Bud's Closeout Sale!

Bud's Art Books website has a Closeout Sale section to which I'd like to draw people's attention. The Sanctum Books Black Bat reprint material has been on sale there for some time and continue to be as I write this, along with many others including The Phantom, The Shadow, The Avenger, The Phantom Detective and Doc Savage. Check that out here. 

I took advantage of the sale and snatched two books that I might have otherwise waited on. The first was Gentlemen Prefer Domino Lady from Moonstone Books. I had planned on ordering it when Moonstone's June 2022 Triple Threat issue became available, but I couldn't pass up Bud's sale.

I was aware of a Black Bat guest-appearance in one of the stories in this anthology. What I did not know was that the story in question is Kill The Lady Goodbye by Taylor Grant.

That story has been available for download for some time on Amazon. I purchased it shortly after its release in 2017.

I admit to being initially somewhat disappointed at not getting new Black Bat material, but I'm pleased that I have this one in print format now, and a bunch of Domino Lady stories to get into. I believe every story has a guest appearance from characters such as the Phantom Detective, the Woman in Red, and Ravenwood.

The other acquisition was the fifth issue of Sanctum's Black Bat reprint series. 

I've added Market of Treason to the Recommended Reading page. It's notable for being the book in which the Black Bat sheds his cape but is entertaining regardless of that milestone moment.

The rest of the team is heavily involved, particularly Butch, which isn't always the case. McGrath can be said to score a rare win in his rivalry with Anthony Quinn as well. A one-sided rivalry is no rivalry at all, so you can't help but be a little happy for him.

And we get to meet his wife again! In reviewing a past issue, I mentioned that Mrs. McGrath had a few lines and how that came as a surprise, as she so often seemed to be out of town or otherwise unavailable when a scene takes place at McGrath's house.

That book was from 1948 while Markets of Treason was published in winter of 1944. I was unaware that we'd heard from Mrs. McGrath so much earlier. It tickles me that she is given the first name of Mary in Markets of Treason while Lieutenant/Captain McGrath (rank depends on story) is never given one throughout the entire series.

Something else caught my eye. In a scene in which someone sees Tony Quinn for the first time, Quinn is said to look about 30 years of age. This is as specific as I've ever seen Quinn's age referred to. He is usually described as a being unusually young for a district attorney when he was attacked and lost his sight. That would put him in his mid-20's in 1939. Seems to fit.

Since much of the story was described on the Recommended Reading page, there's no sense in rehashing the rest of the information here. I instead want to point out that I love Sanctum's format for these books.

They are slightly wider than your standard DC/Marvel graphic novel. Perhaps it's a result of reading the original, faded, yellowed material of late, but I found the text and image restoration very clear.

This applies to the Mask comic strip. I'd seen a few of those in the past and I figured they would be tough to reproduce but Sanctum did a good job of it.

There were a number of typos, it needs to be said, but I found those in the original Black Book Detective as well. It doesn't ruin the experience or story clarity. I enjoyed the additional essay providing historical background on the two Bat stories as well.

It's been quite some time since Sanctum reprinted Black Bat stories. They stopped after nine issues (a tenth was solicited, I believe, but never released).

I doubt that they'll resume doing so any time soon but if they do I'll now be more likely to purchase it. The only thing preventing me in the past was that I'd already acquired the material in some other format. But if you are new to the character and want to sample his stories, I would very much recommend these books as a means to do so.

Moonstone Triple Threat, June 2022B

I almost didn't scroll down far enough!

First Comics News shared Moonstone's June solicitations last week. They include one of the publisher's Triple Threat books, an ongoing series of three-story anthologies. Each book seems to run between 70 and 100 or so pages in length for the three stories combined.

Moonstone rarely has many books solicited in any given month. When I saw a Triple Threat issue that did not include the Black Bat, I figured it was another dry month for our favourite characters and was prepared to move on.

That book was labelled "Jun '22A", however, which strongly implies a "B". Clearly, reading all these detective stories has made me mentally razor sharp. Sure enough, there are two issues of the Triple Threat title scheduled for June and the second includes our boy, as seen below. 

Three pulp-action-adventure thrillers! The Lone Ranger stars in “Bad Company”, The Black Bat in “The World is Sick”, and Domino Lady and Judgement star in “Served Cold”!

David Boop has some experience with the character. He co-wrote (with Josh Vogt) one story for Moonstone's The Black Bat Returns anthology called Light And Dark in Symphony teaming the Bat with Domino Lady, and wrote another called The Blind Leading The Brave.

