Walter Mosley
Futureland

"You're five thousand miles from the borders of the U.S.," the guard said. "And you have been forsaken. Until you prove that you are rehabilitated your rights have been suspended." The Supreme Court had validated the constitutionality of citizenship suspension in 2022...
-from "Angel's Island"

In a new take on the aging genre of cyberpunk, acclaimed mystery novelist Mosley deliveres a collection of tales featuring working class characters set in a stark world that is not that different from our own.

By far my favorite TV series, I received the season two box set last year from someone who had bought me something else and wanted me to return it for this excellent collection. Full of mad ideas, yes, but more importantly a creepy sad vibe that is the failed aspirations of America in the 60's. I plan to review an episode from it every month.

In the theramin-fueled episode 'The Duplicate Man,' our hero has a duplicate of himself made to hunt down an alien that has broken loose from its exhibit. Never mind the alien. The catch of the story is that the duplicate must be killed before it attains full sentience. To add to the oddness, the duplicate is somehow a more pure version of the original and has maintained a sense of love and affection for the marriage that has grown stale in the passing years. In a chilling yet heartfelt scene we witness the duplicate exchange pleasant conversation with its creator's wife and a spark of passion passes between them... which tips her off that this is not her husband.

sequential artist

Al Williamson

Al Williamson was the youngest member of the "EC family". He was only 21 years old when he joined the company in 1952, where he was considered "the kid brother", for most of his colleagues were family men. He especially loved doing pencil work, but was "deathly afraid" of inking, so Frazetta undertook that task for him. Williamson's style is fluid and almost cinematic. In this regard, the influence of Alex Raymond's 'Flash Gordon' was clearly to be seen. Eventually Williamson worked on that very same character in the 1960s.

Williamson spent his childhood in Bogota, Colombia. Upon his return to New York, he took art courses from Burne Hogarth, whom he assisted on some 'Tarzan' Sunday pages. He made his professional debut at the age of 17 with western and adventure series like 'Buster Crabbe' for Eastern Color, 'Billy the Kid' and 'John Wayne' for Toby and 'Outlaw Kid' for Marvel. Williamson contributed to EC's Weird Fantasy and Weird Science between 1952 and 1955, often in collaboration with Frank Frazetta, Roy Krenkel and Angelo Torres. In addition, he was present in publications by ACG, Charlton, Prize and Dell. In the 1960s, he assisted John Prentice on 'Rip Kirby', did a 'Flash Gordon' comic book. For King Features Syndicate, he took over the 'Secret Agent X-9' daily, which was retitled to 'Secret Agent Corrigon' (scripts by Archie Goodwin).

He made a comic adaptation of 'Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back' for Marvel in 1979. During the 1980s, he did artwork for 'Flash Gordon' at Western Publishing and 'Blade Runner' at Marvel. He teamed up with Brett Blevins to create a new version of 'New Mutants' and cooperated with Jim Shooter and John Romita Jr. on 'Star Brand'. Later on, he became Romita's regular inker on 'Spider-Man' and 'Bladerunner'. In the 1990s, he took on 'Flash Gordon' once again (in cooperation with scriptwriter Mark Schultz) and did another 'Star Wars' adaptation ('The Phantom Menace', published by Dark Horse).

(bio from lambiek.net)

music

Vacabou

Superb music from All Saints Records. Domestic release available 1/31/06.

"…Vacabou manage to sound like a missing link between Air, Ennio Morricone and The Beatles (...) This is a debut with a subtle charm and low-key magic that's infectious.(...)an air of mystery and otherworldliness."
(Mike Bond, UK Music Search. September 2005)

"...The album shows more warmth and bravado that Air and Roysopp. Saravelli's voice is beautifully effortless and thankfully free of ego, allowing Feliu's meandering but devastating production space to breathe. (...) Easily out-manoeuvering any of the most recent releases by the big European names."
(Ross Breadmore, Subba-Cultcha.com, October 2005)

 

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