The Secret Work of Lou Feck, Cover Artist Supreme

WHAT DO THESE HAVE IN COMMON?
By Alex Ness
August 25, 2025

When it comes to reading for pleasure, and not reading for an article, perhaps such as this, that I usually have subject matter, author and artist, or I want to engage something new. Over a recent span of buying ebay bargains, from favorite sellers, I've picked up 4-5 books, with different authors, and nothing you could argue as anything, except perhaps, speculative fiction in genre.

Each book worked differently for me, but what became clear, is that I learned that what I really seem to have liked, was that I REALLY like the cover art of Artist Lou Feck. And when he does some interior art, it is an enormous treat.  As such, I have done similar things in the comic world. 

You might think I am a nut. 5 dollars a book, can be a good price, as that total included shipping. In the modern era, postage is higher, but delivery rate is lower. I've dealt with so many sellers, I try to now choose wisely who I will give my money to for their product. Three of the last four orders took more than 2 weeks to arrive, even from a town 45 minutes from my home. As USPS offers insurance but makes it almost impossible to get them to pay for their disaster, I've grown to limit my purchases for books, as Half Price books and Barnes & Noble and local smaller stores are pretty good. At least you have a solid price and no need to trust blindly that the ebay seller was worthy of trust. I am not attacking sellers on Ebay. Just the double whammy of things you haven't seen or held, and know what you are getting for your money, and then tracking down the USPS to acknowledge their F'Up.

Aquarius Mission was very much a work that both allowed you to suspend disbelief as well as revel in the quality of the author's imagination. It was not made into a movie, but I was satisfied by it.

The New Atlantis was also a fine work. But rather than a solid story and thought, it is an anthology from great authors, about a missing land, or a metaphor for the same. If it was made into film I missed that.

FireFox I watched as a movie after reading the book. It was a fine book, exciting even despite just having prose words to propel your imagination. It had a lovely cast, and I thought it tried to be loyal to the source material. But the movie's effects could not reproduce the prose words. For a technical break through futuristic tech work, it looked dated, quickly. 

ICE was a great book, a dystopian Ice age disaster book. Some comments from the seller's description  suggested that it was the source for the movie Day After Tomorrow. I suggest it was the germ of an idea that similar temps during the 1930s and late 60s and 70s were nearly cold enough to start the next ice age. It wasn't a conspiracy theory.

Readers here know I love the writing of REHoward, so that I liked this book should be no surprise. Even if Kull isn't close to Conan in popularity, the quality of writing by REH is such that such a dynamic cover only enhances the great value of the book. It reads awesomely and looks fantastic.

This will piss Star Trek fans off, but I found the original series to be entertaining, but books from the same episode to be boring and uninteresting.  I like the the original series especially with Klingons, Romulans, and anything with lovely aliens. However great the quality of writing James Blish has, I don't like his writing style. That is my personal taste but compared to the cover art, I was hosed with this book.

An article featuring Fantasy and RPGs will appear by Friday of this coming week. Thanks for reading my work.

For all your printing needs, Matt at Speed Print Inc. is amazing.

 

LINKS

My Poetry AlexNessPoetry.Blogspot.Com 
This place Poplitiko.Blogspot.Com
My published WORKS 

Social Media
https://bsky.app/profile/alexanderness63.bsky.social 
https://x.com/alexnesspoetry

All works shown and/or considered are copyright the respective owners, fair use is the sole means of use asserted.

INTERVIEW WITH A CREATIVE TALENT: Questions for Masks by Anbry

MASKS BY ANBRY ANSWERS MY QUESTIONS
Interview by Alex Ness
August 24, 2025

In 2024 I visited the Crypticon convention as a sponsored guest of a retail vendor.  As usual I got there before opening, and had my books arranged and ready. I went out on the parking and drop off entry place for fresh air and relaxation. In doing so, I met and chatted a muscular fellow who had said hey when I was finishing up my set up. He was very charismatic, and he was the sales expert for a vendor called Masks by Anbry and the artist who created the masks. The con is a horror con, but outside of their grisly, gloriously dark masks, here were two unique people, far from being horror.

These two fellows were quirky and funny, smart and themselves an attraction to their products. The one I met first, was not the creative voice, he was the spokesperson of sorts. That was Dan Washburn. The artist, the person I interview in this piece, Bryan Nelson was a bit more quiet, but also highly involved in the whirlwind of humanity gathering around their table and display. After the con I friended both Dan and Bryan, and have found in the year since that convention to be entertaining, funny, kind, and generous with compassion. Bryan is the sort, perhaps similar to myself early in my Facebook and Myspace... a shit stirrer, if you will.