The cover is by John K. Snyder. This particular issue is said to be 70 pages long for $6.49. Even assuming he gets a full third of that page count (which I doubt based on cover prominence), that's not a lot of room for Mr. Boop to work with, but I'm still eager to see what he has in store for us.

A Little Black Bat / Domino Lady Celebration!

Sharing a little bit of art today from Mike W Belcher that I happened to come across on Instagram.

Celebrating the release of Ron Fortier’s latest book out from Moonstone. The Black Bat/Domino Lady Danger: Coast to Coast. Get yours today!

I really like this Black Bat fella.

Well then I hope we'll see your take on him a bit more often!

Gentlemen Prefer Domino Lady

We may finally be in store for some new Black Bat material after a long, long wait.

The long-awaited Black Bat / Domino Lady: Danger Coast To Coast graphic novel is now said to be in stores as of November 25th. I'll believe it when I see it, but I'll certainly be looking for it on Moonstone's website regularly. 

Speaking of Moonstone's website, for quite some time I avoided buying their New Pulp Fiction book, which features a team-up between the Black Bat and the Purple Scar, because of ridiculous shipping charges. It would have cost me roughly four or five times the cost of the book to have it delivered. I assumed that this was due to my Canadian address but United States residents pointed out a similar issue as well on social media. 

If by coincidence you read this and held off buying from Moonstone for the same reason, give them another look. That appears to be fixed on their website now, right on time.

In addition to the above book, our boy also seems set to appear in a new Domino Lady prose anthology next month!

The City of Angels attracts beautiful people from all over the world with its glitz and glamour. But just beneath the surface is a city stinking of corruption seeded by crime and politics. Enraged by the murder of her father, beautiful socialite Ellen Patrick knows she must break all the rules. She has to become somebody else: Domino Lady, of the sexiest and most elusive crime fighters of all time. Guest starring: The Black Bat, The Phantom Detective, The Green Ghost, Zero, Secret Agent X, Ravenwood, and more! Introduction by Nancy Holder!

Comixzone shows a 200 page count for this one (and 160 for Danger Coast to Coast). That delightful cover is the work of Alex Innocenti. I'm assuming this is all new material (Unlike DCTC which is roughly half new, half reprint) but won't know for certain until we're closer to the release date.

Thank you to Bobby Nash for drawing my attention to this on Twitter, I had not known that this book was even in production.

Domino Lady and the Black Bat by Douglas Klauba

We've been told so many times over the years that the Black Bat / Domino Lady graphic novel is "coming soon" that, at least speaking for myself, it has ceased to generate any excitement. The image below, however, revived that spark when I came across it on comicartfans.

Douglas Klauba, Domino Lady and the Black Bat, soon to be published for Moonstone Books.

As you'll see on the link, its "art type" is listed as "cover". There was already an image from the project shared a year and a half ago which appeared to be a cover shot. Unless that one has been replaced, the above image could be a variant cover, much like the softcover and hardcover editions of Moonstone's last Black Bat anthology displayed different art.

Whatever the case may be, I absolutely love Mr. Klauba's work here. It might just need to grace the walls of my secret crime fighting lab. :-)

Your Annual Reminder that Moonstone is Publishing a Black Bat Compilation Some Day

In February 2014, writer Ron Fortier announced a Black Bat / Domino Lady comic book to be published by Moonstone. It had originally been meant to feature a teaming of The Spider and Domino Lady but the publisher had lost the license to The Spider so the Black Bat was going to take that character's place. Cool beans.

In February of the following year, Mr. Fortier sent out a call for an artist to help put together this book, now knows as "Danger Coast to Coast". Cool title, too!

In May 2017, the project was said to in "its last stages of production" yet in October 2018, we were told that the Black Bat and Domino Lady would return in a huge compilation "this winter". Both claims were made on the Black Bat Facebook group.

And now here's another, from the same source, on Friday night.

...DANGER COAST TO COAST, thanks to letterer Patrick Williams is almost finished...at long last...Our best guess is this giant comic will debut early in 2020 and we couldn't be any happier.

Two preview pages are shared, only one which of features the Black Bat. That one is copied below. If you want to have a look at the other, the post is right here.

No knock on anyone here, I'm sure no one wants to see this book published more than Mr. Fortier and Moonstone books. There have been so many of these messages though that I can't get excited for it anymore. Wake me up when it's available, if that ever comes to pass. With Moonstone, it's usually best to not get your hopes up too high.

"Stay Strong, Black Bat Fans..."

