Fantastic Femmes--Vivica A Fox

Recently announced as the star of a new series entitled The Cougar, Vivica isn't playing a superheroine, but herself as a celebrity seeking true love, presumably with a younger male!

Genre appearances include...
Father of Lies (Barbara Robinson)
Loonatics Unleashed "The Cloak of Black Velvet" (Black Velvet)
Alias (Toni Cummings)
Ella Enchanted (Lucinda)
Kim Possible: A Sitch in Time (Future Monique)
Kill Bill: Vol 1 (Vernita Green aka CopperHead aka Jeanie Bell)
Idle Hands (Debi LeCure)
Solomon (Queen of Sheba)
Set It Off (Francesca "Frankie" Sutton)
Batman & Robin (Ms B Haven)
A Saintly Switch (Sara)
Independence Day (Jasmine Dubrow)

Check out...
A WebSite (not sure if it's a fan or "official" site)
A FanSite

Fantastic Femmes--Cree Summer

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

Before texting and blogs, there were Love Letters & Love Diaries!

Until the intro of texting, blogs, MySpace and FaceBook, the main way people kept track of their love lives was thru Love Letters & Love Diaries!
In fact, they made up one of the most popular sub-categories of romance comics, with literally dozens of titillating titles!

Let our selection of the best of these these kitchy, campy (and very kool) classic comics covers help you express your true feelings on the Most Important of Days--Valentines Day on greeting cards, teddy bears, mugs, and even "naughty" undies!

And, if they can't assist your love-life, perhaps something from one of our other sections at True Love Comics Tales™ including...
All You Need is Love...
Beatrice Fairfax
Confessions
Lovers Lane
School of Love (or is that Love in School?)
WarTime Love
Weddings
Western Love
will help get your point across on the Most Important of Days!
But order quickly, V-Day is only SIX days away!

Fantastic Femmes--Alica Keys

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

Cleopatra Jones

The 1970s saw the rise of Black action heroes and heroines on the big screen.
Most of the films were set in the US, particularly in the big cities like New York, LA, or Chicago.
Of the various films, only one series took the lead character out of the "urban jungle", the Cleopatra Jones duology, starring 6'2" former fashion model Tamara Dobson as a kick-ass government troubleshooter in the James Bond / Matt Helm vein!
Jet-setting around the world, Cleo dealt with crime in Europe and Asia as well as the good 'ol USA with a style and flair that would have made 007 himself proud!
Cleopatra Jones and Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold were grindhouse staples in the 70s, often playing together on double bills, which made sense since Cleo was the only Black female character to have a sequel film!
(Yes, Pam Grier did more films, but she always played different characters!)
There were rumors of a third Cleo film, but since the higher-budgeted sequel didn't do as well as the first film, Cleo's third appearance was never produced!

We at Atomic Kommie Comics™ felt Cleo was a natural for our
Seduction of the Innocent!!™ collection of kitchy pop culture kollectibles, particularly the Menacing Maidens section featuring the cinema's women who "don't take no s#!t!"
We digitally-restored and remastered the kool movie poster art for both her cinema classics and made them available on shirts, mugs, mousepads, messenger bags, and other kool kollectibles!

So look for Cleopatra Jones...before she comes looking for you!

Trivia: the character Foxxy Cleopatra played by Beyonce in GoldMember was a tribute to both Tamara's Cleo and Pam Grier's Foxy Brown!

Fantastic Femmes--Elise Neal

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

You'll love...Love Diaries and Love Letters for Valentine's Day!

Until the intro of texting, blogs, MySpace and FaceBook, the main way people kept track of their love lives was thru Love Diaries & Love Letters!
In fact, they made up one of the most popular sub-categories of romance comics, with literally dozens of titillating titles!

Let our selection of the best of these these kitchy, campy (and very kool) classic comics covers help you express your true feelings on the Most Important of Days--Valentines Day on greeting cards, teddy bears, mugs, and even "naughty" undies!

