Month: June 2025

Categories
News

News Roundup 2025-06-29

Personal / Website News

Vanya Issue Four Review

A new comic book review is up at my website! My deep dive into the Neo-Jungle girl series Vanya continues with issue four.

Cover depicts Vanya sitting at a campfire, inspecting a blood soaked stone spear. There is a shadow of a roaring T-rex behind her.
Standard non-nude cover of Vanya issue 4 by Zoran Jovicic. Image from the Bad Buy website.

My review for this issue can be read right here. The PDF version of issue eight was released on the 11th, so I am halfway there to catching up!

Scholars from the Edge of Time – Clash of the Titans (1981)

The June episode of Scholars from the Edge of Time is now online!

Blu-ray that contains the two Clash of the Titans films and Wrath of the Titans. the cover is divided into three horizontal sections, with each section showing the title of the film and a scene/poster art of it.
Personal copy of the Clash of the Titans ’81, Clash of the Titan 2010, and Wrath of the Titans 3 Movie Blu-ray set.

Just in time for Ray Harryhausen’s birthday, on this episode Michele and I talk about the original 1981 Clash of the Titans, the last film Harryhausen did before he retired. The vidcast can be watched on Youtube. For July we will be talking about the 2010 remake and in August we will be discussing Wrath of the Titans. So, stay tuned!

ECOF 2025

In September of 2025 there will be an Edgar Rice Burroughs Chain of Friendship (ECOF) event down in Willcox, AZ. This event is to celebrate the 150th birthday of Burroughs while also honoring him with a plaque in the town due to his stationing there with the 7th U.S. Cavalry in the 1890s. (Note: another ERB convention was held in Willcox back in 2019 and an event recap of that can be read at ERBZine #7059).

Here is the flyer for the 2025 event:

The flyer shows desert mountains with three insert images: one of a young Edgar Rice Burroughs in 1896, one of the author Jeffrey J. Mariotte (who is the guest of honour), and one of the Willcox train depot in the 1880s. The flyer reads was follows: Edgar Rice Burroughs ERB Inc.'s Commemoration of ERB's 150th Birthday! 7th Cavalry Historical Monument Celebration Willcox, AZ, September 25-28, 2025. Formal Dedication on September 27th, 2025. Sponsored by the Suplher Springs Valley Historical Society and the Arizona Apache Deveils Chapter of the Burroughs Bibliophiles.
Flyer for the Edgar Rice Burroughs Circle of Friendship (ECOF) Gathering in Willcox, AZ 2025.

Here is the press release:

RENOWNED AUTHOR EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS’ CAVALRY SERVICE TO BE MEMORIALIZED IN WILLCOX, AZ

“Tarzan” Creator and Pop Culture’s Influential “Grandfather of Science Fiction and Fantasy” Commemorated for His 150th Birthday.

WILLCOX, AZ – The renowned “Master of Adventure” Edgar Rice Burroughs started his adult life as a cavalryman at Arizona’s Fort Grant in May of 1896. This September, as part of the late author’s 150th birthday celebration, his cavalry service will be memorialized with a monument at the restored Southern Pacific train depot in Willcox, where he arrived on his way to Fort Grant (35 miles north).

The influential creator of Tarzan of the Apes, John Carter of Mars, and The Land That Time Forgot series of stories wrote in his “Autobiography” that he specifically requested “to be sent to the worst post in the United States” and was then promptly assigned to Fort Grant in Arizona Territory, where his troop would spend some time hunting after the Apache Kid and other outlaws.

Many believe that Burroughs’ initial stay in Arizona influenced his first Martian story, Under the Moons of Mars, which begins with the first chapter titled “On the Arizona Hills.” The John Carter Martian stories would go on to influence generations of science fiction and fantasy books and movies, and would inspire many young people to become scientists, engineers, and astronauts. He would later author the books The War Chiefand Apache Devil, both set in Arizona during the Apache Wars of the 1860s – 1880s.

This Willcox Edgar Rice Burroughs Chain of Friendship (ECOF) Gathering will take place from September 25 to 28, 2025, with the 7th Cavalry Historical Monument formal dedication ceremony on Saturday, September 27th from 10:00 AM – 12:00 Noon near the historic Southern Pacific Railroad Depot.

The monument dedication at the Willcox train depot will include guest speakers and participation of local Buffalo Soldier reenactors. All other convention events will take place at the Elks Lodge #2131 in Willcox, and will include discussion panels, a “huckster” (vendor) room, Guest of Honor and speaker Jeffrey J. Mariotte (author of Tarzan and the Forest of Stone), Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. speakers, a Saturday night banquet/ dinner, a Tarzan movie screening, and other surprises.

These events are sponsored by the Sulphur Springs Valley Historical Society and the Apache Devils chapter of The Burroughs Bibliophiles. The celebration is open to the public for free (except for the dinner and movie), but full attendees can register for a fee that covers a goodie bag, a huckster table, and the Saturday dinner.

This is a must-attend event for fans of Edgar Rice Burroughs and pop-culture historians alike. If you’d like to visit the place where it all began, don’t miss this very special celebration. (Note that some convention activities will require full event registration – the registration form is provided separately.)

The Holiday Inn Express & Suites Willcox is offering a special daily room rate of $119 plus taxes for the nights of 25 to 27 September for attendees. The group name is “ECOF.” You can make reservations at this rate by calling the hotel at (520) 384-3333; rooms are limited. The address is 1251 N. Virginia Ave, Willcox, AZ 85643.

If you would like more information about the 2025 ECOF event, please call Frank Puncer at 520.281.1818, or email him at fwpuncer at gmail dot com.

Here is the registration from:

Registration Form for the 2025 Edgar Rice Burroughs Chain of Friendship (ECOF) Gathering in Willcox, AZ (v9)Download

Michele and I will be in attendance for this convention, so I’ve added it to the appearances section of my website as well. I’ll be doing a presentation on Tarzan as a Maciste-like peplum character in Tarzan and the Lost Empire. Hope to see yall there!

