One of the greatest heroes from the Marvel Universe has teamed with one of the greatest heroes from the DC Universe, and justice has triumphed. Now, it's time for them to recharge their energies.
My thoughts on pop music and pop culture, plus the weekly playlists from THIS IS ROCK 'N' ROLL RADIO with Dana and Carl (Sunday nights 9 to Midnight Eastern, SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM in Syracuse, sparksyracuse.org). You can support this blog on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/user?u=2449453 Twitter @CafarelliCarl All editorial content on this blog Copyright Carl Cafarelli (except where noted). All images copyright the respective owners TIP JAR at https://www.paypal.me/CarlCafarelli
Showing posts with label Captain America. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Captain America. Show all posts
Sunday, May 16, 2021
Saturday, March 13, 2021
POP-A-LOOZA: My Serial Thrillers
Each week, the pop culture website Pop-A-Looza shares some posts from my vast 'n' captivating Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do) archives. The latest shared post is a look back at my infatuation with classic superhero movie serials, "My Serial Thrillers."
I noticed recently that Amazon Prime offers Republic Pictures' 1942 Spy Smasher serial as part of its streaming service. Well...cool. Based on the then-popular Fawcett Comics superhero, Spy Smasher was considered one of the best of the comics-inspired serials. I saw the mid-'60s feature film condensation Spy Smasher Returns on Netflix some years back, and although I'm unlikely to carve out time to watch the whole thing now, I'm glad the option exists.
In the early '70s, when I was an adolescent and young teen studying the Golden Age of Comics of the '40s, Spy Smasher fascinated me. The interest formed as a tangent to my burgeoning mania for the original Captain Marvel, a character also published by Fawcett. In a previous post, I wrote about my discovery of Spy Smasher:
"Ah, Spy Smasher was a hero to me long before I ever had a chance to see him in any sort of adventure. Like [pulp hero] The Spider (but earlier in my timeline), my interest in Spy Smasher was ignited by the comics histories I was absorbing in the '70s. My first glimpse (and probably first awareness) of Spy Smasher was in the book All In Color For A Dime, and its full-color reproduction of the cover of Spy Smasher # 1 from 1941.I saw the book on the shelf at World Of Books in North Syracuse some time in the early '70s, flipped through its pages, and I was hooked on all of these heroes of the past.
"My interest in Spy Smasher was subsequently reinforced when I learned that--like his comrade the original Captain Marvel--he'd starred in his own movie serial in the '40s. More comics histories (especially the Steranko History Of The Comics books) continued to feed this interest. Other than his part in the 1976 JLA/JSA crossover (JLA # 135-137) and the reprint of his first appearance in DC's tabloid reproduction of Whiz Comics # 2, I didn't get to read an actual Spy Smasher comic book until years later, nor see his serial until decades later. But I was and remain a fan. It all started with All In Color For A Dime."
Fawcett's former rival DC Comics now owns both Captain Marvel and Spy Smasher. Nonetheless, a lot of their original 1940s comic book adventures have fallen into public domain, including the 1941 Captain Marvel Vs. Spy Smasher story, which I reprised here. And the cinematic serial adventures of those heroes, along with those starring Batman and Robin, Superman, The Green Hornet, Captain America, The Phantom, and Flash Gordon, are the subject of the latest Boppin' Pop-A-Looza.
TIP THE BLOGGER: CC's Tip Jar!
You can support this blog by becoming a patron on Patreon: Fund me, baby!
This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl airs Sunday nights from 9 to Midnight Eastern, on the air in Syracuse at SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM, and on the web at http://sparksyracuse.org/ You can read about our history here.
