Greetings loyal airmen.  It certainly has been a terrible week, including what many of my colleauges have dubbed Black Monday in reference to the awful events that happened at Virginia Tech, leaving 33 students and teachers dead and 26 others wounded.  Sheer horror, as one survivor quotes, “I saw the face of the devil and he is real.”  At the same time, the North East was blanketed by some of the worst flooding to hit this area in decades.  It left behind millions of dollars in property damage and took several lives.  Two of these were a local woman and her four year old granddaughter.  Trapped in their car as waters suddenly rose over the street they were traveling, the brave woman attempted to flee the stalled auto, only to have the rushing waters sweep them both away down  river.  By the time rescuers found them, the woman still clinging desperately to the little girl, they had suffered hypothermia and would both succumb shortly after reaching a neary hospital.  It was such a blow to the entire  community.

Amidst all this tragedy, it is difficult to find a ray of hope.  Yet that is exactly what happened the following day.  Our oldest granddaughter has been battling a stomach malady for the past four months and doctors had been  unable to cure her.   She had to drop out of sports and her grades, she is a high school freshmen, began to suffer.  All because she is in a constant state of nausea.  Well, two days ago, our daughter and son-in-law finally got her in to see a specialist and this doctor put her through a series of tests.  By the end of the day, they had finally discovered the cause of her illness and now have her on a remedy program.  It is a small miracle for all of us who have been praying for her all along.  Hopefully by the time I write next week's log entry, our beloved granddaughter will be pitching in her next softball game and her life will be back to normal.

Good and bad, the roller coaster of life.  None of us ever escape it.  All we can do is our best, deal with the bad times with prayer and support from our friends and family, and truly enjoy and appreciate the good times.  There are no guarantees and every day should be cherished as the true wonderous treasure it is.  God bless all of you reading these words today.

Ron, over and out.

Greetings loyal airmen.  It's Wednesday and in a few hours we are off to Rochester, NY for the big family wedding this coming weekend.  But I didn't want to leave without alerting all you great folks about a fantastic, fun, amazing new pulp book that just came out.  EPISODES FROM THE ZERO HOUR is the brain child of designer Anthony Sciavino and features four terrific stories about ex-boxer-turned-tough-guy, Tommy “Knuckles” McNichols; created and written by the talented Jason Butkowski.  These stories are just pure pulp fun.  The volume sports a gorgeous cover by Doug Klauba, who did the Spider cover for Moonstone, and the interiors by Rob Davis and Jared Araujo are pulp-perfect.   You can order a copy of this book by going to
(www.Lulu.com) and plugging in the title.  If you like fiction with a twist, this is your cup of tea.

Yesterday was Opening Day at Fenway and our beloved Red Sox pounded the Seattle Mariners to a 14 to 3 victory, including new guy, J.D.Drew's first homer on home turf.   Pitcher Josh Beckett was showing the stuff we all knew he had. It was a grand day for all New England sports fans.

That's it.  Short and sweet.  See you all soon, take care and keep praying for warm weather.  Ha.
Ron, over and out.

Greetings loyal airmen.  My week long trip to Florida was much fun and the sun never let us down the entire seven days we were there.  It was all of 83 degrees when we left Orlando Monday morning and a cold, rainy 44 when we landed in Manchester, NH three hours later.  Oh yeah, welcome back to New England.  Then to add insult  to injury, it started snowing Wednesday afternoon.  The weather forecasters kept saying it wouldn't amount too much but what they failed to take into account was that warm air from the south began to mix in with the snow overnight. At two-thirty in the morning, heavy, wet white stuff started bringing down powerlines all over southern New Hampshire and we woke up Thursday morning with no electricty and a good six inches of packed snow.
               

The shot above is our backyard looking like an alien landscape.  Note how the limbs of the pine trees are bowed over by the heavy snow accumulation.   Trees were down all over our neighborhood.  What a mess!  By eight oclock, I'd bundled up (having to go to the basement closet and once more dig out the winter gear Valerie had stored away two weeks earlier).   My only compensation, I still had gas for the snowblower.
   
      

That's a shot of yours truly attacking the snow one more time, while mumbling “I was on a beach two days ago!  Aaghh.” An hour later I walked into the kitchen, sweat drenching all my clothes, and unable to take a shower because we had no hot water.   Today I have the sniffles.  Hmm, wonder why?  Talk about an endless winter.  Come on, Mother Nature, enough is enough!

