Michael D Hamersky On Comics Presents His Take On:   ELVIS:  The Ed Sullivan Show!  The Classic Performances DVD!

TODAY'S FEATURE IS BLOG #3664 - I just came across the above pictured DVD and immediately sat down and watched it on my laptop.

Why?  Well, here's one reason: Blog #3319.

I've not seen all three of the performances below at one sitting.  Yes, there are clips, kind of grainy, on video, but this is was the first DVD that I saw that had all three appearances of Elvis Presley and his group on the Ed Sullivan Show.  

So what does this DVD have?  Here's a promo:

"Share the excitement of Elvis Presley's earthshattering introduction to the nation in this collection of iconic performances from "The Ed Sullivan Show," and experience for yourself why Elvis became the legendary King of Rock and Roll! Appearing on the show Sept. 9, 1956, Elvis sent shock waves through a repressed nation with his soulful singing, wild hip gyrations and raw energy, attracting a record-breaking TV audience of more than 60 million people. Presley returned on Oct. 28, 1956, continuing to provoke ecstatic screams with hits such as "Don't Be Cruel," "Love Me Tender" and "Hound Dog." In fact, these exhilarating performances were so explosive that Elvis was filmed above the waist during his final Sullivan show appearance on January 6, 1957!

SPECIAL FEATURES: Remembering Ed and Elvis; Why Ed Didn't Host Elvis' First Appearance; Elvis and Ed: Intros and Promos; Caught on Celluloid: The First Moving Pictures of Elvis Presley; Special Elvis Moments; Jerry Shillings Home Movies; Documents from the Graceland Archives; Documents from the Sullivan Archives."

Okay... That would be enough for me to at least rent this DVD, if not buy it!

I found the screen quality of the videos to be very good, and so was the sound quality!

I had not seen all three shows with all of the performances before in one sitting.

Kind of reminded me why I had a very large Elvis Presley record collection at one time!

If you haven't seen this DVD, you gotta check it out!

I give this DVD a Very Fine / Near Mint (VF/NM) 9.0 out of a possible 10.0 comic book grading scale!

Here is where you can purchase this DVD either New or Used! Elvis Presley: The Ed Sullivan Shows: The Performances

BTW, here is the link to where Elvis stories can be found in comic books! 

~ Michael D Hamersky

NOTE FROM Michael D Hamersky On Comics:  My thanks again to all of YOU reading this blog and our archived blog posts, now at 3,664 total posts in number!   I do appreciate your continued reading and support of this Blog!

BTW, You can 'follow' this blog by clicking the 'Follow' Button at this NetworkedBlogs app link!  We currently have over 2,752 'Followers'!  Thanks to ALL of YOU that have already clicked that button!  And for those of YOU that haven't yet... I would appreciate it if YOU would!!!

Note:  My online 'Loca8' Comic Book Shop (LCBS), carries many different genres of comics, magazines, graphic novels, and comic con promotional items. Possibly even copies of the item(s) that was mentioned here today...!  If I have it, you'll find under the BIG TOP of Comics, at Comic Books Circus.com, including the book 'Gotham City 14 Miles' that I am shown holding to the left. I'm 1 of 14 essayists in that book! !     

Web Page Note:  This blog post is written per the IE Browser standards.  Chrome, Safari, Netscape, Firefox and the other browsers serve the page up slightly differently, sorry about that!  The screen display resolution is best seen at the setting of 1024 x 768 on your laptop or desktop computer.  Note:  Your computer's resoulution may be set differently, but the above resolution is the most commonly used resolution at the time of this blog post. 

NOTE: All images and characters within this blog post are copyright and trademark their respective owners.

Comics Creators: If you are breaking into, or already work in the comic book industry or other pop culture productions, you are welcome to email or mail us press releases, news items, and updates that you feel would be of interest to our blog readers. Including YOUR own works! To mail printed items to us for possible review, send to:  Make It So Marketing Inc., PO Box 130653, Carlsbad, CA 92013

 Also, if you are a Facebook member, I would have liked you to send me a 'Friend Request'. However, I have reached the maximum limit of 5,000 Facebook Friends and Fan pages already, so I've added a New 'Facebook Fan Page' so that even more of YOU can 'Like' what I am doing, and be interactive with me and others there.  Here is the link to that 'Facebook Fan Page': Michael D Hamersky On Comics! Please click the 'Like' button on that page!

