Coming Attractions: The latest news on pulp related publications (books, comics, magazines, and fanzines) plus films and TV shows.

29 April 2005
9th Annual Fantastic Pulps Show & Sale - April 30, 2005 The 9th Annual Fantastic Pulps Show & Sale will be held Saturday, April 30, 2005 from 10am to 5pm. The location as always, is the lower level of the Lillian H. Smith branch of the Toronto Public Library, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The show is a small but pulp specific event of 25 tables, featuring pulps, pulp reprints and related items, as well as video and a scattering of other collectables. The show is a friendly event, and the city of Toronto has many attractions to offer for a vacation/pulp outing. There is a slide show, auction, and periodic tours of the library's own pulp collection. The library is located in the heart of Toronto at 239 College Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. For more information contact Neil Mechem at Girasol Collectables at 905.820.7572 or email at: info@girasolcollectables.com
Back Numbers Can Be Easily Procured Warren Harris's apa-zine, BACK NUMBERS CAN BE EASILY PROCURED #15 (April 2005) is now available. This issue features: Editorial The Round Table (Letters of Comment) Days of Future Past by John Locke Photos from the Maltese Falcon Exhibit Photos from Wondercon/SF Book show If you have not read Warren's excellent apa-zine, click on over to Bill Burns' eFanzines website at http://efanzines.com/ and download #1 through #11. All issues are in PDF format. Bill Burns has many other great efanzines on his site that you might also want to investigate.
Black Dog Books - Now available! THE CRIMSON BLIGHT by Arthur J. Burks Staple-spined, Full color cover. 64 pages, $10 What can account for the strange happenings on the Arahona cane plantation? Cro-magnon men? Dinosaurs, here in the Caribbean? See man battle ancient brute strength for the outcome of the world in this complete novel originally serialized in THRILLING ADVENTURES. TALES OF THE JUNGLE by L. Patrick Greene Staple-spined, Full color cover. 64 pages, $10 Three jungle-set works of retribution, "Cobwebs," "Yellow" and "Jungle Fate" collected from the rare pulp, MAN STORIES. Black Dog Books has moved! Effective May 1, 2005 all BDB orders should be sent to the new address: Black Dog Books Tom Roberts 1115 Pine Meadows Court Normal, IL 61761 blackdogbooks_tomroberts@yahoo.com
CONAN VOLUME 1: THE FROST GIANTS DAUGHTER AND OTHER STORIES - The softcover edition is now available in comic shops! When the internationally famous barbarian hero returned to comics, with an all-new fresh start by award-winning writer Kurt Busiek (JLA/Avengers, Astro City) and dynamic artists Cary Nord, Thomas Yeates, and Dave Stewart, the result was instant sell-outs and multiple printings to keep up with the demand. Now Conan's earliest adventures are collected in a handsome 176-page collection. Catch all the action and savagery as he wars with the murderous Vanir, meets the Frost Giant's Daughter, and is taken as a slave by the ancient sorcerers of Hyperborea! This top-selling new series faithfully expands on original author Robert E. Howard's literary creation. Collecting issues #1-#6 and fourteen pages from issue #7 of the ongoing series. Writer: Kurt Busiek Artist: Cary Nord, Thomas Yeates Colorist: Dave Stewart Soft Cover, 176 pages, Full Color, $15.95 Dark Horse Comics
E-texts on the net this week The Shadow Magazine: Sorry, there's no new review this week. Next week's review will be The Devil's Feud from June 15, 1942. A Sip of Death by Jim Mennella is this week's Two-Minute Shadow Mystery. Shadows of the Pulps: Nothing new this week. Blackmask Online: Nothing new this week. Larry Estep-Online Pulps: Now with over 550 stories online! Killer's Carnival by Stewart Sterling from THRILLING DETECTIVE, July 1940 Hair of the Dogie by James P. Olsen from MASKED RIDER WESTERN, October 1947
ERBville Press - Now available! KWA OF THE JUNGLE by Paul Regard First time in paperback! The "Kwa of the Jungle" series as they appeared in the THRILLING ADVENTURES pulp magazine: Book 4: Kwa and the Walking Moon and Kwa and the Swamp Demon - 116 pages, 6x9 trade paperback, $9.95 Still available: KWA OF THE JUNGLE by Paul Regard Book 2: Kwa and the Ape People - 144 pages, 6x9 trade paperback, $9.95 Book 3: Kwa, King of Ophir and Kwa and the Beast Men - 148 pages, 6x9 trade paperback, $9.95 PE-RA, DAUGHTER OF THE SUN by Ralph Milne Farley First time in paperback! The original text from the AMAZING STORIES pulp magazine and the original illustrations. 116 pages, 6x9 trade paperback, $9.00 KA-ZAR: KING OF FANG AND CLAW by Bob Byrd - 204 pages, 6x9 trade paperback, $11.00 SHEENA: KILLER'S KRAAL by James Anson Buck - 109 pages, 6x9 trade paperback, $8.50 VICE SQUAD DETECTIVE - 174 pages, 6x9 trade paperback, $11.00 Coming Soon: Ki-Gor of the Jungle series Kwa of the Jungle (book 1) Jungle Stories The Leopard Woman Og, Son of Fire Gullivar of Mars
George Lucas - Star Wars and Indiana Jones news! George Lucas appeared at "Celebration III" last weekend to around 9,000 fans, and has officially confirmed that there are not one, but two "Star Wars" based TV series in the works. One of them will be a half hour 3-D CG animated series, the other will be a live action regular show, featuring characters from the film series, though not necessarily the main ones. Mark Hamill has long been rumoured to play an older, wiser Luke Skywalker in the new series, but the latest rumours knocking around the net indicate that the show may fill in the gaps between "Revenge Of The Sith" & "A New Hope". Lucas told the fans: "We're probably not going to start that for about a year. Like on 'The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles,' we want to write all the stories for the entire first season all at once. I'm going to get it started and hire the showrunners and all of that, then I'll probably step away." George Lucas also let it slip that a new DVD box set of all 6 films is in the works, possibly to include an all-new bonus disc containing deleted scenes from the original trilogy. Expect no further changes in the films themselves. In addition, don't look for a high-definition release of the films in 2007. Lucas also confirmed that the digitally-screened version of Episode III will be slightly longer than the traditional film version. IESB has confirmed that "Jay and Silent Bob" brainchild Kevin Smith will be involved in the forthcoming live-action "Star Wars" TV Series. According to the site, "Kevin's involvement will be in the writing and directing of at least a three episode story arch." Indiana Jones While George was busy, his right-hand man Rick McCallum was were asked where Indiana Jones has got to. "As a matter of fact, I just received the new script two days ago. I have yet to read it," McCallum said. "I'd like to be able to read it this weekend. I'll be talking to Steven [Spielberg] on Monday, and then we'll figure out what we're going to do. So, it's definitely in the works." Apparently Spielberg has one more film to do before turning his attention to "Indiana Jones 4". As for rumours that Harrison Ford's going to be recast due to age - that's as nonsensical as a lightglobe-clear lightsaber, he says.
Hard Case Crime At the Edgar Allan Poe Awards banquet, which was held April 28th in New York City. Two of Hard Case Crime's first three original novels -- THE CONFESSION by Domenic Stansberry and LITTLE GIRL LOST by Richard Aleas -- were nominated for Edgar Awards, and THE CONFESSION won! It's a terrific book that Hard Case Crime is proud to have published; if you haven't read it yet, you owe it to yourself to get a copy. Hard Case Crime was notified by the Private Eye Writers of America that two of their novels have been nominated for the Shamus Award! Max Phillips' FADE TO BLONDE is up for "Best Paperback" and LITTLE GIRL LOST is once again up for "Best First Novel." The awards will be announced at the start of September.
Hippocampus Press H. P. Lovecraft's LETTERS TO RHEINHART KLEINER, Bob Price's anthology TALES OUT OF DUNWICH and M. P. Shiel's THE HOUSE OF SOUNDS AND OTHERS are all due in the weeks to come. Looking ahead to summer, Hippocampus Press is going full steam ahead on the next two volumes of Lovecraft's COLLECTED ESSAYS. They have also signed some terrific new titles for the future, including an enormous collection of LOVECRAFT STUDIES veteran Dr. Robert Waugh's essays on HPL, and a new volume of Mythos fiction from W. H. Pugmire.
Jack Williamson April 29th is Jack Williamson's 97th birthday! Happy Birthday Jack!
King Conan G4 Video Game Television has the latest news about Conan's future path! Coury Turczyn of g4tv.com sat with John Milius, director of Conan the Barbarian, and asked "Is there any information you can divulge on King Conan?" Milius replied "Well, King Conan is pretty well on hold. Warner Brothers decided they're going to do their own version of whatever they want to do with Conan. They've sort of put it in deep, deep freeze. I don't know. You'll have to talk to Warner Brothers and ask them what their wisdom is. They'll probably do an animated, kid-friendly Conan." http://www.g4tv.com/attackoftheshow/features/51562/Ten_Minutes_with_John_Milius.html Meanwhile, the Dark Horizons website is reporting a rumor that Robert Rodriguez will be shooting two back to back sequels for "Sin City" starting February of next year for a release presumably in 2007. Further, Rodriguez plans to start shooting a film titled "Conan" for Warner Bros. after he's done with the sequels.
James Rollins - Now available! MAP OF BONES officially hit bookstores April 26th. You can read the opening prologue on James Rollins website. The bestselling master of astonishing adventure James Rollins delivers his most relentlessly exciting page-turner to date -- a gripping and explosive novel of an ancient conspiracy to create a terrifying new world order out of the ashes of modern civilization. The crime is inhumanly cruel with horrific consequences both unthinkable and inevitable. During a service at a cathedral in Cologne, Germany, a band of armed intruders dressed in monks' robes unleash a nightmare of blood and terror, ruthlessly gunning down worshippers and clergy alike. The killers haven't come for the church's gold and valuable artwork, but for a priceless treasure secreted within: the preserved bones of the Three Magi who once came to pay homage to a newborn savior. As they flee the carnage they have wrought, they carry a prize that could reshape the world. The Vatican is in turmoil, and Lieutenant Rachel Verona of Rome's carabinieri is assigned to lead the investigation. But no ordinary police organization alone can deal with the bizarre theft and massacre, and SIGMA Force -- an elite covert arm of the U.S. Defense Department -- is called in under the command of Grayson Pierce. New to SIGMA, Pierce assembles a crack team of scientific and Special Forces operatives to unravel the mystery of the stolen bones, and together they set out on a twisting trail through a labyrinth of clues and dark revelations that carry them to the sites of the Seven Wonders of the World -- and to the doorstep of the mystical and terrifying Dragon Court. An ancient, secret fraternity of alchemists and assassins, the master-adepts of the Dragon Court have plans for the sacred remains that will alter the future of humankind in devastating ways that only the maddest of zealots could desire -- and they will let nothing and no one stand in their way. Suddenly Pierce, Verona, and the SIGMA team are the hunted as well as the hunters, forced to use every skill they possess to survive as they follow the bones to the ultimate confrontation between darkness and light -- in a lost place of history where science and religion will unite to unleash a horror not seen since the beginning of time. A masterful novel that combines the exhilarating mysticism of The Da Vinci Code with the pulse-pounding action of a Tom Clancy thriller, James Rollins's MAP OF BONES is destined to be a modern classic that will stand among the very best adventure tales ever written. Additionally, last years thriller SANDSTORM is now available is paperback.
Night Shade Books - Now available! Letters from New York: The Lovecraft Letters Volume 2 edited by S.T. Joshi & David E. Schultz is now available. Letters From New York collects the letters written by H. P. Lovecraft while in New York - first, while visiting the city in 1922 and 1923, and then, as an unhappy resident, from 1924- 1926. The letters from this turbulent and unsatisfying period of his life provide keen insights into his creative and personal life. Hardcover, 350 pages, $40.00
Old Tiger Press Old Tiger Press reports that their J. Allen St. John biography (Volume 1) was the top seller at lulu.com a couple of weeks ago, and at the same time was their # 25 all time best seller that week. THE LIFE AND WORK OF J. ALLEN ST. JOHN by Darrell C. Richardson is still available for $29.95 and highly recommended. The second volume in the St. John series will focus on the western illustrations of St. John. Darrell Richardson is working on the text for two other volumes - one will be a collection of material on St. John's ERB work, with pieces by Vern Coriell, Stan Vinson, and other ERB and St. John collector's and experts, the other will consist of memories of St. John by his students. Both will be lavishly illustrated and in color. The western book and at least one of the other two will come out this year, and in December, Old Tiger Press will bring out the 100th anniversary reprint of St. John's only book, THE FACE IN THE POOL. Old Tiger Press is also working on some other projects for this year, including a collection of Otis Adelbert Kline's Dragoman stories, which were originally slated for publication by FAX books in the seventies. They even commisioned art from Steve Fabian. One project Old Tiger Press is particularly excited about is THE TARZAN SCRAPBOOK. This was a title announced by FAX in the seventies, but Dennis McHaney became gung ho over a totally different set of contents a few weeks ago while going through Darrell Richardson's collection of Tarzan related movie material. What the world needs is a multi volume set of repros of Tarzan movie posters and related material from around the world covering the entire history of Tarzan films. McHaney reports he was staggered by the selection of material available for this project. Be prepared to be STUNNED by that first volume.
Robert E. Howard Days - June 2005 The Guest of Honor this year will be publisher Marcelo Anciano of Wandering Star. Marcelo will hopefully provide a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of the Wandering Star volumes and a look at what is to come. Click here for the 2-day schedule of events and registration information.
SCIENCE FICTION IN THE GOLDEN AGE - Now available! Science fiction is many different things to many different people, but the shape it has today was born in the first half of the 20th century. This book, edited by James Van Hise, consists largely of non-fiction reprints from the now rare small press magazines of that period. There are articles examining the then contemporary science fiction scene as well as interviews with luminaries of the period (like the original editor of ASTOUNDING). There are also articles by writers of that period such as John Russell Fearn, Edgar Rice Burroughs and others, including a 1938 article by H.G. Wells about life on Mars (illustrated). Plus there are many different reprints of vintage artwork from the fan magazines (unused art for the first edition of THE SKYLARK OF SPACE) as well as classic work by Frank R. Paul and others. This is the first of a planned three volume series, all of which will appear this year. Each volume is 8 1/2 x 11, with full color front and back covers, 150 pages and side-stapled. Also includes some interior pages in color. Each volume is $25.00 plus $8.00 priority mail or $3.00 media mail (overseas is $9.00 for Global Priority mail). Paypal to Jimvanhise@aol.com or send to James Van Hise, 57754 Onaga Trail, Yucca Valley, CA 92284.
SWORD & FANTASY #2 - Now available! SWORD & FANTASY #2 is now available. 84 pages, 8 1/2 x 11. Full color front and back covers. Articles include a lengthy interview with Jim & Ruth Keegan, the writers and artists of THE ADVENTURES OF TWO-GUN BOB, the Robert E. Howard bio-strip which appears in each issue of the Dark Horse CONAN comic book. There is also an article on the Conan story "The Scarlet Citadel." Plus a 1938 article by Henry Kuttner "Selling The Fantasy Story." Also presented is an 8 page letter by Harold Preece about a Robert E. Howard biography he planned to write. I also include an article on MODERN ROBERT E. HOWARD FANDOM and the new fanzines currently available, a 1940s article on Robert E. Howard from the old fanzine THE FANSCIENT, and a 1940s review of the Arkham edition of SKULLFACE & OTHERS from a British science fiction fanzine, FANTASY REVIEW. There is also first in a series of articles on Sword & Sorcery in comics (this installment on the 1960s Warren magazines which featured Reed Crandall, Steve Ditko, Gray Morrow, Frank Frazetta and Jeff Jones), and much more! This issues fabulous cover is by Margaret Brundage! This issue also features artwork by Mike Zeck (a vintage Conan illustration he did in the 1970s, which is a real knockout), art by Rick McCollum as well as some WEIRD TALES illos from Robert E. Howard stories. I intend this to be a semi-regular publication (3 or 4 times a year). SWORD & FANTASY #2 is now available and issue #1 is still available (and is also listed on Ebay). Each issue is $12.00 plus $6.00 priority mail, $2.00 media mail or $9.00 Global Priority mail for orders outside the US. Paypal to Jimvanhise@aol.com or send to James Van Hise, 57754 Onaga Trail, Yucca Valley, CA 92284.
Zorro by Isabel Allende - Coming Tuesday, May 3rd! ZORRO by Isabel Allende is a swashbuckling adventure story that reveals for the first time how Diego de la Vega became the masked man we all know so well. Born in southern California late in the eighteenth century, he is a child of two worlds. Diego de la Vega's father is an aristocratic Spanish military man turned landowner; his mother, a Shoshone warrior. Diego learns from his maternal grandmother, White Owl, the ways of her tribe while receiving from his father lessons in the art of fencing and in cattle branding. It is here, during Diego's childhood, filled with mischief and adventure, that he witnesses the brutal injustices dealt Native Americans by European settlers and first feels the inner conflict of his heritage. At the age of sixteen, Diego is sent to Barcelona for a European education. In a country chafing under the corruption of Napoleonic rule, Diego follows the example of his celebrated fencing master and joins La Justicia, a secret underground resistance movement devoted to helping the powerless and the poor. With this tumultuous period as a backdrop, Diego falls in love, saves the persecuted, and confronts for the first time a great rival who emerges from the world of privilege. Between California and Barcelona, the New World and the Old, the persona of Zorro is formed, a great hero is born, and the legend begins. After many adventures -- duels at dawn, fierce battles with pirates at sea, and impossible rescues -- Diego de la Vega, a.k.a. Zorro, returns to America to reclaim the hacienda on which he was raised and to seek justice for all who cannot fight for it themselves. Hardcover: 400 pages ISBN: 0060778970 Publisher: HarperCollins SRP: $25.95

