Godzilla Animated!

It seems that every twenty years or so there's a need for some new Godzilla cartoons. I had the distinct pleasure of recently watching a trilogy of feature-length Godzilla movies from Japan made in 2017 and 2018  which put the story far into the future. It's essentially the story of mankind attempting to reoccupy the Earth after having to abandon it because of the influx of monsters, the most powerful of which was Godzilla. The people of Earth were helped to make the faster-than-light quest by two alien races -- the technological and warlike "Bilasaludo" and the extremely religious "Exif". While it has been twenty years in space for the people aboard their space ship nearly twenty thousand have passed on Earth and it's a much changed environment the humans find on their return. This is a Godzilla movie unlike any I've ever encountered with the titular "King of Monsters" portrayed as something beyond the ken of people both in scale and purpose. Godzilla reminded me most of Mount Fuji in fact, a dominant part of the landscape and central to the understanding of the world itself for the people who live there. There are three movies in this series: Godzilla - Planet of Monsters (which tells of how Godzilla has changed), Godzilla - City on the Edge of Battle (which offers a different take on MechaGodzilla), and finally Godzilla - The Planet Eater (which brings Ghidorah into the epic tale). 

Twenty years before in 1998-1999 following on after the American Godzilla movie which is so much decried in these modern times, came Godzilla- The Series. This was a joint venture from both American and Japanese producers and featured the more nimble Godzilla seen in that movie starring Matthew Broderick. One change though is that this Godzilla has imprinted on the lead character and can also spew flames unlike the original film which so many people disregard. This band of researchers called H.E.A.T.(Humanitarian Environmental Analysis Team) travel the globe aboard the high-tech ship "Heat Seeker" which is provided by the French government. These are sturdy adventures with some real range on the kinds of threats that the team with the help of Godzilla face. The monster designs are really creative and evoke memories of the classic Toho beasts just barely here and there. We have spins on giant bugs (beetles, bees, mosquitos, scorpions, etc.) , the Loch Ness Monster, the Mexican Firebird, an ancient sphinx, an enormous armadillo, and giant fish, others I cannot figure out how to describe, and even a cyborg "Godzilla". One funny ongoing gag is the destruction of NIGEL, a robot used for analysis and such who gets destroyed in just about every episode.  For many Godzilla fans this era of the King of Monsters is one they would  like to forget. Me, I rather enjoy it. And watching after seeing the most recent Japanese films, I get the sense I am seeing the mutation monster plague begin which drove humans away from Earth finally as reflected in the movies discussed above.  

 

Twenty years before the original Godzilla -The Animated Series I know of dropped onto television screens. This was a joint venture between the Hanna-Barbara studio and Henry G. Saperstein and featured character designs by Doug Wildey of Jonny Quest fame among other things. This is a story in which Godzilla works in league with a team of humans who live aboard the Calico, a hydrofoil research ship. Also on board is "Godzooky", a humorous small-time version of Godzilla. The team travels the globe and manages usually to scare up a giant monster here and there for Godzilla to rise from the depths of the ocean to confront. But the show was mired in a TV environment where any sort of violence was virtually forbidden so Godzilla couldn't even step on a building. Not much for a giant monster to do after that edict has dropped. Sadly only the first season has been presented in DVD and those are hard to find. 

And before I sign off a final time for this month filled with Godzilla let me remember the first Godzilla cartoon of them all from 1969, the totally awesome Bambi Meets Godzilla!  

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Terror Of MechaGodzilla - The Criterion Collection!

Terror of MechaGodzilla from 1975 is remarkable for several things, not least of which it marks the return of director Ishiro Honda to the  Godzilla franchise as well as becoming his final Godzilla movie. It was also the last Godzilla movie of the Showa era and seemed for a time to be the last Godzilla movie of all time. The movie is an attempt to try and capture the classic Godzilla magic one more time, using the classic elements. And in many respects it's a success. The story is yet another alien invasion flick, in fact it seems to be part two of the same invasion flick with MechaGodzilla returning after a very successful debut and run by supposedly the same aliens as last time, though oddly they look different. There's actually a very heartwarming story of a young woman who has been forced to be a weapon for the aliens in an attempt to take over the planet. To that end she and the ancient dinosaur Titanosaurus have been manipulated to become weapons alongside the titular MechaGodzilla.

