Dojo Classics - Sky Marshal Of The Universe!

With the elaborately titled Commando Cody - Sky Marshal of the Universe I finished up this final iteration of the Rocketman series. It's considered by some a serial, but it's not. It's an attempt by Republic to create a TV show out of their serial material. Watching these episodes is like watching old Superman or Lone Ranger shows, especially the latter, and while pretty entertaining in spots not much of a serial in tone or character.

The story though does have something of a through line. Yet another alien menace from space-parts unknown (possibly Venus at first) named "The Ruler" plots to overwhelm the Earth. His schemes involve mucking with the weather a lot, usually creating a heatwave, a deep freeze, a series of storms, or whatnot. His invading forces usually consist of two guys in a single rocket ship and two other guys who have infiltrated human society. Their are always two of them I guess so they can talk to one another. Lyle Talbot plays one of the Earth spies in several episodes, though his ultimate fate is left open somewhat. It's the use of these same actors as "The Ruler" and such that make people think of this as a serial I guess.


Commando Cody is played by Judd Holdren who started this series assisted by Aline Towne. But after three episodes this series was put on hold to make Zombies in the Stratoshpere in which the name "Commmando Cody" is dropped though both Holdren and Towne show up under new names. After that serial completed they went back to produce the other nine episodes of this show.


The shows have a real formula to them, and that's fine but watching them close together does point up the weaknesses in this approach. They are fun shows, harmless fluff. But they don't have the power of the serials, the momentum is missing and that really hurts the overall impact of the threats. You don't know how, but you know it will be solved by the end of the show, unlike serials which can throw you curves as they unfold.

Good stuff still though.

UPDATE: My general opinions remain unchanged. But I did have the luxury this time of watching the show in a very good dvd edition from Olive Films. What I had before was a very low-grade bootleg (all you could find) and it's very nice to enjoy this show in a better format. My feelings about how the show is really an outer space Lone Ranger really are enhanced by this viewing.

Rip Off

Dojo Classics - Zombies Of The Stratosphere!

Zombies of the Stratosphere is the third of the Rocketman serials from Republic. It was made at about the same time as a proposed television version of the series (more on that later) and stars the same guy as Rocketman. It's another invasion, this time from Mars and not content to merely take over the Earth, this time they have to destroy it to make way for Mars to assume its orbit.

Judd Holdren plays the Rocketman this time, and he's called "Larry Martin" and not Commando Cody. He has the same team as last time mostly with Aline Towne repeating her role as girl assistant. They are asked to help with a potential alien threat and they get right on it.

Marex (Lane Bradford) is the leader of the Martians and he has another Martian with him played by Leonard Nimoy. They land on Earth and immediately hook up with some thugs and an Earth scientist to plot the Earth's destruction. There's much running about, a lot of it in the water. In fact this serial has a really aquatic theme with many of the cliffhangers involving boats or water of some kind. The Martians can hold their breath for a really long time and they have their secret headquarters in a spot which require them to trudge though water, a neat trick if somewhat slow for the film.

Again it seems that the plot depends on bank robbery for funding and there is a lot of that stuff, even a quasi-Western moment with some very unconvincing stock footage getting used. You sometimes get the feeling they forget about the rocket pack from time to time in this one.

The big highlight of this one is the Republic Robot getting a call. He's in several chapters and it used by both sides. It's pretty incredible watching this lumbering hunk of metal take on the heroes and lots of fun.

(Poster for the feature version of the movie)

All in all this is a fun high-speed serial, but the speed of production shows in spots. Good fun.

UPDATE: This one is a hoot, an uneven hoot, but a hoot nonetheless. The story is ramshackle at best, but the aliens being rooted on Earth spare us trips to the Moon, though sadly those are replaced by a lot of time at the docks. There's a real planes, trains, and automobiles feeling to this one as they cobble together cliffhangers from the stock film shelf. We see a tank chasing a train which I recently saw in two Dick Tracy serials. The robot is good and is used with some wit and imagination as the story unfolds. Lane Bradford gets little credit, but I always find him a compelling presence on screen and that's certainly the case here as he is the rare main villain and not a henchman.

Rip Off

Dojo Classics - Radar Men From The Moon!

Radar Men of the Moon is the second of the Rocketman serials and because it's in public domain, I've owned a copy forever. It's one of the very first movies I ever picked up on VHS.