      Of course the one ray of light that entire day was the power came back on twelve hours later, in time for us to watch the Red Sox's new pitcher, Daisuke Matsuzaka take out the Kansas City Royals by a score of 4 to 1.  This 26 year old kid has got an arsenal of pitchers that worked extremely well and you could see the confusion on the faces of the ten batters he struck out.   One more and he would have tied a rookie strike-out record for the Sox.  Of course Curt Schilling was horrible on opening day and lost that one, whereas Josh Beckett came out in game two and won that one, though he did struggle.   So it is still way early in the season, but Daisuke's first outing was a true ray of sunshine in an otherwise very dismal, gray day.

On as yet another sad note, Hard Case Crime publisher, Charles Ardai, informed me just a few days ago of the passing of writer, Donald Hamilton.   Hamilton was as yet another one of my favorite writers that I enjoyed so much growing up as a teenager in the 1960s.   At the height of the James Bond craze in America, Hamilton created an American operative who was tougher, grittier and a hell of a lot more believable than Fleming's playboy agent.   Matt Helm burst on the scene in a series of Gold Medal paperbacks, starting with 1960s DEATH OF A CITIZEN and ending with 1993's THE DAMAGERS.  The books were amazing, writting in a very tight, economic fashion that left little time for anything but tough, in-your-face action prose.  I loved them.  Two years ago, while browsing through a second-hand book store, I found beat of copies of two books from the series and bought them for 25 cents each.  Re-reading them was like a time travel trip to my high school days.  Nobody did it better than Hamilton.   According to Ardai, he died in Sweden, where he originally came from, at the age of 90.  He was living with his son, Gordon.   Hamilton now becomes the fourth of writers that I cherished to have passed.  He follows Ed McBain, Mickey Spillane and Richard Prather.   It's been a truly rough year for crime/mystery lovers.   A final story about Hamilton that I think you'll appreciate.   Upon the success of  the Matt Helm series, Hollywood came knocking.  They gave him lots and lots of money for the rights to the books and turned them into spy-spooks starring Dean Martin.  I believe four were filmed.   I was very dissappointed after seeing the first, as I, and many other fans, was upset at how much Hollywood had changed our cold-blooded hero into a buffoon.  A few months later, in a trade journal, I came across an interview with Hamilton wherein the reporter asked him if he was angered how his character had been changed on film.   Hamilton's wry reply,  “Oh, yeah.  I cried all the way to the bank!”   Rest in peace, tough guy.

While I was in Florida, Moonstones fantastic new anthology THE SPIDER CHRONICLES finally went on sale in book stores and comic shops everywhere.  My copies were waiting for me when we go home.  It is a great book and a tip of the fedora to edtior/publisher, Joe Gentile, for this awesome collection.  My story is called THE INVISIBLE GANG and I hope all of you will check it out.  One note, for whatever reason, one of the assigned writers was dropped and the above ad is incorrect.  The volume contains 19 stories, as is reflected on the actual cover.   The book retails at $16.95, a bargain for 19 fast paced, pulp tales of the mysterious Master of Men.  Don't miss this one!

And there we have it for another week.  Today is Good Friday and I sincerely want to wish all of you a very joyous and blessed HAPPY EASTER.    For those of you of the jewish faith, HAPPY PASSOVER.  Looks like we will be missing as yet another update next Friday.  Couldn't be helped.  Val and I are driving to Rochester N.Y. to attend our nephew Scott's wedding.  So, once again, airmen, take care, have a pleasant week, and please, pray for Spring Weather.

Ron, over and out.

                                          
Greetings loyal airmen.  I've got lots of fun things to talk about this week here at the old Hangar 27.  But before I get into those subjects, a quick notice.  There will be no log entry next Friday, the 30th, as we will be on vacation in sunny Florida all week.  Just surf, sun and sand.  Oh yeah, and maybe a Red Sox Spring Training game while we are at it.  Ha.  Looks to be a fun, get-away for us.

