Your Host-Beau Smith. (Photo by Mark Webb)

Your Host-Beau Smith. (Photo by Mark Webb)

It’s about time you made it to The Flying Fist Ranch, or as some call it, “The Temple Of Testosterone,” where men come to learn and women come to worship.

It doesn’t really matter if you came here by design or just stumbled across it in a drunken haze, your never ending search for things that aren’t politically correct has found you.

Here at the Ranch you’ll find all the latest info about my career in comic books and entertainment. You can check out all of my past work or be the first to find out what new crimes I’ve committed. Most all of the thoughts here at the ranch are mine, so you’ve got nobody to blame but me if you read something you don’t quite agree with. After all… if everybody in the world agreed with me it would be almost darn near perfect.

Enough jibber-jabber. Strap on your spurs and start ridin’ around.

Your amigo,
Beau Smith

The Flying Fist Ranch

P.O. Box 706

Ceredo, WV. 25507

beau@flyingfistranch.com

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Finding yourself with a lot of free time?  Want to get away from work for a while?  Just don’t feel like doing anything you’re supposed to in the adult world?  Well, I’m here to help you find that distraction that’ll keep you sane and away from all that you’re told to do.

I’ve got a few DVD recommendations that will have you begging for the 1980’s action-direct-to-video world to return.  If you’ve been to the movie theatre in the last couple of weeks and saw THE EXPENDABLES, then you know there’s hope for folks like us.  Some of these are fun and some of these are just so bad they’re funny.  You decide!

Backlash

Genre: Action
Director: David Chameides
Cast: Danielle Burgio, Bas Rutten, Lauren Kim, Kevin Levrone and G. Anthony Joseph.

This is pretty much the same bunch that starred in and brought you THE ELIMINATOR, an action DVD that I reviewed a few months ago. This one stars noted stuntwoman and actress, Danielle Burgio (former Busted Knuckles Babe Of The Week). She’s great looking in that sexy Tom-Boy way and does her own stunts. In BACKLASH she plays a secret agent named “Skye Gold” (I know, it sounds like a porn movie name). She’s supposed to be on vacation in Trinidad when some bad guys that don’t really like her find out she’s hanging around. Within a few minutes the bad guys show up to kill her, one of them being the very hot Lauren Kim, and the bullets, knives, feet and fists start getting thrown around like they were free.

It’s pretty much just that, action, bikinis, gunfire, stabbings, lots of bones getting broken and pretty good stunts. On the bad side the sound of interior scenes have that low budget echo that remind you you’re watching a low budget movie. The soundtrack/score is annoying and I’ve seen better directing on a low budget action movie.

Does Danielle Burgio deserve better? Of course she does. My hope is that she has a really good agent and at some point somebody with a little power and deeper pockets puts her in an action movie where she can show that she can really act AND do stunts. This DVD has a “making of” special feature that is basically some home movie shots from the movie where everybody mugs for the camera and says the same things we all do when a friend sticks a video camera in our face. There’s an interview with the writer and director, but they neglect to give any real stories about how the film was made.

BACKLASH is worth the rental cost easily if you like low budget action movies like me. Danielle Burgio is always worth the time and cost. If you’re looking for something new or different then pass on this one.

Crooked

Genre: Police/Action
Director: Art Camacho
Cast: Don “The Dragon” Wilson, Olivier Gruner, Gary Bussey, Fred Williamson, Martin Kove, Dianna Kauffman and Lorraine Farris.

I know what you’re thinking… Great Action Cast! I thought the same thing. On paper it does look great. On film it doesn’t. Gary BusseyMartin Kove, and Fred Williamson have just a few scant moments of screen. I think they did this movie as a favor to their long time director friend, Art Camacho. Even though he’s the one of the nicest guys in the world and a true world champion kickboxer, Don “The Dragon” Wilson proves that some things don’t get better after you do them a lot. In this case it’s his acting. If anything Wilson has lost his chops, not the ones he does with his hands, but the ones he acts with. I can’t help but feel bad for him when he’s delivering lines more than 10 seconds long. I really think that if he had a role as a mute hero he would really be great. I am sincere. I don’t mean that as a snarky remark.

The directing is probably Art Camacho’s worst to date. The camera shots are choppy to the point where it makes the fights look really bad. Camacho is not known for his innovative fight scenes. He sticks with the same ones that have been used since the mid 1980’s.

