Nicholas Diak's Blog, page 2

Going Commando: Vanya 04

The Story So Far

Two hundred plus years in the future mankind has mastered both space and time travel. Vanya is a Time Guard, a warrior in training who must spend a year in the prehistoric past honing her survival and combat skills. Her skills are much needed as the Torridian alien race have launched a massive attack against humanity. Vanya and her romantic partner, Serah, travel the primeval jungle, dealing with dinosaurs and savages, as they make their way to an armory to supply themselves against the alien threat.

Standard non-nude cover of Vanya issue 4 by Zoran Jovicic. Image from the Bad Buy website.

Issue 04 Plot

After days of jungle trekking and having lost Reed to a Tyrannosaurus attack, Vanya and Serah are rescued by a contingent of soldiers who are also stranded in the past after attempting to escort a group of scientists to safety after a Torridian attack. Though their outpost looks ramshackle from the outside, the inside is fitted with computers and tech, a cafeteria, and most importantly, a shower in which Vanya and Serah partake of together before being joined by another soldier named Guy.

Human outpost in the prehistoric past.

Vanya gives a debriefing to Captain Jax about her adventures training as a Time Guard while he fills her in on the Torridian attacks against Earth. The captain has a mission to retrieve some supply caches, so it is back to the jungle for Vanya, Serah, and Guy, though armed with rifles because who knows what threats will be awaiting the trio out in the wild.

Commentary

The previous issue of Vanya was a bit on the slower side in pacing. Though the narrative was partially upended when Reed was suddenly and swiftly dispatched by a T-Rex, the overall plot seemed to slow down a bit as the characters had not made much progress to their goal to find the armory. Issue four, on the other hand, course corrects this and throws a barrage of new ingredients into the “story stew”: the rescue of Vanya and Serah, the outpost of human soldiers, new characters including Lucas (who has had a prior relationship with Serah) and Guy (who takes the place of Reed), new weapons, a new mission (that is similar to their old mission [find the armory/find the supply caches]), and, of course, the first time confrontation between Vanya and crew with Niya and her entourage. Basically, A LOT happens in issue four which brings on more excitement and more surprises.

Panel of Vanya eating a Croissant.

One of those surprises is a subtle one by the new character of Guy. Guy initially comes off as hyper masculine, proclaiming himself to Vanya as “the second-best thing” (with a wink) referring to his sexual prowess in the shower with her and Serah. In a normal B-movie situation, Guy is the type of soldier to be a braggart who will later receive sort of comeuppance. Yet, later in the issue, Guy raises his rifle to shoot at a herd of Ankylosaurus but is stopped by Vanya: “… just don’t shoot at anything until it growls at you, ok?” In normal pop culture situations, a character like Guy would see his masculinity and authority challenged, especially coming from a woman. An attack on him. Yet, he does not take it that way at all. He takes in what Vanya is showing him, confirms with a “Got it” and proceeds on normally (and by “normally” meaning him, Vanya, and Serah all share a moment of intimacy in a river before continuing their mission as professional soldiers). In fact, in a perhaps ironic twist, it is Serah who later fires her gun at a group of Compsognathus and then getting chastised by Vanya for giving away their position. 

The Guy/Vanya/gun scene is a small scene (probably more meant to underscore the deadly nature of the dinosaurs and what they are capable of), but coupled with many other similar small scenes (such as Serah reuniting with Lucas, Serah joining in with Vanya and Reed, and so on), it paints the future world of Vanya as a post-jealousy environment and more pro-gender equality society. As hinted at in the review of issue one, these sort of scenes (coupled with the graphic violence and explicit sex) gives Vanya strong Paul Verhoeven vibes. 

The end of the issue becomes the first encounter between Vanya and Niya. Both sets of humans manage to injure each other, but there are no fatalities on either side and in the end Vanya and company are captured. It is a little shocking at how easily Niya took Vanya down. Is Niya a better warrior? Has Vanya lost her touch so quickly after having a retaste of civilization? Something else? Regardless, Vanya needs to get her poop-in-a-group because the final page of the issue ominously ends with Niya and cohorts leading the three heroes to “a surprise.”

Vanya 04 non-nude variant cover by JC Fabul and Bryan Magnaye. Personal copy.Vanya 04 nude variant cover by JC Fabul and Bryan Magnaye. Personal copy.

Aside from the standard cover by Zoran Jovcic (who does the interior art as well), Vanya #4 sports a variety of alternate covers, in both non-nude and nude editions by a handful of other artists. The best alternative cover for issue three is done by Renato Camilo and Tommy Shelton. If Camilo’s name sounds familiar it is because they hands down did the best alternate cover for issue two and the second-best cover for issue three. Camilo has a distinct style that fits the Vanya covers, one that is hard to describe but can easily be seen such as in the character’s dreadlocks that looks like headless but powerful snakes from Medusa. Camilo depicts Vanya with a balance of cheesecake glam and sword and sorcery warrior woman aesthetic. There is a slight hint of parody in the Camilo/Shelton cover: the raptor in the background is searching around, akin to the scene in Jurassic Park where the raptors are trying to sniff out Tim and Lex Murphy who are hiding in the kitchen. Vanya, on the other hand, is not hiding from the raptor, but actively ignoring it as she focuses on giving morsels to the Compsognathus (Compys in the comic) as if giving bread to ducks.

Renato Camilo and Tommy Shelton nude variant cover of Vanya 4. Personal copy.

Since the Kickstarter campaign was wildly successful a few stretch goals were unlocked that included physical ephemera for backers. First there is a holographic art print of Vanya done by artist Zach Raw who has done covers for other Bad Bug titles, such as Bad Pussy, Astrowitch, and others. With its cyberpunk-ish imagery and purple tones the print evokes some hardcore synthwave vibes. 

Holographic art print by Zach Raw.

And finally, there is also a set of dinosaur trading cards (artist unknown). The cards look kid-friendly being duotone in nature: the dinosaurs are all white (inviting someone to colour them in with crayons) while the backgrounds are all a single colour: red for the raptor, orange for the stegosaurus, etc. The cards are both charming and disarming, being so “accessible” in nature in contrast to the Vanya comic with is full of sex and over the top violence. 

Dinosaur trading cards for Vanya issue 4.

Overall, a big “wow” for issue four. Just the right amount of jungle adventure, fighting, erotica, dinosaur cameos, and plot advancement. Things are going down in the world of Vanya, past, present, and future. 

For more information on Vanya and the comic’s creative team, check out the links below:

Bad Bug Media Vanya 04 Product PageVanya 04 Kickstarter PageAlyza Dunn (Writer)Zoran Jovicic (Artist)Mike Tener (Creator / Producer / EIC Bad Bug)Renato Camilo (Cover Artist)Bryan Magnaye (Colorist)JC Fabul (Cover Artist)Zach Raw (Art Print)

Also, consider checking out the reviews I’ve done of other titles published by Bad Bug:

Death Nell Issue 01 ReviewVanya Issue 01 ReviewVanya Issue 02 ReviewVanya Issue 03 Review

News Roundup 2025-06-15

Personal / Website News

My birthday is coming up this Friday, so this website post also acts as a happy birthday to me (in advance).

Vanya #03 Comic Book Review

New comic book review is now online!

I continue to get through my backlog of to be read/to be reviewed comics, and I am now up to the third issue of the Neo-Jungle Girl series Vanya: The Lost Warrior.

Vanya #03 cover by Renato Camilo and Sanju Nivangune.

The write up can be read right here. The digital edition of issue eight of the twelve issue series just came out this past week, so I still got some catching up to do!

Scholars from the Edge of Time – Kings of the Sun

New Scholars from the Edge of Time vidcast is online.

Personal copy of Kings of the Sun signed by Victoria Vetri.

In this episode Michele and I talk about the Mesoamerican peplum, Kings of the Sun. An intriguing film! The episode can be watched on Hercules Invictus’ Youtube.

For the next three Scholars episodes (June, July, August) we will be watching Clash of the Titans (Desmond Davis, 1981), Clash of the Titans (Louis Leterrier, 2010), and then Wrath of the Titans (Jonathan Liebesman, 2012).

ECOF 2025

In September of 2025 there will be an Edgar Rice Burroughs Chain of Friendship (ECOF) event down in Willcox, AZ. This event is to celebrate the 150th birthday of Burroughs while also honoring him with a plaque in the town due to his stationing there with the 7th U.S. Cavalry in the 1890s. (Note: another ERB convention was held in Willcox back in 2019 and an event recap of that can be read at ERBZine #7059).

Here is the flyer for the 2025 event:

Flyer for the Edgar Rice Burroughs Circle of Friendship (ECOF) Gathering in Willcox, AZ 2025.

Here is the press release:

RENOWNED AUTHOR EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS’ CAVALRY SERVICE TO BE MEMORIALIZED IN WILLCOX, AZ

“Tarzan” Creator and Pop Culture’s Influential “Grandfather of Science Fiction and Fantasy” Commemorated for His 150th Birthday.

WILLCOX, AZ – The renowned “Master of Adventure” Edgar Rice Burroughs started his adult life as a cavalryman at Arizona’s Fort Grant in May of 1896. This September, as part of the late author’s 150th birthday celebration, his cavalry service will be memorialized with a monument at the restored Southern Pacific train depot in Willcox, where he arrived on his way to Fort Grant (35 miles north).

The influential creator of Tarzan of the Apes, John Carter of Mars, and The Land That Time Forgot series of stories wrote in his “Autobiography” that he specifically requested “to be sent to the worst post in the United States” and was then promptly assigned to Fort Grant in Arizona Territory, where his troop would spend some time hunting after the Apache Kid and other outlaws.

Many believe that Burroughs’ initial stay in Arizona influenced his first Martian story, Under the Moons of Mars, which begins with the first chapter titled “On the Arizona Hills.” The John Carter Martian stories would go on to influence generations of science fiction and fantasy books and movies, and would inspire many young people to become scientists, engineers, and astronauts. He would later author the books The War Chiefand Apache Devil, both set in Arizona during the Apache Wars of the 1860s – 1880s.

This Willcox Edgar Rice Burroughs Chain of Friendship (ECOF) Gathering will take place from September 25 to 28, 2025, with the 7th Cavalry Historical Monument formal dedication ceremony on Saturday, September 27th from 10:00 AM – 12:00 Noon near the historic Southern Pacific Railroad Depot.

The monument dedication at the Willcox train depot will include guest speakers and participation of local Buffalo Soldier reenactors. All other convention events will take place at the Elks Lodge #2131 in Willcox, and will include discussion panels, a “huckster” (vendor) room, Guest of Honor and speaker Jeffrey J. Mariotte (author of Tarzan and the Forest of Stone), Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. speakers, a Saturday night banquet/ dinner, a Tarzan movie screening, and other surprises.

