Steve Jobs Just Changed All of Our Jobs...Again!

HD capability on Iphone...

Camera and IMovie software on a 4G network IPhone...

IPads able to read PDF's...with full support for tags, bookmarks, highlights, etc...

D2Video, D2DVD... and now D2IPad... for pulp books, games and movies.

It seems that technology is finally catching up with us here in the future.

(But I will not rest until I get my jetpack. I NEED a jetpack)

Now get out there and put your imagination to work!

(Oh, and BTW - I'm working on a way for you to do just that)

Pulp 2.0 Is Now On Kindle

In my never-ending quest to:

A) Test the systems and mold the internet to my pulpy will...
B) Provide you with news you can use to make your own media...

I have added my blog to the Kindle blog service from Amazon.

You can subscribe here.

Please tell all your friends to subscribe to my pulpy content via their Kindle device. I will be gearing a few upcoming posts toward this new media device, and will include some Kindle-specific content to download.

If you don't have a Kindle - you can buy one here:

Joe Konrath and I: Twin Sons of Different Pulp Mothers ?

Author Joe Konrath had some great comments on Kindle publishing over at Galleycat.  Said comments will seem very familiar to readers of this blog:

Unfortunately, the print world is flawed. The business model--where books can be returned, and where a 50% sell-though is considered acceptable--is archaic and wasteful. Writers get small royalties, little say in how their books are marketed and sold, and simple things like cover and title approval are unheard of unless you're a huge bestseller.

I just try to write entertaining books that are easily identifiable. A reader doesn't need to know my name, my titles, or my characters, and they can still find me by asking a bookseller "Who does those thrillers that are all named after drinks?"

The easier you are to find, and to remember, the more books you'll sell.

 I've sold 40,000 ebooks since last April. At first, I was amused to be paying my mortgage with Kindle earnings. But now it's turning into serious money.

This all happened by accident. Some Kindle owners emailed me, asking if I could make my early, unpublished books available for them to read. I uploaded them using Amazon's Digital Text Platform (dtp.amazon.com) and charged $1.99. Readers like low prices. And why wouldn't they? Two or three bucks is less than a cup of coffee. It's an impulse purchase, and perfect for intangible, digital content which costs almost nothing to copy and deliver.

 Print publishers have said that a low ebook price "devalues" the book. That's silly. The value of a book isn't its cover price. The value of a book is how much money it earns. On several of my ebooks, I've earned more than the average advance NY gives to a debut novelist. And I'm earning more money on a $1.99 ebook than I earn on a $7.99 paperback.

Read the rest of the article for more pulp-inspired goodness. And for those of you at there in the moving picture world, wherever he says "book" substitute the word "film."

Ditto "comics" and "games."

If you don't understand this new paradigm then you have fallen behind the rest of the world.  Seriously.

You can read Joe Konrath's Blog here.

MONSTER KID ONLINE MAGAZINE

There are days when I lament the fact that many of you guys and gals didn't get to experience the fun and fantasy that was FAMOUS MONSTERS magazine and Forrest J. Ackerman.  There was something completely pure and unabashed about its love of monsters and the incredible power of cinema fantastique.   FM was a lightning rod for a whole generation of cinephiles and when it folded , the only mag to take its place was FANGORIA which was really for an older, more sophisticated reader, and dealt with a far darker subject vein.

So yes, there are days when I think you younger folk missed out on something.

Well, Kerry Gammill (artist extraordinary on many comics, including IRON MAN) and Sam Park and their crew obviously thought the same thing because they've created a couple of new media horrors that sink their teeth right in the EC COMICS / FAMOUS MONSTERS vein...

First up is MONSTER KID ONLINE - a magazine that gives you a damn good feeling of what it was like to read FM back in the day. Only this time you can do it from your computer.  Harryhausen!  Bama! 3-D Monsters!

How cool is that !

( I hope we get to do a FRANKENSTEIN ISSUE with them when we finish publishing all 11 of THE NEW ADVENTURES OF FRANKENSTEIN. )

But their MONSTER-PULP goodness doesn't stop there: 

They've also started MONSTERVERSE,  weird new horror comics brought to you by none other than BELA LUGOSI himself! 

It feels just like when we we were kids and Shawn, Kevin and I used to pedal our bikes over to Aiken Drugs or Hooks Drugstore to peruse the latest comics, monster magazines and whatever genre ephemera was on the shelf.

