Sala Saturdays Return with 'Hate Mail'

 Before everybody gets too filled with holiday cheer and good-will toward everyone, we're going to be serializing Richard Sala's 1988 short story "Hate Mail." Part One is presented today, and we'll have Part Two next week. Click on any panel to enlarge a page so it's easier to read, and expect something strange...

                                                               To Be Continued...

May You Have a Mysteriously Merry Christmas!

 

It's a Sala Saturday

Today, we've got a rarely seen one-page weird tale by the great Richard Sala. It was never published in any magazines or anthologies, but now you can enjoy it here... and it might even help stir a little Halloween Spirit within you! (Click on the image for a larger, more easily read version.)

 

A great collection of early work by Richard Sala

Black Cat Crossing (Kitchen Sink Press, 1993)
Writers: Richard Sala and Tom De Haven 

Artist: Richard Sala

Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

"Black Cat Crossing" collects 17 short stories done by Richard Sala during from the mid-1980s through the early 1990s. There are also a pair of Sala's intrigue- and mystery-drenched "pin-up pages" that serve as endpapers for the book, a table of contents that is executed in the style of an illuminated manuscript; and another Sala's activity-packed one-pagers serving as a frontis-piece. So, it's like we're being treated to a few opening acts before the main event! 

Many of the stories had previously appeared in comics anthologies (which were, sadly, dying out once and for all during the period Sala was contributing to them), and a few were original to this book. Most are examples of Sala's ability to capture the feel of randomness that permeated many pulp short stories of the 1930s while crossing them with a 1940s and 1950s B-movie or film noir sensibility. A few also shows how he can masterfully he can use the "unreliable narrator" in his stories.

The rating I give this book is an average of the stories within it.

The collection opens with three long stories (each more than ten pages). The first two, "The Fellowship of the Creeping Cat" and "The Big Dark Zero" feature equal parts mystery, drama, and humor. They are loving spoofs of pulp-fiction and film noir mystery tales with ludicrous set-ups and overly tangled dark secrets that nonetheless are executed every bit as serious as "The Maltese Falcon". And this is why they work. Both stories also sport genre-appropriate endings that are a satisfying mix of tragic and justice that will leave even the most critical reader satisfied.

"The Fellowship of the Black Cat" focuses a writer of limited success who finds himself at the center of a string of murders related to a long-defunct secret society of vigilantes. It is full of goofy elements, but it is also features escalating tension, because the reader clues into the trouble the protagonist is getting himself into before he does. The mystery of who is behind the plot is also an interesting one. The only complaint I have about the story is that the ending could have been a little stronger, so it rates an 8 of 10 Stars.

"The Big Dark Zero" is a pulp-fiction, film-noir style mystery tale about an amnesiac who has to rediscover his forgotten past to discover why people are suddenly trying to kill him. As the mystery unravels, the facts become increasingly ridiculous, but the story is played perfectly straight throughout, with even a touch of tragedy, which makes this a very effective tale. This is a solid 9 of 10 Stars.

The third and final of the longish stories in "Black Cat Crossing" is also one of the very best in the book. It may even be the best short story Sala wrote and illustrated, period. (It also has an amusing bit of crossover with another story in the book, perhaps the earliest example of the Salaverse, which is hinted at in some of the Peculia and Bloody Cardinal stories, and elsewhere.)

"Where is Christine Broder?" is one of the finest examples of how Richard Sala was an expert of the unreliable narrator. Throughout this whole film-noirish mystery tale involving a burned-out investigator looking for a missing woman the reader has the sense that something is off. It's a sense that keeps growing, but you're never quite sure WHAT is off about the first person narrative that's unfolding and when Sala finally reveals the truth of what's going on, in a perfectly timed and executed fashion, readers feel a mixture of  empathy for the narrator and a twinge of horror about his situation. It's a 10 of 10 Stars without question.

In the middle of the book are six one- and two-page stories in color. They are generally the weakest of what is collected in this volume, with four of them feeling more like story sketches or outlines than full-fledged works; I give most of these collective 6 of 10. The only two that are worth commenting on are a chilling spoof of romance comics titled "A Newlywed's Heartache" (in which the bride discovers chilling facts about her husband) and "Night Delivery which is a pun-based one-page story that I probably found more amusing than any adult should. Both of those rate 8 of 10 Stars.

