Ghost Busters of Star Command

BCI Eclipse has sent out press releases for two more live-action Filmation Saturday morning shows coming to DVD in the near future: The Ghost Busters and Jason of Star Command.

The Ghost Busters long pre-dated the popular 80's movie of the same name, and starred F-Troop's Larry Storch and Forrest Tucker (also stalwart star of The Crawling Eye and The Abominable Snowman of the Himilayas) as a couple of paranormal investigators/exorcists who worked with a civilized gorilla named Tracy (gorilla man and monster movie fan extraordinaire, Bob Burns). I don't really remember anything about the show other than I watched it and loved Tracy. So I'm looking forward to the DVDs – especially, since in an interview with Burns that ran in Filmfax a few years ago, he stated that the videotape masters of the show had been sold off and erased, and that no copies of the episodes existed any longer. Glad he turned out to be mistaken.

Jason of Star Command, on the other hand, I remember vividly. After Space Academy was cancelled for being "too dull," the Filmation crew decided to recycle as much of that show's expensive sets, props and FX as possible, while giving the network the more Star Wars-ish show they wanted.

So, instead of earnest young cadets learning important lessons about honor, duty and life while exploring space and unravelling the mysteries of the universe, we had a trouble-shooting space hero (bland Craig Littler) in a vaguely Han Solo-ish outfit, a Darth Vader-esque villian (the GREAT Sid Haig as "Dragos!"), and a whole lot of cute robots. Unfortunately, this being 70's network kid's TV, Jason couldn't punch, trip, shoot, or even give a mean look to anybody. "Action" existed only in the form of endless running up and down corridors, swooping model spacecraft, and "drone" ships blowing up.

On the plus side, you had Jimmy Doohan (Star Trek's Scotty) as a space commander, a cute brunette cadet in a skin-tight space suit, and exotic Tamara Dobson – Cleopatra Jones herself! – in a recurring role as a mysterious alien babe. There were some cool stop-motion monsters on occasion, too, as I recall.

The Ghost Busters DVD set, with a bunch of extras, is expected to hit shelves on April 17th, while Jason of Star Command is scheduled for a May 8th release. If I get review copies, I'll be sure and post my observations here first.

Personal Update

For those who've been e-mailing and asking, I'm feeling much better now.

There's a bit of residual soreness, but the actual incision is nicely healed up. I may look like a rejected Frankenstein experiment, but the pain is mostly gone.

The official word from the docs is that the cancer was completely contained in the kidney. There's no indication that it has spread anywhere else, so the surgery should have taken care of everything. Now let's just keep hoping my remaining kidney continues functioning efficiently.

I'm slowly getting back to work (you'll have noticed that I'm posting stuff here fairly regularly again), and hope to start making up some time this week. I've got a lot on my plate... including my DVD Late Show column, which I'm hoping to re-launch before the end of the month.

Anyway, thanks to all for your good thoughts and well-wishes. Time to get back to work.

Bob Oksner, R.I.P.

Sadly, here's another passing I feel I should make note of.

Mark Evanier is reporting that Golden and Silver Age comic book artist Bob Oksner has passed away at age 90. I don't really know much about Oksner and his work, except that he drew damned pretty girls, from Lois Lane and Wonder Woman to Black Canary and Mary Marvel, and I always enjoyed his work.

According to the Grand Comics Database, he drew that delightfully silly (and extremely well-drafted) Supergirl cover above – and isn't it a shame they don't do comics like that anymore?

Richard S. Prather, R.I.P.

I just read in Christa Faust's blog that Richard S. Prather, the talented author of the hugely-successful-in-their-time Shell Scott private eye novels, passed away yesterday at age 85.

There's some irony in Prather's death coming so soon after that of Mickey Spillane, for Prather was by far the most successful of those Fifties PBO authors who followed in the Mick's gigantic footsteps, angling for a slice of the rich Mike Hammer pie. In many ways, Shell Scott was a West Coast Hammer – albeit an absurdist Hammer with a ridiculously overactive libido and ribald sense of humor.