"...he and the Domino Lady will return in a huge Moonstone Comics collection this winter."

These words appeared on the Black Bat facebook page some time yesterday evening.

I assume this refers to a compilation of a Black  Bat / Domino Lady mini-series which has been in the works for years but for a variety of reasons, has yet to see the light of day. In mid-2017, we were told that the book would instead be collected with the three issues of Guns Of The Black Bat from a couple of years ago.

At the time, I'd said "This is Moonstone. Make yourself comfortable, it could be quite some time before this thing sees the light of day."  And here we are almost 18 months later. I would issue the same warning, however that we now have a cover to ogle is certainly cause for optimism.

The Black Bat in Superhero 2044

We are deep in the middle of a dry spell when it comes to Black Bat material. No doubt Lucky Comics are continuing to work on both of their versions (1930s and modern day) of the character, and Altus Press will announce the next volume of their reprints before too long, but right at the moment, we have little to look forward to.

Unexpectedly, the next time we see the character might be in a format in which he's never appeared, that I know of. The Black Bat will be among the playable character in a role-playing game called Superhero 2044.

Now my role-playing game days are in my distant past but I can't help but find this one interesting if only for the number of public domain characters that it features. In a press release from this past May (about Checker BPG acquiring the rights to the game), Superhero 2044 was described as follows:

...the first commercially available superhero-themed role playing game at the dawn of the industry appearing in 1977 shortly after the explosive launch of early games like Dungeons and Dragons and Runequest. Innovative for the time period it featured such specific rules as classifications for differing types of super heroes, melee rules unique to super heroes, a ranged combat system,  point based character construction, and eventually a comprehensive defined list of super powers.

And now it is being updated and upgraded. Starting on Wednesday, August 16th, a Kickstarter campaign will launch to help fund the new version. Checker will also create a collectible card game.

Let's have a look at the cast of playable characters.

A partial roster of playable HEROES:
Domino Lady, The Heap, Arrow, Arsene Lupin, Purple Zombie, Thor, Golden Age Daredevil,  Uncle Sam, The Spider, Fantomah, The Black Terror, Hercules, The Black Bat, Mister Monster, Silver Streak, Hugo Danner, Circe, Isis, The Werewolf, Atom Master, The Face, Target, The Ghost, Ms. Fury, The Flame,  Cheshire Cat,  Black Orchid,  Lady Justice,  Fantomas, Man O’ War, The Moth, Avenger, Dr. Nemesis, The Grim Reaper, Miss Masque,  Black Angel, Magno, Tesla, Kid Frankenstein, Perseus, Hydroman, Sinbad,  G-8 and His Battledrones,  Birdman, Hang-Man, Black Panther, John Henry, Monkey King, and more…

Very cool to see not only the Black Bat but a common team-up partner in Domino Lady and this site's former co-star, Ms Fury.

So we'll look in later this week, assuming plans to launch the Kickstarter campaign on Wednesday have not changed, and see if they offer some character-specific perks. Some of the art displayed on the Checker website is phenomenal but unfortunately, I have yet to see their interpretation of The Black Bat.

They also have mini figurines which might be of interest. What appears to be a work-in-progress Domino Lady is displayed below. The opportunity to create a little pulp team-up in my office, with the Black Bat front and center, might be too good to pass up if it comes to pass!

Kill The Lady Goodbye (A Short Story)

This was a nice surprise. I spend so much time searching (and waiting) for Black Bat material, yet from time to time a story will pop out out of nowhere.

A comment on a previous post on June 2nd drew my attention ti this so thank you for that, Ray. I was on my way to my cottage so couldn't act on it until now, but I appreciate the heads up. The story had actually only been released the previous day but I had no idea it was even in the works.

Here's the sales pitch: 

Long before Wonder Woman, Supergirl or the Black Widow hit newsstands there was the Domino Lady--the first masked female crimefighter from the golden age of pulp magazines.  

Driven by the murder of her crusading District Attorney father, beautiful socialite Ellen Patrick assumes the alter ego of the Domino Lady to fight crime, break up political machines, expose corruption in the courts, as well as the Capitol. Arming herself with a .45 pistol and a syringe full of knockout serum, the Domino Lady’s most effective weapon is her sensual beauty, which often distracts her opponents before she turns the tables on them. 

In Kill the Lady Goodbye, Ellen Patrick’s steamy romance with a hotshot attorney is cut short when his father—a carnival tycoon—mysteriously disappears. An investigation plunges pulpdom’s sexiest avenger into a dangerous conspiracy involving a powerful criminal organization with ties to the highest levels of city government, a corrupt carnival empire—and into the crosshairs of the notorious vigilante known as the Black Bat. 

