Author: jmstine

In this installment of underground comic book and pulp magazine sensation Charles Lee Jackson II's adventures of "The Emperor," the eponymous head of a shadowy yet benevolent organization is joined by two women in his battle for justice and peace. One woman has amazing powers beyond ordinary men, the other is a schoolgirl just learning that her father was a costumed crime-fighter of the past.

Former astronaut Helia Laurel has a secret identity—so secret, in fact, that even she doesn't know that she is also the fantastic Solara, while young Alison Carlsonn tries to earn the right to become a new hero, Shooting Star. They are the... Blonde Bombshells!

When Alison Carlsonn discovers that her father had spent his youth as a costumed hero, she thinks she’s found herself a career following in his footsteps. But when she learns her father is being held hostage by a master criminal, her nascent career must begin immediately—and she must become the “Phoenix from Santa Fe”.

Helia Laurel wakes to find herself confined in a hospital bed, uncertain of her own identity, and terrorized by the very people who should be helping her, one of whom is about to bring about “The Return of Solara”.

Released from the hospital, Helia Laurel find she has much of her life to recover—but that it must wait, because Continent-Eight, the Executive of Crime, is plotting evil once again. The blonde bombshell must hurtle into action, as “Solara Strikes Back”.

Hoping to win approval of her plan to become a modern-day Swashbuckler, Alison Carlsonn visits The Emperor but finds herself in a life-and-death situation in a bank hold-up, as “Allie Goes to Hollywood”.

Welcome to the Emperorverse, a world born of international spies, space aliens, mad scientists, colourful villains, costumed heroes, secret agents, spacemen, and even the cowboys of yesteryear, all engaged in the wildest and woolliest adventures you’ve ever read. It's an amazing and unequaled series of creative tales, woven into a complex, interrelated web that snares the imagination.

A New Superhero is Born in this Lighthearted, Lightning-Fast Series!

The Emperor’s partners in crime-fighting operate all over the world, and come from many walks of life—like San Francisco-based detective Jack Allen, who finds himself opposing a recondite super-criminal whose drive to secure an unknown goal means death and destruction for any who oppose him.

Like the hero of a cliffhanger serial from the golden days of Hollywood, Jack adopts the identity of Fireball, masked crusader for justice, to face doom from fire, water, a runaway locomotive, guided missiles, explosions, and even an attack by a mechanical man as he tries to find those responsible for these attacks and solve the mystery of… The Mark of Cypher!

If you liked "The Three Mesquiteers," "The Range Riders," and other classic Western movies, you will love this homage from the amazing imagination of Charles Lee Jackson II.

Some of the roaring in the Roaring Twenties was from six-guns! At the end of WWI, three soldiers set out to bring law and order to still-untamed reaches of the West. US Marshal Kit Cassiday, his singing sidekick Slim Rafferty, and their comical partner, Alibi Jones, earn a reputation for protecting the innocent and fighting villains—whether those villains break the law or hide behind it. Dubbed "The Trail Riders" and mounted on their faithful steeds, Gent, Duster, and Unk, these three out-ride, out-shoot, and out-think train robbers, cattle rustlers, claim jumpers, and other lawbreakers.

Their rootin’-tootin’, rip-snortin’, gun-slingin’ adventures begin in "The Secret of Cibola," when Kit and Slim come to the aid of their old pal Alibi, who's been accused of robbery and murder. Next Slim and Alibi land in plenty of trouble when an entire train is stolen right out from under them—but Kit helps uncover the astounding how and why as they seek the “Train to Los Padres”. Then the trio investigates spooky doings when a herd of cattle vanishes into thin air, seemingly the loot of “Phantom Rustlers”. Finally, when the mail doesn't go through, and the US Mail driver is missing, the boys become "Cowboy Couriers", only to be drawn into a deadly trap by a very pretty young woman…

More exciting adventures set in Charles Lee Jackson II's pulp and comic book inspired "Emperorverse," which has been compared to Lester Dent's over-the-top, widely beloved Doc Savage adventures. This new pulp novel, drawn from the Emperor's Secret Files, features a youthful Kit Cassiday, the retired lawman who many years later would sell the Emperor his Three-bar-R ranch and become one of his trusted advisors.

"High adventure mixing every cool paperback, comic, late night TV treasure, 1960s and 70s spy adventure, and the breakneck pace and scale of the great Republic serials." —Steve Latshaw, screenwriter, Stan Lee's Lightspeed.

When archaeologist Elizabeth Owen discovers an ancient artifact that imbues her with the abilities of the Olympian gods, she finds that with awesome power comes an awesome responsibility. For now she must be the protector of Mankind, the inheritor of mighty powers, Nemesis, the Avenger of Olympus. (And you can bet it won’t be long before she is invited to join The Emperor’s inner circle.) Don't miss this wild and wooly feminist revision of the classic Captain Marvel origin story.

