10¹⁶ to 1

by James Patrick Kelly

• Page count: 16

"10¹⁶ to 1" is an award winning 1999 science fiction novelette by James Patrick Kelly. It is about an American boy who meets a time traveler from the future during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962.

Hot Stuff, The Little Devil #165

• Date: October 1986
• Publisher: Harvey Comics
• Cover Price: 75¢
• 2013 NM Price: $6.00
• Stats: 24 color pages plus ads, letters page, table of contents, letter from publisher and poster.
• Writer: ?
• Artists: ?
• Notable Notes: Hot Stuff returns after a 3 year absence!

Harvey's Brief Disappearance

When I was 12 years old I realized that I could no longer find Richie Rich, Casper or Hot Stuff comics anywhere! It was kind of shocking, because they were my favorite ones and I totally loved them. After asking around at several comic shops I found out that they weren't publishing comic books anymore. I was sad... but a few years later I was delighted to find that Harvey Comics returned after some reorganizing at their company. This was the first issue I picked up in 1986, and it was a sweet reunion indeed!

The year 2007 was a busy one for our small writing group, and in August we held Round 16. For this round we all decided to try our hands at writing a children's story. It took me a while to decide what to write about, but I finally settled on a story about pirates and kittens. I had always thought that peg-leg pirates were funny, and kittens are just so cute, so why not combine the two ideas? Genius, I know. ;-) I think it would be super fun to one day get this story illustrated (by a professional, not by me!), but that time hasn't yet come, so for now you'll just have to enjoy it the old fashioned way - using your imagination. Aargh! Enjoy!

Gold

by Isaac Asimov

• Word count: 10,503

• Page count: 21

"Gold" is a 1991 science fiction novelette by Isaac Asimov. It is about a famous director who takes on the challenge of creating a science fiction compu-drama.

G.I. Joe, A Real American Hero #4

• Date: October 1982
• Publisher: Marvel Comics Group
• Cover Price: 60¢
• 2013 Price Range: $3 - $25
• Stats: 22 color pages plus ads, "Postbox: The Pit!" letters page and Bullpen Bulletins
• Writer: Larry Hama
• Other Artists: Herb Trimpe, Jack Abel & Jon D’Agostino, Diana Albers, George Roussos
• Notable Notes: The Joes foil a nuclear bomb plot!

A Sign Of The Early 1980s

After reading a review of G.I. Joe A Real American Hero #1 over at Comics Bronze Age I was in the mood to read me some G.I. Joe comic books! I had forgotten (or, more likely, didn't realize) that these books reflected the right-leaning political sentiments of the day. I had to smile at the contents, but it was a great walk down nostalgia's lane as I recalled not only one of my favorite comic books of my childhood but also my some of my favorite toys!

The Eye of the World is a 1990 fantasy novel by Robert Jordan. It is about a group of young adults who must travel all the way across the map to save their world from destruction by The Dark One. Does that plot sound familiar? It should because it all started with J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, and that plot has been slightly changed and reworked as the basis for many other novel series since the 1950s. Even though this book takes plenty of inspiration from Tolkien's saga, it is still different enough to warrant a read and a discussion.

The Very Pulse of the Machine

by Michael Swanwick

• Page count: 21

"The Very Pulse of the Machine" is a 1998 science fiction short story by Michael Swanwick. It is about an astronaut who survives a crash on Io and has to walk 45 miles back to her lander.

Akiko On The Planet Smoo #1

• Date: December 1995
• Publisher: Sirius Entertainment
• Cover Price: $3.95
• 2013 NM Price: $5.00
• Stats: 40 black & white pages
• Story and Art: Mark Crilley
• Notable Notes: 1st appearance of Akiko and friends

The Final Piece Of My Collection!

I started reading the Akiko comic series back in the late 1990s, and enjoyed it so much that I made an effort to get all of the comic books. It has taken me a long time, but with the purchase of this book I finally completed my collection! This one-shot was the first comic featuring Akiko and her band of misfit friends, then there was the regular comic series that ran for 52 issues. I must say, I've been please with all of them, and this issue is no exception!

For Round 15, in July of 2007, our writing group decided that we should all write a true personal experience. It didn't take me long to decide what I wanted to write about: that time I stupidly walked between two towns in the middle of the night! I figured I could put a bit of a self-deprecating, funny spin on it and that would make the story more enjoyable for people to read. You'll have to be the judge of how well I did that.

Kirinyaga

by Mike Resnick

• Page count: 13

"Kirinyaga" is an award winning 1988 science fiction short story by Mike Resnick. It is about a colony of Kikiru living on a utopian world, who are investigated for their religious practices.