The Look Of Love

This is a "feel good" story in every way.

If you have an interest in pulp characters, you are likely aware of this massive project. Legends Of New Pulp Fiction came about as a result of several members of the pulp creative community coming together for one of their own.

After finding out that writer (and editor-in-chief at Pro Se Productions, among other pulp-heavy career achievements in his resume) Tommy Hancock was diagnosed with congestive heart failure, an idea to create an anthology book of pulp stories to help raise funds for Mr. Hancock's family caught on immediately. Within two days of the call for submissions being sent out, more than 50 commitments were received.

The book was released earlier this week by Airship 27 with a cover by Douglas Klauba. Click here to be taken to the Amazon.com page from which you can purchase it.

Legends' page count alone is damn near legendary. It weighs in at 776 according to the Amazon listing.

It seemed unlikely that a book that size and with a specifically pulp theme would not include at least a small amount of Black Bat content. I took a moment to review the table of contents and sure enough, our hero does make an appearance in a story called The Look of Love by Greg Hatcher. It is brief, however, only 10 pages including an illustration(s) by Rob Davis.

Mr. Hatcher has experience with the character already. He wrote None So Blind, the story which kicks off the third volume of Black Bat Mystery, also for Airship 27. He has also written stories for anthology books of Domino Lady and The Green Ghost.

Good cause, great collection of talent, huge variety of characters new and old, including The Black Bat. Sounds like a winner all around.

Alternate Cover for Masks 2 #6

I didn't see this cover art when artist Colton Worley posted it on his Twitter account in October and it isn't displayed among the variant covers on dynamite.com, either.

Even though the Black Bat didn't play a huge part in the Masks 2 mini series, I hope this image finds its way into the Masks 2 trade paperback because it's quite striking.

The Black Bat Returns Hardcover...Cover

Just a small update today as Moonstone reveals for a hardcover version of The Black Bat Returns.

THIS IS A PREORDER ITEM ONLY. Book will be available Jan/Feb '16. MOONSTONEBOOKS.com EXCLUSIVE! ... SUPER LIMITED edition! Same contents as the sc, but with a new cover by Mike Fyles and high grade paper stock!

So you can get a fancier version of the book if you're willing to pay a little more (naturally) and wait a little longer (the softcover version is supposed to be in stores on December 23rd).

I'm less sure about wanting to wait any longer, but that cover is certainly making it tempting.

Guns Of The Black Bat About Ready To Fire!

According to writer Ron Fortier, we will soon see one of the several Moonstone Books Black Bat projects become available.

This should be scheduled for an April, release. The series was supposed to feature The Black Bat at the head of a group of other pulp characters, such as Domino Lady and The Phantom Detective. The cover above no longer seems to indicate that so we'll see what the actual solicitation material says.

In the meantime, I wasn't terribly familiar with Silvestre Szilagyi's work so I went on a brief hunt. The pages below provide what appears to be good sample material and if so, it seems Bat fan are in good hands.

I'll post the full solicitation when it comes out.

Edit: Since the Black Bat Facebook page included the solicitation earlier today, I'll just add it to this post:

Dateline 1938. Hitler and the Nazis have begun their plans to conquer the world. In the states, the crimefighter known as the Black Bat encounters German spies exhibiting strange, unworldly powers. Have aliens infiltrated the Third Reich and is the threat to mankind greater than imagined? Hurriedly the Bat assembles a team of specialists to help him confront this unknown foe: Airboy, Domino Lady, Moon Man, Golden Amazon, and more! They will become known as The Guns of the Black Bat. 

***RETAILER INCENTIVE: If you purchase 4 or more copies of Guns of the Black Bat #1, you will receive 1 FREE variant issue!

The book is listed as being 32 pages in length for $3.50

Fighting Aliens With Ravenwood

Shortly after deciding to focus this blog specifically on The Black Bat, I considered starting a Facebook group through which I could "meet" other fans of the character and perhaps more easily find out about past, or upcoming projects.

Of course, I quickly found out about the existing Black Bat Facebook group. I was perfectly happy with having someone do my work for me until it became clear that the group was geared towards the Airship 27 / Moonstone versions. Nothing wrong with that, but not exactly what I was looking for (or more accurately, not a complete version).

So yesterday I started a Twitter account (@BlackBatQuinn) instead. And it took all of one day to pay off.

Aaron Smith was among the first writers that I sought to follow based on his work in the first two volumes of Airship 27's Black Back Mystery. Turns out he was a little more involved with the character than I'd known.

News to me. You wouldn't know it from the front cover...

...But it is clearly indicated on the back cover.

 ...the Stepson of Mystery once again sets out to solve bizarre mysteries the police are helpless to unravel. Follow along as he confronts an amazing killer robot, teams up with the Black Bat to fight an alien horror and investigates ritualistic murders having no rhyme or reason.

And just like that, we have an addition to the reading list.

Thanks for the follow, Mr. Smith, and for the info!

The Black Bat Swoops Into All-Star Pulp Comics #3!

A pleasant surprise turned in the press release announcing All-Star Pulp Comics #3 from Redbud Studio / Airship 27.

