Classic Cutie: Sharon Tate

Despite her minimal acting resume, which included minor appearances on television classics like The Beverly Hillbillies and an all-too brief run of big screen cult favorites like Valley of the Dolls, The Fearless Vampire Killers, Eye of the Devil & The Wrecking Crew, Sharon Tate is primarily remembered for her infamous murder by members of the Manson Family in 1969.

Prior to her death, Tate had been a Golden Globe nominee [ for Valley of the Dolls] and her career, in hindsight, suggests that she may have emerged as a fine comedic actress on film. Married to director Roman Polanski at the time of her death, Sharon Tate was also eight months pregnant. Her horrific murder sent shockwaves throughout the entertainment community and in the media, and subsequently her mother refused to allow her daughter to remain the face of unfortunate victimhood by advocating for strong victim rights and endlessly lobbying to keep the Manson Family members who were convicted of the crimes behind bars.

Sharon Tate was also a noted model and cover girl and her incredible beauty remains timeless.

In Memorium: Steve Gerber

Courtesy of Newsarama:

"After a battle with pulmonary fibrosis, acclaimed and beloved writer Steve Gerber died on Sunday from complications due to his condition. The news was confirmed by a close acquaintance. He was 60 years old.

Gerber was a comics fan all his life, having started the fanzine Headline in his early teens, and eventually finding work as a writer at Marvel in the early ‘70s, working under Roy Thomas. Amid the work that was coming out of Marvel at the time, Gerber found his own, unique voice which often mixed the usual superhero tropes with satire, commentary and an absurdist sense of humor. During his early days at Marvel, Gerber is best remembered for writing The Defenders and Man-Thing, and of course, creating Howard the Duck and Omega the Unknown and having notable runs with many Marvel characters, from Shanna the She-Devil to the Guardians of the Galaxy, Son of Satan, and Tales of the Zombie. In many ways, Gerber was 1970s Marvel. It was his unpredictable, groundbreaking work and strong desire to stray from the beaten path throughout the ‘70s that made Gerber a role model for the next two-plus generations of comic book and other writers, including Michael Chabon and Glen David Gold.

After leaving Marvel in 1979, Gerber became something of a journeyman in comics, putting in time with some of DC Comics heroes, but most notably, being present at the forefront of the “independent revolution” of the 1980s. When it came to “mainstream” superhero comics of the time, Gerber was as loud a voice (or louder) advocating change and modernization as the legends of the day such as his friend and colleague, Frank Miller.

Many of Gerber’s larger plans did not come to fruition and, like many creators at the time who found that comics had seemingly passed them by, Gerber turned his attention to animation and television in the ‘80s, writing for Dungeons and Dragons, Transformers, Star Trek: The Next Generation (“Contagion”), G.I. Joe and Thundarr the Barbarian, which he created."

Condolences go out to his family, friends, co-workers & many fans.

In Memorium: Roy Scheider

Well-known actor Roy Scheider passed away in Little Rock, Arkansas on Sunday at age 75 from an undisclosed illness. He had been receiving treatment for multiple myeloma for the past two years.

Scheider appeared in many blockbuster action & genre films, including The French Connection, Jaws, Marathon Man, Blue Thunder and 2010. He also starred as Captain Nathan Bridger on the sci-fi television series, Seaquest DSV for producer & friend Steven Spielberg.

He will be sorely missed and condolences go out to his family, friends and fans.

Incredible vs. Invincible

Who wins in a battle between 2008 Movie-Hulk and 2008 Movie-Iron Man?

Beats me! But it will be fun seeing these two in theaters in just a few months time.

Maiden America?

Kara Zor-El seems to be suffering from a bout of "Supergirls-Gone-Wild" euphoria in the closing weeks of Countdown to Final Crisis [Yuck!], doffing her duds before dashing off to tackle some fortunate evildoer, but then nothing else of true importance is really going on in that sad excuse for a series.

Do you folks who are buying those seemingly endless issues really have nothing better to do with your hard earned sheckles?

And sadly, No, the fetching lass to the immediate left isn't really the lovely Maiden of Steel, but then again, Countdown to Final Crisis isn't really a worthwhile comic book for DC to have tossed out there.

And .... (yay!) .... we still have the whole Final Crisis brouhaha to look forward to.

