How NOT to do a Superhero Movie: Dr. Strange (1978)

This movie is so peculiar that you almost never hear it being referenced. I admit that in the grand scheme of things, this aborted television pilot isn't as bad as several theatrical superhero flicks that have been widely panned as major "turkeys', but that's not saying much. Dr. Strange was a 1978 made-for-TV movie based on the character created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko for Marvel Comics. It was written & directed by Philip DeGuere, with Stan Lee serving as a consultant for a proposed TV series.

A young woman named Clea becomes a pawn of the sorceress Morgan Le Fay. The primary defender of our world against threats of a magical nature, the Sorcerer Supreme, is presently a man named Thomas Lindmer (actually Merlin, the Arthurian sorcerer). He and his man-servant Wong, contact a psychiatrist named Stephen Strange, who is the heir to his father's potential to become Lindmer's disciple and the next Sorcerer Supreme. Strange bears his father's magical ring as a sign of this, and he has already sensed that something is wrong, but does not recognize the importance of these feelings of apprehension. Lindmer/Merlin must convince Strange of the reality of the mystical world wherein the battle between good and evil is being played out on a magical level, all unbeknownst to the mundane world, to save Clea and thwart Morgan's plans. Sophomoric sets & psychodelic special effects then pretty much represent the magical realms, and although the costuming does try to invoke the comic book characters, Walters as Morgan Le Fay (a mere seven years after her famous turn as a crazed stalker in Clint Eastwoods, Play Misty for Me) ends up looking like a substitute "Cher" in some back alley, cross-dressing revue.

Peter Hooten starred as Dr. Strange, with Clyde Kusatsu as Wong, Jessica Walter as Morgan Le Fay and Sir John Mills as Lindmer/Merlin. Two noted character actors from those days provided uncredited voice work. Michael Ansara (the Klingon, Kang in the classic Star Trek episode, "Day of the Dove") voiced the Ancient One and Ted Cassidy (Lurch in The Addams Family) voiced the demon Balzaroth.

Rayboy's Review: Wednesday Comics (DC Comics)

Wednesday Comics, Thursday Review!

DC Comics launched their twelve week experimental run of "Wednesday Comics" yesterday and the large, tabloid-size format (similar to the Sunday color comics supplement in most newspapers), which also hearkens back to the treasury-sized volumes of the 1970’s, is a joy to behold.

It’s apparent that a great deal of thought went into selecting the proper content for this project, which writers & artists would be the best fit, what characters would appeal to the broadest possible audience and which format "might" reel in a weekly readership who’ve grown increasingly bored with other year-long comic events in the wake of "52". It’s no secret that 52’s follow-up, Countdown, and the current Trinity series have each continued to sell; although not at the same level as the earlier fifty-two week crossover series.

There are several nice elements to "Wednesday Comics". First, if this weekly series proves to be successful, then the industry’s conceit of continuing to use the slick paper glossy format on monthly comics doesn’t really hold water. Produced on traditional newsprint, Wednesday Comics is brilliant with color work, and the reader doesn’t have to continually adjust the angle to avoid lighting glare, which obscures and mars the whole reading experience. The ink saturation on the page is absolutely topnotch.

Hey, publishers! The economy is a little depressed at the moment and things out here in the real world will likely continue to rebound ever so slowly. How about trying to save your fans at least a few of their hard-earned sheckles by adopting a more cost effective format that can’t help but improve your own bottom line? Okay, maybe some of the prima donna creators who work for you actually "prefer" the slicker books, since they look "cool". Wrong! You are the operators of businesses that need to reign in costs, in order to protect corporate profits, so here’s an idea. Re-educate those bozos as soon as possible. Like Archie Comics, and DC’s own Looney Tunes & Scooby Doo titles, this is the way to go, and you know what? Stuff like that just looks like a comic book ought to look.

Overall, I enjoyed the entirety of Wednesday Comics creative line-up. There’s Neil Gaiman & Mike Allred on Metamorpho, Jose Luis Garcia Lopez & Kevin Nowlan drawing the Metal Men, Paul Pope soloing on Strange Adventures (which barely missed being my favorite feature in a remarkable group of strips, but Metal Men won out) and Joe Kubert drawing Sgt. Rock. Let’s say that again; Joe Kubert "drawing Sgt. Rock", damn that makes me happy.