Olivier Gruner is wasted in this one. Gruner isn’t an oscar winning actor, but with the right scripts and directing he’s very good. He was great in NEMESIS, THE FIGHTER and AUTOMATIC. I recommend all of those DVDs highly.

CROOKED (a.k.a Soft Target…I know…sounds like another porn movie) is one of those movies that just makes everybody in it look bad. The lead babe actress, Diana Kauffman really ought to think about removing this movie from her resume. She looks good, but when she spews her lines… she spews her lines.

As much as I wanted this one to be fun, it wasn’t.

Bobby Z (The Death And Life Of Bobby Z)

Genre: Action/Crime
Director: John Herzfeld
Cast: Paul Walker, Laurence Fishburne, Jason Lewis, Keith Carradine, Joaquim de Almeida, Chuck Liddell and Josh Stewart.

Paul Walker is a young actor that has gone from pretty boy actor to one of my favorite new generation real man actors. Trust me, that’s a huge leap to make in this modern film making world. He really proved that he could make the leap when he did RUNNING SCARED.

This movie is based on the great tough guy novel THE DEATH AND LIFE OF BOBBY Z by one of my favorite fiction writers, Don Winslow. It’s about Tim Kearney, a former marine, in prison that gets a shot of getting out and away from the skinheads that are trying to kill him… IF… he does a favor for the DEA. All he has to do is risk his life acting like he’s this notorious drug dealer named Bobby Z and help the DEA. Needless to say it sounds like a good idea at the time, but Tim soon finds out that there are even more people on the outside that want to kill Bobby Z than the dozens of skinheads in prison that want to kill him, and these new guys have guns. Lots of them.

This movie has a great 1970’s grit to it. You can see it in the filming and locations. It reminds me of crime action movies before things got all PC. Bad people were bad and the good guys…weren’t that good. There are loads of great fist-fights and shoot outs. I was real happy with the way that director John Herzfeld handled the fights because he’s not known for rough action in his other films. A few years ago he directed a small movie that I really enjoyed called 2 DAYS IN THE VALLEY.

I highly recommend this one to you .  It’s an easy find on DVD or from Blockbuster Online and any other place you find your favorite movies.

Well, there ya go. I hope you find something out there you like. I always try to give you a heads up on what to get and what to avoid. Kinda like those sex education movies we used to see in high school.

Your amigo,

Beau Smith

The Flying Fist Ranch


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As many of you regular Knuckleheads know, I am not one that favors the ways of the extreme politically correct world. The ways of the Extreme PC world are just as bad and destructive as those of the extreme politically incorrect world. Too much or either is a bad thing.

I favor common sense and strong parenting.

My parents were great believers in common sense and they taught it to me and by brothers and sisters pretty good. None of us ended up as serial killers or on wanted posters in the post office. At least not yet.

I tried to do the same with my boys. They’ve all grown up to do pretty good and to be honest, they didn’t do half the terrible things I did. So I’m pleased and proud of em’.

My youngest son, Nick was born in 1983. I have to say that the early 80s were a terrible time for Saturday morning cartoons. When he got old enough and started paying attention to them I found that the TV landscape was littered with unmanly cartoons that had more sweetness than a box of Trix cereal with a side order of glazed doughnuts.

There were The Smurfs, (more subversive crap from the French) My Little Pony, Care Bears, Teddy Ruxpin, (More evil than Chucky) and other cartoons that almost make me throw up to mention their names.
Now I realize that some of you younger Knuckleheads grew up watching G.I. Joe, He-Man and Transformers. They were better than the cuddly stuff that I mentioned above, but they weren’t close to being truly manly. The cartoons I’m gonna school ya on today would never have those G.I. Joe “After School Special” moments to tell you how to be nice to your neighbor. He-Man always let Skeletor go and what was with that annoying Orko? Same to be said about Thundercats. Same story as He-Man. It was like watching westerns where the good guy always shoots the fun out of the bad guy’s hand. They also had those little “Hallmark” moments telling you to brush your teeth and don’t spit on the sidwalk. Don’t let your innocence of childhood cloud your mind, these were not manly cartoons. They were the closest thing you had, but they weren’t close enough.

