamoring for more.

As always, Rob Davis provides the design work and all nine black and white interior illustrations, plus a truly gorgeous back cover layout.  Whereas gracing the cover of GHOST SQUAD number one, is the work of a rising young talent named Chad Hardin.  Chad is working for DC comics these days primarily doing covers, but you will soon see the full range of his graphic abilities with the forthcoming SPIRIT # 21, in which he did all the interior work.  Chad is a gifted artist and we're extremely excited to have him provide our dramatic cover.  So, as always, loyal airmen, GHOST SQUAD – Rise of the Black Legion, is now available at leading bookstores and the various on-line outlets such as Barnes & Noble and Amazon.  And as of this morning, it is also posted at our own Airship 27 store with our special discount.  You know the drill, simply click on the dirigible logo to the left of this column.  And as always, thanks so very, very much for you continued to support.  And if you enjoy our titles, please, help spread the word and tell your friends about us.  Word of mouth is still the best advertising out there.

Finally, the regular baseball season is quickly coming to a close as October looms.  The Tampa Rays have proven quite soundly that they aren't a temporary fluke and have taken on all the American League East big boys to include the Yankees and our beloved Red Sox.  So as all the teams battle through their last few games, we sit on the edge of our chairs, keeping those fingers crossed and enjoying the thrill of contests.  Whoever wins it all, so far its been one hell of a season.

Have a great week, and see you back here next week.
Ron – Over & Out.

Greeting loyal airmen.  I posted the above picture of the USS-Akron sailing over Manhattan before.  Somehow today, on the seventh anniversary of the attack on America, I thought it approprite to use it again.  You see this photo taken long ago, somehow conveys the might and ingenuity of New York City.  Rising up on that small chunk of real estate, the Big Apple is like no other metropolis in the world.  Seven years ago today that city, and Washington D.C., were attacked and within a few short hours nearly three thousand people, most of them Americans, had lost their lives.  On this day we remember them in prayer and reflection, and we remember the love, compassion and boundless courage displayed by Americans all over our great country on that day of tragedy.  We will never forget those we lost.  God bless America forever.

Every now and then a movie comes along that for whatever reason does not get the recognition it deserves.  Once such film is RENAISSANCE, a French science fiction thriller much like the classic BLADE RUNNER.  The difference being it is animated using motion-capture like the recent BEOWULF only without color, thus it has the stark black and white feel of SIN CITY.  Quite the cinematic stew, but the result is an intense crime thriller set against Paris in 2054 wherein a highly trained cop is recruited to find a missing scientist with the knowledge to alter mankind's future.  Directed by Christian Volckman, it features Daniel Craig, Catherine McCormac and Ian Pryce.  This is a great sci-fi movie and I recommend to all you loyal airmen.

Recently one of our Airship 27 Prod. writers informed us that he would soon be attending a sci-fi convention and wondered if we might have some kind of promotional fliers he could pass out at his table.  Rob Davis and I thought it was an excellent idea, as both of us could use one as well for our own shows.  Rob went to town and produced this truly gorgeous flier depicting eight of our current titles.  I can't wait to pass these out to fans.  And remember, six of these books are on sale at our on-line store, found by clicking on the Airship 27 logo to the immediate left of this column.  I'll let you deduce which two haven't been released yet.  Consider this a small sneek-peek at their covers.

Finally, the Fall TV season is upon us and most of you know I am a huge LOST fan.  Well, the creator of that series, J.J.Abrams has a new show called FRINGE and it debut this past Tuesday night.  Show reminds me a great deal of the old X-FILES, but with a twist.  It has a good cast and I liked the opening episode a great deal.
Fingers crossed this could be a lot of good, creepy fun.  There will be an encore presentation this coming Sunday for those of you missed it the first time around.

And that's another week, loyal airmen.  Thanks as always for stopping by and see back here in seven days.
Ron – Over & Out.