Publishing Recap

Below is a recap of my external publishing endeavors so far in 2025.

Cover art of the Panthans Journal #332. It depicts a woman and a man with a hawk head, hunkered in a hole, firing laser pistols. The art is by Mark Wheatley.
Panthans Journal #332

Comic Book Review: “The Moon Maid: Catacombs of the Moon #2″ reprinted in the National Capital Panthans Journal #332.

A continuation of the cover of #332. This cover shows the woman and the hawk man, defensively shooting laser pilots out of a hole in the ground, wile savage barbarians with bows and axes descend upon them. The art is by Mark Wheatley.
Panthans Journal #333

Comic Book Review: “The Moon Maid: Catacombs of the Moon #3″ reprinted in the National Capital Panthans Journal #333.

Cover art of Panthans Journal #335, done by Mark Wheatley. It shows Tarzan leaping from a tree branch. All the colors are very dark blue, so it might be night time in the jungle.
Panthans Journal #335

“Tarzan Cocktail: Deconstructed – Reconstructed” reprinted in the National Capital Panthans Journal #335.

Original can be read here.

Cover art for "Merry Creepsmas - The Red Book". It is red with a large X-mas tree that appears to have small, globby bodies as ornaments. The cover reads: Wicked Shadow Press Merry Creepsmas: The Red Book Christmas-Themed Horror Stories Edited by Parth Sarathi Chakraborty
Merry Creepsmas – The Red Book

“There’s Always Room” in Merry Creepsmas: The Red Book. Edited by Parth Sarathi Chakraborty. Wicked Shadow Press, 2025.

Cover art for the Burroughs Bulletin #109 by Dan Parsons. The top says "The Burroughs Bulletin New Series #109 Fall-Winter 2024". The art shows a T-rex chomping on a dude in a striped shirt. Below him are explorers with rifles. Behind him his a prehistoric sky, jungle, and a waterfall.
Burroughs Bulletin #109

“Tagliolini al Tarzan: Interview with Actress Bella Cortez on Taur the Mighty” in The Burroughs Bulletin #109. Edited by Henry Franke III. February, 2025.

Miscellaneous Tidbits

Some fun things I shared online from these past few weeks. Highlighting things from my personal collection of pop culture artifacts. Or artifacts I’m digging out of the archive. Just, general cool or unique things to show off.

Autographs from the Archive

Here are some autographed treasures I’ve shared on social media recently.

Get Your War On

I saw some discourse on BlueSky about the post 9/11 comic strip Get Your War On and how relevant it is to the ongoing situation between the US bombing Iran.

A perfect time (and extremely relevant time) to dig out my copy of Get Your War On.

Soft cover of Get Your War On. It's horizontal book, not vehicle. It's back with red letters. The lack has faint panels of the comics, white the title is in Red and is in a comic speech bubble.
Personal copy of Get Your War On.

I bought mine way back in the 2000s. I must have ordered it directly from the author David Rees because my edition is autographed.

Front matter page of get your war on. It says "Get Your War On. Comic Strips by David Rees. Introduction by Colson Whitehead. Published by Soft Skull Press, Brooklyn New York, 2002." In black pen it is signed David Rees.
Get Your War On signed by David Rees.

I also have a copy of his My New Filing Technique is Unstoppable, and if I can find that, I’ll give that a share.

The GYWO comic is long out of print, but good news: you don’t need to own a copy to read it, it’s all online, archived at Rees’ website. Check it out here and then consider doing a compare and contrast of our (geo)political climate then and now. War mongers gonna war monger.

New Sword and Sandal Acquisitions

The ever growing peplum research libraries grows with these recent sword and sandal films having been acquired.

Alexander 4K/Blu-ray

Alexander (2004) is an early entry in the neo-peplum revival that began with Gladiator. Apparently there’s a zillion different cuts of this film as Oliver Stone went all Ridley Scott a’la Blade Runner style on his movie.

4K version of Alexander: Revisited, the Final Cut. It's a close up of Colin Farrell's face, with a red bird of prey imposed over it. Next to it is a cardboard tube with the 4K art, but upside down (it has the poster in it).
Personal copy of Alexander on 4K. Upside down poster tube to the left.

I had not actually seen Alexander so when Shout Factory announced a nice 4K version of it I hopped right on the pre-order bandwagon. This release just came out in early June, and since I pre-ordered it I got a schnazzy poster too. Excited to watch!

Risen

Risen is a 2016 biblical peplum directed by Kevin Reynolds (who is responsible for some of the finest works of Kevin Costner). Another film I had not seen, but I saw it on Amazon for super cheap, so decided to pick it up. I remember Joseph Fiennes from The Rock version of Hercules, so it will be nice to see him in another sword and sandal flick.

4K physical release of Risen. The cover shows a roman soldier in a red cape in the foreground while the background is a huddle mass of people in a desert.
Personal 4K copy of Risen.

While I have not seen this film, biblical film scholar Matt Page has! He covered this film at his Bible Films Blog back in the day, so check out his write up here.

Talos Statue

This isn’t a new acquisition as I’ve had it in my collection since the 2000s, but with Ray Harryhausen’s birthday happening on 6/29, I’ve gotta share it: my giant Talos statue.

Statue of Talos from Jason and the Argonauts. Still in its box. Limited to 5K copies.
Talos Statue.

I got this from Scarecrow Video way back in the day and it is just epically cool.

Jason and the Argonauts Laserdisc

Now this is a recent acquisition. Going movie and music shopping at Zia Records during my birthday weekend, I happened across the Criterion Collection laserdisc edition of Jason and the Argonauts for a whole 99 cents. I had to have it!

Laserdisc of Jason and the Argonauts. The top says "The Criterion Collection". The cover depicts Jason fighting the Hydra.
Personal copy of the Criterion Collection Laserdisc edition of Jason and the Argonauts.

