I ronton, Ohio was home for my first 18 years. Left for bigger but, as it turned out, not better places. Just different ones. At one time and without reservation I would have agreed with Lenny Bruce's observation that "[In a small town] once you've seen the cannon in the park, there's nothing to do." The fallacy of that notion, however, becomes all too evident after one's memory of the cannon has been lost to time and Lorca's geometry and anguish. "Ironton Cannon" — Photograph provided by City Data

I remember the '60s more clearly than I probably should. And think that (dearth of jet-packs notwithstanding) yesteryear's future is immeasurably more interesting than either Astounding Stories or Truman Bradley led us to believe. Nevertheless, I am a grudging technorealist at best. While having come to fully appreciate the universal availability of today's always-up, knowledge-on-demand cybersorcery, I harbor an affinity for gadgetry brass-clad, sparking, clockwork-laden and completely absent of microanything.

Vintage pulp lit and action film serials have long held my interest to a near prurient degree. Contemporary works of fictioneering inspired by the likes of Street & Smith's stable of print stars and Republic Pictures' great cliffhangers are likewise regarded with all due enthusiasm. To wit...

W ho will watch The Watchmen? I for one. And likely a host of devotees of the gritty, revisionist crimefighting team of the 80's known by that name. Promise and premise alike suggest this upcoming feature film from Warner Brothers may well be the catalyst which brings a new generation in touch with the savage and shadowy originators of Pulp Justice.