The many fine This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio compilation albums are still available, each full of that rockin' pop sound you crave. A portion of all sales benefit our perpetually cash-strapped community radio project:
Volume 1: download
Volume 2: CD or download
Volume 3: download
Volume 4: CD or download
Waterloo Sunset--Benefit For This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio: CD or download
Carl's writin' a book! The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1)will contain 165 essays about 165 tracks, each one of 'em THE greatest record ever made. An infinite number of records can each be the greatest record ever made, as long as they take turns. Updated initial information can be seen here: THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE! (Volume 1). My weekly Greatest Record Ever Made! video rants can be seen in my GREM! YouTube playlist. And I'm on Twitter @CafarelliCarl.
Friday, July 24, 2020
SPECTACULAR COMICS 100-PAGE SPECIAL # 4
Inspired by DC Comics' 1970s 100-Page Super Spectaculars, Spectacular Comics 100-Page Special is a monthly series of fabricated 100-page comic books slapped together from various sources, celebrating comics from the '30s to the '80s. It's not real. But it is Spectacular.
Man, I like how this month's issue turned out. We start with the macabre adventures of The Spectre. The Ghostly Guardian was created in the '40s by Superman's co-creator Jerry Siegel with artist Bernard Bailey, and revived in the '60s for try-outs in the pages of Showcase followed by ten issues of his own series. The Spectre's 1970s run in editor Joe Orlando's Adventure Comics seemed to be initially well-received, but was abruptly canceled in 1975 amidst growing concern regarding the strip's violent depiction of the merciless retribution The Spectre dealt to evildoers.
As noted, the sudden termination of The Spectre's Adventure Comics run meant that writer Michael Fleisher had three more Spectre scripts ready to go when the guillotine fell. When DC reprinted the run as the 1988 mini-series Wrath Of The Spectre, those unused Fleisher scripts were exhumed and given to the series' original artist Jim Aparo to complete (with Mike DeCarlo inks) for belated publication. This issue of Spectacular Comics offers two of those stories. While The Spectre's Adventure Comics appearances have been reprinted again since then, I don't think those final three stories have been reprised since Wrath Of The Spectre in '88.
This month's Spectacular also includes a two-part Wonder Woman story from 1969, drawn and (I think) written by Mike Sekowsky with luscious Dick Giordano embellishment. These stories are from the period when Wonder Woman lost her powers and became an Emma Peel sort of action heroine; the era has many detractors, but it was the first series of Wonder Woman stories I ever liked. Your mileage my vary (especially if you happen to own an invisible plane).
Straying from DC for the rest of this book, we have a 1949 Captain America and Golden Girl story (a era in Cap's history that is rarely--if ever--reprinted), a short back-up from the third and final issue of Gold Key Comics' tie-in to the short-lived 1966-67 Green Hornet TV series, and a 1959-60 back-up from Dell Comics' license of Walt Disney's Zorro.
The Spectre in "The Arson Fiend And...The Spectre!," Wrath Of The Spectre # 4 (August 1988)
The Spectre in "The Maniac And...The Spectre!," Wrath Of The Spectre # 4 (August 1988)
The Green Hornet and Kato in "Masquerade," The Green Hornet # 3 (August 1967)
Captain America and Golden Girl in "Worlds At War!," Captain America Comics # 70 (January 1949)
Wonder Woman in "Return To Paradise Island!," Wonder Woman # 183 (July-August 1969)
Wonder Woman in "The Last Battle!," Wonder Woman # 184 (September-October 1969)
Zorro in "Garcia's Package," Walt Disney's Zorro # 8 (December-February 1959-1960)
It's all copyright the respective owners, shown here only in sample pages. I share a peek at the whole book with my paid patrons. Welcome to this month's edition of Spectacular Comics 100-Page Special.
TIP THE BLOGGER: CC's Tip Jar!
You can support this blog by becoming a patron on Patreon: Fund me, baby!
Hey! If you buy from Amazon, consider making your purchases through links at Pop-A-Looza. A portion of your purchase there will go to support Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do). Thinking Amazon? Think Pop-A-Looza.
