Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon.
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The cinemas of the world were filled with advice for me, this month in 1983. After all, they were showing the movies the world knows as Never Cry Wolf and Never Say Never Again. Sound advice, indeed, that I've stuck to never since.
But that wasn't all the movie theatres had to offer. They also supplied us with such celebrated fare as All the Right Moves, The Dead Zone, The Right Stuff, Rumble Fish, Educating Rita and The Wicked Lady. None of which have I ever seen.
I have, however, seen Never Say Never Again and must confess I wasn't impressed by it. Especially not by the computer game scene. Maybe it's just me but I don't feel James Bond should play computer games.
Why did no one ever tell me such a thing existed?
In it, we get Thor's first encounter with the Silver Surfer; Spider-Man and Red Sonja thwarting Kulan Gath; the Avengers barging in on the X-Men's clash with Lucifer; the Thing and Hulk fighting on behalf of Kurrgo and the Leader; Spider-Man and Daredevil meeting the Circus of Crime; and Iron Man battling Captain America, in the mistaken belief he's the Chameleon in disguise.
Seriously, what kind of a fool wouldn't want to get that for Christmas?
It would seem Magneto's also headed that way - and out to recruit a brand new mutant.
I assume the centaur on the cover is the mutant in question, rather than the Angel having had a dramatic transformation.
Apparently, they ask someone called Father Delgado for sanctuary. However, that's all I know of this issue's contents.
Inside, the Dire Wraiths return to Clairton where they impersonate a high school football hero and his date.
Meanwhile, Rom and Starshine investigate an island inhabited by a mechanical boy and his deadly toys.
But the big news is the Dire Wraiths have changed their appearance and are now big orange monsters with long, barbed tongues they use to suck their victims dry!
Inside, the so-called Master of the World has captured Marrina. So, Alpha Flight invades his fortress, in a bid to effect a rescue!
It's brought to us by Archie Goodwin, Al Williamson and Carlos Garzón. And no one, I think, will be amazed to discover it's an adaptation of the movie of the same name.
After drinking poisoned water, Red Sonja's nursed back to health by a stranger who's killed before she learns his identity. Out to avenge him, she travels to somewhere called Alwazar and joins the military, where she must serve under a female general.
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25 comments:
The Dead Zone is really good. One of the best King adaptations by far. The Right Suff is a great Sunday afternoon movie, too. Both highly recommended.
I think that Alpha Flight was the first one I bought, probably on the strength of that cover. I arrived on buying it up until about issue 13 or so, at which point it got too depressing, and to be honest I never got John Byrne at all.
I read that Cloak & Dagger mini when it was reprinted in the UK MWOM in 1984. More on which to follow, I guess.
Holy Phuke! I never heard of Mighty Marvel Team Up Thrillers!
I’m am off to ebay!
Thanks Steve Does Comics!
Matthew - I agree, The Dead Zone is a great film - and the Starfighter climb in The Right Stuff is a classic scene! Rumble Fish was also a favourite of mine, in my youth! All The Right Moves has some good music. As regards The Wicked Lady, I only know the James Mason & Margaret Lockwood film!
Phillip
Sheet! MMTUT IS EXPENSIVE! And it is not in the library system! Woe is Charlie!
You gents really like JOURNEY from Aardvark? Worth buying?
*carried on buying it.
THE DEAD ZONE is my favorite from that list of movies. I loved the book, and the movie almost equally. I re-watched the film a few months ago, having not seen it in over a decade and felt it held up beautifully.
I liked Kaufman’s adaptation of THE RIGHT STUFF, but not as much as the book.
I loved RUMBLE FISH back in the day, and used to listen to Stewart Copeland’s soundtrack album quite a bit.
b.t.
Charlie- Yes, Journey is terrific. Fascinating in depth look at early 19th century Michigan history. I highly recommend it. But a word of warning- the series never reached it's conclusion.
BTW. I had the pleasure of meeting Journey creator Bill Messner-Loebs at a convention a few years back. He was most engaging, and talked at length with me. He personalized my copy of Journey #1, and I bought a piece of original art from him. A very talented writer and artist.
I had that X-men Sate Fair of Texas issue. Presumably, it was a give away at the actual fair and one of the regular dealers at the Westminster mart had managed to secure a big pile of them for sale. Predictably bland and my teenage self should have known better. I would have also had Alpha Flight because I stayed with it for the first year (when one of the major characters was killed off). I quite liked Byrne, but he was was producing too much material by this time and it all became a bit meh.
Not a bad bunch of covers.
DW
I too have seen The Dead Zone but none of the other films except for Educating Rita which is probably Michael Caine's greatest performance in my opinion. Julie Walters is great too as Rita and Maureen Lipman plays her friend Trish who has some great lines such as "Darling, wouldn't you just die without Mahler?". Later in the film Trish attempts suicide and when Rita visits her in hospital and asks "Why?" Trish replies "Why not?". Definitely a classic British film!
