R.I.P. Jim Kelly

Martial arts expert, fellow Kentuckian and cult film star Jim Kelly's death is being reported by his ex-wife and THE NATIONAL ENQUIRER. Not really a good actor and sadly given a low budget for BLACK BELT JONES which should have cinched him as a solo star, the one thing one has to say about Kelly is that he was cool! 

Han: We are all ready to win, just as we are born knowing only life. It is defeat that you must learn to prepare for.

Williams: I don't waste my time with it. When it comes, I won't even notice.

Han: Oh? How so?

Williams: I'll be too busy looking gooood.

Go here to see my coverage of Bruce Lee and ENTER THE DRAGON.

The Splashing Joke # 7

 

Chic Stone Swipes

Best known for his work inking Jack Kirby, Chic Stone was actually quite prolific as an artist himself with work at Tower, Archie, Eerie Pubs and ACG as well as lots of comic book ads. Here we have the evil Dr. Watusi from an ACG NEMESIS story from 1966. I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt that he was going for some sort of undefinable "camp"effect rather than just blatantly swiping from himself every couple of pages within the same story.  

James Bond Novels

After I saw my first James Bond movie, 1971's DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER, I was hooked. Friend Terry and I were lucky enough that the old Bonds were all being re-released, usually in double or triple bills, so we were quickly able to get up to speed. Then it occurred to us that the book section of the junk shop we regularly haunted for old comic books might also have some James Bond novels! So one Saturday afternoon when we were about 13, we dug through every single one of the hundred or so stacks at the dark and musty store and managed to come up with two pretty much complete sets of 007 paperbacks, all mid-sixties vintage, for a dime each! One for Terry, one for me. Here are some of the covers we found that day.

Scott Shaw!

Scott Shaw! is coming to Cincinnati! I first discovered him through various strips in the seventies and greatly enjoyed his Oddball Comics presentation on my only San Diego Comic Con trip back in '88. Scott's amazingly fun CAPTAIN CARROT AND HIS AMAZING ZOO CREW was the first comic book series I introduced my son to back in the late nineties. Cartoonist, writer, comics and animation historian and FLINTSTONES expert, I can't wait to see him here in Cincy! Plan on attending. The guest list is already impressive as all get out and they're still announcing more!

R.I.P. Richard Matheson

Word comes that the great writer Richard Matheson left us yesterday. His was one of the earliest creative names I recognized, mainly because he was so darned prolific when it came to writing movies and shows that I watched. Here are just a few:

THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN

BURN, WITCH, BURN

TALES OF TERROR

THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM

MASTER OF THE WORLD

HOUSE OF USHER

THE RAVEN

THE COMEDY OF TERRORS

THE DEVIL RIDES OUT

THE NIGHT STALKER

THE LEGEND OF HELL HOUSE

SCREAM OF THE WOLF

BRAM STOKER’S DRACULA

THE STRANGER WITHIN

TRILOGY OF TERROR

THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES

SOMEWHERE IN TIME

Plus episodes of

THE TWILIGHT ZONE 

STAR TREK

HAVE GUN, WILL TRAVEL

LAWMAN

AMAZING STORIES

NIGHT GALLERY

THE GIRL FROM U.N.C.L.E.

COMBAT

THRILLER

Rare Beatles Pics

I used to have an entire bookcase of books on The Beatles. It's a little thinner in recent years but still fairly impressive. Recently, though, I've realized that there are hundreds of pictures of the Fab 4 on the 'Net that I have never seen before no matter how many books I've had or read! So today I started saving some just for fun. Here are some examples from the dozens of amazing Beatles websites and Facebook groups that are out there. Hit up Google and find many, many more pics yourself.