groovista's page

Mairkurion {tm} wrote:

The value of "=" changed over the course of your post. Therefore, your conclusion does not follow.

On the other hand, welcome to Paizoland, Groovista!

Also pretty hard to reconcile with Eric Clapton = God, too. :)

Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!

(The sound of shrieks and of rubber truncheons liberally applied. Soft gurgling sounds, footfalls of boots departing.)

Move along citizens. Nothing to see here.

8-) 8-)

Seriously, Erik and James, have you seen a little uptick in general curiosity from the Facebook page?

Its great to see that Northwest is being read again, he was her favorite Male Character. And I am not a serious trekkie, as is my son and husband, however we all agree that Northwest is more like Han Solo,

and Catherine felt that way as well. I was fortunate enough to know her and love her, she was my step-mom, until I was grown up I did not realize who she was to the world. She was mommy to me and a great one at that

She was always gracious, and if she still was here today she would politely say thank you in a very modest voice for reading and enjoying her work.

Carole Ann

(***) (Staggers a moment, clutching his harness and metal)

Wow. Thank you very much, Ma'am, for sharing.
I have had the privilege of meeting C.J. Cherryh, and of agreeing with her that C. L. Moore and Leigh Brackett were the greatest inspirations.

Are you aware of the late Wallace Wood's painting of "Shambleau?"

http://www.vanguardproductions.net/wallywood/shambleau.html

Wally Wood is recognized as one of the greatest comics artists who ever lived. Many EC Comics and the classic "Mars Attacks!" cards came from his pencil and pen. He rarely worked in other media, and the Northwest Smith story "Shambleau" became one of the very few oil paintings Wood ever made.

Yes, absolutely. This kind of grassroots support--even if just word of mouth, Amazon.com reviews, or blog mentions--is absolutely critical to the line taking hold and becoming a permanent fixture.

It is much appreciated!

Oblio sez, "Wait! I do have a Point!"

More general awareness of and interest in retro genres should
equal greater interest and sales of Planet Stories stuff.

1. God = Love.
2. Love = blind.
3. Ray Charles = blind.
Therefore, Ray Charles = God.

You may go now. Be off with you. Go on.

Yes, absolutely. This kind of grassroots support--even if just word of mouth, Amazon.com reviews, or blog mentions--is absolutely critical to the line taking hold and becoming a permanent fixture.

It is much appreciated!

"Well, Brian, we just might have a little job for you..." - the People's Front of Judea

I think you've caught a rising tide of interest in what was genuinely good and entertaining in pop culture of the last 100 years. "Sword and Planet" or "Planetary Romance" or whatever, like "steampunk" (I like the term "steampulp" better), seems to be part of a loose but growing movement that encourages rediscovery, sharing and Making.

Wait'll you see the prop we're making out of Stanley G. Weinbaum's "flame-pistol"! This is a diamond-powered uber-blaster that Weinbaum described and used in several of his groundbreaking interplanetary stories. Our leads Ray and Ceel draw strongly on his screwball-comedy couple, 'Ham' Hammond and Pat Burlingame. (I also cast Stan in my film -- I like the guy :-)

drkem wrote:

Anyone remember an old RPG called Space 1889? Victorian-era early steampunk setting with Mars at the center of most of the published materials. If this type of setting is to your taste there are plenty of RPG supplements as well as fan and third-party material available (web sites, eBay, etc.) that make great reading - or you can create your own stories.

Though I never played the game, I own the vast majority of the "1889" stuff. Just really great steam-punk. As for the original topic, my preference would be:

Burroughs
Brackett
Stirling
(CAS' Mars tales were awesome as well)

A touch OT, but "Space 1889" was the first "steampunk" spin-off I ever saw, though I'd read Harry Harrison's "A Transatlantic Tunnel, Hurrah!" before that. Obviously it sparked a fire in Greg Broadmore's brain:

http://www.wetanz.com/holics/index.php?catid=4

Clark Ashton Smith was a heckuva writer, and his Mars tales paint as weirdly wonderful a picture of The Real Mars as anyone.

"It was the Martian hour of worship, when the Aihais gather in their roofless temples to implore the return of the passing sun. Like the throbbing of feverish metal pulses, a sound of ceaseless and innumerable gongs punctured the thin air. The incredibly crooked streets were almost empty; and only a few barges, with immense rhomboidal sails of mauve and scarlet, crawled to and fro on the somber green waters."

-- from 'Vulthoom', Weird Tales, 1932

groovista wrote:

Hi gang!

I'll jump in with a scan of my personal copy of Planet Stories, Summer 1949, the issue marking the first print appearance of Eric John Stark!

http://www.groovium.com/planet_stories_covers.html

The cover is a scream, and I'm wrestling with armature wire and foam rubber to make a stop-motion puppet of a vork (that seahorse-thoat-thing 8-).

You are an animator? Sounds cool, so there could be Youtube in the future? :)

I am a n00b studying like mad to become Ray Harryhausen, Jr. 8-)

But yes, look for fun stuff soon -- here's an early poster:
http://www.groovium.com/coming_attractions.html

I've been watching "The Big Sleep", "Rio Bravo" and "Hatari" to fortify my imagination, and her films illuminate her stories, and vice-versa.

I hope there's a small town on Mars or Mercury somewhere, where an older Eric John Stark has settled down for a life of sorts as the local sherriff, with Dude and Stumpy and Colorado for companions and Feathers waiting for him after a long day.

