Design of the Week--Barbarella: Queen of the Galaxy!

Each week, we post a limited-edition design, to be sold for exactly 7 days, then replaced with another!
This week..one of the sexiest sci-fi sirens of the Sixties; Barbarella, as personified by Jane Fonda!

The sexually-liberated heroine of a French comic strip by Jean Claude Forest, the character was visually-based on Brigitte Bardot, who was offered the movie role but turned it down (picture "Bardot IS Barbarella!" on the posters).
It's hokey, entertaining, and surprisingly, considering the sexual content (but little nudity), PG-13 fun!
While it was both a critical and box-office failure in the 1960s, the movie became a video store staple on vhs and dvd, and often plays in midnight movie showings!

The movie was shot in two languages (English and French) simultaneously. The bi-lingual Fonda did all her own dialogue in both versions while the other actors were dubbed in their non-native tongues.
The rock band Duran Duran's name was taken from mad scientist Durand-Durand. Milo O'Shea, who played the character has appeared in one of the band's videos, Arena, as Durand-Durand!
A remake is currently in Development Hell.
But this design isn't! And it's perfect summer beachwear for the pop culture-savvy! So grab it while you can!

Preview--KATO: Origins #5 Cover

Moody cover by Francesco Francavilla for #5 of the companion comic mini-series to Green Hornet: Year One, detailing the 1940s origins of The Green Hornet & Kato.
Of all the Green Hornet series from Dynamite, these two are easily the best!

Return of the "Relevant" Hero

Starting with Superman #700, noted writer J Michael Straczynski is sending The Man of Steel on a walking tour across America.
The reason given is that Superman has lost touch with the average American and that he'll be able to "re-connect" with the people if he "walks among them".

A similar concept was done (by DC) in 1970, when conservative Green Lantern and liberal Green Arrow tried to "reconnect" with the "common man" in Green Lantern/Green Arrow #76-89.
(Interestingly, the comic book was canceled before the plotline ended.)

I'm wondering if the Superman series will be a "feel-good" story that glosses over the imperfections of the country, or, will it deal with social and environmental issues like the GL/GA series did. (NOTE: to be fair,  GL/GA sometimes did so in a very heavy-handed way. But, give them credit, they tried!)

We'll be watching to see how this develops...

Preview: Green Hornet: Year One #6 Cover

Cover for the final issue of the mini-series detailing the origin of The Green Hornet.
I don't know if they'll leave the hand-lettering or replace it with typography in the printed version.

Basil Wolverton's SpaceHawk

Proving the adage that most "Golden Age" science fiction was just Westerns with ray guns instead of revolvers and spaceships instead of horses, the comic series SpaceHawk featured a lone gunslinger wandering the universe righting wrongs and defending the weak in areas where (ray) gun law ruled.

Though the stories were pedestrian rewrites of Old West potboilers, they were brought to dynamic life by legendary illustrator Basil Wolverton.
Best known for his work on MAD and PLOP, Wolverton had a truly unique art style especially-suited to science fiction / fantasy, not for his "heroic" characters (who were pretty standard), but the amazing monsters and alien environments he illustrated.

SpaceHawk never had his own title in the Golden Age, but inhabited the back pages of Target Comics from V1#7 thru V3#10, appearing on the cover only once during the entire run.
(Nonetheless, he consistently drew more mail than any other single strip in the book!)

We at Atomic Kommie Comics™ have included SpaceHawk in our Solo Heroes section of Lost Heroes of the Golden Age of Comics™ line, where characters with only one cover available hang out awaiting your shopping pleasure.
Stop by and visit SpaceHawk. He's the new kid on the block. Make him feel welcome! ;-)

Happy Father's Day!

Anybody can be a "baby-daddy".

But only a REAL MAN can take responsibility be a Father!

Fighting for your rights...Super Green Beret!

Never failing to capitalize on a pop culture trend, '60s comics publishers, noticing the popularity of the hit single Ballad of the Green Berets (by Staff Sgt. Barry Sadler and Robin Moore) quickly produced comics series featuring the elite Army unit.
Most were standard war comics, but one stood out from the rest for sheer weirdness...

What do you get when you combine...
1) Green Berets and the VietNam War
with...
2) Teenagers...
and
3) SuperHeroes?
Why,
SUPER GREEN BERET,
of course!

