Category: Peplum

Category for all things peplum, neo-peplum, historic epic, toga and sandal, sword and sandal, sword and sorcery, sword and planet, and all genres in between.

Categories
Essays Peplum

Down Willcox Way: 2025 ECOF Recap

The Edgar Rice Burroughs Chain of Friendship (ECOF) Gathering is a periodic, small convention of sorts, hosted by a member of the Burroughs Bibliophiles in different cities across America. It is an event that allows Bibliophiles and the public to get together to celebrate the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs, purchase books and memorabilia in the “Huckster Room”, listen to presentations, have a banquet, bestow awards, or partake in a huge event, such as the 2023 ECOF in Palm Springs that centered on the unveiling of a star on the walk of fame in Palm Springs for Burroughs.

The 2025 ECOF was held in Willcox, Arizona over the weekend of September 26th through the 28th, and was hosted by Bibliophile Frank Puncer, who had hosted a 2019 Burroughs event also in Willcox. The 2025 ECOF’s primary focus was to celebrate Burroughs’ 150th birthday and commemorate his military service as part of the 7th U.S. Cavalry at the nearby Fort Grant. The ECOF proper was held at the Willcox Elks Club, with the main attraction, the unveiling of the Burroughs monument, occurring at the Willcox city hall, that once served as the town’s train station (the very same that Burroughs arrived at), that was just a short walk away.

Michele and I have been extremely excited to attend the 2025 ECOF. Having moved to Phoenix in 2020, we have been eager to do more road trips to explore the desert lands of Arizona and see more of the Old West. The trip southeast to Willcox promised adventure. We also knew of THE THING?, a tourist trap on I10 on the way to Willcox, and we love to play tourist. We were excited to finally meet Puncer in person, who I have been in correspondence with since moving to Arizona and who has been the most welcoming individual in the Burroughs Bibliophiles since I joined. I was also invited to give a presentation, an opportunity I jumped at. There is quite a bit of cross over between the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs and the peplum genre (my specialty), so I had been working on a talk about the sword and sandal elements of Burroughs’ book Tarzan and the Lost Empire.

With all of this in mind, Michele and I counted down the days that we could get a respite from work and go on a road trip and partake in a unique, momentous event. What follows is a recap of the 2025 ECOF along with multiple photo galleries of pictures I took to document the occasion. 

Thursday

We left Phoenix around 9:00 am Thursday morning, our mighty Fiat filled with our luggage, snacks, items to sell, and items to have autographed. The day started off bright and sunny with bagels in our tummies. As we got closer to Tucson, however, the horizon started to darken, with curtains of rain off in the distance. We stopped at a Pilot Express truck stop on S. Rita Rd. to get some Slushies, and we could start to see lightning and pillars of rain becoming more common. 

Desert landscape taken from a truck stop. The clouds are thick and grey, with occasional pockets of sun coming through. In the center is a pillar of rain coming down.
Curtains of rain in the not too far distance.

Shortly after getting back onto I10 our radio cut out with an emergency broadcast: warnings of heavy rain, flash flooding, and hail. And we were driving right into it.

Driving down I0. It's a near empty freeway that dips down and then back up a hill. Three cars far up the road. The entire sky is slate gray.
Ominous horizon.

Once the sky turned apocalyptic dark, the temperature dropped rapidly. Feeling the window on the door it was super cold. Lots of thunder in the distance, and then the sky broke with extremely heavy rain, huge globules battering the Fiat (lucky no hail). We had to pull off to the side of the freeway for a spell. We saw poor motorcyclists pull over to put on their raincoats. The rain would soon abate and stop by the time we reached Benson. For the rest of the day, however, the skyline would be perpetually dark with storm clouds and rain pillars.

When it became safe to drive and we were back on our way, the billboards along I10 decreasing stopped advertising lawyers and instead, more and more, began advertising, THE THING?.

Billboard along the desert freeway, surrounded by green shrubs. The billboard is yellow. It says "THE THING? Exit 332 Black Hills Gold". Also there is a Shell and Dairy Queen logo.
One of the many THE THING? signed on I10.

These yellow billboards were everywhere, sometimes one right after the other. With each one we passed we got increasingly excited about checking out what THE THING? was. We hyped it up for ourselves so much, it had to be amazing.

After driving through Texas Canyon, which is filled with eroded boulders and rockscapes that make it look like a planet from the original Star Trek series, we could see just down the freeway, THE THING?, beckoning to us.

The Thing?

Pulling off I10, the outside of THE THING? looks like a large Shell station with a Dairy Queen attached to it. An aside, southern Arizona takes their Dairy Queens seriously. We saw more roadside adverts for Dairy Queens than any other fast food burger chain.

Nondescript white building side with a pair of black glass double doors. Above it, in stylized font, it says "THE THING? Entrance". Michele stands below it, pointing at the sign in amazement.
Michele stand in front of the entrance to THE THING.

Walking inside THE THING?, to the right was a bustling Dairy Queen, and to the left, a huge gift shop. This shop was filled with snacks, postcards, shirts, local artist doodads, toys, necessities, jewelry, novelties, stickers, rocks, crystals, Dinosaur things, just everything. The store could probably be said to be 1/3 devoted to THE THING?, 1/3 devoted to general Arizona trinkets, and the rest to normal travel items. 

On the far back wall, a counter manned by a very disinterested youth, where it costs $5 a person or $10 for a family (reasonably priced!) was the door proper to THE THING?. Here is a slide show of the major points of interest of THE THING?:

  • An alien, holding a laser gun, sits atop a raptor that has cyborg implants on its head. The exhibit looks like it is from the desert. Behind it, it says "Aliens vs. Dinosaurs".
    An Alien riding a Raptor greets folks who enter THE THING.
  • A jackalope - which is a rabbit with antlers, poses on the rocks under a Dino tail.
    A Jackalope hiding under a dinosaur tail.
  • A large triceratops. It is brown with blue eyes. it is roaring. Behind it, on the mural, is a UFO swooping in.
    A large triceratops.
  • Three aliens stand in front of the ramp that leads to a blue and green lit UFO. They look like they are scouting around like a Star Trek away team.
    Aliens arrive by UFO.
  • A large T-rex with its mouth open going Roar. The mural behind it shows aliens shooting lasers at dinosaurs and UFOs flying away from explosions.
    A huge T-Rex.
  • One of the many walls that shows a timeline and how aliens interacted with history. The one picture here is of the Roman Empire. It is captioned "Ancient history retold".
    An alt-history time line wall. I’m not saying it’s aliens… but it’s aliens.
  • A red model T. It has 2 seats. Its wheels have wood spokes. It looks incredibly uncomfortable to sit in.
    A red 1917 Ford Model-T Speedster.
  • A black Rolls Royce. In the back seat is a mannequin of Winston Churchill. A grey Alien is driving the car.
    Winston Churchill being chauffeured by an Alien in this Rolls Royce.
  • The Placard says: Here lies...the thing? What is it? That question has bewildered us for over 50 years! Some have had their theories. It was suggested an ancient curse was placed upon it and dire consequences awaited those who touched it. Or, could it be part of a large government scandal to cover-up a secret so terrifying, it could cause mass hysteria? What if... this is the ancient artifact discovered deep within the copper mines of Arizona? This display represents what the setting may have looked like when it was discovered. Of course, no one may ever know! So, we are still left to wonder... What is this mystery of the desert, the thing?
    The THING? placard.
  • In a glass case, lit with orange and blue lights, lay the thing. It looks like a mummified person, holding a mummified baby, with a hat placed over them.
    THE THING!

So, what is THE THING? Despite the name, it has nothing to do with the John Carpenter movie of the same name. However, ironically enough, back up the road in Benson, there is a road that runs parallel to the freeway called Dark Star Road, which is named after Carpenter’s directorial debut. Overall, it can best be described that someone watched every single episode of History Channel’s Ancient Aliens, decided to go all in on that theme, and set up an elaborate backstory that would cumulate into THE THING?.

THE THING? can basically be divided into two large segments that each make up half of the exhibit: the dinosaur portion and the alt-history portion. 

The first, dinosaur, section of THE THING? tells the story about an alien race, the RAH’thians, that came to Earth during the Dinosaur times. They used their technology to enslave the Dinosaurs. There were also cave dwellers. At some point there was a civil war between the good and bad alien factions, and the Earth got destroyed (start of ice age). This entire portion of the exhibit was over the top, with many statues of aliens, dinosaurs, fossils, and placards that went into intricate “what if” history of the aliens in the prehistoric past. Each wall was a mural depicting Jurassic times, or epic space and land battles.

The second, alt-history, portion of the exhibit focused on the aliens returning back to earth and shaping human history. The good aliens did good things, and the bad aliens did bad things, like back Hitler. The walls had timelines from ancient Greece and Roman times up to World War 2 times were everything, from atomic bombs to sunken ships, are all entwined with the aliens. This portion of the exhibit also contained many old vehicles, like stagecoaches and wagons, old Model T cars, and even a Rolls Royce purported to have been owned by Winston Churchill.

This all cumulated into a small, dimly lit room made to look like the inside of a deep mineshaft, with a glass display case hugging the wall that contains… THE THING?, which is supposed to link all this alt-history and dinosaurs and aliens and cave dwellers together. THE THING? itself looks to be a mummified woman holding a mummified baby with a hat placed atop of them. I like to think it is an actual mummy found out in the desert a long time ago, but it also might be a fake. Regardless, the whole experience was AWESOME. Getting pumped seeing the billboards, arriving at THE THING?, seeing the outlandish story of the aliens and dinosaurs, all leading to the mummy. 100% worth it.

Enthralled having experienced the awe that is THE THING?, I purchased an armload of postcards, fridge magnets, hot sauce, peanuts, and a T-shirt like the tourist I am. We were soon back on the road and heading east to Willcox which was about twenty minutes away.

Willcox Cemetery

We arrived in Willcox a shade before 2:00 pm. Since our check in at the Holiday Inn Express was at 3:00 pm, we had some time to kill, so we drove straight to the Willcox cemetery at the northeast corner of the town, more-or-less right behind the Elks Lodge that we would be hunkered in for the next few days.

The road to the cemetery was unpaved, and with the sky threatening another storm, would easily turn into mud which would no doubt trap our Fiat. Because of this, and the armies of red ants that awaited us, we could not stay long at the cemetery. Oh yes, red ants. There was probably a ratio of three red ant hills to every grave in the cemetery. The cowboy ghosts have much company.

The cemetery. Not many grave stones or markers are visible as most have toppled over, and the cemetery is overran with weeds and cacti. The distance is dark and full of storm clouds. The mountains in the distance show the Dos Cabezas Peaks. It looks like a pair of lips pursed up, trying to kiss the sky.
Willcox Cemetery.

The cemetery dates from the late 1800s, so all of the graves we saw were from that time period. The area proper was overgrown with prickly weeds, which, of course, I was wearing shorts while adventuring. The majority of graves had toppled over, broken into pieces and were slowly dipping back into the earth. A few wooden markers somehow survived the century. With the thunder clouds approaching and the general quiet of the high plains of Willcox, the cemetery was indeed atmospheric.

Grave of Warren Earp. It is made out of metal. It says "Warren Baxter Earp 1855 - 1900, The way it was". The grave has a picture of a cowboy hat, a bottle, a gun, a sheriff star, and a bull head.
The grave of Warren Earp.

Warren Earp’s grave was at the far end of the cemetery, forcing us to traverse through weeds, red ants, and accidentally stepping on fallen graves (sorry about that!). Warren Earp may not have been present at the infamous O. K. Corral gunfight, but he none-the-less has his own notoriety. There is even the possibility he might have driven the coach that took Burroughs to Fort Grant!

But, it was humbling standing before Earp’s grave. Right in front of us, was a legend of the Wild West, whose own history was connected to Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, the frontier, and so on. His grave stood out in the cemetery, as it was made of metal and seemed invincible among the crumbling ruins elsewhere.

After visiting the grave, Michele and I made our way out of the cemetery and proceeded to the Holiday Inn Express in hopes of an early check in. Awaiting in the lobby, also hoping for an early check in, was prolific author Jeffrey J. Mariotte, who was also the guest of honour at the 2025 ECOF! I had the privilege to interview Mariotte the other month in anticipation of the ECOF, and that interview can be read here. It was fantastic to finally meet Mariotte in person, he was extremely affable and quiet soft spoken.

Our room turned out to be on the top floor, lucky number 313. It was a room that had seen some wear-and-tear, with chipped wall fragments and a window leak above the AC unit. But the beds were comfy, the pillows were huge and fluffy, and we had William Shatner hosting paranormal nonsense on the History Channel, so we were all good! 

Looking west from the hotel room. The sky is very clouds, but also fiery from the setting sun. There is also a truck stop with many semis pulled in for folks to get some sleep.
The sun sets on Willcox.

Our room had a great view looking west and we got to watch some great sunsets and lightning storms during our stay. 

Friday

Early to bed means early to rise Friday morning, the first official day of the ECOF. Michele and I had breakfast in the dining area of the Holiday Inn Express, a rather small area at that. Attendees of the ECOF were not the only folks headquartered at the Holiday Inn, but The International Cessna 170 Association as well. Older folks with name tags galore: are they there for Tarzan or tailspin? Both parties present meant the breakfast area got cramped quick, so Michele and I would not linger too long. Eat and leave so other folks could have our spot. We do have to give kudos to the Holiday Inn for continental breakfast variety: hot foods (scrambled eggs, omelets, potatoes, biscuits, gravy, sausages), a pancake making Rube Goldberg machine, cinnabons, cereal, yogurt, juices, milk. 

The conference’s hotel is about two miles as the crow flies northwest of the Elks Lodge, a super quick less than ten minute drive. On the way over we could see storm clouds already forming on the horizon.

We arrived perhaps a little before 9:00 am, and the ECOF’s room was probably halfway set up by the other vendors. Michele and I chose an empty table near the back, being neighbors with guest of honour Jeffrey Mariotte. Before we could get fully setup, we had to go register where we got our name tag:

A rectangular badge that says "Edge Rice Burroughs Chain of Friendship - ECOF 2025 - Nicholas Diak - Willcox, Arizona". The lanyard is blue.
My badge for the 2025 ECOF.

