Tag: Gladiator 2

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News Roundup 2025-05-11

Personal / Website News

Peplum Ponderings: Gladiator II

Yall knew it was coming eventually! Gladiator II came out late last year. The follow up to the iconic film that started the neo-peplum cycle, what was I going to say about it?

Well, I did see it in theaters late December, but needed to wait for the physical release to come out and watch it again.

And so here it is: my write up of Gladiator II can be read right here. Enjoy!

Scholars from the Edge of Time: Gladiator II

In case you did not want to read all of that above, Michele and I also discussed Gladiator II during the April Scholars from the Edge of Time episode. The episode can be watched on YouTube.

ECOF 2025

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

Here is a flyer for the 2025 event:

Here is the press release:

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

“Tarzan” Creator and Pop Culture’s Influential “Great Grandfather” Commemorated for His 150th Birthday.

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

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

Many believe that Burroughs’ initial stay in Arizona influenced his first Martian story, Under the Moons of Mars, which begins with the first chapter titled “On the Arizona Hills.” The John Carter Martian stories would go on to influence generations of science fiction and fantasy books and movies, and would inspire many young people to become scientists, engineers, and astronauts. He would later author the books The War Chief and Apache Devil, both set in Arizona during the Apache Wars of the 1860s – 1880s.
This Willcox Edgar Rice Burroughs Chain of Friendship (ECOF) Gathering will take place from September 25 to 28, 2025, with the 7th Cavalry Historical Monument formal dedication ceremony on Saturday, September 27th from 10:00 AM – 12:00 Noon near the historic Southern Pacific Railroad Depot.

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

These events are sponsored by the Sulphur Springs Valley Historical Society and the Apache Devils chapter of The Burroughs Bibliophiles. The celebration is open to the public for free (except for the dinner and movie), but full attendees can register for a fee that covers a goodie bag, a huckster table, and the Saturday dinner.
This is a must-attend event for fans of Edgar Rice Burroughs and pop-culture historians alike. If you’d like to visit the place where it all began, don’t miss this very special celebration. (Note that some convention activities will require full event registration – the registration form is provided separately.)

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

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

Here is the registration from:

Registration Form for the 2025 Edgar Rice Burroughs Chain of Friendship (ECOF) Gathering in Willcox, AZ (v8)Download

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

Publishing Recap

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

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

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

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

Original can be read here.

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

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

Calls for Papers/Proposals

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

We Live Again! Disney’s Gargoyles as an Evolving Transmedia Text

Co-sponsored by the Monsters & the Monstrous Area and Disney Studies Area
Call for Papers for 2025 Virtual Conference of the Northeast Popular Culture Association (NEPCA)
Thursday, 9 October, to Saturday, 11 October, 2025
Submissions are open until Tuesday, 15 July by 5 PM EDT

Conceived by creator Greg Weisman, Disney’s Gargoyles began as a television series in the 1990s and has been expanded over the decades through action figures, books, clothing, collectibles, comics, conventions, fan art, fanfiction, games, puzzles, and recurrent rumors of a live-action reboot. Although now over thirty years old, Gargoyles has remained incredibly popular since its initial debut, yet, while other aspects of Disney Studies are flourishing, scholars have mostly neglected the series. Therefore, we seek in this session to offer some critical attention to Gargoyles and its various adaptations and continuations.

Proposals should display some knowledge of the history and scope of the series, its adaptation history, and its ongoing evolution. We encourage you to make use of the resource guide provided at https://tinyurl.com/WeLiveAgainRG in formulating your approach.

To submit a proposal, please review the requirements and procedure from NEPCA’s main conference page at https://www.northeastpca.org/conference. Proposals should be approximately 250 words; an academic biographical statement (75 words or less) is also requested. Payment of registration and membership fees will be required to present. More details on exact costs will be forthcoming.

Direct submissions to the Monsters & the Monstrous Area can be made at https://cfp.sched.com/speaker/sTP9T9X3cW/event. Address any questions or concerns to the area chair at popular.preternaturaliana@gmail.com.

Further information on the Monsters & the Monstrous Area can be accessed on our blog Popular Preternaturaliana: Studying the Monstrous in Popular Culture at https://popularpreternaturaliana.blogspot.com/.
Further information on the Northeast Popular Culture Association (NEPCA) can be accessed from our new website at https://www.northeastpca.org/.

