Coming Soon

            A while back, I asked about UFO movies, and mentioned one of my all time favorites, “The Day The Earth Stood Still”, a flying saucer flick from the 1950s. This was a morality movie, with a flying saucer landing in Washington D.C. An alien named Klatu exits the craft, with a nine foot tall robot following. The military immediately shoots the alien, wounding him, and the robot just as quickly wipes out tanks and artillery guns before you can blink an eye. This was a wonderful movie for its time. The message Klatu brings to the world is, “Cease your aggression, and join us in peace, or bring your war-like attitude to outer space, and we will turn your world into a burned out cinder!”

            Well, the good news is that Hollywood is remaking the film, which is to be released in May 2008. And current special effects should be fantastic. The bad news is that Hollywood cannot do justice to an old classic like this wonderful old flick. Just look what they did with the recent “War Of The Worlds”. But I can hope they treat it with the respect it deserves. Another great classic being remade is “The Incredible Shrinking Man”, in which a cloud of radiation causes a man to shrink, eventually to the size of a mouse. A house cat chases him into a cellar, where he must contend with a house spider for his food. In the original 1950s movie, they used a tarantula, although the novel called for a black widow spider. I think the remake will feature the more menacing black widow spider. There are enough horror elements in this movie for the horror fan, and science fiction elements for the sci-fi fan. Another movie I hope I am around to see. There is no release date set for this one yet.

            There is more good news on the horizon for this old pulp fiction fan. Sam Raimi who brought us the latest Spiderman movies, as well as the Darkman series, and other good movies, has obtained the film rights to Doc Savage and The Shadow, along with some of the other heroes from the pulp era. Raimi is an old fan of The Shadow, and plans on doing a top-notch version of the character. A dozen publishers are trying to get the publishing rights for both Doc Savage and The Shadow, in anticipation of the new movies, hoping to capitalize on their success when they are released. Plans are for anthologies of short stories. Unfortunately, so far Conde Nast, the current copyright holder of the properties are holding the characters for ransom, and publishers are not willing to shell out the high price they want for such small publishing ventures. In anticipation of the possibility of these anthologies, I have already written a Doc Savage short story for consideration, but until things come to a head, everything is in limbo. And I know that I was born to write at least one Shadow yarn in my life. I just hope I am still around when the opportunity arises.

            Still on the movie scene, we can expect a new Star Trek in 2008 or ’09, plus a new Green Hornet movie has been planned for 2009. Unfortunately, I understand the Green Hornet will be shot as a comedy. I think someone must have grown up with the old TV Batman series. “Wham! Bam!” So sad, if this is true.

            On the writing front, I have been turning out a ton of short stories for Wild Cat Books, a small press print publisher. They’ve re-started an old pulp magazine title, Startling Stories, and I have created two series for them. Captain Steve Danger, a hero in the mold of Flash Gordon, et al. And a galactic master thief, called The Forever Man, who has the ability to teleport, making him almost impossible to capture. So far, I’ve written two Captain Danger yarns, and two Forever Man stories, plus three other short stories for the new title. Plus, I have some other books and anthologies coming out with them. Other writers will also be churning out stories about Captain Danger and The Forever Man.

The second issue of Startling Stories was just released. This issue contains a Captain Danger story by K.G. McAbee, and my backup story, “What Goes There?”. Plus, I have a scientific article in the back pages to fill up the issue. So I’m trying to stay busy!