Greeting loyal airmen.  Here we are less than a week from Thanksgiving and I find myself thinking one of the wonderful things that I will be giving thanks for next week, on that holiday, will be ALL OF YOU!!  Last Sunday I was a guest at Ralph DiBernardo's amazing Portsmouth Comic Convention.  It was by far the most fun I've ever had at a small, one day show.  And the reason for that fun was all the tremendous super people I met during the course of those six hours; many of which were loyal airmen who drove up from far off locales.  From the second they opened the doors, my table was never quiet, meaning I was constantly bombarded by old friends, new friends and just plain Airship 27 Prod. fans.  Just amazing.

First thanks have to go to Ralph for hosting such a super show.  Ralph and I go back well over twenty five years together.  When we first hooked up, he's was just a scrawny teenager who loved comics and I was a struggling writer starting to break into the field.  Ralph was the first real fan, other than Valerie, who not only supported my efforts but made sure I always had a place in his burgeoning comic enterprises, whether it was doing store signings at various shops he managed over the years or being a guests at all the fun shows he's put on in this area.  Ralph is truly Mr.Comics in our neck of the woods and I'm truly honored to be his friend.  (And jealous as hell that twenty-five years later, he's still as skinny as ever!  How does he do it?)

Okay, now I'm going to rattle off lots of names here, only because I want to thank those special loyal airmen who came and said hi to the Air Chief and made his day special.  Steve Haggar takes first place in that he drove all the way up here from Penn., telling me he was up at 3 AM to be in New Hampshire for the show's opening at 10 A.M.  Amazing!  Steve came down with several copies of our pulps for me to sign and then proceeded to surprise me by revealing, under his shirt, that he was wearing a Captain Hazzard tee-shirt form our on-line shop!!  Hot dog!  He thus became the first ever Loyal Airmen to so!  What a trooper, and truly all around nice guy. Sure hope we meet again soon, Steve.  Then came Henry Lopez who hails from Miami, but is now living in nearby Concord where he's attending Law School.  Henry runs a gaming company and was a pure joy to talk to. We share a passion for pulps.  Mike Lynch, a local cartoonist stopped by to say hi, as did my old amigo, Randy Buccini.  Larry Young, fellow writer from across the bridge in Maine, was my con neighbor as he had the table next to mine and was promoting his new comic creation, ANGELICA -DEMON HUNTRESS. (Go to IndyPlantet on the web and pick up a copy.  It's good stuff.)  Jarrod Courtemanche, one of my newest pulp writers who has a story in our soon to be released SECRET AGENT X – Vol III, came up with his son Marcus and had a great time.  Jarrod's X story is a winner and I've been pestering him to do more, he's a super talented dude who, in his spare time (ha) also makes short independent films.  Now that's an all around talented guy.  Another Jared who made a visit to our table was Jared Cantin, another writer with whom we hope to be working shortly.   Pulps are all new to Jared, but he's learning fast. And I can't forget Andy Brown.  Last week I did that store signing at the Barnes & Noble in Manchester.  Well a young woman showed up to represent her husband, who couldn't get away from his job that day.  That woman was Samantha Brown and Andy is her writer husband.  What truly great people, both of them.  Andy made it a point to come to meet me Sunday and now he's a bonafide Airship 27 writer.  Yahoo.  Like I said, this list could go on and on and I worry I'll end up posting it and forget someone.  So up front, my apologies if I do so.  Everyone who stops by here every week to read these log entries IS a loyal airmen, and you are all incredibly wonderful people.

Now a question for you.  Who on earth would create a fantastic science-fiction action comic book hero based on a soda pop?  Answer, Portland, Me. writer/artist, Jap Piscopo, that's who!  Within a few minutes of the comic show being in progress, this excited fellow comes up to my table, hand out stretched and tells me he's a friend of Rick Lowell (Rick is an old pal who owns and manages Casablanca Comics, two of the finest comic shops in all the country) and that he loves my Captain Hazzard pulps.   He then proceeds to tell me about this venture he's promoting based on a beverage company out of Portland that produces CaptN Eli's Root Beer!  No lie!  Somehow the people making this product got it into their head that getting a comic book out there with the same name would be a unique marketing tool.  It was their good fortune to find Jay Piscopo.  Jay's an industry professional who has talent coming out of his ears.  He knows the ins and outs of graphic storytelling like the pro he is and when offered this job, he immediately upped the ante by inventing a character that is so much fun, he harkens back to the classic live action cartoon series, JONNY QUEST.  Eli, his dog and parrot are just so cool, I could spent this entire log ranting about their exploits.  So far Jay and company have produced two issues (that's number 1 above with the gorgeous Steve Rude cover).  If you love a rollicking good adventure, filled with awe and wonder, and you have kids, you have to get them these books.  Simply Google the title and go find them.  Trust me, you will thank me.  I'm getting extra copies for my grandson Alex for Christmas, that's how much I love CaptN Eli.  Oh, and part of the supporting cast includes a pulp-like hero named Commander X.  Well, after hooking up for the very first time at the show, I came home and write a very short Commander X pulp story that will eventually get published either in a future issue or at their website.  Now that's just too cool.

One of the finest instructional magazines on the market today for would-be comic book creators is called SKETCH and one of its editors is a fellow named Bill Nichols.  Over the life of the magazine, emphasis has been slanted on the art of comics and teaching it.  Ergo, there's been little focus put on the writing end of things, which is where your old Air Chief comes in.  Recently Bill put out a call for articles of any kind relating to the making of a comic book.  As it turns out, I am in the middle of putting together a presentation package for a possible new mini series with the help of a Brazilian artist named Danyael Lopes.  I contacted Bill and asked if Sketch would like to publish our proposal as we put it together, step by step and he thought that was a super idea.  So this current issue, now on your the newstands, has my idea, how I came up with it and then worked it into a full blown plot summary plot to send to Danyael.  Next issue will showcase the first actual character sketches he had sent in based on this summary.  In future installments you'll get to read my 5 page sample script and see how Danyael turned them into rough thumbnails and then full blown, completed comic pages.  So, loyal airmen, if you, or someone you know, has ever wanted to know how comic book professionals put together a presentation to submit to publishers, please, pick up a copy of SKETCH # 37, they are usually available at most comic shops.

And that's it for the Friday before Thanksgiving.  Valerie left for Colorado yesterday with our daughter Michelle and granddaughters, Kristi & Chelsea.  They are spending Thanksgiving with our son, Alan and his family.  Its the first time the four cousins meet and the first time Alan and Michelle have seen each other in over ten years.  Val called last night to tell me the airport reunion last evening was something truly beautiful.  So I couldn't be happier. As to why I'm not there enjoying all this, well the Air Chief has two very special dates for Thanksgiving dinner next week, Val's mother, Lorraine and my own Mom.  I'm taking both these lovely ladies to a marvelous local restaurant for a delicious, home style turkey dinner.  Yum! 

So a few words here to wish all of you a truly HAPPY THANKSGIVING.  All of you will be in my prayers that day, when I thank God for my life and blessings.   And finally, be sure to be back here next Friday for a really special Log Entry.  I'm going to show you how Rob Davis and I put together the cover for our latest Secret Agent X pulp.  I promise, you'll will all get a kick out of this. Till then, be happy, and don't eat too much turkey…you have to save room for the apple pie!!

Ron – Over & Out.