It's probably in fact the first serial I ever owned aside possibly from Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe. This one features the Rocketman again, but he's dubbed "Commando Cody" this time out.

George Wallace leads the cast this time with Roy Barcroft as the Moon leader Retik who leads an invasion of Earth and Clayton Moore (the Lone Ranger no less) as Graber the lead henchman who helps the Moon Men with their schemes.

This one offers up the Rocketman again with some of the same stunts repeated and it adds a rocketship which gets Commando Cody and his team to the Moon twice during the run of the serial.

There's much running around, lots of great fights, and some dandy high-pitched acting from all involved. The serial gets a little ragged with some time-wasting moves now and again and I was surprised to find out that Moon Men need to rob banks and whatnot to fund their invasions of Earth.

Lots of classic serial moments are in this one. Getting a copy is dead easy as practically every collection of serials offers this one. The atomic ray gun is a fun toy and while you never really feel these guys from the Moon really are a threat the battle is a hoot.

UPDATE: This continues to be among my favorite serials. Not because it's that good, it's weak in many respects, but the pacing and the sheer bravado of the story it tells is no-holds-barred. No doubt I have a lot of nostalgia for it, but also it's just amazing that we have a story of alien invasion, a trip to the Moon, sundry small-time hoodlums, and an awesome rocket pack in one yarn. The word for this one is "rip-snorter".

Rip Off

Dojo Classics - King Of The Rocket Men!

This 1949 serial is a pretty entertaining movie. Much has been written about the more mature characters in King of the Rocket Men, from Tristam Coffin a regular movie heavy who gets the nod as Jeff King, the hero and titular "Rocket Man" of the movie to Mae Clarke who at forty seemed a bit old for the classic damsel-in-distress role. But while Clarke seemed a bit subdued throughout, I found Coffin quite good in his role as both scientist and action hero.

The plot is pretty standard serial, in that Science Associates is losing members to violent death left and right. One scientist named Dr.Millard is seemingly killed but instead hooks up with fellow egghead Jeff King and they relocate to a cool cave lab where he pretends to be dead while King as himself and as Rocket Man (using the Millard invention of an atomic backpack rocket) tries to solve the mystery. There's a young sidekick and the usual gal reporter. All the other scientists are suspects but as they themselves continue to be killed the list gets shorter and shorter.

(Title of feature version of the serial)

The flying stuff is outstanding as Republic really knew how to do this as ably demonstrated years before in Captain Marvel. This is a pretty decent whodunnit and an above average actioner. The climax involves nothing less than the near total destruction of New York City and that actually tends to undermine the tone of the previous chapters, but taken as a whole I really like this serial. I've seen it twice this year and I don't think it will be all that long before I screen it again.

UPDATE: As it turns out it was nearly nine years before I got around to watching it again. The movie still holds up extremely well, with a brisk pace to the chapters which are filled with vintage Republic serial fisticuffs. I'm always amazed that no matter how often someone gets the drop on someone else in these little adventures, they always lose the advantage and fist fight breaks out. I still don't like the ending -- the destruction is way off the scale to way folks respond to it, but overall this one is a winner.

Rip Off

Rocketeer Adventures!

Here's the Dave Stevens cover for the Russ Heath adaptation of The Rocketeer movie.

And here are two sketches by Stevens planning the cover.



The new series of Rocketeer stories actually has caught my interest. The talent is pretty dang good especially Mike Kaluta who worked on the original stuff, and the covers by Alex Ross so far are outstanding.



Here's an article with more on the upcoming IDW Rocketeer limited series.


And here's a link to the latest issue of Back Issue which features a Dave Stevens interview.

Rip Off

Commando Cody, Sky Mashall Of The Universe!

I finished up this final iteration of the Rocketman series. It's considered by some a serial, but it's not. It's an attempt by Republic to create a TV show out of their serial material. Watching these episodes is like watching old Superman or Lone Ranger shows, and while pretty entertaining in spots not even a serial in tone or character.

The story though does have something of a throughline. Yet another alien menace from space-parts unknown (possibly Venus at first) named "The Ruler" plots to overwhelm the Earth. His schemes involve mucking with the weather a lot, usually creating a heatwave, a deep freeze, a series of storms, or whatnot. His invading forces usually consist of two guys in a single rocketship and two other guys who have infiltrated human society. Their are always two of them I guess so they can talk to one another. Lyle Talbot plays one of the Earth spies in several episodes, though his ultimate fate is left open somewhat. It's the use of these same actors as The Ruler and such that make people think of this as a serial I guess.