I first discovered Prather in the mid-Eighties when Tor Books attempted to launch a Shell Scott revival with a few carefully selected reprints and two, fine, new novels, The Amber Effect and Shellshock. At the time, I took my P.I. fiction pretty seriously, and I didn't quite "get" the broad humor and Prather's deft, tongue-in-cheek style, but a few years later I re-visited those books, saw the light, and soon found myself scouring used bookstores for as many Prather paperbacks as I could find. I may be slow sometimes, but I'm not stupid.

Hard Case Crime recently re-published one of Prather's non-Scott crime novels, The Peddler, and last year, Linda Pendleton (widow of The Executioner author Don Pendleton) conducted an extraordinary interview with the man – one well-worth reading – in which he revealed that there was another unpublished Shell Scott novel in his files. Maybe Hard Case can arrange to shepherd that one through to print. It would be a fitting tribute.

If you've never read one of Prather's stories, this link will take you to a Shell Scott short story that you can download. It's a good 'un.

Rest in peace, Mr. Prather... and so long, Shell.

That Man Bolt

When I was in high school, the A-V department used to get these thick, phone book-sized catalogs for 16mm rental films. Along with the expected the "educational" variety of cinema, there were hundreds of entertainment features included, many of the listings illustrated with the original newspaper ad slicks. Since the school usually discarded these catalogs, I snagged them whenever I could. For an embryonic film buff in the pre-video era, these catalogs were far more educational and exhaustive than most available reference books, listing movies across the broad spectrum of cinema – everything from foreign art house fare to Hollywood "classics" to the most obscure drive-in programmers. It was in one of these catalogs that I first saw the listing for That Man Bolt, (along with the ad art above) and became obsessed with seeing it.

It only took close to thirty years...!

That Man Bolt (1973) begins with international freelance courier Jefferson Bolt (Fred Williamson, Hell Up In Harlem, Hammer, Bucktown, Three The Hard Way) practicing martial arts in a Macao prison cell. Soon, he's visited by a "government" operative (the nation involved is never named, but the agent certainly appears to be British), who offers him a job carrying a cool million in American currency from Hong Kong to Mexico City, via Los Angeles.

The suave, well-dressed Bolt never makes it to Mexico, though, as he's waylaid in L.A. by mobsters that seem intent on snagging his briefcase full of cash. Soon, neither Bolt nor the audience is sure whether the money is real or counterfeit (and you know, I'm still not quite sure how it turned out), people are dying left and right, and Bolt's on his way back to the orient for a kung fu confrontation in Hong Kong.

I love this movie. Can't even begin to figure out the story, but I love the movie anyway. Fred Williamson's always been my favorite Blaxploitation lead, and Jefferson Bolt is clearly his attempt at creating a more general-audience, mass market hero along the lines of James Bond. Bolt is a former captain of U.S. Special Forces, graduate of Cal Tech and M.I.T. with a master's degree in physics, and a black belt in karate. He's got nice suits, several cool apartments around the world, telescopic sunglasses, and an upscale persona right out of the Ian Fleming playbook. Even the sex scenes are handled tastefully off-screen, as in the early Bond films.

The pacing is fast, the Hong Kong photography is beautiful, the funky score is great, and the unbeatable combination of Williamson's sideburns, Alpha male machismo and cigar-chewing charisma carry the film, even as the plot continues to deteriorate with each additional minute of running time.

That Man Bolt is available on a "Soul Showcase" DVD from Universal, which presents the film in a beautiful, crisp 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer with clear, Dolby Stereo sound.
There are no extras included.

A great Saturday afternoon time-killer.

The P.I.s

Still not on my feet, really, nor at the keyboard to speak of, this missive notwithstanding. Still in some pain (although, hopefully, once the two-score metal staples in my side are removed, that will help some), which should come as no surprise, since I'm a 41 year-old, 325 lb. couch potato with a foot-long slice in me. It's amazing I can sit up or move at all. Home video, then, is – even moreso than usual – my best friend.

Fortunately, Universal came through with a box of review DVDs today, including the third season of The Rockford Files (premiere private eye show of the 70's) and the sixth season of Magnum, P.I. (ditto for the 80's), which should help the weekend fly by with the illusion of some speed.