Godzilla himself is alone this time, taking on the enemy by his atomic-breathing own. And he shows up splendidly in this farewell outing. He's been redesigned slightly to look a bit more menacing and less cuddly and his fighting seems more ferocious and less fanciful, though those lighter elements are not altogether absent. When the sacrifices have been made and the battles fought and won, Godzilla is showcased in the "Big Tank" one more time in the blazing red light of a setting sun heading out to sea for his final curtain call. It's not a bad send off given how wonky the series had become from year to year. 

Watching Showa Godzilla movies requires a flexible notion of what makes a good monster movie. If you get yourself locked into one notion then you will find some of them just awful, but if you discover as I do when I watch these fifteen movies that what a monster is can changed over time and from story to story, and further that the changes are key making the whole concept and the genre it begat rich and endlessly diverting. The fifteen Showa Godzilla movies are sumptuous feast, filled with different flavors and distinct tones that rarely if ever bore. Some of terrifying, some are hilarious, and a few are stupifying, but all of them are fascinating in their own way. After a break of ten years it was deemed time for Godzilla to return at long last. 

Check in tomorrow for one more Godzilla post. 

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Godzilla Vs. MechaGodzilla - The Criterion Collection!

 I do believe I saw the American version of this movie called Godzilla vs. Cosmic Monster in the theater, but I'm not at all certain. But no doubt it was one of the earliest movies starring Godzilla I ever owned thanks to a relatively cheap VHS copy, though I was happy to at long last get a better version in the Japanese original. Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla is a much better movie in my opinion than it gets credit for generally. There's a prophecy that a given certain signs such as a dark mountain in the sky and a red sun rising in the West monsters will rise both to attack and to defend the Earth. As the movie progresses we see these prophecies fulfilled in prosaic ways but nonetheless we eventually end up with MechaGodzilla in battle with Godzilla and a new monster named King Caesar, an ancient entity who looks like a Shisa dogs which are legendary guardians. I actually own a pair, given to me long ago by a close friend. I cherish them because of the source, but also because when I look at them I think of this movie. 

Godzilla in this movie is presented in a few ways. When MechaGodzilla first appears it is disguised as his inspiration. The aliens who operate him seek to undermine the confidence of the humans who have come to see Godzilla as a defender and by unleashing their creation they make him appear savage once again. And it's a focused attack, though if you listen you realize that's not Godzilla's roar and eventually when Anguirus fights him we begin to feel something is not right. A tears later when a second Godzilla emerges and we see the shiny metal. Soon it's a battle between the robot and the real thing and it's a doozy which Godzilla appears to lose. All the while this going on of course aliens and humans are battling it out, but always the focus is on what will the monsters ultimately do. This is a movie in which the tie between the humans and the monsters is  quite close. Eventually a priestess sings for her god King Caesar to join the battle and he does to good effect. 

I really enjoy this one, despite what some say are defects in the plot and a lack of motivation of the characters. I guess I'm just not as discerning as others. MechaGodzilla does return of course. 

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The Sunday Funnies - Alley Oop The First Time Travel Adventures!

Alley Oop's adventures in Moo had proven quite a success. It turns out a good-size portion of the population wanted to followed the misadventures of a brave and bold caveman as he comically battled for safety and resepct from dinosaurs, his fellow man and his fellow women. Ooola in particular was the cave doll he doted on and one day he and she were popped through time into the 20th Century by way of a time machine built by Professor Wonmug. When that happened Alley Oop the comic strip became even more popular, because now the whole of history both factual and fanciful was open territory for the creator V.T. Hamlin. 

The Library of American Comics Essentials - Alley Oop The First Time Travel Adventures volume published by IDW chose the dailies when Alley Oop became a modern cave man began waltzing through time and space as just that, essential.We have nearly three hundred and fifty pages of daily strips here begining in the mythical prehistoric land of Moo and quickly rushing into the modern world, and then back into time once again as Alley Oop, Oola and Dr. Bronson (a historian with a yearn to see it for himself) jump into the sack of Troy and later into the pages of Homer's The Odyssey. 

In these quickly-paced black and white pages we see Alley Oop outwit modern men, battle a locomotive, take a plane ride, and then in the shadow of the city of Troy battle Ajax and woo Helen. Oola arrives and the Greeks think her the goddess Minerva and she doesn't disavow that instead using to help her find a lost Bonson and Alley Oop. 