A copy of the program:

ECOF 2025 ProgramDownload

And a goodie bag!

The Goodie Bag

When attending conferences and conventions it is always cool to get a bag-o-swag. The ECOF 2025 goodie bag was loaded with treasures. Here is a slide show of each item (use the arrows to flip through):

  • A black bag that has the Gilead event poster art on it.
    ECOF 2025 swag bag.
  • The ECOF pin. It's a match of the poster. Art by Gilead. In blue lettering it says "Edgar Rice Burroughs Chain of Friendship - ECOF 2025 - ERB 7th Cavalry Monument, Willcox Arizona, September 25-28, 2025, Celebrating ERB's 150th Birthday". The top of the poster shows Burroughs in uniform, Tarzan, John Carter, Dejah Thoris, a green alien with four arms, and the Apache kid. Below them is a row of old houses.
    ECOF Pin with artwork done by Gilead.
  • The ECOF poster. Art by Gilead. In blue lettering it says "Edgar Rice Burroughs Chain of Friendship - ECOF 2025 - ERB 7th Cavalry Monument, Willcox Arizona, September 25-28, 2025, Celebrating ERB's 150th Birthday". The top of the poster shows Burroughs in uniform, Tarzan, John Carter, Dejah Thoris, a green alien with four arms, and the Apache kid. Below them is a row of old houses.
    ECOF 2025 poster, art by Gilead.
  • A postcard of the Edgar Rice Burroughs Plaque. It reads: Edgar Rice Burroughs 7th US Cavalry, 1896-1897. Edgar Rice Burroughs arrived in Willcox, Cochise County, Arizona Territory by train on May 22, 1986. With only one dollar in hand, he was able to get a room at the Willcox Hotel, a meal, and a bath. The next day, he traveled by stage to Fort Grant, where he was sworn in as a private in the 7th US Cavalry. As a Solider in Troop B, he counted for the outlaw Apache Kid and his band north of Willcox in the summer of 1986. Burroughs became world famous as the creator of "Tarzan of the Apes," "John Carter of Mars," and other works of fantastic fiction. His cavalry service inspired him to write two historical novels of the Apache Wars. Arizona left an indelible mark on the author, who featured it in a number of his stories. This plaque honors Burroughs' military service and all troopers, Buffalo soldiers, and Apache scouts who served with him at Front Grant, A.T. Dedicated September 1, 2025 on the 150th anniversary of the birthday of Edgar Rice Burroughs (1875-1950). Donated by the Burroughs Bibliophiles, Burroughs Family, Sulphur Springs Valley Historical Society, and the City of Willcox. The plaque is bordered by black and white photos of ERB, The Apache kid, Fort Grant, and Company A of Apache Scouts.
    ECOF 2025 Postcard of the Plaque.
  • A magnet of the Edgar Rice Burroughs Plaque. It reads: Edgar Rice Burroughs 7th US Cavalry, 1896-1897. Edgar Rice Burroughs arrived in Willcox, Cochise County, Arizona Territory by train on May 22, 1986. With only one dollar in hand, he was able to get a room at the Willcox Hotel, a meal, and a bath. The next day, he traveled by stage to Fort Grant, where he was sworn in as a private in the 7th US Cavalry. As a Solider in Troop B, he counted for the outlaw Apache Kid and his band north of Willcox in the summer of 1986. Burroughs became world famous as the creator of "Tarzan of the Apes," "John Carter of Mars," and other works of fantastic fiction. His cavalry service inspired him to write two historical novels of the Apache Wars. Arizona left an indelible mark on the author, who featured it in a number of his stories. This plaque honors Burroughs' military service and all troopers, Buffalo soldiers, and Apache scouts who served with him at Front Grant, A.T. Dedicated September 1, 2025 on the 150th anniversary of the birthday of Edgar Rice Burroughs (1875-1950). Donated by the Burroughs Bibliophiles, Burroughs Family, Sulphur Springs Valley Historical Society, and the City of Willcox. The plaque is blue, with the text in yellow. The plaque has a yellow border.
    ECOF 2025 plaque in magnet form.
  • A pen. It has a copper tip and clingy bit. The rest is black. In white it reads "Edgar Rice Burroughs".
    Edgar Rice Burroughs pen.
  • Small, thin paperback book. It is white, with a black and white photo of Burroughs leading a horse. The font color of the title is red.
    Small booklet for “Arizona Connections: In the Life and Works of Edgar Rice Burroughs” by Alan Hanson.
  • A coin and a display, still in its packing. The coin is large and has a headshot of Burroughs. It says "Edgar Rice Burroughs - creator of Tarzan and John Carter".
    ERB Inc., commemorative coin of Edgar Rice Burroughs (Front).
  • Back of the coin. It reads "150 Years - Celebrating the master of adventure, 1875 - 2025"
    ERB Inc., commemorative coin of Edgar Rice Burroughs (Back).
  • A paper booklet, almost a zine. It is a preview of Mariotte's upcoming book. The artwork shows a man fighting a lion, in the archery of some stone ruins, with a ruined London (there's Big Ben present) in the background. In black ink it is signed by Mariotte.
    A sample bit of Mariotte’s upcoming book Beyond Thirty: A World Reborn.
  • A black and white map of southeast Arizona from 1895.
    Map of southeast Arizona in 1895.
  • Two keychains made out of beads, turquoise in color.
    Beaded keychains.
  • The Willcox Medallion's back shows a train, with farm lands, and 2 cows. It looks like a little kid drawing. It says "Willcox Arizona, founded 1880". The back of the peace coin says "War Peace Honour in both Dragooon Mts. A.T. Treaty by Cochise Gen. O. O. Howard To Jeffords".
    Medallions commemorating Willcox, and the Chiricahua Apache Peace Treaty (Back)
  • The Willcox coin shows an Arizona flag, a man on horse chasing a bull, a train, a tractor, and a native American holding a flag on a horse. The perimeter of the medallion reads "City of Willcox, incorporated May 1915" The Peace treaty coin shows 2 hands shaking. Its perimeter reads "Chiricahua Apache Peace Treaty Oct 10, 1872 - 2022"
    Medallions commemorating Willcox, and the Chiricahua Apache Peace Treaty (Front)
  • Blue USB stick with a blue cord.
    USB Stick of movies.

Included in the swag bag, which was black and adorned with the event’s poster art done by Gilead, was:

  • The program
  • A poster of the ECOF event done by Gilead
  • A pin of the poster
  • A postcard of the ERB monument
  • A refrigerator magnet of the monument
  • A Burroughs pen
  • A copy of Arizona Connections: In the Life and Works of Edgar Rice Burroughs by Alan Hanson
  • A large commemorative coin from ERB Inc. of Edgar Rice Burroughs
  • A sample chapter from Mariotte’s Beyond Thirty: A World Reborn (this was actually supposed to be part of the swag bag, but it did not arrive in time to be included, so copies were at Mariotte’s table. But I am including it here)
  • A black and white map of southeast Arizona from 1895
  • Two beaded keychains (from a local artist?)
  • Medallions commemorating Willcox and the Chiricahua Apache Peace Treaty
  • And a USD stick with Burroughs home movies

This goodie bag was set aside for the first fifty registrants to the event, and there is lots of good stuff in here!

Vendors

Goody bags procured, it was time for Michele and I to set up our table proper. This has been only the second time we have ever vended at an event, the first time being CoKoCon back in 2023. 

Half of our table. This shows all of Michele's arts and crafts: there's greetings cards (a cute halloween one with a cat), and journals and folios. Michele sits behind the table wearing a denim jacket because she is a cold panda.
Michele’s wares at our table.

Hard to believe that going to comic book conventions and other events for almost twenty years, we have never really vended before. So, we are total newbies at it. Rotten luck on top of it, the Elks Lodge’s wifi was not accessible, on top of there being no cellular reception, made it that our Square would not work. This turned out to be ok, everyone paid in cash and Michele wrote up receipts for everyone.

Our table! It show's Michele's half of crafts and the other half with stacks of our books from McFarland (James Bond book, Horror in Space book, Horror Literature book, The New Peplum, The Twilight Zone book, and the Stranger Things book).
Our table!

As shown, we had a pretty good setup with a range of stuff to sell. Michele had her crafts: cards, journals, and folios (make sure to check out her Facebook page for all her work). My half of the table was all of our books, from The New Peplum to Stranger Things. Since The New Peplum has an essay in it talking about the John Carter movie, that book sold the most. 

Jeff sits at his table, which has a blood red table cloth with vines and roses on it. He's got a skull with a raven atop it. A pile of pens and markers. He's got piles of books, from westerns to thrillers to super hero stuff. He also has a sword.
Guest of Honour Jeffrey Mariotte at his table.

As mentioned prior, we set up shop next to Jeffrey Mariotte. Mariotte is a seasoned pro at cons, with a red tablecloth and decorations like a skull with a raven on it, a pile of pens for every autographing scenario, stacks of books from all the different genres he’s written in, and some other IPs as well, and, the most important thing, a sword! Mariotte was able to bring in a replica cavalry sword from his personal collection that would have been akin to what Burroughs would have used when he was stationed at Fort Grant.

Four folks stand together, arms around each other. Christopher Paul Carey is super tall compared to everyone else. Sullos is wearing a tiki-style shirt but of the desert.
ERB Inc. Left to right: Christopher Paul Carey, Cathy Wilbanks, Llana Jane Burroughs, and Jim Sullos.

Next to Mariotte were the tables for ERB Inc. which were staffed by Christopher Paul Carey, Cathy Wilbanks, Llana Jane Burroughs, and Jim Sullos. Sullos was rocking some tiki-style shirts throughout the convention. I have not seen the ERB Inc. folks since pre-Covid, probably the last time at Wondercon, so it was great to see them all again. Their table was half books, with a focus on newer editions, such as the authorized Tarzans, and half shirts and wearables. They also had more of their commemorative coins for other ERB characters. Lots of great merch.

Griffin and Buckingham at their table. In front of them are Griffin's Tarzan books and copies of their newly launched magazine, Reverberate.
Scott Tracy Griffin (L) and Gary Buckingham (R) at their table.

Across from Mariotte and ERB Inc.’s tables were Scott Tracy Griffin and Gary Buckingham. Gary had a huge spread of his many Wild Adventures of Edgar Rice Burroughs books, such as Tarzan and the Lion of Judah and Tarzan: Untamed Frontiers, and Griffin had copies of his ornate Tarzan film books. Together they had copies of issue one of their newly launched magazine, RevERBerate, and issue two, which they just debut at the ECOF. Michele bought the second copy of the second issue and got it autographed by the duo.

There were, of course, tables with other vendors and authors. Authors Robert Lupton, Robert Leeper, Doug Hocking, Frank Puncer (who we finally got to meet for the first time and he was incredibly friendly), had tables with their books or website posters. There was one vendor with many boxes of old pulp magazines, from Weird Tales to Amazing Stories. Robert Leeper’s write up about the event at Nerdvana (link here) contains many more photos that showcase the Elks Lodge and the vendors within.

Roughly an hour after getting set up and getting acquainted with the vendor’s room (Huckster Room) the clock struck 10:00 am and it was time to begin the presentations for the day.

Friday Presentations

The small stage on the west wall in the Huckster Room served as the presentation place, and I liked this. Many conferences, those on the larger side, typically separate presentations and panels into a side area from the vendor space. Since the ECOF was a lower key affair, everything was in one room, which allowed all of us vendors, and everyone else, to hear the presentations. The downside was the entrance to one of the bathrooms was right behind the podium. 

Dr. Seymour stands at a podium. The center of the picture is a pull down projector, flanked by 2 Elk heads. The slide being presented shows spears, pistol pieces, and other artifacts.
Dr. Deni Seymour presents on the newest discoveries of the Coronado expedition found near the local area.

The first presentation given was by Dr. Deni Seymour titled “Recent Discoveries about the Coronado Expedition (1539 – 1541)”. This was a fantastic presentation detailing all the archeological finds Dr. Seymour has been encountering along the San Pedro River. The slides showed so many artifacts: cannons, pistols, arrows, spears, jewelry, and so on. She talked about how they discover where the expeditions camped and where they got into skirmishes, and then using this information to form trajectories as to where the next movement of the expedition went. She also talked a little about the clandestine nature of the work because these sites are vulnerable to being visited by others and ruined/objects taken/vandalized/etc. A great presentation with lots of awesome visuals of what Dr. Seymour is uncovering.

Me! I am wearing a cowboy tiki shirt, standing at a podium, with a mic in my right hand, and script in my left. There is a giant elk head judging me.
Nicholas Diak presenting on Tarzan and the Lost Empire. Photo by Scott Tracy Griffin.

The next presentation of the day was me! My presentation was titled “Tarzan nella valle dei Romani: Tarzan as a peplum strongman in Tarzan and the Lost Empire” (sorry folks, it was a mouthful). In the novel Tarzan and the Lost Empire Tarzan finds himself in a hidden valley in Africa that has two mini Roman empires in it, both at odds with each other. Tarzan fights Roman soldiers and eventually finds himself in the arena, becoming a gladiator, an even fighting a lion like Hercules fights the Nemean Lion. For all purposes, Tarzan becomes just like a sword and sandal strongman character (Hercules, Ursus, Maciste, Atlas, etc.) and placed in an antiquity setting. This is what my presentation deep dove into, and I will probably wind up editing it and putting it into a formal essay and submit it someplace.

At the Q&A at the end of my presentation someone asked, “who would win in a fight, Tarzan or Hercules.” In a room of full of Edgar Rice Burroughs fans, scholars, and even representatives from ERB Inc. itself, I replied with “Hercules because he is a demigod.” The boos I got were warranted, but I stand by my decision. I do concede Tarzan is much more agile, which is in alignment with neo-peplum characters, such as Perseus in the Clash of the Titans remake who can do flying spin kicks while wielding a sword.

After my presentation was an hour break time in which sandwiches, wraps, chips, cookies, sodas, and snacks were brought in. It was also a good time to mingle. Between presentations I got to talk to other folks and meet some in person for the first time, such as Robert Lupton and Jim Goodwin, who both gifted me books. Bernd Brand, one of the upcoming speakers, was extremely outgoing and complimentary toward my presentation. 

