Greetings Loyal Airmen, kicking off this week’s Flight Log with this great pictured of the might-have-been Kato as done by my pal Mike Belcher. Any of you who are old enough to recalling my two and a half year stint on the late Now Comics Green Hornet comic series, might recall a bit of this story. At the end, we’d been forced to remove our female Kato, Mishi, by orders of the license holders. So we had her shipped off to Germany to run one of her family’s many enterprises and filling her place beside the Paul Reid Green Hornet was none other than Hiyashi Kato, the older Bruce Lee version from the TV series. That was all well and good for a while, but we felt the age difference between the two was a problem and the solution was to bring aboard a newer, younger Kato. In the end, we created Kono Kato, a cousin to the original Kato Family, still living in Japan and becoming a major pest to his family social standings. Our image was of a rebel James Dean style young punk who would need some discipline and molding and voila, there was Kono. In the end, his parents would devise a plan to have him sent to America and live with the Reid family and ultimately become Paul’s newest crime-fighting partner. But not without lots and lots of friction. The idea had tons of potential abut alas, Now folded again for a second time and from this bankruptcy never returned. Thus Kono Kato was the might-have been Kato. Sigh.
THE GREAT AIRSHIP RACE Pg TWO
And with Pg 2, here’s the Air Chief and his co-pilots, Gordon Dymowski (with bowtie) and Brant Fowler. Things are heating up. Next week Pg 3!
THE BLACK TERROR 2.0
We are happy to announce our work on BLACK TERROR 2.0 issue number one is nearly complete. All the art by Dell Barras is done and the coloring by David Rios. We’ve a few pages to color then it will be off to Ben Dunn at Antarctic Press for his verdict. All fingers crossed he likes what he sees.
R.I.P. MITCH BYRD
We were truly saddened to hear of the passing of comic artist Mitch Byrd. Many years ago we crossed paths with Mitch when involved with the small independent comic out of Maine, Alpha Production. Mitch was just breaking into the business and we wrote a little 5 pg horror script called “Repeat Performance” and Mitch drew it perfectly. In appeared in one of Alpha’s anthologies and then years later in our own, “Ron Fortier’s Tales of the Macabre.” That’s pg # 1 above along with picture of Mitch. There was no doubt Mitch would make it to the big time and at DC Comics he became popular on the book, “Guy Gardner – Warrior.” He was a truly talented artist and good soul. Rest in peace old friend, you will be missed.
And there you have it for this week, Loyal Airmen. As always thanks for stopping by and checking out the doings at Hangar 27. With fingers crossed, we should have a new pulp title to announce next week. So until stay out of the heat, be well and God Bless. Ron- Over & Out!
NEBRASKA HERE WE COME!