Previews and Reviews that are Z's Views
The art above is a just a small taste of the preview art by Darwyn Cooke for his adaptation of Donald Westlake’s [writing as Richard Stark] Slayground.
You can see much more at Comic Alliance’s: DARWYN COOKE ADAPTS A MASTERPIECE IN ‘RICHARD STARK’S PARKER: SLAYGROUND..
These are just two of the nice pen and ink illos by Superman co-creater Joe Shuster that appeared in 1942 hardcover edition of The Adventures of Superman. You can see all of them as well as some paintings by Shuster that also appeared in the book thanks to J. J. Sedelmaier’s post at Printmag.com.
Thanks for the tip to Ron Salas.
Those are just a few of the “best” James Bond covers that have been published over the years. You can see more as well as each Bond novel’s opening line at Shortlist.com.
Your eyes aren’t deceiving ya.
That is a sample of some of the preview art by Darwyn Cooke for his adaptation of Donald Westlake’s [writing as Richard Stark] Slayground.
The art is on display at Donald Westlake’s site and can be seen here.
Source: Almost Darwyn Cooke’s Blog.
Jeff Somers, author of the highly recommended Avery Cates novels, is a Breaking Bad fan. So that’s another reason to like the guy.
See the mug above. That’s Eric Beetner.
I first learned about him from his 60 Second Book Reviews blog. Beetner’s reviews, for the books that I’ve read, are directly in line with my thoughts. So, if Beetner likes it, it’s a good bet that I will as well.
Then I learned Eric Beetner was a writer of crime fiction and his books were all getting 5 star reviews. Now I was intrigued. So I bookmarked Beetner’s blog.
Next I discovered this trailer for Beetner’s The Devil Doesn’t Want Me. Nice.
So I broke down and ordered Beetner’s Dig Two Graves; One Too Many Blows to the Head and A Bouquet of Bullets. I’ve read and enjoyed and highly recommend all of ’em.
With just two crime / noir novels (Hell on Chruch Street and The Posthumous Man) to his credit, Jake Hinson has made a name as a new author to watch. Both novels were well received by fans and critics alike and get my highest recommendation. (I liked Hell on Church Street a bit more than The Posthumous Man, but they are both excellent reads so why quibble?)
Darwyn Cooke’s two graphic novel adaptations of (Donald Westlake aka) Richard Stark’s Parker novels have been resounding successes with fans and critics alike. So it only made sense that a third adaption, Slayground would be coming at Christmas.
Recently Cooke, the estate of Donald Westlake and publisher IDW announced…
For the first time, the Parker novels will be published in a deluxe, hardcover format, and with Cooke designing the series, as well as providing stunning color illustrations to accompany Westlake’s (AKA, Richard Stark’s) crime classics! The first book, The Hunter, will arrive in the first half of 2014. Additional editions will be released in chronological order thereafter.
I can not wait!
Source: Sequential Highway
There’s a new Crow mini-series coming in 2014 and it won’t be for the faint-of-heart.
The Crow: Pestilence will be written by novelist Frank Bill, the author who exploded on the crime fiction scene with a brutal one-two punch: his short-story collection, Crimes in Southern Indiana followed by his debut novel, Donnybrook. Bill will be joined by artist Drew Moss (interior art) and Crow creator, J. O’Barr (providing covers).
For the full story check out CBR.com’s The Crow Rises Again…
It’s hard to believe that it’s been over a decade since I first recommended Guns, Drugs and Monsters.
Guns, Drugs and Monsters was my first introduction to Steve Niles and his Cal McDonald character. I loved the concept and immediately ordered Savage Membrane [the book that started the series]. I wasn’t disappointed.
Thanks Steve Niles. I cannot wait to see what the next decade brings.
If you enjoy great crime fiction, then you probably already read yarns by Eric Beetner (A Bouquet of Bullets or Dig Two Graves are a great place to start) .
Excellent. Great.
Wait… what? There are a few of you who haven’t heard of Eric Beetner?
Okay.
Here, take a few minutes to Meet Eric Beetner.
Next check out his 60 Second Book Reviews. Yeah, Beetner hasn’t done a 60 Second Review in a while, but they are cool, will turn you on to some wicked crime novels, and if enough of us visit, perhaps Beetner will do some more.