Scott Tracy Griffin wears a green shirt and stands on stage, giving his talk. No slides for this one, but the two Elk heads still look on.
Scott Tracy Griffin presents on RevERBerate #2 and deep diving into ERB’s sources.

The presentations resumed at 1:00 pm with Scott Tracy Griffin discussing his and Gary Buckingham’s new publication, RevERBerate, and its newest issue, which focuses on the Westerns of Burroughs. Griffin deep dives into the ten sources that Burroughs used as reference for his writings, of which he was able to track down eight. Per Griffin, Burroughs was able to anchor his Westerns into real life stuff by leveraging the sources he had at the time.

Brand stands at the podium, pointing at the screen which is showing the AZ flag and ERB's headshot.
Bernd Brand presents on “Apache Scouts working for the U.S. Army with an overview of the life of the Apache Kid”

The next presentation was done by Bernd Brand and titled “Apache Scouts Working for the U.S. Army With an Overview of the Life of the Apache Kid.” Brand focuses on the Apache Scouts, from 1860 to 1947, and all the sorties they were involved in and their accomplishments.

At major conventions like Wondercon and San Diego Comicon, ERB Inc. usually hosts a panel showcasing all their works they have in the pipeline or have recently released. For the 2025 ECOF, Christopher Paul Carey, Cathy Wilbanks, and Jim Sullos had much to show to audience. Here is a few images from their presentation in this slideshow: 

  • Carey stands at the podium, the slide shows a picture of the ERB HQ in Tarzana.
    Christopher Paul Cary talks about upcoming projects from ERB Inc.
  • Carey at the podium, the screen shot the cover art for the ERB autobiography, Trailblazer.
    Christopher Paul Carey talks about the upcoming publication of Trailblazer.
  • Slide shows two book covers, both covers show a hideous face, one hooded.
    Carey talks about the reprint of Monster Men and the new story Return of the Monster Men.
  • Slide shows the cover art of the reprint of Beyond Thirty, which has a dude trying to take on a pride of lions unarmed.
    Carey talks about Mariotte’s upcoming novel Beyond Thirty: A World Reborn.
  • Slide shows the wraparound cover of the Taschen book (at the time). It is green, it shows Tarzan surrounded by monkeys.
    Carey and Wilbanks talked about the Taschen book of Tarzan Sunday strips.
  • The Woola plushy is adorbs. It is green, has multiple legs, big eye, and teeth that stick out.
    Carey and Wilbanks show off the Woola plushie.
  • Slide has the Victory Harben Logo and an empty landscape.
    Carey and Sullos talk about the Victory Harben animated series.

Some of the major releases from ERB Inc. include

  • Trailblazer, the Edgar Rice Burroughs autobiography
  • Concluding the Authorized Library editions of Tarzan and now moving on to editions for John Carter
  • A re-release of The Monster Men (a rare Burroughs foray into horror) and a new book, Return of the Monster Men, by Josh Reynolds
  • A re-release of Beyond Thirty
  • Jeffrey Mariotte’s sequel, Beyond Thirty: A World Reborn
  • Sequel to the “Dead Moon Arc” of Korak at Earth’s Core done by Win Scott Eckert (coming 2026)
  • New Victory Harben tales in 2026 with a possible TV deal
  • The Land that Time Forgot: Kingdom of Skulls by Mike Wolfer (2026)
  • Chris Adams’ Gauntlets of Mars (the 14th book in the Wild Adventures of Edgar Rice Burroughs series) which made its debut at the ECOF. This book will reveal how Barsoom became a dying planet.
  • A Return to Pellucidar story, which will be a follow up to a Joe Lansdale story
  • A huge tome from Taschen which will reprint the Hal Foster Sunday Tarzan comics, edited by Dian Hanson
  • Burroughs expansions to the Overpower CCG
  • A John Carter figurine from Frazetta Girls
  • Amazon carrying Burroughs audio books
  • Plushies of Woola!!!!!

Jim Sullos talked a bit about film and television projects that were outstanding and waiting for actions:

  • A Korak adult anime series
  • A John Carter Warlord of Mars animated series (per Sullos, younger folks are more interested in Carter than Tarzan)
  • Victory Harben animated series in conjunction with Flying S Films (the hope here is to use Victory Harben as the glue to hold together a true ERB universe)
  • An option on The Land Time Forgot
  • An option on Carson of Venus, which has been held up due to requirements demands of streaming services (need a director, a writer, a screenplay, the actors, etc.)

After some small technical difficulties and a computer swap later, ERB Inc. ended their presentation showing an AI generated clip of Burroughs, speaking to the audience and thanking his readers. 

The final presentation of the day was from Gary Buckingham, who compliments Griffin’s talk about their RevERBerate endeavor. Buckingham also gave some insight into his time of being a writer, the woes he encounters getting his books printed, and how he goes about researching to make sure his period pieces reflect the times appropriately such as lingo used. Buckingham talked about how he used his story, Tarzan: Untamed Frontiers, to plug the narrative holes in Burroughs’ canon.

And with that, the presentations for Friday came to a close. The next activities for the ECOF where a board meeting for the Bibliophiles followed by a screening of Tarzan and his Mate. Michele and I, however, were famished and weary from the day’s events, so we called it early. We had dinner in downtown Willcox at Isabel’s South of the Border. Michele had a quesadilla and I had a chile relleno and two margaritas. Bellies bursting full, we headed back to the Holiday Inn to call it a day.

Saturday

Saturday began with a continental breakfast in the downstairs dining area of the Holiday Inn Express, mingled in with the ECOF attendees and the Cessna Club folks. We got to the Elks Lodge at around 9:00 am when it opened up and killed time talking with others and table browsing before walking to the train station/city hall for the big event at 10:00 am: the monument unveiling!

Monument Dedication

For the monument unveiling, the section of the street, S. Railroad Ave., in front of the train station / city hall was blocked off. Two canopies and foldout chairs were placed underneath, though thankfully this Saturday was a sunny day, a respite from the last two days of rain and thunder.

White, fold out table. Two postal workers present. The table is covered in stamps, envelopes, and copies of the program.
Post office setup, selling stamps and doing cancellations.

Set up on the deck of the city hall was an impromptu postal station, with postal workers selling stamps and performing cancellations using a special ERB commemorative stamp for the event:

The stamp is for the US Army. The pink stamp cancellation thing, the thing they do when they stamp the stamp when you mail something, shows Burroughs next to a horse and an Arizona. It says: "Edgar Rice Burroughs 7th Cavalry Historical Monument - ERB Monument Dedication Station, September 27th, 2025, Willcox AZ 85643."
Close up of an envelope, stamp, and cancellation.

There was quite the queue of folks who wanted their stamps cancelled! It was a neat service and definitely added a unique, “you-had-to-be-there”, aspect to the whole ceremony/ECOF. 

After a bit of milling about, with folks taking photos of other folks guissied up, the dedications began. Here is a slide show of the speakers:

  • Sunny day with blue skies and white clouds. There are two canopies setup with fold out chairs underneath. People are mingling about.
    The crowd gathers outside the monument at the train station/city hall.
  • Seven folks stand in front of the train station /city hall, with 4 dressed up: a soldier, a prospector, Tarzan, and another soldier.
    L to R, Doug Hocking, Kate Bonnaud, unknown, Patrick Quilter, Mayor greg Hancock, Llana Jane Burroughs, Floyd Gray.
  • Mayor Hancock at the mic in front of the city hall.
    Mayor of Willcox Greg Hancock.
  • Franke III in a veteran cap at the mic.
    Burroughs Bibliophile and Bulletin editor Henry Franke III.
  • Mariotte in a blue shirt and sunglasses at the mic.
    Guest of Honour Jeffrey J. Mariotte.
  • Griffin in a purple shirt, white hat, and sunglasses at the Mic.
    Scott Tracy Griffin.
  • Both Burroughs great-grand daughters at the mic.
    Kate Bonnaud and Llana Jane Burroughs.
  • Tracy Scott Griffin, Frank Puncer (seated), Llana Jane Burroughs, Kathy Klump (seated), Kate Bonnaud.
    Tracy Scott Griffin, Frank Puncer (seated), Llana Jane Burroughs, Kathy Klump (seated), Kate Bonnaud.
  • Bonnaud is wearing a black hat and speaking into the mic.
    Kate Bonnaud.
  • Gray is in a cavalry uniform speaking into the mic.
    Floyd Gray.
  • The monument (obscured by roses from my angle), Bonnaud, her son, Llana Jane Burroughs, and Frank Puncer, who all lifted the cover of the stone memorial.
    The monument unveiled.

Folks who introduced the event and talked about Burroughs and the community included:

  • Frank Puncer, who was the master of the ceremonies
  • Greg Hancock, the mayor of Willcox, who talked about growing up with Tarzan
  • Kathy Klump, the president of the Sulphur Springs Valley Historical Society
  • Henry G. Franke III who talked a bit about Burroughs’ military career
  • Jeffrey Mariotte, the guest of honour
  • Scott Tracy Griffin, who introduced the Burroughs great-grand daughters
  • Floyd Gray, a Buffalo Soldier historian who talked about what Burroughs would have seen his first nights under the open sky
  • Kathy Bonnaud
  • Llana Jane Burroughs

Before unveiling the plaque, it was revealed that the boulder it was installed in was brought down all the way from Fort Grant, so it very well could have been a boulder that Burroughs had laid eyes on. Periodically during the speeches, a train would pass behind the station, halting the ceremony temporarily, but definitely adding to the ambience and the lore of Burroughs getting off the train station, right there, at Willcox.

The Burroughs family lifted the covering of the monument, and like the amazing photographer I am, did not take a clear picture of it. But, Robert Leeper took many, so take a look at his coverage at Nerdvana. There are also photos of the dedication and monument at the Cochise County Voice.

After the dedication, we would be remiss if we did not check out the interior of the train station/city hall, which had its public area converted into a museum. Here are a couple of pictures:

  • And old wooden desk with chair. A black typewriter sits alone. On the left wall are black and white photos on the right wall are maps. In the center wall, it has a black and white photo of the train station. The display is called "Honoring our roots"
    An exhibit inside the city hall.
  • Photos and placards describing the restoration of the train station. There is also a door knob and a broom.
    Photographs, including the train station in a dilapidated state.
  • Four liquor bottles, the one in the center is broken. One is called "Tanlac" and it is a "Splendid tonic". The one next to it is "Splancaster Bourbon". Then "Old Prentice Whisky" and then a tiny bottle that has directions on it.
    Old liquor bottles.

It was neat seeing the restoration effort done on the train station, the glow up from being run down to the restored building it is today.

Saturday Presentations

The canopies and the chairs began the breakdown process and it was time to wander off. Michele and I spent some time walking around downtown Willcox, exploring an antique store where we ran into ERB Inc. folks doing their own shopping.

Franke at the podium under the Elk head on the wall. The projected slide is a run down of Burroughs' military highlights.
Henry Franke III speaks about Burroughs’ military career.

The ECOF presentations resumed at 2:00 pm, with three scheduled for the day. The first was Henry Franke III giving a speech on Burroughs’ military career. Though Franke had mentioned Burroughs’ service during the dedication earlier in the day, this talk went into greater detail, covering his time in the cavalry to his time in World War 2 as a war correspondent. An interesting fact Franke shared was that Burroughs had spent much of his life signing books to others that he flipped the tables during the Pacific Campaign and started collecting autographs of the servicemen he encountered.

Gray stands at the podium, with the projected screen titled "What did a 20 year old Edgar R. Burroughs see at Fort Grant in 1896-1897?"
Floyd Gray talks about Buffalo Soldiers.

The martial-themed presentations continued with Floyd Gray talking about the history of the Buffalo Soldiers and how integral, yet unacknowledged, they are in United States history. He spoke of why folks joined the Buffalo Soldiers, how they were confined to the west, and their accomplishments. 

Leeper at the podium. The projected screen shows images from a John Carter comic, of him wandering into the cave.
Robert Leeper talks about possible locations of John Carter’s cave.

The final presentation for the day, and for the ECOF, was from Robert Leeper titled “Geography vs. John Carter’s Arizona Cave”. Leeper talked about being in attendance at a pop culture event in Arizona, talking about John Carter, and having many folks question him as to where the location of the cave that John Carter found was. Leeper had a giant map of the south and east portions of Arizona and went through likely locations of where the cave could be. Using text from one of Burroughs’ books, he settled on the cave being located near the White Mountains in Eastern Arizona.

And with that, the presentations of the ECOF came to an end and the Huckster Room closed. Michele and I, and everyone else, packed up our tables to clear the area. It had been a fun two days headquartered in the vending/presentation room for the ECOF, but it was time to transition to the finale of the event: the banquet!

Banquet

The last bit of official programming for the ECOF was the banquet from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm. The banquet was held in a dining area of the Elks Lodge, with a buffet style dinner: BBQ pulled pork sandwiches, beans, and vegetable lasagna. Kathy Klump brought in a homemade pineapple cake that was the centerpiece for the first part of the banquet: the Edgar Rice Burroughs birthday celebration. Pictures of folks going up to talk about Burroughs can be viewed in this slide show:

  • Small banquet room, filled with tables and filled to capacity with ECOf attendee.
    Banquet room at the Elks Lodge.
  • Lana Kane Burroughs standing in the door frame with a mic.
    Llana Jane Burroughs wishes Edgar Rice Burroughs a happy birthday.
  • Kate Bonnaud and her son. Kate has the mic.
    Kate Bonnaud speaks about Burroughs.
  • Mariotte uses a mic stand and has notes. One of the Elk Heads peers in from behind him.
    Jeffrey Mariotte speaks about swords and how he is honored to be part of the event.
  • Franke III stands in the doorframe with the mic stand.
    Henry Franke III speaks about Frank Puncer organizing the event.
  • Frank holds a wall plaque that says "outstanding achievement award" and poses with Jim and Mike.
    Frank Puncer is presented with an outstanding achievement award by Jim Goodwin and Mike Conran.
  • Jim Sullos in the door frame talking on the mike. The Elk head strikes again!
    Jim Sullos concludes the banquet.