These events are sponsored by the Sulphur Springs Valley Historical Society and the Apache Devils chapter of The Burroughs Bibliophiles. The celebration is open to the public for free (except for the dinner and movie), but full attendees can register for a fee that covers a goodie bag, a huckster table, and the Saturday dinner.

This is a must-attend event for fans of Edgar Rice Burroughs and pop-culture historians alike. If you’d like to visit the place where it all began, don’t miss this very special celebration. (Note that some convention activities will require full event registration – the registration form is provided separately.)

The Holiday Inn Express & Suites Willcox is offering a special daily room rate of $119 plus taxes for the nights of 25 to 27 September for attendees. The group name is “ECOF.” You can make reservations at this rate by calling the hotel at (520) 384-3333; rooms are limited. The address is 1251 N. Virginia Ave, Willcox, AZ 85643.

If you would like more information about the 2025 ECOF event, please call Frank Puncer at 520.281.1818, or email him at fwpuncer at gmail dot com.

Here is the registration from:

Registration Form for the 2025 Edgar Rice Burroughs Chain of Friendship (ECOF) Gathering in Willcox, AZ (v9)Download

Michele and I will be in attendance for this convention, so I’ve added it to the appearances section of my website as well. I’ll be doing a presentation on Tarzan as a Maciste-like peplum character in Tarzan and the Lost Empire. Hope to see yall there!

Publishing Recap

Below is a recap of my external publishing endeavors so far in 2025.

Panthans Journal #332

Comic Book Review: “The Moon Maid: Catacombs of the Moon #2″ reprinted in the National Capital Panthans Journal #332.

Panthans Journal #333

Comic Book Review: “The Moon Maid: Catacombs of the Moon #3″ reprinted in the National Capital Panthans Journal #333.

Panthans Journal #335

“Tarzan Cocktail: Deconstructed – Reconstructed” reprinted in the National Capital Panthans Journal #335.

Original can be read here.

Merry Creepsmas – The Red Book

“There’s Always Room” in Merry Creepsmas: The Red Book. Edited by Parth Sarathi Chakraborty. Wicked Shadow Press, 2025.

Burroughs Bulletin #109

“Tagliolini al Tarzan: Interview with Actress Bella Cortez on Taur the Mighty” in The Burroughs Bulletin #109. Edited by Henry Franke III. February, 2025.

Calls for Papers/Proposals

Here are some new pop culture CFPs that have crossed my path or I am sharing on behalf of my colleagues. Links to these will also be in the CFP page on the navigation bar.

Horror Videogames – A Companion

This publication – which is planned for submission to Peter Lang’s Genre Fiction and Film Companions series – aims to provide readers with an accessible yet scholarly overview of the historical, cultural, technological and aesthetic dimensions of the horror videogame, organised around an extensive series of short case studies. Accordingly, we are seeking abstracts for a series of shorter chapters presenting critical analyses of key titles in the genre’s history.

Videogames should be chosen for their popular cultural impacts, uniqueness and innovative contributions to the horror genre and videogame medium. The collection will cover a variety of time periods, platforms, development contexts, countries of origin and sub-genres. It will also feature various manifestations of horrific content; from monsters, zombies, ghosts, and eldritch abominations to psychological horror, jump scares, and fourth wall-breaking cult games. Each chapter will justify its selected case study as a noteworthy horror videogame, while also embedding its chosen text within academic discussions of genre, storytelling, design and/or affect.

The collection will be divided into several sections, which are detailed below alongside suggested entries. We welcome submission on the suggested videogames, as well as submissions on videogames that are not on our list of suggested entries. Please note that we do not require submissions on Left 4 Dead (2008) or Five Night’s at Freddy’s (2014), as these titles will be covered by the editors.

Sections and Suggested Entries

Early Horror Videogames: 3D Monster Maze (1981), Haunted House (1982), Carmageddon (1997), Clock Tower (1995), Alone in the Dark (1992), Doom (1993)

Canonical Horror Videogames: Resident Evil (1996), Silent Hill (1999), Fatal Frame (2001), Dead Space (2008), Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem (2002)

Horror Videogame Sequels: Silent Hill 2 (2002), Alan Wake 2 (2023), Little Nightmares II (2021), Amnesia: Rebirth (2020), Resident Evil 4 (2005)

Adaptation in Horror Videogames: Alien: Isolation (2014), Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (2017), The Walking Dead (2012), Dead Rising (2006)

Multiplayer Horror Videogames: The Outlast Trials (2024), Dead by Daylight (2016), Phasmophobia (2020)

Indie Horror Videogames: Mouthwashing (2024), Carrion (2020), Signalis (2022), Mundaun (2021), Murder House (2020)

Please send chapter abstracts of around 200 words (excluding references) alongside bios of up to 100 words to Connor Jackson (jacksoc1@hope.ac.uk) and Ewan Kirkland (ewan.kirkland@uca.ac.uk) by Sunday 31st August 2025 with the subject heading: “Horror Videogames Abstract”.

Abstract titles should follow the same format, with the game title and a subheading indicating the area/focus of horror to be addressed. For example, “Left 4 Dead (2008) – The Horror of Abandonment” and “Five Nights at Freddy’s (2014) – Service Industry Horror”. Full chapters should be 2,500-3,000 words (excluding references).

If you are interested in covering more than one videogame, feel free to add a list of up to 3 other titles alongside your submission. Should your submission entry be in high demand, the editors may contact you to discuss your secondary options.

Also, if you have any questions, please send them to the above-mentioned email addresses.

Provisional Timeframe

CFP Deadline: Sunday 31st August 2025CFP Feedback by end of September 2025Completed Chapters by end of January 2026Feedback with potential edits by end of April 2026Chapters returned by end of June 2026Submission of final draft to editors by end of August 2026Miscellaneous Tidbits

Some fun things I shared online from these past few weeks. Highlighting things from my personal collection of pop culture artifacts.

Play MSTie for Me autographed DVD

Prior to Cinematic Titanic, Film Crew, and the resurrected MST3K, the landscape of getting your MST3K fix was incredible small. Jim Mallone owned Best Brains, and for a period in the early 2000s, the only place you could get official MST3K stuff was through their website, which really didn’t have much: stickers, post-its, small trinkets. They, for a brief period, explored doing new MST3K with flash animation called “The Bots Are Back” but it never caught on (though I enjoyed them!).

Play MSTie for Me DVD autographed by the Cinematic Titanic crew.

One of the DVDs sold during this dark ages of MST3K was a collection of musical numbers from the host segments from the series called Play MSTie for Me (I believe there used to be a VHS incarnation of this release). I bought this DVD way back in the day to go with what scant DVD boxsets Rhino was publishing. Later in the 2000s, when Cinematic Titanic was a thing and touring, they did a stop in Seattle. I bought a handful of items to be autographed by the Cinematic Titanic crew, (Joel Hodgson, Trace Beaulieu, J. Elvis Weinstein, Frank Conniff and Mary Jo Pehl), and this DVD was one of those items.

The Tartars autographed by Bella Cortez

Bella Cortez, the queen of pepla! Michele and I spent 2024 doing a retrospective of her career (check out our various Scholars from the Edge of Time vidcasts, my peplum ponderings, and my interview with her for the Burroughs Bulletin) and she is just an icon of the genre.

The Tartars DVD autographed by Bella Cortez.

An opportunity came up for me to have some of my movies autographed by Ms. Cortez, so of course I jumped at the chance. Super appreciative that she took the time to sign these treasures for me.

The first I want to share is the DVD copy of The Tartars (which you can read my write up about the film here). Isn’t it awesome!?

News from Friends

Cool kids I know have been busy lately! Here are some signal boosts I’d like to give out.

New Ride the Stream Episodes

Michele and Travis have some brand new episodes of their Ride the Stream vidcast online at YouTube. They dive into the next few episodes of Lost.

Here is their discussion of episode 22:

And for episode 23:

And then episode 24:

New episodes drop every Friday on YouTube. Keep an eye on their YouTube channel, or give them a follow on Bluesky.

New Fan2Fan Episodes

Bernie and Pete have some new episodes of their Fan2Fan podcast online.

First up, Joshua Pruett is interviewed about his newest book, the kid peplum Gyro and the Argonauts.

https://feeds.libsyn.com/80728/rss

Next horror director Charles Pinion is interviewed in a part one:

https://feeds.libsyn.com/80728/rss

And then in a part two:

https://feeds.libsyn.com/80728/rss

Older episodes of Fan2Fan can be found at its Libsyn page or via your podcast app of preference.

Bible Films Blog – The Ten Gladiators

Matt Page has a new sword and sandal movie essay up at his Bible Films Blog website. It is on Gianfranco Parolini’s 1963 peplum Ten Gladiators.

Personal Bootleggy/Grey Market DVD copy of The Ten Gladiators.

The write up can be read here, so give it a read!

John 3:16 Album – The Beast

This is a year ahead, but on 6-6-(202)6 Philippe Gerber, via his John 3:16, will be dropping his album, The Beast. Cover art below – it kinda looks like a panel from his Flesh Eaters comic (HP Lovecast review of issue one here).

John 3:16 Album – The Beast.

The album can be pre-ordered at BandCamp (link here) with three of the tracks available to be listened to no. I’ll do a reminder email in the future when it gets closer to the release date, but do check it out, consider pre-ordering, or mark your calendar for 6-6-6! \m/

Global Indigenous Horror Book Trailer

Editor Naomi Simone Borwein has created a book trailer for her book, Global Indigenous Horror, which was published earlier this year by University Press of Mississippi (product page here).

The trailer can be watched here or in the embedded video above. Give it a watch!

Jungle Romps and T-Rex Chomps: Vanya 03

The Story So Far

Vanya is a Time Guard, an elite warrior in training who must spend a year living in the prehistoric past, honing her fighting and survival skills. While Vanya is in the past, humanity is attacked by the alien race called the Torridians. Serah, a soldier and Vanya’s romantic partner, is sent back in time to retrieve Vanya. Vanya, Serah, and another Time Guard name Reed, team up and make way to an armory to retrieve weapons while under the threat of dinosaurs, barbarians from the Bone Tribe, and the Torridians themselves.

Vanya #03 Cover by JC Fanul and Bryan Magnaye.

Issue 03 Plot

After weathering a stormy night, Vanya, Serah, and Reed continue to follow the tracks of another group of warriors who are making their way to a hidden armory. During their trek the trio encounter a giant turtle whose shell was part of the ground, small carnivorous dinosaurs, and a rampaging T-Rex. Elsewhere the Bone Tribe engages in an orgy/ritual, but Niya, a Time Guard herself, is called away from the festivities in order to deal with a flock of Phorusrhacids – giant carnivorous birds – that are attacking the tribe. 

