"Colonel Bleep Arrival On Earth"

here's the first color cartoon aired on TV in the US. it's Colonel Bleep and it sure doesn't look like anything else you've ever seen. unless you've seen this cartoon, that is. I find the style charming but it's very frenetic and it's mostly narration used to describe nearly every detail of the action.

Hercules and the Masked Rider (1963)

Alan Steel is in this movie as "Hercules" but really, he's more of a circus strongman than the actual demi-god.  I'm thinking this was made right after SAMSON AND THE SLAVE QUEEN, since the opening shot is lifted right from that movie, and Steel looks exactly the same in both films.

Ghost of Zorro (1949)

this is one Zorro serial I've never seen, or perhaps only once. it stars a pre Lone Ranger Clayton Moore as Zorro/Ken Mason (obviously not a de la Vega). I think this is really cool that he got to play two of the major heroes of Western lore. Mason is a grandson or something of Zorro. that's how he gets away with using the name in 1865. the James Gang and the Daltons get name dropped in this first chapter. Rita thinks Ken is a slicker from the East, playing into the whole fop thing.

Tiga #6: Second Contact

Prof. Mizuno is investigating a strange cloud.  this is his assistant.  he Japanese is very good, as far as I can tell.  unfortunately for them, the cloud is rather carnivorous and this is the last we see of them.

RIP Richard Matheson

this great writer passed on this Sunday, June 23rd. he wrote so much stuff for movie and TV that most people probably don't even know they are watching it anymore. my favorite work of his is 1963's The Raven which I saw in the middle of the night. it was funny and scary all at once. I'm also sure it had some kind of influence on Marvel's Dr. Strange, since I always thought he was patterned after Vincent Price to a degree.

Darn you, Elam!

I've known my friend Chris Elam for about 20 years now.  I'm not quite sure of the exact date we met, but I'm pretty sure I was living in La Mesa at the time, which would put it around 1993.  so that's good enough for me.

I know he had subscribed to Xenorama around that point, and his letters were full of information about the then bewildering Power Ranger craze going on.  so much information that I asked him if he'd just like to write a regular column in the zine about the show and it's parent, the Super Sentai series.  I actually didn't really think he'd be interested, since it was just a photocopied zine on paper done once or twice a year.

Kaufman Lawler Feud: Chapter 15 - The New King of Professional Wrestling

here's the aftermath of Andy teaming up with Jerry to take on Jimmy and one of the Assassins. this is not Jody Hamilton under the hood as the Assassin. I wonder what he thought of the Memphis versions. could have been a great angle if he'd ever been brought in. anyway, I can't believe anyone would have believed Andy was actually turning face, but I didn't watch this in real time. he's such a great heel.

Atomic Rulers (1964)

this was the only Starman movie I saw on TV growing up.  even after seeing the clips from EVIL BRAIN FROM OUTER SPACE in IT CAME FROM HOLLYWOOD (and that movie said they were from ATOMIC RULERS anyway) I didn't know there were three more movies.  it was listed in the paper as ATOMIC RULERS "OF THE WORLD" and is still talked about that way.  wonder where it got the second part of the name, since it appears on the title card just like you see it.

scenes from Gargoyles (1972)

I remember the first time I saw this movie, seeing the skeleton of the gargoyle in the shack. it was late at night and the movie freaked me out. it was later on, perhaps 1974 or so. it's really a well done movie, great suits and well acted (for the most part). the music is great and you get to see lots of gargoyles. they are somewhat sympathetic as well, and you feel sorry for them a tiny bit at the end of the movie.

Maciste Against Hercules in the Vale of Woe (1961)

often called "Hercules in the Valley of Woe" this is a comedy peplum, along the lines of MY SON, THE HERO (which I've yet to see).  it's an intentional comedy, and not really a sword and sandal peplum, though there's enough of that to go around.