The essay on the back of the Laserdisc by Bruce Eder can be read on the Criterion Collection website. It is nice the company makes their old essays available!

News from Friends

Cool kids I know have been busy lately! Here are some signal boosts I’d like to give out.

New Ride the Stream Episodes

Michele and Travis have some brand new episodes of their Ride the Stream vidcast online at YouTube. They dive into the next few episodes of Lost.

Here is their discussion of episode 25:

New episodes drop every Friday on YouTube. Keep an eye on their YouTube channel, or give them a follow on Bluesky.

New Fan2Fan Episodes

Bernie and Pete have some new episodes of their Fan2Fan podcast online.

First up is an interview with Joshua Pruett who talks about writing the movie Witch Hunter (2024).

Witch Hunter (2024) with Joshua Pruett – Fan2Fan Podcast

Next they have a part one of an interview with Nashville horror host Dr. Gangrene.

Horror Movies & Mad Science with Dr. Gangrene Part 1 – Fan2Fan Podcast

Older episodes of Fan2Fan can be found at its Libsyn page or via your podcast app of preference.

Reverberate: A Magazine of Edgar Rice Burroughs

Edgar Rice Burroughs expert and scholar Scott Tracy Griffin has started a new publication called Reverberate: A Magazine of Edgar Rice Burroughs. The magazine is hot off the presses, having debuted at the Northwest Coast Mangani Gathering VII at the end of May/Beginning of June. One hundred copies of the magazine were numbered and signed by authors Griffin and Gary A. Buckingham. I, of course, ordered a copy:

Copy of RevERBerate issue 1. The cover depicts Tarzan, with a monkey on his shoulder and a giant cat by his side. Behind him is a prehistoric valley of triceratops, lush vegetation, and a waterfall.
Personal copy of RevERBerate issue 01.
Signature page of RevERBerate #01. It has Gary A. Buckingham and Scott Tracy Griffin. It is page 48, the last page of the book. It is all white, and it is numbered 34 or 100.
Signature page of RevERBerate #01. It has Gary A. Buckingham and Scott Tracy Griffin.

Here is the press release for the magazine’s launch with information on how to procure a copy:

A new magazine spotlighting the work of The Master of Adventure has entered the print arena: Reverberate: A Magazine of Edgar Rice Burroughs is a 48-page magazine printed on high-quality, glossy pages, perfect-bound with cardstock covers. 

“We want to explore Edgar Rice Burroughs’ work, life, and legacy, and its impact in media including art, comics, film, television, stage, radio, periodicals, and, of course, his original novels,” explains Reverberate editor Scott Tracy Griffin. “The Burroughs community isn’t wholly served in the periodicals medium and we believe the time ideal to deliver a new outlook.”

Reverberate enjoyed a successful launch at the May 2025 NCM VII Gathering of literary devotees and fans in Roseville, California. The debut issue showcases acclaimed artist Benito Gallego, whose lush portfolio boasts the comic-strip adventures of Tarzan and The Outlaw of Torn; profiles fireman-turned-silent-film-actor Gene Pollar, who starred as the iconic ape man in The Revenge of Tarzan (1920); and investigates the early African explorers whose feats influenced Burroughs’ writing.

The magazine also delves into the books of author Gary A. Buckingham, who helmed three Tarzan projects, with his fourth in development. Notes Buckingham, “Burroughs created worlds of wonder, in which I’ve been fortunate to immerse my tales of his savage ape man.”

The first 100 issues are numbered and signed by both writers, and feature interior illustrations by artist Dan Parsons.

Says Griffin, already well-known to Burroughs’ enthusiasts as the author of Tarzan: The Centennial Celebration (2012) and Tarzan on Film (2016), “We’re offering Reverberate on an introductory basis at $10, plus $5 domestic postage. Priority mail is $14. Foreign customers, please contact us with your address and we will get a postage quote. The U.S. does not offer ground shipping beyond its borders, so all foreign postage, even Canadian, is via airmail.” 

To learn more and to purchase copies, please contact Scott Tracy Griffin at scotttracygriffin@gmail.com, or Gary A. Buckingham at gbucking3@gmail.com.

Hal C. F. Astell Webstore

Author, editor, con-runner (he’s behind CoKoCon), and all around jack of all trades guy Hal C. F. Astell has opened up a web store for all of his and Apocalypse Later books. Check it out and consider plucking up a book or two.

Categories
Comics

Going Commando: Vanya 04

The Story So Far

Two hundred plus years in the future mankind has mastered both space and time travel. Vanya is a Time Guard, a warrior in training who must spend a year in the prehistoric past honing her survival and combat skills. Her skills are much needed as the Torridian alien race have launched a massive attack against humanity. Vanya and her romantic partner, Serah, travel the primeval jungle, dealing with dinosaurs and savages, as they make their way to an armory to supply themselves against the alien threat.

Cover depicts Vanya sitting at a campfire, inspecting a blood soaked stone spear. There is a shadow of a roaring T-rex behind her.
Standard non-nude cover of Vanya issue 4 by Zoran Jovicic. Image from the Bad Buy website.

Issue 04 Plot

After days of jungle trekking and having lost Reed to a Tyrannosaurus attack, Vanya and Serah are rescued by a contingent of soldiers who are also stranded in the past after attempting to escort a group of scientists to safety after a Torridian attack. Though their outpost looks ramshackle from the outside, the inside is fitted with computers and tech, a cafeteria, and most importantly, a shower in which Vanya and Serah partake of together before being joined by another soldier named Guy.

A panel from the comic that shows a human outpost. The outpost looks jumbled together, made of stone, wood, and metal. A hovercraft swoops toward it.
Human outpost in the prehistoric past.

Vanya gives a debriefing to Captain Jax about her adventures training as a Time Guard while he fills her in on the Torridian attacks against Earth. The captain has a mission to retrieve some supply caches, so it is back to the jungle for Vanya, Serah, and Guy, though armed with rifles because who knows what threats will be awaiting the trio out in the wild.

