Comic Strippers!

Last year, my pal and Femme Noir partner-in-crime, Joe Staton, landed the penciling gig on the Dick Tracy newspaper strip, and has continually knocked it out of the park artistically. If you haven't been following it in your paper (assuming there's a paper in your town that carries it) or online, you've really been missing out.

Yesterday another artist pal of mine, Terry Beatty, with whom I worked on the Mickey Spillane's Mike Danger comic book some years ago, took over the art chores on another long-running classic comic strip, The Phantom (Sundays)! The first installment (above) looks beautiful, and I know that Terry (and colorist Tom Smith) are only going to get even better as time goes by.

It's a shame that so few newspapers carry adventure strips these days, but it's good to know that two of the most legendary American comic strips survive in the talented and capable hands of my friends!

Weekend Double Feature: The Perfect Match To Set The Screen On Fire!

Wednesday Cover: HEROES, INC.

Heroes, Inc. Presents was a 1969 comic book produced by the great Wally Wood to be sold exclusively in military PXs for the entertainment of American G.I.s. 

It featured several strips - Cannon, a hard-boiled and violent spy adventure, Dragonella, a comedic T&A fantasy, and The Misfits, a sci-fi/superhero mash-up. It wasn't a success, though a second "issue" was produced in the mid-70s as a fanzine.

I got my copy back in the 80s for a buck or so - apparently the title was way over-printed and under-distributed, so there were a lot of copies floating around for a while. It's a fun comic,

King Of The Monsters!

I must admit, that I'm eagerly looking forward to picking up the Criterion Blu-ray release of Gojira/Godzilla (1954) later this week. (Dig that awesome Bill Sienkiewicz cover art!) The advance reviews of this new high-definition, fully-restored and remastered edition of the original Godzilla movie are positively (and radioactively, no doubt) glowing!

By all reports, the image quality of the new Blu-ray is vastly superior to the version that Classic Media released on DVD back in 2006 (and later, on Blu-ray). That edition was the first time that the original Japanese version of the film received an authorized U.S. video release, and I was glad to have it. But, although I figured it was the best we were going to get, considering the age of the movie, it wasn't the greatest looking disc. This new Criterion edition supposedly benefits from an extensive digital restoration... and I can't wait to see it!

It's supposed to go on sale on Tuesday.

Just a quick note to remind folks about my Space: 1970 site, a 70s nostalgia blog devoted to the sci-fi movies and television shows of the polyester decade. Space: 1999, Battlestar Galactica (the original), Quark, Logan's Run, Star Wars, Buck Rogers In The 25th Century - all of these are covered at Space: 1970, along with many more shows and films.

I've seen a huge increase in traffic over there since New Years, and I've been posting new stuff there almost every day. If you grew up during the 70s - or just have an interest in / fondness for the genre - you should check it out.

Is It SAFE?

From LionsGate: A second-rate cage fighter on the mixed martial arts circuit, Luke Wright lives a numbing life of routine beatings and chump change...until the day he blows a rigged fight. Wanting to make an example of him, the Russian Mafia murders his family and banishes him from his life forever, leaving Luke to wander the streets of New York destitute, haunted by guilt, and tormented by the knowledge that he will always be watched, and anyone he develops a relationship with will also be killed. 

 But when he witnesses a frightened twelve-year-old Chinese girl, Mei, being pursued by the same gangsters who killed his wife, Luke impulsively jumps to action...and straight into the heart of a deadly high-stakes war. Mei, he discovers, is no ordinary girl, but an orphaned math prodigy forced to work for the Triads as a "counter." He discovers she holds in her memory a priceless numerical code that the Triads, the Russian mob and a corrupt faction of the NYPD will kill for. 

Realizing he's the only person Mei can trust, Luke tears a swath through the city's brutal underworld to save an innocent girl's life...and perhaps even redeem his own.

Rockin' With The Green Slime

I love this movie. And this song.

The Eighth Wonder!