Greetings loyal airmen.  Well, with summer over and the new school year underway, most of us turn our attentions to the events that traditionally make up Fall in America.  Yearly that means the baseball play-offs.  Here we are in the September, the last regular month of the game season.  Come October 1st only the best will be remain to start the race for the World Series Championship.  Whereas every four years we also have a different race to contend with, the political variety.  As of Nov. 4th, Americans will go to the polls and elect a new President.  Now I know writing about politics is always a touchy subject.  Really.  The last time I did so, one of my regular readers was so angered by my position, he wrote me a scathing rebuttal (way beyond civil), pretty much calling me stupid and ignorant for my beliefs.  Needless to say, he doesn't stop here any more.  Anyway, if you too don't like discussing politics, then I would simply suggest you skip over that section of this week's journal.  They will be easy to distinguish.  I'm going to talk baseball first, set up a page break and then go into that “delicate” subject matter.  Then another break and wrap things up.  Fair enough?

One of the real joys of following the Red Sox this year has been in watching shortstop, Dustin Pedroia, play the game.  This 5'7″ player is a non-stop hitting machine like no other in all of baseball today.  There have only ever been a small handful of ball players who were natural hitters.  Trust me, it is a gift and it drives opposing pitchers crazy.  Why?  Because there is no place they can put the ball, Pedroia can't hit!  We have watched him almost go down on one knee many times, swing out his bat as if it were a fly-swatter and connect with a ball that was only two inches off the dirt!  Inside, outside, up or down, it doesn't matter.  Petey (his nickname on the team) simply sees the ball and hits it.  Time after time!  He's leading all of Major League Baseball with his hitting average and let me add his defensive place is nothing to sneeze at either.  As a shortstop, he moves fast and it's all too rare when balls do get past him.  Is it any wonder that we devoted Sox fans see him winning the Most Valuable Player award this year?   And this from a young man who was last year's Rookie of the Year!!  Absolutely amazing.  Dustin Pedroia is one of the most talented ball players on the field today.  No matter had bad things have gotten for this team (and there have been many ups and downs for sure) Petey has always delivered.  He is a joy to watch and as the Red Sox battle their way to the play-offs, you have to know the eyes of Red Sox Nation are on the little guy at shortstop to help propel the team to victory. 

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Back in 2000, Arizona Senator John McCain ran for the Presidency of the United States.  We here in New Hampshire get to know candidates quickly because of our First in the Nation Primaries.  I remember being fascinated and inspired by McCain's story.  He was a real war hero who had endured unimaginable suffering at the hands of his captors during his five years as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam.  Being a Vietnam vet myself, I could sympathize with this brave man who never lost his faith in American and I voted for him.  Sadly New Hamphsire's insight didn't matter to the established Republican party and they opted for a wheeler-dealer in George W.Bush.   Regardless, my interest in McCain didn't wain and one day Valerie came home from shopping and handed me his book, FAITH OF MY FATHERS.  I was delighted  and as expected, thoroughly moved by this no-holds barred look into the man's life.  John McCain's greatest strength is his self-awareness of his own flaws.  He admits to growing up a wild, rebellious youth who only wanted to have fun and enjoy the good things in life.  When fate dropped him into hostile territory with his legs and arms broken, he quickly had that that selfish veneer ripped away.  Stripped of his God-given freedoms, beaten repeatedly to include torture, John McCain mentally matured.  He learned the hard way what life's real priorities are and the value of a free democracy.  He learned the indomitable courage of his fellow POWs and through their abiding friendship and support, he endured horrors few of us can ever imagine.

Upon his return to civilian life, he could have packed it in and gone about his life in the private sector. He's a smart guy, he'd have been successful at anything he tried.  But that wasn't going to happen.  McCain came home a new man, a man who had learned love of country in a new and profound way and knew he had to devote his life to preserving our society.   He went into public service for all the rights reason; to serve his fellow Americans and to protect his country.  That has been his record from day one.  McCain despises corruptions and politicians who cheat and lie, robbing the American taxpayers every chance they can.  And he doesn't care which side of the aisle they sit on, Republicans and Democrats alike.  To McCain, a crook is a crook no matter what his party affiliations are.  And so he's made a lot of enemies.  Surprise, surprise.  Yet, somehow he has once again endured.  And that in itself is amazing considering the politic machinery he has gone up against.