Man, I like how this month's issue turned out. We start with the macabre adventures of The Spectre. The Ghostly Guardian was created in the '40s by Superman's co-creator Jerry Siegel with artist Bernard Bailey, and revived in the '60s for try-outs in the pages of Showcase followed by ten issues of his own series. The Spectre's 1970s run in editor Joe Orlando's Adventure Comics seemed to be initially well-received, but was abruptly canceled in 1975 amidst growing concern regarding the strip's violent depiction of the merciless retribution The Spectre dealt to evildoers.
As noted, the sudden termination of The Spectre's Adventure Comics run meant that writer Michael Fleisher had three more Spectre scripts ready to go when the guillotine fell. When DC reprinted the run as the 1988 mini-series Wrath Of The Spectre, those unused Fleisher scripts were exhumed and given to the series' original artist Jim Aparo to complete (with Mike DeCarlo inks) for belated publication. This issue of Spectacular Comics offers two of those stories. While The Spectre's Adventure Comics appearances have been reprinted again since then, I don't think those final three stories have been reprised since Wrath Of The Spectre in '88.
This month's Spectacular also includes a two-part Wonder Woman story from 1969, drawn and (I think) written by Mike Sekowsky with luscious Dick Giordano embellishment. These stories are from the period when Wonder Woman lost her powers and became an Emma Peel sort of action heroine; the era has many detractors, but it was the first series of Wonder Woman stories I ever liked. Your mileage my vary (especially if you happen to own an invisible plane).
Straying from DC for the rest of this book, we have a 1949 Captain America and Golden Girl story (a era in Cap's history that is rarely--if ever--reprinted), a short back-up from the third and final issue of Gold Key Comics' tie-in to the short-lived 1966-67 Green Hornet TV series, and a 1959-60 back-up from Dell Comics' license of Walt Disney's Zorro.
The Spectre in "The Arson Fiend And...The Spectre!," Wrath Of The Spectre # 4 (August 1988)
The Spectre in "The Maniac And...The Spectre!," Wrath Of The Spectre # 4 (August 1988)
The Green Hornet and Kato in "Masquerade," The Green Hornet # 3 (August 1967)
Captain America and Golden Girl in "Worlds At War!," Captain America Comics # 70 (January 1949)
Wonder Woman in "Return To Paradise Island!," Wonder Woman # 183 (July-August 1969)
Wonder Woman in "The Last Battle!," Wonder Woman # 184 (September-October 1969)
Zorro in "Garcia's Package," Walt Disney's Zorro # 8 (December-February 1959-1960)
It's all copyright the respective owners, shown here only in sample pages. I share a peek at the whole book with my paid patrons. Welcome to this month's edition of Spectacular Comics 100-Page Special.
TIP THE BLOGGER: CC's Tip Jar!
You can support this blog by becoming a patron on Patreon: Fund me, baby!
Hey! If you buy from Amazon, consider making your purchases through links at Pop-A-Looza. A portion of your purchase there will go to support Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do). Thinking Amazon? Think Pop-A-Looza.
This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl airs Sunday nights from 9 to Midnight Eastern, on the air in Syracuse at SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM, and on the web at http://sparksyracuse.org/ You can read about our history here.
The many fine This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio compilation albums are still available, each full of that rockin' pop sound you crave. A portion of all sales benefit our perpetually cash-strapped community radio project:
Volume 1: download
The many fine This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio compilation albums are still available, each full of that rockin' pop sound you crave. A portion of all sales benefit our perpetually cash-strapped community radio project:
Volume 1: download
Volume 3: download
Waterloo Sunset--Benefit For This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio: CD or download
Carl's writin' a book! The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) will contain 155 essays about 155 tracks, each one of 'em THE greatest record ever made. An infinite number of records can each be the greatest record ever made, as long as they take turns. Updated initial information can be seen here: THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE! (Volume 1).
COVER GALLERY
Carl's writin' a book! The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) will contain 155 essays about 155 tracks, each one of 'em THE greatest record ever made. An infinite number of records can each be the greatest record ever made, as long as they take turns. Updated initial information can be seen here: THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE! (Volume 1).
COVER GALLERY
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)