Before the Dark Knight patrolled the streets, before Daredevil prowled the back alleys of Hell’s Kitchen, the Black Bat battled the dark underbelly of New York. Former District Attorney Anthony Quinn was blinded by acid, but has gained the ability to see in the dark, enabling him a great advantage as he prowls the streets as a dark avenger. 

In this tale of blazing action, deadly intrigue, and saucy romance, two-time Bram Stoker Award nominated author Taylor Grant brings together two of pulp fictions greatest heroes. They will come face-to-face with the dark underworld of NYC and a mob boss who will stop at nothing to see them dead. 

A treat for longtime Domino Lady and Black Bat fans and a perfect introduction to the characters for a whole new generation of readers. Grab your fedora and .45s as Kill the Lady Goodbye unleashes the pulse-pounding excitement of the pulp detective fiction magazines of the 1930s and 40s.

It's said to only pay 33 pages long, so heads up on that level. You can purchase the story digitally here and learn more about Grant from his website.

Beyond "Faces Of Fear"

I almost gave up. Almost. I normally listen to the Airship 27 podcasts right to the delightful closing tune but when it seemed like there would be no Black Bat discussion during episode 18, I came this close to shutting her down at the 53:48 mark. But they were moving on to fan questions, there were only about six minutes left in the show, so I said "what the hell" and finished the show.

Quite glad I did. At the last minute (very nearly literally), Ron Fortier brought us up to date on Faces Of Fear, the team up book with The Purple Scar to be published by Moonstone.  A choppy partial transcript of Fortier's conversation with Rob Davis follows (Fortier is speaking throughout):

You and I have done a book for Joe (Gentile, Moonstone Books) called Faces Of Fear in which The Black Bat teams up with The Purple Scar. 

Well Joe was so happy with that particular novella, which should be out (in) maybe another month...Well, at Windy City this year, Joe and I got to talking and Joe said "Would you and Rob (Davis) consider doing another one of those?"

And I said "'m pretty sure we can fit it in our schedule later, for the start of next year". So I said "Are we talking novella and, you know, Rob's illustrations, and all that stuff?" and he said "Definitely". 

And he turned around and told me this: "I'd love for it to feature The Black Bat and Domino Lady". And I went "Okay... " and he goes "Remember that character that you like so much on radio, Ron?...Could we incorporate that character in the story as well?".

So it's basically going to be two classic pulp heroes and the premiere of this classic radio character in print, in prose, for the first time ever.

So what do we know about this character? Prior to relating the details of that conversation, Fortier explained that the character was an inspiration to Stan Lee for the creation of a specific Marvel character.  The obvious answer would be The Spider but he doesn't meet the criteria of being a prose first-timer.

So I'm a little stumped, but it makes for a fun mystery. And it's encouraging to know that the flow of Black Bat material is not on the verge of stopping for a while.

Guns Of The Black Bat #3 solicitation

Writer: Ron Fortier
Art: Silvestre Szilagyi
Cover: Michael Stribling 

32pgs, grayscale, $3.50 

UPC: 685239899108 

Domino Lady and the Phantom Detective travel to the Congo to find a life-saving plant as the Black Bat and the rest of his team continue to battle prehistoric humans and animals on the streets of Manhattan..

Might have me a new banner picture coming soon...

Edit: In response to a question asked by a fan on Facebook, writer Ron Fortier identifies the two men on either side as I.V. Frost and Jim Anthony. And Ki-Gor in the middle, but most people probably figured that part out based on past solicitation material.

Takeaways From the March 16th's Art's Reviews

Earlier this month, Arthur Sippo hosted five of the writers involved in the "The Black Bat Returns" anthology book from Moonstone. The interview lasts over an hour, but here are the most noteworthy (in my opinion, of course) points touched upon.

1) Most of the stories are re-writes of Spider stories that Moonstone could no longer publish.

This is the lump of coal gift to Spider fans that keeps on giving to Bat fans. If not for the folks holding The Spider's license yanking the character away from Moonstone, we would not have the Black Bat / Domino Lady comic that is (presumably still) coming soon and perhaps not even this book.

Most of the writers explain that they had planned to contribute to a Spider anthology only to find out that they could not, so their respective tales were adapted for the Black Bat. Honestly, there is little evidence of this as one reads the stories. The transition from one character to another is rather seamless.

