Vanguard: The Complete First Season now available!

Posted on August 18, 2015August 18, 2015 by Percival Constantine

Vanguard: The Complete First Season is now available!

After a mysterious event has altered humanity’s genetic structure, a group of superhumans, called specials, have emerged. Fearing the potential danger these super-powered individuals could pose to normal humans, the President of the United States secretly authorizes the creation of a response team of specials, called Vanguard!

In this first season, Vanguard must not only adjust to working together as a team, but also face super-powered menaces in the form of a well-meaning yet arrogant special with a desire to be a superhero, a mad scientist who wants to unlock the secrets of humanity’s changes, a revolutionary with the power to enforce her rhetoric, a vengeance-driven powerhouse, and waiting in the wings is a mysterious warlord who desires to use specials to his own benefits in order to impose a new world order!

Fans of the X-Men and the Avengers won’t want to miss this explosive first season! This collection contains not only all five episodes of the first season, but also a special bonus episode previously only available to subscribers! And at $4.99, Vanguard: The Complete First Season will give you a discount of more than 50% if you bought all the individual episodes!

Pick it up today at your online retailer of choice! Season 2 is coming next month, so now’s your chance to catch up on season 1!

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X-Men: Days of Future Past – The Rogue Cut

Posted on July 17, 2015July 17, 2015 by Percival Constantine

I was pretty disappointed when I didn’t find out until after I bought X-Men: Days of Future Past that there was an extended edition that wouldn’t be released for another year. I’m not going to pay Fox twice for the same movie, so I just rented this one instead. And I’m glad I didn’t buy it again because there’s not a whole lot this extended edition brings to the table.

NOTE: Some spoilers follow, so you may not want to read on unless you’ve seen this.

There are some extended and additional scenes in the movie. We get to see a scene where the future X-Men actually have a chance to act as real people and not just special effects. There’s a great scene with Bishop—who appears to be the leader of this future group—debates the ethics of time travel with the older X-Men, arguing that if they do this, he and the rest of his team may never even be born. It’s a really good scene that should have been in the final cut. And I wish we got more moments of this where we can see the other characters get an opportunity to shine. It would have been preferable to rehashing the Magneto/Xavier bromance for the fifth time (and counting if my predictions about X-Men: Apocalypse prove true).

There’s also another scene where Mystique returns to the mansion and gets pretty affectionate with Beast. It was a pretty good scene, but it’s mostly held up by Jennifer Lawrence. Nicholas Hoult is still incredibly miscast as Hank McCoy. He’s got none of the humor or wit that characterizes the Beast.

It’s kind of funny that this is called “The Rogue Cut” because Rogue has such a small presence in the movie. The basis for that title is for an added sequence in the future. In the theatrical cut, when Wolverine sees Stryker in the past for the first time, he has a freak-out that causes his body in the future to spasm and he accidentally injures Kitty in the process. Kitty manages to hold it together for the rest of the movie, though. But in this cut, Iceman says she can’t hold out much longer and tells them that if they can get Rogue, she can take Kitty’s powers and keep Logan in the past. Magneto and Professor X think Rogue is dead, but it turns out she’s still alive and being held captive in the mansion, experimented on by the Sentinels’ human conspirators.

The three mount a rescue attempt, with Xavier piloting the jet and Magneto and Iceman breaching the mansion. This is a great scene where we get to see Ian McKellen being a badass Magneto (probably for the last time). They free Rogue at the expense of Iceman, who’s killed, and take her back to the base where she takes Kitty’s powers and keeps Logan in the past. It also shows how the Sentinels found the X-Men because as they were trying to escape, a Sentinel latched onto them and though it was thrown off, its arm remained, signaling its brothers.

So Rogue’s presence in this movie is pretty much the same as it was in the other movies—she’s a damsel in distress who needs rescuing and ultimately does nothing of any real consequence. Which is a real disappointment for a character who is so dynamic in the comics.

A lot of the other problems with the movie are still there. Evan Peters is still basically playing Impulse instead of Quicksilver, there’s far too much reliance on the Xavier/Magneto bromance, and I really wish we would have seen more of the future. The few glimpses we got with the human conspirators and the added interactions between the future X-Men tell me that’s where the really interesting stuff was happening.