22 April 2005
9th Annual Fantastic Pulps Show & Sale - April 30, 2005 The 9th Annual Fantastic Pulps Show & Sale will be held Saturday, April 30, 2005 from 10am to 5pm. The location as always, is the lower level of the Lillian H. Smith branch of the Toronto Public Library, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The show is a small but pulp specific event of 25 tables, featuring pulps, pulp reprints and related items, as well as video and a scattering of other collectables. The show is a friendly event, and the city of Toronto has many attractions to offer for a vacation/pulp outing. There is a slide show, auction, and periodic tours of the library's own pulp collection. The library is located in the heart of Toronto at 239 College Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. For more information contact Neil Mechem at Girasol Collectables at 905.820.7572 or email at: info@girasolcollectables.com
AMAZING ADVENTURES OF THE ESCAPIST #6 - Available in comic shops April 27th! By Will Eisner, Thomas Yeates, Chris Offutt, Steven Grant, Howard Chaykin, Jason, Dan Best, Eddie Campbell and Norm Breyfogle. In these pages, the Spirit meets the Escapist! That¹s right‹legendary comics godfather Will Eisner returns to his world-famous creation for a meeting that neither WWII-era hero will soon forget. This is the first new Spirit story both written and drawn by Eisner to see print in decades! Also in this issue is the comics writing debut of Lannan and Whiting award winner Chris Offutt! Thomas Yeates (Conan) lushly illustrates this celebrated author¹s tale of the Escapist in Vietnam. Dan Best and Eddie Campbell (From Hell) present a fully-painted story of the Empire City 1939 World¹s Fair, and Howard Chaykin (American Flagg!) returns to concoct "Liberators," a fact-based tale of art looted by the Nazis, set in 1945 Paris! Norwegian indy cartoonist JASON contributes an Escapist spoof, and Steven Grant and Norm Breyfogle proffer the first Weird Date story of the anthology! One of the myriad classic titles created by Kavalier & Clay, Weird Date featured mixes of classic Alex Toth romance comics and outrageous Jack Cole crime comics of the sort that put Dr. Freddie Wertham's undies in a twist. 80 pages, $8.95
BLOOD 'N' THUNDER #10 (Spring 2005) - Now available! BLOOD `N' THUNDER #10 (Spring 2005) is now available. Copies will be available at the Windy City convention, so subscribers attending the show can pick up their copies there. Subscriber's copies will be mailed after editor/publisher Ed Hulse returns home from the Windy City show in Chicago. The cover story is Part One of editor Ed Hulse's "The Glories of SHORT STORIES," a "less than definitive history" of the magazine. It's a personal appreciation packed with information about this underrated pulp and the series characters that populated it. Focusing on issues from the 20s and 30s, the two-part article covers such prolific SHORT STORIES contributors as Clarence Mulford, L. Patrick Greene, W. C. Tuttle, James B. Hendryx, J. D. Newsom, William MacLeod Raine, and Frank Richardson Pierce. The article is illustrated with numerous covers and spot illustrations from the magazine's peak years. Will Murray contributes "Archie Bittner and THE SPIDER," an intriguing look at the career of pulp scribe Wayne Rogers, whose checkered past could itself have inspired a dandy rough-paper yarn. Gary Lovisi is on board with "Pirates in Paperback," a survey of collectible paperbound editions of books about buccaneers. Christopher Malins weighs in with a short profile of Charles B. Stilson, pioneering writer of "scientific romances" for the early Munsey pulps. Also included is the ending Stilson personally created for Edgar Rice Burroughs' "Tarzan of the Apes." (He wasn't happy with ERB's ending.) Also in this issue, BNT presents the motion picture "treatment" of THE ELECTRIC MAN, a horror movie intended for production in 1936 with Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi. In "The Classic That Might Have Been," a fact-filled introduction to this rare manuscript, author and film historian John Soister describes the circumstances behind the treatment's shelving and its subsequent reworking for the 1941 B-movie MAN-MADE MONSTER, starring Lon Chaney, Jr. and Lionel Atwill. Single copy price is $6 postpaid. You can order from: Ed Hulse, 2467 Rt 10 East, Bldg 15, Apt 4B, Morris Plains, NJ 07950. Visit the BLOOD `N' THUNDER website at http://www.geocities.com/poppub/
Conan Series 2 Action Figures - Now available! The second series of Conan action figures is based on the novel length story The Hour of the Dragon by original Conan creator Robert E. Howard. This series is set to include five basic figures and one deluxe boxed figure set. McFarlane Toys’ Conan Series 2 will be released in April, 2005. Visit the McFarlane Toys website for full pictures of the action figures. Figures include: Conan the Warrior Pallantides of the Black Dragons Xaltotun the Undead Zenobia The Haunter of the Pits King Conan of Aquilonia Conan Series 2 Action Figures will be available in comic shops April 27th!
Doc Savage Reprints - Four more books (8 more stories) are now available! The Blackmask Online Store has more Doc Savage reprints available. Each volume is 6x9, perfectbound, and features two stories for $11.85. 01 The Man of Bronze and The Land of Terror 02 Quest of the Spider and The Polar Treasure 03 Pirate of the Pacific and The Red Skull 04 The Lost Oasis and The Sargasso Ogre 05 The Czar of Fear and The Phantom City 06 Brand of the Werewolf and The Man Who Shook the Earth 07 Meteor Menace and The Monsters 08 The Mystery on the Snow and The King Maker 09 The Thousand-Headed Man and The Squeaking Goblin 10 Fear Cay and Death in Silver 11 The Sea Magician and The Annhilist 12 The Mystic Mullah and Red Snow 13 Land of Always-Night and The Spook Legion 14 The Secret in the Sky and The Roar Devil 15 Quest of Qui and Spook Hole 16 The Majii and Dust of Death 17 Murder Melody and The Fantastic Island 18 Murder Mirage and Mystery Under the Sea 19 The Metal Master and The Men Who Smiled No More 20 The Seven Agate Devils and Haunted Ocean 21 The Black Spot and The Midas Man 22 Cold Death and The South Pole Terror 23 Resurrection Day and The Vanisher 24 Land of Long Juju and The Derrick Devil 25 The Mental Wizard and The Terror in the Navy 26 Mad Eyes and The Land of Fear 27 He Could Stop the World and Ost - NEW! 28 The Feathered Octopus and Repel - NEW! 29 The Sea Angel and The Golden Peril - NEW! 30 The Living Fire Menace and The Mountain Monster - NEW!
E-texts on the net this week The Shadow Magazine: This week's review is Crime Circus from April 15, 1934. The Tarn Curse by John Olsen is this week's Two-Minute Shadow Mystery. Shadows of the Pulps: Nothing new this week. Blackmask Online: Nothing new this week. Larry Estep-Online Pulps: Now with over 550 stories online! 28 Exciting Years by Robert M. Burtt from WRITER'S DIGEST, November 1961 Non-fiction. The author of radio serials, Air Adventures of Jimmie Allen and Captain Midnight, describes his career, including his start as a fictioneer in Flying Aces. An Intimate Study of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle from DETECTIVE STORY MAGAZINE, January 15, 1918 - A few reminiscences about the real world, from the author of Sherlock Holmes.
Hard Case Crime - Coming in two weeks! 361 by Donald E. Westlake - The men in the tan-and-cream Chrysler destroyed Ray Kelly’s life. Now it’s his turn. PLUNDER OF THE SUN by David Dodge - On the trail of the lost treasure of the Incas — with every fortune hunter in South America closing in! Back in 1948, David Dodge was not yet known as the author of TO CATCH A THIEF -- the book was four years away and Hitchcock's classic movie would take three more to hit theaters -- but he was already a best-selling author thanks to his first five mystery novels and his non-fiction accounts of his travels around the world. For his sixth novel, he decided to try something a little different. He took the main character from his earlier south-of-the-border mystery, THE LONG ESCAPE, and put him at the center of a high-stakes race for buried treasure. Al Colby, the hero of PLUNDER OF THE SUN, may not have a degree in archaeology or carry a bullwhip, but in spirit he may remind you of another tough and resourceful American treasure hunter you may have come across at the movies. PLUNDER OF THE SUN became a movie itself in 1953, starring Glenn Ford as Al Colby, and appeared in a number of paperback and book club editions in the 1950s -- but after that, the book vanished for almost half a century. Hard Case Crime is very excited to be bringing it back into print at last. July 2005 BRANDED WOMAN by Wade Miller - Beautiful jewel smuggler Cay Morgan landed in Mazatlán with a gun in her purse — and a vendetta in her heart. DUTCH UNCLE by Peter Pavia - Harry had done his time and wanted to stay clean—but with his pockets full of drug money and a dead body at his feet, it wasn't going to be easy... ANNOUNCEMENTS: Hard Case Crime has signed an agreement with Max Allan Collins (author of ROAD TO PERDITION, as well as many, many other excellent books) to publish THE LAST QUARRY, a new book featuring his killer-for-hire character Quarry, who made his debut in the 1976 novel THE BROKER and last appeared in 1987's PRIMARY TARGET. THE LAST QUARRY will be based on the screenplay Max wrote for a Quarry movie called "A Matter of Principal"; the script was turned into an award-winning short film by director Jeffrey Goodman and I understand Goodman is in discussions now to turn it into a full-length feature. This book will be our first-ever "movie tie-in" edition, a sub-genre that was a staple of the pulp era, and will contain information about where you can get your hands on a copy of the movie. And as befits a movie tie-in, it'll have cover art by the great Robert McGinnis, whose credits include (in addition to more than one thousand paperback covers, including our edition of PLUNDER OF THE SUN) the movie posters for such classic films as "Breakfast At Tiffany's," "The Odd Couple," "Barbarella," "Live and Let Die," "The Man With the Golden Gun," and "Diamonds Are Forever." Pretty exciting -- and there's more great news coming, including an announcement of a collaboration between two immensely talented writers who are about as hot as anyone in the mystery field these days. They're working as we speak on an original novel for us called BUST... You can get copies through the Hard Case Crime web site, http://www.hardcasecrime.com, or order them through your favorite local bookseller.
KOLCHAK: TALES OF NIGHT STALKER #6 - Available in comic shops April 27th! by Dave Ulanski, Kirk Jarvinen, Keith Williams "Proximity," Part 2 of 2-Is he mummy, is he vampire, or is he... both? The spirit of Imjah Ra continues to plague Carl Kolchak and an L.A. Museum employee. Now, they must travel around the world to Egypt to find a tomb about to be forever buried, and replace some stolen artifacts in hopes of lifting a terrible curse. Failure means that the creature will drain enough of their life force to return to life, and walk the earth again! Hey, Carl... how do you stake a vampire that's had its heart removed centuries ago? Features two covers, one by classic Famous Monsters cover painter Harry Roland; and the other by Dave Ulanski. 32 pages, Full Color, $3.50
LEGEND #3 (of 4) - Available in comic shops April 27th! Written by Howard Chaykin, Art and cover by Russ Heath Torn by tragedy, Hugo questions his powers and wonders what his true purpose really is. As a way of atoning, he enlists in the Army to help his country during the Vietnam War. What will happen when he realizes that he cannot help resolve the conflict even with all his powers? 48 pages, Full Color, $5.99
Mask of the Gargoyle - New pulp-inspired comic coming in July! DIGITAL WEBBING PRESENTS #24 will feature a new pulp-inspired comic, Mask of the Gargoyle, by Ron Fortier, Dario Carrasco, M.A. Castrillo, Dan Berger, & Andie Tong. The Masked Gargoyle prowls the rooftops and alleyways protecting its citizens from the villain known as the Fire Devil. By Ron Fortier and Dario Carrasco. Meanwhile, the Fist of Justice battles a robotic menace controlled by his evil arch-enemy, but will he stand victorious? 32 pages, $3.50 DIGITAL WEBBING PRESENTS #24 is solicited in the May PREVIEWS (now available). The Diamond Item Code is MAY052704.
MERIAN C. COOPER KING KONG STATUE - Coming in September/October! The first and the greatest of all giant monsters, King Kong, is dramatically captured in this statue, inspired by the pre-production art for the classic 1933 film! This beautifully detailed, hand-painted statue stand over 14" tall with base, and depicts the monarch of Skull Island atop the Empire State Building's dome cap, with the beauty, Ann Darrow, in hand, a smashed biplane gripped in the other. The "Eighth Wonder of the World" was sculpted exclusively for the Merian C. Cooper Estate by artist Joe DeVito, creator of the Dark Horse Comics story book, Kong: King of Skull Island. The first 1,000 statues will be a limited edition with a special golden Kong icon drawn by Joe and stamped on the bottom of each base. Painted and ready for display. Scheduled to ship in late September/October 2005. SRP: $150.00 MERIAN C. COOPER KING KONG STATUE is solicited in the May PREVIEWS (now available). The Diamond Item Code is MAY053697.
Red Sonja #0 - Available in comic shops April 27th! She lived in a savage world in an uncivilized age - a world ruled by men and governed by the sword. They call her Red Sonja - for her flame-red hair, and for the smoldering fire of her pride which gave her swordarm a strength that few men could match and none had ever defeated. Dynamite Entertainment launches with the crimson haired warrior goddess, Red Sonja! In this introductory issue - featuring 15 pages of original story and art, all for a quarter - Sonja enters a town with no name and a red storm enters with her! Perhaps best known from the Marvel comic book series (running off and on from 1979 until 1986), the character first appeared in comics in Conan the Barbarian #23 as the two characters share the same creator – Robert E. Howard. The #0 issue will feature a cover by Greg Land, is written by Michael Avon Oeming and Mike Carey and illustrated by Mel Rubi. Completing the art team will be Caesar Rodriguez and Richard Isanove. The Official Red Sonja website is at http://www.redsonja.net.
REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #8 - Coming in June! A sneak Preview of REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #8 is now available at http://www.rehtwogunraconteur.com The issue will debut at Howard Days in Cross Plains, Texas on June 10th. Advance ordering will begin in May. Details to follow when available. Click on the link above for the contents of the issue and a look at some of the artwork to be included.
Renaissance E-Books - Cleve Cartmill titles now available! Deadline & Other Controversial SF Classics by Cleve Cartmill WHY DID THE FBI WANT "DEADLINE" CENSORED? Author Cleve Cartmill, editor John W. Campbell, publisher's Street & Smith, Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, and L. Sprague de Camp were only some of those who came under government investigation after government officials learned of the contents of what was to become science fiction's most controversial brainchild? Why? You will discover the startling answers in Jean Marie Stine's amazing introduction to this first-ever collection of Golden Age author, Cartmill's work. Included in this mammoth volume are four complete novellas, the too-close to reality for the government, "Deadline," the noirish outer space mystery, "Some Day We'll Find You," the intellectual thriller of an attempted revolution against a future theocracy, "With Flaming Swords," and the thought-provoking story of a man whose desire to be a normal, patriotic citizen inadvertently lead to his society's "Overthrow." As a bonus readers will find what critics consider his most adroit short story, an androcentric but highly-amusing meditation on a possible prehistoric turning-point, "The Link." But, be warned: Cartmill questioned authority and traditional explanations of things, and tried to tell his stories in such a way that readers would begin to see and question the shortcomings in their own society. So, if you are completely comfortable with the people in charge and way things are now, and never want to doubt what you are told, put down this book immediately and do not read any further. Murchison & Co., Space Salvagers by Cleve Cartmill ROMANCE, HUMOR AND SCIENCE MIX IN THIS SPACE ADVENTURE CLASSIC! Jake Murchison and his crew love to tackle "impossible" problems in space and make incredible rescues. Sometimes the challenges they take on require them to improvise tools and bend the law a little to succeed. But even they can bend the laws of science -- which constantly work against them! Cleve Cartmill (1908-1964) was beloved by sf fans of the 1940s for his Jake Murchison-Captain Helen Wall series, which ran in the pages of the colorful action-adventure pulp, Thrilling Wonder Stories. Popularly known as the "Space Salvagers" stories, these tales are a science fictional riff on the classic, and highly-popular, "battle of the sexes" comedies of the era, like Bringing Up Baby, The Batchelor and the Bobby Soxer, and the Thin Man. Cartmill's tales of the sparks set off between Jake Murchison and Helen Wall, and their scientifically-premised exploits attempting to salvage abandoned ships and cargo in space, are a delightful change of pace for science fiction fans. In this one-volume, complete collection of their adventures Space Salvage, Inc. must retrieve an immensely valuable cargo on a derelict hulk that couldn't be entered; rescue a spaceship trapped by a magnetic asteroid thirty miles in diameter; save ninety-seven people imprisoned under a lake of ooze on which nothing could float; salvage a ship full of fissionable explosives speeding relentlessly toward planetfall; turn a crippled patrol boat as the only available weapon against a pirate fleet; and race unarmed against a deadly enemy to locate one of the greatest scientific secrets of all time!
Robert E. Howard Days - June 2005 The Guest of Honor this year will be publisher Marcelo Anciano of Wandering Star. Marcelo will hopefully provide a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of the Wandering Star volumes and a look at what is to come. Project Pride Schedule of Events Friday, June 10, 2005 9:00-4:00 REH house open for tours 10:00-11:00 Walking tour Cross Plains cemetery, Rusty Burke-pavilion 11:30-12:30 Lunch-pavilion (lunch provided, donations accepted) 12:30-2:00 Bus tours-Alton Mccowen-pavilion 1:00-5:00 Cross Plains Library-Howard stuff 2:30-3:00 Caring for a Howard collection-Paul Herman-pavilion 3:00-4:00 Book signing panel-Bill Cavalier (moderating)-pavilion 4:00-5:00 Writing a Howard biography-Rusty Burke & Mark Finn-pavilion 7:00 Banquet-Community Center (casual dress) Saturday, June 11, 2005 8:00-10:00 Stamp cancellation, post office or Howard house 9:00-11:30 REH house open for tours 9:00-5:00 Barbarian Festival-Main Street 10:00-11:30 "Pigeons From Hell" screening-Rusty Burke & Marcelo Anciano commentary, high school Lunch on your own at festival 12:30-2:00 Bus tours-Alton Mccowen-pavilion 1:00-3:00 Cross Plains Library-Howard stuff 2:00-2:30 What would REH have done had he lived-bill Cavalier, Rusty Burke, James Reasoner-pavilion 2:00-4:00 REH house open for tours 3:00-4:30 Wandering Star panel-Marcelo Anciano, Rusty Burke & Jim Keegan-pavilion 5:00 Leave for Caddo Peak meet at pavilion
SerialFest 2005 - May 13 to 15, 2005! SerialFest 2005 is a go! Send in your registration now and see THE MASKED RIDER, THE SECRET CODE, HOPE DIAMOND MYSTERY and more all on the big screen May 13-15 at the Newtown Theater! Also featuring tributes to JOHN MACK BROWN, JEAN ROGERS and RICHARD GREENE as Robin Hood, and a and a special eagerly awaited LOST SOUND SERIAL presentation! Location: The Newtown Theater (Daytime film screenings) 120 N. State Street, Newtown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, 215-968-3859 Films to be screened Friday 10am-5:30pm / Saturday 10am-5:30pm / Sunday 10am-2pm Dinners & additional activities Thursday/Friday/Saturday evenings. Visit the Serial Squadron website for the complete film schedule and registration details.
Wild Cat Books - Now available! TALES OF THE COWARD by KEVIN NOEL OLSON. From the author of the "Springheeled Jack" stories, this edition collects all of "The Coward" short stories that appeared in the pulpzines "Secret Sanctum" and "Strange Worlds". It was some of Kevin's earliest work, and some of his best, with a raw intensity that developed throughout the series. It features Malachai Niles and Salamander, two vengeance-driven anti-heroes that search for answers to their strange existence, leaving a trail of blood and bodies, tempered by justice, along the way. It also includes a previously unpublished tale, and all 12 of these adventures are now collected together for the first time, along with the original illustrations by Flatline, another contributor to these early magazines. 142 pages, 6"x9" Trade Paperback, $10.99 Available at: http://www.lulu.com/wildcatbooks
William Hope Hodgson - Now available! The Wandering Soul: Glimpses of a Life: A Compendium of Rare and Unpublished Works by William Hope Hodgson Compiled and Introduced by Jane Frank & with a Foreword by Mike Ashley The Wandering Soul is the book admirers of William Hope Hodgson (1877-1918) have been waiting for. Tragically killed in action at the end of World War One, Hodgson has acquired a formidable reputation for his classic weird writings, which include the monumental novel The Night Land, and atmospheric tales of maritime terror fuelled by his early adventures as an apprentice in the Merchant Navy. In The Wandering Soul, Jane Frank has compiled much previously unpublished and uncollected material, gleaned from editor and science-fiction historian Sam Moskowitz's 'Hodgson Archive'. Presented here are 'Coasts of Adventure', a collection of stories never before published in book form; Hodgson's 'Ship's Log' from one of his early sea voyages; photographs of Hodgson and his family; newly-discovered poetry; Hodgson's wonderful and historically important sea-going photographs; factual articles from contemporary newspapers and journals; and an unpublished slide lecture, all augmented by Jane Frank's carefully researched Introduction and a critical appreciation of the fiction and poetry. The wide-ranging elements of the book are melded together by William Hope Hodgson's uniquely potent imagination and vigorous approach to life, and their publication can only enhance our understanding and appreciation of his life and work. The Wandering Soul is published by PS Publishing and Tartarus Press in the form of a limited trade edition (500 copies), and a special limited edition (150 copies which will be slipcased along with a volume of Hodgson's unpublished poetry.) Please visit the PS Publishing website for further details. Please note: Copies are available from PS Publishing only.