A couple of nights ago, I picked up the original King Kong on Blu-ray. Warners did an astounding job on the transfer, which appears to be derived from the same source used on the 2005 DVD, but further tweaked for high definition. I don't know how many times I've seen this film, but watching it again the other night on the 55" HDTV was almost like seeing it for the first time. It was a wonderful experience, and on the big screen TV, I noticed a multitude of details that I never really saw before.

I've owned the movie on VHS and on laserdisc (the 90s Criterion edition) and on DVD. It is, without question, one of my top ten favorite films of all time. I am so pleased to be able to have it on my shelf in this format. I'm also glad that Warner Home Video included all of the supplemental material from the 2005 DVD, particularly the exhaustive retrospective documentary produced by Peter Jackson.

Wednesday Cover: THE BLONDE IN SUITE 14

New Year's Graphic Novels

Yesterday, I ordered two new books from Amazon, using a portion of a recent freelance check. Both titles harken back to my personal "Golden Age" of comics in the early 80s: the long-awaited Marv Wolfman/George Perez New Teen Titans graphic novel, "Games," and The Complete Captain Canuck - a favorite series from my youth, collected in paperback with gorgeous art by George Freeman.

The New Teen Titans was probably the first superhero comic that I made a point of following on a monthly basis, starting with the third or fourth issue. It was also the title I collected for the longest time: I bought it - and its spin-off titles/annuals/specials - every month for more than ten years. This graphic novel was originally announced back in the late 80s, if I recall correctly - so it's been a long while coming.

Captain Canuck was an oddity; a Canadian-produced comic about a Canadian super-hero, that somehow got distribution to local newsstands here in Maine. In fact, I bought my earliest issues of Canuck at the same convenience store where I discovered the Titans. I discovered Canuck with its fifth or sixth issue, and eventually tracked down and collected all but two issues of the run. This trade has them all, including the unpublished final issue. It was an offbeat, cool comic combining super-hero, sci-fi and spy elements, and I loved the art by George Freeman. I'm looking forward to having the collection on my shelves.

With luck, these will show up in my mailbox soon after New Years.

Holiday Double Feature

Ahh... those marketing geniuses at American-International Pictures. Because nothing says "Happy Holidays" like a Blaxploitation double feature of Blacula and Slaughter! Actually.... hmmmm.... now that I think about it --

Toho-ho-ho

The Falcon Has Landed

Today I received the Falcon Mystery Movie Collection, Vol. 1, from Warner Archives, containing the first seven films in RKO's "Falcon" series. The films - which starred George Sanders and then his real-life brother, Tom Conway - are tight little B-mysteries in the vein of the studio's "Saint" programmers.

I guess I know what my next seven midnight movies are going to be...

Wednesday Cover: DAGAR THE INVINCIBLE

Thanks to my generous mother-in-law and her holiday largesse, I was able to order myself a copy of the Dagar The Invincible Archives Vol. 1, featuring stories by writer Don Glut and artist Jesse Santos. Should be here sometime next week.

This artwork originally graced the sixth issue of Gold Key Comics' Dagar the Invincible/Tales Of Swords & Sorcery, back in 1974, and Dark Horse Comics used it for the cover of their hardcover archive edition. Unfortunately, the Grand Comic Book Database doesn't identify the artist.

Not Feeling It

For a number of reasons, neither my wife nor myself are really feeling the holiday spirit this season. In fact, less than a week to go before Christmas, and we have no tree, nor have we put up any decorations - the first time in the twelve years that we've been together that we haven't had either around the house.

It's not even a "Bah, Humbug," situation. Neither of us has any particularly negative feelings towards the holidays; we just don't feel like participating in the yuletide celebrations this year.

Frankly, it hasn't been a particularly great year, and although we've had as bad or even worse ones in recent memory, I think we're just feeling run down and worn out. I know that we're both really missing China - her passing has left a huge hole in our lives, and we've been having a hard time dealing with it. Money is tight - as usual - and there are a lot of things around here that need replacing or repair. And, as for myself, I really wish more of my friends actually lived close enough for me to hang out with them once in a while. I miss socializing with folks.

Oh well. I suspect that it's going to be a rough winter for us, but we'll get through it....