National Lampoon, May 1978

National Lampoon, May 1978

Ahh, Spring is here, and with it, the May, 1978 issue of National Lampoon.

This is a pretty good issue, perhaps as a result of P. J. O'Rourke taking over the duties of Editor.

The advertising includes the latest album from Paul McCartney and Wings, and an album from the comedy duo of Proctor and Bergman. The Proctor and Bergman album is available at YouTube. It's New York City, Jewish, satirical humor. I can't say I'm impressed, but that's how it was, back in '78........

There is a satirical take on the 'Nancy Drew' stories:

'The Appletons' now is running in the magazine and would stay with the Lampoon till its end in 1990. May, 1978 saw a three-page color version of the comic.

'Foto Funnies' delivers some stoner humor.

An advertising parody takes aim at getting a child through mail-order.

Shary Flenniken's 'Trots and Bonnie' strip is a jocular look at strange noises in the night.

Also delivering some good laughs is 'Spritz Family Rubenstein', by John Weidman, with art by Val Mayerik. Even if you're not Jewish, it's going to draw some smiles. 

(Although......... the color printing register for this comic was off, quite a bit. Back in '78, the Lampoon rarely used full process color for its comics pages, and relied on traditional CMYK printing. If the acetate sheets weren't carefully aligned with one another, the final print could be.......fuzzy.)

And we'll close with....... some oddball signs. For some reason the Lampoon editorial staff really liked this feature, and ran it continuously. Getting these images in the first place relied on readers sending in prints of candid photographs they took with their Polaroids or Kodaks. That's how it was done back in '78, long before smartphones, and their integrated cameras, even existed.

There you have it, Springtime humor from long, long ago........

Magician by Robert Holdstock and Malcolm Edwards

'Magician: The Lost Journals of the Magus Geoffrey Carlyle'
by Robert Holdstock and Malcolm Edwards
Paper Tiger, 1982

This odd little book of 128 pages was published by Paper Tiger in 1982. While most of the Dragon's World / Paper Tiger catalog was devoted to presenting overviews of the works and techniques of artists active in the fields of science fiction and fantasy illustration, the company did release illustrated fiction titles, of which 'Magician' is representative.

In 1982 the authors were well-established in the fields of science fiction and fantasy, with Holdstock the recipient of the British Science Fiction Association award for his novelette 'Mythago Wood'. Given the emphasis his fantasy fiction imparts to the cultural and religious mores and practices of ancient Britain, Holdstock was well qualified to write 'Magician'.

For his part, Malcolm Edwards was an editor of magazines such as Interzone, and fiction and art books. such as 'Alien Landscapes'. He thus was familiar with the process of creating illustrated books.

With 'Magician', Holdstock and Edwards play it straight all the way. The book purports to be a collection of writings about magic and spellcasting discovered in a secret laboratory housed under the grounds of 'Rockhurst Manor', a 16th century mansion constructed on a site in the Wiltshire Downs with a lengthy history of occult associations. The laboratory was used by one Geoffrey Carlyle, aka 'Rofomagus', 1496 - 1571 (?).

The book is an easy read, with large-font type. Its chapters detail, in a forthright manner, the mechanics of various occult endeavors such as summoning demons and shades, scrying the future, acquiring familiars, and mixing potions for one purpose or another.

One thing that the authors do to promote a sense of verisimilitude to the narrative, is to detail the ingredients and labors associated with casting spells and performing magic. 

Given that the ingredients can be quite unpleasant ('....the spawn of a frog that has been seeped with the juice of hellbore, mixed with semen collected after copulation with a beast, and fouled with the blood of worms, slugs and other creatures of the low earth'), and the more powerful spells require nine or more days of fasting on the part of the mage, it is clear that magic is not a trivial pursuit. 

Magic also is quite dangerous, particularly when involving the summoning of demons; the slightest error on ther part of the summoner can leave him or her vulnerable to a quick and painful death by the hand (or talons) of the summoned entity.

The book has copious illustrations, by Dan Woods. These are competent, but not remarkable. There is some nudity, presumably to signal to parents that 'Magician' is not intended for a juvenile readership.

'Magician' can be had for reasonable prices from used book vendors. Who will want a copy ? Well, if you are fond of the fantasy fiction of the 1970s and early 1980s, when the genre was starting its ascent to a commercial juggernaut, then the book will be entertaining. Those with a fondness for the witchcraft and occult pop culture craze of those years, likely will find the book to be a an affectionate spoof of titles such as 'The Modern Witch's Spellbook' (1971) by Sarah Lyddon Morrison. 