I decided right then that Nick was gonna be exposed to some manly cartoons that wouldn’t have him out huggin’ trees or carrying a sign that said “Free Willie”. So I gathered up a bunch of VHS tapes full of the good stuff. The stuff I grew up on. If being a parent is being a role model then I was gonna be at the front of the line.


The Cast Of Jonny Quest

I wanted him to watch cartoons that not only dealt with good vs, evil, but showed how to do it in a manly fashion and carved a clear path to keeping bad guys from committing that crime twice.

Here are a few of the essential manly cartoons that were loaded into my old VCR:

Jonny Quest: The original Jonny Quest, not that sugar coated-sissy CGI stuff that came out later. This was the Jonny Quest that ran from 1964 to 65. This show had everything a young boy could relate to, explosions, machine guns, laser beams, karate chops, evil foreign guys running and screaming for their lives as Race Bannon (Jonny Quest’s bodyguard) threw all kinds of hurt at em’. It was nothing to see Jonny Quest clobber a bad guy over the head with board (With a nail in it) or even rapid fire a grease gun at em’. That was my dream as a 12year old kid, to fire a machine gun at international spies and monsters.

Jonny’s best friend Hadji was no slouch either. He always had some tricks in that turban he wore. He could charm snakes and wasn’t above instructing an elephant to crush the bad guys while they were still in their getaway car.

Jonny’s dog Bandit was always getting them into messes, but when the chips were down you could depend on him to bite the bad guy on the ass and make him howl. Dr. Quest didn’t do much of the fighting with his fists, but he was always there to build the laser beam or bomb that Race needed to even the odds against an evil army of way too many bad guys. Plus he was the envy of all evil mad scientists that tried to over throw the world.

The original Jonny Quest was one of the greatest cartoons ever. It had it all, death, destruction, real mystery, intrigue, science, kids being part of it without being too much of the center of attention, and good animation. Some of the episodes were absolute classics: the Yeti, the German WWI ace in the Andes, the big ugly creature on the ship, werewolves, and Dr. Syn’s robotic spider.


Race Bannon At His bad Guy Fighting Best

From a kid’s point of view, the story lines were great and easily the most exciting thing for any kid to watch. Jonny was a kid who got to travel around the world and kick bad guys’ asses. What little kid wouldn’t love that?

The original cartoon with Race, Dr. Quest and Hadji was a huge dose honesty shunned by today’s P.C. world. When the WWI fighter, complete with monocle and scar on face, crashed into the side of the mountain in a flaming heap, Race looked Jonny square in the eye and said “That’s a horrible way to die Jonny, but he deserved it”. Race didn’t hold back any punches and I’ll bet he cussed like a sailor off camera. Race was the ultimate John Wayne, James Bond and Kenneth Tobey all rolled into one man.

Two scenes stood out in the series and would never make it onto any kind of children’s programming today, or in the future. The first was when CIA agent and Dr. Quest protector Race Bannon is in Hong Kong to meet a contact to pump them for some information. The contact is a hot Chinese babe who invites him back to her private boat to discuss the info he needs. Cut to the Jonny/Hadji/Bandit storyline for a scene. Cut to the Dr. Quest for a moment. Go to commercial. When we come back, Race’s “informant” is standing near him wearing a robe while he is sitting on the corner of her bed putting his boots on. He thanks her for the information and leaves. Even at a young age I knew that Race had just “pumped ”her for all the info he needed to get the job done. Jonny couldn’t have a better role model and neither could I.


Race Bannon Model Sheet

The next classic scene was when Race’s plane goes down over the jungle and they all have to parachute out. When they land on the jungle floor and are trying to gather themselves up, a pissed off panther finds them. Bandit starts barking, the Panther growls ready to attack and Race yells to everyone not to move. Race raises his rifle, fires off a shot, and the Panther slumps to the ground, apparently dead. When Jonny starts to walk toward the panther Race yells. “Wait! He may not be dead yet.” Then he puts another round into the panther, which kinda shudders again, bleeds, then dies. Can any of you name another cartoon that kills off a pissed off endangered animal and doesn’tend up with PETA on their back trying to get the show axed ? The cool 60’s jazz like score to the show was great, and the opening credits were wonderful. Without a doubt, Race Bannon is a Testosterone God!

If they ever decide to do a movie or grown up Jonny Quest adventure I sure hope he has all the manly ways of Race Bannon and the brains of Dr. Quest. Throw the PC book out the window and take off the dress. It’s time to man up!

