Greeting loyal airmen.  We start this week's log with some sad news.  But first a little history.  When I came home from Vietnam back in the summer of 1968, I quickly got back into comic book collecting, a hobby I'd put aside my three years in uniform.   Soon I began to realize that a huge fandom had grown up in America and from it all these wonderful fan publications we called fanzines.   I began buying them and discovered a small segment were actually devoted to the old pulp heroes.   Writer Robert Weinberg put out a great series of reprint digests in this vein, many sporting stunning covers by a pen and ink artist named Frank Hamilton.  Over the years I became a huge fan of his work, as seen in the two covers above.  Frank was a master of the art of stipling, a slow technique using tiny dots to shape a pattern or image.  Earlier this week, my colleage, Howard Hopkins of Maine, a personal friend of Frank's, informed the pulp community that Frank had passed away this past Monday at the age of 90.   He leaves a huge empty hole in pulp fandom and he will be sorely missed.  Rest in peace, Frank, a peace you so richly deserve.

On a much a happier note, allow me to say welcome to our newest airman, John Bruening of Ohio.  Seems while surfing the web this week, John managed to trip over the old Airship 27 Hangar and stopped in to take a good look.  Then he graciously sent me a wonderful letter saying how much he enjoyed our site.  John is way too young to know about pulps and classic golden age comics, but somehow he does and so he truly got a kick out of what we do here.  Nothing makes me happier than to know these weekly ramblings amuse and entertain such nice people as John and all the rest of you airmen.  It's why I'm here. Thank you all so very much.

Unless you've been living in a mountain cave the past few months, you all know that Presidential politics have been filling the media.  The recent Florida primary has proven to be very telling in which candidates are emerging as the front runners as the field in both parties narrow.  John McCain is clearly striking a chord with Republicans and I'm truly amazed at the bashing he is getting from extremist in our party.  Yes, I'm a Conservative Republican but I'm also an American who, like McCain, is fed up with twenty years of in-fighting that has so taken over Washsington.  Our representatives, from both parties, are so caught up in beating their opponents across the aisles, nothing ever gets done!!  McCain openly advocates moving to the center and compromising and I for one applaud that.  Likewise I see Senator Obama doing the exact same thing among Democrats, realizing we have to stop party politics once and for all or none of the issues that plague this country will ever be resolved.  Its only when we work together as one people that things get done.  Obama is very much another agent of change as opposed to the old guard Clinton so clearly represents.  It is my fervent hope that come November the contest for the White House will be between the two best candidates, McCain and Obama.  Now that will be a campaign worthy of the American people.

Finally I can't end this week's entry without telling you how thrilled I was to see the return of my favorite TV show last night, LOST is back!  It remains the most innovative, original and exciting drama on the boob tube.  I'd rather watch reruns of LOST than 99% of those stupid reality shows.  Sometimes I wish we could take AMERICAN IDOL and SURVIVOR, put them on a boat and LOSE them!!

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

Greeting loyal airmen.  Well the cover above pretty much tells you what has your old Air Chief is all wound up about this week.  After months of hard work and planning, we've finally gotten BROTHER BONES released.  It is one of the first of our new Airship 27 Productions titles.  (That's me and artist Rob Davis bringing you as much pulp goodness as you can handle.)  All these titles are being published by our partner in this venture, Cornerstone Book Publishers.  They publihsed our WITCHFIRE last year.

This book had a bumpy road to this day.  Oh yeah.  Some of you veteran airmen will remember I started my pulp career years ago with another character molded along these similar “grim” lines.   That book did extremely well for all involved, including the publisher we were then associated with.   When Rob and I began making plans to rerpint that older title as part of our new Airship 27 Prod. launch, we were dismayed to learn we could not obtain permission from the rights holder.  I won't bore you with the complexities of it all, but in the end we were left with six terrific pulp stories and nowhere to use them.  The solution was to simply change the names in those tales and create a brand new pulp hero, this one we would own all rights to.   Rob was willing and we pressed onward.

