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Essays

Crimes under the Crux: Andrew Nette’s Orphan Road

Fifty years ago, the Great Bookie Robbery occurred in Melbourne, Australia when a gang of well-prepared robbers made off with millions from a bookmaker that was never recovered. While the large sum of missing monies was well known, what was not as known was a secret stash of diamonds that were absconded with, their purported fate even more mysterious.

Five decades later, Gary Chance, a former soldier of the Australian army who served in Afghanistan, now turned criminal, finds himself in a botched robbery of a cult. Though the operation is a bust, he gains a new partner, Eva McCulloch, another criminal who had eyes on the cult’s hidden fortune.

Both searching for that one last job to put their respective criminal lives behind them, Chance and Eva accept a mission from Vera Leigh, an aging socialite/madame/S&M dungeon owner who needs monies to fight ruthless property developers. The new job: track down the mythical diamonds from the Great Bookie Robbery from ages past. With only sparse clues at their disposal, the duo accepts the gig, which will take them to the United States and different cities in southeast Australia, while also being pursued by former accomplices, cult members, criminals, and a retired police officer who all have eyes on the diamonds themselves.

Andrew Nette’s Orphan Road is an Australian crime novel, though with a greater emphasis on the adventure aspects of the criminal underworld rather than the criminal element proper. The protagonists of Orphan Road are “good” criminals in that their adversaries are all unsavory characters themselves, be it a ruthless developer, White Nationalists, a greedy former police officer, and so on, making the morals depicted in the novel black and white, rather than the grey area that is found in more noir-ish crime stories.

The lead protagonist, Chance, is incredibly fun to follow. He is akin to a Jack Reacher-style character: former military, nomadic, off the grid, cunning, finding themselves in the middle of bigger criminal schemes, and extremely proficient at bedding the ladies. The big difference between the two characters is that Reacher is far more noble and near invulnerable compared to Chance, while Chance is a much more grounded character and less of a Gary Stu. 

The adventure/mystery of Chance trying to track down diamonds, for all purposes lost to history, it fairly exciting, especially considering the roadblocks and dead ends he and his cohorts encounter. There is a tiny bit of globetrotting, fisticuffs, and gunplay, but the forefront is the mystery. Nette crafts a new mystery (the diamonds) and anchors it to a real-world event (the robbery), which gives the story credibility and buy in from the reader. This does cause a small problem: how does one graft this new mystery when decades have passed and most historic players are long dead and leads dried up. How can in-world amateur sleuths and professionals alike fail to find the diamonds, but Chance is able to get a new trail? The clue is fairly lackluster, a newspaper clipping that, in theory, anyone else would have access to, but its serviceable to get the heroes on their adventure. 

The strongest component of Orphan Road does arise from Nette trying to work within these real world confines of lapsed time inherent in old cold cases, and that is its critique on the past and nostalgia. The majority of players in Orphan Road are fairly old, in their 70s and 80s, having served in Vietnam, or East Coast American Mafia of the 80s, or lived through other events. The Melbourne that Chance remembers has been demolished and gentrified, which is supposed to be the ultimate fate of Leigh’s establishment. Leigh, herself, tries to retcon the past by positing it was a time when criminals had class, code, and honour. Chance is quick to point out this rose-coloured view of old school crime, and even confirms it firsthand when he encounters the American mafia, still holding onto their old ways as if in a Scorcese film. Everything in Chance’s mission is old: the archive of files and photos around the diamond caper, the Ford Falcon that is driven, the Luger that is the sidearm, the ruins of burnt down buildings, and even the cult at the beginning of the novel, who worship the lost continent of Atlantis. While there are many adversaries in Orphan Road, the spectre of the past is the prominent one. 

The weakest component, on the other hand, is the end of Orphan Road. Not so much the end-end proper, which does nicely wrap up all loose ends of Chance’s adventure – diamonds and all, but it is the in between the book’s climax and then end revelation. After the climax, the adventure resolution is still not within hand, so the book changes its focus from a time-is-of-the-essence thriller to a leisurely explore around and let a large passage of time elapse pace, which kills the momentum. This is unfortunate because everything up to this point is a real page turner, coupled with heightened stakes as Nette is unafraid to kill off a pivotal characters. 

There is a passion from Nette on display in Orphan Road, and this is no doubt due to his love of the pulp genre, police procedurals, and gritty crime cinema, all of which he has written essays and commentaries about. With Orphan Road, Nette is able to seize a historic robbery, make it even more interesting, and throw in characters like Chance that are easy to become invested in, while at the same time not resorting to the tried-and-true method of pulling rabbits out of the pop culture reference hat. Orphan Road is anchored historically, despite being contemporary, and it succeeds extremely well. 

For more information on Orphan Road and Andrew Nette, check out these links:

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Just Here for the Boo!s: Becca Boo Issue Two

Becca Boo, the ditzy bombshell who awoke one morning in a grave and deduced that she was a ghost, finds herself as an actual ghost when she is hit by a truck. Though Death comes for Becca, he becomes distracted at the prospect of hooking up with a talented lady, and takes off. Becca looks through Death’s book and reads that she is bound for Hell, and uses the opportunity to flee. 

Over the next few months Becca finds herself haunting mirrors, where adolescent men summon her by repeating her name. However, urban legend icon Bloody Mary takes umbrage at Becca infringing on her turf. Bloody Mary’s anger is short lived as Becca Boo is able to charm and bed her. As the two undead ladies become acquainted with each other, a knock as the door announces someone sinister has arrived for Becca. 

The ending of issue one put Becca Boo in a narrative crossroad. The story of Becca Boo could have continued with the idea of Becca not actually being dead, but maintaining her insistence that she is a ghost, and interacting with the world accordingly. The second option is to have Becca become a ghost and influencing the living world in comedic ways, going the route of movies such as Beetlejuice (1988), Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey (1991), and Frighteners (1996). The former would have been much more challenging to write but it would have kept the comic exploring an iteration of ghost-comedy that is not often done. The latter is the safer and easier option, so it is understandable that the writers of Becca Boo decided to go the route of making Becca a ghost. 