Now most of you know during my 35 plus years writing comics, my most popular work was the Green Hornet series I wrote for the late Now Comics out of Chicago.  The above is one of the covers to the many books I wrote for them, art by the amazing Jeff Butler.  Well, yesterday all the newspapers across the country were carrying the press release that Sony Pictures, through Columbia, had just acquired the rights to do a big-budget Green Hornet movie.  It's obvious Columbia, which struck gold with their SPIDERMAN franchise, is hoping to do the same thing with the Hornet.

For the past few years those rights were owned by Disney-Miramax and at one time, popular writer/director, Kevin Smith actually wrote a Green Hornet script for his boss, Harvey Weinstein.  Now knowing Smith is an avowed comic fanatic, all of us were truly anxious to see what kind of movie this would be.  Alas, after writing it, Smith realized he was not cut out to be a big-action-movie director.  As is clear by those small films he's earned his success on, CLERKS and CHASING AMY, Smith likes small, intimate stories.  Ergo he pulled out of the project and the script went on the shelves to collect dust.   And now that Miramax has lost the license, none of us will ever see that story.  My only disappointment in all this.  As for the Sony-Columbia deal, my response to all my colleague's enthusiam has been, don't start applauding yet.  Getting a license and making the actual movie are two different things.  No director or cast has been chosen.  No script has been approved. And much more importantly, no money has been raised to make the darn thing.  Hollywood is really Hype City and they love nothing better than announced all kinds of things.  The sad truth is very few of these ever get made.  We'll keep you posted.

All of you who visit here know I am an avid Red Sox fan.  Well yesterday the club finally announced their closer for the coming season will be…Jonathan Papelbon!!  Yup, the very same, hard hurling right handed wizard, who wowed all of baseball with his performance in this role last season.   But one has to believe it was an issue of math.  Because with Papelbon coming out of the starters ranks, that meant the Sox had to fill in that open position and they have elected the less-than-stellar Julian Tavarez to be their #5 starter.  News I wasn't all that thrilled aboutt.  But here's the bottom line.  The Sox must be thinking the number of games Papelbon can win for them is far above the number of games Tavarez is going to lose.  See what I mean about it being a math thing.  Ah, you gotta love baseball.

And if you do, let me recommend a truly wonderful animated movie that was released on DVD this week.

EVERYBODY'S HERO is the story of a young Yankees fan in the Depression circa 1930s, who must make his way from New York to Chicago to bring Babe Ruth his favorite bat for the World Series against the Cubs.  The bat was stolen by a rival who wants the Yanks to lose.  This movie is beautiful and the story of never-ever giving up even when the odds are stacked against you, is for everyone, young and old.  Major thumbs up on this one.

And that loyal airmen, is it for another week.  See you back here in two weeks.  Enjoy the Spring.
Ron – over and out.

Greetings loyal airmen.  Well once again Hollywood seems to be mining the comic book world for movies.  I'm sure all of you who enjoy films noticed that after Marvel's superhero, GHOST RIDER, reigned number 1 at the box office for two consecutive weeks, it was then replaced by another comic book movie.   300, which had the biggest March opening ever in film history, is a stupendous, graphic, wonderful adaptation of Frank Miller's graphic novel of the same title.  It tells of the amazing battle between a mere 300 Spartans, led by their king, Leonidas, against an army of thousands of Persian invaders.  True to the events, it relates how the Greeks were not convinced of the threat and would not listen to Leonidas call to arms.  Realizing that he cannot hope to defeat such a superior force, Leonidas then chooses 300 of his bravest warriors and sets out to fight a delaying action in hopes their ultimate sacrafice will allow the rest of the nation to awaken to the danger that faces them and rally a true defensives force.

Which is exactly how history records the events played out.   Leonidas and his brave 300 find a narrow gap through the mountains, which will empede the enemy's progress and offer his small force the ideal fighting ground to sustain a delaying action.  Thus for three days, while the rest of Greece was oblivious to the threat on their border, these few men held off an entire invading force.   The movie is magnificent in capturing the savagery and brutality of warfare but at the same time strikes a very powerful chord with its theme of bravery and patriotism.
Leonidas' love of Greece and the personal freedoms it expoused rings true to any American today.  Freedom, as the film poetic details, is never free.  It is always paid for in the blood of the brave.  Don't miss 300, it is by far the best movie of the year, and Gerard Butler as Leonidas is just amazing.  This is a film I plan on seeing again and again.

