Acquired Tastes XLIII: Gay Pulp Fiction, Part 220 - Power Force Series, Part 6 of 6

Acquired Tastes XLIII:

Gay Pulp Fiction, Part 220

Power Force Series

Part 6 of 6

Today we take a final look at the Power Force Series.

The Power Force Series was an imprint published by Arena Publications, who operated out of a facility at 12011 Sherman Road in North Hollywood, California, 91605. They published a total of 64 titles under this imprint between 1983 and 1986.

Arena Publications motto should have been "Everything old is new again." You'll see why in a moment.  

The book covers feature either dreamy, idealized artwork or, later in the imprint's history, photos from porn magazines. The background is a solid color with a white 'sash' near the top featuring the title in all-caps and the imprint's name, also in all-caps, floating above it. The author's name appears in the body of the sash in smaller print just below the title. Now, if the artwork looks familiar that's because you have seen it all before... when we took a look at the Blueboy Library imprint. And that's not the only thing borrowed. The books themselves are reprints from other imprints. And this is not the only imprint that Arena would use to republish these titles. Some of these books have been published under as many as four imprints, using different artwork for the cover.

My hunch is that Arena bought the rights to a bunch of previously published titles from imprints (The Blueboy Library, HIS69, Stud Series, RAM-10) on the wane or going out of business. They then maximized profits by republishing the books under several different imprints. Fortunately, they are upfront about this recycling; some of the other imprint books carry a 'sash' in the lower right corner warning the buyer that this contains previously published material.

Given that, imagine the frustration of the average buyer. Most people do not want to be in a dirty bookstore. And when they are, they want to grab something and get out as soon as possible. Let's say they don't bother to read the fine print. Imagine they get home and get ready to indulge in a bit of reading, only to discover it's a book they have already read or own? Now imagine that happening more that once. After a point... who isn't going to be buying books at dirty bookstores? Did this 'republishing' play a role in the extinction of paperbacks in dirty bookstores? 

Back Cover

These books currently sell for between $15-$25.

Here are the last twelve titles. This week, I found something for all twelve.

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Hard Packed Hunks

 Author: Norm Peters 

Power Force Series

 1985 

PF-153

Norm Peters is a pseudonym used by the prolific William Maltese.

This was published by the Golden Books imprint as GB-113 and then republished, again, by Arena Publishing as part of the Drive Shaft Series as DS-105.

Available as a downloadable PDF or ebook at Hommi Publishing.

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Lust Brothers

 Author: Brad Rowen 

Power Force Series

 1985 

PF-154

 This was published by the Golden Books imprint as GB-121 and then republished, again, by Arena Publishing as part of the Drive Shaft Series as DS-106.

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 Hunky Rockers

 Author: Norm Peters 

Power Force Series

 1985 

PF-155

This was published by the Golden Books imprint as GB-122 and then republished, again, by Arena Publishing as part of the Drive Shaft Series as DS-107.

Available as a downloadable PDF or ebook at Hommi Publishing.

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 Two Hunks on the Make

 Author: Brad Rowen 

Power Force Series

 1985 

PF-156

This was published by the Golden Books imprint as GB-112 and then republished, again, by Arena Publishing as part of the Drive Shaft Series as DS-108.

Available as a downloadable PDF or ebook at Hommi Publishing.

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 Street Wise Hunks

 Author: Norm Peters 

Power Force Series

 1985 

PF-157

This was published by the Golden Books imprint as GB-101 and then republished, again, by Arena Publishing as part of the Drive Shaft Series as DS-109.

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 Balling Hunks

 Author: Brad Rowen 

Power Force Series

 1985 

PF-158

This was published by the Golden Books imprint as GB-111 and then republished, again, by Arena Publishing as part of the Drive Shaft Series as DS-110.

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 Homo Hang Up

 Author: Norm Peters 

Power Force Series 

1986 

PF-159

This was originally published by Brandon House under the title Hang-Up by James Colton as BH-3068

Available as a downloadable PDF or ebook at Hommi Publishing.

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The World of Homosexuality

 Author: Gilbert Justinson 

Power Force Series

 1986 

PF-160

This was originally published by Brandon House under the title The Boys by Gilbert Justinsen as BH-2083.

 

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 Hot Hunk Jock

Author: Norm Peters 

Power Force Series

 1986

 PF-161 

This was originally published by Spartacus Books as SB-109.

Available as a downloadable PDF or ebook at Hommi Publishing.

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 Biker Hunks

 Author: Brad Rowen 

Power Force Series

 1986 

PF-162

 This was originally published by Spartacus Books as SB-110. 