15 April 2005
2005 WINDY CITY PULP & PAPERBACK CONVENTION (#5) April 22 (Friday) through April 24 (Sunday), 2005 Visit the WINDY CITY PULP & PAPERBACK CONVENTION website for complete details on the convention that is now just one week away! Click here for the listing of the Friday and Saturday auction items and here for a PDF file list detailing the Munsey/Popular Publications items that will be auctioned Saturday night.
The 8th Voyage of Sinbad Entertainment Weekly recently spoke with action director Rob Cohen who revealed new details about his planned live-action adventure "The 8th Voyage of Sinbad" project for Sony Pictures. Keanu Reeves will star as Sinbad the sailor, the legendary character from The Arabian Nights. In the film, set in eighth-century China, Sinbad and his shipmates embark on a quest to find the Lamp of Aladdin. Along the way, they meet a beautiful empress and battle fantastical creatures as well as a rebellious Chinese general who threatens the kingdom with his supernatural powers. Cohen looked up effects genius Ray Harryhausen and said, 'I really would be honored if you would be with me on this, since none of us would be here without you.' What Ray understood in movies like 1958's The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad was how to do action-fantasy-adventure at a time there was no CG. So he's coming out of retirement to be the creative consultantfor the film! Cohen thinks Ziyi Zhang (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) is the one for the job of the empress, and he's already talked with the likes of Jet Li, Djimon Hounsou and Hayden Christensen for roles as members of the crew. The film is aiming for a January start of shooting date and is aiming for a PG rating with the MPAA.
Adventure House - Coming in July! HIGH ADVENTURE # 83 This issue of HIGH ADVENTURE features Dan Fowler in his first great adventure in the pages of G-MEN. Fowler takes the trail of the grey gang, the band of masked killers who laugh at law while committing every heinous crime known to humanity in "Snatch." Magazine, Soft Cover, 7x10, 112 pages, B&W, SRP: $7.95 HIGH ADVENTURE # 83 is solicited in the May PREVIEWS (available April 20). The Diamond Item Code is MAY053189. Also solicited are: SAUCY MOVIE TALES SEPT 1936 The Diamond Item Code is MAY053195. DON WINSLOW OF THE NAVY MAY 1937 The Diamond Item Code is MAY053187. DON WINSLOW OF THE NAVY is available NOW direct from Adventure House.
THE ADVENTURES OF RED SONJA VOLUME 1: SHE-DEVIL WITH A SWORD TP - Coming in July! Featuring the art of Neal Adams, with new colors by Jose Villarubia! Containing the Red Sonja tales from Marvel Feature #1-7, presented in glorious, fully re-mastered color. These tales are where it all begins, and help set the stage for the current Red Sonja series from Dynamite! This is a must-have collection of never-before reprinted material. Plus, this volume will feature two covers by legendary artist, Frank Thorne! Plus, legendary Red Sonja writer and former Marvel Editor-in-Chief, Roy Thomas, provides an introduction! MASS MARKET EDITION - Soft Cover, 7x10, 176 pages, Full Color, SRP: $19.99 PREVIEWS EXCLUSIVE EDITION - Soft Cover, 7x10, 176 pages, Full Color, SRP: $19.99 RED SONJA VOLUME 1 is solicited in the May PREVIEWS (available April 20). The Diamond Item Code is MAY052658 for the mass-market edition. The Diamond Item Code is MAY052659 for the PREVIEWS Exxclusive Edition.
THE AGE OF CONAN VOLUME 3: SONGS OF VICTORY MMPB by Loren Coleman It's a dark time for the land of Cimmeria. The army of Kern has been scattered, and the barbarian tribes have been routed by the giant, Torgvall. Now, Kern must seek out the House of Crom, where rest a weapon of legend that can kill any man, beast, or god. For in his heart he know that not all glory lies on the battlefield, and that there is not sacrifice too great to the survival of his people. THE AGE OF CONAN VOLUME 3 is solicited in the May PREVIEWS (available April 20). The Diamond Item Code is MAY053289. Volume I will be available in bookstores on May 31. Volume II will be available in bookstores on June 28. Volume III will be available in bookstores on July 26.
THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF THE ESCAPIST #7 - Coming in July! Michael Chabon (W), Eduardo Barreto (A), Paul Hornschemeirer (C), and Brian Bolland (Cover) On sale July 13, Full Color, 80 pages, $8.95 This very special seventh issue of The Amazing Adventures of the Escapist features…no Escapist whatsoever! Instead, Pulitzer-winning author Michael Chabon takes over the entire issue with a sensational story introducing the mysterious Mr. Machine Gun, a character torn straight from the pages of Chabon’s The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay. Legendary duo Kavalier and Clay created scads of fascinating characters, and Mr. Machine Gun was one of the best. A former guinea pig of Nazi bioexperimentation, the WWII hero turned to a postwar career in politics. Now, dealing with an intensely personal tragedy, Senator “Ben Vanderslice” struggles to once more gain control over his murderous right hand! ESCAPIST #7 is solicited in the May PREVIEWS (available April 20). The Diamond Item Code is MAY050017.
BACK ISSUE! #11 - Coming in July! BACK ISSUE! #11 is a "Gods and Warriors" issue featuring, among others, Conan! Roy Thomas, Kurt Busiek, and Joe Jusko spill their guts in a meaty retrospective of Marvel’s Conan the Barbarian series, with tons of rare and classic art by John Buscema, Barry Windsor-Smith, Neal Adams, Jusko, and others. Sergio Aragonés and Mark Evanier chew the fat about Groo the Wanderer in a “Pro2Pro” interview, and Heavy Metal artist extraordinaire Arthur Suydam shares his insights and illustrations in an exclusive interview. Plus: “The Greatest Stories Never Told” investigates DC’s never-published King Arthur series by Gerry Conway and Nestor Redondo, unveiling for the first time several of Redondo’s glorious pages from the series; a Gods and Warriors “Rough Stuff” art gallery by Jack Kirby, Moebius, George Pérez, José Luis Garcia-Lopez, Don Heck, and others; the scoop on the secret artist who contributed to the 1976 clash of titans Superman vs. The Amazing Spider-Man; and a spotlight on Brian Bolland’s covers for 1980s British Annuals! With a striking painted Conan cover by Joe Jusko, recreating John Buscema’s frontispiece to Savage Sword of Conan #17! 100 pages - Ships July 2005 TwoMorrows Publishing BACK ISSUE! #11 will be solicited in the May PREVIEWS (available April 20). The Diamond Item Code is MAY053174.
CHRONICLES OF CONAN VOLUME 7 - Available in comic shops April 20th! CHRONICLES OF CONAN VOLUME 7: THE DWELLER IN THE POOL AND OTHER STORIES TPB ROY THOMAS (W) and JOHN BUSCEMA (A) Throughout his adventures across the mythic Hyperborean world, the barbarian called Conan crosses swords with many colorful and dangerous characters, somehow always finding himself on the wrong end of a wizard's wrath, or staring down the hungry jaws of a nightmarish beast. Proving himself more than a match for whatever comes his way, Conan has become one of the most enduring and strangely endearing characters in all of popular culture. The stories in this edition feature more tales of thrilling adventure and chilling betrayal as only writer Roy Thomas and artist John Buscema could deliver. Soft Cover, 160 pages, Full Color, 7"x 10", $15.95
THE CIMMERIAN VOLUME 2, NUMBER 2 - Updated! Last week I inadvertantly ran the wrong information for THE CIMMERIAN Volume 2, Number 2. The correct information is below and I apologize for the error. THE CIMMERIAN Volume 2, Number 2 (April 2005) is now available. Features Part One of our comprehensive coverage of the new five-volume set of Howard titles from the Bison Books imprint of the University of Nebraska Press, an article about improving pastiches by Rick McCollum, a special collectible offer for Cimmerian readers direct from Cross Plains, a meaty and contentious Lion's Den, and more. For more details visit THE CIMMERIAN website. THE CIMMERIAN Volume 2, Number 2 was printed in two editions. The deluxe edition, numbered 1–75, uses a black linen cover with foil-stamped blood-red text. The limited edition, numbered 76–225, uses a blood-red cover with solid black text. Deluxe edition: $15 each. Limited edition: $10 each. Shipping is $3 per every 4 books shipped in the US. Canadian shipping is $5, UK and Australian and French shipping is $10. Also now available is an Index to THE CIMMERIAN Volume 1. The Index features a comprehensive series of indexes and supplementary material covering the first year of THE CIMMERIAN (Volume 1, Numbers 1–5, 2004). Includes Title Indexes, Author and Subject Indexes, Contributor's Guide, a Catalogue of Art and more. This special index issue is only available in a deluxe edition, and is the perfect capstone to your deluxe Volume 1 collection. $15 each. Send check or money order, made payable to THE CIMMERIAN, to: THE CIMMERIAN P. O. Box 1245 DOWNEY, CA 90240
Conan #15 - Available in comic shops April 20th! Writer: Kurt Busiek Artist: Greg Ruth Cover Artist: Leinil Francis Yu Colorist: Dave Stewart Kurt Busiek reunites with artist Greg Ruth, whose art "is gorgeous to look at, conveying a different but equally lush vision of Cimmeria" according to The Fourth Rail. This story looks deeper into Conan's earliest adventures. Having crippled a bullying playmate, young Conan's become a solitary figure. Born on the battlefield and destined for greatness, the boy's shown a fierce independence and bravery. The adults don't know what to do with such a formidable child and the other boys are afraid of him. When he discovers an Aquilonian wizard and daughter living in the woods outside his village, Conan is torn between his respect for their rogue existence and his chance to become a real Cimmerian warrior by exposing the foreign spies. Publisher: Dark Horse Comics Publication Date: April 20, 2005 Format: Full color, 32 pages Price: $2.99
Conan #18 - Coming in July! Writer: Kurt Busiek, Fabian Nicieza Cover Artist: Cary Nord Penciller: Bruce Timm, John Severin Colorist: Dave Stewart Publisher: Dark Horse Comics Bruce Timm, the innovator whose work has changed the face of American animation as well as American comics, and John Severin, the legendary artist of EC's Two-Fisted Tales, Image's Desperados, and Vertigo's Caper, team up to give fan-favorite Cary Nord a month off. Busiek and Timm join forces on a brief, sadistic little adventure involving a girl, a wizard, a monster, and Conan's very morbid sense of humor. Busiek teams with sometimes writing partner Fabian Nicieza (Avengers/Thunderbolts) and the great John Severin to pick up a loose end from Conan #3, as Conan's destiny is misinterpreted by a series of luckless warriors and shameless opportunists, leading to nothing but misery. On sale July 20, Full Color, 32 pages, $2.99 CONAN #18 is solicited in the May PREVIEWS (available April 20). The Diamond Item Code is MAY050016.
Conan the Barbarian Special Edition - Available April 18th in the UK! Fox will release a two-disc Conan The Barbarian Special Edition box set in the UK on April the 18th. The film will be presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen format, with Dolby Digital 5.1 audio, and optional English HoH subtitles. The disc will feature several bonus features carried over from previous versions (including a commentary by Director / Writer John Miluis and star Arnold Schwarzenegger); the Conan Unchained: The Making of Conan documentary (53m); deleted scenes sequence (5m); special effects split-screen video (2m); The Conan Archives stills gallery (11m); cast and filmmaker biographies; production notes "and much more". In addition the new set will feature a "brand new documentary about sword and sorcery / fantasy films". Unlike Conan The Destroyer, the UK DVD releases of Barbarian have been uncut, even thought the film was cut for its theatrical and VHS releases. The film is owned by Universal in the US, and their Region 1 discs have mono audio. SRP for Fox's new Region 2 set will be £19.99. from zetaminor.com.
