Saturday, May 19, 2012

Reading Room: "Man-Gods from Beyond the Stars" Conclusion

British edition cover
In the far-distant past...
technologically-advanced aliens visit the Earth on a mission of exploration.
Their mandate is to observe, but not interfere.
In the present (1975)...
scientists discover ancient cave paintings that tell of god-like beings who came down among the primitive humans.
But, the paintings don't tell the whole story,
for the aliens are far more human than even they suspect!
Are we, in fact, "Children of the Gods"?
Ask Ridley Scott, or better yet, see Prometheus and make up your own mind about it...
Written by Doug Moench, illustrated by Alex Nino.

Friday, May 18, 2012

Reading Room: "Man-Gods from Beyond the Stars" Part 2

Art by Neal Adams
In the far-distant past...
technologically-advanced aliens visit the Earth on a mission of exploration.
Their mandate is to observe, but not interfere.
In the present (1975)...
scientists discover ancient cave paintings that tell of god-like beings who came down among the primitive humans.
But, the paintings don't tell the whole story...
Tomorrow: the conclusion!
Written by Doug Moench, illustrated by Alex Nino.
Ridley Scott has mentioned in several interviews that  Erich Von Daniken's books including Chariots of the Gods? inspired elements of the new movie Prometheus.
Though largely discredited today, Von Daniken's books about "ancient astronauts" influenced pop culture in the 1970s, including tv (BattleStar Galactica) and comics (Jack Kirby's The Eternals, which was originally called Return of the Gods!) as well as this tale from Marvel Premiere #1 (1975) that's never been reprinted!

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Reading Room: "Man-Gods from Beyond the Stars" Part 1

Ridley Scott mentioned Chariots of the Gods? as being a primary inspiration for Prometheus...
...so let's look at a strip also inspired by Erich Von Daniken's concepts!
And we'll take another look at this story...tomorrow!
Written by Doug Moench, illustrated by Alex Nino.
Though largely discredited today, Von Daniken's books about "ancient astronauts" influenced pop culture in the 1970s, including tv (BattleStar Galactica) and comics (Jack Kirby's The Eternals, which was originally called Return of the Gods!) as well as this tale from Marvel Premiere #1 (1975) that's never been reprinted!

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

YouTube Wednesday: Prometheus / Alien

If you loved Alien (1979)...
...you'll plotz when you see Prometheus, Ridley Scott's new film set in the same universe, but before the events of Alien!
Here's the trailer currently-running in theatres...
Here's the international trailer (with some interesting differences)...

Now here's the trailer from its' sequel...from 1979!

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Reading Room: "COMICS" McCORMICK "He Daydreams Adventure"

If you're reading this blog, you're probably a fanboy or fangirl...
...so, I'm sure you'll appreciate this guy, who, along with competitor SuperSnipe, was considered the "World's #1 Comic Book Fan"!
This never-reprinted debut tale from Holyoke's Terrific Comics #2 (1944) was written and illustrated by Ed Wheelan, one of the most influential creators of the period who is, sadly, nearly-forgotten today.
There's a basic bio about him HERE, but he's really deserving of as much attention as other greats like Will Eisner and Jack Kirby.

"'Comics' McCormick" ran for the remainder of Terrific Comics' existence, then popped into Cat-Man Comics for an issue, along with several other orphaned Terrific Comics series.
When Holyoke went out of business, Wheelan took the character over to EC Comics where he appeared in all four issues of Fat & Slat, which featured only Wheelan's work, and shares, with Moon Girl, the sad distinction of being one of the few EC Comics series that's never been reprinted!

Monday, May 14, 2012

ALIEN: the Illustrated Story

Beginning today, on Secret Sanctum of Captain Video™, we're presenting the original, 1979 version of the classic movie adaptation graphic novel by Archie Goodwin and Walt Simonson.
Yes, there were comic books and magazines (and you've seen a number of them on Secret Sanctum of Captain Video™), but this was a trade paperback of all-new material based on a movie!
Officially called Heavy Metal presents ALIEN: the Illustrated Story, it was a major hit for the infant Heavy Metal publishing group spun off from National Lampoon.

With the prequel film, Prometheus, opening in a couple of weeks, now's the time to look back at Ridley Scott's classic that spawned a franchise including four other films (including Prometheus, two crossover films, numerous books, comic books, and toys.

There's a new edition of this long-out-of-print graphic novel, scanned and mastered directly from the original art still in Walt Simonson's possession, coming out on May 28th!
You can pre-order it from Amazon in either Deluxe HardCover or Trade Paperback format.

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