Now of course Hollywood doesn't always hit a bulls-eye every time it takes on a comic book property.   DAREDEVIL is a clear indication of such a misfire.   On the other hand, the folks in Tinsel Town every now then will surprise your old air crew chief, as is the case with a little known, and little viewed, gem based on a highly popular British comic strip.

Modesty Blaise is a female spy created by British writer Peter O'Donnell back in the mid-60s during the heyday of the James Bond craze etc.   Although she really isn't anything at all like Bond.   Modesty, and her sidekick muscle-guy, Willie Garvin, are ex-smugglers who, on occassion, work for the British Secret Service when their unique criminal backgrounds offer them an edge over the more conservative agents.  The strip has been a fan with comic readers since its debut and has been brought to screen once before with disastrous results.  In the 1970s a major studio obtained the license to the property and then set about completely changing the character for the movies.  MODESTY BLAISE starred Italian actress Monica Vitti as Modesty and Terence Stamp at Willie Garvin.  It was played for campy laughs and all the Blaise fans I know won't ever speak of it.   A decade later one of the big TV networks did a one hour pilot as a series proposal, making both Modesty & Willie American in the process.  I'm told it wasn't a bad show, just not the character.

So jump ahead a few more decades and we discover that the rights to a big-budget Modesty Blaise movie are now in the hands of Harvey Weinstein and Miramax pictures.  But nobody in their stables can produce any kind of a decent script for them to produce a feature from.  Weinstein wisely passes all such attempts by his young protege director, Quentin Tarantino, an avowed Blaise fanatic.  And he keeps giving these multiple scripts thumb down.  Lo and behold, 2002 rolls around and Miramax' option is about to expire.   Unless they make a movie, they will lose all rights to the property.  It is decided to rethink their strategy and rather than go full out on a blockbuster project, they will instead make a very small-bugeted, direct-to-video movie that will allow them to legally entend their option for a few more years, in which time, hopefully the big movie can be launched.

Writers Lee and Janet Batchler write a script which, rather than relate a current adventure of our daring Ms.Blaise, opt to tell the very private story of her beginnings.  An origin story, if you will.   Miramax makes a deal with a Rumanian company headed by Producer Ted Nicolau and green-lights the project with a minimal budget and all of 18 days shooting schedule.   It should be noted that somewhere along all of this 11th hour movie madness, Tarantino read the script and much to his surprise, loved it!   He called Weinstein to applaud it and in the course of their conversation, the studio chief suggested they hire Tarantino's friend, Scott Spiegel, to direct.
Two days later, Spiegel is on a plane to Europe reading the script while in flight.

The movie was made, on budget and on time and released direct to video in 2004.   I recently picked up a copy from a DVD retailer on-line, after hearing lots of good things about it.   Having now watched it, I am here to add my own enthusiastic thumbs up for this very real, little gem of a movie.  As indicated, the story is intimate, but excellently told and the cast superb.   Alexandra Staden, whom I'd never heard of before, is really terrific as a young Modesty starting out in the criminal world and Nicolaj Coster-Waldau as the sadistic villain, Mykolos,
holds the stage toe-to-toe with her, building suspense that never lags.  This is really a great comic book movie that is 100% true to the source material.   I'm told when Peter O'Donnell finally saw the picture, he gave it a big thumbs up.  That's no surprise, this is his Modesty brought to life.  The movie is called….MY NAME IS MODESTY.   It's relatively cheap at most internet DVD sites.   Check out my link to Deep Discount on the links page.  If you are a Modesty Blaise fan, do not pass this one up.

And that's it for another week at the old Airship 27 Hangar, airmen.  Take care until next Friday.
Ron, over and out.

Greetings loyal airmen and thanks for all of you who've sent well wishes these past 48 hours.  All of us, Val, her mom, and yours truly, are slowly…slowly on the mend.  As one of my writer colleague's so aptily pointed out, I was pretty much zapped by Murphy's Law this weekend.  Not only were we all very, very sick to the point of physical incapacitation, but then we got socked by that snowstorm on top of things.  How Valerie and I, yesterday afternoon, managed to clean up the driveway is still a hazy blur to me today.  And one of the most frustrating things about all this was my inability to rant and rave about the biggest and most wonderful news to come down the airstrip in a long, long time.   We, my pulp production team and I, have a brand new name, logo and most importantly, a new publisher.

