The Batman Chronicles vol. 10

 

I have not read a lot of Golden Age stories about any single character.  I have read a lot of reprints of various issues, but those were only single issues.  It was much hard to read ten issue of Action or Detective Comics in a row.  DC Comics has been releasing these books in a rather inexpensive form now, which reprints all the stories of a single character.  I got this the other day, and it was quite fascinating.  There was no real continuity at all, and despite ostensibly being part of a shared world with other heroes- since Batman and Superman were members of the JSA- many stories would flat out contradict other stories.  Batman would say constantly "there is no such thing as magic" despite Dr. Fate, Johnny Thunder and his Thunderbolt and the Spectre existing in said JSA.  And he KNEW them.

HOTW- Sheena, Queen of the Jungle

 

From Wiki:

Sheena is the young, blonde daughter of Cardwell Rivington, who is exploring in Africa with his daughter in tow. When Cardwell dies from accidentally drinking a magic potion made by Koba, a native witch doctor, Sheena is orphaned. Koba raises the young girl as his daughter, teaching her the ways of the jungle and various central African languages. The adult Sheena becomes "queen of the jungle" and acquires a monkey sidekick named Chim^.

Fleetwood Mac - Sara (Official Music VIdeo)

                 

Happy Belated Birthday, Stevie Nicks

 

Ms. Stevie Nicks turned 75 on May 26th.  She was my first musical crush, when I saw the concert video for Sara sometime in 1982.  I had not cared for the song much, since it had been overplayed a lot for about three years, but seeing it performed was amazing.  She was ethereal and mystical, which enhanced her amazing presence.  She was also really pretty, which did appeal to 17 year old me.  I knew next to nothing of Fleetwood Mac or Stevie Nicks, other than I generally enjoyed their music.

V3... Henshin!

I once had a friend describe the 70s series Kamen Rider effects as being drawn by colored pencils.  I have often thought of that when seeing some of the effects.  It was a little harsh, but I can see where he was coming from.  Kamen Rider (and most of Toei's shows at that time) were about the action, rather than the effects.  They did their best with miniatures and rays, but those would not start to improve until about 1978.

Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur- 09- Skip Ad…olescense

 

IN which Lunella invents an app that lets her skip the "boring" parts of her life, like cleaning the house, the rink and those sorts of things.  Lu calls it "Skipster."  The app has AI, and improves itself.  It begins skipping Lu's life based on Lu's previously chosen skips.  Lu realizes she is missing some important parts of her life.  She confronts "Mae" and ends up INSIDE the app.  They have a long discussion, and Lu is able to "skip" back to the point in time before she invents Skipster.  She then decides to live in the moment, per Casey.

King Dinosaur trailer (1955)

                    

Superman & Batman Generations (1999)

 

This is an Imaginary Tale about these heroes from their start of their careers (beginning in 1939) and ends up a thousand years in the future.  They meet new heroes, have triumph and heartbreak, encounter love and hate over all those years.  It is quite a journey, filled with heroes and their children, as well as friends and enemies.

RIP- Tina Turner - Proud Mary LIVE

           

HOTW- Kamen Rider 1 and 2

 

Rider Kick!

Kamen Riders 1 and 2 battled Shocker and Gel-Shocker for almost two years.  Takeshi Hongo and Hayato Ichimonji were turned into cyborgs against their will, but managed to break free from the mind control of Shocker.  This didn't happen at the same time, as Takeshi went abroad to battle Shocker in other parts of the world while Ichimonji took over in Japan.  They did unite several times, and managed to end the threat of Shocker.  They would later return to help many other Riders later on.

Motörhead : Sympathy for the Devil

                    

Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur 08- Teacher's Pet

 

IN which Lunella and Casey bring the school pet home to watch over the weekend.  They gush over Hamtaro Angel in front of Devil.  Lu also forgets that it is movie night, and Devil sulks.  Angel is terrified of the beast as well.  Whilst Devil sleeps, his tail knocks Angel's cage down the stairs, and Angel gets loose.  Meanwhile, the erudite Rat King wants revenge on our heroes for foiling his pizza raid.  Moon Girl gets captured, Angel makes up with Devil and they rescue Lu.