And, if they can't assist your love-life, perhaps something from one of our other sections at True Love Comics Tales™ including...
All You Need is Love...
Beatrice Fairfax
Confessions
Lovers Lane
School of Love (or is that Love in School?)
WarTime Love
Weddings
Western Love
will help get your point across on the Most Important of Days!

Fantastic Femmes--Samantha Mumba

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

Friday Foster: the FIRST Black Comic Strip Heroine

Beginning on January 18, 1970, Friday Foster was the FIRST mainstream syndicated comic strip to star a Black woman. (Jackie Ormes' legendary Torchy Brown was, unfortunately, limited to black-owned newspapers which had relatively-limited circulation.)
It was also the FIRST mainstream comic strip to star a Black title character, male OR female! (the humor strip Quincy by Ted Shearer debuted later in 1970!)

Writer Jim Lawrence was no stranger to adventure strips, having previously written Captain Easy and Joe Palooka.
After his stint on Friday, he scripted a revived Buck Rogers comic strip based on the 1980 tv series!
And, he also penned a 1970s paperback series, Dark Angel, about a Black woman private eye.
Artist Jorge Longaron had done a number of comic strips in Europe, but was unknown in America. Friday was his Stateside strip debut.

The series was a combination of adventure, soap-opera, and social commentary, about former fashion model-turned-photographer's assistant (and later professional photographer) Friday Foster.
Supporting characters included photographer Shawn North (her boss and later business partner) and millionare playboy/romantic interest Blake Tarr.

The strip lasted until late 1974, with some of the final sequences illustrated by DC Comics legend Dick Giordano and a then up-and-comer named Howard Chaykin!

Besides the strip, there was a one-shot comic book in 1972, and a feature film in 1975 (a year after the strip was canceled) starring action-movie goddess Pam Grier as Friday, Thalmus Rasulala as Blake Tarr, Yaphet Kotto as Detective Colt Hawkins, plus Eartha Kitt, Jim Backus, Godfrey Cambridge, and in one of his earliest roles, Carl Weathers, as an un-named assassin!
While there was a soundtrack album, curiously, I've never seen a novelization (and, in the '70s, they did novelizations of movies that weren't even released in the US, just overseas)!

If you're looking for a cool gift for the Black History aficionado or grrrl hero fan in your life, you can't go wrong with a Friday Foster mug, bag, shirt or other goodie from Atomic Kommie Comics™!

Note: only the comics graphic at top is available on products from us. The poster isn't.

Fantastic Femmes--Sue Shiomi (Etsuko Shihomi)

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

The FIRST Black Hero to have his OWN Comic Book!

Celebrate Black History Month (and show off your pop-culture knowledge) with kool kollectibles from Atomic Kommie Comics™ featuring comics' FIRST Black cowboy!

Created the same year (1966) as Marvel's Black Panther (who guest-starred in Fantastic Four, Tales of Suspense, and The Avengers, but didn't get his own series until 1973, or his own comic until 1977), Lobo was the FIRST Black character with HIS OWN BOOK!
(Other Black characters had their own series in anthology titles, but Lobo was the first to have his name AS the title!)

Lobo the comic only ran two issues, but now you can have the collectibles like t-shirts, magnets, mousepads, etc., they never made during his title's too-brief run!
Dedicated Lobo page...
Lobo
Our entire Western line (including Lobo)...
Western Comics Adventures™

Fantastic Femmes--Rihanna

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

The ORIGINAL Miss LonelyHearts Columnist: Dear Beatrice Fairfax...

Comic books aren't just about spandex-clad heroes and heroines in battles of cosmic import!
They also tell intimate tales of heartbreak & joy, betrayal & redemption, and misery & true love.
God knows we at Atomic Kommie Comics™ can relate...

On that note, here are kool, retro, romantic, Valentine's Day kollectibles featuring Beatrice Fairfax!
"Who?"
Before Dear Abby, before Ann Landers, she was the original Miss Lonely Hearts, dispensing sage advice in her newspaper column long before the Internet.
Let her help you express your true feelings on the Most Important of Days--Valentines Day with greeting cards, teddy bears, mugs, and even "naughty" undies!

