We are running a little off kilter this month for podcasting (getting prepped for CoKoCon, other projects popping up). We are a week late, but our monthly episode is now online!
In the newest episode, Michele and I discuss two short stories from Douglas Wynne’s new collection, Something in the Water and Other Stories: “The Enigma Code” and “Tracking the Black Book.”
The episode can be streamed via our Buzzsprout website, via the embedded player above, or through your podcast app of preference.
General Neo-Peplum News
Recent Acquisitions
This past week has been great for loot being delivered.
First, issue #2 of Band of Warriors, which was Kickstarted earlier this year, arrived. It came with a poster signed by Samuel George London, a copy of the issue proper, and a bookmark.
An ICYMI, I interviewed London twice about his Band of Warriors comic. Those interviews can be found here and here.
Next my preorder of the new Kino release of Samson and the 7 Miracles of the World arrived. It contains a reversible wraparound, so pictured here is the sleeve and the alternative cover art.
Finally, a copy of 1313: Hercules Unbound! also arrived. This is a David Decoteau film, and his modus operandi is young shirtless guys in their undies walking around (see Bigfoot vs. D.B. Cooper). I’m intrigued by his dabble in neo-peplum fare – we will see how campy it might get (Meet the Spartans campy?).
Brand new episode of H. P. Lovecraft Presents: Fragments is online!
We start our 80s theme by diving into the film, The Void. The episode can be streamed at our Buzzsprout website or on your. podcast app of preference.
Citation News
My essay, “Meteor Madness: Lovecraftian Horror and Consumerism in the Battle for Small Town USA” which appeared in Michele’s Bram Stoker nominated collection, Horror in Space: Critical Essays on a Film Subgenre, looks to have its first citation, and in an unexpected book at that! Lisa Swanstrom references my essay in her essay, “From Protoplastics to the Plastiglomerate: Science Fiction’s Shifting Synthetic Sensibilities” which appears in the book Life in Plastic: Artistic Responses to Petromodernity.
I interviewed Samuel George London about the second issue of his neo-peplum comic, Band of Warriors, which can be read here. You can also read my first interview with him here.
General Neo-Peplum News
Bible Films Blog: Retrospective of The Bible on Film
Matt Page has begun his retrospective of The Bible on Film: A Checklist 1897 – 1980 at his Bible Films Blog.
Photo by Matt Page
First he has an interview with one of the authors, Richard H. Campbell. Next he has a list of ten factoids and trivia about the book. Keep checking back at the Bible Films Blog for more articles!
Recent Acquisitions
It was a Black Friday weekend and I decided to head to Zia’s Records and search around for any cool finds. I did come back with am armful of neo-pepla media that perhaps will make it onto my website as an essay or review or something!
First, here is a Blu-Ray for Ruggero Deodato’s The Barbarians. I am a fan of Deodato’s non-cannibal films, with Cut and Run being my favourite. This Italio sword-n-sorcery flick has been on my wish list to watch for a long time.
Michele and I went to the metal section, and working from both ends, tried to find any metal albums that had the most peplum-looking covers as possible. We wound up finding three along with the Gladiator soundtrack.
I only took a quick listen of all three albums, and none of them are really my cup of tea metal-wise (I prefer power metal and adventure metal personally) but all are pretty fascinating, at least from my nursery listen and looking at the art.
Stillbirth’s Revive the Throne has crazy cover art that is a gory parody, complete with pop culture cameos, of Gérôme’s Pollice Verso. Guttural death metal isn’t my thing, but I am digging that cover. Dark Quarterer’s Pompei also has great art, but the prog-rock vocals are a little too old school for me. I was really optimistic for Upon This Dawning’s To Keep Us Safe for some odd reason, but again, metal core not my cup of tea, but I dig the Spartans on the cover and I am not detecting the usual right-wing/eugenic nonsense on this album as found in other Sparta-centric projects/albums.
