A Prescient Novel from 1990 ?

A Prescient Novel from 1990 ?

This is a rather obscure near-future, dystopian UK novel from Sphere from 1990. 

They say that the best science fiction projects a believable future.........?!

I'll have a review of 'Tracer' up within the next few weeks.

Book Review: Tales from the Vulgar Unicorn

Book Review: 'Tales from the Vulgar Unicorn'
edited by Robert Lynn Asprin

2  / 5 Stars

'Tales from the Vulgar Unicorn' (299 pp.) was published by Ace Books in November 1980. The cover art is by Walter Velez.

This is the second volume of the Thieves' World shared world franchise. My review of the initial volume, Thieves' World, is available here.

The lineup of contributors to 'Vulgar' includes some from the first volume: Robert Asprin; his wife at the time, Lynn Abbey; and Andrew J Offutt. There are a bevy of franchise newcomers, all of whom were established sci-fi and fantasy writers at the time of publication. 

All of the stories are of course set in and around the reeking alleys, taverns, and brothels of Sanctuary, the city of Thieves............

More than a few of the entries in 'Vulgar' have curiously stilted, at times wooden, prose, as if the authors, conscious that they were writing 'fantasy' stories, felt the use of too colloquial or informal a style would somehow not be legitimate. This was a common authorial stance when writing fantasy in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

There also is the frequent appearance of esoteric nouns and verbs, which, if nothing else, expanded my vocabulary.

My capsule summaries of the contents:

Spiders of the Purple Mage, by Philip Jose Farmer: housewife Masha has a price on her head, and the only way to cancel it involves a confrontation with one of the most feared men in the land..........

I approached this novelette with skepticism, given that its title is a play on Farmer's 1967 novelette 'Riders of the Purple Wage', one of the worst stories ever written during the New Wave era. But 'Purple Mage' is surprisingly good, and quite superior to 'Purple Wage' (which, to be fair, may not be saying all that much). I did find Farmer's allusions to child prostitution in Sanctuary to be more than a little creepy. But that stuff didn't raise eyebrows in 1980.........

'Goddess' by David Drake: Samlor the caravan master investigates the Temple of Heqt, where, it is rumored, all manner of depravities are practiced. 

This story is the first time I've encountered the verb 'eeled' in a work of fiction.........?! Who would've thought that reading 'Thieves' World' could expand your vocabulary........ anyways, this story has a suitably grim edge to it. The Samlor character would go on to feature in Drake's 1988 Thieves' World novel Dagger.

The Fruit of Enlibar, by Lynn Abbey: Illyra the Seeress returns, this time to aid someone from her past in his search for information about a rare artifact. This story, which is well-plotted and well-written, introduced the noun 'querent' (i.e., one who consults with an astrologer) to my vocabulary. 

The Dream of the Sorceress, by A. E. Van Vogt: Stulwig the healer finds himself the object of attention on the part of the god Vashanka; this is not a good thing. I never expect memorable storytelling from Van Vogt, but this contribution, while at times overly wordy and meandering, isn't that bad.

Vashanka's Minions, by Janet Morris: Following a visionary encounter with the god Vashanka, Tempus the Guardian sets some intrigues in motion. 

This is the worst story in the anthology. Not only is it confusingly plotted, but it forces readers to negotiate remarkably obtuse paragraphs like this one:

Oh, he had heard endless persiflage about simultaneity – iteration, the constant redefining of the now by checking it against the future – alchemical laws of consonance….he had learned the axiom that Mind is unlimited and self-controlled, but all other things are connected; that nothing is completely separated off from any other thing; nor are things divided one from the other, except Mind. 

'Persiflage' is defined as 'frivolous bantering talk'. Elsewhere in 'Vashanka's Minions' I was introduced to the adjective 'preclusive' (to prevent something from happening), and the gerund 'effluescing' (i.e., something that flows out; the act of flowing).

Shadow's Pawn, by Andrew Offutt: continuing the story thread of the previous tale, this one sees the thief Shadowspawn teaming up with Tempus to retrieve an unusual weapon.

To Guard the Guardians, by Robert Lynn Asprin: Zalbar, an officer in the Prince's elite guard, seeks to stop atrocities from being committed by a man held in favor by the said Prince. With a disturbing tenor and a surprise ending, this is another of the anthology's better entries. 

Summing up, I found 'Tales from the Vulgar Unicorn' to be less impressive than the first volume in the series. 'Thieves' World' fans will want to have this volume, but I can't recommend it to the more casual fans of the franchise.

