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Post by franklinmarsh on Oct 19, 2007 20:47:01 GMT
Well,found a spare 90 minutes yesterday and polished off Bamboo Guerillas. Be warned ! This is outrageous pornography masquerading as a war story. Caught me on the hop. I was expecting a straight forward British vs Japanese bloodbath. GNS is not averse to including some sex scenes in his stories but this is OTT. Laurence James tribute or what? Timothy Lea's Confessions From A Holiday Camp mixed up with Lord Russell of Liverpool's The Knights Of Bushido: A short history of Japanes war crimes. An episode of Tenko directed by Russ Meyer. I can't really describe this except it's another nail in the coffin of Demonik's hope of attracting even one female pulp/anthology correspondent. One look at stuff like this and she'd be away to ask her mum for help in starting a WAVAW chapter. (To be fair men are equally degraded abused and sexually tortured - I still have tears in my eyes from the notorious Colonel Sika's giant gonad crunchers - and don't mention the circumsion knife). The only way to 'appreciate' this is the Eat Them Alive way. Step back, forget all morals,decency etc and take it as a hack work of fiction churned out to make a quick buck. I wonder what the reasoning behind it was? OK having wrestled with my conscience, won by two falls and a submission, kicked the miserable little beggar out into the rain where he belongs, this novel is so ludicrous if you can forgive the rampant anti-Japanese racism (although having read so many war comics as a child, you get a certain outlook on Japanese and German troops during WWII - I must admit a little disappointment that there were no cries of 'Banzai!') and the abuse of women (apart from one unforgivable event near the end) you can enjoy the sheer silliness of it. Colonel Hugh Jungle Carter (apart from the back cover Jungle never appears within commas - it could actually be his middle name! If his parents had a sense of humour, were psychic or plain bonkers) - GNS Connection - he worked in a bank in Civvy street before the war and hated it, Captain Cole (GNS Connection - he smokes a pipe) and cheery Gor Blimey Guvnor working class hero salt of the earth blow 'em up and ask questions later Sapper Sanders (GNS Connection - he's in this book) have decided to stay behind in Malaya as the Japanese advance sweeping all before them. Carter intends to link up with murdering Chinese bandit Li Chu, who may even be a cannibal but he knows the jungle like the back of his hand and hates the Japanese. Their mission is a little hazy but it soon becomes clear that uppermost in Carter's mind is a hospital built by the British and staffed with about 20 British and Australian female nurses. The poor gels (and 10 male cannon fodder) have been captured by the Japanes and taken to a prison camp run by dreaded perv Colonel bad anagram of Saki. The 3 Brits link up with the bandit and Carter decides they should attempt to rescue the nurses. I can't do justice to this book. It has to be read to be disbelieved. And I know Rip will read it and say he's read far worse and FM is a wimp. The highlight for me was Jungle Carter's audacious plan to rescue the nurses by surrending himself, Li Chu and around 19 bandits to Sika. Cole,Sanders and the remaining bandits will attack the camp from without. The surrendees are thrown into a hut containing the surviving nurses (all either naked or in states of undress). Despite the fact they've suffered all manner of sexual horrors at the hands of the fiendish guards, there are further amorous romps that night - it's not just Carter's upper lip that's stiff. And to top it all, when the sun rises and shines through the tiny gaps in the hut walls the randy Colonel is gratified to find his particular nurse is stunningly good looking! C'est La Guerre!
!
Bamboo Guerillas was all Peter Haining's fault! Guy had produced a couple of books about the Truckers for Mews - an offshoot of NEL ('The best of the series' books') and PH was instrumental in suggesting a war series - that had to be over the top and very sexually explicit. Guy duely delivered but apparently cold feet set in - he received a phone call asking him to tone it down - which he refused to do on the grounds he had editorial direction to produce what he had. So it went out under the NEL banner with a previously used old cover. (We've been denied a whole series of Jungle Carter adventures - bah!).
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Post by dem bones on Nov 6, 2007 15:58:06 GMT
I can't really describe this except it's another nail in the coffin of Demonik's hope of attracting even one female pulp/anthology correspondent. Yep, good move re-posting this one, FM. We're now as girl-free as we were two years ago .... Picked up a copy of Bamboo Guerilla's at Zardoz on the strength of your review, figuring I just couldn't not. At present it's on my 'to read ... but eventually' list.
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Post by killercrab on Nov 6, 2007 17:47:54 GMT
You're lucky to run across a copy Dem! Certain GNS just don't turn up around here barring NIGHT OF THE CRABS! I've not seen any of the werewolf books either and refuse to remortgage for an online bookseller copy! I've got too many books anyway and *might* be letting some go to willing homes - slimming down my choatic collection to specialise for awhile.
ade
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Post by bushwick on Jun 21, 2008 13:20:16 GMT
So, in the last few days I've read Crow 2: Worse Than Death, and Edge 4: Killer's Breed. I've seen a catalogue of atrocities - a dog being beheaded and eaten, a woman knocked out by a black-haired man, a one-year old baby being shot in the face, a blind girl being raped, numerous bloody murders. With all this fresh in my desensitized brain, I finally read this notorious book...