First things first, it’s been since January since we last talked. How are you, and aside from Band of Warriors, what has been going on?
What a year!? I’ve been busy badgering away on some other comics I’m pitching to publishers but also my son was born a few weeks ago. He’s our second child, so it’s been wonderful to see them interact but it’s also a game changer in terms of time management. On the whole though, I’m good and looking forward to seeing what 2022 brings.
The first issue of Band of Warriors was released earlier this year. What has been the feedback and comments you’ve received thus far?
The feedback on BoW #1 has been really positive. The general feeling seems to be that it’s a strong start and people are looking forward to seeing where it goes. Pipedream Comics gave me a positive review which I’m really happy about.
Since issue one has been out for a while, spoil away! What has been the most delightful thing for you personally about that issue?
As you say SPOILERS AHEAD, but the most delightful thing for me about issue one was killing off who seemed to be a main character. I think most people thought that King Minos would be sticking around but unless they find a cure for decapitation, that isn’t going to happen anytime soon.
Has there been any experiences, encounters, something read, watched or learned in the last few months that has had an impact on Band of Warriors?
I went to visit my in-laws in France over the summer and we visited a beach that inspired the front cover of issue two. It’s always good to base things off of experience when you can.
Any new obstacles or hurdles encountered while trying to get issue two up and running?
Haha… The only thing was my son being born the week before. I was in a mad rush to get everything ready, so that I could just press the launch button. I almost had everything ready but hadn’t got round to the video. I managed to cobble something together, which does the job.
Your Kickstarter has some new characters mentioned. Tell us about them!
We know Gaia and Girogos a little already, although we’ll find out more about them in this issue. The main difference is that we’re ten years in the future from the previous issue, so they’re ten years older. The other two main characters in this issue are Sarpedon and King Brutus. Starting with Sarpedon, he’s King Minos’ brother and chief of Aremorio, which is where Gaia and Giorgos reside and is located in modern day Brittany, France. King Brutus hails from Cornovii, which is modern day Cornwall, England. He has an interesting back story to say the least but you’ll have to read issue 2 before finding out what that is.
Whats been your soundtrack while writing Band of Warriors? What do you suggest as a soundtrack for your readers?
When writing I usually listen to the same music whatever I’m writing, which is Tycho. It doesn’t distract me but helps boost my thought process. If I was to recommend a soundtrack for BoW #2 though, it’d be traditional Breton music. If you watch this video closely you’ll see that in the background there’s a triskell symbol, which you’ll also find on Giorgos’ shield.
You’ve been contributing to the canon of neo-pepla with your comic. The genre seems to thrive on in other medias except for film nowadays. What do you feel the sword and sandal genre needs to do in order to stay relevant?
Relevance is always difficult to a handle on but people just need a compelling story they can relate to. I’m hoping that this and the next issue (#3) of BoW does that through the journey that Gaia and Giorgos are about to go on.
A little outside scope for Band of Warriors, but still relevant to you: you have a podcast called Comics for the Apocalypse. Can you tell us about this endeavor?
Comics for the Apocalypse is a lot of fun. I interview other comic creators about what comics they’d take into an apocalypse. I started it a few years ago and I now have over 130 episode with the likes of Charlie Adlard, Alison Sampson, Mark Waid, and Rachael Smith having been on the show.
As spoiler free as possible, what are some amazing things readers can look forward to in issue two of Band of Warriors? The main thing is that readers will get to see who Gaia and Girogos are. In the first issue they were being protected by their parents, but now they’re all on their own.
Thank you very much for this second interview, wishing you and all your endeavors continued success!
Horror Literature from Gothic to Post-Modern: Critical Essays, the academic anthology that Michele and I edited that is based on presentations from the first two years of our Ann Radcliffe Academic Conference, is listed in the non-fiction section of Ellen Datlow’s book, The Best Horror of the Year: Volume 13.
