Hasslein Blog: June 2013

Matthew Sunrich Presents...The Demon #2

By Matthew Sunrich

Morgaine le Fey is a powerful sorceress with a long history.

She was introduced in Geoffrey of Monmouth's The Life of Merlin around 1150. Since then she has appeared in numerous works of literature and has been depicted in various ways by different authors, though she is almost always cast as an enemy of King Arthur. The reason for her hatred of Arthur also varies, but it is usually related to sibling rivalry, albeit in its most extreme form.

And you thought the Euro was doing bad....

By Paul C. Giachetti

If you, like me, have ever wondered how many galactic credits you could get for 25 Septims*, wonder no longer – the Intergalactic Exchange Bureau has you covered. The site includes currencies from some of your favorite franchises and games, including Star Trek, Star Wars, Red Dwarf, Harry Potter, The Sims, Fallout, Skyrim, Discworld and Judge Dredd, as well as a few real-life currencies to compare against.

http://www.moneyinadvance.co.uk/sci-fi-currency-converter/

*56.62.

Labels: Harry Potter, Red Dwarf, Star Trek, Star Wars, video game, website fun

Jim NEVER Has a Second Droid at Home...

Doctor Who Retro Review: Serial 016—The Chase

By T. Scott Edwards

The Chase is something of an oddity. Taken on face value, it is a rather abstract comedy. Yet it serves two vital purposes – one is the swansong of Ian and Barbara, and the other is the return of the Daleks, the cash cow of Terry Nation and the BBC. Much like Nation's script for The Keys of Marinus, it is a brave piece, technically demanding as it warrants a number of elaborate set pieces within a variety of different locations. Unlike The Keys of Marinus, though, the set pieces are far superior, with some excellent set work, blended almost seamlessly with some location filming of extras filling in for the cast.

Following on from the ominous cliffhanger from The Space Museum, as the Daleks gathered around a monitor to declare that their enemies were to be "exterminated – exterminated – exterminated!" the serial becomes rather odd – instead of playing on the tension created here, the first episode sees the crew of the TARDIS take a short holiday. What is particularly odd about this is that whilst the audience are aware of the impending danger, the crew obliviously hang around, dress-making, watching TV and reading, before arriving on Aridius and going sunbathing. Indeed, the greatest oddity about this first instalment are the scenes involving the Time-Space Visualiser. Considering that the crew are in a space ship which can readily travel through time and space, albeit without being controllable, rather than actually going travelling, they decide to sit by and become voyeurs into history. There is a sense of passive laziness here. It is odd, and doesn't quite sit right. We are so used to the TARDIS crew actively engaging in history that to see them prefer to watch them from the safety of the ship seems strange – particularly considering the way in which this story unfolds, but more on that later.

Matthew Sunrich Presents... Detective Comics #398

By Matthew Sunrich

Neal Adams gives us another compelling, if misleading, image for the cover of Detective Comics #398 (1970).

A "poison pen" letter is simply a vitriolic missive designed to upset or "call out" the recipient, but there is something poetic about the phrase that imbues it with the connotation of something darker. Sometimes word choice can make all the difference. The title of Edgar Allan Poe's short story "The Purloined Letter," for example, has an undeniably sinister ring to it. "Purloined" simply means "stolen," but Poe's decision to use the former word rather than the latter gives the title a more mysterious feel, perhaps because "purloined" is a less-frequently used word (at least in modern terms).

Animation Domination: "The Tenth Planet" Animated Episode 4 Review

By Greg Bakun

Although The Tenth Planet is 47 years old, I appreciate not everyone has seen it and is waiting for the DVD to come out. Please note that this article reveals some plot points and spoilers that may ruin the enjoyment of the episode/story. If you do not want to be spoiled please do not read further or read at your own risk.

It is a well-established fact that The Tenth Planet is one of my favourite stories of Doctor Who. I am a massive fan of the Cybermen and I am a massive fan of the Innes Lloyd/Gerry Davis era of Doctor Who. When I get around to writing a 50WHO article on the first Doctor, I will focus that article on The Tenth Planet and why I love it. This article is to look at something different; something I never expected to see in my lifetime, an animated Episode 4 of The Tenth Planet.

