Writing Updates

So for the past couple of months, I’ve been splitting time between two projects. The first is a horror collection. So far, I’ve completed four stories for it and I’m hoping to do at least two more. This collection is totally unrelated to the Reese Unlimited universe and has no connections or references to the characters that I’m generally known for. I wanted to do something different and it’s worked — I think people will like it. No idea about the collection title right now. The second thing I’ve been working on is the fifth book in the Dark Society series. I know, I know, you guys haven’t even seen the *first* book yet. What can I say? I’m far ahead of Pro Se’s publishing schedule, which seems to be slowing down a bit over the last few years, I’m afraid. Still, hopefully one day these books will be released becaue I think they’re pretty good. The art accompanying this post is by Gilbert Monsanto and will eventually be the cover to DS # 5 — it shows Jupiter, Catalyst, and a surprise figure engaged in battle. Hope you enjoy the peek behind the curtain!

New Straw-Man Review

Longtime reader therealtony posted a new review of The Adventures of Lazarus Gray Volume 14 on Amazon. He gave the book 5 stars and titled his review hero? maybe… interesting character? totally!

Here’s his review:

Another interesting character from the mind of Barry Reese!
The Straw-Man reminds me of those great 1970’s Marvel horror comics, action, drama and super natural action…read this book!

Thanks, Tony! You really nailed my inspirations with your reference to the Seventies Marvel horror — I wanted to recapture that feeling of a hero caught between worlds and with multiple threats all around him. Glad it worked for you!

The Pulp Super-Fan: Lazarus Gray 14

Michael Brown, aka the Pulp Super-Fan posted the following at ThePulp.Net:

Recently we got a new Lazarus Gray book: The Adventures of Lazarus Gray, Vol. 14, from Barry Reese. This one has a novel: Lazarus Gray vs. Fantômas.

Lazarus Gray is a New Pulp character from Reese (The Peregrine, Gravedigger, and other characters and works). Gray is sort of inspired by the classic pulp hero The Avenger and has a group of associates organized as Assistance Unlimited.

Gray is located in a fictional town called Sovereign City (created by Pro Se Press publisher Tommy Hancock), and thus is part of the larger Sovereign City Project. He is also set in the same universe as Barry’s other characters, so has crossed over with them.

In addition to the current members of Assistance Unlimited: Morgan Watts (now the new leader of AU), Eun Jiwon, Samantha Grace, Abigail Cross, The Black Terror (absent here), Wynonna Jones, The Observer (formerly The Eidolon), and the Blue Flame. We get a new member in Daredevil, the classic Golden Age comicbook character (not the Marvel comics character).

This story, set mainly in 1944, has Lazarus come up against Fantômas. Yes, the French proto-pulp criminal and terrorist is coming for Lazarus. And it is somehow connected to his uncle, whom we meet for the first time in flashbacks. Fantômas forms a new version of Murder Unlimited to attack Lazarus, consisting of a woman named Black Diamond, Count Orlick, and Lazarus’ uncle.

But what is the aim of Fantômas? He attacks other Sovereign City heroes as well as AU. Along the way, a member of AU as well as one of their support staff is killed. Can they figure out what Fantômas wants and put an end to his reign of terror?

The epilogue gives us a small hint of what will happen in the next volume, with the appearance of another Golden Age comicbook character. I can’t wait to see it.

The timeline at the end of the volume has been updated, with three more Straw-Man volumes, and five volumes of a new series called “The Dark Society.” I have no idea when these will appear.

Michael has been a tremendous supporter of both classic and new pulps over the years and I’m always pleased when he takes the time to look at one of my books. Hopefully you’ll see those Straw-Man and Dark Society books soon!

Another 5-Star Review!

Ray Bara has posted a review of Lazarus Gray 14 over on Amazon. He gave the book 5 stars and titled his review Fantomas terrorizes Sovereign City. Here’s the rest of his review:

Barry Reese keeps churning out amazing Lazarus Gray adventures! In Volume 14, Reese brings legendary villain Fantomas into the Lazarus Gray rogues gallery. Fantomas is pure evil, to be sure, and Reese showcases that evil here. It seems as though Fantomas is going to kill off all of Assistance Unlimited, and their loved ones, before this one’s through. While he doesn’t quite kill them all, the death count is high and the good guys are on the ropes throughout this tale. There’s a Volume 15, so Lazarus probably makes it through this one, but it’s not a sure thing. Great job Mr. Reese. Keep the Lazarus Gray train chugging along!

Thanks, Ray! I had so much fun pitting our heroes against Fantomas. He’s such a dangerous foe and I knew that if Lazarus was going to defeat him, it would have to be an epic battle. Glad you enjoyed it!

Society Updates

I’m continuing to plug away on book six of the Dark Society, which will be a spin-off from the Straw-Man series. You should see book one of Dark Society released after the third Straw-Man volume. I’m excited for people to see what the Society is like. The image accompanying this post is by the amazingly talented Jailton Rabelo Bezerra and it depicts Logan Jenkins, the newest person to take on the Catalyst identity. Look for her to debut in Straw-Man Volume 3 and then continue on into the Dark Society series.

Lazarus 14 Gets Reviewed!

Longtime reader ChickJ posted a review of Lazarus Gray 14. Let’s see what he had to say:

Pure pulp written by a master!

5 stars

Action, magic, heroes, villains written smoothly. The dialogue was perfect. Not all doom and gloom or all humorous silliness. A great balance. I missed Lazarus Gray more than I thought. You will care for the characters, surprises await. Just a superb pulp for your enjoyment. Highly recommended.

