Holiday Theatre STAN LEE READS "NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS"

You thought the 1960s Batman and Robin meeting Santa Claus couldn't be topped for Yuletide weirdness?

Well, this comes pretty damn close...

All I can say is
"Excelsior!"

Friday Fun BATMAN "Bat-Climb featuring Santa Claus"

Let's kick off Friday Fun's Yuletide season with the ultimate team-up: Kris Kringle...

...and the legendary Dynamic Duo, Batman and Robin!

One of the hallmarks of 1960s Batman series was the "Bat-Climb", where the Caped Crusader and Boy Wonder would encounter celebrities or characters from other shows as they scaled the wall of a building with their Bat-Rope (using a set turned sideways so the actors were merely pretending to be climbing.)

In this second-season episode ("The Duo is Slumming", featuring the one-shot villain Puzzler), airing right before Christmas in 1966, the Dynamic Duo meet Kris Kringle, played by an uncredited Andy Devine.

(After all, the producers didn't want kids to think Santa wasn't real...)
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(as a Holiday Gift for the Pop Culture Maven You Love)...

Batman
the Complete 1960s TV Series

YouTube: Iron Man & the Mandarin: the Early Years!

Art by Jack Kirby and Sol Brodsky

It took almost 50 years, but Iron Man finally gets a crack on the big screen against The Mandarin.

But, the Golden Avenger battled his arch-enemy several times in his first screen appearances on the 1960s Marvel SuperHeroes Show, based on scripts by Stan Lee and art by Don Heck and Gene Colan (with a few inserts of Jack Kirby's art)

Art by Don Heck

(Yes, the subtitles are non-removable, but they're the cleanest copies I could find.)

Reading Room: ZORRO "Spaniard's Secret: Please Believe Me"

We Have Already Seen...

Fear not, Faithful one!
You haven't missed a post!
The first part of this tale appeared yesterday at our "brother" blog Secret Sanctum of Captain Video™!
...now we continue the adaptation of this three-episode arc of the classic 1950s Zorro tv series featuring guest star Annette Funicello!

Visit our "brother" blog Western Comics Adventures™, tomorrow, for the thrilling conclusion!

This never-reprinted tale from Dell's Four Color Comics #1037 (1959) was illustrated by Warren Tufts and Joe Giella, but the scripter of the adaptation is unknown.

Now, the episode itself...

The Power Themes 90 Vids featuring Gerry Anderson

The remix album Power Themes 90 featured a lot of Gerry Anderson shows...

...as you can see from the following videos:

Thunderbirds Are Go!

(which features other Anderson shows' music)

Stingray MegaMix

Mysterons Rap (Captain Scarlet)

Gerry Anderson's UFO

Enjoy, and remember the guy behind the curtain!

YouTube Wednesday: DESTINATION MOON

It was legendary movie George Pal's first "hard" sci-fi film...

..and, hoo-boy, was it a goodie!

Our brother blog, Secret Sanctum of Captain Video™, is currently running the comic book adaptation written by Otto Binder, so, to nudge you into having a look over there...

we're not only going to show you the trailer...

 ...and a half-hour tv special from 1950...



...but we're going to present the entire movie!

Now, go have a look at the adaptation at Secret Sanctum of Captain Video™!

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Atomic Kommie Comics™

movie/tv/comics collectible store

YouTube Wednesday: John Carpenter's Creepy Cinema Influences

Director John Carpenter is the Guest Programmer on Turner Classic Movies tonight...

...presenting movies that influenced him as a filmmaker, including...

The Thing from Another World (1951)

IT! the Terror from Beyond Space!

and Curse of Frankenstein!

Watch them all, uncut and uninterrupted, on TCM tonight!

Check out the

Atomic Kommie Comics™

movie/tv/comics collectible store

YouTube Wednesday: War of the Worlds

While only the 1938 radio version of War of the Worlds (available HERE) incorporates Halloween...

...the George Pal movie holds a place in my Halloween viewing schedule, primarily for this scene featuring Oscar-winning special effects that still pack a punch today...

or, if you want your alien invasion as portrayed by cute bunnies...

Much MORE Fun Bunny action HERE!

Check out the
War of the Worlds goodies at the...

MARTIANS! MARTIANS! MARTIANS!
Virtual Store!

YouTube Wednesday: Mothra Madness!

I recently caught the Rebirth of Mothra trilogy on Action...

...and, boy, did it BLOW!

I ran, screaming, back to my Classic Media DVD set for some REAL Mothra action with real Mothra fairies...
First, the original teaser trailer with ONLY preproduction art plus the first trailer with the Peanuts (btw, the trailer narrator was also the narrator and the Robot on Lost in Space, Dick Tufeld)...

 (also the original kool Japanese trailer...)

From Ghidorah: the Three-Headed Monster...the Peanuts return...

From Godzilla vs Mothra (1992)...the Cosmos...

...and noted horror host Svengoolie does a "Where Are They Now?" segment...

