Mark's Super Blog

That Sneaky George Washington!

2012-02-03T08:52:00.002-06:00

Our hero Bob Hope, in his quest to find the Golden Gazelle, has gone back in time to December 26, 1776, because one of George Washington's men is Nigel Wednesday, its last known possessor.

Having arrived by falling into the Potomac, they must convince General Washington that they aren't Prussian spies. So, they undertake a little mission . . .

Don't ask (or tell) if 18th-century tenchnology could contrive a time bomb that would fit into a leetle-bitty old alarm clock. We'll just handwave it and blame it on the Steampunkers.

Problem is, there's already a Santa in the Hessian camp! So, it's off to the gender-bender closet, and voila! Instant MISSUS SANTA CLAUS.

The only problem with that is, MISTER Claus wants to get a little frisky. Time for Rocky and Bullwinkle to save the day!

Oops, that was a commercial. Anyway, we'll see the next page or three Monday or Tuesday. Until then, Bob must endure Santa's schnapps breath!

Money-Saving for British Spies -- hmmm?

2012-01-30T08:19:00.003-06:00

The next page in The Adventures of Bob Hope #89 contains two ads. The top ad is for the entertainment venue made immortal by songwriter (and Gong Show Guru) Chuck Barris and singer Freddy "Boom Boom" Cannon, the eponymous "Palisades Park." I sure wish somebody could tell me what the "Crazy Crystals" ride was all about! As a kid from Oklahoma, I never made it farther east than Chicago. Also, that's a processed version of a Wayne Boring Superman at the top left of the ad.

The bottom half of the page is DC's standard-at-the-time subscription ad. If you subscribed to a year's worth, you got ten 12-cent comics for $1. That's a fine deal, but I always bought MY comics from a greasy guy in an alley. Not really, it was the local grocery store.

With Part Three of our silly story, "A Comedy of Eras," Bob and his smart pooch Harvard Harvard III have gone even FURTHER back in time in search of the Golden Gazelle, all the way to George Washington's famous sneak attack across the Delaware on December 26, 1776.

The first problem is in the way they arrive, dropping from the sky like the murdered skydiver in last night's CSI: Miami. Good news? They land in water. Bad news? It's December water. Also, our well-intentioned loudmouth (Bob Hope, not your humble blogger) starts shouting so loud that General Washington immediately decides that they must be British spies.

More of Part 3, "A Ridiculous St Nick-ulous," in a few days.

Part Two Begins!

2012-01-24T17:32:00.003-06:00

...And it's called "Aviator Bob, the Chicken Eagle."

At the end of Part 1, Bob "lovable doofus" Hope had agreed to find the missing "Golden Gazelle," a statue inherited by the gorgeous Tuesday Wednesday. Using his friend Professor Blinkly's time Machine, he has gone back in time to talk to the Gazelle's last known owner, Tuesday's grandfather -- in the middle of World War I!

After Bob faints in the gunner's seat, his lovable (and smarter) canine sidekick, Harvard Harvard III, takes over the guns and sends the three opposing Spads (or Fokkers maybe?) into twin tailspins.

But now comes the Main Event -- Baron von Fluglemop himself! This can't be good -- not when Fluglemop's eyepatch bears a Maltese Cross. Can't you just imagine him talking like Baron Otto Matic from the Tom Slick cartoons?

Well, evidently Bob isn't the only fighter in this match with a ringer. The Baron has his own gunner, Herman the "German police dog"! And boy, can he gun!

Bob's pilot, Tuesday Wednesday's grandfather, bails out after the engine is hit. Bob and Harvard prepare to do the same, asking Grandpapa about the Gazelle.

His reponse will send them back into earlier time, for the Gazelle, Captain Wednesday tells them, previously belonged to Nigel Wednesday, who crossed the Delaware with George Washington.

Awful handy, that portable time controller. December 26, 1776, here they go!

Filler Can Be Fun

2012-01-20T11:30:00.001-06:00

Here are the two pages between parts one and two of Bob Hope's mag-length adventure.

Nowadays, the joke for "Homer" might be that the car wash guy charged $60 to DETAIL his Matchbox Car.

Also, consider this fact: Silly Putty will take up comics in full color a let better if the comics are on a page, not on a computer monitor!

As far as Lucky Charms goes, I think it noteworthy to state that here, there are only FOUR shapes of marshmallow bits, and they are all in only ONE color each, with no swrils or striping going on. In other words, these are Lucky Charms 1.0, before color augmentation and shape inflation.

Now that you think of it, doesn't this little guy seem awfully self-centered? I mean, running around all day saying how lucky it would be to meet him. Sounds a little needy to me!

Maybe he and these kids have an unwritten behavioral contract going on here -- a little sub-rosa tit-for-tat? He's payng them off (in Lucky Charms) to validate his inflated notions of self-worth? Break into groups and discuss.

See you Monday with the continuation of Bob Hope's "Comedy of Eras!"

Into the Wild Blue -- ULP!!

2012-01-16T20:11:00.005-06:00

Bob and his smart pooch have made it back to June, 1916. Now they have to figure out how to rendeszvous with Captain Wednesday, Tuesday's grandfather, and solve the secret of the Golden Gazelle.

What a happy coincidence that the guy Bob landed on top of on the previous page was Joe, Wednesday's mechanic. Now Bob has an excuse to ride along! The crack about drinking the hair tonic refers to the fact that when this comic came out, alcohol was a prime ingredient in "greasy kid stuff" used to slick back men's hair.

Baron Von Flugelmop? Sounds almost as dangerous as the Red Baron!

And so, as Bob swoons, Harvard Harvard III decide to make it a REAL dog fight (get it?)!

But first, a page or two from our sponsors ...

By the way, do YOU remember the little melody that goes with the caption of the Tootsie Roll ad at the bottom of the page? "Long time, long time! chewy chewy Tootsie Roll lasts a long time!!

-- see you next time.

We Gotta Get Back in Time!

2012-01-09T19:45:00.002-06:00

Tasked with the task of finding the Golden Gazelle with the hidden treasure map inside, our hero comes up with a plan. A plan which is actually pretty logical, if you think about it. Since he knows a way to time-travel, he can find the gazelle by tracing it forward from a time when its whereabouts were known.

My question is, how was Miss Tuesday Wednesday able to so easily rattle off an exact date and time for her grandfather? I guess it was a date sacred to their family.

I don't know the name of this Professor; he may be a recurring character from earlier issues of Bob Hope. But, he recognizes Bob and Harvard. And he sends them on their way, complete with a pocket-sized remote control so that they can bop around to other times if they wish.

Next time we will see what "appropriate clothes" Harvard will help Bob find.

As Our Story Begins ...

2012-01-06T12:40:00.001-06:00

Here's the splash page for Adventures of Bob Hope #89. Its issue-length story would have been called "a great three-part novel" in one of the Superman titles.

The splash page does show a girl who looks like the heroine of the story, and it does show Bob in a not-quite contemporary (to 1964) scene, but it's not really a scene that shows "what the story is about" -- which is one of those "madcap" Hopian adventures, which happens to also range across time!

Perhaps because of the (perceived) brief attention span of comics readers, this story is jam-packed with one-liners and ironic asides, much in the style of MAD magazine. And to THIS incurable smart-aleck, that's a good thing!

On our first page we're introduced to our hero and his dog. Since this is the only issue of the comic that I own (or remember having read), I do not know the history or provenance of Bob's dog, Harvard Harvard III. Evidently the relationship between Bob and Harvard is a bit similar to Sherman and Mr Peabody, from the "Peabody's Improbable History" segments of Rocky and Bullwinkle. The pet is smarter than his master, but also needs his master to get along in two-legged society.

Here we have Harvard giving Bob earphone instructions on winning a chess game.

This scene is also a sideswipe at the stereotype of the studied, serious-genius Soviet Chess Master trope.

By page two of the story we are introduced to our damsel in distress, Tuesday Wednesday, who is a riff on Tuesday Weld. Compare Tuesday Wednesday to the real deal:

GRRR! ruff-raff! pant-pant!

*ahem*

Miss Wednesday's Golden Gazelle, with its "prize in the box" of a map to treasures untold, is probably a plot device borrowed from The Maltese Falcon, whose epononymous critter supposedly contained Templar jewels.

My eight-year-old mind was also captivated by the "boysenberry-girlsenberry-DOGsenberry" gag.

And look at the "filler" art going on in the background. This place may be next-door to Spike Jones's "secluded rendezvous" heard in Jones's "Cocktails for Two."

How will Bob help Tuesday Wednesday seek the missing Golden Gazelle? Tune in next week to find out!

Visit the New Year with Bob Hope!

2012-01-02T20:19:00.000-06:00

We're going to start out this new year of 2012 by reading through issue #89 of DC's The Adventures of Bob Hope, cover-dated November 1964. (According to the indicia inside, it is REALLY the Oct-Nov issue, which explains why I found some online sources naming this the OCTOBER issue.)

Just the covers now, and more when I get some sleep, in a few days.

The ol' online sources, including the DC WIKI, are of mixed results concerning the art. But I tend to agree that the cover artist is probably Mort Drucker, of MAD magazine fame. I mean, who else would have rendered that Roman guard's schnozzola and moustaches quite THAT way?

And as for the Public Service Announcement inside the front cover, I must agree with its sentiments. To be more precise, smoking is for Losers That Smell. Whilst I appreciate the tortures of hell that result with trying to break the addiction, I also hope that such well-intentioned ads as this made it through to at least a few guys in 1964, and perhaps they never started.

It's never too late to quit smoking! Anything you can do to cut down, even, can help you!

Happy New Year!

The Gift of Memories

2011-12-22T20:44:00.001-06:00

More musical memories of a tail-end Baby Boomer. Here are the songs:

1969

1 Give Peace A Chance John Lennon & the Plastic Ono Band
2 Cinnamon Girl Neil Young with Crazy Horse

1970

3 Without You Badfinger
4 Make Me Smile (single version) Chicago
5 Lucky Man Emerson, Lake & Palmer
6 Let It Rain Eric Clapton
7 Temma Harbour Mary Hopkin
8 Another Day Paul McCartney

1971

9 Free Chicago
10 Vincent Don McLean
11 I Just Want to Celebrate Rare Earth
12 Tongue In Cheek (single version) Sugarloaf

1972

13 From the Beginning Emerson, Lake & Palmer
14 Day by Day Godspell Cast; Robin Lamont
15 You Turn Me On, I'm a Radio Joni Mitchell

16 Young Americans David Bowie 1975

17 Falling Star Karla Bonoff 1977
18 Peek-A-Boo! Devo 1982
19 Hold On Santana 1982
20 Goodbye To You Scandal 1982
21 On the Dark Side John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band 1983

And here is the link: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=7FEFG7D5

Merry Christmas!