Adamant Entertainment is the brainchild of Gareth Michael Skarka.  It began as a role-playing outfit with a very special focus on pulps.  A few months ago Gareth joined our on-line pulp association, the Pulp Factory and announced his intentions to get into fiction publiishing with a new magazine that will be called Thrilling Tales.  At the time I thought this was all well and good but couldn't have guessed how it would ultimately come to impact my own future.   Two weeks ago, Wild Cat Books publisher Ron Hanna and I had a long, and extended discussion about the future of WCB and Ron Fortier Productions.  In the last two years, my creative team of 25 writers and 11 artists has produced eight exceptionally beautiful books for WCB and our association had been nothing but mutually supportive.    Alas nothing in life is forever and during the exchanged I referred to, it became clear to myself and Ron H that we both had very different goals for the future.   Goals that would be best served by a parting of the ways.   Ron H has lots of very cool ideas for a new line of books he wants to produce and I think he's going to do a bang up job with them.   And despite what some few people on the net might think, this parting is very much a friendly and positive one.   In fact, during the discussions  about how we would end our partnership, we both agreed to continue with the two books that were set for release.   One, PROF.STONE & THE EYE OF RE by Wayne Skiver, came out this week.   If you like Doc Savage and Captain Hazzard, do not miss this first in a series featuring this original pulp hero.  And next week, with fingers crossed, we will be delivering WCB our last anthology book, SECRET AGENT X, Vol II.  Four more brand new stories of the world's great super spy.  You won't want to miss it.

Okay, but I'm digressing here.  Realizing we no longer had a publisher, I began to try and work out a strategy with my art director, Rob Davis, and Production & Design Manager, Anthony Schiavino.   Bottom line was we still very much wanted to continue producing pulp books, but without a publisher, the future looked extremely gloomy.  These books do cost money to publish, airmen.  Money that none of us had in abundance.  During those few days, a  part of me began to think our efforst were going to be for naught.   Somewhere in all this, I managed to post a notice on the Pulp Factory boards that we were parting ways with WCB.  Little did I realize what that notice would bring me.  That very same day, within hours, Gareth Michael Skarka wrote and offered to take us on, if we so desired.  Our production crew, without a single skipped beat, would simply continue doing what we've been doing for the past two years, only now with a new and bigger publisher.  The word YES never came out of my mouth so fast!!  Once Rob and Anthony were informed of this new offer, they too were eager to sign on and keep the ball rolling.  Of course we realized a new venture should entail a new name and so Rob and Anthony, with a little in-put from yours truly, came up with the Airship 27 Productions logo you see above this column, side by side with that of Adamant Entertainment.   And for the first time ever, our books are going to have access to a broad distribution network we never dreamed possible.  Yup.  You'll soon be seeing Airship 27 pulp titles in your local comic shops, bookstores and various digital formats that again were simply not available to us in the past.  It's a major step forward for all of us involved, but with your continued support, I'm confident it is the change we've all been waiting for. 

Right now you can go to (www.thrillingtales.net) check out lots more of this exciting new partnership. They have set up a forum which will, for the first time ever, allow all of us to communicate with all of you directly.  Please stop on by and register.  Hopefully I'll have the link posted on my own links page within the next few days.   Likewise, all of our previous WCB books are still very much available from Ron H and their link is staying on our page permanently.  In fact that is where you should go right now to order a copy of….

Wayne Skiver is one of the finest new writers of action adventure I've ever encountered.  His character is a wonderful blend of all the old classics and his stories just burn across the pages.  And the artwork on this winner, both cover and interior spots is by Michael Mitchell, another new rising star on the graphic scene.  So if top not pulp adventure is your cup of tea, click on to the Wild Cab Books link on the link page and check it out.  This is a classic in the making.

And that's it for our first ever Sunday log, airmen.  Take care of yourselves.
Ron, over and out.