Commentary

The previous issue of Vanya was a bit on the slower side in pacing. Though the narrative was partially upended when Reed was suddenly and swiftly dispatched by a T-Rex, the overall plot seemed to slow down a bit as the characters had not made much progress to their goal to find the armory. Issue four, on the other hand, course corrects this and throws a barrage of new ingredients into the “story stew”: the rescue of Vanya and Serah, the outpost of human soldiers, new characters including Lucas (who has had a prior relationship with Serah) and Guy (who takes the place of Reed), new weapons, a new mission (that is similar to their old mission [find the armory/find the supply caches]), and, of course, the first time confrontation between Vanya and crew with Niya and her entourage. Basically, A LOT happens in issue four which brings on more excitement and more surprises.

Panels from the comic. The first panel says "It's beautiful" and it's a plate of Panel of Vanya eating a Croissants. The next panel shows Vanya biting into a Panel of Vanya eating a Croissant saying "Mmmm this is the best thing ever." The final final shows Guy winking saying "Second best thing" with Vanya replying "Mmmm".
Panel of Vanya eating a Croissant.

One of those surprises is a subtle one by the new character of Guy. Guy initially comes off as hyper masculine, proclaiming himself to Vanya as “the second-best thing” (with a wink) referring to his sexual prowess in the shower with her and Serah. In a normal B-movie situation, Guy is the type of soldier to be a braggart who will later receive sort of comeuppance. Yet, later in the issue, Guy raises his rifle to shoot at a herd of Ankylosaurus but is stopped by Vanya: “… just don’t shoot at anything until it growls at you, ok?” In normal pop culture situations, a character like Guy would see his masculinity and authority challenged, especially coming from a woman. An attack on him. Yet, he does not take it that way at all. He takes in what Vanya is showing him, confirms with a “Got it” and proceeds on normally (and by “normally” meaning him, Vanya, and Serah all share a moment of intimacy in a river before continuing their mission as professional soldiers). In fact, in a perhaps ironic twist, it is Serah who later fires her gun at a group of Compsognathus and then getting chastised by Vanya for giving away their position. 

The Guy/Vanya/gun scene is a small scene (probably more meant to underscore the deadly nature of the dinosaurs and what they are capable of), but coupled with many other similar small scenes (such as Serah reuniting with Lucas, Serah joining in with Vanya and Reed, and so on), it paints the future world of Vanya as a post-jealousy environment and more pro-gender equality society. As hinted at in the review of issue one, these sort of scenes (coupled with the graphic violence and explicit sex) gives Vanya strong Paul Verhoeven vibes. 

The end of the issue becomes the first encounter between Vanya and Niya. Both sets of humans manage to injure each other, but there are no fatalities on either side and in the end Vanya and company are captured. It is a little shocking at how easily Niya took Vanya down. Is Niya a better warrior? Has Vanya lost her touch so quickly after having a retaste of civilization? Something else? Regardless, Vanya needs to get her poop-in-a-group because the final page of the issue ominously ends with Niya and cohorts leading the three heroes to “a surprise.”

Vanya sitting atop of a brontosaurus at night above a canyon glowing purple.
Vanya 04 non-nude variant cover by JC Fabul and Bryan Magnaye. Personal copy.
A nude Vanya sitting atop of a brontosaurus at night above a canyon glowing purple.
Vanya 04 nude variant cover by JC Fabul and Bryan Magnaye. Personal copy.

Aside from the standard cover by Zoran Jovcic (who does the interior art as well), Vanya #4 sports a variety of alternate covers, in both non-nude and nude editions by a handful of other artists. The best alternative cover for issue three is done by Renato Camilo and Tommy Shelton. If Camilo’s name sounds familiar it is because they hands down did the best alternate cover for issue two and the second-best cover for issue three. Camilo has a distinct style that fits the Vanya covers, one that is hard to describe but can easily be seen such as in the character’s dreadlocks that looks like headless but powerful snakes from Medusa. Camilo depicts Vanya with a balance of cheesecake glam and sword and sorcery warrior woman aesthetic. There is a slight hint of parody in the Camilo/Shelton cover: the raptor in the background is searching around, akin to the scene in Jurassic Park where the raptors are trying to sniff out Tim and Lex Murphy who are hiding in the kitchen. Vanya, on the other hand, is not hiding from the raptor, but actively ignoring it as she focuses on giving morsels to the Compsognathus (Compys in the comic) as if giving bread to ducks.

Cover depicts Vanya sitting down, wearing no clothes. She is holding a piece of meat in her hand and feeding it to a tiny dinosaur. Behind Her a blue striped Raptor hunts around.
Renato Camilo and Tommy Shelton nude variant cover of Vanya 4. Personal copy.

Since the Kickstarter campaign was wildly successful a few stretch goals were unlocked that included physical ephemera for backers. First there is a holographic art print of Vanya done by artist Zach Raw who has done covers for other Bad Bug titles, such as Bad Pussy, Astrowitch, and others. With its cyberpunk-ish imagery and purple tones the print evokes some hardcore synthwave vibes. 

Shiny art print. It shows an armored Vanya shooting from her pistol while leaping through the air.
Holographic art print by Zach Raw.

And finally, there is also a set of dinosaur trading cards (artist unknown). The cards look kid-friendly being duotone in nature: the dinosaurs are all white (inviting someone to colour them in with crayons) while the backgrounds are all a single colour: red for the raptor, orange for the stegosaurus, etc. The cards are both charming and disarming, being so “accessible” in nature in contrast to the Vanya comic with is full of sex and over the top violence. 

Five baseball card sized dinosaur trading cards. The dinosaurs and black and white while the backgrounds are one colour. The Stegosaurus is orange, the triceratops is green, the pteradcyl is purple, the raptor is red, and the Plesiosaurus is blue.
Dinosaur trading cards for Vanya issue 4.