As much fun as Alley Oop is in these strips, it's Ooola who is the revelation. Alley Oop is somewhat bewildered by the modern world, but Ooola groks it immediately and in fact cottons to it wearing modern clothes and packing a pistol to boot. She's a no-nonsense woman who demands as much as she allows and in a comic strip from 1939 that's a bit of a revelation. 

The story concludes just as Alley Oop, Ooola, and Dr. Bronson have finally left Ullysses having confronted the Cyclops, Scylla and Charybis, Circe and the Sirens too (who are hilarious by the way) and we see a new character named Dr. Oscar Boom join them as they look to confront the Amazons with Hercules tagging along. It's great great stuff from a bygone era. 

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Mighty Samson And The Judgment!

A decade ago now (my how time flies) Jim Shooter attempted his final revival of the Gold Key heroes at Dark Horse Comics. He'd first attempted it with the fondly remembered Valiant books from that hot heyday of comics in the early 90's. I found Valiant a succulent brand with delightful and often adult takes on classic heroic tropes and themes. Shooter was driven out of that project soon after its success was assured and tried other things here and there. Eventually many of those properties such Doctor Solar, Magnus Robot Fighter and Turok Son of Stone became available again and Shooter was brought in to revive them a second time. But this time he did something he hadn't been able to do the frist time, add Mighty Samson to the package. 

The saga of Mighty Samson we have here is specifically set five hundred years after a great cataclysm. Mankind is divided warring tribes and slavery is commonplace and even considered a morally proper way to build a society around. A young woman gives birth to a mutated baby who is blessed with enormous strength, but she is driven away from her tribe. She finds a hidden sect which keeps her safe enough and her son Samson grows to mighty manhood and seeks to take his place in society. 

He caught up in the politics of unscrupulous leaders of both the N'Yark tribe and among the armies of  Queen Tera of Jerz. Queen Tera is a woman of overwhelming passion and great beauty and she sees in Samson a many who can satisfy her both in the bed and provide the power she needs to control a larger part of her known world. As it turns out Samson being a young man is powerfully attracted to the Queen. 

But he is also attracted to Sharmaine, a lovely woman who was given to him as a slave along with her father Mindor. They are from a tribe which values science and tries to understand, at least a little the past and how it might explain a world full savage peoples and strange deadly creatures. We find the source of these strange and weird creatures and see what a powerful weapon they can become. 

How Samson is able to negotiate and fight his way clear of these conflicting attractions is the center of a story which is more sophisticated than the simple but compelling funny books created by Otto Binder and artists Frank Thorne and Jack Sparling. Artist Patrick Olliffe and writer J.C. Vaughn fashion a story that evokes aspects of the Old Testament as well as more modern sci-fi tropes. This is a snazzy epic tale that sets up the status quo for a series which might've taken a closer look at a ruined Earth. But alas the sales of the comics didn't warrant any more and the project dubbed "Dark Key" at the time fell by the wayside. Mighty Samson had at long last fallen for what might the final time to the uncaring judgment of the marketplace. 

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Mighty Samson Volume Four!

The fourth and final volume of Gold Key's Mighty Samson from Dark Horse captures the remaining issues in the run of this venerable comic book. The issues are from the '70's exclusively and none of the original creators on the book such as Otto Binder, Frank Thorne, nor Jack Sparling have anything to do with the book at this point. The guiding talent seems to be Jack Abel, but he is far from alone. 

The twenty-fifth issue kicks off things with a story about a giant mole cult which devoutly believes that the sacrifice of two of their own will ensure the resurrection of their deadly god. It's all Samson, Sharmaine, and Mindor can do to save two lives in this story drawn by Jose Delbo underneath an action-filled George Wilson cover. The writer of this yarn is unknown. 

The next issue, also drawn by Delbo and again with an unknown writer tells of a tribe of underwater people who have adapted to the polluted waters they thrive in. They are dangerous to outsiders until Samson and his friends assist them in fights against giant sea monsters and enormous pelicans.

The story of Noah's Ark is reprised in this weird story of normal animals suddenly appearing in New Y'ark. It turns out a madman named Noah Caine actually built an ark and salvaged many species before the nuclear war and they were preserved in cold storage until the moment was right. Sadly that moment had not arrived and the animals respond to the changed environment by undergoing extreme mutations almost immediately. The art this time is by Jack Abel with Jose Delbo inks, and sadly again the writer is unknown. 