Sven- The Thing with Two Heads (1972)

 

The poster says it all.

A talented transplant doctor, who is also a bigot, is dying.  He has already successfully transferred one ape's head onto another gorilla's body, so he plans to transfer his own head onto a healthy human body.  His team can't find a suitable body in time, so they end up with Rosie Greer.  This goes as well as can be expected.  Rosie is a wrongly convicted killer, so off he goes to find the witness to clear his name.  The police are chasing the thing with two heads, and wasting a lot of time and money.  Eventually everything gets settled up.

Xenorama #55 color cover

 

Here is the color cover for issue #55.  While that really isn't Devil Dinosaur, it is a great image.  I also forgot to watch Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur last night, so I am kind of making up for that.  Sorta. I really like this cover as well, and the issue came out right proper.  Diana really has made quite the transition from the 40s to the current era, mostly for the better.  There are some superhero tropes that really didn't age well, for all of the heroes.

The Thing With Two Heads (Trailer)

             

Xenorama #55 is a wonder!

 I have it being uploaded as I type.  In case anyone is confused, it will be all about Wonder Woman.  This is the black and white cover, which contains a first for me- an AI created image.  I'm really happy with this issue.  There will be a color issue as well. We look at Diana's early appearances in here, including the rather poor 1960s pilot.  I am glad I never traded for that back in the day.

HOTW- The Sub-Mariner, Namor

 

Imperious Rex!

Namor, the Avenging Son, declared war against the United States for destroying his people.  It wasn't intentional, but it still happened.  He caused all kinds of damage, but somehow fell under the spell of Betty Dean, a police woman assigned to stop him.  He went after nazis for a while, then battled the Human Torch for a while.  Later he became part of the Invaders, and then all kinds of interesting things happened.  He returned to battle the Fantastic Four and Dr. Doom and still can't quite make up his mind as to his ultimate goals.

Grendizer Opening

                   

Jeannie Epper, Extraordinary Stunts!

 

This is Jeannie Epper, one of the first women to do stunt work in Hollywood.  Not the first, but she has been very successful.  She is most well known for doubling Lynda Carter in Wonder Woman.  It was a good choice, since they are very similar in height and looks.  I like to think they were friendly with each other, since Jeannie did all the stunts that made Lynda look so good.  She also doubled Kate Jackson in Charlie's Angels.  I don't remember that show being full of action and dangerous stunts, but I am sure they needed doubles on occasion.  She did stunt work in Kill Bill vol. 2, which might have been for Darryl Hannah, but I am not going to watch that movie again to find out.

The Incredible Mr. Limpet (1964) Official Trailer

           

Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur 07- Goodnight, Moongirl

IN WHICH Lunella attends a slumber party with the volleyball team (four players, they are missing a few) and has a panic attack, as she has never made it through a sleepover in her young life.  Casey tries to help.  Lu invents a brain changer, which transfers her mind into Devil's.  You all can see where this is going to go.  Pops grabs the wrong remote, and there is a lot of back and forth between Devil and Lunella.  This leads to a lot of shenanigans, and some are quite funny.  In the end, Lu fesses to the team, and they are all still friends.

Creature with the Atom Brain (1955) Trailer

             

Jack and the Flying Prince and Princess (season 4)

The planet Lepidtopera is under attack from the Squoomians.  The king sends his son and daughter to get their fleet, as his children are now "their only hope."  Their ship ends up damaged, and they crash on Earth. Prince Astor and Princess Verbina have a bad feeling about this.  The gravity hinders them, and they get captured and brought to Darth Aku.  Jack rescues them, and battles a bunch of drones while the kids fix the ship.  They save him from the drones, and go find the fleet to save their planet.