For my part, I'm kind of wondering what would happen if I were to donate a copy to my local middle school's library.........?!

Book Review: The Best of Omni Science Fiction 1980

Book Review: 'The Best of Omni Science Fiction'
Edited by Ben Bova
1980

2 / 5 Stars

In 1973 Kathy Keeton, Bob Guccione's girlfriend, and later wife, asked / insisted on being the CEO of a magazine. Guccione assigned her to Viva, a new 'international magazine for women', and something of a knockoff of Playgirl (which had debuted that same year).

Viva ran through money without earning much in revenue, and folded in 1979. According to Gay Haubner, who worked at Viva as Keeton's secretary, Keeton - whose previous business experience was limited to Exotic Dancing - saw Viva as something of a dabble:

I reminded Miss Keeton of appointments with her hair dresser, dermatologist, astrologer, interior decorator, and jeweler. I fetched packs of Virginia Slims and made cups of tea. After Miss Keeton left for the day, I went into her office to remove and file every paper from her desk; she liked to start fresh every morning. I looked at that empty white desk and wished my mind were as blank.

...........But Viva was only kept alive because of the cascade of cash generated by Penthouse.

Even as Viva foundered, Keeton pressed Guccione to provide her with another outlet, this time, a 'science fiction / science fact' magazine called Omni. The first issue came out in October 1978, and revolutionized the slowly dying enterprise of science fiction periodicals. 

To Keeton's credit, Omni was an immediate success, and stayed in print into 1997.

'The Best of Omni Science Fiction', published in 1980, was an anthology of stories appearing in the first year of the magazine, at which time Ben Bova served as editor.

Interspersed with the stories are pictorial essays, several of which are excerpts from the illustrated novels produced by Harry Harrison in the late 1970s: Mechanismo and Planet Story. Another portfolio came from the art book Immortals of Science Fiction (1980). 

My capsule summaries of the contents:

Found, by Isaac Asimov: a computer, orbiting the Earth inside a customized spaceship, develops error messages. What the repair team discovers is unsettling. A decent enough tale from Asimov. 

Count the Clock that Tells the Time, by Harlan Ellison: Ian Ross lives a remarkably boring life, and as penalty, he finds himself trapped in a Limbo devoted to those who waste time.

This is yet another story where Harlan, in a very earnest and sensitive way, seeks to tell us something Profound about the Human Condition. I was bored.

Body Game, by Robert Sheckley: grandfather is decrepit, and in need of a new body. Could Dapper Dan's Living Model store have what he needs ? A satirical tale from Sheckley.

Unaccompanied Sonata, by Orson Scott Card: in a world where Art is outlawed, Christian Haroldsen risks life and limb to produce music.

This story won considerable praise from the critics and was nominated for a 1980 Hugo award for best short story. It has not aged well, and stands as an exemplar of how sci-fi, at the end of the 70s, simply was recycling themes and motifs (in this case, the lone rebel / holdout who defies Authority because that's what all good humanists must do).  

Iceback Invasion, by Hayford Pierce: the Russians decide to take over the USA by the simple expedient of illegal immigration. A comedic tale, with a political shading that probably would not pass editorial review nowadays.

No Future in It, by Joe R. Haldeman: a short tale about time travel. There is a twist at the very end.

Galatea Galante, by Alfred Bester: Dominie Mainwright decides to create a synthetic woman, a 'Perfect Popsy' that no man can resist.

This easily is the worst tale in the anthology. Bester clearly was trying to display his facility at writing comedic, New Wave sci-fi, but 'Galatea' is an overwritten mess. The adjective 'cringey' didn't exist in 1980, but if it did, it would have applied to 'Galatea Galante'.

Kinsman, by Ben Bova: our Editor decides to apply his Privilege, and prints an excerpt of his 1979 novel here in the pages of Omni. In this excerpt, astronauts training to be space shuttle pilots, annoyed by the hazing meted out by their superiors, decide to turn the tables.

Half-Jack, by Roger Zelazny: a slight tale about a cyborg who 'roams the stars, seeking fulfillment'. Sniff.

Sand Kings, by George R. R. Martin: the odious Simon Kress buys an 'alien ant farm' populated by an unusual species of insect. The so-called Sand Kings may not be quite as tractable as Simon expects them to be........

This is the best story in the anthology.

The anthology closes with an interview with Arthur C. Clarke, with Clarke touching on his 'retirement' from writing sci-fi following the publication of his 1979 novel 'The Phantoms of Paradise' (a clunker about a space elevator). Clarke also addresses UFOs, spoon-bender Uri Geller, and life in Sri Lanka.