Greetings loyal airmen, this one is going to be truly brief.  Three days ago, Val's mom, who resides with us, came down with that awful stomach flu that is really sweeping the country.  They yesterday afternoon Valerie got and spend most of her day trying to keep watch on her mom and in the bathroom.  With me doing what little I could to help them both.  Then around 2 AM this morning, I woke up with a sour stomach and knew it was my turn.  Spent  the rest of the night back and forth from sofa in living room to the bathroom.
   This morning all three of us look like he walking dead.  It looks like Val's mom is on the bend, and she has stopped vomiting.  Leaving me the straggler.  Soon as these words are down, I'm crawling back into bed.  Oh, and did I mention we're in the middle of another snowstorm?   What a peachy day.  Ha.
    All prayers would be appreciated and my apologies for such a lackluster log, airmen.  I was really hoping to make a very…very special announcment today concerning the pulp books I produce.  But somebody else has that covered  thankfully.  And if I'm half way human again tomorrow, check back.  I may post my first ever Sat. log.
  Okay, stomach is flipping.
Ron, over and…really out.

Greetings loyal airmen.  Here we are getting ready to wrap another week and February is finally going out the back door.  With March and April on the horizon, Spring is really just around the corner.  Last week I was a guest at the Boston Comic con and had the fun of meeting lots of great people, as well as other creators.  I sold quite a few copies of Captain Hazzard and I hope all of you who purchased books are enjoying them to the max.  And a big tip of the hat to our newest airman, James Falkenburg, who at my prompting, visited the old hangar here and was kind enough to write and let me know how much he liked the place.  Thanks, Jim.  I hope you drop by often.
                                

And since lots of you have been picking up the latest Captain Hazzard adventure novel, CURSE OF THE RED MAGGOT, released just last week and selling like a rocket, we here at the Hangar thought it an advantageous time to add some spiffy new gear to our Hazzard Team store.  See that cool bullet above.  It appears on new coffee mugs, tees and sweatshirt.  Just go to the Air Fare page and click on the Team Hazzard icon.  Lots of cool Hazzard merchandise that is perfect for wearing at cons or just laying about the old Hangar.

As I indicated at the end of my log entry last week, Valerie and I were going to catch a matinee showing of the new Marvel action movie, GHOST RIDER based on one of their classic titles.  See image above.  As a kid this was such a cool comic and I'm happy to report the movie is also a lot of fun.  I'm kind of shocked, then again maybe I shouldn't be, that the critics are so vehemently slamming it.   Hey, it's not GONE WITH THE WIND, but then again, it never set out to be.  Nicolas Cage is a decent Johnny Blaze and I have to tell you, the CGI version of old Flaming Skull Head is just too wicked cool.  In the end both Val and I left theater having been well entertained and I'm certainly going to pick up a copy of this when it hits the DVD Market.

What was ironic of the release of this particular movie was how it came out just before the start of Lent.  For those of you non-christians, Lent is the 40 day period of atonement, penance and reflection we do each year before Easter.   Well, part of the Ghost Rider's skills against the forces of darkness and evil is his Penance Stare.  His ability to allow someone to experience first hand all the pain they have caused others in their life.  Yeouch.  When you think of that, for an action popcorn flick, that's a pretty heavy handed concept.

I am certainly no saint.  Far, far from it. And over the years have indeed, through my own stupidity, hurt others, at least emotionally.  It would be so great if we could all get through this life without injuring others and making enemies, but then again only a handful of truly blessed souls have that gift.  Me, I'm a work in progress, or so I'd like to believe.  And yes, I do have people out there who, for whatever reason dislike me and desire to do me wrong.   But here's the thing, I'm trying to learn from the faith I believe in.  A dear priest friend once told me it is only human nature to react to others the way they come at us.  Meaning if they are cold and cruel to us, we tend to be towards them.  It's that mini-version of the old Testaments rule of an eye for an eye.  If someone slights you, go right ahead and slight them back.

But Jesus preached something altogether different and radical.  He said if someone slaps your cheek, offer him or her the other one.  And that's where I really fall short.  Oh, not that I don't get it.  But understanding something and doing it are two different things.  Believe me.  I try.  Every day, I try to just be a better person and I hope God sees that I'm making some small progess along that faith journey.  Meaning what?  Well, I am really trying not to react anymore to injuries from others.  As best I can.  At this stage of my life, that's just a lot of negative energy that I don't want any part of.  So yeah, some people still, every now and then, give me a good solid one across the cheek when I least expect it.  And it still hurts to know people you thought were your friends, are not.  But I've stopped reacting and striking back.  And for that I thank my faith, and all the good people who've helped to make me learn this lesson.  I walk away now; with stinging hurt for sure, but I walk away.  Is it enough?  Nope, Jesus wants more and He has every right to hold me to that.

