Louise Brooks Quarterly

Louise Brooks returns from beyond the veil as Halloween draws near...

Halloween is coming...

and Vera Ellen is cleaning out last year's cobwebs and ghost dust so she'll be ready. What steps are you taking?

The June Collyer Quarterly

In the early part of the 20th century, it was common for movie studios to do holiday-themed promotional pictures featuring their starlets. In 1930, June posed for Paramount staff photographer Eugene Robert Richee in celebration of Halloween.

Why white cats? Maybe they were trying to marry Halloween witches with a Maneki-neko good luck and wealth them?

Rocketpacks never go out of style!

At least that's what L.L. Hundal and I hope, as we're replacing the scientific fisticuffs of girlfriends Jill Trent and Daisy Smythe (of "Jill Trent, Science Sleuth") with the high-flying adventure of inventors Cal Martin and Doris Dalton (of "Rocketman") in our ongoing Science Sleuths comic book/rpg series.

Cal Martin and Doris Dalton: Partners in business, love, and crime-fighting

The change is happening in part because the B-feature, "Spider Queen", is coming to close with the just-released issue #3. The intent all along was to replace it with "Rocketman," but as we started work on Science Sleuths #3 and beyond, we decided to change our plans slightly. The initial plan was to burn through our inventory of Jill Trent stories as quickly as possible, but that meant we'd be out of them as of Science Sleuths #4. We've been successful enough with the series so far that we think it might have some legs, so instead Jill will become the B-feature while Cal and Doris step into the front slot.

Here's the first page of the first "Rocketman" story to give you a little taste of what's being offered. The full tale can be read in Science Sleuths #3. (Click on it for a larger, more readable version.)

While the artwork on the "Rocketman" series is more pleasing to the eyes of modern readers than some on "Jill Trent, Science Sleuth," the writing is generally pretty weak. Current plans call for yours truly to write partially new scripts for at least one "Rocketman" story per issue. For Science Sleuths #3, there's only one bit of dialogue that I rewrote, and I think it made the story 100 times better. If you get the book, I'm sure you'll be able to spot it due to the inconsistent lettering. :)

We hope you'll give Science Sleuth #3 a try, giving Spider Queen a nice send-off while giving Cal and Doris a warm welcome. If you do check it you, be sure to tell us what you think. If you have a favorite Golden Age comic book scientist or inventor who you think needs to be returned to the spotlight, let us know about that, too. We might be able to fit stories featuring your favorite characters into future issues.

Meanwhile, please enjoy these illos of women with rocketpacks, which will be included in a sci-fi themed forthcoming NUELOW Games stock art collection.

Can Rocketgirl save the birds from the bird?!

Rocketpack vs. Two-headed Monster!

A quarter of a century ago...

... this is what Milla Jovovich looked like. (The first picture first saw print in September of 1988, 25 years ago.)

And here's what she looks like today...

Paulette Goddard is Jill Trent?

As some of you know (or will momentarily learn), I am the publisher and co-editor the Science Sleuth series from NUELOW Games. In the course of preparing the Jill Trent, Science Sleuth stories for publication, I came across something interesting.

Here's a drawing of Jill Trent, cropped from a panel in "Bubble Trouble," a story that originally appeared in Wonder Comics #12 (cover date June 1947) and reprinted in ROLF! Christmas Special III in July of 2013:

Jill Trent
(from ROLF! Christmas Special III)

I think it's safe to say that Al Camy, the primary artist on Jill Trent, Science Sleuth based Jill on actress Paulette Goddard. Why do I say that? If you don't see Paulette Goddard in that drawing, how about after looking at this 1942 photo (from a series of bathing suit shots she posed for):

Paulette Goddard in 1942

Coming August 1946 from Century Pictures: SCIENCE SLEUTHS! Starring Paulette Goddard as Jill Trent, Bob Hope as Eddie O'Malley, Lionel Atwill as Dr. Knight, Turhan Bey as Lefty Rubio, and Linda Turner as Daisy Smythe. Produced by Joseph Steiner, Directed by George Marshall.