FM's review is bang on the money, not much I can add to that. The sex scenes are full on and straight out of a porn mag's letter's page - no 'throbbing manhood'-type euphemisms here, it's XXX all the way. Absurdly jingoistic sentiment, really wooden dialogue, zero characterisation, and full on sexual violence. If anyone here has seen any of the Ilsa films, or any of the Italian nazisploitation flicks of the 70s and 80s, you'll know what to expect here. The battle scenes are very reminiscent of Edge, tightly paced and plenty of shards of bone, brain matter etc. What's Guy's opinion of this book, does anyone know? He didn't really write anything else of this ilk, did he?
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Post by franklinmarsh on Jun 21, 2008 14:04:41 GMT
What's Guy's opinion of this book, does anyone know? He didn't really write anything else of this ilk, did he? I was fortunate enough to meet him once, and I think he found the whole thing pretty amusing. He was given a directive to write a very explicit novel, he did so , and when panic set in with the publishers, he didn't care - it was their problem.
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Post by killercrab on Jun 21, 2008 16:19:53 GMT
What's Guy's opinion of this book, does anyone know? He didn't really write anything else of this ilk, did he? >> According to the interview in PULP MANIA - Guy wrote to brief. The editor asked for changes - Guy refused , suggesting any changes be made by the editorial team. None were undertaken. Bush - I think you'd really enjoy Justin's PULPMANIA mag - you should get in touch and see if any are left - the GNS interview in itself is magnificent - nevermind the overview plus Hells Angels etc! You should be able to contact Justin via the Paperback Fanatic site link : www.thepaperbackfanatic.com/index.htm
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Post by jkdunham on Jun 22, 2008 2:25:23 GMT
Justin recently mentioned a "comic adaptation of Bamboo Guerillas" in passing. Any more information on that please?
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Post by manitoudoll on Jun 23, 2008 13:29:18 GMT
XLNT review, franklinmarsh, although I'm not sure if you're being critical of Smith's pornographic approach to BAMBOO GUERILLAS or simply discussing the book's more extreme elements "for the record".
Personally, I loved the book. For mine, whether Guy writes from the heart or from a brief, he's always immensely entertaining. BAMBOO certainly won't win any sensitive female fans, but who cares! His audience has always been males, and I respect his lack of pandering to any other demographic.
He's the last of the great pulp writers. Dare I say a National Treasure?
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Post by franklinmarsh on Jun 23, 2008 13:56:13 GMT
XLNT review, franklinmarsh, although I'm not sure if you're being critical of Smith's pornographic approach to BAMBOO GUERILLAS or simply discussing the book's more extreme elements Thanks, Man! I'd go for the latter. I was just a bit taken aback when I read it as I wasn't expecting it to be as extreme as it was. GNS is beyond criticism for me. He's gone from a favourite pulp author to being an all-time hero. I can't say I love all his books (Accursed and Doomflight spring to mind as books I wouldn't revisit. Doomflight has a great cover, but I've struggled through it twice and can't enjoy it.) but when he's on form he's unbeatable.
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Post by ghostwriter2109 on Jul 25, 2008 11:32:56 GMT
Justin recently mentioned a "comic adaptation of Bamboo Guerillas" in passing. Any more information on that please? The graphic aside to Bamboo Guerillas was as two pages of the Adventure Comic that was planned years ago...did not come to fruition. But there will be a reprint of Crabs' Fury and a graphic novel version of Night of the Crabs later this year.
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Post by killercrab on Jul 25, 2008 19:17:50 GMT
But there will be a reprint of Crabs' Fury and a graphic novel version of Night of the Crabs later this year. >>
Any details who is publishing these? I'm very interested in hearing who is drawing NOTC.
ade
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Post by ghostwriter2109 on Jul 25, 2008 22:04:22 GMT
Being published by Ghostwriter Publications UK (new company) and the artist is Matt Shults (lives in Texas) and who exhibiting this weekend at Comic Con.
There will be a lot more info released over the next couple of weeks.
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Post by killercrab on Jul 26, 2008 0:07:37 GMT
Not heard of Shults I'm afraid. I take it he's at a U.S. Comic Con this weekend? Looking forward to seeing this book.
ade
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Post by justin on Jul 27, 2008 18:25:19 GMT
The Adventure comic definitely did appear as I have a copy. Maybe I'm misunderstanding "it never came to fruition" as in it was planned as a bigger venture that never quite took off?
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Post by ghostwriter2109 on Jul 27, 2008 22:19:40 GMT
Hi Justin
You are right...that's what I should have said.
Two/four pages of each story does not a comic make...for me anyways.
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