The twenty-eighth issue of Mighty Samson is interesting to me especially because it is the very first issue of the run I actually bought off the comics rack myself. It features a story by Paul S. Newman with art by Jack Abel about a tribe of dwarves with enormous brains who are able to control the other tribesmen around them to such a degree that they supply the small men's needs. In addition to telepathy they are telekinetic and used this ability to animate statues and armor to protect themselves. It's all Samson and the gang can do to survive this one. 

The very next issue is a dandy and is again drawn by Jack Abel and written by John Warner. Sharmaine is the center of attention when she and Mindor and Samson find a small "barony" of sorts in which a medieval power structure has been established. The leader of this tribe wants Sharmaine to be his bride. The myth of the unicorn is evoked and Samson is missioned with capturing a beast that resembles one of the classic beasts, but it turns out this one is deadly with radiation. When the beast is finally defeated the Baron grabs hold of the horn to gain power but is killed instead. 

In one of the weirder stories again drawn by Abel but this time written by Arnold Drake, the post-apocalyptic trio find a tribe thriving inside Macy's Department story and worshipping a balloon of Bullwinkle (though he's never named). It's a wacky tale and before it's over many of the familiar balloons from the famous parade get airborne. The mutation of the story is the "Dawgeon" and impossible blend of pigeon and dog. Terra of Jerz shows up as well as she has a trade going with the folks of Macy's for batteries. 

The last regular issue of Mighty Samson features a story about giant moths who hatch in the distant Hollywood  and proceed to eat their way to New Y'ark finally showing up in "Har-Lem". This one features a black tribe and more than a few uncomfortable cliches. This tribe is led by "Satchmo" and they hold "Joe Louis" events which are fights to solve disagreements. Samson is forced to participate but the forces work together when the dealy moths appear and begin to savage the area. This is a story with no identifed writer but does feature Jack Abel artwork. George Wilson is again on the cover art as he has been through all of the comics so far. 

That changes with the thirty-second and final issue of Mighty Samson when Dan Spiegle is tapped to draw a cover which imitates the painted cover of issue four by Mo Gollub. The Dark Horse colleciton does not identify Spiegle but it's almost certainly his work. The story of metal searching "vikings" is reprinted as well. This issue dropped onto the stands in 1982 at least six years after the last one had arrived. 

But between the last two Mighty Samson comics was Gold Key Champion and in the second issue a new Mighty Samson story appeared in 1978. 

Again the writer is uncredited but Don Heck is the artist of this story of a tribe of glowing people who seek the help of Mindor and his friends to discover the nature of their malady. They trade with a savage tribe who live on what was once Coney Island and they trade for batteries which they then trade to Terra of Jerz for goods they need. It turns out an operational x-ray machine near the site of the battery cache causes the deadly glow. With the problem identified and with Samson having put down the resistance of of the weirdly dressed tribemen of Coney Island the series comes to a close at long last. 

I wish that Mighty Samson had featured less fanciful creatures as the nuttiness of the beasts while valid as curiosities undercut the sense of any real threat. Many of them are just too goofy. Much better were the tribes that Samson, Sharmaine and Mindor discover, especially in these later issues which explore in more detail the land of New Y'ark. Mighty Samson ain't great science fiction but it's sure fun science fiction. 

Note: There is one final Mighty Samson post coming out later today. 

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Godzilla Vs. Megalon - The Criterion Collection!

 Godzilla vs. Megalon is the only Showa Godzilla movie I actually saw in the theaters. It hit American cinemas in 1976 buoyed by the hooplah over the King Kong remake of that same decade. The poster shows the influence for certain and now that the Twin Towers are no more, a relic of a bygone time indeed. 

This might arguably be the silliest of the Godzilla movies, and Godzilla himself behave more like a human being this time than in any other of the movies. He puts up his mitts as he squares off against his opponents who are a returning Gigan and a new monster named "Megalon". Megalon was actually originally supposed to be part of the previous film and his cockroach-like appearance suggests to me that he'd have made a better option than did the buzz-bellied Gigan. Both of these monsters this time are operating on behalf of the long sunken city-state of "Seatopia" who have agents on Earth looking for options after some atomic tests take too great a toll on the denizens of this forgotten society. Joinging Godzilla in his match against Megalon and Gigan is "Jet Jaguar", robot created by one of our heroes. He's an Ultraman lookalike who responds to the voice commands of his creator but later seems to develop his own intellect and conscience as well as the uncanny ability to enlarge him self so that he might battle the invading monsters. 

