Monday, March 22, 2010

Britain’s Frederic Wertham!

Seems we're on a bit of a Brit culture kick the past few days...
Most readers of this blog are familiar with Dr. Fredric Wertham and his notorious book Seduction of the Innocent, which basically attributed 1950s juvenile delinquency to the reading of comic books, specifically horror comics!

But, did you know that Great Britain had a similar cultural phenomenon, known as The Gorbals Vampire, also blaming American horror comics?

Bleeding Cool, a site of such importance to all comics fanboys and fangirls (yes, that includes us) that it should be one of your PRIMARY bookmarks, has posted info on a new BBC documentary about this infamous (and little-known) period of British history!

Link, read, listen, and learn.
For those who do not learn from the past are condemned to repeat it!

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Law & Order: UK...now on Region 1 DVD!

In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups.
The police who investigate crime, and the Crown Prosecutors who prosecute the offenders.
These are their stories.

Sound familiar?
It's the opening narration of the most recent version of the long-running Law & Order franchise.
In fact, it's now in it's second season!
But, if you live in the US, you haven't seen it...until now!

It's Law & Order: UK, produced in England.
Creator Dick Wolf is overseeing the whole thing, but the main writer / producer is former TorchWood and Life on Mars staffer Chris Chibnall.
Plus, it features several genre performers as regulars, including Jamie Bamber (BattleStar Galactica), Harriet Walter (Lord Peter Wimsey / Harriet Vane Mysteries) and...
Fantastic Femme Freema Agyeman (Dr. Who, TorchWood, Survivors)! (Looks good in her barrister's robes, eh?)
 (Here's a shot in her "civilian" garb.)

Anyway, I was going thru the Sunday papers (which I pick up after 9pm on Saturday night) and I glanced thru the sale flyers.
The Target Stores flyer usually has a page of new cds and dvds. Sometimes they have exclusives.
They sure did this week...Law & Order:UK for only $26.99!
I went online to target.com and noticed that, after this week, it'll be 39.99, so I'm going to grab it at my local store on Tuesday!
Maybe I'll see you there!

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Fantastic Femmes--Vanessa Ferlito

Note: this page has been updated with NEW info HERE!
Best known for her genre work in GrindHouse, 24, and the CSI franchise, Brooklyn-born Vanessa Ferlito has also done comedy (Madea Goes to Jail), and is currently in the new film drama Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps!
Trivia: though she's Italian-American, Vanessa often plays Hispanic-named or accented characters!
She's worked with fellow Fantastic Femme Rosario Dawson on three films: GrindHouse (She didn't have any scenes together with Rosario), 25th Hour, and Descent!
Genre appearances include...
24 (Claudia Hernandez)
(Arlene aka ButterFly)
(Detective Aiden Burn)
Spider-Man 2 (Louise)

Check out...

Friday, March 19, 2010

Design of the Week--Green Hornet's Coming At Ya!

Each week, we post a limited-edition design, to be sold for exactly 7 days, then replaced with another!
Well, The Green Hornet series had proven to be a major success, so why fight it?

With the release of the first new Green Hornet comic in almost 20 years, and the upcoming big budget movie we're proud to present our own contribution to the growing buzz over the revival of the classic character...a kool symbolic cover from 1946's Green Hornet Comics #31 featuring The Green Hornet and Kato charging towards the reader!

Available on t-shirts, messenger bags, mugs, and other kool kollectibles, this particular cover isn't on our main product line of Classic Green Hornet collectibles, so pick it up now, before it goes back into the nest!

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Vampirella Resurrected...at Dynamite!

Before Twilight!
Before True Blood!
Before Buffy the Vampire Slayer!
Before Blade!
There was…Vampirella!

Dynamite Entertainment (Project SuperPowers, Green Hornet) has acquired the Vampirella property from Harris Publications.

Vampirella debuted in 1969 in a black & white magazine titled simply Vampirella.
Initially, she was just the hostess of various horror stories, much like EC's Crypt Keeper or DC's Cain and Abel, but much cuter!
In Vampirella #9, the character received her own strip, with the first tale being (what else?) her origin story!
 
Vampirella has been around since then in both b/w and color comics form from Warren and then Harris Publications, remaining one of the most popular female and/or vampire characters in comics!
In addition, there was a series of paperback novels by Ron Goulart, adapting the comics storylines into prose!
There was even a Vampirella feature film starring Talisa Soto as the Draculonian, now available on dvd.

We wish her a long and prosperous un-life at Dynamite!