X-Files: I Want to Believe...but...

Like many who watched The X-Files in the late '90s, I'm looking forward to the new film X-Files: I Want to Believe.
But at the same time, I've wondered about where some of the show's wilder concepts really came from.
Chris Carter has acknowledged a variety of influences including the Twilight Zone and Kolchak: the Night Stalker . Curiously, while there's a lot of mood and atmosphere directly attributable to those sources, there's very little of the actual concepts or plots from them in The X-Files.

This is not the case with another sci-fi series...
The 11th Hour Web Magazine did a story about similarities between key plot points of The X-Files (both the series and first feature film) and a group of four mini-series (all of which were also made into feature films) from England about Bernard Quatermass, a scientist fighting both aliens from beyond and his own disbelieving government superiors! (sound familiar?)
Read the article, then continue...

Whether or not the copying was deliberate, it's there.
Thus, we consider Nigel Kneale's Quatermass series to be the direct ancestor to Chris Carter's The X-Files both in concept and content.
Thus, we consider Nigel Kneale's Quatermass series to be the direct ancestor to Chris Carter's The X-Files both in concept and content.
In that spirit we at Atomic Kommie Comics™ present a group of the posters of the predecessor series to The X-Files...
The Creeping Unknown (Quatermass Xperiment)
Enemy From Space (Quatermass 2) Italian Poster
Five Million Years to Earth (Quatermass and the Pit)
Five Million Years to Earth (Quatermass & the Pit) French Poster
on a variety of kool kollectibles in the tradition of "Secret Chic" that you have taken to heart.
Enjoy!

Did you miss us?

Hi!
Hopefully, you've noticed that we haven't been blogging for a month or so. (You did notice, didn't you?) Well, we have a good excuse, if not a note from our doctor...
We've been busy! VERY busy!
It's comic convention season, and we've been out there, acquiring MORE classic comics for use on Atomic Kommie Comics™ goodies!
We're expanding every section with new images, such as the one at left, in some cases including complete runs of titles, especially in Horror Comics of the 1950s™! (You wouldn't believe some of the deals we made!)
We're doubling the calendar collection, including individual calendars for a number of Lost Heroes of the Golden Age of Comics™ PLUS a "1st Appearance" calendar of the 12 most popular heroes! (New calendars will be available in August. You can still get the 2008 calendars here at 25% off! As a print-on-demand company, we don't have reprints, overstock, or remainders! Once they're gone, they're GONE! Gives new meaning to "limited edition", doesn't it?)
AND, we're creating an all-new, kids-only section loaded with onesies, bibs, and other toddler and infant stuff including a brand-new Funny Animal section featuring classic cartoon-style art and characters from the 40s, 50s, and 60s! Of course, we'll have the spacemen, cowboys, and other comic characters already available on kidwear in the new section, scheduled to open at the end of July!
ALERT! ALERT! DISCONTINUED PRODUCT SALE! $4 off "Jr. Jersey T-Shirts" (A cool, long Girls/Womens shirt, almost like a mini-dress, perfect for beachwear or parties!) with ANY design currently offered, especially Heroines™, Seduction of the Innocent™, and True Love Comics Tales™! Use coupon code 4JRJERSEY. Sale starts TODAY, July 14, 2008. Expires when supplies run out!

"The name is Fleming, Ian Fleming..."

The man who created James Bond 007 would've turned 100 last week.
It's a major event in England, but here in the Colonies, it's just a side note to other pop culture news items.
We at Atomic Kommie Comics™ respect, nay, revere the man who gave us Bond, Goldfinger, Miss Moneypenny, Largo, Felix Leiter, Doctor No, Pussy Galore, and so many other memorable characters.
We've seen every adaptation, and most of the knockoffs (Israel Bond: Oy Oy Seven comes to mind) but nothing compares to the original Fleming novels (though of the follow-ups, I did like Amis' Colonel Sun, and I'm looking forward to reading Faulks' Devil May Care. And, truth to tell, I still get a kick out of The Book of Bond or Every Man His Own 007!)
No plug this time for our line of collectibles, but a look at the cover for the very hard-to-find original version of the comics adaptation of Doctor No, published first in England by Classics Illustrated and reprinted (in edited form) in the US by DC Comics as Showcase Comics #43. (So if you have Showcase, you don't have the original!)
We raise a Vesper to you, Mr. Fleming, in honor the many hours of pleasurable escapism you've provided.