2) Green Lama fans really should get this book. 

Writer Adam Lance Garcia explains that his story is his take on the Green Lama's return to New York from the Tibet (?) and essentially the character's first adventure under that name.

So while The Green Lama appears in only one of the nine stories, it's a rather important one for the character. And that's because...

3) Moonstone may be working towards a true shared universe.

This wasn't the first "first" mentioned during the interview. Black Bat Returns also features the first encounter between our hero and Domino Lady (and The Golden Amazon, for that matter).

I don't know how tight the continuity might become but there is a fair amount of discussion around trying to get all the various projects somewhat connected.  Whether this is something the writers are taking on themselves or a Moonstone-driven initiative, at the end of the day they want to build a certain consistency so that the Domino Lady that you read about in one book is the same in every book, for example.

Pay attention, DC Comics.

4) We have quite a few more "qualified" writers now.

A couple of the writers admit to knowing precious little about the character prior to writing (or adapting) about him but having since developed a fondness for him. Nice to have the talent pool get a little deeper as a result of this book's publication.

5) McGrath doesn't have a first name. 

Well, son of a bitch. And here I thought I was just unable to find it.

I wish this interview had taken place months ago, it would have saved me a bunch of time. If I ever do come across one when I'm further along in the original stories I'll be sure to make a big deal out of it.


While those might be the key points, a lengthy round-table style interview such as this one naturally has far more to offer. I would suggest listening in regardless to hear each writer detail his inspiration for his specific story or for more discussion about Domino Lady, Honey West and a slew of upcoming projects from the cast.

Some Bat Treats Just Before Easter

Batman fans have a seemingly unlimited supply of merchandise to choose from. Black Bat fans...Not so much.

While looking for content for this blog the other day, I landed on artist Michael Dorman's Dorway Studios site. And I found a couple of items that I very much wanted to add to my hidden crime-fighting laboratory (what most of you call a "basement").

You've likely seen the image at right a few times by now.

I'm not entirely sure where the "Black Bat / Domino Lady: Danger Coast to Coast" comics series project stands. My understanding is that Mr. Dorman has completed the art for the first issue and a different artist will handle the second.

But regardless, the following was posted on the Black Bat Facebook page in October 2014:

Artist Michael Dorman and writer Ron Fortier, the creators behind BLACK BAT - DOMINO LADY : Danger Coast to Coast for Moonstone Comics will both be guest at the Rocky Mountain Con in Denver on Oct 25 - 26. 

To celebrate his first trip to Denver, Mike has done a limited print featuring the these classic pulp heroes in front of the state capital building in 1930. Anthony Lee provided the coloring.

Mr. Dorman sells prints of this image from his website. Now I made a small mistake when I ordered. I believed it was a 7" X 11" image. But it is 11" X 17". So I was quite surprised when I received it.

And damn, it's gorgeous! I love the way the Black Bat's cape hangs over his arms and what I believed was a gun in Domino Lady's right hand is actually a syringe, very true to character. Terrific stuff.

But in actual fact, the primary reason for my order was a 12-page preview of the series' first issue (cover at left).

And it is awesome.  It is full of action, it includes a guest-appearance that pulp fans will appreciate, The Black Bat is completely bad-ass and Domino Lady is her usual seductive self. All this is packed into a half-sized comic, so I can only imagine what the full-length product will be like, assuming it's still on the docket.

Now that my order has arrived, I need to give Mr. Dorman a little praise.

First, because I am ordering from Canada, the online ordering system on his website would not recognize my address (there are no zip codes in Canada). He did the leg work to determine what postage would cost me, which was good. I wasn't spending hundreds of dollars on these items...

That done, he included a few interesting extras in the package. I'm not going to say what they are because I don't want to put him on the spot or create an expectation for anyone else ordering from him. Suffice to say they are a) quite cool, and b) very much appreciated.

Anyway, I would love it if more artists did this. Quite a few talented people have handled the character and it would be fun to gather a portfolio of prints and commissions and such. No doubt there's a cost involved, so I understand if it's easier said than done, just throwing it out as feedback.

As for Mr Dorman, while I provided a link to his site earlier, the store page specifically is here.

Guns Of The Black Bat #2 Solicitation

From Moonstone's June 2016 solicitations:

GUNS OF THE BLACK BAT # 2 

Writer: Ron Fortier
Art: Silvestre Szilagyi
Cover: Michael Stribling
32pgs, grayscale, $3.50 

UPC: 685239899085
UPC (variant): 685239899092 

Someone has poisoned Manhattan’s water supply and is turning both humans and animals in to de-evolved monsters and beasts. Only the Black Bat and his assembled team, Phantom Detective, Domino Lady, I.V. Frost and Nighthawk, can hope to stem the nightmare tide and save their city before it is too late. 

