Trust Me ... I Know What I'm Doing

Yup, that's the catchphrase of Sledge Hammer, the first of this instalment of cards for my desktop.

This outrageous 1986-88 cop satire was so over the top that it dug a hole on the other side.

An All-American Family we all wish to emulate!

This here is Gary Cooper in High Noon, as a great heroic character who must defend himself from a bad guy's revenge after his so-called friends turn tail.

This fellow had a big influence on wanting to stay up late as a youth.

I really liked this version of Supergirl.

I DO believe in spooks, I DO believe in spooks!

Well, that's the first row of four hands.  The beginning of row number two on Monday.

February Brings Things I Love!

Yep, this month we're gonna take a trip to the past. I've previously showed the desktop image I created for my laptop PARD (Pretty Awesome 'Ritin' Device).  Well, a year or or so ago, ole PARD gave up the ghost and I got a new laptop, appropriately named BUDDY, for our late bestest dog.

Here we are going to give you a good look at each of the cards in this 52-card deck of favorites.

Fantastic Theatre played old sci-fi and monster movies on weekend nights in the Tulsa, OK area.  The host was the urbane(to us kids) Peter Hardt.  A page about Fantastic Theatre here.

Of course, George Reeves as Superman had a huge impact on our middle-America lives.  He was super but approachable, and had a bit of a paunch that in no way interfered with Super Stuff.

As we hit the ages when we wanted to rebel against all authority, 1967's Number Six, The Prisoner, was there to prove that resistance was possible, even though ultimately useless ... kind of like doing a synchronized pencil drop in study hall!

The upright Captain Kirk showed the decisiveness we adolescent boys wished to emulate.  He saw a pretty girl and knew just what to say to get her to talk back. 

One of my oldest friends was the Frankenstein Monster, alive in a world he didn't ask to be born in.  He started out only wanting knowledge and friendship, and look what happened to him!  (We can always do that OTHER adolescent tactic and blame the society or the parent!)

What pre-teen wouldn't love to strut down the street to applause, being cheered for just WHO THEY ARE?!!!?  Plus a wiser older brother or cousin to show you the ropes.

When I watched the imported broadcasts of The Avengers, I couldn't really follow every little thing.  I understood that they were the good guys.  He said smart-aleck comments the way I wish I could.  She wore tight clothes which were probably terribly uncomfortable, but were eye candy for twelve-year-olds.  Even more interestingly, she was a full partner and did lots of the karate-hai-yah stuff.

Well, that's the first patch of things that warped me into the beautiful mess I am today, kids!  Do you too have memories of these icons, or others?  See you Thursday!

  

The Moon and Some Change

This here's the last story from Eerie #15, June 1968.

With my grown-up eyes, I think of the story title, and the moon in general, and am reminded of Joni Mitchell's "A Case of You."  A guy promises her that he will be as constant as the Northern Star.  She sniffs, "Constantly in the dark? Gotcha."

The art here by Jeff Jones is a little ... how you say, impressionistic?  The angles of the girl's cleavage sure made an impression -- ahem -- on my 12-year-old self!

So the mysterious bald guy materializes from thin air to bring rescue Diane, and then vanishes after a cold dip in the Channel.

We've seen the trope a million times, people wandering off into the dangerous woods.  I guess all of those people are candidates for Darwin Awards, eh? 

Tony must have paid the gypsy a lot of moolah for her to throw six silver bullets at him!  Another fun fact:  There's a spiritualistic medium named Madame Zokar in an episode of The New Scooby-Doo Movies.  That's "A Good Medium Is Rare," from 1972.

Tony wants Diane dead.  But why?

And who is this bald guy who keeps apporting into the action?

All of a sudden the bald guy doesn't seem so altruistic.  What about Tony then?

I guess if you can't beat 'em, join 'em!  Talk about doing anything for love!

See you on Monday for a February trip through my twisted memories!

Them Dang Doll Collectors!

This here is another tale from the fifteenth issue of Eerie, cover-dated June 1968.

Here is the cover, and below is the story that goes with it!

I can tell you, my twelve-year-old self got an education in the female form here, buddy!

The top panel is the first in several ... shall we say, "narrative inelegances."  Having grown up reading the Silver Age of comics, I can say that it IS NOT good storytelling form to have the narrator talking into a telephone, when her words are plainly addressed to the little dolls on her shelf.  Miriam should be off the phone here.

On this page, the thought-balloon narrations of the flashback images are fine ... but the narration SHOULD NOT be tied by those little bubbles down to the younger incarnations of Miriam.  The child or adolescent Miriam IS NOT having the thoughts at the top of the panel.  The ADULT MIRIAM is thinking them.  And PS note the phrase "why he committed suicided."  An indication of slapdash production! 

By now you can draw the conclusion that Miriam is a sociopath, viewing all other humans as objects, with the most desirable to be kept for a time, as it suits her.

In the middle panel we meet Mr Fantocci the proprietor.  As a pre-adolescent I did not know that a "fantocci" is a puppetry term.  A puppet show is a "fantoccini."

The fourth panel, bottom left -- look at Miriam's devious expression.  You know she's up to no good, but I for one probably could not resist some femme giving me THAT LOOK.

Panel three is another narrative goof.  WHAT is Miriam reacting to?  There should be a text box at the top, something like, "A clank in another part of the theatre surprises Miriam."

And look at the last panel on the page, specifically the words "No! This is all a nightmare!"  Tell me, WHO IS SAYING these words?  You'd think Miriam.  Then why do some of the ragged edges of this word balloon seem to point to the rioting dolls? 

I learned in college that what happens to Miriam is an example of the trope "the biter gets bit."  This was used as the title of a story by Wilkie Collins, but in general it means, "someone suffers as a result of their own actions, especially when they were trying to hurt someone else."

We'll take one more bite out of Eerie #15 on Thursday, my friends, then for February we'll switch over to a long explication of pop-culture figures I love, or that have influenced me a lot, for better or ill.

See you then!

Under Whose Skin?

Here's the fourth story in the June 1968 issue of Eerie, number 15.

The makeup wizard's name is Eric Starvos.  Don't you think his ride looks like the Munsters Koach?

Which was cursed, the makeup, or the guy who murdered to get it?  (By the way, this story originally appeared in Eerie's third issue, cover-dated May 1966.

See you on Monday!

A Demon in Li'l Ole ME???

The third story in the June 1968 Eerie, number 15.

An interesting tale which wants you to think allegorically.  Do the guys guarding Moloch stand for the superego's restrictions on the id?

Muse for an extra day, campers!  We're posting this on Sunday because on Monday I'll be unconscious for awhile.  See ya on the flip side!

  

A Wardrobe of Monsters!

Be-VEHR! It's more from Eerie #15, dated June 1968.

This would have made a good Night Gallery segment, wouldn't you say?  

The artist -- Gray Morrow -- and writer, Otto Binder -- have produced some gems.  This is a lesser one, but well crafted nevertheless.

Of course nobody believes that these bodies originated with the Egyptians, as mentioned at the top.  Maybe they were left in ancient Egypt by Doctor Frankenstein's Time-Traveling Circus and Sideshow!

See you at the beginning of the new week, friends!  In the meantime, don't peer into passing shadows TOO closely!