The verdict ? 'The Best of Omni Science Fiction' sits quite comfortably in two-star Rating territory. Editor Bova, in an effort to establish that he new magazine was legit, preferentially sought out contributions from 'name' authors, and more than a few of those contributions were underwhelming. 

But it's also important to note that one year after 'The Best of Omni Science Fiction' appeared on shelves, the magazine would publish William Gibson's short story 'The Gernsback Continuum', and in 1985, the cyberpunk classic 'Mozart in Mirrorshades' by Bruce Sterling and Lewis Shiner. So however unadventurous Omni may have seemed in 1980, ultimately the magazine was heading in the right direction.

Book Review: Bulman

Book Review: 'Bulman' by Robert Holdstock

4 / 5 Stars

'Bulman' (224 pp.) was published by Futura in 1984. It's a tie-in to the Granada television series, and is based on a character created by Kenneth Royce in his 1970 novel titled 'The XYY Man' (Bulman is the detective pursuing the burglar 'Spider' Scott).

Robert Holdstock also wrote the second tie-in novel for the series, titled, simply enough, 'Bulman 2'.

The Bulman TV series aired 20 episodes from June 1985 to August 1987. The tie-in novel presents, as best as I can tell, three of the first episodes of the series: Winds of Change, Pandora's Many Boxes, and Death of a Hitman. Several episodes of the series are available, somewhat grain-ily, at YouTube.

George Bulman is an eccentric, and in the initial chapter of the book, we learn he has decided to retire from his position as Detective Chief Superintendent with the Metropolitan C.I.D. (i..e, Scotland Yard). Bulman hopes to earn a living fixing clocks on the premises of an antique shop in the London East End, but his plans are complicated when looking after the welfare of an old friend renews his familiarity with the criminal element. These adventures lead a reluctant Bulman to decide that he has greater earnings potential by working as a private eye: G. Bulman. Private Investigations undertaken. Anything legal. No divorce work. Excellent service guaranteed.

A prominent theme in the pages of 'Bulman' is the strained relationship between ex-cops who go private eye, and the staff of their former employer, the Met. Bulman, while quite capable of being a hard man if the situation calls for it, prefers to use cunning and some measure of guile in working his contacts from his days with the force. Too, Bulman isn't all that put out if his endeavors happen to make his former colleagues with the Met look less than competent.

There are sufficient pop culture references in 'Bulman' to evoke Eighties Nostalgia and the London of that era; for example, Bulman's Gal Friday, Lucy McGinty, listens to Boy George on her Walkman. I did find some of the British idioms and slang and commercial terms mystifying: 

'It's only PG Tips, I'm afraid' (referring to some brand of tea ?)

"Why not ? Any ponce is better than no ponce." 

"It's because the first Brits in your country were all from across Offa's Dyke. It's the way they speak" (a conversation with an Indian immigrant; I have no idea who Offa is)

"I mean, why should people flock to this Godforsaken part of London to get their clocks mended by an out-of-work rozzer ?"

"Cor, these soggy chips are smashin'."

'Bulman' is not, as I had hoped, a gritty, noir-ish exploration of British crime, being in fact very much a procedural. Save for the final chapters in the novel it avoids any focus on explicit violence, presumably reflecting its origin as a television show. That said, author Holdstock's prose style is engaging enough, and for those who are fond of novels focused on the utilitarian aspects of crime investigation, the novel will be an entertaining read.

Battling Britons issue four

'Battling Britons'
Issue 4, November 2022

The UK's Justin Marriott continues to expand his empire of publications ('bookzines') devoted to pop culture ephemera.

A couple of years ago I reviewed 'Battling Britons', Marriott's foray into documenting the war comics published in the UK. A bookzine of the same name now is up to volume two, issue four. 

Like Marriott's other publications, 'Battling Britons' is Print On Demand, which means a copy can be printed in Middletown, Delaware, and delivered to you just a few days after ordering it - no need to wait for airmail delivery from the UK. 

'Battling Britons' issue four (162 pp.) is a 'future war' special, which I find appealing.

The contents of the bookzine are divided into 'Quick Hits', which are two-page summaries of various comic book - related events; Columns from dedicated contributors; and Feature articles. All of these incorporate photographs and scans, rendered in black-and-white, applicable to the material under discussion.

I'd like to think I have some fair degree of familiarity with the British comics scene of the 1970s on up to the present-day, so I found plenty of articles in 'Battling Britons' that were of interest.

