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.

Final Pulpsploitation cover by Nik Poliwko

Again, taken from the artist's Facebook page. The man appears to work fast; this was actually added to the gallery only a few days after the inked version that I posted here was but I just missed it. Pretty sharp.

Shouldn't be long until the Black Bat story hits my inbox. I look forward to seeing how it compares to other versions of the character.

Pulpsploitation cover

Super Powered Fiction's Nicholas Ahlhelm recently sent out an update on his Pulpsploitation project, an anthology book which includes a Black Bat story.  The book's cover layouts were revealed in the update, but artist Nik Poliwko displayed an inked version yesterday on his Facebook page.

We don't see much of The Black Bat, but what we do see appears to be a relatively traditional type.  I'll admit that the 80's aspect, and the "sploitation" portion of the book's title, made me wonder if this book might take a bit of a silly tone, but the cover is encouraging.

And in case anyone at SPF happens to read this...I am not particularly interested in the other characters in the anthology, so I only signed up for the Black Bat pdf.  I do prefer a print version of stories, however, so if you continue to publish these pulp anthologies, and you continue to include The Black Bat (or Miss Fury, for that matter) and you choose to release a compilation of the Bat stories in print format, I shall purchase it even if I already have all of the stories digitally.  Just sayin'. ;-)

The Black Bat in Pulpsploitation: Hard Edged Heroes for the 1980's

Bah.  I found out about this Kickstarter campaign a couple of days ago, but was too slow in posting about it and now the Black Bat Facebook page has a mention of it so it looks like I'm lifting it from them... ;-)

In the 1930s, pulp fiction introduced dozens of amazing heroes to the world. Dozens of hero pulps of various success filled the racks alongside numerous other titles. Those characters formed a lasting impression on society and are still remembered fondly to this day. 

In the 1970s and 1980s, men’s adventure fiction introduced dozens of new characters and properties that captured the minds of readers young and old. Sex and violence became the new norm. They influenced heavily the decades of fiction since, even as the “exploitation” films of the same era helped to shape cinema.

Among the four stories...

Frank Byrns introduces the legacy of The Black Bat, as a new hero takes up the mantle of one of the earliest masked vigilantes.

All this information is front and center on the campaign page.  However writer Frank Byrns provides details as to what he has planned in an interview posted under the "updates" tab.

So what would that mean for a Tony Quinn in his seventies? What would he be up to? If I left him in New York, I could work in another of my passions: the look and feel and vibe of 1970s crime films. 

The French Connection, Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, sure. But also things like Rolling Thunder, The Killer Elite, Charley Varrick, The Yakuza. Friends of Eddie Coyle. 

So give Quinn a pro bono legal aid clinic in a rundown Brooklyn neighborhood. Make Butch O'Leary's daughter a crackerjack young lawyer working for Uncle Tony. Have Silk Kirby's kid work as a plainclothes narcotics detective. Add in a former Vietnam tunnel rat, who's used to fighting in the dark where he can't see. The NYC heroin trade. The Mafia. Street gangs. Son of Sam. Reggie, Sparky, and Billy. The blackout.

Byrns has some history with the character already.  He wrote The Ty Cobb File story for Airship 27's second volume of Black Bat Mystery.  As an aside, the Facebook page I referred to earlier also mentioned earlier today that a third volume is underway, though no details are provided as of yet.

There's still about a week to get involved in the fundraising campaign, and to trigger some stretch goals, so if you're a fan of The Black Bat, or pulp era stories in general, you may want to get in on this. Hell, you can get the Black Bat story alone for only $1.00 in digital format. Tough to beat that.

To find out more about publisher Super Powered Fiction, head on over to their website.