Xenorama #40- Dinosaur parks!

 

Welcome ... to Jurassic parks and park accessories!  This issue started out as a way to make sure the original Dinosaur Land booklet would survive for future generations.  I love the way it looks and all the dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals in the park.  It then morphed into a larger issue, with journeys to Dinosaur National Monument, various museums and even a trip to the World of Dinosaurs in Brazil.  It is a lot of fun and even a bit educational at times.  As an added bonus, it contains only the second interview ever featured in Xenorama (the first being Julie Newmar way back in issue #5, perhaps I will reprint that in a future Batman themed issue).  This interview is with Lilith Draco, of  the GD Splanations podcast.  There are a few book reviews and some podcast reviews as well.

The Little Book of the Amazing Spider-Man (2017)

These are fun little books.  Roy Thomas wrote the introductions., and they are translated into several languages.  The main text is all in English.  The books take the reader through Spider-Man's origins, the many iterations he has gone through (lacking the Japanese Spider-Man, of course) in media, and loads of the comic book issues.   Roy talks about Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, plus many of the other wonderful writers and artists that have worked on the books.  He does include the monumental Superman vs Spider-Man crossover, which was very important at the time.  Tom Holland is missing, but his first appearance as Spidey was the next year, and was kept under wraps during filming.  That is understandable.

The Devil's Rain (1975) - Trailer

                    

Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022)

 

Set in 1976, Gru is trying to join the Vicious Six, the top super villain group at the time.  Gru is not quite 11 years old, but already has a plan for his life.  That is pretty impressive.  He feels like the minions are holding him back.  We all know how this is going to work.  The macguffin of the story is a Chinese Horoscope amulet, which is pretty cool looking.  The villains are pretty funny and unique and given those odd powers that the Gruniverse is known for.  The minions also have to prove their worth to Gru as well.  It all works out, with a few call forwards to the Despicable Me movies and lots of 70s music (some of this was better than others).  Gru has risen!  Well, at least started to rise.

MOTW- Keylla

 

Keylla, subtitled the Photothermal Monster, lives, or rather lived on the Planet Q.  The scientific team on Space Station V2 gets blinded by the brilliant eye blast of the monster.  The Science Patrol springs into action and arrives to help out.  It turns out they need a BM circuit to stop the station from exploding.  That circuit is on Planet R, of course.  There they run into not just Keylla but the monster Saigo.  These monsters don't like each other much, and appear to be the only creatures on the planet.  Keylla proves to be a tough battle for Ultraman.  Everything is works out for most of the participants in the episode.

Xenorama #4- reprint edition

Great higgledy piggledy!  What is this?  Could it be a blast from the (not really) distant past?  It sure appears as if Xenorama #4, from October of 1993 is about to be reprinted as a special edition in the near future.  It is going to be a "warts and all" sort of thing, with it being exactly as it was, some 29 years ago.  I have not changed a word of the articles.  I did add a new opening and closing, and the cover will be in color, since I can, don'tcha know.  It sure has been the easiest issue to finish, ever.  It should be done in the next few days, or possibly even tonight.  I have had a few readers ask me about doing reprints of those early issues, so this is the first experiment in that arena.  Don't hold your breath for more, though.  It will make you blue.

Batfink (1967)

This is the title to Batfink for disc 2.  I am still amazed that this series ever made it to DVD.  It is all 100 episodes, and those are not easy to watch in a row, since they were never meant to be.  When I was young, this show was a rarity when it was aired, though I saw it more than Johnny Cypher.  I saw it as than Mighty Mouse, though.  That was ubiquitous on the early morning kid shows.  I liked it, and still do, since it has a sense of humor about it.  Hugo a Go Go is a great villain, and he gets to talk to the narrator a lot.  The rest of the villains are pretty fun as well.  It is way better than Courageous Cat and Minute Mouse.

Sven- The Brides of Dracula (1960)

 

A young French schoolteacher has a new job in Tranylvania.  No one wants to take her to it.  The Baroness Meinster asks her to be a guest for the night in her castle.  While there, Marianne meets and frees Baron Meinster, the son and vampire.  After she escapes, she is found by Dr. van Helsing.  This leads him and the local priest to figure out there is yet another vampire on the loose, and after several more deaths (mostly the girls at the school) van Helsing manages to destroy this disciple of Dracula once and for all.