Line, Please! (Contest Time!)

In July, NUELOW Games released its best-selling comics title so far--Science Sleuths #1.

On August 22, the second issue of Science Sleuths will be released through DriveThruComics, RPGNow, and DriveThruRPG. It contains three more tales featuring the hard-hitting inventor/crime-buster Jill Trent and another adventure starring the original web-slinger, Spider Queen.

NUELOW Games is offering Shades of Gray readers  an opportunity to win not only a free copy of  Science Sleuths #2, but free copies of every issue of Science Sleuths published for the rest of 2013.

To enter the contest, you need to write the best line for the this panel, taken from one of the Jill Trent, Science Sleuth stories:

By Al Camy

Submit your line through a comment below this post, through Twitter  or to nuelow@clearwire.net. The funniest or most interesting line will win the free four-month subscription to Science Sleuths while two runner-ups will win free copies of Science Sleuths #2.

Rules & Such
Contest entries must be submitted by Midnight on August 22, 2013. Winners will be selected by Steve Miller, and all decisions are final. Entrants grant permission for their submissions to appear on blogs operated by Steve Miller, as well as NUELOW Games's Facebook page. Entrants must provide a working email address in order to be notified, and winners will also need to have an account or to establish one with DriveThruComics, RPGNow, or DriveThruRPG in order to receive their winnings. DriveThruComics, RPGNow, and DriveThruRPG not involved with this contest in any way, nor is the mention of them to be construed as an endorsement. The awards have no cash value.

Classic Cinema: D.O.A.

D.O.A. (aka "Dead On Arrival")  (1949) 
Starring: Edmond O'Brien, Pamela Britton, Beverly Garland, Lynne Bagget, Luther Adler, William Ching, and Henry Hart
Director: Rudolph Mate
Rating: Nine of Ten Stars

 Frank Bigalow (O'Brien) is a small town accountant on a spur-of-the-moment vacation in San Francisco when he is poisoned by a slow acting toxin with no hope of surviving. He spends his last few hours of life trying to solve his own murder.

"D.O.A." is one of the greatest murder mystery films ever made, as well as a stellar example of the film noir genre as it manifested in American movies. It turns a number of movie and mystery conventions on their heads, and even some six decades after it was made, it feels fresh and exciting as one watches it unfold. The pace grows more frantic as the literal deadline for our hero approaches while the mystery of why he was poisoned seems to grow more elusive with each supposed clue he uncovers. It's a movie that holds up to repeated viewings--it almost demands it, because once you know the answer to the mystery, it's great fun to see how certain scenes take on a different tenor. What this film does with snappy writing, moody lighting, and artful cinematography is amazing... and I wish there was some sign that modern filmmakers watched movies like this and studied them and took lessons away from them. Sadly, this does not appear to be the case.

As great as I think this movie is, it's not perfect. There are a couple of ham-fisted attempts at comedy early on, as Bigalow walks into the middle of a salesman's convention at his hotel; one of the film's villains is portrayed by a performance that goes just a bit too far over-the-top in this film which is otherwise marked by fairly low-key performances; and the overly sinister and melodramatic appearance of the poisoner in the jazz club when a close-in shot of a patron switching Bigalow's drinks wold have been far more effective and in keeping with the rest of the scene. Despite my sense that the director went too far with these three elements, they still make sense within the context of the film, and given the greatness of what surrounds them, they are easily forgiven.

If you're a lover of mystery films or the film noir genre, you absolutely must see "D.O.A.". This goes double if you fancy yourself a writer or a filmmaker; we need more work like this these days. I thought I had reviewed this film years ago, but since I can't seem to find any sign of a post, I must never have gotten around to it. So, although my intent was to just make an entry in the "Classic Cinema" series and give you the chance to watch this great film right here, I figured there was no time like the present.

And there's no time like the present for you to watch "D/O.A."/ I've embedded it below for your enjoyment.