Review: The Twelve # 2 (of 12)

The Twelve time-lost Mystery Men of World War II adjust to the reality of life in the 21st century. But where do you go, what do you do, when everybody you knew is either dead and buried or in old-age homes, and the future you thought you were fighting for turned out to be radically different from what you imagined?

Okay, the second issue of J. Michael Straczynski & Chris Weston's revival of a dozen old golden age Timely Comics characters has hit the stands, courtesy of todays Marvel Comics.

The Twelve #2 brings to mind a line from an old Fats Domino song, I'm Walkin":

"I'm walkin, yes indeed and I'm talkin bout you and me ... "

And basically that's about all that happens in this issue, walking and talking that is. Oh, there are a few pages that show Dynamic Man back in action in the modern world and these moments pointedly drive home how things have changed for these WWII mystery men. Another sequence touchingly shows Captain Wonder's graveside visit with his - now deceased - family members. However, since today's readership can't determine what a dramatic moment this is supposed to be, Weston treats us to a full page spread of Prof. Steve jordan prostrate over his wife's headstone. In the silver age of comics Stan & Jack would have handled all of the above in a few establishing panels and THEN blown us all away with a slam-bang, knock-em-dead superhero freeforall. [There is also one huge error during this sequence. In flashback, Prof. Jordan's wife mistakenly calls him by the wrong first name (Earl, instead of Steve). The editor on this title must be asleep at the wheel.]

No such luck here! The dangling plot thread from the previous issue gets no forward momentum this time around. The Blue Blade's murder gets recapped briefly right at the outset of issue number two and then - nothing. Straczynski specializes in talking heads over action, but if the entire mini-series follows this model, there may not be much to hold the audiences attention.

Sadly, it's not like the writer here isn't capable of telling an old-style action yarn. Of much better interest here and tantalizingly alluded to in a very few panels is what is going on with the Black Widow and her supposed "deal with the devil". This is much more like it; and more like what Stan & Jack would have done in another era. Another fine example of condensed storytelling that moves the readership along, and entices at the same time, is the poignant moment with Rockman at this issues denoument.

So, I guess this review is a recommendation, but only a guarded one thus far. Only time will tell!

In Memorium: Barry Morse

Noted British character actor Barry Morse passed away at the age of 89 on February 2, 2008 from an undisclosed illness. Genre fans may remember him from the classic 1960's TV series, The Fugitive, where Morse played Lt. Phillip Gerard, endlessly pursuing David Janssen's Dr. Richard Kimble - - roles later played by Tommy Lee Jones & Harrison Ford in the popular 1993 movie version.

Barry Morse was also featured as Prof. Victor Bergman in the initial 1975 season of Space: 1999. He was cremated at the request of his family.

1970's Flashback: The Golem

"In centuries agone, they had called him a myth, a creature formed of stone and clay and the blood of a people's oppression - a moving monolith who rose before the voice of tyranny - shattered it in his monumental fists - then vanished into the sands of time - there to be almost forgotten - until today! Now, once more, he rises - summoned from his eons-long sleep to protect those he loves. Now for the first time in untold decades - there walks the Golem!"

Deep in the Sahara desert, Abraham Adamson (the descendant of Rabbi Judah Loew Ben Bezalel) was searching for the Golem. The Rabbi had once created the Golem to protect and avenge his persecuted people. Abraham was accompanied by his nephew Jason, his niece Rebecca and excavator Wayne Logan. Abraham had carefully studied the ancient parchments of the legend and had brought them to the exact spot in the desert where they were indeed able to unearth the Golem statue.

Unfortunately, a number of Middle Eastern deserters showed up (led by Colonel Omar) and began looting the site. One of the soldiers got jumpy and shot Abraham, so Omar took the others as hostages to avoid an international incident, leaving Abraham alone to die with the Golem.
Abraham retrieved the ancient parchments and intoned the Mystic Alphabets of the 221 Gates to bring the statue to life, yet when nothing seemed to happen, Abraham began to weep, and one of his tears landed on the foot of the giant statue. There was a searing flash of light and Abraham Adamson died ... but the light began to shine in the eyes of the Golem!

