Stan Lee's Lightspeed Writer and Return of the Killer Shrews Director Steve Latshaw Raves for The Emperor's Gambit

Fan fave Steve Latshaw is a writer/director/producer who has worked with popular film and television stars Dolph Lundgren, Treat Williams, Jason Connery, Lee Majors, Dean Stockwell, John Schneider, and James Best among others. His film credits include Stan Lee's Lightspeed, Command Performance, Jack-O, Death Mask, Rangers, and Xenophobia. Steve is also a fan of Charles Lee Jackson II's Emperorverse. Below you can read what Mr. Latshaw has to say about book one, The Emperor's Gambit.

"I have a fondness for looking back at the mind candy of my youth from the 60s and early 70s... the paperback spy novels featuring Matt Helm, The Saint and the Men from U.N.C.L.E.; the James Bond movies, soundtracks and Bubble Gum Cards (Sean Connery, thank you very much). So many memories... Alistair MacLean novels, the Avengers and the Persuaders on TV and, oh, those amazing Republic Serials, seen occasionally on the late show or local cable, and in Super 8mm Ken Films cutdowns. And I read about them in the pages of books by Alan Barbour and Don Glut & Jim Harmon, and the occasional, tattered issue of Screen Thrills Illustrated, treated like the gold it was.

"But over time the words, flickering images and memories seem to fade. Or at least they did, until I stumbled into the first few pages of Charles Lee Jackson II's The Emperor's Gambit. And now it all comes back with his series of novels. Mr. Jackson has created an embarrassment of high adventure riches, a literary stew pot mixing every cool paperback, comic, Super 8mm reel, late night TV treasure and John Barry score I've ever owned. Mr. Jackson's books combine the best of heady 60s and 70s spy adventure with the breakneck pace and scale of the great Republic serials, and all with a wry sense of good humor that rival's Napoleon Solo's best lines. And best of all, when I read them, I'm 12 years old again, and the world is new and full of intrigue, and possibilities. And high adventure. Oh, and the good guys win. As they should."

Click here to be the first kid on your block, but not the last, to read Charles Lee Jackson II's The Emperor's Gambit. . Only 99 cents for Kindle at Amazon. We'd welcome your review.

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.

Charles Lee Jackson II Talks about How and Why He became a Comic Book and Pulp Magazine Creator

 

HEAR THE FIRST PART OF THIS EXCLUSIVE THREE-PART INTERVIEW

Click on the player above to hear CLJII discuss the childhood events that led to his fascination with comic books, old movie serials, and pulp magazine heroes helped influence the creation of his character, The Emperor. A 1960s adventurer and crusader for good, The Emperor is smart, swift, capable of amazing feats, all but indestructible, well-dressed, able to charm women with a single smile. Together with his dedicated band of adventurers, The Emperor leads the fight for law and justice against all odds. A FuturesPast Editions/Deerstalker Editons podcast interview. 


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

 

Emperor Forerunners: The Saint - See Him in a Wonderful Illustration for a 1936 Simon Templar Magazine Story

Leslie Charters' immortal Robin Hood of crime, Simon Templar, otherwise known as The Saint, was one of Emperor associate David McDaniel's favorite fictional adventurers. The hero of a series of novels and short stories, as well as several radio, television and movie series, the Saint has been portrayed by such memorable actors as Vincent Price, George Sanders, Roger Moore, and Val Kilmer. The Saint was a big an influence on Charles Lee Jackson II's writing mentor McDaniel, the critically-acclaimed Man from U.N.C.L.E. novelist. And, Jackson, the creator of the Emperor and Emperorverse, acknowledges there is a more than a dash of of that same swashbuckling spirit in the Emperor's makeup.

"Leslie Charteris is one of my favorite authors, and 'the Saint' -- Simon Templar -- a favorite character. Though I didn't do it consciously, some of the literary Saint's characteristics and history have influenced my style of adventuring as The Emperor. (In fact, it was only a few years ago that I realized one huge parallel between Simon and CL -- each originally had a merry band of confreres working with him on adventures, but each later more often worked alone or with a partner or two -- usually a woman -- on adventures.) The Emperor certainly owes a tip of his crown to the Saint."

And here's that Tip of the Crown, a lavish illustration of the Saint in a train car, taking an interest in two people who have been swindled out of their life savings by a millionaire, from a 1936 issue of The American Magazine.

 You can see a much bigger image of this illustration at our Facebook page, The Emperor's Amazing Adventures.

If you're a fan of the Saint, try Charles Lee Jackson II's daredevil hero, the Emperor.  Start now with the first book, The Emperor's Gambit. 

"Nonstop action. Thriller fans will love it."
--Joe Vadalma, author of The Chronicles of Morgaine the Witch.

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

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


From FuturesPast Editions