As I said, the soul is a work in progress.  Hope this wasn't too preachy.  I wish all of you reading this, friend or not, a truly peaceful and reflective Lent, leading to a beautiful and glorious Easter morn.

All for another week, airmen.  Take care, Ron, over and out.

                                   
Greetings loyal airmen.  By the beautiful cover above, you can see what the main topic of this week's log entry is going to be. Ha.  My third Captain Hazzard novel, CURSE OF THE RED MAGGOT, is now out and available to purchase from the on-line publisher, Lulu.com.  Please, go to the Air Fare page and you'll see the write-up and the link where the book is on sale.  Those of you who have already purchased my first two Captain Hazzard books are hopefully going to be picking this up as well.   There's a unique story to this particular story that I don't want to delve into here but let me just tease you with the fact this book was based on an original Captain Hazzard novel from 1938 that was never published.  In fact it was actually turned into another pulp character's adventure by the magazine publisher.  How, thanks to a wonderful tip from one of my fans, I discovered the bizarre history of this “lost” Hazzard and was able to unearth it after all these years is a fascinating tale that I recount in its entirety at the back of the book.

And if all this pulp action and adventure isn't enough to make you pull out your credit card and order a copy, you have got to love the art package here.  All interiors are by my partner, Rob Davis, who has done all the Captain Hazzard books.  Included in this volume is a special interview with Rob and a brand new portfolio highlighting Captain Hazzard and each of his team.  These are terrific pin-ups of the entire Hazzard crew done especially for this book.  And lastly, how could you not want to own this magnificent cover by artist Mark Maddox.  Mark is new to the Hazzard team but jumped on board when our regular cover painter, Tom Floyd, had to bow out of this particular project.   When we first learned Tom wouldn't be available, I thought we were really in trouble big-time and sent out a few inquiries to some of the artists now working with Wild Cat Books.  Out of the blue, Mark calls me all but begging for a chance to do this cover for us.   His enthusiasm blew me away and I let him run with it.  Well, when the finished product came in, all of us at WCB central, myself, book designer Anthony Schiavino, Rob and publisher, Ron Hanna, were in complete awe at just how beautiful this cover was.   Trust me, we have chained Mark in the our art dungeons and have absolutely no intentions of ever letting him free.  Ha.  Sincerely, Mark is lined up to do all the artwork, both interiors and covers for our forthcoming FLYING ACES anthology which will feature the return of Captain Midnight.  I'm already drooling imagining what Mark is going to whip up for that outing.

So there you have, three novels starring the Champion of Justice in just under two years.  All of which has been a true dream come true for this writer.  And before you ask, yes, I am now starting on Captain Hazzard #4, another all new pulp thriller.  I'll keep you posted.

On other fronts, TV was fun this past week.  Although HEROES stumbled with their episode, which was nothing much more than character development..i.e. spinning-their-plot-wheels and not getting anywhere, LOST more than amply made up for that.  This week's LOST was one of the finest episodes they've ever done.  Brilliantly written, with, as luck would have, a very tragic, romantic theme for Valentine's Day and a completely surprising end that would have made O'Henry proud.  Some folks had thought LOST had lost (no pun intended..groan) its spark.  Well after the last two episodes, that claim has been put to rest permanently.  The series is just as exciting and challenging as ever.  Yahooo.

Speaking of Valentine's Day, I hope all you airmen enjoyed that holiday with that specail person in your lives.  After, of course, digging out of the snow blizzard half the country was buried in.  Ha.  Happily it came and went and now things are getting back to normal winter stuff.   Going to be a busy weekend for your Hangar Chief.  Hope to get out to the movies this afternoon and catch the new Marvel super-hero flick, GHOST RIDER.  Then tomorrow I pack up my pulp novels and comics for the big Boston Comic Show on Sunday.  I mentioned it last week.  Any of you loyal airmen interested in stopping by, the show is being held at the Boston Radison Hotel, 200 Stuart St. Boston, way up on the 6th Floor.  Hope to see many of you there.  Looks to be a fun show.

And that wraps up this week.  Please, check out CURSE OF THE RED MAGGOT.  I'd want to sell hundreds of these.  As always, thanks for your continued support.  Ron, over and out.