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.