Kudos to the all of the creators involved in the series and to DC Comics for thinking outside of the box and attempting yet another way to revive fan interests in a fun format. I can not recommend Wednesday Comics highly enough. Please, please rush out and grab yourself a copy today.

If weekly comics are to continue, folks, this is the way to do them.

Could "The Sub-Mariner" be in the public domain?

Take a look around the local comics chop and you will notice that in some cases the same public domain superheroes occupy slots on several companies character rosters. You see, some golden age publishers didn't always secure their trademarks or copyrights, and many latter day corporate entities have used the "apparent" availability of these old favorites to launch entire lines of comic book titles that trade upon name recognition of these characters within the hobby or in other instances, simply incorporated these golden oldies into their own already established fictional universes.

Long established industry fables, old rumors, innuendos and sadly, outright lies have often muddied the waters for those intrepid souls who have endeavored to determine what IS legal and what ain't.

Recently Cash Gorman traveled to our nations capitol on holiday, and he took the opportunity to visit the Library of Congress to conduct some research on select golden age characters, titles and company's. This link will take you to his posted findings, and some surprising information .... if you are interested.

Ye Catacombs editor says that it is "recommended" reading for fans of golden age heroes!

1980's Flashback: Starslayer

Mike Grell originally created Starslayer: The Log of the Jolly Roger for DC Comics, but those plans were halted after the mass cancellation of titles known as the "DC Implosion." Instead four years later, Grell offered it to Pacific Comics, who released it as a six issue limited series in 1982. The series introduced the main character Torin Mac Quillon, a warrior from the time of the Roman Empire. Just before he is killed while fighting a group of Roman soldiers, he is pulled into the distant future by Tamara, a descendant of his wife after she remarried. Torin is asked to join the crew of the spaceship Jolly Roger in their fight against the oppressive regime that is ruling the Earth. Torin agrees, and he and his his new shipmates successfully save the Earth's dying sun by the end of the first series.

First Comics eventually continued the series after Pacific went out of business, starting with issue #7 in August 1983, however Grell left the series after issue #8. The final issue, #34, came out in November 1985. When First Comics restarted the series, Torin and his shipmates travel throughout the galaxy and end up in Cynosure, the nexus of all realities for First Comics, and gain an entire crew of pirates. At some point Torin travels back to the solar system with a device that can cause a star to implode into a black hole. He uses this weapon on the sun during the course of battle in order to destroy his enemies. Just at the point of implosion Torin speaks the name of the Celtic goddess of death, Morrigan; effectively sacrificing the star to her, which brings her back into existence. She proclaims Torin to be her avatar and orders him to go into the galaxy and kill in her name. Torin rebels, which is the basis of the remainder of the title's run.

In issue #10, the character of Grimjack was introduced as a backup feature; he would later receive his own title. Other characters that appeared as backup features were Groo the Wanderer (who had also originally received his own title at Pacific) and Dave Stevens, The Rocketeer.

Independence Day 2009

I've chosen Nedor's the Fighting Yank for the Catacombs "4th of July" comic book salute.

Here's to you America, Happy holiday!

"Gal" Friday! Gabrielle Anwar

British actress Gabrielle Anwar co-stars in the USA Network television series, Burn Notice, as Fiona Glenanne; former IRA operative and Michael Westen's (played by lead actor Jeffrey Donovan) ex-girlfriend. Fiona re-entered Michael's life when he was dumped, half-dead in Miami; so she decided to stay, quickly making herself invaluable to him. Aside from serving as his explosives expert, she provides support to him during his investigations and at times, assists him in missions to find out who "burned" him (blackballed him within the covert spy community). In the pilot episode, she speaks with an Irish accent, but beginning in the second episode, she changed to an American accent, along with a change in her style of dress, in an effort to distance herself from her past and blend in, showing her own ability to adapt. She is both a complement to Michael and his match in many ways, both intellectually and tactically.