Overall, a big “wow” for issue four. Just the right amount of jungle adventure, fighting, erotica, dinosaur cameos, and plot advancement. Things are going down in the world of Vanya, past, present, and future. 

For more information on Vanya and the comic’s creative team, check out the links below:

Also, consider checking out the reviews I’ve done of other titles published by Bad Bug:

Categories
News

News Roundup 2025-06-15

Personal / Website News

My birthday is coming up this Friday, so this website post also acts as a happy birthday to me (in advance).

Vanya #03 Comic Book Review

New comic book review is now online!

I continue to get through my backlog of to be read/to be reviewed comics, and I am now up to the third issue of the Neo-Jungle Girl series Vanya: The Lost Warrior.

Vanya is completely submerged underwater, lashing at an aquatic dinosaur with her knife.
Vanya #03 cover by Renato Camilo and Sanju Nivangune.

The write up can be read right here. The digital edition of issue eight of the twelve issue series just came out this past week, so I still got some catching up to do!

Scholars from the Edge of Time – Kings of the Sun

New Scholars from the Edge of Time vidcast is online.

Kings of the Sun Blu-ray, which shows the poster of the movie. It has Yul Brynner dressed as a Native American, thrusting a spear at George Chakiris, who is wearing armor and a leopard print cape and wielding a sword. Behind them is a titanic Mayan pyramid with multiple skirmishes of soldiers about. In blue sharpie it is signed in the top center "Victoria Vetri".
Personal copy of Kings of the Sun signed by Victoria Vetri.

In this episode Michele and I talk about the Mesoamerican peplum, Kings of the Sun. An intriguing film! The episode can be watched on Hercules Invictus’ Youtube.

For the next three Scholars episodes (June, July, August) we will be watching Clash of the Titans (Desmond Davis, 1981), Clash of the Titans (Louis Leterrier, 2010), and then Wrath of the Titans (Jonathan Liebesman, 2012).

ECOF 2025

In September of 2025 there will be an Edgar Rice Burroughs Chain of Friendship (ECOF) event down in Willcox, AZ. This event is to celebrate the 150th birthday of Burroughs while also honoring him with a plaque in the town due to his stationing there with the 7th U.S. Cavalry in the 1890s. (Note: another ERB convention was held in Willcox back in 2019 and an event recap of that can be read at ERBZine #7059).

Here is the flyer for the 2025 event:

The flyer shows desert mountains with three insert images: one of a young Edgar Rice Burroughs in 1896, one of the author Jeffrey J. Mariotte (who is the guest of honour), and one of the Willcox train depot in the 1880s. The flyer reads was follows: Edgar Rice Burroughs ERB Inc.'s Commemoration of ERB's 150th Birthday! 7th Cavalry Historical Monument Celebration Willcox, AZ, September 25-28, 2025. Formal Dedication on September 27th, 2025. Sponsored by the Suplher Springs Valley Historical Society and the Arizona Apache Deveils Chapter of the Burroughs Bibliophiles.
Flyer for the Edgar Rice Burroughs Circle of Friendship (ECOF) Gathering in Willcox, AZ 2025.

Here is the press release:

RENOWNED AUTHOR EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS’ CAVALRY SERVICE TO BE MEMORIALIZED IN WILLCOX, AZ

“Tarzan” Creator and Pop Culture’s Influential “Grandfather of Science Fiction and Fantasy” Commemorated for His 150th Birthday.

WILLCOX, AZ – The renowned “Master of Adventure” Edgar Rice Burroughs started his adult life as a cavalryman at Arizona’s Fort Grant in May of 1896. This September, as part of the late author’s 150th birthday celebration, his cavalry service will be memorialized with a monument at the restored Southern Pacific train depot in Willcox, where he arrived on his way to Fort Grant (35 miles north).

The influential creator of Tarzan of the Apes, John Carter of Mars, and The Land That Time Forgot series of stories wrote in his “Autobiography” that he specifically requested “to be sent to the worst post in the United States” and was then promptly assigned to Fort Grant in Arizona Territory, where his troop would spend some time hunting after the Apache Kid and other outlaws.

Many believe that Burroughs’ initial stay in Arizona influenced his first Martian story, Under the Moons of Mars, which begins with the first chapter titled “On the Arizona Hills.” The John Carter Martian stories would go on to influence generations of science fiction and fantasy books and movies, and would inspire many young people to become scientists, engineers, and astronauts. He would later author the books The War Chiefand Apache Devil, both set in Arizona during the Apache Wars of the 1860s – 1880s.

This Willcox Edgar Rice Burroughs Chain of Friendship (ECOF) Gathering will take place from September 25 to 28, 2025, with the 7th Cavalry Historical Monument formal dedication ceremony on Saturday, September 27th from 10:00 AM – 12:00 Noon near the historic Southern Pacific Railroad Depot.

The monument dedication at the Willcox train depot will include guest speakers and participation of local Buffalo Soldier reenactors. All other convention events will take place at the Elks Lodge #2131 in Willcox, and will include discussion panels, a “huckster” (vendor) room, Guest of Honor and speaker Jeffrey J. Mariotte (author of Tarzan and the Forest of Stone), Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. speakers, a Saturday night banquet/ dinner, a Tarzan movie screening, and other surprises.

These events are sponsored by the Sulphur Springs Valley Historical Society and the Apache Devils chapter of The Burroughs Bibliophiles. The celebration is open to the public for free (except for the dinner and movie), but full attendees can register for a fee that covers a goodie bag, a huckster table, and the Saturday dinner.

This is a must-attend event for fans of Edgar Rice Burroughs and pop-culture historians alike. If you’d like to visit the place where it all began, don’t miss this very special celebration. (Note that some convention activities will require full event registration – the registration form is provided separately.)

The Holiday Inn Express & Suites Willcox is offering a special daily room rate of $119 plus taxes for the nights of 25 to 27 September for attendees. The group name is “ECOF.” You can make reservations at this rate by calling the hotel at (520) 384-3333; rooms are limited. The address is 1251 N. Virginia Ave, Willcox, AZ 85643.