I often like the vendor involved with creator interviews. But this is a chance for me to give PR and an introduction to others to this artist. With this therefore, I offer my interview with Bryan Nelson, aka Anbry...

Alex: Who are you, what are the life experiences, choices, and interests that led you to making the masks that you craft. Do you end up growing or developing an audience and consumers for the work?

Bryan: I'm a mental problem and I was labeled as having OCD...and I was diagnosed at a young age.(BTW look up the symptoms of OCD, they are much scarier that what you've been led to believe).

I used to try to kill myself nightly and my mom would take all my knives away, so I was a failure at that. I had one focus, which was to be a vocalist in a band to help others through my words, did that and was locally successful. I used to sign autographs as ANBRY.

Alex: Is it difficult or more about finding the perfect image in your head first?  When making the masks do you consider the people who bought prior masks, or is it about a self or personal expression and a work of art?

Bryan: It's really about how I'm feeling at the time, I need to get back to being "sicker" with the masks, but I feel like I evolved from that....Leatherface was pretty basic, and I've made different versions of him.....and also gave the latest Leatherface a free skin masks two years ago, lol!

Alex: What are the movies and media that influence your designs/creatures? Do you worry about getting legal notices of copyright or trademark violations (rightly or wrongly) if you create a product that resembles a movie character too closely?

Bryan: Influences? Such a great question.... Jason was my first as a young kid...C.H.U.D. Was another, lol. I used to have recurring dreams of Jason killing me for years, once I started painting Jason masks they stopped, now I got shitty dreams, lol

Alex: In addition to creating your masks, do you work in other media, expressing your art in different formats? Are you doing them for self or public view?

Bryan: Doing them for "self"....I'm a hermit, so I needed something, and thankfully, my cuz, Porknutz, (Dan Washburn) found skin for me!

Alex: With no limits of expense, products and ingredients used, What would your perfect mask be and why? Where would you display your wares in public, or is all your work through the internet or postal system?

Bryan: The perfect mask for me would be something that makes me go "whoa"...  It has only happened a few times, but yeah, I'm always trying to impress myself...or ANBRY. lol, I'm not about making money or promoting, that's why I have Porknutz, who is best seller a quiet weirdo could ask for!

FIND BRYAN's PAGES DEVOTED TO HIS CREATIVE WORKS:
Anbry on Facebook
Anbry
Anbry on Instagram

All images shown are ©Masks by Anbry, no copyright assertion other than of the creator, is intended.

The History of Antarctic Press

From Antarctic Press

The History of Antarctic Press: 40 Years in Comics We are continuing to celebrate our 40th year of publishing comics! If you're not familiar with us, my name is Joeming Dunn, and I run Antarctic Press, a small, independent comic company started in 1984. I have personally collected comics of almost every type and genre since 1974, and I can say that during the past 40 years, we have published some of the greatest and best independent comics out there. Our publishing history includes titles like Gold Digger and Ninja High School. Since our inception we have had our share of ups and downs, but over the past months, the challenges have increased. Our main distributor, Diamond Comic Distributors, has declared bankruptcy. This has put many smaller publishers, including ourselves, in a bit of a bind, as Diamond ultimately did not pay us for many of the books we had sent them.  Then a new company took them over, and initially, they paid for for items we sent from the time of their takeover.  Before long, however, they also decided to stop payments, leaving us (and other publishers) holding the bag associated with printing and releasing comics.  Despite that, we are celebrating our 40 years of publishing by holding this Antarctic Press Indiegogo campaign that will help us sustain our mission of bringing the best in independent comics into your hands. Buy Now

Buy Now

TOP SHELF PRODUCTIONS: Spoops Announced

 

Time to meet the SPOOPS ! Voice-actor AJ LoCascio (Voltron, X-Men '97) has always loved Halloween. Years ago, he began sculpting tiny adorable figurines for his own amusement, which eventually grew to dozens of different characters and a passionate fanbase... but the Spoops whispered to AJ that their story needed to be told, so he teamed up with artist Laurie A. Conley for a captivating picture book, out today at your favorite shop! With Spoops: The Little Spirits of Halloween, families can celebrate the magic of creativity all year round... but especially on the spookiest night of them all! Plus, next week brings the jaw-dropping Blade-Runner-meets-Tintin thrills of Lukas Kummer's Ionheart, and we look ahead to more Order of the Night Jay from Jonathan Schnapp!