Llana Jane Burroughs wished Edgar Rice Burroughs a happy birthday, which lead to the room singing the birthday song. Jeffrey Mariotte took the mic stand to talk about his youth and getting into fencing and sword collecting, and also his encounters with speculative fiction writing luminaries while he worked at various bookstores in California. 

The last portion of the banquet was devoted to honouring Frank Puncer, who was bestowed an Outstanding Achievement Award by the Burroughs Bibliophiles for all the work he had done, not just for putting on the 2025 ECOF, but all his prior Burroughs centric endeavors (which are many). The award was truly well deserved. Puncer worked super hard to make sure everyone had a memorable and successful ECOF. Michele and I certainly did.

Autographed Treasures

When I attend events like comic book conventions or horror cons I love to bring things to be autographed (just look at any of my social media or news posts at this website and you will see me often sharing my autographed treasures). The 2025 ECOF was no different as Michele and I brought a box of books and comics to get signed by folks at the event. Here is some of that loot.

Christopher Paul Carey

The last time I saw Carey I had an armload of then-recently published ERB comics put out by American Mythology. In the years since I have gotten more books and comics he’s had his paws in. Here is a gallery of what I brought to be signed:

  • Paperback of Before They Were Giants. The cover shows an astronaut in a retro looking space suit, holding a ray gun, standing above a canyon. Above him is a giant, tentacled, floating monster.
    Personal copy of Before They Were Giants.
  • Copyright page. In blue ink it says "Christopher Paul Carey".
    Before They Were Giants front matter page signed by Christopher Paul Carey.
  • Planet Stories double feature. It shows Sojan and the main character from Under the Warrior star, standing back to back. Sojan is holding a pistol and a shield while the dude from Warrior Star is holding a crystal sword.
  • Copyright page. Blue ink it is signed "Christopher Paul Carey".
    Front matter page signed by Christopher Paul Carey.
  • Graphic novel. It shows Harben in the center in a colorful, alien jungle. She has a ray gun in her hand and a white small cat-like alien on her shoulder. In gold ink at the bottom it is signed by Christopher Paul Carey.
    Personal copy of Victory Harben: Ghosts of Omos, signed by Christopher Paul Carey.
  • Grphic novel. Shows Victory Harben with her back to the reader, holding her ray gun up. There is a purple, space sky and the white cat alien who is now super huge. In gold ink it is signed Christopher Paul Carey.
    Personal copy of Victory Harben: Warriors of Zandar, signed by Christopher Paul Carey.

Firstly, going old school, many moons ago Carey worked at Paizo and one of the lines he worked on was the Planet Stories series of books, which were reprints of classic sword and planet stories along with other sci-fi fare. I love the sword and planet genre and I have been collecting these books when I happen across them. Two of the books I have, the anthology Before They Were Giants, and the double book that contains Sojan the Swordsman by Michael Moorcock and Under the Warrior Star by Joe Lansdale, were edited by Carey. I really love Under the Warrior Star, so much so that I may have designed a cocktail based on the story which is slated to be printed in an upcoming issue of a certain fantasy magazine. (Shhh! Secret!).

Next, going new school, are my Kickstarter copies of two Victory Harben graphic novels: Ghosts of Amos and Warriors of Zandor. Apparently, Carey had never signed the Kickstarter editions of these comics before, so that was cool I got to be the first. I like Victory Harben, and I think her stories are the future of ERB Inc. I know Tarzan is the company’s bread and butter, but Victory Harben feels much more modern and connected to today and she does not have the baggage that Burroughs’ work carries. I really hope her cartoon series happens because I have a feeling it will be amazing.

Jeffrey J. Mariotte

While conducting my interview with Mariotte I tried to get my paws on as many books and comics he had his hand in as possible. A writer as prolific across so many genres and mediums as he, there is so much out there to check out! So, I brought my modest collection of items for him to sign (I wish I could have procured his Conan books!). Here is the gallery:

  • Cover shows Tarzan holding a knight and wearing a loincloth. Behind him is a black horse, kicking around. They are in a desert canyon, with a rock wall behind them and small cactus trees and logs.
    Hardcover of Tarzan and the Forest of Stone
  • Bookplate is a faded version of the covers, sans the horse and Tarzan. It is signed by Jeffrey Mariotte, Douglas Klauba, Chris Gardner, and has a repro signature from Burroughs.
    Bookplate for Tarzan and the Forest of Stone.
  • Title page of Tarzan and the Forest of Stone. It is inscribed "For Nick, at ECOF 2025! Great to meet in person! Jeffrey J Mariotte".
    Personal copy of Tarzan and the Forest of stone, personalized by Jeffrey J. Mariotte.
  • Issue 1 of The Next Generation/Deep Space Nine crossover. There are five characters on the cover, but the only one I recognize is Picard and he is holding a laser rifle.
    Personal copy of Star Trek: Divided We Fall #1 signed by editor Jeffrey J. Mariotte.
  • Issue 2 of the Next Gen/DS9 crossover. There's 4 characters on the cover. One looks like he's wearing a green smock. Picard is in the background.
    Personal copy of Star Trek: Divided We Fall #2 signed by editor Jeffrey J. Mariotte.
  • Issue 3 of the Next Gen/DS9 Crossover. Dr. Beverly Crusher is on the cover holding a phaser. There is a Star Fleet dude holding a lady in his arms. There is also a blobby alien in the corner.
    Personal copy of Star Trek: Divided We Fall #3 signed by editor Jeffrey J. Mariotte.
  • The fourth and final issue of the Next Gen/DS9 crossover comic. There is a dude holding a green vial. There is a Star Fleet guy running, holding a rifle in one hand and a lady in red in the other. The green vial has JJ Abrams lens flare on it, foreshadowing that he will be directing a Star Trek movie in the future.
    Personal copy of Star Trek: Divided We Fall #4 signed by editor Jeffrey J. Mariotte.
  • Cover shows two space ships over two planets.
    Personal copy of Gene Roddenberry’s Andromeda: the Attitude of Silence.
  • Title page. In black ink it is personalized "For Nick, at ECOF! Jeffrey J. Mariotte"
    Title page of Andromeda: The Attitude of Silence signed by author Jeffrey J. Mariotte.

Firstly there is Tarzan and the Forest of Stone, Mariotte’s first contribution to the Burroughs canon. I bought my copy directly from the ERB website and it came with a bookplate already signed by Mariotte, Douglas Klauba, and Chris Gardner. However, I wanted my copy personalized and Mariotte gladly did so. It is the perfect book for the 2025 ECOF as it mixes Tarzan and the Wild West.

Next are the four issues of the Star Trek: Divided We Fall run that was published by Wildstorm. The story is a crossover comic of The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine and all four issues were edited by Mariotte. I am not a huge Trekkie, but I did watch a lot of Next Generation in the 90s when I was a teenager. I had gotten into the series when I started collecting the Star Trek: Next Generation CCG that Decipher was putting out. I was not able to watch much DS9, but probably my favourite episode I ever saw was the one where they time traveled back to the “Trouble with Tribbles” episode of the original series. I was able to find copies of these comics at my local comic bookstore, High Score Comics.

Finally, and related to Star Trek, is Andromeda: The Attitude of Silence. I recall in my college years, going home to visit my parents, and catching a few episodes of Andromeda, but I am far from familiar with the series. This was a random purchase: I was at Bookmans, browsing about looking for Mariotte’s Conan books in the sci-fi IP section of the store and happened upon this tome, so I plucked it up.

Burroughs Bulletins

One of the perks of being a member of the Burroughs Bibliophiles is you get copies of their journal, The Burroughs Bulletin. The journal publishes writings done by Bibliophile members and range from interviews to essays to galleries to retrospectives and other types of articles. My interview with pepla starlet Bella Cortez and her work on the Italian unofficial Tarzan film, Taur the Mighty, was published in issue 109. Since some of the attendees of the 2025 ECOF had articles published in the Bulletin, I brought a stack of issues, getting many of them signed by contributors. Here is a gallery of those issues:

  • Cover depicts humanoid with red skin and lots of cybernetic implants standing over a sleeping woman looked up to a machine. The room is filled with wires and lights.
    The Burroughs Bulletin, issue 100-102.
  • Page 87 of the issue, the first page for Puncer's article "Edge Rice Burroughs and Wild Willcox" signed by Frank Puncer in black ink.
    Burroughs Bulletin 100-102 with Frank Puncer’s autograph.
  • Page 144 of the issue "Interview of Neal Adams" signed by Gary Buckingham in blue ink.
    Burroughs Bulletin 100-102 with Gary A. Buckingham’s autograph.
  • Cover depicts Tarzan, crouching on a moss covered tree with a blank panther sitting behind him in an upper branch.
    The Burroughs Bulletin, issue 104-105.
  • Page 60 of the issue, "Interview of Mike Grell" autographed by Gary Buckingham in black ink.
    Burroughs Bulletin 104 with Gary Buckingham’s autograph.
  • Cover shows Tarzan, tackling a lion with a knife in hand, and in turn the lion is attempting to tackle a gorilla.
    The Burroughs Bulletin, issue 107.
  • Page 3, "Interview of Mike Grell, Second Session" signed by Gary Buckingham in blue ink.
    Burroughs Bulletin 107 with Gary A. Buckingham’s autograph.
  • Cover shows a tank-like vehicle with a giant drill on the front emerging from the ground (Think of those things the Shredder drove around in, in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles). There is a jungle girl in the foreground, a man approaching her, and his butler. In the background is a jungle and a T-Rex sticking his head out of the foliage.
    The Burroughs Bulletin, issue 108.
  • Page 14 "Interview of Joe Jusko" signed by Gary Buckingham in blue ink.
    Burroughs Bulletin 108 with Gary A. Buckingham’s autograph.
  • Page 38 "Interview with Rob Dorsey, Author of the Barsoom Pentalogy" signed by Scott Tracy Griffin.
    Burroughs Bulletin 108 with Scott Tracy Griffin’s autograph.
  • Issue 100-102 signed by Frank Puncer and Gary A. Buckingham
  • Issue 104-105 signed by Gary A. Buckingham
  • Issue 107 signed by Gary A. Buckingham
  • Issue 108 signed by Gary A. Buckingham and Scott Tracy Griffin

At the next Burroughs-centric event I hope to get even more issues signed! 

Tarzan and the Lost Empire

And finally, since my whole presentation was centered on the Burroughs novel Tarzan and the Lost Empire, I had to bring the new authorized library edition ERB Inc. published fairly recently to be signed by those involved. Here is a gallery of those signed pages:

  • Hardback of Tarzan and the Lost Empire. It is from the "Edgar Rice Burroughs Authorized Library". The cover depicts Tarzan in a Roman-style colosseum, standing triumphantly over a defeated gladiator.
    Personal copy of the hardback edition of Tarzan and the Lost Empire.
  • Afterword page autographed by Henry Franke III.
    Tarzan and the Lost Empire afterword signed by Henry Franke III.
  • Page 232 talking about the archives, signed by Cathy Wilbanks.
    Tarzan and the Lost Empire archives page signed by Cathy Wilbanks.
  • Cover depicts Tarzan in a leopard skin, crouched over a slain lion, holding his knife, in the middle of a Roman-style arena.
    Tarzan and the Lost Empire, Dell edition.

I was able to get this handsome edition signed by Henry Franke III who composed the afterword and Cathy Wilbanks who wrote about the archival matter. Included in these images is the way old school Dell paperback of Tarzan and the Lost Empire, a gift from Frank Puncer, which I will cherish. 


 
 
 
 
 
 

Categories
Peplum

Peplum Ponderings: Gladiator II

Gladiator II is the 2024 neo-peplum sequel to the iconic and influential Gladiator from 2000, both films directed by Ridley Scott. Taking place sixteen years after the events of Gladiator, Gladiator II sees Hanno (Paul Mescal), who is actually Lucius, the son of Maximus Decimus Meridius (Russell Crowe) and Lucilla (Connie Nielsen) from Gladiator, a captured soldier from Numidia, follow in his father’s footsteps at becoming a skilled gladiator, seeking vengeance for the slaying of his wife, and becoming part of Roman political intrigue. The end product is a well-crafted neo-peplum film, with some great spectacle scenes, fantastic actors, thought suffers from lackluster writing that fails to support the new gladiator hero.

The 4K/blu-ray for Gladiator 2. It depicts an armored gladiator in the center (Hanno) with a collage behind him of other characters in the film.
Gladiator II 4K Blu-ray.

How does one make a sequel to Gladiator when that film had a definite ending and the main protagonist, a pop and cult cultural icon, dies in the end? The route to go is to retcon/shoe-horn the character of Lucius to be the son of Maximus, and have this new character continue the story. This paternal hook was utilized numerous times during the classic age of sword and sandal in the 60s. Sergio Corbucci’s The Son of Spartacus (1962), capitalizes on Kubrick’s Spartacus (1960), and in the process becomes a sequel of sorts, with the story being carried on by Randus (Steve Reeves) the son of the legendary Spartacus (Kirk Douglas). The numerous Sons of Hercules retitled/edited pepla all become continuations to any number of Hercules films, if taken literally by their “son of” titles, creating a loose canon of sorts. Other examples of Italian pepla that feature a son of a historic (cinematic) hero include Il figlio di d’Artagnan ([The Son of d’Artagnan] Riccardo Freda, 1950), The Son of El Cid (Vittorio Cottafavi, 1964), and Son of Samson (Carlo Campogalliani, 1960), though this is a Maciste film, the title being mostly exploitative of the Samson name and figurative in nature. Gladiator II’s usage of a son character to continue the story is well within sword and sandal genre conventions.

The issue becomes that the son character (Lucius) is not his own character, but a stand in for Russell Crowe’s Maximus. Lucius story mimics that of his father (wife is killed, seeks vengeance, captured, becomes a gladiator, has visions of the River Styx (a substitute for the Elysian fields). Mescal’s speaking cadence mirrors Crowe’s, and the same mannerisms, such as running sand through his fingers, are copied over. Lucius is not the son of Maximus, he is a carbon copy. This facsimile could be contributed to cinematic/storytelling handwaving, after all he is the son of Maximus, so surely all of Lucius traits are hereditary. Having Lucius be the unknown son of Maximus also asks modern day viewers to question Maximus’ fidelity, as he has a wife and son he is completely devoted to as evident in the first Gladiator. Factoring in a previously unknown child creates a shadow over Maximus’ devotion.