---------------            

      

In Addition, I started a YouTube Channel just before the 2011 Comic-Con International, where I am slowly uploading videos from conventions or other events that we attend that are also pop culture related.  You are invited to 'subscribe' to that channel also!  As found at 'HamerskyOnComics'!

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Michael D Hamersky On Comics Presents Our Take On:   Prometheus  The Theatrical Film of 2012

TODAY'S FEATURE IS BLOG #3662 - My wife, Tina Lo Sasso, attended the special panel at the 2011 Comic Con International: San Diego for this film.   In addition, she attended the special panel at the 2012 WonderCon in Anaheim recently for this film.  So she was waiting to view this film on the Big Screen!

Here is her 'Take' on the film, and then mine follows.  The film just opened this past Friday, June the 8th!

Tina:  Review: Prometheus

So much has been rumored about whether Prometheus is a prequel to Alien that it would be tough to review Prometheus without mentioning Alien. So first let me say: I LOVED Alien.

For me, Alien ties with The Omen (which almost made me spend all my babysitting money on steak for our family's German Shepard/Doberman Pinscher) as the scariest movie I've ever seen. Alien did what great Hitchcock movies do: terrorize you with unrelenting suspense and a quick flash of violence. I had no idea what Alien was about when my best friend from high school said her brother and his wife were going to the movies, we should go with. It took two hours, a ton of ice cream and cheesecake in a Jersey diner to calm us down afterward. Of course, the whole time I kept wanting to check under the table top for whatever might be stuck to it.

So, yes, I'm an Alien fan (not the franchise, only the original), and I was not disappointed with Prometheus.

Is Prometheus a prequel? Not exactly. Is it as scary? Not for me because you see far more of the alien creatures than you do in Alien. Was it as great? No, but Prometheus is a terrific grown-up Summer movie. Like any great Summer movie, it transports you to another world and makes you scream, squirm, shield your eyes, and your neighbor's. And, since it's a grown-up movie by Sir Ridley Scott, you also get a breathtaking alien environment, really cool space craft that doubles as a "W" hotel, the best android since -- well, ever, and plenty of grown-up discussions about the origin of life, the meaning of God, and parent-child relationships.

Does Prometheus have a Summer movie feel-good ending? Not by my count. But, if you thought Contact with Jodie Foster had a feel-good ending, you'll love this one. I suspect most people going to see the movie and expecting Alien will be disappointed with the ending. It's strange and unsatisfying. The very last scene will remind Marvel fans of the secret after the credit sceens Marvel uses to tout their next flick in the franchise.

Prometheus is no Alien, but it's an intriguing film. If you want to scared - and to think - go see Promentheus. It's less about horror and aliens than about being careful what you wish for.

Rating: A Very Fine (VF) 8.0 out of a possible 10.0 comic book grading scale.

~ Tina LoSasso

Michael:   This film does not have a comic book / graphic novel tie-in to my knowledge.  There is an 'Alien/ Aliens' film tie-in though, which you can read about in the Wikipedia entry for this film.  However I must state 'SPOILER WARNING'!

As stated above... Tina has been eager to see this film at the Big Screen, since first seeing the special panel at the SDCC in July of 2011.  I didn't get a chance to see it with her, though.

I'm just 'so-so' with the Alien / Aliens films.  The same with the comic books.  Not one of my favorite films series to watch.   So I'm a little surprised at Tina's wanting to see this film, as she is usually not into horror films.

As for myself, I found the storyline of the film to actually be pretty good, once the beginning was over with.  The storyline made sense to me, and the ending made sense also...

As for the cast:

Noomi Rapace as Elizabeth Shaw did a pretty good job in this role.  I found her to be a decent / good main character.

Michael Fassbender as David:  As the android, he played the part very well.  Good casting!

Guy Pearce as Peter Weyland:  Kind of weird casting...

Idris Elba as Janek:  The ship's captain, and actually... Good casting here also!

Logan Marshall-Green as Charlie Holloway:  Just couldn't connect with him in the film...

Charlize Theron as Meredith Vickers:  The only 'Big' name in the cast, but she came across kind of stiff in her role.

There were others in the cast, but just didn't make a big splash in the film to me.