See You January Second

2011-12-20T15:31:00.002-06:00

Taking a week and a bit off. See you the first week of January!

Merry Christmas.

The Banana Man!

2011-12-12T15:00:00.005-06:00

This is a guy I remember seeing onCaptainKangaroo. Talk about Dare to BeSilly! Isn’t this a GREAT piece of fun and entertainment?!?!?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfJqLKM3dtw&feature=related

This clip is hosted by the 1970sBob Keeshan. But The Banana Man wasaround in the earlier incarnations in the 1960s also.

It turns out that the man I saw onCaptain Kangaroo in the 1960s was NOT the original Banana Man. According to one source, “The Banana Man wasan American vaudeville character originally created by Adolph Proper (c.1886--December 17, 1950), who used A. Robins as his stage name. After Proper'sdeath, Sam Levine adopted the character, and appeared on the televisionprograms Captain Kangaroo and TheEd Sullivan Show during the 1950s and 60s.”

Here is some footage of AdolpheProper, who became the original Banana Man under the stage name of A Robins,from a 1939 Red Skelton short called Seeing Red.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpVkRu0QkE8

Interestingly, this 1939 calls the character a “walkingmusic shop.” No bananas to be seen. Also, the nestled boxes ascend to aTower-of-Babel configuration at the end, not set into a train line.

There is also a brief inclusion of The Banana Man in the1947 Betty Grable film, Mother Wore Tights.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8d8mQaNOZZo&feature=related

In this short clip, you can hear the “lee-dee-dee” singingand the “WOOWWWWW” that you also hear in the Captain Kangarooclip. After showing the CKclip to my kids, they NOW understand why they’ve heard me say that falsetto“WOOWWW” all of THEIR lives.

As a late-blooming Baby Boomer, it is perhaps symptomaticthat MY memories of The Banana Man are of a second-generation guy on CaptainKangaroo. But ANY Banana Man isa wonder. The softest spot in my heartis for the version exemplified on CK, who may have been played by SamLevine.

For some more info on THE BANANA MAN, there is at least onewebsite out there that you can scrounge, http://facweb.furman.edu/~rbryson/BananaMan/index.html

See you next week!

WO-O-O-WWW!

MA-42 - Happy Christmas Time

2011-12-05T18:53:00.001-06:00

Here is a collection I’ve made of Christmas music from manydifferent sources, from lounge to very traditional, from instrumentals to veryimportant lyrics.

In Track 6, “Happy Birthday Jesus,” my friends Tim andMiranda, that that time known as Sparklepop, present a sadly true and cogent lookat some of the same topics raised by Charlie Brown’s “commercial dog.” They reappear under a more recent name asSeranova, for Track 24, a great version of a song from “Charlie Brown Christmas.”

On Track 17, VM of the Beatles Remixers Group overlays achant from one of the Beatles Fan Club’s Christmas releases with “Flying” from MagicalMystery Tour, with the result being a fun (though not profound) new Christmasditty.

Lots of retro, punchy fun comes along in Tracks 7, 13, and15.

Once based out of Nashville, Fleming and John work theirspecial magic on Track 19, an Elseworlds version of “Winter Wonderland.”

Track 25 is a great piece from Joan Baez’s 1960s album Noel,with instrumentation and arrangements by Peter Schickele of PDQ Bach fame. The entire album is a moving assemblage ofmusic.

Track 26, from “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” just wouldn’t bethe same without that shouted “Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown!” -- so I inserted that but from the TV specialinto the song.

I tried to put together a mix of fast and slow, of reverentand joyous. The collection is bookendedby a rousing “Hark the Herald” and a stilling “Silent Night” from an wonderfulalbum by Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra.

As I get ready for the arrival of Jesus’ birthday, I’malways struck by a combination of emotions. On one side is thankful humility: God loves me so much that he sent his Son to show that love! On the other side is sorrow and shame, torealize the sacrifice that my sinful nature requires for expiation.

Join me in being thoughtful and thankful!

Here are the songs:

01. The Philadelphia Orchestra - Hark! the Herald Angels Sing(3:10)

02. The O.C. Supertones - Joy to the World (2:41)

03. Martin Denny - Exotic Night (2:16)

04. Georgia Kelly - Little Drummer Boy (4:22)

05. Chris Willis - Sweet Little Jesus Boy (4:00)

06. Sparklepop - Happy Birthday Jesus (3:37)

07. Capitol Studio Orchestra - Cha-Cha All the Way (2:19)

08. Teja Bell - Carol of the Bells (3:49)

09. Joan Baez - O Come, O Come, Emmanuel (2:58)

10. Sarah Masen - Heaven's Got a Baby (4:17)

11. The Philadelphia Orchestra - Away in a Manger (2:26)

12. Erin O'Donnell - I Need Christmas (3:49)

13. Claymation Christmas Celebration - We Three Kings Bop (2:50)

14. Elvis Presley - Here Comes Santa Claus (1:57)

15. Johnny Mercer - Jingle Bells (2:36)

16. Twila Paris - Silent Night (4:25)

17. The Beatles (VM) - Christmas Time Is Here Again (2:03)

18. The Drifters - White Christmas (2:38)

19. Fleming and John - Winter Wonderland (3:40)

20. Billy May - Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer Mambo (2:38)

21. Xmas! The Beatmas - Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree (2:31)

22. Five Iron Frenzy - You Gotta Get Up (2:27)

23. A Charlie Brown Christmas - Hark, the Herald Angels Sing(1:55)

24. Seranova - Christmastime Is Here (3:16)

25. Joan Baez - I Wonder as I Wander (3:53)

26. The Philadelphia Orchestra- Silent Night, Holy Night (3:16)

Here is the link: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=5ZG5LSY7

And Track 22 is ONE OF MY FAVORITES!!!

Time Capsule from 1984

2011-11-30T19:16:00.001-06:00

When I was sorting out some books to get rid of, I found this clipping from April 20, 1984, in one of my "Kennedy killer" books. After a second glance, I thought it was an interesting window on those long-ago times.

"Meese Nomination Assailed" -- Edwin Meese did in fact become Attorney General, but resigned in 1988 during the WedTech scandal, which linked government officials, corporations, and improper payments/use of influence. Wow, that doesn't happen nowadays, does it, Solyndra?

"Oswald Interrogator Dies at 88" -- This is why I kept this clipping. Why I thought it important to keep, I don't know. But, yes, Fritz was a Dallas PD detective who questioned Oswald after the latter's arrest for shooting Patrolman Tippitt.

"Jackson Resting Comfortably" -- That may or may not be true in 2011, considering the limp-wristed treatment of Dr Conrad Murray, his killer. But in 1984, this referred to the infamous Pepsi "whole new generation" commercial, which featured a big production video based on the Jackson song "Billie Jean." While strutting down some steps on the production stage, some fireworks went off too close to the singer's Afro and caught his hair on fire.

Believe it or not, in 1984 MJ was widely considered to be both black and male. In ensuing years, the pop star seemed to be trying to nullify both conditions, until his pathetic death as a drugged-out zombie. What a sad thing.

The back side of this "clipping" is easily recognized as part of an ad for Romancing the Stone, which blended elements of Indiana Jones and His Girl Friday for a fun, adventurous romp.

By the way, none of the three theatres mentioned in the ad (the complete name of the first is Northpark 4) is in business any more.

See you next week!

Anybody Remember Teen-Age Book-club?

2011-11-23T06:47:00.001-06:00

Also known as TAB, this was a service of Scholastic Book Services, and it got a lot of folks into reading (I hope). Me, I was already there!

When cleaning out the family household, I came across this artifact. Why in the world Mom would have kept this flyer from January, 1970, I don't know -- I was thirteen years old at the time.

This was back when paperbacks were cover-priced from 60 to 95 cents, on the average, with plenty of 40-centers, too.

As you can see by the front page, the style has surrendered to an adult's idea of Pop and Psychedelic style.

The cover shows images from Dark Shadows (an old-age Barnabas Collins), Land of the Giants, and a WWII plane. Why World War II? Well, DUH! Our moms and dads lived through it, at almost exactly our age (as we were in 1970).

Here is the center spread. As you can see, every time you bought a book you got a credit, and occasionally you could "cash in" your credits to get free books.

It's a shame that I don't have the entire flyer, but I used the order form! As you can see, I marked Life Beyond the Earth, and Barnabas Collins in a Funny Vein, as my free books.

Along with the teen angst of the times (Phyllis Whitney's The Highest Dream) and sports for the guys (Basketball Stars of 1970), there is a heartening emphasis on the classics, like Jane Austen, Mark Twain, and Robert Louis Stevenson.

Here is the back page (or what was left after coupon removal).

Pardon me for seeming curmudgeonly, but to me it feels like that, with all the possible media and learning resources available to teens nowadays, our cultures's horizons have withered quite a bit. Sure, John and Yoko nude on Two Virgins might seem equivalent to Lady Gaga's meat suit in shock value -- but John and Yoko only occupied perhaps .05% of media attention (and for a brief few months perhaps), not a whole TV channel's worth of "deviance."

See you next Wendesday!

Degrees of "Son of Frankenstein"

2011-11-16T16:44:00.001-06:00

While watching the 1940 WC Fields film The Bank Dick on TMC the other day, I was astounded to recognize some of the music. It’s an active, suspenseful piece that is used twice in The Bank Dick, each time to accompany a bank-robber chase (there are two bank robberies in the movie!).

It was music from 1939’s Son of Frankenstein, by Frank Skinner! The music is heard at the climax of Son, when the Monster (Karloff) has taken Dr Frankenstein’s little boy. There are various scenes of pursuit and standoff, as the Monster holds the tyke over the lava pit, until Basil Rathbone does his Tarzan act and saves the day.

I checked with IMDB http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0032234/fullcredits#cast about The Bank Dick, and it says that Frank Skinner was the “uncredited” composer. The onscreen credits list the Musical Director for this Universal movie as Charles Previn.

So here we have a clear case of what they call, in TV, “tracking” – that is, using music previously prepared for one situation, in another. Another classic example from the movies is how Universal reused Franz Waxman’s exotic Bride of Frankenstein music for its Flash Gordon serials.

Now, here’s another interesting movieland cross-pollonization. Growing up as a twisted sort of soul, I had seen Son of Frankenstein at least ten times before, as an adult, I watched Bambi with my young children. Once again, I went “hmmmm,” when I heard “young” Bambi speak. Now, WHERE had I heard that too-cute voice before?

And then it hit me – it was the same voice as Peter von Frankenstein, the infant Son of Frankenstein!

Nowadays, you can see Donnie Dunagan listed as the “uncredited” voice of young Bambi on IMDB. But twenty years ago, all I could do was go, “hmmmm.”

See you next Wednesday!