Commentary

Three issues and nine pages into Vanya and the comic receives its first George R. R. Martin treatment as Reed is devoured by a T-rex. Just as suddenly as Samuel L. Jackson is delivering a rallying speech in one moment and whisked away the next by a shark in Deep Blue Sea, so is Reed as in one panel he quips that “It’s nice to know that not everything is trying to eat us” immediately followed by the T-Rex chomping down on him. The sudden, abrupt end to Reed is both gruesome, yet darkly comedic, a throwback to the prior issue with a similar gag when one moment it is clear and the next it is raining on the characters. It should be noted that the T-rex’s head is covered in arrows, establishing him as the same one that appeared in issue two, interrupting an amorous moment between Vanya and Serah. No doubt this Tyrannosaur will show up again in a future issue and perhaps get its comeuppance.

Introduced in issue one, Reed seemed like a character that would have longevity. His time was short in the comic, but his presence did accomplish a handful of story-critical tasks. Plot-wise, he is the character that gets Vanya and Serah on course to find the armory by picking up the trail of another band of warriors. For the erotic-element, Reed acted as a male character for readers to project themselves onto. Tonally, up to this point in Vanya all the encounters the characters have had ended in fights they easily overcame, or fleeing to get the advantage later. Vanya’s narration tells the readers the prehistoric world she is in is hostile, but the adventure so far has been easy-peasy. Reed’s death dispels that notion and puts back in the forefront that the world they are in is deadly and needs to be taken seriously.  

A character who is not being taken seriously but should be is Niya, the champion of the Bone Tribe. Briefly introduced in issue two, Niya is revealed to be a Time Guard herself and the most capable warrior of the tribe. However, she is not respected by the tribe’s leader, the Bone King, who forces her to leave her place of honor in the orgy/ritual to deal with the marauding Phorusrhacids by herself. Returning back to take her place in the ritual, the Bone King proclaims, “Well done, Niya.” but is chastised the next morning by being told she “should have done better” regarding a scavenging trip. Niya is akin to a worker bee who is really good at her job, but management keeps her demoted because she is just “too good.” The Bone King’s unappreciation of Niya will surely come back to bite him (pun intended if his fate is at the maw of a dinosaur).

The intrigue is still building in Vanya issue three, but if there is a critique to be had it is that the plot is moving a little on the slow side. It feels like the characters should have accomplished a bit more in the adventure at this point. The cliffhanger in the final three panels promises some characters (Established ones? New ones) will cross paths, so that holds promise that something major is about to go down.

Narrative content aside, Vanya’s offerings extend past its pages into the realm of covers and ephemera. There are a plethora of alternate covers, both nude and non-nude, for Vanya #03. One of the best covers for the issue is the Bruno Sousa / Tommy Shelton variant that depicts Vanya bathing at the base of a waterfall. The cover is a call back to a page from Vanya #01 where Vanya narrates her ritual of washing in a specific waterfall for its disinfectant properties. While the other covers are action packed, this cover goes the serene, tranquil route. 

Vanya #03 cover by Bruno Sousa and Tommy Shelton.

Folks who contributed to the Vanya #3 Kickstarter campaign were rewarded with a trove of additional loot.

Vanya #03 coaster, sticker, and magnet set.

Firstly, for swag with function, there is a coaster, (that is a bit bigger than a large pog), a small sticker of the cover issue three cover done by Renato Camilo / Sanju Nivangune, and a square magnet of the Renato Camilo / Bryan Magnate cover for issue one. 

Vanya #03 cover by Renato Camilo and Sanju Nivangune.

It is a pity that the sticker for the Camilo/Nivangune is so tiny because their cover is easily the second-best cover for the issue (just barely being beaten out by the Sousa/Shelton cover). The colors are fantastic.

Vanya #03 art print.

Next there is a lovely art print (artist unknown) depicting Vanya against a dark jungle – the same piece used on the coaster, though not nude. 

Trading guards of Bad Bug heroines by Captain Shima.

And finally, there is a set of four trading cards done by Captain Shima depicting the heroines from four of Bad Bug’s flagship titles: (clockwise from the top left) June (HyperGeist), Vanya, Nell (Death Nell), and Maggie (Dead End Moon). Bad Bug is getting into the habit of creating interesting trading cards among all their titles, (for example, some are in Tarot style), so these are always fun to receive. All in all, a mighty haul from the rifts of time.

For more information on Vanya and the comic’s creative team, check out the links below:

Bad Bug Media Vanya 03 Product PageVanya 03 Kickstarter PageAlyza Dunn (Writer)Zoran Jovicic (Artist)Mike Tener (Creator / Producer / EIC Bad Bug)Captain Shima (Trading Card Artist)Renato Camilo (Cover Artist)Sanju Nivangune (Cover Artist)Bryan Magnaye (Cover Artist)

Also, consider checking out the reviews I’ve done of other titles published by Bad Bug:

Death Nell Issue 01 ReviewVanya Issue 01 ReviewVanya Issue 02 Review

News Roundup 2025-05-25

Personal / Website NewsVanya #02 Review

A brand new comic review is live at my website! I am slowly making my way through my backlog of comics, which includes quite a few comics published by Bad Bug.

Vanya issue two, cover A.

My review of issue two of Vanya is my most recent write up and it can be read right here. I’ve also submitted this to the Panthans journal, so stay tuned on that front.

Website Enhancements

There are two enchantments I’ve been working on for my website in order to increase ease of use and accessibility: Alt-Text and a Comics category.

Alt-Text

So, it turns out this entire time I’ve been doing Alt-Text wrong at my website. When composing a post, when I am adding a brand new photo to it, I just load the media directly to the post, which in turn adds it to the media library. Later on I go to my media library, add Alt-Text there, thinking the update cascades back to the posted images.

Turns out that is not how it works at all. Instead, I need to load a photo to the WordPress media area first, then add Alt-Text, then add the image to my post.

So, I am slowly working my way backwards to get this rectified and get proper Alt-Text on all my images. Go forward this should not be an issue since now I know how to properly do this. Apologies to any folks impacted by my lack of Alt-Text.

Comics Category

Secondly, I’ve added a new page category called “Comics.” I have an abundance of comic book reviews at my website and I’ve been classifying them as essays, which is not helpful. Creating a Comics tag should help classify the content much better. I have gone through all my comics-centric posts and changed their category, so we should be good to go forward on those.

ECOF 2025

In September of 2025 there will be an Edgar Rice Burroughs Chain of Friendship (ECOF) event down in Willcox, AZ. This event is to celebrate the 150th birthday of Burroughs while also honoring him with a plaque in the town due to his stationing there with the 7th U.S. Cavalry in the 1890s. (Note: another ERB convention was held in Willcox back in 2019 and an event recap of that can be read at ERBZine #7059).

Here is the flyer for the 2025 event:

Flyer for the Edgar Rice Burroughs Circle of Friendship (ECOF) Gathering in Willcox, AZ 2025.

Here is the press release:

RENOWNED AUTHOR EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS’ CAVALRY SERVICE TO BE MEMORIALIZED IN WILLCOX, AZ

“Tarzan” Creator and Pop Culture’s Influential “Grandfather of Science Fiction and Fantasy” Commemorated for His 150th Birthday.

WILLCOX, AZ – The renowned “Master of Adventure” Edgar Rice Burroughs started his adult life as a cavalryman at Arizona’s Fort Grant in May of 1896. This September, as part of the late author’s 150th birthday celebration, his cavalry service will be memorialized with a monument at the restored Southern Pacific train depot in Willcox, where he arrived on his way to Fort Grant (35 miles north).

The influential creator of Tarzan of the Apes, John Carter of Mars, and The Land That Time Forgot series of stories wrote in his “Autobiography” that he specifically requested “to be sent to the worst post in the United States” and was then promptly assigned to Fort Grant in Arizona Territory, where his troop would spend some time hunting after the Apache Kid and other outlaws.

Many believe that Burroughs’ initial stay in Arizona influenced his first Martian story, Under the Moons of Mars, which begins with the first chapter titled “On the Arizona Hills.” The John Carter Martian stories would go on to influence generations of science fiction and fantasy books and movies, and would inspire many young people to become scientists, engineers, and astronauts. He would later author the books The War Chief and Apache Devil, both set in Arizona during the Apache Wars of the 1860s – 1880s.

This Willcox Edgar Rice Burroughs Chain of Friendship (ECOF) Gathering will take place from September 25 to 28, 2025, with the 7th Cavalry Historical Monument formal dedication ceremony on Saturday, September 27th from 10:00 AM – 12:00 Noon near the historic Southern Pacific Railroad Depot.

The monument dedication at the Willcox train depot will include guest speakers and participation of local Buffalo Soldier reenactors. All other convention events will take place at the Elks Lodge #2131 in Willcox, and will include discussion panels, a “huckster” (vendor) room, Guest of Honor and speaker Jeffrey J. Mariotte (author of Tarzan and the Forest of Stone), Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. speakers, a Saturday night banquet/ dinner, a Tarzan movie screening, and other surprises.

These events are sponsored by the Sulphur Springs Valley Historical Society and the Apache Devils chapter of The Burroughs Bibliophiles. The celebration is open to the public for free (except for the dinner and movie), but full attendees can register for a fee that covers a goodie bag, a huckster table, and the Saturday dinner.

This is a must-attend event for fans of Edgar Rice Burroughs and pop-culture historians alike. If you’d like to visit the place where it all began, don’t miss this very special celebration. (Note that some convention activities will require full event registration – the registration form is provided separately.)

The Holiday Inn Express & Suites Willcox is offering a special daily room rate of $119 plus taxes for the nights of 25 to 27 September for attendees. The group name is “ECOF.” You can make reservations at this rate by calling the hotel at (520) 384-3333; rooms are limited. The address is 1251 N. Virginia Ave, Willcox, AZ 85643.

If you would like more information about the 2025 ECOF event, please call Frank Puncer at 520.281.1818, or email him at fwpuncer at gmail dot com.

Here is the registration from:

Registration Form for the 2025 Edgar Rice Burroughs Chain of Friendship (ECOF) Gathering in Willcox, AZ (v9)Download

Michele and I will be in attendance for this convention, so I’ve added it to the appearances section of my website as well. I may be doing a presentation on Tarzan as a peplum character in Tarzan and the Lost Empire. Hope to see yall there!

Publishing Recap

Below is a recap of my external publishing endeavors so far in 2025.