Issue two of Becca Boo maintains the comedic tone of issue one with some fun delighters. Becca Boo dips into parody territory by having a Ringu-esque Bloody Mary, covered in blood and tattered clothing, becoming an erotic apparition. Becco purrs to Mary “You know what happens when you change a few ingredients in a Bloody Mary? You get a cosmopolitan.” She is technically not wrong, (take out everything but the vodka and replace with cranberry juice, Cointreau, and lime juice), she just has a different grasp on what “few” means. But in a strange, Becca Boo sort of way, there is some insight to be had in her proverb. 

The cast of characters in the second issue is broadened with the introduction of Bloody Mary and Death, providing Becca more opportunities to interact with others, be them living, dead, or undead, providing more venues for comedic dialogue and situations.

The art maintains the same consistency as with issue one, with all the characters looking fleshed out and detailed. The majority of issue two takes place indoors, but attention has been paid to make sure the rooms, walls, et al. look interesting and not generic. Where a time-pressed artist would simply have an empty wall to save time, Bloody Mary’s flat is adorned with weird-circular art pieces (gold records?) and plants. Unlike issue one, issue two of Becca Boo only contains one scene of sexual intercourse, but it is stretched longer over more panels, adding an underscored element of intimacy between Becca and Bloody Mary.

As with issue one, issue two of Becca Boo was a crowdfunded endeavor. The campaign met almost all the stretch goals of cards, magnets, etc., but the publisher, Obscura, failed to include the bonus items with my pledge, so I unfortunately cannot comment on them as I typically do with these indie comic reviews. Fun comic, but terrible fulfillment, which is waved away under the risks of pledging to a Kickstarter, and that these items are simply “extras.”

Disappointing fulfillment aside, the product proper of Becca Boo is what matters. Becca Boo continues to be fun and sexually playful. Despite Death’s notes indicating she has lived a “vapid..drunk..driven by libido” life, Becca’s heart is in the right place, giving readers a worthwhile character to latch onto and worry about what will happen to her as she negotiates the afterlife looking for redemption. 

More information on Becca Boo can be found at the following websites:

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Essays

Your Mountain Is Waiting: Review Of Zeena’s Transcend Album

In 2023 multimedia and multidiscipinary artist Zeena unveiled her newest musical endeavor, Transcend, at the Movement of the Triangle series exhibit at the Snow Gallery in New York City. Though the exhibit took place last June, Zeena’s music was preserved as a digital-only album published via Bandcamp.

In the 80s and early 90s Zeena made gothic and death rock music while part of Radio Werewolf. Years later she would begin releasing her own music while exploring different genres. In 2020 Zeena realized her debut solo endeavor, Bring Me The Head Of F. W. Murnau, which was part silent film score, a hint of experimental-industrial, and a large dose of field recordings. Concurrently, Zeena explored a spiritual angle through her music, which listeners got to preview with her live performance of “Sethian Dream Oracle” that was released on the John Murphy tribute compilation All My Sins Remembered in 2016. Transcend can be thought of as the next canonical entry in Zeena’s spiritual music output.

Transcend balances two genres – new age and ambient – though neither in an expected fashion. Ambient music, in the Cryo Chamber vein, can conjure up images of deep space, forgotten cities, desolate alien landscapes, and so on, with an emphasis on droning and emptiness. It can certainly be a lonely genre. Transcend has some of these aspects of “alone-ness” yet it is hardly lonely. The album places an emphasis on the self, but acts as a companion in the process – a guide. The listener’s journey with Transcend may be as an individual, but the album provides a presence, ensuring the listener is not by themselves. Transcend also invites internal exploration, which is the opposite of other ambient varieties that prompt external exploration.

Transcend contains three tracks: “Ascent,” “Parting Clouds,” and “Gone Beyond.” The track list may be small but the runtime is substantial, coming in at over fifty minutes of music. If one takes the names of the three titles along with the album name, visuals of climbing a mountain are conjured up. Going a step further and bringing in an element of a silent film score (as Zeena had done with the aforementioned Bring Me The Head Of F. W. Murnau), transforms the listening experience into an aural version of a bergfilm. Transcend is a three act mountain film without the visuals, yet rife with both movement yet contemplation, depicting the overcoming of obstances, be them physical or psychic. 

Act one, “Ascent,” is the initial mountain climb. The ambiance has a calming “awww” to it, but slowly as the song progresses, a breathing pattern begins to emerge, before becoming dominate over halfway through the song. The song’s breathing has two functions: to invite the listener to partake in breathing exercises, but also to convey the sense of exertion as one climbs the album’s metaphorical mountain. 

Act two, “Parting Clouds,” is the resting song. The listener is sitting on an outcropping, seeing the land through wispy clouds, taking in the imagery and a respite on their journey. There is the simile of a string instrument that flutters in the song, adding an essence of alpine folk. The final act, “Gone Beyond,” is a mirror of “Ascent,” with the heavy breathing surfacing again like a train starting to gain momentum. Though the song is the album’s last, it is the next step in the listener’s journey as they resume their quest up the mountain, into the sky, and beyond. 

The cover art of Transcend is a part of a larger piece titled Ladders that was created by Zeena. The imagery of the ladders, of course, invokes the feeling of going “up,” which ties into the theme of the album. However, the shadow play of the ladders, that they all appear to be going in different directions, with one even bent, generates a German Expressionist cinema vibe to the piece (Cabinet of Dr. Caligari-esque). Such evocations can be found a-plenty in Zeena’s prior album, Bring Me The Head of F. W. Murnau, which also tie into the bergfilm vibes of the album as well.