From that point on, things really livened up.  Rob was eager to do a full out painting of this BROTHER BONES avenger and he delivered a stunning masterpiece, in my humble opinion.  Looking at that smiling face here.  Is that a happy artist or what?  Ha. Folks who are now seeing this cover are ranting and raving, as they should.  This is pure pulp!  Meanwhile I remembered a story that had never made it into the old volume and immediately dusted it off, made the necessary changes and we added it to this new book. It's called GHOST TRAIN and is a Brother Bones adventure no one has seen until now.

So, something old has morphed into something very fresh and new.  The book is available at Amazon on-line, simply go to the Air Fare page here to find the link.  Also at bookstores around the globe.  All of us invovled with BROTHER BONES hope you'll check it out and then drop us a line.  We very much want this to be the first in a series of his adventures.  So let us know what you think of the gruesome avenger who haunts the streets of Cape Noire.  We're listening.

Ron, Over & Out

Greetings loyal airmen.  Most of you who stop by here on a regular basis are familiar with the comic book above.  It is Days of the Dragon which I did with my good friend, artist Gary Kato, and we had published several years ago.  You can still buy copies of this kid friendly book on our AirFare page.  But as of today, you can also download it digitally for free thanks our publisher, James Taylor, and an outfit called Wowio.   Wowie works like this.  They sell advertising space on their huge website, then they post comics there, hundreds and hundreds of them.  These they make available free to anyone who registers with them (at no costs) and all you have to do is simply download the files to your own PC.  Wowie makes their money from the advertisers and actually pays the book's creators every time their title is downloaded.  It's pretty much a win-win situation for everyone.

But there are some limits.  Certain mail provider accounts like those from Yahoo can't register, nor can people living in other countries.  Hopefully as time goes by, Wowio will address these factors and change them.  Meanwhile if any of you loyal airmen would like to download Days of the Dragon and help me and Gary make a few coins, its really simply.  Go to my AirFare page, click on to the Wowio post of this cover  and it will bring you to its site at Wowie.  There you click on HOME, and proceed to register as a member.  You'll have to take a small survey, but again, there's no charge for any of this.  Once done you simply wait 24 hours to be notified your account has been accepted.  Then you can log on and download up to 3 comics every single day for FREE!! Which of course I hope you'll do.  Taylor informs us the book has been available for downloading for over a week now and 20 fans have already done so making us $10!   I think somebody's finally figured out how to make the internet a commercial success.

The latest Captain Hazzard pulp novel, CAVEMEN OF NEW YORK is really flying through pre-production these days and all of us at Airship 27 Prod. and Cornerstone Book Publishers are getting excited.  My partner in crime, artist Rob Davis, has most of the books interiors all laid out and ready go and a few days ago, cover painter supreme, Mark Maddox, sent along the about crude sketch of what will ultimately become our cover.  When I first got the idea for this particular adventure and the name popped into my head, so did this very distinct image.  It was of Hazzard squaring off against a gigantic, hairy caveman on the snow-covered steps of a modern edifice.  I detailed this scenario to Mark and God bless him, he totally nailed what I was after.  Of course this is what we call a rough sketch used primarily to give both the editor and artist a starting base from which to work and progress the actual cover.  There are elements in this sketch that I've already asked Mark to change or alter slightly.  It is a far cry from what will evolve into our final, gorgeous, eye-popping pulp cover.  Still I thought you loyal airmen would get a kick out of seeing how the process works.  As the painting moves through various stages, I'll try to post them here so you can watch it “become” the cover.

That's it for this week, loyal airmen.  Mother Nature saw fit to dump a slushy mess of rain and snow on us last night and in a few hours I'll be once again getting cold and wet while clearing up the driveway.  Here's hoping for a really early Spring.  Ha.  Oh, and I don't want to forget giving the New England Patriots a huge Airship 27 Hoorah for this continued perfect season.  Only the San Diego Chargers remain to be dealt with before they go to the Super Bowl.  Go Tom Brady and the Pats!!  They've made a miserable winter lots more bearable.

Air Chief Ron, Over & Out.