Panthans Journal #332

Comic Book Review: “The Moon Maid: Catacombs of the Moon #2″ reprinted in the National Capital Panthans Journal #332.

Panthans Journal #333

Comic Book Review: “The Moon Maid: Catacombs of the Moon #3″ reprinted in the National Capital Panthans Journal #333.

Panthans Journal #335

“Tarzan Cocktail: Deconstructed – Reconstructed” reprinted in the National Capital Panthans Journal #335.

Original can be read here.

Merry Creepsmas – The Red Book

“There’s Always Room” in Merry Creepsmas: The Red Book. Edited by Parth Sarathi Chakraborty. Wicked Shadow Press, 2025.

Burroughs Bulletin #109

“Tagliolini al Tarzan: Interview with Actress Bella Cortez on Taur the Mighty” in The Burroughs Bulletin #109. Edited by Henry Franke III. February, 2025.

Miscellaneous Tidbits

Some fun things I shared online from these past few weeks. Highlighting things from my personal collection of pop culture artifacts.

Invasion of the Bee Girls

Back in December of 2024 I shared two movies that actress Victoria Vetri had signed for me: When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth (Val Guest, 1970) and Kings of the Sun (J. Lee Thompson, 1963). I had posted the movies to her (see her website on directions if you’d like to have her autograph an item of your’s) and was super gracious she took the time to sign them.

A few months later while at Zia’s Records, I found a Midnite Movies edition of Invasion of the Star Creatures (Bruno VeSota, 1972) and Invasion of the Bee Girls (Denis Sanders, 1973). I collect titles from this line of films (I have a lot) and Invasion of the Bee Girls has Ms. Vetri in it, so I had to pluck it up.

I swear, not a week or so later after plucking up the DVD, Kino Lorber released a Blu-ray of Invasion of the Bee Girls, which I promptly pre-ordered.

Ms. Vetri had signed my prior movies, I thought I would send her my newest titles to see if she could autograph them.

Invasion of the Bee Girls DVD and Bluray, signed by Victoria Vetri.

And she did! So, here are both copies of Invasion of the Bee Girls signed by Victoria Vetri – aren’t they awesome?

Bikini Drive-In and Bikini Carwash Company I & II

In the late 2000s I start a correspondence with Ed Wood regular Conrad Brooks, who signed many of my movies he was in, but also gifted my DVD burns of movies he was in.

One of those films he gifted me was Bikini Drive-In (Fred Olen Ray, 1995), which I wound find out years later, has a peplum homage scene in it with sword and sandal icon himself, Gordon Mitchell.

Recently I saw that MVD was putting out a Blu-ray release of Bikini Car Wars Company I (Ed Hansen, 1992) and II (Gary Dean Orona, 1993), and I confused the titles of the different movies and pre-ordered the MVD set, confusing it with the Fred Olen Ray film.

Bikini Drive-In DVD-R autographed by Conrad Brooks next to the MVD Blu-ray set of The Bikini Car Wash Company 1 & 2.

Well, it arrived, and one cannot say “no” to too many bikini films, so here they are: my Conrad Brooks autographed DVD-r of Bikini Drive-In and the Blu-ray set of The Bikini Carwash Company 1 & 2. Time to marathon them all (and maybe do a short peplum ponderings article on Bikini Drive-In?)

Mitchell / RIP Joe Don Baker

Cult actor Joe Don Baker passed away on May 7th. I was first introduced to Baker as CIA Agent Jack Wade in GoldenEye (Martin Campbell, 1995), but got more familiar with his filmography seeing him appear in Final Justice (Greydon Clark, 1985) and Mitchell (Andrew V. McLaglen, 1975) on Mystery Science Theater 3000.

Mitch VHS autographed by Joe Don Baker.

Many, many moons ago, on eBay I believe (??), somewhere (??) I happened upon this autographed VHS copy of Mitchell, with Baker’s autograph in big thick black sharpie. A cult curio, I had to pluck it up. RIP to the legendary star.

News from Friends

Cool kids I know have been busy lately! Here are some signal boosts I’d like to give out.

New Ride the Stream Episodes

Michele and Travis have some brand new episodes of their Ride the Stream vidcast online at YouTube. They dive into the next few episodes of Lost.

Here is their take on episode 20:

And their dialogue about episode 21:

New episodes drop every Friday on YouTube. Keep an eye on their YouTube channel, or give them a follow on Bluesky.

New Fan2Fan Episodes

Bernie and Pete have some new episodes of their Fan2Fan podcast online.

Michele joins as a guest in their episode about the 1979 Herzog/Kinski version of Nosferatu:

https://feeds.libsyn.com/80728/rss

Michele is also a guest in the discussion about the 2024 incarnation:

https://feeds.libsyn.com/80728/rss

Older episodes of Fan2Fan can be found at its Libsyn page or via your podcast app of preference.

New Music from Philippe Gerber

Philippe Gerber, who has done the music for our H. P. Lovecast Podcast, has some brand new music that has just been published!

Cover art of Rebirth.

First, under Gerber’s own name, he has released a three track EP called Rebirth, which can be found at Bandcamp.

Cover art of De Lumière et d’Obscurité.

And next, under his John 3:16 moniker, he has published a collaboration album with Eisenlager (who sadly passed away last year) titled De Lumière et d’Obscurité. It, too, can be found at Bandcamp.

Hunter – Lover – Killer: Vanya 02

The Story So Far

Two hundred plus years in the future, mankind has expanded across space and time. Leading the humans’ expansion are the Astral Guard, elite warriors born out of surviving many months in the prehistoric past.

Vanya issue two, cover A.

Vanya Tepanov is eight months into her journey as a Time Guard to become an Astral Guard, spending her days surviving dinosaurs and other creatures from the far past. Vanya’s world is turned upside down after she encounters another Time Guard named Reed and her betrothed from her present, Serah.

Issue 02 Plot

Unbeknownst to Vanya, two months after she started her trials, the alien race of the Torridians commenced a surprise attack on humanity. In order to proceed with a counterattack, soldiers were trained and sent back to the past to fetch the Time Guards, with Serah sent to retrieve Vanya.

Despite the looming threat of the Torridians, Vanya and Serah intimately rekindle their romance, with Reed welcomed in. Sexual appetite satiated, the trio decide the best course of action is to proceed to an emergency armory that has a stockpile of weapons. Vanya and company are not the only ones with an interest in the armory as a tribe of savages have also set their eyes on the cache prize.   

Commentary

Neo-jungle girl Vanya’s adventures continue in the second issue of the planned twelve issue series with a dramatic increase in narrative stakes, the introduction of new characters and threats, a stronger sense of humor, and, of course, erotic content.

As with issue one, issue two of Vanya goes full speed at rapidly laying out the greater narrative context. The Torridians are introduced (but only their UFOs are shown), along with a tribe of barbarians led by the, pudgy, dino skull wearing Bone King, and more dinosaur encounters. In addition to the Bone King, one of his soldiers, Niya, is introduced. An attractive jungle-girl herself, it can probably be surmised she will become both a nemesis and a paramour of Vanya. With all of this going on the stakes in the Vanya universe must be dire, especially if the humans in the present are sending fresh meat into the past fetch the Time Guards who have not completed their own trainings quite yet.

The world of Vanya takes much inspiration from the works of Paul Verhoven regarding sex and violence: over the top and plentiful. Due to all three major characters having been without sex for many months, their pent-up lust for one another explodes across multiple pages, only interrupted with the arrival of a T-rex. In just a few panels the comic goes from erotic, to suspenseful, to humorous as the trio crack a pop culture joke about Jurassic Park being a documentary.

Jurassic Park reference.

Even more subtle in these rapid panels are blink-and-you’ll-miss-it details, such as the T-Rex’s head being peppered by lodged arrows, indicating the king of dinosaurs has encountered something humanoid (savages? Cavemen? Other Time Guards?) before. Other humorous moments include Reed making a Jaws reference of “We are going to need a bigger bow” after witnessing a giant anaconda constrict a barbarian and when Reed mentions that “they will be fine” in one panel, followed by a sudden downpour the next. It is great timing and does not impede the overall atmosphere of the comic.

A peppering of pop culture references aside, the second issue of Vanya begins to show even more genre homages. While issue one solidified Vanya as a jungle girl homage, issue two teases additional pulp elements. For example, the spaceships of the Torridians take inspiration from 50s and 60s era circular UFOs from sci-fi comics and movies, yet they act as formidable as the alien crafts in Independence Day. Another genre throwback is with the Bone King and his lair (which looks akin to a volcanic lair high in the mountains) which fully embrace the spear and fang genre.

As is custom with many adult Kickstarter endeavors, Vanya #02 comes with a plethora of alternate covers, in both non-nude and nude varieties. Two standout covers are the Renato Camilo/Boyfiy Miah and the Pow Podrix/Jasen Smith covers. The Camilo/Miah cover is particularly flirty as it is detailed and colorful, giving an “inviting’ sense. The Podrix/Smith cover scales back the colors and goes more ominous in mood. The exploding volcano, approaching T-rex, and Vanya drawing her bow convey strong adventurous, Turok vibes.

Nude version of the Renato Camilo+Boyfiy Miah cover.

In addition, the Vanya #02 crowdfunding campaign met many of its stretch goals, which aside from the additional pages of sexual content (no doubt the extended ménage à trois between Vanya, Serah, and Reed), entails a handful of ephemera and swag. 

Vanya Magnet and Coaster.

For utility items, there is a square magnet by an uncredited artist that shows a close up of Vanya with a setting sun behind her. Along with this there is a round coaster that depicts Vanya in pink rollerblade and blowing bubble gum, taken from an alternate issue two cover done by Gregbo Watson and Gwenaelle Daligault. 

Vanya trading cards.

Next there are two trading cards (one nude, one note) that depict Vanya in a swamp fighting a large blue and black snake. There is no credited artist, but the cards evoke some epic thrash metal.

Bad Bug leading lady stickers.

Next there are four square stickers, also with an uncredited artist, each showing a headshot of a lady character from different Bad Bug Comics: Vanya, Nell (Death Nell), June (HyperGeist), and Maggie (Dead End Moon)

HyperGeist art print.

And finally, there is an art print (uncredited) of June from HyperGeist, sitting on a bed with a wine glass and bottle at her side.

Vanya #02 is a great continuation of what was started in the first issue. Bigger scope and more threats are introduced yet the comic does not feel bogged down. The comic has a laid-back attitude regarding sex and violence, but in its primal setting, it works. The increase in humor in issue two was not expected but it is quite welcome. 