Get a jump on spooky season with a heartwarming new gem — Spoops: The Little Spirits of Halloween! "A fun, festive read... Highly recommended to all young readers (or young at heart readers) and all who enjoy the pageantry of Halloween." — Kabooooom! Discover the whimsical magic behind Halloween in this timeless new illustrated fable for the whole family! Who changes the leaves? Summons the autumn winds? Wakes ghosts and spirits to haunt houses and chill the air? Why, Spoops, of course! They hatch from the smallest gourds in your local pumpkin patch at the start of every fall; tending to your town to ensure everything is just right for Halloween. In this story, young Holly Hollowell loves Halloween more than anything, but her dentist parents are totally against any event that promotes tooth-rotting sweets. While other kids trick-or-treat, Holly watches sadly from her window… until the Spoops arrive to turn things around! With their magical help, Holly can finally show her parents the true spirit of Halloween: not the candy, but the joy of expressing yourself, unleashing your imagination, and letting your spooky side soar! Presented in rhyming verse that recalls Dr. Seuss and “’Twas the Night Before Christmas,” along with nostalgic illustrations in black, white, and orange, Spoops is an instantly timeless classic that places Halloween right up alongside other beloved holidays. It’s a clever trick and a lovable treat that the whole family will treasure. Spoops: The Little Spirits of Halloween by AJ LoCascio and Laurie A. Conley $14.99 (US) | ISBN 978-1-60309-561-7 72 pages | 7” x 9” Two-color hardcover PICTURE BOOK Browse preview pages | watch the video trailer In stores today! Watch the animated trailer for Spoops! Next week: Lukas Kummer makes his English debut with the brilliantly radioactive Ionheart! This head-spinning, time-bending graphic novel is a nuclear fusion of fantasy and science fiction whose every page glows with an eerie light. Will you survive the blast? “The best work to date by one of the greatest talents of the German-speaking comic world.” — Andreas Platthaus, Frankfurter Allgemeine Ionheart by Lukas Kummer $24.99 (US) | ISBN 978-1-60309-558-7 312 pages | 6.7” x 9.5” Full-color softcover graphic novel with flaps Browse preview pages | Coming August 19th/20th! Watch the animated trailer for Ionheart! Pre-order now for October: Jonathan Schnapp goes back to camp with more Order of the Night Jay! Return to the wilderness with nervous bear Frank and excitable raccoon Ricky as they dive deeper into the long-lost (and supernatural) secrets of Camp Jay Bird! Order of the Night Jay (Book 2): The River Rises by Jonathan Schnapp $14.99 (US) | ISBN 978-1-60309-562-4 168 pages | 5.5” x 7.75” Full-color softcover graphic novel with flaps Browse preview pages | Coming October 7th/8th!

TOP SHELF PRODUCTIONS shares two new works

Be the hero of your own bedtime story! Two tender hearts from Italy, M. D. Ventura and M. Ferraris, make their Top Shelf debut today with an utterly lovely fantasy tale for the whole family: The Land of Unfinished Dreams! Plus: get a glimpse of our Comic-Con crew, and get ready to welcome spooky season with the Spoops!

Journey to The Land of Unfinished Dreams today! "Ventura's superb, wry storytelling is well matched by Ferraris' equally magnificent illustrations... This intergenerational story is a strong pick for family read-alouds, with elements for both kids and adults to enjoy." — Booklist (starred review) "Beautifully creative... The artwork is stunningly adorable; the story, heartwarming. A perfectly modern bedtime story." — SFF Insiders Once upon a time, there was a brave hero named…Grandpa?! What’s he doing in this story? Ned is a retired literature teacher without much excitement in his life, but when his grandkids come to visit, he loves to tell them bedtime stories. Every evening, the clumsy knight tries to save the princess in new and different ways, but they never reach the end of the story. On one fateful night, Ned is shocked to wake up inside his fantasy world — full of the characters from his stories, plus many more new friends and foes. And when a terrifying darkness rises, Ned will have to look within himself to confront a threat beyond his imagination. In their first collaboration, Italian creators Marco Daeron Ventura and Marco Ferraris present a thrilling and poignant graphic novel, bursting with color and creativity, about stories, family, growing old, and staying young. The Land of Unfinished Dreams  by Marco Daeron Ventura and Marco Ferraris $14.99 (US) | ISBN 978-1-60309-555-6 160 pages | Full-color HARDCOVER graphic novel | 7.75" x 10.75" Browse preview pages | In stores today! Watch the epic and effervescent animated trailer for The Land of Unfinished Dreams! Thanks for a terrific San Diego Comic-Con! We were thrilled to see so many old friends and new fans in San Diego this year, as we marked almost ten years as part of the IDW Publishing booth. Nearly a thousand fans packed into George Takei's standing-room-only panel as well as two sold-out signings for It Rhymes With Takei. AJ Locascio and Ben Wickey held readers spellbound with advance copies of their fall books Spoops and More Weight: A Salem Story. And Jeff Victor and Kim Dwinell built on their passionate fanbases with the newest volumes of You Wish and Surfside Girls. A huge thanks from the Top Shelf team (Chris and Leigh) to our great authors, to the whole IDW crew for making our show run so smoothly, and to all of YOU for coming out to support us! Next week: Fall in love with Fall... with the SPOOPS! Discover the whimsical magic behind Halloween in this timeless new illustrated fable for the whole family! It’s a clever trick and a lovable treat that the whole family will treasure. Spoops: The Little Spirits of Halloween by AJ LoCascio and Laurie A. Conley $14.99 (US) | ISBN 978-1-60309-561-7 72 pages | 7” x 9” Two-color hardcover PICTURE BOOK Browse preview pages | watch the video trailer In stores next week: August 12th/13th, 2025! Watch the whimsical animated trailer for Spoops!

