Besides comic books, Marvel made occasional forays into the b/w magazine market...
..with this seven-issue 1965-66 title being their longest-lasting Silver Age series! (Note: with the second issue, Stan Lee's name was added to the cover as a selling point!)
Other mags had used the gimmick of captioning old movie and tv photos for a feature in a magazine...but never an entire magazine!
At this point, the book changed it's title...
...nobody's really sure why, but it seemed to work!
One of the koolest aspects was that Stan Lee wrote the captions...
...bringing the same kitchy vaudville-level humor that he used for decades in Marvel'shumor comics!
I'm not sure if declining sales or Stan Lee's increasing workload caused the cancellation!
(Besides his writing/editing duties, he was now the public face of Marvel, giving interviews, making appearances on tv, even touring college campuses where Marvel Comics were the "in" thing!)
In 1973, when Marvel unleashed an entire line of b/w magazines, ranging from horror to kung fu...
...they revived the concept, still written by Stan Lee!
...but this time, the title was the least-successful of the b/w line!
It was re-tooled into a Famous Monsters of Filmland/Castle of Frankenstein format, adding features about both old and current films and tv shows...
...but the alteration didn't help and the book was cancelled.
Marvel tried again, later that year with a Famous Monsters of Filmland/Castle of Frankenstein clone called Monsters of the Movies, which lasted for eight regular issues and an Annual.
Starting next Friday, through November, you'll be seeing the best (IMHO) of each issue!
We at Atomic Kommie Comics™ have told you about our Horror Comics of the 1950s™ and Seduction of the Innocent™ sections, PLUS the Martians, Martians, Martians™ category of The Future WAS Fantastic™, all of which have kool retro horror-oriented goodies year-round for the older kids.But what about something Halloween-themed for the younger crowd, the tweens and pre-teens, the toddlers and babies?
Well, never let it be said we ignored a target demographic!
We have a kool Haunted Halloween collection specifically-for those little ones who want a slightly-scary take on the spectral and spooky, as well as one for the 7-13 category who want a bit more meat on the bone (as it were).
We're offering Yard Signs and Banners, plus; invitation cards, and greeting cards!
Note to the older crowd, sorry, but the shirts 'n stuff are kid-sized only!
Have a look and order now, before your treat turns into a trick due to late delivery!
He's the Jolly Old Elf in a red suit!
They are BIG Green Men from Mars with an even BIGGER robot!
Before Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas, they were the ingredients for the weirdest Christmas movie ever!
Santa Claus Conquers the Martians was filmed in 1964 in that bastion of the cinema, Long Island (in an unused aircraft hangar).
Starring
a host of tv and b-movie actors including handsome-but-stiff Leonard
Hicks as the Martian Leader (and kids' father) Kimar, 60s
villain/voiceover artist Vincent Beck (who did lots of work for Irwin
Allen's sci-fi shows) as the film's mustache-twirling villain, Voldar,
and John Call as a pretty damn convincing Santa Claus, the flick is
touted as the debut of future talentless chantuse Pia Zadora as Martian
Kid Girmar. Thankfully, she has rather limited screen time.
As an example of low-budget filmmaking, it's actually pretty effective.
Every penny (what few of them they had) is up on the screen.
They make good use of stock footage (from Dr. Strangelove, no less).
And
the use of then-popular Wham-O Air Blaster toy guns as the Martian
weapons was either a stroke of marketing genius or clever use of limited
funds. Either way, sales of the guns shot thru the roof after the film
hit the kiddie matinee circuit!
If you're between 3-9 years old, the flick's a lot of fun.
If you're between 10 and whatever the local drinking age is, it'll drive you nuts, especially the theme song!
If
you're over the local drinking age, do so before watching! It's
available on a host of public domain dvds as well as one of the Mystery Science Theatre 3000 snarkfests.
And you just knew we at Atomic Kommie Comics™ were going to include Santa Claus Conquers the Martians in ourCool Christmas collection on stuff including kid and adult sweatshirts and hoodies, mugs and coasters, tree ornaments, and greeting cards!
BTW:
The image above is from the comic book tie-in, which you can read in three parts...
There was also a single of the
theme, a spoken-word LP album of the movie's dialogue, and a
novelization!
