Friday 14 April 2017

A Chronicle Of Doom....


"Your mission, should you choose to accept it...." And of course they did, Agent Rob and Adam J. Smith gamely heading through to Ice Station Zebra on 'Wodens'day' 'dafternoon' 'fer to visit' Agent Johnny ahead of the evening's Event Horizon and the much anticipated opportunity to finally launch Unearthly Science Fiction. The day didn't necessarily get off to the greatest of starts when Agent Rob reminded Adam of Agent Johnny's (as close a brush with actual fame and recognition as he was going to ever come) "lost interview" from a few years ago, a proposed piece by (Seattle's) Gavin Lees fer The Comic Journal that wiz nixed (well, 'nicked' actually) at the last minute by, um, your friendly neighbourhood baggage handlers at the airport who made off with the equipment containing the day's audio recordings and photographs. This kinda thing never happens to James Bond, y'know....

D'ye take sugar in yir nose?

Not that it took much time for the trio to warm up at Ice Station as the swill was quickly cranked open - tho Adam Smith, with one eye on his later performance, decided to abstain, preferring instead ter swig from his carefully prepared flask of tea - and the 'music box' wiz 'mugdocked' 'fer to amplify' the acoustic sounds of a certain Bobby Zimmerman. Contented chuntering ensued, the recent repeats of The Avengers, Mission Impossible and The Man From U.N.C.L.E. - all keeping Agent Johnny glued to the One-Eyed-God - and the usual topic of Philip K. Dick were covered in some detail. With the hours flown by it was soon time to board the bus and head fer Deadhead Comics to catch Agent Austin before the the Event Horizon finally loomed into view, swallowing our intrepid Agents whole....

Shoreline Of Infinity #7 - cover by Steve Pickering

With around 30 people gathered in the basement of The Banshee Labyrinth, the 'Two-minute warning' was announced. First up was the Glasgow rap duo Futurology - if Agent Johnny had a hard time getting his head around The Orb's Blue Room then who knows whit the hell he made of this! - before Jonathan Whiteside read Terry Jackman's short story 'Anyone Can ask About Enhancement' (from the newest Shoreline Of Infinity, #7) and finally Rachel Plummer's witty poetry rounded off 'Side One'....


'Side Two' got off to a flying start (in spite of S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Wilson Ret puzzling over his inclusion on the anthology during the break - Agent Johnny's (mental) filing being to blame there...?) as Shirley Muir read some 'exceedingly humourous' short tales, after which it was time for Adam Smith ter take to the stage and give a spirited rendition of Jed Hale, Arizona Sheriff fer the assembled crowd. Not only did this hilarious performance underline the sheer abstract genius of John Miller's scripting and creative abilities but, thanks to Adam's highly skilled manic utterances, won a generous round of applause from the audience....

Braw McConnaissance imminent...?

Of course, you cannot feed a comic artist on claps alone so it'll come as no surprise that in the later bustle to leave - following another intense set from Futurology - a solitary copy of Unearthly Science Fiction limped from the launch pad.... At this point Agent Rob really ought to be inserting a photo of Smith hard at work but thanks to a mixture of anticipation, excitement and just too many microphones no such record of the event exists. And so the lost nature of this endeavour brings us full circle, much like this shot of the miniature moon snapped back in Glasgog - Ice Station Lima is one of the tiny shining lights on the bottom right....


Sounds: Live 1966, "The Royal Albert Hall Concert" by Bob DylanTwo From The Vault by Grateful Dead....

Grateful Dead - New Potato Caboose, 24/08/68

Saturday 1 April 2017

Countdown to launch - Unearthly Science Fiction....

It's a book, but not as we know it....

Well it's been some time languishing out there, lost in deepest space, but we can finally announce that Agent Johnny's Unearthly Science Fiction anthology - talk about judging a book by it's cover, ay! - is now ready to enter earth's orbit. NASA have just today released an official statement announcing that this shiny A5, sleek 72 page, sturdy 5.99 GBP RRP ship will make a successful/crash? landing at The Banshee Labyrinth in Edinburgh, Scotland on the 12th of April 2017 (at approx. 7.30pm). The opportunity to stargaze at this spectacular sight is brought to you courtesy of the good people at Shoreline Of Infinity and their excellent Event Horizon happenings....

Cosmic Phantomette by Neil Beattie

A long-gestating brainchild of Agent JohnnyUnearthly Science Fiction sees him rounding up the (un)usual gang of suspects, encouraging them to run riot on a 'broad' (but typically esoteric) science fiction theme (with some cowboys and, er, dinosaurs in the mix fer good measure). The difference this time is that the bulk of this book is made up of intriguing text(!) stories from the likes of auld Edinburgh acolytes (S.H.I.E.L.D. Director) Andrew J. Wilson and John Rafferty....

Emordny's Syndrome by Andrew J. Wilson

Rebirth Anew by John Rafferty

....and never fear as Glasgog gets in on this intergalactic action too, with Agent Rob 'tapping up' fellow cohorts  Simnel and Ian Wark 'fer to transmit' a story or two....

The Pod by Ian Wark

The Unit by Simnel

Not to be outdone, Agents Johnny and Rob have somehow found time to beam in a few leery texts of their own making....

Agent X4 And The Deep Fix by John G. Miller

The Summons Of Natas Fillage by Rob Miller

And if all this 'textual intercourse' isn't enough to get yer cosmic juices flowing, there's also several comic strips to be found adrift in the yawning void! Agent Johnny is on script duties for the 'presented in full for the first time ever' Codename: Cosmos, featuring Una Kennedy (with 'remastered' art by Agent Rob) and Jed Hale, Arizona Sheriff: The Second Pteranodon (with Adam J. Smith on fresh art duties). 


Codename: Cosmos by John and Rob Miller

Jed Hale: Arizona Sheriff by John Miller and Adam Smith

In addition, seasoned Edinburgh cartoonist Malcy Duff serves up his surreal Two Headed Fish while the ever mysterious Simnel journey's back and inwards to explore The Atlantean Mind....

Two Headed Fish by Malcy Duff

The Atlantean Mind by Simnel

To round things off we genuinely travel back through space and time to the year of our Orb, 1967, (re)printing 'Lanark crony' Jim Lindsay's schoolboy superhero extravaganza Tales Of The Justice Legion....

Tales Of The Justice Legion by Jim Lindsay

So set your stasers to 'phun' as Braw Books (I mean, c'mon, who else?) brings you the latest, greatest and furthest out 'warped factor' you could(n't) possibly imagine....


Event Horizon, an evening of science fiction....