RETAILER INCENTIVE: If you purchase 3 or more of Guns of the Black Bat #2, you can purchase a variant…AND you get one variant free!

We'd seen the regular cover quite some time ago (though I believe at the time it was said to be the cover for the third issue) but it looks great with the header. And the variant follows the close-up style used for the first issue.

Domino Lady's Threesome

While I wait for Moonstone's Return Of The Black Bat to arrive (tomorrow!), I shall shine my small spotlight onto another Moonstone project scheduled to be available in May because the primary character is one that has been teamed with The Black Bat on a number of occasions in recent years, and will be again.

DOMINO LADY THREESOME #1
Story: Nancy Holder, Bobby Nash
Art: Marco Santiago
Cover: Glen Fernandez 

Trouble Times Three! It’s Coast to Coast action, adventure, romance, and intrigue as Pulp’s #1 Adventuress, Domino Lady teams up with the Golden Amazon and The Veil to thwart a killer, stop a nefarious Nazi plot, and uncover mysterious happenings on big Hollywood movie set. When just one hero isn’t enough, Domino Lady and her companions come together to get the job done.

A little guesswork is required here. The name of the series seemed familiar and it should. Moonstone released a title by that very name in 2012. Solicitation below:

A Return of the Originals Event!  

Story: Nancy Holder, Bobby Nash
Art: Marco Santiago
Cover: Glen Fernandez

When young women vanish at a sleazy burlesque club, three beautiful heroines slip undercover and out of their clothes to investigate - and wind up confronting a kidnapper who just might be out of this world. 

Featuring the delicious Domino Lady, the first appearance of the deadly Golden Amazon in 70 years and introducing the voluptuous new pulp crime-fighter, The Veil!

Return Of The Originals was an ambitious project through which Moonstone had planned several ongoing and limited series featuring pulp characters. Most of the material was never released and/or projects were aborted. The Black Bat himself is a good example; his "ongoing" series consisted of a graphic novel shared with a character named Death Angel.

I suspect that the upcoming Threesome is a rework of sorts of the one published in 2012. The latter was probably intended to run longer than the single issue which was released.

It feels as though Moonstone has a quiet relaunch and reorganization of its comics line going on.  We know Guns of The Black Bat is on the way in April (though the second issue is not solicited in May) and that it will also include, at least short term, Domino Lady and The Golden Amazon among others. The Black Bat featured in that book seems to be far more faithful to the original than Moonstone's first attempt.

I'm curious to know whether this will be a "structured universe" where events in one book are recognized in another.  I doubt it, but we'll need to wait until the spring to find out.

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

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 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.

Artist Needed for Black Bat / Domino Lady: Danger Coast to Coast

Interesting call sent out by writer Ron Fortier on Facebook earlier today:

The Black Bat - Domino Lady - Danger Coast to Coast I'm writing for Moonstone Comics is in need of an artist. If you have the skills and would like to work on a pulp era series like this, then now would be the time to get your samples off to Joe Gentile at Moonstone Comics. Please, DO NOT send such to me.

Too bad I suck. I'd kill for that gig.

I believe I heard earlier that the artists were determined for the first and second issues of the book. Hopefully this is for the 3rd and/or beyond and not an indication that one of the artists has backed out.

So if you don't suck and are interested, you'd probably be best to contact Gentile through his Facebook page, or by using the Moonstone website contact page.

The above image, which was included with Facebook posting, does not display any Domino Lady I've ever seen. The best guess is that's actually from the team-up with The Purple Scar, (Faces of Fear) but probably indicative of what Moonstone is looking for. Unless the guy in the background is just some thug, or Silk/Butch.

In any event, it's cool as all hell. Credit to whomever drew it.

Guns of The Black Bat cover

Well ain't this a thing of beauty (lifted from the Black Bat Facebook page)!

Coming later this year from Moonstone Comics - GUNS OF THE BLACK BAT from writer Ron Fortier. This cover is by artist Michael Stribling.

"Later this year" is more vague than I'd like (by necessity, no doubt) but seeing a cover for it makes it feel a little more real. This may be the project I'm most looking forward to in 2015. Seeing my favourite pulp character be the straw that stirs the drink, as it were, is an exciting prospect. Bring it on, Mr. Fortier and Moonstone.