One Night Stand Or An Orgy?

By Beau Smith

I guess that most of ya might still be diggin’ out of all the snow that was dropped on some of us here in the last few days. Me… I’ve enjoyed it. The dogs and I get out in it in the evening for our patrol and look for Yeti. Sometimes we find a rabbit, a nasty cat or an old lady sweepin’ snow off her porch.

Huntin’ evil is a crap shoot.

I wanna thank everybody that sent in emails for last week’s Busted Knuckles. There were a lot of strong opinions on why Marvel can or cannot sell non X-Men or Spider-Man characters. Some of em’ were so good I posted em’ on my website at http://www.flyingfistranch.com. Thank y’all for the input. Much appreciated.

While I’m throwin’ out thanks, I wanna thank all the fabulous female fans of Busted Knuckles and the comics I write. I got a nice batch of photos of these Busted Knuckles Babes and posted them on my site as well. You guys out there should rush over to my Manly Fan Section and check em’ out. Ya just might fall in love…or lust.

University Of Delaware Dance Team

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From Russia With Lust—Tatiana K.

Speakin’ of lust, which I often do… A few years ago while wanderin’ around the convention floor of the San Diego Comic Con lookin’ for nothin’ in particular except getting’ out of booth work, a certain book caught my eye. It was one of those foreign albums that not enough comic shops here in the United States carry. Why did it catch my beady eye? Because it had a shapely babe with a big gun on the cover. Not hard to market me is it?

I picked the book up and flipped through it. I fell in lust with the art as well. The book was drawn and co-created by a guy named Felix Meynet. His other co-creator is a man named Francois Corteggiani. If I had to compare Meynet’s art style It would be hard. He has his own unique look that a moron like me has a hard time putting into words. The best I can do is Milton Caniff, Alex Toth, J.Scott Campbell and Paul Dini all wrapped up in one. That ain’t bad company now is it?





I’ve posted some of the art here in the column. You can judge for yourself. The book is in French. Like the French people, I don’t understand it. Doesn’t matter. The art is great and I was happy to pay $15.00 for the book. I asked the guy at the booth if he had any more. At the time this was the only album of Tatiana K. that had been done. Since then there have been two more released from Darguad, I believe. I have done everything in the world to find them with no luck. I’ll get to that in a minute.

From what I’ve picked up and from lookin’ through the book, Tatiana K. is a former Russian agent that is now either on her own or workin’ for someone else. It’s packed with all kinds of James Bond like activity. The book is filled with all kinds of action, some sexy moments, great guns, equipment and story telling. This is a book I would love to see translated into English and sold here in the U.S. That way I could finally find out if the story is half as good as the art.

Now, back to not being able to find the other books. I’m pretty well connected in the comic book business with retailers. I’ve been dealin’ with em’ for 17 years. I’ve called, emailed and hunted down many of em’ tryin’ to find these other two albums of Tatiana K. I have had no luck. I did get an email to some French dealer, but that ended in disaster when the dealer returned my first email and then vanished like fingerprints from a stolen gun.

I am now askin’ you, the readers of Busted Knuckles, to help me out if you can. If you see or hear of where I can get a hold of these books I would be in your debt. That may not sound like much of a reward, but trust me, it’s good havin’ me owe ya a favor. Ya never know when ya might need someone tied to the front of a tractor and driven through a cornfield at a high rate of speed. Revenge…Cornbread Mafia style!



If nothin’ else I hope I’ve gotten ya interested in seein’ Meynet’s art. Let the hunt begin.

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Editors—Grill Em’

I wish that one of the print magazines like Comics Buyer’s Guide, Sketch Magazine, Amazing Stories, Comics International or even Wizard do a feature/interview article with editors of Marvel, DC, Dark Horse and the other major publishers. I’d like to see them ask them just what they are lookin’ for as far as writers, artists, pitches, and ideas. I’d like to see the editors answer these questions with honesty and passion. Why? Because by telling the truth they might just find a huge talent, old or new and be happy about it.

If someone would do this and not let the editors skirt the answers with vague company speak, I think it would not only help creators out there get work, but it would also help the publishers find even more talent to fill their comic book coffers. Recently while readin’ a couple of screenwriting magazines I found that they did this with movie studios. It made for interesting reading and it was also helpful for those seekin’ to get into the business.

Now I’m no fool… at least not at this moment, I know that most of the time it’s not so much what ya know but WHO ya know that gets ya hired. I’ve worked for enough publishers to know that we all play the “good ol’ boys” hirin’ game. As a writer I have gotten my foot in the door before because I knew the editor or publisher on a personal basis. Thing is, once ya get your foot in the door ya still have to prove you have the creative sack to get the job done. If not, you’re soon back on the outside tryin’ to get back in.

