Omnibuses from Bud Plant

Although Bud Plant now has retired, the purchasers of his book warehouse, Bill Schanes and Sasha Fera-Schanes, are operating the company in much the same manner as did Plant. Marty Grosser is now overseeing the Bud Plant's Incredible Catalog (below).

You can find some pretty good deals on some Marvel '2099' omnibuses in the Late Spring catalog / website, as I did with the 'Spider-Man 2099' omnibuses volumes 1 and 2 (above). If those Marvel comics from the mid-1990s are of interest to you, you may want to see what's available at the website.

 

One thing I always stress is that the shipping from Bud Plant is very good: sturdy boxes, well-cushioned. And if an item is 'used,' it will say so in the listing. This is a nice departure from what tends to happen with many of my graphic novel orders from a major online retailer: battered copies being sold as 'new'...........  

Book Review: The Magic Man by Charles Beaumont

Book Review: 'The Magic Man' by Charles Beaumont

  

 3 / 5 Stars

 

'The Magic Man and Other Science Fiction Stories' (258 pp.) was published by Fawcett Crest in 1965.

 

Despite the brevity of his career, which only lasted from 1954 to 1963, when a debilitating disease curtailed his output, Beaumont (1929 - 1967) was a major short story author, best known for his contributions to the television show The Twilight Zone. The stories compiled in 'The Magic Man' all saw print in various magazines and digests, such as Playboy, If, and Esquire, in the interval from 1954 to 1960.

 

One thing about the stories in this collection is that spinsters are prominent. I don't know why, but they are......... 

 

My capsule summaries of the contents:

 

Miss Gentilbelle (1957): a Southern Gothic tale, featuring a spinster with a cruelty streak. Supposedly Miss Gentibelle was modeled on Beaumont's mother Letty.....!?

The Last Caper (1954): a sci-fi parody of the hardboiled detective story.

 

The New People (1958): the 'new people' are Ann and Hank, recent arrivals to the placid world of the suburb. It turns out that their neighbors are welcoming, but maybe a little too welcoming. One of the better stories in this collection.

 

The Vanishing American (1955): The epitome of the mid-1950s Organization Man, Mr. Michell is stricken with a peculiar - and perhaps fatal - case of urban anomie.

 

The Monster Show (1956): vaguely comedic sci-fi tale about some executives planning to air the 'world's greatest TV show.' They speak in a 'futuristic' argot. This is a very forgettable story.

 

The Magic Man (1960): Micah Jackson, aka magician and patent medicine salesman 'Dr. Silk,' is playing what may well be his last show, in the prairie town of Two Fork, Kansas. And what a show it will be..........this story is a homage of sorts to Ray Bradbury.

 

A Classic Affair (1955): a husband appears to be Straying. But it's not that sort of infidelity that you think it is.........

 

The Hunger (1955): unconvincing tale of a serial killer on the loose in a small town; a spinster named Julia is obsessed with the situation.

 

Black Country (1954): a black jazz band's leader, Spoof, is a combination of Magical Negro, and Doomed Black Bluesman. Using overheated prose intended to mimic the rhythms of jazz, Beaumont relates how Sonny, a young white boy, learns from Spoof how to bring that big sound. I hate jazz, and worshipful stories about jazz, so this entry did nothing for me............

 

The Love-Master (1957): Salvadori, the eponymous Love-Master, counsels a young man complaining of a 'frigid' wife. Will the Chinese Flip technique bring energy to the connubial bed ? Another of the better stories in 'Magic Man.' 

 

The Dark Music (1956): schoolteacher and spinster Miss Lydia Maple discovers an isolated woodland glade, where she enjoys the attentions of a strange, but not unwelcome, phenomenon. 

 

Fair Lady (1957): spinster Miss Elouise Baker finds love in an unlikely place: her daily bus trip.

 

Perchance to Dream (1958): a psychiatrist encounters Philip Hall, a young man whose dreams lately are taking on a disturbing sense of reality. The premise is too contrived to be effective.

 

The Crooked Man (1955): in a future where homosexuality is legal, but heterosexuality is not, the eponymous Man is looking for Girl Love, which makes him a pervert. Beaumont's description of the gay lounge (where the Man has gone for an assignation) is greasy and disturbing. This story was quite provocative for its time.

 

Open House (1957): Eddie Pierce just wants a quiet evening at home in his apartment, but then the doorbell rings.......dark humor is prominent in this piece.

 

Last Rites (1955): Father Courtney is called to administer the Catholic rite of extreme unction to a dying man. There are philosophical issues.

