bare•bones is back... and better than ever! Inside this 100-page premiere Matthew R. Bradley’s detailed look at the filmed adaptations of Ray Bradbury’s Martian Chronicles; Tom Deja examines Mike Avallone’s Ed Noon—the worst detective ever; Thomas Flynn looks at 70s Martial Arts/Spaghetti Western mash-ups; J. Charles Burwell provides a survey of hardboiled/noir anthologies; Gilbert Colon explores Book Two of Lin Carter’s “People of the Dragon” saga; an interview with George Romero historian, filmmaker and sculptor Christian Stavrakis; and the premiere installment of an all-new column from David J. Schow! And if that weren’t enough, co-editors Peter Enfantino and John Scoleri weigh in on the I Am Legend/Night of the Living Dead connection, classic crime digests, old TV Guides, and sleaze paperbacks of the 60s and 70s!
002 - Dueling Editorials by Peter Enfantino & John Scoleri 003 - An introduction to Ed Noon - The Worst Detective Ever Created by Thomas Deja 008 - The Martion Chronicles on Screen by Mathew R. Bradley 021 - The Spaghetti Western /Martial Arts Mash-up Thomas W. Flynn Jr. 039 - Born of I Am Legend by John Scoleri 043 - Book Two of Lin Carter's "People Of The Dragon"Saga by Gilbert Colon 047 - Digging Into 'Crime Digest' by Peter Enfantino 053 - Christian Savraakis: The Bare Bones Interview by John Scoleri 065 - A Survey of Hardboiled /Noir Anthologies by Charles Burwell 075 - Sleaze Alley by Peter Enfantino 081 - What's on the Tube: January 1-7,1972 by John Scoleri 087 - R & D by David J. Schow 092 - About the Contributors
Like its contributors, the return of bare•bones offers an eclectic mix with impressive range. Even when one of its many topic is not of primary interest to you, its presentation and depth of coverage provide an enjoyable, edifying lesson in pop culture.
I missed out on the original run of Bare Bones, so I was glad to see the publication of a new edition of this magazine. Fingers crossed, it’s only the first of many. The cherry on the cake, for me, is the inclusion of a new Raving & Drooling column from author David J. Schow.
This used to be a regular feature in the original Fangoria, one I’d skip to ahead of anything else. If you missed them or want to revisit the original columns, they’re collected in Wild Hairs, which just got a new reprint just last week.
I also noticed that the Best of Bare Bones is available, I will certainly be checking this out based on the quality of articles in the new issue.... even if you don’t like a particular subject matter, the writing makes it interesting to read. 4.5 stars
Another issue down - here, there was material I didn't care about (the crossover of martial arts & spaghetti western films) but was happy someone examined, stuff that didn't make for a great article (the varied adaptations of Bradbury's MARTIAN CHRONICLES stories - not focused enough in the writing) and some other things - not really an issue were the articles grabbed me, but the columns (overviews of crime anthology mags and digests, and sleaze paperbacks) were always interesting.