Airship 27 Productions in conjunction with Redbud Studios is thrilled to announce the release of ALL STAR PULP COMICS # 3. 

“We’re thrilled to offer up another great collection,” says Airship 27 Managing Editor Ron Fortier, “comic strip adventures of classic pulp heroes. The contents in this third volume is really eclectic representing a wide variety of pulp genres by some of the finest writers and artists in the graphic world.” 

The eight featured stories include : 

“Sinbad and the Isle of Stone”
Scott “Doc” Vaughn   

The Black Bat in “Blind Justice”
Ron Fortier & Eric Johns 

The Purple Scar in “Breaking Point”
Percival Constantine & Carl Yonder  

Lance Star Sky Ranger in “Gods of the Molten Sea”
Bobby Nash & Rock Baker & Jeff Austin  

Mars McCoy Space Ranger in “Crazy Horse”
Mike Baron (with Ron Fortier) & Eric Hurley & Warren Montgomery  

The Crimson Mask in “Killing Rain”
Aaron Smith & David Nehaus  

The Moon Man in “Dance of the Black Flamingo”
Michael Leonard & James Lyle & Greg Keyzer  

The book has a cover by Rob Davis with colors by Warren Montgomery and features the Moon Man battling side-by-side by Lt. Betty 12 from the Mars McCoy Space Ranger pulp series. 

The book is now available from...Amazon.

Several of these stories had been talked about while the book was in production, with no mention of the Black Bat. I'd believed he was not included but there he is, making a clean sweep of a all three ASPC books. Hope it becomes tradition.

CKRTLAB Version Of The Black Bat.

Sadly, this is only artwork. There are no current plans for CKRTLAB Toys (pronounced "secret lab", for those just finding out about the company) to make a Black Bat figurine, they were simply having fun displaying their favourite "golden age guardians" done in their style. I believed it was packaging art, but sadly that's not the case.

Scars around the eyes!

Check out which Golden Age Guardians have made the cut to this point on the CKRTLAB website.

Not typically my sort of thing, but he'd look mighty fine on my stack of Black Bat material.

It's Here! Airship 27 Releases Black Bat Mystery Volume Three!

Cover by Graham Hill, interior illustrations by Marco Santiago. Available on Amazon.com.

Black Bat Mystery Vol. 3 Back Cover Reveal

The third volume of Airship 27's Black Bat Mystery must be due for release relatively soon since they've revealed its back cover on the Black Bat Facebook group earlier this week.

Now at first glance, it might seem identical to that of volumes one and two, but it actually gives us our first hints as to what to expect in three of the four stories.  Check out the second paragraph.

Speaking of earlier volumes, the first is now available as an audiobook, if that's your thing, through audible.com. Volume Two to come soon, no doubt.

Black Bat Mystery, Audio Version, Coming Soon!

On August 22nd, Airship 27 made the following announcement:

Airship 27 Productions, one of the best known of the New Pulp publishers today, is joining forces with Radio Archives, the leading voice in audiobooks to bring their action/adventure pulp titles to the exciting world of audiobooks.

And today, they posted this on Facebook:

The following Airship 27 titles are now being recorded as audio books by Radio Archives.  

Biker
Black Bat Mystery Volume One
Black Bat Mystery Volume Two
Call of Shadows
Claws of the Golden Dragon
CO Jones - Mobsters & Monsters
Damballa
Ghost Squad - Rise of the Black Legion

Obviously, I'd hoped that The Black Bat would be selected for this treatment but did not really expect it to happen so this is interesting news.

The Black Bat Skedaddles!

From time to time, I get the bug to seek out more information about the German Black Bat stories that were published between 1960 and 1976. My understanding is that they are largely garbage but with titles like "Executed With All The Trimmings" and "Hot Lead Makes Cold Feet", I can't help but be curious.

Invariably, I fail to find anything particularly noteworthy, but on occasion I stumble into another gem. Such was the case yesterday when I came across a website for Skedaddle Press.

That certainly looked like our hero at right, along with a couple of other familiar faces. A solo image further down the page (copied below) provided confirmation.

So what's the deal? I wrote to the address at the bottom of the page and promptly received a detailed response (which was much appreciated).

Skedaddle indeed plans on publishing new Black Bat material in comic form but probably not until next year. It will be a traditional version, faithful to the source material.

At the moment however, they are preparing to publish food magazines and directing their attention towards the karepax project which combines comics with snacks (a marriage made in heaven if I've ever heard one!)

Skedaddle has already prepared a compilation of origin stories of a number of PD characters. The goal is to group those characters together under the name The Security Guild in future releases.

Even a quick glance at Skedaddle's website reveals a clear appreciation for pulp and public domain characters so Quinn and his entourage appear to be in good hands here. We'll track the project's progress and wish the creators all the best with their various plans.

Altus and Moonstone Expand Their Black Bat Content

The cover at left finally finds its way onto the right border of the blog now that Altus Press has made volume three of the Black Bat Omnibus available for order. Give the side image a click to be taken to the altuspress.com page from which you can order it.

I want to reiterate how quick Altus is to get these books out to readers. I ordered mine on a Sunday night and it was in my mailbox on Tuesday. Unbelievable. On that level, Altus never fails to impress.