Silly Old Bear? Adaptations, Appropriations, and Transformations of Winnie-the-Pooh

Co-sponsored by the Monsters & the Monstrous Area and Disney Studies Area
Call for Papers for 2025 Virtual Conference of the Northeast Popular Culture Association (NEPCA)
Thursday, 9 October, to Saturday, 11 October, 2025
Submissions are open until Tuesday, 15 July by 5 PM EDT


A. A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh has always been a bit of a shapeshifter manifesting under various names and appearances since the start of his now over one-hundred-year career as a transmedia figure. Over the past century, Pooh and his associates from the Hundred Acre Wood have been adapted and appropriated to feature in artwork, cards, clothing, collectibles, comics, cookbooks, fiction, films, games, illustrations, memes, musical theater, original videos, philosophical treatises, plays, poems, radio broadcasts, self-help manuals, stuffed animals, songs, streaming video, television programs, theatrical productions, theme park attractions, and translations as well as critical commentaries and works of scholarship. These stories tell of their adventures across time and space, and each text offers a unique approach to the characters. Notably, Pooh and his band have often undergone radical transformations through various parodies and pastiches, with many more innovative approaches appearing since their move into the public domain beginning in 2022.

In this session, we seek to catalog and critique some of these various takes on Winnie-the-Pooh and his companions. We ask you to explore how these adaptations, appropriations, and transformations of these familiar figures connect to and/or diverge from the Poohian tradition established by Milne and illustrator E. H. Shepard. We want you to uncover what these works might say about the gang from the Hundred Acre Wood, the creators of these new works, and, ultimately, ourselves as the receivers of these texts. We encourage you to make use of the resource guide provided at https://tinyurl.com/SillyOldBearRG in formulating your approach.

To submit a proposal, please review the requirements and procedure from NEPCA’s main conference page at https://www.northeastpca.org/conference. Proposals should be approximately 250 words; an academic biographical statement (75 words or less) is also requested. Payment of registration and membership fees will be required to present. More details on exact costs will be forthcoming.

Direct submissions to the Monsters & the Monstrous Area can be made at https://cfp.sched.com/speaker/sTP9T9X3cW/event. Address any questions or concerns to the area chair at popular.preternaturaliana@gmail.com.

Further information on the Monsters & the Monstrous Area can be accessed on our blog Popular Preternaturaliana: Studying the Monstrous in Popular Culture at https://popularpreternaturaliana.blogspot.com/.

Further information on the Northeast Popular Culture Association (NEPCA) can be accessed from our new website at https://www.northeastpca.org/.

(Re)Animating the Middle Ages: Adapting the Medieval in Animated Media (In-Person)

Mid-Atlantic Popular Culture Association’s 2025 Annual Conference
Sonesta Hotel Philadelphia (1800 Market St, Philadelphia, PA 19103)
6-8 November 2025

The Association for the Advancement of Scholarship and Teaching of the Medieval in Popular Culture invites proposals for an in-person panel on the theme of “(Re)Animating the Middle Ages: Adapting the Medieval in Animated Media” for the Mid-Atlantic Popular Culture Association’s 2025 Annual Conference, which will run from Thursday, 6 November, to Saturday, 8 November 2025.

Proposals might cover any aspects of the medieval in animated films, animated shorts, anime, computer-generated images, games, or television cartoons.

We are especially looking for presentations on medieval-themed anime and adaptations of Beowulf, the Robin Hood tradition, and the works of J. R. R. Tolkien but also welcome work on other texts and traditions.

A resource guide for the project is accessible at https://lnkd.in/ekvpHdhp.

Please send a short biography and paper proposal (300 words or less) to the organizers at medievalinpopularculture@gmail.com by Thursday, 24 July 2025.

(Be advised that MAPACA will require accepted presenters to create an account in their conference system. There will also be a registration fee to participate in the event.)

For more information on the Association for the Advancement of Scholarship and Teaching of the Medieval in Popular Culture please visit https://lnkd.in/eNUGT6ap.

For more information on MAPACA please visit https://mapaca.net/.