Another Hanna-Barbrea manly cartoon that I added to Nick’s must see list was The Herculoids. There was the family of Zandor, a great testosterone ass kicking warrior, his hottie wife and damsel in distress, Tarra, their son, Dorno and then there were their animal/creature posse The Herculoids. Igoo the giant Rock Ape, Gloopand Gleep the shape changing glob creatures, Tundro the rhino like creature that shot explosive fire balls from his horn, Zok the flying dragon like creature that fired laser beams from his eyes and tail. They were incredible.


The Herculoids

Each of the creatures stood out from the other pets/sidekick/creatures from other cartoons. They were mean and ya never wanted to get them pissed off. The writers and animators showed this with the characters. Seeing one episode of The Herculoids and you knew you did not wanna ever mess with them.

Zandor ran such a tight ship that he even had son Dorno call him and his mom by their first names. There’s respect for ya.

One of my favorite scenes that sums up the attitude of the whole show and the manly era was when Zandorand the Herculoids just finished fighting off and crushing a huge army of flying robots, and I mean thousands of them, the crushed parts of the robots littered the huge country side of the planet as far as the eye could see.Dorno looks up to Zandor and says “ What do we do with all these robots, Zandor?” Zandor looks out over the mess of ruined metal and replies “ Let nature claim them. They will be a warning to all others that seek to invade our planet.” That was a great “up yours” to every recyclin’, green peace lovin’, tree squeezin’, global warmin’, wimp that ever wanted to throw himself in front of a baby seal.


The Herculoids Cast Shot

Other manly Hanna-Barbera cartoons that I would suggest are;

Space Ghost (The original series) Much like The HerculoidsSpace Ghost took no prisoners, at least not without busting them up pretty good first. In one episode a really nasty bad guy met his death in a terrible atom smashing way at the hands of Space GhostJayce, one of Space Ghost’s kid sidekicks, asked if that was the right thing to do. Space Ghost places his hand on Jayce’s shoulder and says “He got what he deserved. Now, have you done that homework yet?” Yeah, I’d say that was motivation to study harder.

Shazzan: In 1967 this giant genie made the 60s cartoon scene (Again,Hanna-Barbera) with his kid sidekicks Chuck, Nancy and the flying goofy camel Kaboobie. Chuck and Nancy would always get in over their heads with some Arab bad guys or magic masters. They each had rings that fit together and would summons Shazzan the giant genie. The reason this cartoon was so good was because Shazzan never lost or even came close to losing. Granted, there wasn’t much suspense in that, but that’s not why you watched it. You watched it to see just how bad Shazzan would humiliate and pummel the screaming bad guy with the funny accent.


Shazzan

Shazzan had a voice like Sean Connery. He laughed all the time as he beat the ass of the bad guy. Shazzanwas one sadistic son of a bitch that truly enjoyed terrorizing the bad guy. He usually drug the ass whuppin’ out too. He either left the bad guy dead or put him in such a horrifying situation that the bad begged to be killed. It was some sick stuff when ya really think about it , but I loved it.

Frankenstein Jr. Much like Shazzan only a little nicer. This is a good prelim for younger kids before you expose em’ to Shazzan the laughing back hand of desert justice. Although if you really pay close attention you’ll see that even Frankenstein Jr. could get a little sadistic as well.. His kid sidekick was a real brat that really egged Frankie Jr. to put the big hurt on bad guys.

Birdman: Much likeSpace Ghost in the fact that he was not to be messed with. Only weakness was not getting enough solar rays made him weak. Even without the power bands, Space Ghostwas nobody’s bitch.Birdman was a grim , non nonsense guy. His sidekick the eagle/falcon was one nasty bird. It would just as soon sink its talons into ya as look at ya. Bad guys were nothing but cheap birdseed to him.

The Fantastic Four. The Hanna Barbera version was the best. Bad guys got punished and The THING was a scream. Great character stuff here.

The Galaxy Trio. More space ass-kicking with no remorse. They even had the great Ted Cassidy (Lurch) doing one of the voices.

Dino BoyDino Boy and Ugh the Caveman had great adventures with wonderful monsters and dinosaurs.Ugh was a real silent strong kinda father figure for Dino Boy. There was a lot of bad guy death in this cartoon.

