Saturday, February 7, 2009

Cleopatra Jones

The 1970s saw the rise of Black action heroes and heroines on the big screen.
Most of the films were set in the US, particularly in the big cities like New York, LA, or Chicago.
Of the various films, only one series took the lead character out of the "urban jungle", the Cleopatra Jones duology, starring 6'2" former fashion model Tamara Dobson as a kick-ass government troubleshooter in the James Bond / Matt Helm vein!
Jet-setting around the world, Cleo dealt with crime in Europe and Asia as well as the good 'ol USA with a style and flair that would have made 007 himself proud!
Cleopatra Jones and Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold were grindhouse staples in the 70s, often playing together on double bills, which made sense since Cleo was the only Black female character to have a sequel film!
(Yes, Pam Grier did more films, but she always played different characters!)
There were rumors of a third Cleo film, but since the higher-budgeted sequel didn't do as well as the first film, Cleo's third appearance was never produced!

We at Atomic Kommie Comics™ felt Cleo was a natural for our
Seduction of the Innocent!!™ collection of kitchy pop culture kollectibles, particularly the Menacing Maidens section featuring the cinema's women who "don't take no s#!t!"
We digitally-restored and remastered the kool movie poster art for both her cinema classics and made them available on shirts, mugs, mousepads, messenger bags, and other kool kollectibles!

So look for Cleopatra Jones...before she comes looking for you!

Trivia: the character Foxxy Cleopatra played by Beyonce in GoldMember was a tribute to both Tamara's Cleo and Pam Grier's Foxy Brown!

Thursday, February 5, 2009

You'll love...Love Diaries and Love Letters for Valentine's Day!

Until the intro of texting, blogs, MySpace and FaceBook, the main way people kept track of their love lives was thru Love Diaries & Love Letters!
In fact, they made up one of the most popular sub-categories of romance comics, with literally dozens of titillating titles!

Let our selection of the best of these these kitchy, campy (and very kool) classic comics covers help you express your true feelings on the Most Important of Days--Valentines Day on greeting cards, teddy bears, mugs, and even "naughty" undies!

And, if they can't assist your love-life, perhaps something from one of our other sections at True Love Comics Tales™ including...
All You Need is Love...
Beatrice Fairfax
Confessions
Lovers Lane
School of Love (or is that Love in School?)
WarTime Love
Weddings
Western Love
will help get your point across on the Most Important of Days!

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Friday Foster: the FIRST Black Comic Strip Heroine

Beginning on January 18, 1970, Friday Foster was the FIRST mainstream syndicated comic strip to star a Black woman. (Jackie Ormes' legendary Torchy Brown was, unfortunately, limited to black-owned newspapers which had relatively-limited circulation.)
It was also the FIRST mainstream comic strip to star a Black title character, male OR female! (the humor strip Quincy by Ted Shearer debuted later in 1970!)

Writer Jim Lawrence was no stranger to adventure strips, having previously written Captain Easy and Joe Palooka.
After his stint on Friday, he scripted a revived Buck Rogers comic strip based on the 1980 tv series!
And, he also penned a 1970s paperback series,
Dark Angel, about a Black woman private eye.
Artist Jorge Longaron had done a number of comic strips in Europe, but was unknown in America. Friday was his Stateside strip debut.

The series was a combination of adventure, soap-opera, and social commentary, about former fashion model-turned-photographer's assistant (and later professional photographer) Friday Foster.
Supporting characters included photographer Shawn North
(her boss and later business partner) and millionare playboy/romantic interest Blake Tarr.

The strip lasted until late 1974, with some of the final sequences illustrated by DC Comics legend Dick Giordano and a then up-and-comer named Howard Chaykin!

Besides the strip, there was a one-shot comic book in 1972, and a feature film in 1975 (a year after the strip was canceled) starring action-movie goddess Pam Grier as Friday,
Thalmus Rasulala as Blake Tarr, Yaphet Kotto as Detective Colt Hawkins, plus Eartha Kitt, Jim Backus, Godfrey Cambridge, and in one of his earliest roles, Carl Weathers, as an un-named assassin!
While there was a soundtrack album, curiously, I've never seen a novelization (and, in the '70s, they did novelizations of movies that weren't even released in the US, just overseas)!


If you're looking for a cool gift for the Black History aficionado or grrrl hero fan in your life, you can't go wrong with a Friday Foster mug, bag, shirt or other goodie from Atomic Kommie Comics™!

Note: only the comics graphic at top is available on products from us. The poster isn't.

Sunday, February 1, 2009

The FIRST Black Hero to have his OWN Comic Book!

Celebrate Black History Month (and show off your pop-culture knowledge) with kool kollectibles from Atomic Kommie Comics™ featuring comics' FIRST Black cowboy!

Created the same year (1966) as Marvel's Black Panther (who guest-starred in Fantastic Four, Tales of Suspense, and The Avengers, but didn't get his own series until 1973, or his own comic until 1977), Lobo was the FIRST Black character with HIS OWN BOOK!
(Other Black characters had their own series in anthology titles, but Lobo was the first to have his name AS the title!)

Lobo the comic only ran two issues, but now you can have the collectibles like t-shirts, magnets, mousepads, etc., they never made during his title's too-brief run!
Dedicated Lobo page...
Lobo
Our entire Western line (including Lobo)...
Western Comics Adventures™