The Brides Of Dracula (1960) - Trailer

                            

Nerd Chronicles 4: A Gigantor Influence

                      

Pee-wee Herman National Tequila Day

                  

MOTW- Gernonimon

 

Geronimon is known as the Monster Chief, as it can bring previously defeated (and destroyed) monsters back to life.  It is rumored to be responsible for all the monsters on Earth.  It gets annoyed that the Science Patrol and Ultraman for killing the monsters under it's command.  He brings back Telesdon and Drako in preparation to unleash a monster army.   He was also stupid enough to bring back Pigmon, who found the Science Patrol and told them what Geronimon's plan was.  Ito also has a crisis of confidence, thinking that Ultraman makes the Science Patrol useless.  He is wrong, of course.  The monsters are defeated and once again, Pigmon dies.

Xenorama #39- Dinosaur Parks!

 

Well, how about that!  Issue #39 is nearly complete, just have to finish typing up the interview with Lilith Draco of GD Splanations fame.  She sure does love her pachys.  Be that as it may, this issue covers not only dinosaurs, but some various parks and museums from the states as well as Brazil.  I had wanted to do an update of the Dinosaur Land booklet, since I love that place.  The original is only 16 pages long, and somehow this morphed into well over 100 pages.  The research was so much fun to do.  I added trips to various dino-sites from around the country, as well as some visits to museums.

Xenorama #38

 

This is the newest issue!  It is still under review, but I as soon as it is ready I will get contributor issues out, including last issue, which I am sorry I have slacked on.  I think this one is even greater than the previous issue, which was great as well!  This issue covers most stop-motion movies from 1960 to say, 2015. There are lots of great articles about these movies. I love writing more about Jack the Giant Killer I'll tell you what.  It is always easier to write about your favorite movies than ones you don't care for much.   From the Land Beyond Beyond really did have a huge influence on my life, and I hope my homage to it shows the love I had for the book.

Sven- The Ghost and Mr. Chicken (1966)

Luckless loser Luther Heggs is a typesetter who wants to be a reporter.  He has a crush on a pretty girl who doesn't notice him at all.  He gets conned into spending a night in a "haunted" house, where a murder-suicide occurred.  After seeing several "supernatural" things happen during the night, he writes an article about his experience.  This makes him a local celebrity, until Nicholas, the nephew of the deceased couple sues him for libel.  The judge orders everyone involved in the suit to go to the house at midnight.  It runs out that Nicholas wanted to destroy the house, and he would have gotten away with it too, if it hadn't been for that cowardly reporter!

Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)

 

In which Dr. Jane Foster finds and fulfills her ultimate destiny.  She, Thor, Val and Korg all try to figure out a way to stop Gorr, the God Butcher.  This involves all kinds of other deities, including the Olympians.  Why did they leave Olympus?  Or are the just visiting Milliways, I mean Omnipotence City for fun? How about the rest of them?  Well, some things you just have to not put much thought into.  Of course, Jane has other issues going on, which I knew about from the comic book series I never read.  So the ending was pretty obvious, but still worked.  

The Ghost and Mr Chicken 1966 Trailer

                       

Ms. Marvel 06- No Normal

IN which Kamala finds and fulfills her destiny, saves Kamran, stops Damage Control- well, a rogue Agent Deever, and tells half of Jersey City who she is.  Bruno accepts his destiny as well to go to CalTech, which does not take a big bang of epiphany.  They make new friends and it is all pretty fun, overall.  Kamala still has to study though, and suddenly changing places with Carol isn't going to help that.  "Ms. Marvel will return in Marvels."  Which I will go see, because meeting your heroes never goes like you want it to. Also, Photon will be there, so that will be fun.

MOTW- Zaragas

 

Zaragas can adapt to any weapon thrown against it, making it an Ultra adaptiod Ultra Monster.  This was the first one to be presented in the Ultra Series.  It also has an ability to blind opponents, or anything with eyes in it's field of influence.  Hayata gets blinded at one point, even,  Arashi disobeys orders, and gets discharged from the Science Patrol.  He then steals a VTOL and goes back into battle to help a blinded Ultraman.  Since he was successful, he gets to return to the Science Patrol.  He has to repeat their oath as penance.  

Rev. Billy C. Wirtz - "Grandma vs Da Crusher" - 4-11-2014

                     

Ms. Marvel 05- Time and Again

 

In which Kamala avoids the time paradox thanks to Aisha and also makes up with her mother.  Surprisingly, Kamala's time in 1947 doesn't last that long.  We do get a flashback to 1942, when the British were still occupying a lot of the world they didn't belong in.  This is how we meet both Aisha, her soon to be husband and then Sana, Kamala's grandmother.  Everything happens according to the family legend, and as soon as Sana is safe, Kamala snaps back to the present day.  The Veil also finally makes an appearance and somehow Kamran gets superpowers.  He also figures out he has been calling Bruno "Bryan" for the whole time he has been on the series.