On the show, "Fiona" is a natural hothead, always quick to pull the trigger or blow somebody up, and the actress has deservedly earned a career resurgence in the popular series, in fact along with co-stars Donovan, Sharon Gless and genre veteran Bruce Campbell as Sam Axe, Anwar has easily made Burn Notice one of the best shows on TV.

Artist From Down Under: Philip Dean Gray

One of the true benefits of maintaining a blog is the interaction you get to have with folks who share similar interests. I always appreciate comments by my regular followers, and those occasional visitors who prefer to remain anonymous.

There is also an added bonus - which occurs infrequently - of someone new emailing me with questions or comments that aren't actually posted in response to a specific article that I put up here in the Catacombs.

Recently a chap by the name of Philip Dean Gray contacted me after he went searching online for info on artists Dave Stevens and Joe Linsner (both of whom have been mentioned in Catacombs posts). Philip and I shared an appreciation for British pin-up queens, Lucy Pinder, Michelle Marsh and Keeley Hazell, and since Mr. Gray is a talented artist, the whole comic book thing that I like to trumpet here helped make a connection also.

We corresponded back and forth a bit over a couple of days, and Philip agreed to allow me to profile his work here.

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Q) Philip, you mentioned that at the ripe old age of 48 you were getting back into producing artwork. What prompted you to take such an extended break?

To explain a little more in regards to the hiatus, I was quite a prolific drawer a number of years back, but then I met my future wife, and then the kids came along, then work got in the way.... you know how it goes, the passion for drawing somehow got put into the background.

Q) Did something specific revive your interest in drawing again or are you a fan of certain artists?

It was during a chance visit to a comic/magazine/book shop in Sydney a couple of years back that re-kindled my love for drawing, and I can put it down to looking at an issue of Joseph Michael Linsners' Dawn (Three Tiers). There was just something about the cover and inside cover that sparked my interest again. I purchased a number of Dawn related comics/books/cards, then started checking out a lot of the other top comic artists around, plus delved back into classic pinups by Vargas, and Elvgren, all the time looking at these guy's work was inspiring me to get back into drawing and to concentrate on pinup/comic style work with a realistic look.

Q) The art samples that you forwarded to me were very detailed, and the likeness that you produced of actress Charlize Theron is spot on. What kinds of pencils do you draw with?

My favourite medium to draw with has always been colour pencils (even for the black and whites) I am also trying my hand at mixed media (with markers) and progressing to re-working my drawings in photoshop. At the moment I like to use photo references for my drawings, making sure that I put my own spin on the final outcome.

Q) Now that you've gotten the "itch" to use your art talents again, tell me about any plans you may have for exploiting your skills?

I have a big dream to produce an online magazine at some stage, I already have some other interested parties who would like to contribute. Hopefully it will be a mix of art and also articles (perhaps some tutorials) having a keen interest in graphic design is driving me towards the magazine idea.

Q) In our correspondences, I noticed some of the typical spelling differences that occur between American and English citizens; plus you mentioned Sydney. Are you an Australian?

I am originally from London, England but moved to Sydney Australia in 2001 (along with my wife and 2 children), the draw to move to Australia just got too big to ignore, as my wife has 2 brothers and a sister over here plus of course the nieces and nephews and they were of course always asking us to come over. We have not regretted it, as the lifestyle has been great over here in Australia, although I do also miss a lot of England (especially the football !!) and a certain "page 3" of the Sun newspaper (a regular page for the likes of Keeley Hazell and Lucy Pinder), plus the culture.......but sunshine almost every day (even in winter) sure does make you want to stay in Australia. Plus we do still have some family in England (mine mostly).

Q) I've looked at a few online galleries which feature your pencilled illustrations. Is there a specific web page that anyone who is interested in your work can go to check out your stuff?

Sure. Just go to this link and I will have things up and running very soon. Thanks!

Profile Antics: Rachel Freire

I met Rachel "Ronnie" Freire at the recent Heroes Convention in Charlotte, NC on Father's Day Weekend. It was her first convention appearance anywhere as a guest. She is a 21 year old artist whose book, FCHS will be published by AdHouse Books later this year, although a 2009 "Free Comic Book Day" issue was released in May as an advance promotional item (see photo of Rachel & Vito Delsante; above, left).