In Oh, the Places You’ll Go! Dr. Seuss quips “You’re off to great places, today is your day! Your mountain is waiting, so get on your way!” Though the passage is whimiscal, its text is certainly appropriate for Zeena’s Transcend. There is a concept to conquer, be it a literal or metaphoric mountain – or something else, for the betterment of the self. Transcend is the soundtrack for that journey, with a great place (spiritually, mentally, or something else), waiting at the summit. 

If you want to learn more about Transcend or the other music works of Zeena check out the links below.

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Essays Peplum

Peplum Ponderings: Vulcan, Son of Jupiter (1962)

Plot

On Mount Olympus, Jupiter (Furio Meniconi) is irate at the current state of affairs of his children and other gods disobeying and doing their own things. Of specific concern is the goddess Venus (Annie Gorassini) who is absconding to Earth and using her beauty and charms to seduce the men who catch her attention. Jupiter and his wife Juno (Edda Ferronao) come to the conclusion that the only way to tame Venus is to have her married to a husband that can control her. Two suitors come to mind: Mars, the god of war (Roger Browne) and Vulcan, the god of fire (Iloosh Khoshabe).

While working in his forge, Vulcan is baited into a brawl with Mars. Jupiter intervenes and punishes them both. Mars has had enough of his controlling dad, so he and Venus escape to Earth with the help of Pluto (Gordon Mitchell) where they ally themselves with Milos, king of the Thracians (Omero Gargano). Mars proposes to Milos a plan to construct a giant tower to Mount Olympus where they can then invade and overthrow Jupiter.

Mars, Venus, and Milos discuss the tower.

Vulcan, in pursuit of the wayward duo, is stabbed by Pluto and left for dead on a beach on Earth. His unconscious body is happened upon by Aetna (Bella Cortez) and her siren companions, collectively known as the Daughters of Neptune. They pluck up Vulcan with the intent to take care of him, but their quest to do a good deed is short lived as they are all captured by lizard men and imprisoned. The daughters hatch an escape plan that involves having fellow prisoner Geo (Salvatore Furnari), use his short-stature to hide in a basket, and is carried out to the sea and dumped into the water. Geo plays a conch that was given to him by the Daughters which summons a Triton who takes him to Neptune (Amedeo Trilli) who is briefed on the situation.

Vulcan captured by the Lizard people.

Geo, with the aide of the Tritons, break back into the prison and free Vulcan and the Daughters of Neptune. Vulcan and Aetna make their way to Neptune’s underwater kingdom where Aetna does a belly dance for Vulcan. However her routine is interrupted by Mercury (Isarco Ravaioli) who arrives with the news of Mars’ plan to overthrow Jupiter. Concurrently, Milos’ soldiers capture all the now-freed prisoners and put them to work on Jupiter’s tower construction project.

Vulcan returns to land in order to stop Mars and forces Geo to guide him to Milos’ camp. Aetna, who is in love with Vulcan, wishes to accompany him, but Vulcan rebuffs so she follows the duo in secret. On her trek she is ambushed by a group of cavemen but is rescued by Vulcan and Geo. Together all three travel to Milos’ camp. En route, Aetna calls out Vulcan’s negative treatment of her, and Vulcan confesses he no longer yearns for Venus. The two embrace. 

While scouting Milos’ camp, Aetna is captured by soldiers. Venus makes overt her jealousy of Aetna. Aetna is tortured and tied to a stake where she is to be executed by a wheeled contraption that has spears protruding forth. However, Vulcan and Geo are able to free the enslaved prisoners and they all attack Milos’ camp. Venus uses a whip to lash at a freed Aetna, but Aetna gets the upper hand, steals her whip and attacks back. Milos is killed by a spear through the heart by one of the prisoners. Vulcan and Mars finally face off against each other, with Vulcan wielding a giant club. As he is about to slay Mars, Jupiter intervenes: he forces Mars and Venus back to Olympus to be punished while Vulcan must stay on Earth with Aetna as long as he sees fit. 

Victory over Mars and Milos’ men.

Commentary

Vulcan, Son of Jupiter is a 1962, classic Italian peplum, directed by Emimmo Salvi, who had prior written numerous sword and sandal and costume flicks, such as Goliath and the Barbarians (1959), David and Goliath (1960), The Seven Revenges (1961), and The Giant of Metropolis (1961). The movie showcases many classic sword and sandal tropes such as leaning heavily into both mythology and Antiquity (making it akin to films such as Jason and the Argonauts [1963]), featuring a Hercules-style protagonist, and having not one, but two prisoner/slave revolts sequences. What makes Vulcan, Son of Jupiter stand out in the peplum canon are its archetypal characters and how different they are portrayed, especially the two female characters of Venus and Aetna.

Vulcan, the titular hero of the film, is also the primary strongman character, acting as the movie’s Hercules/Maciste/Ursus/etc. At the beginning of the film Vulcan is shown visually muscular, but not particularly powerful. The spar he has in his forge with Mars depicts both gods on equal footing. When imprisoned, Vulcan is chained and has his arms secured to a horizontal pole. While other strongmen characters would be able to use their strength to break their bonds, Vulcan is much to weak after being easily being dispatched by Pluto to do so. It is only in the final latter half that Vulcan becomes a true strongman character by battling the cavemen with his fists, breaking the chains of Milos’ prisoners, and wielding a large club while fighting Mars.

Vulcan battles Mars with a club.

While Vulcan may be the hero, he is not particularly likable, a trait he has in common with the other deities of the film. To Geo and Aetna is is especially mean spirited. Regarding Geo, Vulcan laughs at him when he is unable to mount a horse, he carries him like a handbag, and is dismissive of his guiding abilities. To Aetna he treats her with indifference, which he is eventually called out on by Aetna whom he does not even apologize to. When Aetna is being attacked by the cavemen, it is Geo who leads the rescue attempt, not Vulcan. 

Venus gazes into a mirror and at the audience.