If you like old school monsters. If you want to see the stuff your Unca' Bastard here grew up on then by all means check them out.

More Comics: ORION THE HUNTER

From the fertile minds of Cliff van Meter (writer) and Joe Querio (artist) comes their webcomic scifi adventure:

ORION THE HUNTER!

 

First page here.  Enjoy.  

Edit to add: and if you happen to think this post negates my comments here.  Then I would remind the dear reader that this is a webcomic that is outside the norm of the "comics industry" as a whole.  It is one of my hopes that I can point to as sign that things will change.

BROTHER BLOOD Cover in Progress

Sitting on my worktable is the cover proof for our upcoming premiere Pulp 2.0 Press release, BROTHER BLOOD  (Unfortunately, you can't hear the ghoulish glee in my inner voice as I type this).

This is the first English-language release for BB - a blood-soaked, blaxploitation, horror monsterpiece set in 1969's Sunset Strip. The book is written by Donald F. Glut.

(An earlier version premiered in the 70's German Horror magazine HORROR, but this is an expanded  370+ pages version available for the first time in English)

Cover art by Nik Macaluso.

I will be reviewing the book proof in the next week or so when it arrives here at Pulp 2.0 HQ.  As we move toward the official launch (opening up the Createspace and Amazon stores, issuing press releases and starting our Facebook page) I will give you some behind-the-scenes fun facts about this and some of our other upcoming releases.

Any comments, questions, quips, quotes or conundrums may be left here in the comments section.

New Apple: Pulp for the New Media

Wired has a piece on the unveiling of Apple's new tablet and points out an interesting shift (or rather refinement) in the Apple business paradigm:

“The focus is going to be on content creation and participation,” a technologist with close ties to Apple told Wired.com. “If the tablet is going to be an answer to things like the Kindle, which are purely about consumption, what you’re going to see is Apple is going to be full-blown about creation.”

 There's no doubt (at least in my mind) that this is a game-changer:

Then, instead of deploying that content on a website and asking for donations or trying to sell ads, creators could deploy their web pages-cum-e-books to the iTunes store, where a built-in retail apparatus takes care of collecting payments as small as $1 while Apple holds on to what looks like a reasonably small 30-percent cut.

A recent Wall Street Journal story suggests that Apple is in last-minute negotiations with book publishers, urging them to adopt a model where most books are priced at $13 or $15, instead of the $10 that prevails on Amazon’s Kindle e-book store.

By distributing through iTunes, creators would have access to users on any of Apple’s platforms, including the iPhone, iPod Touch, MacBooks, desktop PCs, or possibly even the Apple TV. Even more significantly, iTunes users on Windows PCs would also be part of the available market.
And sure, that content will no doubt look good on a tablet, too. Our guess is the tablet will have exclusive functions for displaying iTunes book content in a special way, which will be one of the gadget’s main selling points (among other new, yet-to-be-known features, of course).

In one fell swoop, a move like this would give content creators easy-to-use and powerful tools for creating interactive content, and give them a way of making a living from it, too.

Mike Fyles: Pulp Artist

I ran across Mike's work through my connections at The Pulp Factory and was astounded at the sheer unabashed pulpiness of his illustrations. Bravo!

You can download more of Mike's work here, at COMMANDER X ADVENTURES or browse through his website. Below is a special story by none other than "Pappy" himself - Ron Fortier.

BUCK ROGERS: Coming to a Laptop Near You!

Joining the 21st Century...

And yes, in many cases they are joining while kicking and screaming, but it is happening.
From 2 weeks ago at LBCC (courtesy CBR):

Stephen Christy, Director of Development for Archaia Comics, moderated an in-depth discussion of the future of digital distribution for comics, at the first annual Long Beach Comic Con. Populating the panel were various digital comic creators, including: Rantz Hoseley, the editor of "Comic Book Tattoo" and CEO and Founder of LongBox Inc., Joshua Hale Fialkov, the creator of "Tumor," the first digital graphic novel developed for the Amazon Kindle; David Gallaher, creator of "High Moon," a digital webcomic that runs on ZudaComics.com, and "Box 13," an exclusive iPhone comic; and Matt Maxwell, the creator of 'Strangeways,' a webcomic running on CBR's Robot 6.