This carbon copying of Maximus to Hanno/Lucius robs Lucius of the opportunity to have his own story, his own destiny. What little of his own agency is taken from him when the story is an hour and a half completed. Like Maximus, Lucius’ main motivation is to get revenge for the death of his wife Arishat (Yuval Gonen), who died by the arrows from invading general Acacius (Pedro Pascal). Macrinus (Denzel Washington), the owner of Hanno, makes many references to the rage that Hanno exhibits in his quest of vengeance, which is supposed to help anchor Hanno’s motiviation. Eventually Lucius comes head-to-head against Acacius in the arena where he learns that Acacius was trying to free him, that Acacius is the husband to his mother Lucilla, and that Hanno is the son of Maximus. Lucius is presented with a choice, a pretty big and epic choice that would shape his character and the story’s narrative: to kill Acacius to get his revenge, or to spare him. The choice is robbed from him as the twin emperors Greta (Joseph Quinn) and Caracalla (Fred Hechinger) order the Praetorian Guard to kill Acacius with their arrows. 

The main motivating factor for Lucius’ character is now concluded, not by his own hand. However, there is still an hour of the movie left to go, so the question becomes “what to do with the character now” The story then switches to weaving Lucius into the toga and sandal aspect of the film, becoming involved in the intrigue to overthrow the emperor twins. Up until this point in the narrative the character has had no connection with or reason to care about the corrupt rulers of Rome, but the story forces the transition to make Lucius integral. At this moment Lucius ceases to be his own character in his entirety, fully becoming Maximus instead, complete with donning his armour and wielding his gladius, which were part of a shrine to the fallen hero. 

Interestingly, there is one aspect that sets Hanno/Lucius apart from Maximus is the emphasis on the body. Peplum, especially the strongmen Hercules/Maciste/Samson/et al., have a laser focus on the male body, showing off muscles and their feats of strength. In the original Gladiator, Russell Crowe was in tip top shape, but he spent the movie fully clothed or armoured. Lucius, on the other hand, spends a bulk of the movie shirtless, be it in his prison cell or taking a bath and recuperating after a battle. Mescal is not a “strongman” in the traditional Reeves/Mark Forest/Schwarzenegger/The Rock/etc. fashion, but he is extremely fit, muscular, and agile. Gladiator II wants to sell the audience Mescal’s body, keeping with the focus of traditional 60s pepla. Of related interest, there is no nudity in Gladiator II and there are only a small handful of women characters (Lucilla, Arishat [both who get fridged]), and none of them are sexualized or wear anything revealing. It should be noted that May Calamawy was to be a substantial female character in the film, but her scenes where 99% cut from the film. 

The cost to support this bare-minimum hero’s journey is seen in the supporting characters. Lucilla is only present to assisting in anchoring Gladiator II to the original Gladiator, as she spends most of her scenes on the verge of tears, watching everything unfold outside her control. She has virtually no bearing on the plot, which is an unfortunate underutilization of the character who should have been much more integral. 

The character of Acacius suffers a similar fate as he only exists to drive the motivation of Lucius, and then he is out of the film. This is unfortunate as Acacius should have been one of the most complex characters in the film. His character is basically the equivalent to Maximus, an extremely proficient general, heralded as a hero. However, some people’s heroes are other people’s villains. The audience knows that Acacius is technically a “good guy”, the remorseful soldier who is really good at his job (conquering and subjugating other lands to Rome), but Lucius does not know this. This is the perfect setup to explore two characters at the same time and play with audience expectations, but the gods (and the story) do not will it.

It is these cracks in the characters that fail to uphold the story, and this is due to the writing. This is unfortunate because nearly all other aspects of the film are top notch. The performances of everyone are excellent (though Denzel Washington brings in a bit of anachronistic swagger that does steal the scenes, but also can take viewers out of the film a bit). Intentionally or not, there are many scenes in Gladiator II that seem over the top, bordering on fantasy, but act as terrific calls backs to classic pepla and their historic re/mis-creations. The naval battle scene in the arena, which has been flooded and filled with man-eating sharks, is historically based on the naumachiae, (though doubtful that the Romans captured sharks, transported them to Rome, and kept them contained in a SeaWorld of antiquity, but it adds tremendously to the spectacle), but flooded/flooding arena battles can be found in the likes of Atlantis, the Lost Continent (George Pal, 1961) where Demetrios (Anthony Hall) fights an ogre in a flooding arena. The final confrontation between Lucius and Macrinus in a stream outside Rome is similar to the final battle between Oleg (Victor Mature) and Burundai (Orson Welles) in The Tartars (Richard Thrope, 1961) who battle each other in the stream next to the Viking settlement. And, of course, the numerous slave and gladiator revolt films, such as The Magnificent Gladiator (Alfonso Brescia, 1964), The Revolt of the Slaves (Nunzio Malasomma, 1960) (of note, Acacius, with arrows protruding all from his body, has some visual similarities to Saint Sebastian, whose arrowed-ness is portrayed in The Revolt of the Slaves by actor Ettore Manni), the aforementioned Son of Spartacus, and others. Like the original Gladiator, Gladiator II takes classic tropes from the genres, gives them a new polish, and uses them to great effect. 

Gladiator II is a terrific neo-peplum on its own right, but due to its writing and treatment of Hanno/Lucius, it fails to be a great sequel. Despite this, the movie is not without pop culture importance and greater cultural observations and questioning. When the original Gladiator came out in 2000, it not only ushered in a rejuvenated cycle of sword and sandal films (with the likes of 300 [Zach Snyder, 2007], Troy [Wolfgang Petersen, 2004], Alexander [Oliver Stone, 2004], etc.), it also coincided with eight years of far-right rule in America under the George W. Bush presidency. The sword and sandal genre is in the odd arena where it can critique/push back against fascism (such as when Hercules battles an evil usurper to an otherwise peaceful kingdom), or sometimes it can venture the other way (such as 300 and its associated jingoism). For every viewing of Tinto Brass’s Caligula (1979), there is a large portion of the audience who says “this Rome is horrible” and are rightfully repulsed, and yet there is a small population that says “this is pretty cool” and accepts the imagery and actions of ancient Rome as something positive. 

Akin to the first Gladiator, Gladiator II was released on the eve of the second presidency of Donald Trump, who is currently speed rushing in an even bigger wave of fascism, xenophobia, and anti- LGBTQ+ policies. Will Gladiator IIusher in a new era of neo-pepla that can hopefully critique and push back the tide of fascism? At the end of the film, Lucius gives a short speech to the two armies outside Rome’s gates: “My grandfather Marcus Aurelius talked of a dream that would be Rome, an ideal, a city for the many and a home for those in need. A republic. That dream has been lost. But dare we rebuild that dream?” There’s a lot of nightmares going on right now, inside and outside the states. Gladiator II asks its audience to heed Lucius plea and dream big and better for all. 

Categories
Comics Peplum

Et tu, Mithra?: Rome Eternal #2

The Story So Far

The Mithra Mysteries are a specialized terrorist team, led by the Lion of Jupiter, who wreak havoc in an alternate history Rome, one that is technologically advanced with cyberpunk tech. The last mission of the Mysteries had Jupiter allowing himself to get captured and connected to the Emperor’s Navigator to have his memories prodded by the Veritas Decider. However, Jupiter is acting as a trojan horse, implanted with special memories that trap the Decider, allowing his team to initiate their assault and steal information from the Navigator.

Cover art for Rome Eternal #02. It shows an armored character cradling a female assassin who has died in his arms. Behind them, in the back, is a menacing figure wearing a mask.
Cover art for Rome Eternal #02.

Issue #2 Plot

Information in hand, the Mysteries’ next mission given to them by their Pater is to infiltrate the imperial palace and assassinate Emperor Tiberius. The mission goes horribly wrong as the Mysteries walk right into an ambush due to their ranks having been compromised by an informant. Concurrently, detective Rufus begins to investigate the Mysteries’ attack on the Navigator and Veritas Decider but is stymied by Germanicus and his Praetorian Guard. Rufus’ partner, Eugenio, seeks out a contact in Praetorian Intelligence who perhaps can provide some data on the Mysteries and the Guard.

Commentary

Rome Eternal issue two commits to the same bit that 2021’s The Suicide Squad did by killing the heroes right as their mission starts. In a true Game of Thrones fashion, no one is safe in Rome Eternal in that nearly all the named characters from the first issue, along with newly introduced characters in issue two, are horrifically dispatched. On one hand this raises the stakes of Rome Eternal considerably while at the same time underscoring the cunning and brutality of [techno] Rome. On the other hand, readers do not get a chance to see the members of the Mysteries in much action. In issue one they are all introduced along with their corresponding power/specialty, so there is the expectation to see them in their element, doing their thing, building up more characterization to give their eventual demise more weight. So, it is bittersweet to see the Mysteries members annihilated, quite easily at that.

As with issue one, Rome Eternal embraces non-linear storytelling. While issue one used memories in tandem with unfolding events, issue two is told in flashback while also switching perspectives between the Lion and the Mysteries and Rufus and his investigation. Ultra violence and non-linear storytelling, it is as if 90s Tarantino decided to make an alt-history neo-peplum.

The art and writing quality from issue one carries over to issue two and everything is top notch. The art is especially stand out, both detailed and colourful. Dark blues dominate this issue, with the nighttime assault and covert meetings in alleyways. The newly introduced Detective Rufus and Germanicus have detailed attire that are anachronistic, they feel both ancient, yet new. It is these details that keep grounding the sword and sandal setting in a different, hi-tech context. Rome Eternal is fully committed to the bit.

With nearly all the heroes killed and the issue ending on a major cliffhanger, it is nail biting to see what will happen next. The introduction of Rufus indicates Rome Eternal may start diving into the toga and sandal genre with more intrigue and the addition of political maneuvering from Germanicus. It is nice to see all these 60s peplum tropes being explored in a way different fashion in Rome Eternal. 

For more information on Rome Eternal and its team, check out the following links:

Categories
Comics Peplum

The Dream That Was Rome: Rome Eternal #1

Plot

Ancient Techno Rome. Veritas Decisor Titus Amaro and the Emperor’s Navigator are memory diving into the mind of The Lion of Jupiter, the terrorist son of the Greek Sergius Lauro who led a failed rebellion against the empire. Titus witnesses the memories of when the rebellion was squelched by Javelin Germanicus followed by the indoctrination ritual from the Cult of Mithra of bringing the Lion into their ranks.

Cover art for Rome Eternal #1. It shows the Mysteries, standing in front of a Roman statue missing its head, and behind that a Colosseum that has been cyberpunked.
Cover art for Rome Eternal #1.

Meanwhile the companions of the Lion of Jupiter, collectively called the Mithra Mysteries (Corax the Raven, Persus the Persian, Amalia the Virgin, Heliodromus the Sun Runner, and Miles the Soldier), initiate their plan rescue their leader and retrieve something else of value.

Commentary

Rome Eternal is a neo-peplum comic written by Homero Rios (Heavy Metal), with Diego Yapur (Bloodshot: Rising Spirit,Death Dealer) on art, Oscar Carreño (Wolverine: Xisle) on colours, and Shawn Lee (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, Judge Dredd) doing editing. The first issue was published in November 2024 by Magma Comix. The comic takes place in an alternate history where ancient Rome did not fall but instead became an empire that is a mixture of antiquity and hi-tech, with floating chariots, laser spears, and the cyberpunk-esque ability to view someone’s memories. The juxtaposition of old and future in Rome Eternal is conceptually comparable to the Fallout universe but replace 50s atomic-era Americana with the SPQR.

Ostensibly, Rome Eternal is a superhero/specialist team story, with each member of the Mithra Mysteries bringing a unique talent or ability to the fold: Miles is a giant, brute of a man who wields a titanic hammer; Persus is akin to an agile, stealthy thief, Heliodromus shoots flames from his bracers, Amalia is a sniper, Corax is able to fly and hack into machines, and the Lion is the leader and mastermind. Since issue one of Rome Eternal has two narratives going at the same time, (the real-world narrative and the narrative of the memories of the Lion), each character is given two introductions: one via the memories and then via them showcasing their abilities and the other when they commence their assault. It is a unique take on character introduction.

As a sword and sandal story, Rome Eternal brings its own unique spin to the genre, akin to other neo-peplum comics such as Jonathan Hickman’s Pax Romana and Jean-David Morvan’s Hercules: Wrath of the Heavens. The Rome depicted in Rome Eternal is just as corrupt and decadent as any portrayal in a historic epic, but the addition of hi-tech really ups the brutalism in a way similar to the space marines in the Warhammer 40K universe, where armour and (chainsaw) swords clash with bolt guns and spaceships. It is jarring (in a good way) how one panel will look exactly like it is from an antiquity comic (such as Frank Miller’s 300) and the next the image will be replete with laser rifles and electro-spears.

Rome Eternal is a high concept idea, and writer Rios brings the singular components (techno ancient Roman X-men) while Yapur and Carreño bring the great visuals. The art of Rome Eternal is colorful, creative and detailed, and it has to be in order to portray the mixture of ancient architecture in tandem with cyberpunk technology. The armour and uniforms of all the character look both old and futuristic at the same time. There is a great amount of detail in the characters, but this is also one of those comics that is not afraid to explore the background art as that is the realm that will solidify the anachronistic setting the comic is establishing. 

The arrival of Rome Eternal could not happen at a more appropriate and cyclical, time in pop culture and real-world history. In late 2000 Ridley Scott’s Gladiator was released, starting a revival of the sword and sandal genre with films like 300 (Zach Snyder, 2006), Troy (Wolfgang Petersen, 2004), Immortals (Tarsem Singh, 2011), The Eagle (Kevin Macdonald, 2011), and many more. A bulk of the peplum revival coincided with the presidency of George W. Bush and eight years of right-wing hegemony. Depending on how they are perceived, peplum texts can be a critique of fascism (Neil Marshall’s Centurion) or a glorification of it (such as the jingoism in 300). Fast-forward twenty-four years and Rome Eternal #1 is released, the same month as Gladiator II, and just at the eve of another wave of the rise of the right under Trump. Gladiator II attempted a course correction in its story and went more overt in calling out the evils of the empire. Rome Eternal looks to be echoing the same message, to rebel against fascism. 

