Reading Room: "Man-Gods from Beyond the Stars" Part 2

We Have Already Seen...

Art by Neal Adams

In the far-distant past...

technologically-advanced aliens visit the Earth on a mission of exploration.

Their mandate is to observe, but not interfere.

In the present (1975)...

scientists discover ancient cave paintings that tell of god-like beings who came down among the primitive humans.

But, the paintings don't tell the whole story...

Tomorrow: the conclusion!

Written by Doug Moench, illustrated by Alex Nino.
Ridley Scott has mentioned in several interviews that  Erich Von Daniken's books including Chariots of the Gods? inspired elements of the new movie Prometheus.

Though largely discredited today, Von Daniken's books about "ancient astronauts" influenced pop culture in the 1970s, including tv (BattleStar Galactica) and comics (Jack Kirby's The Eternals, which was originally called Return of the Gods!) as well as this tale from Marvel Premiere #1 (1975) that's never been reprinted!

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Reading Room: "Man-Gods from Beyond the Stars" Part 1

Chariots of the Gods? was the primary inspiration for Jack Kirby's Eternals...

...now the newest Marvel movie!

So let's look at a strip from the same era also inspired by Erich Von Daniken's concepts!

The story continues..Tuesday!

Written by Doug Moench, illustrated by Alex Nino.

Though largely discredited today, Von Daniken's books about "ancient astronauts" influenced pop culture from the 1970s to the present, including tv (BattleStar Galactica), movies (Prometheus and Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull), and comics (Tragg and the Sky Gods)

The Eternals was originally called Return of the Gods and, like Mister Machine/Machine Man was intentionally not intended to be part of the Marvel Universe!
We'll go more into that next week...

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YouTube Wednesday: Prometheus / Alien

If you loved Alien (1979)...

...you'll plotz when you see Prometheus, Ridley Scott's new film set in the same universe, but before the events of Alien!
Here's the trailer currently-running in theatres...

Here's the international trailer (with some interesting differences)...

Now here's the trailer from its' sequel...from 1979!

Reading Room: "COMICS" McCORMICK "He Daydreams Adventure"

If you're reading this blog, you're probably a fanboy or fangirl...

...so, I'm sure you'll appreciate this guy, who, along with competitor SuperSnipe, was considered the "World's #1 Comic Book Fan"!

This never-reprinted debut tale from Holyoke's Terrific Comics #2 (1944) was written and illustrated by Ed Wheelan, one of the most influential creators of the period who is, sadly, nearly-forgotten today.

There's a basic bio about him HERE, but he's really deserving of as much attention as other greats like Will Eisner and Jack Kirby.

"'Comics' McCormick" ran for the remainder of Terrific Comics' existence, then popped into Cat-Man Comics for an issue, along with several other orphaned Terrific Comics series.

When Holyoke went out of business, Wheelan took the character over to EC Comics where he appeared in all four issues of Fat & Slat, which featured only Wheelan's work, and shares, with Moon Girl, the sad distinction of being one of the few EC Comics series that's never been reprinted!

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ALIEN: the Illustrated Story

Beginning today, on Secret Sanctum of Captain Video™, we're presenting the original, 1979 version of the classic movie adaptation graphic novel by Archie Goodwin and Walt Simonson.
Yes, there were comic books and magazines (and you've seen a number of them on Secret Sanctum of Captain Video™), but this was a trade paperback of all-new material based on a movie!
Officially called Heavy Metal presents ALIEN: the Illustrated Story, it was a major hit for the infant Heavy Metal publishing group spun off from National Lampoon.

With the prequel film, Prometheus, opening in a couple of weeks, now's the time to look back at Ridley Scott's classic that spawned a franchise including four other films (including Prometheus, two crossover films, numerous books, comic books, and toys.

There's a new edition of this long-out-of-print graphic novel, scanned and mastered directly from the original art still in Walt Simonson's possession, coming out on May 28th!

You can pre-order it from Amazon in either Deluxe HardCover or Trade Paperback format.

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Design of the Week--United We Stand

Each week, we post a limited-edition design, to be sold for exactly 7 days, then replaced with another!
This week...a vintage World War II-era painting of the 48-star Old Glory at sunrise over a typical American town.
Available on a host of goodies like t-shirts, mugs, throw blankets, etc, it's the perfect retro-kool (and very patriotic) Memorial Day gift for Republican and Democrat alike!

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

Sealed Complete Man from U.N.C.L.E. 41-dvd box sets, originally $249 from Time-Life Video, released to stores at $199, and on sale for only...$89.99 (plus tax)!
Available at Costco now (but only the warehouses, not on-line)!
If your father (or grandfather) is over 40, they'll make the perfect Father's Day gift!
If your junior-high or high-school graduate is a spy movie fan, it'll make a kool graduation gift!
They're going fast, so head over ASAP, before they're gone!