When he launched his new campaign last year, political expert didn't give him a prayer of succeeding.  Hell, the fat cats of his own party didn't want him to win.  Why?  Because McCain will upset their comfy business as usual if he gets into the White House. Have absolutely no doubts about that.  This man is fed up with a do-nothing government and is going make it once again what Lincoln cherished, “..a government of the people, by the people and for the people.”

So against all odds, he wins his party's nomination.  Now comes the greatest challenge of all, bringing his case to the American people who are rightly sick and tired of politics as usual, including a Republican Administration that seems to have lost touch with average American family.  The Democrats are preaching change and in a sense they do have the easier road to climb.  The mere fact that should they win, it would be a change.  Right, the change from one party to the other.  But is that all that matters to you?  Please understand, if the Democrats win, they will alter nothing!  Washington will continue to be a sink hole of useless debating which achieves nothing.  Remember, although the Republicans do hold the white house, for the past four years the Democrats have controlled the Congress.  Their record of achievement.  Zero!  They have failed to alleviate any of the many problems facing the American people and their Congress has the worst record since this country was founded.  Change?  Give me a break, please. 

So here we have two men running for office and each claiming to be an agent of change.  So along comes the party conventions and we Americans watch very closely to see how each of these candidates will proceed.  One of the telling moments in the choosing of a running mate is the insights it gives all of us to “how” the candidate thinks?   And since both parties are arguing change, it was a major let down to see the Democratic nominee's choice.  Oh, not that his choice isn't a good man etc.etc.  But come on people, what it was was business as usual.  Where was the change there?   Then last week John McCain set the political world on its butt by going out of the Washington Beltway to find a gutsy, reform minded governor who had battled her own party bigwigs and won.  Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is the true breath of fresh air all of us have been praying for, but never honestly thought we'd get.  In one bold move, McCain proved his words.  He did not pick an established politician, although he had amble choices from those in his party.  Nor did he allow his party leaders to dictate his choice.  Days before the his selection, I watched noted Republicans on television saying they hoped he wouldn't do anything radical.  Ha.  Radical. He broke the mold on radical.  Sarah Palin was a small town mayor.  I can think of no better education into the world of public service then being a mayor.  It's a tough as hell job, every day going out there amongst your neighbors and managing their government so that it is totally responsive to their needs and well-being.  Palin did so perfectly.  Enough so that her supporters knew she was the real answer to the political corruptions that had infested their state and they voted her in as governor to clean things up.  And she did! Going after the crooks in her own party, most of which either then left office in disgrace or were indicted and convicted.  The woman is true and sincere reformer.  She is a mother who wants only the best for her family, and yours.  Her oldest son is in the army and soon to be deployed to Iraq.  Like all mothers, she is scared for him, but at the same time she is proud of his willingness to serve the greatest country in the history of the world.  As John McCain learned in Vietnam, freedom is never free.

So there you have it.  A rebel, a fighter, a maverick and a REAL AMERICAN HERO, wants to be your President.  He has fought and bled for America and he loves her above all else.  He says he's going to change things in Washington and by choosing a gutsy, no-nonsense woman as his running mate, he's already shown the world he is a man of his word.  You want to things to change in Washington? So do I, and the best hope we have for that change is McCain & Palin!

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Okay, loyal airmen, that's the Air Chief's political rant.  There won't be any more this election.  I just hope all of you, regardless of your leanings, will do your homework and get involved with the process. Please, vote!  It is your greatest weapon in preserving all our freedoms.  Never take it for granted.

Finally, Valerie flew off to Colorado this past week to spend time with our son Alan, and his family.  Me and her mom are holding down the fort while she's gone.  It's an interesting pattern that we've established and even though it means we have to be apart, her homecomings are special.  They say absence makes the heart grow fonder and we both attest to that being so true.  