On a more negative note, the first story in the collection, The Black Bat's Flame Trail, is a little bit annoying. I'd read that this was case in a number of reviews but am now experiencing it first hand. Written by Whitney Ellsworth (rather than Norman A. Daniels), the inconsistencies with prior material are irritating.

Ellsworth seemed to get the back story and style just fine, for the most part, but got Carol and Butch's family names wrong on a number of occasions. I knew that going in, but it happens more often than I thought. I don't understand how one can get so much right yet whiff on those kinds of details.

Also, Butch is totally out of character. An easy example to display this is his tendency to refer to The Black Bat by his last name. In previous stories, he would usually refer to the Black Bat as "boss" or some such, but in this he often addresses him as simply "Quinn". It comes off sounding disrespectful and even, at times, vaguely threatening. I'm glad I have the story from a collector's perspective, but it's doubtful that I'll return to it very often.

Catching up with another publisher, about a month ago we shared the news that Moonstone Books was making magnets which featured the images of some of their more recognizable book covers. They have since expanded that project to include "classic" covers of pulp books such as Jungle Stories, Phanton Detective and, of course, Black Book Detective!

So if you enjoy the covers to the original Black Bat stories, such as the one at right, Moonstone now has a batch of them in their selection. Check those out here.

I may as well take a moment to point out, for those who may have missed it, that many of those Black Book Detective Covers are on display on a page that can be reached by clicking the button under the banner above.

The list is not complete and I take no credit for any of the scans. I have located them from various internet sources. At most, I may have cropped or adjusted the colours somewhat but the original images are in no way mine.

Guns of The Black Bat, Issue 3, Cover Reveal

The image below was revealed earlier today on Facebook through artist Michael L. Stribling's personal page, and shared a number of times. As it should be, it's friggin' gorgeous.

I haven't seen the cover to the second issue, but the cover to the first is elsewhere on the blog. Click the "Guns of The Black Bat" label. That one displayed an entirely different group of guest star, including The Phantom Detective, The Domino Lady and I.V. Frost.

On this one, we appear to have Airboy, The Golden Amazon, The Moon Man and...someone who looks far too much like The Joker. Writer Ron Fortier named many of the characters schedule to be included in a podcast some time ago but unless that mug belongs to a character that is being totally reimagined, I have no clue who it's supposed to be. Something to look forward to.

The Dark Nemesis of Crime...Against Your Refrigerator!

We've been waiting quite a while for Moonstone's Black Bat related novels and comics to finally be available, but in the meantime the publisher has released a neat little novelty items; 2" X 3" magnets of some of their better known cover images, including to yet-to-be-released The Black Bat Returns.

Click here to be taken to the order page.

Whomever manages the Moonstone Facebook page (I suspect I know, but am not certain) states that there are more of these coming, though no timeline is provided, so hopefully that includes some of the other fine covers we've seen for Guns of The Black Bat and Danger Coast to Coast: The Black Bat and Domino Lady.

I won't order just a magnet, because shipping costs won't make it worthwhile, but if I have to order any of the books directly from Moonstone I might just treat myself. I want to not only encourage Moonstone to make more of these, but to see what other type of merchandising they might get into.

Masks 2, Issue 8 solicitation

I can't say that this series has blown my mind, but the final line of this solicitation is intriguing.

MASKS 2 #8 (OF 8)  

Writer: Cullen Bunn
Art: Eman Casallos 

FINAL ISSUE! 

The masked heroes have been cast through time and twisted into strange versions of themselves. Now, they make one last attempt to set things right... without damaging the time stream any more than they already have. The final confrontation with the Red Death will lead to the emergence of a new masked hero! 

Full color, 32 pages, $3.99

Mid-August Bullet Points

Let's get started with a loud bang.

Sanctum Books reprints now available!

Sanctum Books announced a few months back that they planned on reprinting the original Black Bat stories starting in July. They're ever-so-slightly behind schedule, but they are ready to go now.

At the printer and shipping this month: THE BLACK BAT Volume 1: "Brand of the Black Bat" & "Murder Calls the Black Bat" 

Sanctum Books presents the 1939 novels that introduced the caped crimebuster whose adventures paralleled Batman's and inspired Two-Face's origin, written by Norman A. Daniels as "G. Wayman Jones" for future BATMAN editors Mort Weisinger and Jack Schiff.

First, doomed to darkness by a murderous acid attack, D.A. Tony Quinn makes darkness his weapon with "The Brand of the Black Bat." Then, "Murder Calls the Black Bat" into a deadly war against corruption as Tony Quinn battles to prevent the biggest jewel heist of the century!

GOLDEN AGE OF COMICS BONUS: the debut of The Mask from Nedor's EXCITING COMICS #1.

This instant collector's item showcases the classic color pulp covers by Rudolph Belarski and Emery Clarke and the original interior illustrations by Harry Parkhurst, with historical commentary by Will Murray relating how a lawsuit with DC Comics was narrowly averted.

(Sanctum Books) 978-1-60877-183-7 Softcover, 7x10, 128 pages, B&W, $14.95

Not to be outdone...

Altus Books' Third Volume of the Black Bat Omnibus is about to drop!

