Cagney Gets the AFI Life Achievement Award

Here's the great James Cagney, more than a decade past his early sixties retirement, receiving the 2nd AFI Life Achievement Award. Grace, style, class and genuine humor--things you don't see much in Hollywood anymore.

Cutey Honey Live

Here's a bouncy live performance of the J-Pop theme from Go Nagai's CUTEY HONEY!

Marine Boy

MARINE BOY was an early favorite cartoon and, unbeknownst to me at the time, an early anime import here in the US. Years later I would get a chance to speak with Corrine Orr who did the lead character's voice. I have a very surreal life sometimes.

Firesign Theater-Nick Danger

I've been on a FIRESIGN THEATRE kick lately, especially since friending and speaking with Phil Proctor on Facebook the other day.

Super Plastic Man

Most old-time comics fans know the story of IW/Super Comics. A man named Israel Waldman bought the printing plates to a whole big bunch of 1940's and 1950's comic books at some point late in the latter decade. For some reason, in those less enlightened times, this gave this otherwise intelligent man the impression that he somehow had the rights to publish these comic books! He had new covers made up (usually by Ross Andru and Mike Esposito although the first one here is by Jack Abel) and made up titles and numbering. Then he set about selling "his" non-dated comics in non-traditional markets, often three in a bag.

Most of the comics were not all that interesting, really, even the first time. Some exceptions were two issues of THE SPIRIT and two issues of PLASTIC MAN that came out just a few years after the original Quality run's end in 1956 and not long before DC revived the character in their DIAL H FOR HERO series in 1966. In fact, one story I've heard indicates that the reason DC chose that point to revive Plas, a character they had bought from Quality, was to reaffirm their existing trademark to the character.

Waldman either ran out of plates or just gave up the IW/Super line soon afterwards. He would resurface about a decade later when he and Marvel vet Sol Brodsky set up a brand new comics company called Skywald. BrodSKY/WALDman. Get it? This time all of their stuff was brand new at least.

Buster Keaton Ad

Spacemen Cover

Here's an interesting story behind the cover of a 1962 magazine. SPACEMEN was designed to be the sci-fi version of FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND, catering to editor Forry Ackerman's true love--sci-fi. The articles had the same reverential but tongue-in-cheek style, the format was the same and even the concept of having artist Basil Gogos paint the covers was the same. The thing is, when this one came out, old-time fans were confused. At no point in any of the serials did Buster Crabbe's Flash Gordon fight a hideous alien monster like the one depicted here. Enough fans were perplexed enough to write in and the next issue's letter column offered the unusual explanation that follows!

"Actually the cover on our July issue was a collectors item--the first collaboration between Basil Gogos and...Jim Warren! Upon completion of the left hand portion of the painting, Gogos was suddenly stricken with Venusian Virus and ordered to bed by his physician with a 103 degree temperature. Originally Emperor Ming was to be fighting with Flash but suddenly the choice was either a half-blank cover or___? So borrowing a popping eye from Peter Lorre, a bolt from the Frankenstein monster, a swelled head from the Metaluna mutant, a horn from a triceratops and the robotic arms of a robot, your resourceful publisher himself rushed out and got a Draw It Yourself Kit and, with the printer panting down his neck, painted the "immortal kitchen sink creature" which so many of you hailed as a Monsterpuss!"