Marine Boy: The Complete First Season (Preview Clip)

here's the preview to the DVD set available now. if the entire series is the same quality I'll be really happy. though spreading 26 episode onto three discs seems like it might be crowded on there, but I don't know that much about such things. as long as the episodes are complete I'll be happy.

Xenorama, ready to return!

remember this announcement? 

well, over two years later Xenorama #15 is finished!  in a few short days (hopefully) the magazine will be ready to be printed and ordered.  the cover needs a few tweaks (changing the date and adding a price to it, getting the back done) but other than that it is finished.  which makes me happy!

makes me sad it took over two years to get it done, but from the previews I've seen it will look great.  as I get more experience with self publishing and such, it will only get better as well.

The Three Stooges- Disorder in the Court (1936)

this is my favorite Three Stooges short. it's also the very first one I ever saw. we didn't get a package of them to watch in syndication in Colorado, or I never noticed it. I suspect the former, since I did see Laurel and Hardy a lot. naturally I saw it on WDCA Channel 20 in WV.

Marine Boy on DVD from Warner Brothers Archives

I've been wondering if this would happen for a while now, since WB put an episode of Marine Boy on a DVD set a few years ago.  so I was thinking it would happen.  it's really cool that is has though, and it's pretty dang affordable!  this is the first 26 episodes on three discs.  following this logic there should be three sets of 26, which would be cool since I've never seen one episode of the 78.

Kaufman Lawler Feud: Chapter 14 - An Offer to the King

we get to see some clips of Andy vs Jimmy here, and one of Jimmy's goons (Sweet Daddy O) comes in to help him stomp away at Andy. the crowd doesn't seem to be on either's side at the moment, which is no surprise. so Andy turns to Jerry for help.

Phantom From Space (1953)

I saw this movie for the first in the early 90s, back on TNT's fun MonsterVision show.  I'll only bemoan the station TNT has turned into now once, as it's nowhere near as much fun as the station it used to be.   I liked it for what it was back then, which is a low budget B picture.  I hadn't seen it in several years.

Kaufman Lawler Feud: Chapter 13 - In Studio and Against Jimmy Hart

here we have Andy going on a tirade against both Jerry AND Jimmy, which leaves the studio crowd a bit perplexed. they aren't quite sure who they should cheer for, hating both individuals equally. the interplay between Kaufman and Hart is great. mostly the crowds wants to see both filthy foes annihilated! they are great heels.

Avengers Annual #1

THE MONSTROUS MASTER PLAN OF THE MANDARIN

Roy Thomas writer Don Heck penciler  George Bell inker  Artie Simek letterer    

this 49 page story stars all the former Avengers except the Hulk.  I reckon since they had both Thor and Hercules here Roy figured they didn't need to have any more sheer muscle in the story.

Godzilla Power Hour 1978 NBC Saturday Morning Preview

this is pretty cool, and I'm sure it worked for me at age 13. Godzilla gets most of the screen time, which isn't surprising since I'm sure his licensing made NBC and Hanna-Barbera want to get their money's worth from the ratings and such. interesting to see the Earth Eater as the first monster for Godzilla... I haven't seen Jana of the Jungle in years, and am surprised at how much it resembles Filmation's Tarzan over on CBS, right down to the way Jana swings on vines exactly like Tarzan. they use the exciting Godzilla theme throughout the entire preview.

The Phantom from 10,000 Leagues (1955)

this is a pleasant enough little time waster, with the chutzpah to actually give us a pretty good look at the monster from time to time.  in fact, we see it right away, in the first five minutes, which is a good way to get my attention.

Godzilla Vs The Thing - Super 8mm version

here's the 50' version of the fourth Godzilla movie. I owned the 200' version back in the day, and watched it quite a few times. the strobing effect that Tsuburaya used in part of the fight was fascinating to watch this way. as I've noted elsewhere, this was a very disappointing movie for me when I was younger, since I expected lots of monster wrestling shenanigans and got a much more serious movie. ah, youth!