Christy focused primarily on the theme of reaching out to the larger potential audience for comic books, outside of the comic book stores, through digital distribution. He described the theory behind LongBox Digital as it being a one stop shop for digital comics. He then announced that all of Archaia's titles will be available on Longbox, eventually.

Zeroing in specifically on Archaia's success with the digital comic, "Tumor," Christy said "'Tumor' has been the number one selling comic on the Kindle for eight weeks, beating comics such as 'Star Trek,' popular mangas, 'Indiana Jones,' and other major licensed projects."

Christy said that Archaia is focusing on new ways to get comics out in front of the public, by looking at Kindle, Longbox, "or through other devices, who we are talking to, which we have not announced yet. The biggest goal is to try and find an audience. How do you find an audience in new ways?"

Regarding "Comic Book Tattoo," Hoseley said "It's a best seller by real book industry standards and comic industry standards. However, on the ICV2 numbers, which are the commonly held tracking numbers for sales and stuff, it would not appear anywhere on the top 500. That's largely because, for all the thousands of copies sold, less than 10% of the copies sold went through the direct market shops. We've sold thousands and thousands and thousands of copies through places like Barnes and Noble, Borders, Amazon, and other direct sales outlets."

Archaia's "Tumor," developed with the Kindle in mind

Christy spoke about the similar case of "Gunnerkrigg Court." "We have a book called 'Gunnerkrigg Court' that is a webcomic that we have a hardcopy of. We sold 10,000 copies of the first edition, which is a $27.00 hard cover, through the book market. And we've sold like 800 through the direct market. 'Gunnerkrigg Court' is like Harry Potter for girls, and I don't know many 8 year old girls that go into regular comic book shops. When we can get a book like 'Gunnerkrigg' out to those 8 year old girls that should be reading it, and they can walk into any Borders or Barnes & Noble or Amazon or just order it online…that's an amazing thing.

"Those are people that wouldn't be reading comics otherwise. They would never be able to find 'Gunnerkrigg Court' if they had to go between issues of Spider-Man and X-Men to do it. This is a new age, a completely new age. And it's something to be happy about, because the audience is limitless. You can only go up from where you are right now, essentially," explained Christy.

(Color highlights mine)

Now every time they say "comics" in the above piece also add "movies, games, books, TV shows and music/audio" (and I'm sure there will be other things to add soon as well). I was lured into a discussion on Sunday regarding new media and gained some insights into the world of financing and how banks and financing institutions "see things" when it comes to loaning producers or entrepreneurs financing.

It really opened my eyes on a few things and how we as media makers have to change their perceptions with solid work that can work on the scale they loan money at (in other words, it doesn't make sense for them to loan money for anything less than $5m because the return on investment is so small. Banks also get nervous when you flip flop the distribution windows and release a DVD yourself without trying for a theatrical release -- even though THEY KNOW the theatrical release will lose money in most cases). They are looking to protect their back end return and the business model they know and have been working under says "Theatrical first."

But that's not the 21st century is it?

That's not a world with more laptops/computers and Iphones than actual televisions. That's not a world where Google - IF it is successful with its Android phone platform - will seriously compete with IPhone but with an open source coding framework for building phone applications.

It is conceivable - in this bastard's twisted mind anyway - that we will be making programs for that phone and laptop with story connections elsewhere on the web accessible via that mobile device. So not only will you be able to watch that KNIGHTMARE web serial/TV/Movie hybrid show -- but you will be able to listen to the classic radio shows too -- and read the pulp novel (pending) -- and play the game -- and read the webcomic -- and discuss all of the above in the forum -- or buy the t-shirt -- or dozens of other world dominating plots I haven't even concocted yet.

But if the response on this little experiment of mine is any indication - there's an audience there that wants to not only watch - but use - their media. If you hook them, and feed them regularly then the rewards will be there.

But I can't use my media in a theater (or at a comic book shop). I can share the experience with a limited number of people... but that's so 20th century.

I'm living in the 21st. Things are faster, wider and more involved. They're also cheaper and that's something any business lender can get behind.

More (rants) as this develops.

