Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon.
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Wait!
What's that?
It's a cinema!
And, if I enter it, what shall I find within?
Assuming it's a sizeable one - and it's in the habit of only showing films released in October 1985 - I shall find such delights as Commando, Dreamchild, Jagged Edge, A Zed & Two Noughts, Re-Animator and I Dream of Jeannie... Fifteen Years Later.
Of those, I shall, of course, name Re-Animator as my Film of the Month, as it's the only one I've ever seen, although I have heard A Zed & Two Noughts being spoken of in hushed whispers. Mostly on Channel Four which I seem to remember being quite keen on showing it, during the station's more pretentious era.
Now, at last, that's about to change, as the West Coast Avengers gain their very own monthly and prepare to fight whatever villains turn up in that part of the world.
And it seems some seriously serious villains do turn up, because this 39-page monster sees our heroes' HQ being attacked by both Ultron and the Lethal Legion!
However, all his attempts to win her over fail and he quickly gives up on that idea.
Or perhaps they won't, as there's no sign of the book's previous stalwarts Conan and Ka-Zar.
Despite some venerable names being on that list, it would appear that none of these tales are reprints.
Inside, the mag's mostly dominated by a 50-page adventure in which an ageing Queen sends Conan in search of magical springs that can restore her lost youth.
It also delivers a 10-pager in which the barbarian refuses to abandon an arm-wrestling match, even though soldiers are out to get him.
After that, we encounter a four-page yarn which I do believe relates the origins of the Eternals, Humans and Deviants, for any who may have missed the explanation the last time round.
That's followed by a short adventure called Disaster Signal. Of which, I also know nothing.
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9 comments:
I saw COMMANDO at the theatre but remember almost nothing about it now. I liked RE-ANIMATOR quite a bit.
Of these comics, I bought SAVAGE TALES for the Mike Golden Vietnam story. I vaguely remember not liking any of the other stories.
b.t.
I'd mistakenly assumed it was Speak Your Brain day!
For our American friends we should explain that "zed" is how we Brits pronounce the letter z.
Prowler watches Canadian TV programs here in America. They do that too.
Now push PUBLISH
Funny non relevant comment. Prowler and the Missus watch "foreign programs". Mystic is about a magical horse and the girl who sees him. It's made and set in New Zealand. It will air live in NZ in the spring. That fall, CBC in Canada will air it. Then next spring, a year later, Mystic will finally be available in the US. Not sure why the delay but it happens... Prowler out!!!
Now push PUBLISH
"For our American friends we should explain that "zed" is how we Brits pronounce the letter z."
It was also the name of the character played by Sean Connery in John Boorman's 1974 sci-fi classic "Zardoz", which continues to divide audiences to this day (put me in the thumbs-up category).
I didn’t see Re-Animator til 1986, and was a bit disappointed. I’ve still never quite warmed to it, to be honest.
Commando was one of those films you’re supposed to like because it’s so stupid, but that’s properly worn off now.
I sort of miss the pretentious Channel 4 days, to be honest. It was always a journey of discovery tuning in. I used to watch it randomly late at night during the school holidays when I was allowed to stay up as late as I wanted.
Vision and Scarlet Witch look like they’re dancing in a nightclub where things have turned a bit ugly.
The Golden Conan cover looks like the sort of thing Simon Bisley built a career on a few years later.
That ‘Savage Tales’ series is being reprinted soon, I think? As part of the Lost Marvels collections.
From a quick peek at Mike’s Amazing World, I’m a bit startled to realize how few comics I bought that week in ‘85. In addition to SAVAGE TALES, I also bought one other Marvel book , THE LIFE OF CAPTAIN MARVEL #3, two Fantagraphics books, MECHANICS #1 and Peter Bagge’s NEAT STUFF #2, and one Eclipse title, MIRACLEMAN #2. Three of those are reprints of comics that I already owned !
b.t.
I've watched Commando (despite its incredible ridiculousness) many times. Arnie's antagonist, "Bennett", is the movie's true star, with his overacting and hyperbolic boasting. Bennett's strange tank-top, perforated like a tea-bag, or string vest - along with odd little boots - make for additional entertainment value. Bennett being kicked out of Arnie's ( legendary ) "unit" started the vendetta. Bennett's respect/admiration for Matrix/Arnie, despite that, is more than weird! The shopping mall & motel fights are highly entertaining, too. Commando may be silly beyond words, but every scene keeping viewers' attention, despite that silliness, suggests its director knew what he was doing.
Phillip
On the subject of Channel 4 - do any UK readers remember a film called P'tang Yang Kipperbang which was broadcast in Channel 4's first week in November 1982? The film definitely exists because I've googled it so it's not something dreamed up by my feverish imagination!
Yes, what's with that Conan cover?? The horse looks way too small and possibly inanimate while Conan's crazy get-up seems to have been stolen from Jack Kirby's Odin!
Talking of Conan - in the last few days I've been re-reading my two favourite REH Conan stories, SHADOWS IN THE MOONLIGHT and THE SLITHERING SHADOW. In SITM Conan and scantily-clad wench Olivia land on an island where evil iron statues come to life by moonlight and Conan fights a killer man-ape which has the hots for Olivia while in TSS Conan and scantily-clad wench Natala enter a lost city in the desert where a huge gelatinous blob-thing roams the corridors preying on the city's inhabitants who are all stoned on drugs. You can't beat the classics!
I first read both stories in 1978 as Marvel adaptations by Roy Thomas, John Buscema and Alfredo Alcala but nowadays I've got the original versions in an e-book called THE COMPLETE CHRONICLES OF CONAN - CENTENARY EDITION (because it was originally published in 2006 on the centenary of REH's birth).
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