For more information on Vanya and the comic’s creative team, check out the links below:

Bad Bug Media Vanya 02 Product PageVanya 02 Kickstarter PageMike Tener (Writer / EIC Bad Bug)Zoran Jovicic (Artist)Bryan Magnaye (Colourist)

Also, consider checking out the reviews I’ve done of other titles published by Bad Bug:

Death Nell Issue 01 ReviewVanya Issue 01 Review

News Roundup 2025-05-11

Personal / Website NewsPeplum Ponderings: Gladiator II

Yall knew it was coming eventually! Gladiator II came out late last year. The follow up to the iconic film that started the neo-peplum cycle, what was I going to say about it?

Well, I did see it in theaters late December, but needed to wait for the physical release to come out and watch it again.

And so here it is: my write up of Gladiator II can be read right here. Enjoy!

Scholars from the Edge of Time: Gladiator II

In case you did not want to read all of that above, Michele and I also discussed Gladiator II during the April Scholars from the Edge of Time episode. The episode can be watched on YouTube.

ECOF 2025

In September of 2025 there will be an Edgar Rice Burroughs Chain of Friendship (ECOF) event down in Willcox, AZ. This event is to celebrate the 150th birthday of Burroughs while also honoring him with a plaque in the town due to his stationing with there the 7th U.S. Calvary in the 1890s. (Note: another ERB convention was held in Willcox back in 2019 and an event recap of that can be read at ERBZine #7059).

Here is a flyer for the 2025 event:

Here is the press release:

RENOWNED AUTHOR EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS’ CAVALRY SERVICE TO BE MEMORIALIZED IN WILLCOX, AZ

“Tarzan” Creator and Pop Culture’s Influential “Great Grandfather” Commemorated for His 150th Birthday.

WILLCOX, AZ – The renowned author and “Great Grandfather” of popular culture, Edgar Rice Burroughs, started his adult life as a cavalryman at Arizona’s Fort Grant in May of 1896. This September, as part of the late author’s 150th birthday celebration, his cavalry service will be memorialized with a monument at the restored Southern Pacific train depot in Willcox, where he arrived on his way to Fort Grant (35 miles north).

The influential creator of Tarzan of the Apes, John Carter of Mars, and The Land That Time Forgot series of stories wrote in his “Autobiography” that he specifically requested “to be sent to the worst post in the United States” and was then promptly assigned to Fort Grant in Arizona Territory, where his troop would spend some time hunting after the Apache Kid and other outlaws.

Many believe that Burroughs’ initial stay in Arizona influenced his first Martian story, Under the Moons of Mars, which begins with the first chapter titled “On the Arizona Hills.” The John Carter Martian stories would go on to influence generations of science fiction and fantasy books and movies, and would inspire many young people to become scientists, engineers, and astronauts. He would later author the books The War Chief and Apache Devil, both set in Arizona during the Apache Wars of the 1860s – 1880s.
This Willcox Edgar Rice Burroughs Chain of Friendship (ECOF) Gathering will take place from September 25 to 28, 2025, with the 7th Cavalry Historical Monument formal dedication ceremony on Saturday, September 27th from 10:00 AM – 12:00 Noon near the historic Southern Pacific Railroad Depot.

The monument dedication at the Willcox train depot will include guest speakers and participation of local Buffalo Soldier reenactors. All other convention events will take place at the Elks Lodge #2131 in Willcox, and will include discussion panels, a “huckster” (vendor) room, Guest of Honor and speaker Jeffrey J. Mariotte (author of Tarzan and the Forest of Stone), Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. speakers, a Saturday night banquet/ dinner, a Tarzan movie screening, and other surprises.

These events are sponsored by the Sulphur Springs Valley Historical Society and the Apache Devils chapter of The Burroughs Bibliophiles. The celebration is open to the public for free (except for the dinner and movie), but full attendees can register for a fee that covers a goodie bag, a huckster table, and the Saturday dinner.
This is a must-attend event for fans of Edgar Rice Burroughs and pop-culture historians alike. If you’d like to visit the place where it all began, don’t miss this very special celebration. (Note that some convention activities will require full event registration – the registration form is provided separately.)

The Holiday Inn Express & Suites Willcox is offering a special daily room rate of $119 plus taxes for the nights of 25 to 27 September for attendees. The group name is “ECOF.” You can make reservations at this rate by calling the hotel at (520) 384-3333; rooms are limited. The address is 1251 N. Virginia Ave, Willcox, AZ 85643.

If you would like more information about the 2025 ECOF event, please call Frank Puncer at 520.281.1818, or email him at fwpuncer at gmail dot com.

Here is the registration from:

Registration Form for the 2025 Edgar Rice Burroughs Chain of Friendship (ECOF) Gathering in Willcox, AZ (v8)Download

Michele and I will be in attendance for this convention, so I’ve added it to the appearances section of my website as well. I may be doing a presentation on Tarzan as a peplum character in Tarzan and the Lost Empire. Hope to see yall there!

Publishing Recap

Below is a recap of my external publishing endeavors so far in 2025.

Comic Book Review: “The Moon Maid: Catacombs of the Moon #2″ reprinted in the National Capital Panthans Journal #332.

Comic Book Review: “The Moon Maid: Catacombs of the Moon #3″ reprinted in the National Capital Panthans Journal #333.

“Tarzan Cocktail: Deconstructed – Reconstructed” reprinted in the National Capital Panthans Journal #335.

Original can be read here.

“There’s Always Room” in Merry Creepsmas: The Red Book. Edited by Parth Sarathi Chakraborty. Wicked Shadow Press, 2025.

“Tagliolini al Tarzan: Interview with Actress Bella Cortez on Taur the Mighty” in The Burroughs Bulletin #109. Edited by Henry Franke III. February, 2025.

Calls for Papers/Proposals

Here are some new pop culture CFPs that have crossed my path or I am sharing on behalf of my colleagues. Links to these will also be in the CFP page on the navigation bar.

We Live Again! Disney’s Gargoyles as an Evolving Transmedia Text

Co-sponsored by the Monsters & the Monstrous Area and Disney Studies Area
Call for Papers for 2025 Virtual Conference of the Northeast Popular Culture Association (NEPCA)
Thursday, 9 October, to Saturday, 11 October, 2025
Submissions are open until Tuesday, 15 July by 5 PM EDT

Conceived by creator Greg Weisman, Disney’s Gargoyles began as a television series in the 1990s and has been expanded over the decades through action figures, books, clothing, collectibles, comics, conventions, fan art, fanfiction, games, puzzles, and recurrent rumors of a live-action reboot. Although now over thirty years old, Gargoyles has remained incredibly popular since its initial debut, yet, while other aspects of Disney Studies are flourishing, scholars have mostly neglected the series. Therefore, we seek in this session to offer some critical attention to Gargoyles and its various adaptations and continuations.

Proposals should display some knowledge of the history and scope of the series, its adaptation history, and its ongoing evolution. We encourage you to make use of the resource guide provided at https://tinyurl.com/WeLiveAgainRG in formulating your approach.

To submit a proposal, please review the requirements and procedure from NEPCA’s main conference page at https://www.northeastpca.org/conference. Proposals should be approximately 250 words; an academic biographical statement (75 words or less) is also requested. Payment of registration and membership fees will be required to present. More details on exact costs will be forthcoming.

Direct submissions to the Monsters & the Monstrous Area can be made at https://cfp.sched.com/speaker/sTP9T9X3cW/event. Address any questions or concerns to the area chair at popular.preternaturaliana@gmail.com.

Further information on the Monsters & the Monstrous Area can be accessed on our blog Popular Preternaturaliana: Studying the Monstrous in Popular Culture at https://popularpreternaturaliana.blogspot.com/.
Further information on the Northeast Popular Culture Association (NEPCA) can be accessed from our new website at https://www.northeastpca.org/.

Silly Old Bear? Adaptations, Appropriations, and Transformations of Winnie-the-Pooh

Co-sponsored by the Monsters & the Monstrous Area and Disney Studies Area
Call for Papers for 2025 Virtual Conference of the Northeast Popular Culture Association (NEPCA)
Thursday, 9 October, to Saturday, 11 October, 2025
Submissions are open until Tuesday, 15 July by 5 PM EDT

A. A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh has always been a bit of a shapeshifter manifesting under various names and appearances since the start of his now over one-hundred-year career as a transmedia figure. Over the past century, Pooh and his associates from the Hundred Acre Wood have been adapted and appropriated to feature in artwork, cards, clothing, collectibles, comics, cookbooks, fiction, films, games, illustrations, memes, musical theater, original videos, philosophical treatises, plays, poems, radio broadcasts, self-help manuals, stuffed animals, songs, streaming video, television programs, theatrical productions, theme park attractions, and translations as well as critical commentaries and works of scholarship. These stories tell of their adventures across time and space, and each text offers a unique approach to the characters. Notably, Pooh and his band have often undergone radical transformations through various parodies and pastiches, with many more innovative approaches appearing since their move into the public domain beginning in 2022.

In this session, we seek to catalog and critique some of these various takes on Winnie-the-Pooh and his companions. We ask you to explore how these adaptations, appropriations, and transformations of these familiar figures connect to and/or diverge from the Poohian tradition established by Milne and illustrator E. H. Shepard. We want you to uncover what these works might say about the gang from the Hundred Acre Wood, the creators of these new works, and, ultimately, ourselves as the receivers of these texts. We encourage you to make use of the resource guide provided at https://tinyurl.com/SillyOldBearRG in formulating your approach.

To submit a proposal, please review the requirements and procedure from NEPCA’s main conference page at https://www.northeastpca.org/conference. Proposals should be approximately 250 words; an academic biographical statement (75 words or less) is also requested. Payment of registration and membership fees will be required to present. More details on exact costs will be forthcoming.

Direct submissions to the Monsters & the Monstrous Area can be made at https://cfp.sched.com/speaker/sTP9T9X3cW/event. Address any questions or concerns to the area chair at popular.preternaturaliana@gmail.com.

Further information on the Monsters & the Monstrous Area can be accessed on our blog Popular Preternaturaliana: Studying the Monstrous in Popular Culture at https://popularpreternaturaliana.blogspot.com/.

Further information on the Northeast Popular Culture Association (NEPCA) can be accessed from our new website at https://www.northeastpca.org/.

(Re)Animating the Middle Ages: Adapting the Medieval in Animated Media (In-Person)

Mid-Atlantic Popular Culture Association’s 2025 Annual Conference
Sonesta Hotel Philadelphia (1800 Market St, Philadelphia, PA 19103)
6-8 November 2025

The Association for the Advancement of Scholarship and Teaching of the Medieval in Popular Culture invites proposals for an in-person panel on the theme of “(Re)Animating the Middle Ages: Adapting the Medieval in Animated Media” for the Mid-Atlantic Popular Culture Association’s 2025 Annual Conference, which will run from Thursday, 6 November, to Saturday, 8 November 2025.