The black-and-white stories resume with "Another Mad Doktor", which you can read in its entirety, here at Shades of Gray; and "Psychorama", which is the earliest of at least three spoofs of the kids' "alphabet primers" that Sala did. Each letter of the alphabet stands for a deadly lunatic in a psychologist's casebook, and each of these one-panel, rhyming gags are a mixture of cute and creepy. Both of these earn a solid 8 out of 10 Stars.

Next up, we have "The Proxy", a story drawn by Sala but written by . I'm not sure what to make of this one. I read it four times, carefully, and I am still not certain what's going on or what the point it. I am not even sure if there is a point, beyond telling a story about a guy who is is drawn back into the web of deceit and lies and manipulations that exists around his shady kinda-sorta friend, Doc. By the end of the story, I had the sense that the protagonist is screwed and that Doc... well, I really don't know about Doc. Still, it was an engaging story, so it's getting a 7 of 10 Stars.

 With "The Peculiar Case of Dr. V", Sala presents a mystery tale that features his trademark mix of suspense and goofiness, blended with a twist ending that elevates the take from average Sala to excellent Sala. It's another 7-Star effort!

Next is one of the weaker efforts in the book, "Hypnorama", which is a comics summary/dramatization of a tell-all book about how subliminal messages were/are concealed in advertising art and logos. While Sala did a good job of both summarizing the topic of the book and infusing his adaptation with a sense of insanity, it just didn't grab me. Maybe it's because I am already very familiar with the topic, or because it's been done to death over the 35 or so years that have passed since Sala delivered his take on it? Whatever the reason, this one gets 6 of 10 Stars.

The last story in the book, "Judy Drood, Girl Detective", is a Sala milestone. It marked the first appearance of one of Sala's signature characters, Judy Drood. Over the space of two pages, Sala delivers a fun spoof of classic kid/young adult adventure fiction (specifically the novels starring teenaged amateur detective Nancy Drew) as well as bringing us a great example of his ability to tell complete stories in single panels--or, even better, feed the readers' imaginations with summaries of great stories . All-in-all, it's clear why this, which was initially conceived as a one-off by Sala ws something that his friends encouraged him to expand into something bigger. This tale is a solid 10 of 10 Stars, and it's another one of those that you can read here at the Shades of Gray blog.

Rounding out the anthology is the expected author's bio--although Sala delivers one that is not at all one would expect... and in perfect keeping with his forever tongue-in-cheek approach to his storytelling, one final single panel cartoon, and another of his one-page pin-up style pictures--the endpaper I mentioned at the top. These all get a solid 8 of 10 ratings.

 "Black Cat Crossing" is a spectacular collection of Richard Sala's early work, which remains as fresh and exciting as it was when it was first created three decades ago. That shouldn't be surprising, since he drew his inspiration from pop-culture and artistic evergreens.

When I average out the ratings, this anthology is a solid Eight of Ten Stars... and one that I think is well worth checking out by anyone who enjoys well done comics, film-noir, silent movies, and mystery fiction. I think you'll have a great time while in the Salaverse. (It's still in print, but it's impossible to say for how long. Sala is rapidly joining the ranks for unjustly forgotten comics creators.)

It's a Sala Saturday!

 
It's been a while since we've opened the archives and presented a bit of Richard Sala's unique pulp fiction- and horror-inspired weirdness. We hope you enjoy this little tale as much as we did! (Click on the panels for larger, more easily read versions.)

It's a Sala Saturday!

Here's another early one-page comic from the great Richard Sala. Created in 1985, it's another prime example of how how easily Sala mixed the creepy and strange with the comedic. (Click on any panel for a larger, more readable version.)

Bones Coffee's Electric Unicorn Fruity Cereal

It Sunday, so it's time for another post about coffee I've consumed!

Cereal and Coffee: Part of this compete breakfast!

 
BONES COFFEE COMPANY: ELECTRIC UNICORN FRUITY CEREAL

I think I must have had an odd childhood, because I recall breakfasts that consisted of oatmeal with butter and sometimes sugar or brown sugar, and once in a while milk (and that's what I make to this day on those rare occasions breakfast isn't just a cup of coffee and some Greek yoghurt), or, once in a while, Frosted Flakes. So, despite this very funny ad, the Electric Unicorn blend does not take me back to my childhood... although it does, under certain specific circumstances, put me in mind of what I imagine the fruity, sugary breakfast cereals must taste like. (Specifically, this was supposed to be a "Fruity Cereal" flavor, according to the blend's subtitle.)