Well the Political Circus that is the Primaries has left New Hampshire in search of greener broadcast pastures.  Good luck to all, and our personal tip of the hat to Senator John McCain on his victory here in the Granite State.  I voted for Senator McCain and am truly hoping he eventually gets the party's nomination and is our next President of the United States.  Okay, now back to the fun things we all get a charge out of.

In course of a thirty-five year career in writing comics and adventure novels, I've had the good fortune to meet many, many people.  A few have gone on to become truly good friends.  One of these was a young man I met lots and lots of years ago who lives nearby in Maine.  His name is Larry Young.  Larry at first wanted to get into comics as an artist/inker and he worked very, very hard at it.  Alas, it just didn't seem to be going anywhere and I could sense his frustration as time went on and he simply couldn't crack the art market.   Then Larry met Heidi, fell in love, married and started raising a family.  Today they have a handsome teenage son and a beautiful young daughter.  Larry earns his living working at a nearby factory.  Its hard work, but he doesn't complain, as he's not that kind of guy.  He a loyal husband and father.  But he's also still a would be comic book creator.  A few years ago, Larry confided in me that he was shifting gears and was going to try his shot at writing comics instead.  I encouraged him to go for it and began telling him about all the very cool on-demand printing companies coming into existence via the internet that now made it possible for anyone to produce comics, at a very affordable price.  Larry was all ears and pretty soon he was locked into doing just what I had suggested; producing his own comics.

                   
Larry hooked up with several artists on-line, most of whom live overseas, and began commissioning them to do artwork based on his short comic scripts.  The first of these was a black and white manga style adventure called Legends of the Spellbinders.  See the color cover above.   Larry also named his company High Voltage Comics. That's a very cool.  Once he had this project under way, he wasted no time starting a second.

                               
This time Larry whipped up a western-science fiction 16 pager called Shadow Rider.  This one is completely in color and a really terrific package.  For the price, you simply can't go wrong.  This week both these titles have gone on sale at (www.indyplanet.com), the same outfit where you can get our Daughter of Dracula graphic novel. I cannot recommend these books strongly enough and not applaud Larry for his indomitable will of never giving up on his dream all these years.  A couple of years ago, Heidi gave him a surprsie 40th Birthday party and invited me to along.  Oh yeah, my young protege has gray hair these days, but that hasn't diminished the childish gleam in his eyes whenever he starts talking about comics.  Please, take a second and go to Indy Planet and check out these two new comics from a truly gifted fellow.  He truly deserves all your support.  Larry, keep it up.   I'm sure this is only the beginning.

Meanwhile, should any of you wonder what new paths of imagination I've started along recently, well here's a very early sneak peek.  The wonder of the internet to the comics community has been how it has made it truly international.  Remember I told you Larry recruited artists from the far corners of the globe, well a few years ago I made contact with a French outfit called Makma Studios run by one Edmond Tourrial.  Edmond's a talented comics creator and he was very eager for us to work together.  We started one particular project that stalled on us for a while, then got sidetracked.  Still wanted to do something with me, Edmond proceeded to send me the following artwork by a fellow named Sam.  The character is a sexy, galactic bounty hunter with a passion for vanilla ice cream.  Edmond asked if I'd like to write her adventures?

One look at this illustration and I was hooked, line and sinker.  Within a week I wrote out some ideas for a background history and sent them off to Makma.   Both Edmond and Sam loved what I had come up with and will soon be busy doing up a presentation proposal.  It is our hope to sell VANILLA VINYLE to a European comics company.  The market for comics overseas is huge and they appreciate a wider variety of subjects unlike our American market that seems perpetual trapped in a super-hero mode.  Anyway, should this concept fly we do eventually plan on having it released stateside as well.

So there you go, loyal airmen.  My association with a fellow from across the river and another from across the ocean.  Both fun, worthwhile and exciting.  It really is a small world.

Take care, Ron, Over & Out

Greeting loyal airmen.  I reported last week being down with a bad cold.  Well, it's almost gone.  Not quite completely, after an entire week, but I am slowly starting to feel like my old self again.  And speaking of old things, have all of you been paying attention the presidential politicing going on?  Iowa wrapped up their circus last night and early next week, we here in New Hampshire will have the joy of kicking them out too.  No more mail-boxes stuffed with cards, letters and gaudy colored fliers that simply go straight to the trash bin.  What a waste of America's time. 

