This coming Memorial Day Weekend might be the unofficial start of the summer season (which really begins June 21, the summer solstice), but that doesn’t mean you can’t start on your summer reading list. And you know what would make for perfect reading this summer? The currently most popular titles from our awesome backlist!
Cry Havoc: The Furies, Book 1 is a pulp-action collection of three novellas by author Richard C. White (Chasing Danger, Doctor Who: Short Trips, Star Trek Corps of Engineers), that introduces a trio of costumed heroines who fought both overseas and on the homefront during the darkest days of World War II, doing all they could to protect democracy—and doing it all with no superpowers! Black Venus, a black-catsuited fighter pilot, was created by artist Charles Tomsey (Patsy Walker, Captain Midnight), and made her comics debut in Holyoke’s Contact Comics #1 (cover-dated July 1944). The super-spy Miss Espionage, the International Detective, was created by writer Bill Woolfolk (Airboy, Captain Marvel) and artist Rudy Palais (Blackhawk, Phantom Lady), and first appeared in Narrative Publishers’ Power Comics #3 (cover-dated September 1944). As for the Cat, a Hollywood stuntwoman turned lead actress turned crime fighter…well, she may be an original Rich White creation, but her adventures fit perfectly into that Golden Age timeline.
On Wings of Steel: The Darkside Chronicles, Book 1 is a steampunk sci-fi novel by Richard C. White in which Erica Halgrim is a proud new member of the Angels of Steel: a courier service whose all-female members navigate through the streets of Underworld and the skies of the Aerie with the aid of winged flying devices that allow them to traverse the toxic Dark Cloud that separates the downtrodden masses on the ground from the wealthy socialites who live aboard enormous airships. Her job becomes secondary, however, when Erica attends a soiree at the Aerie with her fellow Angels and witnesses what appears to be an unfortunate accident (but could it perhaps have been murder?) and she becomes a suspect!
Terra Incognito: A Guide to Building the Worlds of Your Imagination by Richard C. White is our popular how-to book for writers and role-playing gamers that takes you through the step-by-step process of constructing a world for your characters, from societies and governments to currency and religion. A bonus feature is an interview with New York Times bestselling author Tracy Hickman (Dragonlance) that discusses his methods of world building, as well as his creative experiences during his time as a designer for gaming company TSR, the original home of Dungeons & Dragons. In fact, the book is so popular that it’s currently being used as a textbook in the Interactive Media & Game Development program at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worchester, Massachusetts!
From the Stars…a Vampiress: An Unauthorized Guide to Vampirella’s Classic Horror Adventures, by Steven A. Roman (X-Men: The Chaos Engine Trilogy, The Saga of Pandora Zwieback) is a nonfiction history that takes an extensive look at the queen of comic book bad girls, from the debut of her series in 1969 to the death of Warren Publishing in 1983, featuring an in-depth guide to all her Warren stories; a checklist of all her Warren appearances; an overview of the six novelizations by pulp sci-fi author Ron Goulart that were published in the 1970s by Warner Books; the story behind the rise and fall of Hammer Films’ proposed Vampi movie of the 1970s that was meant to star Playboy model Barbara Leigh and horror icon Peter Cushing—along with a peek at Peter Cushing’s personal copy of the ’70s Vampirella screenplay; and a look at the awful 1996 direct-to-cable-TV movie that was made, starring Talisa Soto as Vampirella and rock god Roger Daltrey as Dracula. There’s also a foreword by Official Vampirella Historian Sean Fernald, a frontispiece by Warren artist Bob Larkin, and photographs from the personal archives of Vampi’s cocreator (and creator/editor of Famous Monsters of Filmland), Forrest J Ackerman.
Carmilla is J. Sheridan Le Fanu’s 19th-century classic vampiric tale of love gone wrong. Laura is so desperate for a friend that when a young woman named Carmilla practically turns up on the doorstep of the castle owned by Laura’s father, she thinks her prayers for companionship have been answered. But as she comes to realize, Carmilla isn’t as interested in making friends as she is in spilling blood! Regarded as the one of the earliest female vampire tales—if not the first—Carmilla was an influence on Stoker’s Dracula, and remains a popular character in fiction to this day. Our SWC Illustrated Classics edition contains six exclusive illustrations by the super-talented Eliseu Gouveia (A Princess of Mars, The Saga of Pandora Zwieback Annual #1)—and has been ranked a “Best of #BookTok” title!
And Lorelei: Sects and the City is a Mature Readers graphic novel in which a soul-stealing succubus battles a cult of Elder God worshipers attempting to unleash hell on Earth. Basically a love letter to 1970s horror comics like Vampirella, Tomb of Dracula, and Ghost Rider, it’s written by Steven A. Roman, and illustrated by Eliseu Gouveia, Steve Geiger (Web of Spider-Man, Incredible Hulk), and Neil Vokes (Tom Holland’s Fright Night, Elvira, Mistress of the Dark). It also features work by three legendary Warren Publishing artists: Esteban Maroto (Vampirella, Zatanna, Lady Rawhide: Other People’s Blood), who provided the cover painting; a frontispiece by original Vampirella artist Tom Sutton (Ghost Rider, Man-Thing, Werewolf by Night); and a one-page history of succubi illustrated by Ernie Colon (Vampirella, The Grim Ghost).
All these books are available in both print and digital formats—although, unfortunately, Amazon has decided to no longer directly offer From the Stars (see Monday’s post about that maddening situation), but it’s still on sale at retail sites like Barnes & Noble. Visit their respective product pages for ordering information.
