A Mighty Marvel (Western Week Part II) Moment

Check out this stunning cover by legendary Spider-Man artist "Jazzy" John Romita from Mighty Marvel Western #30. Romita provides both pencils and inks on this classic gunfight cover which prominently features the Rawhide Kid shooting down a gang of ornery owlhoots who have run afoul of the Kid.

Marvel published the adventures of many cowboy characters during their long history (whether as Timely, Atlas or Marvel), beginning way back in the golden age of comics. A short list of their western stable includes: Rawhide Kid, Kid Colt, Two-Gun Kid, Apache Kid, Ringo Kid, Matt Slade, the original Ghost Rider, Red Wolf, and, well - you get the picture.

In the year 2000, Marvel released a mini-series featuring some of these characters in a last hurrah-type sendoff. Blaze of Glory (and it's subsequent follow-up, Apache Skies) featured a dark and violent updating of Marvel's classic western heroes, primarily the Two-Gun Kid, the Rawhide Kid, Kid Colt and the Outlaw Kid. In contrast to characters' standard looks until then, Blaze of Glory depicted them as grizzled, weather-beaten cowboys and gunfighters, wearing less stylized, but more historically appropriate outfits than their classic ones. In fact, Blaze of Glory specifically retconned that the naively clean-cut Marvel Western stories of years past were merely dime novel fictions of the characters' actual lives.

Heroes: "POWERLESS"

Deep below Primatech Paper in Odessa, TX, Peter's reunion with Nathan turns violent when the Petrelli brothers, Matt Parkman and Hiro Nakamura all clash thanks to Adam Monroe and his pursuit of the deadly Shanti Virus. After watching his heroic cousin captured by a street gang, Micah turns to the one person who can help him save Monica -- his mom. Meanwhile, Maya tragically learns how much of a monster Sylar really is during his kidnapping of Molly and Dr. Suresh. Meanwhile, Elle Bishop decides to play hero in order to get back into her father's good graces and Noah Bennett (HRG) is forced into making an uncomfortable decision to save his family. Resolutions come in the close of Volume II (also the abbreviated 2nd season finale), but two heroes fall and the Volume 3 teaser reveals an old foe on the rebound.

Western Week (Part I): The Lone Ranger

Welcome to my first western theme week! I certainly do love me some westerns; whether it's presented in movies, comics, pulp novels, or just playing some cowboys and Indians as a kid. Hey, even some of that country & western music ain't all that bad! So join me each day this week as we take a fond look at how the western genre has contributed to pop culture ..... starting off with a hearty "Hi-Yo-Silver!"

The Lone Ranger is a masked, Texas Ranger in the American Old West, who gallops about righting injustices, usually with the aid of a clever and laconic Native American sidekick called Tonto, and his horse Silver. He would famously say "Hi-yo Silver, away!" to get the horse to gallop. On the original radio and TV-series, the opening announcement was:

"A fiery horse with the speed of light, a cloud of dust, and a hearty, "Hi-yo-Silver!" The Lone Ranger"

In later episodes the opening narration ended with the catch phrase "Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear.... The Lone Ranger Rides Again!" Episodes usually ended with one of the characters lamenting the fact that they never found out the hero's name ("Who was that masked man?"), only to be told, "Why, he's the Lone Ranger!" as he and Tonto ride away. The famed theme music was the "cavalry charge" finale of Gioacchino Rossini's William Tell Overture, now inseparably associated with the series, which also featured many other classical selections as incidental music including Wagner, Mendelssohn, Liszt, and Tchaikovsky.

The Lone Ranger first premiered in 1933 on the Mutual Broadcasting Network and continued until 1954, but a more well known and influential adaptation of the Lone Ranger was the (1949-1957) television series starring Clayton Moore (pictured; above) and Jay Silverheels as Tonto. A comic book adaptation also ran from 1948 until 1975; through two different publishers. Additional comics versions have appeared sporadically since then.


Trivia: Another popular cult hero, The Green Hornet, spun out of the Ranger's mythos as the modern Hornet (Britt Reid) is the descendant of Lone Ranger, Dan Reid.