And please don't give me any guff about how good all this insanity is for our civic well being.  Our election process sucks and every four years we repeat it over and over again like mindless sheep.  Don't agree, well here at two little words that will win my argument every time, ELECTORAL COLLEGE!  One of the most outdated, antiquated voting processes still in existence today and where?  Right here in the good old US of A.  Have you already forgotten that just two elections ago we put a President in office who did NOT win the majority of votes?  Oh, how we screamed and cried about how awful this Electoral College thing was.  People by the thousands all said it had to go.  Then four years later, it was still there.  Still ready to screw over the will of the people.  And here we are, another four years have passed and once more we face the same unfair process.  Why doesn't anyone have enough courage to do something about it? Well, my guess would be that the only people who can change it, our elected officials, are the exact same people who have a vested interest in seeing that it stays the same.  And so, here we go again, trapped in a two-party system that has such a strangle hold on the process, any true governement of the people, for the people and by the people today rings rather hollow.  I look at this year's batch of candidates, praying that maybe just one of them will be honest and courageous enough to admit the process is broken and set about correcting it.  Anyone who could do that would get my vote, and earn my undying gratitude forever.  Now that would be a man or woman worthy of our trust and loyalty.  Amen.

Meanwhile, back in the world where I do have some control (ha), the new year has rolled in and as I informed you weeks ago, Wild Cat Books has ceased publishing the ten titles I, and aritst Rob Davis, produced for them over the past few years.  Those books are no longer available for sale.  You'll note they are no longer posted on our Air Fare page.  Kaput.  Gone.  But don't despair, loyal airmen.  With WCB relinquishing all rights to those titles, Rob and me, under our own Airship 27 Productions have joined forces with Cornerstone Book Publishers to reprint, in brand new editions, at least seven or eight of those titles.   The first of these will be our revamping of the Brother Grim book.

                              
Only now he's morphed into a brand new pulp avenger called BROTHER BONES.  The new book will feature altered versions of the original six stories, plus the addtion of a seventh brand new story and a brilliant new painted cover for Rob which I can't wait to show you all.  As soon as BROTHER BONES is available for sale, I'll let you know right here.

We do very much plan on reprinting the first three Captain Hazzard books and shortly we'll be releasing the fourth adventure, CAVEMEN OF NEW YORK.  Rob is nearly done with the interior artwork and will soon begin assembling and design the book for pre-publication.  It will feature a dazzling cover painting by Mark Maddox, the same fellow you wowed you with his cover for our DAUGHTER OF DRACULA.  Below is one of Rob's nine interior illustrations for CAVEMEN.

Rob has turned in some of his finest work ever on this project and I am really anxious for all of you see it.  We have big, big plans for 2008 and Airship 27 Productions and we hope you'll stick with us.  Bigger and better things are on their way.

Take care, stay healthy and warm, and until next week, airmen,  this is Air Chief, Ron, Over & Out.

ACHOOO!  Sorry about that, loyal airmen.  I've been battling a bad head and chest cold for two days now and it seems to be winning out.  Which aggrevates me to no end as I was going to travel down to Conn. tomorrow to attend my grarndson, Logan's, second birthday party.  Considering I am most likely contagious right along about now, that trip is out.  Just lousy timing.  Valerie called the doctor's offiice and he's going to squeeze me in later this afternoon.  Hopefully he can put me on “something” and we can turn this thing around.  All prayers and kind wishes appreciated.