E-texts on the net this week The Shadow Magazine: Sorry, there's no new review this week. Next week's review will be "Crime Circus" from April 15, 1934. The Chinese Bell by John Olsen is this week's Two-Minute Shadow Mystery. Shadows of the Pulps: Nothing new this week. Blackmask Online: The Monster-God of Mamurth by Edmond Hamilton The Zayat Kiss by Sax Rohmer featuring the first appearance of Fu Manchu. Larry Estep-Online Pulps: Now with over 550 stories online! Dr. Martone's Microscope by Charles B. Stilson from ALL-STORY, March 27, 1920 Wizard of Forlorn Gap by Lon Williams from REAL WESTERN STORIES, April 1954
Flesk Publications - Mark Schultz: Various Drawings! Finally, and with great anticipation, a selection of Mark Schultz’s artwork has been collected into Mark Schultz: Various Drawings! The majority of these pieces have never been published. Over 45 preliminaries, sketches, and finished brush and ink pieces are showcased. Most are full page, to reveal the various magical stages of Marks’ imaginative approach. Fans of Hannah Dundee and Schultz’s gorgeous women will be delighted, as new pieces were created especially for this book! Stunning new images from Xenozoic Tales fill much of the volume as well, along with private commissions, a previously unpublished cover for SubHuman, an oversized gatefold of a breathtaking dinosaur scene, and amazing pieces from recent projects! Flesk Publications Mark Schultz is one of the fine illustrators who worked on Wandering Star's (and now, Del Rey's) Robert E. Howard volumes.
G.I. SPY #1 - Coming in July! by Andrew Cosby and Matt Haley The Nazis have discovered something buried deep in the Antarctic; something that could forever turn the tide of World War II. A beautiful, by-the-book British Intelligence operative, and Jack Shepherd, secret-agent-in-training, embark on their first mission to fight a secret battle against the greatest enemy the world has never known. NOTE: Not available in Germany. 32 pages, Full Color, (1 of 3), SRP: $3.99 G.I. SPY #1 is solicited in the May PREVIEWS (available April 20). The Diamond Item Code is MAY052604. The cover shown at the right is not the actual cover.
IRON GHOST #1 - Available in comic shops April 20th! Written by Chuck Dixon with art by Sergio Cariello. Cover by Flint Henry & Sergio Cariello IRON GHOST is a six issue mini-series published by Across The Pond Comics and distributed by Image Comics. With the Third Reich on the brink of collapse, someone is killing German officers and foot soldiers guilty of crimes that would go unpunished. Inspectors Tannhauser and Volz are assigned to find and capture the mysterious vigilante known as the Iron Ghost. With no clues besides a tattered piece of paper with a single word, Tannhauser and Volz are forced to look at every possible suspect—including one of their own. A blistering action mystery written by Chuck Dixon (Nightwing, El Cazador, Robin) with art by Sergio Cariello (Sojourn, Azrael). Click here for more information and a look at the artwork. April 20, 2005, 32 pages, Full Color, $2.95
Jack Williamson Announced at the 29th Annual Jack Williamson Lectureship on March 2nd, Jack Williamson has sold the short story, "Ghost Town" to Darryl Schweitzer at WEIRD TALES.
KONG: KING OF SKULL ISLAND TPB - Coming in August! JOE DEVITO (Created and illustrated) and BRAD STRICKLAND (W) In 1933, American showman Carl Denham returned from a mysterious, hidden island with a priceless treasure. A treasure not gold or jewels, but the island’s barbaric god, a monstrous anthropoid called “Kong.” The savage giant escaped and wreaked havoc among the man-made canyons of Manhattan, but within hours of the giant ape’s death his body—and Carl Denham—disappeared. Twenty-five years later, the son of Carl Denham makes a shocking discovery that leads him back to the site of his father’s greatest adventure and to the answers that will unlock the century's greatest mystery and history’s greatest miracle. Dark Horse Books Authorized by the Cooper Estate and based on the original novel that inspired the all-time classic film. This new novel acts as both prequel and sequel to the classic fantasy tale, King Kong. Acclaimed fantasy artist Joe DeVito and top fantasy and science-fiction writer Brad Strickland join forces to make for an interactive visual-narrative storytelling experience unlike any other. On sale August 31, Soft Cover, 176 pages, Full Color, 8 1/2" x 11", $19.95 KONG: KING OF SKULL ISLAND TPB is solicited in the May PREVIEWS (available April 20). The Diamond Item Code is MAY050019. The hardcover edition is also still available for $24.95 The Diamond Item Code is MAY050020 or JUL040031 for reorders.
Moonstone Books - Coming in July/August! THE PHANTOM #8 by Raab, Quinn, Wheaton, & Bucco Part 2 of 2. High tech Sky Pirates have The Phantom and several of the world's wealthiest men prisoner in their lair. Will their employers pay the impossibly-high ransom before it's too late? And how can the shackled Phantom shake loose both his chains and the horrible secret of the Sky Queen before he is buried beneath the bodies of the dead? 32 pages, Full Color, SRP: $3.50 THE PHANTOM #8 is solicited in the May PREVIEWS (available April 20). The Diamond Item Code is MAY052866.
Rafael Sabatini - Available April 19th! Two of Sabatini's swashbuckling films, The Sea Hawk and Captain Blood, will be available on DVD in April. Captain Blood, stars Basil Rathbone, Errol Flynn, Lionel Atwill, and Olivia de Havilland. This rousing adventure chronicles the travails of Peter Blood (Flynn), a righteous doctor unjustly sold into slavery for treating the wounds of rebels, a kind of British Dr. Mudd. Sent to a Jamaican plantation where he toils under the brutal whip of Lionel Atwill and seethes with passion for his fair niece (the astonishingly beautiful Olivia de Havilland), he escapes from bondage with his fellow prisoners and becomes the gentleman rogue pirate of the Caribbean. The Sea Hawk, stars Errol Flynn, Brenda Marshall, and Claude Rains. Flynn plays the dashing gentleman pirate as dedicated patriot, looting Spanish ships for English coffers with the private blessing of Queen Elizabeth (Flora Robson, reprising the role from Fire over England). The film opens with a rousing sea battle: broadside cannon fire sends masts falling and splinters a-flying before Flynn's men take their Spanish quarry in a furious shipboard cutlass battle. The fearless fighter becomes a stumbling schoolboy when he falls for the Spanish ambassador's niece, but he's back in his element when he sails to the New World for treasure and lands in the middle of a deadly conspiracy. Both films will be available April 19th with a Suggested Retail price of $19.95.
RED SONJA #2 - Coming in July! by Oeming, Carey, Rubi, Rodriguez & Isanove Bigger than Issue #1! Following last issue's cliffhanger ending, the new tales of Sonja continue from Dynamite, Carey, Oeming, Rubi, Isanove, Rodriguez and the best of the best cover artists! In this issue, the drama continues to unfold as new foes are met, new allies found, and new challenges rise to meet the She-Devil With a Sword! When the curtain is ultimately pulled back, what evil will truly be revealed? Featuring covers by (and shipping in equal increments): J.G. Jones (Wanted), Art Adams, Mel Rubi (A Wraparound cover at no extra cost), and legendary Red Sonja artist, Frank Brunner (colored by Jose Villarubia)! And, as if that weren't enough, a 1-in-25 cover by Billy Tan (X-23), and a 1-in-65 alternate cover with painted art by Estaban Maroto and Jose Villarubia, will be inserted amongst copies shipped! Red Sonja #2 will also have feature a special bonus prelude back-up to the upcoming Red Sonja vs. Thulsa Doom! Yes, that Thulsa Doom! The villain portrayed by James Earl Jones in the classic Conan movie! Written by filmmaker Luke Lieberman and NY Times best-selling author (and fan-favorite comic writer) Peter David, this story will serve as a lead-in to Sonja's first appearance in "Classic" Conan #23 - and it all begins in Red Sonja #2 as part of this special preview! Best of all, this issue contains 40 pages of story and art - bigger than issue #1 - all for the same price of just $2.99! For the "discriminating collector," this issue is also available in a special Mel Rubi-drawn, Richard Isanove-colored "Fiery Red Foil" cover edition. REGULAR 40 pages, Full Color, SRP: $2.99 FIERY RED FOIL - 40 pages, Full Color, Inquire about price RED SONJA #2 is solicited in the May PREVIEWS (available April 20). The Diamond Item Code is MAY052654 for the Regular Edition. The Diamond Item Code is MAY052657 for the Fiery Red Foil Edition.
RED SONJA #1- MICHAEL TURNER LITHOGRAPH - Coming in July! by Michael Turner Fathom creator and artist Michael Turner's cover to Red Sonja #1 is now available as a Dynamite Lithograph! Measuring 13" x 19" and printed on high quality paper, this litho is a must-have for your collection! Also available signed by Turner. REGULAR-Lithograph, 18 x 24, FC SRP: $19.99 SIGNED-Lithograph, 18 x 24, FC SRP: $69.99 RED SONJA #1 Lithograph is solicited in the May PREVIEWS (available April 20). The Diamond Item Code is MAY052660 for the Regular Edition. The Diamond Item Code is MAY052661 for the Signed Edition.
SPECTRUM SUPER SPECIAL #3 - Coming in July! This squarebound, giant-size issue (over 100 pages!), a follow-up to the Conan-themed #2, features all-new interviews with writers and artists talking about their work over the years on Robert E. Howard projects: Frank Brunner (Bran Mak Morn), Dave Sim (REH, Cerebus), Roy Thomas (Marvel's REH), and Alan Weiss (Solomon Kane); plus interviews with Gary Gianni (Bran Mak Morn, Solomon Kane) and Kevin Sorbo (Kull, Hercules) from previous sold-out issues of Spectrum. (Win-Mill Productions) Magazine, 100 pages, B&W, $14.95 SPECTRUM SUPER SPECIAL #3 is solicited in the May PREVIEWS (available April 20). The Diamond Item Code is MAY053196. Note: This is a re-solicitation.
Wildside Press - Coming in June! Wildside Press has announced the forthcoming release of a long-sought-after Edgar Rice Burroughs collectible . . . The Tarzan Twins! Originally written for the children's market and published by the P.F. Volland Company in 1927, this new edition of The Tarzan Twins features introductions by both Edgar Rice Burroughs and Mike Resnick! Find out more, as two young boys are invited to Tarzan's African estate -- when and where they bite off more than they can chew, lost in a jungle full of hungry beasts -- and hungry cannibals! Available for advance ordering in a limited-edition hardcover and scheduled for an early June release for $24.95. Please order your copies now, as we don't really expect to stay in stock on this, in hardcover, for long!
ZORRO STATUE - Coming in August/September! Electric Tiki Presents a very special tribute to one of the world's favorite heroes, Zorro. He stands 12" tall, heroically poised atop a detailed adobe building with red Spanish tiles, brandishing his saber of justice and ready to defend the rights of the weak and powerless, taking on the villains who would do them wrong. Authentically detailed and a must for all Zorro fans young and old. Each statue come hand painted, ready to display. This extra special edition is strictly limited to 500 pieces. Includes Certificate of Authenticity and comes in a special decorated collector box! Based on a design sketch by Alex Toth. Sculpted by Ruben Procopio. Tentatively scheduled to ship in August/September 2005. Electric Tiki is accepting pre-orders for this statue now. The SRP is $150 and the edition size is only 500. Click here for a larger image. The Zorro statue is solicited in the May PREVIEWS (available April 20). The Diamond Item Code is MAY053707.
ZORRO #3 - Coming in July! Written by Don Mcgregor with art by Sidney Lima SCARS: Part Three (of 3)—The action-packed conclusion to "Scars" features the swashbuckling swordsman on skis! But this ain't no vacation! If that isn't enough, Zorro also has to contend with an angry wolfpack, a duel-to-the death on a cracking ice bridge with Ripklaw, and a deadly avalanche! 32 pages, Full Color, SRP: $2.95 Papercutz is planning quarterly Zorro graphic novels collecting the story serialized in the new comics. Click here and here for a look at the art by Sidney Lima. Lima's style combines the best elements of many top fan favorite superhero artists with a manga influence. ZORRO #3 is solicited in the May PREVIEWS (available April 20). The Diamond Item Code is MAY052885.