Without a doubt, Hanna-Barbera cornered the market on testosterone heroes in cartoons. This is the same studio that gave us great kid stuff like The JetsonsThe FlintstonesHuckleberry HoundAtom AntThe ImpossiblesMagilla Gorilla and so many more. You can’t go wrong with showing your kid a Hanna-Barbera cartoon from the 60s. My son Nick thanks me all the time and we still sit now and then and watch em’. He’s 22 years old now and has most of em’ on tape or DVD.

Nick is a fine upstanding young man that I’m very proud of. I thank all the folks at Hanna Barbrea for their helping making him the fine young man he is today. I’m pretty sure that one day when he has kids that he is gonna dust off those Hanna-Barbera DVDs and tapes and raise his kids right.

Go and find some of these great cartoons and share em’ with your kid. If ya don’t have any kids then watch em’ yourself. You’ll be a better man for it. For you women it’ll help you understand a real man better and appreciate him.

Your amigo,

Beau Smith

The Flying Fist Ranch

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Star Wars: a property that my name doesn’t come up first on very often. When I wrote this story (Star Wars Tales #7 and Star Wars Tales trade paperback book 2 Dark Horse Comics) I have to admit, I had only seen two of the Star Wars movies and only once each, then again,  but,  you say bounty hunter and I’m your man.

Boba Fett is a character that fits right into my line of work and liking. With this story, I think I hit the mark. (Pardon me while I trip over my own false modesty.)  The wonderful art of my friend, Mike Deodato really brought the characters to life, Boba Fett and the ones that I created for this particular story. In this story, I do a slant on Ebay. There is a planet called Bidamount where the HUGE corporation Eport is. Here you can and must bid on everything you need and want. There is an item that has been stolen from the female bounty hunter Sintas (Boba Fett’s former lover) that she is tracking down before it can go up for bid. Boba Fett wants to make sure it is never bought as well for it holds a HUGE secret to his past. The story is filled with stuff that all die-hard Star Wars Fans will like and even if you aren’t a big fan of Star Wars you’ll be able to step right in and enjoy this story without having to know everything that has come before. This is a true space western. That’s the way I looked at it when I wrote it. This is another one of my personal favorites that I am very proud of. My editor on this story told me that the folks at Lucasfilms really liked it and were very pleased with the backstory that I added for Boba Fett. I took that as a big compliment. They didn’t ask for any changes and I thought they would for sure.  I want to thank Mike Deodato again for such an incredible job.  He brought the action, emotion and dark humor to life.  Please check out his current work at Marvel Comics.

Your amigo,

Beau Smith

The Flying Fist Ranch

Star Wars Tales #7. Written By Beau Smith Art By Mike Deodato

Star Wars Tales #7. Written By Beau Smith Art By Mike Deodato

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“Take The Oath-—The Blood Oath.”

Vampires.  It’s always been hard to get me interested in anything to do with vampires. For what seems to be forever, vampires have always been portrayed in novels, films and on TV as the romantic, gothic, elegant upper crust of the monster world.  They are weighed down with angst and they always dress a bit too GQ to suit my busted knuckles taste. Vampires were sissies, stuff girls read and mooned over. Needless to say, True Blood and Twilight aren’t on my must have list. To date there has only been one vampire book that I’ve really enjoyed, (Cowboy And The Vampire by Clark Hayes and Kathleen McFall)that is until now…

Blood Oath by Christopher Farnsworth www.presidentsvampire.com www.christopherfarnsworth.com

I was with my wife, Beth.  She was shopping at the mall shoving other women out of her way to get to what she tells me are “Amazing-Must-Have-Deals-That-A-Knuckle-Dragger-Like-You-Will-Never-Understand.” I quickly took the opportunity to seclude myself within the confines of Borders Books http://www.borders.com/online/store/TitleDetail?sku=0399156356

where I merely have to snort and grunt to rid the book isles of nerdy professor types that annoy me and stand in my way.

After looking through my usual spots within the stacks of books, fate stepped in, snatched my eyeballs and interest with an eye-popping black and red covered book in the New Release isle.  The title BLOOD OATH caught my eye because at first I thought it read BLOOD BATH.  I figured with a title like that there had to be some wonderful, fictional violence that would inspire me to even more violent thoughts than I already collect in my very ugly, little brain.

