Fantastic Femmes--Amy Jo Johnson

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

It's the dream of every actress...
In Los Angeles less than a month, Amy Jo auditioned for, and won, the female lead in a new tv series.
The series was Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, and the role of Pink Ranger alias Kimberly Hart gave her both financial security and the chance for other, meatier roles.
Those roles have included parts in several tv series, including Felicity and What about Brian?, as well as films including SweetWater, a biopic where she portrayed singer Nancy Nevins and performed several songs.
Currently, she's appearing in the police procedural FlashPoint.

Trivia:
Her character on FlashPoint was wounded and placed on leave so the actress, who was pregnant when the series started filming, could have a baby.
She convinced the producers of Felicity to make her character, originally a dancer, into an aspiring composer / singer so she could write and perform her own music on the series and the show's soundtrack.
She's released a couple of albums of her own material!

Genre appearances include...
FlashPoint(Julianna Callaghan aka Juiles)
Fatal Trust(Kate)
Veritas: Prince of Truth(Marty Williams)
Magma: Volcanic Disaster(Brianna Chapman)
The Division (Stacy Reynolds)
Hard Ground(Elizabeth Kennedy)
Infested(Jesse)
Night Visions "Rest Stop"
Cold Hearts(Alicia)
Killing Mr Griffin(Susan McConnell)
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers/MMPR: the Movie/Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie

(Kimberly Ann Hart aka Pink Ranger)

Check out...
Amy's Official WebSite
Sweet Amy Jo Johnson (FanSite)

While there have been numerous Pink Rangers since Kimberly, they've been different characters, so I'm not listing them, or the actresses who played them, here...

Costume Comparison: Halle Berry IS Storm!

 In place of my usual pithy prose, the first in an ongoing series of costume comparisons between comic and live-action versions of characters.
First up:
Storm's original Dave Cockrum-designed costume

and the film version as worn by Halle Berry in the first X-Men film.

Ain't it a shame they didn't let her wear the comics version? ;-)

Interestingly, they modified the comics version to somewhat reflect the movie's design...

Fantastic Femmes--Joan Chen

This page has been updated with new info

HERE!

The 1950s Live Again in "Alien Trespass"

UNSEEN FOR 50 YEARS!

Well, actually it's a recently-produced flick in the vein of Lost Skeleton of Cadevra.
It's both a tribute to and spoof of 1950s horror films.

LOST MASTERPIECE!

That remains to be seen, and hopefully I'll see it when it opens this weekend...
The poster and lobbycard graphics look appropriately retro.
The trailer is entertaining.
The casting seems good. Robert Patrick, Dan Lauria, and Erik McCormack all have genre cachet.

This is the sort of pic I personally look forward to for the sheer fanboy joy of it.
(Half the fun is spotting influences and references to earlier films.)

The NY Times Online has an overview of the movie along with trailers from 50s sf flix.

And, ('cause you just knew we were gonna tie this in to our own stuff) if you're into 1950s sci-fi flix, have a look at Atomic Kommie Comics™ nifty Martians, Martians, Martians™ and Horror--or Horrible?™ pop culture kitch collections!
Yep, T-shirts, mugs, messenger bags, and other kool kollectibles featuring exciting movie poster art from such alien invasion classics as Devil Girl from Mars, They Came from Beyond Space, Astro Zombies, Green Slime, I Married a Monster from Outer Space, War of the Worlds, even Plan Nine from Outer Space, are only a mouse-click away!
Who in the 1950s thought that would've been possible? ;-)

Fantastic Femmes--Katie Holmes

Though she became famous as ingenue Joey Potter on the night-time soap Dawson's Creek, Katie's best-known as the wife of fellow actor Tom Cruise.
It's a shame, because her credits include well-reviewed performances in film (starting with The Ice Storm), tv, and even the Broadway stage!
Trivia:
Rumored to have been offered the lead in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer tv series.
Turned down reappearing as Rachel Dawes in The Dark Knight because it would've kept her away from her daughter, Suri, for too long.

Genre appearances include...
Batman Begins / Batman Begins: the Video Game (Rachel Dawes)
Abandon (Katie Burke)
The Gift (Jessica King)
Muppets from Space (cameo as Joey Potter from Dawson's Creek)
Disturbing Behavior (Rachel Wagner)

Check out...
KatieHolmes.com (FanSite)
Katie-Holmes.org (FanSite)
KatieHolmes.net (FanSite)

Other actresses to play Rachael Dawes include...
Maggie Gyllenhaal in The Dark Knight & I Believe in Harvey Dent
Emma Lockhart as young Rachel in Batman Begins

Goodies for YOUR Easter basket...

