Out Now: TARGET: SOLARA [The Emperor’s Secret Files] by Charles Lee Jackson II

Solara flies again!

The blonde bombshell of the Swashbucklers (and who we first met in, of course, Blonde Bombshells), returns in four exciting adventures from The Emperor’s Secret Files! From nuclear threat and earthquake to disaster from the heavens, Solara is on the job, risking her own life to save innocents. From where does Solara come? Not even her own civilian identity, Helia Laurel, knows her secret. But somehow, in times of danger, the blue-and-gold uniform flashes through the sky. Not a rocket... not a meteorite... but an adventuress whose battle against crime and evil makes her Target: Solara.

Finally set up in a new business, Helia Laurel has even hired her first employees. But an emergency client—the notorious Reverend Rosefeld—will cause trouble, placing Helia in immediate danger and sending the entire planet to the brink of disaster, bringing together “Solara and the Ring of Fire”.

Though it's hardly off the ground, Helia Laurel finds her business in ruins, and discovers that her fellow Venus Project astronauts are all being victimized by a super-powered menace that leads to a clash between “Solara and the Goddess of the Moon.”

Helia Laurel, already being plagued by scandalous accusations from a former colleague, finds herself the target of the daughter of one of Solara’s most dangerous foes from her earliest days in action—ghosts from the past, in “Shades of Solara”.

When mob violence wrecks an experimental gravitational device, a captive asteroid careens unfettered toward the Earth! Solara hurtles to the rescue, but vanishes in the attempt, leaving the planet in the path of onrushing doom. What has happened to the blonde bombshell? What will be the outcome for “Solara and the Gravity Telescope”?

Emperor Forerunners: Saturday Matinee Cliffhangers - G-Men Vs. the Black Dragon

This classic motion picture serial influenced Charles Lee Jackson II's style and sensibility, as well as those of his celebrated character, The Emperor.

Jackson writes, "B-movies and Saturday matinee movie serials were always interconnected in the "Golden Age" of motion pictures. The best of them combined solid, if shallow, storylines with slam-bang action, and some of the best of these had their influences on my style. B-movies routinely showed that action, romance, comedy, and even music could be mixed to provide great entertainment. Among serials, 1943's G-Men Vs. the Black Dragon (with its non-stop excitement) helped me envision a milieu of heroes, villains, and plots that go beyond those influences but remember their past, and The Emperor owes it and its companion films a tip of the crown."


G-Men Vs. the Black Dragon is not merely a good serial, it is one of the best. Wikipedia hails it as "noteworthy among adventure serials." Rather than relying heavily on stock footage of car chases and melting mountains for its thrills, G-Men Vs. the Black Dragon, perhaps because it was made during the first year of World War II, right after the stunning events of Pearl Harbor, featured an "unusually high number of fistfights, all staged by director William Witney and a team of stuntmen." Filmed as a homeland morale booster, following a series of major U.S. Naval defeats, the temper of the film, like the temper of the times, can best be summed up in the titles of its first chapter and its last. "The Yellow Peril" and "Democracy in Action."

One of the classic Republic chaptershows, G-Men starred that stalwart of the B-movie, Rod Cameron. In fact, it made the then unknown Cameron a star. Universal Pictures immediately hired the tall, rugged young actor to replace their outgoing western star, the likable Johnny Mack Brown, as their newest B-western hero. Later Rod Cameron would star in three early television series: City Detective, State Trooper, and COronado 9. Afterward, a much beloved figure, Cameron appeared in one or two movies or television shows each year, up until very near his death in 1983.

The Emperor's tip 'o the crown to G-Men Vs. the Black Dragon.

 And a tip of the movie serial and pulp magazine hat to The Emperor's adventures. Joe Vadalma, author of The Chronicles of Morgaine the Witch, says, "Reminds me of the old B-movie action."

You can read the first Emperor novel, The Emperor's Gambit, now - only 99 cents for Kindle at Amazon.

Publisher Creates Promotional Postcard for The Emperor Novels

FuturesPast Editions, publishers of Charles Lee Jackson II's Emperor novels, has created a postcard sized giveaway for the series and is  debuting it May 17-18 at the combined Big Wow Comicfest and Famous Monsters Film Festival in San Jose, CA. 

Here is a preliminary sneak peak at an early first draft of both sides.

 







                                                                                                
                                                                  






Don't forget! All Emperor novels are on sale for Kindle at Amazon for only 99 cents! Click here to go directly to Amazon.com.

Free - Hear Bill Mills Sing All 5 Classic Cowboy Songs from New Secret Files Book - "Trail Riders"

Five old-time cowboy songs that Slim Rafferty sings in Charles Lee Jackson II's newest entry in the Emperor's Secret Files series, Trail Riders:  "Streets of Laredo," "Home on the Range," "Foggy Foggy Dew," "The Old Chisholm Trail," and "Sweet Betsy from Pike".