(And for those of you thinking that digital will replace print, I have to say "yes and no". It will replace certain aspects of print - floppies - but will reinforce the collectible print editions. One only has to look at the Japanese manga industry to see how this is working. It is a model that can be used for a variety of media)

Almost 20 Q: Popgun Pulp Studios presents JOHNNY RECON

I recently took a few moments (er, emails) and conducted another "Almost 20Q" interview with other pulpsters out there who are living the dream. This time I visited PopGun Pulp Studios and we talked about what it took for them to get their debut comic JOHNNY RECON off the ground and flying through the galaxy....

1. Who is Johnny Recon and what does he mean to you?

[MITCH GERADS] To me, Johnny is my escapist self. He's my outlet for getting as close to all the things I imagined my adult self doing as a kid, like traveling to distant planets, fighting aliens, getting by on my wit. Johnny is a magnet for adventure, and we could all use a little adventure in our lives.

[SCOTT DILLON] In thinking about what Johnny Recon means to me, I can sincerely answer that he is a character who is fun to write. I would have worshipped his passion for danger and adventure when I was a kid, causing my parents to scowl disapprovingly (and making me love him even more). He’s a sarcastic ne’er-do-well who is still searching for his place in the universe (and isn’t in that much of a rush).

2. What influences would a reader of Johnny Recon see in your work - both writing style and artwork? What are your personal influences that get your rocket engines going? (TV, movies, comics, cartoons, toys)

[MITCH] The pulp influence for me, obviously. I LOVE modern comics and movies, but there's something about the old stuff like Indiana Jones, John Carter, the early Adam Strange, Doc Savage, that stuff really gets me fired up. Men being men in seemingly simpler times. Sure, it's pretty misogynistic by today's standards, but no one can deny how much fun it was.

[SCOTT] Without a doubt, readers would identify the influences of Mark Millar, Joss Whedon, and R.A. Salvatore in my writing. Their flair for creating unique, adventure-filled stories with extremely memorable characters really hits home for me. As for my original inspiration in becoming involved in comic books, I can’t say enough about how much I loved the X-Men growing up (Archangel was the coolest).

3. Give us a little bit of background on Johnny - set up the universe for us.

[SCOTT] We had a bit of a concern at the beginning of our universe creation since stories about everything having to do with aliens and Earth have been done to death, but we felt comfortable about the foundation we were creating, and we really wanted to take the genre in a new direction. We explore this idea that an alien species comes to our planet and offers select individuals, ranging from significant historical figures to seemingly common individuals, the opportunity to start a new, peaceful civilization on a different world. But what make us human are our flaws, and, eventually, this newly created utopia crumbles. Enter our brash and charismatic protagonist that comes from a long family line of heroism, Johnny Recon, who lives on a planet built upon a framework of peace and coexistence that has devolved into a society of seclusion and war.

[MITCH] Scott really is the architect of this universe. He's put so much time and thought and research into this. It completely blows my mind. I just wanted to draw Indiana Jones in space, but he’s turned it into something SO much better.

[SCOTT] I think a large part of what makes me want to write about other worlds is the fact that I’m not completely satisfied with the one that I live in. I saw this universe as an opportunity to create not only idealistic views of humanity but also establish symbolic themes that expound upon issues in our own society.

[MITCH] See what I mean? Haha.

4. How did you guys meet and decide to do a comic?

[MITCH] I've actually known Scott since the first grade, so about 22 years. We both shared a love of comics, cards, etc. and we've been friends ever since. In the last three or four years, we've been trying to come up with a project for us to collaborate on, and, after a lot of trial and error, we re-imagined an old idea of mine, and that's where Johnny Recon all started.

[SCOTT] Wow, it really has been 22 years, I feel extremely old now. Thanks, Mitch.

5. What else have you guys done that would be known by this audience - toys, magazines, media graphics, etc?

[MITCH] For the last four-and-a-half years, I've been designing and illustrating children's cereals and stuff like that. Most of the General Mills kid cereals on-shelf, for the last three years or so, I've either designed, illustrated, or worked on in some form (Trix, Cookie Crisp, Lucky Charms, etc.).

[SCOTT] I’ve been focusing on a career in publishing up until this point, and I had put my dreams to become a writer on the backburner, so I’m very excited that Johnny Recon came along. It is the only example of my work out in the marketplace at this point, but it’s reignited my passion for writing.