08 April 2005
2005 Cimmerian Awards As part of the ongoing efforts of The Cimmerian to jump-start Howardian scholarship, editor Leo Grin has created a set of awards designed to highlight the most notable events in the field. The nominees span the whole of Howard fandom. The voters are the readers and contributors of The Cimmerian, a group that includes most of the best and brightest minds in Howardia. The awards themselves are custom-made and cool as hell, well worth winning. Cimmerian readers are urged to participate in what is sure to become a fun yearly event. Voting is open to all readers of The Cimmerian. Visit The Cimmerian website for details on the nominees and how to cast your vote.
Adventure House - Now available! A new series of complete pulp replica/reprints. Except these are printed on acid-free paper and guaranteed not to crumble into dust while you read them. Adventure House will bring you some of the scarcest pulps imaginable in this great new series, reprinting them as the reading public saw them on the newsstands, at a fraction of their current collectors prices. Pulp replica - full color covers, complete with all ads, illustrations and facsimile pages. Now available! DON WINSLOW OF THE NAVY - May 1937 7x10, 96 pages, $14.95 SAUCY MOVIE TALES - June 1936 Cover Artist: Norman Saunders 7x10, 96 pages, $14.95 Coming soon! SAUCY MOVIE TALES August 1936 Cover Artist: Norman Saunders 7x10, 96 pages, $14.95 SAUCY MOVIE TALES December 1936 Cover Artist: Norman Saunders 7x10, 96 pages, $14.95 SPICY ADVENTURE STORIES September 1941 Cover Artist: H. J. Ward 7x10, 128 pages, $14.95 SAUCY MOVIE TALES - September 1936 Cover Artist: Norman Saunders 7x10, 96 pages, $14.95 Still available: SAUCY MOVIE TALES July 1936 Cover Artist: Norman Saunders 7x10, 96 pages, $14.95 SPICY MYSTERY STORIES February 1938 Cover Artist: H. Parkhurst 7x10, 128pages, $14.95 SPICY MYSTERY STORIES May 1936 Cover Artist: H.J. Ward 7x10, 128 pages, $14.95
Bison Books - Now available! Master of Adventure: The Worlds of Edgar Rice Burroughs by Richard A. Lupoff is now available. Foreword by Michael Moorcock Preface by Henry Hardy Heins Introduction to the Bison Book Edition by the author An essay by Phillip R. Burger 317 pages, illustrated, $16.95 Forthcoming from Bison is Karel Capek's THE ABSOLUTE AT LARGE and Ray Cumming's THE GIRL IN THE GOLDEN ATOM, originally published in the Munsey magazines.
Black Dog Books - Two new titles should be available at Windy City Con! Black Dog Books has two new booklets coming that will hopefully be back from the printers in time for Windy City Con. THE CRIMSON BLIGHT by Arthur J. Burks Staple-spined, Full color cover. 64 pages, $10 What can account for the strange happenings on the Arahona cane plantation? Cro-magnon men? Dinosaurs, here in the Caribbean? See man battle ancient brute strength for the outcome of the world in this complete novel originally serialized in THRILLING ADVENTURES. TALES OF THE JUNGLE by L. Patrick Greene Staple-spined, Full color cover. 64 pages, $10 Three jungle-set works of retribution, "Cobwebs," "Yellow" and "Jungle Fate" collected from the rare pulp, MAN STORIES. These titles should be available at the WINDY CITY PULP & PAPERBACK CONVENTION and will also be available from Mike Chomko, Vintage Library, and Adventure House after publication. Black Dog Books is in the process of moving, so these titles cannot be ordered direct at this time. Effective May 1, 2005 all BDB orders should be sent to the new address: Black Dog Books Tom Roberts 1115 Pine Meadows Court Normal, IL 61761 blackdogbooks_tomroberts@yahoo.com
BLOOD 'N' THUNDER #10 - Coming in late April! Leading the issue will be editor Ed Hulse's "The Glories of SHORT STORIES," a "less than definitive history" of the magazine. It's a personal appreciation packed with information about this underrated pulp and the series characters that populated it. Focusing on issues from the 20s and 30s, the article covers such prolific SHORT STORIES contributors as Clarence Mulford, L. Patrick Greene, W. C. Tuttle, James B. Hendryx, J. D. Newsom, William MacLeod Raine, and Frank Richardson Pierce. The article is illustrated with numerous covers and spot illustrations from the magazine's peak years. Will Murray contributes "Archie Bittner and THE SPIDER," an intriguing look at the career of pulp scribe Wayne Rogers, whose checkered past could itself have inspired a dandy rough-paper yarn. Gary Lovisi is on board with "Pirates in Paperback," a survey of collectible paperbound editions of novels about buccaneers. Christopher Malins weighs in with a profile of Charles B. Stilson, pioneering writer of "scientific romances" for the early Munsey pulps. Also included is Stilson's own ending that he personally created for ERB's "Tarzan of the Apes." Also in this issue, BNT presents the motion picture "treatment" of THE ELECTRIC MAN, a horror movie intended for production in 1936 with Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi. In "The Classic That Might Have Been," a fact-filled introduction to this rare document, author and film historian John Soister describes the circumstances behind the treatment's shelving and its subsequent reworking for the 1941 B-movie MAN-MADE MONSTER, starring Lon Chaney, Jr. and Lionel Atwill. BLOOD 'N' THUNDER #10 will be available in late April at the Windy City Pulp and Paperback Show and from dealers after Ed returns from the convention. Visit the BLOOD 'N' THUNDER website at http://www.geocities.com/poppub/
Cacahuete Press - Now available! THE MAN FROM SOMEWHERE by Jack Williamson is now available. This is a 27 page softcover chapbook signed by author Jack Williamson. THE MAN FROM SOMEWHERE is the first publication from Rick Hauptmann's new publishing venture Cacahuete Press. "Cacahuete" (pronounced: "kha-kha-wha-tee") is Spanish for "peanut." THE MAN FROM SOMEWHERE is produced in a numbered edition of 200 copies, each signed by the author, this 8.5" x 5.5" chapbook is the first reprint and first seperate publication of a novelette from Asimov's Science Fiction, Oct/Nov, 2003. Haffner Press has a small quantity of these for sale for $10.00 (USD) each (add $2.50 s/h). Haffner Press, 5005 Crooks Road, Suite 35, Royal Oak, MI 48073-1239 (248) 288-4765, info@haffnerpress.com
THE CIMMERIAN VOLUME 2, NUMBER 2 - Now available! THE CIMMERIAN Volume 2, Number 2 (April 2005) is now available. Features Part One of our comprehensive coverage of the new five-volume set of Howard titles from the Bison Books imprint of the University of Nebraska Press, an article about improving pastiches by Rick McCollum, a special collectible offer for Cimmerian readers direct from Cross Plains, a meaty and contentious Lion's Den, and more. THE CIMMERIAN Volume 2, Number 2 was printed in two editions. The deluxe edition, numbered 1–75, uses a black linen cover with foil-stamped blood-red text. The limited edition, numbered 76–225, uses a blood-red cover with solid black text. Deluxe edition: $15 each. Limited edition: $10 each. Shipping is $3 per every 4 books shipped in the US. Canadian shipping is $5, UK and Australian and French shipping is $10. Also now available is an Index to THE CIMMERIAN Volume 1. The Index features a comprehensive series of indexes and supplementary material covering the first year of THE CIMMERIAN (Volume 1, Numbers 1–5, 2004). Includes Title Indexes, Author and Subject Indexes, Contributor's Guide, a Catalogue of Art and more. This special index issue is only available in a deluxe edition, and is the perfect capstone to your deluxe Volume 1 collection. $15 each. Send check or money order, made payable to THE CIMMERIAN, to: THE CIMMERIAN P. O. Box 1245 DOWNEY, CA 90240
CLASSIC COMIC BOOK CHARACTERS #2: CONAN - Delayed until October 5th! Dark Horse Comic's new Classic Comic Book Characters series will feature characters from a variety of publishers’ books, not just Dark Horse’s. For our second release we are very pleased to present one of the all-time favorite characters, Robert E. Howard’s Conan. Although Conan first appeared in the pulp magazines of the 1930’s, it was his debut as a comic book character in the 1970’s that really rekindled interest in the character. The comic series was groundbreaking in many ways, elevating the standard of artwork and pushing the envelope of content with its savage approach to the “sword and sorcery” genre. Our statue is inspired by that version of Conan, but also recalls the 1940’s sculpting and painting style of “syroco” statues with a result which Craig Yoe describes as “primitive but charming”. 5" tall, fully-painted, packaged in a litho-printed full-color tin box and included is a vintage-style pinback button, and booklet about the character and his creator, limited to 750 pieces, $49.95.
Conan #18 - Coming in July! Writer: Kurt Busiek, Fabian Nicieza Cover Artist: Cary Nord Penciller: Bruce Timm, John Severin Colorist: Dave Stewart Publisher: Dark Horse Comics Bruce Timm, the innovator whose work has changed the face of American animation as well as American comics, and John Severin, the legendary artist of EC's Two-Fisted Tales, Image's Desperados, and Vertigo's Caper, team up to give fan-favorite Cary Nord a month off. Busiek and Timm join forces on a brief, sadistic little adventure involving a girl, a wizard, a monster, and Conan's very morbid sense of humor. Busiek teams with sometimes writing partner Fabian Nicieza (Avengers/Thunderbolts) and the great John Severin to pick up a loose end from Conan #3, as Conan's destiny is misinterpreted by a series of luckless warriors and shameless opportunists, leading to nothing but misery.
CONAN AND THE JEWELS OF GWAHLUR #1 (of 3) - In comic shops April 13th! P. Craig Russell (Writer/Artist) and Lovern Kindzierski (Colorist) Full Color, 32 pages, $2.99 Dark Horse Comics She's made a string of bad choices, and now a young woman has let herself become the pawn of mercenaries-and one of those mercenaries is Conan of Cimmeria. As the former dancing girl poses as the dead oracle of a primitive cult, Conan puts his military and thieving experience together in one of his last adventures before becoming King. P. Craig Russell, the award-winning artist who's made his reputation adapting literature to comics, takes the greatest hero to ever make the leap from books to comics in this dazzling adaptation. With stories like The Jewels of Gwahlur, Robert E. Howard invented the genre of sword and sorcery fiction, and no matter how many times the master has been imitated, stories like this one have not been surpassed. P. Craig Russell, Eisner Award-winner, is known for tales like Elric: Stormbringer and Ring of the Nibelung and his collaboration with Neil Gaiman on Murder Mysteries. JEWELS OF GWAHLUR is a direct adaptation of a Howard Conan story.
DANCE OF DEATH - New Agent Pendergast novel in June! DANCE OF DEATH by Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child will be available June 14th. Agent Pendergast has become one of crime fiction’s most endearing characters. His greatest enemy is one who has stalked him all of his life, his cunning and diabolical brother Diogenes. And Diogenes has thrown down the gauntlet. Now, several of the people closest to Pendergast are viciously murdered, and Pendergast is framed for the deeds. On the run from federal authorities, with only the help of his old friend NYPD Lieutenant Vincent D’Agosta, Pendergast must stop his brother. But how can he stop a man that is his intellectual equal--one who has had 20 years to plan the world’s most horrendous crime? Hardcover: 464 pages Publisher: Warner Books ISBN: 0446576972 $25.95
E-texts on the net this week The Shadow Magazine: Crime Rides the Sea from January 15, 1939 is reviewed this week. Shadows in the Rain by Jonathan Blade is this week's Two-Minute Shadow Mystery. Shadows of the Pulps: Nothing new this week. Blackmask Online: Nothing new this week. Larry Estep-Online Pulps: Now with over 550 stories online! Nothing new this week.
Flesk Publications Flesk Publications will be releasing a book on the work of Mark Schultz, one of the fine illustrators who worked on Wandering Star's (and now, Del Rey's) Robert E. Howard volumes. Great care is being taken to reproduce the originals as faithfully as possible, with Mark’s discerning eye approving every aspect of the book. The book will be available in July 2005. Coming this fall is a new James Bama book focusing on his popular culture work, including Doc Savage. Brian Cane, who wrote the recent Hal Foster biography for Vanguard Productions, is working on it with the cooperation of James Bama. Thanks to Monte Herridge and Mike Chomko for the information.
Jack Williamson THE STONEHENGE GATE by Jack Williamson has been delayed until August 2005. TOR Books This is a harcover release. 320 pages ISBN: 0765308975 $24.95
James Clemens - New novel due July 5th! From national bestselling author James Clemens, whose Wit'Ch novels have been compared to the fantasies of Guy Gavriel Kay and George R. R. Martin, comes the first novel in a new series-about a world where mysterious gods hold powerful secrets, knights walk in the shadows, and demons claw up from the darkness, as one man struggles to prove he didn't kill a god. Clemens is also published under the name James Rollins. Hardcover: 480 pages Publisher: Roc Hardcover (July 5, 2005) ISBN: 0451459946 $24.95
James Rollins - New novel due April 26th! The bestselling master of astonishing adventure James Rollins delivers his most relentlessly exciting page-turner to date -- a gripping and explosive novel of an ancient conspiracy to create a terrifying new world order out of the ashes of modern civilization. The crime is inhumanly cruel with horrific consequences both unthinkable and inevitable. During a service at a cathedral in Cologne, Germany, a band of armed intruders dressed in monks' robes unleash a nightmare of blood and terror, ruthlessly gunning down worshippers and clergy alike. The killers haven't come for the church's gold and valuable artwork, but for a priceless treasure secreted within: the preserved bones of the Three Magi who once came to pay homage to a newborn savior. As they flee the carnage they have wrought, they carry a prize that could reshape the world. The Vatican is in turmoil, and Lieutenant Rachel Verona of Rome's carabinieri is assigned to lead the investigation. But no ordinary police organization alone can deal with the bizarre theft and massacre, and SIGMA Force -- an elite covert arm of the U.S. Defense Department -- is called in under the command of Grayson Pierce. New to SIGMA, Pierce assembles a crack team of scientific and Special Forces operatives to unravel the mystery of the stolen bones, and together they set out on a twisting trail through a labyrinth of clues and dark revelations that carry them to the sites of the Seven Wonders of the World -- and to the doorstep of the mystical and terrifying Dragon Court. An ancient, secret fraternity of alchemists and assassins, the master-adepts of the Dragon Court have plans for the sacred remains that will alter the future of humankind in devastating ways that only the maddest of zealots could desire -- and they will let nothing and no one stand in their way. Suddenly Pierce, Verona, and the SIGMA team are the hunted as well as the hunters, forced to use every skill they possess to survive as they follow the bones to the ultimate confrontation between darkness and light -- in a lost place of history where science and religion will unite to unleash a horror not seen since the beginning of time. Hardcover: 448 pages Publisher: William Morrow ISBN: 0060763876 $24.95 You can read the opening prologue on James Rollins website.
Leisure Books - Walt Slade and Jim Hatfield Available this month is TERROR STALKS THE BORDER, by Bradford Scott. It is a collection of two short novels featuring Texas Rangers Walt Slade and Jim Hatfield. Slade might sing like a nightingale, but he can put a bullet through a man without missing a note. Yet Slade will need much more than a pretty voice and quick reflexes to catch the Dark Riders gang. In the title novella, ranger Jim Hatfield's only companion and most trusted ally is his sorrel, Goldy. Known as "The Lone Wolf," Hatfield must single-handedly bring down a vicious criminal organization terrorizing a Texas border, before he becomes one of their victims. The cost is $5.99. http://www.dorchesterpub.com/
Lost in Space Season 3,Volume 2 DVD Box Set It was previously announced that Lost In Space - Season 3, Volume 2 would be available in mid-June. This date has turned out to be incorrect. It now appears that the actual release date for Lost In Space - Season 3, Volume 2 will be a month later, on July 19th. The SRP is $29.95.
Mike Chomko - April 2005 UPdate newsletter is now available! Mike's April 2005 Update newsletter is also now available. Click here to view/download it. Orders over $20 are discounted 10%. Shipping is between $2-6, depending on the weight of your order (media mail or bound printed matter). Michael Chomko, 2217 W. Fairview Street, Allentown, PA 18104-6542 Contact Mike by email at chomko@enter.net
Original Shadow Reproduction by David Burton The reproduction of the George Rozen cover to the 1932 issue of THE SHADOW MAGAZINE, "The Crime Cult" is now complete in can be seen in my Originals For Sale page. Its on sale NOW. Follow the links below to bring to you either my web site or the auction page. The reserve price is $25.00 Link to Originals For Sale page: http://www.davidburtonart.net/catalog.html Link to the auction page: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7313086060
POLAR SHIFT - New Clive Cussler in July! Polar shift: It is the name for a phenomenon that may have occurred many times in the past. At the very least, it disorients birds and animals and damages electrical equipment. At its worst, it causes massive eruptions, earthquakes, and climatic changes. At its very worst, it would mean the obliteration of all living matter, and if that happens-exit Earth. Sixty years ago, an eccentric Hungarian genius discovered how to artificially trigger such a shift, but then his work was lost, or so it was thought. Now, the charismatic leader of an anti-globalization group plans to use the work to give the world's industrialized nations a small jolt, then reverse the shift back again. The only problem is, it cannot be reversed. Once the shift starts, there is nothing anyone can do about it. Austin, Zavala, and the rest of the NUMA Special Assignments Team certainly have faced dire situations before, but never have they encountered anything like this. This time . . . even they may be too late. Putnam Hardcover Street date: July 26, 2005 ISBN: 0399152717 $26.95
TOM STRONG #32 - In comic shops April 13th! Written by Michael Moorcock, Art and cover by Jerry Ordway The conclusion of a thrilling 2-part story by legendary author Michael Moorcock and artist Jerry Ordway! Tom Strong and Solomon are recruited on a mission to save the multiverse. But has their information been tainted?. Are they really working on the side of the angels? And who is the mysterious Count Zodiac? 32 pages, Full Color, $2.99
Visco Release 2.10 April 5th, 2005 Only one new title - but it just happens to be Astounding/Analog, the longest running of all magazines, 898 issues to April 2005, of which I have 892 here, by far the most comprehensive visual coverage of ASF anywhere on the Net. The missing six issues are all recent, from 2002-2004, and if any helpful person is able to provide me with scans of them I would be very grateful. Please go to the wants list to see them detailed. They are: 2002 Jul/Aug; 2003 Jan, Jun, Jul/Aug; 2004 Sept. My thanks to Ned Brooks and Yutaka Morita who provided me with many of the later scans, though possibly so long ago now that they have forgotten about it. I hope to update Visco fairly regularly through the spring and summer, alternating large U.S. magazines past and present with less well known titles and more British oddities and reprint editions. I also have some entirely new content coming soon, a compendium of useless but entertaining statistics in the style of the Guiness Book of Records. Keep looking in to see what has changed. Visco can be found at http://www.sfcovers.net
Wildside Press - Now available! Operator #5: Winged Hordes of the Yellow Vulture, by Curtis Steele $13.95, 132 pages, ISBN: 0-8095-1195-9 Over the western part of the United States fell the dark, terrible cloud of the most incredible invasion in history. Before this inhuman, scientific attack of Asia's barbaric army, Americans died agonizingly in a deliberately released leprosy plague! As one great western city after another was wiped out, and the invading army's ranks were overwhelmingly swelled by drugged American recruits, Operator 5 and his fighting patriots were slowly beaten back. Then came the showdown -- when a handful of gallant sons of Liberty for the last time challenged a Yellow despot in order that America might still go free! Amazon Nights, by Arthur O. Friel $19.95, 348 pages, ISBN: 0-8095-1198-3 (trade paperback) $39.95, 348 pages, ISBN: 0-8095-1199-1 (hardcover) When one thinks of the classic adventure-story authors of the pulp fiction era, H. Rider Haggard, Talbot Mundy, and Rafael Sabatini may come first to mind. But Arthur O. Friel's stellar contributions -- particularly his stories featuring Lourenco and Pedro, two workers on a rubber-tree plantation in the Amazon Jungle. Their adventures in the Amazon's mysterious back-country certainly deserve honorable mention. Here are tales of peril and last-minute rescue, brutal savages and men of honor, snake-worshipping armies and half-ape Lost Races—and many more! For in the shadows of the rain-forest, many evils lurk . . . human and otherwise! Features a new introduction by Darrell Schweitzer, eight short stories, and The Jararaca, a complete novel. The incredible wrap-around jacket art is by Mark Wheatley. Click here to see a larger cover image. The Phantom Detective #1 (February 1933) $19.95, 131 pages, ISBN: 0-8095-1151-7 (pulp size) A facsimile reprint of the very first issue of the classic pulp magazine, THE PHANTOM DETECTIVE. (Original publication date: February 1933.) This issue contains a complete novel about The Phantom Detective ("The Emperor of Death"), plus 3 short stories and an editorial ("Introducing the Phantom Detective"). A Wildside Pulp Classic!

