Saturday, August 14, 2010

Before Scott Pilgrim was...Cutie Honey!

Scott Pilgrim vs the World got me to thinking about other films derived from comics/graphic novels/manga that utitlized not just the storytelling aspects that comics/graphic novels/manga derived from movies, but the particular visual bits created for the printed page that teleported to film versions.
In America, the Batman tv series and first Hulk film are the most obvious aspects, with sound effects spelled out, and the screen broken into panels.
But I always felt the movie creators were holding back, as if they were somewhat embarrassed about using those print-based elements.
OTOH, foreign movies based on print properties are the place where filmmakers go totally bonkers in adapting those visual cues on a massive scale.
Case in point...Cutie Honey!

Also based on a print comic/manga (Cutey Honey created by the lengendary Go Nagai) this flick is just as lunatic, just as filled with visual cues derived from comics/manga and video games as Scott Pilgrim!
Cutie Honey is a weird, wild, film.
 If you liked Scott Pilgrim, you owe it to yourself to check it out.

Friday, August 13, 2010

Design of the Week--Captain 3-D Redux

Each week, we post a limited-edition design, to be sold for exactly 7 days, then replaced with another!
This week...due to popular demand (and pretty good sales), the first superhero created specifically for 3-D...Captain 3-D!

In the early 1950s, "3-D" using red and green prints of simultaneously-shot movie footage from cameras a couple of feet apart. (note: sometimes blue was used instead of green, but the stereotype of 3-D is a red / green lens juxtposition.)
When a viewer wore glasses like these they would perceive the two projected images as a single 3-D image!
Taking comic book line art and modifying it to produce a similar 3-D effect was technically simple, so almost every company attempted at least one 3-D book between 1952-55.
Most were 3-D versions of existing comics including Superman, Batman, Tales from the Crypt, Tor, even Katy Keene.
However, Captain 3-D was the Simon & Kirby team's attempt to jump on the 3-D bandwagon with NEW material.

A disheveled, stranger stumbles into a seedy used bookstore.
He hands a book and pair of weird glasses to the young clerk, warns him to never sell it, just as a gunman comes in and shoots the stranger, disintegrating him.
The clerk, Danny Davis, disarms the gunman, who flees and is shot by an associate waiting outside.
Danny puts on the glasses and looks thru the book, which is blank except for an illustration of a costumed man which jumps from the page and stands in front of Danny.
Before another word is said, the associate gunman returns...with allies!
The costumed man defeats the group with ease and tells Danny to look at them thru the strange glasses.
Danny sees the attackers as cat-people!
As it turns out, the costumed man is the last survivor of an advanced civilization wiped out in a war against the Cat People 50,000 years earlier.
Placed in the book by advanced technology, he is brought to life by the holder of the book and glasses to battle the Cat People, who were all but wiped out, but who now have sufficient numbers to try to conquer the world again!

A cool premise and nice set-up, playing up the use of glasses to both empower the hero and perceive villains. (The movie They Live! used a similar gimmick)

Unfortunately, a legal battle involving the 3-D process all but killed the financial viability of producing 3-D books, and, though material was already finished, there was never a second issue of Captain 3-D!

Due to your interest, Captain 3-D will be a permanent part of the Atomic Kommie Comics™ lineup.
The only question being; where do we put him?
First appearing in 1953, he's definitely after the Golden Age (1938-1949), but a couple of years before the earliest of the Silver Age (1955-1969) heroes!
Or, since we're doing an entirely-new section dedicated to 3-D in movies and comics, we'll put him there! (Oops! did I say that out loud?)

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Back to School with Classic Animation Designs!


Traditional values!
That's what we at Atomic Kommie Comics™ espouse!
And with our G-Rated Tykes, Toddlers & Tiny Tots (and Their Mommies)!™ section, we restore the classic animated cartoon/comic book style that Disney, Warner Brothers, the Fleischer Brothers, and others in the 30s, 40s, and 50s did so wonderfully, to a new line of kiddie clothes and accessories!
Funny animals (including SuperDuper Mouse, Cosmo Cat & SuperDuper Cat), clowns, cowboys, spacemen, robots, and much more in the retro style your parents and grandparents wore when they were little!

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Follow-Up to "Wertham Lives"

 To update yesterday's post about the "New Werthams"...
Besides sending my own version of the "protest letter", rewritten to express gratitude for the Happy Meals figures, I also emailed the Campaign For A Commercial-Free Childhood.
Hi:

Do you have any idea of who these characters are?
Why don't you praise...
the hero who tries to personify the American Ideal since 1941, Captain America..
the hero whose very existence shows that "With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility!", Spider-Man...
the original pacifist hero, The Silver Surfer...
all of whom are included in the collection?

And, since you want a "commercial-free" childhood, why aren't you going after Disney, who've been corrupting childhood since 1930 with products promoting the misogynist / racist Mickey Mouse, the extremely-violent / ethnically-biased Davy Crockett , and the politically-incorrect Peter Pan (among many others)?

Best,
B
As of now, I've received no reply.
Nor do I expect to!

You, too, can express your opinion directly to them at ccfc@commercialfreechildhood.org

Monday, August 9, 2010

Wertham LIVES!

Some people have wayyy to much time on their hands...
McDonalds is launching a new line of Marvel Comics-oriented Happy Meal toys.
They've done this sort of thing with both DC and Marvel characters a number of times over the years. (I have quite a few of them on my shelves.)
However, the Campaign For A Commercial-Free Childhood (a group I've never heard of, and I've seen quite a few Wertham-esque nuts in my years in this business) seems to have suddenly discovered that Marvel Comics feature a man on fire, and large, aggressive, man-monsters!
We've known that for over 50 years!
Curiously, though they comment on both The Human Torch and The Thing, the Werti-whiners make NO mention of the oft-times mindlessly-destructive Hulk, or the often out-of-control Wolverine, both included in the collection!
Nor do they praise the hero who tries to personify the American Ideal, Captain America, nor the hero whose very existence shows that "With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility!", Spider-Man! nor the original pacifist hero, The Silver Surfer, all of whom are included in the collection!
So it's obvious these loonies have no idea of what these characters are really about!
Now, here's where it becomes fun...
Want to subvert their message?
Go to their link to post a message to McDonalds...and rewrite the message to praise McDonalds!
You CAN!
The letter has a "suggested" text in place, but you can re-write it!
I've done so. I suggest you do, as well!

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Comic Book / Movie Poster Blank Sketchbooks for Back to School!

At ONLY $9.99 our blank sketchbooks are great back-to-school gifts for young artists, writers, or pop culture collectors!
Choose from digitally-remastered and restored vintage movie posters, or Golden Age / Silver Age comics.
  • Back cover made of thin black flexible textured plastic, measures 16/1000" thick
  • Front cover made of 12pt glossy paper, laminated for durability
  • Filled with your choice of 60lb bookweight (24 lb bond) paper -- blank, dot grid, lined college-ruled, or a task journal.
Snap them up NOW, before school begins!