Of these CLJII writes that: "Streets of Laredo" is a traditional US folk song derived from

the English folk ballad "The Unfortunate Lad"; "Home on the Range" was written by Brewster M. Higley and Daniel E. Kelley, and arranged by David W. Guion; "Foggy Foggy Dew" is a traditional English Folk Song; "The Old Chisholm Trail" is a traditional US folk song; "Sweet Betsy from Pike" was written by John A. Stone."

* * *

Now Bill Mills, the real-life singer/performer who also appears as a character in  The Emperor's Gambit and other Emperor adventures, has recorded all five songs and you can hear them free.

The Emperor says: "Join in the extra fun of Trail Riders with this special bonus feature. Yuh kin hear Slim Rafferty's songs, performed by my own sidekick, Bill Mills (yuh 'member him from The Emperor's Gambit and The Emperor Marked for Death, right?). Yuh kin kick up yuhr heels and dance, or jest sing along with these traditional Western tunes."

Click here to go to Bill Mills' Trail Riders Songs page.  

And to celebrate the opening of this blog
 you can get Trail Riders in Kindle for only $0.99.

99 Cents - for Fans of B-Westerns - "Trail Riders" - Newest Emperor's Secret Files Out in eBook

The Emperor reaches into his Secret Files and pulls out old-fashioned Western Adventure with a added bushel of belly-laughs!

If your heart beats to old-fashioned westerns, Saturday afternoon movie serials, the early TV adventures of Kit Carson, the Cisco Kid, and Annie Oakley, or the novels of Louis L'Amour, "Trail Riders" is what you've been lookin' for.

It ain't just the Emperor and his pals who fought crime. Their grandpaws and grandmaws was a'fightin' crime in the olden days, afore 'em. A while ago the Emperor's sometime gal-pal, "Kit" Cassiday, donated a yellowing journal to the Secret Files. That there document was the memoirs of her granddad, who had been a certified gun-tottin', horse-ridin', automobile-drivin' U.S. Marshal out West back in the 1920s, when a new kinduh firepower, a new kinduh crime and a new kinduh criminal was bringing back that Old West feel. All a marshal could count on was his horse, his shootin' iron and his saddle pals. Along with his sidekicks Slim Rafferty and Alibi Jones, and their faithful steeds, Gent, Duster, and Unk, Marshal Cassiday rode the range in the closing days of the Old West. They were lonesome cowpokes, and the lyrics of the trail songs they sang - like "Streets of Laredo," "Home on the Range," and "Sweet Betsy from Pike" - spice these pages.

Here, released for the first time from "The Emperor's Secret Files", are four rootin’-tootin’, rip-snortin’, gun-slingin’ adventures in the California desert, with the boys out-ridin’, out-shootin’, and out-thinkin’ train robbers, cattle rustlers, claim jumpers, and more. Kit and Slim come to the aid of their old pal Alibi when he’s accused of robbery and murder, and end up in deadly danger as they discover “The Secret of Cibola”. Slim and Alibi are in plenty of trouble when they lose an entire locomotive and cars, but still help Kit as he seeks the “Train to Los Padres”. The boys work to solve the mystery of cattle that seem to have vanished into thin air, victims of a gang of “Phantom Rustlers”. A missing US Mail driver and a pretty girl draw the boys into a trap, but you can bet they’ll find a way out, to become “Cowboy Couriers”.

More exciting adventures from the Emperorverse, by Charles Lee Jackson, II. Pull up a chair and download a copy right now.

Only 99 cents. What are you waiting for?
Get Trail Riders in Kindle for only $0.99.

 
And to celebrate the opening of this blog, FuturesPast Editions, official publisher for the Emperorverse, is dropping the price of the first Emperor book, The Emperor's Gambit at Amazon to $2.99.
Get The Emperor's Gambit in Kindle for only $2.99.

Welcome to The Emperorverse! Heroes, Superheroes, Superheroines & Spies - With Style!

Who is the Emperor?  What is The Emperor?

It's the question on everyone's lips. Or at least on those of the evil masterminds of crime known as

Continent-Eight.

The Emperor is the central figure in a series of underground pulp magazine novels FuturesPast Editions and Deerstalker Editions are reprinting, written by Charles Lee Jackson II and featuring the exploits of The Emperor, a debonair 1960s-style adventurer with a team of agents who help him out on his cases.

A bit of Doc Savage, a bit of James Bond and a dash of The Saint, The Emperor will face many perils and the world's deadliest villains during his career, but few as dangerous as those of Continent-Eight, the dread Executive of Crime.

What is Continent-Eight? Next you will be asking, Who is Varan Haruchi, or the Gila,  or Victoria Poten, or Warhead, or Madame von Teufel.

Maybe you should read what follows. The first draft of our Pocket Guide to Charles Lee Jackson II's Emperorverse - and then read for yourself the underground pulp action sensation – first time ever in book form!

Are you a fan of Jason Bourne and Cotton Malone? Of “Maverick” and “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.”? Of Modesty Blaise and Catwoman? Of Spiderman and Green Lantern? Of Doc Savage or the Spider?

