Rusty's Blog
"The Dead" is a 1996 science fiction short story by Michael Swanwick. It is about a company that re-animates dead people - using zombies as a cheap form of labor. Non-Spoiler Summary In A Nutshell: "The Dead" follows Donald, a man who is being courted by a new company with a simple premise: bring the dead back to life and they can be used as a type of cheap, non-complaining, never-get-sick-or-hurt…
Kamandi, The Last Boy On Earth #34 Date: October 1975 Publisher: DC Comics Cover Price: 25¢ 2013 Price Range: $2.00 - $22.00 Stats: 18 color pages plus ads and "The Time Capsule" column Written & Drawn by: Jack Kirby Other Artists: D. Bruce Berry Notable Notes: Tiger War! Tigers and Apes and Boys, oh my! My older sister picked this comic book up for me about 10 years ago when she purchased a…
A little over a year ago the mountain by my house caught on fire, and I was really upset about it - because it was most likely caused by illegal fireworks. At the time I wrote a post here about it , and included a couple of pictures. I hated seeing the burned landscape when I went hiking in the foothills, and promised I would write about Nature s comeback effort at a later date. Well, today is…
"A Dry, Quiet War" is a 1996 science fiction novelette by Tony Daniel. It is about a hero from the war at the end of time who returns to his home planet only to find more trouble. Non-Spoiler Summary In A Nutshell: "A Dry, Quiet War" follows Henry Bone, a man who for the past fifteen years has been serving in a future war - a big one at the end of time itself. He returns to his ranch on the planet…
The Amazing Spider-Man #250 Date: March 1984 Publisher: Marvel Comics Group Cover Price: 60¢ 2013 Price Range: $2.00 - $16.00 Stats: 22 color pages plus ads, Bullpen Bulletins and "The Spider s Web" letters page. Writer: Roger Stern Artists: John Romita Jr., Klaus Janson, Joe Rosen, C. Scheele Notable Notes: Spidey tracks down Hobgoblin... old-school style! Fun and Loathing in New York! This…
"Wang s Carpets" is a 1995 science fiction novelette by Greg Egan. It is about a group of cloned beings who discover an amazing life form on a planet orbiting Vega. Non-Spoiler Summary In A Nutshell: In a far future Earth the majority of citizens are software clones of humans who live in communities know as polises. One of these polises, Carter-Zimmermann, copies itself a thousand times and sends…
Life With Archie #237 Date: July 1983 Publisher: Archie Comics Group Cover Price: 60¢ 2013 Price Range: $1 - $8 Stats: 23 color pages plus ads and Archie Club News Writer: Frank Doyle Artists: Stan G, Rudy Lapick, Bill Yoshida, Barry Grossman Notable Notes: Archie and friends stay at a haunted cabin! The Adventurous Archie Series! After reading about this series in Comics Buyer s Guide #1696…
It was a whole year before our writing group held another round. That was The Scary Round V, which we held around Halloween time in 2010. Once again I wrote a very short story about some things that were interesting to me at the time: classic monsters and time travel. Ideas for this one had been rolling around in my head for a few years, and in a couple of different forms, so I was glad to finally…
"Ender s Game" is a 1977 science fiction novelette by Orson Scott Card. It is about an eleven year old boy who is drafted to command other kids in a very important military game. Non-Spoiler Summary In A Nutshell: Ender Wiggins has recently been given command of the Dragon army at the military school he attends. He is the youngest commander ever, and the boys in his platoon are all under nine…
G.I. Joe, A Real American Hero #5 Date: November 1982 Publisher: Marvel Comics Group Cover Price: 60¢ 2013 Price Range: $3 - $25 Stats: 22 color pages plus ads, "Postbox: The Pit!" letters page and Bullpen Bulletins Writer: Larry Hama Other Artists: Don Perlin, Jon D’Agostino & Mike Esposito, Jim Novak, Stan Goldberg Notable Notes: Cobra tries to steal a tank! A Grand Parade Have you…
I didn t want to read this book, and had resisted doing so for a long, long time. My wife read it many years ago, and loved it, and kept telling me that I should read it. But I had seen the 1993 movie so many times that I felt the book wouldn t be able to keep my interest - since I knew the main plot and characters and all. I have been a fan of Michael Crichton s novels for over 30 years - ever…
"Who’s Afraid of Wolf 359?" is a 2007, Hugo nominated, science fiction short story by Ken MacLeod. It is about a man who agrees to investigate an abandoned experimental civilization around a distant red dwarf. Non-Spoiler Summary In A Nutshell: The story begins as an unnamed protagonist is running from the law after being caught having an affair with the station s owner. He doesn t make it…
The Friendly Ghost, Casper #206 Date: October 1979 Publisher: Harvey Publications, Inc. Cover Price: 40¢ 2013 Price Range: $1.00 - $9.00 Stats: 23 color pages plus ads Writers: ? Artists: ? Notable Notes: Casper visits Cardland! Another Famous Harvey Comic I ve mentioned before that I grew up reading Harvey comics , and that they are a big reason I love comic books so much. Anyway, I thought…
Our writing group began life when we all wrote a scary story for Halloween in 2005. Every year after that (for a while) we held another "scary" round and would contribute stories to a Halloween themed contest. In 2009, for The Scary Round IV , I contributed this little piece. At the time I was fascinated with the idea of what it would be like to have aliens living among us. Also, I had just…
"The Last Question" is a 1956 science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov. It is about a super computer that is asked a question about the end of the universe - and the very, very long time it takes to come up with an answer. Non-Spoiler Summary In A Nutshell: Multivac is a advanced computer that solves many of the world s problems. The story opens on May 14, 2061 when Multivac has built a space…
The Man of Steel #4 Date: 1986 Publisher: DC Comics Cover Price: 75¢ 2013 NM Price: $4.00 Stats: 22 color pages plus ads Writer & Penciller: John Byrne Other Artists: Dick Giordano, Tom Zuiko, John Costanza Notable Notes: The start of the bad blood between Superman and Lex Luthor! Friends Then Enemies I wonder how many enemies in this world actually started off on relatively good terms with…
A couple of years after my first exposure to Picasso at the Hakone Open-air Museum in Japan, I decided to learn more about Picasso and the history of painting in general. Thus, I signed up for an art appreciation class at university. "Portrait of Dora Maar" by Pablo Picasso, 1937 I knew next to nothing about artists, styles and the history of painting. My lack of knowledge made for a great class -…
"Finisterra" is a 2007 science fiction novelette by David Moles. It is about an engineer from Earth who contracts out to help poachers on a distant world make their biggest kill yet. Non-Spoiler Summary In A Nutshell: Bianca Nazario grew up on post- singularity Earth as a minority Christian living under an Islamic government. For generations the members of her family have been aeronautical…
Akiko #4 Date: June 1996 Publisher: Sirius Entertainment Cover Price: $2.50 2013 NM Price: $3.00 Stats: 22 black & white pages plus "Letters to Akiko" and one ad Story & Art: Mark Crilley Notable Notes: A dream and a storm! Realistic Dreams Have you ever had a very, very realistic dream? You know - the kind where when you wake up you re shocked it wasn t real? And maybe even sad that it wasn t…
For Round 27 of our writing group, in August of 2009, we decided to write short stories that were somehow based on dreams that we d had. Well, I d recently dreamed of a giant ant-like alien that was screaming! Weird, I know, but I figured it could be made into a cool story. Here is my story - I also added a werewolf to create a hybrid sci-fi/fantasy tale - which some in my group said was my best…