So, feeling the funk I'm in, please forgive me if this entry jumps all over the place.  Of course, that's what they do most of the time, right?  Ha.  So, was Santa good to all you loyal airmen?  I certainly hope so.  He was especially terrific to me this Christmas, in more ways than one.  One of the themes of TV commercials this time of year is that of giving someone an automobile as a Christmas gift.  Every time I see one of these, I look at Val and shrug, unable to comprehend folks with that kind of wealth.  Well, lo and behold, three days before Christmas our local Suburu dealership sent us a notice detailing a very special end of the year sale.  Their goal was to move fifty cars off their lot by Christmas and they offering amazing trade in deals.  Our old Outback Sedan was going on five years old and in need of new breaks and eventually new tires.  Things I was looking at getting some time in Jan or Feb. Although I didn't like the idea of starting to shell out money on keeping it up.  Not when it might be possible for us to trade up to something brand spanking new without changing our payments one penny.  Val called the fellow who had sold us the Outback and suggested we'd be interested in dealing on those terms.  When he found out we only had 28,000 miles on the Outback, he all but begged us to stop by and talk.

So we did.  And lo and behold, for a smaller loan than we had taken five years ago, we were able to drive off the lot with a brand new, 2008 all-wheel drive Tribeca!  Talk about impulse buying.  Sheer insanity.  Of course we did not get it that day, but had to come back the day after Christams to complete the deal.  And then as we were getting ready to leave the dealership, our salesman comes rushing over to us and introduces us to a father and son who had just come in to buy the boy a good, second hand car!  Ha.  We spent the next ten minutes answering the father's questions on our old Outback, how much we truly loved that car, how good it had been to us and what great shape it remained in.  It isn't often you get meet the previous owners of a car you are interested in and this gentlemen took full advantage of the situation.  I hope they were able to make a deal, as it was a good car and I'm sure will be so for a long time to come.  Meanwhile, we drove home wtih our new Tribica.  See below!!

Believe me, we still look at it and shake our heads in disbelief that we did that on the spur of the moment.  Must be something in the air.  Ha.   Now the most precious surprise Santa delivered arrived on Christmas Eve and I need to explain something so that you will fully appreciate all of this.   Back in 1963, I was a junior at St. Thomas Aquinas High School in nearby Dover, NH.  We were the first junior class and that year designed the first ever school rings.  I spent months saving to buy one and when they were presented to us, I couldn't have been happier.  It was the first ring I ever owned and I wore it quite proudly.  Then, not three months later, during the following summer, I went swimming at a local beach, forgot I still had it on my hand, and of course lost it.  It was one of the biggest dissappointments in my life.  Over the years, I've told Valerie the story a few times and never thought anything more about it.  Unbeknownst to me, our granddaughter, Kristi, a few months back, was looking through a ring catalog to pick out her own high school ring.  It was to be a Christmas gift from her parents.  Valerie happened to be over and when she saw what she was doing, asked her if it would be possible to order one for me, with the same details of my original.   Kristi said no sweat and proceeded to help Valerie put in an order for a ring with my school info, colors, logo, etc.etc.

So here we are, the two of us, alone on Christmas Eve, and she tells me to close my eyes and put out my hands.  Then she puts a ring box in them and tells me to open my eyes and look at the last ring I'll ever want to own.  Airmen, I had absolutely no idea what was in that littel black box.  When I opened it and saw it was my high school ring, I misted up fast.  It was by far the most thoughtful, loving gift I have ever received.  But that does not really surprise me, as Valerie is the most beautiful gift in my life, sent by God.  I'm blessed every single day with the gift of her love.  

Well, you have to imagine, I couldn't wait for Christmas morning to arrive so that we could jump in the car (still the old one then…ha) and drive to our daughter's house watch Kristi and her sister, Chelsea, open there gifts.  When we came in the door, I held up my right hand to Kristi to flash the ring and she gave me a big smile and a thumbs up.  About an hour later, she was opening up her own little box and putting on her brand new high school ring.  Val quickly grabbed a camera and had us put our hands together.  Her's is the little gold one, Class of 2010, mine is the blue one, Class of 1964.  Believe me, this is one Christmas Kristi and I will never forget. 

ACHOO…!!!  Got to bring this to a close and go take a long, hot shower.  