Hard-Boiled Defective Stories

Hard-Boiled Defective Stories

by Charles Burns

Pantheon Books / RAW, 1988

'Hard-Boiled Defective Stories' (96 pp.) has been issued by a variety of publishers, under various titles (including El Borbah: The Complete Charles Burns Cartoon Library, No. 1). All existing copies have steep asking prices. 

Last Fall I was fortunate to get the 1988 large-size trade paperback, published by Pantheon, for $3 for a copy in pretty good condition.

'Hard-Boiled' contains five episodes, all starring the masked wrestler El Borbah, published between 1983 and 1988: 'Robot Love', 'Dead Meat', 'Living in the Ice Age', 'Bone Voyage', and 'Love in Vein'. Some of these first saw print in the indie comic Raw, while 'Bone Voyage' appeared in Heavy Metal magazine.

Every story displays Burns's genius for melding Weird Science themes with dark humor and sarcasm. More than once I found myself laughing out loud at the stuff depicting in these pages.

Burns's inventive and distinctive artwork also is on display in every panel of 'Hard-Boiled'.

It's a shame affordable copies of 'Hard-Boiled Defective Stories' are so rare and highly priced, for anyone with an appreciation for creative artwork, humor, and a unique visual style will like the book. My advice is, if you see a copy in good condition with a reasonable asking price, don't hesitate to grab it.

The Magic Goes Away graphic novel

The Magic Goes Away

Paul Kupperberg (story) and Jan Duursema (art)

DC Science Fiction Graphic Novel, 1986

'The Magic Goes Away' is DC Graphic Novel No. 6, published in 1986. It's based on a novella that Larry Niven published in 1976 in Odyssey magazine. Niven later reworked the novella and related stories for publication in a series of paperbacks issued by Ace Books (with black and white illustrations by Esteban Maroto), and small press publishers, all the way through 2012.

Not being a huge Larry Niven fan I never read the novella, but I was willing to read this graphic novel adaptation.

The plot revolves around a far-future Earth where magic has replaced science and the world is ruled by magicians, witches, and sorcerers. Unfortunately, mana - depicted as a natural resource - is dwindling, and with it the power of the mages. As the story opens a team of mages is bemoaning the shortage of mana and pondering ways to acquire more.

In their discourse, they are joined by a Conan the Barbarian lookalike named Orolandes, a survivor of the recent collapse of an entire civilization, and a man who therefore truly understands the dire implications of the magic 'going away'.

Orolandes and the mages decide that drastic action is needed, and set out for the summit of Mount Valhalla where, it is rumored, the ancient god of the Norsemen still retains a significant supply of mana..........a supply that will be used to replenish the mana on the Earth by bringing down the Moon...........

'The Magic Goes Away' is pretty awful. Given that the online reviews I've seen of Niven's novella are less than complimentary, I can believe that writer Kupperberg had his work cut out for him. But his script for the graphic novel is incoherent, so much so that at times I thought the page order had been screwed up by the DC editorial staff.

Most of the narrative is preoccupied with depicting conversations between the assorted mages and shamans and witches. It's a shame the writing is so miserable, because the artwork by Duursema, which even includes some 80s- style cheesecake, is well done.

The reviews of Niven's novella state that he wrote it to serve as an allegory for the shortage of fossil fuels that confronted the U.S. in the 1970s. Be that as it may, 'The Magic Goes Away' fails to impress either as an allegory or as a fantasy adventure in its own right. I can't recommend this graphic novel adaptation to anyone other than hardcore Niven fans.

Cruising by Nesmith

R.I.P. Mike Nesmith

1942 - 2021

Mike Nesmith, one of the Monkees, has died at age 78. 

Let's go back in time to the Summer of 1979, when Nesmith was a solo artist, and we heard his single 'Cruising' on the local FM radio station, WAAL. 

The song never charted in the US but it had a great video clip that perfectly captured how it was in 1979, as well as a quirky sensibility that made it stand out from the New Wave rock ('My Sharona', by The Knack), disco ('Bad Girls', Donna Summer), and folk ( 'On the Roof', James Taylor), then in heavy rotation on the radio.

