Black Gate – Page 1150 – Adventures in Fantasy Literature

Ernie Chan (1940-2012): A Legend Passes

Friday, May 18, 2012 John R. Fultz Comments 4 comments

Earlier this evening I heard the sad news that one of comics’ great legends, Ernie Chan, has passed away. Ernie was set to appear at the BigWow Comicfest in San Jose this weekend, so his death comes as a real surprise to those of us who expected to see him there.

I wanted to post a tribute in the form of my favorite Chan images. You can see that tribute right here. Some of these he painted, some he penciled and inked, and some he only inked — but Ernie’s inks were some of the most powerful in the world of comics.

When I was a kid I couldn’t get enough of Conan the Barbarian and its black-and-white companion magazine The Savage Sword of Conan. But I was incredibly picky about the art in my comics — if the art didn’t blow me away, I wouldn’t buy the comic. Plus, I had the seriously limited budget of a child, so I had to be impressed by the art or I left the book sitting on the rack.

Whenever I found a Conan book that was drawn (or inked) by Ernie Chan, my money hit the counter immediately.

Rest in peace, Ernie. You will be missed…

Blogging Austin Briggs’ Flash Gordon, Part Two – “Freeland”

Friday, May 18, 2012 William Patrick Maynard Comments 0 Comment

“Freeland” was the second installment of Austin Briggs’ Flash Gordon daily comic strip serial for King Features Syndicate. Originally published between February 24 and August 21, 1941, “Freeland” was the second story in the daily companion to Alex Raymond’s celebrated Sunday strip. It is the second of two Briggs strips available in a reprint collection from Kitchen Sink Press.

“Freeland” gets underway with the ship bearing our motley crew making its way toward the Promised Land free from Ming. Flash and Dale set out in a rocketship to scout for a safe harbor and encounter a hostile tribe of what appear to be Native Americans.

Once more, Austin Briggs demonstrates his version of Mongo is more attuned to contemporary American experience or American history than the prehistoric or Medieval Europe model chosen by Alex Raymond. Briggs may also be borrowing a page from Edgar Rice Burroughs (one of Raymond’s primary inspirations) in transplanting Native Americans to another world.

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Weird Tales 359 Arrives

Friday, May 18, 2012 John ONeill Comments 0 Comment

Well, sort of.

I’ve been waiting expectantly for this one. It’s something of a watershed issue — Ann VanderMeer’s final issue as editor, and the first from the new publishers, Nth Dimension media (as we reported back in August). It has fiction from Stephen Graham Jones, Tamsyn Muir, Evan J. Peterson, and many others, and articles from Paula Guran, Michael Skeet and Kenneth Hite.

At least, so they tell me. I haven’t been able to find a copy. I blame the death of Borders, where I used to be able to buy it. I’ve been checking the magazine section of my local Barnes & Noble (where I get F&SF, Asimov’s, Analog and Interzone), but no luck.

But Ann VanderMeer tells me it’s out. New publisher John Harlacher tells me it’s out. So it probably is. If you see a copy in the wild, let me know will you? Speaking of Harlacher, here’s what he says about this issue, and the spectacular cover:

The first Weird Tales issue by our company, Nth Dimension media, has gone to press, and will be in your mailboxes by the end of February. It’s edited by Ann VanderMeer, has art direction by Stephen H. Segal, and is quite beautiful… Stephen worked with our artist, Dave Buchwald (known in the graphic design world for creating the covers of 2600 magazine), to create this cover, and we think it represents a style we will use for the near future. It features the new/old logo, an intriguing symbol by Jeff Wong (www.JeffWong.com), and a stunning piece of art by Aurielien Police. The layout achieved what was most important to me – an emphasis on art, while keeping the writer in the forefront.

It really is a great cover. Click on the image at right for a bigger version. Love the dapper robot dude.

Cover price for the issue is $6.99 (I guess). It is probably 80 pages. The complete table of contents is here. We last covered Weird Tales with issue 358.

Goth Chick News: Pass Me a Prom Dress and Some Pig Blood

Thursday, May 17, 2012 Sue Granquist Comments 0 Comment

There’s just no point in continuing to harp on this whole remake / reboot craze that Hollywood seems to be suffering from the last few years.

True that the lack of innovation is depressing and the originals are almost always better, but you can probably think of at least one movie that you’d be interested to see in the light of a new generation of special effects.

So with that firmly in mind, let’s dust off the formalwear, order some carnations, drop by that slaughter house on the outskirts of town and once again, take Carrie White to the prom.