 

The Murderers (1955): gay couple Herbie and Ronald have taken up murder as a delicious pastime. Who will be their victim this night ?

 

A Death in the Country (1957): despite the increasing age of his Chevy and himself, Buck Larsen is determined to continue his career as a stock-car racer. A very good tale of life and death on the dirt-track racing circuit of the late 1950s.

Summing up, 'Magic Man' has its share of duds and its share of good stories, making it another Three Star anthology. It's interesting to think of what Beaumont would have done had he not come to a too-early end. 

Ten 'Small Town from Hell' Short Stories

Ten 'Small Town from Hell' Short Stories

 

I have a fondness for crime, suspense, and horror stories that take place in small towns. Stories about travelers whose journeys leave them stranded - usually overnight, but sometimes for longer - in a sad little town in the middle of nowhere. And there's always something a little.....off........about the town. Something that isn't immediately apparent, but comes into play before very long. Before you can escape..........

 

So here are ten stories, most of them published before 1990, that involve small towns that have something unsettling about them. I've tried to stay away from more well-known stories (e.g., 'The Shadow over Innsmouth') in favor of those that are a little more obscure.

 

Here we go...........watch that speed limit, and be sure to lock the door of your hotel room. Better yet, wedge a chair under the door handle ! 

 

 

The Full Treatment, by Rog Phillips: never go over the speed limit near the sleepy, inbred hamlet of Bethel. A great treatment of the 'Small Town from Hell' theme, and one of the best stories in the anthology 'Alfred Hitchcock’s A Hearse of a Different Color,' 1972

 

 

Where Yidhra Walks by Walter C. DeBill, Jr. : in the wilds of West Texas, a traveler finds himself stranded in a small town named Milando. The townspeople don’t take kindly to strangers, particularly strangers who start to ask too many questions about the practices of a cult that worships an ancient entity….. 'The Disciples of Cthulhu,' 1976

 

 

On the Road to Honeyville, by Kate Wilhelm: Elizabeth and her mom are making the long drive on the two-lane blacktop road to the town of Salyersville, by way of the town of Honeyville. En route, they enter the Twilight Zone. 'Orbit 11,' 1973.

 

 

 

Ceremony, William F. Nolen: the nameless protagonist of this story is obliged to spend the night in the crumbling town of Doour’s Mill, Rhode Island. It’s cold and rainy, and it’s Halloween. And the few residents of the town who are out and about, are unusually thin…… 'The Year's Best Horror Stories: Series XIV,' 1986

 

After Nightfall, by David A. Riley: Eliot Wilderman is doing sociological research in the UK, in the sad little village of Heron. He notices that everyone in the village takes great care to lock and bar their doors at night. 'The Year's Best Horror Stories: Series I,' 1975

 

 

Tough Town, by William Sambrot: Ed, a travelling salesman, is accustomed to getting indifferent treatment from the folk of the small towns that he visits. But then he finds himself in one particular town, where the people are openly hostile. Why ? Ed will find out, to his detriment……'Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Stories That Scared Even Me,' 1967

Chameleon Town, by Carl Jacobi: a group of chess players, led by physician Lucius James, are obliged to spend the night in the odd little northeastern coastal town of Kingsport. Upon taking a late-night stroll, James is startled to have a sense of deju vu, even though he never before has been to Kingsport. Another tale with a Twilight Zone flavor. 'Nameless Places,' 1975.

The Children of Noah, by Richard Matheson:  At 3 a.m. Mr. Ketchum speeds through Zachry, Maine, population 67, and is startled to be pulled over by the local police. They place the indignant Mr. Ketchum in jail, and are vague about when he’ll be released. But they do take care to provide him with a wonderful breakfast in the morning….. 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents Stories My Mother Never Told Me,' 1965

 

Stillborn, by Mike Conner (1981): a young, newly-wedded bride is obliged to make friends with the elder women of a 19th century mining town. There is something disturbing about the underground chamber where they gather to socialize……'The Best of Modern Horror,' 1990

 

 

One for the Road, by Stephen King: on a snowy and stormy January night, the patrons of Tookey's bar in Falmouth, Maine, are startled to see a well-dressed man come into the place. The man is in dire condition, having walked six miles from where his car went off the road. Off the road, near the abandoned town of Jerusalem's Lot......'Night Shift,' 1978.

Book Review: Heroes of Atlantis & Lemuria edited by D.M. Ritzlin

Book Review: 'Heroes of Atlantis & Lemuria'

edited by D. M. Ritzlin

4 / 5 Stars

'Heroes of Atlantis & Lemuria' (232 pp.) is a trade paperback published by DMR Books in 2019, and features cover art by Pan-Spec.