FUN FACT: Educating Rita was set in Liverpool but filmed in Dublin pretending to be Liverpool.
Like Phillip, I only know the original version of The Wicked Lady starring James Mason and Margaret Lockwood - I didn't even know until today that a re-make existed! The original features a scene in a "frost fair" which were fairs held on the frozen Thames during the "mini Ice Age" which lasted for about 300 years until the early 19th Century - during that period European winters were often so cold that rivers froze over and even the canals of Venice froze!
DW, possibly the problem with Byrne's work on Alpha Flight might have been that he was doing something with his own characters and concepts for a change, rather than Jack Kirby's.
Steve, I had that issue of Red Sonja. Its pretty standard Marvel sword and sorcery... although iirc there's no actual sorcery in it. So er, maybe 'standard' isn't quite the right word, but its fairly meat and potatoes stuff all the same, even though Sonja joining an army led by a woman could in theory have made for an interesting story.
Not that there was much chance of a Marvel comic with a plausible take on female options in a patriarchal age undreamed of, but never mind - what made the comic worth picking up was the finished artwork by the great Nestor Redondo.
And I still say Sonja's early 80s new look was an improvement on the metal bikini.
-sean
Sean
Probably, although his art also seem rushed once he was sole creator on FF, Alpha Flight and other stuff. He always looked better with Terry Austin, anyway, but seemed to want sole creator credit. Also, Alpha Flight were much better guest stars than stand alone group. Thinking about it, the new characters, rather than those who had appeared in X-men, (Puck? Marina?) did seem less imaginative. Presumably Vindicator was a Claremont character, given his fate.
DW
seemed
Ah well, DW, I'm one of the few people not convinced that Byrne's work necessarily looked better with Terry Austin. I like the solo artwork in his FF run (and appreciate that it had a distinctive look different to his X-Men)... at least early on.
But its a fair point that by late '83 his stuff had a rushed quality.
I checked Alpha Flight on the wiki, and it seems some of the characters that had appeared previously in the X-Men have a solo Byrne creator credit.
Which was a surprise - I mean, there's something very Claremont about, say, Sasquatch and Shaman. But apparently they were entirely created by an actual Canadian.
-sean
Sean - Wasn't Byrne a Brummie, by birth - only later crossing the Atlantic? That being said, the West Midlands is not devoid of inspiration for Sasquatch!
https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/nostalgia/2022/09/27/our-answer-to-bigfoot-the-seriously-creepy-victorian-folklore-surrounding-the-regions-canals/
Phillip
STEVE AND OTHER LIVING AROUND SHEFFIELD!
This is important!
HEAVEN 17 are launching their new tour in Sheffield (duh) which will be an homage to their Luxury Gap album of exactly 40 years ago.
It is a wonderful album. Well worth a listen. Far more robust than the work of the Human League which they founded, imo.
Tix still on sale. I think the show is in a few weeks.
Would someone kindly post the link for the Single Charts Steve provides?
My PC decided to reboot so all those open tabs closed!
And my scrolling through past SDC posts is failing me!
Thanks.
And yes, I feel stupid.
Cheers, Charlie
My understanding is that Claremont was originally from England too, Phillip.
No doubt that explains the authenticity of his Captain Brexit stories.
-sean
Sean - Yes, Claremont's policemen say "bloody" a lot, and eat fish & chips. You can't get more English than that, can you?
Charlie - https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/singles-chart/19820606/7501/
Phillip
You wouldn't think so, Phillip, cor blimey strike a light.
But being a Remoaner puts Claremont a bit short of the full English.
www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jun/21/captain-britain-remain-eu-marvel-superhero-creator-chris-claremont
Ok, I'll get my coat...
-sean
Sean - Put that coat back (next to Paul Young's hat!)
That link's one you've shared before. In an Amish community, like Harrison Ford in 'Witness', anyone who's not Amish, is described as "those English". For that reason vital "clues", like Dick Van Dyke Cockney, and fish & chips consumption, would help identify our specific subset of "the English", to the Amish.
On $6M Man tonight, Erik Estrada's playing an Arab prince. Only in the 70s!
Phillip
It would appear that Keith Giffen has died.
Sad news. To me, Keith Giffen is synonymous with the Defenders' Zodiac story, along with Klaus Janson.
Phillip
Ooh that is sad news Philip. I was a massive Keith Giffen fan and adored his Legion of Super-Heroes , JLA, and Ambush Bug strips among many other . He had a great sense of humour that carried through into many of his comics. He couldn't have been that old (late 60s).
Sorry Steve it was yourself not Philip that broke the sad news.
Paul - the internet says KG was 70. Many artists pass early, it seems. I wonder if art being a sedentary vocation, hunching over your board/canvas all week, isn't good for their health outcomes.
Phillip
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