Miscellaneous Tidbits

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

May the Fourth / Phil Brown Autograph

May the Fourth was earlier this month and its always fun to talk about and celebrate Star Wars.

My big entry point into Star Wars was actually the CCG dEcipher put out back in the 90s. Before the card game I knew of Star Wars, seen the movies on VHS, but it wasn’t a *thing*. After my cat had kittens on my Magic cards, I looked to other CCGs to collect, and went with Star Wars, and that was what sent me spiraling into the movies, comics, and the books – so many books. So, I have a soft spot for the old CCG and Expanded Universe at the time.

One of my treasures is my autographed Owen Lars card signed by actor Phil Brown. My friends and I attended a tiny Portland comic book show in the latter part of the 90s, and Brown was one of the guests. So, I got my card signed by him.

News from Friends

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

New Ride the Stream Episodes

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

Here is their discussion of episode 17 of season 1:

Here is episode 18:

And here is episode 19:

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

New Fan2Fan Episodes

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

First they have an episode about Superman and his cultural impact.

The One Where we Talk About Superman – Fan2Fan Podcast

Next they have an episode where they focus in on the original Superman movie:

Superman: The Motion Picture – Fan2Fan Podcast

And finally, Michele joins as a guest on the Podcast to talk about the 1922 version of Nosferatu:

Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror (1922) – Fan2Fan Podcast

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

The Azure Cove Assignment

Ian Welke has a brand new novel out! It is called The Azure Cove Assignment. Here is the cover by Kelly Lyon King:

The book can be purchased on Amazon.

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.

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
News

News Roundup 2024-11-17

Personal / Website News

Scandalous Swords: Interview with J. Manfred Weichsel

A new interview article is up here at the website!

I interviewed J. Manfred Weichsel, editor of the sword and sorcery anthology Sword & Scandal.

Check it out here!

McFarland Holiday Sale

My publisher, McFarland books, is having a Holiday sale on all of their tiles! From November 15th to December 2nd, if you use code “HOLIDAY24” during checkout, you’ll get a 35% discount.

If you want to support me, consider buying a copy of The New Peplum or Horror Literature from Gothic to Post-Modern:

The New Peplum
Cover art for The New Peplum

McFarland Purchase link

Normal price: 39.99
35% = 13.99
Price after coupon: 25.99

McFarland Purchase Link

Normal Price: 29.95
35% = 10.48
Price after coupon: 19.47

If you want to support Michele, consider buying James Bond and Popular Culture and Horror in Space: Critical Essays (I have essays in both):

McFarland Purchase Link

Normal Price: 29.95
35% = 10.48
Price after coupon: 19.47

McFarland Purchase Link

Normal Price: 29.95
35% = 10.48
Price after coupon: 19.47

If you’re interested in another book that I have an essay in, consider The Many Lives of the Twilight Zone and Uncovering Stranger Things:

McFarland Purchase Link

Normal Price: 29.95
35% = 10.48
Price after coupon: 19.47

McFarland Purchase Link

Normal Price: 19.99
35% = 6.99
Price after coupon: 12.99

A Hero Will Endure Paperback Relese + Discount

Vernon Press, the publisher of A Hero Will Endure: Essays at the Twentieth Anniversary of Gladiator, has just released a cheaper, paperback version of the book, just in time for Gladiator 2!

The paperback is at the much more friendly price of $57 compared to $96 for the hardcover and $107 for an electronic version. All editions of the book can be found at the Vernon Press product page.

In addition, the publisher is offering a coupon on purchases of the collection! From now until the end of January 2025, if you use code SLZM30 at check out, you’ll get 30% off the title. So, the $57 book now becomes $39.99. Nice!

ECOF 2025

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

Here is a flyer for the 2025 event:

I’ll share more information about the event as I find out more on my website updates. There currently is a fundraiser going on to raise funds for the ERB plaque, and details for that can be found in the QR code in the above graphic, or by checking out the donation page at the Sulphur Springs Valley Valley Historical Society. 3.8K of 5K has been raised already. 

Michele and I will be in attendance for this convention, so I’ve added it to the appearances section of my website as well. 

Publishing Recap

Below is a recap of my publishing endeavors so far in 2024.

Comic Book Review: “Carson of Venus: The Flames Beyond#1″ reprinted in the National Capital Panthans Journal #326.