Will a renewed cycle of sword and sandal films, games, comics, and other texts arise again? Rome Eternal is looking to lead the pack and it will be great to see what the rest of the story will convey and commentate on.

For more information on Rome Eternal and its team, check out the following links:

Categories
Essays Peplum

Game of the Year: Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore

Non-PC videogaming during the 90s was predominately dominated by three companies: Nintendo (Super Nintendo, N64, and the Gameboy), Sega (Genesis, Saturn, Dreamcast), and, in the latter half of the decade, Sony (Playstation). It was an era of innovation (graphics and online capabilities), experimentation (FMV and system add-ons), and transition (12 bit to 32 to 64, cartridges to CDs), and these three companies trailblazed the gaming Wild West. Of course, other companies would throw their hats into the ring to partake in the Console Wars, though most would fail miserably: Atari with the Jaguar, 3DO Company with the 3DO, and Philips with the CD-i (SNK’s Neo-Geo is an outlier console). These consoles failed for just reasons (lack of gaming libraries, hard to develop for, poor performance), but remain a curious aspect of gaming history, though practically inaccessible to revisit with retrogaming in mind. Emulation of these systems is difficult and out of reach of a typical gamer, hardware is expensive and prone to break, and console exclusive titles do not see releases.

That is until the past few years in which failed console games have started to be resurrected with re-releases. Atari 50, released in 2022, is a museum/compilation hybrid release that contained nine Atari Jaguar titles, providing the first opportunity in thirty years to play these games. In 2024 Limited Run Games re-released the maligned 1993 3DO game Plumbers Don’t Wear Ties, allowing gamers to experience one of the worst video game titles in existence. 

Cover art for Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore.

Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore, also released by Limited Run Games in 2024, is title born out of these resurrected titles. Back in 1993, Philips released two Legend of Zelda games on its CD-i console: Link: The Faces of Evil and Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon (the same year the Super Mario Bros. movie was released [Nintendo seemed to be a bit more laissez-faire with their properties back them]). The two Zelda games became notorious for their poor quality, horrible controls, and most famously, their cartoon cutscenes. Someone looked at these two Zelda games and said, “But what if they were remade – but made good?” The end result is Arzette, and it is an AMAZING game.

Released across all major gaming platforms, Arzette is a fantasy adventure game with some light Metroidvania elements, an homage to the two aforementioned Zelda games, and a love letter to a different style of retrogaming that has not been accessible for some time. 

The river level in Arzette. The colorful backgrounds done in an drawn/painted style are like this for every level.

The first thing players will notice about Arzette is its art style and animation. The narrated intro to Arzette is done in a colour-pencil, storybook style. The game proper shies away from the pixel art that has dominated retrogaming and instead embraces a painted aesthetic, which gives each level a unique look. The enemies are also done in a similar style, at times giving them the appearance of vaporwave artwork. The cutscenes of the game are straight poorly animated cartoon style as used the in CD-i Zelda games, and almost reminiscent of rudimentary Flash animation during the format’s heyday. All of this gives Arzette a distinct and unique charm. It does not look like any other game out there right now, while at the same time evoking the imagery of early 90s non-pixel gaming. 

Cutscene of Arzette and the Ice Lady. The animation is crude and the style purposely campy and low budget.

The music of Arzette, composed by Jake Silverman, is an absolute banger and compliments the game’s visual aesthetics. The score is firmly in the realm of fantasy, but it almost has a pirate, tropical vibe to it at times (it would not be out of place in a Shantae game at all). It is upbeat and carries the feeling of exploration. Even the tracks for more sinister looking levels (such as the volcano level) and boss fights sound positive instead of aggressive and menacing. This is a whimsical game and the soundtrack underscores this. 

One of the many criticisms of the original CD-i Zelda games were its controls and gameplay, such as requiring the character to duck in order to access the inventory or having to stab gems with the character’s weapon in order to collect them. Arzette pokes fun at these restrictions without breaking the gameplay. For example, gems and other items can be walked over to be collected (as is standard in 99.99% of these types of games), but in order to talk to another character, they need to be “attacked” with the sword. The sword is (per the story) enchanted in such a way that bad people get damaged while good people do not. As for the ducking to access the menu, Arzette offers a difficulty option that brings in some of these Zelda aspects, such as the duck-menu, into the game. 

On the subject of difficulty, Arzette is an extremely forgiving. The easier settings provide unlimited level continues with enemies spawning health regenerating items. Harder difficulties take away the level continues and health item generation and even bring in the aforementioned Zelda broken gameplay aspects. However, the levels in Arzette are fairly small, broken into even smaller sections. Dying on a screen only sets the player back to the beginning of that screen, so major progress is never lost. This makes Arzette quite accessible to younger or newer gamers, but it does perhaps come at the cost of being almost too easy, even on higher difficulties, for seasoned gamers. Once all of the game’s powerups are collected, Arzette becomes extremely overpowered, regardless of difficulty. 

World map screen for Arzette. Level selection at the bottom, level progress at the top.

As each level is in bite-sized chunks, they invite multiple replays for exploration to find hidden collectables. As with other Metroidvania style games, many areas of Arzette are initially inaccessible until later in the game when a specific item (double jump shoes or a different colour magic shot for example) is procured. A handy menu on the world map indicates progress of each level’s collectables and the system menu indicates game completion percentage. In this regard, Arzette provides quality of life mechanics that were absent in older games, and still sometimes missing in present day titles.

If there is a fault with Arzette it is with its story and characters. The story of Arzette is fairly standard sword and sorcery fare: the evil Daimur (a stand-in for Zelda’s main antagonist Ganon) who was defeated and imprisoned many years ago is set free. He and his band of cronies (which include a horseman and a business suit wearing dragon) set out to conquer the land of Faramore while shrouding it in darkness. Princess Arzette sets out to relight the beacons to bring light back to the kingdom and then defeat Daimur again. This is not George R. R. Martin levels of storytelling, but it is serviceable, and certainly expandable if Arzette sequels are realized.

Arzette and Maki in the bakery.

The characters of Arzette, save the titular character herself, are one dimensional. The majority of characters simply appear during a cutscene, a fetch quest is given/completed, and they scamper off to become dialogue repeating NPCs. This is unfortunate because the world of Arzette looks like it contains some interesting characters (an ogre who likes to garden, a bourgeois frog, a clumsy but well-meaning guard, etc.) that could really take advantage of the game’s camp-style cutscenes. These are missed opportunities to really flesh out the side characters, expand on the world building, and have more of the game’s fun cutscenes. Thankfully, Arzette the character has some great character building: coping with the death of her King father and being the only competent one in the kingdom to stand against Daimur in battle. She also is a problem solver as she develops an alternative way to deal with Daimur than how he has been dealt with in the past. The game also drops hints that Arzette may be a non-heterosexual character, such as her agreeing to a date with the Maki the Baker and her blushing at the physical advances of the Ice Lady. Though the game does not fully commit to this representation, the overall character of Arzette is multifaceted and as far from a stock heroine as seen in games past.

Arzette has been released digitally across all the major gaming consoles, making it readily procurable by almost anyone (in stark contrast to the Zelda CD-i games that command large prices on eBay). In addition to this, Limited Run Games did physical releases of the game for the different platforms, and its collector’s edition incarnation is fully stacked with swag. 

Outside slip case of the Collector’s Edition.

The game comes packaged in the iconic big-box format, evocative of PC game packaging of the 90s. 

Inside box.

The game proper comes with both a standard case as well as a jewel case akin to how CD-i games were packaged back in the day.

Xbox version with clip case, and a CD case with a sleeve.

There is also a soundtrack, a poster map, and a titanic tome of art, lore, background images and information and more. 

Art book, poster, and soundtrack.

There is also a pin of Arzette and a display of Mortar, the pompadour-sporting merchant, though a display of Arzette proper would have been preferred.

Pin and stand.

Overall, Arzette is a fantastic game. The gameplay is a solid adventure/platformer/Metroidvania with a variety of collectibles. The art style is genius, both as an homage to a gaming style that has not been explored in decades but also stands on its own right. The music and the overall presentation of the game is singular and whimsical. The main protagonist has the makings of becoming an iconic videogame character. If Arzette is the result of taking two broken games and turning them into something successful and fun, it would be incredible to see if Arzette can be built upon even more via a sequel title (which, post credits, do hint at).

An animated gif of Arzette blinking in a library.
*blink* *blink*
Categories
Interview Peplum

Scandalous Swords: Interview with J. Manfred Weichsel

The peak years of the 60s Italian peplum cycle and the 80s sword and sorcery cycle have many films with transgressive, subversive, erotic, or excessively violent content. The Italian wave of pepla presented overt sexuality with their portrayal of vamps, belly dancers, shirtless strongmen, harems, and sexual seductions. With lax attitudes of what could be portrayed in media, the 80s wave of barbarian films upped with violence with overt gore, but also turned retrospective with more meta and parodic content.

Iconoclastic writer J. Manfred Weichsel seeks to tap into these eras of subversiveness with his new edited anthology, Sword & Scandal. The volume contains twelve short stories of sword and sorcery that is on, as the title suggests, the scandalous side. In this interview Weichsel talks about his newest endeavor and the future where he wants to take the scandal formula with other genres. 

Cover shows a Barbarian dude and a barbarian lady. The dude is holding a metal brassiere in his hand and a sword in the other. The lady is covering her breasts because the other barbarian stole her top. She is about to wack him with her sword.
Sword and Scandal cover.

What is your relationship with the sword & sandal and sword & sorcery genres? What got you into them? What are some of your favourite texts from these genres?

I’ve been reading sword & sorcery for as long as I’ve been reading books. I’ve probably read all the same stories everybody has; Conan, Fafhrd and the Grey Mauser, Kane, and stuff like that.

As for sword & sandal movies, a friend from college who first got me into world cinema, Evan A. Baker, showed me the Mario Bava Hercules movie in the late 90’s, but I didn’t do a deep dive into the Italian peplum stuff until very recently.  

I’m a regular contributor to Cirsova Magazine. The publisher was doing an anthology called The Mighty Sons of Hercules, that was an homage to the old peplum movies. I was invited to contribute, so of course I did a thorough study of the genre in preparation for writing my story. And that’s how I got into it. I think my favorite one I’ve seen so far is Mole Men Against the Son of Hercules.

Over shows a giant boar trampling a dude wearing a red toad. A woman in a yellow toga pulls the string on a bow with an arrow. A dude in a blue toga has a spear about to stab the boar. They are on a grass hill with 2 trees behind them.
Calydonian Boar Hunt by J. Manfred Weichsel

You’ve dabbled with the sword and sandal genre before with “Maciste in the Land of the Snakes” (from the aforementioned The Mighty Sons of Hercules anthology) and your short novel The Calydonian Boar Hunt. What was the genesis of how this story came about? What was the primary goal you wanted to accomplish with this specific book?

The Calydonian Boar Hunt is actually set during the bronze age, before there was hard metal to make swords with. I know it looks like the guy is holding a sword on the cover, but it’s supposed to be a stone knife!

The book is based on the eponymous Greek myth. I became interested in The Calydonian Boar Hunt years earlier, after seeing the famous Peter Paul Rubens painting at the Getty Museum in LA illustrating a scene from the story. Years and years after first seeing the painting, I was sitting at home during the pandemic, deciding what to write next, and I realized it was the perfect time to do a deep dive into Greek mythology. I remembered the painting and the impact it had on me and began to research the myth.

The Calydonian Boar Hunt takes place shortly after the story told in the film Jason and the Argonauts, and features many of the same characters. It’s the generation before the Trojan War, and many of the Calydonian hunters also either appear in the Trojan War as older versions of themselves, or are the parents of major figures in that story. It’s a very central myth in the Greek canon, so it gave me a lot to work with.

Of course, my books are comedies, so my retelling of the myth may be a little different in tone from what modern readers are used to. Well, many of the original Greek myths, such as the Argonautica of Rhodes, were comedies too, so my retelling is also closer in spirit to the original than many modern readers might suspect.

Painting shows a group of people, some on horseback, armed with spears, thrusting at a boar.
he Calydonian Boar Hunt by Peter Paul Rubens. Public Domain image provided by The Getty Museum.

The Kickstarter for Sword & Scandal hinted it was looking for transgressive peplum-inspired stories, but the final collection is less sword & sandal and more sword & sorcery. Based on the types of submissions you were getting for the project, was there a commonality you noticed? Something like you didn’t receive as many peplum stories as sword & sorcery (that one genre is more popular than the other)? Or maybe you received a decent amount of stories from both genres but that the sword & sandal stories tended to be lacking in those transgressive elements that you were looking for when compared to sword and sorcery? Or something else?

Of the twelve stories in the anthology, most can be described as falling into various subgenres of sword & sorcery. For example, “Kai-zur the Godless” by David Carter is a pretty pure barbarian story. But “Windblades” by C. L. Werner is a samurai tale, and a really violent one too, like a 70’s Toei movie. And “Flesh and Ink” by Rebecca Buchanon has a really unique premise. It’s about a female assassin whose tattoos leap off her body and kill her victims. 

There are also a few folk tales in the mix. For example, “The Baron with a Thousand Cats” by Gary Every is a retelling of an Italian tale about a groom who must save his bride from suffering prima notte with a grotesque baron. And “The Harem of Al’Azeri” by Jasiah Witkofsky is set in the Arabian world in 1,001 Nights. There’s even a weird tale the anthology in “Vermina’s Creature,” by Bitter Karella. 

I really only received two submissions that read like peplum movies, and while both were great, they shared the same problem, which was that I was looking for stories that placed their focus on sex, and these stories placed their focus on the violence. So, they were good, but they weren’t great fits for the anthology.

Sword & Scandal is overt in its want to feature stories heavy on sex, nudity, and violence. Aside from these facets, there other means to push genre boundaries to their limits. What are other transgressive and avant garde elements featured in Sword and Scandal?

