Trailers From Hell

Thanks to Bedazzled! for pointing me to one of my new favorite sites. At Trailers From Hell you'll find directors such as John Landis, Joe Dante, Larry Cohen and Mick Garris giving commentary on movie trailers! From THE FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE to DANGER: DIABOLIK to ATTACK OF THE 50 FOOT WOMAN. It's all fun and fascinating for film buffs!

Shazam!

I’ve been posting quite a bit on Captain Marvel lately but mostly the original, 1940’s version. Can’t forget that during the seventies revival, the good Captain actually made it to television! SHAZAM! Was a dull show, actually—cheap-looking, modernized, and incredibly preachy. Still, it WAS Captain Marvel. Jackson Bostwick, seen here, was the first actor to play the part, being replaced along the way (in a dispute of which I’ve heard several variations) by one John Davey. Bostwick certainly looked the part with his dark-eyebrowed facial features but the longish hair kinda blew it (don’t even get me started on Michael Gray as Billy!). Davey wasn’t bad except for what appeared to be a broken nose and no acting talent whatsoever. Radio veteran Les Tremayne costarred as "Mentor," a character that the comic book version made into a newly mustachioed "Uncle Dudley." Billy and Mentor traveled around the country in an RV writing wrongs and teaching lessons. It’s what Saturday morning television did in the mid-seventies. Sigh. When this series ended, an animated version appeared but I was so fed up with network kids shows that I never saw a single episode.

Random Panels of Comic Book Weirdness # 2

The Whistler

Bored and a little depressed, I'm posting this panel of Quality Comics mid forties SPIRITesque character, THE WHISTLER (apparently no relation to the radio WHISTLER) simply because it's 11:30 PM. What does THAT tell ya?

Adventure 300 Ad

Speaking of relaunches (as we were in that last post), has any Silver Age strip had as many relaunches as the Legion of Super-Heroes? Here's a 1962 DC house ad for the launch of the original run in ADVENTURE COMICS.

Captain Marvel Meets the Spirit

The CCI announcement that Darwyn Cooke will be leaving THE SPIRIT much sooner than intended coincided with my finally reading Jeff Smith's recent SHAZAM revival and the two events reminded me of this 1977 Alan Hanley illustration. I'm afraid my limited scanner could'nt grab the whole of this piece that served as a January, 1978 tabloid cover for TBG but you get the idea. I have this fear that SPIRIT will now go through multiple relaunches just like the good Captain. Some good, some not so good. Between the two characters, their Golden Age adventures are probably the very BEST of the best. It's good to see old friends and I've enjoyed both Cooke and Smith's versions but sometimes the real magic just can't be recaptured.

Hot Dogs

When it comes to food, nothing is more pop culturey than the good ol’ American Hot Dog. Here from 1968—and just in time for a summer cookout—is THE NEW HOT DOG COOKBOOK. Promising 250 new and exciting recipes, many are just variations on a theme. Some of the more unusual ones are:
German Beef and Hot Dog Soup
Hot Dog Aspic
Jellied Hot Dog Loaf
Hot Dog Chili Pie
Hot Dog and Yam Casserole
Hot Dog Jambalaya
Creole Dogs
Hot Dog and Liver Sausage Loaf
Hot Dog Succotash
Hot Dog Stuffed Onions
Hot Dogs in Herb Biscuits
Hot Dog Pizza Pie
Drunken Dogs
Hot Dogs and Baked Eggs in Sherry Sauce
Frankly, I think the author had far too much time on his hands that could’ve been perhaps better spent protesting the Vietnam War or practicing Free Love.
Here’s a vintage ad for the ARCHIE ANDREWS radio series, also, sponsered as it was by Swift’s Premium Franks, and Miss Veronica Lodge declaring her desire for weenies. Inlater years, hamburger loving Jughead would even have a dog named Hot Dog!