Lucy and Ramona, cruisin' through the jungles of L.A

Hopin' to promote a dream somewhere along the way

Rollin' through the streets, lookin' for a disco

Passin' up the treats from a kid named Cisco

Trying to make connections

With their blemish-free complexions

And just as fate would have it

They ended up with Sunset Sam

Sam was sellin' watches from a suitcase on a TV tray

And Lucy and Ramona were tryin' to figure out if he was gay

The three of them were standing, staring at each other

When the light behind their eyes blew each other's cover

The ancient code was branded

And each of them was handed

A ticket to their kingdom

'Cause they saw their brother Sunset Sam

Lucy and Ramona and Sunset Sam

People on the streets tryin' to find a plan

People on the streets lookin' for the land

Lucy and Ramona and their brother Sunset Sam

Lucy was from Compton and she met Ramona at the zoo

Ramona was from Brooklyn, but she left when she was twenty-two

Sam was a native of the Arizona desert

But he split when he was slated for some governmental make-work

Their differences subsided when the common bond was sighted

They were all from the same place

That made the famous Sunset Sam

Lucy and Ramona and Sunset Sam

People on the streets tryin' to find a plan

People on the streets lookin' for the land

Lucy and Ramona and their brother Sunset Sam

Yes it's Lucy and Ramona and Sunset Sam

People on the streets tryin' to find a plan

People on the streets just lookin' for the land

Lucy and Ramona and their brother Sunset Sam

Book Review: Counting the Cost

Book Review: 'Counting the Cost' by David Drake

1 / 5 Stars

'Counting the Cost' (267 pp.) first published in November, 1987 by Baen Books. The cover illustration is by Paul Alexander. 

'Counting' is short, as novels go; this Baen Books edition uses larger font to pad its length to over 260 pages.

This is an entry in Drake's 'Hammer's Slammers' franchise. In my experience the Slammers titles usually merit a three star or above rating, but this particular novel was a disappointment.

The premise: the planet Bamberia has been colonized by contingents of Christians and Muslims. The co-existence of the two populations has become increasingly strained due to the Muslim's increasing control of the tobacco-growing operations that are the main source of Bamberia's revenue. In possession of the planet's major metropolitan center, the city of Bamberg, the Christian contingent has the financial wherewithal to mount a crusade against the Muslims. Leading the campaign will be the galaxy's most potent mercenary force: Hammer's Slammers.

As 'Counting' opens, Captain Tyl Koopman arrives at the spaceport in Bamberg, and is assisted in getting his bearings by United Defense Battery Lieutenant Charles Desoix. It seems that all is not well in Bamberg: led by Bishop Trimer, an insurgency within the Christian caucus has grown more bold in its demands for power. The government, led by President John Delcorio, is hesitant and unsure in its response.

When violent riots, involving thousands of angry citizens, roil the streets of Bamberg, despite their intentions to remain neutral, Koopman and Desoix find themselves obliged to act. Can they negotiate a solution to the conflict......... or will a massacre be imminent ?

I found 'Counting' to be mediocre. Author Drake seems to have been intent on making this novel a departure from his other Slammer's works, focusing more on characterization and setting than military action. Unfortunately this leads to a static narrative, one that is overly centered on passages dealing with political and personal conflicts and intrigues. Dialogue passages can be wooden, and the metaphors and similes awkward:

The pre-load burped out like an angry katydid.

I found the best part of 'Counting' to be the novel's Afterward, titled 'How They Got That Way', in which Drake relates his experiences in Vietnam. As an Army Intelligence staffer, he was assigned to an armored regiment and gained familiarity with tanks and an appreciation for the dilemmas associated with their use. Drake also discusses how his early efforts at submitting Slammers stories to the magazine market were unsuccessful, but with luck and perseverance, by the end of the 1970s he had demonstrated his qualities to editors and launched his career as a writer.

The verdict ? Even die-hard Hammer's Slammers fans are going to find this novel slowly paced, and I don't see non-fans liking it much, either. 

Tapestry of Blood

Tapestry of Blood

by Ed Fedory (script) and Jose Rubio (art)

from Nightmare issue 15, October 1973

The Skywald comic magazines from the 1970s were chock full of rather goofy content. However, even the goofiest stories can be entertaining if combined with some degree of novelty. So it is that 'Tapestry of Blood', from the October 1973 issue of Nightmare, features carnivorous snails (?!) and a surprise ending.

Jose Rubio was a Spanish artist who, as a member of the Selecciones Ilustradas agency, provided artwork to numerous American publishers during the 1970s.

Book Review: Atrocity Week

Book Review: 'Atrocity Week' by Andrew McCoy

2 / 5 Stars

'What is it ?' Cameron demanded. Pacoe's body was blocking his curious view.

'Holland and Holland 600 Nitro Express', Curtis Bill told him.

'Jesus !'

Decker spoke softly, persuasively. 'Look, you can't hunt niggers with that elephant gun. What I mean is.....Look, this fucking cannon would blow a nigger into fine bits and there would be nothing left.'