The most subversive element you can put into fiction nowadays is humor. If you look at old books and movies, even if they weren’t comedies, they still had humorous elements, such as, for example, irony. But nowadays, humor is so absent from popular entertainment that audiences don’t know what to do when they encounter it. And because they don’t know what to do, they become frustrated, and respond by getting angry at the book or movie for frustrating them. This had led to a pervasive idea in our culture that if something is funny, that must mean it’s bad.  

I want to help society get beyond this prejudice. This shouldn’t be terribly hard a task. It’s such an ingrained part of human nature, that it should be obvious what you are supposed to do when you encounter humor. You’re supposed to laugh! So, I actively looked for stories that were funny, in order to reintroduce humor into popular entertainment.

One of the funnier stories in Sword & Scandal is “Abduction from the Seraglio” by David J. West. This is about a sellsword who is hired by a man to rescue his girl from a harem, but… well… I don’t want to give the punchline away. Another funny story is “Shaven Beards” by Ross Baxter. This one is full of rude British humor!

Were there any specific stories in Sword & Scandal that blew you out of the water because you had never read anything as uncompromising/perverted/graphic/etc. before?

Every single story in Sword & Scandal was one that, the moment I read it, I knew I needed it in the anthology. Many of the stories contain graphic sex, but not all of them. That wasn’t a prerequisite. A few were chosen not because they have sexual content, but because they have sexual themes. I was looking for stories that were dangerous in some way, and I think that describes all the tales in the book, whether they are graphic or not.

But, to answer your question, the sex scenes in “The Gateway of Pleasure” by Jim Lee are insane, like, really hardcore. This is a story where a knight rescues a damsel in distress, and she rewards him with a blow job and a lot of sex. “The Snow Princess” by Pip Pinkerton is, in part, an outrageous porn parody of Disney’s Frozen, with a great scene where the girls use magic to create an Ice Golem and then have sex with it. There’s lot of lesbian sex in this one too. And “He Who Sows” by Austin Worley is about two female thieves who break into a temple to steal the stone phallus from a fertility God, only to become enchanted by it and start playing with it.

In 80s sword & sorcery cinema terms, on a scale of Deathstalker I (for sex and nudity) to Deathstalker II (for irreverent humour), how would you situate Sword and Scandal?

I love both the Deathstalker movies for different reasons. Jim Wynorski has a few movies like Deathstalker II, where they were sequels to bigger budget movies, but instead of going for a cheap cash grab like other directors in such situations would, he created really unique movies that, while they don’t have much to do with the original, are a lot of fun. 976-EVIL II is probably my favorite out of these. 

As for your question, there is a lot of sex and a lot of irreverent humor in Sword & Scandal. Enough to satisfy fans of either film. 

Sword & Scandal was financed via a successful Kickstarter campaign. What were some of the obstacles you encountered while running the Kickstarter? Will crowdfunding be a model you will use go forward for other entries in your Scandal series?

I got the idea to use Kickstarter because Cirsova used it to raise money for The Mighty Sons of Hercules, a book I mentioned above. I made sure to play an active role in the Kickstarter, both to help that anthology happen, but also to learn about fundraising so I could run my own campaign one day.

Kickstarter was great because it allowed me to do so much more than I would have been able to otherwise. I mean, without Kickstarter, I wouldn’t have been able to offer payment to the writers or have interior illustrations! I would have just written the book myself like I normally do, which was my actual backup plan had the campaign failed. So, I will definitely use Kickstarter for any future anthologies I do, including my next one, Jungle Scandals.

My process was a little different from Cirsova’s. He asked the writers to write stories up front, and then used the table of contents in his fundraising campaign as he raised the money to pay us. I ran the Kickstarter first and then had an open call for submissions. I like doing it this way because it gives me the greatest flexibility in choosing the stories that are best for the anthology.

Author photo provided courtesy of J. Manfred Weichsel.
Author photo provided courtesy of J. Manfred Weichsel.

Your contribution to Sword and Scandal, “Confessions of a Wicked Harpastum Player,” was the result of one of the Kickstarter perks where the pledger could design their own story. That pledger, Alexander Joyner, wanted “a tale with a female protagonist, about women’s soccer, with torture and lesbians.” That is quite the order – how did you go about tackling this compared to stories you pen yourself?

Well, instead of soccer, I used Harpastum, which is an ancient ancestor of modern soccer. Then I added a lot of sword & sorcery elements, such as having them play the game with a severed head instead of a ball. I came up with a sexy plot involving torture and lesbians, and voila. 

Overall, writing it was a fun experience. I often start outlining a story with an image or a few images in my head, so outlining one where the images were given to me didn’t change my process very much. If anything, it forced me to be more creative and to think outside the box. It was a fun experience, and one I hope to repeat in the next book. 

Aside from your introduction to the book, you also gave space for your artist, Apolonster, to share his musings and importance of working on the project. How did you connect with Apolonster? How did you two collaborate on the interior artwork, juggling artistic asks, feedback, and so on.

When I want to hire an artist, I usually go onto websites like DeviantArt and search artists until I find one that is already doing what I want to do. Then, I contact the artist to see if they are looking for work.

I found Apolonster when I was looking for somebody to do the cover to my novel Into the Bush. The moment I saw his portfolio, I knew I wanted to hire him, because he had some pictures that were exactly in the style I wanted.

I knew Sword & Scandal would be a much more complex project than that one was, because it needed a painted cover as well as interior illustrations. Apolonster is a talented and versatile artist who was classically trained at a European art academy, so when I started thinking of people to ask to do Sword & Scandal, he was my first choice.

My process for working on illustrations is that I write a worksheet that usually ends up being a couple of pages describing for the artist what I want, and then the artist gives me concept sketches. I pick one, and the artist makes the art.

Unfortunately, Apoloonster won’t be available for the next anthology for personal reasons. I already have the painting for the cover, and I’m looking for somebody right now to do the interior illustrations.

The next anthology in your Scandal series is going to be Jungle Scandals. What is some news you can share about that project? And aside form Jungle Scandals, what can folks expect to see from you in the near future? 

I’m currently writing a science fantasy book called Space Escapades, which I plan to be the final book in my Action Girls trilogy of books about three ditzy wannabe Hollywood starlets. 

I am creating the Kickstarter campaign as we speak. I hope to launch it early next year. I’m also working on a novel for the first time since my last one came out in March. Exciting things are on the horizon. 

Cover art depicts Hercules fighting an alligator with muscular arms and a fuzzy tail in the middle of a shallow river that is lined with trees, some green, some brown.
The Mighty Sons of Hercules anthology published by Cirsova.

Do you see yourself revisiting the sword & sandal genre? If so, where would you like to take it next?

I want the “scandal” to be its own genre. I get into this in the introduction to Sword & Scandal. So, I want to do a bunch of differently themed books in the Scandal anthology series. The next one is Jungle Scandals, and then after that I want to do a science fantasy themed book, maybe called Planet Scandals or Outer Space Scandals. I’m going to do one called Scandal & Sorcery at some point, and might also do one called Sword & Scandal vol. II. I’m really taking them one at a time right now, so we will see what the future holds! 

I do know that Cirsova is thinking of doing another Mighty Sons of Hercules anthology, and I really want to be a part of that if he ends up doing it. 

I’ll probably revisit peplum at some point regardless. The thing is, if you look over my website, I have a pretty restless imagination and my books tend to all fall into different genres. I never really know what I am going to write next until I finish the book I’m working on. 

Sincere appreciation to Weichsel for his time for this interview. For more information on Sword & Scandal, J. Manfred Weichsel, and Apolonster, check out the following links:

Categories
Comics Peplum

Yor’s [Comic] World: Yor, The Hunter From The Future #01

Yor, the Hunter from the Future is a 1983 Italian Barbarian film directed by Antonio Margheriti (Castle of Blood [1964], Ark of the Sun God [1984]) and starring Reb Brown (best known as the lead protagonist in the MST3K-riffed Space Mutiny [David Winters, 1988]). The movie is a strongman/sword and sorcery film that came during a wave of similar other films (Ator, the Fighting Eagle [1982, Joe D’Amato], Conquest [Lucio Fulci, 1983], The Barbarians [1987, Ruggero Deodato], and so on), that were capitalizing on the success of Conan the Barbarian (1982, John Milius), though the added Star Wars-esque elements at the film’s end edge Yor into sword and planet territory. The film has enjoyed cult status, no doubt due to the presence of Brown and Margheriti’s special effects.

The film was adapted from a series of Argentinian comics titled Yor the Hunter that was created in the mid-70s by writer Ray Collins (Eugenio Juan Zappietro) and artist Juan Zanotto. For decades the comic has been inaccessible to an English-speaking audience, however Antarctic Press (Gold Digger and Ninja High School) is remedying this situation by publishing a translated edition of the original Yor comics. Slated to be released across four issues, the first was released in late August/September.

One thing that becomes apparent when comparing the two version of Yor is just how closely the film follows the plot of the original comic book incarnation. Issue one of Yor, divided into three episodes, corresponds to the first thirty minutes of Yor the movie. All the major narrative events and characters are there.

Film Yor vs. comics Yor:

Brown’s Yor is more lighthearted with a strong helping of naivety. Comics Yor is much more grimdark and serious. Film Yor is an outsider to the initial tribe depicted in the film while comics Yor is already part of the tribe and becomes a leader of it when he exposes a false god – a woolly mammoth encased in ice. Both are strong barbarians that wear a medallion and wield a stone axe. 

Film Kalaa vs. comics Kalaa:

Film Kalaa is played by Corinne Cléry (Bond girl Corinne Dufour in Moonraker [Lewis Gilbert, 1979] and O in The Story of O [Just Jaeckin, 1975]) who is both the love interest of Yor and the damsel in distress of the film. Film Kalaa does not have as much character development as comics Kalaa who is much more strong willed. Comics Kalaa initially rebuffs Yor when he selects her to be his wife, not holding a high opinion of him. Comics Kalaa is also a damsel character, who must be rescued by Yor. 

Film Pag vs. comics Pag

Cinematic Pag is played by Antonio Margheriti regular Luciano Pigozzi (Beetle in Ark of the Sun God, Francesco in And God Said to Cain [1970]) and pretty much is a one to one of comics Pag. Both are confidents/guards of Kalaa, proficient with a bow, and full of sage-like advice.

The major plot beats of the comic are present in the film.

Both the comic and film features a dino battle early in the story. In the film, Yor is introduced by him saving Kalaa and Pag from a triceratops. In the comic Yor saves Pag from a T-rex.

Ukan and his Blue People attacks Yor and friends, kidnap Kalaa and steal Yor’s medallion.

And after the battle throws Yor over a cliff, where he survives. 

Afterwards Yor and Pag enter the caves of the Blue People in order to save Kalaa. In the film Yor rides a pterodactyl in to make a grand entrance while in the comic Yor and Pag battle the pterodactyls en route to the caverns. An epic battle ensues and in both media versions end with Yor destroying a dam and flooding the caves of the Blue People.

While the film adapts the plot of the comics fairly faithfully, where it really deviates is in tone. The filmic version of Yor is much more lighthearted. Even though it has a fair amount of blood (from when Yor slays the triceratops), the overall atmosphere of the film is fantasy-adventure, akin to Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure (John Korty, 1984) with a bit of spear and fang thrown in for good measure. Conversely, the comics version of Yor is much more dark, grittier, and violent. There are executions, rape, and the violence is less cartoonish. The comics version of Yor also narrates the inner feelings of Kalaa and Yor, and they ponder the nature of love in the hostile, primitive world.

After comparing the two iterations of Yor, it is interesting to note just how faithful Margheriti’s adaption was to the source material, save for the tone. It is an interesting case study in how the same story can be told the same textually, but differ greatly in atmosphere and mood. Both film and sequential art incarnations of Yor compliment each other quite well. Fans of the film may not find the camp element in present in the comics version, but can certainly appreciate seeing the original source material of Yor and how it all came about. On its own, the comics version of Yor is fun, and feels like it could have been published in the early years of Heavy Metal. 

Yor, the film, definitely derails itself as it progresses and veers into Star Wars territory, so it will be interesting to see if it continues to be faithful to the comics when issues two through four are published.

Being a Yor superfan, I’ve accumulated some Yor artifacts over the years, and the publishing of issue one of the comic is a perfect opportunity to show off a bit of the collection, which include different home video editions (including a German version of Yor on DVD signed by Reb Brown himself) and soundtracks. Check everything out in the slide show:

I had the opportunity to talk about Yor on the Fan2Fan Podcast, which can be streamed at the Fan2Fan Libsyn.

For more information on the Yor comics, check out the following links:

Categories
Comics Interview Peplum

Reborn With The Strength Of Stone: Interview With Ben Lacy On Samson #1: Nazi Smasher

Hercules, Ursus, Maciste, Goliath, Samson, et al. – all strongman characters and archetypes founds in peplum cinema, both classic and new. They are singular in their exploits, be it mythical, folklore, or cinematic only, but also interchangeable for the same reasons. The strongman is a malleable character, who can be juxtaposed against a variety of ages and settings, leading to fun and interesting scenarios. These could be tales of a Hercules-style character in space, superhero adventures, time traveling adventures that can feature a fish-out-of-water element, and others. 

Ben Lacy’s comic book series Samson is one such text that takes an iconic peplum protagonist and Hebrew Biblical hero, and applies a different spin to the character. Lacy’s incarnation of Samson leans heavily into the superhero genre (which has always has a strong link to mythology, see Marvel’s Hercules and Thor characters for examples) by having his character, a concentration camp prisoner, become the subject of Nazi experiments that leads to superhuman strength – a Jewish equivalent to Captain America. 

Variant cover by David Gallart.

Samson, written by Lacy, with Jhonesbas Craneo (Tomb of Horror) on pencils, Anton Polkhovskyi (The Cthulhu Man) as the colorist, and Nikki Powers (Burn, Wayward Kindred) providing lettering, is currently going through a crowdfunding campaign to realize the debut issue. Lacy has generously provided his time to be interviewed about his strongman comic. 

From classic 1960s sword and sandal films, Hollywood Golden Age Biblical pepla, and even Gladiator and neo-peplum, is this a genre you’re into? If so, how did you get into these types of films?

