The Joy of Ordering Stuff...

Just ordered some stuff, really essential stuff I've been wanting for a while. Scraped up the dough, begged the wife to let me spend said dough, and then went clicking over at Deep Discount.com.

The biggie was the second set of Mr. Moto movies from Fox. Loved the first set from last year – I hadn't really seen the films before and was surprised how damned cool the character was. I expected a Charlie Chan-styled protagonist and similar whodunnits, but Peter Lorre's Moto is much more of an adventurer than a detective – in fact, the "mystery" in most of these flicks is just what the hell Moto's up to! Can't wait to see the remaining films in the series, as well as the notorious 1965 Return of Mr. Moto film (starring Henry Silva) that Fox has included as a bonus feature!

Also ordered the eleventh volume of Dark Horse's trade paperback reprintings of Marvel's great Conan the Barbarian comic books from the 70s. More Hyborian hijinx with the raven-maned Cimmerian and his she-pirate sextoy, Belit – with scripts by Roy Thomas and sublime art by Howard Chaykin and John Buscema. Earlier volumes of the Chronicles of Conan books, in which Dark Horse decided to re-color and re-letter the original comics, had some sloppy typos and questionable color choices, but the last several volumes have been really nice. I like Dark Horse's new Conan comics too – but I like these old ones better.

Finally – as we know, I'm a big fan of Chuck Dixon's comics, and I really enjoyed last year's Iron Ghost miniseries from Image Comics, which told the story of a mysterious vigilante murdering Nazi officials in war-torn Berlin, just as WWII was grinding to its inevitable end. Well, I enjoyed five of the six issues, anyway – I never managed to snag a copy of the climactic final issue. So, now the trade paperback collection is out, and I'll finally get to read the end. I don't mind buying most of it twice, really; I'm a big fan of artists Sergio Cariello and Flint Henry, too, and it will be nice to have a quality collection for the bookshelf and handy re-reading.

I love ordering stuff.

I just hate waiting for it to arrive. :)

Sneak Peek: Captain Midnight

Here's the initial "model sheet" of the new Moonstone comics version of Captain Midnight, drawn by my pal Richard Clark, an extremely talented comics artist, caricaturist, and magazine & book illustrator.

Rich and I go back a ways. I first became aware of his work when he did an art job for another editor during my tenure at Tekno*Comix/BIG Entertainment, back in the 90's. Later, when I was the Art Director of the Sun tabloid newspaper, I hired Rich to illustrate a number of stories and articles. We always got along well, and I've always admired and liked his work.

He'll be drawing my first Captain Midnight comic serial, "Assault on Midnight Mesa," for sure, and hopefully more. This will be our first full-bore collaboration, and I'm really looking forward to it. It's going to be fun!

For more samples of Rich's amazing work, check out his website.

The King of Pain...

I swear, I just can't catch a break.

Just as I was starting to get mobile and productive again after my kidney surgery, I've been stricken with sciatica. Apparently, this may be caused by a herniated disc, and if so, it might require an operation to repair. In the meantime, I'm suffering incredible pain down my left leg, which makes sitting at this desk – or even in my recliner in front of the TV – impossible to do for more than 20-30 minutes at a time.

It sucks, really. Sleeping hasn't been easy, either.

Now, this "hit" me on Friday, and it has gotten slightly better since then, but if it doesn't seem likely to correct itself in another day or so, then I'll have to travel somewhere to get an MRI scan (I'm too damned fat to actually fit in most MRI machines, so I need an "open" one, and there aren't any of those locally) to determine if it's definitely a herniated disc. If so, then it's back to the hospital (and with our insurance company, that probably means Boston again) to be sliced open. Again.

Yeah, I know. If it wasn't happening to me, I'd think I was making all this up, too.

I have stood here before inside the pouring rain
With the world turning circles running 'round my brain
I guess I'm always hoping that you'll end this reign
But it's my destiny to be the king of pain

R.I.P. Herman Brix (a/ka/ Bruce Bennett)

I just found out that the great Herman Brix – who later changed his name to Bruce Bennett – passed away on February 24th at age 100.

An Olympic shot-putter and stuntman, Brix was Edgar Rice Burroughs' personal choice to play Tarzan, and starred as the Ape Man in the independently produced serial, The New Adventures of Tarzan. Due to a troubled production, the serial itself, which was shot on location in the jungles of South America, is a bit of a mess, but Brix is a letter-perfect Lord Greystoke: intelligent, erudite, and utterly lethal in a loincloth.