01 April 2005

2005 Film Release Dates

April 01,2005
April 08, 2005
April 29, 2005
May 19, 2005
June 17, 2005
June 29, 2005
July 8, 2005
July 15, 2005
July 29, 2005
August TBA, 2005
September 30, 2005
October 28, 2005
November 4, 2005
December 14, 2005

SIN CITY
SAHARA
THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY
STAR WARS: EPISODE 3
BATMAN BEGINS
WAR OF THE WORLDS
FANTASTIC FOUR
CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY
STEALTH
A SOUND OF THUNDER
SERENITY
THE LEGEND OF ZORRO
V FOR VENDETTA
KING KONG

2005 WINDY CITY PULP & PAPERBACK CONVENTION (#5)
April 22 (Friday) through April 24 (Sunday), 2005
http://www.windycitypulpandpaper.com

Now at a New Hotel:
THE RAMADA PLAZA HOTEL O'HARE
6600 North Mannheim Rd.
Rosemont, IL 60018
Hotel Phone # (847) 827-5131
http://www.ramadaplazaohare.com (Please mention the con when booking rooms!)

For our fifth anniversary, we're trying to put on our best show yet. The most obvious change is that we've moved to a new hotel, with larger exhibit space. And moved one month later, for better spring weather!

MEMBERSHIPS: Memberships are $25 for all three days (increasing to $30 after April 1, 2005), $20 for Friday only, $20 for Saturday only, and $10 for Sunday only. Please note that we can now accept payments online through paypal (account pulpvault@msn.com). If you register before April 1, 2005, your membership badge will be mailed to you, allowing you to by-pass the registration line and pick up your program book and other materials at your convenience. ALL ATTENDEES WHO PURCHASE THREE DAY MEMBERSHIPS WILL ALSO RECEIVE A FREE CONVENTION CANVAS BAG, CONTAINING FREE BOOKS AND OTHER GOODIES FROM OUR DEALERS.

DEALER INFO: Dealer setup begins Friday at 10am - the dealer room is open to the public from 2-6 pm Friday, 9 am-5 pm Saturday and 9 am-4pm Sunday. For dealers, tables are now 8' long, instead of the 6' tables we had at our old hotel. Each table includes: 1 tablecloth and 2 chairs. WALL TABLES ARE SOLD OUT! (If you want to be added to the waitlist for wall tables, let us know, but we don't expect any to open up at this time.) Until April 1, 2005, full island tables are $55 and half island tables are $35; after April 1, 2005, rates increase to $65 for full and $40 for half. There is no access to the room on Thursday. IMPORTANT NOTE: Each dealer and dealer's helper must also buy a membership.

GUEST OF HONOR: ERNEST "DARCY" CHIRIACKA CONFIRMED AS GUEST OF HONOR!
Chiriacka began his pulp career in 1940 and by the time it was over in the 1950s, he had painted over 500 covers for Ace, Dell, Popular, Street & Smith, and Thrilling Publications. His paperback cover career, which began in 1948 and ran until 1966, found him painting covers for Avon Books, Cardinal Editions, Pocket Books, Century Publications, Dell Paperbacks, Gold Medal, Hillman Publications, Perma Books, and Popular Library. In 1950 he broke into the slicks and became a prolific contributor there as well, in addition to calendar pin-up work for Esquire in the early 1950s. Ultimately he moved into the fine art field. The GoH presentation will be at 7 pm Saturday evening, and several of his original paintings will be on display in our art show on Saturday and Sunday. There will also be an autograph session at 3 pm on Saturday afternoon, which will include other attending authors and artists signing. See our website for details as they develop of other professionals who'll be signing.

AUCTION: The auction will kick off Saturday at 8 pm. In addition to pulps, paperbacks and other material submitted by attendees, this year's auction will feature part two of The Incredible, Once-in-a-Lifetime Munsey/Popular Publications Auction - an incredible assortment of one-of-a-kind items from the Munsey and Popular files. HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE a 4 page hand written letter by Cornell Woolrich, a near 1" thick file concerned with George Allan England (including a number of long letters from England and signed by him), a nearly 4" thick file of letters regarding THE COURT OF LAST RESORT (teaming author, Erle Stanley Gardner; publisher, Harry Steeger; and detective, Raymond Schindler to investigate men wrongfully imprisoned and their efforts to correct such mistakes, made into a book and later a TV show - the file includes many long letters, some signed "Erle"), other material by or about Robert Bloch, Albert Payson Terhune, Clarence Mulford, T.S. Stribling, "Cap" Shaw, and many others, and loads of signed checks (including Rex Stout, Ray Cummings, Harold Lamb, Talbot Mundy, Rudolph Belarksi, Ralph Milne Farley, Frederick Davis and many more). A much more complete list of items can be found on our website. A unique opportunity not to be missed!

UPDATE: We'll be holding our first ever estate auction at the con on Friday night, 4/22, beginning at 7:00 p.m. This is in addition to the regular Saturday night auction. We're still in the process of getting information on what will be available, but the pulps include a bunch of Doc Savage and Shadow pulps (as well as most of the Girasol Shadow replicas which are no longer being sold), as well as approximately 100 Big Little Books (mostly from the 1930's and 1940's and including The Shadow, Buck Rogers, the Green Hornet and Flash Gordon). More detailed lists of the estate auction material will be posted to the website as we get more information.

PULP FILM FEST: Our Pulp Film Fest shows old movies based on pulp stories, on 16 mm film. There will be 2 sessions Friday (beginning at 2 pm & 8 pm) and 2 sessions Saturday (beginning at 2 pm and following the auction). More info will be posted on the website closer to the con; the tentative schedule includes THE BLACK DOLL (1938; from the novel of the same name, published in a 1936 issue of ACE-HIGH DETECTIVE) and THE PRESCOTT KID (1934; from Claude Rister's novelette "Wolves of Catclaw," published in a 1933 issue of RANGELAND LOVE STORIES). The Pulp Film Fest is organized by Ed Hulse and sponsored by Blood 'N' Thunder magazine (http://www.geocities.com/poppub/).

ART SHOW: We will once again be hosting an art show displaying original pulp and paperback art. This year's art show will include a MAJOR DISPLAY OF HAROLD MCCAULEY ART! Chicago-based artist Harold McCauley was one of the top sf artists of the 1940s and 1950s, working first for the Ziff-Davis chain of magazines before following Ray Palmer and contributing to his stable. Few could draw women like McCauley, and he's still perhaps best remembered today for his Mac Girl. We're pleased to announce that his wife and daughters will be attending the convention in connection with a major display of over 20 McCauley originals being planned for the art show. We anticipate that originals by many other artists will also be on display at the show, including by George Rozen, Walter Baumhofer, J. Allen St. John, Tom Lovell, Modest Stein, Peter Driben, Frank Kelly Freas, Ed Emshwiller, Virgil Finlay, Edd Cartier and Laurence Herndon. This year, the art show is sponsored by Dan Zimmer and the fine folks at Illustration magazine (www.illustration-magazine.com). If you have any art you'd like to make available for display in the art show, please contact us. The art show will be open Saturday and Sunday mornings and afternoons.

PROGRAM BOOK: All attendees will receive a program book, containing pulp articles and reprints. To advertise in the program book, rates are: full page ads $60 (4 1/8" x 6.75"), half page $35 (4 1/8" x 3 3/8"), business card size $20 (3.25" x 2"). The deadline for submitting and paying for ads is February 1, 2005. Please contact Tom Roberts at tom.roberts2@verizon.net for ad matters (other than payment).

CON SUITE: Our con suite will operate from Friday afternoon until late Saturday night/early Sunday morning - stop by and grab a drink and some munchies, while chatting about our favorite hobby.

WEBSITE: The con's website is www.windycitypulpandpaper.com. We'll be posting updates to it periodically up until the time of the show, so please check it for the most recent information.

HOTEL INFO: We're moving to a new hotel, with larger exhibit space. Advantages of the new hotel include being only minutes from O'Hare airport (the hotel operates a free shuttle service which runs approximately every 20 minutes - and from the east, you can now circle around the city, rather than go through; from other directions you don't have to go through the city). The room rates at the new Hotel are $92/night plus tax (which is the same as the rate at our old hotel). The hotel rooms were newly remodeled at the end of last year. One car per room parks free of charge; otherwise there's a parking charge of $5.50 for less than 7 hours, $9 for 7-24 hours. And for those who want to get a little outdoor exercise, the hotel has a 9 hole par 3 golf course. Please make sure to mention the convention when booking hotel rooms.

For more info on the con, please contact:
Doug Ellis
13 Spring Lane
Barrington Hills, IL 60010
847-217-4241
info@windycitypulpandpaper.com
http://www.windycitypulpandpaper.com
We hope to see you in the Windy City in late April!