Like most of my reviewed of blends from the Bones Coffee Company, this one is based on cups made in a drip coffee-maker, from a 4-oz. sample pack of pre-ground coffee. I drank the Electric Unicorn blend black (both hot and iced) and with Unsweetened Almond Milk or sugar free Italian Sweet Cream creamer added (hot, room temperature and iced).

When I opened the package, a sweet, fruity smell was strongly evident, but this was not one of those blend that filled my place with the magical smells as it brewed. The same fruity smell that rose from the bag does emanate from the mug as the coffee was poured into the mug--a very appealing smell. The flavor, however, when I drank the coffee black was not appealing at all. The now-familiar smooth and slightly bitter taste of a Bones Coffee medium roast was clearly there, but it tastes as if someone had added cough syrup to my mug: the taste was a very unpleasant blend of sweet, sour, and mediciney flavors mixed with coffee. It was quite awful. 

When I added Unsweetened Almond Milk to this blend, all that happened was it got more sour--with a taste that was similar to dirt creeping in. I've never had almond milk that's gone bad, but I thought maybe that's what happened here, so I dumped the rest of the coffee, opened a fresh carton, mixed it into a fresh mug of coffee... and it still tasted awful. Hot, Electric Unicorn does not mix well with Unsweetened Almond Milk. I left the mixture alone for a bit, to let it cool to see if it might improve. It didn't.

I poured another cup, and I mixed in sugar-free Italian Sweet Cream creamer. A couple of sips told me that this was a vast improvement over my previous attempts at making Electric Unicorn palatable. The mediciney taste was gone, and the cream flavor swirled nicely with the fruity taste, as well as that of the coffee. What had seemed sour now reminded me of a touch of orange or many lemon. I think I'd finally managed to tease Fruity Cereal out of Electric Unicorn. Unfortunately, the blend too sweet for me now--not as bad as "Peaches and Scream" and not as overwhelming, but too sweet to be enjoyable. Some of that excessive sweetness faded a bit as the coffee cooled... which is good, because it gave me encouragement to finish the review regimen instead of just writing this blend off as terrible.

Because if you drink Electric Unicorn iced, and you like sweet coffee with a flavor that's fruity with a citrusy undercurrent to it, you will love this. It's pretty good black, it's better with Unsweetened Almond Milk added, but it's perfect with the sugar-free Italian Sweet Cream creamer. 

Like I said at the outset, I don't recall ever having any of those bright-colored breakfast cereals this blend is trying to capture, but I have drunk the remaining milk in a bowl of Frosted Flakes. With the creamer added and iced, I finally got the flavor Bones Coffee was going for--fruity, sweet, and milky... even if the milky was coming from the creamer. Iced, the flavors were also mild enough that they weren't cloying as before. As I finished my final cup of Electric Unicorn, I found myself wishing that I'd tried it iced first; I would have not wasted so much good coffee while trying to find the right way to consume it.

If her cup was filled with Electric Unicorn, she wouldn't be thinking about divorce.

Ice-Cold Blonde at the Grocery Store

I drink coffee. Do you drink coffee? If so, you can read about coffee that I've drunk, right here every Sunday, so you can decide if you want to drink it, too!

STARBUCKS CORPORATION: ICED BLONDE ROAST, UNSWEETENED

If you've read my Coffee Log (which is probably the most boring page on the web), you already know that I've been avoiding Starbucks and other such outlets since the middle of 2021. That doesn't mean Starbucks hasn't been getting some of my money though...

Not too long ago, I was grocery shopping when a big, brown bottle caught my eye. It was in the cooler with the cold coffee-themed drinks in cans and little glass bottles and it declared itself to contain Unsweeteend Iced Blonde Roast coffee from Starbucks. It was $6 for 48 oz., so I figured I'd give it a try. If I didn't like it, I could bring it to work to share... and everyone would think I was being generous!

As it turns out, I don't so much like the magic bean juice in the brown bottle as love it. In fact, I think the results I get at home with the unsweetened Iced Blond Roast is superior to both what I recall the iced drinks tasting like, as well as a comparison to my recent return to an old favorite, the Pike Place Roast.