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Campus Stud

 Author: Jay Kaye

 Power Force Series 

1986

 PF-163 

This was originally published by Lambda Press as LB-104, then republished, again, twice, by Arena Publishing as part of their Drive Shaft Series as DS-142 and DS-175.

Available as a downloadable PDF or ebook at Hommi Publishing.

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 Gay Voyage

 Author: Scott Bryman

 Power Force Series 

1986

 PF-164

This was originally published by the 101 Enterprise imprint under the title of Boy Farm as 101-43, then by Lambda Press under the title of Gay Voyager as LB101, and then republished, again, by Arena Publishing as part of their Drive Shaft Series as DS-141.

Available as a downloadable PDF or ebook at Hommi Publishing.

--- ---

And that's it for the Power Force Series.

Up next: more vintage gay pulp fiction titles from another imprint.

Until then...

Thanks for reading!

Fantastic Voyage - Lakeside

Wonderland Burlesque's Down The Rabbit Hole: Flip The Frog - Part 1 of 5

Wonderland Burlesque's 

Down The Rabbit Hole: 

Flip The Frog

Part 1 of 5

Down The Rabbit Hole merely places a spotlight on something slightly unusual that's caught my interest. With the help of Wikipedia, YouTube, and other sites, I gather information and learn something new.

Today, we take a look at the Depression era cartoon, Flip the Frog.

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From Wikipedia and other sources:

Flip the Frog is an animated cartoon character created by American animator Ub Iwerks. He starred in a series of cartoons (38 total) produced by Celebrity Pictures and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer from 1930 to 1933.

Ub Iwerks was an animator for the Walt Disney Studios and a personal friend of Walt Disney. In 1930, after a series of disputes between the two, Iwerks left Disney and went on to accept an offer from Pat Powers to open a cartoon studio of his own, Iwerks Studio Iwerks was to produce new cartoons under Powers' Celebrity Pictures auspices and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The first series he was to produce was to feature a character called Tony the Frog, but Iwerks disliked the name and was subsequently changed to Flip.

Ub Iwerks planned to release the series in both color and black and white versions through Celebrity Productions, Inc. The series attracted public attention in England by being the first color sound cartoon series. After four shorts had been produced MGM picked up the series. MGM decided to produce the series entirely in black and white, releasing the ones produced in color in black and white versions only.

After the first two cartoons, the appearance of Flip the Frog gradually became less froglike. This was done with the encouragement of MGM, who thought that the series would sell better if the character were more humanized. Flip's major redesign is attributed to Grim Natwick, who made a name for himself at the Fleischer Studios with the creation of Betty Boop. Natwick also had a hand in changing Flip's girlfriend. In earlier films, she was consistently a cat, but Natwick made Flip's new girlfriend, Fifi, a human who shared distinct similarities with Betty Boop. The series had a number of recurring characters, including Flip's dog, the mule Orace, and a dizzy neighborhood spinster.

The frog's personality also began to develop. As the series progressed, Flip became more of a down-and-out, Chaplin-esque character dealing with everyday conflicts in poverty-stricken atmosphere of the Great Depression. The shorts also became increasingly risqué due to an influx of animators from New York City.

By the autumn of 1933, Flip the Frog had worn out his welcome at MGM. His final short was Soda Squirt, released in August 1933. Subsequently, Iwerks replaced the series with a new one starring an imaginative child named Willie Whopper.

Here are the first seven cartoons.

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Fiddlesticks

(1930)

Flying Fists

(1930)

Little Orphan Willie

(1930)

Puddle Pranks

(1930)

The Village Barber

(1930)

The Cuckoo Murder Case

(1930)

The Village Smithy

(1931)

Next time: More fun with Flip the Frog!

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Weekend Onesie: Victory Jobs and WOW

Weekend Onesie:

Victory Jobs and WOW

People who check in on this blog on a regular basis know that I am a huge fan of graphics. Some of the finest? From various government agencies around the world. I adore their big, broad use of color and presentation of iconic ideals, characters and images.

I've thrown in a few magazine covers, too.

Government agencies are responsible for any number of initiatives - suggestions brought home to the people by use of posters. Today, we'll take a brief look at some of the various initiatives undertaken during wartime - including the empowering of women. These were matters of great importance in order to ensure military success. To facilitate that success, governments got their messages out, boldly, colorfully and sometimes humorously via brilliant posters.

 

Simple and direct...

These graphics have become iconic.

And part of history.

- uptonking from Wonderland Burlesque

Factory Girl - Pretty Reckless

Millworker - James Taylor