AIRSHIP 27 PODCAST (LATE JAN '22): READY FOR LIFTOFF

Spectacular new, Airship 27 titles take flight in Ron Fortier and Rob Davis' latest podcast.

Ron's powerful prequel to his Brother Bones' mythology,  Cape Noire: A Beest and Beauty Tale, has just hit the scene (adorned by Rob's nifty artwork), which focuses on the City of Crime's favorite, furry foe, Harry Beest. In essence, Ron's novel tells precisely how Beest gained his simian guise, and of course, accompanying the top henchman's alteration are all the eccentric characters we've come to know, love and despise (along with the some new ones) within Brother Bones' tough turf, including those preluding Bonello Brothers. 

Also on the release roster is Lou Mougin's clever, New Pulp high-tech sojourn, Joe Computer, Private Detective (with apt illustrations by Fer Calvi). This one blends gum-shoe, Spillane-ish adventure within a breezy, Alphaville context, but please note, the inhabitants are, in fact, interacting. computer programs. (Think Star Trek's Holodeck on steroids.) Maugin's writing zips right along, making this mystery a page-turner of the highest, science-fiction order. 

The guys also chat about the upcoming Pulp Factory Awards and toss in a couple of their silly jokes to ensure their viewers enter and exit smiling.

Dial in at

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbGBBE9fxC8&t=1276s

HAPPY NATIONAL GORILLA SUIT DAY 2022

FORTIER'S BEEST & BEAUTY: CAPE NOIRE'S PRIMAL PREQUEL

Author (and Airship 27 captain extraordinaire) Ron Fortier has written a dynamic dandy-and-a-half, a prequel that plunges readers into Cape Noire's earlier days and the creation of its most ferocious foe, Harry Beest, in the inventive Cape Noire: A Beest & Beauty Tale. 

When we enter the man-into-simian lead-up, we find Mr. Beest employed as a body guard for top-banana crime boss, Topper Wyld. The tough-guy duo engages a number of shady and charismatic characters along the rugged way, including Wyld's drop-dead gorgeous daughter, Alexis (blossoming Queen of Crime and the tempting apple of Beest's eye); salacious Madame Sadie Levine; pugnacious Butch Hammer, Big Swede Jorgenson; Fat Jacob Wiseman; brazen Betty One-Eye; mad genius Professor Bugosi; Waldo, his obedient assistant; ill-fated Korgo the Gorilla; and spry do-gooder, Detective Dan Rains.

And for those who might fear there's no trace of Brother Bones in this entry, the Bonello Brothers are always near, albeit in raw, pre-Undead Avenger mode.

Fortier brushes his weird adventure with homages to The Ape Man, Bride and the Beast, Public Enemy and Little Caesar, while Rob Davis' superlative artwork layers on the New Pulp charm, making A Beest & Beauty Tale one of Cape Noire's most engrossing passages to date. 

Order this fine, primal prequel at

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1953589197/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

MAIN ENTERPRISE'S TWILIGHT ZINE: A TRIBUTE TO ROD SERLING'S CLASSIC ZONE

I've always held Rod Serling's Twilight Zone near and dear to my heart and always will. In my estimation, any tribute to the classic source can only be appreciated and savored. Main Enterprises' pocket-size, illustrated salute, The Twilight Zine (produced in cooperation with Alan Sissom), is an aesthetic case in point. 

As evidenced from the cover insert, George Lane III's homage to Serling's "Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up?" sets the pleasing pace. 

In addition to Lane's tribute, the edition's heartfelt contents come from artists Jay Mooers ("Five Characters in Search of An Exit"), Doc Boucher and Marc Haines ("To Serve Man"),  Kevin Duncan ("The Invaders"), John Lambert ("Time Enough At Last"), Rusty Gilligan ("The Night of the Meek"/"A Game of Pool"), Mark Lerer ("A Nightmare at 20,000 Feet"/"Eye of the Beholder"/"The Dummy" - combo panel), Jack Bertram ("The After Hours"), Richard John Marcej ("The Obsolete Man"), Tom Ahern ("Probe 7 - Over and Out"), Verl Hold Bond ("Steel"/"Living Doll"), Anthony C. Gray ("The Grave") and Brad Foster (who bestows the back-cover of "It's a Good Life"/"Time Enough at Last"/"To Serve Man"/"The Invaders"/"The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street", with good ol' Rod presiding.)

The Twilight Zine is a satisfying, surreal feast for the senses. This illustrated collectible is as well, and I trust it'll be the first of many more such "submitted for your approval" entries.

To order a hard copy of The Twilight Zine, send $2.00 to Mr. Main via Paypal to jmain44@aol.com. (Please note: Supplies are limited!)

TERRIFIC TEAM-UP IMAGE: PETER CUSHING & MELVYN HAYES (BARON & BARON)

ORQAN & E.M. SPAZZ UNIT VS VENTA PROTESIX: PLACATING PANIC

Orqan & E.M. Unit vs Venta Protesix is a new submission from the mighty Musica Orizzontale: a a creative tryst that churns chords that clash and claw like no others. The product is uncooked, bestial, tattered and for me, all the easier to digest because of it.