Big fan of both shows, although I'm not deluded. Rockford is a much better program, with far better writing and smarter scripts, but sometimes, that Magnum pineapple fluff is just what one's looking for – epecially doped up on pain pills.

More later.

Good Bye To Bad Kidney!

Well, just freshened up the pain meds so that I may manage to remain sitting upright long enough to type the following brief note:

I am alive, and now short one cancer-ridden kidney.

I am home. Hospital care sucks. Home is better, even when it's not.

I am in pain. Lots of pain.

Recovery is taking longer that I was led to believe it would. Shouldn't be surprised: everybody tries to put a positive spin on things pre-surgery – and I've got (literally) a foot-long incisicion right through the major muscle group of the human body. Gee, why shouldn't I be surprised that it still hurts like hell?

I am not back to working on anything yet. Lots to do; feeling eager to get back to it. Hopefully tomorrow, I'll be able to do a little writing (more importantly, though, hopefully tomorrow, I'll be able to bathe). Still haven't even made it through my various e-mail accounts, so if you've e-mailed me, it may be a while 'till I respond.

Now it hurts, and I have lay down. Total time upright, twenty minutes. Not bad.

G'night.

Richard Benson, The Avenger

In 1939, Street & Smith Publications, publishers of the legendary pulp magazine heroes Doc Savage and The Shadow, launched another crime-fighter onto the newstands and magazine racks of America. Allegedly written by Kenneth Robeson, the masterful scribe of Doc Savage's adventures (in fact, "Robeson" was a S&S "house" name), new hero Richard Benson, alias The Avenger, made his debut in a high-octane thriller entitled "Justice, Inc."

Never quite as popular as Savage or The Shadow, The Avenger nonetheless managed to secure a small cult following, and when the paperback reprints of Doc Savage became best-sellers in the 1970's, Warner Books reprinted the 24 Avenger adventures as well. Those sold so well that acclaimed sci-fi author Ron Goulart was commssioned to ghost write another dozen or so. There was even a very short-lived comic book from DC around that time, called Justice, Inc., after the character's debut story, drawn by the legendary Jack Kirby (the cover above is from that series, drawn by the equally-legendary Joe Kubert. Beautiful, isn't it?).

Richard Benson was a grim vigilante with a deathly gray, immobile, wax-like face, which he could reshape into various disguises simply through manipulation of his deft fingers. He had a few assistants (just like Doc and The Shadow), and carried a custom firearm he called "Mike" and a slim throwing knife named "Ike." The Avenger may not have been the most popular pulp hero, but damn, he was cool.

So what provoked this little informal history lesson? Just this: Moonstone Books, for whom I'm writing a Kolchak The Night Stalker comic book, and already wrote a Spider prose adventure, have landed the license to The Avenger and have asked me to contribute a short story to a new Avenger anthology. Reportedly, they've even persuaded the above-mentioned Ron Goulart to contribute a new story to the book. I also know that my pal Martin Powell – who previously contributed to The Spider, Kolchak and Phantom anthologies – is participating in this one, too. It should be a great book!

I always wanted to be a "pulp" writer – and now I am! And best of all, these are authorized, licensed projects, so I'm legitimately part of the characters' legacy. How cool is that?

More details when I can. Stay tuned!

DVD Review: Maniac Cop

I need a break from this script I'm trying to finish, so let's knock out one more DVD review before I head for Boston, kidney surgery, a week of hospital bed rest and legal drugs...

One of my favorite action/horror films, William Lustig's MANIAC COP (1988), has finally received the quality DVD release it deserves, thanks to the fine folks at Synapse Films.

Previously issued on laserdisc by Elite Entertainment and as a full-frame DVD by a budget label in a decidedly fuzzy version, this new release is not only the best the film has ever looked on home video, but includes all the great extras from the laserdisc, as well as a few new features created specifically for this edition.

When a psycho killer in a police uniform starts murdering innocent people on the streets of New York, the city is gripped in paranoia and afraid of their own police force. Soon, a young cop named Jack Forrest (Bruce Campbell of EVIL DEAD and BUBBA HO-TEP fame) is wrongfully accused of being the "Maniac Cop" when his wife turns up dead and he's arrested. But while Jack may be an unfaithful jerk, he's no serial killer, so it's up to his policewoman mistress (Laurene Landon, YELLOW HAIR AND THE FORTRESS OF GOLD) and veteran NYPD detective Frank McCrae (the great Tom Atkins, NIGHT OF THE CREEPS, LETHAL WEAPON) to find the real Maniac Cop – a scarred, Frankenstein-esque hulk named Matt Cordell (the imposing Robert Z'Dar of SOULTAKER) – stop him, and clear Jack's name.