 

I was interested in this anthology because it contains five 'Kardios' stories by Manly Wade Wellman. These first were published in the 1970s in the sword and sorcery anthology series 'Swords Against Darkness,' edited by Andrew J. Offutt. With the 'Swords' books being long out of print and fetching very steep prices, 'Heroes' is an affordable way to access the Kardios tales. 

 

Wellman brought something new to the rather well-traveled sword and sorcery genre with his Kardios franchise. Kardios is the lone survivor of the sinking of Atlantis, obliged to wander the prelapsarian world in search of adventure, and receptive audiences for his harp-playing. Provided those he meets are friendly, the last Atlantean always is willing to do a good turn and address one menace or another, be they space monsters, vampires, oversized bugs, or something known only as the 'Flying Fear.'

 

Kardios is an engaging character; he approaches his encounters with humor and self-confidence. He's something of a smarter, and more urbane, Conan.

 

Rounding out the entries in 'Heroes' are three tales authored by Frederick Arnold Kummer, Jr., that first were published in various pulp magazines from 1939-1940. These stories feature Kirk Bradley, a square-jawed, athletic American who through some strange agency finds himself transported back in time to ancient Mu. Kummer is a more capable author than might be expected and the Kirk Bradley stories are reasonably entertaining ventures into the sword and sorcery genre.

 

The final entry in 'Heroes' is a Leigh Brackett piece from the June, 1941 issue of the pulp magazine Science Fiction. It involves modern-day Americans Coh Langham and Simon Krim, whose submarine voyage under the waves of the Pacific takes them back in time and space to Mu. Langham and Krim must defeat the tyrant Xacul if they are to find a way back to their own realm. It's not a particularly good story, with too-frenetic pacing, and probably best serves to indicate how much Brackett matured as a fiction writer en route to her 'Skaith' novels of the 1970s.

 

Sometimes small-press and P.O.D. books can have multiple typographical and grammatical errors, but it's noteworthy that I found only one misspelling in 'Heroes' (page 39, '....was hung was....'). Some attention and care went into the preparation of 'Heroes,' which was true of another DMR Books release I read, this one, Ramsey Campbell's 'Ryre' stories collected in the 2021 volume, 'Far Away and Never.'

 

Summing up, if you are fond of the shorter fiction of Manly Wade Wellman, then 'Heroes of Atlantis & Lemuria' is as good a way as any to acquire his sword and sorcery adventures.

Playboy May 1974

Playboy

May 1974 

May, 1974.........and number one on the Top 40 singles chart of May 18, is Ray Stevens with 'The Streak,' a humorous examination of the streaking phenomenon then sweeping America. An instrumental, 'The Entertainer,' by Marvin Hamlisch, is enjoying success due to the hit movie The Sting. Old School R & B and Soul are well accounted for, at the hands of the Jackson 5 and the Stylistics.
 

The May issue of Playboy is out on the stands, and well worth the $1 cover price. As is the case with these 1970s issues, the magazine is thick with content and advertising.

In keeping with the spirit of the pop culture at the time, there is a portfolio, titled 'The Devil and the Flesh,' on the occult. The portfolio's introduction, presumably penned by photographers Alexas Urba and Marilyn Grabowski, references Rosemary's Baby, The Devil in Miss Jones, and The Exorcist. Of course - !

These photos are ultimate 70s Cheese, but it is important to remember that in the decades before Photoshop and digital composition, capturing and modifying these images was a time-consuming and laborious undertaking.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Needless to say, any middle-aged man reading this issue of Playboy could make the conclusion that getting into the 'occult' landscape is a valid way to enjoy the favors of nubile young women.......... 

 

Elsewhere in the magazine, we have three personalities 'On the Scene,' all of them comedians. Meet Steve Martin, Martin Mull, and Freddie Prinze. Martin and Mull would go on to achieve considerable success in the remaining years of the decade, and well into the 1980s and 1990s. Tragically, Prinze would commit suicide in 1977, ending what could have been a career path as promising as that of Martin and Mull.

 

This May issue sees the first appearance of the amazing, petite Marilyn Lange (b. 1952), a Hawaii resident who would go on to appear in Playboy multiple times (in 1975 she was Playmate of the Year). Her boyfriend is a musician named 'Kip'...........the portfolio borrows heavily from the style used by Bob Guccione in Penthouse, and I must say, copying styles can be rewarding: Marilyn looks very good here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The portfolio on 'Sheer Delights,' devoted to lingerie, stands out as yet another calculated evocation of the Penthouse sensibility. Lots of soft focus, Warm Tones, gauzy fabrics and bed linens, as well as models displaying 'private' behaviors...........very 'Guccione-esque.'

