HOT OFF THE PRESSES!
PHANTOM/CAPTAIN ACTION HC (can be found under "action"). Limted edition, will NOT ever be a softcover!
VOLTRON: the official Art Book and more!("action") for all the fans of the show, here's to you!
The SPIDER & DOMINO LADY: ("action")
The first meeting of these two! SPECIAL EXCLUSIVE INTERNET cover variant! Written by NY TIMES best selling author NANCY HOLDER!
CHICKS IN CAPES PROMOTIONAL INTERVIEW-Jennifer Fallon
AP: Jennifer, what is your writing background, some of the works you've published, and your major influences?
My story-telling influences are old-school – Asimov, Clarke, H Beam Piper, Robert Forward, to name a few (note the lean towards sci-fi, rather than fantasy). I like that they wrote ripping yarns, first and foremost. If I had a chance to live my life over, I would be an astrophysicist, put in 20 years with NASA and then retire to write bestselling hard sci-fi. I would also arrange not to flunk math in high school, which I have long suspected is the reason I never became an astrophysicist in this life.
AP: You have a story featured in the Moonstone anthology, CHICKS IN CAPES. Can you give us a bit of a teaser of what readers can expect from your tale?
JF: Hopefully a smile and a bit of entertainment. When I was invited to contribute to the anthology, I jokingly suggested I should give my superhero the superpower I have, which is the ability to find a car park right where I want it, every single time. Imagine my surprise (and consternation) when they emailed me straight back with “Wow! What an awesome idea! Can't wait to read the story!” Turned out to be a great challenge, but I love the end result. Long may the Violet Valet rule!
AP: What goes into building a heroic tale for you? What makes up a good heroic character?
JF: For me it was getting the tone right. Mine is an origin story so the arch-villain isn't really the focus of the story. It’s more how the Violet Valet and her sidekick get together. I think what makes a good hero is one who is flawed in some way, but overcomes their flaws to do the right thing. I read somewhere that a fearless person can never be a hero, because there is nothing heroic about charging in when you’re not afraid of anything. The true hero is the one who does what they must, in spite of their fears. I tried to give my characters some flaws. The more super they are, oddly enough, the more human they need to be for the reader to identify with them.
AP: Do you feel like CHICKS IN CAPES is more than just a book about super heroines. Is there a greater statement to be made with this collection?
JF: I think it’s a timely reminder that superheroes are not just for boys. They come in all shapes and sizes. We should judge our superheroes by their deeds, not their gender. Just like real people.
ALL PULP'S A BOOK A DAY- A WHOLE LOT OF DOLLAR!
| Over 1200 pages of Dollar! |
|
The detailed case analyses catalogs the details of each story, including cast, expenses, writers and directors, and cross-references to programs that used the same script with a different name and cast.
The detailed index catalogs each story, case location and the cast of each program. The books also contain a detailed listing of cases by insurance company and the expenses for each of the 6 Johnny Dollars updated to 21st century dollars. Also included are recaps of programs which only exist in the KNX collection of the Thousand Oaks, California library.
"The Who is Johnny Dollar Matter" is the definitive reference work for the cases handled by Johnny Dollar, both those currently available electronically, but also those available only in the KNX collection of the Thousand Oaks, California library.
Want to know how this book ties into Moonstone Monday?? go to http://www.moonstonebooks.com/ and type 'Johnny Dollar" in the search bar..or better yet..read this next review!!
TIPPIN' HANCOCK'S HAT-Pulp Reviews by Tommy Hancock
PARTNERS IN CRIME
by CJ Henderson and Joe Gentile
Published by Moonstone Books
2009, 187 pages
There are some wonderful things about pulp these days. One of those things is the opportunity to mix and match your favorite classic characters with modern original creations in all new tales. All the writers, artists, even publishing companies are having a grand ol' time doing just that, spinning their own brainchildren in with the likes of the Black Bat, the Purple Scar, Moon Man, ad infinitem. What makes it even better is when someone not only has those two fields to play in, but they also hold certain licenses to more recent fan favorite characters and throw them into the mix as well. Yup, you heard me.
Moonstone does a pretty good job of that. One of the leading publishers of licensed characters as well as utilizing characters from the public domain, Moonstone has a little gem in its archive by the title of PARTNERS IN CRIME, written by CJ Henderson with an able assist by Moonstone CEO Joe Gentile. There is so much wound into this time spanning cosmic tale with ties into the seedier side of fiction that I'll let the original copy for the book tell the tale-
An original novel, with spot illustrations, that teams up Kolchak, Johnny Dollar, Boston Blackie, Candy Matson, Pat Novak, Blackshirt, Lai Wan, and Jack Hagee, and Mr Keen all in one great adventure! In the final days of WW2, a sinister plan to defeat the allies using black sorcery orig price thwarted, only to be resurrected today in a form even more terrible than before. Now, over six turbulent decades, across multiple continents, and through the darkest alternate dimensions, a force of unimaginable power stands poised to subjugate all of mankind.
Yeah, you read that cast right..and that's not even everyone you'd recognize!! Henderson and Gentile put together characters that many people would never think of tangling up and most of us fans would love to see together. And these interpretations stay true to the roots of most of them, even down to Blackie's original addictions (yeah, if you haven't read the original books or any of the Moonstone Boston Blackie stuff, you don't know what I'm talkin' about!). The plot is good, the interactions between the characters on target for the most part, and the twists and turns thrown in work overall. Henderson and Gentile lend a good voice to the work, making it cohesive even though it was sort of split into parts with 'teams' of characters working different angles.
One of the coolest parts of this book, however, is also its greatest weakness. The book, a fast paced action paced pulp thriller, creaks and groans at times under the weight of its sizable cast. Each character here, from Novak to Hagee to Kolchak to Dollar and beyond have carried their own stories previously and very well could carry this plot almost by themselves. Some of the players don't get the due they should and in places where a couple do share center stage, they almost clash more than blend. The book ties up all the loose ends of the plot, but with so many fully fleshed out characters involved, it does leave one feeling a little untied still.
THREE OUT OF FIVE TIPS OF HANCOCK'S HAT-Definitely worth a read if you like supernatural mixed with your pulp mixed with your action.
NO CLIFFHANGER FICTION TODAY DUE TO TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES....WILL BE FEATURED AT SOME POINT THIS WEEK AS SOON AS THE SORT OF EIC CAN FIGURE OUT JUST HOW TO FIX THESE DIFFICULTIES HE REALLY DOESN'T UNDERSTAND.... |
|