This film was kind of so-so to me while watching it.  Again, I'm not a Big Fan of the Aliens films, but I didn enjoy one Aliens related scene in the film.   I'm glad that Tina enjoyed seeing this on the Big Screen, but I have to give it only a Fine / Very Fine (FVF)  7.0  out of a possible 10.0 comic book grade.

~ Michael D Hamersky

NOTE FROM Michael D Hamersky On Comics:  My thanks again to all of YOU reading this blog and our archived blog posts, now at 3,662 total posts in number!   I do appreciate your continued reading and support of this Blog!

BTW, You can 'follow' this blog by clicking the 'Follow' Button at this NetworkedBlogs app link!  We currently have over 2,752 'Followers'!  Thanks to ALL of YOU that have already clicked that button!  And for those of YOU that haven't yet... I would appreciate it if YOU would!!!

Note:  My online 'Loca8' Comic Book Shop (LCBS), carries many different genres of comics, magazines, graphic novels, and comic con promotional items. Possibly even copies of the item(s) that was mentioned here today...!  If I have it, you'll find under the BIG TOP of Comics, at Comic Books Circus.com, including the book 'Gotham City 14 Miles' that I am shown holding to the left. I'm 1 of 14 essayists in that book! !     

Web Page Note:  This blog post is written per the IE Browser standards.  Chrome, Safari, Netscape, Firefox and the other browsers serve the page up slightly differently, sorry about that!  The screen display resolution is best seen at the setting of 1024 x 768 on your laptop or desktop computer.  Note:  Your computer's resoulution may be set differently, but the above resolution is the most commonly used resolution at the time of this blog post. 

NOTE: All images and characters within this blog post are copyright and trademark their respective owners.

Comics Creators: If you are breaking into, or already work in the comic book industry or other pop culture productions, you are welcome to email or mail us press releases, news items, and updates that you feel would be of interest to our blog readers. Including YOUR own works! To mail printed items to us for possible review, send to:  Make It So Marketing Inc., PO Box 130653, Carlsbad, CA 92013

 Also, if you are a Facebook member, I would have liked you to send me a 'Friend Request'. However, I have reached the maximum limit of 5,000 Facebook Friends and Fan pages already, so I've added a New 'Facebook Fan Page' so that even more of YOU can 'Like' what I am doing, and be interactive with me and others there.  Here is the link to that 'Facebook Fan Page': Michael D Hamersky On Comics! Please click the 'Like' button on that page!

---------------            

      

In Addition, I started a YouTube Channel just before the 2011 Comic-Con International, where I am slowly uploading videos from conventions or other events that we attend that are also pop culture related.  You are invited to 'subscribe' to that channel also!  As found at 'HamerskyOnComics'!

---

Michael D Hamersky On Comics Mentions... The Passing Of Howard A. McIntosh April 26, 1915 - April 25, 2012

TODAY'S FEATURE IS BLOG #3639 -  Yesterday morning I received word that my Great Uncle Howard McIntosh had passed away during the night.   Being his power of attorney, I had to go to Los Angeles to take care of several items, which are discussed in the below obituary. 

It was Howard and his deceased wife, Marge (Carr) McIntosh, who started me on comic books back in the 1950s.  I mention them each year in my annual 'Whom I Am Thankful For... The Thanksgiving Post', when I update it each year. 

Howard and Marge are shown in the topmost photo.

Howard is shown with my wife Tina and me in the two other photos, that were taken during the February 2009 Zap! Pow! Bam! Exhibit at the Skirball in Los Angeles.

It has been a long and wonderful life for my Great Uncle Howard.  I am pleased to have helped him the last few months in his adjusting to assisted living care in between visits to the hospital and rehab center.

My condolences to the rest of his family members and his friends.

Here is the obituary:

Howard A. McIntosh, 96, Monterey Park, CA

Howard A. McIntosh died April 25, 2012 at San Gabriel Valley Medical Center after a brief illness. He was 96.

Howard lived a long and interesting life spanning pivotal events of the 20th century from Prohibition, The Great Depression, WWII and well into the new Millennium.

Howard was born April 26, 1915 in Brooklyn, Missouri to Mary Gertrude “Gerty” and Auris Harvey “Oak” McIntosh. Howard was the seventh of nine children, including five brothers and three sisters, one of whom survives him, Helen Olsen of Omaha, Nebraska.

Howard grew up on the family farm, enjoyed the local fishing hole, and was educated in a one-room schoolhouse. To put himself through college in Maryville, Howard and his mother raised turkeys!

After graduation, Howard worked as a teacher and later a principal in Missouri and Iowa. His first marriage to Dorothea Miller, ended in divorce. They had one son, Terry Roger who passed away in April, 2012.

During World War II, Howard was a Lieutenant in the United States Air Force serving as a Navigator on a B-19 Bomber. After the war, he joined the Air Force Reserve where he served until his retirement at the age of 60 with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

In 1949, Howard married the love of his life, Margaret (Marge) Marie Carr who passed away in March, 2007. Marge and Howard moved to Monterey Park, California in 1960.

During his varied career, Howard worked for the tax preparing giant H&R Block. He also had a Law Degree and worked for a time in Family Law in the Los Angeles area.

Howard was known for his quiet and easy going disposition which served him well for many years living with three women in one house: his wife, her mother, and her aunt!

Howard had set up a scholarship at Northwest Missouri State University, where he graduated after the war. The fund has grown over the years and the "Howard A. McIntosh Scholarship" is awarded each year to a student from Mills County, Iowa with a GPA of 3.0 or more. If no qualified student from Mills County applies, students from Atchinson, Nodaway, or Worth counties in Missouri can be considered.

Living in California afforded Howard many opportunities to enjoy his favorite pastimes: fishing and golf! Howard enjoyed fishing off the coast of California many times with Francis Hamersky, husband of Howard’s niece, Lois, and deep sea fishing off the coast of California with his next door neighbor. After retirement, Howard regularly played golf on the hilly greens at the Monterey Park Golf Course with his long-time friend, Stan Lingdon.

Over their 58 years of marriage, Howard and Marge enjoyed traveling. They had a second home in Palm Springs, California and were world-travelers taking cruises to far off destinations including the Philippines and Turkey.

Including his sister, Helen, Howard is survived by his many nieces and nephews: Lois McIntosh Hamersky, Imperial Beach, CA; Leta McIntosh Hoyt, St. Joseph, MO; Erma Hall Payne, De Soto, IA; Gertrude Gaddy McNeeley; Julie Olsen Kenkel, Shennandoah, IA; Donna McIntosh Brown; Kate Lavely, Merriam, East Dover VT; Richard Hall, Billings, MT; Larry (Dean) Gaddy, Santa Ana, CA; John L. McIntosh, Creston, IA; John McIntosh, Plattsburg, MO; Richard McIntosh; Jimmie McIntosh; Douglas Olsen, Omaha, NE; George McIntosh, Omaha, NE; James Lee Olsen, Omaha, NE; Jerry Olsen, Minnesota; and Bill Lavely, Seattle, WA.

Friends are welcome to visit between 1 pm and 4 pm on Sunday, April 29 at Pierce Brothers, Turner, Stevens Mortuary on 1136 East Las Tunas Drive, San Gabriel, California.

Funeral services will be held at 11 am on Monday, April 30, 2012 at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Monterey Park. Burial will be at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale.

In lieu of flowers the family would appreciate donations to the Howard A. McIntosh Scholarship c/o Northwest Missouri State University, Maryville, MO 64468.

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My thanks to my wife, Tina LoSasso, who wrote the above obituary with help from family members.

Also, there will be a web page In Memory of Howard Adolph McIntosh at this link, (after 5PM today), courtesy of the mortuary, Pierce Brothers Turner and Stevens Mortuary.

~Michael D Hamersky

NOTE FROM Michael D Hamersky On Comics:  My thanks again to all of YOU reading this blog and our archived blog posts, now at 3,639 total posts in number!   I do appreciate your continued reading and support of this Blog!

BTW, You can 'follow' this blog by clicking the 'Follow' Button at this NetworkedBlogs app link!  We currently have over 2,731 'Followers'!  Thanks to ALL of YOU that have already clicked that button!  And for those of YOU that haven't yet... I would appreciate it if YOU would!!!

Note:  My online 'Loca8' Comic Book Shop (LCBS), carries many different genres of comics, magazines, graphic novels, and comic con promotional items. Possibly even copies of the item(s) that was mentioned here today...!  If I have it, you'll find under the BIG TOP of Comics, at Comic Books Circus.com, including the book 'Gotham City 14 Miles' that I am shown holding to the left. I'm 1 of 14 essayists in that book! !     

Web Page Note:  This blog post is written per the IE Browser standards.  Chrome, Safari, Netscape, Firefox and the other browsers serve the page up slightly differently, sorry about that!  The screen display resolution is best seen at the setting of 1024 x 768 on your laptop or desktop computer.  Note:  Your computer's resoulution may be set differently, but the above resolution is the most commonly used resolution at the time of this blog post. 

NOTE: All images and characters within this blog post are copyright and trademark their respective owners.

Comics Creators: If you are breaking into, or already work in the comic book industry or other pop culture productions, you are welcome to email or mail us press releases, news items, and updates that you feel would be of interest to our blog readers. Including YOUR own works! To mail printed items to us for possible review, send to:  Make It So Marketing Inc., PO Box 130653, Carlsbad, CA 92013

 Also, if you are a Facebook member, I would have liked you to send me a 'Friend Request'. However, I have reached the maximum limit of 5,000 Facebook Friends and Fan pages already, so I've added a New 'Facebook Fan Page' so that even more of YOU can 'Like' what I am doing, and be interactive with me and others there.  Here is the link to that 'Facebook Fan Page': Michael D Hamersky On Comics! Please click the 'Like' button on that page!

---------------            

      

In Addition, I started a YouTube Channel just before the 2011 Comic-Con International, where I am slowly uploading videos from conventions or other events that we attend that are also pop culture related.  You are invited to 'subscribe' to that channel also!  As found at 'HamerskyOnComics'!

---

Michael D Hamersky On Comics Presents Vinnie's Take On...   Project: Hero by Rick L Phillips

TODAY'S FEATURE IS BLOG #3621 - 

Today I am reviewing the novel "Project: Hero" by Rick L. Phillips. My dad recommended this book to me, as he knows I am an avid sci-fi fan. This 141 page book is about a man, Daniel Urich, a retired super hero who has created a foundation to help financially support these new and coming superheroes. He decided to do this after he learned of the death of a 90 year old homeless man who died in the gutters of a street. The importance of this to him, was the fact that this 90 year old man was the retired superhero Flag-waver, a WWII superhero in the aid to fight against Hitler. Daniel did not want this same fate to happen to these people who help keep his community safe.

The story was very nicely done. It was interesting and unique, and it gave more life than a retold tale of super heroes with the same powers. The author, Rick L. Phillips, also created unique names and abilities of the heroes that had never been done before (besides the obvious "Mr. Stretchable"). Rick had told the story with great detail, but didn't fill the pages with useless information that had little to nothing to do with the story. It was good he kept this in balance. He also developed all of the characters very well, not giving their whole life stories in the first paragraph, nor leaving the reader without knowing who the main characters were.

My two rating deductions are for a small amount of grammar/spelling incorrections, and repeated words. For example, on page 92, I quote " 'What is going on here?' ask Sprite." There are a few other situations where this occurs, and it is borderline annoying if you are a "grammar nazi" such as I am. The repeated words also have an example taken place on page 92, in which a conversation between the whole group of heroes has most of their speech quotes ending with "ask <Their Name>". Not only is it with "ask" and not "asked", but in this entire book, the only word used to describe a question was "ask". Just off of the top of my head, I can replace ask with ponders, questions, wonders, and others.  I feel like the editor of this book paid less attention after the first half of the book. I feel this way because it was roughly halfway through the book when these incorrections started to appear.

All in all, I really enjoyed this novel. I am being a little harsh on you with my previous paragraph, but your idea for this novel was just so great and original, you just needed to fix those couple of issues. I want to see you make another story, and I would love if you took these tips into consideration. I will be looking forward to your new books, Rick. Anyway, I give the novel "Project: Hero" a comic book grade of Very Fine Plus (VF+), an 8.5 out of 10.0 grade scale. I really do hope you see this review, and make use of my tips in your further publications. Many thanks for a good read.

~Vinnie

P.S. Here is where you can purchase a copy of this book! 

NOTE FROM Michael D Hamersky On Comics:  My thanks again to all of YOU reading this blog and our archived blog posts, now at 3,620 total posts in number!   I do appreciate your continued reading and support of this Blog!

BTW, You can 'follow' this blog by clicking the 'Follow' Button at this NetworkedBlogs app link!  We currently have over 2,716 'Followers'!  Thanks to ALL of YOU that have already clicked that button!  And for those of YOU that haven't yet... I would appreciate it if YOU would!!!

Note:  My online 'Local' Comic Book Shop (LCBS), carries many different genres of comics, magazines, graphic novels, and comic con promotional items. Possibly even copies of the item(s) that was mentioned here today...!  If I have it, you'll find under the BIG TOP of Comics, at Comic Books Circus.com, including the book 'Gotham City 14 Miles' that I am shown holding to the left. I'm 1 of 14 essayists in that book! !     

Web Page Note:  This blog post is written per the IE Browser standards.  Chrome, Safari, Netscape, Firefox and the other browsers serve the page up slightly differently, sorry about that!  The screen display resolution is best seen at the setting of 1024 x 768 on your laptop or desktop computer.  Note:  Your computer's resoulution may be set differently, but the above resolution is the most commonly used resolution at the time of this blog post. 

NOTE: All images and characters within this blog post are copyright and trademark their respective owners.

Comics Creators: If you are breaking into, or already work in the comic book industry or other pop culture productions, you are welcome to email or mail us press releases, news items, and updates that you feel would be of interest to our blog readers. Including YOUR own works! To mail printed items to us for possible review, send to:  Make It So Marketing Inc., PO Box 130653, Carlsbad, CA 92013

 Also, if you are a Facebook member, I would have liked you to send me a 'Friend Request'. However, I have reached the maximum limit of 5,000 Facebook Friends and Fan pages already, so I've added a New 'Facebook Fan Page' so that even more of YOU can 'Like' what I am doing, and be interactive with me and others there.  Here is the link to that 'Facebook Fan Page': Michael D Hamersky On Comics! Please click the 'Like' button on that page!

---------------            

      

In Addition, I started a YouTube Channel just before the 2011 Comic-Con International, where I am slowly uploading videos from conventions or other events that we attend that are also pop culture related.  You are invited to 'subscribe' to that channel also!  As found at 'HamerskyOnComics'!

---

Michael D Hamersky On Comics Presents Tina LoSasso's Take On: Heat Wave & Naked Heat Two Different Books!   By Richard Castle!

TODAY'S FEATURE IS BLOG #3603 -  Today Book Review: Heat Wave & Naked Heat by Richard Castle!

Today, we have a double-header. We're reviewing two books by Richard Castle, one of our favorite television characters.

If you're not watching Castle (ABC), first, you're missing one of the most entertaining shows on the air, and second, you are probably thinking WTF? How can a television character write a book - a real book - a stocked at Amazon and Barnes & Noble kind of book? In Castle's case, it goes with the territory. You see, Richard Castle, played by Nathan Fillion (Firefly, Serenity), is the bestselling author of a series of mystery novels.

The show's premise is that Castle has killed off his novels' hero and needs inspiration. That and the fact that he's poker buddies with the Mayor allows him to shadow a reluctant NYPD homicide detective Kate Beckett who inspires Castle's new series of novels starring a sexy NYPD homicide detective improbably named "Nikki Heat."

The banter and chemistry between Castle and Beckett anchor the show. Add at least one fantastical murder per week, three or four detours on the road to resolution, oodles of comic book and pop culture references, and a love of New York city and you have a hit show. Now, shift the main characters around a tad, add about 300 pages or so, and you have a book. In fact the formula has lead to three bestselling books.

Richard Castle's books read like the show: light-hearted, fast-paced, fun, lots of banter, plenty of colorful, supporting characters and a main cast that looks and sounds a lot like the folks at the precinct. There's a murder, and more dead bodies, but the focus of the viewer, and the reader, is on the interplay between Castle and Beckett a k a Nikki Heat.