Before signing off, I want to let you all know that DAUGHTER OF DRACULA continues to garner some fantastic reviews all over the internet.  The latest of which led to my being interviwed on Mark Justice's terrific mp3 podcast radio show, POD OF HORROR..episode #41.  Go to this link (http://www.horrorworld.org/poh.htm) and when you get to the menu page, click on Download to play the program on your PC.  Note, this is a long episode and Mark interviews two other horror writers before he wraps up the hour with yours truly.  So, if you've ever wondered what I sound like (when my head isn't stuffed up with a cold), please check the show out.  It really is a lot of fun.  And please, if you still haven't ordered a copy of the book, what are you waiting for?  Go to our Air Fare page, click on the cover and order yourself a copy.  You will be glad you did.  You have my word on that.

ACHOO….alright, enoughs, enough.  The dripping nose and aching shoulder blades tell me its time to hang it up for another week.  Take care, loyal airmen.  HAPPY NEW YEAR to all of you, and celebrate with common sense.  We want all of you back here for 2008.  It's shaping up to be another great year.

Ron, over and out.   ACHOOOO!

                            
Greetings and good tidiings, Loyal Airmen.  It is a holy time of year.  A time to reflect on the meaning of this day in world history.

                        
The birth of a child in a manger in far away Bethelehem.  A child full of hope and promise for all mankind, his name, Jesus; Emmanuel that translates as God is with Us.  This is truly a time of innocence and peace, as reflected in a baby's smile.

           Welcome into the world, Liam.  You've made it made a better place just by being born into it.

          Welcome into our lives, Lily.  You bring with you the promises of renewal and new miracles daily.

     Born on 31 Dec, 2005.  HAPPY SECOND BIRTHDAY, grandson Logan and thank you for blessing us all with that smile, that laughter, that amazing gift of love.

     To all of you who stop by here every single week, a special message this Christmas time –

LIVE SIMPLY –
   LOVE GENEROUSLY –
      CARE DEEPLY –
         SPEAK KINDLY…&
            LEAVE THE REST TO GOD.

                 FROM VALERIE & THE AIR CHIEF – TO ALL OF YOU & YOURS,

                                              MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Greetings loyal airmen.  Well New England got socked with a fine snowstorm last night.  It started yesterday afternoon and did not let up until close to midnight.  Started with early evening we watched television images of crawling traffic as commuters from Boston to Portland made their way home in the dark and swirling snow.  Not fun for any of them.  Again, the only good thing was that it ended so quickly and sure enough the sun popped up big and yellow this morning.  I managed to get out of bed, share a cup of coffee with Valerie, then gear myself up to do battle.  Once layered with scarf, gloves, boots and a down jacket, I went out and started my trusty-steed, in this case; a snowblowing machine.  Once the 8 horsepower engine was revved up, I charged out of the garage and began shooting that layer of snow skyward.  I've shown you pictures of our home and the rather steep driveway we have to the main road.  The entire job of cleaning this all up, to include the slushy snowbanks provided freed of charge by the city's snow plows is usually between thirty and forty-five minutes.  By the time I was finished, the sun had started melting away at the think layer remaining.

Like cutting the grass in the warm seasons, there is a Zen mental state I go to when snowblowing.  Part of this is my subconscious joy at simply being outdoors and marveling at nature's coating of white.  I've often thought people in New England are even temptered only because nature forces them to slow down five months out of the year.  You simply have to respect roads of ice and slush, or pay the price.  And while I'm pushing this machine up and down the drive, I found myself thinking about my mother, Gabrielle Fortier, and what is going to happen tomorrow afternoon.  At 83, the past couple of years for her have been difficult and she finds she simply cannot do those physical things she did even five years ago.  She's simply slowing down and doesn't possess that much energy any more.  A few weeks ago she suggested that it was time for her to go live in a senior home of some kind.  It was a really remarkable decision on her part and I am very proud of her doing so.  With out help, we found such a place nearby in Dover; a truly marvelous establishment that's been in business caring for the elderly all of eighty-five years.  We called, made an appointment and went to meet the administartor, staff and tour the facility.  Its an old Victorian home and very, very comfy and sociable.  Mom was made to feel welcome the second we walked into the big front foyer.  Here she will be allowed to do as much for herself as he wants, thus maintain her own sense of independence, while those things she can't do will be provided for her.  By the time our tour was over, Mom was very happy a finalized her decision.  Happily there was a room vacancy and after a few weeks of paperwork, etc. she was accepted as a new residence.  All of which beings tomorrow afternoon.  My sister and one of my brothers will be here and the three of us will get her moved from her current condo to the facility.   It will be an emotional time for all of us.  One more and more Americans are having to deal with as today's modern medicine has made it possible for folks to live longer and longer with each new generation.  And with that longivity come these kind of issues.  Fortunately for Mom, this one was not a painful decision at all and its my prayer that once established in her new digs, Mom is going to thrive and live another ten to twenty years.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, as those cowboy heroes use to say, writer/reviewer, Van Allen Plexico recently posted a fantastic review of our graphin novel, DAUGHTER OF DRACULA over at Revolution Science Fiction on the net.  (http://www.revolutionsf.com/article.html?id=3822)  It is one of the finest reviews I've ever had the pleasure of reading.  Please do check it out.   And if any of you have wondered what the entire image of our dramatic cover looks like, wonder no more.  Below is a bookmark made from Mard Maddox's beautiful painting of Marya Dracula.  This is the image we cropped to make out cover.