Tony DeZuniga (1932-2012)

The first Filipino artist to work for American publishers, Tony also served as a broker/agent for other Pacific island artists.
Penciler/inker who was expert in every genre from romance to sci-fi to horror.
Co-created Jonah Hex and the Bronze Age Black Orchid.

DARK SHADOWS: the Review

Check out my review of the new film HERE.

REAL Wonder Women of World War II

May is chock-full of holidays.
Among them: Mother's Day, Armed Forces Day, and Memorial Day.
It's a bit late to order for Mothers Day (unless you want to pay rush charges), but, how about a gift that would cover the other two of them?
Surf on down to Women of WWII where Atomic Kommie Comics™ offers a unique set of kool kollectibles for the female World War II veteran in your life.
Whether she's your mother or grandmother, sister or aunt, or wife or ex-wife, we've got a bunch of items that show your respect and love in a kitchy, yet kool, kind of way.
Long and short-sleeve T-shirts, mugs, blank journals, even kitchen magnets, all adorned with a classic 1940s comic cover paying tribute to WWII-era WACs, WAVEs, and MCWRs!

So, if you're looking for something different to give as a gift, come to War: Past, Present & Future™ where you can see war through the eyes of those who witnessed it, those who dreamed about it, and those whose job was to make you want to be part of it!

YouTube Wednesday: Dark Shadows Past and Present

With a new film debuting on Friday, let's look at Dark Shadows...

The freaky-kool Japanese poster for House of Dark Shadows (1970)

...starting with Barnabas Collins' first appearance in 1967 on the already-year-old series...

Next, the trailer for the first Dark Shadows movie, House of Dark Shadows, done in 1970 while the show was still airing on ABC daily, and featuring the tv series' cast!

It's not a continuation, but a condensed adaptation of the first Barnabas plotline with a bigger budget (no cardboard tombstones!), location shooting, and more Hammer-style blood than daytime tv would allow!

Right after the show ended, a second feature, Night of Dark Shadows came out...

...but was nowhere near the quality of the first film.

When reruns in the 1980s and the release of the series on videotape brought a whole new audience to the show (including a young Johnny Depp), a prime-time revival was ordered in January 1991...

...but constant pre-empting due to the first Gulf War kept the ratings down, and it only lasted half a year!

The videos, however, kept selling, and a devoted audience kept growing.

A new pilot was commissioned by the WB in 2004, but didn't go to series.

(Ironically, the year before, the WB did a Lone Ranger pilot that didn't sell.

Now, Johnny Depp is filming a Lone Ranger movie...as Tonto!)

Depp, who loved the original tv series, acquired the film rights for his production company, contacted Tim Burton, and, this Friday, you'll see the results...

Take it in the same spirit as the JJ Abrams 2009 Star Trek reboot, and you'll have a great time!

Trivia: Show co-creator/story editor/writer Art Wallace also wrote episodes of the original Star Trek, Space: 1999, Planet of the Apes (TV), The Invaders, and Tom Corbett: Space Cadet!
He later served as story consultant on All My Children.
And, every version of Dark Shadows since has used his characters and concepts...

Reading Room: "Good Lord!"

A very kool tribute to Weird Science and Weird Fantasy (& Weird Science-Fantasy)...

...featuring inking by the "Crusty Bunkers", an all-star art team in the vein of (appropriately enough) the "Fleagle Gang" who did a lot of sci-fi work for EC Comics and others in the 1950s!

"The Fleagle Gang", who would help each other out with tight deadlines in the 1950s, consisted of Al Williamson, Angelo Torres, Frank Frazetta, and Roy Krenkel with occasional assistance by Wally Wood and Joe Orlando.

Their work were often art "jams" with people doing anything from a figure or backgrounds in a panel to full pages at a shot.

We presented samples of the "Fleagle Gang's" art recently in our Space Ace re-presentations HERE and HERE.

The 1970s equivalent was called "The Crusty Bunkers", and consisted mostly of artists based at Neal Adams' Continuity Associates art studio.

On this particular tale from the b/w magazine Marvel Preview #1 (1975), they were...(in alphabetical order) Neal Adams, Terry Austin, Pat Broderick, Russ Heath, and Joe Rubenstein.

And, like the Fleagles, they inked the story piecemeal, so you can see several different artists' styles on various pages, and even individual panels!

Penciler Dave Cockrum himself was at an artistic peak, having finished his run on Legion of Super-Heroes and was working on the then-recently-revived X-Men series that would make Marvel mutants marketable again!

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