 

 

 

 

 

 

And so we end our trip back to 1974, 51 (!) years ago, when that 70s Style was front and center.............

Book Review: The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks

Book Review: 'The Sword of Shannara' by Terry Brooks

5 / 5 Stars

 

The story goes that after spending 7 years writing 'The Sword of Shannara,' Terry Brooks (b. 1944) submitted the manuscript to Lester Del Rey, who was the head of fantasy publishing at Ballantine Books. In November 1974 Ballantine accepted the novel and in 1977, both hardcover and trade paperback editions were published. 

 

The novel was illustrated by the Brother Hildebrandt, at that time the foremost fantasy illustrators in the world.

I picked up the mass market paperback edition of the book shortly after its release in May, 1978. How does the book hold up after the passage of 47 years ? Quite well. In fact, it's a Five Star novel. 

 

I should state at the outset that 'Sword' is a pastiche of the Lord of the Rings (LOTR). As a pastiche, it was (and is) very successful, being one of the bestselling fantasy novels of the 1970s. 

Brooks is unapologetic about relying on LOTR for inspiration. Lin Carter, who was a prominent editor and author in the fantasy field in the 1970s, was incensed by 'Sword,' devoting a chapter in his 1978 anthology 'The Year's Best Fantasy Stories: 4' to criticizing Brooks for writing 'a complete rip-off' of Tolkein. I believe Carter was angry more because Del Rey had not approached him to produce a 700-page pastiche of LOTR, choosing instead to showcase a novice author.........

 

In the 726 pp. comprising 'Sword,' Brooks reprises the storyline of LOTR: 

 

A Dark Lord (designated the 'Warlock Lord') threatens the free world, and elves, dwarves, and men must unite to combat the menace. Under the direction of the mysterious druid Allanon, a multi-racial party is assembled to embark on a quest to recover a mythical talisman, the Sword of Shannara. Playing the role of Frodo Baggins is the Valeman Shea Ohmsford, whose half-human, half-elf heritage makes him the only person in the world capable of wielding the sword, which expressly has been designed to be effective against the Warlock Lord.

 

The initial third of the novel sees the party jointly encountering all manner of dangers, be they gnomes, Skull Bearers, or monsters. Thereafter 'Sword' settles into the narrative of LOTR in which tribulations of one sort or another sunder the party, and the storyline alternates between groups of characters. The closing chapters of 'Sword' focus on the siege of the fortress city of Tyrsis (the counterpart to Minas Tirith) and this account of a desperate struggle to hold off the armies of the Warlock Lord is well done by author Brooks.

 

'Sword' is written for 'all ages' (12 years old and up), and the narrative stays comparatively tame in terms of describing the mayhem between good and evil factions; even the climactic dispatching of one particularly odious character is done 'off-screen.' But it must be said that for a first-time author Brooks displays skill in keeping the plot moving through all 700+ pages, a feat many authors of lengthy fantasy novels (and here Richard Adams's 'Shardik' comes to mind) have problems executing.

I confess that after finishing 'Sword' I was not overly motivated to take up some of the other 40+ novels and short story collections that make up the franchise. However, younger readers may be more motivated to do so than I.

The verdict ? 'The Sword of Shannara' is one of the most successful epic fantasy novels of the 1970s, and thus, a good starting place for anyone who wants to get the sensibility of the genre in that era. 

Plastic bags for paperbacks 2026 update

Plastic Bags for Paperbacks

Update: May 2026

It's nearly been six years since I last posted on plastic bags for storing paperbacks. I thought I would revisit the topic and update on where you can obtain these bags.

Action Bags / Action Packaging of Woodstock, Illinois, continues to sell plastic bags in a variety of sizes and styles. In my experience, their SKU: E6B5.75x8.625 (pictured above) is ideal for almost all mass market paperbacks, including thicker (i.e., 500+ pp) paperbacks. This size can be purchased in lots of 100, 500, 1,000, and even 2,000. 

For thinner (i.e., up to about 225 pp) mass market paperbacks, BCW 5 x 7 3/8 inch bags continue to be available at amazon. With these you have to tape the edge (they aren't self-sealing).

So, you have some good, affordable options for protecting those precious paperbacks !