A New Form of Chinese Water Torture Unveiled

Whenever China has any opportunity to instigate trouble, or to just be a 'thorn in the U.S. side', it takes that opportunity. So again demonstrating that it is the biggest, rogue power in the world, China has refused permission for a U.S. aircraft carrier and accompanying vessels to visit Hong Kong for a long-planned Thanksgiving holiday visit for "unspecified reasons", the U.S. State Department said on Wednesday. The USS Kitty Hawk group and its crew of 8,000 airmen and sailors had been expected in Hong Kong on Wednesday, but will now spend the holiday on the South China Sea. Hundred of relatives of crew members of the Kitty Hawk had flown to Hong Kong to celebrate Thanksgiving with them. Hong Kong, especially its Wanchai bar district, has been a regular port of call for U.S. sailors on "R & R" (rest and recuperation) since the Vietnam War.

While admittedly not as serious as China's attempt to poison the youth of America with lead contaminated toys and baby items, the Chinese continue to act more like a country at war with the U.S. than one at peace.

All of this comes in the wake of the U.S.A.’s discovery of tons of imported Chinese food items that were contaminated with pesticides, and literally tons of tainted pet food containing melamine, a chemical contained in plastics and fertilizers.

Not to mention, the Chinese government previously denying entry to port for a U.S. vessel seeking safe harbor from a dangerous sea-storm.

Well, that EARNS the China the “Bad Conduct” Award; henceforth known as the Chop-Chop in honor of a golden age great who’s not likely to be revived anytime soon - - - for obvious reasons.

Strangely appropriate for this situation though. Cover images [above;left] taken from Quality Comics Blackhawk #18 (Spring 1948), Blackhawk #22 (December 1948) and Blackhawk #31 (June 1950).

[Why the hell we continue to do business with certain countries is beyond me. I say declare a moratorium on all inbound Chinese goods for a year or two and see how they fare, temporarily, without our considerable financial assistance. And we could always seize any Chinese assets stateside as recompense for their “undeclared economic assault”.]

Profile Antics: Milo Manara

Maurilio (aka Milo) Manara is an Italian comic book creator (writer and artist), best known for his erotic approach to the medium. Some of his notable works include: The Adventures of Giuseppe Bergman, Butterscotch, Click & Indian Summer. Manara's works vary in their explicitness, but the general mood is playful rather than misogynistic. His skill in creating atmosphere, his obvious talent, and his occasional excursions into more "mainstream" stories, have helped to lend him an air of artistic respectability.

Curiously, Manara does not enjoy the popularity in his native Italy that exists in France, where he is considered one of the most important comics creators in the world.

About Monkey Boy (his nickname; not mine)!

Frank Cho is one talented bastard. His syndicated Liberty Meadows comic strip (and later Image Comics title) is real a laugh riot with its anthropomorphic cast, smoking hot chicks & pop culture references. His artistic skills were bound to get the attention of the major comics publishers and Marvel Comics quickly won out, landing Mr. Cho for several prominent fill-in issues before he committed himself to the top-selling, Brian Bendis written, The Mighty Avengers.

If you haven't heard, the perpetually late series has ultimately lost Mr. Cho, as he has left the series after completing the 6th issue. Reportedly each issue was taking poor Frank about ten weeks to complete. What a whiner! I mean twenty-two pages of comics illustration averages out to only three pages a week at that rate.

Sadly, for our pal Frank, I can't imagine Jack Kirby, John Romita, Big John Buscema, Don Heck, Dick Ayers, Steve Ditko, Marie Severin, or anybody else from the former House of Ideas complaining too damn much about the generous amount of time Herr Cho was allotted to turn in his "heavy" workload. Frank's problem comes down to one simple thing. Overcommitment!

He put his own Liberty Meadows on hold to tackle his various Marvel stuff, but there never seemed to be a single week during his time on Mighty Avengers, where some new Cho-stuff wasn't solicited. Covers or t-shirts for convention programs, limited editions prints, uhm, Jungle Girl for another publisher [which truth be told, is nothing more than a rip-off of his own Marvel title, Shanna the She-Devil].