The full bells & whistle release of The Tenth Planet will be released as a 2-Disc DVD set in November. Not only will we get all four episodes but a host of other extras. It is a release I am really excited to get in my hands. On June 24^th, the BBC in the UK will release a 6 DVD boxset simply titled Doctor Who: Regeneration. This boxset has the final story of each Doctor. To be more accurate, it will focus on the story the Doctor regenerates in. This is unfortunate for the likes of Colin Baker who shows up at the very end of The Caves of Androzani and is played by Sylvester McCoy at the very beginning of Time and the Rani. In fact, Sylvester McCoy basically regenerates into himself. What I am going to focus on are the four (out of nine) episodes of Disc 1. To be more accurate, I am just focusing on one of the episodes.

Doctor Who Retro Review: Serial 015—The Space Museum

By T. Scott Edwards

The Space Museum is actually a very interesting concept, and one which is pivotal to Doctor Who in general. Whilst the idea of interfering in the natural progression of time is one which has briefly been referenced in a number of other serials – notably the historicals, and particularly The Aztecs – it has always been the history of others, their past or future, which have been messed with; in sci-fi serials it is the status quo for the team to meddle and interfere, but in this, it is essential that they do, as it is their own fate which is at risk.

This serial is regularly criticised by much of fandom, and for some valid reason – it is a little slow, and a little messy, and a little... well, boring, in parts. But that is sort of the point. It is precisely for this reason that the serial works at all – that, and a corking first episode, of course.

ATTENTION STAR TREK FANS: Seeking Issues of Interstat

Teri Meyer, a writer and editor who once produced a Star Trek fanzine called Interstat (which those interested can read about here), has asked for our help in tracking down issues 135 and 145, which she's currently missing. A college is planning to archive the entire magazine's run for posterity, as Interstat was once an integral part of Star Trek fandom, and she's determined to find those missing issues before handing off the set. If anyone has access to a copy with which they'd be willing to part, please contact info@hassleinbooks.com, and we'll put you in touch with her. Thanks in advance; Teri will be extremely grateful if anyone is able to help her in this endeavor.

Interstat #135

Interstat #145

Labels: fandom, fanzine, Interstat, Star Trek, Teri Meyer

Matthew Sunrich Presents... The Demon #1

By Matthew Sunrich

According to Ronin Ro, author of Tales to Astonish: Jack Kirby, Stan Lee, and the American Comic Book Revolution, Kirby came up with the concept of the The Demon and the plot for the first issue during dinner at a Howard Johnson's. Tasked with creating a new title, "Jack sat quietly and thought about what to bring Carmine [Infantino, DC's publisher]. Soon he started telling [his wife, daughters, and assistants] a story about a man named Jason Blood and his ability to transform into a fiend from hell."

This isn't hard to believe when you consider that Kirby was known for his staggering imagination and seemingly inexhaustible well of ideas (some better than others, admittedly). And while the comics he created for DC aren't as memorable as those he did for Marvel, his output at the former was still remarkable, though it might not have been as well appreciated as it should have been at the time. (Bear in mind that the comics industry was undergoing major changes when Kirby made the move to DC, and, at least according to some, Kirby was unwilling or unable to adapt. Thankfully, his work from this period is generally better regarded in retrospect.)

Alan J. Porter Helps to Mine New Alan Quatermain Fiction

Among Hasslein Books' next publications will be a comprehensive James Bond encyclopedia, written by Alan J. Porter (the author of James Bond: The History of the Illustrated 007), which will explore the people, places and things of Her Majesty's Secret Service. Alan is currently hard at work writing this phenomenal book, and we at Hasslein stand ready to bring it to you once he's done. In the meantime, fans of Alan, or of British adventure fiction, should check out the following press release from Airship 27 Productions:

ALAN QUATERMAIN

Airship 27 Productions is extremely thrilled to announce the release of our newest pulp collection starring a classic adventure hero loved by millions.