'You wouldn't be able to take photographs afterwards' Curtis Bill added softly behind Pasoce.

Pascoe turned on him. 'But it's all I have ! I got six of them.' He sounded as if he were about to burst into tears, his face crumbling massively, his eyes watery.

The above excerpt communicates the quintessence of 'Atrocity Week'..............

'Atrocity Week' first was published in 1978 in the UK by Sphere. Subsequently Warner Books released a U.S. version in 1979, and Grafton, another UK edition in 1984.

The advertising blurbs for the Grafton edition make clear the novel's splatterpunk sensibilities, although the term 'splatterpunk' didn't exist back in 1984.

As a work of proto-splatterpunk, 'Atrocity Week' has gotten curiously little attention from the chroniclers of that genre of literature. The 'Splatterpunk Files' website doesn't mention it, and neither does Paul Sammon in his essay 'Outlaws', from his 1991 book Splatterpunks: Extreme Horror. So I nobly took it upon myself to acquire a copy and read and review it.

'Andrew McCoy' is the pen name used by the South African writer André Jute McCoy (b. 1945), who has published a number of novels, most of them set in Africa and dealing with wildlife, safaris, and big-game hunting. Other titles, such as 'Sinkhole' (1982) and 'Eight Days in Washington' (1986), as by Andre Jute, are thrillers. Jute's 1987 book 'Writing A Thriller' (1987) is an instructional text.

'Atrocity' is set in South Africa in the late 1970s. Chris Decker and Curtis Bill Bonham run a safari adventure firm called Ultimate Test, Inc., with a well-equipped base camp on the bank of the Limpopo River.

Decker and Bonham charge their clients a hefty fee for their safari services. But then, Decker and Bonham don't offer their clients the usual hunting experience. For Ultimate Test, Inc. gives its clients the thrill of hunting humans...........in particular, black African men who are unlucky enough to be discovered crossing the veldt with nothing more threatening than a shield and a spear.

[ Needless to say, a novel that takes as its centerpiece the hunting of 'niggers' by wealthy white and Asian men who crisscross the terrain in a helicopter, high-powered rifles in hand, is transgressive in every sense of the word. ]

Decker and Bonham have taken scrupulous care to conceal their activities from the South African authorities. But Idi Amin, dictator of Uganda and the leader of black Africa, has learned of the existence of Ultimate Test, and he has ordered a force of guerillas to descend on the camp and eliminate its inhabitants. Of course, Amin would prefer that none of the people at Ultimate Test die quickly........

McCoy clearly intended 'Atrocity Week' to be over the top in terms of its reliance on explicit descriptions of the torture, and violent deaths, of men and animals. These are salted with pornographic passages describing rough sex and rape. So there is no doubt that 'Atrocity Week' deserves enshrinement (if that's the right word) in the Splatterpunk Canon.

But as a novel, 'Atrocity' is something of a dud. The middle section of the book belabors one manhunt after another, while reminding the reader on a regular basis that the manhunters truly are reprehensible people.

The confrontation with the guerillas doesn't start until page 254 of the Grafton edition, and while the ensuing chapters deliver considerable action, and would seem sufficient to end the novel in an effective manner, author McCoy elects to prolong the narrative past a logical stopping point. He introduces additional chapters that feature plotting so contrived, and so dependent on comic book-style coincidence, that they undermine the narrative and induce eye-rolling on the part of the reader all the way to the final paragraph. 

[ For another review of 'Atrocity Week', readers are directed to the Trash Menace blog (warning: that review has some spoilers). ]

Summing up, if you are among the cognoscenti of splatterpunk or 'shock' literature, then searching out 'Atrocity Week' may be worth your while. All others can pass on this novel. 

Kull the Savage omnibus

Kull the Savage omnibus
Marvel, November 2021

I've been saving my dollars for this volume, and recently it arrived in the mail well-cushioned and devoid of damage - not always a sure thing with some online vendors.

Kull the Savage (952 pp., Marvel Comics, November 2021) is a compilation of all the King Kull comics that appeared in the pages of Marvel’s black and white comic magazines in the interval from Savage Tales No. 2 in October 1973, to The Savage Sword of Conan No. 233, May, 1995. Other magazines represented here include Kull and the Barbarians, Bizarre Adventures, and Marvel Preview.

Prior to this omnibus, if you wanted those black and white Kull stories you were either obliged to try and find the original magazines, or pay a rather steep price for the 2010 Dark Horse Books anthologies The Savage Sword of Kull Volume 1, and The Savage Sword of Kull Volume 2 (above).