MA-26 - Break -Ins from Beyond

2011-11-09T16:28:00.003-06:00

Along with the rising of mass media and a united pop culture in the twentieth century came a realization that folks might have shared the same experience as you, even if they hadn’t been WITH YOU. In other words, two people might have seen the same silent movie, even though they lived in far-apart towns. Hence, “So’s your old man!” came to mean, “Shut up” or “I disagree with you,” by common reference to the WC Fields 1926 silent movie of the same title.

Similarly, Veronica Lake’s hair-over-one-eye look may have been sultry and attractive, even when emulated by thousands of women in the 1940s, but it also was dangerous when those same women were working in war plants during WWII and got their loose, sultry tresses caught in machinery, leading to injury and death. Here’s a Youtube video concerning this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgpvKXLTwr8

When recorded music reached this same plateau (or valley, take your pick), then folks could start referring to hit records with the assurance that the listener would understand the reference. That’s the whole idea behind sound-alike “cover” versions of pop tunes. If the imitation sounded enough like the original, then the cover version could score some sales, riding on the coattails of the original hit record.

Then came along people with twisted senses of humor, like me. They realized that this same familiarity with hit records meant that various catch-phrases could be cut out from the recording and reassembled, much like a newspaper-ad ransom note.

And thus the “break-in” record was born. Ordinarily, such an assemblage would have the format of a narrator or an interview giving a leading statement that could then be “replied to” by a one-or-two-second segment from a song that was current enough that the hoped-for listener would recognize the clip, and get the joke – meanwhile marveling at the assembler’s creativeness, and eventually buying the break-in record.

Here’s my own assemblage of a bunch of these, as they relate to outer space and little green men, and the like. Not all are break-ins, there are some more straight songs.

Here are the tracks:
1 -        Marty on the Planet Mars Part 1         Martty 1954
2 -        Marty on the Planet Mars Part 2         Martty 1954
3 -        Santa and the Satellite Part 1 Buchanan and Goodman        1957
4 -        Santa and the Satellite Part 2 Buchanan and Goodman        1957
5 -        Destination Love        Jan Davis         1958
6 -        The Outer Space Looters Part 1          The Mad Martians       1958
7 -        The Outer Space Looters Part 2          The Mad Martians       1958
8 -        Flying Saucer The 3rd Buchanan and Goodman        1959
9 -        Blast Off!        Jimmie Haskell and His Orchestra      1959
10 -      Comic Strip Rock N Roll        Robert Ashley 1959
11 -      Space Ship      Dickie Goodman         1960
12 -      Santa and the Touchables       Dickie Goodman         1961
13 -      Moon Gas       Dick Hyman and Mary Mayo 1963
14 -      The Flying Saucer       Chickenman    1966
15 -      Luna Trip        Dickie Goodman         1969
16 -      London, London         Ceatano Veloso           1971
17 -      Spaceship        Spontaneous Combustion       1973
18 -      Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft     Klaatu 1976
19 -      Hey ET            Dicklie Goodman        1982
20 -      The Martian Boogie    Brownsville Station    1977
21 -      The Ballad of William Robinson        Bill Mumy       1997
22 -      Return of the Flying Saucer    Jon Goodman 1997
23 -      I Took A Trip On A Gemini Spaceship          David Bowie      2002
24 -      UFO    Darryl Rhoades           2005
25 -      le flying saucer hat      Chairlift           2008
26 -      Flying Saucers Breakfast in Fur          2009

And here is the link:   http://www.megaupload.com/?d=X17GB074

As John Landis likes to say, SEE YOU NEXT WEDNESDAY!

Farewell to a King-Sized Sweetheart

2011-11-02T15:01:00.002-05:00

Here’s what the Daily Oklahoman’s obit read

March 22, 1959 - October 28, 2011 MOORE Mark Lynn Barragar left this life to be with the Lord on Friday, October 28, 2011. He was born March 22, 1959 in Columbus, Kansas. He was the only child of Wallace and Loree Barragar. He graduated with the Capitol Hill High School Class of 1976. He spent most of his working life as a Master Control technician. Mark enjoyed a variety of pastimes, especially entertaining. Many people know Mark best by "Ranger Roger," the name he used when he hosted "Camp Kids Club" on KOKH (Channel 25) from 1991 to 1998. His most recent passion was as an Elvis "tribute artist" known as the "King-sized King." Mark married the love of his life, Yvonne, in 1981 and is the stepfather of Dru West of Chicago, IL; and Yevette O'Leary of Shawnee, OK; and is survived by them and his son-in-law, Michael O'Leary; and grandchildren, Turner, Kathryn, Ashlyn and J. Patrick. He was preceded in death by his parents, Wallace and Loree Barragar. A Memorial Service will be held at 11 a.m., Tuesday, November 1, 2011, at John M. Ireland Funeral Home Chapel, Moore, OK, under their direction.

I knew Mark since the 1990s. He came to a ThunderCon in full Klingon regalia. Believe me, you pay attention to a 6-foot-4 Klingon!

Mark had played the Frankenstein Monster on Count Gregore’s Sleepwalker’s Matinee on Channel 5. In the 1990s he was “Ranger Roger” for Channel 25. Later he became an Elvis tribute artist, “The King Size King.”

in the 2000s, Joyce and I saw him perform as the King several times, once at Moore’s Yellow Rose Theatre, where we bought this CD.

In between, Mark had talked to me about having his own show as a horror host (probably based on Count Gregore and other hosts). I wrote him a couple of scripts, and when Mark said his character would be Cyclopean, I suggested we name him Professor Eisingel (“Eye”+”single”, get it?) Alas, nothing came of that.

You can find a few more tributes here:

http://www.thelostogle.com/2011/10/31/rip-ranger-roger/

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSlh=1&GRid=79691753&

As to his CD, here are the tracks:

1) 2001 / That's Alright Mama

2) Hound Dog

3) Treat Me Nice

4) Love Me

5) Follow That Dream

6) Viva Las Vegas

7) In the Ghetto

8) Wonder of You

9) American Trilogy

10) I Can't Stop Loving You

And here is the link: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=CT5EG86Q

See you next week!

Under the Halloween Tree

2011-10-31T07:40:00.001-05:00

We end this Halloween season with a bit of gentle fun, John Debney's enchanting soundtrack to the 1994 telefilm The Halloween Tree. It was based of course on Ray Bradbury's fun tour of Halloween origins, the volume of the same name.

Here are the tracks:

01. Main Titles

02. Our Costumes

03. Pip's House

04. The Note / The Ravine

05. The Funeral March / Stairs

06. The Marley Knocker

07. Meeting Moundshroud

08. Pip and the Tree

09. Where is Pip?

10. The Barn Poster Kite

11. Landing in Egypt

12. Feast of the Spirits

13. Through the Streets

14. The Tomb Chase

15. Mummies

16. Pip's Casket

17. Funeral Procession

18. Leaving Egypt

19. Medieval Festival / New Years'

20. Stonehenge

21. Broomsticks

22. Witches Hideout

23. "What's a Witch?"

24. Witches Chant

25. Burnings and Flight

26. The Construction Yard

27. Sanctuary

28. The Cathedral

29. The Whistle / Gargoyles

30. Gargoyle Chase pt. 1

31. Gargoyle Chase pt. 2

32. Next Stop, Mexico!

33. Candle-lit Graves

34. Gargoyles Dissipate

35. Sugar Candy Skulls / Piñata

36. The Catacombs / Pip Trapped

37. The Trade

38. Coming Back

39. Pip's Alive! / Moundshroud's Pumpkin

40. End Titles

And here is the link: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=KEE70YEZ

And, as the butcher said when he sold me the empty frankfurter casing,

HAPPY HOLLOW-WEENIE!

Anybody Remember Mazeppa?

2011-10-30T08:00:00.001-05:00

In the early 1970s, late-night Saturday TV, in the Tulsa, OK broadcasting area, didn't get any cooler (or sillier) than Mazeppa Pompazoidi's Uncanny Film Festival and Camp Meeting. Unlike many monster-show hosts, Gailaird Sartain's skits were actually humorous (sometimes).

Here's a contemporary photo

and here's me in about 1972, wearing my mom's rendition of the outfit:

One can only say, LAWZEE!

About twenty years later, the costume was still intact when I posed with a Franken-friend:

Growing up means being able to be silly.

See you tomorrow for some fun and creepy music to wrap up this year's BLOG-O-WEEN!

The Haunted Treehouse

2011-10-28T07:53:00.003-05:00

From my copy of the October, 1964 Jack and Jill:

She Hate Me. Like Others!

2011-10-27T07:38:00.001-05:00

The rest of the Bride's tale from the coloring book.

more from Jack and Jill

2011-10-26T08:12:00.001-05:00

more of my eight-year-old Halloween reading.

Except for the skin color, the witch on the bottom right kind of resembles a couple of Jr High teachers I remember.

Windmills Are Less Dangerous Than You Think

2011-10-25T07:50:00.001-05:00

Not only did Victor Frankenstein survive being tossed from the windmill in Frankenstein, his critter survived in the basment, as told in more pages from the Universal coloring book.

"I was gonna make espresso!"

Ghouls with Attitude, Volume 2

2011-10-24T06:38:00.003-05:00

Here is the second installation of Oddio Overplay’s Halloween record. As I said last Monday, the comps are sadly no longer available from them!

Here are the tracks:

1) Billy DeMarcus - Drac's Back

2) Movie Trailer - Ghost In The Invisible Bikini

3) Peter Pan Singers - Theme to Casper the Friendly Ghost

4) The Creatures - Mostly Ghostly

5) Tyrone A' Saurus & his Cro-Magnons - The Monster Twist

6) Mann Drake - Vampire's Ball

7) Movie Trailer - The Return of Count Yorga

8) The Hamburger Brothers - Omar The Vampire

9) The Zanies - The Mad Scientist

10) The Cool Ghoul - You Can't Ghoul Me

11) Ted Cassidy - The Lurch

12) The Detergents - Igor's Cellar

13) The Milton the Monster Show - Theme Song

14) Movie Trailer - Graveyard Tramps

15) Cathy Mills - Monster Hop

16) Glen Ryle - Wolf Gal

17) Movie Trailer - Dr. Jeckyl and Sister Hyde

18) Ralph Marterie and His Marlboro Men - Alfred Hitchcock Presents

19) Lois Prante Ellis and Mary Ann Parker - Troll At The General Meeting

20) Jimmy Cross - I Want My Baby Back

21) Count Baltes & The Egors - Opening The Coffin

22) Sounds of Terror! - The Exorcism

23) Al Zanino - The Vampire Speaks

And here is the link: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=XB3JJYVJ

See you again soon!

from October 1964

2011-10-21T08:08:00.001-05:00

My copy of this magazine has no cover any more, but I found an image of it somewhere. Here it is, along with a seasonal song.