So, yes, I remain grudgingly a Frank Cho fan, but please - Frank - buddy - henceforth, how about a little .... FOCUS.

Only George Perez could maintain the kind of workload that you attempted, and he even injured himself doing it - albeit late in his career. You're still a young guy, dude!

And about that [photo; above], Frank is lovingly caressing the mighty fine rear end of LianaK, a Canadian television entertainer who hosts the talk show, Ed's Night Party and travels to comic conventions in various costumes that show off her "assets." Lovely Liana Kerzner regularly posts on Frank's own Apes & Babes forum. Hell, I gotta say that for the lucky Mr. Cho, his getting to perform a pat down on the curvy cutie amounts to some seriously cool fringe benefits.

1970's Flashback: The Joker

The Joker is a master criminal with a clown-like appearance, including bleached white skin, red lips, and green hair. Initially portrayed as a violent sociopath, who in his first several appearances, murdered close to three dozen people for his own amusement, the Joker, originally introduced in Batman #1 (1940), began to be written as a goofy trickster-thief. That characterization continued throughout the late 1950s and 1960s before the character was again depicted as a vicious killer, beginning in Batman #251, with "The Joker's Five Way Revenge", the Joker returns to his roots as a homicidal maniac who casually murders people on a whim, while enjoying battles of wits with Batman.

The Joker then received his own nine-issue series during the 1970s in which he faced off against a variety of superheroes and supervillains. Although he was the protagonist of the series, certain issues feature just as much murder as those in which he was the antagonist. Of the nine issues, he commits murder in seven.

Heroes: "TRUTH & CONSEQUENCES

Hiro continues the pursuit of his father's killer, while Claire deals with the aftermath of her father's death. After tracking down the woman in the company photo, Peter travels to Primatech Paper in Texas with his new friend to destroy the virus, which will kill 93% of the world's population in the future -- but not everything is what it seems. Niki returns to Micah with bad news. To right a wrong, Monica puts her abilities to the test, with tragic results. Meanwhile, Dr. Suresh continues his slide towards the dark side of the company by reviving Noah Bennett, using Claire's own blood and outside of New York, Maya must finally choose between Alejandro and Sylar.

1970's Flashback: The Beast

Created by writer Stan Lee and artist/co-writer Jack Kirby, the Beast first appeared in X-Men #1 (September 1963). As a mutant, Beast possesses superhuman physical strength and agility and oversized hands and feet, having an ape-like basis to his powers. Despite his savage appearance, he is a brilliant man of the arts and sciences; he is a world authority on biochemistry and genetics, the X-Men's medical doctor, and the science and mathematics instructor at the Xavier Institute (the X-Men's headquarters and school for young mutants). He is also a mutant political activist. Fighting his bestial instincts and fears of social rejection, Beast dedicates his physical and mental gifts to the creation of a better world for man and mutant. He also has a witty sense of humor.

During 1972, in Marvel's Amazing Adventures #11, Beast underwent a radical change in appearance, mutating into the familiar blue, furry creature that he has remained ever since. Having left the X-Men, Hank McCoy becomes a research scientist at the Brand Corporation, a genetics research facility. There Hank isolates a "hormonal extract" that allows anyone to become a mutant for a short period of time, and uses the mutagenic serum on himself to disguise his appearance while foiling an attempt to steal his research. However, he waits too long to reverse the process, leaving him permanently transformed. He has grown gray fur (which later turns blue) all over his body and acquired sharp ears, elongated canine teeth, claws, the ability to run on walls and ceilings like a spider, enhanced senses, an accelerated healing factor, and a feral side he struggles to control. He briefly joins the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants when Mastermind wipes out his memory, but quickly recovers. When the Beast was wounded, he was aided by Patsy Walker, and then reunited with his old girlfriend Vera Cantor. Back at Brand Laboratories, Hank discovers that his assistant/girlfriend Linda Donaldson is a Communist spy, and the confrontation, though heartbreaking, is inevitable. Over the next decade Beast would appear on the roster of several teams in titles ranging from Avengers to Defenders to X-Factor.

Trivia: TV's Frasier, Kelsey Grammer portrayed Hank McCoy, the Beast in the motion picture

X-Men: The Last Stand.