Along with the comics, this omnibus contains pin-ups, advertisements, and selected articles dealing with the Kull franchise. Roy Thomas, Doug Moench, and Chuck Dixon provide introductory assays about their roles in bringing Kull to the Marvel portfolio. 

I should note that this omnibus does NOT contain any of the stories from the Kull the Conqueror and Kull the Destroyer color comic books that Marvel issued in 1973 – 1974. To get those stories, you have to purchase the two-volume Kull the Destroyer: The Original Marvel Years Omnibus, also published by Marvel in November 2021.

As for Kull the Savage, like the other Marvel omnibuses reprinting the content from the black and white magazines, it’s a well-made book, printed on quality paper stock with the best possible reproductions of the original artwork (or, more likely, scans of pages from printed copies of the magazines). 

The standout piece in this omnibus is ‘Demon in a Silvered Glass’ from Bizarre Adventures No. 26, May 1981. ‘Demon’ was illustrated by the UK artist John Bolton in one of his first assignments for U.S. publishers, and forty years later his artwork remains among of the best ever to appear in comics.

There’s lots of other fine pencil and pen work in the pages of Kull the Savage, from Barry Windsor-Smith, Ross Andru, Wally Wood, Marie and John Severin, and the gifted Filipino artists Sonny Trinidad, Vincente Alcazar, Ernie Chan, and Alfredo Alcazar. It looks all the better for being reproduced on a nice grade of paper, as opposed to the cheaper paper and printing processes used in the original magazines.   

Is Kull the Savage a worthy investment for comic book and graphic art fans ? In my opinion, yes. It provides a fine presentation of comic art from an era when black and white draftsmanship was in its prime in the pages of Marvel magazines. And it’s a great present for Christmas 2021 in the bargain ! 

Vintage UK Sci-fi Ads and Stores

Vintage UK Sci-fi Ads and Stores

Everyone remembers the geek store(s) where they went to get their comics and sci-fi paperbacks when they were young and first discovering the genre. For me, growing up in Upstate New York, it was at first a mixture of various pharmacies and convenience stores, before graduating to regular trips to Gordon's Cigar Store and, in downtown Johnson City NY, 'Fat Cat Books'.

Below, I showcase some interesting blog posts looking at how sci-fi and fantasy media were marketed and sold in the UK back in the 1980s. As a smaller country, the UK tended to have a comparatively smaller number of retail stores, but these elicited lifelong feelings of fraternity on the part of their patrons.

The Vintage Toy Advertiser and Darkest London blogs have a nostalgic look back at the signal comic and book shops that were the places for sci-fi geeks to go, back 'in the day'.

According to the Darkest London post about the Forbidden Planet store at 23 Denmark Street:

I only have to see a glimpse of the Brian Bolland artwork which used to adorn the plastic bags (and the associated t-shirt my dad bought me on one trip) and I’m straight back to the uneven wooden floor, the smell of pulp paper, the shafts of light streaming through the dust which hung in the air, and the vague unease of my mum as the till rang through each 75p I’d spent on the recent releases.

The Forbidden Planet store at 23 Denmark seems to have been the place to go back in the early 80s if you were a sci-fi fan in the London metropolitan area. It certainly had some great advertising support, such as a photo essay in which Torquemada, the archvillain from the 2000 AD comic 'Nemesis the Warlock', makes an in-store appearance:

The 23 Denmark Street and New Oxford Street stores also had their share of celebrity visitors, including Mark Hamill, Stephen King, Stan Lee, and Nichelle Nichols, among others.

American expatriate Dan Slott, who resided in London as a kid, remembers how things were when he had to patronize the Newsagent's stall, before the advent of Forbidden Planet:

Beano? What is this, where's my Spider-Man, where's my Avengers, where's Batman, why am I only getting this Beano thing and this guy Judge Dredd is kind of cool….....the pages would be in black and white for no reason.....!

A video clip featuring Slott's reminiscences is available here.

A more expansive post at The Vintage Toy Advisor covers a range of UK and US shops, mail order firms, and advertisements from the 80s.

If this back cover advertisement from a 1986 2000 AD Sci-Fi Special is any guide, it appears that 'Forbidden Planet' had two retail outlets, with the one on Denmark Street devoted to sci-fi books and comics, while the St. Giles High Street retail outlet was devoted to cinema and television media.

Forbidden Planet has since moved to a larger and more presentable retail locale in Covent Garden. But it remains the 'go to' place in the London for sci-fi and comic fans. Maybe I'll travel there someday........