British adventure writer, H. Rider Haggard's most popular fictional character was Alan Quatermain, the irascible African big game hunter. As the hero of the classic King Solomon's Mines, Quatermain immediately fired the imagination of readers across the world and created an instant demand for more of his adventures.

Now Airship 27 Productions answers that on-going demand by presenting two brand new Alan Quatermain novellas each filled with plenty of suspense, action and exotic African locales. When a French river boat pilot discovers elephant ivory suffused with gold, it sends the expert guide on a quest find a fable elephant's graveyard to learn answer to the "Golden Ivory" by Alan J. Porter.

Next a naïve American lad follows Quatermain deep into the jungle to find eight missing white women only to uncover an ancient evil capable of possessing the bodies of its victim's in Aaron Smith's chilling "Temple of Lost Souls."

"We couldn't ask for more fast paced, exciting yarns these two these," beams Airship 27 Productions' Managing Editor, Ron Fortier. "The affection our writers hold for this character was obvious throughout their stories and we fully expect Quatermain fans to agree. This is really old fashion pulp fun."

Here two are complete tales that will thrill veteran fans and introduce a whole new generation to one of the most famous adventure heroes of all time; H. Rider Haggard's Alan Quatermain.

AIRSHIP 27 PRODUCTIONS – Pulps for a New Generation!

Now available from Amazon as a hard copy and soon on Kindle.

Labels: Alan J. Porter, Alan Quatermain, James Bond

Matthew Sunrich Presents... Detective Comics #410

By Matthew Sunrich

Humankind has probably always had a fascination with the bizarre.

Of course, determining what is bizarre and what isn't can be problematic. For example, some cultures (or even subcultures) believe that "decorating" the human body in various ways (lip discs, piercings, tattoos) is beautiful, whereas others consider this sort of thing tantamount to mutilation. It's all related to cultural conditioning. No one is "right" or "wrong." It is arguably this diversity of perception that makes humanity so interesting. It doesn't change the fact, however, that encountering something beyond our narrow sphere of experience can trigger unwarranted judgment.

Robert Ripley made a fortune by traveling the world, finding "oddities" that he could feature in his Believe It Or Not! newspaper cartoons. (Readership is estimated to have been around eighty million.) Some of these features dealt with peculiar rituals performed by people living on the fringes of civilization, but many of them concerned deformities and "freaks of nature." Ripley's empire has gone on to encompass numerous books, television programs (who can forget Jack Palance's breathy utterances echoing against stone walls as he guided viewers through a "haunted" castle or ossuary?), and popular museums.

Doctor Who Retro Review: Serial 014—The Crusade

By T. Scott Edwards

Now this is more like it! After the sci-fi silliness of The Web Planet – a blog for which turned out to be incredibly divisive, so sorry if you're a fan and so hated my blog! – we return to Earth, slap-bang in the middle of 12th-century Palestine, and the third crusade. The Crusade is written by former script editor David Whittaker, for the first time moving away from the 2-episode fillers he had been associated with, and directed by the magnificent Douglas Camfield, who had before now only worked on the third part of Planet of giants, but would go on to direct some of Doctor Who's greatest serials, including The Seeds of Doom and Terror of the Zygons. This serial is a rich, grand piece, similar to Marco Polo in tone and feel, telling of the involvement of the Doctor and his companions in King Richard's invasion of Palestine in the name of God.

From the outset, there is a change in style from the last serial – the sets are luxurious and rich in design, believable, and the action kicks off straight away. Upon introducing the lurking faces of the Palestinian horde, we cut to a wonderful scene between Richard – played by the magnificent Julian glover, quite a catch for the time – and his men, discussing the invasion in metaphorical terms with a beautiful hawk. The dialogue flows beautifully, and these are the most realistic non-regulars since The Reign of Terror. Each character is given his own nuances and inflections, rather than start caricature, and we can already see the danger which lurks beneath Richard's civilised exterior – he is stubborn, almost childish, and determined to get what he wants. He waves away the concerns of his men nonchalantly.

A New Book for Fans of The Avengers

By Greg Bakun

Over the last few years, a revolution in publishing has come to light. People who have important things they want to write about have taken it on their own to publish their own work. What this gives us, the reader, is an opportunity to get exposure to concepts and topics that may have been too niche for a mainstream publisher to touch but perfect for people who want to publish their own work who knows there is an audience to read it.