Now here is a sweet little interview with Eric Beetner by Kate Malon at Crimespree.
The only thing left to do is check out one or more of Beetner’s books.
Jonathan Maberry is one of my favorite writers.
Everything I’ve ever read by Maberry has been great. I’m currently reading one of his Joe Ledger novels King of Plagues. Unless something really goes sideways, King of Plagues will keep Maberry’s streak of awesomeness alive.
If you’re a Maberry fan (or want to know more about him) then you’ll probably enjoy this recent interview.
I was just five when President Kennedy was assassinated. I was on vacation with my grandparents in Florida. My grandfather had taken me with him on a quick trip to a supermarket. A man came running into the store yelling that the president had been shot. All of the adults seemed scared. We hustled back to the hotel and my grandparents stayed glued to the tv to get the latest updates.
As the years passed, there was always a lot of talk about “who was really behind” the assassination. Was it the mob? LBK? Castro? With each passing year it seemed another theory rose up to explain how the most powerful man in the world was killed. I read each theory and filed it away. None seemed more plausible than it was a lone nut with a high powered rife.
Still, I was always willing to give the next theory a listen.
Now there’s a new documentary that is …
based on the work of Colin McLaren, a veteran Australian police detective who has undertaken a four-year investigation into the killing.
His theories are based on the work of Howard Donahue, who spent two decades probing the assassination and whose work was presented in the book Mortal Error: The Shot That Killed JFK, by Bonar Menninger.
This theory postulates that Oswald fired the first shot that hit President Kennedy. Then as Secret Service Agent George Hickey drew his weapon and jumped on the back of the President’s Limo, his gun accidentally discharged shooting President Kennedy in the back of the head. This theory also explains the…
…the different ballistic profiles of the two bullets that struck Kennedy… Mr Menninger insisted that they do not believe that Agent Hickey intentionally fired at Kennedy. Rather, the Huffington Post reported him as saying, ‘this was a tragic accident in the heat of the moment.’
But the pair do allege that the government moved swiftly, with the help of Kennedy’s brother Robert, to cover up the Secret Service’s involvement and save the agency from embarrassment.
While I don’t think that this new theory is more likely than a lone gunman with a high-powered rifle, I am willing to give it a listen. JFK: The Smoking Gun will be broadcast on the Reelz Channel on November 3.
Thanks to Joey and the Huffington Post for the link.
Double Indemnity is one of my favorite noir movies. I’ve seen it a bunch of times.
Raymond Chandler, who wrote just seven novels, is one of the founding fathers of modern detective fiction. I’ve read a lot of Chandler and knew he co-wrote the screenplay [along with director Billy Wilder] adaptation of James M. Cain’s novel of the same name.
Until recently I didn’t know that Chandler had a cameo in Double Indemnity. What makes this an even greater find is that there are no known film or television interviews with Chandler!
Thanks and a tip of my fedora to Adrian Wootten and The Guardian.
Hearing that Duane Swierczynski is writing an new series called Ex-Con for Dynamite Crime had me smiling enough to star in one of those many “happier than“ Geico commercials.
I’ve been a Duane Swierczynski fan since I first read The Wheelman almost seven years ago. Since then I’ve read and enjoyed every one of Swierczynski’s crime novels. Ex-Con sounds like a winner. Here’s how Swierczynski describes it…
As the name implies, we’re going to be following a jailbird freshly sprung from San Quentin after five brutal years… This is a high-level con artist who thought he could out-think the cops, his marks, his competitors — pretty much everybody — and five years later, he’s still reeling. To stay alive inside, he had to promise a favor to a convict who’s pretty much a living nightmare in a cage, and now that our man is out, he dreads having to pay up…
With Swierczynski writing and Tim Bradstreet providing the covers, the only thing left to take this series to the top is the right interior artist. Unfortunately, one hasn’t been chosen yet.
Two artists that came to mind for something like this are Phil Hester and Cully Hamner. I have no idea if Hester or Hamner would be considered or if they would want to do the series, but from this fan’s perspective, they were the first two artists that I thought of.
Thanks and an early parole to Comicosity and CBR.com for droppin’ a dime.
[And if you’re looking for a great crime comic to read NOW, you can’t do better than the FREE webcomic Gravedigger by Christopher Mills and Rick Burchett.]
