Well, Loyal Airmen, the Football Super Bowl has come and gone.  We trust those of you who are fans of the sport truly enjoyed what was a really tense and close contest.  Sincerely, we congratulate the Baltimore Ravens on their second Super Bowl Championship.  But honestly, we are happy to see their season done as the Air Chief is diehard baseball fan and as most of you are aware, a loyal member of Red Sox Nation. What with a new, enthusiastic John Farrell as the manager this year, one can only hope the team will put their last two lackluster seasons far behind them and return to their winning ways.

Pitchers report to the new Red Sox sports center in Ft. Myers, Florida this coming Monday, Feb. 11.  Positions players arrive three days later on the 14th.  Loyal Airmen, your Air Chief is truly ready for some baseball.

                    
On the pulp side of things, the cover photo above popped up in our e-mail this afternoon and we were thrilled.  About a year ago, writer Kane Gilmour and artist Scott P. Vaughn created an internet web comic strip called WARBIRDS OF MARS (go google it after reading this…you'll be glad you did).  The idea was that some time during World War II, Martians invaded Earth and joined forces with the Nazis. With their advanced alien technology, the Third Reich and the Martians invaded America and took over nearly half of it.  But of course American military forces did not give up the fight and the strip is all about their continued battle with masked secret agents, brave fighter pilots and lovely femme fatales all fighting to preserve the USA and defeat the bad guys.

The Air Chief, upon discovering this webstrip became an instant fan and began telling all his friends about it. Eventually we began an exchange of letters with the creators.  We learned they were planning on doing a prose anthology featuring various writers all telling stories that take place in the world of WARBIRDS and they graciously invited us to contribute to this collection.  We totally jumped on that wagon and within weeks had whipped up something called “The Monsters of Adobe Wells.”  Scott & Kane approved it is one of the fifteen stories in the book, which they just announced today will be out in May.  The great cover above is by Scott and its a humdinger, just like all his work on the strip every week.  We are truly excited to be a part of this project and we'll let you know when you can go out and pick up a copy.

Finally, the big news this week was the announcement of the PULP ARK AWARDS Nominations.  The Air Chief was nominated for several pulps tales in the Best Short Story category and also for Best Writer, which is most humbling.  We thank everyone who supported us in these nominations.  But the most surprising category nod came in the Best Pulp Comic section as it had PRICE FOR THE ASKING there.  This is a private eye series created by the Air Chief and his pal, Bill Gladman.  We've put out two issues thus far, the first illustrated by artist Brian Latimer and the second (cover above) by Rob Davis.  To have this comic earn a nomination in these awards was truly an unexpected joy.  Voting ends March 15th at which time the winners will be announced and their awards handed out at this year's Pulp Ark Convention in Arkansas.  We congratulate all the nominees and wish everyone good luck in the voting.

And there you have it for this week, Loyal Airmen.  A final warning, Valentine's Day is almost here. Go out and get that special someone something that truly says, I love you!  Till next week,
Ron – Over & Out!