Aggressors - The new hero pulp

Recently thanks to my mate DaveI was informed of a new A Team movie in the works.

I tried to come up with a good cast for this movie and failed - who I wanted to see most likely wouldn't be commerically viable and some parts cannot reasonably be recast

James Brolin as Hannibal, James Spader as Face, BA who could you cast that wouldn't be either a bad Mr T impersonation or a totally different character?, Murdock the danger is that the actor in this role would be too wacky - I've seen Jim Carrey suggested for the role but his antics would then overpower the others. This is an ensemble cast.

So I decided to look at a few other movies from Aggressor Novels

The Pentrator


How about George Eads from CSI?

Okay your turn if they were to turn your favourite series into a movie who would you cast?

Okay, I didn't really get aggressive but I did go for 2 reasons: Wold Newtonry and Aggressors and come back happy with the results so I can't complain. I didn't get everything I wanted but I got a heap of cool stuff none the less.

Wold Newton - well to kick off the con I participated in the Wold Newton Panel with my good mates (funny how people I'd only met in person a few hours before can be some of my best mates in the world) from left to right Win Eckert, Me, Chuck Loridans, John Small, and Pete Coogan(Thank you Dennis for taking the photos at the panel)The panel went really well except for the very nervous Aussie, the questions presented at the end were interesting and showed that the audience were listening.

I managed to get my hands on the first four issues of Farmerphile Magazine, which presents some previously unpublished short fiction by Philip Jose Farmer as well as serialising an unpublished novel. It also offers articles offering perspectives on Farmer, including Win Eckert's Wold Newtonry articles.

I also got the new edition of Tarzan Alive signed by Win Eckert. I already have a copy but this edition has a couple of bonus features, new material by Win Eckert and Mike Resnick as well as the addition of "An Exclusive Interview with Lord Greystoke" and "Extracts from the Memiors of Lord Greystoke" both by Farmer.


Whilst delving through a paperback stall looking for Aggressor novels I found "Escape from Loki" A Doc Savage novel by Farmer and "The Adventure of the Peerless Peer" Tarzan meets Sherlock Holmes by Farmer

And I got to meet and hang out with the Wold Newton gang

Left to right Chris Carey, Chuck Loridans, Dennis Power, Me, Win Eckert and his wife Lisa, John Small and his wife Melisa and sons Joshua and William. Henry Covert and Rachel crouching (Thank you to Andre for taking the photo)

We sat around discussing Wold Newtonry, exploring crossovers and comparing theories and writings.

Aggressors-
Stack of Aggressor comics, The Punisher, Vigilante, Huntress, Tomb Raider, Buckaroo Banzai were purchased most to reviewed at a later date here.

I visted the Gold Eagle booth where I got hold of the first book of the Rogue Angel series. I'll fully review the book later but it seems that Gold Eagle is getting out of Men's Adventure and focussing on the Silhouette Bombshell Women's Adventure line. Perhaps it's more that the bombshell line is new and hence the heavier promotion.


Lionsgate had a booth and they tell me that the Punisher 2 is still being scripted and that will be going ahead, later on I had a chat to Tim Bradstreet (Punisher cover artist) who mention that he's been busy on an animated prologue for the director's cut of The Punisher.

I met Valerie Perez, who is playing Lara Croft, in the fan movie Tomb Raider: Tears of the Dragonand she was wonderful lady even being nice when I turned into gushing fanboy. We did discuss the Lara Croft Challenge, the Australian version was run by FHM magazine, the American version is run by Maxim.

Whilst I wasn't able to get autographs I did get photos of Marv Wolfman and George Perez co-creators of Vigilante.

I also met The Huntress

Whilst not at the Comic Con I did ring and speak to Chet Cunningham, who wrote the Penetrator, The Executioner (7 novels) and The Avenger. He's a really nice guy who encouraged me to write more and tald me he was busy on a new series titled Scream (not connected to the movie series) So I'll be keeping an eye out.

In closing I had a blast and a half and I've needed a week and a half to get back into the swing of reality but it was sooooooo worth it.

I never would have found this particular comic and made the connection that was made, but John McDonagh in his Earth-886 Timeline which chronicles the comic book adaptations of Marvel comic characters in movies and he mentions that there are similarities between the Dolph Lundgren movie and this issue.

The story starts in an alternate universe where Frank Castle and his wife and two children are on a picnic in Central Park. In regular Marvel universe, the family stumbles on a mob hit and except for Frank are all killed. In this universe, it starts raining and the family leave the park avoiding the mob hit. The family lives happily for a period and retired marine Frank Castle joins the police force.

Castle discovers corruption in the police force and sets out to expose it. The corrupt police aren't about to let this happen and bomb the Castle house killing everyone except Frank (a relative is visiting and his body is assumed to be Frank's)

We see Frank take out corrupt police officers and judges dressed in an all black outfit (very similar to what The Executioner wears) and release his findings on corruption to the press. It is only on the final pages the we see Castle with a skull on his chest (inpired by his son's Captain Punisher halloween costume seen earlier) and call himself the Punisher.

This story does serve as a kinda origin for the 1989 Punisher movie.

By all accounts the unpublished manuscript was the basis for the movie of the same name. After the movie came out the book was then published.

It tells the tale of Allan Faulkner, an almost washed up mercinary commander whose last mission was a disaster. This mission to rescue deposed Julius Lambandi is his chance at redemption. He recruits 50 mercinaries to join him in the mission, five groups of ten men. The novel follows the leaders of these groups Rafer Janders, Jeremy Chandos, Peter Coetzee, Shaun Fynn and R.S.M. Sandy Young.

The plan to get the deposed leader is simple and works well until the owner of the plane which is picking up the men refuses to land and pick up his passengers as he is under fire. Faulkner and his men are forced on the run, losing men.

The group finds another plane but only a handful of the orginal fifty mercinaries survive. Faulkner is wounded and left behind and presumed to have been killed.

This novel has a number of good character moments as it follows the mission from initial suggestion to completion. It is bleak and realistic, with many members of the team actually dying on the mission. Ex-mercenary leader Col. Mike Hoare is quoted on the back cover "The story is fast, gripping and exciting. It reflects faithfully the spirit of men who fight for money or adventure."

Well recommended.

My regular readers will notice that I've been adding links to this blog.

These links are not intended to be exhaustive, just the links I've found good/helpful.

I will be adding links from time to time so feel free to offer suggestions. At the moment my focus is on vigilante/mercinary teams set in the now. As time goes on I may expand to stories set in the past (Westerns/World War 2 series), or the future (post apocalyptic) but at the moment I have enough to deal with with all the series I have now.

Having said that I'm not adverse to adding links to those types of series, I just prefer the series I have at the moment.

One thing hunting for links has shown me is that there is very little good solid information about the aggressor series on the internet and this blog hopes to remedy some of that. In coming blog entries I will review the second and final Girl Factory novel, the anthology The Great American Detective as well as explore some of the lesser known Aggressors such as Jerry Ahern's The Takers, The Butcher, The Sexecutioner.

I will also look at some of the comic book aggressors including The Executioner and Destroyer comics as well as The Huntress, Tomb Raider, The Punisher and Vigilante.

I'll also be reviewing more aggressor movies such as Remo; Unarmed and Dangerous, The Exterminator (1 & 2), The 2 Punisher movies, The Specialist as well as some movies that may have been inspired by Aggressor series.