A great B-movie cast (which also includes William Smith, Richard Roundtree, Sheree North and Sam Raimi!), slick, noir-ish photography, a nearly perfect script by exploitation vet Larry Cohen (IT'S ALIVE, Q, BLACK CAESAR, ORIGINAL GANGSTAS), an evocative score by Jay Chattaway, and gritty direction by William Lustig (VIGILANTE, MANIAC) combine to create a top-notch, fast-paced entertainment, with plenty of thrills, impressive stunts and some genuine scares.

Synapse's DVD presents MANIAC COP in a brand-new, high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen anamorphic transfer from the original vault materials. The movie looks amazing, with a level of clarity and detail unseen in previous video incarnations. The film has also been given a new DTS 6.1 surround audio mix as well as a crystal Dolby Digital 5.1 version.

There's plenty of extras, including a highly entertaining group commentary (ported over from the LD) with director Lustig, writer Cohen, star Campbell and composer Chattaway. There are several theatrical trailers and TV spots, a still gallery, a bunch of short scenes shot to pad out the running time for Japanese television (featuring Leo Rossi of Lustig's RELENTLESS), and a new-to-this-DVD on-camera interview with Robert Z'Dar.

As you may of gathered, I've been a fan of this movie (and its first sequel) for years, and I'm absolutely thrilled to have this new edition for my DVD library. As I mentioned before, despite its long history on video, it has never looked or sounded as good as it does on this new DVD. Synapse is to be commended for putting in the effort to present this cult favorite in such a high quality package. Strongly recommended.

Drive-In DVD Reviews... n' Other Stuff

I've got a lot of DVDs piling up on my desk waiting to be reviewed for my DVD Late Show column. Here's a few examples:

BCI Eclipse has acquired the old Crown International exploitation film library, and has been making good use of these classic drive-in crowd pleasers. Crown was around from the Sixties through the Eighties, and their prodigious output covered the gamut from horror films to action flicks to teen comedies – any genre that could be produced cheaply and profitably appeal to a young audience.


JOCKS (1986) is one such Crown "classic" from BCI, a college sports and sex comedy with a decidedly unusual supporting cast for the genre.

Directed by exploitation veteran Steve Carver (LONE WOLF MCQUADE, BIG BAD MAMA), JOCKS's performers include a very young Mariska Hargitay (LAW & ORDER SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT), Tom Shadyac (who later directed the Jim Carrey vehicles LIAR, LIAR and BRUCE ALMIGHTY) and B-movie stalwarts Richard Roundtree (SHAFT) and Christopher Lee (HORROR OF DRACULA, THE DEVIL RIDES OUT).

The story follows a small college tennis (!) team made up of misfit players (including REVENGE OF THE NERDS' "Ogre," Donald Gibb) who travel to Vegas for an tournament, unaware that if they fail to win the championship, their dean (Lee) will shut down the tennis program. Of course, the boys are more interested in partying in the pre-Disneyfied Sin City than playing tennis, and their coach (Roundtree) finds it nearly impossible to ride herd on them. Will they win the tournament and save their team? More importantly, will they get laid?

What, haven't you seen one of these flicks before?

Despite the racy cover art, the film is relatively tame sexually, with only a little bit of female nudity (not Hargitay, unfortunately) but lots of innuendo. While JOCKS is utterly predictable, the cast is appealling, the pace is good, and the movie is fairly entertaining, if not particularly memorable; the kind of movie that used to endlessly run on Cinemax in the wee hours.

BCI's DVD is quite nice. It's a bare-bones package, but the 20-year old movie is given a solid, sharp 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer that belies its age and low budget. The film looks damned good. The disc also includes trailers for four other Crown teen comedies of the era, THE BEACH GIRLS, WEEKEND PASS and the popular cable programmers TOMBOY and MY CHAUFFEUR – all of which will (hopefully) soon be on DVD from BCI, if they're not already.