Comic Book Review: “Carson of Venus: The Flames Beyond#2″ reprinted in the National Capital Panthans Journal #327.

Comic Book Review: “Carson of Venus: The Flames Beyond#3″ reprinted in the National Capital Panthans Journal #328.

Comic Book Review: “Carson of Venus / Warlord of Mars #1″ reprinted in the National Capital Panthans Journal #329.

“Wondercon 2019 Coverage: Tarzan, John Carter, and Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc.: What’s New?” reprinted in the National Capital Panthans Journal #330.

Calls for Papers/Proposals

Here are some new pop culture CFPs that have crossed my paths. Links to these will also be in the CFP page on the navigation bar.

Contemporary Indigenous Horror

Deadline for Abstracts: May 30, 2025

Contact: nborwein@uwo.ca

Edited by Dr. Naomi Simone Borwein and Dr. Krista Collier-Jarvis

Building on discussions in the edited volume, Global Indigenous Horror (University Press of Mississippi, 2025), this is a call for chapter proposal submissions focused on the topic of Contemporary Indigenous Horror. Beautiful, luminous and resonant moments of horror exist in the work of writers like Shane Hawk, Kim Scott, Tiffany Morris, Waubgeshig Rice, or Ambelin Kwaymullina. But Indigenous horror tales thrive in many narrative or storying forms—from fiction, plays, and music, to graphic novels, art installations, or experimental films fortified by sonic and oral manifestations.

In response to the forthcoming inaugural essay collection, Global Indigenous Horror (2025), Judith Leggatt states, “Global Indigenous Horror is a timely and welcome addition to the growing field of Indigenous Horror studies.” Over the past decade, there has been a (re)surgence in Indigenous works focusing on tales of horror, such as Anoka: A Collection of Indigenous Horror (2011; Hawk); Ajjiit: Dark Dreams of the Ancient Arctic (2011; Tinsley and Qitsualik); Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Anthology Collection (2023; Hawk and Van Alst Jr.); Whistle at Night and They Will Come: Indigenous Horror Stories (2023; Soop); Midnight Storm, Moonless Sky: Indigenous Horror Stories (2022; Soop); Taaqtumi: An Anthology of Arctic Horror Stories (2019), Moosebumpz: Scary Stories from the Rez, and The Land Has Spoken—Tales of Indigenous Horror (2024; Hawk and Rogers), and Zegaajimo: Indigenous Horror Fiction (2024; Akiwenzie and Adler), just to name a few.

Responding to the widening gap between Indigenous horror and academic responses to it, editors Naomi Simone Borwein and Krista Collier-Jarvis solicit contributions for Contemporary Indigenous Horror. Shane Hawk broadly defines horror as that which “prioritizes the fear factor, often using graphic depictions of violence, monstrous beings, or otherworldly threats to achieve its effect. The ultimate purpose of horror is to confront the reader with their deepest fears, creating an experience that is visceral and unsettling.” When taken up by Indigenous storytellers, horror often engages with a colonial past that has never really passed, and as such, it haunts contemporary Indigenous peoples and communities. Indigenous horror thus often blends traditional stories as well as Indigenous ways of knowing and being with contemporary issues. In many cases, Indigenous horror is about our lived experiences, not as the victim of ongoing coloniality, but as resistance. According to Elizabeth Edwards and Brenna Duperron, “Indigeneity is a resistance — in the usual sense of opposition, repudiation, and refusal to comply […but also] resistant to assimilation. Indigeneity is the lived and embodied experience of peoples who have participated in that resistance” (94). In many other cases, Indigenous horror is about what Scott Gordon calls “colonial whiplash,” where “white people who haven’t turned into zombies [or other monsters] are at the mercy of the oppressed”—their Indigenous saviours. And in other cases, what Indigenous horror is has yet to be revealed.

