For more than a decade, I’ve counted my book-writing year to run from February to January, because of school break. And it’s late February, so it’s time to update you on what I’ve done all year.
Continue readingCategory Archives: Behind the Scenes
A Real American Book! 2022 in Review
Filed under Behind the Scenes, General Musings, Talking Joe podcast
A Real American Book! 2021 in Review
Filed under Behind the Scenes, General Musings, Talking Joe podcast
Index update – July 2018
Just a quick post that I’ve update the Index, so it’s easy to find the last two years’ worth of blog posts, and everything else that came before.
Filed under Behind the Scenes
A Real American Book! 2017 in Review
Filed under Behind the Scenes, Book Behind the Scenes, Photography, Writing Process
Merrill Hassenfeld Obituary, 1979
Here’s an item that’s a little different than the art artifacts I usually show… Continue reading
Filed under Behind the Scenes, Toys and Toy Art
G.I. Joe blog update – Feb 2014
Hi all, sorry it’s been quiet. Busy with school and store. Three items today.
1) I’m putting the finishing touches on my long-promised film review of G.I. Joe: Retaliation. Should be up next week.
2) I’ve finished editing an audio podcast of a completely different film review of G.I. Joe: Retaliation. This one’s me in conversation with editor Nick Nadel, and we talk about the Best Buy Blu-Ray Extended Action Cut. Will post after the text review.
3) A Real American Book is on Twitter! Follow me @GIJoeBook. Don’t miss another update!
Thanks for your patience and your readership. Here is a tiny doodle of Destro.
Filed under Behind the Scenes, G.I. Joe: Retaliation
Buy this book – America At War
Here. This is topical since the author is a) my father, and b) the second editor on my G.I. Joe book.
Terence T. Finn worked for NASA and the US Senate. Later he spent eight years and read 150 of books to bring you America At War. Each chapter covers one war we’ve fought and ends with a series of questions and answers (Did we have to drop the bomb on Hiroshima?). Though the cover design makes it look like this is for adult males who watch the History Channel, it’s written for everyone — students, history lovers, lapsed history lovers, and the curious.
Fun fact: I indirectly gave my dad the idea for the cover design. My highest and most biased recommendation! And if you’re in Somerville, MA, you can buy it at my store.
Filed under Behind the Scenes
Bazooka original dossier by Larry Hama
You’ve probably seen this:
It’s Bazooka’s 1985 toy cardback dossier, or “command file,” to use the official term. Many fans know Larry Hama wrote these, so in addition to the monthly adventures from Marvel Comics, Hama was also influencing the Hasbro toys. But before computers and the internet and .doc files and e-mail attachments, Hama’s originals would have been typewritten and faxed from New York to Pawtucket. So you may not have seen this:
You can even see the correction fluid. (Certain typewriters had a second ribbon in white for fixing typos, many did not.) This dossier is particularly interesting for Hama’s comment on outdated gear, and has his customary codename suggestions for Hasbro Legal to check.
A Real American Book! 