Altus announced this volume was on its way back in early July but had not specified a date, only stating that it would be released "soon".

Turns out "soon" means Pulpfest, according to a comment on their Facebook page, and Pulpfest is this weekend in Columbus, Ohio. So presumably Volume Three will be available for mail order at the same time or shortly thereafter.

Holding to the format of the previous two volumes, it will include the seventh through ninth original Black Bat stories, being The Black Bat’s Flame Trail, The Black Bat’s Triumph and The Black Bat and the Trojan Horse.

Very much looking to adding this to the collection. Hell, I look forward to being able to add it to the right side of this page!

Onwards to a project only just now being mentioned...

Super-Powered Fiction Planning a Black Bat Novel!

This is interesting news, but no more than a brief mention so far so the book is not likely to be available for quite some time yet.

Last year, Super-Powered Fiction released an anthology called Pulpsploitation featuring several known pulp era characters re-imagined for the 80's. I only signed up for the Black Bat story specifically and I enjoyed it a great deal.

In a recent update to that project, the man behind the project, Nicholas Ahlhelm, mentioned the following:

...we will wrap up this Kickstarter and start the plans for the next wave of Pulpsploitation releases: novels starring Airboy and The Black Bat. It still hasn't been 100% set in stone that we will turn to Kickstarter for those releases, but if we do, you will be the first to know right here. 

And you will be the second right here.  :-)

I hope it's a direct sequel to the story from Pulpsploitation. I was concerned that a story taking place in the 80's (or late 70's) would be filled with ridiculous pop culture references but it was actually written respectfully and tastefully. Author Frank Byrns came up with a compelling update to the character, in my opinion and I'd like to read more about the Pulpsploitation version of the character and the offspring of the original Black Bat's entourage. Looking forward to finding out about this project.

Another Option for a Shootout

Long-time and prolific pulp writer Ron Fortier recently pointed out on his Facebook page that one of his stories was appearing in an anthology book. In doing so, he also drew attention to the fact that a previously-published Black Bat story is now available in a different publication, and in a different format.

Originally included in the 2nd issue of Redbud Studio's Airship 27 Presents: All-Star Pulp Comics (whew...mouthful...), a tale called "Shootout At The Dry Martini" is reprinted in issue number four of Wicked Awesome Tales by Wicked Wolf Comics. That book is available digitally through Comixology as of July 29th.

MONSTER VERSUS MACHINE! THE BLACK BAT STRIKES! THE STARCROSSER GETS AMBUSHED AND AN INMATE RELIVES THE WORST DAY OF HIS LIFE

I wasn't able to find out much about Wicked Wolf, but being that the majority of the stories in the WAT series appear to be written by Todd Jones (including Shootout), I suspect that it is his own publishing platform.

The art is by Lee Oaks and if you want a preview, well...Look up. The art in the banner for this blog is a panel from that story. For a letter-free look, head on over to Lee's blog.

The first issue of All-Star Pulp also included a brief Black Bat story but there is nothing to suggest that it has been, or will be, reissued by Wicked Wolf.

And speaking of All-Star Pulp, while work on a third issue continues, it looks as though The Black Bat will be shut out of this one. The following information was shared on the Redbud's own Facebook group (while I generally detest Facebook, I admit it can be handy for the purpose of staying up to date on these projects).

Heads up pulp and comic fans, we've started work on assembling Airship 27 Productions presents ALL STAR PULP COMICS volume 3. Some of the characters lined up for this issue will be Ki-Gor Jungle Lord, the Crimson Mask, the Moon Man, the Purple Scar and Sinbad the Sailor. 

Ah well. That's only "some" of the characters, not all of them, and the first two issues featured seven stories so there's some space still unaccounted for.

Death Rides The Valkyrie...Right Into Your Kindle Device!

Earlier today, author Andrew Salmon posted on a Pulp Heroes Facebook group about a recent (as in yesterday) addition to his Amazon portfolio.

On the eve of World War Two, Germany's greatest zeppelin, The Valkyrie, is on a good will tour across the US.  

But there's trouble on board and disaster on the horizon if Tony Quinn, the Black Bat, and his crew can't solve the mystery of a stolen jewel in time. 

And why did a reformed thief suddenly commit suicide? Or did he? The clock is ticking and peace hangs in the balance!  

It's murder and mayhem aboard a floating city of yesteryear. The stakes have never been higher for the Black Bat in Death Rides The Valkyrie!

Does any of that sound familiar? It should if you've read the first volume of Airship 21's Black Bat Mystery anthology as it is Mr. Salmon's contribution to that entertaining book.

There are four stories in BBM1 but you can read this one individually as a $0.99 Kindle version. The story's inclusion in BBM1 is acknowledged in the opening credits, though it refers to "an earlier version" which may mean that there are modifications to this stand alone version.

Click on that rather cool cover to blow it up. It is the work of Mike Fyles.

Masks 2, Issue 7 Solicitation

Coming in October:

Writer: Cullen Bunn
Art: Eman Casallos 

In this issue, the machinations of the Red Death have scattered the masked heroes of three eras into the time stream. Now, wildly altered versions of the heroes have reunited for one last campaign to defeat the Red Death and save all of reality.