When I saw this kid-friendly Godzilla I realized that I might well have been the only adult in the audience of the small town theatre. This is a patchwork movie with old footage and some nifty new stuff as well. It's a lot of fun as long as you don't study it too hard. 

Next time Godzilla goes metal. 

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Godzilla Vs. Gigan - The Criterion Collection!

As the Godzilla series entered the 1970's the dynamic in the movie industry had changed considerably. Television had taken a huge chunk out of the audiences and that meant that expensive flicks were much less likely to get a green light. Either that or once expensive movies had to figure out a way to get finished more cheaply. The Toho Studio solved this equation in 1972's  Godzilla vs. Gigan (also released as Godzilla on Monster Island)by recycling the special effects scenes and hiring less impressive casts. The former we see plainly but the latter was actually a refreshment for some of the classic sequences which had gotten a tad hoary over the years. This movie is intended to be a return to the classic model, but that was tough given the limits. But it's not a bad film to watch I think.

Godzilla in this movie does get a lot more screen time than he had done in some of the latter 60's flicks and in point of fact due to a plot element which called for a tower built by the invading cockroach-like alien which looked just like Godzilla (for an amusement center supposedly) the "King of the Monsters" is on screen a lot, even in the sequences involving he human story. The humans are battling the aforementioned aliens who are using King Ghidorah and the buzz-saw bellied Gigan to take over the planet since their last one was overcome with pollution. (So that theme carries on.) The heroes are youngsters of various kinds (a comic artist, his black belt-wearing sister, a young woman seeking to free her brother, and her friend the obligatory nerd). They are a likeable group just as the villains are suitably easy to dislike. 

Godzilla and his buddy Anguirus leave Monster Island to save mankind and we know this because they talk. In a weird move their "speech" is captured in word balloons. One of my favorite moments is when a line from Anguirus is not translated after Godzilla has told him to hurry several times in a row. I assume Anguirus said something he shouldn't have. These two face off against Ghidorah and Gigan and the fight is perfectly okay with some blood spilled here and there. Eventually Godzilla wins the day and the aliens are sent packing as their scheme and the Godzilla-looking tower come crashing down. 

Believe it or not it's going to get weirder. 

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Godzilla Vs.Hedorah - The Criterion Collection!

Pollution was a hot topic of discussion in the early 70's and remains one of the most significant blights in the civilized world. Because of the brouhaha over pollution in America actual real steps were taken to make the skies and the waters cleaner and they worked, a shining example of what government can do when properly motivated. Many today like to mock environmental efforts as extremist and in some instances they can seem so, but in the ruthless face of industrial pollution such extremism seems warranted. That's the situation we have in Godzilla vs. Hedorah in which an alien is able to use pollution to make a deadly giant of itself and become a serious threat to the very lives of those in Japan. This is a really hideous monster and it kills and kills and kills again. 

This is a wackadoodle movie in many ways with psychedelic sequences and animated sections which to my eyes help to make the movie both visually interesting and in most cases help move the narrative. Godzilla himself appears as among the most traditional things in the movie, looking not unlike he has in previous outings. His struggles again Hedorah are potent and his burned paws reveal that he himself is susceptible to the power of the mighty sludge monster. This is also a Godzilla who seems to have little time for mankind as he watches the forces that be fail and fail again to impede the threat. Without Godzilla, who fights for reasons we don't really know, this is a threat to mankind that would have succeeded and the omnipresent naive hope of youth, the feckless ministrations of authority, or the slight insights offered by science seem enough. 

Now Godzilla flies in this movie, using his atomic breath as some sort of thrust. It looks rather goofy really, but is more than accommodated by the dark threatening setting in which the final battle is waged. This ain't the relentless deadly behemoth of the original, but it's as close as the series ever gets. 

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All Monsters Attack - The Criterion Collection!

1969's All Monsters Attack (or as I've known it Godzilla's Revenge) was once one of my least favorite of the Godzilla run. And it's for all the reasons you might suspect, but now it's one of my favorites. This is not really a Godzilla movie like any before or really after. What we have is a movie about a little boy, a latchkey kid living in an urban Japanese environment. He's assaulted by relentless traffic, air pollution, and the basic fact that his parents have to neglect him in one way to get enough money to see to his needs in another. It's a harsh trade off in the modern world for families struggling to get by and it's well reflected in this story which dashes on at  a delightful pace. 