Perhaps that's because the contents mirror my desperation. Recently, my wife fell ill, to the extent of nearly dying, and my emotions have gotten frayed. As her dire ordeal has unfolded, the sounds in my head punched shrill and fierce, just like those of Orqan & E.M. Unit vs Venta Protesix.  

The artists involved used unorthodox sources (Venta Protesix's laptops and E.M. Spazz Unit's scream machines, among other off-kilter schemes) to filter their warring sounds, but whatever the specialized means, the impact is always visceral, especially when kicked off by "Primeval Mud of Mutation/Six New Larynxx", which captures a torment akin to what Norman Bates and Roderick Usher (or me, tee hee) feel when the brain becomes inflamed. 

What follows "Primeval Mud" is just as shameless, just as insane: "Music Will Never Change Anything" (an incessant drilling that projects defeat), "Aching Virtual Vacuum" (a suffocating, machine-shop calamity), "Disassociation Championship" (powerful pops that pull one's limbs straight from their sockets), and "Sleep Deprivation Psychosis" (a spine-tapping, insomniac reminder that one's worst fears are worse than imagined). Yes, these titles behave just as one might suspect: each and every one behaviorally bent!

Throughout the album, I became an integral part of the tracks' explosive, whistling, primal grit, which sears and simmers in such a despairing way as to defy any force that might nurture  joy. To rephrase, the tracks spit in the eye of giddy adversity by embracing all the defiant doom they employ.

Orqan & E.M. Unit vs Venta Protesix's punk-ish results are sheer genius, forcing one's ears, heart and soul to be all that they wish to be. If I wish to lament, I have full passage to do so among these crackling tracks, and for the sake of a woeful state, I appreciate that more than the mere words of this review could ever state. 

Orqan & E.M. Unit vs Venta Protesix is the proverbial, sad-song compilation that not only will "reach into your room" (my apologies to Sir Elton) but thrive as a reckless antidote that induces fearsome fortitude.

Partake the placating panic at 

https://musicaorizzontale.bandcamp.com/album/movs1-orqan-e-m-spazz-unit-vs-venta-protesix

PIN-UP TIME: JOLENE BLALOCK IS T'POL

 

Collectible Time: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Wall Decor

 

Ah, Mel, you've done it again, hitting the mark for my birthday with three tie-ins for my all-time favorite western, Sergio Leone's The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

Was just watching this one with my folks a couple Saturdays ago, and we each remarked that, no matter how many times we view this third entry in the famous, spaghetti trilogy, it never fails to charm with its gritty ambiance, Ennio Morricone's ethereal score and of course, its nuanced cast. 

The above 12" x 18" poster is an interesting, Italian variant (with a pleasing, red-splotched insert), which presents the spot-on portraits of Eli Wallach as Tuco (the ugly), Lee Van Cleef as Angel Eyes (the bad) and Clint Eastwood as the Man with No Name (the good), though he's otherwise known as Joe due to a fleeting reference in A Fistful of Dollars and of course, to cantankerous ol' Tuco as Blondie on all affectionate (or not) counts. 

The second submission is a 12" x 18" reproduction of the famous, American standard for the film, with our eponymous trio in stately, full-length poses, along with a bottom bar featuring black-and-white stills of them: a classic compilation that I, for one, hold in the highest regard. 

Mel's third entry is a 11" x 14" tin sign spotlighting Eastwood with a comedic quote directed from the "nameless one" to Tuco in a pivotal scene: "See in this world, my friend, there are two kinds of people: those with loaded guns and those who dig. You dig." Yep, one of the most profound quotes ever!

This is one helluva great set, Mel. You never fail to astound me with your recollection of what I fancy most. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly means the world to me, and so do these exceptional collectibles that promote it. 

WISE WORDS:

CRONENBERG ANTHOLOGY COMING FROM EIGHTH TOWER PUBLISHING

The third in Raffaele Pezzella/Eighth Tower Publishing's Dark Fiction series hovers on the horizon: a David Cronenberg tribute. I just completed my submission for it. 

My contribution covers several Cronenberg classics, though The Brood, Videodrome and Scanners take center stage. The story is called "Long Live the New Brood". 

There's also a smidgen of Dead Ringers, Rabid, Shivers and The Fly in my mashup.

I'm thrilled that Pezzella is continuing his anthology series. It's nice, too, that he doesn't waste time between the Dark Fiction releases. 

I'll keep Bizarrechats readers in the loop on the upcoming edition; and for those who haven't yet purchased the previous Dark Fiction volumes (of which I'm a part), they're available at Amazon:

The Black Stone: Stories for Lovecraftian Summonings

https://www.amazon.com/BLACK-STONE-Stories-Lovecraftian-Summonings/dp/B08XY44MT6/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1641598080&sr=8-2

The Beyond: Stories Inspired by Lucio Fulci's Death Trilogy

https://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Stories-Inspired-Lucio-Trilogy/dp/B09JBQJ27R/ref=sr_1_1?crid=O49CUG0G4FL2&keywords=DARK+FICTION+LUCIO+FULCI&qid=1641598312&sprefix=dark+fiction+lucio+fulci%2Caps%2C72&sr=8-1

Engage the Eighth Tower Dark Fiction phenomenon today!

TERRIFIC TEAM-UP IMAGE: SPIDEY V FRANKEY