I feel that this would really be helpful to a lot of new and old creators that might feel a little confused to what publishers/editors are lookin’ for. Or for that matter what they aren’t lookin’ for. It’s easy for em’ to say what they aren’t lookin’ for. That usually closes the conversation right away. Thing is as soon as they say that ya read where they’ve just signed somebody up for a brand new series. Kinda pulls the curtain down on that side show real quick.

The reason I don’t think it works as well online… meanin’ havin’ some comic book web news site do it, is because those are daily. In a matter of a week that article or interview is in the archives somewhere and nobody is lookin’ any more. When it’s in print it’s different. Comic book readers don’t usually throw away stuff in print. It’s against their nature to toss a magazine or comic book. It’s part of bein’ an addict. I should know. I don’t throw anything away. That’s why my office here at the ranch is a mess. I’ve got most everything from the last few companies that I’ve worked for. It may take me a while to find it, but it’s here somewhere. (Ya hear that Todd? I got all the dead bodies.)

So if you’re an aspiring comic book creator or a vet and ya wanna know what the publishers/editors are lookin’ for, write one of those magazines and get em’ to do this article. Be a man of action. I’m an idea man. You be my leg man.

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One On One Or Orgy?

I managed to finally start readin’ that huge stack of comics that I’ve had piled up here. Some were really good and some wasted more of my time than I’d like. One thing that I found while goin’ through this pile of comics is that most of em’ were continuing stories. There was only one stand-alone issue in a stack of 40 comics. That’s not good.

Am I in the minority here? (Wouldn’t be the first time) Do you the readers have a hard on for stories that go on…and on…and on?

I like to look at a monthly comic book like this. I view it in a 12-month plan. Out of those 12 months I think there should be one “Three Issue Story Arc”. The rest should be single stand-alone stories or at the most two issue story arcs now and then. At the end of the year there should be an annual where somethin’ really big happens to change, kick start, or wrap up an even bigger story. An annual should be an event. Events should only happen once a year. No more. I’m not in favor of these multi-issue, crossover themes. Never have been. They drive readers away and don’t let new ones in. It’s bad marketing. It doesn’t take a smart businessperson to figure that out.

I understand that some publishers do these long story lines so they can collect em’ into trade paperbacks. Well let me be the one to tell em’ that you can still collect issues into trade paperbacks. The whole book doesn’t have to be just one story line. There is no written rule that says it has to be that way. Sometimes it’s good to break these unwritten rules. ‘Sides, it doesn’t take a math whiz to figure out how many issues it takes to fill up a trade paperback. Nothing wrong with havin’ a trade paperback be a collection of a three issue story arc and two stand alone stories or a two issue story arc. It ain’t that hard. I’d love to hear if you the readers would like more stand alone stories and less of these story arcs that drag on like a bad marriage. Do you want your comic book relationship to be more one on one or do ya want an orgy where ya might get lost in the shuffle of four-color arms and legs? On a personal side I’m selfish and greedy. I want a one-night stand. Yeah, now and then I might feel like longer relationship, but only if it’s worth the commitment. I don’t want a flashy cover to lure me into a long term deal just to find out there’s an ugly’ hag inside lookin’ to drag me down and take all my money.

What do you think? I wanna know. Post up and be heard.

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Last Call

Well, just like in a bar they are turnin’ on the lights and we’re all findin’ out just how ugly everybody is. Time to crawl in the back of your buddy’s pick up truck and let him drive ya home. If ya got lucky, then God bless ya. I hope ya don’t pass out until ya can harvest the crops ya worked so hard to plant.

I don’t watch a lot of TV shows much anymore. Most of em’ smell unwashed and unwanted. I have found a couple of shows that I really enjoy. Boston Legal and Lost. Boston Legal is pretty witty with some really good characters. They switch em’ around fast enough so that even someone with Rob Liefeld’s attention span won’t get bored. William Shatner is in the best role of his life. Goes to show ya that just because you’re older doesn’t mean ya can’t dance with the youngsters. Everybody in the show is good at what they do and who they are. Best part is that it has my current dream girl Rhona Mitra in it. I could watch her in black and white with the sound off and it’d still be great.

Lost is a great mystery and they got me comin’ back every week to see what happens. Each episode has it’s own story and yet leaves just enough lingering to make ya wanna come back. Kinda like what comics should be.

That’s it for this week. Make sure ya go to my website and make me feel attractive. Keep passin’ the good word about comics and don’t get suckered in by the hype. Just remember that I’m the only one tellin’ ya the truth.

Your best friend… as far as you know.


The Flying Fist Ranch
P.O. Box 706
Ceredo, WV. 25507
http://www.flyingfistranch.com

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Prove your manhood by visiting Beau at the Flying Fist Forum!

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