The Green Hornet: feel the Buzz

40 years ago (was it really that long?) while all the other kids were enthralled by the campy tv series Batman, I was riveted by the all-too-brief exploits of The Green Hornet.
Based on the 1930s-40s radio / movie serial / comic book series, the show covered the exploits of millionaire newspaper publisher Britt Reid and his aide Kato as they battled "...criminals & racketeers that even the G-Men cannot reach", an opening J. Edgar Hoover himself forced them to change to "...public enemies who try to destroy our America". (You may also note that I adopted his secret identity as my "nom-de-net"!)
The coolest aspect was that the Hornet was thought to be a master criminal himself! None of this "deputized by the police and/or FBI" BS most heroes were burdened with, the Hornet operated outside the law, usually tricking criminals into providing evidence which he then turned over to the police, making look like a case of double-crossing by the crooks themselves!
Though updated for the swingin' 60s with a gimmicked-up auto (the original Black Beauty was just a super-fast car with a busted horn) and additional weapons, the show stayed remarkably-faithful to the source material.
One strangely-backwards aspect was the downplaying of Kato. In the original show and comics, Kato was the scientific expert who developed the gas weapons and souped-up the Black Beauty. In the tv show, he was a martial arts master and auto-driving expert, but that's it!As it turned out, staying too faithful resulted in the show's demise, as the Hornet rarely faced colorful costumed foes which were so vital to Batman's success, instead dealing with bland racketeers and gangsters in plots involving drug smuggling and election fraud! And without campy overacting and POW! THWOCK! BIFF! "sound fx", the straight dramatic acting and comparatively-realistic fights didn't hold the audiences' attention to what was a straight detective show with masks!
Today, the show is best remembered for Al Hirt's jazzy, lip-numbing performance of Billy May's adaptation of Flight of the Bumblebee and the debut of future martial arts film legend Bruce Lee as Kato who choreographed his own fight sequences, laying out a half-dozen foes in under a minute!
Cable's Encore Action ran the whole series a couple of years ago, commercial-free and uncut (except for leaving out the previews and recaps of the two-part stories) and the show is currently in local syndication, usually in conjunction with Batman. Catch it if it's running in your area!
There's no official DVD release, yet. C'mon 20th Century-Fox, get off your asses!
I came across two virtual stores that carry collectibles using the art from two posters for the feature film compilation released after Lee's unfortunate passing.
The Green Hornet & Kato
Kato & the Green Hornet
and thought they would be of interest to the readers of this blog. (I'll be wearing the shirts at comic conventions this summer)
Enjoy.

Review: Indiana Jones & the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Though it is claimed by Blogger that this post contains "sensitive content", I've reviewed it and, IMHO, I can't find a single thing (except the correct spelling for "A$$", which I've adjusted to "butt") to warrant the decision!
If anyone can find such material, please specify it to me in the comments and I'll alter the blog's contents accortdingly!

True pop culture fans enjoy watching their heroes getting older along with them.
Look at...the Classic Star Trek crew, from the 1960s tv series to the 1980s-1990s films!
DC Comics' pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths Earth-2 "original" superheroes , including the Justice Society with it's "Golden Age" versions of Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, etc.!
Marvel Comics' (now-abandoned) "real-time" timeline for it's characters (given up in the late 1990s, when it became too unwieldy to explain the Fantastic Four's Reed Richards & Ben Grimm fighting in World War II, and Tony Stark becoming Iron Man in '60s VietNam.)
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull follows thru with a similar conceit.
It's been 19 years since 1989's Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (set in 1938), so 2008's IJ&tKotCS is set 19 years later, in 1957, allowing real-time and fictional timelines to run together.
Leaving Nazis, the supernatural, and pulps behind, we're now in the era of Commies, flying saucers, and paperbacks.
Like most well-done fiction series, Indiana Jones adapts to a changing world.

Good points:
1) Indiana Jones himself. Harrison Ford can still believably kick ass (A trait he shares with screen "daddy" Sean Connery, the one, true James Bond). He's a little slower-moving, but he makes up for it with the cunning that comes with age.
2) Marion Ravenwood. Confession time here. Between Raiders, Animal House, and Until September, I had a serious crush on Karen Allen in the '80s! And after this, I have a crush again!
She's a true natural beauty, no botox, no plastic surgery! When you look up MILF in the dictionary, you'll see a pic of Karen as she appears today!
In terms of character, Marion's still the feisty woman who can do anything a guy can do, sometimes better!
3) Comrade Dr. Irina Spalko: Cate Blanchette with the silliest accent outside of June Foray's Natasha Fatale. But, in the context of the story, it works. (With the exception of Belloq, the villains in Indy films have always been ethnic stereotypes.)
4) Shout-outs to the "late" Marcus Brody and Henry Jones, Sr.
Regrettably, Denholm Elliot is no longer on this mortal coil, but Marcus (in spirit) saves Indy in one scene!
5) Stunts. The good old-fashioned kind where you know it's a stuntman, but hey, he's really putting his butt on the line for your entertainment!
6) Closure for the lead characters.
The series can end right here.
Let them live "happily ever after"!

Bad points (there are a couple)
1) CGI. While most of the stuntwork is the traditional "yes, he is risking bodily harm" type that made the Indy and James Bond films such must-sees, a major swordfight on two vehicles is too obviously green-screen.
Add army ants and comedy-relief prairie dogs, and we're veering a little too close to Tex Avery cartoon-level stuff.
One more point: the flying saucer finale really could have been a bit simpler, without so much visual clutter. Think Earth vs. the Flying Saucers or This Island Earth, not StarShip Troopers!
2) Mutt Williams. Shia LeBeouf is not Marlon Brando or even Nick Adams.
The Rebel Without a Clue is petulant and annoying. (Thank God that Hayden Christiansen was apparently too busy!)
Shia's not who I would have chosen to eventually replace Harrison as the franchise lead. But then, I had hoped for Clive Owen as the new James Bond!
And, not to give anything away, but George Lucas has serious "daddy" issues in his films!
3) No mention of Sallah (John Rhys-Davies)
Not even a cameo at the film's conclusion? He's one of Indy's best friends!
4) Why would Indy, an archaeologist, be called to the Roswell crash in 1947?

If Raiders of the Lost Ark was a "10" and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom was a "5", I'd give this one a "8"-"8.5" (and that's only because of Shia and the overuse of CGI!)