More "alternate versions" of these characters, including a cyborg Shadow, apparently, judging from the above cover.

Have you heard of "event fatigue"? It's the term used to refer to being punch-drunk from all the line-wide storylines that the comic companies have going, such as DC's recent Convergence books and Marvel's Secret War nonsense.

I believe I have some sort of "alternate version fatigue". While I try to be open-minded to that approach from publishers, there's just a point where you want to read about the character that drew your attention and captured your imagination in the first place. Dynamite seemed poised to provide exactly that in the first volume of Masks, but have since gotten further and further from it (whereas Moonstone is doing the exact opposite, to their credit)

Of course, it may be that writer Cullen Bunn will come up with something clever for his version of The Black Bat. But his treatment of the character so far does not inspire confidence, sorry to say.

The Black Bat Returns!

Credit to First Comics News for breaking this because NO ONE else seems to have it.

Cover art: Mike Fyles 

6” x 9”, sc, 270pgs, $13.95 

The original Black Bat returns in this thrilling collection of all NEW action-crime stories! 

Read the character that was created at the SAME TIME as Batman! 

Ex-District Attorney Tony Quinn is blinded in a courtroom assault! 

He now seeks justice outside of the law as the relentless hero who can see in the dark: The Black Bat! 

Guest-starring: The Green Lama, Domino Lady, and Golden Amazon! 

Stories by Ron Fortier, Bobby Nash, Adam L. Garcia, Colin B. Harvey, Sean Taylor, James Palmer, David Boop, David White, and Josh Vogt!

The publisher is not named, and FCN uses a Dynamite banner in the announcement, but the book's logo appears to be the Moonstone logo. It seems clear that this is the anthology book that Ron Fortier has talked about a few times in recent months and that the character will be be done far more traditionally than Moonstone's earlier version. I assume this is an October solicitation.

I absolutely LOVE that cover and I need to get my hands on a bigger version. Check out some of Mike Fyles other work on his Facebook page.

Edit: Moonstone posted about it on their seldom-used Facebook group. It is actually a November solicitation, not October.

Another edit: Ron Fortier stated on Facebook that his Black Bat story involving Dr. Satan is included in this book.

The Black Bat Omnibus, Vol. 3, coming "soon" from Altus

The term "soon" has yet to be defined, but it's soon enough that Altus Press was comfortable enough to mention it on their Facebook page this past weekend.

I'm actually most curious about the first story, The Black Bat's Flame Trail. It is the seventh Black Bat story overall but the first to not be written by Norman A. Daniels.

Rather, the story is credited to Whitney Ellsworth and what makes that interesting is that Ellsworth worked on Batman for DC Comics at around the same time as he was involved with The Black Bat. The Black Bat Companion includes a quote from Bill Finger in which he states that "through Ellsworth's intervention, a lawsuit was avoided" between DC Comics and Black Book Detective publisher Better Publications.

My understanding it that there are glaring differences and errors in Flame Trail, particularly involving the supporting cast, that make it glaring that Daniels did not write the story.

But even if Ellsworth has contributed only one Black Bat story out of the 60+ that appeared in Black Book Detective, and that story feels awkward in the collection, he may have had a major impact on the character "behind the scenes". So I'm eager to see his "in print" contribution first-hand.

Also, Altus has been slow to release these Omnibus volumes in the past. Let's hope that this signals the start of a little run. Volume two was released in April 2013, three years after the first volume. Maybe the gap between releases is narrowing, finally.

Masks 2, Issue 6 solicitation

Writer: Cullen Bunn
Art: Eman Casallos 

Cast though the time stream, the masked heroes of three different eras find themselves face to face with the sinister forces that spawned the Red Death… the menace who has laid waste to the world! 

But wild adventures through time have brought about amazing… and sometimes horrific… changes in the Shadow, Green Hornet, Black Sparrow, and the others. In order to set things right, the league of heroes–(as) you’ve NEVER seen them before–must band together in hopes of saving all of reality.

Quick Look at the Legenderry Black Bat

Bah. Dynamite so often displays potential only to bungle it.

I will forever defend the modern day Black Bat series that Dynamite released last year. I have no problem with publishers attempting to modernize certain properties. There were certain aspects I didn't care for, mostly surrounded the handling of The Black Bat's usual supporting cast, but the story itself was good and well-delivered, in my opinion.

The mention of a Black Bat in the steampunk-styled Legenderry:Vampirella book was intriguing. Dynamite seemed to have done a nice job with Red Sonja, Green Hornet, The Phantom and a few others, so what would they do with The Black Bat?

This (as displayed on bleedingcool):

Meh. Instead of getting a character often incorrectly accused of being a Batman ripoff, Dynamite delivers what appears to be a Man-Bat ripoff.

I'll get the book (digitally) at some point, but where some characters seem to have potential right from their first appearance on the page, this one is the exact opposite. I don't want to judge the character on one image alone, but it doesn't really excite the imagination. I'm hoping to be pleasantly surprised.

Black Bat gets in on the action in Masks 2

The third issue of Masks 2 was released today, and The Black Bat makes his grand appearance in the series.