One of the first movies I saw in a theater was The Ten Commandments back in the early 1970s. I’ll always watch it if it’s on. The same with the last half of Ben-Hur and the few good parts of Cleopatra. I’ve also always liked the Steve Reeves Hercules movies. Not only did they have a lot of cool action, I’d never seen anyone like Reeves (this was pre-Arnold times) and I always wanted a build like that (which I never achieved). For the same reason, I liked the ridiculous Three Stooges Meet Hercules movie where a nerdy professor turns into a strong man.

What are your favourite sword and sandal films, comics, books, and so on?

In addition to the movies mentioned, I’ve liked a lot of the Busiek run on Conan. I used to read a series of books by John Jakes about Brak the Barbarian that were a lot of fun.

Various Samson pepla.

Have you watched any of the classic Italian Samson peplum films (such as Samson and His Mighty Challenge,Samson and the Sea Beast, Samson Against the Back Pirate, etc.), and if so, your thoughts on them? Did you draw any inspiration or ideas from these films?

No, I’m afraid I haven’t seen any of these. I did see Samson and Delilah as a kid.

What is the general synopsis of Samson?

Samson is an epic tale that takes place over the course of fifty years from WW2 to just after the fall of the Berlin Wall. During WW2 we see how the Nazis took two young boys and experimented on them, giving one of them great strength, speed, and invulnerability. He takes on the name Samson as a way of inspiring people.

Years later, after the reunification of Germany, Interpol has discovered that the Uberfuhrer, a Nazi supervillain, may still be alive and living in America. They urge Samson to come out of retirement to take him down. The first story arc follows both the younger and older SAMSON as we learn what’s happened to him and his world over those many years.

What was the genesis of this comic?

I’d always wanted to do a superhero comic (my other books are more sci-fi and adventure oriented). As a Jew, the idea of creating a Jewish superhero whose origin is very much related to his being Jewish was something I thought would be both exciting and unique.

How does your iteration of Samson compare to the Biblical incarnation?

Samson takes his name from the Biblical version both to be a sort of Captain America figure for Jews and because his real name is conveniently Samuel.

There are a lot of stories out there about Nazis doing weird science experiments and creating super soldiers, monsters, etc. How does Samson stand out from these types of stories?

This is inspired by actual events. The Nazis did experiment on Jewish twins. The two scientists in this book are based on two of the real men who conducted these experiments. Of course the experiments they actually conducted were quack science, but in a superhero universe, they succeed, but may wind up regretting it.

What was something important you learned or a surprise you encountered while writing and Kickstarting this comic?

I’ve done ten successful Kickstarters. The first time I tried to Kickstart Samson, it failed to fund. I learned that I had to expand my audience to people who were interested in superheroes. I printed off a large number of B&W Samson mini comics and gave those away to the backers of my other books and to people at comic cons.

What is the biggest goal you want to accomplish with Samson?

At this point, I want to get it funded and get issue one out there. Hopefully, when people see it, there will be more demand for issue two because I think this story will excite a lot of people.

What can fans of the sword and sandal genre look forward to in Samson? Any homages to the classic character or to the genre?

Probably more in variant covers than in the story itself though when Samson ends up in Israel and gets his first costume, he will have the more traditional longer hair and beard.

And finally any other news and projects you’d like to share?

I have two other ongoing series, Shark of War and The Vicious Vixens of Dakuwanga. People can read the first issues of both at BitingComics.com. And of course Samson still has a six days left at Samson.BitingComics.com.

Sincere appreciation to Ben Lacy for his time to talk about his Samson comic. More information on the comic, including a link to the Kickstarter campaign, can be found in the below list:

Categories
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. 

Categories
Peplum

Peplum Ponderings: The Tartars (1961)

Plot

Oleg (Victor Mature) and his army of Vikings pay a visit to Togrul (Folco Lulli) and his Tartar men at their camp in the steppes of eastern Europe/western Russia. Initially a friendly visit with Oleg bringing gifts of pelts, it turns turbulent when Togrul asks the Viking leader to join forces and attack the Slavs, a group of peoples the Vikings are friendly with. Oleg refuses. Angered at being rebuffed, Togrul attempts to kill Oleg, and a melee breaks out between the two forces. During the skirmish, Oleg axes Togrul and commands his men to retreat back to their Viking fort. In the process, Oleg’s brother, Eric (Luciano Marin), becomes smitten with Togrul’s daughter Samia (Bella Cortez) and kidnaps her.

DVD of The Tartars from the personal collection.

With Togrul slain, his brother, Burundai (Orson Welles), becomes Khan of the Tartars. Burundai has aspirations of great conquest of the West, starting with the obliteration of the Viking fort. Meanwhile at the Viking fort, Eric becomes more smitten with Samia and makes advances on her. He is initially rebuffed, but eventually Samia gives in. Oleg, fearing a Tartar attack, sends his wife Helga (Liana Orfei) away by boat back to Viking lands. En route her boat is attacked by the Tartars and she and her handmaidens are abducted.

Sword dance sequence.

Brought back to the Tartar castle, Burundai tortures one of the maidens for information about the Viking numbers and begins to lust after Helga. That night the Tartars host a lavish party with dancers wielding scimitars and mock-battling each other. During the feast Burundai poisons Helga’s drink. Incapacitated, she is taken to the Khan’s quarters where he rapes her.

Furious at his wife’s abduction, Oleg agrees to a hostage exchange at the Tartars’ castle: Samia for Helga. The meeting does not go well for the Vikings: a drugged Helga falls from the castle parapet, fatally injuring herself, and the group of Viking warriors are then attacked by the Tartars – Burundai having no use of having Samia back. 

Because he is going against tradition and beliefs, Burundai’s advisor Ciu Lang (Arnoldo Foà) leaves him, only to be captured and beheaded by the Kahn. Meanwhile an enraged Oleg wants to execute Samia, but Eric intervenes and declares his love for her and proclaims that she is carrying his child. Oleg puts the duo before a court made of Viking leaders, each casting their votes via axe tossing. The final vote comes down to Oleg, but before he can do so the Viking settlement is attacked by the Tartars. Oleg releases Eric so they can all join in the battle. As the Vikings are greatly outnumbered, the Tartars breach their walls and storm their court yard. Oleg and Burundai battle it out one-on-one, with Oleg victorious after he drowns the Khan in the river. Oleg’s victory is short lived as a Tartar archer shoots him in the back. Oleg’s final act, as his fort is overran, is to wave goodbye to Eric and Samia as they flee from the siege on their boat.

Samia and Eric flee the overran Viking fort.

Commentary

The Tartars is a 1961 sword and sandal film directed by Richard Thorpe. A deviation from the Greco-Roman antiquity setting, The Tartars takes place in Eastern Europe in the early Medieval period. Like many low budget costume films of the period, The Tartars is multi-national in its production: filmed in Italy and Yugoslavia, helmed by an American (Thorpe), with American (Mature and Welles) and Italian (Orfei, Marin) actors, and an Italian crew. The film features many stalwarts of peplum cinema: Mature from Samson and Delilah (1949), The Robe (1953), The Egyptian (1954), and Demetrius and the Gladiators (1954); Orfei from Hercules in the Valley of Woe (1961), Damon and Pythias (1962), The Avenger (1962), Hercules, Samson and Ulysses (1963); Marin from Goliath and the Barbarians (1959), The Giants of Thessaly (1960), War Gods of Babylon (1962); Cortez from The Giant of Metropolis (1961), Vulcan Son of Jupiter (1962), The Seven Tasks of Ali Baba (1962); Foà from Barabbas (1961), Damon and Pythias, and War Gods of Babylon (these actors and actresses appear in a plethora of other historic epics, the examples here are limited for brevity’s sake). Thorpe is also no stranger to the genre having directed epics such as The Prodigal (1955) and Knights of the Round Table (1953).

Oleg and Helga embrace.

Despite being such a vanguard actor of pepla, Mature feels out of place in The Tartars. His slick backed hair is more fitting for a Roman character than a Viking and he lacks chemistry with Orfei who plays his wife Helga. His kissing scenes with her are comical rather than romantic. It is the twilight of Mature’s career and his enthusiasm may not all be there.

Burundai during the sword dance feast.

Welles, on the other hand, has dialed his over-the-topness to eleven. His character, Burundai, is realized via yellow face that borders on Mickey Rooney in Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961) levels of offence: Welles’ eyebrows are painted at 45 degree angles and he is constantly squinting. Despite the racist depiction, Welles owns the performance as he nails a warlord being creepy and lecherous, yet also extremely cunning. Welles must have been allowed to either improvise or rewrite his dialogue because there are many long, verbose sequences in the film that mirror what Welles was known for when doing talk show appearances.

Samia at the Viking fort.

Cortez’s Samia does not have much to work with in The Tartars. She plays the role of the damsel and is pretty much confined to the bit due the writing and lack of screen time. This is unfortunate because Cortez has a lot to offer. For example, in Vulcan Son of Jupiter (1962), she does get captured, but her character has much more agency: she talks, plans, banters, bellydances, battles the goddess Venus with a whip, and much more.

Eric forces himself onto Samia.

Samia only falls in love with Marin’s Eric because the script forces her to. There is zero chemistry between the two, after all Eric and the Vikings killed her father Togrul. Eric’s character is a product of 60s male sexism, exhibited by forcing himself onto Samia who eventually relents. If better realized, the relationship could be attributed to Stockholm Syndrome, yet The Tartars is trying to be earnest in that their romance is true.

Helga and her maidens captured by the Tartars.

The Tartars is notorious for bringing up plot points that it does not even follow through on. The movie begins with the Tartars asking the Vikings to band together to attack the Slavs. After being rebuffed, Oleg sends notice to the Slavs about the Tartars’ intention, yet nothing becomes of this. At the climatic battle at the end of the film one might expect the Slavs to show up and save the day, much like Henry the Red and his men in Army of Darkness (1992), but this never happens. Another plot point dropped is the abduction of Helga and her three handmaidens. Helga has a rescue attempt, but her three cohorts are never mentioned again and are forgotten by the Vikings.

The death of Oleg.

Despite the aforementioned criticisms, The Tartars is fascinating because it goes against every possible grain of the peplum genre. Almost all strongmen-centric pepla are lighthearted, with a Hercules-esque character performing heroics and going on adventures, beaming with optimism. The more serious toga and sandal films have the heroes/protagonists win at the movie’s end. The Tartars, however, is dour, dark, and bleak. The good guys – the Vikings – are annihilated at the film’s conclusion. Even though the main antagonist, Burundai, is slain, his men ultimately win: the Viking fort is burned, Oleg the leader killed, and only a handful of Vikings escape. 

The Tartars openly embraces both consensual and nonconsensual sex, which is fairly avant-garde for a non-exploitation film of the era. Many pepla have simile scenes for sex, such as having a belly dancing sequence stand in for intercourse. In The Tartars, Oleg leads his wife Helga to a curtained area of their house before fading to black. Later in the film, Helga is abducted, drugged and then raped by Burundai, indicated by another cut away and fade to black moment.

Samia and Eric on trial.

Mature’s Oleg is the opposite of what to expect in a heroic protagonist: he is a terrible leader for the Vikings and their downfall can be partially attributed to his incompetence. For example, at the end of the film Oleg focuses his attention on bringing his brother Eric and Samia to trial rather than develop a stratagem to deal with the Tartars. It is during the court scene that the Tartars attack, catching the Vikings not fully ready to repel them. 

Oleg and company at the prisoner exchange.

Another sequence of Oleg’s terrible leadership occurs earlier in the film during the prisoner exchange of Samia for Helga. Instead of suggesting a neutral location to rendezvous with the Tartars he agrees to meet with them right outside their castle gate, where they are, unsurprisingly, attacked and forced back to their fort. Overall, a poor leader, but it makes for an interesting portrayal of an extremely flawed character and central protagonist.

Burundai leads his men into battle against the Vikings.

While Oleg falters at being a leader, the villainous Burundai excels. At no point in the film does Burundai not hold all the cards in his hands when dealing with the Vikings. Oleg considers having Samia in captivity his ace up his sleeve, whileBurundai could care less about having her back, much to the chagrin of his advisor Ciu Lang who believes Samia is prophesied to marry a great Khan. This does lead to an interesting scenario: Ciu Lang believes Burundai to be the great next Khan and wants Samia back to marry him, but at the end of the film Samia flees with Eric, the interpretation being that Eric could be the next great Khan, or at least a great leader, though his character exhibits no traits of greatness in thenarrative.

The competency and the civilizedness of the Tartars is the opposite of what is typically showcased by villains in other pepla, especial other sword and sandal films that takes places in Eastern Europe/western Russia. Such a counter example can be found in Hercules Against the Mongols (1963), where the three sons of Genghis Khan and their men are shown to be more barbaric when compared to their disciplined counterparts in The Tartars. 

The steppes of Eastern Europe where the Tartars are camped.

Aside from these cases of taking the peplum genre in different directions, The Tartars does have traditional genre traits that it proficiently executes. The setting of steppes of Eastern Europe/western Russia are awesome to behold and make great backdrops for the films horse and cavalry sequences. The Tartars bring an exotic, larger than life element to the film, with their lavish ornate castle and elaborate sword dance routine that is the film’s most standout sequence. While there are no strongmen characters to bring a larger-than-life element to the film, the Vikings try their hardest to do over-the-top actions to add extra spectacle to the film, such as calibrating their catapults by firing them at each other, and the aforementioned axe throwing to denote yay or nay in the trial sequence. The battle sequences that bookend the film are spectacular with horseback riding and swarms of swordplay.

Tartar archers during the climatic battle.

If there is a takeaway from The Tartars it is that there is not much of a difference between the titular Tartars and the Vikings. Both are fairly ruthless peoples that result to kidnapping women and adhere to internal codes of conduct and prophecies. The leaders of both, Oleg and Burundai, both die at the end: Oleg from his incompetence and Burundai probably from his over confidence due to his ambition – he was going to win the battle due to his overpowering strength in numbers, so there no reason to rush into battle, except for the cinematic reason to have a one-on-one duel with Oleg. While the movie falters with its writing and casting choices, it is overall fascinating and accomplishes expanding the sword and sandal boundaries with its darker tone and subject matter.