If you would like more information about the 2025 ECOF event, please call Frank Puncer at 520.281.1818, or email him at fwpuncer at gmail dot com.

Here is the registration from:

Registration Form for the 2025 Edgar Rice Burroughs Chain of Friendship (ECOF) Gathering in Willcox, AZ (v9)Download

Michele and I will be in attendance for this convention, so I’ve added it to the appearances section of my website as well. I’ll be doing a presentation on Tarzan as a Maciste-like peplum character in Tarzan and the Lost Empire. Hope to see yall there!

Publishing Recap

Below is a recap of my external publishing endeavors so far in 2025.

Cover art of the Panthans Journal #332. It depicts a woman and a man with a hawk head, hunkered in a hole, firing laser pistols. The art is by Mark Wheatley.
Panthans Journal #332

Comic Book Review: “The Moon Maid: Catacombs of the Moon #2″ reprinted in the National Capital Panthans Journal #332.

A continuation of the cover of #332. This cover shows the woman and the hawk man, defensively shooting laser pilots out of a hole in the ground, wile savage barbarians with bows and axes descend upon them. The art is by Mark Wheatley.
Panthans Journal #333

Comic Book Review: “The Moon Maid: Catacombs of the Moon #3″ reprinted in the National Capital Panthans Journal #333.

Cover art of Panthans Journal #335, done by Mark Wheatley. It shows Tarzan leaping from a tree branch. All the colors are very dark blue, so it might be night time in the jungle.
Panthans Journal #335

“Tarzan Cocktail: Deconstructed – Reconstructed” reprinted in the National Capital Panthans Journal #335.

Original can be read here.

Cover art for "Merry Creepsmas - The Red Book". It is red with a large X-mas tree that appears to have small, globby bodies as ornaments. The cover reads: Wicked Shadow Press Merry Creepsmas: The Red Book Christmas-Themed Horror Stories Edited by Parth Sarathi Chakraborty
Merry Creepsmas – The Red Book

“There’s Always Room” in Merry Creepsmas: The Red Book. Edited by Parth Sarathi Chakraborty. Wicked Shadow Press, 2025.

Cover art for the Burroughs Bulletin #109 by Dan Parsons. The top says "The Burroughs Bulletin New Series #109 Fall-Winter 2024". The art shows a T-rex chomping on a dude in a striped shirt. Below him are explorers with rifles. Behind him his a prehistoric sky, jungle, and a waterfall.
Burroughs Bulletin #109

“Tagliolini al Tarzan: Interview with Actress Bella Cortez on Taur the Mighty” in The Burroughs Bulletin #109. Edited by Henry Franke III. February, 2025.

Calls for Papers/Proposals

Here are some new pop culture CFPs that have crossed my path or I am sharing on behalf of my colleagues. Links to these will also be in the CFP page on the navigation bar.

Horror Videogames – A Companion

This publication – which is planned for submission to Peter Lang’s Genre Fiction and Film Companions series – aims to provide readers with an accessible yet scholarly overview of the historical, cultural, technological and aesthetic dimensions of the horror videogame, organised around an extensive series of short case studies. Accordingly, we are seeking abstracts for a series of shorter chapters presenting critical analyses of key titles in the genre’s history.

Videogames should be chosen for their popular cultural impacts, uniqueness and innovative contributions to the horror genre and videogame medium. The collection will cover a variety of time periods, platforms, development contexts, countries of origin and sub-genres. It will also feature various manifestations of horrific content; from monsters, zombies, ghosts, and eldritch abominations to psychological horror, jump scares, and fourth wall-breaking cult games. Each chapter will justify its selected case study as a noteworthy horror videogame, while also embedding its chosen text within academic discussions of genre, storytelling, design and/or affect.

The collection will be divided into several sections, which are detailed below alongside suggested entries. We welcome submission on the suggested videogames, as well as submissions on videogames that are not on our list of suggested entries. Please note that we do not require submissions on Left 4 Dead (2008) or Five Night’s at Freddy’s (2014), as these titles will be covered by the editors.

Sections and Suggested Entries

Early Horror Videogames: 3D Monster Maze (1981), Haunted House (1982), Carmageddon (1997), Clock Tower (1995), Alone in the Dark (1992), Doom (1993)

Canonical Horror Videogames: Resident Evil (1996), Silent Hill (1999), Fatal Frame (2001), Dead Space (2008), Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem (2002)

Horror Videogame Sequels: Silent Hill 2 (2002), Alan Wake 2 (2023), Little Nightmares II (2021), Amnesia: Rebirth (2020), Resident Evil 4 (2005)

Adaptation in Horror Videogames: Alien: Isolation (2014), Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (2017), The Walking Dead (2012), Dead Rising (2006)

Multiplayer Horror Videogames: The Outlast Trials (2024), Dead by Daylight (2016), Phasmophobia (2020)

Indie Horror Videogames: Mouthwashing (2024), Carrion (2020), Signalis (2022), Mundaun (2021), Murder House (2020)

Please send chapter abstracts of around 200 words (excluding references) alongside bios of up to 100 words to Connor Jackson (jacksoc1@hope.ac.uk) and Ewan Kirkland (ewan.kirkland@uca.ac.uk) by Sunday 31st August 2025 with the subject heading: “Horror Videogames Abstract”.

Abstract titles should follow the same format, with the game title and a subheading indicating the area/focus of horror to be addressed. For example, “Left 4 Dead (2008) – The Horror of Abandonment” and “Five Nights at Freddy’s (2014) – Service Industry Horror”. Full chapters should be 2,500-3,000 words (excluding references).

If you are interested in covering more than one videogame, feel free to add a list of up to 3 other titles alongside your submission. Should your submission entry be in high demand, the editors may contact you to discuss your secondary options.

Also, if you have any questions, please send them to the above-mentioned email addresses.

