Allamagoosa

by Eric Frank Russell

• Word count: 4665

• Page count: 11

"Allamagoosa" is an award winning 1955 science fiction short story by Eric Frank Russell. It is about the crew of the spaceship Bustler, and their attempts to make everything spic and span prior to an official inspection.

Thor #337

• Date: November 1983
• Publisher: Marvel Comics Group
• Cover Price: 60¢
• 2013 Price Range: $2.00 - $18.00
• Stats: 24 color pages plus ads and Bullpen Bulletins
• Story & Art: Walter Simonson
• Other Artists: John Workman Jr., George Roussos
• Notable Notes: 1st appearance of Beta Ray Bill!

An Unbeatable Foe?

There is something compelling about a story featuring an unbeatable (or nearly unbeatable) enemy. Whether a movie, a novel, or a comic book, a story that has an enemy do something amazing and nearly unimaginable keeps us on the edge of our seats! Here is a great story - and a great beginning to an even longer story arc - about an alien who gives Thor a true run for his money!

In November of 2008, nearly a year after our last writing project, our group finally held another round. This time, led by my brother, we engaged in a "spontaneous combustion" round. Basically, he announced the round and then we had a short time to write a small story and submit it. This was quite fun, and it was nice to not have the whole process drawn out over several weeks. At the time I was interested in Amelia Earhart and wondered what had happened to her when she and her navigator disappeared in July of 1937. I whipped up this tiny story in one day, and fully intended to return to it at a later time. (Which I did, and I'll share that with you in a later post.) In my mind this was just the beginning of a larger story, and served only to whet the reader's appetite. 

The People of Sand and Slag

by Paolo Bacigalupi

• Word count: 7559

• Page count: 20

"The People of Sand and Slag" is a 2004 science fiction novelette by Paolo Bacigalupi. It is about three genetically enhanced guards who find a strange life form roaming on their employer's property.

Atomic Robo #1

• Date: October 2007
• Publisher: Red 5 Comics
• Cover Price: $2.95
• Stats: 22 color pages
• Writer: Brian Clevinger
• Artists: Scott Wegener, Ronda Pattison, Jeff Powell
• Notable Notes: 1st appearance of Atomic Robo!

My Comixology First

I've been wanting to try out Comixology for a while, so I finally decided to make an account and check out some of their free issues. This one was free and looked really cool so it became my first read on Comixology! I still prefer physical issues of comics, but this wasn't a bad experience. Here's what I thought of the comic:

I love early spring time! Actually, I love all the seasons, and really like living somewhere that I can experience all four of them. Spring, however, always puts me in the mood to do yard work - and I have been doing just that for the past several weeks.

Scherzo with Tyrannosaur

by Michael Swanwick

• Page count: 13

"Scherzo with Tyrannosaur" is an award winning 1999 science fiction short story by Michael Swanwick. It is about the director of a dinosaur research center who holds a time-line-polluting fund raiser.

The Amazing Spider-man #248

• Date: January 1984
• Publisher: Marvel Comics Group
• Cover Price: 60¢
• 2013 Price Range: $1 – $10, depending on condition
• Stats: 22 color pages plus ads, Bullpen Bulletins and “The Spider’s Web” letters page.
• Writer: Roger Stern
• Artists: John Romita Jr., Ron Frenz, Brett Breeding, Diana Albers, Bob Sharen, Terry Austin, Joe Rosen, Christie Scheele
• Notable Notes: A double story issue!

Newspaper Clippings?

I feel kind of bad for the younger readers who may not truly understand the references to magazine and newspaper clippings. It seems that is an all-but-vanished art in this age of electronic media. Did you ever clip articles about anybody or anything? I did - and I remember cutting pictures out of magazines to hang on my bedroom walls too! That's not something you really see now-a-days. Oh well, in all reality there probably won't be too many younger readers reading this comic book anyway - and that is even more sad.

For the last story of 2007, our writing group held what was called "The Scary Round II" - meaning that we would all submit horror stories in time for some fun Halloween reading. As a father of three young kids, I couldn't help but think that the scariest thing I could imagine would be something terrible happening to one of my children. I decided to play up that idea, but with a twist at the end. I mean, you gotta keep the reader guessing, right? :-)

The Ghost Pit

by Stephen Baxter

• Word count: 5070

• Page count: 15

"The Ghost Pit" is a 2001 science fiction short story by British author Stephen Baxter. It is about a team of alien hunters who crash land on a moon containing an amazing structure.