Green Beret Roger Wilson saves a Vietnamese monk from a wild boar, and in return the grateful priest attaches a pin to his beret which makes it glow.
Home on leave, Roger gives the glowing beret to his teenage nephew Tod Holton, who discovers that, when he puts it on his head and salutes, he's transformed into a super-powered adult dressed in a soldier's uniform!
(It's sorta like the Golden Age Captain Marvel, a teenager who said the magic word SHAZAM and was transformed into a super-powered adult, albeit with his teenage mind.)
Using his new-found powers of teleportation, telepathy, telekinesis, transmutation, time travel, invulnerability, and super-strength, Tod decides to fight Enemies of Our Country, mostly in present-day Asia, but also travels through time to the American Revolution and World War II, during his two-issue run!
Yes, it's as hokey as it sounds!

We at Atomic Kommie Comics™ felt that we couldn't let such an outrageous character and concept be forgotten, so, as part of our War: Past, Present, & Future™ line, we incorporated Super Green Beret as a light-hearted example of 1960s funkiness to contrast with the seriousness of our World War II and Korean Police Action material (plus we wanted an excuse to make some kool SGB collectibles for ourselves)!

Give a Super Green Beret collectible as a 4th of July, graduation or birthday present for your pop-culture-oriented loved one!
It's the next best thing to an original 11.5" GI Joe!
(And I should know, since I received one of the first Joes at Christmas, many years ago!)

BONUS: A FREE 4th of July present for you: an online reprint of both issues of Super Green Beret!
You gotta see it to believe it!

Design of the Week--Flesh (NOT Flash) Gordon!

Each week, we post a limited-edition design, to be sold for exactly 7 days, then replaced with another!
This week, a classic design from a most unexpected source...
The storyline of Flesh Gordon is familiar to anyone who has seen Flash Gordon films, but with a generally campy, sexual flavor, to it.
Shot in the early 1970s as an "X" rated movie, the film's sexual content was toned down to achieve an "R" rating and play to a larger audience. It became a Midnight Movie smash in the 1980s-90s and is now a popular DVD rental!
There was also a direct-to video sequel in the late 1980s. It's nowhere near as good (or funny)!

The plot involves planet Porno's Emperor Wang aiming a "Sex Ray" at Earth.
The poplulation of Earth becomes sexually-obsessed, and it's up to Gordon to stop the rays.
The film uses nudity whenever possible, and the scenes are shot in a visual style nearly identical to the original Flash Gordon serials, including spaceships with sparklers in their rears and (deliberately) crudely animated laser blasts!
A towering, demonic-looking stop-motion animated creature, the Great God Porno,voiced by Craig T. Nelson (yes, THAT Craig T. Nelson!), steals the show with his brief appearance, muttering all manner of obscenities in a very un-monster-like velvety voice.

Production design, makeup,  and special effects were handled by a number of up-and-coming artists including John Dykstra, Greg Jein, Mike Minor, and Rick Baker, who would go on to win Oscars and Emmys for their work on big-budget sci-fi / fantasy projects including Star Trek, Star Wars, and BattleStar Galactica!

The kool poster art is by noted comic book artist George Barr.

In truth, I did this one because I wanted a shirt for myself and wasn't planning on marketing it, but when friends started asking for it, I felt it was worth doing for both them and you faithful fans!
(If it sells well enough, I'll move it to my Seduction of the Innocent™ collection)

Wear the shirt that'll make people do a double-take!
Wear Flesh (NOT Flash) Gordon!

Dare You Meet--the Domino Lady?

Saucy Romantic Adventures was a "spicy pulp" magazine, a genre that typically featured semi-pornographic short stories.
For several months in 1936, SRA also featured one of pulp's' first heroines...
College-educated socialite Ellen Patrick decided to avenge her District Attorney father's murder by donning a domino mask and a backless black dress to battle evil men!
Thus disguised as The Domino Lady, she distracted and entranced opponents (or at the very least led them to underestimate her) allowing her to outwit them.
When subtlety failed, she had a .45 pistol and a syringe of knockout drug to get her point across.
She stole from her enemies, donating most of the cash to charity (after deducting expenses), and left a calling card with the phrase "Compliments of the Domino Lady" attached to her bound victims awaiting police pick-up.