Trick-or-Treat Twins and a Poem

2011-10-20T07:37:00.003-05:00

From the October 1965 Golden Magazine:

Even if she had help from Mom and Dad, that's still a fine effort for a nine-year-old.

Frankenstein Is Colorized!

2011-10-19T07:47:00.000-05:00

...courtesy of my daughter Melissa, who was about 8 at the time.

Universal Monster Stamps

2011-10-18T07:38:00.001-05:00

In 1997, the USPS issued these stamps featuring some of our favorite guys.

Ghouls with Attitude, Volume 1

2011-10-17T07:39:00.003-05:00

The Oddio Overplay website no longer seems to carry this anthology of fun and “scary” music. Glad I found it first to share with you!

This is Volume 1. Next Monday will bring Volume 2.

Here are the tracks:

1 Tarantula Ghoul and the Gravediggers - Graveyard Rock

2 Don Hinson and the Rigamorticians - Riboflavin-Flavored, Non-Carbonated, Polyunsatured Blood

3 Movie Trailer - Vampire Playgirls

4 Bobby Bare - Vampira

5 The Crewnecks - Rockin' Zombie

6 Griz Green - Jam at the Mortuary

7 Movie Trailer - Monsters Crash the Pajama Party

8 The MSR Singers - Monster Man

9 The Abominable Surfers - Monster Surfer

10 Bobby 'Boris' Jones - Surfer Smash

11 Jupiter Jones - The Spook Spoke

12 Bob McFadden and Dor - I Dig You Baby

13 Movie Trailer - The Mind of Mr. Soames

14 Albert DeSalvo - Strangler in the Night

15 Kenny and the Fiends - House on Haunted Hill

16 Winchell's Donut House Halloween Record - Hear the Monsters (Spooky Sounds and a Spooky Tale)

17 Buddy Morrow and His Orchestra - The Raven

18 The Modernaires - The Rockin' Ghost

19 Bob Rosengarden & Phil Kraus - Satan Takes a Holiday

20 Boris Karloff and Friends - Ha Ha Ha / The Bride of Frankenstein

21 Movie Trailer - Brain Eaters

22 Groovie Goolies - Goolie Garden

23 Hap Palmer - Haunted House

24 Bruce Haack and Norman Bridwell - The Witch's Vacation

25 Sounds of Terror! - Burned at the Stake

26 Louise Huebner - Intro Orgies, a Tool of Witchcraft

27 Marty Manning and His Orchestra - Night on Bald Mountain

28 Criswell (The Legendary) - Someone Walked Over My Grave

and here is the link: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=WVXUPCF2

A Halloween Mix-Up

2011-10-14T07:47:00.001-05:00

More from the October 1964 Jack and Jill.

See you Monday with some high-voltage music! Until then, may all your music be mixed-up.

Color a Monster

2011-10-13T07:43:00.000-05:00

Here are the first few pages from the Universal Monsters Coloring Book.

What happens when the lightning strikes (as if you didn't know)? Stay tuned!

October 1965 Golden Magazine - Dora Gives a Party

2011-10-12T07:16:00.001-05:00

See yooouuu tooomorrow!

Book Review: Vampire Forensics: Uncovering the Origins of an Enduring Legend

2011-10-11T07:44:00.000-05:00

Vampire Forensics: Uncovering the Origins of an Enduring Legend is by Mark Collins Jenkins, who is listed on the jacket flap as a National Geographic historian.

Boy, is National Geographic in trouble!

The book itself is an interesting enough read, but it’s mostly a rehash of stuff you can find elsewhere. It’s a Discovery Channel or History Channel digest of a much more involving and fascinating topic (viz., the origins of worldwide belief in vampires). That’s not necessarily an insult, but it is definitely NOT a great compliment.

This book really only spends a few pages dealing the topic suggested by the title. That is, putting the lore of vampirism under the medical microscope.

If you want to read an authoritative book about this, I cannot highly enough recommend Paul Barber’s Vampires, Burial, and Death: Folklore and Reality.

Barber’s book is the real deal, explaining how the actual behavior of corpses could have given rise to middle-European vampire legendry.

But if you are in the mood for the literary equivalent of Count Floyd explaining vampires (but without the silliness), read Jenkins’s book.

Here’s what I mean about National Geographic being in trouble.

The book contains several errors that SHOULD NOT APPEAR in this book, ESPECIALLY in a book by a supposed historian, and a book sponsored by National Geographic, supposedly an educational-type set-up.

On page 48, in his discussion of Stoker’s Dracula, Jenkins refers to the vampire version of Lucy Westenra as “the Blooper Lady.” DUH! Lucy was called by her child victims a “bloofer lady.” Bloofer (with an F) was Stoker’s representation of a Lucy’s child victims saying that she was beautiful. So, by using BLOOPER, Jenkins has committed a BLOOPER.

On pages 51-52, Jenkins narrates the controversy stirred by FW Murnau’s 1922 silent film Nosferatu, and Florence Stoker’s quest to have it eradicated. Jenkins says, “Bram Stoker had died in 1912, but when his widow, Florence, got wind of Murnau’s changes, she tried to shut the production down. Royalties from Dracula were her main income, and she found the German film a thinly disguised pirating of the novel. So she sued.”

Jenkins is correct that Florence Stoker sued, and that Dracula’s royalties were her main source of livelihood. But her legal action wasn’t because she got wind of “changes” to Stoker’s story being made in the production of an in-development film. Mrs Stoker DID NOT try “to shut the production down.” There was no production going on. No, Nosferatu was already made, and in distribution, when Mrs Stoker “got wind” of it. She wasn’t mad about “changes.” She was mad because, despite the changes, the film was indeed a “thinly disguised” version of SOME of Dracula’s plot. She wanted money (which wazs entitled to, as Stoker’s heir).

Horror fans everywhere are happy that some of the prints survived the court-ordered destruction.

On page 195, Jenkins gives an incorrect definition of theological dualism. He says that the Bogomil sect “was one in a long line of dualist religions – faiths that considered all matter as evil and revere all spirit as good.” Right word, wrong definition.

There is a branch of “philosophy of mind” called Dualism, that indeed relates to the relationship between mind and matter. However, the spiritual, or religious beliefs labeled “dualism” are concerned NOT with matter and non-matter, but with more primary forces. These powers may express themselves through matter, but are spiritual forces.

According to the Catholic Encyclopedia’s article on Dualism: “First, the name has been used to denote the religious or theological system which would explain the universe as the outcome of two eternally opposed and coexisting principles, conceived as good and evil, light and darkness, or some other form of conflicting powers. We find this theory widely prevalent in the East, and especially in Persia, for several centuries before the Christian Era.” http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05169a.htm

So, Jenkins is using the incorrect definition of Dualism in his discussion of various European sects. But the main problem is that he is “informing” his less enlightened readers by defining theological Dualism – with a wrong definition!

On page 229, Jenkins draws an incorrect inference from the location of the Egyptian Pyramids. “Possessing the most elaborate funerary complex of them all, as the pyramids have reminded countless visitors, the Egyptians so purified, embalmed, mummified, memorialized, and mythologized their dead that surely they must have told tales of their occasional return.”

This is an common, though wrong, conclusion -- that the Pyramids’ primary function is to be giant mausolems. The pyramids do indeed remind visitors to Egypt of death, by their location, not through any actual use as centers of death. Not a single burial has ever been found to have taken place in an Egyptian pyramid. The pyramids were NOT tombs. They may have been astronomical markers, centers for ritual religion, and monuments to human vanity, but they were NOT tombs. Which is what Jenkins is implying here.

These bloofers (I mean BLOOPERS) show that National Geographic needs some historians to check up on their historians. If “little” errors like these get into print, how much else of the book can be trusted? Now, that’s perhaps an exaggeration.

But just because a book has a respectable implied endorsement, don’t simply trust what it tells you -- check for yourself!

So, this book doesn’t really add much to the scads of books already out there about vampires and the rise of vampire belief. I paid $5 for it, and you can buy it for less from Amazon. Feel free to peruse it, just don’t be impressed by the “credentials” prominently displayed on the cover.

As George Harrison said, “Think for yourself, for I won’t be there with you.”

CD Creepies

2011-10-10T07:39:00.001-05:00

A little shivering music, Maestro! -- or should it be Monstro?

These are the tracks:

1) Contata and Fugue

2) Frenzy #1

3) Torment

4) Psycho

5) Private Lab

6) The Unexpected

7) Night on Bald Mountain

8) Angel of Death

9) The Devil Rides

10) Lucifer's Choir

11) Troubled Voices

12) Sinister Street

13) Spinecharge

14) Omen

15) Marked Man

16) Sleeper Awaits

time 33:25

17) Thunder and Rain

18) Bats Flying in Cave

19) Electric Lab

20) Mad Man Laugh

21) Witch's Laugh

22) Church Bell Toll

23) Wolf Howl

24) Owl Hoot

25) Beast Roar

26) Heart Speeds Up

27) Creaky Door

28) Rattling Chains

29) Monster Scream

30) Laboratory Chemicals

31) Crazy Machine

32) Barking Blood Hounds

33) Attack Dog Fight

34) Squeaking Rats

35) Eerie Wind

36) Terrified Crowd

37) Woman Ghost (Sad)

38) Poltergeist (Happy)

39) Cat Meow

40) Horrified Woman

41) Horrified Man

42) Water Drip In Cave

43) Hounds Of Hell

44) Castle Footsteps

45) Haunted House Creak

46) Kookaburra Bird Laugh

time 19:07

47) Monster Story

time 11:33

total time 1:04:05

And here is the link: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=WQK2G5O2

Monsters 1991 Coloring Book

2011-10-07T06:40:00.000-05:00

Here we have generic Monsters, with no actor-specific faces.

More tomorrow!

More from Golden Magazine

2011-10-06T06:37:00.001-05:00

It's October, 1965. Do you know where your childhood is?

Puzzle Me This!

2011-10-05T07:05:00.001-05:00

Here are a couple of jigsaw puzzles. As you can see, Universal wasn't afraid to depict actual peoples' faces here. Interesting though to note that they used Glenn Strange's Frankenstein Monster instead of the "genre-defining" critter as played by Karloff.

Golden Magazine, October 1965

2011-10-04T06:43:00.001-05:00

In October 1965 I was nine years old and in the fourth grade. I was reading on a Senior High School level, but still enjoyed kiddie stuff, like the various kids' magazines such as Jack and Jill, Highlights, and Golden magazine.

Here is some stuff from the October 1965 issue of Golden.

See you tomorrow, spooks!

MA-16 - Ghos-terrific Sounds

2011-10-03T06:45:00.001-05:00

Here is your 2011 Halloween compilation of scare-tastic fun.