Back in the 1940s and 50s, comic book companies produced a prodigious number of holiday annuals and one-shots.
For example, a multitude of Christmas-themed comic books flooded America's magazine racks every November and December!
(In fact, a large part of our popular Cool Christmas collection is based on them.)
But, did you know that several publishers also did Easter-oriented books?
And, that noted comics illustrators including Walt Kelly (Pogo) and Harrison Cady (Peter Rabbit) contributed art to them?
Believing that there's always room for more classic comics collectibles, we at Atomic Kommie Comics™ added a new line of goodies to our Happy Holidays section entitled Exciting Easter!
Yes, it's eggs, bunnies, chicks, and other fuzzy animals galore digitally-restored and remastered from Baby Boomer-era classic comics covers on baby bibs, infant creepers / onesies, toddler and kid t-shirts, greeting cards, mugs, and a plethora of kool kollectibles including NEW organic clothing from American Apparel!
They make great Easter basket stuffers! (And they won't rot your kids' teeth like marshmallow chicks or chocolate bunnies!)
So click over and see what's in our basket!

Batman Meets the Shadow...sort of!

There have been numerous examples of actors who previously played heroes appearing on superhero or sci-fi shows as other unrelated characters.

(This does not count actors meeting their later counterparts like Buster Crabbe on Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Christopher Reeve and Helen Slater on Smallville, or Adam West on Batman the Animated Series!)

The Lone Ranger meets Commando Cody!
Clayton Moore (The Lone Ranger on The Lone Ranger tv series) played the lead villainous henchman in Radar Men from the Moon!

Batman meets Superman
Robert Lowry (Batman in the Batman & Robin serial) appearing as a government agent on Adventures of Superman!

The Shadow meets The Green Hornet
Victor Jory (The Shadow in The Shadow serial) playing a villain on The Green Hornet [1966]!

Captain Midnight meets Captain Kirk
Richard Webb (Captain Midnight on the Captain Midnight tv series) as a psycho Starfleet officer on Star Trek!

Doc Savage / Tarzan meets Superboy
Ron Ely (Doc Savage in Doc Savage: the Man of Bronze & Tarzan on Tarzan [1966-69]) portraying the retired Golden Age Superman on Adventures of Superboy!

James Bond meets Superboy
George Lazenby (James Bond in On Her Majesty's Secret Service) as Jor-El in Adventures of Superboy.

But, tonite, for the first time, we witnessed the meeting of two actors who played heroes, and neither was a heroic character!

Adam West (Batman on Batman [1966]) met Alec Baldwin (The Shadow in The Shadow [1995]) on 30 Rock!

Well, I thought it was cool...

Fantastic Femmes--Tia & Tamera Mowry

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

Fantastic Femmes--Devon Aoki

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

Fantastic Femmes--Rae Dawn Chong

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

Fantastic Femmes--Christina Ricci

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

Fantastic Femmes--Talisa Soto

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

Talisa landed her first modeling assignment at the age of 15 doing catalog work!
After being told she was "too Latina" for fashion modeling, she went to Europe, where she graced the covers of most of the major fashion magazines.
When she returned to the US, her modeling (both high fashion and swimsuit including Sports Illustrated swimsuit issues) and acting careers took off, and she worked steadily for over a decade.
After marrying actor Benjamin Bratt and having two children, she went into semi-retirement.

Genre appearances include...
La Mission (Ana)
Island of the Dead (Melissa O'Keefe)
Ballistic: Ecks vs Sever (Vinn aka Rayne )
C16: FBI (Rosemary Vargas)
Mortal Kombat / Mortal Kombat: Annihilation
(Princess Kitana)
Spy Hard [listed in credits as "Desiree More"]
(Seductress in Hotel Room)
Vampirella (Vampirella aka Ella)
License to Kill [17th Eon James Bond film]
(Lupe Lamora)
Silhouette (Marianna Herrera)

Check out...
the UnOfficial Talisa Soto Page

Other actresses to play Princess Kitana include...
Cree Summer in Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm
Note: two actresses played Kitana in the Mortal Kombat: Conquest tv series--Dara Tomanovich and Audie England
Other actresses to play Vampirella include...
Barbara Leigh in the unproduced 1975 Vampirella film from Hammer Studios.

BattleStar Galactica "DayBreak" Questions...

1) Are the "Baltar" and "Caprica Six" entities who appear to the corporeal Baltar and Caprica Six and on Earth at the end, angels (good), demons (bad), or just entities (indifferent)?
2) Starbuck who "returned from the dead" was also not human, but an entity of some sort. Why could everyone see her? Did the same superior entity who sent the projected "Baltar" and "Caprica Six" send her? And if so, why didn't she know what she was and what to do?
3) Who projected the "Opera House" illusion into both humans (Roslin & Baltar) and Cylons (Caprica Six & Athena)?
4) Are the humanoid Cylons the "Lords of Kobol"?
4) Why were there so many "old-style" Centurions on the Colony?
5) In the pan over the fleet's final voyage into the sun, did I see the original design for the Enterprise (as seen in the book Making of Star Trek) and the Ark from The StarLost?