6. Dream job?

[MITCH] Comics, without a doubt. Just getting my stuff out there right now with Johnny Recon and other samples, etc. I will say the future is looking bright!

[SCOTT] Mitch and I often talked about working together on a comic when we were younger, and it’s extremely surreal that it became a reality. My dream is to become a published author, whether it’s creating comics, short stories, or novels.

7. How did you put together this issue of Johnny? Who does what? How long did it take? What tools do you use?

[SCOTT] I wrote the script, collaborated with Mitch on the story creation, and he literally did everything else (penciling, inking, lettering, coloring, you name it). I found that, for me, the best way to write for the comic was to generate a free-flowing story, separate each beat into a page outline, and, then, draft the script.

[MITCH] I started actual pages in February and finished everything in mid-early June, in-between my full-time cereal illustration job. As far as my process, I kind of stole it from one of my idols, Adam Hughes. Once I have the pages roughly laid out, I'd go in and pencil individual panels on whatever random scrap paper I had lying around. Then, I would scan it in and arrange it all in Photoshop and print the composite pencils, tape that to the back of a virgin bristol board, throw it on the ol' lightbox, and brush ink the entire page onto the board. Lastly, scan that in and finish everything else in Photoshop.

8. What lessons did you learn in doing it yourself?

[MITCH] My god, what didn't we learn? Ha ha. Seriously, it was the most educational comic experience I've ever been privy to. I seriously could go on and on, but it's easier to just tell you to see for yourself and pick up issue No. 02 this winter. I liken issue No.01 to a TV pilot. Issue No.02 might read, feel, and look a little different (...and it will!) , but it's only because we've learned so much from making issue No.01 that we know EXACTLY how we want to continue from here.

[SCOTT] I think that one of the biggest things we both learned was how to work with the other person. We’d never collaborated on anything until Johnny, so each one of us needed to learn how the other felt most comfortable in terms of creating our own interpretation of the story.

[MITCH] Scott and I are very different storytellers, which doesn’t usually work out for most people, but the fact we’ve been friends for so long lets us listen to the other’s ideas and find that creative common ground without any of the fight. That collaboration is what fuels all our ideas.

9. Will you guys be making any convention appearances? When and where?

[MITCH] For sure! In just a few days we'll be at the MN FALLCON in St. Paul, MN. I think that's it for 2009 actually, I'm hoping to get some shop-specific appearances somewhere in there as well. Next year, we plan on hitting as many conventions as we can work out. We're very excited for the new C2E2 next year; I predict big things for that show. I guess you can just stay tuned to http://popgunpulp.com. We're pretty good at keeping all our plans and appearances up-to-date on there.

[SCOTT] Our first issue of Johnny debuted at the Wizard convention in Chicago, and it was an amazing experience for both of us. It’s a wonderful feeling when we have an opportunity to interact with our readers and receive their thoughts and feedback on something we’ve both created, so we really look forward to doing more in the near-future.

10. There's a lot of creators out in the market right now - who are some of the people you want to work with - artists, writers, publishers, characters?

[MITCH] Ha ha, this is one of those questions us comic guys could go on for about 3 days straight with. I really want to sink my artistic teeth into both the big two companies and their characters, but, other than that, I have a HUGE goal to work on IDW's Doctor Who. Tony Lee is writing some incredible Doctor stories over there, and I want in on that.

[SCOTT] This is mostly due to the fact that I grew up watching the very cheesy TV show with John Wesley Shipp as Barry Allen (have to love the outfit), but I would have a lot of fun writing The Flash. I still remember reading The Adventures of Superman #463, where Wally West races Superman to determine who’s the fastest – as a kid, I really identified with West in the issue, who wanted to show the world that he was better than Superman at one thing. This idea of him being so egotistical, yet portrayed as the underdog, was very appealing for me. Wow, that was a tangent – like Mitch said, other than the big two, in my dream of dreams, I’d work with Jim Lee or Bryan Hitch.

[MITCH] Can I change my answer to “I want to BE Bryan Hitch”?

11. Personal backgrounds - what's your education? When did you first pick up a pencil or typewriter/ laptop?

[MITCH] I'm the classic case of decent-to-good grades throughout school, but constant parent teacher conferences about my "constant doodling" interrupting "mah book lernins." Ha ha. After high school, I went to the University of Wisconsin-Stout and earned my Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in graphic design, which has been INVALUABLE to me as an illustrator. All illustrators should be taking graphic design classes.