Vanguard #1 and Luther Cross #2 available now!

Posted on January 20, 2015January 20, 2015 by Percival Constantine

The first episode of Vanguard, my new serial chronicling the adventures of a team of superheroes, is now available exclusively on Amazon!

The world has changed. A mysterious event altered the genetic structure of humanity, granting a small percentage of the population superhuman powers. A small team of these specials has been formed to deal with potential threats. Paragon—telekinetic powerhouse; Zenith—hyper-intelligent automaton; Shift—shape-changing teenager; Wraith—teleporting shadow warrior; Sharkskin—human/shark hybrid. Led by the armored Gunsmith, they are Vanguard!

Callum King’s life has fallen apart. He lost his job, his wife left him, and he was about to end it all—when he discovered he possessed the powers of a superman. Now calling himself the Exemplar, he’s declared himself the world’s first superhero, out to prove those who doubted him wrong. But his arrogance far supersedes his good intentions! Can Vanguard overcome their internal strife in order to face their first threat?

If you’re a fan of superhero comics like the X-Men or the Avengers, then you do not want to miss this new monthly series! Available for only 99¢ on Amazon or free if you’re a member of Kindle Unlimited! Buy it now!

And if you can’t wait for the second installment of the series, there’s a special prequel episode of the series!

Want to know how Vanguard was created? Curious about the specifics of The Event that introduced specials into the world? Then you won’t want to miss Vanguard #0: The Event!

This prequel episode shows the lives of the members of Vanguard before they joined the team and why they signed up. Witness the birth of a legend right here in this exclusive episode. It’s and exclusive to subscribers, so sign up now to receive your free copy!

And also don’t forget Vanguard #2: Cold War Frankenstein, scheduled for release on February 23rd and now available for pre-order on Amazon!

This is a big day for release announcements because I’m not yet done! On the same day that Vanguard #1 came out, Pro Se Productions also released the second installment of my Luther Cross series for their Single Shot Signatures line. Here’s their press release:

Luther Cross 2 - The Ties That Bind PRO SE PRODUCTIONS SINGLE SHOT SIGNATURE SERIES-
FOUR NEW STORIES TO KICK OFF 2015!

At the end of 2013, Pro Se Productions, an innovative publisher of Genre Fiction, debuted its Pro Se Single Shots line, stand alone digital only short story singles at an affordable price. Due to the success of the single self containted tales, Pro Se launched the Pro Se Single Shot Signature line in 2014. The Signature imprint still focuses on digital singles, but invited authors either write individual stand alone stories under a ‘From the Pen of…” title or a series of their own creation, either featuring connected stories or even ‘chapters’ or ‘episodes’ as well as still features single short stories or recurrent ‘chapters’ or ‘episodes’ written as short stories. The New Pulp Publisher debuts the next chapters in four of its inaugural Signature series today.

“The Pro Se Single Shot Signature line,” says Tommy Hancock, Pro Se Productions Partner and Editor in Chief, “is a project that, although it’s gotten off to a slow start, has in many ways altered how Pro Se sees publishing. We’ll continue with our traditional publishing of novels and anthologies, but the Signature imprint allows us to play with all sorts of possibilities of promotion, distribution, and accessing new readership on several levels. With schedules being sorted in the next week or two as well as multiple series and writer’s imprints debuing within the line over the next month or so, Pro Se is preparing to redefine Genre Fiction and New Pulp in 2015. And the four latest installments to the series that kicked off the Signatures are the best way to move forward.”

The four newest releases from the Pro Se Single Shot Signature line are available at Amazon and www.smashwords.com.

FLY GIRL: THE ICE QUEEN by Russ Anderson

Russ Anderson Jr’s Fly Girl returns, soaring into her second adventure in her Pro Se Single Shot Signature series as she faces The Ice Queen!