Fantastic Femmes--Karen Allen

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

Fantastic Femmes--Lacey Chabert

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

Fantastic Femmes--Lucy Liu

Lucy Alexis Liu has acted in an impressive array of films from low-budget art films like Bang to big-budget flicks like Chicago and animation voice work!
Did you know...
Lucy auditioned for the role of Elektra in Daredevil.
One of her current projects as actress and producer is a new Charlie Chan film playing Charlie's grand-daughter, also named "Charlie"! (It will be only the second time that an actor of Asian descent played Charlie! The first was Keye Luke in Amazing Chan & the Chan Clan!)
An activist for various causes including breast cancer & AIDS research and UNICEF, she appeared in the film 3 Needles to publicize the need for AIDS education in Asia.
Lucy speaks four languages besides English; Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, Italian, and Spanish.
She's had gallery exhibitions of her work in several media including painting, photography, and collage.

Genre appearances include...
Afro Samurai: Resurrection (Sio)
TinkerBell (SilverMist)
Kung Fu Panda (Viper)
Watching the Detectives (Violet)
Rise: Blood Hunter (Sadie Blake)
Code Name: the Cleaner (Gina)
Lucky Number S7even (Lindsey)
Domino (Taryn Mills)
Jackie Chan Adventures (Jade [Adult])
Futurama (Herself)
The Simpsons "Goo Goo Gai Pan"
Mulan 2 (Mei)
Game Over (Raquel Smashenburn)
Kill Bill: Vol. 1 / Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (O-Ren Ishii aka CottonMouth)
Cypher aka BrainStorm (Rita Foster)
Charlie's Angels / Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (Alexandra Munday aka Alex)
PayBack (Pearl)
Shanghai Noon (Princess Pei Pei)
Ballistic: Ecks vs Sever (Sever)
Love Kills (Kashi)
Real Adventures of Jonny Quest (Melana)
High Incident (Officer Whin) True Crime (Toy Shop Girl)
Michael Hayes "Slave"
Dellaventura "Pilot"
X-Files "Hell Money"
Bang (Hooker)
Hercules: the Legendary Journeys "March to Freedom"
Rhythm of Destiny (Donna)

Check out...
Lucy Liu OnLine (FanPage)
Lucy Liu Fan (FanPage)

Other actresses to play Jade include Stacie Chan in Jackie Chan Adventures
Other actresses to play O-Ren Ishii include Ai Maeda [O-Ren as a child] in Kill Bill: Vol 1

Fantastic Femmes--Jennifer O'Dell

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

Fantastic Femmes--Dania Ramirez

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

She's been a regular or recurring character on several series including The Sopranos, done films ranging from social commentary (She Hate Me) to horror, and even appeared in a number of music videos!
Talented, beautiful, and athletic enough to handle action scenes with aplomb, Dania's made quite an impression both as heroine and villainess!

Genre appearances include...
Heroes (Maya Herrera)
Quarantine (Sadie)
The Fifth Commandment (Angel)
X-Men: the Last Stand (Callisto)
Fat Albert (Laurie)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Caridad)

Check out...
Dania's Official WebSite
Dania's MySpace Page
DaniaRamierezFan

Other actresses to play Callisto include...
Saffron Henderson in X-Men: Evolution
Susan Roman in X-Men [1993]

SALE! 25% OFF on 12-Month Pop Culture Calendars

Yep, you read that correctly!
25% OFF the price of Atomic Kommie Comics™ 2009 limited-edition calendars!

ONLY $14.99 each (reduced from $19.99)!
Choose from...

Mystery / Crime
Sherlock Holmes: the Greatest Sleuth of All!™
Crime & Punishment™
Good Girl / Bad Grrrl™

Horror
Horror Comics of the 1950s™
Camp / Kitsch
Seduction of the Innocent!!™
Romance
True Love Comics Tales™

Sci-Fi / Fantasy
Martians, Martians, Martians!™
Commanders of the Cosmos™
Thrilling Science-Fiction Tales™

SuperHeroes
Heroines!™
Lost Heroes of the Golden Age of Comics™
MORE Lost Heroes of the Golden Age of Comics™
1st Appearance Lost Heroes of the Golden Age of Comics™
Flag-Waving Lost Heroes of the Golden Age of Comics™
Classic Black Terror
Classic Green Lama
Classic Fighting Yank

Western
Western Comics Adventures™
Real-Life Western Comics™
The Cisco Kid & Pancho™
Military
WAR! Past, Present & Future™

NOT available in stores! Order NOW, before time runs out!