For example, Jim O'Brien's 'Hell Drivers and No-Option Contracts' examines the 2000 AD comic 'Invasion !', and how its hero, the combative lorry driver Bill Savage, was derived from the UK character actor Stanley Baker. This, in turn, led me to investigate the noir films from the postwar era that featured Baker as the exemplar of the 'Hard Man' of British popular culture. And an article by Gary Dobbs, titled 'Savage by Name, Savage by Nature', takes an affectionate look at the history of the 'Invasion' franchise

Also entertaining was James Bacon's overview of the 2000 AD franchise, 'Rogue Trooper'.

O'Brien also contributes 'Argentina Invaded !', a six-page overview of the comic strip 'The Eternaut', published in Argentina from 1957 - 1959. 'Eternaut' is considered a classic sci-fi action tale. O'Brien's article reminded me that I have on my bookshelf, covered in dust, the 2015 Fantagraphics hardcover English translation of the entire comic...........! 

Well, 'The Eternaut' now is out of print, so I'm glad I have my copy to hand.

In the closing pages of bookzine, editor Marriott recalls the 1988-1989 six-issue comic book 'The Light and Darkness War', published in the USA by Marvel's Epic imprint. The comic was illustrated by the UK's Cam Kennedy, a veteran of British war comics.

Summing things up, if you're a fan of postwar, Anglophone comic books - and war-themed titles in particular - then you'll probably find some very readable pieces in 'Battling Britons' Issue 4, available from amazon.com for $7.99.

Book Review: Fell of Dark

Book Review: 'Fell of Dark' by Reginald Hill

4 / 5 Stars

British author Reginald Hill (1936 – 2012) was a prolific author of crime fiction, with his ‘Dalziel and Pascoe’ series of novels his best-known works. He did write novels in other genres, including thrillers, suspense, and science fiction, of which ‘Albion ! Albion !’ (written under the pseudonym 'Dirk Morland" is an example).

‘Fell of Dark’ (192 pp.) was published by Fontana Books in 1972. 

(In British vernacular, a ‘fell’ is a hill, particularly a hill situated in a moorland).

This book has one of the most lurid cover illustrations I’ve ever seen for a paperback. Are the contents as intriguing as the cover would seem to imply ?

The novel is set in the early 1970s. Its first-person protagonist is a thirty-three year-old businessman named Harry Bentink. Harry’s marriage is under some strain, and Harry decides it’s a good idea to take a lengthy vacation in the Lake District, hiking the paths in the sublime and wholesome summer weather. Accompanying Harry is his fast friend from college days, Peter Thorne. Psychologically troubled, and ‘queer’ to boot, Peter at times requires special handling. But Harry remains dedicated to their friendship.

The hiking vacation is fully as rewarding as Harry hopes it will be. He and Peter even have a brief exchange with two attractive young women, who also are out on the trails. But on the following afternoon, when Harry and Peter descend the fells to the rail station at Ravenglass, they discover two policemen waiting to take them into custody. The bodies of the two girls have been discovered in a gully, and the police have concluded they were strangled and raped. 

Initially confident that his innocence easily will be established, Harry discovers that there are eyewitnesses to his and Peter’s encounter with the girls on the fell. When Superintendent Melton dissects Harry’s clumsy alibis with distressing ease, Harry makes a fateful decision to escape the police and take his chances as a fugitive. But the moorlands of the Lake District offer no kind shelter for a fleeing felon........

I wrestled a bit with my choice of stars in rating 'Fell of Dark'. The novel is slow to start, and the early chapters in which an insouciant Harry engages in verbal fencing matches with Superintendent Melton are over-written and tedious. But on page 62 the narrative, which seems to be heading into courtroom drama territory, takes an abrupt and unexpected turn and transitions into a chase drama. This is engaging and reflects the author's familiarity with, and affection for, the landscape of the Lake District. There are sufficient plot twists and turns to keep the chase sequence from getting too stale. 

In the opening pages of 'Fell of Dark', Harry Bentink is depicted as something of a twit. He is very much the self-centered everyman, who finds himself suddenly thrust into traumatic circumstances, and as a result, his personal attitudes and complacencies get a much-needed overhaul. In this sense, the novel is a something of a discourse on personal redemption through hardship.

The novel's penultimate chapter, which discloses Whodunit, is well-composed and avoids the overly complicated rationale that dooms many mystery novels. 

Summing up, those who persevere through the rather banal initial chapters of 'Fell of Dark' will find the novel becomes more engaging, and takes full advantage of its picaresque, uniquely British setting. It's deserving of a Four-Star Rating.