And, if she can't assist your love-life, perhaps something from one of our other sections at True Love Comics Tales™ including...
All You Need is Love...
Confessions
Diaries & Letters
Lovers Lane
School of Love (or is that Love in School?)
WarTime Love
Weddings
Western Love
can help you get your point across!

Fantastic Femmes--Alicia Silverstone

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

War is Hell--and so is Love!

We at Atomic Kommie Comics™ know that the path of true love is not always smooth, especially in wartime.
In tribute to the brave men and women of the armed forces, we've created a new section of True Love Comics Tales™ featuring military-oriented romance comic books entitled WarTime Love™ just in time for Valentine's Day featuring greeting cards, teddy bears, clothing and a host of other goodies with vintage retro romance comic cover art.
Show your beloved, whether they're an officer, noncom, or GI Joe (or GI Jane), that you're thinking of them on Valentine's Day.

Fantastic Femmes--Ming-Na

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

The ORIGINAL Female Street Fighter!

Before Chun-Li, Cammy, and the rest hit the video arcades in 1987, there was Li Koryu, aka Tina Long, the Sister Street Fighter!
We at Atomic Kommie Comics™ are proud to return her to action as part of our Pop Art Martial Arts™ collection, along with the original Street Fighter who thrilled grindhouse audiences, and several other martial arts classics, including Five Fingers of Death, and Infra-Man on kool kollectibles ranging from t-shirts to mugs to messenger bags!
(BTW, you'll note that the SSF poster art is by comic book legend Neal Adams [X-Men, Batman, Green Lantern / Green Arrow]!)

Note: A protege of Sonny Chiba and member of his Japan Action Club stunt team, Sue Shiomi aka Etsuko Shihomi, starred in a number of genre films in the 1970s including four Sister Street Fighter films as well as all three of the original Street Fighter series starring Chiba!
We'll be covering her in an installment of Fantastic Femmes this week...

Fantastic Femmes--Kristen Kreuk

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

On Valentine's Day, tell him (or her) "Giddyap, Honey!"

Valentine's Day is almost upon us, and nothing says "I Love You" like gunpowder, horse blankets, and guys who don't bathe for days, right?
Right?
Someone thought so back in the 1950s, when two of the most popular genres--romances and Westerns were combined into Western romances (or Romantic Westerns) in both prose fiction and comics.
True Love Comics Tales™ has digitally-restored and remastered the best of the comic cover art from that all-too-brief shining period of American literature for a new line of Valentine's Day goodies including greeting cards, diaries, teddy bears, even shirts, tops, and, well...bottoms for men & women at Western Love™
Just the thing for the cowboy or cowgirl in your life!

A Valentine's Day Public Service message from the buckaroos at Atomic Kommie Comics™

Fantastic Femmes-- Bai Ling (Ling Bai)

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

TRUE LOVE COMICS TALES for Valentine's Day!

Comics aren't just about spandex-clad heroes and heroines in battles of cosmic import!

They also tell intimate tales of heartbreak and true love, betrayal and redemption, and misery and sheer joy!

With than in mind, Valentine's Day is coming!
And what says "True Love" better than a kool, kitchy gift from TRUE LOVE COMICS TALES? (Plus, it's both longer-lasting AND cheaper than a dozen roses!)

Choose from over 50 heart-rending designs in nine categories including...
All You Need is Love...
Confessions
Dear Beatrice Fairfax (The ORIGINAL LonelyHearts Columnist)
Diaries & Letters
Lovers Lane
School of Love (or is that Love in School?)
WarTime Love
Weddings
Western Love
on greeting cards, teddy bears, calendars, shirts/tops/intimate wear, diaries, and many other kool kollectibles!

A public service announcement for all lovers and would-be lovers from your BFFs at Atomic Kommie Comics™

Fantastic Femmes--Yunjin Kim

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

 

Gone to watch the Inauguration...