BACK ISSUE! #11 - Coming in July!
BACK ISSUE! #11 is a "Gods and Warriors" issue featuring, among others, Conan! Roy Thomas, Kurt Busiek, and Joe Jusko spill their guts in a meaty retrospective of Marvel’s Conan the Barbarian series, with tons of rare and classic art by John Buscema, Barry Windsor-Smith, Neal Adams, Jusko, and others. Sergio Aragonés and Mark Evanier chew the fat about Groo the Wanderer in a “Pro2Pro” interview, and Heavy Metal artist extraordinaire Arthur Suydam shares his insights and illustrations in an exclusive interview. Plus: “The Greatest Stories Never Told” investigates DC’s never-published King Arthur series by Gerry Conway and Nestor Redondo, unveiling for the first time several of Redondo’s glorious pages from the series; a Gods and Warriors “Rough Stuff” art gallery by Jack Kirby, Moebius, George Pérez, José Luis Garcia-Lopez, Don Heck, and others; the scoop on the secret artist who contributed to the 1976 clash of titans Superman vs. The Amazing Spider-Man; and a spotlight on Brian Bolland’s covers for 1980s British Annuals! With a striking painted Conan cover by Joe Jusko, recreating John Buscema’s frontispiece to Savage Sword of Conan #17!
100 pages - Ships July 2005 TwoMorrows Publishing
BACK ISSUE! #11 will be solicited in the May PREVIEWS (available April 20).

BATTERED SILICON DISPATCH BOX - LOST TREASURES FROM THE PULPS!
Scheduled for release in April!
#9 THE MAGICAL MYSTERIES OF THE GREEN GHOST (Fleming-Roberts/Roberts) 2 Volume Folio Hard Cover
ISBN 1-55246-534-9 $160.00

Available for pre-order!
#8 COMPLEAT GADGET MAN STORIES (Dent/Murray/Weinberg) Folio Hard Cover 400 pages
ISBN 1-55246-536-5 $45.00 - A significant un-advertised bonus will accompany each prepublication order!

Coming soon!
#10 THE GOLDEN AMAZON (Fearn/Harbottle) Volumes 2 and 3 Fall 2005
#11 THE COMPLEAT ADVENTURES OF THE PARK AVENUE HUNT CLUB (Philips) 2 Volume Folio Hard Cover
ISBN 1-55246-593-4 $150.00 Summer 2005
#12 THE GREAT MERLINI OMNIBUS (Rawson/Roberts/Weinberg) Hard Cover $80.00 Fall 2005
THE PHILIP M. FISHER PORTFOLIO (Fisher/Garner) Folio Hard Cover ISBN 1-55246-530-6
THE ADVENTURES OF SHARK GOTCH (Richard Wetjen/Ellis)

Still available!
#1 COMPLEAT ADVENTURES PETER THE BRAZEN (Worts/Weinberg/Lai) 2 Volume Folio Hard Cover 800 pages
ISBN 1-55246-412-1 $160.00 plus postage.
#2 MINIONS OF THE SHADOW AND OTHER NOVELS (William Gray Beyer/Weinberg) Hard Cover 435 pages
ISBN 1-55246-502-0 $55.00 plus postage.
#3 MEMOIRS OF HORATIO HUMBERTON (J. Paul Suter/Weinberg) Folio Hard Cover 386 pages
ISBN 1-55246-514-4 $55.00 plus postage.
#4 COMPLEAT ADVENTURES OF THE DEAN (Constiner/Weinberg) Folio Hard Cover 430 pages
ISBN 1-55246-515-2 $75.00 plus postage.
#5 COMPLEAT ADVENTURE OF BILL BRENT (F.C. Davis /Weinberg) Folio Hard Cover 370 pages
ISBN 1-55246-517-9 $75.00 plus postage.
#6 COMPLEAT MOON MAN (F.C. Davis/Roberts&Hoppenstand) 2 Volume Folio Hard Cover 700 pages
ISBN 1-55246-516-0 $160.00 plus postage.
#7 MAGICAL MYSTERIES OF DON DIAVOLO (Rawson/Roberts/Weinberg) Hard Cover
ISBN 1-55246-532-2 $50.00
#10 THE ADVENTURES OF THE GOLDEN AMAZON Volume 1 of 3 (Fearn/Harbottle/Colombo) Hard Cover
ISBN 1-55246-554-3 $75.00

Lost Treasures from the Pulps can be ordered from:
The Battered Silicon Dispatch Box, PO Box 204, Shelburne, Ontario Canada L0N 1S0.
For inquiries and orders, contact George A. Vanderburgh, Publisher
email: gav@bmts.com FAX: 519-925-3482
Visit the Battered Silicon Dispatch Box website at http://www.batteredbox.com/ to order.

Black Dog Books - Two new titles should be available at Windy City Con!
Black Dog Books has two new booklets coming that will hopefully be back from the printers in time for Windy City Con.
THE CRIMSON BLIGHT by Arthur J. Burks
Staple-spined, Full color cover. 64 pages, $10
What can account for the strange happenings on the Arahona cane plantation? Cro-magnon men? Dinosaurs, here in the Caribbean? See man battle ancient brute strength for the outcome of the world in this complete novel originally serialized in THRILLING ADVENTURES.

TALES OF THE JUNGLE by L. Patrick Greene
Staple-spined, Full color cover. 64 pages, $10
Three jungle-set works of retribution, "Cobwebs," "Yellow" and "Jungle Fate" collected from the rare pulp, MAN STORIES.

Black Dog Books is in the process of moving, so these titles cannot be ordered direct at this time.
They should be available at the WINDY CITY PULP & PAPERBACK CONVENTION and will also be available from Mike Chomko, Vintage Library, and Adventure House.

Captain Spectre
Captain Spectre is a new pulp/serial webcomic created by Thomas Floyd that is now available on the net.
The webcomic is in the vein of a Captain Midnight type of character. The website offers a sew-on patch and coin, a free downloadable pdf membership card to the Lightning Legion, Spectre's version of the Secret Squadron, and a coin-seal, similar to the Green Hornet seal. Click on over to http://www.captainspectre.com/index.html to read the great new adventures of Captain Spectre! New strips are typically added every Monday evening. An archive of past strips is also available.

CONAN AND THE JEWELS OF GWAHLUR #1 (of 3) - Online preview available!
P. Craig Russell (Writer/Artist) and Lovern Kindzierski (Colorist)
On sale April 6, Full Color, 32 pages, $2.99
Dark Horse Comics has posted an eight page preview on their website.

She's made a string of bad choices, and now a young woman has let herself become the pawn of mercenaries-and one of those mercenaries is Conan of Cimmeria. As the former dancing girl poses as the dead oracle of a primitive cult, Conan puts his military and thieving experience together in one of his last adventures before becoming King.

P. Craig Russell, the award-winning artist who's made his reputation adapting literature to comics, takes the greatest hero to ever make the leap from books to comics in this dazzling adaptation. With stories like The Jewels of Gwahlur, Robert E. Howard invented the genre of sword and sorcery fiction, and no matter how many times the master has been imitated, stories like this one have not been surpassed.

P. Craig Russell, Eisner Award-winner, is known for tales like Elric: Stormbringer and Ring of the Nibelung and his collaboration with Neil Gaiman on Murder Mysteries.

E-texts on the net this week
The Shadow Magazine:
Sorry, there's no new review this week.
Next week's review will be Crime Rides the Sea from January 15, 1939
Death by the Clock by John Olsen is this week's Two-Minute Shadow Mystery.

Shadows of the Pulps: Nothing new this week.

Blackmask Online: Nothing new this week.

Larry Estep-Online Pulps: Now with over 550 stories online!
Nothing new this week.

Fading Shadows - Now Available!
The titles listed below are the final publications from Fading Shadows, Inc.
Back issues of Fading Shadows publications will remain available until the supply is exhausted.
Use the link below to visit the Fading Shadows website.

ACTION ADVENTURE STORIES #144 and #145 featuring:
144: The Phantom Detective in Merchant For Murder by Robert Wallace
145: The Phantom Detective in Death Rides the Winner by Robert Wallace

BEHIND THE MASK #71 featuring:
The Necklace of the Empress by H. Bedford Jones
Profit for the Mongoose by Johnston McCulley
The Mongoose Strikes Again by Johnston McCulley
Smoke of Revenge (Mongoose) by Johnston McCulley

DETECTIVE MYSTERY STORIES #55 featuring Marriage Gone Bad by W. S. Bachman; Eykiltimac Stump Acres by Jeffrey B. Burton; Seatbelts by Kenneth M. Austin; Prairie Justice by Eric Wilder; The Tiger’s Tale by Sheila Sowder; The Eye Witness by Gerald Browning; Rub-a-Dub-Dub by Branley Allan Branson; The Ringmaster by Larry K. Wellman; It Can Never Be Easy by Bryan Schingle; Seven for Thirty by Keith Bodayla; and Too Many Suspects (part 3 of 3) by A. J. Mason

Click here or on the images to the right for a look at larger cover images.

Each issue is 5.5 by 8.5 inches in size and runs approximately 80 pages.
One issue is $6.30 postpaid. Two or more issues are $6 each postpaid.
Not responsible for packages lost in the mail.
Insurance is $1.10 per $50.00 value and highly recommended.

Order from:
Fading Shadows, Inc.
504 E. Morris Street
Seymour, TX 76380-2212
http://www.geocities.com/fadingshadows1/

Girasol Collectables - New Robert E. Howard collection!
Available Mid-April 2005!
Blood of the Gods and Other Stories by Robert E. Howard, edited by Paul Herman

Girasol Collectables Inc. is pleased to announce the imminent release of a collection of 5 of Robert E. Howard's great adventure stories. These tales, long out of print, are collected together for the first time in a handsome new 220 page softcover edition limited to 1,000 copies. Great care and attention has been given to keep this edition faithful to the original text.

Included are:
The Country of the Knife
Hawk of the Hills
The Daughter of Erlik Khan
Blood of the Gods
Swords of Shahrazar

These stories all take place in the desert or the Himalayas, and offer the kind of heroic action-adventure only Howard could muster.

Due to differences in Canadian copyright laws, these stories are public domain in Canada, but not in the USA. This means that Girasol will be the EXCLUSIVE distributor of the book. NO RETAILERS IN THE US will be able to carry it for resale. Individual copies can be ordered and shipped without issue, but no wholesalers will be accepted.

The retail price will be $13.95 US plus $4.55 s&h, for a total of $18.50 US. For a limited time until mid-April when the book is ready, we are offering a $2 discount on pre-orders. (Total $16.50) We accept checks or International Money Orders made payable to 'Girasol Collectables', as well as Paypal payments to: 'info@girasolcollectables.com'. Please be sure to include your shipping address with your order. We will be posting the book on our site shortly, but this is a chance for fans to get in ahead!

Send checks or Money Order's to:
Neil Mechem
c/o Girasol Collectables
3501 Glen Erin Drive
Suite 1409
Mississauga, ON
Canada L5L 2E9

Girasol Collectables - April Pulp Replicas!
Girasol Collectables is pleased to announce three more issues in its ongoing series of Pulp Replicas.
Click here or on the images to the right for a look at larger Pulp Replica cover images.

April is another 'bonus' month, with 4 instead of the usual three replicas!
Fans of pulp oddities are in for a real treat with our fourth item!
For April, Girasol Collectables offers their usual special: $10 off any three, or all 4 for $100

We lead off this month with OPERATOR 5 #2 featuring The Invisible Empire (May 1934).
This is the second of four OPERATOR 5's that will appear this year in rotation with eight issues of THE SPIDER.

Our second Replica is WEIRD TALES #118 (October 1933) featuring the famous Margaret Brundage "Batgirl" cover.
This issue fetures Robert E. Howard, Clark Ashton Smith, Jack Williamson, H. P. Lovecraft, Seabury Quinn, and more for only $35.

Our third Replica for April is SAUCY MOVIE TALES #11 (September 1936).
SAUCY MOVIE TALES #11 is $25.

The final Replica for April is EERIE TALES #1 (July 1941). This is a rare Canadian pulp one-shot!
Note: EERIE TALES is the rare Canadian one-shot pulp from 1941, NOT the weird menace title by the same name. It's also a shorty at 64 pages, hence the reduced price. EERIE TALES #1 is $20.

We're frequently asked for 'teasers' of what's to come: how about more of the titles we're already doing, including SPICY WESTERN #1, ORIENTAL STORIES, SAUCY MOVIE TALES, OPERATOR #5, and THE SPIDER. Plus we'll be adding GOLDEN FLEECE to the lineup and possibly DOCTOR DEATH! That should keep everybody from being bored!

We have also recently begun accepting Paypal as an alternate method of payment. Other than Replicas or the upcoming REH book, please confirm availability first before ordering items such as pulp magazines or other books. Payments can be made to our regular info@girasolcollectables.com email address. Any of you with the old girasol@interlog.com address please note the new address for Paypal payments.

As always, these reprints are exact copies including the illustrations, ads and back-up stories and have been printed on off-white paper, staple-bound and finished off with a high quality reproduction of the original cover.
The only thing missing is the smell (alas) and the flaking newsprint.

Here is a complete listing of the Pulp Replicas currently available for $25, $35, or $50 each postpaid within North America. Overseas will be a few dollars more.

CIVIL WAR STORIES ($25 each postpaid within North America)
Spring 1940

DAN TURNER ($25 each postpaid within North America)
Dan Turner Hollywood Detective No. 1 (January 1942)

EERIE TALES ($20 each postpaid within North America)
#1 July 1941

HORROR STORIES ($35 each postpaid within North America)
#1 (January 1935)

MYSTERY ADVENTURE MAGAZINE ($25 each postpaid within North America)
November 1936 with a rare Domino Lady cover appearance

THE OCTOPUS ($35 each postpaid within North America)
February/March 1939

OPERATOR 5 ($35 each postpaid within North America)
#1 The Masked Invasion (April 1934)
#2 The Invisible Empire (May 1934)

ORIENTAL STORIES ($25 each postpaid within North America)
#1 (Oct./Nov. 1930) featuring the Robert E. Howard story, TheVoice of El-Lil.
#2 (Dec. 1930/Jan. 1931)
#3 (February/March 1931) featuring the Robert E. Howard story, Red Blades of Black Cathay.

PIRATE STORIES ($25 each postpaid within North America)
#1 (November 1934)

SAUCY MOVIE TALES ($25 each postpaid within North America)
#3 December 1935 (#1 after a title change) - Terrific Saunders cover, spicier than the Spicy's!
#11 September 1936

THE SCORPION ($35 each postpaid within North America)
April/May 1939

SPICY ADVENTURE ($25 each postpaid within North America)
#2 (November 1934) [#1 after the ashcan] with a great Ward cover.
#6 (March 1935) featuring a spicy Thai cover by HJ Ward
#8 (May 1935) featuring a Great Middle Eastern motif cover
#19 (April 1936) featuring She Devil by Robert E. Howard (writing as Sam Walser)
#22 (July 1936) featuring a Parkhurst cover
#26 (November 1936)

SPICY DETECTIVE ($25 each postpaid within North America)
#1 (May 1934)
#7 (November 1934)
#10 (February 1935)
#17 (September 1935) featuring Dan Turner and a terrific HJ Ward cover
#20 (December 1935) featuring a HJ Ward cover and a Dan Turner story
#29 (September 1936) featuring a gun toting gal from Mr. Parkhurst on the cover.
#30 (October 1936) featuring an incredible, truly classic HJ Ward cover
#76 (August 1940) featuring a great HJ Ward cover, Dan Turner, Eel stories

SPICY MYSTERY ($25 each postpaid within North America)
#2   (June 1935) featuring Fangs of the Bat
#3   (July 1935) featuring a nice Parkhurst cover
#4   (August 1935)
#5 (September 1935)
#8   (December 1935) featuring a nice Parkhurst cover
#10 (February 1936) featuring Batman
#15 (July 1936)
#16 (August 1936) featuring H. J. Ward on the cover.