Since her short run in 1936, The Domino Lady has become the stuff of pop culture legend.
Her pulp stories were reprinted in various limited-run magazines in the 70s and 80s, and recently, both a hardcover and trade paperback reprinted the complete series under a new cover and interior illos by comics legend Jim Steranko!
And an anthology of new text stories as well as a comics mini-series recently hit the racks.

We at Atomic Kommie Comics™ inititally wanted to include her in our Heroines™ section, but decided she fit better into the Menacing Maidens™ department of Seduction of the Innocent™, where our somewhat-naughty stuff goes...

Combine one of the new Domino Lady books with one of our kool kollectibles to make a fantastic gift set for your June graduate, your dad on Father's Day, or for a sumertime birthday present for a loved one!
They'll thank you for it!

If you're OTAKU (like me), you CAN'T miss...THIS!

Click HERE for details!

The 4th of July is coming! Celebrate with Don Winslow!

Perhaps the first comic strip to be created as a military recruiting tool, Don Winslow U.S.N. was launched in 1934 to encourage enlistments in the U.S. Navy, which at that point had reached an all-time low.
A clean-cut role model for American Youth, Don battled spies, saboteurs, and criminals on the home front, and even made brief forays to both the Atlantic and Pacific theaters of war!

The strip proved to be a big success, not only improving Naval enlistments, but launching a series of novels, comic book series from several publishers, a dramatic radio show, and two movie serials (Don Winslow of the Navy and Don Winslow of the Coast Guard)!
Don finally retired from service in 1955.

Atomic Kommie Comics™ has returned Don Winslow to active duty as part of the War: Past, Present & Future™ line's enhanced World War II section of classic cover art collectibles which also includes Women of World War II and Aviators.
Any of the shirts, fridge magnets, mugs, or other kool kollectibles in these series would make fun retro-style 4th of July gifts for the veteran in your life!
(I sent a set of all four Don Winslow mugs to my Dad, a retired swabbie! He loved them!)

A Free pre-4th of July bonus from us to you: downloadable mp3s of the Don Winslow dramatic radio show!

Flag Day!

Yes, I know it's a 48-star flag, but this World War II-era banner was such a nifty image (with the Pledge, no less), that I couldn't resist using it!
And, while we're on the subject of the flag, you might want to take a look at our Flag-Draped Heroes, with one cover each on kool kollectibles, as well as patriotic heroes with more than one cover available like Captain Courageous, The Fighting Yank, The Unknown Soldier, and V-Man!
(And, if you order now, you'll have them in time for the 4th of July without paying rush charges!)

Back Home from Hospital

Normal nuttiness returns tomorrow...

Still in hospital...

...check back later...

Still in hospital

Check back later...

Going to Emergency Room......hopefully post

....hopefully post an update later...

Captain MidNight RETURNS in NEW Adventures!

The first new Captain Midnight book in several decades is now out.
Based on Christopher Mills' reimagined version of the character, incorporating features of the radio, film, comic book and television incarnations of the character, the book features thrilling retro-style  high adventure stories by a stellar line-up of present-day talent.

The contents:
"Countdown to Midnight" by Christopher Mills
"Captain Midnight at Ultima Thule" By Win Scott Eckert
"The Black Dragon" By Mark Justice
"Shipwreck In The Sky" By Robert T. Jeschonek
"Death Master of The Secret Island" By Trina Robbins
"Wind & Rain" By Tim Lasiuta
"Cushy Job" By P.C. Hamerlinck
"Captain Midnight Meets Airboy" By Chuck Dixon
"Fantastic Island" By Robert Greenberger
"The Dark of Midnight" By Stephen Mertz
"Witch of The Waning Moon" By Howard Hopkins
"A Mission In Time" By James J. Nance.
The hardcover version includes a brief introduction to the character by P.C. Hamerlinck and an additional short story by Christopher Mills, "The Mediterranean Intercept."

As a graduation, birthday or Father's Day gift for the pop culture aficionado in your life, you can't go wrong with a gift set featuring the NEW Captain Midnight Chronicles book along with one of our vintage Captain MidNight kool kollectibles, including t-shirts, mugs, iPad bags, and other goodies!
(It's what I'd want on my birthday, which just happens to be in a couple of weeks [Significant Other, take note]...)