She produced two wonderful illustrations for the Heroes charity art auction that got alot of attention and fetched a nice bit of change for the fund, and she was so personable that she made a great impression on folks who attended the con. Thankfully, Rachel also agreed to answer a few questions for ye Catacombs editor, so away we go:

Q) Your profile in the Heroes Con program book mentioned that you had worked at Jim Hanley’s Universe in NYC. How long did you work there and what did you do?

I'd been a customer at Hanley's all throughout high school. It's a great store and after high school I slummed around for a year. But after that, I needed a job and I figured my favorite comic book store was a good place to start. I got lucky because they were hiring, and that was around 2007, so it's been a couple of years. It's more or less a regular retail job, just with comics! I manned the register, fixed the shelves, etc. But I was always drawing and sketching during down time and that's what got my manager, Vito Delsante's, attention to my artwork.

Q) The two pieces that you contributed to the charity art auction were really lovely and I heard lots of favorable comments about them. Who are your "artistic" muses in the comics industry or otherwise?

I think my favorite artist might be Dan DeCarlo. I've been reading Archie books all my life and I guess I've got a special place in my heart for him. But a very close second (if not equal) is Alex Toth. With his simple but effectively realistic style, he's just so good! Others high up on my list are Jordi Bernet, the Hernandez Bros, Frank Thorne, Bob Oksner, Hugo Pratt, Frank Robbins... while I'm drawing I'll always look to one of these greats for inspiration.

Q) Tell me about your book, FCHS and its characters. Who is the target audience, age range or demographic for this project?

FCHS is a comic that's going to be out sometime in October by AdHouse. Vito Delsante is writing and I'm handling the art. The story centers mostly around Hector Smith as it's main protagonist but Vito does a good job of giving all the characters equal development. Hector's in high school, he's in love with a girl, on the football team... It's been described as Archie meets 90210. Vito has mushed the light-hearted puns and gags from Archie with the relationships and situations in shows like 90210 without being cheesy. It'll probably appeal more to adults, specifically those that were teens in the 80's and 90's but I'm sure everyone can relate. Though if you're 15 or younger, wait a couple of years, ha ha!

Q) What is it like working for AdHouse Books, the publisher of FCHS?

AdHouse has been just great! Chris Pitzer has been patient and understanding, especially since it's my first book. We stumbled once or twice, mostly me with deadlines, but it looks like smooth sailing from now on. Though I don't want to jinx it, knock on wood! And since it is AdHouse, I know the book is going to look really nice.

Q) Vito Delsante is your cohort on the title. How did you meet up with him?

Well, Vito happens to be a manager at Hanley's. And like I mentioned before, I used to doodle on scraps of paper here and there. He eventually saw my sketchbook and thought my art style suited this idea he'd had for a webcomic on chemsetcomics.com. So I was drawing 3 panels a week for that (I remember thinking that was hard). Vito printed the web content into mini comics for last year's MoCCA, and Chris Pitzer saw it, and one thing led to another... then all of a sudden I had 120 pages to draw! I'll never complain about a couple of panels again.

Q) What are your goals in the comic book industry?

I'd like to draw a little bit of everything! For instance, I love cheesy old romance comics. So I'd like to try my hand at modern romance stories But also I'd love to draw up a space opera. Not to mention those old Hot Wheels and Hot Rod comics. And if I ever got the opportunity to work on the Legion of Super Heroes, or something like that, I'd jump at it! Maybe some dark horror where I could experiment with gray-tones. I don't want to be tied down to one art style and I definitely don't want to be tied to one genre!

Q) What types of "tools" do your use to produce your artwork?

I've been using a blue-line pencil lately, since everything I've been drawing was going to get scanned eventually. And I've been using brush pens and prisma color inking markers. And a giant box of color markers, and a really long ruler. I'd like to try an actual brush, and maybe even a quill eventually, but those'll take practice.

Q) What is it like for someone new breaking into the world of comics during an economic downturn? Do you think the reading public is positively responding to FCHS?

I hope so! I know what it's like to be on a weekly budget for comics, so while I hope the response to the first book is great enough to warrant a second, it's more important to me that people just really enjoy the book, even if they had to borrow it from a friend. BUT, the book is going to be 120 pages digest size, so it'll only be $9.95, which is pretty pocket-friendly.