Now THAT'S MOTHRA!

YouTube Wednesday: Superman

With a "rebooted" Man of Steel currently filming...

...I thought we'd take a look at the previous live-action movie versions!

First up, Kirk Alyn's highly-underrated serial hero...

Then George Reeves' Superman, who first appeared in the movies...

...and though he popped up almost continuously on the small screen, the Last Son of Krypton didn't reappear on the big screen until 1978...

..restored scene from Superman II explaining how he got his powers back!

...after two awful sequels, Superman didn't come back to movies until 2006 in a sincere, but flawed, attempt to continue the story from the end of Superman II...
And now, a total reboot.
Let's see what happens when it comes out in 2013!
Check out

Man of Celluloid Steel
and these kool kollectibles from Amazon...

YouTube Wednesday "There's Something on the Moon!"

With Apollo 18 opening this week, let's have a look at another movie about Lunar loonies...MoonTrap, a "lost" direct-to-video flick from 1989 starring Walter (Ensign Chekov) Koenig in his only starring role, along with B-movie legend Bruce Campbell, battling aliens on the Moon!

Here's the trailer...

Don't remember it?
Not surprising!
Unless you happen to have a vhs cassette of it, or a copy of the comic book adaptation (which we're currently re-presenting at our "brother" blog, Secret Sanctum of Captain Video™) you probably never even saw it!
It's not currently available on Region 1 DVD/BluRay, so the only way you're going to see it is on a DVD-R/used VHS/comic book.
Which is a shame, because, despite the B-movie budget, it's a real hoot!
The pre-CGI effects are pretty well done, and both script and acting are well above the typical SyFy Saturday night crap.
Well worth the effort of tracking down.

Check out

The Future WAS Fantastic!

Comics Collectibles Store!

or have a look at these MoonTrap collectibles from Amazon...

YouTube Wednesday: MOON ZERO TWO

Before Cowboys & Aliens, there WERE "Space Westerns"...

Click on art to enlarge

...although this one is more "Space" than "Western"!

1969's Moon Zero Two was a weird combo of 40s-50s pulp sci-fi with its "Western transposed to outer space" motif, 2001: a Space Odyssey / UFO-influenced production design and fx, and some cool 60s psychedelic elements set in the "far future" of 2021.

We're going into more detail about the flick at our "brother" blog Secret Sanctum of Captain Video™, presenting the rarely-seen comic adaptation (by Paul Neary) from House of Hammer, some background info, and links to related sites.

But, as long as you're here, why not watch the complete Mystery Science Theater 3000 version of MZ2?

Enjoy!
Check out

Classic Comix and Movie Collectibles Store 
and these HTF Moon Zero Two items on Amazon...

YouTube Wednesday CONAN THE BARBARIAN

Yeah, there's a new Conan in town, but will he really make us forget Ahnuld the Barbarian, even three decades later?

(BTW, the narrator is Orson Welles...The greatest of the actors to play The Shadow on radio!)
While I have nothing against Jason Momoa (I liked him in Game of Thrones and StarGate: Atlantis)...

...can he deliver a line like this?

I'll wait for Conan the Musical...

YouTube Wednesday: Quatermass Xperiment

First it was a record-breaking BBC-tv mini-series broadcast live on six consecutive nights in 1953...(and no, that's not a typo in the blog title)

In 1955, it was the first horror film from the legendary Hammer Studios...

In 2005, it was redone in a new, live BBC broadcast starring David Tennant (Doctor Who) and Indira Varma (TorchWood, Human Target)!

We're covering it over at our "brother" blog Secret Sanctum of Captain Video™!
Stop by and have a look at the never-reprinted comic adaptation of the feature film version!

Check out the

Quatermass

Collectibles Corner!

YouTube Wednesday: Cowboys & Aliens

Here's a collection of trailers and featurettes about the upcoming Cowboys & Aliens flick!

Personally, I'm as excited about this movie as I am about Captain America (and that's saying a lot)!

We're offering a line of Space Western collectibles, perfect for summer wear at the beach, or the movie theatre when you go see Cowboys & Aliens. (C'mon, you know you're going!)

Check out the

Comics Collectibles Store

and have a look below at some Cowboys and Aliens movie tie-ins from Amazon!

YouTube Wednesday: THE LONE RANGER

Click on art to enlarge

From 1949 to 1958, The Lone Ranger (with Tonto, natch) dominated tv as the Western show for kids.
It was also ABC-TV's first hit series, winning it's time period consistently.
In 1955, it was decided to film the b/w series in color for it's final (1956-57) season.
Before shooting for the season itself began, both a tv special celebrating the character's anniversary and a feature film were shot using the new color equipment. Then filming began on the final season, which also required reshooting all the previous outdoor stock footage (which was b/w).
Ironically, ABC began airing the color-filmed episodes (including the anniversary special) before the movie opened in theatres...but aired them in b/w, so this movie is, chronologically, the character's first color appearance!
Clayton Moore is still considered the definitive Lone Ranger, and Native American actor Jay Silverheels played Tonto as smarter than most cowboys he encountered, despite the character's problems with adjectives.

