Where Stories Come From: ALWAYS PUNCH NAZIS

(Revised 03/04/2024)

One year ago, Nazis and white supremacists held their "Unite the Right" protest in Charlottesville. A young woman who was protesting against white supremacy was run over by one white supremacist; a black man was violently assaulted by a group of white supremacists.

Pals Ben Ferrari and Silas Dixon of Pilot Studios (who graciously invited me to review Longhunters and Carriers in the past) held an open call for an anthology called Always Punch Nazis, focusing on efforts to fight white supremacy and to serve as a fundraiser for a noble organization.

And when they put out a call for stories, I said "Hell, yes"...and cranked out a script in an hour and a half. It was a story called "One Bullet Too Many." and was a relatively easy script to write based on an idea for an unpublished Black Bat story for Excelsior Webcomics. Rather than the original premise of a big game hunter gone rogue, the story focused on a Nazi whose intentions were to clear the way for the "Master Race"...by any means necessary.

(Plus, I was engaged in writing my Black Bat novel for Pro Se Productions, and writing a then-classic Black Bat helped me stay "in the mood" when revamping him for the 21st century."

Admittedly, it's a simple story (after all, I only had six pages of art), but after cranking out the script...the right art team came together. Stuart Berryhill drew the *hell* out of this story from Kurt Belcher's breakdowns. Micah Myers did a great job of lettering, and the colorist (whose name escapes me right now) hit the right Batman: The Animated Series vibe that I wanted.

The only bummer is that Breitbart decided to jerk Pilot Studios around, claiming that their Always Punch Nazis Kickstarter violated their terms of service. Between this and Facebook preventing online advertising of my friend Dawn Xiana Moon's fundraiser for immigration rights due to "political content", well...you might understand why I'm feeling outraged.

We're living in contentious times. Some people still don't want to see the pernicious and toxic role racism plays in American society. It's easy to adopt a philosophy that "both sides are equal"...but unfortunately, neutrality is no longer an option.

Both sides are not equal: one side wants to see the destruction and denigration of various groups due to skin color, religion, sexual orientation, and gender identity. The other side believes in the inherent dignity and worth of human beings.

You can order Volume One of Always Punch Nazis via Amazon, and you can find my other writings via my Amazon Author page. 

I Hereby Declare Today NATIONAL BLACK BAT DAY

Recently, while perusing Twitter, I came across this Tweet that was forwarded by this fine individual. 

And I agree...if we can have a "National Batman Day", why not a "National Black Bat Day"?

(OK, I have an ulterior motive....I'm looking to get people to purchase Black Bat Mystery - Volume 3, which contains my story, "The Magnificent Anderson".

But why not a holiday? After all, the Black Bat is probably one of the best - and least known - pulp characters.

How cool is he? Well, check out this YouTube video and learn for yourself....




So by my own self-imposed authority, today is National Black Bat Day!
Now please go and tell your friends!

Surprise News On Saturday!

Found out earlier today from pals Ron & Rob of Airship 27 Productions....

You know that Black Bat story I wrote - and was published in Airship 27's Black Bat Mystery Vol 3 a few months ago?

Well, it's now available as an audiobook via Amazon and Audible.com.

So please buy in whatever format works for you - trust me, it's a good story.

Mom says so.

Where Stories Come From: BLACK BAT MYSTERY VOL 3

(Revised 03/04/2024)

You know, I could be rather pedantic and just encourage you to read my introductory essay, "The Auteur & The Vigilante" after "The Magnificent Anderson" in Airship 27's excellent Black Bat Mystery, Vol 3 collection....but that would be a bit snarky.

I could simply cut and paste the essay from the original Word document and post it here, but that would be 1) lazy and 2) detrimental to sales.

So to encourage you to purchase this book, here's what I'm going to do....many writers will claim various sources of inspiration, but I can point my finger at the one man who is responsible for starting the process that led to the writing of this story.

And that man's name....is Chuck Moore, my former Comic Related editor and current man of mystery.

I wish this story had better, more elaborate details - you know, things like a mysterious phone call in the night, a sudden road trip to Texas, and a large attache case full of newly minted $100. It's the kind of story that Chuck deserves....but it's not quite that colorful.

In fact, it was the result of Chuck posting two videos on his Facebook page - a fan-created video that postulated a Batman film starring none other than Orson Welles. And now, for your viewing pleasure...






So after viewing, and having copious amounts of free time (due to being....what is the word....unemployed), I found myself indulging in some research, and came across an interview where Welles was describing how he wanted to make Citizen Kane a kind of "social document".

So it hit me....what if Welles based his "social document" on an honest-to-goodness pulp hero? And, thanks to Airship 27, I knew there was an opening for a Black Bat Mystery anthology....and thus the story was born.

It went through a series of tentative titles, none of them very good, including:

• Citizen Payne (which sounds like a bad 1980s action flick);
• The Magnificent Payne (Yes, before he was "Randy" Anderson, he was Roderick Payne); and
• Lights! Camera! The Black Bat!

("The Magnificent Anderson" was a great compromise - it let the reader know about the in-joke, and the reason I didn't include the actual historical figures....if you know that three well-known people and Danny the Donut Boy are suspects in a murder, you can be well assured that Sparky's going to be the murderer. You don't  mess with history).

So what came forth was an unusual pulp tale - one that combined high intellect with lower motivations. One with plenty of nods to Welles' life without seeming too knowing. It's a great little tale, and I think it shows how much I have grown as a writer.

Chuck gave me my first professional "break" as a writer....and strangely, he's done so again.

You can find this and other works I've written via my Amazon Author Page. Enjoy!