These are the tracks:

1 Mr After Halloween Costume Shop Salesman Al Lowe 1:00

2 "The Return of Dracula": The End Gerald Fried 4:08

3 Teenage Frankenstein Alice Cooper 3:27

4 Trick or Treat Andrew Gold 3:23

5 Everybody Loves You When You're Dead Stranglers 2:39

6 Creature from the Black Leather Lagoon The Cramps 3:12

7 Count Dracula All About Halloween 1:09

8 Halloween in Heaven Type O Negative 4:50

9 The Nightmare Before Christmas Pharaoh Atem 1:37

10 Godzilla (Album Version) Blue Oyster Cult 3:42

11 Halloween Parade David Berkeley 3:16

12 Gigantor Helmet 4:12

13 Surfin' Halloween Big Chopper 1:27

14 Count Dracula Robbie the Werewolf 5:09

15 Halloween Monster Mania stAllio! 7:55

16 Planet of the Apes Frankenstein Drag Queens 3:00

17 The Legend of Wooley Swamp Charlie Daniels 3:56

18 Spooks of Halloween Town Yoko Shimomura 1:20

19 Hand of Blood Bullet for My Valentine 3:37

20 Casper, the Friendly Ghost Peter Pan Singers 0:53

21 Scary Song Frankenstein Drag Queens 2:37

22 Zombie Stomp H. Zombie featuring Toño Pneumo 4:14

23 Halloween Party Sue Schnitzer 3:54

24 Frankenstein Rock Eddie Thomas 1:50

25 I Want a Monster Prairie Dawn 2:12

Here is the link: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=21I92JFY

See you tomorrow with more Blog-o-Ween fun!

Welcome to Blog-o-Ween!

2011-10-01T19:42:00.000-05:00

To begin this year's celebration of the scary and silly, here is an image I drew in high school. The original was from Famous Monsters of Filmland, of course -- a still from Bride of Frankenstein.

See you Monday with our new music compilation.

Overstreet and Superman's 50th -- final part

2011-09-29T15:11:00.002-05:00

See you on October First for BLOG-O-WEEN!

Overstreet Celebrates Superman at 50 - 4

2011-09-26T06:34:00.001-05:00

All I can say, is "Oh, Lois -- va-va VOOM!"

We'll have the rest of this interview with Joe & Jerry on Thursday.

Overstreet Celebrates Superman at 50 - 3

2011-09-22T06:40:00.001-05:00

Here is the beginning of the interview with Jerry & Joe from the 1988 Overstreet Guide.

Super-Man as Boogey-Man! I'm glad they decided to -- umm, revise that idea.

And don't you love the optimistic future of Dateline 1930s ?

Overstreet Celebrates Superman at 50 - 2

2011-09-19T06:49:00.000-05:00

Here's the next batch of Super stuff from the 1988 Overstreet Guide.

(These toys are from Danny Fuch)

(Why did this guy do the cover instead of Curt Swan?)

Be back on wednesday with the beginning of the interview with Jerry & Joy.

Overstreet Celebrates Superman at 50 - 1

2011-09-15T06:41:00.004-05:00

Is Overstreet's Comic Book Price Guide still "the ultimate authority on comic book values"? In 1988 they celebrated Superman's 50th Anniversary with a cover by some guy who was not not a famous Superman illustrator; photos of some items from collector Danny Fuchs' collection; and an interview with creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.

Here are the front & rear covers and the DC's house ad celebrating the Golden Anniversary..

I would gladly pay a dollar to find out the origin of the overworked phrase (parrotted in DC's ad) referring to the such-and-such "who," or "that," STARTED IT ALL!

See you Monday!

The End of Eerie 13

2011-09-12T06:44:00.000-05:00

Here are the rear inside and rear outside covers of Eerie #13.

A blurb on the front cover told us to "Read why the number 13 scares you!" Well, this idea was never specifically addressed by a story in this issue, but as a representative issue of scary magazine horror from the late 1960s, this mag presented me with a little frisson.

Those finger bones marching one-by-one back to their owner in "Wentworth's Day." The discolored eye in "Tell-Tale Heart." The beautiful cat-girl's glow-in-the-cave eyes. The close-up of ogre loveliness. And on and on.

Makes me wish my allowance had been bigger back then!

See you on Thursday with some Super-pix and the beginning of a book excerpt that includes an interview with our best friends from Cleveland, Jerry and Joe.

Heroes

2011-09-10T09:16:00.001-05:00

"The Success Story" - Part the Last

2011-09-09T06:48:00.002-05:00

So, what did Famous Comics Creator Baldo Smudge do about his indignant collaborators? and -- heh, heh -- what did they do about HIM!?! Read on, kiddies . . .

Now, was Martha entirely blameless? I think not.

The only way this little ditty could have been improved would be if, Tingler-like, the last panel had been in COLOR.

Now, over in Dial B for Blog, it's amazing how many comics readers who knew a little about Bob Kane (or had learned about his studio's practices) -- said that this tale could have been ripped from the headlines of Kane's life (up to the last page or two, of course).

However, the writer Archie Goodwin said that Kane was NOT the intended person referred to. It was just a story.

See you next week!

"The Success Story" - first part

2011-09-06T19:10:00.001-05:00

Here is the last tale from 1968's Eerie #13.

A few years ago, when Robby Reed over at Dial B for Blog was talking about the studio set up by Bob Kane for Batman, I got in on the action. You see, Robby quoted a LOT of folks who said that about all Bob Kane had to do as the creator of Batman, after finally "making it," was to come in and write the "Bob Kane" box on the splash panel. robby listed various writers, inkers, and pencillers. What else was there for Kane to do?

This discussion reminded me of a story I had read long ago, in an issue of Eerie magazine.

The first half of the story:

Hmmm.. what's going to happen next?

See you Friday!

Captain Company, We Love You!

2011-09-01T06:41:00.004-05:00

Here are the next pages in our page-by-page from 1968's Eerie #13.

Like so many of us, I wish I could go back in time with some grown-up earnings to those 1960s prices and BUY, BUY, BUY all those fun things.

I wouldn't necessarily want a Venus Flytrap (unless it said "Feeeeed Meeee"), but those masks? I always wondered if the masks could ever look as cool as the photos used in trying to sell them.

And "who wants a live monkey"? My big brother would say that he already had one -- ME.

Come Back September First!

2011-08-03T17:45:00.001-05:00

Hey, I know it's short notice, but I have decided that the 114-degree temperatures have fried my brain.

I'm going to give the Super Blog a month's rest, and contiue our trek in September. We'll finish up Eerie #13, share the some Super-books, and otherwise make the perceptive reader feel old and, I hope, a bit nostalgic.

See you then!

PS Spock's Record Round-Up is still up and running through the month.

Thanks for being a friend.

News from Marc Nobleman, author of "Boys of Steel"

2011-07-31T13:15:00.003-05:00

On his blog, Marc is going to be posting interviews with dozens of voice actors for various Superhero TV cartoon shows of the 1970s and later.

You can start right here: http://noblemania.blogspot.com/2011/07/super-70s-and-80s-original-interviews.html

If you like Marc's stuff, let him know, and tell him I sent ya!

Half-Spawn of the Cat People?

2011-07-29T18:45:00.001-05:00

Well, that was a twist, wasn't it? See you Monday!

Because "Curse of the Cat People" Was Taken

2011-07-26T20:39:00.005-05:00

Instead, we have "Spawn of the Cat People."

See if you can guess what the ending might be, by reading the first few pages.

We'll have the story's end at the end of the week.

That Voodoo That You Do So ... Well?

2011-07-22T20:05:00.002-05:00

If only she hadn't had a double-edged machete . . .

What,-- What? How can he be convinced if he's dead? (Just kidding)

On the other hand, how could she be calling his name if the lips of the shrunken head are sewn shut? Now I'l wonder about that all weekend!

See you after that!

Do You Believe in "Voodoo"?

2011-07-19T06:47:00.003-05:00

Here is the first half of the next tale from Eerie #13

Or, "Ralph and Alice Kramden in Hell."

What do you think? Should Frank heed Sylvia's siren call? Does he have a choice?

Tune in next time!

"Temporary Discoloration" My Eye!

2011-07-15T18:13:00.002-05:00

Here is the rest of Eerie #13's adaptation of Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart":

Things I love about this Poe adaptation:
It's in Black & White
How dapper the narrator looks as a Gentleman's Gentleman
The "gasp-choke-Good Lord!" in the last panel of page 25
The whole eye thing.

More after the wekend! Gasp-choke!

Why Will You Say I Am Mad?

2011-07-11T18:38:00.001-05:00

This is the next story in Eerie 13, an adaptation of Poe's grand tale of obsession (wait--did he write ANY OTHER KIND!?!?!), "The Tell-Tale Heart."

It's told from the POV of the old man's servant, and I think it really is creepy this way.

Sure, the old guy's discolored eye is an addition to the tale, but it works out, in the end, as you'll find out end of the week!

The Rest of "Ogre's Castle"

2011-07-05T18:53:00.000-05:00

Some might read this little cautionary tale and say, "Just like a woman." But that's just mean. I mean, how can you say that about the sorceress? I mean, it's not as if she loves the knight for his looks -- any more that is.

In a few days, our next Grue-Tale!

Ogre's Castle beginning

2011-07-02T14:57:00.000-05:00

Here is the beginning of the next story from Eerie #13. Boy, those magical critters are some plug-ugly palookas, huh?

Dig Those Bony Fingers!

2011-06-28T10:20:00.000-05:00

Here is the rest of "Wentworth's Day," the first tale from Eerie 13.

That's right, kiddies! It was neck-and-neck between the late Nahum Wentworth and Amos Stark, but Stark found out that his own shotgun had provided the blast from the past!

I particularly like the Marching Finger Bones of the last panel.

See you in a couple of days with the beginning of "Ogre's Castle," the next tale in this maggoty mag!

Part 1 of "Wentworth's Day!"

2011-06-24T11:02:00.000-05:00

Here we have the contents page & first half of "Wentworth's Day," which I read when I was nine or so, and was my first known exposure to anything having to do with that Great Old One, HP Lovecraft.

Wait! I take that back! BEFORE I read this story, I had read Ray Bradbury's story "Pillar of Fire," in which a reanimated corpse goes into the library of a sanitized future society and askes for a book on Lovecraft. "Is that a sex book?" inquires the librarian. When I first read Bradbury's story, I had NO IDEA that this exchange was a dirty pun, a joke on Bradbury's part.

Anyway, here are the first pages of Eerie13. This story, "Wentwoprth's Day," is kind of like an unholy spawn of a Lovecraftian "strange book in an old house" tale and a standard EC corpse-revenge story.

Unlike some of my childhood crushes, these Eerie stories retain their cheesy charm. I guess that means I grew up cheesy too.