True to what is printed on the bottle, this coffee very much mellow and smooth. It's so smooth that I liked it with just a single packet of Stevia added. Like white coffee, blonde roasts have very little of the bitterness that is typically associated with coffee. It also has a high caffeine content, so it's perfect for someone like me who doesn't like their coffee black--because of the bitter taste--but who wants the caffeine. 

Unlike most other reviews you'll read here, since it's made to be consumed cold and over ice. In addition to trying it straight (which was okay) and with a packet of Stevia added (which was better), I've had it with the usual Unsweetened Almond Milke and sugar-free Italian Sweet Cream creamer. I also mixed this the Iced Blonde Roast with Unweetened Vanilla Almond Milk, sugar-free French Vanilla creamer, vodka & Unweetened Vanilla Almond Milk, Unsweetened Chololate Almond Milk, and probably some mixings I'm forgetting at the moment. I probably should also try it with dashes of various fruit juices to see if I can approximate some of the Bones Coffee flavors while I'm at it...

Basically, at the moment, when my tumbler doesn't contain something iced that I'm drinking for review purposes, it holds iced, blonde-roast Starbucks coffee from a bottle that comes off the grocery store shelf.

She Sleeps...

 ... and she dreams. But she is...

 ... and she is a monster magnet. Can she even find restful sleep? What does she dream of? Does she dream in color? Click here to visit our sister blog Terror Titans for the answer... but is it just a dream?

(This post, and the one over at Terror Titans, mark the beginning of a year-long celebration of the artistic vision of the late Richard Sala. You'll find comics and illustrations by him on an irregular basis here, but at Terror Titans, there will be a samples of his delightfully creepy ink-and-watercolor drawings every 2nd and 4th Friday of each month for all of 2022.)

There's an index of all Sala posts at both blogs here for ease of reference.

It's a Sala Saturday!

 Here's another early work from the late, great Richard Sala. It was collected in his anthology from Kitchen Sink Press "Black Cat Crossing" (1993) and it dates from the mid- to late 1980s. (Click for a larger, more readable version.)

This is my favorite of the sci-fi/horror genre-based one-pagers that Sala did.

It's a Sala Saturday

"The Volcano" is another unpublished one-page story by Richard Sala. Created in the mid-1980s, it's an example of his early art style and one his many short tales told from the point of view of a character suffering from mental illness.

It's a Sala Saturday

Here's another strange one-pager, from 1983 and early in writer/artist Richard Sala's career. Click on the image for a larger, more readable version.

 

Bones Coffee Mystery Flavor (Bone-us Review!)

I was running low on Bones Coffee flavors to write about, so I ordered a few more 4-oz. sample packs and another bag of their fantastic Costa Rica Medium Roast. They were running a special where the order was not only 20% off, but they would also throw in an extra sample pack of a "Mystery Flavor".

 

"She was as mysterious as the flavor of the coffee in her cup..."

(Bones has reportedly done this before, but since I only first became aware of them earlier this year, it's a new experience for me! But if it turns out I got the flavor of the Mystery Flavor correct, I will have to stop pouring coffee and begin decanting it instead.)

I already have reviews written to post on every Sunday through the end of February, but I am writing this special Bone-us review, so I can get it out there before Bones Coffee announces what the Mystery Flavor actually is, so we can all see if I was right or wrong when the time comes! (There will still be a coffee review tomorrow--the first review of Christmas-themed flavored coffees!)

BONES COFFEE COMPANY: MYSTERY FLAVOR

I approached the Mystery Flavor blend in the same way I do all the coffees I drink for review purposes: I brewed two pots from the sample pack, and I drank cups hot, room temperature, and over ice, with Unsweetened Almond Milk or sugar-free Italian Sweet Cream creamer added. I went in with no preconceived notions, other than there would be some sort of wonder-flavor here. Or, at least something other than just coffee.

When I opened the package, I could smell chocolate... and maybe something else. Cherries maybe? As the coffee brewed, it became clear that this was not one of those blends with an aroma so strong that it made it all the way from the kitchen to my office. A faint aroma of chocolate wafted from the pot, and from the mug as I poured the coffee, but it was only noticeable because I was looking for it.

