Relativity for the Comic Lover

In his Theory of Relativity, Einstein said that as a body approaches the speed of light, time slows down. Most people accept this without explanation because; it has been proven, by physicists, as true. Still, the reason escapes the average person. It needs a metaphor and the best one I know of was in the comedy “Young Einstein” with YAHOO SERIOUS playing the titular role.

In the movie, Young Einstein is at rest beside the face of a giant clock at noon. Suddenly, both Einstein and the face of the clock are fired off at the speed of light. When Einstein glances over at the face of the clock, it still reads noon, therefore he is NOT aging. If he should slow down, the clock would read 12:01 0r 12: 02, the faces of the clock following behind noon, therefore, he would be aging but if he went faster than light (an impossibility) the clock would read 11:59 or 11:58, the faces of the clock before noon, and he would be getting younger.

Are you following this? If not, rent the movie and you’ll see what I mean. The concept, however, fascinates people and they play with it. Here is a perfect example of the philosopher’s Calvin and Hobbs exploring Einstein’s theory with hilarious results.

A Wall of Privacy

I once wrote a story called “A Wall of Privacy” published in issue #32 of “Creepy” magazine, illustrated by my friend ERNIE COLON. The story takes place in a dystopian future where no one has any privacy because of these flying eyes forever spying on its citizens. Our protagonist hears about a wall near his home where there is a privacy zone on the other side. Flying eyes have been forbidden there.

When I wrote the story, the situation seemed farfetched. Think about it, a world with flying eyes everywhere? Ridiculous. But now we have tiny flying drones and they’re getting smaller all the time and they have cameras in them. At the moment they are for hobbyists and filmmakers, but how long will it take for the police, the military and the government to find a practical use for them? At first, I’m sure, they will be used to fight crime and spy on advancing enemy soldiers but how soon before they will be used to spy on citizens under the umbrella of preventing future crimes because, if you’ve nothing to hide why should you care if the government knows what you are doing, EVERYTHING you are doing?

I am beginning to sound like a conspiracy theorist, but, actually, it is my duty as a science fiction writer, to make people away of possibilities and this is certainly a possibility. GEORGE ORWELL predicted such a future would exist by 1984. He was wrong. Maybe I’m wrong as well. Do you think so?

How I Photoshop My Book Illustrations

I prefer to use photos for illustrations for my juvenile line of books, “Starflake”. You might think, because I write science fiction this is going to be very difficult, but I consider the extra trouble worth it because it gives kids the possibility that Starflake is real. I recall the last belief I finally let go, as a kid, was my belief in Buck Rogers of the 25th Century. This illustration is from my novel “Starflake Rides With the Galactic Bikers” to be released this year.

I begin my illustration with the background. From a photo of a rocky landscape, I cut out the sky because I plan to distort the landscape and I don’t want the sky effected, also it gives me the option to put in any sky I want instead of using the sky, which came with the photo. After adjusting the rocky ground and sky to my liking I add a foreground rock in order to hide the presence of my heroine, Starflake.

Next I clean the photos I had taken of the spaceman and Starflake. By clean, I mean, I knocked out the green screen background behind the models. I use the magic wand tool to knock out most of the background and then use the eraser tool to clean up whatever the magic wand missed. Then I clean the model I had built of the rocket cycle and add all three elements into the background.

I found a photo of a slug and distorted it and placed it onto the background. In order to make it transparent I dropped the opacity level from 100% down to about 41%. I paint shadows with the brush tool using the soft brush instead of the sharp brush. Then I adjust the brightness and contrast of the figures until I am satisfied and it is done.

Here you can see the final illustration in color but the book buyers will see this illustration in black and white because the cost of color is nearly four times the price of black and white and we would have to charge a huge amount for the novel. But the cover is in full color.

Writing Cover Stories

Most readers think that a writer will write a story and the editor likes it so much he will ask an artist to render a cover based on the story. It does work like that sometimes, but in my experience with Warren publishing (Creepy, Eerie and Vampirella) it rarely happened that way. The way it did work is, I would be called into JIM WARREN’S office where he would hand me a photo of a cover, which had already been completed by an artist, and I would be asked to pen a story based on the cover. RICH SALA recently asked me to do a story based on a BASIL GOGOS cover called “Violins”. By coincidence I had a story all set to go and, with a few minor alterations, it fit the cover very well.

When I worked as editor for the DC Comics Digests the situation was different. The stories for the digests were reprinted from older books, already published, and so I would call in an artist, like the late, great GIL KANE and show him a finished story and ask him to render a cover based on the story.

Either way, it was considered a great honor to have a cover based on one of the tale you had written.

Pre-Order Your Copy Now!

It’s coming soon! “Starflake on Thrill World: Volume 2” is releasing at the end of August. It’s the 2nd book in my brand new series, “Starflake”, and the exciting conclusion to Starflake’s adventure on Thrill World.

Can’t wait that ’til the end of August, you can pre-order your paperback copy now from the website for a discounted price. Or you can come to the Meet’N’Greet Author event on August 3rd and the Screams Convention on August 27th to pick up your advanced copy and get it signed.

 

 

A Walk in the Sun – Movie Review

There have been many heroic war movies about what historians call the last great war, World War II, but none have surpassed “A Walk In the Sun” based on the book of the same name by HARRY BROWN. It was the first war movie I ever saw, release a year after I was born, and remains, in my mind, as the most vivid.

The story is simple. It follows a platoon of American soldiers from their landing on Italian soil to the confrontation of their objective, a German held farmhouse and bridge, six miles away. The entire movie covers one day and shows how war is long periods of boredom, punctuated by moments of intense violence. The drama is very human, as you learn about each of the soldiers and the courage it must have taken to run toward enemy machine guns, with nothing for protection then a thin, cotton shirt.The lieutenant is killed in the landing barge and so it is up to the sergeants to carry on the mission. One of those sergeants is Sergeant Tyne, played by DANA ANDREWS.

DANA ANDREWS is one of my favorite actors. He epitomized courage faced with overwhelming odds. His handsome, chiseled face never showed weakness, no matter what he encountered. He was always the hero as in “The Best Years of our Lives” when he returned home from World War II to face a faithless wife and a demeaning job, or in “Laura” as a detective who has fallen in love with a murder victim, or in “Zero Hour” where, as a passenger, he must take over the controls of an air liner disabled because the entire crew has been poisoned, or in “Curse of the Demon” where he is a paranormal investigator cursed by a cult of demon worshippers. I will probably be reviewing those movies in more details since they are among my favorites.

His brother, STEVE FOREST, is also an actor, who may be remembered as the Hond Harrelson in the original TV series “S.W.A.T.” later made into a movie starring SAMUEL JACKSON and COLIN FARRELL. Recently on TCM, FOREST gave an emotional tribute to his brother, DANA, whose tragic battles with alcoholism shortened his career and life.

If you say you are a fan of war movies, you cannot honestly make that claim if you have never seen, “A Walk in the Sun”.