Fantastic Femmes--Maria Grazia Cucinotta

This page has been updated with NEW info  
HERE!

Fantastic Femmes--Mýa

Some people are "triple-threat" talents.
Some are even "quadruple-threat" talents.
But the only word to describe Mýa Marie Harrison is "multi-threat"
Multiple-award-winning singer!
Songwriter!
Dancer!
Actress!
Model / spokesperson!
Album producer!
In addition, Mýa's done quite a bit for various worthy causes including gay rights, victims of domestic violence, and fighting breast cancer.
And now, she's been named as one of the competitors (and likely winner) on Dancing With the Stars!
A fantastic femme, indeed!

Genre appearances include...
Disciple (Female Lead)
(Filming hasn't started yet, and no details are available)
Cursed (Jenny Hicks)
James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing [VG] (Mya Starling)
NCIS "Pop Life" (Samantha King / Jade King)
In Too Deep (Loretta)
Fat Albert (performer: "Not Gonna Drop")
Haunted "Abby" (Voodoo Priestess)
Atlantis: the Lost Empire (performer: "Where the Dream Takes You")
Volcano High (Yu Cha-i)

Check out...
MyaMya (Official Site)
Mya Arts & Tech Foundation (Her non-profit organization)
MyaHarrison.net (FanSite)
LoveMya.com (FanSite)

Fantastic Femmes--Tamlyn Tomita

Note: this page has been updated with NEW info HERE!

Since we covered Babylon 5's First Officer in the previous Fantastic Femmes entry, it seemed only appropriate we present the actress who played her predecessor in the pilot episode...
Had she continued in the role of Laurel Takashima on Babylon 5, it would have been revealed that she was the Psi Corps "sleeper agent" responsible for the attempted assassination of Ambassador Kosh in the pilot. (Instead, the actual assassin was revealed as a guest-star character, and the idea of making a regular character a mind-controlled agent was transferred to Talia Winters.)

Star Trek is here--Beam me up!

If you're willing to accept Crisis on Infinite Earths and it's aftermath (plus Batman Begins onward and the various other DC-related film / tv series), Ultimate Marvel Universe, "One More Day", and the various Marvel-based films and tv series (Hell, Punisher was rebooted twice!), the Godzilla Heisei and Millenium films, Battlestar Galactica [2003-09],or the Eon James Bond 007 films from Casino Royale [2006] on, then you'll go with this for what it is...a reboot / alternate universe with some interesting twists.

And unlike most of the other film /tv series, this one acknowledges the fact that it's an alternate universe!
(Comics on the other hand, enjoy pointing out when they reboot! Go figure!) ;-)

Fantastic Femmes--Olga Kurylenko

Note: this page has been updated with NEW info HERE!

Another model-turned-genre actress, Olga had extensive dance training during her childhood and teen years, which enables her to do convincing action sequences.

Trivia:

Olga's tri-lingual; Russian, French, and English.

While her created-for-the-film character, Camille Montes Rivera, appears in the video game version of Quantum of Solace, curiously, the characters she plays in films-based-on-video games HitMan and Max Payne didn't exist in the original games!

Genre appearances include...

Kirot (Galia)

Centurion (Etain)

Tyranny (Mina Harud)

Quantum of Solace [22nd Eon James Bond film] /
Quantum of Solace the Video Game (Camille Montes Rivera)

Max Payne (Natasha Sax)

HitMan (Nika Boronina)

Suspectes aka Secrets (Eva Pirès)

Serpent aka Snake (Sofia)

Paris, je t'aime aka Paris, I Love You

"Quartier de la Madeleine" (Vampire)

Check out...

Olga Kurylenko OnLine (FanSite)

Olga Kurylenko Photos (FanSite)

Batman Meets the Shadow...sort of!

There have been numerous examples of actors who previously played heroes appearing on superhero or sci-fi shows as other unrelated characters.

(This does not count actors meeting their later counterparts like Buster Crabbe on Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Christopher Reeve and Helen Slater on Smallville, or Adam West on Batman the Animated Series!)