Provisional Timeframe

  • CFP Deadline: Sunday 31st August 2025
  • CFP Feedback by end of September 2025
  • Completed Chapters by end of January 2026
  • Feedback with potential edits by end of April 2026
  • Chapters returned by end of June 2026
  • Submission of final draft to editors by end of August 2026

Miscellaneous Tidbits

Some fun things I shared online from these past few weeks. Highlighting things from my personal collection of pop culture artifacts.

Play MSTie for Me autographed DVD

Prior to Cinematic Titanic, Film Crew, and the resurrected MST3K, the landscape of getting your MST3K fix was incredible small. Jim Mallone owned Best Brains, and for a period in the early 2000s, the only place you could get official MST3K stuff was through their website, which really didn’t have much: stickers, post-its, small trinkets. They, for a brief period, explored doing new MST3K with flash animation called “The Bots Are Back” but it never caught on (though I enjoyed them!).

DVD of Play MSTie for Me: Triple Decker DVD!. It's a collection of musical segments from Mystery Science Theater 3000. The cover of the DVD is made to look like a menu from a diner, with it saying "Lunch special" at the top and a picture of a giant sandwich. The DVD is autographed by Trace Beaulieu, J. Elvis Weinstein, Frank Conniff, Mary Jo Pehl, and Joel Hodgson.
Play MSTie for Me DVD autographed by the Cinematic Titanic crew.

One of the DVDs sold during this dark ages of MST3K was a collection of musical numbers from the host segments from the series called Play MSTie for Me (I believe there used to be a VHS incarnation of this release). I bought this DVD way back in the day to go with what scant DVD boxsets Rhino was publishing. Later in the 2000s, when Cinematic Titanic was a thing and touring, they did a stop in Seattle. I bought a handful of items to be autographed by the Cinematic Titanic crew, (Joel Hodgson, Trace Beaulieu, J. Elvis Weinstein, Frank Conniff and Mary Jo Pehl), and this DVD was one of those items.

The Tartars autographed by Bella Cortez

Bella Cortez, the queen of pepla! Michele and I spent 2024 doing a retrospective of her career (check out our various Scholars from the Edge of Time vidcasts, my peplum ponderings, and my interview with her for the Burroughs Bulletin) and she is just an icon of the genre.

DVD of the film The Tartars. It depicts a viking in a sword fight with a tartar in front of a viking boat. In pen at the top left is is inscribed "To Nicholas, Bella Cortez".
The Tartars DVD autographed by Bella Cortez.

An opportunity came up for me to have some of my movies autographed by Ms. Cortez, so of course I jumped at the chance. Super appreciative that she took the time to sign these treasures for me.

The first I want to share is the DVD copy of The Tartars (which you can read my write up about the film here). Isn’t it awesome!?

News from Friends

Cool kids I know have been busy lately! Here are some signal boosts I’d like to give out.

New Ride the Stream Episodes

Michele and Travis have some brand new episodes of their Ride the Stream vidcast online at YouTube. They dive into the next few episodes of Lost.

Here is their discussion of episode 22:

And for episode 23:

And then episode 24:

New episodes drop every Friday on YouTube. Keep an eye on their YouTube channel, or give them a follow on Bluesky.

New Fan2Fan Episodes

Bernie and Pete have some new episodes of their Fan2Fan podcast online.

First up, Joshua Pruett is interviewed about his newest book, the kid peplum Gyro and the Argonauts.

Gyro and the Argonauts with Joshua Pruett – Fan2Fan Podcast

Next horror director Charles Pinion is interviewed in a part one:

Charles Pinion: Creativity in 3D Part 1 – Fan2Fan Podcast

And then in a part two:

Charles Pinion: Creativity in 3D Part 2 – Fan2Fan Podcast

Older episodes of Fan2Fan can be found at its Libsyn page or via your podcast app of preference.

Bible Films Blog – The Ten Gladiators

Matt Page has a new sword and sandal movie essay up at his Bible Films Blog website. It is on Gianfranco Parolini’s 1963 peplum Ten Gladiators.

DVD of The Ten Gladiators. Very bootleg looking. It is from Desert Island Classics. The cover is a low-res copy of the poster surrounded by a dark, green border.
Personal Bootleggy/Grey Market DVD copy of The Ten Gladiators.

The write up can be read here, so give it a read!

John 3:16 Album – The Beast

This is a year ahead, but on 6-6-(202)6 Philippe Gerber, via his John 3:16, will be dropping his album, The Beast. Cover art below – it kinda looks like a panel from his Flesh Eaters comic (HP Lovecast review of issue one here).

Cover art for "The Beast" by John 3:16. There's only 2 colors, red and black. The cover is of a portrait of an evil looking cardinal, with an exposed skull.
John 3:16 Album – The Beast.

The album can be pre-ordered at BandCamp (link here) with three of the tracks available to be listened to no. I’ll do a reminder email in the future when it gets closer to the release date, but do check it out, consider pre-ordering, or mark your calendar for 6-6-6! \m/

Global Indigenous Horror Book Trailer

Editor Naomi Simone Borwein has created a book trailer for her book, Global Indigenous Horror, which was published earlier this year by University Press of Mississippi (product page here).

The trailer can be watched here or in the embedded video above. Give it a watch!

Categories
Comics

Jungle Romps and T-Rex Chomps: Vanya 03

The Story So Far

Vanya is a Time Guard, an elite warrior in training who must spend a year living in the prehistoric past, honing her fighting and survival skills. While Vanya is in the past, humanity is attacked by the alien race called the Torridians. Serah, a soldier and Vanya’s romantic partner, is sent back in time to retrieve Vanya. Vanya, Serah, and another Time Guard name Reed, team up and make way to an armory to retrieve weapons while under the threat of dinosaurs, barbarians from the Bone Tribe, and the Torridians themselves.

Vanya is leaning against a slain T-rex (a small one). She has a smirk and is holding a spear.
Vanya #03 Cover by JC Fanul and Bryan Magnaye.

