My video review today is brought to you in glorious black and white as I take a look at the New Pulp short story collection, “The Adventures of Lazarus Gray” by Barry Reese.
The recap, for those of you who don’t watch video: Lazarus Gray is a new pulp novel in the vein of Doc Savage. Like the Savage in the Robeson novels, you’ve got a character in Lazarus who is perfect, fantastic in everything he does, is loved by everyone around (except bad guys, who hate him) and followed unquestioningly by a band of people he’s saved in the past. At any point in the various Lazarus Gray stories you could have swapped out the name “Clark Savage Jr” and I might not have noticed.
That’s not a bad thing, since a lot of the new pulp work is made up of “homages” to classic pulp characters and stories. You’re not really reading these things for originality, you’re reading them for the action, adventure and escape. And “The Adventures of Lazarus Gray” delivers those things in spades.
I had two small issues with the collection. First, the fact that Lazarus Gray is probably the least interesting person in the stories. He’s a bit too perfect and too distant, and isn’t all that likable…and that is one of the same criticisms I’d put on most of the Doc Savage stories. Luckily, the rest of the cast and crew make up for that failing.
The only other real issue with the stories is that I made the mistake of reading them all in one sitting, which turned out to be a bad idea. For some reason, Reese wrote the stories with a lot of repetition of text descriptions – some seemed to be cut and pasted copies from one story to the next. While this sort of thing was fine and acceptable for stories published separately – either in various magazines or as consecutive novels over time – it was a tad painful to see all together. I’m a bit baffled by the reasoning behind that particular choice, but it is a minor quibble.
With this release, Barry Reese continues to show why he’s one of the premiere voices in the new pulp movement. The work is excellent and enjoyable.
UPDATE: Barry Reese and his publisher, Tommy Hancock, let me know that some of the Lazarus Gray stories had appeared first in magazines from Pro Se Press. That definitely explains some of the duplication of text, but it doesn’t help as a reader. My suggestion to read the book in multiple sittings stands – trust me, it’ll help you enjoy the work more fully.
TV, Film, comic book, fantasy & steampunk writer/director, known best for bad horror movies about giant scorpions, killer pigs & dinosaurs in the sewers.
You can find his work on Smashwords or at his Amazon Author Page.
(Below is a loose transcript of what I talk about in the video – for those of you who prefer reading to watching.)
One of the most rampant problems with creators – in comics, prose publishing and even filmmaking – is the reliance on what I like to cally “prayer marketing.” The best way to explain what I mean by that phrase is to give you is to steal a Tweet my buddy Dwight MacPherson sent me today. Here’s what Dwight said in terms of his marketing plans:
“I’m hoping that if I generate enough quality work, readers will seek me out and find me.”
Now, before anyone jumps up and yells at me for picking on Dwight, I want to say I’m a huge fan of his work – I’ve paid money to buy it in the past and will continue to do so. He’s a fantastic writer and, by all accounts, a great editor…and a really nice guy.
With that out of the way, Dwight’s Tweet is pretty naive, especially nowadays. Producing great work is just the foundation for success and, as Stephanie Meyer has proven, it’s not even really all that essential! Full Story →
TV, Film, comic book, fantasy & steampunk writer/director, known best for bad horror movies about giant scorpions, killer pigs & dinosaurs in the sewers.
You can find his work on Smashwords or at his Amazon Author Page.
I’ve just started playing around with SocialCam to see how I like their system as a platform for posting quick video blogs. So far, it’s got potential.
For my inaugural SocialCam post, I talk a bit about the recent controversy over the Valiant Comics sales totals for X-O #1, why I think the uproar is funny, and why it really doesn’t matter in the short or long run.
TV, Film, comic book, fantasy & steampunk writer/director, known best for bad horror movies about giant scorpions, killer pigs & dinosaurs in the sewers.
You can find his work on Smashwords or at his Amazon Author Page.
TV, Film, comic book, fantasy & steampunk writer/director, known best for bad horror movies about giant scorpions, killer pigs & dinosaurs in the sewers.
You can find his work on Smashwords or at his Amazon Author Page.
(Today’s post is by a good friend of mine, and fantastic writer-stud, James Ninness, and is on a subject I’m sure a lot of stay-at-home authors are very familiar with. James is the writer of the really spiffy webcomic, MYTHOI, from Semantink Publishing…check it out!)
The Tribulations of Writing at Home by James Ninness
Kids are be time consuming beasts.
All the whining and jumping and playing and eating and pooping and peeing… To say that personal time is rare in the presence of spawn is a gross understatement.