Proposals might cover any aspects of the medieval in animated films, animated shorts, anime, computer-generated images, games, or television cartoons.

We are especially looking for presentations on medieval-themed anime and adaptations of Beowulf, the Robin Hood tradition, and the works of J. R. R. Tolkien but also welcome work on other texts and traditions.

A resource guide for the project is accessible at https://lnkd.in/ekvpHdhp.

Please send a short biography and paper proposal (300 words or less) to the organizers at medievalinpopularculture@gmail.com by Thursday, 24 July 2025.

(Be advised that MAPACA will require accepted presenters to create an account in their conference system. There will also be a registration fee to participate in the event.)

For more information on the Association for the Advancement of Scholarship and Teaching of the Medieval in Popular Culture please visit https://lnkd.in/eNUGT6ap.

For more information on MAPACA please visit https://mapaca.net/.

Miscellaneous Tidbits

Some fun things I shared online from these past few weeks. Highlighting things from my personal collection of pop culture artifacts.

May the Fourth / Phil Brown Autograph

May the Fourth was earlier this month and its always fun to talk about and celebrate Star Wars.

My big entry point into Star Wars was actually the CCG dEcipher put out back in the 90s. Before the card game I knew of Star Wars, seen the movies on VHS, but it wasn’t a *thing*. After my cat had kittens on my Magic cards, I looked to other CCGs to collect, and went with Star Wars, and that was what sent me spiraling into the movies, comics, and the books – so many books. So, I have a soft spot for the old CCG and Expanded Universe at the time.

One of my treasures is my autographed Owen Lars card signed by actor Phil Brown. My friends and I attended a tiny Portland comic book show in the latter part of the 90s, and Brown was one of the guests. So, I got my card signed by him.

News from Friends

Cool kids I know have been busy lately! Here are some signal boosts I’d like to give out.

New Ride the Stream Episodes

Michele and Travis have some brand new episodes of their Ride the Stream vidcast online at YouTube. They dive into the next few episodes of Lost.

Here is their discussion of episode 17 of season 1:

Here is episode 18:

And here is episode 19:

New episodes drop every Friday on YouTube. Keep an eye on their YouTube channel, or give them a follow on Bluesky.

New Fan2Fan Episodes

Bernie and Pete have some new episodes of their Fan2Fan podcast online.

First they have an episode about Superman and his cultural impact.

https://feeds.libsyn.com/80728/rss

Next they have an episode where they focus in on the original Superman movie:

https://feeds.libsyn.com/80728/rss

And finally, Michele joins as a guest on the Podcast to talk about the 1922 version of Nosferatu:

https://feeds.libsyn.com/80728/rss

Older episodes of Fan2Fan can be found at its Libsyn page or via your podcast app of preference.

The Azure Cove Assignment

Ian Welke has a brand new novel out! It is called The Azure Cove Assignment. Here is the cover by Kelly Lyon King:

The book can be purchased on Amazon.

Peplum Ponderings: Gladiator II

Gladiator II is the 2024 neo-peplum sequel to the iconic and influential Gladiator from 2000, both films directed by Ridley Scott. Taking place sixteen years after the events of Gladiator, Gladiator II sees Hanno (Paul Mescal), who is actually Lucius, the son of Maximus Decimus Meridius (Russell Crowe) and Lucilla (Connie Nielsen) from Gladiator, a captured soldier from Numidia, follow in his father’s footsteps at becoming a skilled gladiator, seeking vengeance for the slaying of his wife, and becoming part of Roman political intrigue. The end product is a well-crafted neo-peplum film, with some great spectacle scenes, fantastic actors, thought suffers from lackluster writing that fails to support the new gladiator hero.

How does one make a sequel to Gladiator when that film had a definite ending and the main protagonist, a pop and cult cultural icon, dies in the end? The route to go is to retcon/shoe-horn the character of Lucius to be the son of Maximus, and have this new character continue the story. This paternal hook was utilized numerous times during the classic age of sword and sandal in the 60s. Sergio Corbucci’s The Son of Spartacus (1962), capitalizes on Kubrick’s Spartacus (1960), and in the process becomes a sequel of sorts, with the story being carried on by Randus (Steve Reeves) the son of the legendary Spartacus (Kirk Douglas). The numerous Sons of Hercules retitled/edited pepla all become continuations to any number of Hercules films, if taken literally by their “son of” titles, creating a loose canon of sorts. Other examples of Italian pepla that feature a son of a historic (cinematic) hero include Il figlio di d’Artagnan ([The Son of d’Artagnan] Riccardo Freda, 1950), The Son of El Cid (Vittorio Cottafavi, 1964), and Son of Samson (Carlo Campogalliani, 1960), though this is a Maciste film, the title being mostly exploitative of the Samson name and figurative in nature. Gladiator II’s usage of a son character to continue the story is well within sword and sandal genre conventions.

The issue becomes that the son character (Lucius) is not his own character, but a stand in for Russell Crowe’s Maximus. Lucius story mimics that of his father (wife is killed, seeks vengeance, captured, becomes a gladiator, has visions of the River Styx (a substitute for the Elysian fields). Mescal’s speaking cadence mirrors Crowe’s, and the same mannerisms, such as running sand through his fingers, are copied over. Lucius is not the son of Maximus, he is a carbon copy. This facsimile could be contributed to cinematic/storytelling handwaving, after all he is the son of Maximus, so surely all of Lucius traits are hereditary. Having Lucius be the unknown son of Maximus also asks modern day viewers to question Maximus’ fidelity, as he has a wife and son he is completely devoted to as evident in the first Gladiator. Factoring in a previously unknown child creates a shadow over Maximus’ devotion.

This carbon copying of Maximus to Hanno/Lucius robs Lucius of the opportunity to have his own story, his own destiny. What little of his own agency is taken from him when the story is an hour and a half completed. Like Maximus, Lucius’ main motivation is to get revenge for the death of his wife Arishat (Yuval Gonen), who died by the arrows from invading general Acacius (Pedro Pascal). Macrinus (Denzel Washington), the owner of Hanno, makes many references to the rage that Hanno exhibits in his quest of vengeance, which is supposed to help anchor Hanno’s motiviation. Eventually Lucius comes head-to-head against Acacius in the arena where he learns that Acacius was trying to free him, that Acacius is the husband to his mother Lucilla, and that Hanno is the son of Maximus. Lucius is presented with a choice, a pretty big and epic choice that would shape his character and the story’s narrative: to kill Acacius to get his revenge, or to spare him. The choice is robbed from him as the twin emperors Greta (Joseph Quinn) and Caracalla (Fred Hechinger) order the Praetorian Guard to kill Acacius with their arrows. 

The main motivating factor for Lucius’ character is now concluded, not by his own hand. However, there is still an hour of the movie left to go, so the question becomes “what to do with the character now” The story then switches to weaving Lucius into the toga and sandal aspect of the film, becoming involved in the intrigue to overthrow the emperor twins. Up until this point in the narrative the character has had no connection with or reason to care about the corrupt rulers of Rome, but the story forces the transition to make Lucius integral. At this moment Lucius ceases to be his own character in his entirety, fully becoming Maximus instead, complete with donning his armour and wielding his gladius, which were part of a shrine to the fallen hero. 

Interestingly, there is one aspect that sets Hanno/Lucius apart from Maximus is the emphasis on the body. Peplum, especially the strongmen Hercules/Maciste/Samson/et al., have a laser focus on the male body, showing off muscles and their feats of strength. In the original Gladiator, Russell Crowe was in tip top shape, but he spent the movie fully clothed or armoured. Lucius, on the other hand, spends a bulk of the movie shirtless, be it in his prison cell or taking a bath and recuperating after a battle. Mescal is not a “strongman” in the traditional Reeves/Mark Forest/Schwarzenegger/The Rock/etc. fashion, but he is extremely fit, muscular, and agile. Gladiator II wants to sell the audience Mescal’s body, keeping with the focus of traditional 60s pepla. Of related interest, there is no nudity in Gladiator II and there are only a small handful of women characters (Lucilla, Arishat [both who get fridged]), and none of them are sexualized or wear anything revealing. It should be noted that May Calamawy was to be a substantial female character in the film, but her scenes where 99% cut from the film. 

The cost to support this bare-minimum hero’s journey is seen in the supporting characters. Lucilla is only present to assisting in anchoring Gladiator II to the original Gladiator, as she spends most of her scenes on the verge of tears, watching everything unfold outside her control. She has virtually no bearing on the plot, which is an unfortunate underutilization of the character who should have been much more integral. 

The character of Acacius suffers a similar fate as he only exists to drive the motivation of Lucius, and then he is out of the film. This is unfortunate as Acacius should have been one of the most complex characters in the film. His character is basically the equivalent to Maximus, an extremely proficient general, heralded as a hero. However, some people’s heroes are other people’s villains. The audience knows that Acacius is technically a “good guy”, the remorseful soldier who is really good at his job (conquering and subjugating other lands to Rome), but Lucius does not know this. This is the perfect setup to explore two characters at the same time and play with audience expectations, but the gods (and the story) do not will it.

It is these cracks in the characters that fail to uphold the story, and this is due to the writing. This is unfortunate because nearly all other aspects of the film are top notch. The performances of everyone are excellent (though Denzel Washington brings in a bit of anachronistic swagger that does steal the scenes, but also can take viewers out of the film a bit). Intentionally or not, there are many scenes in Gladiator II that seem over the top, bordering on fantasy, but act as terrific calls backs to classic pepla and their historic re/mis-creations. The naval battle scene in the arena, which has been flooded and filled with man-eating sharks, is historically based on the naumachiae, (though doubtful that the Romans captured sharks, transported them to Rome, and kept them contained in a SeaWorld of antiquity, but it adds tremendously to the spectacle), but flooded/flooding arena battles can be found in the likes of Atlantis, the Lost Continent (George Pal, 1961) where Demetrios (Anthony Hall) fights an ogre in a flooding arena. The final confrontation between Lucius and Macrinus in a stream outside Rome is similar to the final battle between Oleg (Victor Mature) and Burundai (Orson Welles) in The Tartars (Richard Thrope, 1961) who battle each other in the stream next to the Viking settlement. And, of course, the numerous slave and gladiator revolt films, such as The Magnificent Gladiator (Alfonso Brescia, 1964), The Revolt of the Slaves (Nunzio Malasomma, 1960) (of note, Acacius, with arrows protruding all from his body, has some visual similarities to Saint Sebastian, whose arrowed-ness is portrayed in The Revolt of the Slaves by actor Ettore Manni), the aforementioned Son of Spartacus, and others. Like the original Gladiator, Gladiator II takes classic tropes from the genres, gives them a new polish, and uses them to great effect. 