Still reeling from the events of the first story, 16 year old Caryn Clay struggles to understand her newfound abilities, her truly awesome connection with her Navajo heritage, and the attack of another strangely powered figure, known only as The Trickster. Before she can come to grips with any of that, though, a new foe presents herself. Can Caryn survive the chilling vengeance of a wronged girl? And are she and her mystical feather to blame for the destruction wrought by this frigid new enemy? Find out in The Ice Queen, Fly Girl Book Two by Russ Anderson, Jr., featuring exciting cover and logo design by Jeff Hayes and ebook formatting by Anderson. Available on the Kindle athttp://tinyurl.com/prt4yoo and for most other formats at http://tinyurl.com/q6vm3pl for only 99 cents.

LUTHER CROSS: TIES THAT BIND by Percival Constantine

Author Percival Constantine returns with another tale of Luther Cross—the only man clever enough to con Hell itself. In the second installment of Constantine’s Pro Se Single Shot Signature Series, Cross finds himself embroiled in a missing persons case and becomes dangerously entangled in Ties That Bind.

A stop for breakfast in a small diner becomes a case of life and death…and more for Cross. Overhearing a distraught woman’s plea for help to find her missing brother, Cross senses there is more than simply an absent sibling at work here. Finding themselves on their own deep in the woods, Cross and his new companion discover that small towns not only hide skeletons in the closet. There’s something much worse they keep in the barn.

Ties That Bind, the second digital single short story in Constantine’s Luther Cross Pro Se Single Shot Signature Series, features evocative cover art and logo design by Jeff Hayes and ebook formatting by Russ Anderson. The latest story in Cross’ saga is available for only 99 cents for Kindle at http://tinyurl.com/l79xflt and at Smashwords for other formats at http://tinyurl.com/o76jp2j.

MAGEE: TWO SOULS by David White

The Angel Heaven and Hell hate to see coming discovers new truths in the third installment of author David White’s Magee, a Pro Se Single Shot Series from Pro Se Productions.

Finding love in the arms of a witch, Magee seems to be finding his stride in the mortal world. That is, until a guitar wielding demon shows up, fully intent on playing Magee’s funeral song on his corpse. As the battle ensues, Magee finds himself face to face with unbelievable secrets now revealed as well as an evil older than God itself. An evil that offers Magee the world…or suffering beyond even his imagining.

David White’s Magee: Two Souls is the third digital single short story in this supernatural action Pro Se Single Signature Series and features striking art work and logo design by Jeff Hayes and ebook formatting by Russ Anderson. Get your copy for only 99 cents at Amazon for the Kindle at http://tinyurl.com/k6qcrxb and for most other formats at Smashwords at http://tinyurl.com/pqaptzy.

THE FABULOUS WORLD OF ZENITH: MY FLORIDA IDYLL, PART TWO
by Chuck Miller

Chuck Miller, the master of Psychedelic Pulp, returns with the second episode of the wildest, weirdest Pro Se Single Shot Signature Series yet. The Fabulous World of Zenith, a new and original series that will examine the world of the Black Centipede, Vionna Valis, Mary Kelly and Doctor Unknown Junior from a variety of strange and oblique angles continues on with The Journal of Bloody Mary Jane: My Florida Idyll- Part Two!

Finding herself trapped in the small Florida settlement of Cotton Mather and Ponce De Leon, Mary Jane Gallows continues on her odd mission for the now vampiric Professor Moriarty, as well as her own personal twisted journey. Strange creatures inhabit the dilapidated village surrounding the mysterious Fountain of Youth. Three men stumble their way into the crop of building and strangeness seeking a murderess, not knowing that Bloody Mary Jane is indeed among them. And Miss Gallows finds out much and yet nothing about the future, her destiny, and secrets that could mean her own demise or even better, the end of the world.

The Journal of Bloody Mary Jane: My Florida Idyll- Part Two features a fantastic cover and logo design by Jeff Hayes and ebook formatting by Russ Anderson. It is available for only 99 cents at Amazon for the Kindle at http://tinyurl.com/kxfgfme and at Smashwords for most other formats at http://tinyurl.com/pkbcslh.

For more information on these titles, interviews with the authors, or digital copies for review, contact Morgan McKay, Pro Se’s Director of Corporate Operations, at directorofcorporateoperations@prose-press.com.

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