If you happen to remember this movie or just have a fondness for teen comedies of the era, JOCKS is an inexpensive, nicely-packaged trip back to the Eighties.

Disney has really dropped the ball when it comes to their handling of the Roger Corman film library. They acquired the movies last year with some fanfare, assuring Corman and his fans that the company was uniquely positioned to handle the DVDs better than any other studio. Well, a year later, the releases have slowed to a trickle, they continue to offer the titles in an unmatted, full-frame format, and seem determined to give each title the ugliest, most misleading cover art imaginable.

Case in point: Ron Howard's 1977 directorial debut, the light-hearted car crash comedy GRAND THEFT AUTO, has been packaged as a FAST AND THE FURIOUS clone and labeled as a "Tricked Out Edition." Sigh.

In 1976, actor Ron Howard, who was then starring in the hit sitcom HAPPY DAYS, played the lead in a low-budget, rural car chase movie for Roger Corman entitled EAT MY DUST. The movie was hugely successful on the drive-in circuit, and Corman wanted an immediate follow-up in the same vein. Howard was agreeable – but only if Corman allowed him to direct the movie as well. Corman agreed. Immediately, Ron and his father, veteran character actor Rance Howard, began to put together the script for a fast-paced, funny car chase flick they called GRAND THEFT AUTO.

Here's the plot: young Sam (Howard) and Paula (Nancy Morgan) are in love and want to get married. Unfortunately, Paula's wealthy parents object – they intend for her to marry rich, spoiled Bigby Powers (Barry Cahill). Paula's the headstrong type though, and after storming out of her parents' house, she and Sam steal the family's Rolls Royce and heads for Las Vegas to elope. Paula's father puts a $25,000 bounty on his daughter, and soon the two young lovers find themselves chased by a motley assortment of pursuers – including amateur bounty hunters, inept private eyes, various cops, an ambitious radio DJ in a helicopter, and Paula's spurned fiance.

Of course the plot is just there to link the car stunts together, and it works. In fact, it's great fun, with plenty of well-staged car crashes, comedic appearances by Ron's whole family (or, at least, father Rance and brother Clint) and HAPPY DAYS mom Marion Ross, and even a little bit of pointed media satire.

Disney's DVD presents the film in an unmatted, nonanamorphic full-frame 1.33:1 transfer that makes a mockery of Gary Graver's fine cineamatography, leaving far too much image information on the top and bottom of the screen. Picture quality is good, but there's a bit of dirt and debris that probably could have been digitally cleaned up, if anyone had cared enouigh to do so. The audio's been given a decent 5.1 Dolby Digital remix, and it sounds fine.

As for the "Tricked Out" extras, there's a documentary called "A Family Affair" which is essentially an on-camera interview with Rance Howard and son Clint. Director/star Ron, however, is mysteriously and disappointingly absent. There's a short introduction to the film by Roger Corman, and the amusing original theatrical trailer.

The best extra, though, is the audio commentary by Corman and Ron Howard, who clearly has fond and vivid memories of his directorial debut. Corman doesn't contribute a whole lot to the discussion, but the two clearly are enjoying hanging out and watching the movie again, and they're obviously proud of the film.

And they should be. It's unassuming, funny, and damned entertaining. I recommend picking it up, even with Disney's stupid packaging and substandard transfer.

THE OTHER STUFF:

I'll be checking into the hospital in Boston on Tuesday morning for my surgery. They'll be removing my right kidney. Recovery period is expected to be three or four days in the hospital, and then I'll be heading back here to Maine, where I hope to get back to work by the following Monday.

I won't have access to my e-mail or internet during the hospital stay (I don't own a laptop), but I'll be back online by or before the 5th.

Wish me luck!

Also, Moonstone has quietly announced on their website that I'll be working on some Captain Midnight color comics for the company, so I guess it's okay for me to talk about it now. The company has some ambitious plans for the character, including a prose anthology among other things, and I'm intimately involved in the whole project, helping to define and shape Moonstone's version of the Captain. It's thrilling to be able to put my own stamp on such a venerable, classic adventure hero, while trying to remain true to the spirit of the original creation. Hopefully, the fans will like what we come up with.

