Happy Halloween!

Today, my favorite wife, Brandi, and I celebrate not only our favorite holiday, but 8(!) years of wedded bliss.

Have a great Halloween, everyone! May I humbly suggest a screening of a Boris & Bela classic, like The Raven (pictured above)? Of course, since the holiday falls on a Friday this year, you may want to get out of the house and get your ghoulish groove on. If that's how you choose to get your thrills and chills tonight, just remember...

Haunt responsibly!

Wednesday Cover: Haunted!

Here's the last of the horror-themed "Wednesday Covers" for this Halloween season: a delightfully Lovecraftian space monster, gorgeously illustrated by my pal and favorite collaborator, Joe Staton! This is one of Joe's early works, from October 1974 and his tenure at Charlton Comics, where he paid his professional dues working on several of their horror titles, as well as his signature series, E-Man.

Mid-Week Miscellany

I've been busy lately.

• I've been writing some comics scripts, trying to wrap up some older projects so I can start thinking about new ones; lettering Moonstone's upcoming Kolchak Tales Annual (which I did not write) guest-starring Dark Shadows' vampire, Barnabas Collins; doing some top secret editing for a new comics outfit (which I should be able to announce soon – it's very exciting!); and trying to pen some new reviews for the Guns In the Gutters blog (which has been updating every other day for the last couple of weeks.

• The third issue of Femme Noir: The Dark City Diaries is still in limbo – I thought for sure it would be on sale this week, but it's not on the distributor's shipping list. Maybe next week. Believe me, no one's more frustrated by its lateness than I am. It's especially disappointing, as I think it's the best issue so far.

• I'm in the midst of re-reading Max Allan Collins' "Nolan" novels, and watching DVDs of the third season of the original Mission: Impossible television show and Filmation's 1977 animated series, The New Adventures of Batman (co-starring the irrepressible Bat-Mite!). I have very fond memories of this cartoon, which featured Adam West and Burt Ward verbally reprising their roles as Dynamic Duo from the 60's live-action Batman show, and have wanted to pick it up for the last couple of years. It's silly, but I love it.

• Brandi and I went down to the town office and voted this afternoon since we're going to be out of town on Election Day. We're leaving here early Sunday morning for a two-week trip to the Midwest, where we'll be visiting with my bride's family in Arkansas and Missouri. Hopefully, the trip will be fun and relaxing and devoid of any serious hassles.

I'm hoping that I'll return from this vacation recharged, and rarin' to go on my various creative endeavors. There's so much that I want to do, but it seems like I never have the energy reserves to get it all done. Hopefully that will change this winter and in the coming year.

Have a great couple of weeks, folks!

Wednesday Cover: Legion Of Monsters

The legendary Neal Adams brings Marvel Comics' versions of Frankenstein and Dracula – as well as Dave Cockrum's Creature from The Black Lagoon "homage," The Manphibian(!) – to vivid life on the cover of this classic Marvel B&W magazine. As I recall, it was a one-shot published to use up some leftover inventory material from the company's other, recently-cancelled, horror mags. Still, I remember it fondly... and how can you not love that cover?

Guns, guns, guns, guns!

I managed to make some time yesterday to do a little posting over on my Guns In The Gutters blog, so anyone who's still interested at this point, might want to swing over and check it out.

I was originally inspired to create that blog by Rob Kelly's vast array of specialized comics blogs, specifically, All In Black & White. Sadly, he's retiring that particular site, and it's motivated me to again make an effort to try and update mine more often.

I intend to post any news I come across about upcoming crime/adventure comics, including those that might be on their way to film. I've also got a handful of new reviews written and they'll be posted over the next few days.

I've no idea how long I'll be able to keep it up, but for the next week or so, anyway, there will be some new stuff there.

To Boldly Go...

Well, Paramount's finally starting to release shots from J.J. Abram's "reboot" of the Star Trek franchise to various web outlets, and the next issue of Entertainment Weekly's going to have more coverage.

Too bad the movie won't be out until next May.

This photo show the main cast on the new bridge set. From left to right: Anton Yelchin as Chekov, Chris Pine as James T. Kirk, Simon Pegg as Lt. Montgomery Scott, Karl Urban as Dr. McCoy, John Cho as Sulu and Zoe Saldana as Uhura. I'm very pleased with the updated uniforms, and think that Simon Pegg and Karl Urban look particularly well-suited to their roles.