[SCOTT] I still remember writing these short stories with my younger brother when I was in elementary school. I actually have a couple of these now and, when I look back at them, a part of me wishes that I could have held onto that childlike imagination because, although they were extremely rough around the edges, the ideas themselves were so fantastical. As long as I can remember, I’ve wanted to write – in pursuing that dream, I attended the University of Minnesota and graduated with Bachelor of Arts degrees in English and Journalism.

12. Where on the web can readers find you? (website, facebook, twitter, web store, etc...)

[MITCH] This is definitely my question, ha ha. I'm trying to get Scott to embrace the world of social networking. Slowly, but surely ;)

[SCOTT] Ugh, I am on Facebook, but I’m horrible about checking it. I don’t even have a Twitter account yet. I’ve seriously considered asking Mitch to just create one and update my status for me. I’ll get there.

[MITCH] We keep our main website (http://www.popgunpulp.com) constantly up-to-date with everything we have going on. That's really our main hub. You can access our web store on there, get all our updated news, appearances, links to both our Twitter and Facebook networks; it's all there on the main page. I'm a Twitter fiend, so hit me up!

[SCOTT] He’s not kidding. Whenever I can’t get a hold of Mitch, I check Twitter to see what he’s doing.

13. Secret Mountain/ Volcano HQ or deep underwater complex?

[MITCH] Yes! Now THESE are the questions I was looking forward to! Definitely Secret Volcano HQ.

[SCOTT] No way – deep underwater complex. Have you seen Deep Blue Sea? Or played BioShock? Can’t beat the atmosphere.

14. Raygun or jetpack?

[MITCH] Oh, come on! What's the point of even having a jet pack if you don't have the ray-gun to go with it? PS. I totally have a thing for ray-guns, so if anyone wants to bring anything ray-gun related to a convention for me, I'll totally make it worth your while.

[SCOTT] Hmm, this one really made me think. It’s a close race, but I have to go with jet pack. Another one of those nostalgic things, but I was in love with The Rocketeer as a kid, and I would have given anything to strap one of those on and fly around the world. It didn’t hurt that it also helped the hero get Jennifer Connelly.

[MITCH] Traitor.

15. Flying wing or rocket car?

[MITCH] Rocket car! It's even fun to say.

[SCOTT] I have to agree with Mitch, here – I already have a jet pack.

16. What's in the future for the Recon family and Popgun Pulp Comics?

[MITCH] We have Johnny Recon issue No.02 coming out this winter. We've had a very hectic last quarter of the year, and we hope to make up for it by being a bit more regular in our release times in the future. Other than that, like I said before, we really want to hit the convention circuit running next year. We're super excited about issue No.02. I promise, it's gonna’ be a solid book.

[SCOTT] This question relates back to your earlier query regarding what we’ve learned. Both of us feel like we’re honing our craft so much, just by utilizing it day-after-day, and we’re really getting a sense for how the other person works. We have high hopes that, as we continue to churn out issues, hopefully at a faster clip, the future is bright for us. One thing that I know we both want to emphasize: we don’t like multiple first issues. We want to stay in the Reconiverse for a long, long time.

17. Advice to those who want to do what you're doing?

[MITCH] Get HONEST critiques of your work and LISTEN to them. You have to learn true critique. It's the most solid thing I learned from going to art school. You don't determine how far you make it in the business, the fans do, your art director does, the editor does, so listen to what they have to say and use it. This sounds really cheesy, too, but have fun, no matter what you're doing. You gotta stay happy!

[SCOTT] I hated this advice as a writer, mostly because I heard it so often, but it’s so true: write, write, write. Also, attend workshops where, as Mitch said, you can receive honest feedback on your work. Your family and friends will support you, no matter what – but strangers can oftentimes be the best thing for your work, providing you with critical comments that you’ll never receive from them. This quote from John Keats has always been inspiring for me: “I would sooner fail than not be among the greatest.” The important thing is to always try – as a burgeoning writer, it’s almost expected that you won’t be that good. The important thing is to stick with it. Lastly, when you have an idea, see it through to the end. New concepts are constantly popping into my head – the hardest part for me to learn was to write them down, put them aside, and focus on what I was already working on.