Vulcan, Son of Jupiter tries hard to make the goddess Venus a villain and attempts to do so by relying on film noir archetypes by portraying her as a femme fatale. Venus is a seductress of men: she wants their adoration which gives her control over them. This is the extent of her goals though, she does not display any desires beyond having a man’s undivided attention and affection. This is in stark contrast to other peplum vamp characters, such as Princess Nellifer (Joan Collins) in Land of the Pharaohs (1955) who uses her skills to seduce Pharaoh Khufu (Jack Hawkins) for the specific goal to acquire his treasure. 

Bare back “nudity” on Venus.

Viewed with progressive eyes Venus is not so villainous. She is a liberated woman and she can have sexual relations with whomever she wants for whatever reasons she wants. This attitude, of course, is in opposition of traditional expectations of women during the period, which is why her parents Jupiter and Juno seek to control her by marrying her off. This would effectively neutralize what agency Venus has. 

All the other gods in the film, save Neptune, are portrayed as immature, childish, spoiled, and petulant. Just like real mythological gods! Jupiter attempts to stay in control of everyone, but comes off as ineffectual, narcissistic, and foolish. Neptune is the only deity not portrayed in this fashion, but this is because he is by himself in his undersea world. He does come across as rather addled though. In totality, all the gods and goddesses are depicted in a not-so-serious fashion, which adds a cartoonish element to the film.

Geo scouting to Milos’ camp.

Turning to the humans of the film, Geo is the comic relief character, comparable to Telemachus (Franco Giacobini) fromHercules in the Haunted World (1961). As a little person, Geo is involved in most the of physical gags of the film. Sometimes he is the recipient, such as when Vulcan carries him like a handbag. Other times he is the instigator, such as when he spits waters in the face of Neptune after being resuscitated, and when he makes onomatopoeia noises when clubbing foes when they are down. Aside from the last few seconds of the film when he runs off after Jupiter thunders his proclamations, Geo displays quite a bit of character development, going from cowardly to not. When first introduced he is afraid and wants to be left alone instead of helping the Daughters of Neptune. He opposes being the guide for Vulcan to Milos’ camp and is forced into the role. However by the movie’s end, Geo is involved in two instances of physical combat (once against the cavemen and the other against Milos’ soldiers), and even has a heroic instance of sneaking into Milos’ prison camp disguised as a bush.

Aetna at a pond before being captured by Milos’ soldiers.

Aetna is the love interest of Vulcan, the femme fragile to Venus’ femme fatale. Compared to other women characters of sword and sandal cinema, Aetna has a surprisingly amount of agency. She may get captured twice in the film, but she rises about the typical damsel: she and the other Daughters of Neptune rescue Vulcan, they plan the escape attempt from the prison, she goes on the adventure with Vulcan and Geo, and at the end of the film, she fights Venus, lashing at her with a whip. Aetna delivers on the kitten-with-a-whip action that was only promised, but not delivered, by the poster art of The Revolt of the Slaves (1960) which depicts Rhonda Fleming brandishing a whip while destruction surrounds her.

Aetna’s belly dance sequence as Vulcan looks on.

Though Venus is the seductress in Vulcan, Son of Jupiter, the film focuses on sexualizing Aetna. Aetna delivers the prerequisite belly dance sequence and numerous times the film focuses on her buxomness (especially noticeable in both the belly dance and when she is jogging after Vulcan and Geo who are on horseback). This specific body emphasis pushes Aetna’s actress, Bella Cortez, into the realm of the maggiorata fisica, placing her in the same camp as Sophia Loren, Gina Lollobrigida, and Anita Ekberg. 

Vulcan, Son of Jupiter is a fun sword and sandal film. Vulcan may not be the most effective strongman character when compared to others (Hercules et. al.), but by the film’s end the character is performing in a spectacular fashion, swinging clubs and leading revolts. It is interesting to see the gods portrayed so immature, but that adds an extra lighthearted touch to the film. It is the women characters of Venus and Aetna who are the most stand out due to their subversive and progressive portrayals. Neither character is one dimensional, they bring an extra layer of nuance to what normally would have been a run-of-the-mill peplum. 

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The Codex of Cool: Interviews with Retroists in Vilioti Vintage

What is neo-vintage?

With a show-not-tell approach, this is the question that Jimmy Vargas and Lady Medusa’s book, Vilioti Vintage (2022), seeks to answer via interviews with twenty luminaries from the retro and vintage scenes. Per Vargas’ introduction, Vilioti Vintage is not a retrospective but instead a look to the contemporaries of vintage who seek to recreate it through different means. In its representation of neo-vintage, Vilioti Vintage casts a wide net, not just across occupations (artists, designers, musicians, photographers, pinups, publishers, et al.) but geographically (United States, Australia, England, Germany, Indonesia, and others), for its featured subjects. The end result is a resource that hits upon all the different avenues regardless of approach to the neo-vintage subculture.

The interviews begin with Scotty Morris, lead vocalist for American swing revival band Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. Morris shares his thoughts about some of the songs in the BBVD canon and talks about the importance of the movie Swingers(1996) in catapulting them (and by extension the retro scene) into greater visibility. However, with nearly three decades of being part of the music-business, it feels like Morris is reserved, or rehearsed in his answers. 

The second interview is with Vegas-based burlesque performer Hazel Honeysuckle who is overt in naming her sources of inspiration. She is much more candid than Morris, talking in depth about her origins and even relating some fun anecdotes, such as when she was a guest on the Netflix series House of Cards (2013-2018).

Tom Ingram, the creator of the Viva Las Vegas festival, holds no punches and brings a candidness to his interview. While other interviewees in Vilioti Vintage name drop the folks who inspire them, Ingram takes the opposite approach of speaking about dubious business partners and other obstacles he has faced over the years. He comes across as weathered and weary of the corporate aspect of running an iconic festival, but he has definitely seen it all and exhibits his learned wisdom. 

Filmmaker Chris Magee, who takes on a John Peel-esque role of presenting Americana music on his Bopflix YouTube channel, is not afraid to speak his mind on political issues. While folks in the retro and pinup scenes espouse mottos such as “vintage aesthetics not vintage values,” Magee follows through with these promises, illustrated when he talks about his drawing the line in the sand and saying a firm “no” to displaying confederate flags in music videos.