I don't think this falls under the spoiler category. We knew we were getting the modern day version of The Black Bat. We knew that Masks 2 would span three eras. We knew the first two issues of the series focused on the 40's and the 70's. Therefore it stood to reason that Bat would show up in this issue.

Long story short: Peter Cannon: Thunderbolt is fighting a huge bastard on a ship. After Cannon's best shot doesn't seem to be particularly effective, The Black Bat enters the fray:

As has been the case for a while with Dynamite books, this appearance seems to disregard the character's previous material in his own book. They handle(d) The Green Hornet this way. GH's presence in some other Dynamite books (such as Dark Nights with The Shadow, or these Masks books) all seem independent of one another.

Same with The Black Bat in Masks 2. The basics are there: The costume, the guns...But while the ending of the final issue in his series would have prevented him from participating in this story, his presence is not at all explained. And he leaves the scene above in some sort of "Bat Boat". *ahem*.

Ah well. It's early. Let's see where this goes.

The Black Bat fronts The Gangbusters!

The Black Bat Mego style action figure released earlier this year by Nemo Publishing was, I thought, cause for excitement. Yes, it committed the (unforgivable to some) crime of including ears on the cowl, much like a similarly-themed DC comics character, but let's face it: ANY Black Bat action figure is progress. I know not everyone agrees with that assessment (I have a similar opinion about The Green Hornet movie) but here's the thing: you're wrong and I'm right. ;-)

Writer / artist Jay Piscopo's appreciation of, and fondness for, pulp and/or public domain characters is quite evident to anyone who follows his art page on Facebook. He has his own versions of several of those characters and a tendency to group them in teams around a theme, sometimes including his own creations. The Black Bat, in this case, is included in a group called The Gangbusters.

Nemo Publishing has a couple of books available for purchase already including a Captain Midnight special drawn by Piscopo and written by Bryan Augustyn, also carried by Moonstone.

I have no idea whether Mr. Piscopo plans on publishing comics involving The Black Bat to some degree, but I would certainly be interested if he did. Even if his Black Bat has ears.

Faces of Fear update in the Airship 27 Podcast

The Airship 27 podcast is presented by pulp veterans Ron Fortier and Rob Davis. Being that both men are working on the Black Bat / Purple Scar book from Moonstone, they don't mind discussing a project from a "competitor".

The Podcast is an hour long and the two discuss upcoming Airship 27 projects (which involve Secret Agent X and Ravenwood, if you happen to be a fan of one or both of those characters) prior to moving on to Faces of Fear at the 27-minute mark or so.

Click on the Airship logo below to listen in. Davis' plans for the interior illustrations sound interesting.

Masks 2, Issue 5 solicitation

Writer: Cullen Bunn
Art: Eman Casallos 

The Red Death has sprung a dangerous trap, scattering our masked heroes through time. From the prehistoric era to the post-apocalyptic future, the Shadow, Green Hornet, Peter Cannon, Miss Fury, and others face dinosaurs, murderous masqueraders, and mutants! Along the way, they uncover the terrible truth about the Red Death.

Sanctum Books to reprint The Black Bat starting in July

Looks like we'll have another option for Black Bat reprints before long. The information below was first found on the Pulp Coming Attractions Facebook group.

Sanctum Books presents the 1939 novels that introduced the caped crimebuster whose adventures paralleled Batman's and inspired Two-Face's origin, written by Norman A. Daniels.

Read the classic pulp thrillers that introduced the costumed hero recently featured in Dynamite's Masks series.

First, doomed to darkness by a murderous acid attack, D.A. Tony Quinn makes darkness his weapon with "The Brand of the Black Bat."

Then, "Murder Calls the Black Bat" into a deadly war against corruption as Tony Quinn battles to prevent the biggest jewel haul of the century!

Plus, the debut of The Mask from Nedor's Exciting Comics #1.

Altus has been working on a multi-volume omnibus, but it's slow going. They release three stories at a time but only have two volumes available to this point, as well as the Companion book (all linked at right). A few weeks back I asked them, through Facebook, when they expected the third volume to be released and the answer was simply "this year".

I have no experience with Sanctum but if I have the correct website, they certainly seem prolific. Get a load of this list of releases. If they get the material out faster, I'm switching teams.

Masks 2, Issue 4 solicitation

Writer: Cullen Bunn
Art: Eman Casallos 

Heroes from across time meet, the bizarre origins of the Red Death are revealed, and an insidious trap springs shut. A dangerous adventure unlike anything you might expect awaits as the masked vigilantes of three different eras! The epic team-up of The Shadow, Black Terror, Miss Fury, Peter Cannon, Green Hornet, The Spider, and more continues, courtesy of Deadpool writer Cullen Bunn.

April 10th Bullet Points

Just a few small points that don't quite inspire a full post.

1. Now we know which Black Bat will participate in Dynamite Entertainment's Masks 2.

There he is in a group shot in the first issue (by The Shadow's right elbow). The image is a vision of sorts; the character doesn't actually appear in-story.

Frankly, when the series was announced I thought the 1940's version from the first volume of Masks was more likely to appear, or a new version based in the present. Judging from the distinctive "bat teeth" chest emblem, it seems to be the same one that had a 12-issue series recently.