The Lone Ranger meets Commando Cody!
Clayton Moore (The Lone Ranger on The Lone Ranger tv series) played the lead villainous henchman in Radar Men from the Moon!

Batman meets Superman
Robert Lowry (Batman in the Batman & Robin serial) appearing as a government agent on Adventures of Superman!

The Shadow meets The Green Hornet
Victor Jory (The Shadow in The Shadow serial) playing a villain on The Green Hornet [1966]!

Captain Midnight meets Captain Kirk
Richard Webb (Captain Midnight on the Captain Midnight tv series) as a psycho Starfleet officer on Star Trek!

Doc Savage / Tarzan meets Superboy
Ron Ely (Doc Savage in Doc Savage: the Man of Bronze & Tarzan on Tarzan [1966-69]) portraying the retired Golden Age Superman on Adventures of Superboy!

James Bond meets Superboy
George Lazenby (James Bond in On Her Majesty's Secret Service) as Jor-El in Adventures of Superboy.

But, tonite, for the first time, we witnessed the meeting of two actors who played heroes, and neither was a heroic character!

Adam West (Batman on Batman [1966]) met Alec Baldwin (The Shadow in The Shadow [1995]) on 30 Rock!

Well, I thought it was cool...

Fantastic Femmes--Talisa Soto

Note: this page has been updated with NEW info HERE!

Talisa landed her first modeling assignment at the age of 15 doing catalog work!
After being told she was "too Latina" for fashion modeling, she went to Europe, where she graced the covers of most of the major fashion magazines.
When she returned to the US, her modeling (both high fashion and swimsuit including Sports Illustrated swimsuit issues) and acting careers took off, and she worked steadily for over a decade.
After marrying actor Benjamin Bratt and having two children, she went into semi-retirement.

Genre appearances include...
La Mission (Ana)
Island of the Dead (Melissa O'Keefe)
Ballistic: Ecks vs Sever (Vinn aka Rayne )
C16: FBI (Rosemary Vargas)
Mortal Kombat / Mortal Kombat: Annihilation
(Princess Kitana)
Spy Hard [listed in credits as "Desiree More"]
(Seductress in Hotel Room)
Vampirella (Vampirella aka Ella)
License to Kill [17th Eon James Bond film]
(Lupe Lamora)
Silhouette (Marianna Herrera)

Check out...
the UnOfficial Talisa Soto Page

Other actresses to play Princess Kitana include...
Cree Summer in Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm
Note: two actresses played Kitana in the Mortal Kombat: Conquest tv series--Dara Tomanovich and Audie England
Other actresses to play Vampirella include...
Barbara Leigh in the unproduced 1975 Vampirella film from Hammer Studios.

Fantastic Femmes--Alica Keys

Note: this page has been updated with NEW info  
HERE!

Fantastic Femmes--Michelle Yeoh

Note: this page has been updated with NEW info  
HERE!

aka Michelle Khan (Yang Zi Chong)

"The name is Fleming, Ian Fleming..."

The man who created James Bond 007 would've turned 100 last week.
It's a major event in England, but here in the Colonies, it's just a side note to other pop culture news items.
We at Atomic Kommie Comics™ respect, nay, revere the man who gave us Bond, Goldfinger, Miss Moneypenny, Largo, Felix Leiter, Doctor No, Pussy Galore, and so many other memorable characters.
We've seen every adaptation, and most of the knockoffs (Israel Bond: Oy Oy Seven comes to mind) but nothing compares to the original Fleming novels (though of the follow-ups, I did like Amis' Colonel Sun, and I'm looking forward to reading Faulks' Devil May Care. And, truth to tell, I still get a kick out of The Book of Bond or Every Man His Own 007!)
No plug this time for our line of collectibles, but a look at the cover for the very hard-to-find original version of the comics adaptation of Doctor No, published first in England by Classics Illustrated and reprinted (in edited form) in the US by DC Comics as Showcase Comics #43. (So if you have Showcase, you don't have the original!)
We raise a Vesper to you, Mr. Fleming, in honor the many hours of pleasurable escapism you've provided.