A Word

TWO CANCELLATIONS OVER ONE WORD
By Alex Ness
August 4, 2025

This isn't about should be, should have been or what is or is not. The suggestion is how powerful a word is that both positive use and negative use result in cancellations in media, culture and memory.  Are there words like this that have such power? Some might point to the attitude towards the Jews that led to the Holocaust, but the term Juden is a legitimate word, meaning Jew in the language considered.  We live in dangerous times, but hardly less dangerous when considering genocide and other political terms that have power, when used less surgically accurate.

The N word, used without mincing the full use to a letter, destroyed one white person's fame and reputation. It destroyed the future of a band, of different ethnicities who used it to demonstrate how it feels to be on the end of the use of that word. But it also then led to fear of more such instances, censorship and more. While Paula Deen honestly admitted to using the word in her past, and mentioned how the days she referred to were deeply different now over those days. Whether she used it beyond the past was generally why her honest response about the past wasn't used to forgive use in the near present. People even used this objection to her, when really not liking the food she cooked, or attitude towards healthy and unhealthy foods.

There are, of course, in both cases, people who find it convenient to blame the use of the word for not liking or agreeing with someone, when they already weren't fans. This blog tries to consider the media of our culture. The word in question is rightfully reviled. When racists and honorable users are both destroyed by the word, it means, a word was used that we still cannot understand the depths, and of the shame of it. The debate continues... but I don't expect things to get better, however much I think we become more aware of how it has lingered in the depths of our society's gut.

THE WORD
BLESSID UNION OF SOULS song I BELIEVE

PAULA DEEN  The Controversy
Paula Deen Her Wikipedia page

INSPIRATIONS

INSPIRATIONs
By Alex Ness
August 2, 2025

PEOPLE 

Ken St Andre is a friend. We have some shared interest and we shared works between us at times. He has created many games, adventures and settings. He is one creator who has heavily contributed to the world of gaming in general, and as a librarian for many years, he has helped his local region of Arizona in the pursuit of knowledge. 

He has a heart of optimism, and has helped pick me up from the floor when I have been down on myself, or depressed over the health challenges I have had. He is someone who has counted steps and took on his own health challenges and few people who I know have been so regular in his efforts.

I am writing this to laud Ken's constant curiosity in life, his kindness, and how he has had an affect upon me.  Here are some links:       

2015 Interview  
2022 Interview

Review and Commentary about Ken's Lord Dunsany tribute

 

 

 

 

ART

Art has inspired many different people. Some people, who believe in very limited governance, think that art is pointless and are offended by civilian government support of the arts. Some view art as having value beyond measure, as a message, as a symbol, and as an expression of human emotion and event. Jackson Pollock referred to modern art as being about emotional response to existential fears of the human race. Other artists presented works looking exactly like the scene they viewed. 

But abstract expression and art showing every day life however great, are not working to inspire role playing gamers, and readers of fantasy. Some art is especially powerful and might link to a game, in the form of the characters on the scene, the world the art expresses inspires writers of such worlds, by seeing a directly vivid worlds the human eye had previously not viewed. I was going to present a much larger article, with works by Picasso, Munch, Dali and many more. However as we are chatting fantasy, I decided to limit this discussion to fantasy art, and as an excuse to post a large image showing some great fantasy art. Artists with work displayed are Emmanuel, Chris Achilléos, Peter Andrew Jones, Brom. All of these artists create works that are beautiful or highly successful showing monsters, heroes, battles, armies, magic, and far more. (All of them are shown in the manner of Fair use, and no copyright challenge is in any way asserted.)

