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Amongst the most high-profile of them were: Breaking Point, Ode to Billy Joe, The Cars That Ate Paris, Silent Movie, The Food of the Gods, The Big Bus, Logan's Run, Murder by Death, Buffalo Bill and the Indians or Sitting Bull's History Lesson, The Omen and The Outlaw Josey Wales.
It was also a month that saw the re-release of A Clockwork Orange, meaning that, now, at last, a whole new audience could discover just what all the fuss was about.
The cover declares this book be a big blazing battle ish and I believe it, even though I don't have a clue what happens in it.
It's that one we all love and cherish, as the Guardians find themselves on an alien world that's evolved to be just like Earth - or, at least, New York City.
As far as I'm aware, all that unpleasantness with the Magus and Thanos is over, leaving our hero free to blunder into a whole load of other unpleasantness.
I must confess I'd totally forgotten Weird Wonder Tales existed but here it is, back again and, seemingly, riding on the Jaws bandwagon when a woman offers a diver $10,000 to kill a shark but he, instead, uncovers a smuggling ring!
History is made.
It's all the dinosaur action we could ever need when the Thing visits the Savage Land, seeking out the source of volcanic eruptions that threaten to destroy the whole world!
It's the one we've all been waiting for, when, at last, we're told the origin of Old Skull and of how he first got to meet Killraven!
The cover informs me that I demanded to see Moon Knight in non-stop solo action for the first time.
Of the above-mentioned films, I shall nominate The Big Bus as the Steve Does Comics Movie of the Month, despite not having seen it in at least forty years.
Well, that's not quite true. I do know Red Wolf shows up. But I only know that because it says so on the big blazing battle cover.
I also know that someone called Madame Menace appears.
I am going to assume she's a bad guy and that she's not related to Madame MacEvil.
But what's this?
"Don't dare peek at our shocking final page!"?
What on Earth could it possibly contain?
And, if I did peek at it, would I ever recover my senses again?
And then turns out to be a lunatic asylum.
Oh the bitter satire.
One that features the villain we can only know as the Star-Thief!
Following that, a mysterious package is delivered to the office of the heroine we know as Venus, and she and the delivery man are nearly driven mad by the evil force contained within it!
Finally, an artist finds an alien pencil that makes real whatever he draws. But his selfish use of it soon leads to his loss of it.
All of these tales are, as you may have guessed, reprints and sourced from the 1950s and 1960s.
And so is the future.
Jack Kirby brings us his mammoth-sized adaptation of Stanley Kubrick's 2001, via the medium of an 84-page Treasury Edition.
And, not only do we get that, we're also treated to David Anthony Kraft's retrospective upon the film itself.
This can only lead he and Ka-Zar to the villain called Volcanus!
I must confess I don't remember demanding it but I'm sure Marvel wouldn't lie to me.
Therefore, I shall look forward to it appearing in my local newsagents - and then I can read of how he tries to prevent the Conquer-Lord from assassinating the mayor!
Last month, he got to meet Killraven.
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8 comments:
Of those films, I remember seeing Murder By Death on TV in the early 80s and thinking it was one of the funniest things ever. But I was 9 or 10, and I haven’t seen it since and can barely remember anything about it beyond the ‘Bensonmum’ scene.
Logan’s Run I’ve seen a couple of times and find it impossible to warm to. I picked up the soundtrack fairly recently and I find that hard going too, even though Jerry Goldsmith was absolutely on fire at the time.
Which leads me to The Omen, which I must have seen on TV about the same time as Murder By Death and was obsessed with as a kid. Unhealthily so. I’m still very fond of it - it is creepy and scary.
I watched Buffalo Bill… on VHS when I was getting into Robert Altman as a student but it was a bit boring.
I just picked up The Cars That Ate Paris, as the BFI have just restored and re-released it. Haven’t watched it yet.
I never had any of those comics, but the Warlock, War Of The Worlds and Moon Knight have all turned up in reprints I’ve bought.
I wish I had a copy of that Kirby 2001. I have the later issues where he spins it off into standard Kirby cosmic slugfests, but not the adaptation.
I've watched 'Logan's Run' (why isn't the series ever repeated, like the film is?), & 'The Outlaw Josey Wales'. I think 'A Clockwork Orange', too (a long time ago) - but my memory's hazy.
Comics...
Definitely the Guardians ( this story, in the US comic illustrated, and possibly part of it in Star Wars Weekly, too.) Also, definitely Warlock ( Barry Bauman's bizarre brain's ability to reach out, and cause mischief - anticipating 'The Medusa Touch' a bit, perhaps? )
MTIO looks familiar - but the story doesn't ring any bells. The mind playing tricks, perhaps...
That Killraven's one of the few I don't have...
I do, however, have that Moon Knight - Spector being hired by a bunch of wallies, to ice Werewolf by Night.
Regarding 'Speak Your Brain' (about sugary snacks, a few weeks ago) - here's something for Team USA (if they can watch it! ):
https://www.channel5.com/show/the-sweets-treats-we-loved-lost/season-1/the-1970s
Phillip
Oh - I also watched the Omen, but didn't like it!
Phillip
The Logan’s Run TV series came out on DVD in the US a few years ago. I’d imagine it’s never repeated because - like Man From Atlantis - it was pretty niche back then and not very popular even within that niche?
I remember it being on UK TV. I was very very young and excited for any SF that was on the box.
You drove me to taking a peek at the final page of Marvel Chillers #5. I was expecting a big splash page revealing Red Skull or Magneto or someone as the big villain who had been in the background all along.
Strap yourselves in and take a deep breath. You can find the whole comic at https://readallcomics.com/marvel-chillers-5/
Matthew - Yes, I followed any SF on tv, too. Watching Logan's Run, it would probably disappoint. Nevertheless, it's a chance to compare your adult reaction to what you remembered as a kid. Lucan's another one I'd like repeated, but never is. ( The Kevin Brophy Wolfboy/man show, before anyone makes predictable Lord Lucan jokes! )
Phillip
Lucan - good grief. I’d forgotten that one. Is it the kid who grew up in a forest or something? I remember the premise and vaguely the credits sequence. I think.
Matthew - Yes, raised by wolves in the Pacific Northwest - or was it Minnesota? The novelization's on my bookshelf, but it's 30 years since I read it!
Phillip
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