Thank you so much! It’s always fun for me to return to Lazarus and company – glad you agreed. I tried to not only balance all the various characters but I knew that Fantomas might possibly make this story a very grim one — so I made a conscious effort to include enough hopefulness to keep it from tipping too far into that direction.

Thanks again for the kind words.

Updates!

Thrilled that the fourteenth book in the Lazarus Gray series is finally out — I wanted to do something really special for that volume and pitting Lazarus against one of the greatest fictional villains of all time seemed the perfect way to do it. The story has twists-and-turns aplenty, revealing more about Lazarus Gray’s family tree and introducing some new villains along the way… and it wouldn’t be a Fantomas story without some deaths, too. Be prepared to say goodbye to a longstanding supporting cast member or two….

I’m working on the sixth book in the Dark Society series, which you’re still a few years away from being introduced to. When I’m finished with this one, I think I’ll either do something completely new or return to the Lazarus Gray series for volume sixteen (yes, fifteen has already been written!).

I think Straw-Man Volume Two is going to be the next Reese Unlimited release but for now, let’s focus on spreading the word about Lazarus Gray 14!

Press Release: Lazarus Gray vs. Fantomas!

SOVEREIGN CITY’S GREATEST HERO TAKES ON FICTION’S MOST HEINOUS VILLAIN! THE ADVENTURES OF LAZARUS GRAY VOLUME FOURTEEN DEBUTS! PRO SE’S ‘THE YEAR OF REESE UNLIMITED’ BEGINS!

From the author imprint of scribe Barry Reese comes perhaps his greatest and best-known creation in yet another collection of action and pulp intrigue. THE ADVENTURES OF LAZARUS GRAY VOLUME FOURTEEN!

He is a legend mentioned in fearful whispers. He is a faceless, heartless, savage destructive force of nature. If the Devil were vomited from the darkest pit of Hell into this man’s path, he would grudgingly concede that he encountered a creature whose soul was black with deeds so cruel that they made him turn away in disgust.

In the City of Light, he is a darkness unending, but he has turned his gaze towards a goal that lies an ocean away in Sovereign City, and he will not be denied. He is an unrelenting evil known to many by a single name.

FANTOMAS.

And he is unlike any foe that Lazarus Gray and Assistance Unlimited has ever faced.

THE ADVENTURES OF LAZARUS GRAY VOLUME FOURTEEN by Barry Reese, from Reese Unlimited and Pro Se Productions, is the first volume in Pro Se’s ‘THE YEAR OF REESE UNLIMITED’. Twelve works written by or based on concepts created by Barry Reese as a part of his author imprint will be released, once a month, throughout 2024.

With an atmospheric, gritty cover by Gilbert Monsanto and print formatting by Sean Ali, THE NEW ADVENTURES OF LAZARUS GRAY VOLUME FOURTEEN is available for 12.99 via Amazon at http://tinyurl.com/2n7dp37n.

Reese’s latest entry in his longest running series to date is also available on Kindle formatted by Antonino lo Iacono and Marzia Marina for $2.99 at http://tinyurl.com/3taywkr2. Kindle Unlimited Members can read this exciting tale for free!

For more information on this title, interviews with the author, or digital copies for review, email editorinchief@prose-press.com.

To learn more about Pro Se Productions, go to http://www.prose-press.com. Like Pro Se on Facebook at Pro Se Productions.

2023 Draws to a Close

This year marks 20 years that I’ve been a professional writer and I haven’t slowed down a bit – at least from a writing standpoint. We only had one book released this year — the first in the Straw-Man series — but hopefully next year will see the 14th Lazarus Gray book, another Straw-Man, and hopefully Omnium Gatherum, if nothing else. I’m currently writing the sixth Dark Society book and you can’t even see the first of those until at least the first three Straw-Man books are out. Oh, the perils of publishing!

Personally, it’s been an up-and-down year. I continue to struggle with my mental health but things have improved financially as of late so that takes some anxiety off of me. Fingers crossed that things will continue on the current trajectory in 2024.

No matter what holidays you celebrate – or even if you don’t celebrate any at all – I give you my sincere hopes that the end of this year and the beginning of the next will be happy ones for you.

November Updates

As we head towards the Thanksgiving holiday, I figured I’d update all of you on a few things:

I’ve been greatly enjoying the new Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game and I’ve just gotten my hands on The Cataclysm of Kang adventure book. It’s been a lot of fun so far and I highly recommend it. I’ve done a few writeups of my characters for it and maybe I’ll share them here eventually.

I finished working on The Dark Society Book Five: Egregore a week or so back — I know that this won’t mean much for you guys at the moment since book one of this series won’t even be published until after the third Straw-Man volume is released… and we’ve only just recently gotten the first book out. It’s probably going to be years before you see the team square off against the egregore threat.

I’m working on a short story that will run in the fourth Straw-Man book right now. After that, I’m not 100% sure of what I’ll work on. I’m so far ahead of Pro Se’s publishing schedule that it’s kind of humorous at this point – they have three more Straw-Man books, a novel called Omnium Gatherum, two completed Lazarus Gray books, and give Dark Society novels, all in their grasp!

Our art today is something that’s not been seen very often — it’s Anthony Castrillo’s original sketch for what would become the cover to the very first Lazarus Gray book!

In case I don’t post against before Thanksgiving, have a happy holiday to all those that celebrate this day. To everyone else, take care and go see The Marvels — it was great!