SPICY WESTERN ($25 each postpaid within North America)
#14 (December 1937) Great HJ Ward cover

THE SPIDER ($35 each postpaid within North America)
#1 The Spider Strikes! (October 1933)
#2 The Wheel of Death (November 1933)
#3 Wings of the Black Death (December 1933)
#4 City of Flaming Shadows (January 1934)
#5 Empire of Doom (February 1934)
#6 Citadel of Hell (March 1934)
#7 Serpent of Destruction (April 1934)
#8 The Mad Horde (May 1934)
#9 Satan's Death Blast (June 1934)
#10 The Corpse Cargo (July 1934)

STRANGE STORIES ($25 each postpaid within North America)
#1 (February 1939)

STRANGE TALES ($25 each postpaid within North America)
#1 (September 1931)
#2 (November 1931)
#3 (January 1932) featuring Wolves of Darkness by Jack Williamson
#4 (March 1932)
#5 (June 1932)
#6 (October 1932) Famous 'Worm Monster' cover
#7 (January 1933)

TERROR TALES ($35 each postpaid within North America)
#1 (September 1934)
#2 (October 1934)
#3 (November 1934)
#4 (December 1934)
#5 (January 1935)
#6 (February 1935)

WEIRD TALES ($35 each postpaid within North America)
#1   March 1923
Available in 2 cover choices: the 'regular' cover, or the recently discovered 'rarer' version.
Exactly the same, except the black and orange of the cover illustration are switched.
#2   April 1923
#4 June 1923
#5   July/August 1923
#9   December 1923/January 1924
#10 February 1924
#11 March 1924
#12 April 1924
#13 Anniversary Issue May/June/July/24 (Note: $50 for this triple issue)
#22 July 1925 featuring Robert E. Howard's first published story, Spear and Fang.
#118 October 1933 featuring the famous Margaret Brundage "Batgirl" cover.

Email Girasol Collectables at: girasol@interlog.com.
A complete listing, along with other items such as books, fanzines and of course pulps, can be found on
the Girasol Collectables website at http://www.girasolcollectables.com/

All payments must be made in $US payable to Girasol Collectables and mailed to:
Neil Mechem c/o Girasol Collectables
3501 Glen Erin Drive, Apt. 1409, Mississauga, ON, Canada L5L 2E9

Last Months Replicas

Green Hornet
Kevin Smith appeared in a panel at Wizard World LA and briefly mentioned the Green Hornet script he has been working on. Smith said that he has finished the script, but has pulled himself out of the running for directing the movie. He also said that the script was being looked at by John Woo right now.

James Bond
According to Sky, Orlando Bloom may indeed be wetting his lips with a couple of Vodka Martini's in the near future. Bloom has long been linked to a new 'Young 007' film series - based on a series of books currently at the presses - but has been about as vocal as a feline with laryngitis about the project. Now, he confirms there is some talk.

"I love the idea, in principle, as he can be far more adventurous and do more stunts. This is as near as I think I will get to playing the grown up James for the next 20 years", Bloom tells the site.

The first Young 007 novel, "Silverfin", is also the film they look like tackling first. Set in the 1930s, it follows the young Bond from school at Eton to his uncle's house in the west Highlands, where Bond stumbles upon a megalo maniac American laird and sinister genetic experiments with killer eels. A few studios are said to be fighting over the film rights to the books - with Miramax the rumoured lead contender.

James Bond - Young Bond Series Book 1: Silverfin
This thrilling prequel to the James Bond dynasty shows young James at boarding school at Eton in the 1930's, where he spent his formative years. Acclaimed British writer Charlie Higson, with the Ian Fleming Estate, writes an edge-of-your seat thriller that brilliantly plants the seeds to show how young James learns the skills that will eventually make him history's most formidable and suave super spy.

This is a 352 page hardcover from Miramax Books.
The street date is April 27, 2005.
The SRP is $16.95.

Lovecraft - Dreams in the Witch House
Showtime Networks has joined with IDT Entertainment's New Arc Entertainment, Industry Entertainment and Nice Guy Productions to present a shockingly entertaining new anthology series entitled Masters of Horror. For the first time, the most prominent directors of the horror film genre have joined forces to produce a series of new original horror films that promises to shock, terrify and captivate even the most discriminating horror film fans. Slated to direct are Dario Argento ("Suspiria," "Opera"), John Carpenter ("Halloween," "The Thing"), Larry Cohen ("It's Alive"), Roger Corman ("Little Shop of Horrors"), Don Coscarelli ("Phantasm" "Bubba Ho-tep"), Joe Dante ("The Howling," "Gremlins"), Mick Garris ("Riding the Bullet," "The Stand"), Stuart Gordon ("Re-Animator"), John Landis ("An American Werewolf in London"), Tobe Hooper ("Texas Chainsaw Massacre," "Poltergeist") and George Romero ("Night of the Living Dead") for a minimum of 13 one-hour films. Stuart Gordon will direct "Dreams in the Witch House," adapted from the H.P. Lovecraft classic.

PULPCON 34
PULPCON 34 will be held July 7-10, 2005 at the Dayton Convention Center in Dayton, Ohio.
Guests of Honor
Martin H. Greenberg (confirmed)
PULPCON is pleased that editor/anthologist Martin H. Greenberg has accepted our invitation to be Guest of Honor at Pulpcon 34 in July. In recent years he has become the most prolific anthologist in several fields. Greenberg has worked with different co-editors to produce many anthologies designed for classroom teaching in various fields (chemistry, history, anthropology, engineering, etc) using science fiction as background. His work as editor of collections such as The Asimov Chronicles and as co-editor with recent Pulpcon Guest Bill Pronzini, Robert Silverberg, Asimov, Pulpcon regular Robert Weinberg and numerous others of dozens of anthologies has brought back into print hundreds of stories lost in the files of old pulp magazines or last seen in hard-to-find collections. Martin H. Greenberg - Bibliography Summary.

Ed Hoch (confirmed)
Edward D. Hoch was born February 22, 1930, in Rochester, New York. His first story, Village of the Dead, was published in the December 1955 issue of FAMOUS DETECTIVE. Hoch has published nearly 900 short stories and is the leading contemporary writer of true puzzle plot mysteries. Much of Hoch's work centers on series detectives, many of which have been featured in long-running sequences of short stories. Many of Hoch's series detectives tend to personify different mystery subgenres. Captain Leopold tales are police procedurals; Dr. Sam Hawthorne, impossible crimes; Nick Velvet, Rogue thieves who turn detective; Jeffery Rand, the mystery tale based in espionage; Ben Snow, the historical mystery. Hoch can shift to any of these genres simply by altering his series protagonist. Hoch is a winner of the Edgar Award, former President of the Mystery Writers of America, and the 2001 Grand Master of the Mystery Writers of America. Click here for more on Hoch's detective series. Several of Hoch's detective series anthologies are available from Crippen & Landru. Edward D. Hoch - Bibliography Summary

Pulp Room:
PULPCON will have approximately 100 tables of pulps and related materials in the Pulp Room which will be open 1 PM - 8 PM on Thursday and 10 AM - 5 PM on Friday and Saturday.

All tables are first-come, first-served. Tables are not to be moved without permission. Tables are for the use only of those who rent them and renters must be present to sell their own goods (or forfeit them to Pulpcon for auctioning) unless arrangements are made with Pulpcon in advance.

Memberships:
Memberships are $20 until April 15. Registrations arriving in PO Box 90424 April 16 through June 20 are $30. Those arriving later will be held for at-the-door registration: $40. A one-day registration for Saturday only is $20. At-the-door registration for Saturday only is $25. Click here for the registration form in PDF format.

Send the registration form (required) to:
PULPCON
PO BOX 90424
DAYTON, OH 45490-0424

Questions may be mailed to the address above or emailed to reg@pulpcon.org. To eliminate complications, Pulpcon requires separate checks and separate registration forms for each Pulpcon member except married couples living at the same address. In this case, both names are to appear on the registration form. Please do not use cards, letters, notes, etc. as they are easily separated from the files and buried or lost. If we have to return checks, forms for multiple registrations or non-forms to be properly re-registered, a $2 per person postage and handling charge will be added. Also, please note the space on the form to be marked if this is your first Pulpcon.

Watch the PULPCON website for the latest information as it becomes available.

Renaissance E-Books - Now available!
Planets of Adventure #2: Flame Jewel of the Ancients & The Seven Jewels of Chamar
by Raymond F. Jones and Edwin L. Grabber
CLASSIC PULP SF THRILLS! Two more "book length novels" of adventure in future centuries from the pages of the magazine famed for its vivid, fast-moving space operas, the legendary Planet Stories. .In Hugo nominee Raymond F Jones' "Seven Jewels of Chambar," scattered, the jewels flamed like distant suns, maddening the beholder. United, held in a grasping palm, they bestowed a godlike power that could rule the Solar System. But, with the jewels' flame-lances still white-hot from dealing death, Ormondy and the fabulous Firebird learned the terrible price of that power. In Edwin L. Graber's "Flame Jewels of the Ancients," Proud Terra and the 1000 suns would be drifting embers if Bro-Donal kept the Flame-Jewel of the Ancients. The tiny golden sphere, blazing with terrible energy spelled Galactic Empire at last to his outlaw horde, once they had learned to tap its limitless power. They were grimly amused, therefore, when Captain Glayne of the Stellar Guardians dropped innocently out of subspace to view their mighty prize. Glayne's only hope was the laughing, green-eyed Niala, who betrayed men with a heart colder than the blue vapors of Jupiter.

Shadows in Zamboula & Other Tales of Conan Robert E. Howard
CONAN AS ROBERT E. HOWARD MEANT HIM TO BE! If you've never read the original Howard stories, if you've only read the comic books or the revised pastiches of others, then these Conan adventures straight from magazines like Weird Tales will surprise you. Conan is no superhero in a fur girdle, nor is he always the nicest of gentlemen. Howard's Conan is brave, strong and cunning. But he is also greedy, rapacious, opportunistic and self-serving when the situation demands. In "Jewels of Gwahlur" he is only slightly more likeable than the people he is up against but in "Beyond the Black River" he is a savior of the settlers. In other words, he is a flexible figure who matches Howard's own adventurous imagination and not a stock character that does the same thing over and over. Also included in this eBook collection are "Red Nails" and the title story. Here are four Conan novellas as full-blooded and savage as Howard meant him to be.

The Airlords of Han: Armageddon 2420 A.D. [The Original Buck Rogers #2] by Philip Francis Nowlan
For scientific interest as well as suspense little science fiction could hold its own with this particular story. It is one of those rare stories that will bear reading and re-reading many times," Amazing Stories. Recovering from a gas that caused him to sleep for five hundred years, Anthony "Buck" Rogers helped an enslaved America strike its first blow for freedom against the alien Han. Now, he and beloved, warrior-woman Wilma Deering, must lead a desperate a battle to the finish against a superior foe -- using futuristic weapons such as disintegrators, jumping belts, inertron, paralysis rays, and atomic torpedoes. The climatic conflict features a special effects battle of ships and rays that would challenge even today's greatest filmmakers to reproduce successfully on film.

Sword and Sorcery
Flashing Swords Volume 1 Number 2 is now available on the Sword & Sorcery website.
Table of Contents
Support Your Sword and Sorcery editorial by Howard Andrew Jones
A Night in the Archives, by John C. Hocking
The author of Conan and the Emerald Lotus brings us a grisly adventure of murder
and necromancy!
The Marsh God, by Bruce Durham
Dalacroy may have survived the ambush, but can he escape the thing that dwells
within the marsh?
Devil on My Stomach, by Richard Lyon and Andrew Offutt
Catching Bjaine the Norther is one thing, but keeping him to a bargain he
doesn't want to keep? More of a challenge...
Race Into Blood, by Peter J. Welmerink
All Sturoq wanted was a good meal and a place to sleep. But the goblins wanted
him off their land, and they were out for blood!
Protection, by Harold Lamb
A bloody Viking yarn of mayhem, murder, and desire in the holy land.
The Stone Man, by D.K. Latta
Zargatha returns in a pulse-pouding sequel to "The High Tower" from Issue 1!

Upcoming Modern Hero-Pulp Novels by Christopher R. Yates
Superfolks, Robert Mayer, Griffin, $12.95, March 9 - Now Available!
Rogue Trooper: Blood Relative, James Swallow, Black Flame, $6.99, April 1 - Now Available!
Justice League of America: Green Lantern: Hero’s Quest, Dennis O’Neil, Pocket Star, $6.99, April - Now Available!
Green Lantern: Sleepers Book 1 (softcover), Christopher Priest, ibooks, $6.99, April 1
Crisis on Infinite Earths, Marv Wolfman, ibooks, $22.95, April 1
Those Who Walk in Darkness, John Ridley, Warner Books, $6.99, April 8
Rising Stars Combo: Book 1 & 2 Collected, Arthur Byron Cover, ibooks, $7.99, April/May
Strontium Dog: Ruthless, Jonathan Clements, Black Flame, $6.99, May 1
Forensic Files of Batman, Doug Moench, ibooks, $7.99, May 1
Justice League of America: Superman: Never-ending Battle, Roger Stern, Pocket Star, $6.99, June 1
Judge Dredd: Swine Fever, Andrew Cartmel, Black Flame, $6.99, June 1
Durham Red: The Omega Solution , Peter Evans, Black Flame, $6.99, June 1
Fantastic Four (movie novelization), Peter David, Pocket Star, $6.99, June 1
Batman Begins (movie novelization), Dennis O’Neil, Del Rey, $6.99, June 21
Fantastic Four: War Zone, Greg Cox, Pocket Star, $6.99, July 1
ABC Warriors: Rage Against the Machines, Pat Mills & Steve Earles, Black Flame, $6.99, July 1
Astounding Hero-Tales , James Lowder, ed., August
Strontium Dog: Day of the Dogs, Jaspre Bark & Steve Lyons, Black Flame, $6.99, August 1
Nikolai Dante: Imperial Black, Andrew Cartmel, Black Flame, $6.99, September 1
Justice Society of America: Book 1, Geoff Johns & Paul Kupperberg, ibooks, $6.99, September 1
Spiderman: Down These Mean Streets, Keith R.A. DeCandido, Pocket Star, $6.99, September 1
Rising Stars: Book 3; Change the World, Arthur Byron Cover, ibooks, $6.99, September 1
It’s Superman, Tom De Haven, Chronicle Books, September 1
Batman: Shattered Lives, Michael Reaves, Del Rey, $6.99, September 27
On Earth As It Is In Hell (Hellboy), Brian Hodge, Pocket Star, $6.99, October 1
Judge Dredd: Whiteout, James Swallow, Black Flame, $6.99, October 1
Rogue Trooper: The Quartz Massacre, Rebecca Levene, Black Flame, $6.99, October 1
DC Universe #1: Last Sons, Alan Grant, Warner Books, $6.99, October 1
Batman: Shattered Lives, Michael Reaves, Del Rey, $6.99, October 25
Green Lantern: Sleepers Book 3, Christopher Priest, ibooks, $22.95, November 1
Strontium Dog: A Fistful of Strontium, Jaspre Park, Black Flame, $6.99, November 1
Durham Red: The Encoded Heart, Peter J. Evans, Black Flame, $6.99, December 1
City of Heroes, CDS Books, Fall ‘05
Fathom: Book 2: Tides of Destiny, Kevin Andrew Murphy, ibooks, $6.99, January 1, 2006

Visit the March News Archive for older stories.