To make sure of the title, I hauled my little reading glasses out of my pocket and gave the book a better look.  I was wrong on the title, it truly was BLOOD OATH and it was written by an author I had never heard of named Christopher Farnsworth.  With my glasses on I also noticed the cover blurb “The Ultimate Secret.  The Ultimate Agent. The President’s Vampire.” That really got my interest.  It didn’t say The President’s hair dresser or tailor like most vampire related things would.  It said AGENT as in Secret Service Agent.  I’ve been researching the Secret Service since I was very young.  I’ve always thought it was the coolest job in the world.  That’s one of the reasons when I created Cobb: Off The Leash http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cobb:_Off_the_Leash

for IDW Publishing http://www.idwpublishing.com/catalog/book/56

, I made Cobb a former Secret Service agent.  There’s not a lot that I don’t know about the Secret Service (As much as a non-government person can know)so I figured this book was worth a glance through. I was so right.  The book BLOOD OATH is brilliant fun.

BLOOD OATH is about a young political up and comer, Zach Barrows, that is “transferred” to a special division of Presidential protection that has been a ultra-classified for 147 years.  Why the odd number of 147 years?  Well, because that’s when President Andrew Johnson persuaded Nathaniel Cade, a vampire, to swear an oath to protect him and every President that comes after him.  Not only is Cade to protect the President, but the United States as well.

Barrows is assigned to assist Cade on his missions.  Barrows really sees this as a derailment of his political career, but once he finds out just what kind of things want to bump the U.S. hard in the night, we see some great character growth in Zach Barrows.  Author Christopher Farnsworth puts on a writing school by giving the reader a character in Zach Barrows you don’t really like at first and then letting you get to know the character in a manner that is entertaining and has meaning.

I hate to use clichés, but the best way I can think of how to describe the vampire Cade is that if Jack Bauer from the TV show 24 were a vampire his name would be Cade.  The difference is, Cade has a very subtle, dark sense of humor.  Cade is also a Christian and carries the most admirable sense of loyalty, honor and manners that I’ve seen in a character in a very long time. Two sentences after Cade appears in the story you are dying to know more about him. Most vampires suck blood, Cade sweats testosterone.

The story is fast paced, never boring and has everything anyone would ever want in a sci-fi/horror/political/action/thriller.  Farnsworth is a master at weaving a seamless thread of genres together.  In my opinion,his use of dialogue is on the level of Elmore Leonard and Robert B. Parker.

There are a few extra treats in BLOOD OATH as well.  Almost every chapter has a paragraph at the beginning from the “instruction manual” of the briefing book on Cade called “Codename: Nightmare Pet.”  These are priceless and make you wish you could read the entire manual.  There’s also a nice tip of the hat to some well known comic book creators and you’ll recognize their names when you read a certain scene in the story.  I was very amused and enjoyed it. (Even though I wasn’t one of them.)

The story is supremely put together.  If you’re a sci-fi/horror fan of any sorts you’ll be thrilled to know that in this book you’ll find:  Nazis, mad scientists, werewolves, zombies, terrorist Frankenstein-like monsters, vampire sex, references to loads of stuff from Stonehenge to Roswell. All of them are taken serious and not thrown at you in a silly, over the top way.  As an author, Farnsworth respects his readers.

I highly recommend that you go to the sites listed at the start of this feature and read the first chapter of the book, check out the video and catch up on the background.  I also give BLOOD OATH my highest recommendation as a must buy item for your personal library or for you to give as a gift to someone you really like.  I rate BLOOD OATH up there with my all time favorite fiction story THE COWBOY AND THE COSSACK by Clair Huffaker. http://www.comicsbulletin.com/busted/114411107357091.htm

That’s the highest salute I can give any work of fiction that I’ve read.

I am hoping that BLOOD OATH is the first in a long line of stories about Cade-The President’s Vampire.  I say here and now that I will buy and read all of them Farnsworth puts out.  I’d love to read more new stories as well as past stories when he was protecting other Presidents, including the greatest President ever—Theodore Roosevelt.

Do not deny yourself, read this book.  Tell others and tell them I told you.  At some point I’m even going to get BLOOD OATH on audiobook so I can hear it read to me when I’m walking around with my iPod or driving in the truck.

If you do read it, make sure you write me and let me know what you thought. I’ll act like I really care–if you agree with me.