The fifth interview is with Jason Croft, founder of Bachelor Pad magazine. Croft’s observations of the retro revival happening during the 90s coincides with Morris’ recollections in one of the many displays of networkedness showcased in Vilioti Vintage. Croft’s answers come across with extreme enthusiasm and really dives into the history of Bachelor Pad. Though Vilioti Vintage mostly focuses on the noir to atomic age of vintage and retroism, Croft’s description of running a cheesecake website during the halcyon web 1.0 days adds a small element of vaporwave retroism to the book.

Croft’s interview is followed by artist Nathalie Rattner who talks in great detail about the technical aspects of creating pinup art. An interesting aspect about Rattner’s interview is her embracement of the corporatization of vintage. While Vilioti Vintage seems to take the angle that businesses swoop in on the newest trend, capitalize and cannibalize it, then move onto the next thing, (a sentiment certainly echoed with other interviewees in the publication), Rattner speaks freely of her art appearing on merchandise and advertisements and the associated boon it brings.

The next interview is with Don Spiro of Zelda Magazine, who brings in a contrasting perspective to the world of publishing when compare to Croft. While Croft’s rag seems on the up and up, Spiro talks of the death of his business partner, having to scale back Zelda to an annual publication, and how demand for his portrait work has dwindled due to the shift in models using selfies for self promotion instead of commissioning a professional. 

Rockabilly musician Wes Pudsey, who has performed at Ingram’s Viva Las Vegas, brings in an Australian perspective of Americana, relating fun stories of being on tour, such as when his vehicle got stuck in a low clearance situation while in Germany. 

Ken Holewczynski, publisher of Exotica Moderne and owner of House of Tabu, brings perhaps the most offbeat perspective to Vilioti Vintage. While other interviewees speak of events in their youth that set them on their retroist path, Holewczynski is fairly new to the scene having only gotten into tiki culture a few years ago. His past is with comics and industrial music, which do not tint his glasses when assessing tiki culture. It is probably this idiosyncratic background which has allowed Holewczynski to flourish and publish a high quality magazine and create desirable tiki mugs and glassware where others have faltered.

Italian burlesque star Albadoro Gala brings a continental touch with her philosophical answers. Gala has the most memorable yarn in Vilioti Vintage when she relates the tale of how she got her namesake when a crazy old lady attacked her with a knife. 

Ralph Braband, owner of Rhythm Bomb Records in Germany, echoes similar sentiments of Spiro in the difficulties of running a business, starting with great highs but dealing with current world woes. He offers realist answers of how his music business has weathered Covid-19 and the actions he had to take to do so.

Hairstylist Tom Vacher offers up an amusing story from his youth of getting to the car of two strangers – a couple who were into vintage clothing and driving an old school car. He was smitten immediately with their vintage lifestyle. He follows this up with stories of operating in the hair business in both the UK and in Australia.

Marcella of the Puppini Sisters has the most bubbly interview of the lot. Like Morris, she has experienced the whirlwind of a major record label swooping in on her music and then whooshing out. Though her and her singing partners, Kate and Emma, look the pinup part with their old school aesthetic with a modern twist, Marcella is adamant that they are musicians first while style comes second.

After Marcella’s interview, Vilioti Vintage loses a bit of its steam with the next handful of interviews of Harry and Edna (radio hosts from the UK), Maryann Lant (a European rockabilly musician), Aldi_ Hydrant (Indonesian clothing designer), and Tamara Mascara (drag queen) being on generic side. The answers in these interviews are short, and lack many of the personal details that prior subjects exhibited. The folks are interesting none-the-less and offer nuggets of wisdom and insight into their craft, their responses are simply not up to the caliber of prior interviews.

Vilioti Vintage regains its footing with Beck Rustic’s interview. Rustic is the owner of the Swelltune record label in the UK. He dives into an amusing story of how his label was accidentally started when he wanted to print a commemorative vinyl of the festival he hosts only to pounced upon by music acts to become involved. He gives candid responses on the impact of social media and streaming on the music business. 

Australian burlesque artist Porcelain Alice showcases the most inspiration in her interview to readers. She offers approachable advice for those who want to get into the business: there’s no qualifications required! One doesn’t need to know how to dance and there is no gatekeeper stopping someone from trying. For outsiders looking in at the retro world who might feel intimidated, Alice helps breaks those intimidating barriers down.

Vilioti Vintage ends with an interview with Natty Adams, an author and clothing designer based in New Orleans. Adams offers detailed and thoughtful answers into how he got started in his line of work and how he taps into a plethora ofhistoric eras for inspiration.

To compliment the subject matter, Vilioti Vintage bookends each interview with a series of high quality photos depicting their interviewees in their most fashionable or glamorous style. With each interview running around ten pages and the book in its entirety clocking in at around one-hundred and eighty pages, Vilioti Vintage aims for both quality and quantity. The end product of Vilioti Vintage looks to carry the torch brought about by the RE/Search publication Swing!: The New Retro Renaissance (1998) (the shout out to RE/Search in Vargas’ acknowledgments lends credibility that this was a desired outcome).

Taking the book as a whole, there is definitely reoccurring themes and observations from each interview which reinforces a complimentary nature. The interviews were conducted during the Covid-19 pandemic, so many subjects address how they operated during the dark times. There’s a philosophy to look to the past in order to deal with modern problems, and Vilioti Vintage, be it by happenstance or by design, reinforces this notion; that there is value to bring forth elements of the past and merge it with the present to create something new that lies in the realm between utility and homage. Vilioti Vintage is an invaluable resource for both appreciating and understanding the neo-vintage subculture.

More info about Vilioti Vintage can be found at its product page at The Lady Medusa & Vilioti Press website.