Taste-wise, this is also one of Bones' more subtle flavors. The chocolate flavor is there, but it's only slightly stronger than the chocolate flavor of a grocery store flavored blend I'll be posting a review of a couple months from now (Signature Select Double-Dutch Chocolate Light Roast), although the chocolate aroma from the Bones coffee grounds was stronger as it brewed. In fact, when I sniffed the coffee in my mug, the strongest scent seemed to be that of cherries... but when I drank it, I tasted coffee with chocolate and a slightly fruity additional flavor that remained beyond my ability to make out clearly. I still think it's cherry, but I can't say for sure.

When I added sugar-free Italian Sweet Cream creamer to the mug, the chocolate and coffee flavors remained, but the fruit/cherry taste seemed to disappear. Interestingly, when I tried the blend with Unsweetened Almond Milk added, the fruity flavor remained and even seemed a bit enhanced: I am almost certain that it's cherry. 

At this point, I broke with my usual protocol and tried drinking the coffee with Unsweetened Almond Milk and Stevia added, just to see what would happen with the blend's mix of flavors. Other than liking it better without the addition of the sweetener--it became too sweet for me--not much changed flavor-wise.

When I drank the Mystery Flavor cold and over ice, it tasted like... well, it tasted like a solid, medium-roast coffee. When I drank it without anything but the ice cubes added, it just a cup of good coffee, with a very faint hint of something salty and sweet. That saltiness has been present in other Bones blends when tried cold, but here it was so faint so as to be barely noticable. When I tried the blend with first sugar-free Italian Sweet Cream creamer, and then with Unsweetened Almond Milk, the salty undertones vanished, and what I found myself drinking tasted not unlike the iced coffee I sometimes get at the Jack-in-the-Box drive-thru. (And this is not a dig at this Mystery Flavor blend... I like the iced coffee I get at Jack-in-the-Box.)

In the final analysis, I have to say that this is blend that works best hot or at room temperature, since over ice it just tastes like iced coffee with some type of sweetener added. It's a blend with subtle flavors that I recommend... even if I end up being wrong when I say that the Mystery Flavor is Chocolate-covered Cherries.

Mystery and Morning Coffee ...

UPDATE (1/10/2022)

Bone Coffee Company has revealed what this mystery flavor is: Pumpkin Pecan Praline. I was waaaay off. It must be time to trade the tastebuds in for a new set!

It's a Sala Saturday

"A Haunted Head" is an unpublished one-page story from the late writer/artist Richard Sala. It dates from the early 1980s, and it's an art style that he would move away from during the 1990s, as he developed as an artist and began to favor heavier, cleaner lines. It, however, is the Sala Style that most people probably encountered, as it's what appeared in the "Liquid Television" segments he created for the animated anthology series on MTV in 1991.

You can watch all six segments of "Invisible Hands", edited together in one video, on YouTube by clicking here. We'd embed it in this post, but it's in color, and we don't want to shock anyone's sensibilities!

It's the Day of the Dead...

 ... and Peculia is spending time with a few old friends.

A Halloween Treat from Richard Sala!

Here's some comic strip poetry from the great Richard Sala, in observation and celebration of the Big Night! (Click on the panels for larger, more readable versions.)

For another bit of rhyming horror humor at Shades of Gray, click here. You can also check out a selection of his color drawings (including several featuring his signature character Peculia, at our sister blog Terror Titans by clicking here.)

A Werewolf Tale

 We present this cartoon by Richard Sala as a time-saving device this Halloween season. Read it, and it'll be as if you've seen 90 percent of the werewolf movies out there! (Click on the image for a larger, more easily read version.)

Saturday Comics by Sala

Here's a brief Peculia story that's among those that have not been collected in anthologies.

The majority of Sala's "Peculia" short stories were collected in this book, and her novel-length encounter with vampires can be read in this one. Peculia has wandered into some of Ricard Sala's other titles, including his final anthology "Poison Flowers & Pandemonium". I hope to post a review of it in October or November over at the Terror Titans blog.

In observation of Talk Like a Pirate Day

 Yarr... here be pictures of pretty pirate lasses!

Modern Living with Richard Sala

 I have worked in the downtown area of a major American city for about five years now. During that time, the urban decay has been evident and accelerating. I imagine this cartoon from the late, great Richard Sala must reflect how people who actually live there live their lives. (Click on the cartoon for a larger, more easily read version.)