In the first adventure, trapped in a lost Greek temple, Betty receives “A Gift from the Gods”, an artifact and scroll that confer great powers—powers she’ll need to save not just herself, but the other members of her archaeological expedition who have been taken prisoner by an enraged mob. She is forced to become Nemesis a second time when her attempt to clear two innocent members of the expedition, who have been accused of passing counterfeit currency, leads her into a deadly encounter with Continent-Eight and the Diabolical Dr. Double X, as she tries to “Follow the Money”.Then back in the US on a lecture tour, Betty discovers she is not the only superheroine in town, after Nemesis encounters Shooting Star during an investigation of brutal monsters who are attacking her students, unearthing the secret of “Barton’s Bruisers”. Angling for a new job, Betty tries to come to the rescue after the evil Jade Dragon and Doctor Yalta strike again, but becomes locked in a three-way battle that includes yet another superheroine, and the fight card is Nemesis versus “Solara Versus Captain Yalta”.

Another terrific adventure from The Emperor's Secret Files, as told to Charles Lee Jackson II.

To stop Continent-Eight, an evil executive of crime with outposts in nearly every major city in the world, secret agent Max Decker played a deadly game. Forced to kill the notorious supercriminal known as the Gila—a leader of Continent-Eight—in self-defense, Decker risked everything to masquerade as a villain. But now, when Decker finds himself on trial for the Gila's murder, he will call the only person who might be able to save him, the Emperor, head of his own shadowy organization for good.

Another thrilling novel of action, suspense and daring in the grand tradition of the pulps and the Saturday afternoon movie serials, taken directly from the Emperor's Secret Files.
For current and future fans of James Rollins' Sigma Force, Doc Savage, Matt Drake, James Bond, The Man from U.N.C.L.E, old movie serials, comic books, and the Robert Langdon novels.

Mirror, Mirror, the first collection of Jerome Bixby's science fiction in nearly fifty years, showcases three forgotten pulp magazine stories that Bixby adapted for the acclaimed Star Trek episode of the same name.

Before he wrote four fan-favorite Star Trek episodes (receiving a nomination for the coveted Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation) and the screen story for the movie Fantastic Voyage, Jerome Bixby (1923-1998) was a highly regarded professional science fiction magazine editor and writer remembered for his "yeoman work in raising the standards of the science fiction action story […] whose own stories, though few, are much sought after by discriminating readers." (Science Fiction Stories 1953)

Bixby soon deserted magazine editing for Hollywood, where he wrote a number of low-budget, late-1950s monster movies including It: The Terror from Beyond Space (the acknowledged inspiration for Alien), and landed scripting chores on the documentary-esque early science fiction television series Men Into Space, before striking it big when he sold Fantastic Voyage to a studio.

Jerome Bixby is best remembered, however, for the four episodes he wrote for the original Star Trek television series, and is much revered by series fans for introducing, in "Mirror, Mirror", the concept of the "mirror universe" populated by sinister facsimiles of Kirk, Spock, et al.

Bixby also wrote three other episodes, "By Any Other Name," "Day of the Dove," and, "Requiem for Methuselah," all of which critics and fans rank among the best in the series.

Fans of all types will thrill to learn that this first-ever collection focusing on Jerome Bixby's science fiction will showcase a pair of never-before-reprinted novelettes containing ideas that Bixby would later mine and transmogrify in two of his highly regarded Star Trek episodes, "Mirror, Mirror" and "Cargo to Callisto" (used in "By Any Other Name").

The collection will also contain Bixby's most famous short story, "It's a Good Life," memorably dramatized first on The Twilight Zone, then in Twilight Zone: The Movie, and finally reinterpreted for the twenty-first century on the series' 2002–3 incarnation, in "It's Still a Good Life."

Other Bixby classics include "Tubemonkey" (1949), and his very last, "The God Plllnk" (1964). You will also find a half-dozen other "lost" stories and novelettes reprinted for the first time since their original magazine publication in the 1950 and '60s.

Mirror, Mirror was edited, and is personally introduced, by his son, screenwriter and producer Emerson Bixby.

Mirror, Mirror: Classic SF by the Famed Star Trek and Fantastic Voyage Writer is a collection with something for everyone; it's for fans of pulp magazines, for fans of good science fiction writing, and for every fan who has ever journeyed along the space lanes with Kirk, Spock and McCoy.

Was the robot killer or victim?

Under the stresses of their jobs on Moon Four of Epsilon Eridani One, Rick and Gabrielle's marriage has disintegrated. Rick is unhappy about living in an artificial environment, hates his job, and blames Gabrielle whose career has brought him to Moon Four. Gabrielle drinks too much and orders their humbot Newton to make love to her, which it readily obeys.