Thus began Strange Tales # 174 (June 1974), where the Golem first appeared. Not a character of long duration, the Golem certainly got off to a great start with writing by Len Wein, and art duties by two silver age masters, John Buscema & Jim Mooney. With only three appearances in the title (all in 1974), the Golem's story was left somewhat dangling - - - until it was summarily finished off about a year later in [ of all places] Marvel Two-In-One starring the Thing. But now, lets get back to the rest of the introductory story summation:

The Golem ripped through Colonel Omar and his men as they were about to leave the camp, their weapons useless against the giant. The Golem stopped when only Omar was left, and the deserter threatened to kill Rebecca if the monster came any closer. The Golem suddenly lashed out and crushed the gun in Omar's hand and then killed him. The Golem studied Wayne, Jason and Rebecca; who began to scream as she recognized the familiar twinkle of her Uncle's eyes in the corners of the glowing eyes of the Golem!

Sadly this horror-inspired creation just didn't grab readers at the time and Marvel pretty much dumped the Golem.

Oh, Wicked Wanda!

Looks like the estimable Frank Cho has done it again, with this cover that he's provided for Ultimates Vol.3 #3 (of 5).

The Ultimates is Marvels adult-skewed, directors-cut-styled version of the Avengers, which explains the Scarlet Witch's somewhat naughty ensemble.

A once heroic character, Wanda Maximoff was revealed as being bug-nuts crazy in Avengers:Disassembled and its "ho-hum" follow-up, House of M.

Now it seems as if they only want to portray her as a floozy!

Well, its a great cover Frank, but you guys can keep it. Unless you would prefer to shove it where the sun doesn't shine.

A Spark of Inspiration Recommendation

Atomic Robo is the creation of writer Brian Clevinger and artist Scott Wegener, it's published by Red 5 Comics. First mentioned on 8-Bit Theater's website, Atomic Robo is a robotic [of course] intelligence invented in 1923 by Nikola Tesla (and anything about Tesla usually gets my attention). From that time forward, Atomic Robo finds itself a part of important events of the 20th century, ranging from fighting Nazis during World War II to the Space Race, the Civil Rights Movement, and beyond, all the while saving the Earth from various catastrophic events.

An interesting premise to be sure, so if you haven't seen it rush out and find a copy.

From the Dust Bin: Spectro the Mind Reader

Spectro was known alternately as "The Master of Magic" and "The Mind Reader" during his Golden Age career. While battling crime, Robert Morgan, alias Spectro, acted less like a magician and more like a hard-boiled private eye, crashing through doors and manhandling thugs. However Spectro did demonstrate some magical ability and his main power was reading minds, which often came in handy, especially when dealing with tight-lipped criminals.

His few recorded adventures were published by Ned Pines' Better Publications in issues of Wonder Comics & Black Terror.

TGIF! The jokes been on you ..... so lets review.

All right, no more bogus posts at the expense of DC or Marvel today. [But it's been fun!]

Instead, here is a review of "Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes", a storyline that is currently running in Action Comics # 858 - 861 [and beyond].

I didn't pick any of these issues up until the latest issue (#861) hit the stands this very week. In the wake of Jim Shooter's return to the Legion in their own title, which I've enjoyed thus far, I became curious about the goings on with the 31st century gang over in Action.

Well, it seems that the promos weren't lying, these are the classic, pre-Crisis Legionnaires who find themselves on the run, disgraced and at the mercy of ..... the Justice League.

Of Earth, that is.

Steeped in Legion lore, Geoff Johns, Gary Frank & Jon Sibal are producing a bravura tale of heroism and nostalgia in this perrenial Superman Family title. And while the tale revisits what became of the old ("original") Legion of Super-Heroes characters, since the last time we saw them - - - What, ten-fifteen years ago? - - - the story literally has everything to do with the Man of Steel and his heroic legacy, which has been twisted to suit the whims of a a gang of former Legion rejects (who're calling themselves the Justice League of Earth), and who've outlawed all extra-terrestrials from being on Earth, ceded from the United Planets and who've ruthlessly hunted down the Legionnaires; that previously rejected their bids for membership.

Johns knocks another one out of the park, folks. If you're not picking up Action Comics at the moment, you really need to rush right out and get some. Gary Frank, Jon Sibal and the rest of the creative team are bringing Johns script to life on page-after-page of simply wonderful comics art. You've just gotta see the subtle redesigns of the classic Legion costumes.

My favorite, Dawnstar, and I'd have to be crude to state why.

Now, I don't know how the two disparate groups of Legionnaires relate to one another, and with the upcoming Final Crisis [ which supposedly features the Legion in a prominent role], maybe this will all get worked out in the wash. Suffice it to say that for longtime Legion fans, like me, it is a great time to revisit some old friends.