We leave you know with salesman Hadley beginning to learn more than he wishes about the accident that happened to Nahum Wentworth.

The rest of this shaggy bog story on Monday!

Page-by-Page through Eerie #13

2011-06-22T10:44:00.000-05:00

This issue of Eerie magazine, one of several scare-mags from Warren Publishing, is cover-dated February 1967. That means it came out just after I turned ten years old.

I bought my copy from the Git-N-Go about a half mile from our house, next to the creek where I caught crawdads. This was in Bartlesville, in northeast Oklahoma. Here's somebody's photo of the Git-N-Go sign as I remember it from the 1960s:

Well, here are the front outside & inside covers for this fun little piece of newstand seduction.

Only the outside front & back covers were in color; all the other pages and inside covers are B&W. And what's wrong with that? In the same way that the crime noir films or classic monster movies are praised for their monocolor starkness, I really enjoy these stories as they are. They wouldn't be improved by throwing buckets of colored ink on them.

Of course, the cost of color interiors would have really jacked up the forty cent cover price.

As to the records sold inside the front cover, I'm not familiar with any of them. Many were repackaging of radio shows, as you can tell by the Basil Rathbone credit on the Dinosaurs! record.

Come back in a few days for our first story, which as it turns out was my first exposure to good ol' Aitch-Pee Ell (say it out loud).

Another Reason I'm Glad I Quit Buying DC Comics

2011-06-17T15:43:00.001-05:00

http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2011/06/dan-didio-signals-the-end-of-the-clark-kentlois-lane-marriage/

Remember the happy day featured in this 1996 Wedding Album?

Never happened.

Another reason I'm glad I have several thousand issues of comics about THE REAL SUPERMAN. Because he's no longer married, and he no longer stands for Truth, Justice, and The American Way.

A Quaint & Curious Volume of Forgotten Lore

2011-06-16T14:05:00.000-05:00

This is a fine (and fun) book for all fans of "classic" monsters. With an analytical eye towards classical mythology, Frank J Dello Stritto takes a look at Frankenstein, Invisible Men, and other creatures of the imaginative ilk.

The cover shown above represents a "cut-out" image of the complete cover art, seen below:

Lots of our friends are haunting some poor guy's "sleep of reason." Below is Goya's original, "The sleep of reason produces monsters."

If you're like me, you'll almost prefer the new version on the book cover. Who needs cats and owls, when you can have Renfield guarding your sleep? (also, notice on the book cover that Kong is lurking in the background, along with cornices featuring Erik the Phantom and Kharis)

As to the INSIDES of the book, Dello Stritto has done a fine job of doing what I have always appreciated: take the silliness or quirkiness of the monster movies as a given. Go on from there! Examine the strange ideas and characters either examined or, perhaps, left unexamined.

I liked the chapter discussing good ol' Larry Talbot and his more cultured parallel, Doctor Henry Jekyll.

There are just so many ideas and movies discussed. Dello Stritto makes a lot of comparisons between the movies and mythology, too. Since I've gobbled down several other books since I finished this one, its details aren't as clear in my memory as I'd like.

Guess I'll have to reread it!

This book not only makes you think about how things seemingly unrelated -- mythology and monsters -- do indeed share common ideas; it also makes me want to watch some of the films again. And seek out those I haven't yet seen. And that's a great service to the movies.

There are plenty of illos throughout, mostly of posters and lobby cards, that make the essays even more fun.

So, for a fun stroll down Monster Memory Lane, read this book. I bought mine direct from Cult Movies Press, at:

CULT MOVIES PRESS

644 East 7 1/2 Streeet
Houston, TX
77007

You'll be glad you read it!

The Solution to the Heroes & Villains Crossword

2011-06-13T14:40:00.000-05:00

And now you know ... the rest of the news, as Paul Harvey used to say.

See you again soon!

Superman on Blu-Ray

2011-06-08T11:24:00.002-05:00

What? you mean you didn't know that the entire ouvre was released in a mega-pack yesterday?

http://www.comicmix.com/news/2011/04/02/warner-formally-announces-superman-the-blu-ray-collection/

Shame on ye!

Well, here are a few things I noticed while watching the Extended Cut of Superman the Movie.

I'd seen it before on DVD, but not Blu-Ray, and so perhaps I was paying *extra* attention.

Superman: The Movie:
1) After young Clark (Jeff East) finds the Kryptonian crystal in the barn, Ma Kent wakes up one morning to find Clark standing atop a ridge on the horizon. You may have noticed (product placement here) that as she enters the kitchen calling Clark's name, she takes a box of Cheerios from the cupboard and sets it on the table. Then she looks out through the screen door and sees her son far away. What's interesting is the exterior shot, taken back through the screen door showing Ma Kent looking out toward Clark (and the camera). She had set the Cheerios box on the table inside. But you can see another Cheerios box OUTSIDE, on the table on the porch beside the door. So, did the Cheerios migrate; or did Clark already open a previous box and leave it on the porch; or it is just a case of continuity glitch?

2) In the first Daily Planet scene, when we introduce the paper's staff and Perry tells Jimmy to get some coffee, remember that Jimmy hands off this request to an even more junior staffer, adding "tea, no lemon." I had not previously notied that on this guy's red T-shirt is the logo "SUPER COPY." He also appears in Superman II. Was this a subtle hint to justify Lois's later naming of Superman by reinforcing how common the term is to indicate something spiffy and great? (I almost said "SUPERlative")

3) When the gunman forces Clark and Lois into the alley so he can "rip off this lady's purse," Lois drops the purse at the crook's feet, kicks him, the gun goes off, and Clark has to catch the bullet. Then Clark pretends to faint as the gunsel runs away. So, the purse was dropped on the ground right in front of where Clark "fainted." Well, then, why o why, when Lois picks up her purse, does the "revived" Clark walk up to her from more than a dozen feet away, from around a corner deeper into the alley from where they were standing when she dropped the purse at their own feet?

4) When the Metropolis cop follows Otis underground to find Luthor's Lair, Otis hides in a niche that is also a secret door. When train 504B passes by, Otis enters the hideaway under cover. A minute later, when the train has passed, the cop climbs into the niche. Luthor's spring-loaded door forces the hapless cop under the wheels of the next train -- train 504B! Either the train runs in a two-minute circle, or it was too much trouble to renumber the train and models used.

5) It was funny to notice something about the crooks in the getaway car in "Superman's First Night." Remember, after rescuing Fluffy the cat, Supes notices gunfire by the docks? It was kind of humorous to note that the driver of the getaway car, under his knit ski mask, was wearing honking big Clark Kent glasses.

Well, while you can't box up the feeling of fun and wonder inspired by Superman, a new presentation like this allows you to take a fresh look, and re-experience again, the belief that a Superman can fly.

Up, up, and away!

Heroes and Villains Crossword

2011-06-06T09:04:00.002-05:00

In honor of Soonercon 20: Heroes and Villains, which was this past weekend here in OKC, I wanted to share with you a crossword puzzle on the same theme. You'll probably want to print it and solve it on paper.

One hint: If you're not familiar with 1960s cartoons, you will experience a knowledge handicap.

ACROSS

1. Cap’n Crunch opponent Jean _____

7. Perseus beheaded her

10. Airplane!’s “Worst Boy”

13. Lancelot Link, Secret _____

14. King Arthur's nemesis

16. Bumblyburg's green hero

18. Rango adversary

20. Marvin the Martian's foe

22. Emperor Ming’s home

25. Man or Monster?

27. Captain Marvel nickname

28. opposed Robin Hood

29. Metro City’s second name

32. super monkey

34. Superman of 2965’s enemy

35. Mermaid Man’s sidekick

36. Green Hornet’s great-uncle

40. Thing's name

42. Johnny Blaze was the first

43. the Fatal Five’s foes

46. drank Dracula’s blood

47. Hero’s newspaper Daily _______

48. Booth yelled, “Sic semper _____!”

50. opposed Thrush

51. Beans Baxter’s opponent

53. “that damned, elusive _____”

54. Thin Man dog

55. Magnificent Seven villain

DOWN

2. always beat Baron Otto Matic

3. accidentally created by Mr Incredible

4. early Superman gender-switching foe

5. Here he comes to save the day!

6. aka Ralph Dibny

8. a tall Philistine

9. Son of Dracula's alias

11. “Only a Master of Evil”

12. Saucy Jack

15. withstood Baroness Paula von Gunther

17. fought Aliens, then became their Mom

19. a living costume

21. Drake Mallard's secret identity

23. Silver Surfer boss

24. STAR TREK sleeper ship

26. lurked in the Labyrinth

30. Morlocks ate them

31. the First Red Hood

32. super base, the _____ Building

33. he loved Mother too much

35. Winston Smith’s nemesis

37. Dracula’s chief opponent

38. he sang “High Noon”

39. Yellow Peril (and beard)

41. not Bat, not Man, not Batman

44. the Good Witch of Oz

45. Captain America's bonehead foe

49. he was dragged around Troy

52. the ur-Adversary

Next Monday I will post the solution. See ya!

The Fallout Follies

2011-06-03T22:00:00.000-05:00

Here is another compilation of nuclear songs. This batch, unlike some of the previous ones and unlike some of the ones to come, have a decidedly pessimistic tone, hence the slightly mnore black-humor cover art.

Here are the tracks:

1 - Talking Atom Pete Seeger 1947
2 - The Fall of the Planet Earth The Moonbillies 1960
3 - Talkin' World War III Blues Bob Dylan 1963
4 - Mushroom Clouds Love 1966
5 - Handsome Johnny Richie Havens 1967
6 - Thank Christ For The Bomb (edit) Groundhogs 1970
7 - King Of The World Steely Dan 1973
8 - Atom Satillite Del Byzanteens 1979
9 - Face The Fire Dan Fogelberg 1979
10 - Uh-Oh Plutonium Anne Waldman 1982
11 - Two Suns In The Sunset Pink Floyd 1983
12 - I Hate You (from STAR TREK IV) Edge of Ettiquette 1986
13 - After the War Gary Moore 1989
14 - The Bomb Song Corey Dwyer 1990
15 - Enola Gay Utah Phillips 1991
16 - Hot Frogs on the Loose Frank Small 1993
17 - Duct Tape John McCutcheon 2004
18 - Feed the Bomb Project Bluebird 2009
19 - Whistling in the Nuclear Wind Karl W Mahlmann 2011
20 - bonus track

And here is the link: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=X8CX086L

45s & Favorites, Disc 2

2011-05-30T08:24:00.001-05:00

You might have to be "of a certain age" to smile with fondness at these songs. They are 45s I bought as they came out (yes, I am THAT OLD) or loved to listen to if they came on the radio.

Some are dubs of the actual 45 rpm, others are better recordings found elsewhere.