A great example of this is a new book written by Richard McGinlay, Alan Hayes and Alys Hayes titled The Strange Case of the Missing Episodes: The Lost Stories of The Avengers Series 1. It is hard to imagine that anything connected with The Avengers would have information that is hard to come by but that is exactly what happened with Series 1. I know for myself, when I first saw and got into The Avengers, I had only seen the Emma Peel episodes and hardly imagined that the series had been going on so long before the episodes I had seen. In fact, The Avengers I had seen was very different to how the series started. The premise of the series began with Dr. Keel whose fiancée is killed outside his practice in connection with a package of heroin delivered to his practice by mistake. It is after this horrible event that Keel is contacted by a stranger named Steed who wants Keel to work with him to track down this drug gang. It is a gritty and very real type of series. This all sounds very good but most of this first series is missing and that is where this book comes in nicely to fill the gaps.

For Series 1 of The Avengers, there is either a fair amount of information about the plots of the episodes or very little to none. The work that Richard, Alan and Alys have done for this book was doing the research to bring us detailed synopses of all the Series 1 episodes. This book is a labor of love by these three fans of The Avengers. It is published by Hidden Tiger and I have another book they offer, The Tales of the Moonstone Inn, written in the 1920s and 30s, which is quite good. Series 1 of The Avengers has always been an enigma to me. This is a book I cannot wait to sink my teeth into as I see this as essential reading if you are a fan of The Avengers.

Below is an interview with authors to get a better idea of what went into making The Strange Case of the Missing Episodes: The Lost Stories of The Avengers Series 1:

Labels: Doctor Who, The Avengers

Geek Magazine Reviews the Back to the Future Lexicon

Jeff Bond, over at Geek Magazine, has published a great review of A Matter of Time: The Unauthorized Back to the Future Lexicon, by Rich Handley. And you can read it below:

Thanks to Peter Noble for the heads-up about the review.

Labels: Back to the Future, Geek Magazine, Jeff Bond, lexicon

Doctor Who Retro Review: Serial 013—The Web Planet

By T. Scott Edwards

Ahhh, The Web Planet. If I'm honest, this is the moment I have been dreading in my little task of re-watching the entire show from the beginning. This blog hasn't been updated for a few days for two reasons – firstly, my own personal laptop died a few days ago, with the first part of this entry (eps 1-3) already written. Due to this, there may be a number of typos throughout this entry (if so, I apologise) as the spellchecker is a little dodgy and the keyboard layout is confusing! Secondly, this has always been my least favourite serial of all time. Even now, having rewatched it, I'm not sure why. It isn't that the effects are terrible – God knows I look beyond that often enough. It isn't that the sets are bad – they're actually incredibly impressive considering what was asked for of the script. It isn't that any of the performances are particularly bad – they're all at the very least acceptable, if not brilliant. It is simply that it bores me. I don't know why – I truly do try my very hardest to enjoy it. And this time, being objective and having watched the progression of the series episode by episode, it was more enjoyable. But I think it is still my least favourite serial ever – and to watch all 6 episodes, it took three days. More than 2 episodes a day just seems like too much to endure.

The first episode is by far the strongest, and begins where The Romans left off, with the TARDIS and the crew being dragged down onto an unknown planet, utterly uncontrollable, with the crew flustered and thrown asunder. As they rush around the controls, desperate to find out what's wrong with the power, there is still a huge sense of camaraderie, and what is most wonderful about it is the way in which Vicki has so easily slipped into her role as the youngest member of the crew. Sadly, Maureen O'Brien's character is given something of a short shrift here – one gets the impression that the part was written for Susan's character, particularly in the scene in which only Vicki can here the invasive sounds of the Zarbi crying out, holding her hands to her head to block to sounds out; it is reminiscent of Carole Ann Ford in The Keys of Marinus.

