Friday, June 13, 2014

Celebrate Friday the 13th with 13 Ghosts and Illusion-O!

The 1960 William Castle movie 13 Ghosts used red/blue 3-D style glasses, but not for 3-D!
While most of the movie was black and white, certain sequences had red and blue tinting.
To see the ghosts, you looked thru the red "lens".
To not see the specters, you looked thru the blue "lens".
For years, you could only see the totally-b/w version on tv (including on TCM today), and the VHS release was also b/w.
When they finally issued a DVD edition, the initial one included the version with the color Illusion-O segments plus red/blue viewers based on the ones given out in theatres.
Unfortunately, the "first edition" of the DVD was the only one to have both the Illusion-O version of the movie or the viewers!
The much-more available later pressings/editions are only b/w!
I finally found a copy of the original DVD release (with viewer) for only $4.99 in a used-DVD bin in a local music shop (we used to call them "record shops"), and spent the afternoon getting a real kick out of watching it!
It's an entertaining film, but it's better with Illusion-O!  ;-)

Collectibles Store
 (where you don't need 3-D glasses!)

Thursday, June 12, 2014

Reading Room: COMMANDER BATTLE AND HIS ATOMIC SUBMARINE...in REAL 3-D! Conclusion

...that really says it all, doesn't it?
BTW, wouldn't this comic make a great multi-million dollar cgi-fx movie?
(Wait a sec...they did a BattleShip flick...and, man, did it suck!)
Aquatic aliens vs the US Navy!
These guys at American Comics Group were ahead of their time...by over 50 years...and theirs was better!
On with the story...and remember; Left Lens Red/Right Lens Blue!
BTW, you can read the original "TrueVision" (non real 3-D) version of this chapter HERE!
Script by Richard Hughes, the Stan Lee of ACG who wrote practically everything during his tenure as editor/writer!
Pencils by Sheldon Moldoff, inks by Odgen Whitney and others.
As for how this 3-D adaptation came about...
You'll note that, in 1990, without the Grand Comics Database and its' contributors, the artists of Commander Battle were mis-identified.
ACG rarely ran credits before the Silver Age, so the mistake on this 1950s tale was understandable.

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Reading Room: COMMANDER BATTLE AND HIS ATOMIC SUBMARINE...in REAL 3-D! Part 2

Now, that's a synopsis!
(For the record, the "saucer" still looks like a doughnut!)
On with the story...and get out those old red/blue glasses, kids!
Remember, red on the left and blue on the right!
I could see the editorial conference now...
"OK, guys, for our first issue we have..
3-D (sort of) effects!
An atomic sub!
Evil aliens!
A "flying saucer"!
The underwater city of Atlantis!
A giant sea monster!
Did we leave anything out?"

Script by Richard Hughes, the "Stan Lee" of ACG who wrote practically everything during his tenure as editor/writer!
Pencils by Sheldon Moldoff, inks by Odgen Whitney and others.
BTW, you can read the original, pseudo 3-D version of this chapter HERE!

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Reading Room: COMMANDER BATTLE AND HIS ATOMIC SUBMARINE...in REAL 3-D!

...and then, we discovered that the legendary Ray Zone had taken the story and coverted it to real 3-D!
So get out those old red/blue glasses, kids!
Remember, red on the left and blue on the right!
Travel back to the 1950s, when atomic power was all that stood between us and flying saucers...
Oddly enough, the "flying saucer" looks more like a flying doughnut...or the 1950s concept of a space station as seen in then-contemporary films like Conquest of Space!
Script by Richard Hughes, the "Stan Lee" of ACG who wrote practically everything during his tenure as editor/writer!
Pencils by Sheldon Moldoff, inks by Odgen Whitney and others.