Ron – Over & Out.

Greetings, loyal airmen.  Well here we are, full into the Labor Day weekend and the unofficial end of summer.  Signs of which we've been seeing all too soon.  Kids here in Somersworth were back in school this past week, the old fleet of buses once again making their early morning rounds.  In two days we'll be closing up the swimming pool out back, draining the water level, adding the anti-freeze and putting the cover back over it.  All too fast, that's how summers fly around here.  Still, Valerie and I went to see a movie matinee a few days ago which totally brought back lots of fun, summer memories for your Old Air Chief.

DEATH RACE is a B-Movie action flick starring one of my favorite actors, Jason Statham.  I've been a fan of his since he popped up on the cinema scene with his first TRANSPORTER movie.  Ergo, when I first saw the trailers for this, his latest feature, it was a done deal I would go and see it.   And enjoy it to the max.  B-Movies are the fun flicks people make for no other reason than to entertain their audiences.  When I was a kid growing up in the late fifties and sixties, small Hollywood studios woulp pump out these kind of popcorn movies by the hundred; especially for the summer drive-in season.

For those of you under thirty, drive-ins were actually outdoor movie theaters.  Imagine a huge, empty, paved parking lot in the middle of nowhere.  Now at one end put up a giant wooden wall, painted a non-reflective white and there's your giant screen.  The concept of drive-ins became successful during the late fifties as more and more American families owned cars, and their teen-age kids owned cars.  What better way to go see a movie than in your own car.  Families would pack up, the kids dressed in their pajamas and off they would go to watch a movie under the night skies.  I loved drive-ins as a kid.   Of course these kind of loose, informal viewings were not conducive to seeing “serious” melodramas.  Those were fine for the art-house crowd and the folks who wanted to win Oscars.  Nope, drive-ins catered to exploitation movies, horror, sci-fi and goof-ball comedies.  The stuff the average American family could enjoy.  See, there's that word again, entertainment.

And during the heyday of the drive-ins, nobody produced more entertaining B-Movies then producer Roger Corman.  Corman became a legend in Hollywood by having the genius to recruit young movie makers coming out of all the famous liberal arts colleges in California.  All these would-be filmmakers were eager-beavers looking for a place to learn their craft and Corman gave them that stage.  He hired up and coming young stars as well and kept everything on the cheap.  Cheap movies made fast and delivered to distributors on time.  Corman's movies were among the finest B-Movies ever made.  One of them was in fact DEATH RACE 2000, which was the original version of this new Statham flick.

Made in 1975, this Roger Corman cult classic starred David Carradine, Simone Griffith and a young actor named Sylvester Stallone.  It was written by Robert Thom and Charles Griffith and directed by Paul Bartel.  The plot told us that in the future of 2000, the world economic stability collapsed and to keep the masses happy, the government instuted the Transcontinental Road Race, a gory gladitorial contest wherein death and mayhem were the rules and victory meant freedom to the winner.  As a drive-in B-Movie, it was absolutely perfect and I've fond memories of seeing it up there on that giant white screen.  Happily the Statham remake, directed by W.S. Anderson is just as much shlock and silliness as the original, only instead of a cross-country race, the criminal drivers in this new version are all confined to an off-shore island where the race (more in-line with Nascar track style) is held.  Like the original, all cars are armored and loaded with guns and rockets, all better to wipe out the competition…permanently.   It's just plain, mindless fun with truly incredible action sequences.  Neither Val or I were disappointed. 

So if you too miss those old days of the drive-ins, go see DEATH RACE.  It might bring back a few of those wonderful memories.  Now I'm just waiting for someone to put DEATH RACE 2000 on DVD.  Please.

And there you have it, loyal airmen.  Next week we'll be kicking off the Fall season, bombarded by political ads on TV every five minutes and praying the Red Sox can make it to the play-offs.  Never a dull moment at the old Hangar 27.

Ron – Over & Out.