As I mentioned last week, Death by Fruitcake – the micro-budget movie we made based on the “Antiques Fruitcake” novella by Barb and me – has hit the major free service, Tubi. You can see it here.
And here’s great new promo art for Fruitcake at the holiday season.
You’ll have to scroll down to see it, but No Film School has a “Definitive Ranking of the 40+ DC Comic Book Movies,” and Road to Perdition is number one.
The film was also honored as one of the Five Best Irish Mob Movies of All-time.
I am about to begin writing Road to Hell, the prequel to the Perdition saga. It will be out in 2028, which is the 30th anniversary of the publication of the graphic novel by artist Richard Piers Rayner and me. Next year will mark the 25th anniversary of the film’s release.
No San Diego Comic Con for us this year, though we hope to make it next. In the meantime, enjoy a couple of photos from 1988’s con where our band Seduction of the Innocent made its debut – that’s Bill Mumy, Steve Leialoha, Miguel Ferrer and me (Chris Christensen had not joined the band yet).
[And while digging around, I found this video of their performance from the 1988 comic-con. –Nate]
The ANTIQUES/Trash ‘n’ Treasures series that Barb and I do was featured in an Internet article, “4 Funny Cozy Mysteries for Teachers Who Need a Recharge this Summer”
Antiques Roadkill by Barbara Allan (Trash ‘n’ Treasures Mystery Series)
Barbara Allan is actually a joint pen name for the husband-and-wife writing team of Barbara Collins and Max Allan Collins, and together they created one of the most entertaining mother-daughter duos in cozy mystery fiction. After her divorce, Brandy Borne heads back to the small Midwestern town where she grew up, only to find that her eccentric, larger-than-life mother Vivian has sold all the family’s antiques to an unscrupulous dealer named Clint Carson. Before Brandy can recover the family heirlooms, Carson turns up dead, and both Brandy and her mother become the prime suspects. They decide to investigate before someone else ends up a victim.
The dynamic between the practical, long-suffering daughter and her theatrical, completely unbothered mother is pure comedic gold. Vivian treats every situation as though she is starring in a Shakespearean production, and Brandy’s deadpan narration is the perfect foil. The series maintains a strictly PG tone throughout, and the small-town charm keeps you turning pages well past your bedtime.
What a delightful review! And a fun picture of Brandy Borner and her sleuthing mother, Vivian…or is it?
I had sent this to son Nate (who manages this Update/blog) and he immediately flagged both the article and the photo as AI-generated.
Initially I defended this (censored) element (that was an actual use of the word “censored,” not a substitution for “f***ing”). The site it comes from appears legit, and the author is apparently a real guy with a doctorate and everything.
But Nate argued that the site itself was designed to promote AI use, and my son is dead set against such things. I am looser, because I figure free promo is free promo, and anyway I’m not going to live long enough to have to deal with our eventual Robot Overlords like Nate will.
Would love to hear your opinion on the subject in a comment below. And rest assured I am a real guy myself!
M.A.C.