See you tomorrow!

Fantastic Femmes--Marsha Thomason

Note: this page has been updated with NEW info  

HERE!

Fantastic Femmes--Michelle Rodriguez

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

"Mercurial" doesn't begin to describe this talented, though sometimes undisciplined actress.
Known to the public as much for her off-camera escapades as for her acting, she tends to dominate the screen, even in secondary roles (IMHO).

Genre appearances include...
Tropico de Sangre (Minerva Mirabal)
Avatar (Trudy Chacon)
LOST (Ana-Lucia Cortez)
A Cat's Tale (Jujube)
The Breed (Nikki)
BloodRayne (Katarin)
Resident Evil (Rain Ocampo)
The Fast and the Furious / Fast & Furious [FandF 4] (Letty Marciano)
True Crime: Streets of LA [Video Game] (Rosie Velasco)
Halo 2 [Video Game] (Marine)

Check out...
Her official website

Fantastic Femmes--Kandyse McClure

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

Last night, just as we were about to keyboard Kandyse into our Fantastic Femmes section of the blog, her character, Anastasia Dualla, committed suicide in BSG's final season opener, "Sometimes a Great Notion".
(We hope Dee reappears, at least in flashbacks, in some of the remaining eps.)
She's been an appealing presence on the show from her relatively minor role in the mini-series to her character's increasing importance in the plotline, and her gut-wrenching departure is a scary reminder that almost no character is safe...

Fantastic Femmes--Grace Park

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

Patrick McGoohan--the Prisoner has escaped...

This entry's title is not meant to be snarky.
Since the theme of The Prisoner was that we (and society) are our own jailers ("Who is Number One?" "You are, Number Six!"), with his passing, McGoohan is finally "free", in a way none of us can can ever be truly free in life!
A noted actor and raconteur, McGoohan's greatest success was in three heroic tv series roles:
The Scarecrow in The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh aka Dr. Syn: alias The Scarecrow
John Drake in Danger Man aka Secret Agent
Number Six in The Prisoner (which he conceived and co-created, as well as writing & directing a number of episodes.)
Consider that without his artistic influence, we wouldn't have shows like ABC's LOST, AMC's The Prisoner remake series, or, to a lesser extent, any of the shows like The X-Files or Fringe where you aren't certain who is who and who's running things...
(Personally, I always thought "The Village" was on the other side of the island's mountains on LOST!)

Check out...
AMC's The Prisoner Tribute
Six of One (the Prisoner Appreciation Society)
RetroWeb: the Prisoner

Be seeing you...
(Below: the opening page of the never-published comic adaptation by Jack [King] Kirby.)

Have a LOST Season Premiere Party on January 21st!

Mysteries aplenty await you on January 21st, as you gather around the tv to watch the season opener of ABC's LOST!
Among them...
Where (or when) is the island?
How was it moved in time or space (or both)?
Why must the Oceanic Six return?

And isn't it interesting that the new season group portrait has them (including survivors who hadn't escaped the island) in a ruined building in an overgrown, apparently abandoned, city?

If you're like us, you're gonna gather together to watch the show.
And, like us, you're gonna make it a theme party!

Here's some decor and party favor ideas...coincidentally, all available from us! ;-)

TO begin with, send out classy invites...
Mystery Tales #40 postcards (8 pack)
Mystery Tales #40 notecards w/envelopes (10 pack)
Mystery Tales #40 notecards w/envelopes (20 pack)
Mystery Tales Logo postcards (8 pack)
Mystery Tales Logo notecards w/envelopes (10 pack)
Mystery Tales Logo notecards w/envelopes (20 pack)

Then, stock up on drinkware and coasters...
Mystery Tales #40 mug
Mystery Tales Logo mug
Mystery Tales #40 tile coaster
Mystery Tales #40 alternate tile coaster
Mystery Tales Logo tile coaster
Mystery Tales #40 rubber coaster
Mystery Tales #40 rubber coaster set of 4
Mystery Tales Logo rubber coaster
Mystery Tales Logo rubber coaster set of 4