REVIEW: Doctor Who—The Mind of Evil 2-DVD Set

By Greg Bakun

The DVD release of The Mind of Evil completes a journey for me that I started back in 1985. 1985 was when I first saw episodes of the Jon Pertwee era of Doctor Who and also the first time I realised not all episodes of his stories were not in color but black & white. Between then and now, Jon Pertwee episodes that only existed in black & white have been restored through various methods and have been brought back to color. The Mind of Evil was always going to be the most difficult because only about 4 minutes existed in color out of 6 episodes. Jump forward to 2013, one can purchase The Mind of Evil In full color on DVD.

Allow me to do the job of the BBC and explain what is going on with this release since they are unwilling to do so. If a casual fan were to pick up this story, released on 6/11, they may just assume there is nothing special about it. The fact is that there are a lot of things special about this release. Since the early 1980s, The Mind of Evil had only existed as 6 16mm black & white telerecorded film prints and not 6 2" color video tape masters as they should have been. The color tapes had been wiped. There was a glimmer of hope that maybe the color tapes have been kept in the US since a run of Pertwee episodes were shown in the US in the early to mid-1970s. Sadly, this was not the case. Other stories were recovered this way but The Mind of Evil would not be one of them.

G.I. Joe: Ride of the Valkyrie

By James McFadden

Just released last week, G.I. Joe: TheComplete Collection, Volume 2 not only continues to reprint Marvel's G.I. Joe comics in a high-quality, hardcover collection, but also includes an in-depth look at the creation of Larry Hama's profiles for two prominent characters: Destro and Duke.

In the book's introduction, Mark Bellomo discusses Hama's development of Destro (under an alternate code name) and shares the arms dealer's original typewritten profile. One excised, seemingly forgotten bit of lore is the fact that Destro operates from a "custom-converted oil super-tanker, the Valkyrie." The concept of an ocean-going command center isn't surprising coming from Hama. In a few issues of the G.I. Joe comic series, Destro is seen transporting his troops in a converted cruise ship, while others feature Cobra Commander actually using an oil tanker as a base of operations.

Panel from G.I. Joe #73

COMING THIS FALL... Back in Time: The Unauthorized Back to the Future Chronology

Back in Time: The Unauthorized Back to the Future Chronology, written by Greg Mitchell and Rich Handley, has moved through the writing and editing phases, and is now sitting happily in the hands of proofreader Joseph F. Berenato (the author of two upcoming Hasslein books about Ghostbusters and the Universal Monsters franchise). Meanwhile, Pat Carbajal is hard at work on illustrations, Paul Giachetti has finished creating a fantastic map of Hill Valley's Courthouse Square, and Dan Madsen is writing the book's foreword. This chronology is turning out fantastic, and we're all very proud of it. Keep an eye on this space for more information about this comprehensive BTTF timeline book, coming this fall, which will be available at hassleinbooks.com, Amazon.com and BTTF.com.

Hasslein Blog

Saturday, June 29, 2013

Matthew Sunrich Presents...The Demon #2

Friday, June 28, 2013

And you thought the Euro was doing bad....

Jim NEVER Has a Second Droid at Home...

Doctor Who Retro Review: Serial 016—The Chase

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Matthew Sunrich Presents... Detective Comics #398

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Animation Domination: "The Tenth Planet" Animated Episode 4 Review

Monday, June 24, 2013

Doctor Who Retro Review: Serial 015—The Space Museum

Saturday, June 22, 2013

ATTENTION STAR TREK FANS: Seeking Issues of Interstat

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Matthew Sunrich Presents... The Demon #1

Monday, June 17, 2013

Alan J. Porter Helps to Mine New Alan Quatermain Fiction

Friday, June 14, 2013

Matthew Sunrich Presents... Detective Comics #410

Doctor Who Retro Review: Serial 014—The Crusade

A New Book for Fans of The Avengers

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Geek Magazine Reviews the Back to the Future Lexicon

Doctor Who Retro Review: Serial 013—The Web Planet

REVIEW: Doctor Who—The Mind of Evil 2-DVD Set

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

G.I. Joe: Ride of the Valkyrie

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

COMING THIS FALL... Back in Time: The Unauthorized Back to the Future Chronology

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