The athletic Brix starred in many great Republic serials, including Daredevils of the Red Circle (a personal fave), The Fighting Devil Dogs (another classic), Shadow of Chinatown, Hawk of the Wilderness, and The Lone Ranger. Later, he changed his name to Bruce Bennett and moved into supporting and co-starring roles in A-pictures, including a most memorable turn in The Treasure of Sierra Madre, with humphrey Bogart and Walter Huston. He appeared with Bogart again in Sahara, and even had a featured role in the 50's cult fave, The Alligator People, alongside Lon Chaney Jr.

His IMDB page has over 140 listed credits, so the man was clearly a hard worker and much in demand over his long and varied career. Here's another tribute.

I think I'll go dig out my VHS of Fighting Devil Dogs and watch a chapter or two in his memory.

Rest in Peace, Brix.

Midnight Strikes!

A few weeks back, as you might recall, I mentioned that I was going to be writing some Captain Midnight comics.

Well, big news, folks: at the request of Joe Gentile at Moonstone Books, I'm now the editor of the forthcoming Captain Midnight prose anthology, too.

Remember Captain Midnight? Well, even if you do, there's the matter of which Captain Midnight you remember.

There have been lots of very different versions of the Captain Midnight character over the years. First there was a weekly radio program broadcast from 1938 to 1949, then there was a movie serial from Columbia in '42, then a comic book from Fawcett, and finally, a TV show in the 50's. In each version the Captain was portrayed differently. On radio he was first an independent adventurer and then an airborne spy. In the comics, he was a crime-busting super-hero in red longjohns. On TV, he was a gadget-toting sci-fi crimefighter with a "Squadron" of Ovaltine-drinking children.

Rather than pick the radio, TV, comic book or serial version of the character to go with, I’ve tried to take the best and most interesting elements from each of those incarnations and create an amalgam Captain Midnight. Sort of like what the creators of the Batman animated series did with the Caped Crusader in the 90’s.

Anyway, as I was the one who suggested the property to Moonstone last year and I was the one writing the Moonstone CM "bible," I originally offered to be a consultant on the anthology. But since Joe and his staff are already handling so many projects, and I have some previous editorial experience, I was asked to take over the main editing chores on the book.

Now, I didn't go after the job – lord knows it doesn't pay, and I definitely don't need more non-paying work – but I couldn't bring myself to refuse, either... if only so that I could ensure that nothing in the anthology contradicted or undermined the Captain Midnight comics scripts I'm writing for the company.

As it stands, all the authors have already been chosen by Moonstone, so I have no say in that – unless someone drops out. If that should happen, I have several people in mind to recruit. The author list is a particularly strong one, though, so I have no complaints with their choices.

The authors that Joe lined up for this are: Martin Powell, Robert Jeschonek, Tim Lasiuta, Tom Defalco, Bob Greenberger, Win Eckert, Mark Justice, Max Allan Collins, Steve Mertz, Trina Robbins, Howard Hopkins, Joe Gentile and... me.

Pretty cool, no?

So, mix yourself an ice cold glass of rich, chocolately Ovaltine and get your Code-O-Graph decoder ready for future dispatches... Captain Midnight and the Secret Squadron flies again!

DVD News Flash!

From the Digital Bits Rumor Mill, the following geek-friendly DVDs are due out this Summer from Universal home Video:

July - Serenity: Special Edition, Baa Baa Black Sheep: Volume Two, Incredible Hulk: The Complete Second Season, Woody and Friends: Classic Cartoon Collection

August - Flash Gordon: Savior of the Universe Edition, Seaquest DSV: Season Two, Heroes: Season One

Finally! The long awaited 1980 Flash Gordon Special Edition – hopefully with a cleaned up transfer, amped up audio and some decent extra features. I suppose it would be too much to hope for a seperate soundtrack CD (Not that I don't already have the soundtrack, but still...)

There's some cool other stuff, there, too. I don't watch Heroes, but I hear it's good. I'm looking forward to getting the second seasons of The Hulk and Baa Baa Black Sheep. Do we really need another edition of Serenity, though? I thought the first disc was pretty damned good.

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.