Decorations to set the mood...
Mystery Tales #40 wall clock
Mystery Tales Logo wall clock
Mystery Tales #40 refrigerator magnetMystery Tales Logo refrigerator magnet
Mystery Tales #40 9.5" x 14" mini-poster
Mystery Tales #40 throw pillow case
Mystery Tales #40 decorative porcelain plate
Mystery Tales Logo decorative porcelain plate

How about mini-buttons as party favors?
Mystery Tales #40 mini-buttons (10 pack)
Mystery Tales Logo mini-buttons (10 pack)
Mystery Tales #40 mini-buttons (100 pack)
Mystery Tales Logo mini-buttons (100 pack)

If you do a trivia contest, how about giving the winner a Mystery Tales #40 keychain or a Mystery Tales Logo keychain or a Mystery Tales Logo Cap or Mystery Tales Logo Trucker Hat?

Visit our Mystery Tales #40 stores for the complete line of kool kollectibles!
Mystery Tales #40 CafePress Store
Mystery Tales Logo CafePress Store
Mystery Tales #40 ArtsNow Store
Mystery Tales #40 Printfection Store

Fantastic Femmes--Vanessa L Williams

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

The first African-American to become Miss America, Vanessa was also the first to lose the crown due to the publication of nude photos taken a couple of years prior to her entry into the competition. (She has since been reinstated as the official winner for 1984!)
For most people, that would've been the end of their career. But not Vanessa..
Since then, she's had a number of best-selling vocal albums, performed to rave reviews in several Broadway shows including Kiss of the Spider Woman, Into the Woods, and Carmen Jones, and appeared in theatrical and tv movies ranging from drama (Soul Food) to musicals (Bye, Bye, Birdie) as well as performing on soundtracks of a number of films including Pocahontas!
Her greatest success has been a tour-de-force performance as scheming editor Wilhelmina Slater on the ongoing Ugly Betty tv series.
She'll be doing genre again, as her schedule permits...
Trivia: Vanessa turned down the lead in Monster's Ball which was then offered to Halle Berry, who won the Oscar for it! Hey, nobody's perfect!

Genre appearances include
A Diva's Christmas Carol (Ebony Scrooge)
Shaft (Det. Carmen Vasquez)
BoomTown (Det. Katherine Pierce)
WWIII aka Winds of Terror (MJ Blake)
Adventures of Elmo in GrouchLand (Queen of Trash)
The Odyssey (Calypso)
FutureSport (Alexandra Torres aka Alex)
Star Trek: Deep Space 9 "Let He Who is Without Sin" (Arandis)
Hoodlum (Francine Hughes)
Eraser (Lee Cullen)
T.J. Hooker "Partners in Death"
Partners in Crime "Celebrity"

Check out...
Vanessa's Official Site
Vanessa Williams Music

Fantastic Femmes--Puffy AmiYumi (Ami Onuki & Yumi Yoshimura)

I know they're not actresses, per se, but, it's my blog, they fit into the Fantastic Femmes theme with the animation connection, and I had a couple of pix I wanted to share...

Known as "Puffy" in Asia, Ami Onuki and Yumi Yoshimura are incredibly-popular J-Pop singing idols who first achieved fame in America performing the catchy theme to the animated Teen Titans series.

Genre credits include...
Yumi Yoshimura
LoveDeath

PuffyAmiYumi (Ami Onuki & Yumi Yoshimura)
Mohohan: Copycat Killer (actresses in commercial Dendou-Jitensha [commercial within the movie's narrative] )
Hi! Hi! Puffy AmiYumi! (appear as themselves in opening and closing live-action vignettes)
Teen Titans (series theme song, appear in music video)

Check out...
Puffy AmiYumi's Official Japanese website
Puffy AmiYumi's Official US website
Sony Music's Puffy website

On the series Hi! Hi! Puffy AmiYumi!, the cartoon Ami is voiced by Janice Kawaye, the animated Yumi by Grey DeLisele.