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Essays

Putting the “Boo!” into…: Becca Boo: The Bimbo Ghost Issue One

Late into the night an inebriated Becca wanders into the local cemetery. After flirting with a statue, she falls backwards into an open grave and passes out. Upon waking up the next morning and seeing herself in the grave, Becca arrives at the logical conclusion: she has died and became a ghost. Feeling a sense of purpose to complete some unfinished business, Becca deduces she can put her sexual prowess to use and “sleep her way into heaven.” 

Blonde, beautiful, and sporting a set of bangs that puts many anime characters to shame, Becca recalls the ditzy, airhead trope found in the likes of Three’s Company, Clueless, and Romey and Michele’s High School Reunion. Depicting such characters can be a challenge: are the readers laughing at Becca or laughing with her? Is the comic mean-“spirited” (pun intended) or not? 

On one hand, there is a sequence where Becca is sitting on a bench next to a handsome stranger who, depending on interpretation, takes advantage of Becca’s lack of common sense in order to bed her. While the scene becomes the catalyst for Becca’s plan to use her sexual attributes to get into heaven, the circumstance pushes Becca into one-dimensional territory, marking her as easily manipulated. The story progresses at her expense.

On the other hand, Becca Boo is extremely self-aware with both the titular character and the narrative itself, giving readers winks and nudges in a playful way. Right before Becca makes love to her ex-girlfriend Nadja, Becca seizes an opportunity to re-create the famous pottery scene from the 1990 film Ghost. She even calls out “I’m ‘Ghosting’ you” while embracing a confused former lover. The scene is extremely funny and shows that the comedy comes from Becca, that she is the one directing it, and it is not directed at her. 

Becca Boo: The Bimbo Ghost is created by Sun Khamunaki who is probably best known for her articulate and detailed cheesecake comic covers done for publishers like Zenescope. Though created by Khamunaki, the story proper is written by Garth Matthams (The Living Finger from Darby Pop [a fantastic publisher]) who maintains the lighthearted tone and writes Becca with her heart in the right place. 

Khamunaki’s body of pinup-esque art sets a high bar for quality to be followed in the pages of Becca Boo and artist Kenan Halilovic and colourist Anna Jarmolowska certainly succeed. There are not many characters featured in Becca Boo, and because of this, lots of panels are devoted to really fleshing out how the characters are depicted. The little details of Nadja’s tattoos to Becca’s facial expressions that really sell her mannerisms greatly elevate the comic. Another important detail of Becca Boo are the colours which are both bright and light. White and blue dominates the palette on the pages, which both radiate a warm, sunny feeling yet at the same time gives the comic an ethereal quality, which of course, goes hand-in-hand with showing a ghost/“ghost” character. 

Issue one of Becca Boo is a short affair, clocking in at only twenty pages. However there is an extensive gallery of pinup covers that depict Becca in a variety of styles, from cartoonish to superhero-ish. The debut of Becca Boo: The Bimbo Ghost was realized via a Kickstarter campaign in early 2023. As with many Kickstarted comics there was a lot of supplemental loot and stretch goals to be had.

Firstly there is a series of seven trading cards, each one adorned with a different cover art used for issue one. 

There is also a two-sided bookmark and a sticker.

And a thick-paper print of the Khamunaki cover of Becca in white stockings. 

An option of some of the comics was to have Khamunaki and Matthams sign copies and have a corresponding certificate of authenticity accompany them.

Becca Boo is sexy and lighthearted. The premise has lots of wiggle room to take the character in different directions, hopefully developing her even more during her ghostly journey. 

A Kickstarter campaign to fund the second issue of Becca Boo is currently going on. The campaign can be found here.

For more information about Becca Boo, check out these resources:

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Essays

Hyper[Sex]Drive: Alicia Carter and Robot Issue 02

Intergalactic thief extraordinaire Alicia Carter and her robot companion GDU-3 have just fled Junk World in a stolen space freighter belonging to reptilian bounty hunter Klaven. Klaven, none-too-happy to be stranded on a world of refuse along with his fellow hunters Kira and Arms, sends an SOS to his brother Vardak for rescue. Vardak is more than interested to help Klaven, for a price of course: a percentage of the bounty on Carter and the value of a crystal she has stolen. Meanwhile the freighter Carter is piloting beings to break down, experiencing issues with both the gravity and the hyperdrive. Carter and GDU-3 set about fixing the ship, with things getting quite personal in the close quarters. 

Shikarii Cover for Issue #2.

Issue two of Alicia Carter and Robot (ACaR) picks up right after issue one with the duo having fled their bounty hunting pursuers. The minor amnesia subplot present in ACaR #1 is thankfully nowhere to be found, allowing issue two to better align its focus on true character development of Carter and GDU-3 as they bond. GDU-3, after encountering robot space leeches, expresses fear, something not really explored with robot characters. Carter’s backstory gets expanded upon as well, revealing she has partaken in sapphic rendezvous, specifically with the main antagonist’s wife. 

The pulp elements hinted at in issue one of ACaR also appear to be dropped. Instead, the story embraces a more Cowboy Bebop approach regarding spacefaring adventuring. However, if there is a word to describe the tone of issue two of ACaRit is “horny.” The first half of the issue sees the narrative push Carter and GDU-3 as close to having sex as possible without actually having sex or showing nudity. The cramped access ducts of the space freighter force the two to straddle each other. GDU-3 sends some of his tendrils to fix various apparati of the ship and in the process rubs/vibrates against Carter’s labia majora that protrudes through her suit.

Is GDU-3 an innocent robot who is merely trying to fix the ship who is accidentally getting Carter all steamed up? The bend in his tendril suggests otherwise. Coinciding with the in-panel suggestive antics are innuendos galore as repairing the ship allows for many out of context verbal opportunities such as “I can barely reach the shaft,” “it’s getting harder,” and “Ah yes! It’s in!”