You can see a round-up of the stills released so far, including several shots of Zachary Quinto as an uncannily Nimoy-esque Spock, here and here.

I'm excited about the film, but then, I was excited about the last Trek show – Enterprise – until I actually watched it....

Pulp Muppets

I guess this has been around for a while, but I just saw it today. Two of my favorite things... together at last:

Wednesday Cover: Demon Hunter

Another scary scan for October.

This is one of my all-time favorite comics: Demon Hunter #1, published by the short-lived Atlas Comics back in 1975. Created by artist Rich Buckler and scripted by David Anthony Kraft, it told the story of a Mafia hitman who became involved with a demonic cult, ultimately turning against them and determined to foil their plan to bring about xenogenesis – which the comic postulated would be the rebirth of the demon race upon the Earth.

Back in '75, when I was a wee lad of ten, I asked my uncle to pick me up a comic book when he went to the local corner store. I expected that he would return with an Archie or Richie Rich, or maybe an issue of World's Finest. Instead, he brought me this... and I was floored. It was, by far, the most adult-themed comic I had read up to that point, with a decidedly amoral protagonist pitted against genuinely frightening, supernatural adversaries. I had also never heard of Atlas Comics, and I was fascinated by the in-house advertisements for their other titles, which all sounded kind of twisted.

(They were all rather twisted, actually. Check out this website for a history of this oddball publishing house. Needless to say, I have since collected nearly their entire output!)

Anyway, the series never made it past this single issue. Creator Buckler revived the character under the name "Bloodwing" for a self-published comics mag called Galaxia a few years later, and when that failed (also after one issue), he introduced a thinly-disguised version of the character at Marvel, where he went by the name Devil-Slayer.

Never cared much for the Marvel version, but this comic – with its script by Kraft – remains one of my favorite horror-themed adventure comic books, and Buckler's art has rarely been better than it was here.

Femme Noir Update

This is the title page of Femme Noir: The Dark City Diaries issue #4, which after some unanticipated delays (on the creative end, unfortunately), is now completed and going off to the publisher in the next day or so.

Issue #3, which I thought would be out in August/early September, also suffered some unanticipated delays (not on the creative end) and is on the way, even if it's not on this week's Diamond Distributors shipping list. I know it's been printed and shipped to the distributor (my comp copies went out at the same time and I got them over a week ago), so I can only hope that it will be processed and in stores for the 22nd.

For those of you following the book, I apologize for the messed up scheduling. I really hoped that we wouldn't fall victim to the too-common indie comics problem of late books, but, well, things didn't work out exactly as planned.

Please try and pick it up anyway, #3 may be the strongest issue of the bunch.

The page above is from the final issue of this initial Femme Noir miniseries, and features a new character: Okona of Meteor Island. She's our homage to all the great jungle heroes – and heroines, obviously – of comic books and pulp fiction, complete with a backstory involving an island inhabited by giant, mutated monsters. Issue #4 also features the return of inker Mark Stegbauer (Issue #2), the debut of a new colorist, Michael Watkins, and an awesome variant cover pencilled by the late Mike Wieringo and inked by series artist Joe Staton.

I really think it will be worth the wait.

The Ballad of Thunder Road

Written & Performed by Robert Mitchum.

Brain-Fried

Sorry I haven't been posting much lately. Just sort been feeling sort of distracted and brain-fried and trying to finish up some stuff.

I did get my comp copies from the printer of Femme Noir: The Dark City Diaries #3 last Friday, though, so it should be on sale a week from Wednesday.

Anyway, while I may not have been posting much, my wife's been posting a lot in her new pop culture blog. Maybe you should check it out.

Just a thought.

Wednesday Cover: May I Cut In?

This Complete Detective pulp cover seems like an appropriate kick-off for the month of October (even if the magazine itself is cover-dated "May"), with its eerie, danse macabre theme. From the art style and the shape of the mostly illegible signature, I'm guessing this painting is the work of legendary pulp illustrator Norman Saunders. In any case, it's a creepy piece and expertly executed.

"Don't be sure I'm as crooked as I'm supposed to be..."

I rarely take these kinds of online "tests," but I was curious...