Without giving anything away (even though the Black Bat's book has been out for months now), that's actually a little disappointing because the series had a fairly unique, definitive conclusion. I'm concerned that his inclusion will clash with it and trivialize it. We'll see.

2. For all that the various Black Bat projects planned by Moonstone Books, such as Guns of The Black Bat, Danger Coast to Coast and Faces of Fear, were said to be coming out "later this year", the publisher revealed its August solicitations earlier this week and there is still no Black Bat to be seen. So it'll be at least September until any of these are made available. Kind of a drag, but in the meantime...

3. Day of the Destroyers is out!

You may have noticed that Gary Phillips drew our attention to the book's release in a comment to an earlier post (see April 4th). This is appreciated because these things aren't always extremely clear (yet they seem so simple from the outside looking in...).

I knew the book was being released "soon" but that's often a relative term. Amazon (both the ".ca" version for we Canadians and the .com one) displayed different release dates later in the month, no less, complicating matters somewhat. But the Moonstone website's store now includes it in both softcover and limited edition hardcover versions, available for order immediately. If you've been waiting for this book, have at 'er.

I don't know how much of a presence The Black Bat has in Day Of The Destroyers, but its presence enough that he's named in the solicitation as a "guest-star" (along with The Phantom Detective and The Green Lama). The book contains 12 stories told over 276 pages.

Sons of Thor!

Pro Se Productions seemed like a sure bet for Black Bat material when I first became aware of their existence a couple of years ago. A longer look failed to reveal any such but a post on the Pulp Super Fan blog from earlier this week showed me I was wrong to believe that at the time.

PSF was reviewing the publisher's first compilation of "Pro Se Presents", a monthly series of pulp stories. In doing so, the writer mentioned the following issues:

#9, April 2012 and #10, May 2012 comprise a two-part series called “The Sons of Thor.” This story teams up several pulp heroes, including the Phantom Detective and the Black Bat in fighting a menace to the United States during WWII.

Ah! Pro Se seems more focused towards new pulp-style characters but evidently they do, on occasion, turn to the classics as well.

Each part's "pitch" is copied below. The cover displayed is that of the first book.

PRO SE PRESENTS, Puttin' The Monthly Back Into Pulp, brings you the first part of a TWO ISSUE EVENT! They believed that they were the chosen of the old Norse Gods. They believed they would rule first all of Europe, then the entire world. Many believed the sect gone forever. They were wrong. The Sons of Thor Live! Heaven Help the Foolish Few Who Dare to Challenge Them! THE SONS OF THOR written by Erwin K. Roberts is a fast paced New Pulp Adventure featuring nearly indomitable foes up against some of the best Pulp Heroes in the Public Domain today! Two fisted thrills, faster than lightning intrigue, and more heroes than you can shake a hammer at! Available now in its first part in PRO SE PRESENTS NUMBER NINE! From Pro Se Productions! 

Freedom Fights! The Sons of Thor Move Toward Destiny! As nations focus on the growing conflict with Nazi Germany, a devastating mission begins that threatens to unleash a horror that could lay waste to the world. As the Sons of Thor begin their final gambit, is there anyone who can stand against them in the face of certain doom? Find out in the Thrilling Conclusion to THE SONS OF THOR by Erwin K. Roberts featured in Pro Se Presents 10!

So...Not even the merest mention of The Phantom Detective or The Black Bat? It would seem that drawing attention to their presence might have been a logical way to promote the books.

For that reason, I admit that even if The Black Bat was mentioned in the Pulp Super Fan review, I was unsure about picking up the books. I wanted to avoid buying a story for a mere cameo appearance.

Then I saw the back cover of the second book on Pro Se's website...

All right, well...Perhaps The Black Bat plays a significant role after all! That cover is evidence enough to roll the dice. And so even though I believe The Black Bat only appears in the second part, I've downloaded the first book and will begin reading it this weekend to set up what I hope is a good addition to the collection.

The Black Bat meets The Rook!

Well...Met The Rook.

While on an internet search, I found out about a Black Bat guest-appearance I had not been aware of previously. He is included in one of the short stories in the third volume of The Rook. The promotional pitch for that book (at least the one I found) makes no mention of it so it was difficult to know about it. I was brought up to speed when I came across the following (partial) illustration of writer Barry Reese's website.

I mentioned yesterday that I’ve been getting several pieces of production artwork from George Sellas lately.  He’s working on The Rook Volume Three – Special Edition and, as always with him, it’s going to look gorgeous! Today we see an interesting piece featuring The Black Bat and Doctor Satan, both of whom play a large role in “The Burning Hells,” a story that kicks off the third book in The Rook series. Again, this is just a production sketch but you can already tell that George is knocking it out of the park!

Again with friggin' Doctor Satan. A couple of months ago, I'd never heard of this guy. Now I can't seem to get away from him.

I've come across The Rook a couple of times while looking up pulp news/history and have never heard a bad word said about that series of novels. This third volume was released early in 2009 and has since sold out but a special edition is planned. I believe it was originally expected to be out by the end of 2014, but I don't see any evidence that it's currently available.

When it does hit shelves, it will look like a little something like this...

The original edition's cover was a nod and wink to one of John Byrne's classic X-Men cover during the Days of Future Past storyline.