Classic Cuties: Lynda Carter

Former Miss World USA 1972, Lynda Carter's acting career did not really take off until she landed her starring role in the Wonder Woman television series. Her earnest performance endeared her to fans and critics and the series lasted for three seasons (1975-1979). Thirty years after taking on the role, Carter continues to be so closely identified with Wonder Woman, that it has proven difficult for producers to find a suitable candidate to play the character in subsequently aborted productions (work on the most recent attempt was announced in 2005; and is currently stalled by the Hollywood writers strike).

Still stunning at age 56, and after many years away from the spotlight, Lynda Carter returned to major feature film roles in 2005 with appearances in the big screen remake of The Dukes of Hazzard and as Principal Powers in Sky High. Carter has also appeared in an episode of Smallville this season.

Despite showing some skin in the 70's schlock, b-movie "Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw", it has always been disappointing [to me] that Lynda failed to pose for Playboy magazine.

I'm just saying!

In Memoriam: Gordon Scott & Herman Brix

I was reading through an obituary list of notable celebrities, sports figures, authors, statesmen, etc. today when I noticed that two famous movie Tarzan actors had passed away in 2007:

Gordon Scott (April 30) played Tarzan in five feature films, including two (Tarzan's Greatest Adventure & Tarzan the Magnificent) which are considered to be among the best Tarzan films ever made. He was 80 years old when he died from complications resulting from multiple heart surgeries. Scott was memorable for his muscular physique, probably the most buff guy to ever assay the role and for his string of Italian sword epics. Three of Scott's early tv Tarzan pilots were cobbled together into Tarzan and the Trappers in 1960.

Herman Brix (February 24) was an Olympic shot-putting medalist who played Tarzan in 1935. Brix was edged out of the role by Johnny Weissmuller (who soon became a major star), after being injured in another film. Burroughs Enterprises later cast Brix as Tarzan in their independently produced The New Adventures of Tarzan & Tarzan and the Green Goddess. Brix portrayal of the ape man is the only time that the character was accurately depicted in film. His Tarzan was a mannered, cultured, soft-spoken, well-educated English lord who spoke several languages and didn't grunt. Brix later used the name "Bruce Bennett" for many of his other film appearances. He was 100 years old when he died from complications following a broken hip.

At the Movies ..... Enchanted

Enchanted is a new Disney Studios release that uses live action, traditional animation, and CGI film techniques to tell the story of Giselle (Amy Adams) who lives in the blissfully animated world of Andalasia, where magical beings frolic freely and musical interludes punctuate every interaction. Though Giselle is currently engaged to the handsome, valiant (and bumbling) Prince Edward (James Marsden), her fate takes a turn for the worse when his evil stepmother, Queen Narissa (Susan Sarandon), throws her through a magic portal, apparently to her doom. But Giselle's plunge into darkness actually lands her in a strange new world - unforgiving New York City. As the cruelty of this new place wears down the fairy-tale idealism of the once carefree princess, the frightened Giselle soon finds herself falling for a friendly, flawed, and soon-to-be-engaged divorce lawyer Rob Philip (Patrick Dempsey), whose blend of compassion and street smarts help her survive and build a happy life in a harsh, cynical, and jaded town. While Rob is initially a difficult host, he and his 6-year-old daughter Morgan (Rachel Covey) also begin to be won over by the strange beauty's charms.

The movie is very well cast and features tons of "Easter Egg-style" script references, visual nods and cameos by some previous Disney princesses and others; although you wouldn't recognize most of them from their voiceover work on such animated classics as The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast or Pocahontas. [Google the trivia aspects of the movie for this info.] Amy Adams really breathes life into Giselle and totally sells the notion that a fairy tale cartoon princess could exist in the real world. You'll want to meet Giselle and become caught up in her innocent point of view. Each of the other actors adds something wonderful to the film and Patrick Dempsey rises above his 'Grey's Anatomy Dr. McDreamy' status with a nice turn as the jaded Rob, who eventually softens enough to accept the world of possibility that Giselle opens for him.

See this movie with your family or loved one and you'll find yourself ... Enchanted, for real!