Your result for The Classic Leading Man Test ...

Humphrey Bogart

You scored 40% Tough, 19% Roguish, 43% Friendly, and 0% Charming!

You're the original man of honor, rough and tough but willing to stick your neck out when you need to, despite what you might say to the contrary. You're a complex character full of spit and vinegar, but with a soft heart and a tender streak that you try to hide. There's usually a complicated dame in the picture, someone who sees the real you behind all the tough talk and can dish it out as well as you can. You're not easy to get next to, but when you find the right partner, you're caring and loyal to a fault. A big fault. But you take it on the chin and move on, nursing your pain inside and maintaining your armor...until the next dame walks in. Or possibly the same dame, and of all the gin joints in all the world, it had to be yours. Co-stars include Ingrid Bergman and Lauren Bacall, hot chicks with problems.

Want to take the test?

High Midnight

So, I was browsing the local Best Buy Saturday night, annoyed again at their horribly slim sci-fi and horror DVD selection, when I came across a title that sparked a faint ember of recognition. It was the 1990 horror comedy Sundown: The Vampire In Retreat, directed by Anthony Hickox (Waxworks, Full Eclipse), which I remembered renting with some pals a decade and a half ago. That was pretty much all I remembered about it, though.

Because I enjoyed Hickox's early genre films, and I'm a fan of many of Sundown's eclectic cast – which includes David Carradine, John Ireland, M. Emmet Walsh, Dabbs Greer, Deborah Foreman (at her very sexiest) and the always-reliable Bruce Campbell – I picked it up.

The plot is actually quite original. Vampire Count Mardulak (Carradine) has gathered others of his kind, and bought up the desert ghost town of Purgatory for them to "live" in. With the aid of large sunglasses, wide-brimmed hats, and vast quantities of sunblock, the vampire population attempt to pass themselves off as mortal humans. It seems that Mardulak dreams of the day (night) when vampires and humans can "live" together, and to that end, he has built a factory to manufacture a synthetic blood substitute. Unfortunately, some of his followers are determined to stick to their old, bloodthirsty ways, and use the arrival of an engineer and his family – called in to help increase production at the plant – to trigger a rebellion. Campbell plays the hapless descendant of a legendary vampire hunter who shows up in town right in time to get caught up in the vampires' civil war, which involves the use automatic weapons loaded with wooden bullets, and culminates in a moonlit shoot-out.

There's very little horror in this modern-day (well, 90's) Western/comedy, but the cast is excellent, the pace brisk, and the special effects are delightfully Old School, with cool stop-motion bats and some very effective monster make-up. This was the last film produced by Vestron Pictures and ended up going direct-to-VHS, which is how I originally saw it, all those years ago.

The Lionsgate DVD is really quite nice, presenting the movie in the director's intended 2.35:1 widescreen ratio, which really showcases the gorgeous Utah desert scenery. The Dolby audio is bold and clear, and the transfer is pristine. The DVD includes a audio commentary by Hickox and his Director of Photography, as well as on-screen interview segments with David Carradine, Bruce Campbell, and M. Emmet Walsh.

I'm glad I picked it up. If you've never seen it, and you're interested in a moderately fresh take on the vampire theme, you might want to give it a spin.

(Coincidentally, my wife has also posted a review of this flick on her new pop culture blog.)

Paul Newman, RIP

Acclaimed actor Paul Newman passed away this past Friday of cancer, at age 83.

An impossibly handsome actor with trademark azure eyes, Newman was a movie star in the true sense of the word, with a wide range of roles to his credit, and more than a few legendary performances under his belt.

My favorite Paul Newman films are probably The Sting and Cool Hand Luke, but I'm awful fond of his two private eye films Harper and The Drowning Pool, where he gave a letter-perfect portrayal of Ross MacDonald's hero Lew Archer (albeit with a slight name change).

Aside from his remarkable acting career, he was also a renowned philanthropist, who parlayed his name and image into a popular line of food products, the profits of which he donated to various charities. He also established the Hole in the Wall Camps for terminally ill children.

By all reports, he was a genuinely good, honest human being, who kept both a sense of humor and a sense of proportion in regards to his fame. He never lost his idealism nor stopped standing by his convictions, and whether you shared his views or not, you had to respect him.

Rest in peace, sir.