If you recall, the original Carrie of 1976 had Sissy Spacek in the waif-like, telekinetic, bullying-victim lead role, while Piper Laurie played her nutso, religious fanatic Mommy-dearest, Margaret.

Margaret White is, in many ways, the center of the horror classic and undoubtedly one of the most disturbing characters ever seen on screen. Associating sex and puberty with shame and sin, Mrs. White turned her tortured daughter’s home into another place of torment instead of a sanctuary.

Spitting out lines like, “They’re all gonna’ laugh at you,” and “I can see your dirty pillows,” Laurie created a psycho movie mom that would make you want to spend the holidays with Joan Crawford.

Now four-time Oscar nominee Julianne Moore will attempt to top Laurie’s Oscar-nominated performance; she has signed on to play Margaret White in the upcoming Carrie remake.

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The Nightmare Men: The Good Inspector

Thursday, May 17, 2012 Josh Reynolds Comments 7 comments

jrlegrasse Like Van Helsing before him, Inspector John Raymond Legrasse has only had one canonical appearance: HP Lovecraft’s seminal “The Call of Cthulhu”. But like the Dutch professor, the Creole Inspector has continued on past the end of his own story, popping up here and there, stubbornly inserting himself into the arcane worlds of others, most notably those of CJ Henderson.

Described as a “commonplace looking middle-aged man”, Legrasse is a man devoted to duty and possessed of an unshakeable resolve, despite his unassuming appearance. This resolve pitches him into conflict with the servants of one of Lovecraft’s most enduring creations, Cthulhu. Legrasse’ part in “The Call of Cthulhu” is a minor one, but its reverberations reach far, especially when one considers how much a template ‘The Tale of Inspector Legrasse’ is for the modern occult detective story.

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William Patrick Maynard’s The Terror of Fu Manchu

Thursday, May 17, 2012 John ONeill Comments 1 comment

We’re a talented group here at Black Gate. Every time I drop a pencil someone on staff publishes a book. Last week I spilled a pencil case, and Scott Taylor announced a nine-volume fantasy series.

I was especially pleased to get my hands on the first novel by Friday blogger William Patrick Maynard, The Terror of Fu Manchu, published in 2009 by Black Coat Press. Bill was authorized to continue Sax Rohmer’s Fu Manchu thrillers and the second volume, The Destiny of Fu Manchu has just appeared, also from Black Coat Press.

I met Bill for the first time at the Windy City Pulp and Paper show two weeks ago here in Chicago, and found him to be an intelligent and entertaining conversationalist. I was fortunate to have the chance to ask him about his novels, and I was treated to an enthusiastic and fascinating lecture on the Boxer Rebellion, the psychology of Yellow Peril novels, and the uniquely global evil of Fu Manchu.

It was one of those moments when you wish you had a recorder. After listening to Bill I was more intrigued than ever to read his novels, and I wished I had a way to share his infectious enthusiasm with our readers.

Eventually I asked Bill to recreate what he told me as best he could in an e-mail message, to post here.

He graciously complied, and here’s what he sent me.

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Continued Fallout for Undead Press

Wednesday, May 16, 2012 John ONeill Comments 11 comments

The fallout from the very public feud between first-time writer Mandy DeGeit and Anthony Giangregorio of Undead Press (first covered here yesterday) continues today, with professional writers weighing in on the controversy. Neil Gaiman tweeted DeGeit’s original post, bringing thousands of readers to her blog, and now Adam-Troy Castro, Alyn Day, Richard Salter, Nick Mamatas and others have written about their own experiences.

Here’s Adam-Troy Castro, from his blog:

There’s recently been a flurry of posts about Undead Press, a small publishing house that a) doesn’t pay, b) allegedly humiliates its authors by inserting gratuitous rape scenes into their stories, without asking those authors if they want those rape scenes to be there, and c) has apparently published and continues to advertise a sequel to George Romero’s Dawn of the Dead, showing an absolute lack of respect for copyright or concern for the legal consequences… what I really want to address is that Dawn of the Dead sequel, an act of supreme arrogance… What Giangregorio has done is specifically, and deliberately, hijack the name of a better work and superior work to his sequel; he is specifically saying, “This is a sequel to Dawn of the Dead.” Which he has no right to do.

Alyn Day, another Undead Press contributor, relates how her story was also rewritten and retitled without permission.

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Win a copy of Thunder in the Void from Haffner Press!

Wednesday, May 16, 2012 John ONeill Comments 4 comments

Contests! I love contests. It’s because we love to give away stuff, like Santa Claus.