HOTW- The Amazing Mr. X

 

Mr. X was a British hero who was super strong.  His real name is Les Manners.  He didn't fight glamorous villains, and he only had 14 appearances in the children's magazine Dandy.  His first appearance was in issue #272, way back in August of 1944.  He is technically the UK's first superhero, or at least Britain's.  I will leave the distinction up to those know such things.

The Dickies - Gigantor

                  

Proto Tetsujin #28

 

When Fred Ladd imported the cartoon that became Gigantor over here in 1964, he only used 52 episodes.  The first 26 episodes were not used for "a variety of reasons."  I always wondered what they looked like.  Thanks to the internet and some great fans, a few subtitled episodes have showed up.  I have an issue of Xenorama getting prepared for sixty years of Gigantor.  I have been a fan of the character for almost my entire life, and this research is fun.

Sven- Blacula (1982)

 

Deadlier than Dracula!

in 1772, Prince Mamuwalde and his his wife Luva, visit Dracula.  First mistake.  Drac refuses to try to end the slave trade, and then makes a pass at Luva.  This doesn't sit well with the Prince, but he is no match for the king of vampires.  He is bitten, dubbed Blacula, and imprisoned in a coffin.  Two hundred years later, the Prince is revived in LA, which he adapts to quite quickly.  He meets Tina, whom he thinks is a reincarnation of Luva.  He also begins creating minions.  Dr. Gordon Thomas and Lt. Jack Peters start to put the clues together and realize there is a vampire present.  There are a lot of bloody shenanigans, and finally Blac puts the bite on Tina.  Then Tina gets staked and Blac kills himself by entering the sunlight.  The End.

Kaida's gotcha day

 

Two years ago Kaida Trillian entered my life.  She was so tiny back then, a whopping 7,2 pounds.  She hid under or behind anything she could, I thought she might never get comfortable in the house or around me.  I also was not sure how Emerald would react to her.  Fortunately, Kaida got comfortable pretty quickly and was out of the guest room in about three months.  I left the door open so Emi could visit and get used to the newcomer.

Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur 06- The Beyonder

 

"You're gonna hang the fate of humanity on a science fair trophy?"

IN which Lu hears a strange voice narrating her adventures.  This turns out to be the all powerful Beyonder.  He explains he was "sent" to Earth to learn about human beings.  If they were worthy, he would spare the planet.  Lu also has to learn to be a team player and listen to her partner, Eduardo.  They are doing a school project and suddenly the entire fate of the Earth revolves around the success of said project.

Blacula Official Trailer #1 (1972)

           

watch what you order!

 

I accidentally bought a 1968 copy of this book.  I had searched for the sequel, The Shy Stegosaurus of Indian Springs and found some for sale.  Some very expensive copies, since it has not been reprinted for some time. ThriftBooks has it for sale, and for some reason, when the book I saw was rather inexpensive, I thought it was the sequel.  It got delivered quickly, and I was excited to read the story, since it had been probably 50 years or more since the last time it was in my hands.

HOTW- Booster Gold

 

From Wiki-

Michael Jon Carter was born poor in 25th-century Gotham City. He and younger twin sister Michelle never knew their father because he left after gambling away all their money. Michael was a gifted athlete, attending Gotham University on a football scholarship. At Gotham U., Michael was a star quarterback until his father reentered his life and convinced him to deliberately lose games for gambling purposes. He was exposed, disgraced and expelled. Later he was able to secure a job as a night watchman at the Metropolis Space Museum, where he studied displays about superheroes and villains from the past, particularly the 20th century.^[15]

Lawyers, Guns and Money

           

Xenorama #54 is on the way!

This is the cover for the full-color edition of Xenorama #54.  As one might reasonably guess, it is all about Godzilla vs. Megalon!  It is the 50th anniversary of the movie, and we are going to celebrate it properly! We believe that said celebration has been accomplished.  All the usual wonderful contributors  are here, and the articles they have contributed are great.  We are quite pleased with this issue.