Then, perhaps inevitably, Rick comes home early one day and discovers Gabrielle and Newton in bed together. Rick is so furious he orders Newton to kill her—which, to her relief, runs counter to Newton's preprogrammed ban on harming humans. But when Gabrielle is murdered, Newton becomes the prime suspect.

Rick immediately sues the humbot's manufacturer for wrongful death. Enter Duke Wilberstone, insurance investigator. If Newton is found guilty, his company will lose millions and the entire basis of galactic civilization—the belief that robots cannot harm humans—will be at risk. Together with robotologist Shirla Cassico, he must prove the robot innocent and unmask the real murderer. But, as Wilberstone and Cassico's relationship heats up, they find the biggest obstacle to acquitting Newton is—the robot himself.

Art: Sam Addison

He Went to the Stars and Became More Than a Man - Now He Must Battle Intergalactic Evil!

From the Golden Age pulp sf writer, Stuart J. Byrne.

In the far future, the trinary star system of Alpha Centauri is Man's new frontier and threshold to the galaxy—until the tri-planet dictatorship of Sol (Earth, Mars, Venus) triggers an interstellar revolution with the Star Man, Steve Germaine, as its catalyst.

In this volume you'll meet "Si" the human cyborg; Alphie, the batrachian mascot creature with a child mind and super I.Q., and great Karmax, the "Minotaur" wizard-creator of the Temonoids (one step beyond androids) with his destiny-warping super-cosmic quest.

You'll also find yourself asking, what of the cosmic secret of the Quasar Crystals, of the Era Unspoken, the Star Warden guidance of the Lords of the Nebula? Who are the sacred ZRAAL, the oldest star race? Is Earth merely a time-lost pocket colony of the ancient Zraal?

On the personal side, Star Man's perennial enemy is Vincent Cardwell, nefarious empire builder; the mysterious woman between them is the beautiful mutant, Anne Cardwell, who bears a mutant son. The indestructible Emperor becomes a nemesis to both Cardwell and Germaine. Through a stolen Quasar Crystal, he contacts alien agencies of the dreaded Kosmikons.

The wide-ranging, expansive, thought-variant Star Man series will never cease to surprise and amaze. Alien worlds and civilizations, negative and alternate-time universes, cosmic purposes, cosmic threats...

The Cosmic Adventure Continues...

Star Man and his companions are caught in a diabolical time trap. Meanwhile on Mars, freedom fighter Lori Beldon and ex-spy David McKenna oppose absolute dictatorship by the ruthless autocrat, Vincent Cardwell. And what role will the lost Centaurians play in these conflicts?

Yet, all this and more are but threads that will be woven together (perhaps by greater entities) into a greater, climactic tapestry that will reach its completion when Star Man makes his return to Alpha.

From the pen of Stuart J. Byrne, one of the legendary writers for the Golden Age of the pulp magazines, including Amazing Stories, Imagination, Science Stories, and Other Worlds (where Star Man first saw its genesis in elements of his novel Power Metal).

Thea von Harbou’s Metropolis is the classic novel of prophetic science fiction that inspired both Fritz Lang’s silent movie masterpiece and Osamu Tezuka’s contemporary feature-length anime, and is one sf classic everyone should read. Here is a magical, visionary page-turner so rich and inventive as to defy description.

Von Harbou’s visionary novel has been compared to such prophetic classics as Samuel Butler’s Erewhon, Edward Bellamy’s Looking Backward, H. G. Wells’ When the Sleeper Wakes, Karel Capek’s RUR, and George Orwell’s 1984. Contemporary comparisons have been made to Samuel Delaney’s Triton, Dan Simmons’ Hyperion, Peter F. Hamilton’s The Reality Dysfunction, and Greg Egan’s Permutation City. “The language [of the book] is sometimes as theasuric as Shiel, as Kaleidoscopic as Merritt, as bone-spare as Bradbury, as poetic as Poe, as macabre as Machen,” writes Forrest Ackerman.

Metropolis paints a stunning picture of the city of the future. At the top of the social pyramid, those who own the city’s buildings and businesses live idyllic lives devoted to the pursuit of pleasure—while at its bottom are the workers who live a hellish existence, laboring like robots in its factories, dwelling with their gaunt, stunted children in the everlasting gloom of underground barracks. Fighting to right these inequities are two lovers: Freder, son of the master and builder of Metropolis, who is shocked to social conscience when he glimpses the squalor and hopelessness amid which his father’s workers live; and Maria, who encourages the workers to stand united for their rights while following a path of nonviolent resistance.

Filled with unforgettable images from Joh Fredersen’s headquarters rearing high above the gleaming spires of Metropolis, to the pleasure city, Yoshiwara, whose name flares across the skies to the factories where workers slave before machines that resemble a pantheon of the world’s gods, to the evil robotrix, Parody, with the eyes of a Madonna and lips of deadly sin, whose carnal dance inspires the workers to revolt ... Metropolis is an unforgettable, must-read book.