The Sale from U.N.C.L.E.

A number of Borders Books stores are "restructuring", dropping backlist material and carrying only new (last year) material and bestsellers.
The stores who are converting to that format are selling all non-bestseller / new release cds and dvds at 50% off, but they're not promoting this fact, except on in-store signage!
While doing errands, I wandered into one such store and, upon seeing the sale signs, immediately headed for the media section, hoping to find TorchWood or Dr Who dvd box sets (They're the only series I haven't been able to find at reasonable discounts) or old radio show cd sets.
I didn't find any of the above, but what I did find was......a sealed Complete Man from U.N.C.L.E. 41-dvd box set, originally $249 from Time-Life Video, released to stores at $199, and on sale for only...$99 (plus tax)!
It now sits on one of my media library shelves next to my James Bond, Flint and Prisoner box sets. ;-)

You might want to check out Borders near you for similar sales...

Fantastic Femmes--Brooke Adams

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

Not the WWE Diva, this Brooke began as a child actor on tv and rapidly moved into feature films.
While she's done big-budget dramas like Days of Heaven, most of her work has been in genre, particuarly in horror.

Trivia: Brooke turned down a role as one of the original Charlie's Angels!
She's married to Monk's Tony Shalhoub, and made several appearances on Monk as different characters!

Genre appearances include...
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit "PTSD"
Touched by an Angel "An Unexpected Snow"
The Last Hit (Anna)
Stephen King's Sometimes They Come Back (Sally Norman)
The UnBorn (Virginia Marshall)
The Dead Zone [1983] (Sarah Bracknell)
Moonlighting (Terri Knowles)
The Stuff (Commercial Actress)
Nero Wolfe [1979] (Sarah Dacos)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers [1978] (Elizabeth Driscoll)
Shock Waves aka Death Corps (Rose)
Police Woman "Angela"
Song of the Succubus (Olive Deems / Gloria Chambers)
Who is the Black Dahlia? (Diane Fowler)
Edgar Allan Poe's Murders in the Rue Morgue (Nurse)

Regrettably, I couldn't find any websites dedicated to her... ;-(

Other actresses to play Sarah Bracknell Bannerman include...
Nicole de Boer in The Dead Zone [2002-07]

Other actresses to play Elizabeth Driscoll include...
Dana Wynter in Invasion of the Body Snatchers [1953]

Fantastic Femmes--Winona Ryder

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

Fantastic Femmes--Maggie Q

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

An American who went to Japan and then to Hong Kong to became a supermodel, Maggie Quigley caught the eyes of HK movie producers who cast her despite the fact that she didn't speak any Chinese at the time! (She's since learned both Cantonese and Mandarin.)
She still models, but films are now her priority.
Most of her film roles are action-oriented, but she's also performed in romances and comedies.
Maggie is a spokesperson for PETA in Asia.

Genre appearances include...
King of Fighters (Vice)
Rouge's Gallery (High Priestess)
Need for Speed: Undercover [VG] (Chase Linh)
Deception (Tina)
Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon (Cao Ying)
Balls of Fury (Maggie)
Live Free or Die Hard (Mai)
Mission: Impossible III (Zhen)
Dragon Heat aka Dragon Squad (Yuet)
Around the World in 80 Days [2004] (Female Agent)
Naked Weapon (Charlene Ching)
Rush Hour 2 (Girl in Car)
Manhattan Midnight (Susan & Hope [twin sisters])
Gen-Y Cops (Jane Quigley)
Model from Hell (Anna)

Check out...
the FanSite aMazingly uniQue
The Maggie Q Information Resource, another FanSite
PETA Asia's Maggie Q Page

Atomic Kommie Comics' Goodies for YOUR Easter Basket!

Back in the 1940s and 50s, comic book companies produced a prodigious number of holiday annuals and one-shots.
For example, a multitude of Christmas-themed comic books flooded America's magazine racks every November and December!
(In fact, a large part of our popular Cool Christmas collection is based on them.)
But, did you know that several publishers also did Easter-oriented books?
And, that noted comics illustrators including Walt Kelly (Pogo) contributed art to them?
Believing that there's always room for more classic comics collectibles, we at Atomic Kommie Comics™ added a new line of goodies to our Happy Holidays section entitled Exciting Easter!
Yes, it's eggs, bunnies, chicks, and other fuzzy animals galore digitally-restored and remastered from Baby Boomer-era classic comics covers on baby bibs, infant creepers / onesies, toddler and kid t-shirts, greeting cards, mugs, and a plethora of kool kollectibles!
They make great Easter basket stuffers! (And they won't rot your kids' teeth like marshmallow chicks or chocolate bunnies!)
So click over and see what's in our basket!