Pulp (Comics Radio): We come to the last work of prose fiction in the January 10, 1926 issue of Adventure. This one is a novella titled “He Shall Have Best Who Can Keep,” by Gordon MacCreath.

Writing (Kairos): Breaking Bad distinguishes itself from most modern storytelling in many respects, not least of which being its deliberate use of color. These days, in the rare instances when writers and directors treat color as anything more than an afterthought, it’s used as blunt, on-the-nose symbolism.

Fantasy (Arkhaven Comics): “With a panel of leading fantasy authors—N.K. Jemisin, Neil Gaiman, Sabaa Tahir, Tomi Adeyemi, Diana Gabaldon, George R.R. Martin, Cassandra Clare and Marlon James—TIME presents the most engaging, inventive and influential works of fantasy fiction, in chronological order beginning in the 9th century”

Pulp (Dark Worlds Quarterly): August Derleth keeps pumping out the short short stories for Weird Tales in 1928. Eight of them (and nary an illustration!) shows that Farnsworth Wright saw potential in this guys from Wisconsin and his collaboration partners. There are a few unusual moments amongst these traditional and somewhat predictable tales. One tale shows Derleth moving closer to writing in the Lovecraftian mode.

Technology (Contemplations on the Tree of Woe): There are only three kinds of people in the world now: AI evangelists, AI skeptics, and AI doomers. The evangelists are the true believers. They think artificial general intelligence is coming fast: ten years, five years, maybe less. When it arrives, it will be the greatest force multiplier in human history

Interview (Black Gate): Jason M. Waltz has published 16 Books under Rogue Blades Entertainment (RBE), another 3 under Rogue Blades Foundation (RBF), having lured in authors Such as Brandon Sanderson, Orson Scott Card, C.L. Werner, Glen Cook, Steven Erikson, Ian C. Esslemont, William King, Andy Offutt, and spurred the writing careers of dozens. Not all are Sword and Sorcery (S&S), with weird western and pirate anthologies appearing, but most are.

Authors (Goodman Games): Manly Wade Wellman arrived in this world on May 21st, 1903, born literally an ocean away from the place he’d be forever associated with in his later life. Young Manly’s playground was the land of Portuguese West Africa (now Angola), where his father was stationed as a medical officer.

Fantasy (Silver Key): John Steinbeck is rightly remembered these days as a Pulitzer-prize winning author of The Grapes of Wrath and secondarily, East of Eden; almost no one talks about his foray into Arthurian myth.

Comic Books (50 Year Old Comics): Last November, we took a look at Strange Tales #178, featuring the premiere installment of Marvel Comics’ revived “Warlock” feature, now written and drawn by Jim Starlin.  In the first episode of a new multi-part storyline, the one-time savior of Counter-Earth learned for the first time of the galactic-level threat represented by the Universal Church of Truth

Western (Fifties Westerns): Starring Clint Eastwood, Inger Stevens, Ed Begley, Pat Hingle, Ben Johnson, Charles McGraw, Bruce Dern, Dennis Hopper, James McArthur, Bob Steele

I’m really excited about this one. In July, ViaVision is releasing a new Blu-Ray of Hang ‘Em High (1968), Clint Eastwood’s first film after his three Italian Westerns with Sergio Leone.

Fiction (Ken Lizzi): Rosemary Sutcliff had vision. Not only did she have vision, but she could share it with her readers. She could immerse us in detail, not only of the natural world, with the facility of Tolkien, but in period detail such clothing or architecture. And she did so with a seamless facility; nothing feels forced or awkwardly shoehorned into place to artificially provide color and verisimilitude. The Eagle of the Ninth is an excellent example

Popular Culture (Book Steve’s Library): The Shmoo was created by Al Capp more than 75 years ago and it’s impossible to really get across to anyone who wasn’t there just what a phenomenon the characters turned out to be. They re-appeared off and on well into the 1960s and even ended up with a Saturday morning cartoon in the mid-70s. As the last article here attests, though, the Shmoo was all but forgotten by 2001.

Illustration (John Coulthart): You won’t find Harry Clarke’s illustration for Swinburne’s Aholibah in Selected Poems of Algernon Charles Swinburne even though it was intended for the book, and was the illustration that Clarke deemed his favourite of the series. The erotic nature of the drawing was too much for the publisher.

T.V. (Twilight Zone Vortex): “Ring-a-Ding Girl” Season Five, Episode 133 Original Air Date: December 27, 1963 Cast:Barbara “Bunny” Blake: Maggie McNamara Hildy Powell: Mary Munday
Bud Powell: David Macklin

Fiction (Old Style Tales): Automobiles quickly became yet another one of Doyle’s pet hobbies when they began to increase in speed and power, and in 1911 he was celebrated for his participation in an international car race wherein he and his wife piloted one of the cars to lead the British team in victory against the Germans (led by a Prussian crown prince, no less).

Weird Tales (M Porcius): Here we have the last issue of Weird Tales edited by Farnsworth Wright, an issue with a colorful Hannes Bok cover.  In the letters column, Ray Bradbury speaks at length on the greatness of Bok and brings to our attention Bok’s relationship with Maxfield Parrish, a guy whose prints fill the antique stores my wife and I frequent.

Writers (John Coulthart): The full title of this BBC documentary is Down These Mean Streets a Man Must Go: A Portrait of Raymond Chandler. The film was broadcast in 1969, ten years after Chandler’s death, and has been on iPlayer recently to judge by the logo in the corner, but it’s not one I’d seen before. It would have been ideal viewing a couple of years ago during my attempt to watch all the films listed in The Big Noir Book.

Review (Paperback Warrior): The Men’s Adventure Quarterly Magazine are highlights of my year. Thankfully, the boys behind this amazing publication put in the hard work and are dedicated to keep these books coming. This is the quarterly magazine edited by both Robert Deis and Bill Cunningham that focuses on vintage men’s action-adventure magazines, but delves into other media like paperbacks, comics, films, and books about books. Guest contributors in this issue are James Reasoner, David Avallone, John Harrison, David Spencer, and Paul Bishop.

Reading (Imperium Press): One of our most requested reading lists is a list for male self-improvement. Whether improving your body, mind, skills, or worldview, in this video we’ll give you the books that can turn good men into great men.

Radio (Old Time Radio Researcher Group): Dark Fantasy – Single Episodes

History (Raymond Ibrahim): Today in history, the important fortress city of Acre fell back to Crusader hands, and in so doing ushered in the Third Crusade—the most bloody and violent of all Crusades.  And its chief architect—a man hated but also greatly respected by his Muslim adversaries—was King Richard I, the Lionheart.