Sven- The Deadly Mantis (1957)

 

A long frozen prehistoric insect is unleashed after a volcano explodes.  This mantis is 200" long and hungry.  It flies south from the North Pole attacking outposts and planes along the way.  Experts and military personnel are called in to figure out what is going on.  The only clue they have is a piece of a claw spur.  There are a few more shenanigans, plus the obligatory romance, with several men vying for Marge's attention.  The bug ends up in Washington DC, atop the Washington Monument.  Eventually, it is wounded and flies into the Manhattan Tunnel, where the army finishes it off.

Ms. Marvel 04- Seeing Red

 

In which Kamala travels to Pakistan to talk to her grandmother.  Karachi looks beautiful, but completely alien to me.  Like most episode fours, there is a lot of talking in this one.  We meet yet another secret society, the Red Daggers, trained fighters out to stop the Clandestine djinn.  How is all this unknown to the sorcerers in the MCU?  I know, logic is not to be completely applied to superheroes, but come on.  Kamala finally wears the mask Bruno made for her, which looks great.  She doesn't use her powers until the last 15 minutes which of course entails a car chase.  At least it is in a different country and city.  It finally ends with Kamala getting thrown back in time (damn time travel) to 1947, when the Partition of India happened.  I wonder if the Time Variance Authority is aware of this happening as well?

The Deadly Mantis (1957) - Official Trailer

                          

Finally Sven is showing a movie I don't recall seeing before. This one was aired a lot when I was growing up, and I am looking forward to seeing what Sven will do with it.

Garden of the Gods

This is an amazing place in Colorado to visit.  I have only lived here and this was the first time I have visited it.  It is pretty spectacular.  It isn't a large area; it only takes about an hour to walk the whole area.  There are some other places to drive by and see, like Balancing Rock.  It was also a very pleasant day, as the clouds had come in and kept the heat down.  There were also no bugs like at the Royal Gorge the day before.  

MOTW- Seaboz

 

The Science Patrol finds a Graveyard of Monsters in "The Ultra Zone".  In space, of course.  They see and name several monsters from previous episodes, some of whom were not named in the US dubs.  They then see an unknown monster, and of course, that is Seaboz.  Later on, a research rocket crashes into the poor beast and brings it to Earth, where it causes havoc trying to return to space.  The Science Patrol and Ultraman feel bad for some of the monsters they had to destroy in previous episodes, and they want to help Seaboz get back to it's "home".  Another rocket is painted like Ultraman, and eventually the creature is returned to space.

Ms. Marvel 3- Destined

 

Kamala finds out what her wannabe boyfriend and his family are.  They say they djinn, though probably there are many kinds of those magical creatures in the MCU.  Anyway, Kamala is wondering if she can be the hero she wanted to be and wishes she could be.  Be careful what you wish for, Ms. Khan.  The other wannabe boyfriend, Bruno, is wrestling with going to CA for his college.  He wants to help, and makes Kamala the mask she needs.  Now if she can get rid of the terrible Night Light name....

"Good is not something you are, it is something  you do."

Pass the smokes, eh?

 

This photo came from the back of some homemaker's magazine from October of 1980.  I had blurred the name of the smokes on the carton at first, then realized it was also emblazoned right there above said cartons.  Ads for smokes were ubiquitous in nearly all magazines back then, trying to make people think they can make people cool if they smoke.  Sure worked for a long time, but I never thought it was cool.  The right character can pull it off, but overall it just looks dumb.  "Putting tar and all kinds of chemicals in your lungs voluntarily is a great idea!" I flirted with smoking for about 2 months in college.   It is a funny story, see below for details!

Odyssey (2016)

 Music From the Elder is a rather unusual KISS album.  It is either loved or hated by the hardcore fans, and ignored by most everyone else.  I have always enjoyed it, though even in 1981 I wondered at the idea of a concept album from KISS.  The band has mostly dismissed it, and I can understand why.  It was not successful, despite being full of some good songs and a mostly coherent story.  It did mark the end of the first KISS era, more or less, and it took until the late 90s to find out more about the creation of this album, and everything that was going on in the band at that time as well.  I never thought much more about the recording, but after finding Conversations with Phantoms I was led to this book, which I also bought.

Jurassic world Dominion

 Once again, an evil corporation wants to take control of the planet with bio-engineered locusts.  The original set of heroes gets involved, and the second set of heroes go off to rescue their kid and Blue's kid.  There are a lot of dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals.  Heck, some of them even have feathers.  That oughtta keep the nerds happy now.  It all wraps up well.  In the end, the veggiesaurus dinosaurs are living happily or at least peacefully with mammals.  One can only hope that another meteor isn't on the way.

Jurassic World Dominion - Official Trailer