Fantastic Femmes--Shari Belafonte

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

Shari actually began behind the camera (believe it or not) as a freelance production assistant, moving on to a job as Assistant to the Publicist at Hanna-Barbera, the animation studio!
She moonlighted as a fashion model, then dropped her day job altogether to appear in Calvin Klein commercials which led to offers for film and tv work!
Besides tv guest-star and featured film roles, Shari was a regular on the Hotel tv series as Julie Gilette. as well as co-hosting the series Lifestyles with Robin Leach.

With her devotion to personal fitness (including endorsing only diet and nutrition products she personally uses), Shari posed for Playboy magazine at the age of 45, displaying a superbly-toned body many twenty-somethings would be proud to have!
But don't think she's just a pretty face (and amazing body)!
She donates much time and energy to worthy causes including as interantional spokesperson for the Starlight Children's Foundation!

After several years away from national tv or film work, Shari recently appeared on Nip / Tuck.
Hopefully the first of many new roles for this femme fantastique!

Trivia: Shari is the daughter of legendary singer / actor Harry Belafonte.
She's recorded several albums, most of which were released only in Europe, and command high prices on eBay!

Genre appearances include...
Babylon 5: ThirdSpace (Elizabeth Trent)
Mars (Doc Halliday)
Real Adventures of Johnny Quest "Other Space"
Sonic the Hedgehog (Lupé the Wolf)
Beyond Reality (Laura Wingate)
Fire, Ice & Dynamite (Serena)
Velvet (Julie Rhodes)
Gravedale High (Blanche)
Midnight Hour (Melissa Cavender)
Matt Houston "New Orleans Nightmare"
TimeWalker aka Being from Another Planet (Linda Flores)
ABC Weekend Special "Big Hex of Little Lulu"

Check out...
There are NO sites devoted to this amazing woman!
Has the world gone mad?
If anyone knows of a site, please e-mail me and I'll update this entry!

Monarch of Magicians--Marvelo!

He had a hell of a pedigree in that his "parents" Gardner Fox and Fred Guardineer created, among other magician superheroes, Doctor Fate and Zatara!
Wearing a white tux, cape, and turban, Marvelo, the Monarch of Magicians (he had no alter ego) was described in various stories as "European" and spoke somewhat stilted English.
Aided by his Chinese assistant Zee, Marvelo was able to use incantations and hand gestures to dematerialize and walk thru walls, levitate himself and others, and perform other magic-based feats as the story demanded.
His arch foe was a similarly-powered Asian sorcerer named Guran who always escaped to cast spells again!
Marvelo zapped his way thru the first 20 issues of Big Shot Comics and the premiere issue of The Face before performing his greatest feat--totally disappearing from the memories of men until Alex Ross revived him 50 years later in Project SuperPowers! as one of the Big Shots superteam along with fellow Columbia Comics heroes The Face and The SkyMan!

We at Atomic Kommie Comics™ have also restored Marvelo to the ranks of four-color masters of magic by digitally-restoring and remastering his best Golden Age cover appearance as part of our Lost Heroes of the Golden Age of Comics™ line of kool kollectibles!

And, just a gentle reminder to pick up the Project SuperPowers comics, on sale now!
They're the best Golden Age revival books out there!

Design of the Week--Super Circus!

Each week, we post a limited-edition design, to be sold for exactly 7 days, then replaced with another!
This week...
"Be a clown! Be a clown! All the world loves a clown..."
A bright, cheerful image of a clown from the long-running 1950s live-action tv show.
Perfect for tykes, toddlers, and preschoolers!

Interestingly, since it was broadcast in black-and-white, the only time kids saw the performers in color was on ad posters, magazine photos, or on licensed products!

FREE Back to school BONUS: Downloadable episode of the series available here! See what enthralled your parents and grandparents before YouTube!

What will the Marvel / Disney merger produce? (part 2)

Another piece submitted by Jack "King" Kirby to Craig Yoe's book The Art of Mickey Mouse.
This one, believe it or not, was NOT used in the book!
I'm not sure if it was a case of only one contribution per artist or lack of space, but it's as kool (if not more so) than the previous piece!
This piece by another comics legend, Wally Wood, was used in TV Guide back in 1966-67 for an article about superhero cartoons dominating the previously funny animal-oriented Saturday morning cartoon schedule due to the success of the live-action Batman tv series!
(Remember when there WAS a Saturday Morning cartoon schedule?)
Note the Marvel characters get the primary focus.
Oddly, while Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four both had Saturday morning cartoons, Thor, Iron Man, Captain America, Sub-Mariner, (along with the Hulk in the background) were actually part of the Monday-Friday Marvel Super-Heroes show!
Plus, Green Lantern, Flash, and Hawkman were just segments in the Superman / Aquaman Adventure Hour (Come to think of it, where is Superman? Aquaman can be seen between Mr. Fantastic and the Human Torch...)
And, you'll note the ONLY funny animal / humor character not fleeing in terror is Mickey Mouse!

What will the Marvel / Disney merger produce?

Behold...the coming of...Marvel Mouse!
(Mighty Mouse was already trademarked)

Jack "King" Kirby was indeed a visionary!
This was done, tongue-in-cheek, for a book in 1991 called The Art of Mickey Mouse edited by Craig Yoe, but seems extremely prophetic now!