Serenity (2005)

Sheldon Cooper: We agree to reserve Friday nights to watch Joss Whedon's brilliant new show Firefly.
Leonard: Does that really need to be in the agreement?
Sheldon Cooper: We might as well settle it now. It's going to be on for years.

(this was the most I knew about the show for several years...)

I incited some nerd rage last Saturday by talking about this movie and the TV show it was based on.  then I remembered I hadn't posted my thoughts about the movie (you can read my blog about the tv show here in case you missed it) so I'm doing it now.  if you don't want to read any more after the jump, then here's the gist of it: I liked it a little more than the series. 

here's why:

The Phantom from 10,000 Leagues - opening (1955)

I was looking for a trailer for this movie, and there isn't one on youtube. this was CALLED a trailer, but it's really just the opening to the movie. it'll do to let you know just what is going to happen during the movie, anyway. it's not shy about showing the "phantom" right away.

Phantom Menacers

I bought a DVD with these three movies several years ago and watched it once.  I'd never seen the first movie, but had viewed the second two in the past.  naturally these are public domain which is why they are all on one disc.  they are all about 80 minutes or so, so they fit well enough on one DVD.

ONE MILLION YEARS, BC Flight Fight

since I wrote about it yesterday, here's the sequence from ONE MILLION YEARS, BC. poor Tumak, not knowing the difference between a Pteranodon and a rhamphoryncus. it would have saved him a lot of heartache if he had! poor uneducated cavemen.

One Million Rays, CE

yesterday I read this great piece from my pal Brock DeShane.  read it! 

it made me think about when Ray impacted my life.  my inescapable conclusion was the movie ONE MILLION YEARS, BC (1966).  I saw this movie probably in 1971 or 1972, I'm not sure when at this stage in my life, but it was on the ABC Sunday movie of the week.  yeah, it had that big an impact on me.

but his question to me when we were discussing it was what part had the major impact on me?  now that was a much more difficult question to answer.

THE MARVEL SUPER HEROES

I've posted several of the theme songs for these cartoons, and even some episodes. I would have loved them as a kid, seeing real comic book stories adapted. I got one of the 8mm cartoons when I was a teenager and was disappointed in the animation back then. it was because I wasn't prepared for the general lack of it. now I find it charming in it's own way. it's better animated than say Space Angel or those types (which also have their own charm).

super giant Atomic Starman Poster

at least I think these are the posters for the first two movies, but if I am wrong someone will tell me.

I blame Supremelam (I can't believe I remember that) for making me want to watch these movies again.  he posted this earlier today and I agree with him 100% about this series of movies.  I've watched all four movies in the past.  I've reviewed Evil Brain From Outer Space and Attack From Space, so I'll watch the other two later on.

The Church - The Unguarded Moment

this was a song I was introduced to in about 1983 via Channel 12's FM-TV. I'd never heard or seen anything like it before, and it immediately became one of my favorite songs, so much that I learned it on the guitar. it's still my favorite Church song, and I wish it had been a huge hit over here back when it was released.

Avengers #44

"The Valiant also Die"

  Words:

Roy Thomas

     Pencils:

John Buscema

Inks:

Vince Colletta

    Letters:

Sam Rosen

Terror of Godzilla (1975) trailer

here's the no longer rare TV spot for the final first series Godzilla movie. I don't think it ever got a large theatrical release, and the history of the movie, from TV to theaters and back is so convoluted that I'm not about to get into it right now. it's a fun spot, short and to the point. it would have worked on me!

Godzilla vs Robots and more!

it's that time of year again, the all Japanese monsters version of Famous Monsters is about to be released.  this cover is an homage to Basil Gogos' cover for FM #135 (possibly the greatest Godzilla cover of all time, I must say).  this one is pretty darn eye catching as well, huh?

edited by the talented August Ragone, this issue will be featuring a plethora of giant robots from the land of the rising sun.  there's a reason Jet Jaguar is gracing the cover of the magazine along with the original (and best) MechaGodzilla.  inside will contain even more robotic renegades and heroic automatons to thrill and chill you.