Then prepare to enter a world of adventure and danger, of a hero unequaled since the days of the movie serial, of the comic book, and of the pulp magazine -- a world of memorable characters, good and evil. Welcome to the Emperorverse!

For over four decades, in dozens of privately published comic books and pulp magazines, Charles Lee Jackson II has produced a unique body of work set in what his fans hail as the "Emperorverse". Its central figure is The Emperor, an adventurer and crusader for good right out of the 1960s, whose other identity is the harassed head of a minor Hollywood movie studio. The Emperor is smart, swift, capable of amazing feats, all but indestructible, well-dressed, able to charm beautiful women with a single smile. He leads the fight for law and justice against all odds.

In his war against evil, The Emperor is aided by as memorable a group of allies in crime-busting as Doc Savage's fabled companions. His supporting cast includes Bill Mills, musician, stuntman, and

adventurer who joined The Emperor to make motion pictures and stayed to fight crime; Max Decker, Federal Intelligence agent who met The Emperor in the field and worked for many years as a crime-fighter while masquerading as a criminal gang-leader, the Gila; the amazing Shanghai Lil, red-headed woman as skilled with a blade as her wits; Ed Green, who works with The Emperor and the US Army. Plus a host of costumed crime-busters, super and otherwise, among them Shooting Star, Solara, Nemesis, Cat's-Eye, Fireball, and the robot Titan.

Opposing The Emperor is Continent-Eight, the international Executive of Crime and its creator, Varan Haruchi, AKA The Black Dragon, whose exposure to arcane experimental chemicals has resulted in his long-lived youthful appearance. The Emperor also encounters a host of other evil-doers in his war against crime and destruction: Dr. Yalta, doctor and dentist once recruited by US intelligence for his resemblance to warlord Adolf Hitler, kept young by the same accident, who now supervises medical and scientific crimes for Continent-Eight. Their colleague Maskman, a mysterious helmeted figure, whose true identity is unknown even to his partners in crime. Victoria Poten, The Jade Dragon, third generation Eurasian crime boss whose personal goals of crime often place her at odds with her Continent-Eight partners. Horst Sterling Rosefeld, the mysterious and powerful leader of the Church of Nihilism, dedicated to the destruction of the human race and ruthless enough to succeed. And a rogue's gallery of sinister figures, notable among them Johnny Rainbow, the Steel Skull, Xavier Xavier AKA Dr. Double X, the Eye, Alain Sarnov, the Dragon, Warhead, and Madame von Teufel.

(Their solo adventures, usually involving a walk-on by The Emperor, are told in a series of novels titled "The Emperor's Secret Files". The Emperor's own exploits are recounted in a separate series called "The Amazing Adventures of The Emperor". Both series are available in paperback and ebook formats.)

They are all part of the Emperorverse, an incredible assembly of international spies, space aliens, mad scientists, colorful villains, costumed heroes, secret agents, spacemen, and even the cowboys of yesteryear, all engaged in the wildest and wooliest adventures you’ve ever read.

It's an amazing and unequaled creative tapestry, woven into a complex, interrelated web that snares the imagination. Brought to you by its creator, Charles Lee Jackson II, and Deerstalker Editions.

If you are a fan of David Leadbetter, James Rollins, Lester Dent, Leslie Charteris and/or Maxwell Grant, you won't want to miss The Emperor books.

 

Click HERE to Buy book #1, The Emperor's Gambit, for only $0.99 on Kindle at Amazon, and begin the adventure now!

From FuturesPast Editions.

Visit us at FuturesPast Editions 

Now in Paperback only $8.09 - the Book that Started the Emperorverse: The Emperor's Gambit

Here is what Joe Vadalma, author of The Chronicles of Morgaine the Witch says about The Emperor's Gambit: "Nonstop action as  'The Emperor' helps the FBI determine who has caused a worldwide communication blackout. Action thriller fans will love it."

For a limited time only Amazon has the trade paperback edition of this first book in underground pulp writer Charles Lee Jackson II's celebrated The Emperor series on sale for $8.09.

CODE NAME: The Emperor. Head of a secret network of agents, he fights evil whereever it may arise. Able to pass unsuspected through any security or fortification, he has outwitted and out-fought the cleverest and most deadly enemies. The Emperor’s exploits put those of Doc Savage, The Shadow, Batman, James Bond, and even those two guys from UNCLE to shame. Includes four amazing adventures of The Emperor and his able corps of agents versus international criminals, foreign terrorists, space aliens, and a madman with the gloves that Thor used to wield Mjolnir, his magic hammer!

An Underground Pulp and Comic Sensation!

For forty years, Charles Lee Jackson II has been producing a body of work unprecedented in the annals of pulp magazines and comics. He has garnered a fanatic body of followers and admirers - but his work has never been made available to a mass audience before! Begin the adventure here, with the first volume of stories featuring Jackson's legendary cliffhanger hero, in his fight against the forces of evil.

And to celebrate the opening of this blog, we are dropping the price of the ebook at Amazon to $2.99.

Get The Emperor's Gambit in paper for only $8.09.

Get The Emperor's Gambit in Kindle for only $2.99.