But most of all, I'm looking forward to working with my pal Rich Clark on the Captain Midnight comics. We've been friends for a number of years now, and this will be our first chance to actually collaborate on a project. Should be fun.

Stay tuned!

The Art of Joe Staton

Joe Staton is – obviously – one of my favorite comic book artists. I've been a fan for most of my life, and I'm honored to have been his collaborator on the Femme Noir comic strip and comic book for the last few years. It astounds me that he's not more in demand by DC and the other major comics publishers, especially since I think his work is as vibrant and dramatic and dynamic as ever, if not moreso. His pencils on the forthcoming Femme Noir miniseries may be the best he's ever done.

Here are a handful of my favorite Joe Staton covers. Enjoy!

National Gorilla Suit Day

I no longer own a gorilla suit (had to throw it away after loaning it to a co-worker who didn't get it dry cleaned after wearing it on a particularly humid Florida evening – pheww), and I'll be hospitalized on January 31st this year... but I wouldn't be able to call myself a Don Martin fan (and I've been one since getting my hands on the Mad Adventures of Captain Klutz paperback when I was twelve!) if I didn't recognize National Gorilla Suit Day.

Thanks to Mark Evanier for keeping the tradition alive.

Femme Noir Preview

It's still a long way away, but I thought I'd post the first two pages of the first issue of Femme Noir: The Dark City Diaries here as both a preview and as a welcome to our new colorist, Melissa Kaercher. These two pages landed her the gig.

The 4-issue miniseries will be coming from Ape Entertainment, hopefully before the end of the year. Pencils by Joe Staton, inks by Horacio Ottolini, story, script & letters by yours truly.

I'll post more art over the next few months.

Click on the images for a larger version.

Submitted Without Comment:

Early Morning Musings

It's snowing heavily this morning. First time this year, really. (We got a little bit of white stuff a week or so ago, but not much.) My wife, who's been complaining all winter that there hasn't been any snow, will be happy... but not in a few hours when she has to go out and try to get the car out of the driveway and to work.

I'm going to Boston on Monday for my last round of tests, and then, just about a week later, I'll be checking into the hospital down there for my surgery. If all goes well, I'll be hospitalized for only three or four days. Good thing I still have a lot of books to read.

My pal Jim just sent me a couple cool comic reprint collections for the recovery period – if I can make myself wait until then to read 'em! One is SHOWCASE Presents: The House of Mystery, with tons of beautiful art by Jerry Grandenetti, Neal Adams, Berni Wrightson, Alex Toth and others, and the other is Justice League of America: We Elect... , a collection of all the classic JLA stories in which the League invited new members into their ranks. Always loved those stories, and most of these are drawn by the underrated Dick Dillin.

My DVD review column for Quick Stop Entertainment has been on hiatus since November (and the DVD Late Show site's been idle for even longer, unfortunately), while I was dealing with other writing gigs and, later, my health issues. Still, the review discs are piling up. You'll probably start seeing random DVD reviews appearing in this blog again soon, to be compiled into columns when I get enough. Think of it as being privileged. You get to read 'em first!

Speaking of DVDs – I watched the new Chuck Norris flicks I ordered last night. Silent Rage was, sadly, not one of my hero's best. It's an interesting attempt to meld an action film with a sci-fi/horror film, but it just never comes together. Chuck's fine as a small town, karate-kicking Texas sherriff (well, duh.), but the movie's structured as a slasher film, and the director never manages to build any suspense. The pacing's terrible, the script is worse, and although the game cast tries their best, the movie just doesn't work.

Oh well. Forced Vengeance, on the other hand, was fun, if average. At least it had nice Hong Kong location work and some good action sequences.

I don't think The Spider Chronicles will make it to the shelves this month after all – I only just received a pdf "galley" of my story yesterday. Looks great, though – very slickly designed, and Tom Floyd's illustration is perfect – so whatever delay there might be should be worth it. Hopefully, it won't be long.

Well, I'm beat. Been working all night, and I think I'm going to go watch a short movie or TV show on DVD and hit the hay before dawn.