Here's the trailer from the first movie...

And here's the opening from the second feature film, Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold, which synopsizes his origin in two minutes! 

(It takes a whole movie to do it these days, and not as well!)

We're presenting these classic clips to alert you to a related Internet first...a serialized story carried across multiple blogs!
We're re-presenting as a 4th of July holiday treat, the 60-page-plus comic adaptation of the 1956 Lone Ranger feature film, illustrated by Tom Gill (with inking by Joe Sinnott), which has never been reprinted!
The first two parts run today and tomorrow at Secret Sanctum of Captain Video™, then parts three and four on July 1st and 2nd at Hero & Heroine Histories™, with the last two on July 3rd and 4th at Western Comics Adventures™!
Join us as we make cyber-history! ;-)

Check out our 
Western Comics online store...

 ...for duds and provisions!

YouTube Wednesday: THE SHADOW Movie Adaptation by Michael Kaluta

Currently, the complete, two-issue comic adaptation of The Shadow (1995) by Michael Kaluta is appearing on our brother RetroBlog Secret Sanctum of Captain Video™ over the next four days.

Even though the script is fairly close to the movie (with a new framing sequence), visually, it's a totally-different experience!
Judge for yourself...

YouTube Wednesday: ONE MILLION YEARS BC & Raquel Welch!

Since we're presenting the John Bolton comic adaptation of the movie over at Secret Sanctum of Captain Video™,  we had the urge to look for video clips from the film itself...
Here's the trailer for the movie...

Here's the catfight between Raquel Welch and the equally-hot, but under-publicised Martine Beswicke (who had already done a catfight scene in From Russia with Love and would do another in Prehistoric Women aka Slave Girls)

And here's an interview with Raquel Welch about appearing in the movie...

Happy 100th, Vincent Price

Born this day in 1911, Vincent Leonard Price, Jr. was a man of many talents, chef, art connoisseur, writer, and of course, actor.
I'll leave it to other sci-fi, fantasy and horror bloggers to cover his accomplishments in those genres, and mention a category he's rarely associated with, but had an incredible knack for...
Comedy.

His very first film appearance was in a little-remembered 1938 screwball comedy called Service de Luxe, playing the male ingenue opposite Constance Bennett.


After this, he went on to a singularly successful career in films and radio, playing heroes and villains with great aplomb, but not appearing again in a comedy until 1950 (a voice-only cameo as The Invisible Man in Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein isn't really an 'appearance')
As insane ad exec Burnbridge Waters, Vincent steals the movie from Ronald Coleman in a performance that can only be classified as "mad", man...

Here's an audio interview from 1990 with both Vincent and Art Linkletter, who played the game show host/toady in the film. They discuss the scene shown in the lobby card above.

And here's the entire film at one shot! (but with commercials)


While most of his roles had humorous aspects to them, these were the only two outright comedies he did until the mid-1960s, when people finally started utilizing his funny side, unfortunately in only mildly-funny films like the Dr Goldfoot flicks.
(Here's the tv special Wild, Weird World of Dr Goldfoot, which was funnier than either of the films!)



Thanks for the memories, Vincent.
When you didn't have us screaming, you had us laughing!

YouTube Wednesday: the FIRST Cowboys and Aliens...

Long before Cowboys and Aliens (but after Space Western Comics), aliens invaded the Old West on Irwin Allen's The Time Tunnel.
The series started off with almost all the episodes taking place in the past and the heroes ending up in situations like the sinking of the Titanic or the siege of the Alamo, trying to warn people about what would happen and being treated like lunatics until the disaster happened, at which point they'd be transported to another era.

All that changed with this mid-season episode, "Visitors from Beyond the Stars".

Our heroes, Tony (young, impetuous, green turtleneck) and Doug (older, cautious, suit n' tie) are transported to Arizona in the year 1885.
Or rather, they're transported over Arizona, to an alien spacecraft, facing silver aliens (a standard Irwin Allen look for extraterrestrials)!
The aliens have come seeking protein for their starving world, and they've found it...the fauna (including humans) of Earth!
With Earth of 1885 technologically-unprepared to fight off an alien invasion, the two scientists from the future must somehow stop the invaders from the stars from decimating the home of Mankind!
To complicate matters, more of the aliens have appeared in the Time Tunnel itself, preventing the present-day support team from sending help to the timelost scientists!

Enjoy!

After this episode, anything could (and did) appear on the show, from ghosts, to Merlin the Magician, to lots more aliens!
Despite the infusion of additional fantasy elements, the series was canceled at the end of the year.

We're offering a new line of Space Western collectibles, perfect for summer wear at the beach, or the movie theatre when you go see Cowboys & Aliens. (C'mon, you know you're going!)

Check out the

Comics Collectibles Store

and have a look below at some Cowboys and Aliens movie tie-ins from Amazon!