Here's a neat deal though; The Rook is currently included at bottom right of the poster, unlabeled either "slain" or "apprehended", in order to sell the fact that he is the proverbial last man standing. But as the cover was being created, The Black Bat actually held that position on the poster.

Damn.

"Slain".

But at least there's still a chance that Domino Lady and Miss Fury will escape, team up, and avenge his death. A pulp fan can dream, right?

Cool stuff. When this comes out, The Black Bat may well serve as my "gateway drug" to the Rook universe.

Which Bat When?

It was revealed some time ago that Dynamite's second volume of Masks would feature, at least in some cases, different versions of some of its chosen characters over three different eras.

This, of course, raised the questions of which Black Bat we might get. Dynamite had two versions of the character, one from the late 30's who appeared in the first volume of Masks, and one who was based in the present day and modernized. Would either make an appearance, or would we get new versions altogether?

An interview with writer Cullen Bunn from late February, posted on comicvine.com, provides another hint, but may also raise another question or two.

Which masked heroes will be cast as the defenders of each of the three eras? 

“From the 30s, we have the Shadow, Green Hornet, Kato, Miss Fury, Black Sparrow, and Black Terror,” Bunn said. “From the 70s, we see a new Miss Fury and Black Sparrow. From the modern era, we have Peter Cannon and Black Bat. 

And then we have the Spider, Lady Satan, and Green Lama. They’re playing around on the fringes of this story. And as you might guess, that means something really strange is going to happen. Did someone say there are going to be more than three timelines visited?" 

... 

Will we some the same character in different eras—a Golden Age Green Hornet and a modern Green Hornet, for instance? And if so, will the older guys share their crime files with the newer incarnations? 

“We are certainly going to see the Green Hornets of different eras,” Bunn said, “although I’m a little more interested in the Katos of different decades. Playing these characters against each other was one of the things that is most exciting to me about this series.”

So are The Green Hornet and Kato the only two getting this treatment? I suppose if we assume that Fury and Sparrow will also meet their counterparts, the whole thing could get old if it happens to too many characters. As a less-established part of Dynamite's stable, The Black Bat might be out of that equation.

At the end of the day, it appears likely that we may only get one Bat, and it will be a current one. It's just not clear whether it will be the same Black Bat from the earlier Dynamite series.

Can't wait for this book, but...we'll need to for just one more week. The first issue hits shelves on April 1st.

Legenderry: Vampirella #4 solicitation

Here's an eye-catcher from the Steampunk version of Vampirella currently being published by Dynamite:

Legenderry #4 (of 5) 

Writer: David Avallone 

Art: David Cabrera

Page Count: 32 pages 

ON SALE DATE: May 20 

Moreau makes a monster, Kurtz stirs the masses, and Toomey gets lucky in the most unlucky way possible. Vampirella kisses a boy, storms the Council and fights a Bat-Man. 

Sex, violence, and everyone is wearing goggles for some reason.

That's written kind of strangely...Here's the cover:

When Dynamite published the first volume of Legenderry recently, warping a number of their current characters into Steampunk versions, I was curious as to The Black Bat would get the same treatment. I envisioned someone with artifical steampunk "technology" eyes. Does that make any sense? Probably not, but I'm not the writer so it's not my problem. ;-)

But it was not to be. There were steampunk versions of The Green Hornet, Flash Gordon, Red Sonja...But no Bat.

Until now. Well...Until May 2015, rather. Here's an excerpt from a Bleeding Cool interview with Legenderry: Vampirella writer David Avallone:

BB: Tell us more about this “Bat-Man” that Vampi meets this issue, if you dare! 

DA: The idea came organically (no pun intended): I’ve got Doctor Moreau as one of my villains. In the Wells book and our series, he creates human-animal hybrids. Well, how would a human/vampire (human/Draculon) hybrid turn out? It seemed like an opportunity to engage in a little cheap satire of certain famous caped crusaders. Additionally… as established by Bill Willingham, the Legenderry universe tries to bring all the Dynamite characters together in one continuum, so this is my twisted steampulp version of the Black Bat.

Hmmm...Not quite what I had in mind. I was thinking more of a Victorian era style of Black Bat, not a half-vampire creature like DC Comics' Man-Bat or Marvel's Morbius. We'll keep an ear to the ground but right at the moment there is little cause for optimism. Let's see what comes out of it.

Masks 2, Issue 3 solicitation

Issue one drops on April 1st! No foolin'!

MASKS 2 #3 (OF 8)
Writer: Cullen Bunn
Art: Eman Casallos
Peter Cannon AKA Thunderbolt smashes his way into the struggle against the Red Death! The mysterious villain has plagued the heroes of three different timelines. Her scheming is even more dangerous than anyone could possibly guess, but now the adventures of the masked heroes of the last 80 years are coming together in a way no one could possibly imagine!

Oh dear. Is that The Black Bat on the right? Certainly looks like his kind of scene.

While looking for information about this issue, I happened across a cover to the previous one that I had not seen earlier. I include it below because it features another pulp era favourite of mine, Miss Fury.

Can't wait for this series to start, even if BB's contribution seems limited.