In this case, it’s stuff you really, really want: the latest archival quality hardcover from Haffner Press, Thunder in the Void, a massive collection of 16 Space Opera tales by Henry Kuttner. It’s scarcely been on sale two weeks, and it’s already almost sold out, so act fast.

Thunder in the Void gathers classic pulp fiction from Planet Stories, Weird Tales, Super Science Stories, and even rarer sources, including “War-Gods of the Void,” “Raider of the Spaceways,” “We Guard the Black Planet,” “Crypt-City of the Deathless Ones,” and the previously unpublished “The Interplanetary Limited.” Most appear here in book form for the first time.

How do you win? Now pay attention, this is the fun part. You must submit the title of an imaginary Space Opera story. The most compelling pulp title — as selected by a crack team of judges including Howard Andrew Jones, C.S.E. Cooney, and John O’Neill — will receive a free copy of Thunder in the Void in the mail, complements of Haffner Press and Black Gate magazine.

One submission per person, please. Submissions must be received by May 31st, 2012. Winner will be contacted by e-mail, so use a real e-mail address maybe. All submissions must be sent to john@blackgate.com, with the subject line Thunder in the Void, or something obvious like that so I don’t randomly delete it.

All entries become the property of New Epoch Press. No purchase necessary. Must be 12 or older. Decisions of the judges (capricious as they may be) are final. Employees of New Epoch Press are ineligible to enter (including the judges — sorry, Howard and C.S.E.) Not valid where prohibited by law. Or anywhere postage for a hefty hardcover is more than, like, 10 bucks. Seriously, this book is heavy and we’re on a budget.

Thunder in the Void is 612 pages in high-quality hardcover format, with an introduction by Mike Resnick and a cover price of $40. Cover art is by Norman Saunders. It is available directly from Haffner Press.

Rich Horton Reviews Ashes of Candesce

Wednesday, May 16, 2012 Bill Ward Comments 2 comments

ashes-of-candesce Ashes of Candesce
Karl Schroeder
Tor ($27.99, hc, 432 pages, February 2012)
Reviewed by Rich Horton

Ashes of Candesce is the concluding novel in Karl Schroeder’s Virga series, which began with an Analog serial called “Sun of Suns” (first part published in November 2005), and has continued through five novels. The first novel introduced Virga, a huge bubble in the Vega system in which a wide variety of human cultures live in low-tech freefall environments. It concerned young Hayden Griffin, a young man from the nation of Aerie, which has been conquered by another country, Slipstream. Griffin’s original mission is simply revenge against Slipstream, but by the end of that book he has learned a lot more about his world. There the series opens out – the initial setting is charming, and could have supported plenty of fine adventure stories, but Schroeder’s interests were much broader. In Sun of Suns we learn why Virga is a low tech environment, and in subsequent books we learn a fair amount about the much higher tech available outside Virga, and about that tech’s dangers.

The primary thematic thrust of the series is the nature of Artificial Intelligence, and the way humans can live with it, and the dangers of a life too separate from true nature, from true bodies. The conflict at the center is between Artificial Nature – essentially, purely virtual existence (though Schroeder’s take on this is more complex than that) and between intelligence that are fundamentally “embodied”, and thus responsive to what we might call “Natural Nature”. In each of the books we have learned more about Virga and especially about the world outside Virga – and about the importance of Virga and the paradoxically high-tech technology-suppression field that makes its low-tech existence possible.

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Art of the Genre: The Art of Pokémon

Wednesday, May 16, 2012 Scott Taylor Comments 7 comments

Pokemon Study Hall by Hinoraito, and boy there are a bunch of characters in it!

I never wanted to watch Pokémon. It’s a phenomena that came WAY after I was too old for it, and in essence was driven by collectable card games ala Magic the Gathering which I stayed well away from at all costs.

Sure, I knew Pikachu as it’s pretty hard to be alive in this world without knowing the electric-type mouse Pokémon as well as his constant companion of Ash Ketchum. But truly, that’s as far as it went.

Then came 2006 when my son was born and I named him Ashur, which of course would get shortened to Ash at convenience as he grew. Did that name have anything to do with Pokémon? Nope, although there was a bit of Evil Dead in there to be honest, but for the most part it just fit. Three days before my Ash arrived, his cousin Iris was born. Again, nothing odd about that occurrence at the time, and yet these days I think about the event as I watch Pokémon: Black and White and scratch my head because the two main characters of that version… Ash and Iris.

Yes, I watch Pokémon with my son. It can be rather addicting, as any quest cartoon can, each adventure building on the next as Ash continues on his journey to be a Pokémon Master. My son loves it, collects plush Pokémon, and studies his Pokémon: Black and White handbook like it’s the gospel.

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