Chapters (6,000-8,000 words including bibliography) may examine modern, contemporary representations of Indigenous Horror from a variety of perspectives. With a focus on analysis of current horror (narrative) production by self-identifying artists, writers, and other creators, some areas of consideration include, but are not limited to:

  • the future of Indigenous Horror;
  • Indigenous futurisms;
  • Indigenous futurism in relation to Afrofuturism;
  • the post-apocalyptic;
  • after the Anthropocene (or other labels);
  • pre-contact/post-contact;
  • Indigenous “monsters”;
  • Indigenous identity/identities;
  • unsettling, activism;
  • love, reciprocity, and horror;
  • Indigenous horror and visual, digital, or textual sovereignty;
  • mixed media, experimental media;
  • virtual, embodied, extended, or augmented reality;
  • multisensory installation and the horror experience;
  • ecological discourses and horror manifestations in relation to speculative narratives;
  • interrogation of “rewilding” and alternatives;
  • decolonization of Indigenous stereotypes in mainstream Horror and their counterparts in Indigenous narratives;
  • authentic Indigenous horror images, visions, “metaphors” or “motifs”;
  • social media and h/Horror in relation to fiction marketization;
  • sonic landscapes of horror;
  • systems of Indigenous horror that move between fiction, film, music, and other media;
  • NDN and Horror media;
  • inter-tribal horror/Horror and trans-Indigeneity or pan-Indigeneity;
  • exploration of various land-based, place-based, sky-based, star-based, or water-based horrors in narratives by Indigenous creators;
  • blood, heredity, categorization, and holocaust/genocide narratives;
  • reconciliation;
  • virtue signalling, horror, media cultures and spaces;
  • metacommentary;
  • analysis of Indigenous Gothic and Horror;
  • Indigenous Horror fiction and ways of knowing;
  • reading (and teaching) Indigenous horror fiction;
  • horror systems as epistemologies;
  • Indigenous Horror fiction and scholarship;
  • and more.

This follow-up collection seeks contributions from self-identified Indigenous scholars in any stage of their academic journey. We also encourage submissions from allies to the community. To acknowledge the various ways in which Indigenous scholarship may emerge, we welcome both traditional as well as more exploratory approaches, including submissions of proposals for non-fiction works by self-identified Indigenous storytellers reflecting on the process of writing, or otherwise producing, horror.

Please send a 250-word abstract and a 100-word bio to editors Naomi Simone Borwein (nborwein@uwo.ca) and Krista Collier-Jarvis (Krista.Collier-Jarvis@msvu.ca) by May 30, 2025. Accepted chapters will be due June 30, 2026.

Miscellaneous Tidbits

Some fun things and shout outs from these past few weeks.

Gladiator 2 Cinemark Popcorn Bucket

Collectable popcorn buckets are becoming a big thing now. Gladiator 2 has one, of course. Thankfully this bucket could be ordered online instead of actually going to a Cinemark theater. So, of course I ordered a bucket:

Sword and Sandal Blu-rays

Coinciding with the release of Gladiator 2 in November, there’s been a handful of older pepla getting new releases on UHD/Blu-ray. In mid November three came in the mail: Steelbook edition of the original Gladiator (2000), a new cut of Caligula (1979), and a new edition of Hercules Returns (1993).

Rest in Peplum Tony Todd

Tony Todd, horror actor extraordinaire best known for his portrayal as Candyman, passed away. He starred in a handful of pepla: Xena (1995-2001), Hercules (1995-1999), Beastmaster 3 (1996), and Minotaur (2006).

Michele and I had the honor to meet him way back in 2008 at a horror con in SeaTac. He autographed my Criterion Collection edition of The Rock (1996):

When Candyman 2021 came out I did an article on bands that sample dialogue from the original Candyman (1992). Do check out that article to see some innovative ways that Todd lives on via textual sampling.

Art of Michele Brittany

Michele has started a Facebook Page devoted to her crafting and art. If you want to check out her projects or purchase some of her journals, give the page a like and follow!

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61565895377463

Categories
News

News Roundup W/E 2022-08-14

Personal / Website News

Review Republished: Awen’s The Hollow in the Stone

Last week I re-published another older piece of mine, a look at the album The Hollow in the Stone by Texas neofolk outfit Awen.

I originally published this on my neofolk blog back in 2020. It’s new home can be found here.

General Neo-Peplum News

Weird Tales #366 Cover Reveal

Issue #366 of the resurrected Weird Tales magazine will be devoted to all things sword and sorcery. The Weird Tales Facebook page revealed the cover art by Bob Eggleton:

The list of authors on the front looks epic. Keep an eye out at the Weird Tales official website when the issue becomes available to pre-order.

