/ SpecFaith

Introducing The Laser & Sword

Guest blogger Adam Graham is the creator of a new quarterly magazine of serialized fiction, Laser & Sword Magazine. Here’s is a reprint (used by permission) of his initial introduction (with a few editorial format changes) of the periodical. – […]
on May 12, 2008 · Off

Guest blogger Adam Graham is the creator of a new quarterly magazine of serialized fiction, Laser & Sword Magazine. Here’s is a reprint (used by permission) of his initial introduction (with a few editorial format changes) of the periodical.
– – –

What do Buck Rodgers, Zorro, and Flash Gordon have in common? All were heroes born in the pages of pulp fiction magazines that became cultural icons.

With television and comic books taking over, pulp fiction disappeared. Short story magazines have become filled with forgettable one-shot characters. The age of easy to afford, quality fiction has passed.

Or Has It?

This is where Laser & Sword Magazine comes in. Laser & Sword seeks to bring back the fun and excitement that Pulp Fiction and early comic books in an action short story magazine. Like the pulps of old, Laser & Sword has a serial format. One story builds upon another. The characters and stories transport
readers into exciting adventures. The magazine is available for download online at a cost of $1.25 an issue, well below national costs, thus recreating the effect of the pulps-to bring quality stories to people at a reasonable price.

We launched in January with two series and added a third in our April issue.

  • “The Order of the Sword” features a new universe of costumed heroes as they begin an exciting adventure that will take them to a dangerous new
    world.

  • Our dystopia, “Rise of the Judge,” tells the story of a hard luck teenage boy who, to dodge a hate crime rap for the attempted lynching of a child molester, joins the army of the one-world government a post-New World Order America has succumbed to.

  • In the hilarious parody, “Tales of the Dim Knight,” a mild-mannered janitor goes from Superfan to Superhero when he discovers a mysterious alien cylinder.

George Will Presents Star Wars

Those who know me from my political work as a conservative Christian activist, columnist, and blogger might be scratching their heads. “Adam Graham presents super heroes? How about George Will doing Star Wars.”

Fiction has long been a passion of mine. For cultural conservatives, it is quite easy to complain about the state of American entertainment media. But what do we do about it? As the Chinese Proverb says, it is better to light a
candle (or in this case, a laser) rather than curse the darkness. We must offer a counterbalance to the poison of our culture, and that is what Laser & Sword seeks to do. Our stories are written in the tradition of earlier hero stories. Whether particular writers were Christian, the Judeo-Christian
worldview that dominated earlier times found its way into the pages of fiction.

For example, compare the central theme of Spiderman (`With great power comes great responsibility.’) to Luke 12:48. Our culture was bathed in the Judeo-Christian tradition and even secular works couldn’t help but get wet.
Today, many of the same characters are still around, but have been radically redefined by post-modern writers. Clearly, the time has come for a new generation of heroes.

The heroes of Laser & Sword are imperfect human beings who make mistakes and sin. A Laser & Sword hero may or may not be “a super hero” but is not a “Super Christian” and may even not be a person of faith at all. Our issues are not Sunday School quarterlies, but rather show truth even through human failings while avoiding being preachy.

If Laser & Sword is of interest to you, you can download the first issue for absolutely free. Please let
friends know who may be interested. Also, we appreciate feedback on our issues, including reviews, and will gladly print letters to the editors. We also accept advertising for publications, products, and websites of similar values or otherwise judged to be of interest to our readers.

Again, thank you for your time and attention,

Adam Graham

Adam Graham is a recovering politician and journalist, living in Boise, Idaho with his wife and fellow author, Andrea Graham. He is the author of the superhero comedy Tales of the Dim Knight (November 2010) and the follow up books Fly Another Day (March 2013), and Powerhouse Hard Pressed (May 2013). His current projects include the next book in that series, Ultimate Midlife Crisis as well as his first mystery novel Slime Incorporated. Adam also hosts The Great Detectives of Old Time Radio and Old Time Radio Superman podcasts. You can follow his blog, Christian Superheroes, and follow him on Twitter @Idahoguy.
Website ·