There's a short-story compilation to be made of her Solar-System stories; here's my would-be list:

(Mercury) Shannach, The Last
(Venus) The Moon That Vanished
(Earth) The Halfling
(Mars) The Beast-Jewel of Mars
(The Belt) The Veil of Astellar
(Jupiter) The Dancing Girl of Ganymede
(The 10th) The Jewel of Bas

"The Ginger Star" is, I suggest, Brackett's last vision of Barsoom, and a very dark and scary vision it is. The tales feel like she drew nightmares from the dark side of the 60's and worked them deeply into the whole concept of a dying world full of weird and savage beings. Her long love-affair with "halflings" and her harsh vision of the Drylands produced the Children of the Sea and the Runners. These are truly creepy and frightening creatures, suggesting devolution and madness as well as Lovecraft ever did.

A good friend of mine once illustrated the fault line in popular culture splitting the eras before and after "Star Wars." In 1976 the "Doc Savage" movie was made, and the only approach considered was camp, a la Batman. You couldn't take our favorite genres seriously. Then Lucas made a movie for himself, mostly, and revealed an enormous audience for space opera and sword-and-planet yarns. Ever since, these and allied genres have effectively driven the entertainment industry.

Hi gang!

I'll jump in with a scan of my personal copy of Planet Stories, Summer 1949, the issue marking the first print appearance of Eric John Stark!

http://www.groovium.com/planet_stories_covers.html

The cover is a scream, and I'm wrestling with armature wire and foam rubber to make a stop-motion puppet of a vork (that seahorse-thoat-thing 8-).

Nice! I encourage a very thorough research regimen.

Yessum! I'm trying to figure out a pretext to make the pilgrimage to Portola, New Mexico one day -- to look at the Leigh Brackett, Ed Hamilton and Jack Williamson manuscripts archived there.

In the meantime, I'd like to discuss my thing with you; what's the etiquette?

Hey, thanks guys! We appreciate everyone who picks up a Planet Stories book, but you really have no idea how much each new subscription does to boost the line and help us keep the fiction machine running.

Oh, yeah...seriously, there's something afoot down here in the "rhizome" or "mycelium" economy, where fan-based small businesses and micro-businesses seem to be puttering along while the dinosaurs are felled by financial asteroids (not that the tree shrews then or now had a sweet day, either)

Four quarks for Muster Mark!

Cheers!

Dear Mssr's Mona & Sutter,

I've been so jazzed with Planet Stories and the way Paizo has handled the material. Confession: I haven't yet subscribed, for two reasons; first, I already have many on the Leigh Brackett and C. L. Moore stories, including some of the original pulp magazines (Virgil Finlay illustrated "The Moon That Vanished"- swoon), and second, my capital has been flowing into an indie film project.

However, since that project is set in that gorgeous pulp universe, I can, ahem, use my 'research budget' to justify a subscription...

Cheers and keep up the great work!

Steve

Some other notions:

Philip Jose Farmer's excellent Burroughsian works "Hadon of Ancient Opar" and "Flight from Opar", which DAW published many years ago with luscious Roy Krenkel covers and some cool maps.

Stanley G. Weinbaum - EVERYTHING...

What about a groovy eye-candy book of the Pulp Solar System?

Thanks, Erik, for your interest and appreciation of the Grand Pulps, and for your efforts to get these authors and their stories back in print! While it's great fun to prowl musty used bookstores in search of gems such as a 1st-edition paperback of Leigh Brackett's "The Coming of the Terrans" with a Gray Morrow cover :-), it's better to see such books on Amazon and on shelves!

A. Merritt is an excellent example of a forgotten American lord of pop culture. "The Face in The Abyss" is my favorite lost-worlds novel ever -- 1920's-30's adventure, gorgeous exotic babes, lost civilizations and ancient science, mutants, dinosaurs, dream theaters and two of the greatest fantasy characters, the Snake Mother and the Shadow of Nimir.* Someone once made a handsomely illustrated hardbound edition that I've only seen once. (Frankly, I want to see this tale as a retro feature film, complete with Ray Harryhausen-quality stop motion for the creatures. Who's brave enough to pit her stop-motion Snake Mother against Uncle Ray's Hydra or Medusa? :-)

A later author who really impressed me as a youth, from the late 60's/early 70's, is Mark S. Geston. DAW Books published his haunting, dark science fantasy with lovely covers by Jack Gauguin, George Barr and others. "The Lords of the Starship", its sequel "Out of the Mouth of the Dragon" and the wonderful "The Day Star" are worthy of greater reknown.

*Merrit's Shadow of Nimir shares many qualities with Tolkien's Sauron: the inspiration of Milton's Lucifer, the loss of a physical body and persistence as a malevolent spirit in quest of a new incarnation, a corrupting influence on others and a lust for supreme power. I know of no evidence that either man read the other's work; it may have been a post-Great War meme common to many artists.

Favorite Mars?

<snip>

Burroughs Barsoom

Leigh Brackett's "Colonial Barsoom" stories.

Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles.

The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells.

Red Planet by Robert Heinlein

Old Faithful by Raymond Z. Gallun (novelette)

Martian Odyssy by Stanly G. Weinbaum (short story)

<snip>

Wow, Doug, that's the choice list! The Mars described in these works is what Den Valdron called the Shared Mars of 1880-1950 (http://www.erbzine.com/mag14/1405.html)