Godzilla in this movie doesn't really exist. This is the world more like the one in which you and I live in which Godzilla is a media concoction and the source of toys (one is seen in the movie in fact) and we have a boy hero who like many of us is besotted by monsters and stories of fantasy. Toys are a big part of this story in a fashion as the surrogate adult in the boy's life is an older stay-at-home inventor of kid's toys. The kid looks to Godzilla for strength in the face of threats from local bullies and ultimately as the story unfolds adult bank robbers. Ichiro is the kid's name and he's a pistol of a character well acted and not made too sweet. He's got a nifty edge like some modern Tom Sawyer, a boy with a clever wit and just enough mischief in his soul to make it interesting. When he's ultimately nabbed by the robbers, the two foul-ups are really out of their depth dealing with the kid's inventiveness and the movie has moments evoking a later classic Home Alone. 

In flights of fancy which evoke Alice in Wonderland at times, Ichiro visits Monster Island where the Son of Godzilla Minya is his guide, shrinking down to suit the part. And as Minya faces his own challenges including a bully named Gabera (who more than resembles some similar characters in the boy's real life) Ichiro learns by proxy how to approach his own issues. So in this movie Godzilla becomes a father figure, a symbol of strength which a boy can look too for calm assurance. 

More next time when the pollution gets even worse. 

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Destroy All Monsters - The Criterion Collection!

Destroy All Monsters is seen by some as the last gasp of the classic Godzilla to take the world by storm. Nuts I say. This is a cornball remake of Toho's signature kaiju flick bonded with their singular take on sci-fi. Like Monster Zero which was made some years before, we get the obligatory aliens who take control of Earth's monsters to wreak havoc and force the world to do as they wish. The Kilaaks, a race of women (is looks like anyway) want the Earth's heat and the monsters they use are a mighty flock indeed. Godzilla, Rodan, Mothra, Anguirus, Ghidorah of course along with rare critters like Manda (Atragon), Varan, Baragon (Frankenstein Conquers the World), Kumonga, Gorgosaurus (King Kong Escapes), and even Minya. And truth told all that doesn't help make this meandering kaiju flick. 

As for Godzilla himself, he's reduced once again to a mere puppet who wreaks havoc on New York City and later Tokyo but who doesn't really feel all that menacing despite that. He's just a monster like all the others, a bit more deadly than some and seemingly a leader when the alien control is broken, but he gets relatively little screen time and is not necessarily the focus of the movie. 

But next time, well things change again. 

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The Sunday Funnies - Alley Oop 1937-39!

The Alley Oop Sunday pages really seemed to gel nicely in these years with continuities running several weeks and not missing a beat. Unlike some funnies which are understandably rich with reminders about the story to date, these are not and that makes reading in in a collection like this. Alley and his friend Foozy spend much of this tome on the outs, first feuding over their business interests and later over recognition for their gifts. Alley Oop is notably for his forthrightness and his strength while Foozy is more a man of the mind which is revealed by his incessant talking in rhymes. Much like Alley and Dinny, Foozy is able to tame Terry, a Petordactyl for his his use as flying steed. 

There's quite a bit of soft commentary on modern daily life in the strip with the seeking of wealth a common theme and I'm sure one which resonated in these later years of the Great Depression. Fun and entertainment are on tap as well when a projected zoo is transformed into a traveling circus complete with prehistoric wagons pulled by Wooly Mammoths. The circus story is followed by one in which the crown jewels of Moo are stolen and Alley and Foozy are both instrumental bringing them back, though by different means. Alley does a stint as the local law officer, but it's fundamentally against his nature and he soon enough relinquishes the post. 

In fact it's a newly freed Alley Oop who bids farewell to Foozy in a later Sunday as the latter flies away and then with more time to focus his attentions. Alley begins to spend some time with Ooola. They are together when suddenly the strip changes its entire focus as a Professor Wonmug's time machine snatches the couple and whips them into the 20th Century. We get a few pages with Alley trying to figure out this strange new world, but there's no doubt with all of time now available, V.T. Hamlin will not waste time using the opportunity. 

That's the focus of the next Sunday Funnies. 

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