Q) What types of comics do you read or what titles/characters are personal favorites?

Well, I still buy the Archie digests every week, but I also just recently bought Remake by Lamar Abrams (also out buy AdHouse, actually) The Mourning Star vol 2 by Kazimir Strzepek, the latest Invincible and Walking Dead (both by Robert Kirkmen), Moomin vol 4, Mary Perkins on Stage vol 5, Gotham City Sirens, Batwoman in Detective comics, Deadpool, Invaders Classics. I guess I'm all over the place with what I read, too!

Q) What do you do to chill out or decompress? Favorite comfort food?

After being couped up all day drawing I like to take a walk to 711 for some junk food, or pick up some Chinese take-out. Or if I'm feeling lazy I'll stretch my legs on the couch and watch some good ol' TV.

We will probably see more of this talented young lady's work down the road, so I encourage everyone to seek out FCHS and give it a shot. Thanks for taking the time to do this interview "Ronnie" and good luck with your career. Q) Will we see you at Heroes Con next year?

Thanks again, Chuck. I'll definitely see you next year at Heroes!

Great Superhero Movie Lines: "Kneel Before Zod!"

As a companion feature for my "How NOT to do a Superhero Movie", I thought it would be fun to dip into the nostalgia well for some terrific movie quotes.

Today's classic comes, of course, from 1978's Superman the Movie. Spoken by Terrance Stamp as General Zod to Christopher Reeve's Man of Steel.

From the Dust Bin: Judy of the Jungle

Judy of the Jungle appeared for about two years (between 1947-1949) during the golden age as a feature in Exciting Comics (published by Nedor) where she soon replaced the Black Terror as the lead cover feature. Judy was one of a long line of jungle girls who cavorted throughout Africa encountering all manner of wild beasts and native threats.

Her stories ran in issues #55-69 of Exciting Comics. A cowboy character "booted" her off of the covers for the last couple of issues of her run.

This page is the first part of one of those text pages that comics used to run in order to satisfy postal requirements for magazine rates.

How NOT to do a Superhero Movie: Catwoman (2004)

Halle Berry truly earned a Razzie Award for her turn as something-that-tried-to-pass-itself-off-as-Catwoman; but she failed miserably to achieve that goal.

After assaying the iconic role of Storm in the X-Men films, also to mixed results, the Oscar winning actress seemed more than desperate to channel the Eartha Kitt, version of Catwoman from the campy old Batman television. Apparently nobody thought to clue poor Halle in that the late Ms. Kitt wasn't the best actress to tackle the famed Gotham City vixen. Julie Newmar still owns the role!

Adding insult to injury, Batman doesn't even appear in the film, and I don't recall whether he is even mentioned. I guess I was laughing too hard the only time that I managed to watch this turkey.

Speaking of vixens, the real sad thing about this dumb movie, is that DC Comics had a similar African-American character named "Vixen" who could have served as a nice model for this film, of course then the producers wouldn't have been able to trade on a better known heroic name, but maybe now they are wishing that they had thought outside the "litter" box.

Jo-Jo Congo King vs "The Vulture Birdmen" (Fox Comics; 1948)

[Click to make bigger] Sorry guys, I really had intended to run a Rulah story today, but this particular Jo-Jo tale is far better and more enjoyable than the few remaining Jungle Goddess stories that I have access to. Jo-Jo is cut from the same cloth as the Johnny Weismuller version of Tarzan. He speaks broken English, wears a loin cloth, and rights wrongs throughout the dark continent.

In this exciting story, Jo-Jo's first attempt to take on the winged menace of the title, earns him nothing but scorn and derision from his own tribesmen after his failure to succeed, but he soon gets the hang of flying and then the tables are effectively turned on Sootho (and hey, Jo-Jo gets to canoodle with the luscious Tanee afterwards anyway, so why feel sorry for him?).

Trivia: The "Stan Ford" who is credited at the top of the splash page is nothing but a pseudonym for Jack Kamen, who provides the excellent art on this tale, including several super-nice "good girl" art panels originally published in Fox Comics Jo-Jo Congo King #11 (February 1948). Enjoy!