Here are the tracks:

1970

1 Mississippi Queen Mountain

2 Uncle Charlie and His Dog Teddy/Mr Bojangles Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

3 We Gotta Get You a Woman Todd Rundgren

1971

4 That's the Way I've Always Heard It Should Be Carly Simon

5 Walk Away James Gang

6 Tiny Dancer Elton John

7 Hocus Pocus Focus

8 Behind Blue Eyes The Who

1972

9 School's Out Alice Cooper

10 Rock And Roll Part 1 & 2 Gary Glitter

11 A Piece of Paper Gladstone

12 Back Off Boogaloo Ringo Starr

13 Superwoman (Where Were You When I Needed You) Stevie Wonder

14 Give Ireland Back to the Irish - instrumental - (Version) Wings

15 Early 1970 Ringo Starr

16 Mary Had a Little Lamb Wings

1973

17 You Light Up My Life Carole King

18 Back When My Hair Was Short -single version Gunhill Road

19 Rocky Mountain Way Joe Walsh

20 Under the Boardwalk Rickie Lee Jones - 1983

21 It's the Real Thing The New Seekers - 1971

Here is the link: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=OVQ56XPK

And if you're wondering why you had The New Seekers singing Coke songs, it's because I picked up a freebie record at a record shop that had two 30-second Coke songs on one side and a minute-long Coke song on the other. This was in 1971. So I included the songs as a gentle reminder that this great music was brought to you by . . .

The Free Enterprise system.

I am really in love with the Carole King song included here. It has NOTHING to do with the cloying Debbie Boone whine. Carole King's song really resonated with me (and still does) -- I feel this kind of gratefulness for my wonderful wife. "I didn't know how good life could be / Until you gave your love to me." Mawkish? Maybe. True? ABSOLUTELY!

In the original issue of "Mr Bojangles" on 45 rpm, one side had only the song. The other side of the single had the version "Uncle Charlie / Bojangles" given here. It was lots of fun to play this on a jukebox and watch people's faces as Teddy the dog howled, and then the familiar guitar into to "Bojangles" kicked in, and all was semi-understood.

Rest of the Leapfrog

2011-05-23T09:03:00.000-05:00

Another Comment on the Smallville Finale

2011-05-19T09:08:00.000-05:00

No, I haven't made a comment before. But just about everybody else has! One online survey of fans had an option, "Better than I thought it would be." Well, I guess that's how I felt too, overall.

Kudos to the producers for bringing in John Scheider. Thank you. And, with only twenty minutes or so left, to hell with the whole "no flights or tights" thing. And triple thanks for keeping Lana OUT of it.

...change of thought ...
On December 7, 1979, Joyce and I were in line to enter the first showing of STAR TREK: The Motion Picture. The guy next to us kept saying to his wife, "I've waited TEN YEARS for this."

Me, too! In the last fifteen minutes we finally got to see Clark be Superman. I think it worked pretty well. I won't quibble about Ollie's magic disintegrator arrows, or how Superman's identity is safe in a world where a SMALLVILLE comic is published, but...here it comes ... I had this one small, niggling observation.

I will accept the magickally-assisted rebirth of Lex Luthor and the possession of Lionel Luthor's shell by a demon we called Darkseid. I believe a man can fly.

My question is, why wasn't EVERYONE ELSE flying, due to a planet-sized gravitational pull, only a hundred miles or so above the Earth? You know, they all say that the Rings of Saturn may have been caused by a Saturnian moon that was pulled apart by gravitational forces.

Well, what about a couple of PLANETS closer than Paul Newman's rimshot in The Hustler?

I'm just sayin'.

PS I DO like it that this Superman can push around planets! Of course, we'll never see him again, but this was, overall, a good way to try and get from the creepiness of Smallville to the lighter world of Superman.

Bizarro Not Leap the frog!

2011-05-17T10:19:00.000-05:00

Here's a pretty cute story from the Leapfrog Superman module.

Me not like this story. You not like it either!

Records from Regulus

2011-05-14T10:01:00.000-05:00

In our never-ending battle to share records from the popular culture to the topic of Flying Saucers and the Space Race, we bring you Records from Regulus.

Here are the tracks:
1 Man from Mars Ferrante and Teicher 1955

2 Those Funny Little Saucers in the Sky Dr Danny Hart of the Church of Soul-Truth 1958

3 Take Me to Your Leader Cha Cha Cha Sam Space and the Cadettes 1958

4 What Do You Hear from the Red Planet Conried-Pearce 1959

5 The Girl from the Fourth Dimension Sheldon Allman 1960

6 Space Mice Walter Brennan 1960

7 Sky Men Geoff Goddard 1963

8 Hootenanny on Mars Randy Starr and the Merry Martians 1964

9 You Came from Outer Space The Kirby Stone Four 1964

10 Mr Spaceman The Byrds 1966

11 The Invaders Are Here Mike Adkins 1967

12 Urban Spaceman Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band 1968

13 Space Oddity David Bowie 1969

14 It Came Out of the Sky Creedence Clearwater Revival 1970

15 Space Buggy Asleep At The Wheel 1973

16 I've Seen the Saucers Elton John 1974

17 Flying Saucer Attack The Rezillos 1977

18 The Flying Saucer Man and the Truck Driver Red Simpson 1979

19 Thing from Another World Marlin Wallace 1981

20 Rocket Ship Kathy McCarty 1988

21 I Saw Elvis in a U.F.O. Ray Stevens 1989

22 Humans From Earth T-Bone Burnett 1991

23 Background Background 2000

24 I Want an Alien for Christmas Fountains of Wayne 2005

25 Heck, I'd Go Maria Muldaur 2006

26 Flying Saucer U F O with Dee Dee Bridgewater 2006

I must say that this is some fun stuff, and I hope you like it.

Here is the link: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=LTYSBH70

Sharing a list of Movies

2011-05-10T11:35:00.000-05:00

Today I got a plug from Sofas and Sectionals. It may be a plug, but it's an interesting list of Superhero Movies:

http://www.sofasandsectionals.com/superhero-movies-we-want-to-see

Read and enjoy. Is Namor really going to be a big draw?

Get the Scoop

2011-05-09T10:20:00.000-05:00

These are five middle pages from Leapfrog's Superman learning module.

Next, a Bizarre story

Read All About It!

2011-05-05T09:13:00.000-05:00

In this story from the Leapfrog book, we learn about a poor schlub who wishes he could he powerful like Superman. Hmm, sounds like me!

See you again soon!

Super Leapfrogging

2011-05-03T09:58:00.000-05:00

As you might have imagined, the "Leapfrog Learning System" had a Superman module! This week I'll share it with you. There are a few pages that won;t mean anything without the toy, but there are two separate kind-of-cute stories, and in the interests of completeness I'll share the whole thing.

(I don't know if I would like Lois giving MY five-year-old such a come-hither look as seen on the page above.)

In a couple of days, the first story.

Buying No More Superman Comics

2011-04-29T10:15:00.001-05:00

http://www.comicsalliance.com/2011/04/27/superman-renounces-us-citizenship/

Well, you might not have know this but I have been buying comics even nowadays, basically the DC-Superman lines.

Action Comics #900 is the last comic book I plan on buying for a while. Because Superman renouncing his US citizenship is something I don't like. That is, I don't like the editorial policy reflected here. That's the "Blame America First" policy, if you didn't know.

The basic values of Truth, Justice, and the America Way are the best goals of any country. While there is a heck of a lot wrong with some of the things around here, the only worse country is ALL THE REST OF THEM.

Superman, as a comics/cultural character, will always be American, in the best sense. It's a shame that his creators seem to be focusing on America's failures and not using Superman as a tool to point them out, while believing that we can be better if we only LIVE UP to our ideals, like fair play and personal responsibility.

Saying, "I'm going to take my cape and run away" is NOT the Superman who, like Abraham Lincoln, "belongs to the ages."

Strange Critters

2011-04-28T10:33:00.000-05:00

Here we have a small assortment of books dealing with Alien Animals.

Clark & Coleman have produced a couple of books. Usually they lead around to a theory that these critters aren't run-of-the-mill flesh and blood animals that are always here. The beasties are examples of bleedover from another realm whose manifestations here, on OUR plane, have a supernatural appearance.

In this book, Holiday likes to find older antecedents comparable to today's reports.

Warren Smith, a pseudonymous author, jumps right into the mystical realms, asking breathlessly "Coud it be???" that so-and-so could be true.

This other book by Holiday, specifically about Nessie, says that she really exists, but is also a "magickal" creature from the Goblin Realms.

Goin' Fission! - a new compilation

2011-04-25T10:27:00.000-05:00

With great power comes great responsibility. With atomic power comes greater responsibility. No one can predict an earthquake and tsunami is going to wipe out your reactors. And if such a thing happens, then there are plenty of doom-sayers who are going to crow, "I told you something bad was going to happen."

Well, some of these people are crooning in tune, and you can listen to them here in this latest compilation of mine.

Here are the songs:

1 Jesus Is the First Line of Defense Pilgrim Travellers 1951
2 Atomic Kisses Earney Vandagriff 1955
3 Hydrogen Bomb The Laurels 1961
4 The War Drags On Mick Softley 1965
5 Atom and Evil General Electric 1966
6 Please Don't Drop That H-Bomb on Me Country Joe & The Fish 1967
7 Wooden Ships Jefferson Airplane 1969
8 Political Science Randy Newman 1972
9 Nuclear Babies Oingo Boingo 1980
10 Let's All Make a Bomb Heaven 17 1981
11 Run Like a Villain Iggy Pop 1982
12 World Suicide Defuser 1983
13 Uranium Rock The Cramps 1983
14 Surfin' USSR Ray Stevens 1988
15 The Bomb Lifesavers Underground 1992
16 Atomic Power Uncle Tupelo 1994
17 The Bomb Inside the Bomb We Are Scientists 2002
18 Nuclear Blues Frances Plante-Scott 2004
19 Bomb.Repeat.Bomb.1954 Ted Leo and the Pharmacists 2007
20 Atomic Bomb Brian Butler 2008
21 Atom and Evil song Heaven and Hell 2009
22 Atom Bomb Blues The Naptown Jug Busters 2009

And here is the link: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=T131NP70

Such Secrets Have Never Been Told

2011-04-22T22:53:00.000-05:00

... until now.

Since the 1980s, breathless books like these have been released by Abelard Publications, each spreading the same kinds of ideas put forth by William Cooper in Behold a Pale Horse .

According to this tale and its variations, we (the USA) captured the crew of one or more downed alien vessels in the 1940s or 1950s, and were able to keep them alive and then to negotiate with their race of extraterrestrials.

The idea is that the government of the USA, perhaps in collusion with other world powers, agreed that the aliens could kidnap and experiment on Earth citizens. In return, the guys from Kwatloo were supposed to give us some wonderful access to fancy alien technologies.

