Red Light Bytes: 11-24-2023
Catching Up on the Latest with 365 Infantry
Overview
And we’re back. Again! Honest.
To front the updates, stories are making their way to our test-driver K. Paul, art is being cooked up by lead artist Kevin John Jacob, and we’re hard at work getting the latest Alan Firedale adventure pulled together. It’s been quite the experience, but the passion has come back with a vengeance, as well as a critical eye. Something tells me the stories told in our Winter issue will be some of the best to date, packed with all the action, warmth, and offbeat charm we keep in stock here round these parts.
Also, November’s Behind-the-Scenes article is in TBD status (that’s To Be Determined for those who don’t speak acronymese), if only because I’m really focused on production right now. At the very latest, an article may appear on November 30th, likely discussing the development of the series art style, but I make no guarantees.
Now, before we get into our usual shenanigans, we got a monster of a book sale to shoutout. We gave our subscribers a heads up that the 2022 Annual Collection has gone on sale for $0.99 USD as part of the Black Friday/Cyber Monday Big Based Book Sale where you can find nearly 300(!) eBooks on sale for the same or FREE! Sale includes friends of the Force Kit Sun Cheah, Erik Waag,
and so many more. So get in while the getting’s good, and support your friendly neighborhood purveyors of entertaining fiction. On with the show!From the Frontlines
KILL THEM DEAD by James Rock, Odin Dasko, et al — Before you is an absolute behemoth of a project. The story of a lost soul hellbent on crushing the lords of the underworld, told through dazzling psychedelic artwork and 80 minutes of original power metal. It’s an action-horror rock-opera comic that looks like a blend of EC Comics and Heavy Metal Magazine. Jaw-dropping artistry meets killer tunes in the hunt of an after-lifetime. SIX DAYS before the campaign closes, so help Broken Compass Entertainment bring this visionary project to life.
The Black Crown by John A. Douglas — The Iron Age’s inveterate orc enthusiast has emerged with an epic fantasy for the ages. The story of an Orc prince denied his birthright and trying to find his father’s tribe, joined by a farmboy in search of a thrilling destiny, an elvish goodwill worker, and an inveterate adventurer fallen on hard times. In the author’s own words, “The Black Crown is a coming-of-age epic fantasy packed to the brim with action & adventure, political intrigue, found family, vengeful dragons, dark abominations, and, most of all….ORCS!” You can find the book on Amazon in both paperback ($15 USD) and eBook ($5 USD).
Streetwise Caviar
This week, allow me to spare some words for a special show who I just found out turns the big 6-O this year.
Thanks to a careful blend of DVDs, tapes, the Internet, and an extended period of access to BBC America, the youngster before you became something of an Anglophile in his childhood, and one of my big middle-school discoveries were BBC America repeats and concurrent broadcasts of Doctor Who. The legendary science fiction series chronicled the never-ending adventures of a Time Lord known simply as “The Doctor,” as he battles the forces of evil across time and space, often assisted by travelling companions as they fly through the universe in the British police box-shaped time machine known as the TARDIS.
Though my introduction to the series was the 2005 revival, and specifically the much-lauded tenure of David Tennant’s 10th Doctor (a role so nice, he’s playing it twice for a trilogy of anniversary specials), it wasn’t long before I was discovering the moody, shot-on-tape origins of the classic era, as well as the many exciting, humorful, and lovable performers who have donned the title since 1963.
From the witty grandfather found in William Hartnell to the man-of-action Jon Pertwee to the iconic Tom Baker and so many more, across all series, stories, and decades, the warmth of Doctor Who as a character and program has stayed with me. Its cozy blend of classic sci-fi adventure and grand historical larks has made it one I never fail to come back to, time and time again.
In spite of some rougher patches seen in recent years, my love of the show, its core ethos, and its indominable spirit, married with that British-built endurance that yields such long-running programs, has never waned. And with any hope and luck, the future of the series may be brighter still, seeing as the first post-millennial showrunner Russell T. Davies is back at the controls. And hell, even if that’s not the case, 26 years worth of classic-era Who is one hell of a marathon challenge to keep one tied over. Soldier on, Doctor!
Joint of the Week
We are officially winding down Solar Joint Stories for the year by answering a simple question: who was first to start the toast?
At the end of each story, the previous teller of tales shows up. And after you go through enough folks, someone has to have started the whole damn thing. In our case, the Oasis’ long night of recounting drunken absurdities began with a local adventurer: Jack T. Wellman.
The rugged hound travels with his wife in their truck, exploring the uncharted territory of what was the continental United States. And once he’s got some whiskey in him, he begins to spin quite the yarn for his fellow patrons about a wild hunt he wished he could’ve been on.
It is The Tale of the Adventurer’s Dream.
As always, May God Bless You and this Force. See you next time!