I thought it was time I let you see it as it was originally completed.  My pal Andrew Salmon did up a bunch of these bookmarks and we gave them out to folks who ordered a copy directly from me.  Our little way of saying thank you for your support.  DAUGHTER OF DRACULA continues to be one of the fastest selling comics I've ever done and I hope by now you've picked up a copy.  If not, you know the drill, go to the Air Fare page and click on the link.   Thanks always for those who have supported us thus far.  Please, keep spreading the word.
Keep in mind, this is the season of gift-giving, and giving any book to your loved ones is always a wonderful idea. Reading is a true joy.

Finally, I hope lots of you arimen caught the Sci-Fi Channel's excellent fantasy adventure mini-series last week, THE TIN MAN.  Inspired by the workds of Frank L. Baum, this was an amazingly well done series with superb acting and direction.  I just learned today it will be available on DVD come the 11th of March, 2008.   I can't wait to own this quality show and view it again.

Okay, loyal airmen, another winter week wrapped up.  Don't get too lost in the Christmas rush, remember the meaning of this Holy Season, and be kind to one another.  Till next week,
Ron – Over and Out.

Greeting loyal airmen.  For the past two weeks artist Rob Davis and I have been beating your heads with the news of our four year labor of love, the graphic novel DAUGHTER OF DRACULA being now available.  This past week it went up for sale at Indy Planet.com – Please, go to our Airfare Page to find the link. Then check it out. They've posted the gorgeous Mark Maddox cover there plus the first six pages.  The book is starting to sell very, very well and feedback has started coming in.

Here are some of those reactions.  “…the cover is awesome, and it was the absolute right choice to not despoil it with any verbiage.  The story and art itself are similarly superb.  I liked the love story, and the ironic ending.  It was completely unexpected to me.”  GLEN DAVIS – Loyal Airman & Reader Extraordinairy.

And another.  “…I finally got around to reading DAUGHTER OF DRACULA and (big surprise) it's great.  Its been entirely too long since I've seen art by Rob Davis and I can honestly say I've never read a vampire story like this before (and that's really saying something).  Well done all around.”  STEVE BENNETT – Writer & CBG Reviewer.

Again, those are just some of the wonderful letters we are starting to receive and we'd very much like to add your comments to this list.  In the comic world today it is unheard of that an independent, print-on-demand can be a major success in the market without the normal distribution channels available to it.  That's the uphill battle we have to overcome with this book and that will only be achieved by your continued support and word-of-mouth promotion to all your friends and families.  Rob and I want this book to create the biggest BUZZ ever created by an independent comic.  Help us make that happen!  Buy a copy and if you agree with Glen and Steve, tell all your friends do the same.  Let's make the impossible possible!