The sequences do give the scifi-adventure story overtones of 80s sex comedies, but at the same time does challenge the relationship between the two. Will Carter and GDU-3 remain platonic partners on the run from other criminals and assassins? Develop a true friendship? Or perhaps a more intimate relationship? (Some of the alternate covers for issues one and two definitely hint at the latter)

Story-wise, author Tristan Vick devotes issue two to characters, not just Carter and the robot, but introducing new characters and adversaries as well. The stakes are increasing against Carter which sets up the dominos for even more action in subsequent issues while in the process having the characters become even more interconnected as they not only pursue Carter, but some pursue each other (such as Kira and Vardak).

Chris Awayan and Mirza Wirawan both return to issue two on art and colours respectively. The images of space proper, instead of being void and black, are instead popping with colour and activity. The artistic depiction of Carter, though it retains an emphasis on showcasing her bust and bottom, still portrays her in a warm fashion. Carter is a thief, a Han Solo-esque character, yet her facial expressions depict her with a girl next door quality.

As with issue one, issue two of ACaR enjoys a bounty of Kickstarter loot (that is if one contributed to the campaign). The art print done by the Xong Bros. showcases Carter and GDU-3 in a manga style. Carter sitting atop of her robot companion is reminiscent of some of the Masamune Shirow/Ghost in the Shell covers.

The swimsuit print done by Rocha is fun and flirty. 

And there are trading cards, fridge magnets, and stickers of the characters done in a chibi style.

As with many Kickstarted comics, there are numerous alternative covers for issue two, with Shikarii’s version depicting the bounty hunter Kira (shown at the beginning of this review and in the fridge magnet above) being the most standout. Shikarii has an iconic hyper-realistic style that is always a pleasure to see.

ACaR issue two plays more naughty than nice in its narrative, but it scratches the itch to see Carter and GDU-3 taking the next step in their galactic adventure as thieves on the run. It is both playful and fun to see the two characters interact (sexual overtones or not) as they are both extremely likable. The art and colouring are also well done, with an emphasis on vibrant purples and pinks that pop on the page. 

If you’ve enjoyed this review consider backing the Kickstarter campaign for issue three of Alicia Carter. The campaign ends on November 18th. Also, consider checking out my review of issue one of Alicia Carter.

More information about Alicia Carter and Robot and the team behind it can be found at the following locations:

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Essays

Claws From the Bulkhead Walls: Deep Space Horror in Ness Brown’s The Scourge Between Stars

Somewhere between the solar system and Proxima b the generation ship Calypso slowly limps back to Earth after failing to colonize an extrasolar planet. Carrying what may be the last of the human race, the Calypso is besieged by mechanical problems and caught in the crossfire between two unseen galactic forces. The ship’s problems are further compounded when a handful of xenomorphic stowaways make their presence known. The only person keeping everyone’s shit together (including their own) is Jacklyn Albright, who steps up to lead the Calypso against all odds when her father, the captain, falters.

And thus the premise of The Scourge Between Stars, the debut space horror novella by Ness Brown and published by Tor’s Nightfire imprint in the spring of 2023. Borrowing the stalking xenomorph from Alien, the decaying ship from Dark Star, and the uniformed humans who occupy a variety of functions a’la Star Trek, The Scourge Between Stars feels familiar, but Brown, whose professional background is astrophysics, keeps the narrative fresh, grounded, and throws in their own unique genre vision.

There’s no FTL in The Scourge Between Stars, which adds to a sense of futility and hopelessness to the story. If the Calypso will not make it back to Earth for hundreds of years, why bother? Main protag Jacklyn keeps the fire of hope burning despite all odds, and oh boy, are the odds against her, the crew, and the ship. Jacklyn is excessively critical of herself, comparing herself negatively to her father who, despite apparently having once been a great captain and leader, has sequestered himself in his quarter, forcing his daughter and crew to face the hardships on their own. 

Yet, Jacklyn is extremely resolute, and this is demonstrated through all her relationships – be them platonic, professional, or romantic. Jacklyn puts everyone before herself, which overtime does take its toll on her. She is carrying a burden and Brown excels at depicting Jacklyn overcoming all the ordeals she is faced with by using her leadership and trusting others to do their roles. 

These are the more action-oriented elements of The Scourge Between Stars. Jacklyn and her crew are also being hunted by xenomorphs that have made themselves hidden in the ship’s supplies, only surfacing now to lay eggs and stalk the Calypso crew. They bang inside the walls, dismember alone crew members, attack from the darkness, and even have a few unexpected tricks up their sleeve. Jacklyn and her crew take a competent approach to handle the alien menace, going ship section by ship section, locking down areas and trying to contain the aliens. Try as they might, things inevitably go awry, and the book has no shortage of alien attacks.

If there is a fault with The Scourge Between Stars is that the ending does feel rushed and resolved in a too tidy of package. Aside from this, The Scourge Between Stars expertly alternates between action and horror, finely maintaining an atmosphere of hopelessness and hope. Jacklyn is an excellent character, sympathetic and admirable, a model of a person acting against all odds. As a story proper, The Scourge Between Stars leverages the tropes that make space horror a fun genre to indulge in, but there is a unique authorial stamp from Ness that distinguishes the story from other space horror texts.

For more information about Ness Brown’s The Scourge Between Stars, check out our H. P. Lovecast Podcast interview with them:

HPLCP Transmissions – Ep 25 – Ness Brown – Scourge Between Stars – H. P. Lovecast Podcast

For more information check out the following links:

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Essays

Traveling First Class: The Sensual World of Black Emanuelle Boxset

Roughly fifteen years ago Severin Films gave rejuvenated life to a handful of Black Emanuelle titles, Italian derivatives of the French Emmanuelle films. Staring Laura Gemser, the Black Emanuelle films took on a distinct identity of their own while at the same time flirting with other popular Italo-genres of the period: mondo, cannibal, women in prison, etc.

Severin only scratched the Black Emanuelle surface back in the latter august, with other DVD companies such as Blue Underground, Full Moon, Mya, and Shriek Show, published Black Emanuelle titles they had rights to. It was a scattered canon of releases with some titles and alternate versions remaining unreleased in digital format.