For parents with a nine to five, a career can be solace. Eight hours away from the non-stop whirlwind of post-procreation rearing can seem like the most relaxing time of the day.
Unfortunately for stay-at-home writer/parents, there is no such alleviation.
It is difficult enough for writers to stay disciplined. It can seem like we have to force ourselves to sit down in an isolated area, avoiding the temptations of Facebook and Twitter in order to hash our a few words that may or may not supply a bit of income. And that’s without kids. Throw the unstable, everyday nasty of children into the mix and the harmony of wordsmithery is thrown almost infinitely out of balance.
TV, Film, comic book, fantasy & steampunk writer/director, known best for bad horror movies about giant scorpions, killer pigs & dinosaurs in the sewers.
You can find his work on Smashwords or at his Amazon Author Page.
This morning, I found a really cool surprise in my email — it’s a video review of “The Old Sergeant” novella I wrote. Needless to say, I was tickled pink by it!
TV, Film, comic book, fantasy & steampunk writer/director, known best for bad horror movies about giant scorpions, killer pigs & dinosaurs in the sewers.
You can find his work on Smashwords or at his Amazon Author Page.
Today I finished up another X-23 pic, on an X-men #2 blank sketch cover. Last time I was trying something a little more along the lines of something Ebas might do – and not coming close. So this time around I did the same character in my more natural style. It fits a bit more with the Glory and Rogue sketchcovers I did a few weeks back.
Drawing attractive women is always a good time, so expect a few more of these in the near future as I work to improve my doodles.
TV, Film, comic book, fantasy & steampunk writer/director, known best for bad horror movies about giant scorpions, killer pigs & dinosaurs in the sewers.
You can find his work on Smashwords or at his Amazon Author Page.
Today’s sketchcover commission is from Bruce G from Facebook. Bruce is also the owner of a Captain America sketchcover I did a couple of months back. The man has great taste!
The guidelines for this particular cover were that it be based on the Kree-Skrull War, have Mar-Vell fighting a skrull,include the three skrull cows and the Vision.
TV, Film, comic book, fantasy & steampunk writer/director, known best for bad horror movies about giant scorpions, killer pigs & dinosaurs in the sewers.
You can find his work on Smashwords or at his Amazon Author Page.
I’m playing around with trying to make my superhero women sexier and have been studying Ebas and Milo Manara. This one is done all in Pigment Liners and Pitt brush pens.
TV, Film, comic book, fantasy & steampunk writer/director, known best for bad horror movies about giant scorpions, killer pigs & dinosaurs in the sewers.
You can find his work on Smashwords or at his Amazon Author Page.
Sean Taylor, a writer whose work I thoroughly enjoy, posted a couple of questions aimed at comic book and “pulp” writers…I’m guessing he means “new pulp” writers, but I’m not going THERE again! His questions caught my interest because, as a bit of an arrogant bastard, the answers seemed to be pretty obvious to me. They also seemed to mirror what is going on in the comic book industry in terms of shrinking marketplace and trying to expand audience, but that’s another post.
Let’s take a look at what Sean posted over on Facebook (you can see Sean’s post yourself over at his FB profile):
1. Considering the similarities between pulp characters and mainstream comic book characters, you’d think comics featuring pulp heroes would perform better in the marketplace. What do you think is holding them back?
2. What could be done to improve the showing of pulp heroes in the mainstream comic book world, to win over both the retailers and the fans who don’t know much (or anything) about The Spider or Doc Savage and their compatriots?
The blatantly obvious answer here is, of course, “Fix your branding.” Right now, the impression that “pulp” gives is a retro one, and not “cool” retro. When I think of pulp as it is currently portrayed, I think of the 1930s, I think of old-fashioned artwork and I think of a market full of “homages.” I was going to say “knock-offs,” but that has negative connotations I didn’t want.
TV, Film, comic book, fantasy & steampunk writer/director, known best for bad horror movies about giant scorpions, killer pigs & dinosaurs in the sewers.
You can find his work on Smashwords or at his Amazon Author Page.
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BIO
Mat Nastos has been a film/tv artist, director and writer since the early 1990s. His work has been published by Marvel Comics, DC Comics, Warp Graphics, Playboy and Highlights for Kids, and has been seen everywhere from the SyFy Channel to Cinemax to the Disney Channel.
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Email: matnastos (at) gmail (dot) com
AIM: NiftyMat
Phone: (323) 393-0567
Fax: (206) 333-0807
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