Issue 03 Plot

After weathering a stormy night, Vanya, Serah, and Reed continue to follow the tracks of another group of warriors who are making their way to a hidden armory. During their trek the trio encounter a giant turtle whose shell was part of the ground, small carnivorous dinosaurs, and a rampaging T-Rex. Elsewhere the Bone Tribe engages in an orgy/ritual, but Niya, a Time Guard herself, is called away from the festivities in order to deal with a flock of Phorusrhacids – giant carnivorous birds – that are attacking the tribe. 

Commentary

Three issues and nine pages into Vanya and the comic receives its first George R. R. Martin treatment as Reed is devoured by a T-rex. Just as suddenly as Samuel L. Jackson is delivering a rallying speech in one moment and whisked away the next by a shark in Deep Blue Sea, so is Reed as in one panel he quips that “It’s nice to know that not everything is trying to eat us” immediately followed by the T-Rex chomping down on him. The sudden, abrupt end to Reed is both gruesome, yet darkly comedic, a throwback to the prior issue with a similar gag when one moment it is clear and the next it is raining on the characters. It should be noted that the T-rex’s head is covered in arrows, establishing him as the same one that appeared in issue two, interrupting an amorous moment between Vanya and Serah. No doubt this Tyrannosaur will show up again in a future issue and perhaps get its comeuppance.

Introduced in issue one, Reed seemed like a character that would have longevity. His time was short in the comic, but his presence did accomplish a handful of story-critical tasks. Plot-wise, he is the character that gets Vanya and Serah on course to find the armory by picking up the trail of another band of warriors. For the erotic-element, Reed acted as a male character for readers to project themselves onto. Tonally, up to this point in Vanya all the encounters the characters have had ended in fights they easily overcame, or fleeing to get the advantage later. Vanya’s narration tells the readers the prehistoric world she is in is hostile, but the adventure so far has been easy-peasy. Reed’s death dispels that notion and puts back in the forefront that the world they are in is deadly and needs to be taken seriously.  

A character who is not being taken seriously but should be is Niya, the champion of the Bone Tribe. Briefly introduced in issue two, Niya is revealed to be a Time Guard herself and the most capable warrior of the tribe. However, she is not respected by the tribe’s leader, the Bone King, who forces her to leave her place of honor in the orgy/ritual to deal with the marauding Phorusrhacids by herself. Returning back to take her place in the ritual, the Bone King proclaims, “Well done, Niya.” but is chastised the next morning by being told she “should have done better” regarding a scavenging trip. Niya is akin to a worker bee who is really good at her job, but management keeps her demoted because she is just “too good.” The Bone King’s unappreciation of Niya will surely come back to bite him (pun intended if his fate is at the maw of a dinosaur).

The intrigue is still building in Vanya issue three, but if there is a critique to be had it is that the plot is moving a little on the slow side. It feels like the characters should have accomplished a bit more in the adventure at this point. The cliffhanger in the final three panels promises some characters (Established ones? New ones) will cross paths, so that holds promise that something major is about to go down.

Narrative content aside, Vanya’s offerings extend past its pages into the realm of covers and ephemera. There are a plethora of alternate covers, both nude and non-nude, for Vanya #03. One of the best covers for the issue is the Bruno Sousa / Tommy Shelton variant that depicts Vanya bathing at the base of a waterfall. The cover is a call back to a page from Vanya #01 where Vanya narrates her ritual of washing in a specific waterfall for its disinfectant properties. While the other covers are action packed, this cover goes the serene, tranquil route. 

Vanya is nude, at the base of a small waterfall. She has two feathers in her dreadlocked hair and a necklace made of teeth.
Vanya #03 cover by Bruno Sousa and Tommy Shelton.

Folks who contributed to the Vanya #3 Kickstarter campaign were rewarded with a trove of additional loot.

A circular coaster with a black border. Vanya is in the center, nude, with flowing red hair. The stick is rectangular and shows Vanya fighting a dinosaur with her knife underwater. The magnet is square and shows Vanya crouched in a defensive position with her knife.
Vanya #03 coaster, sticker, and magnet set.

Firstly, for swag with function, there is a coaster, (that is a bit bigger than a large pog), a small sticker of the cover issue three cover done by Renato Camilo / Sanju Nivangune, and a square magnet of the Renato Camilo / Bryan Magnate cover for issue one. 

Vanya is completely submerged underwater, lashing at an aquatic dinosaur with her knife.
Vanya #03 cover by Renato Camilo and Sanju Nivangune.

It is a pity that the sticker for the Camilo/Nivangune is so tiny because their cover is easily the second-best cover for the issue (just barely being beaten out by the Sousa/Shelton cover). The colors are fantastic.

Art print of Vanya. Same art as the coast, but not nude. She is in front a jungle and has flowing red hair.
Vanya #03 art print.

Next there is a lovely art print (artist unknown) depicting Vanya against a dark jungle – the same piece used on the coaster, though not nude. 

Four trading cards. Top left is June, a Cyberpunk lady with latex boots and garters with long purple hair. Top right is Vanya, wearing an animal skin bikini top and bottom and holding a dagger. Bottom right is Nell, with blonde hair with 2 bun. She has one striped stocking on and the other is off on the floor. The bottom left is Maggie, with a glowing white eye and holding two pistols with smoke coming out as if they have just been fired.
Trading guards of Bad Bug heroines by Captain Shima.

And finally, there is a set of four trading cards done by Captain Shima depicting the heroines from four of Bad Bug’s flagship titles: (clockwise from the top left) June (HyperGeist), Vanya, Nell (Death Nell), and Maggie (Dead End Moon). Bad Bug is getting into the habit of creating interesting trading cards among all their titles, (for example, some are in Tarot style), so these are always fun to receive. All in all, a mighty haul from the rifts of time.

For more information on Vanya and the comic’s creative team, check out the links below:

Also, consider checking out the reviews I’ve done of other titles published by Bad Bug: