Friday, November 21, 2008

Tales of the Shadowmen


The latest in Jean-Marc Lofficier's anthology series, Tales of the Shadowmen will be out to the public in January, but I get to peek at a contributor's copy the week after Thanksgiving. (Yay!)

Jean-Marc's idea has been to tell new stories about the heroes of French popular culture that he grew up admiring. This includes very famous characters (D'Artagnian, The Phantom of th eOpera, etc.), reasonable well-known (Fantomas, Arsene Lupin, etc.) and obscure but fascinating (Fascinax, the Nyctalope, Irma Vep, etc.) Along the way a few British, American and others in th epublic domain may put in an apprearance.

The series has attracted some well known writers, including Brian Stableford, Kim Newman and Michael Moorcock, and has provided a place for obscure newbies like me as well. My first published story was "The Mask of the Monster" in TOTS volume 1. I've been fortunate enough to have a story in every volume since.

The latest outing features the following:

Matthew Baugh: The Way of the Crane
Michelle Bigot: The Tarot of the Shadowmen (an art portfolio depicting various heroes and an villains as the Major Arcana of the Tarot.)
Christopher Paul
Carey & Win Scott Eckert: Iron and Bronze
G.L. Gick: Tros Must Be Crazy!
Micah Harris: May the Ground Not Consume Thee...
Tom Kane: The Knave of Diamonds
Lovern Kindzierski: Perils Over Paris
Rick Lai: All Predators Great and Small
Roman Leary: The Heart of a Man
Alain le Bussy: A Matter without Gravity
Jean-Marc Lofficier: Madame Atomos' Holidays
Randy Lofficier: The English Gentleman's Ball
Xavier Mauméjean: The Most Exciting Game
Jess Nevins: A Root That Beareth Gall and Worms
John Peel: The Dynamics of an Asteroid
Frank Schildiner: The Smoking Mirror
Stuart Shiffman: The Milkman Cometh
David L. Vineyard: The Jade Buddha
Brian Stableford: The Vampire in Paris (Part IV of The Empire of the Necromancers)