FOR SALE

In the US only, brand new books sent postage paid 

Two books, newly released. One featuring Poetry, Prose and Images about Lost Kingdoms like Atlantis, with co contributor Peter Urkowitz. He did great work, and his poems are quite fun. The book goes for 12 dollars over on Amazon. 

My next book is a collection of poems about the Viking world, using a term for the title, Sigr, which is an ancient term meaning Victory. It is a thick collection of poems, that goes for 8 dollars. It is only available through me.

Take both books $19 postage paid. Contact me at alexanderness63 at Gmail dot com.

For all your printing needs, Matt at Speed Print Inc. is amazing.

 

LINKS

My Poetry AlexNessPoetry.Blogspot.Com 
This place Poplitiko.Blogspot.Com
My published WORKS 

Social Media
https://bsky.app/profile/alexanderness63.bsky.social 
https://x.com/alexnesspoetry

All works shown and/or considered are copyright the respective owners, fair use is the sole means of use asserted.

CURRENT READING EXPERIENCES

News and Thoughts
By Alex Ness
July 29, 2025

NEWS

I recently will have a lot of work removing my teeth, all of which died from radiation for cancer. In many ways this is a good thing, as rotted teeth contributes to poor heart health. It also is a doorway to poor esteem, and extraordinary measures to hide the damage. It is painful, but I am ready.

Life offers opportunities to work with people, and I wanted to say how grateful I am to the people who I work with who get bombarded with ideas and projects that will never start. When I am writing, I tend to let loose the restraints upon me, and some people get trampled by the runaway words and thoughts.   

I remain working on a sister site to create a way to limit the media considered and by doing that, we cover more works. It will be a group blog, if I can get it to work as such. The effort won't launch until the work is done to present works on a regular basis. 

An event with me reading my lyrics to orchestrated new music by friend Aaron Kerr will happen on August 21 read just one story back to see the press announcement.

RECENT BOOK READS

Imagine a world where a series of great empires functioned but never connected. Trade and exchange are a cultural inheritance. Without such actions, human society would be armed camps, with no way to share what each other excelled at creating. My choice of books was meant to explore how China was a reached by Rome, and what transpired thereafter.

This reading mission was almost all academia level reading, but all of the books had great information and readability, well more than most others. China had a positive policy, somewhat like when the French believed that speaking French ennobled one's being. That is, China didn't demand things, didn't destroy those who didn't want to be contacted, they left gifts, offered ways to grow, and said, call us when you realize the wisdom in this. Marco Polo experienced many things on his travels, and while his book might include mythic subject matter, it did tell a story accurate for opening Asia to European interest and trade. Japan had a different path, when they began trading it was with limits of how far it could go, none could visit Japan, and violence did occur.  Japan did develop across the sea from a great empire, so they had a way that was more assertive, militant even. All of the books were fascinating.

WRITERS WHO ARE SIMILAR IN STYLE

Below is an image collecting Ernest Hemingway, Robert Heinlein, Truman Capote, and Denis Johnson. They all wrote similarly, with spartan prose, sharp, economic with words, and straight to the point. I include books they've done, and the reason I mention this all, as I find the writing brilliant, and fulfilling. But are1 these my most favorite authors? No. For a favorite lists I wouldn't choose a singular style. You'd be missing Yukio Mishima, Albert Camus, Lord Dunsany, Robert E. Howard, Clark Ashton Smith, Lovecraft, Edgar Allan Poe, Alan Dean Foster and so many more. 

The reason I post this isn't just my enjoyment of the style, it is much more, it is wondering how many other groups of writers, according to style I appreciate. There are many authors I am drawn toward, but subject matter, style, depth of experience reading them, lead me to believe, there is more in each group than I know. Leading me to think about the list for other media perhaps too. I believe in areas of life, finding a partner who is different leads to dynamic personal growth, as one sharpens the other in debate. But it is a subject with more to learn within it. 

FOR SALE

$29 dollars in cover price, plus post, would be a $35 purchase ordinarily. But if you live in America, I will offer the 5 books for $24 total, postage included. I have four sets of these I can sell, so write to alexanderness63 at gmail.com to order, paypal, check if I know you, and cash accepted.

For all your printing needs, Matt at Speed Print Inc is amazing.

LINKS

My Poetry AlexNessPoetry.Blogspot.Com 
My Archive of works published, FIND HERE
This place Poplitiko.Blogspot.Com

Social Media
https://bsky.app/profile/alexanderness63.bsky.social 
https://x.com/alexnesspoetry

All works are copyright the respective owners, fair use is the sole means of use asserted.