Thursday, May 18, 2023

Kirby Reading Room SECRET CITY SAGA "Secrets" Conclusion

Cover by penciler Steve Ditko and inker Bill Sienkiewicz.
...the outnumbered good Ninth Men have been captured by the evil Ninth Men, who have also captured President Bill Clinton and replaced him with a metamorph!

Next Tuesday:
The Cataclysmic Conclusion!
(And no, they didn't title it "War of the Weirds"!)

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retelling of elements of the Secret City Saga which also combines other Kirby projects like Galaxy GreenCaptain Victory and Silver Star!

Wednesday, May 17, 2023

Wednesday Worlds of Wonder MONKEY PLANET Conclusion

The diary of Ulysse Merou, journalist with an interstellar expedition from Earth, is found floating in space by other astronauts.
It recounts how the team landed on a planet in the Betelgeuse system discovering both primitive humans and a society of intelligent apes utilizing technology equal to late 20th Century Earth!
Captured by the simians, Merou manages to demonstrate his intelligence, becoming something of a curioisity and celebrity in Ape society...
Written and illustrated by Ernő Zórád, this 1981 Hungarian one-shot adaptation of the original French novel by Pierre Boule has never been officially-published in English.
But, thanks to the fine work of Kyriee (Scans), Swatura Od (translation) and Avoros (scripting), we're finally able to understand this tale in English.
In the 1966 first drafts (and pre-production) of the movie, the plan was to follow the book's premise closer...

 ...as seen in this 1966 promo reel with an early makeup test featuring Edward G Robinson as Zaius, James Brolin as Cornelius, and Linda Harrison (who played the mute Nova in the first two movies) as Zira!

The background music is John "Johnny" Williams' 1st season soundtrack from the Lost in Space TV series!
And, the makeup design from this test footage (slightly modified) was used on Lost in Space...
..."Fugitives in Space" (S3E20), shot around the same time as the revised makeup was being filmed for Planet of the Apes (1968)!
Talk about corporate (20th Century Fox) synergy!
Trivia: that's Michael Conrad (Sgt Phil "Let's be careful out there!" Esterhaus from Hill Street Blues) under the latex!

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The novel (Monkey Planet) that the movie (and the graphic novel) were based upon!
There was never a novelization of the movie itself!

Tuesday, May 16, 2023

Kirby Reading Room SECRET CITY SAGA "Secrets" Part 1

OK, this is gonna take a bit of an explanation, but keep in mind it was 1993 and Bill Clinton was the President...
Explanation done!
On with the tale...
Writer Roy Thomas (who was an English teacher before becoming a comics pro) loves his classic literature references!
Warning: there's a lot more of them coming!
To Be Continued...
Thursday!

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retelling of elements of the Secret City Saga which also combines other Kirby projects like Galaxy GreenCaptain Victory and Silver Star!

Monday, May 15, 2023

Monday Madness FLYING SAUCERS "First Contact"

...well, between the kool inside front cover (with art by Wally Wood and an unknown inker) above, and the first paragraph below, you have all you need to follow the tale, so dive right in...
Next Monday:
Final Objective!
Inspired by the flying saucer craze of the late 1940s-early 1950s, this 1950 Wally Wood-illustrated book was one of many one-shot titles from Avon Comics during their short, but prolific existence.
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