Gladiator II is a terrific neo-peplum on its own right, but due to its writing and treatment of Hanno/Lucius, it fails to be a great sequel. Despite this, the movie is not without pop culture importance and greater cultural observations and questioning. When the original Gladiator came out in 2000, it not only ushered in a rejuvenated cycle of sword and sandal films (with the likes of 300 [Zach Snyder, 2007], Troy [Wolfgang Petersen, 2004], Alexander [Oliver Stone, 2004], etc.), it also coincided with eight years of far-right rule in America under the George W. Bush presidency. The sword and sandal genre is in the odd arena where it can critique/push back against fascism (such as when Hercules battles an evil usurper to an otherwise peaceful kingdom), or sometimes it can venture the other way (such as 300 and its associated jingoism). For every viewing of Tinto Brass’s Caligula (1979), there is a large portion of the audience who says “this Rome is horrible” and are rightfully repulsed, and yet there is a small population that says “this is pretty cool” and accepts the imagery and actions of ancient Rome as something positive. 

Akin to the first Gladiator, Gladiator II was released on the eve of the second presidency of Donald Trump, who is currently speed rushing in an even bigger wave of fascism, xenophobia, and anti- LGBTQ+ policies. Will Gladiator IIusher in a new era of neo-pepla that can hopefully critique and push back the tide of fascism? At the end of the film, Lucius gives a short speech to the two armies outside Rome’s gates: “My grandfather Marcus Aurelius talked of a dream that would be Rome, an ideal, a city for the many and a home for those in need. A republic. That dream has been lost. But dare we rebuild that dream?” There’s a lot of nightmares going on right now, inside and outside the states. Gladiator II asks its audience to heed Lucius plea and dream big and better for all. 

News Roundup 2025-04-20

Personal / Website NewsComic Book Review: Vanya #01

New comic book review is up at my website!

I’ve got a backlog of indie comics from Kickstarter I want to get caught up on, including the erotic jungle girl comic Vanya.

Vanya is already on issue seven of a twelve issue run, so I’ve got a wee bit of catching up to do. You can read my review of issue one right here. These Vanya reviews will also be published in forthcoming issues of the National Capital Panthans Journal.

As I go through the comic book backlog/tbr pile, expect to see reviews for Vanya, Death Nell, Yor, Sectaurs, Born of Blood, SPQR, and Alicia Carter.

Citation News

It’s been a while, but here is some new citation news!

Version 1.0.0

My masters thesis, “Danza Macabra: The Reevaluation of Antonio Margheriti Through His Film Castle of Blood” is cited by an essay in the collection Un oceano di stile: Produzione e consumo di Made in Italy negli Stati Uniti del dopoguerra. I’m not sure which one, but if you know, let me know.

ECOF 2025

In September of 2025 there will be an Edgar Rice Burroughs Chain of Friendship (ECOF) event down in Willcox, AZ. This event is to celebrate the 150th birthday of Burroughs while also honoring him with a plaque in the town due to his stationing with there the 7th U.S. Calvary in the 1890s. (Note: another ERB convention was held in Willcox back in 2019 and an event recap of that can be read at ERBZine #7059).

Here is a flyer for the 2025 event:

I’ll share more information about the event as I find out more on my website updates. Michele and I will be in attendance for this convention, so I’ve added it to the appearances section of my website as well. 

Publishing Recap

Below is a recap of my external publishing endeavors so far in 2025.

Comic Book Review: “The Moon Maid: Catacombs of the Moon #2″ reprinted in the National Capital Panthans Journal #332.

Comic Book Review: “The Moon Maid: Catacombs of the Moon #3″ reprinted in the National Capital Panthans Journal #333.

“Tarzan Cocktail: Deconstructed – Reconstructed” reprinted in the National Capital Panthans Journal #335.

Original can be read here.

“There’s Always Room” in Merry Creepsmas: The Red Book. Edited by Parth Sarathi Chakraborty. Wicked Shadow Press, 2025.

“Tagliolini al Tarzan: Interview with Actress Bella Cortez on Taur the Mighty” in The Burroughs Bulletin #109. Edited by Henry Franke III. February, 2025.

Miscellaneous Tidbits

Some fun things and shout outs from these past few weeks.

Game On Expo 2025

Game On Expo had its ten year anniversary earlier this month and Michele and I attended it on Sunday. It was our first time going to a fairly big-big pop culture-centric con since before Covid times. We had a lot of fun, and would definitely go again next year, and go for multiple days as we didn’t get to partake in many of the activities or panels. We mostly stuck with checking out the vendors and, of course, meeting some of the cool guests! I wanted to share the loot I took in to get autographed.

Autographed Loot

Note, some of the below images are actually slideshows. So make sure to click on the little arrows to cycle through.

Spy Hunter

First up being autographed is my Game Boy Advance copy of Spy Hunter / Super Sprint.

Brian F. Colin was one of old school video game designers who was a guest at the con. He is perhaps best known for creating the arcade classic Rampage, but also Arch Rivals and General Chaos.

One of the many games he worked on as an artist at Midway was Spy Hunter, another hugely successful arcade game that saw many ports.

Back in the bid 2010s I was neck deep in Eurospy and espionage in popular culture (which would lead to my essay on Italian Eurospy films for Michele’s James Bond in Popular Culture book). I wound up finding a never opened, CIB copy of Spy Hunter / Super Sprint (not sure where, another con or maybe even eBay), so this has port of Spy Hunter has been in my collection for quite a while.

Colin was extremely happy to sign the box for the game. He remarked he had never seen this port before. He was super nice, friendly, and energetic to talk to. Scroll through the gallery above to see the contents of the GBA game, along with some Rampage stickers I bought from Colin.

Atari 50

The next old school game designer I met was Howard Scott Warshaw.

Warshaw worked at Atari in the early 80s, his first game being Yar’s Revenge. His last game was the infamous Atari release of E. T., which was the straw the broke the camel’s back, facilitating the great video game crash in the US in the 80s.

I’m not a real big Atari aficionado, I love the history of the company more than the games. However, a few years ago I plucked up Atari 50, which is basically 50% compilation of Atari games and 50% documentary/museum about the company. Part of its content was a handful of Atari Jaguar games, an extremely rare treat to play!

Warshaw’s Yar’s Revenge is on the compilation, along with interviews with him talking about creating the game and working at Atari. Super insightful.

Warshaw graciously signed my copy of Atari 50 and I bought a copy of his autobiography, Once Upon Atari, which he also signed (see sideshow above). As Reb Brown signs copies of Yor, the Hunter from the Future as “Yor’s Truly”, Warshaw signs his stuff “Yar’s Truly”. Love it.

Earth Defense Force 2025

“EDF! EDF!”

“They killed Tiny!”

I have a lot of memories playing the three Earth Defense Force games on the Xbox: Earth Defense Force 2017, Earth Defense Force 2025, and Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon. These game offered a split screen, couch co-op opportunity for Michele and I to play a video game together, and one that wasn’t too hard either. Pick up a gun and shoot all the giant ants, spiders, robots, and UFOs. Hella fun. So, I have lots of fond memories of these games and playing with Michele.

Voice actress extraordinaire Erika Harlacher was one of the many VO guests in attendance for the Game On Expo. I’m not 100% familiar with her work, she does a lot of anime, which I’ve been out of the loop of for 10-20 years. EDF proper does not have characters per se, just unnamed soldiers that are canon fodder for the insect hordes. Harlacher voices the flying Valkyrie soldiers, which is really cool. Means a lot to me to have this game signed by someone involved with it. And she drew a bug by her signature too!

Note: EDF 2025 originally came out in 2014, and 2025 seemed so far away back then. And now here we are, living in the future, living in 2025. Should I expect to see UFOs fill the skyline, dropping a legion of ants and spiders on the Earth?

Cyberpunk 2077

Awww yiss. Cyberpunk 2077!

I never played the Witcher games, but I knew they were good. I love the cyberpunk genre, though never played the Cyberpunk TTRPG. I was super excited for this game when it was released. When it came out, however, it was a big, buggy mess. So, I sat on getting it for a while. Then CD Projekt fixed the game and expanded on it with the Phantom Liberty DLC, and apparently really redeemed themselves. Now it was a good time to pluck up the game, and it was amazing.

Jane Perry was another voice actress in attendance at the con. Her work I am much more familiar with, having played the Hitman games and lots of other titles she’s been a part of: Robocop, 007 Legends, and others. In Cyberpunk 2077 she voices Rogue Amendiares, one of the important characters in the last half of the game. She was a love interest of Johnny Silverhand and was part of the assault on Arasaka Tower with him. She rules.

Return of Monkey Island

Finally, my boxset of Return to Monkey Island from Limited Run Games, signed by artist Dev Madan.

I’ve played the Monkey Island games since I was a wee wee wee kid on our old 486. The before times of having proper internet, it was a S T R U G G L E getting through that first game. One of my best friends, Kris, and I would crowd around the computer shouting out all ideas to solve the adventure game’s puzzles.

I wasn’t able to play Monkey Island 2 until around two decades later when it got a digital release on Xbox Live Arcade. I had a Big Box PC version of Curse of Monkey Island (and I still do, I think?), and my PS2 copy of Escape from Monkey Island which I bought and played when I was a broke college student. I grew up playing all the point and click adventure games from LucasArts and Sierra, and still have a soft spot for them.

I was excited when the newest, and it looks like last, Monkey Island game, Return to Monkey Island, got an ornate console release. It was a fun game, with a bittersweet ending. But, when I was looking at the guest list for Game On Expo and saw Dev Madan (an icon of point and click games), listed on it, I just had to have him sign Return to Monkey Island (which he did art for), a series that has been near and dear to me forever.

“I can’t use the skeleton arm with that!”

News from Friends

Cool kids I know have been busy lately! Here are some signal boosts I’d like to give out.

New Ride the Stream Episodes

Michele and Travis have some brand new episodes of their Ride the Stream vidcast online at YouTube. They dive into the next few episodes of Lost.

Here is their discussion of episode 15 from season 1:

And here is their discussion of episode 16:

New episodes drop every Friday on YouTube. Keep an eye on their YouTube channel, or give them a follow on Bluesky.

New Fan2Fan Episodes

Bernie and Pete have some new episodes of their Fan2Fan podcast online.

They have episodes online talking about the ill fated Roger Corman Fantastic Four film. Here is part one of their conversation:

https://feeds.libsyn.com/80728/rss

And here is part two:

https://feeds.libsyn.com/80728/rss

Older episodes of Fan2Fan can be found at its Libsyn page.