Beau Smith

The Flying Fist Ranch

Blood Oath By Chrisopher Farnsworth

Blood Oath By Chrisopher Farnsworth

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Beau Smith: Sophisticated Knuckle-Dragger

Beau Smith: Sophisticated Knuckle-Dragger

It was a grand affair and I wish you were there.  On April 11th, 2010 , I gave a Walk-Through at The Huntington Museum Of Art in Huntington, West Virginia 36 selected pieces of art from my Original Comic Book art collection.

There was a very wide range of people that showed up for the Walk-Through, the ages ranged from 8 years old to 80.  Some really great questions were asked and a very good time was had by all. The Walk-Through was covered by much of the local media, the response was great.  I thought I’d share the opening day article that that was in The Herald Dispatch by Reporter paul Sebert with photos my Mark Webb.

The exhibit runs from March through May 30th.  If you get a chance, please stop by and check it out.

Your amigo,

Beau

http://www.herald-dispatch.com/life/x1127238124/Huntington-Museum-of-Art-local-writer-to-host-gallery-walk-of-comic-book-art

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The Incredible Rhona Mitra

The Incredible Rhona Mitra

Everyone does it and everyone is always right with their choices when it comes to casting Hollywood actors in the roles of their favorite comic book characters.  This week in my Westfield Comics  column, Beauology 101, I address some of my choices and ask for yours.  Post up your slam dunk picks and chime in on others.

Let’s hear who YOU have in mind for your favorite comic book characters.  Post up here or on the Westfield Comics site.

http://westfieldcomics.com/blog/interviews-and-columns/beauology-101-cast-away


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A  comic book “event” is only as good as the great characters in it.

Character always comes first. If you don’t have an emotional investment in the characters, then the event means nothing.marvel_vs_dc

Your amigo,

Beau Smith

The Flying Fist Ranch

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I was at my local Indy book store today, Empire Books, Huntington, WV., it’s a  nicely run and well stocked book store in downtown Huntington.  They sell new books, used books, recent library books, magazines  and the place is spotless and well staffed.

My purchase today was a recent used library book called BEAT THE REAPER by Josh Bazell (Little Brown & Company 2009)

It’s a modern day crime story that’s just so funny, so violent and so foul-mouthed,  I read the first chapter in the store and it was like the author, Josh Bazell asked himself “What kind of violent craziness would I have to write in a book to get Beau Smith to buy it?”

It was like he was reading my mail and thoughts.  I bought the book and could hardly wait to dig into it.  You’ve got a doctor that may not be a doctor, he may be a mob hit-man with a genius for violence that may be in witness protection or maybe the Feds have him in the system to protect everyone else.  Is he Dr. Peter Brown or is he Pietro “BearClaw” Brnwa?

There’s a new patient named Nicholas LaBrutto, aka Eddy Squillante that has three months to live and possibly might know both Dr. Brown and “BearClaw” Brnwa.  He may also know that they might be the same person.  There’s also the the matter of the mob, the Feds and lots of death descending on the hospital to make the next eight hours a little hectic and hurtful.

Beat The Reaper is “House meets The Sopranos”.  The dialogue is an endless combo of uppercuts, jabs and right hooks all hitting home.  Brilliant, action-packed, reading with so many mean streaks you’ll think it’s striped zebra that just kicked your ass

The Book You MUST Read.

The Book You MUST Read.

.

I cannot urge you enough to read this book ASAP.  You will thank me, beg me to marry your sister and offer me free beer with Chili Cheese Fritos.

Your amigo,

Beau Smith

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It’s FREE MANLY COMIC BOOK DAY here at The Flying Fist Ranch.  It’s something that I’m going to do from time to time to make this world a little more fun.

All you have to do to get a FREE signed copy of my comic book LOST AND FOUND (IDW Publishing) with art by Gary Kwapisz, is to be the first person to send me an email directly here at the ranch with your name and shipping information.  In return I will send you, postage paid, a signed copy of LOST AND FOUND.

Remember, only the first person to email me will get it.  Pretty simple.  The way comic books used to be.

My email is::

Lost And Found #1 From IDW Publishing

Lost And Found #1 From IDW Publishing

beau@flyingfistranch.com

Good luck!

Beau Smith

The Flying Fist Ranch

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