And lest you think Rob and I are merely sitting around twiddling our thumbs while we frantically promote Daughter of Dracula, shame on you.  Ha.  Quite the contrary.  Rob has started working on the interior illustrations for the new Captain Hazzard novel I finished a few weeks ago.  Cavemen of New York is the fourth Hazzard book I've written and Rob will have illustrated.  Soooo…this being the Christams season, I thought I'd offer you all a special early treat, a sneek-peek at his first new illustration for that adventure.  Talk about a picture being worth a thousand words, oh yeah!  Rob is the master.  But that's all folks.  The others you'll have to wait and see in the book itself when it comes out early next year.  We'll keep you posted.

Also keeping in the Christmas spirit, let me add the following.   I have just finished reading, for the very first time, Charles Dickens classic A CHRISTMAS CAROL.  A long time favorite movie of mine (regardless of which version..I like them all), I had never actually read the original novella.  Well this past week I remedied that and am so glad I did.  Its a truly beautifullly written piece and my full review is posted at my Pulp Fiction Review site.  If, like me, you have yet to do so, take some time.  It is a short work and believe me, it will totally get you into the proper spirit of these merry times.

That's it for another week.  Don't let the consumerism of these days overwhelm you, but instead visit with friends and family and truly enjoy them as your greatest gifts of all.

Ron – Over and Out.

Sometimes there is just something about birthdays you simply cannot ignore.  In the past, I've mentioned the fact that my Nov. 5th birthday is the same as Guy Fawkes Day, the British equivalent of Halloween.  Which I think explains my love of the macabre and fantastic.  But there's another strain, one lots more American involved with that same date, that it is the birthday of the King of the Cowboys, Roy Rogers.  Yup, Roy was born Nov.5th. 1911.
       
                         
Which I totally believe explains my love of westerns, be it in films, TV, comics or books.  In fact recently I seem to have been riding along a very comfortable trail filled with icons of this genre, much to my amusement.  For the past few months now, artist Rob Davis and I have been working on a new top secret comic book project that tells the story of a real western hero.  This man was a deputy sheriff and had the most successful career of any lawman who ever pinned on a badge.  Yet sadly history has all but forgotten him and Rob and I hope to correct that misjustice when we bring out our series.   I've attached a snee-peek of our hero below for you to enjoy.

                        
As usual Rob is doing a dynamite job with this project.  This pin-up and another are now in our Art Gallery, check it them out.  At the same time I'm writing this new western comic, I also picked up a huge whopping book recently that contains all (and I do mean ALL) the short western stories written by best-selling writer, Elmore Leonard.  Most folks don't know that during the start of his long career, Leonard did start out as a pulp writer and wrote in practically every genre out there until finally hitting the big time with his odd-ball crime novels.  Many of his westerns shorts, to include several novels, were later turned into movies.  The most recent connection being the remake of 3:10 TO YUMA with Russell Crowe and Christian Bale.

The actual short story is in this collection and it was really fun to see how much was added by the screen writers while adapting it.  This book is a terrific collection and if you love truly good westerns, don't let this one slip by.  It would make a great Christmas gift to any cowboy..or cowgirl, in your family.

And finally my good pal, Duane Spurlock informed earlier this week that he had his first ever western story published in a collection called WHERE LEGENDS RIDE.  Upon closer inspection of the title, I realized it was connected with Black Horse Books, a British publisher that produces some of the finest western novels available today.  In fact another of my hombre amigos, Howard Hopkins (who writes as Lance Howard) is in this anthology and was a big player in getting it produced here in the US.  The book is available right now from the on-line outfit, Lulu.com.   Please, check it out.  You will be glad you did.

So there you go, the Wild West still lives and I for one couldn't be happier.  Take care, and happy trails to all you loyal airmen until next week.

            UPDATE NOTICE!!!  DAUGHTER OF DRACULA ON SALE AT INDY PLANET!!!!
Foot-note – Daughter of Dracula still finally gone on sale at the Indy Planet website and you can order it by going to our Air Fare page right now.  Or you still take advantage of my offer to order a book from me directly for only $13.  Thus far I've had orders for a half dozen of these and was able to ship them all out, autographed, this past week.  Thanks so much, and please, those of you who ordered these, do let us know your thoughts after reading it.

Okay, partners. that's it from Hangar 27.  Ron – Over and out.