The Chosen Cast Interview

Matt Page (author of 100 Bible Films and the dude behind the Bible Films Blog) recently did an interview with two cast members of the Biblical peplum TV series The Chosen: Shahar Isaac (Simon Peter) and Vanessa Benavente (Mother Mary). Check out the interview on Youtube:

She’s Got the Killer Instinct: Vanya Issue 01

The Story

In the far future of 2288 AD, mankind has mastered time, dimension, and space travel. Leading humanity’s front-line conquerors are the Astral Guard, fierce warriors who are battled hardened by spending a year surviving in the prehistoric past.

Cover A of Vanya 01 done by J. C. Fabul and Bryan Magnaye.

Vanya Tepanov is such a candidate for the Astral Guard, currently eight months into her year of living in four billion years in the past. Each day is a test of her skills, instinct, and luck, as she must deal with the likes of sabretooth tigers, Pteranodons, raptors, and even other Astral Guard trainees, dubbed Time Guards, that she is warned to stay away from. However, a chance encounter (and a night of passion) with a Time Guard named Reed jumpstarts Vanya’s newest escapade where the prehistoric past and the highly advanced future clash. 

Commentary

Vanya issue one is a crowdfunded comic book published by Bad Bug Media, the first in a planned twelve issue run. Kickstarted in August 2021 and shipped to backers in February 2022, Vanya is an ambitious, multi-genre adult comic. The Kickstarter campaign states that the series is for fans of Sheena: Queen of the Jungle, and that it is a “sci-fi twist on the jungle girl genre.” The first issue of Vanya is written by Mike Tener (who is also the editor in chief of Bad Bug), with art by J. C. Fabul (The Dragonfly) and Zoran Jovicic (Burlap), colours by Bryan Magnaye (Militia, Twin Worlds), and lettering by Aaron Locust (Death Nell, HyperGeist). 

With its multi-genre approach, Vanya is ambitious and high concept. The future scenes hint at both a Blade Runner colonial setting (replicants at off world colonies vs. Astral Guards conquering new planets) and a Starship Troopers style of fascism (levels of citizen ship). The time traveling aspect of Vanya looks to take inspiration from Ray Bradbury’s story “A Sound of Thunder” in that going to the past is business-like, matter-of-factly, mixing hunting/safari-ing and surviving. Lastly, the jungle girl aspect is greatly emphasized, combining the menacing and awe-nature that dinosaurs evoked in Jurassic Park, the agility and nimbleness jungle girls like Sheena exhibit, and the eroticism of Budd Root’s Cavewoman, but fully embracing the pornographic elements that the genre normally only hints at. This is a lot to juggle, but Vanya anchors itself with its focus on the prehistoric/jungle girl aspect of the comic.

Personal copy of Vanya #1. Cover C done by Bruno Freitas and Gwenaelle Daligault.

Usually, the first issue of a new comic IP is unwieldy as it tries to accomplish too much (introduce characters, setting, plot, and so on) in too little space. Vanya is surprisingly quite concise in setting its game pieces: the one page pseudo-Star Wars opening text paints the big picture, while the comic proper does a succinct job at establish Vanya’s personality and goals (she wants to become an Astral Guard so her and her girl beau Serah can move to another world), establishes the risks, dangers, and day-to-day life in the prehistoric past (dodging tigers to fending off infections). As with the multiple genres, most comics would crumble under the weight of what Vanya is going for, but instead it pulls it all off effortless, at least in this debut issue.

Like the dinosaurs of the past, Vanya goes big, and its first issue is cleanly edited, drilled down to a concise story that could scatter in too many directions but does not. The action scenes are thrilling (taking down an entire Pteranodon and riding it into the ground), there is an air of intrigue that comes from unknown forces in the future, and the sex and nudity is integrated into the plot and not simply there to just be titillating. 

For more information on Vanya and the comic’s creative team, check out the links below:

Bad Bug Media Vanya 01 Product PageVanya 01 Kickstarter PageMike Tener (Writer / EIC Bad Bug)J. C. Fabul (Artist)Zoran Jovicic (Artist)Bryan Magnaye (Colourist)

Also, consider checking out other reviews I’ve done of titles published by Bad Bug:

Death Nell Issue 01 Review

News Roundup 2025-04-06

Personal / Website NewsComic Book Review: Eternal Rome #2

Technically on a roll! I did a review of Rome Eternal #1 in early March (which can be read here) and now I’ve done a review of issue two, which can be read here!

Issue three is not out yet, so I am actually current on a comic book series! I’ll do my best to get a review of issue three online as soon as it is published and in my paws.

Scholars from the Edge of Time: In the Name of the King 3: The Last Mission

In early 2024 Michele and I did a Scholars from the Edge of Time episode on In the Name of the King 2: Two Worlds (which can be watched here). We didn’t care for it. I followed this up with a Peplum Ponderings article about the film, .

A year later we decided to give the third movie in the Dungeon Siege/In the Name of the King series a shot, so we watched In the Name of the King 3: The Last Mission.

Folks, I don’t know how to say this, but The Last Mission was legit pretty good! I dare say, it might be the best Uwe Boll movie I’ve seen! It’s like he looked at Two Worlds and said “I can remake this, but better” and actually delivered! The movie is not quite as good as other Connecticut Yankee-style movies, such as Army of Darkness, but it is leagues better than Two Worlds and pretty enjoyable. I recommend giving it a watch!

The episode can be watched on YouTube right here. I plan on doing a Peplum Ponderings about the film fairly soon while the movie is fresh on my mind.

Panthans Journal #335

The newest issue of the The National Panthans Journal has been published. This issue contains a re-print of my article “Tarzan Cocktail: Deconstructed – Reconstructed”, which I original published early right here at my website.

Paraphrased from the zine: The National Capital Panthans Journalis a monthly publication issued as a .PDF file on the Saturday before the first Sunday of each month. Contribution of articles, artwork, photos, and letters are welcome. Send submissions to the editor: Laurence G. Dunn at laurencegdunn AT gmail.com in a Word document for consideration.

ECOF 2025

In September of 2025 there will be an Edgar Rice Burroughs Chain of Friendship (ECOF) event down in Willcox, AZ. This event is to celebrate the 150th birthday of Burroughs while also honoring him with a plaque in the town due to his stationing with there the 7th U.S. Calvary in the 1890s. (Note: another ERB convention was held in Willcox back in 2019 and an event recap of that can be read at ERBZine #7059).

Here is a flyer for the 2025 event:

I’ll share more information about the event as I find out more on my website updates. Michele and I will be in attendance for this convention, so I’ve added it to the appearances section of my website as well. 

Publishing Recap

Below is a recap of my external publishing endeavors so far in 2025.

Comic Book Review: “The Moon Maid: Catacombs of the Moon #2″ reprinted in the National Capital Panthans Journal #332.

Comic Book Review: “The Moon Maid: Catacombs of the Moon #3″ reprinted in the National Capital Panthans Journal #333.

“Tarzan Cocktail: Deconstructed – Reconstructed” reprinted in the National Capital Panthans Journal #335.

Original can be read here.

“There’s Always Room” in Merry Creepsmas: The Red Book. Edited by Parth Sarathi Chakraborty. Wicked Shadow Press, 2025.

“Tagliolini al Tarzan: Interview with Actress Bella Cortez on Taur the Mighty” in The Burroughs Bulletin #109. Edited by Henry Franke III. February, 2025.

Miscellaneous Tidbits

Some fun things and shout outs from these past few weeks.

New AcquisitionsAtomfall

It has been ages since I preordered a non-retro, non-re-released game, but when I heard about Atomfall a few months ago, I was immediately hooked!

My copy arrived on on 3/27 and I had it 1000 pointed on 4/4. I was hooked in the story and setting, so I just steamrolled through it.

I think I need to do an in depth write up or at least an essay about the Lovecraftian horror (lots of Colour Out of Space elements) and folk horror elements of the game. Atomfall is populated with lots of wicker men and they are a sight to behold!

Autographed Treasures

Here are some autographed treasures I’ve shared on Social Media these past few weeks.

Fast Company

Dvid Cronenberg, the auteur filmmaker known for his work of body horror cinema, has one movie that is an outlier in his body of work: Fast Company (1979). An early film in the director’s filmography, it’s a low budget exploitation film about car racing. Scanners x Days of Thunder? Not quite…

It’s been about fifteen years since I last saw this film. It is quite 70s for sure. But, I do have my copy of the movie signed by two of its stars! First is John Saxon who plays the film’s villain and the second is the films hero, William Smith (both RIP!).

Automatic

I am a hard core Olivier Gruner fan. The dude is always either a cyborg or a mercenary, but he is always awesome. Nemesis is probably his best film, but my favorite of his is Velocity Trap (1999) (see my autographed copy of that here).

I’ve got tons more films signed by Gruner, including Automatic (1994) here, which also stars Dr. Who favorite Daphne Ashbrook (whose book I have!). So, looking at the DVD cover, and judging by title, is Gruner a merc or a cyborg in this film?

Return of the Living Dead Part II

Return of the Living Dead Part II exists in the shadows of Return of the Living Dead, which I can understand. The original film has a distinct punk ethos and attitude that really makes the film stand out, especially in the zombie genre. Part II does fall on the generic side of things.

That’s not to say the movie is bad, it isn’t! It’s actually fairly fun! The artwork though, that is top notch. There was this period in the 80s were there were tons of film art that shows some malevolent face in the night sky, and Part II really captures that. I remember being a kid and scared to death of the VHS of this film.

Anywho, my copy is signed by the bully villain in this film, Thor Van Lingen.

Richard Kern’s Action

Pinups and stockings, two things I love, and Richard Kern delivers in spades in his transgressive photography. Back in the 2000s, my local comic book store was Spy Comics in Federal Way and I bought Richard Kern’s Action there.

Years later, when Taschen books published The Big Book of Breasts, the Beverly Hills store celebrated with a signing event with editor Dian Hanson. Being the fanboy I am, I took my pile of Hanson edited books for her to sign, of which Action was one of them.

News from Friends

Cool kids I know have been busy lately! Here are some signal boosts I’d like to give out.

Ride the Stream New Episodes

New episodes drop every Friday on YouTube. Keep an eye on their YouTube channel, or give them a follow on Bluesky.

Here is their discussion of episode twelve from season one:

Their discussion of episode thirteen:

And their discussion of episode fourteen:

New episodes drop every Friday on YouTube. Keep an eye on their YouTube channel, or give them a follow on Bluesky.

Lee Mitchell Interview at Ginger Nuts of Horror

My friend, Lee Mitchell, just scored a sweet interview at the Ginger Nuts of Horror. Check it out here!