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Post by dem bones on Oct 20, 2007 13:52:09 GMT
Apologies for all the repetition, but you have to make a [re]start somewhere. It's not as if I'm ever going to struggle to promote it to you people, but the eagle-eyed will have noticed that the cover features selected works from Robert Lory - and Justin has landed one of his biggest scoops ever! If you recall the interview-cum-career retrospective with Michel Parry way back in Pulp Mania, imagine the same treatment afforded to Mr. Lory ... To blithely trot out "worth the entry price for this alone" is true but also pays a huge disservice to the rest of the magazine. Justin has hit on a winning formula with his genre-hopping approach and number 3 showcases the artwork of Jan Parker and Bruce Pennington, the first in a two part investigation into the 'German' war fiction of Sven Hassel, 'Leo Kessler' and their acolytes, plus the usual feast of cover scans.
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Post by bradstevens on Oct 22, 2007 14:53:08 GMT
Picked this up at Zardoz yesterday. Great stuff.
On page 15, Justin mentions that the words "Soon to be an action-packed film from the director and star of THE WILD GEESE" appear on the cover of Leo Kessler's novel BREAKTHROUGH. Justin notes that "I can trace no record of BREAKTHROUGH ever making it to the silver screen. In fact, the director (Andrew McLaglen) and star (Richard Burton) of THE WILD GEESE did make a film called BREAKTHROUGH in 1978. Also known as SERGEANT STEINER, this was actually a sequel to Sam Peckinpah's CROSS OF IRON, with Burton cast as the character played by James Coburn in Peckinpah's film. I haven't seen this, so have no idea if it makes use of elements from Kessler's book: the plot apparently has Steiner becoming involved in an anti-Hitler conspiracy, and saving the life of an American colonel played by Robert Mitchum.
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Post by justin on Oct 22, 2007 20:42:06 GMT
Fascinating stuff Brad- should have known better than to trust the IMDB when you're a member here!
I haven't read the book, but your post made me dig it out. Looking through the first few pages the character names Steiner, Kruger and Stransky do appear, and the back cover blurb does talk about Steiner being caught up between the blind ambition and madness of his leaders, and his love of honour and the Fatherland. So it does appear to be an extension of the Cross of Iron characters and tone. (Which I think is on the box this week)
The copyright is to publisher Wilhelm Goldman Verlag, Munich, West Germany. Presumably this is the copyright to the characters rather than the book? It's written in Kessler's trademark style with foot-notes and military slang. Was it produced for the German market? Did the film's director ask Kessler to pen a novel he could then direct?
There is an inactive site called The Leo Kessler Appreciation Society, It was due to be launched by his current publishers but I imagine has been put on hold following 'Kessler's' death. I'll drop them a line and see what they know....
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Post by bradstevens on Oct 22, 2007 23:13:29 GMT
BREAKTHROUGH was indeed produced for the German market - CROSS OF IRON was enormously successful in Germany, reportedly taking more money there than STAR WARS.
It would appear that the credits of BREAKTHROUGH contain no mention of Leo Kessler, or of the screenplay being based on a novel. Since BREAKTHROUGH was apparently made in 1978, and the book published in 1979, it seems possible that Kessler's book is actually a novelization.
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Post by bradstevens on Oct 24, 2007 17:39:02 GMT
There's a remarkably thorough Leo Kessler bibliography here: bearalley.blogspot.com/2007/07/charles-whiting-1926-2007.html...which confirms my suspicion that BREAKTHROUGH was actually a novelization. I have to confess that I've never read a Leo Kessler book. After reading Justin's article, I'm eager to give him a try. |
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Post by dem bones on Oct 24, 2007 18:06:30 GMT
Glad you reminded me, of Bear Alley, ("Somewhere I can talk about my favourite subjects: old British comics, story papers and paperbacks"), Brad. It's a great blog - run by Steve Holland - and there's even a post on Paperback Fanatic. Not a great deal under the 'Paperback' label as yet, but what there is is fascinating, notably the Mystery Thriller (c. 1949-50) and Scorcher (c. 1937)series' and get those delightful covers! Scary crocodile! |
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Post by Dr Terror on Oct 30, 2007 19:06:57 GMT
Re: the Bruce Pennington list of covers.
Penguin published the first five Thieves' World anthologies:
1. Thieves' World
2. Tales From the Vulgar Unicorn
3. Shadows of Sanctuary
4. Storm Season
5. The Face of Chaos
Enquiries on the Thieves' World yahoo group got this reply from editor Lynn Abbey:
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Post by franklinmarsh on Nov 27, 2007 16:51:22 GMT
Huzzah for Justin! Another gem packed with an ultra weird mish-mash of subjects and all the better for it. Huzzah also for mention(s) of Vaultmeister Demant. About time he got some credit for all his hard work. I must read that copy of A Feast Unknown.
Is Wolf Kruger turning up in the next issue Justin? One of the things that attracted/repelled me about the THE BOOK NO GERMAN PUBLISHER WOULD PRINT Corgi edition of Wheels Of Terror was Alan Sillitoe's 'This book will make you sick' endorsement.
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Post by dem bones on Nov 29, 2007 8:10:57 GMT
" .... Justin covers everything from British porn (think MIDWOOD AND BEACON with a Cockney accent), the kung-fu PB phenom and even a collection of war novels (viewers of the Nazi channel in America – better known as The History Channel – would drool over these covers, if not the books themselves)"- a mere snippet from the (very positive!) twin review of Pulpmania and the Paperback Fanatic Lory issue from Ed Gorman "the dark suspense master" on his endearingly titled Bookgasm blog. He's also very taken with Curt's likewise indispensable Beyond The Groovy Age Of Horror
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Post by justin on Nov 29, 2007 21:19:18 GMT
Wolf Kruger will frog-march onto the scene in the next issue. (Spoke to the printers today and they should be done by the end of next week. Buy one for your relatives this Xmas!) Response to the article on Sven Hassel and co has been luke-warm to say the least, so it was touch and go whether I went with the second part, but as it features Kruger/Hutson and also the controversial Devil's Guard, it may be of more interest to teh casual observer so I've gone for it! But it's only about 5 pages, so it hasn't stolen too much away from the When Animals Attack study!
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