Fast forward to 2023 and Severin Films returns to the erotic world of Black Emanuelle with an epic fifteen disc boxset of Black Emanuelle Blu-rays and soundtracks. As in typical Severin fashion, the Black Emanuelle boxset came in a variety of bundles. This article is an unboxing of The Around the World bundle along with a comparison and remembrance of prior Black Emanuelle releases from other publishers.

Like the Severin release of All Haunts Be Ours, Black Emanuelle came in a large box, only cube-shaped instead of pizza box-shaped.

Bonus Spunky cat checking things out.

Packed with lots of popcorn, obscuring the contents within. 

First up is the Severin Airlines bag. The type face and red-orange-yellow colours evoke the 70s for sure. The sun has a bit of a broken sun vibe typically found in synthwave artwork. The bag is the perfect size to fit all the Black Emanuelle swag within.

It even has zippers of the iconic Severin Films logo.

A reproduction necklace from Black Emanuelle.

The insert shows a picture of Laura Gemser in one of her poses from the photoshoot scene in the film.

A reproduction Polaroid.

A passport that look quite convincing that had a Severin Films logo sticker and a sticker that references Violence in a Women’s Prison. 

A comparison of the Emanuelle passport to a real, present day one.

The passport reproduction gets even more detailed with identifying information.

To compliment the passport, there are three sheets of stickers that can be put inside the passport as visas.

Each sticker set is grouped by film. 

Gemser was truly a globetrotting reporter with all these sticker-visas!

The next big ticket item is the board game, Around the World with Black Emanuelle. This will be opened at a later date.

A recreation pen from the Hotel Siam in Bangkok. It looks like a white Mont Blanc.

And finally, the treasure itself, the boxset proper. The outer boxset is sturdy cardboard and has, on the side, a scroll wheel that changes the photo displayed inside Gemser’s camera when turned.

Before going further, the two original Black Emanuelle boxsets Severin published back in the 2000s need to be highlighted. These boxes were locked with velcro and when opened showed a nude Gemser. Each boxset had three films. 

Inside the Black Emanuelle boxset is a small, but thick book titled The Black Emanuelle Bible, edited by Kier-La Janisse who has done wonder work on other Severin releases.

The blu-rays and CDs are packed in a folding booklet, with inserts for each disc.

Disc one contains the Black Emanuelle and Black Emanuelle 2. Paired here is the original Severin DVD release of Black Emanuelle 2 which did not feature Gemser. 

Disc two contains Emanuelle in Bangkok and Emanuelle in America. Here the boxset is paired with the original Severin edition of Emanuelle in Bangkok and the Blue Underground version of Emanuelle in America.

Disc three contains two extremely controversial Black Emanuelle films. Firstly there is Emanuelle and the Last Cannibalspaired with the Severin Blu-ray edition and the Shriek Show DVD version.

The other half of the disc has Emanuelle Around the World. Severin originally published this in two different DVD editions: a normal edition and a European XXX edition.

Skipping to disc five there is Emanuelle and the White Slave Trade pictured with the original Severin DVD and the Full Moon Blu-ray.

The other film on disc five is Sister Emmanuelle. The original Severin edition came in a boxset that contained postcards of the films’ posters.

Disc six has the sleazy Violence in a Women’s Prison, compared to the Severin Blu-ray edition.

Disc seven demonstrates the fluid naming conventions Italian genre films adhered to. This disc contains Emanuelle Black Velvet, paired with its Full Moon edition. Severin previously published this film under the Black Emanuelle White Emmanuelle moniker (two Ms!).

Disc nine has Divine Emanuelle, this one paired with its Shriek Show counterpart Divine Emanuelle: Love Cult.

And finally, as far as release comparisons go, disc element contains Laura Gesmer’s first film appearance, Amore Libero – Free Love. The defunct boutique label Mya originally published this film on DVD under The Real Emanuelle title.

Slated to be included in this boxset was an item called “Emanuelle’s Studio Magnetic Fashion Playset.” However that item seems to be held up by the manufacturer and will ship at a later date.

All in all this is a comprehensive boxset on all things Black Emanuelle. The ephemera really contextualizes the era these movies came out in and underscores the traveling and cosmopolitanism aspect aspects of them. A glorious and glamorous boxset that solidifies the Black Emanuelle legacy.

If you enjoyed this unboxing check out these related articles. Also, I still have a soft open on the Emmanuelle/Black Emanuelle CFP. If you have an essay idea, send it over! Details can be found here.

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Essays

In His Image: Supplemental Material to “Strange Realities”

In the final quarter of 2022, the edited collection The Many Lives of The Twilight Zone: Essays on the Television and Film Franchise, was published by McFarland. Edited by Kevin J. Wetmore Jr. and Ron Riekki, the book contains nineteen essays that take a variety of academic approaches to different Twilight Zone texts. One of those essays is mine, “Strange Realities: Twilight Zone-sploitation in Encounter with the Unknown.” 

In my essay, I compare and contrast the original run of The Twilight Zone with the 1972 anthology-horror film, Encounter with the Unknown, which uses Rod Serling’s narration and Twilight Zone visual cues to, more-or-less, rip off the legendary series. While I consider the essay exhaustive and complete, I feel it could benefit from an addendum. The final section of my essay, ‘Voices and Images,’ I bring up examples of how VHS releases of Encounter of the Unknown mimic iconic visual elements of The Twilight Zone. While these descriptions are as detailed as possible, I figured readers of the essay would benefit from supplemental material that contains pictures of these VHS releases. 

  • Blu-ray that uses the Encounter with the Unknown Poster.
  • Cover of the Interglobal release of Encounter.
  • Back of the Interglobal release.
  • Front of the VCI release.
  • Back of the VCI release.

If you haven’t read my essay and are curious, (or the entire book sounds intriguing), The Many Lives of The Twilight Zone can be purchased at McFarland and Amazon.