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The Saturday Comics: What Were They Thinking?

10 Dec

December 10, 2011

Sometimes comic companies seem to lose their minds. You look at what they put out and you wonder who they expect to buy it. I’m not talking about a badly written story or an issue with bad art, I am talking about a comic whose very cover makes you think that just maybe the publisher has had a stroke. This week I present five WTF? covers and I am proud/sad to say that I own four of them.

 

There was a time that Batman was so popular that you could put anything on the newsstands and it would sell as long as it had Batman on the cover. Now while I am firmly of the opinion that everything is better with apes, this one leaves me scratching my head.

First of all, the ape is wearing a cowl, presumably to protect its identity. But Batman goes right ahead and blows it by blurting out his name. Way to go, Bruce.

Secondly, the gorilla must have ripped that flag pole out of its base on the roof, and I am just not sure gorillas are that strong. And really, did Batman and Robin have no other way of getting across the rooftops? Did they  forget their Batropes at home?

And finally, why? Why bother? Does Batman really need an ape sidekick?

But I have to be honest. If I were a kid I would have totally bought that issue.

 

Sticking with Big Apes (forgive me) we have this issue of Konga’s Revenge, based on the Ape from Konga which you may recall from The Late Night Movie House of Crap.

This is a comic book starring a giant rampaging ape. Did that not offer enough creative opportunities that the creators found it necessary to send him back in time too? Is Konga that much more exciting when facing a Trojan warrior? In my opinion, once you have a giant ape running amok, why mess with a good thing?

But to be fair, King Kong once had to face ancient warriors too.

 

I’ve covered Jimmy Olsen comics before and I am more convinced than ever that DC had no clue what to do with that book.

 

I must admit that not only do I own this book, I love it. It really is a lot of fun. But above all, you have to admire the sheer ego, gall, and chutzpah it took for Stan Lee and Jack Kirby to put themselves into the comic- and as the stars, no less!

The premise is that, on “our” Earth, the editors and staff of Marvel Comics received a mysterious package that turned them into the Fantastic Four. That’s Stan Lee as Mr. Fantastic, Jack Kirby as The Thing, Sol Brodsky as The Human Torch, and Flo Steinberg as The Invisible Woman. Admittedly, the Marvel bullpen was already legendary, and none more so than Stan and Jack, but to put themselves out there are comic book stars? Sheer hubris.

 

Honestly, I look at that cover and I cannot decide between “genius” and “crap.” And while I think I fall on the “crap” side of things, I’ve got to say that with a cover like that, how could that comic not sell?

On the other hand, the movie is utter, utter trash.

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Spotlight: Jim and Relic Radio

5 Dec

December 5, 2011

One thing that I hope comes through to anyone who spends time on this website is the fact that I have varied interests. While I admit that I have not blogged much about science, I am following the new Mars mission on twitter and if you search the index, you can find my lament that Pluto was downgraded from planet to dwarf planet. However, I do hope that readers have picked up on the fact that I am a fan of Old Time Radio.

In general, and very loosely, Old Time Radio can be defined as radio broadcasts of scripted programming, like TV today, between the decades of the 1920’s and the 1950’s, though the final broadcasts of Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar and Suspense, ending at 7:00 pm Eastern Time on September 30, 1962, are often cited as the end of the Golden Age of Radio.

No week of spotlights would be complete without a site I have talked about before, Relic Radio. For quite awhile Relic Radio was my internet home. Relic Radio presents an amazing variety of OTR for- brace yourselves- FREE, all week-long. And not only are they free, there are no commercials. Comedy, drama, mystery, sci-fi, adventure, and more can all be found there.

If you never listened to a radio show, don’t expect to hear a boring audio book. These are full-cast shows with sound effects. Think TV but without the picture. And with (usually) better scripts.

Here is a breakdown and links to the various programs. And did I mention that they are free? And you can download them straight from iTunes? Listen on your commute, as you work out, in your car, anytime you want some good old-fashioned entertainment.

Relic Radio. The main program. Each week you’ll get two main shows and a short Believe It or Not for a full hour of entertainment. There is a nice variety to this show. This week you can hear Box 13 and The Saint, starring Vincent Price.

 

 

 

 

The Horror. My favorite show. Each week another classic program from Light’s Out, The Hermit’s Cave, or another spooky, creepy, horror show.