18. You're casting the Johnny Recon movie - who's your all time dream cast (living or dead) ?

[MITCH] This is probably just the Doctor Who nerd in me, but I think John Barrowman would be the perfect Johnny Recon. Hell, even if Johnny Recon ends up being a musical, he's STILL perfect for it.

[SCOTT] Wow, Johnny as a musical, scary thought. Good choice with Barrowman, but I’d have to go with Nathan Fillion. His natural charisma is a perfect fit for Johnny. Running down the rest of the cast in the first issue, I’d have to say Doug Jones for Finn, Rita Hayworth for Kierra, Jimmy Stewart for Will, and Kylie from the Windows commercials for Laurie (although this would be tough to run by Mitch, who’s a Mac guy through-and-through).

[MITCH] Grumble Grumble

19. Star Trek or Star Wars?

[MITCH] Wars, but only the original trilogy. Somehow I've been involved in comics and sci-fi my whole life and have never seen an episode of Star Trek of any series. BUT I did see the NEW JJ Abrams movie, it was phenomenal.

[SCOTT] This may have to do with when I was born, as I missed out on the original Star Trek series, but I would have to say Star Wars. I rented the original trilogy from my local video store so many times that my family eventually bought me the movies (they worked out that I had already paid enough to have purchased them three times over). This was a tough decision for me, though – I absolutely loved Star Trek: The Next Generation. There was nothing like it on TV around the time it was on, and I really latched onto the idea of exploring the unknown. The STNG movies were a bit lackluster, but I’d take them over Episodes I-III any day.

20......

[MITCH] Hey, what happened to that guy interviewing us? Are we done? Are those little sandwiches free?

[SCOTT] Weird, just disappeared on us. Take the sandwiches, ask questions later.

--------------------------------------

So give the comic and these guys a chance and visit their website to pick up the first issue of JOHNNY RECON.

Today's Physics Lesson is Brought to You by Warren Ellis

Here.

ENIGMA: A TRAILER

Jon Molly sent this classified video link today. Embedded below:

Coercion, blackmail, reward, extortion, assassination, "Honey traps" -- all are fair game. After all, there's a war going on right underneath our noses.

Who or what is Enigma? Who's side is it on?

Who's side are you on? Do you even know?

Be a Part of the (R)Evolution...

Or simply die off. Period.

I've Been Working Out and am Now Toned...

PulpToned that is...

Anthony Schiavino - an NYC writer-designer - and I have been discussing the past, present and future of pulp. What it is, isn't and what it could be...and how we can be better, stronger, faster at what we do... and how we can get you in on it.

This is Pulp 2.0.

Not just books. Not just comics. Not just video or audio.

It's all of the above and more. Together.

Anthony has an incredible amount of work on his site, so I recommend you browse through and see stuff like his SERGEANT ZERO, KNUCKLES, and TALES FROM THE ZERO HOUR.

We Are On The Air!

Donald F. Glut - author, filmmaker, screenwriter and all around cool guy is going to be on the CULT RADIO A GO GO internet radio show for 4 hours tomorrow.

He will be talking about his upcoming appearance at the VAMPIRE CON here in Hollywood at the Music Box Theatre, Sunday August 16th!

He might also be talking about this artwork by Nik Macaluso.

It begins...

Because I Endorse Any Pulp Objects Made From The Bra Strap

From Cory at Boing Boing "MAKE YOUR OWN DUST GOGGLES. "

Update

Carlucci and I are working on the layout to Book #1.

I have a deadline for one short story to meet.

Another story has been pushed back for another issue.

I have meetings to take this next week, and later in the month.

Been having interesting conversations throughout the blogosphere this week. The pulpspace is brimming with ideas and resources.

Will be revamping blog a bit here and there - all to tweak the monetization via Google Ads, etc...

And Warren Ellis has this out:

Open publication - Free publishing - More warrenellis

Things You Wish You Knew Beforehand

From the Tubefilter article by Rochelle Dancel, I present:

Confessions of Indie Web Series Creators: Things They Wish They Knew

But of course my little pulpsters here know all this stuff already. You're a crafty lot ...very, very crafty.

Believe It Or Not I Have a Post Up

Over at The Wrap.

As promised my post regarding what the PRINCE OF PERSIA key art means.

Thanks, and please go over there and leave a comment or twenty.