Well loyal airmen, here we are.  The Labor Day weekend is here and with it the unofficial end of summer.  In fact we are closing up the pool tomorrow afternoon.  Much to our annual frowns, groans and moans that the season, at least here in New England, really is too short.  You no sooner start getting a steady diet of nice, warm weather and then zap, it's over.  September rushes kids back to school and within a month, all the leaves will change color and fall to the earth.  Bare bones, skeletal limbs will reach outward welcoming the first cold frost of winter,  Sorry to be waxing poetic, but it's simply that we do enjoy those short summer weeks so much.  Then again maybe their brevity is the why of that appreciation.  Oh well, it's the weather.  What can you do?

                             
One of the most enduring comic strip heroes is the Ghost Who Walks, THE PHANTOM.  Created in 1936 by writer/artist Lee Falk, he was not the first strip super hero, but he was the first to wear a skin-tight outfit and not show his eyes through his mask slots.  Both of which have become comic book standards.  Falk did both write and draw the black and white daily strip for the for two weeks of its existence and then he was assigned an artist by the syndicate.  Since those days, the Phantom has gone on to thrill fans in pratically every entertainment venue you can name.  There was a 40s cliffhanger serial with Tom Tyler that was wonderful.  And most recently the big budget actioner that starred Billy Zane.  Although it did not do well here in the states, it was a big success overseas where the character is still highly popular.  Note, the above sketch of the Phantom and his wolf, Devil, was rendered by my good friend, Tom Floyd.  If you would like to know more about this purple clad hero, go to the internet's own Wikipedia.  The entry there is very complete and fun to read.

I bring this all up because my latest published fiction is a Phantom short story.  You see, Mooonstone Publishing, which puts out the Phantom comic books, has just released the first ever Phantom prose anthology with 17 brand new adventures of the Ghost Who Walks.  Besides your humble air crew chief, this beautiful volume features tales by Martin Powell, Steven Grant and other well known writers of the fantastic.  Again the book is now available in books stores, comic shops and on-line, so if you like fast paced action starring a truly classic American hero.  Please, go out and pick up a copy.  Then drop me a line and let me know how you liked it?  Feedback on any of my books is always most welcome.

Lastly, after watching it for three weeks in a row, I am throwing in the towel on the Sci-Fi channels new Flash Gordon series.  It is so cheaply done and ill conceived, it is actually painful to watch.  Flash Gordon, much like the Phantom had his roots in the newspaper strips of the 30s.  He was the creation of writer/artist Alex Raymond.  And like the Phantom, was later translated into all kinds of media.  Buster Crabbe portrayed him to perfection in three amazing serials from Universal that are still fun to watch.  At least they had imagination, something completely lacking in this new series.  When I first learned the show would not have any spaceships or ray blasters, I knew things did not bode well for this iconic hero.  Sure enough, the episodes come across as cheap rip-offs of SLIDERS, whereas Flash and company go from one planet to another via these silly warp holes in the air.  No intergalactic space travel…NO ROCKET SHIPS!!!   Look, I do understand that it costs lots and lots of money to produce a TV series, but even a budget minded show should have good stories.  Ironically Sci-Fi has slated the turkey right after another cheaply produced hour show, only one that has so much imagination, as a viewer I simply laugh off the cheap FXs.  That show is the new DOCTOR WHO and it is one of the best shows on TV today.  The people responsible for Flash Gordon should take a serious look at that program.  Maybe they could learn a thing or two.  But for a later time.  Right now I just want this awful mess gone.  The sooner the better.

There you have it, airmen.  I hope all of you will have a fantastic Labor Day weekend and send off the summer of 2007 with a bang.  Ron, over and out.