 

 

 

 

Strange Tales. Odd and mysterious, strange. Not quite sci-fi, not quite horror. This week: The Mysterious Traveler, one of the great anthologies of OTR.

 

 

 

 

Relic Radio Thrillers. As you’d expect, action and adventure from some of the big names of radio, like Escape and the Lux Radio Theater.

 

 

 

Relic Radio Science Fiction. Home of Dimension X, X Minus One, and more great sci-fi.

 

 

 

Case Closed! The detectives. Sam Spade, Boston Blackie, Dragnet, Phillip Marlowe, Broadway is My Beat, and a lot more.

 

 

 

Orson Welles: On The Air. Was there a more famous, more genius, radio personality than Orson Welles? Probably not. Find all his work here, from The Mercury Theater to Harry Lime.

 

 

 

Suspense Replay. Suspense is considered one of the best anthologies broadcast. It lasted decades and was one of the last two classic shows still on the air in 1962. When it ended so did the Golden Age of Radio. Here they are, rerun in chronological order.

 

 

 

Legacy of Laughs. Looking for a good comedy? Find Martin and Lewis, Abbott and Costello, Our Miss Brooks, My Favorite Husband, and a slew of funny shows in this podcast.

 

 

 

The Great Gildersleeve Replay. My other favorite show. This is a sitcom about the most pompous, most woman-crazy man you’ve ever heard. But Gildersleeve also has a heart and a soft spot for his family. The supporting cast is top-notch and the writing is superb. check this one out.

 

 

 

Radio at War. Just what it says. Old Time Radio tales of war.

 

 

 

But that’s not all. No mention of Relic Radio would be complete without a few words about the man behind it all, Jim. Not only does he work hard to get us these shows, but he also runs the Relic Radio Forum, some of the best message boards around with people like me who talk about everything and anything, including OTR once in a while. Many of the people featured in Mob Week can be found there. Drop by and say Mr. Blog sent you. They members of the board are very welcoming of new members, and that’s hard to find.

Now getting back to Jim, he’s a bit bashful but he runs his own blog which I feature in the sidebar. I grab his RSS feed and while he doesn’t post nearly as often as I do (Did you see all those podcasts? He’s busy!) when he does post it is usually a gem. Find his latest post right here at The Oddments.

I hope Jim doesn’t mind (he has no idea I’m doing this) but here is one of his recent blogs:

Going Back In 4/4 Time

Its been said that smell can trigger memories better than anything else. I’m sure that can be linked to the animal portion of our brains – some survival mechanism whose main purpose is forgotten, long ago replaced by logic and reason. While that may be true, I find it takes a far back seat to music for really dredging up the past.

There’s a CD case that stands against the wall in the other room, one of those glue, sawdust and wood-grain sticker deals, pretty much untouched since it was moved there years ago. It’s an artifact of a bygone age, and I can’t tell you the last time I slid a disc out for a listen. The truth is I’m a bit afraid to. The thing is a mausoleum, each dusty compartment holding a little bit of my past encapsulated with its musical accompaniment. Stacked one atop the other, with just a fraction of an inch worth of space between them, lay the polycarbonate corpses of my lost decade. There are a few happy times in the stack along the left side. Lots of loss on the top right, just above the melancholy. Then there is ‘her’ section. We’ll leave her out of this. The point is, the music was always playing back then, and to listen to it now doesn’t come without a price. It’s amazing what the brain can throw back at you with the proper stimulus, and how an old memory can still make you feel a bit of unease years after its interment.

“Well, certainly memory is a curious machine and strangely capricious. It has no order, it has no system, it has no notion of values, it is always throwing away gold and hoarding rubbish.” -Mark Twain

Anyway, I’m cautious touching the thing for all it might rattle loose. Remember what happened when they cracked the lid on the Ark? Not that all the memories entombed there are bad, but truth be told, the bad tend to be more sticky. At least during that era. I’m not sure why I haven’t gotten rid of the damn thing.

That’s the odd thing about nostalgia, and revisiting the past whether by choice or errant thought. It’s the part people may forget. By its very meaning, there’s some pain involved. In fact, for a time it was considered a disease; one serious enough to lead to death (allegedly), usually afflicting soldiers unable to go home. But I ask you friend, are we all not soldiers at war with our pasts at one time or another?

Back to the front.

This man needs to write more! Follow him and give him some encouragement.

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