Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon.
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Guess how many of the following films I've ever seen.
That's right. I've not seen a single one of them. Although I have, at least, heard the Sad Cafe Song inspired by The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane.
Such filmic ignorance makes me wonder just what I was doing in May 1976, seeing as that was the month in which they were all released.
Such filmic ignorance makes me wonder just what I was doing in May 1976, seeing as that was the month in which they were all released.
And not just those.
For it was also a period that unleashed a film called Hawmps! upon us. All I know of it is it starred James Hampton, Christopher Connelly, Slim Pickens and Denver Pyle, and the internet informs me it's an American Western comedy inspired by the United States Camel Corps. I can, therefore, only view it as the American equivalent of Carry On Follow that Camel.
But wait a minute.
I do know what I was doing, that month.
I was reading Marvel comics!
Can human hearts withstand such a strain?
More to the point, can the mighty Thor withstand Mangog's knuckles?
We all love Gene Colan and Tom Palmer drawing Dracula.
Why not have them draw both in one comic?
That's exactly what we get when the lord of the undead comes up against the master of the mystic arts.
And, somehow, wins!
However, judging by that cover, it seems Carmilla Frost doesn't approve of his plan to kill all of its Martian babies.
The fight against bigotry continues, as the Panther decides to interrupt a Ku Klux Klan rally.
As for the insides, the flaming-follicled foiler of fiends, foes, folderols, flibbertigibbets and reckless prestidigitators enters a town that's being pestered by a Gorgon!
It's the team-up that had to happen!
Said no one ever.
However, it's happened, nonetheless, as everyone's favourite web-slinger finds himself in the future, only to discover it's been invaded by Martians and, now, he must join forces with the man we all know as Killraven.
Malcolm McNeill produces a memorable cover before we enter the mag and encounter Society of the Psychedrome and SFX on the Planet of the Apes.
Not to mention Army of Slaves! which only happens to be Part 5 of Marvel's adaptation of Conquest of the Planet of the Apes!
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7 comments:
THE LITTLE GIRL WHO LIVES DOWN THE LANE (like DOC SAVAGE, HARD TIMES and CAR WASH) was one of those movies that seemed to get played A LOT in the early days of Pay TV movie channels like ON TV and SELECT TV, so I saw it a few times. Back then, I thought it was a low-key but effective little suspense film, with excellent performances by Jodie Foster and Martin Sheen.
There’s a chance I may also have seen EMBRYO once a few years later, as the second feature at a drive-in, but I wouldn’t swear to it. To this day, I’ve never seen GRIZZLY, but I do remember Neal Adams’ poster art, repurposed as the cover of the paperback novelization.
Comics-wise, I had all of these except the THOR TREASURY — which I probably WOULD have bought if I’d seen it on sale anywhere, but alas, it wasn’t to be. I bought MARVEL FEATURE / RED SONJA pretty regularly, even though I wasn’t sure I really liked Frank Thorne’s art all that much. Yet.
“Flame-haired foiler of fiends, foes, fetc.” Crom bless you, Steve!
b.t.
I watched 'Grizzly', aged 11, but can't remember anything much about it. I think I cut out newspaper tv pages of movies I watched (I hadn't watched many), and maybe stuck them in a scrap book. But my memory may be playing tricks.
Comics-wise, I've still got both that Killraven, and MTU Spidey & Killraven, somewhere.
Johnny Romita touching up Red Sonja's face, is slightly prescient, as at the end of the later Byrne MTU with Spidey & Red Sonja, Red's spirit reverted to MJ, or it had possessed MJ (or something.)
The first Thor Treasury had a healthy slice of Mangog, too - so I hope they weren't just recycling some of the same stuff, in this one. I'm sure that can't have been the case. Seriously.
Phillip
I refuse to say Carry On Follow That Camel - IT'S CALLED FOLLOW THAT CAMEL.
(There's no film called Carry On Don't Lose Your Head either).
What else is there to say about these comics…
John Romita’s dynamic, shocking cover for JUNGLE ACTION 21 just reminds me how disappointing and ultimately forgettable the “Panther Vs The Klan” storyline was. Especially coming after the pretentious, messy, wildly melodramatic and gloriously epic “Panther’s Rage”. McGregor didn’t seem to realize that pitting T’Challa against institutionalized racism in the Deep South was just too big of a “Real World” problem to fight effectively in a mainstream four-color comic book in 1976. Bob McLeod’s heavy-handed inks choking all the dynamism and spontaneity out of Billy Graham’s pencils didn’t help matters either. Even though I faithfully continued to buy every single issue, I remember not being disappointed when JUNGLE ACTION was cancelled.
b.t.
It seems I missed out on all those listed movies; perhaps my social life in the first half of 1976 was...unremarkable.
Of course part of that may have been a result of the substantial time I still spent reading comics, including several of today's featured books. That Dracula/Dr, Strange crossover was a highlight of the year; and all that Colan/Palmer artwor only made it better! The Dracula cover was mighty nice, too.
However, Marvel Feature's Red Sonja cover takes top honors in the cover gallery, imho. Great coloring, and Phillip-good call on Romita's influence. Like b.t., it took me awhile to warm to Thorne's artwork, and Romita's finesse on this cover really clicked.
Steve- the use of "flibbertigibbets: and " prestigitators" in one sentence surely qualifies you for a literary award of some sort.
Charlie says “Love my Good n Plenty!”
He also says he knows he read the Mangog saga in a $.25 ThirnKing Size Annual as well as a Thor treasury addition. To say it’s a classic is an understatement.
Also they never having seen any of the films, the “MISSOURI breaks “ was a big subject of casual conversation because it featured Brando and Nicholson.
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