FIFA: USA vs Ghana

Was looking forward to this one, hopeful we could pull it off.
But, just like 2006; Ghana wins 2-1, advances to next level.

Wait 'til 2014! ;-)

Design of the Week--Barbarella: Queen of the Galaxy!

Each week, we post a limited-edition design, to be sold for exactly 7 days, then replaced with another!
This week..one of the sexiest sci-fi sirens of the Sixties; Barbarella, as personified by Jane Fonda!

The sexually-liberated heroine of a French comic strip by Jean Claude Forest, the character was visually-based on Brigitte Bardot, who was offered the movie role but turned it down (picture "Bardot IS Barbarella!" on the posters).
It's hokey, entertaining, and surprisingly, considering the sexual content (but little nudity), PG-13 fun!
While it was both a critical and box-office failure in the 1960s, the movie became a video store staple on vhs and dvd, and often plays in midnight movie showings!

The movie was shot in two languages (English and French) simultaneously. The bi-lingual Fonda did all her own dialogue in both versions while the other actors were dubbed in their non-native tongues.
The rock band Duran Duran's name was taken from mad scientist Durand-Durand. Milo O'Shea, who played the character has appeared in one of the band's videos, Arena, as Durand-Durand!
A remake is currently in Development Hell.
But this design isn't! And it's perfect summer beachwear for the pop culture-savvy! So grab it while you can!

Preview--KATO: Origins #5 Cover

Moody cover by Francesco Francavilla for #5 of the companion comic mini-series to Green Hornet: Year One, detailing the 1940s origins of The Green Hornet & Kato.
Of all the Green Hornet series from Dynamite, these two are easily the best!

Return of the "Relevant" Hero

Starting with Superman #700, noted writer J Michael Straczynski is sending The Man of Steel on a walking tour across America.
The reason given is that Superman has lost touch with the average American and that he'll be able to "re-connect" with the people if he "walks among them".

A similar concept was done (by DC) in 1970, when conservative Green Lantern and liberal Green Arrow tried to "reconnect" with the "common man" in Green Lantern/Green Arrow #76-89.
(Interestingly, the comic book was canceled before the plotline ended.)

I'm wondering if the Superman series will be a "feel-good" story that glosses over the imperfections of the country, or, will it deal with social and environmental issues like the GL/GA series did. (NOTE: to be fair,  GL/GA sometimes did so in a very heavy-handed way. But, give them credit, they tried!)

We'll be watching to see how this develops...

Preview: Green Hornet: Year One #6 Cover

Cover for the final issue of the mini-series detailing the origin of The Green Hornet.
I don't know if they'll leave the hand-lettering or replace it with typography in the printed version.

Basil Wolverton's SpaceHawk

Proving the adage that most "Golden Age" science fiction was just Westerns with ray guns instead of revolvers and spaceships instead of horses, the comic series SpaceHawk featured a lone gunslinger wandering the universe righting wrongs and defending the weak in areas where (ray) gun law ruled.

Though the stories were pedestrian rewrites of Old West potboilers, they were brought to dynamic life by legendary illustrator Basil Wolverton.
Best known for his work on MAD and PLOP, Wolverton had a truly unique art style especially-suited to science fiction / fantasy, not for his "heroic" characters (who were pretty standard), but the amazing monsters and alien environments he illustrated.

SpaceHawk never had his own title in the Golden Age, but inhabited the back pages of Target Comics from V1#7 thru V3#10, appearing on the cover only once during the entire run.
(Nonetheless, he consistently drew more mail than any other single strip in the book!)

We at Atomic Kommie Comics™ have included SpaceHawk in our Solo Heroes section of Lost Heroes of the Golden Age of Comics™ line, where characters with only one cover available hang out awaiting your shopping pleasure.
Stop by and visit SpaceHawk. He's the new kid on the block. Make him feel welcome! ;-)

Happy Father's Day!

Anybody can be a "baby-daddy".

But only a REAL MAN can take responsibility be a Father!