For November we will be doing an 80s-themed month for the H. P. Lovecast Podcast. We will be watching the film, The Void, and then looking at the Raw Dog Screaming Press anthology, Attack from the 80s. Keep an eye out for these episodes at our Buzzsprout website or on your podcast app of preference.
NanoWriMo
Michele is doing NanoWriMo! She’s working on a novel called Land of the Riverbank.
If you want to support her or follow her progress, her username is Mbrittany at the NanoWriMo website.
General Neo-Peplum News
Band of Warriors #2 Kickstarter
Samuel George London has officially launched the Kickstarter to fund issue #2 of his neo-peplum comic series, Band of Warriors.
Here are some new sword and sandal and neo-peplum artifacts I’ve procured.
Physical releases of sword and sandal films are drying up. These used to be very plentiful in the 2000s and early 2010s from budget companies. However, these mostly skipped the Blu-ray format and now exist on YouTube in even worse edits. Had an opportunity to pick up this 50 movie back of sword and sandal films which plugs a lot of gaps on my collection.
I really enjoyed Warkings’ Revolution that I bought from Zia’s Records a few weeks ago. I decided to buy their first two albums, Reborn and Revenge. Very nice power metal, though the lyrics at times are a little silly.
Recorded a short segment on Hercules Invictus’ Sword and Sandal Special on his Voice of Olympus program. I talk about the indie Kickstarted Pandemic Peplum comics, Band of Warriors #1 and Teoatl #1. It can be listened or downloaded from BlogTalkRadio.
Brand new episode of HP Lovecast Podcast is also online. This is our monthly Transmissions episode. In this episode we interview S. T. Lakata and J. H. Moncrieff. The episode is on our Buzzsprout website or via your podcast app of preference.
Citation News
Just found out that my essay, “Permission to Kill: Exploring Italy’s 1960s Eurospy Phenomenon, Impact and Legacy” which appeared in Michele Brittany’s James Bond and Popular Culture: Essays on the Influence of the Fictional Superspy has been cited in Michael Guarneri’s book Vampires in Italian Cinema, 1956-1975.
On Thursday Michele and I had our monthly Scholars from the Edge of Time segment on the Voice of Olympus program. In this episode Michele discussed the mummy anthology Spirits Unwrapped while I talked about the classic peplum film Ursus in the Valley of the Lions. The episode can be listened to at Blog Talk Radio.
Peplum Ponderings
I’ve started a new series here at my website called Peplum Ponderings. This is reserved for after I’ve watched a peplum film and I’ve taken notes, as a venue for me to share my informal observations about the film. My first one is online and it is for Ursus in the Valley of the Lions. Expect one later on this week for Messalina.
HWA CFP Board
The Horror Writers Association (HWA) Academics/Non-fiction board has been updated with a few new CFPs:
NEPCA – Monstrous in Disney
NEPCA – Northeast USA contribution to Monstrous canon
Call for chapters for book on horror comics
Details for these CFPs can be found on the board. If you have a CFP yourself that needs to be added, please send an email to annradcon@gmail.com .
General Neo-Peplum News
Physical Release of Ancient Greece and Rome in Videogames
The physical version of Dr. Ross Clare’s Ancient Greece and Rome in Videogames: Representation, Play, Transmedia will be published next week! The New Peplum is cited many times in this book.
The electronic version is already out while the physical version can be found at the Bloomsbury website.
Band of Warriors #2 Kickstarter News
Samuel G. London has been sending out the Kickstarter rewards for backers of Band of Warriors #1 (which you can read my interview with London here). In a news update for backers, the script for issue #2 is being worked on and the campaign to fund the issue is likely to launch in September. However, there is a cover reveal for issue #2, with art by Federico Avila Corsini:
Follow London on Twitter for more information about this comics.
New Ex Deo Album
Canadian neo-peplum band Ex Deo officially announced on their Facebook page their next album, The Thirteen Years of Nero, will be released on August 27th. They released the first video of the album, “Imperator,” on Youtube.