Gladiator 2 News

Article over at MSN/MovieWeb has a write up on all things known so far about Gladiator 2.

New Warkings Music Video

Austrian neo-peplum power metal outfit Warkings has a brand new music video online.

The song is called “Monsters” and has a guest appearance from Morgana le Fay. The video can be watched on YouTube or in the embedded player above. The song will be appearing on Warking’s next album, Morgana, slated to be released November 11th.

Categories
News

News Roundup W/E 2021-10-03

Personal / Website News

H. P. Lovecast Podcast Episodes

This past week we published not one, but two episodes of the H. P. Lovecast Podcast (due to timing: 4th Sunday and last day of the month).

Episode thumbnail by Michele Brittany

For the Fragments episode we took a look at the 1997 Guillermo del Toro’s film, Mimic. This episode can be heard on our Buzzsprout website or via your podcast application of preference.

Episode thumbnail by Michele Brittany

Next, our Transmissions episode also went up. This is our interview episode, and we talked to three folks, all three who are alumni of the Ann Radcliffe Academic Conference:

  • Farah Rose Smith on their short story collections Of One Pure Will
  • Rahel Sixta Schmitz on their debut non-fiction book The Supernatural Media Virus
  • Kevin Wetmore on their newest book, Eaters of the Dead: Myths and Realities of Cannibal Monsters

This episode can also be streamed at our Buzzsprout website or via your podcast app of preference.

Exotica Moderne Cover Reveal

Issue 13 of Exotica Moderne will be released soon! House of Tabu has done a cover reveal:

This issue will contain my review of the book Cuban Cocktails. The pre-order page for this issue can be found at the House of Tabu website.

Of note, my article for issue 14 is in the can! It will be an interview with pinup model Miss Corsair Debonair. The interview is done and sent in, just waiting on photos to go with the article. That issue will be released in early 2022.

Issue 15 I hope to finally do my write up on Caltiki: The Immortal Monster.

Academic CV

Updated the About Me page to include a link to the newest version of my academic CV.

General Neo-Peplum News

Aegean RPG

Stoo Goff has a Kickstarter going for an interesting neo-peplum table top RPG called Aegean RPG.

The Kickstarter description is as follows:

Aegean is a tabletop role-playing game about a group of mythic heroes building a new, free city on the shores of the Aegean Sea. There are neighbouring cities to trade or war with, monsters to kill, gods to appease, deceptions, negotiations and bloody skirmishes.

The world of Aegean is an ancient Greece that never existed – a mix of mythology and classical history. The gods visit the earth and converse with mortals, granting gifts of magic and life to some and fear and terror to others. Fearsome monsters roam the lands and seas making every journey an adventure. Strange creatures, some mortal, others half-divine, can be found in the wilderness. These centaurs, nymphs and tritons teach, harass or ignore humans as their whim takes them.

The polis—the city and its surrounding lands—is your home and where your loyalties lie. Your polis is a recently founded colony on the coasts of the Aegean Sea. The leader is called an arkhon, a democratically elected ruler after the Athenian fashion, rather than the hereditary king that many cities still use. The polis sits in a precarious position, between many similar neighbouring states who may wish to trade, ally or make war.

Your character fits somewhere in this world, between the capricious force of the gods, the wilderness and the structure of the polis and its ambitions.

Gladiator 2 Being Written

An article at IndieWire says that Gladiator 2 is current being written and will be ready to hit production after Ridley Scott’s Napoleon movie is made.

Afterlives Podcast

Egyptologist Kara Cooney has started a new podcast in September called Afterlives.

It can be streamed on Spotify or your podcast application of preference. Newest episode talks about being an academia, so extremely helpful!

Recent Aquisitions

Figure I would jazz up my news my showcasing any new neo-peplum texts I pluck up. While at a Zia’s Records last week I happened upon two metal releases: Warkings’ Revolution and Ex Deo’s The Thirteen Years of Nero.

I’m enjoying both, especially the adventure metal sound of Warkings. That album is interesting in that in a true neo-peplum fashion, it’s blending genres/histories together: Vikings, Spartans, Templars, etc.