Now I can't get that damn theme our of my head..."Hoo-ray for Santy Claus..." AARRRGGGHHH!
An early Christmas gift from us to you:
The Mystery Science Theatre 3000 version of the film (don't tell Dr Forrester)...
October
is here, the leaves are turning orange and brown,
and already our somewhat- warped thoughts naturally turn to...HALLOWEEN,
the koolest holiday of all!
We at Atomic Kommie Comics™ have told you about our Horror Comics of the 1950s™ and Seduction of the Innocent™ sections, PLUS the Martians, Martians, Martians™ category of The Future WAS Fantastic™, all of which have kool retro horror-oriented goodies year-round for the older kids-at-heart.
But what about something for the younger crowd, the tweens and pre-teens, the toddlers and babies?
Well, never let it be said we ignored a target demographic!
We have a Haunted Halloween
section specifically-for those little ones who want a
slightly-scary take on the spectral and spooky, as well as for the
7-13 category who want a bit more meat on the bone (as it were).
We're also offering Yard Signs & Banners, plus; invitation and greeting cards, ghostly garb, and ghoulish goodies
like monstrous mini-buttons (great as treats instead of tooth-rotting
candy), reusable trick or treat bags, and other creepy collectibles.
Note to the older crowd, sorry, but the shirts 'n stuff are kid-sized only.
Have a look and order now, if you want your treats!
Wait too long and you'll be tricked!
Each week, we post a limited-edition design, to be sold for exactly 7 days, then replaced with another!
Yeah, it's not the usual comic art we run on kool kollectibles, but Louisa May Alcott's classic Little Womenis a pop-culture phenomenon, still going strong 150 years later!
The trials and tribulations of Meg, Beth, Jo, and Amy March are still as relevant today as they were then, as the new, updated, movie version opening this week demonstrates!
So, if you're looking for a kool Little Women kollectible for yourself or a significant other, check it out HERE!
Since
the 1890s, and the heyday of Jules Verne and H.G. Wells, science
fiction-themed presents have found a place under the Christmas tree and
in Xmas stockings for the young (and young at heart)!
Continuing that entertaining tradition, Atomic Kommie Comics™ is proud to offer our line of retro-design sci-fi/fantasy collectibles, The Future WAS Fantastic!™, for both kids AND adults!
We're
talking 12-month calendars, mousepads, mugs, magnets, t-shirts,
sweatshirts and other goodies featuring some of the niftiest
illustrations from the comic books, pulp magazines, and movie posters of
the 1930s-1960s, all digitally-restored and remastered!
Spaceships with wings and big fins!
Ray Guns that can zap an entire army in a flash!
Slimy Aliens!
Killer Robots!
Heroes in bubble-helmeted tight spacesuits!
Heroines in even tighter space suits!
Never did the future look so...stylish!
If you're looking for something in the vein of Star Wars or Star Trek (You did know that George Lucas wanted to remake Flash Gordon, but King Features didn't want to trust a young director whose biggest credit at that point was American Graffiti, didn't you?), here's the stuff that provided the visual inspiration for today's hi-tech flights of fantasy!
Enjoy, and may your rocket tubes never overheat...
Ah, Halloween...
One of our favorite times of the year here at Atomic Kommie Comics™!
And what better time to promote the ghoulish goodies of Seduction of the Innocent™ including Halloween-wear t-shirts, mugs and reusable trick-or-treat tote bags? SEE: the moody moonlit graveyard of the full-color Italian poster for the originalNight of the Living Dead! SEE: the kitchy graphics of the rarely-seen Astro Zombies poster (believe it or not, the film was PG)! SEE: the koolest ghoul of all...Vincent Price, on the classic poster for the originalHouse on Haunted Hill?
We're
re-presenting a whole line of long out-of-print theatre, movie and tv
posters as affordable prints perfect for students' dorm or bed rooms,
house stagers who need a way to personalize a home they're selling in a
kitchy (but not tacky) way or pop-culture aficionados who don't want to
spend hundreds or thousands of dollars for a display piece!
Our Theatre Posters gallery has retro-kool 3-D movie posters, superhero (live action AND animated) film art, and HTF sci-fi-on-Broadway prints.
Talk about "something for everyone"!
Tomorrow: the Golden Age comic book cover gallery!