Heat Wave (Nikki Heat 1) (Hyperion, Sept 2009) is the first in the series and introduces us to Castle's fantasy of Beckett: the tough and sexy Nikki Heat.  The victim of the week is a philandering real estate tycoon who takes a dive off his exclusive balcony into a sidewalk cafe. The story takes us into the worlds of real estate development, private clubs, fine art, trophy wives and mobsters during one very, very hot NY City summer. You can smell the hot dogs, exhaust and melting asphalt. Like an episode of Murder, She Wrote, or most episodic murder mystery/cop shows, you know who done it by the casting, timing, even the music. Here, you sense the denouement, but, like the show, you don't mind; the fun is getting there.

If you love the show (as I do), you will thoroughly enjoy reading Heat Wave. The dialogue rips with one-liners and comebacks you won't hear on the show. Detective Heat lets loose in ways we can see Beckett might want to, but just won't let herself. The cast of characters are just what you'd expect Castle to dream up and he describes them as if he's telling you a story which I suppose he is. So, yes, the book feels like it was written by Richard Castle. How cool is that?

Naked Heat (Nikki Heat) (Hyperion, Sept 2010) takes us deeper into the world of Richard Castle a k a Jameson Rook.

The follow-up to Heat Wave finds Det. Heat investigating the murder of gossip columnist that Rook was profiling for a magazine. Rook's connection to the victim is the perfect excuse for his intrusion into Heat's case at a time when she'd rather arrest him for his portrayal of her in a recent magazine spread.

This Heat shows us the seamy side of celebrity driven New York. Athletes, performers, agents, paparazzi, prostitutes and hangers-on all play a part as the murderer, and the investigative team, track down the source of the gossip columnist's new, undisclosed book. The story has its share of twists and turns, and an ending that, for once, I didn't see coming.

Reading a Richard Castle book is a bit like watching a comic book movie: You need to hang around for the bonus scene after the ending. Unlike most author's, Castle's Acknowledgments are worth the price of the book. Fans of the tv show will especially enjoy the references. Don't miss even the teensiest bit of these books. From the Dedication to the bio to the back cover endorsements, Castle never breaks from his entertaining and charming character. Enjoy!

~Tina LoSasso ! 

NOTE FROM Michael D Hamersky On Comics:  My thanks again to all of YOU reading this blog and our archived blog posts, now at 3,603 total posts in number!   I do appreciate your continued reading and support of this Blog!

BTW, You can 'follow' this blog by clicking the 'Follow' Button at this NetworkedBlogs app link!  We currently have over 2,698 'Followers'!  Thanks to ALL of YOU that have already clicked that button!  And for those of YOU that haven't yet... I would appreciate it if YOU would!!!

Note:  My online 'Local' Comic Book Shop (LCBS), carries many different genres of comics, magazines, graphic novels, and comic con promotional items. Possibly even copies of the item(s) that was mentioned here today...!  If I have it, you'll find under the BIG TOP of Comics, at Comic Books Circus.com, including the book 'Gotham City 14 Miles' that I am shown holding to the left. I'm 1 of 14 essayists in that book! !     

Web Page Note:  This blog post is written per the IE Browser standards.  Chrome, Safari, Netscape, Firefox and the other browsers serve the page up slightly differently, sorry about that!  The screen display resolution is best seen at the setting of 1024 x 768 on your laptop or desktop computer.  Note:  Your computer's resoulution may be set differently, but the above resolution is the most commonly used resolution at the time of this blog post. 

NOTE: All images and characters within this blog post are copyright and trademark their respective owners.

Comics Creators: If you are breaking into, or already work in the comic book industry or other pop culture productions, you are welcome to email or mail us press releases, news items, and updates that you feel would be of interest to our blog readers. Including YOUR own works! To mail printed items to us for possible review, send to:  Make It So Marketing Inc., PO Box 130653, Carlsbad, CA 92013

 Also, if you are a Facebook member, I would have liked you to send me a 'Friend Request'. However, I have reached the maximum limit of 5,000 Facebook Friends and Fan pages already, so I've added a New 'Facebook Fan Page' so that even more of YOU can 'Like' what I am doing, and be interactive with me and others there.  Here is the link to that 'Facebook Fan Page': Michael D Hamersky On Comics! Please click the 'Like' button on that page!

---------------            

      

In Addition, I started a YouTube Channel just before the 2011 Comic-Con International, where I am slowly uploading videos from conventions or other events that we attend that are also pop culture related.  You are invited to 'subscribe' to that channel also!  As found at 'HamerskyOnComics'!

---