This led to several underground bases staffed by mixed human/alien crews, and indeed a hybrid race of the worst of both worlds.

Then, so the story goes, the aliens pulled a double-cross on us by kidnaping (and doing worse than that) to many more people than agreed to. Also their vaunted technology has lost some of its vaunt.

Supposedly, these kinds of disagreements led to a shootin' match in an underground base around (or BELOW) Dulce, New Mexico.

Other breathless revelations have included various suggestions that the biologies of pigs, or cows, are similiar enough to human in some ways, that secret government experiments on cattle have been performed as part of some strange weapons program, probably involving germ warfare.

You can make of tales like these what you will. I think it's a bunch of malarkey. For fifty years or more, folks interested in mysteries like these -- a group that includes me! -- have been strung along by hints of cover-ups that will soon be revealed. The big governmental information cave-in will be any year now . . .

And it's been just around that event horizon for half a century. It's not any closer, because it's the tantalizing hints of "possible maybes" that sells books and lecture tours, and videos.

See you again soon. Any comments?

The Mirror Master and Alpha

2011-04-20T10:22:00.000-05:00

In another TV angle on the Flash's classic Rogue's Gallery, we have the episode "Done with Mirrors," reflecting a new take ("reflecting" -- get it?) on the Mirror Master, with holograms.

Then we have the pet android, Alpha, who doesn't want to be a government assassin. Now, no offense to the actress Claire Stansfield, who plays Alpha, but the TV Guide ad is pushing it a little bit. Alpha is exotic, fascinating, but not gorgeous. She's a lot better than that.

Captain Cold and the Clone Wars

2011-04-18T14:33:00.000-05:00

The guy who plays Captain Cold, Michael Champion, does a pretty chilling job of playing a cold-hearted killer.

And the next episode, cleverly titled "Twin Streaks," is a pretty fun look at a really improbable scenario. Like the Talosians who didn't mean to be evil, the clone of Barry isn't intentionally destructive -- he just wasn't raised right. He's depraved on account of he's deprived, Officer Krupke!

The Trickster and More Twisted Fun

2011-04-15T09:03:00.000-05:00

Man, how could it get any more fun than this? Megan, the lawyer who discovered Barry's identity while falling for him, is being stalked by a wacko who decides that getting his own costume will make him irresistable. And thus is born ... THE TRICKSTER!

Read the caption in the ad above. Now, really -- How can you resist anything involving an EVIL SCHEME !?!?

Then we have some really, really, really superspeed running, ending up a decade in the future. Where, after the Flash's disappearance, bad-guy Pike moved in and took over. Talk about always winter and never Christmas!

Mext we have "Deadly Nightshade," where Central City's first vigilante has his identity stolen (twenty years ahead of you or me) and has to reclaim his name, with the Scarlet Speedster's help.

Plus, kudos to the headline department. "Trias by Fury!" -- doesn't it just give you the chills?

More Flash Listings

2011-04-13T10:07:00.000-05:00

Here are the synopses for episodes 4, 8, and 9, "Watching the Detectives," "Shroud of Death," and "Ghost in the Machine," the latter of which introduced us to the wonderful character of "The Nightshade," Central City's FIRST vigilante. Shades of the Minutemen!

New Superman Movie Officially Sucks

2011-04-12T11:18:00.000-05:00

With the announcement that an actor has been hired to play the role of Zod in the new Superman movie, I have sighed and hung my head in defeat.

There's a picture of this guy Michael Shannon as Zod on this page: http://www.mtv.com/photos/michael-shannon-imagined-as-general-zod/1661693/6017657/photo.jhtml

The idea of Zod cannot be good. It brings images of huge hams laced with cheese. It brings memories of a unmasculine screechy tenor voice whining, "KNEEL before Zod ... and admire my freshly painted fingernails!"

Zod was invented for the 1970s Superman movies. There had been a Kryptonian general in the comics, but he was a heartless villain, not a swishy-boy in leather with self-image issues.

On the bright side, I guess I will now be a lot easier to impress if the movie gets ANYTHING right.

Tomorrow we will return to TV's the Flash . . .

The Profoundly Titled "Pilot"

2011-04-11T11:18:00.000-05:00

Here's how TV Guide presented the (2-hour) first episode of the Flash TV show. It introduced Iris West and waved her into the past, established Tina McGee as the second lead, and introduced the great character of Julio, Barry Allen's assistant in the crime lab -- played by Alex Desert. Desert played the thankless part of clueless citizen who is presented with all the evidence that his boss has a secret crime-fighting life, but *just misses* the proof.

In its original listing, here, the show is listed as "Fantasy," you'll note. Soon after that, it became "Adventure."

TV Guide on TV Superheroes

2011-04-07T10:30:00.000-05:00

Inspired by the debut of The Flash on CBS, TV Guide ran an article on TV superheroes in its December 22, 1990 issue. Probably also inspired by some money from CBS?

Let's Flash!

2011-04-06T10:14:00.000-05:00

Over the next few days I'll be pulling out some TV Guide clippings on that late lamented CBS TV show, the Flash.

La La Land Records still has copies of their 2-CD soundtrack release from the TV show. This is great stuff, folks! www.lalalandrecords.com/Flash.html

Now, I can understand quibbling about the lack of Iris West after the first episode, the addition of Earl the dog, and so on. But this was a fun TV show, with an actual attempt to put this silly idea into a world at least similar to our world.

When his superspeed kicks in, suddenly, Barry runs to Catalina, burns off half his clothes through friction, and has to wipe out a pizza buffet to restock his starved cells. This scene may have introduced this energy-consumption idea to the comics. Does anybody know for sure?

Starting Friday evening, we'll share a few days loking back on The Flash.

Finally Number One at SOMETHING

2011-04-04T14:10:00.000-05:00

See you in a few days . . .

James Whale's Dracula's Daughter, last part

2011-03-31T07:50:00.000-05:00

The actual script printed here, as I’ve said, actually includes Bela Lugosi’s Dracula character for a good fourth of the movie. It explains how Drac became a vampire, and the origin of the gal who plays the title role of Dracula’s Daughter.

It is also very plain in this script from 1933 that the author (probably screenwriter and Laemmle friend R.C. Sherriff) was sixty years ahead of his time. See if these plot elements don’t remind you of Coppola’s Bram Stoker's Dracula. It appears that James V Hart, credited writer of the 1992 film’s screenplay, *might* have been inspired by some things in THIS script. Here are some similarities:

-- Dracula was Vlad Dracula, who led his armies to success against the Turks

-- He was a cruel despot who enjoyed torturing his subjects

-- He was converted to a vampire for his evil

-- When van Helsing leads his party of vampire hunters back to Castle Dracula in pursuit, they must encamp in the snow.

-- van Helsing protects them by making a circle in the snow and crumbling communion wafers into the circle, saying, “I have a dispensation.”

Quite a few similarities, eh?

The film treatment uses many plot points from the original novel that were not used in the 1931 film – chasing back to Transylvania after the vampire; using the vampire’s victim as a clairvoyant aid to track the monster; and so on.

But the finished script takes another tack, first by introducing Dracula in the 1400s and his conversion to vampirism, and then by showing the sexual enthrallment that his “daughter” casts over her (male) victims.

If you are fascinated by monsters and what might-have-been, you must read this book!

As another bit of fun, take a good hard look at this unused publicity piece for Dracula’s Daughter. Then look at the original depiction of Magenta from Rocky Horror. Coincidence? I think not!

See you later, Gator!

James Whale’s Dracula’s Daughter (part two)

2011-03-28T08:53:00.000-05:00

Thanks to the magic of “Memorama” (a term I just invented!), we can learn about the Dracula’s Daughter that never was.

In the original script, the title gal was a peasant girl, one of a bunch of young lovelies kidnapped by Dracula for the pleasure of a party of noblemen in Castle Dracula. Jane Wyatt, young and fresh-looking, would have been a great fit for this role.

She becomes Dracula’s Daughter when the King Vampire makes her into one of the Undead after desecrating her husband’s corpse in front of her.

Both she and Dracula would remain in the castle until she is released through the blundering of a couple of English would-be tough guys who are showing off for their girlfriends by exploring broken-down Castle Dracula. After this point Dracula (to be played by Lugosi) would exit the film’s storyline.

Now, after becoming Undead, DD is exotically beautiful, her country-girl charms having taken on a new, dangerous seductiveness. She enslaves one of her unwitting liberators and uses him to enter England, where she established herself as the rich and mysterious Countess Szelenski.

Professor van Helsing, and Dr Seward, reprising their roles from the first film, become involved in the quest to rescue the film’s “hero” from the clutches of Dracula’s Daughter.

Read this “The Main Idea” for original author John Balderstone’s take on the – umm, more sensational, shall we say? – other aspects possible by using a FEMALE vampire.

The three-page early treatment of the idea, like the actual eventual film, picks up precisely at the end of the 1931 film. Besides van Helsing and Seward, John and Mina Harker from the first film also appear, giving aid and advice to their friends, one of whom is enthralled to the vampire.

More on this creepy non-extant classic next time!

James Whale’s Dracula’s Daughter (part one)

2011-03-24T06:51:00.000-05:00

This is another in Philip Riley’s series of “lost” scripts – fully completed treatments of movies about the classic Universal monsters that were, for whatever reason, unfilmed.

The story behind this unmade movie is that, after the success of Frankenstein, Whale was under contract to Junior Laemmle for more pictures, and Laemmle wanted Whale to direct sequels to both Dracula (the original was directed sopoforically by Todd Browning) and Frankenstein.

Whale produced a quirky masterpiece with Bride of Frankenstein, but didn’t want to take on the project that had been labeled Dracula’s Daughter. Whale, however, wanted very much to take on a different project, the musical Showboat.

Laemmle, head of production at Universal, was just as vehement that Whale make a follow-up film to the surprise smash of 1931, that strange Valentine to Universal’s bottom line, Dracula.

According to the introductory matter in this book, Whale got around having to make the monster movie by, without Laemmle’s knowledge, sending a way over-the-top script treatment to the Breen Office, the screen censors who had approval over public morality (and corporate profits) via the Motion Picture Production Code. Supposedly this 1933 script had beaucoup gore, torture, and perverted sex in it – to which the censors immediately reacted with horrified rejection.

This reaction from the folks who had to green-light any widely released film was a temporary death-knell (ha ha) for Dracula’s Daughter, leaving Whale free to continue preparations for his beloved Showboat.

It wasn’t until 1936 that a film called Dracula’s Daughter was released, with a script and plot so very different from the early treatments.

For example, the title role, played by Gloria Holden in the final film, was originally to be played by Jane Wyatt. Dracula himself plays a central role in the first 30% or so of the film. This would certainly have revitalized Lugosi’s already fading carrer!

More on this fascinating “might-have-been” next time.