Commando Cody is played by Judd Holdren who started this series assisted by Aline Towne. But after three episodes this series was put on hold to make Zombies in the Stratoshpere in which the name "Commmando Cody" is dropped though both Holdren and Towne show up under new names. After that serial completed they went back to produce the other nine episodes of this show.



The shows have a real formula to them, and that's fine but watching them close together does point up the weaknesses in this approach. They are fun shows, harmless fluff. But they don't have the power of the serials, the momentum is missing and that really hurts the overall impact of the threats. You don't know how, but you know it will be solved by the end of the show, unlike serials which can throw you curves as they unfold.

Good stuff still though.

Rip Off

Zombies From The Stratosphere!

This is the third of the Rocketman serials from Republic. It was made at about the same time as a proposed television version of the series (more on that later) and stars the same guy as Rocketman. It's another invasion, this time from Mars and not content to merely take over the Earth, this time they have to destroy it to make way for Mars to assume its orbit.

Judd Holdren plays the Rocketman this time, and he's called Larry Martin. He has the same team as last time mostly with Aline Towne repeating her role as girl assistant. They are asked to help with a potential alien threat and they get right on it.

Marex is the leader of the Martians and he has another Martian with him played by Leonard Nimoy. They land on Earth and immediately hook up with some thugs and an Earth scientist to plot the Earth's destruction. There's much running about, a lot of it in the water. In fact this serial has a really aquatic theme with many of the cliffhangers involving boats or water of some kind. The Martians can hold thier breath for a really long time and they have their secret headquarters in a spot which require them to trudge though water, a neat trick if somewhat slow for the film.

Again it seems that the plot depends on bank robbery for funding and there is a lot of that stuff, even a quasi-Western moment with some very unconvincing stock footage getting used. You sometimes get the feeling they forget about the rocketpack from time to time in this one.

The big highlight of this one is the Republic Robot getting a call. He's in several chapters and it used by both sides. It's pretty incredible watching this lumbering hunk of metal take on the heroes and lots of fun.

All in all this is a fun high-speed serial, but the speed of production shows in spots. Good fun.

Rip Off

Radar Men From The Moon!

This is the second of the Rocketmen serials and because it's in public domain, I've owned a copy forever. It's probably in fact the first serial I ever owned aside possibly from Flash Gordon. This one features the Rocketman again, but he's dubbed Commando Cody this time out.

George Wallace leads the cast this time with Roy Barcroft as the Moon leader Retik who leads an invasion of Earth and Clayton Moore as Graber the lead henchman who helps the Moon Men with their schemes. This one offers up the Rocketman again with some of the same stunts repeated and it adds a rocketship which gets Commando Cody and his team to the Moon twice during the run of the serial.

There's much running around, lots of great fights, and some dandy high-pitched acting from all involved. The serial gets a little ragged with some time-wasting moves now and again and I was surprised to find out that Moon Men need to rob banks and whatnot to fund their invasions of Earth.

Lots of classic serial moments are in this one. Getting a copy is dead easy as practically every collection of serials offers this one. The atomic raygun is a fun toy and while you never really feel these guys from the Moon really are a threat the battle is a hoot.

Rip Off

King Of The Rocketmen!

This 1949 serial is a pretty entertaining movie. Much has been written about the more mature characters in this one, from Tristam Coffin a regular movie heavy who gets the nod as Jeff King, the hero and nominal Rocketman of the movie to Mae Clarke who at forty seemed a bit old for the classic damsel-in-distress role. But while Clarke seemed a bit subdued throughout, I found Coffin quite good in his role as both scientist and action hero.

The plot is pretty standard serial, in that Science Associates is losing members to violent death left and right. One scientist named Dr.Millard is seemingly killed but instead hooks up with fellow egghead Jeff King and they relocate to a cool cave lab where he pretends to be dead while King as himself and as Rocketman (using the Millard invention of an atomic backpack rocket) tries to solve the mystery. There's a young sidekick and the usual gal reporter. All the other scientists are suspects but as they themselves continue to be killed the list gets shorter and shorter.

The flying stuff is outstanding as Republic really knew how to do this as ably demonstrated years before in Captain Marvel. This is a pretty decent whodunnit and an above average actioner. The climax involves nothing less than the near total destruction of New York City and that actually tends to undermine the tone of the previous chapters, but taken as a whole I really like this serial.

I've seen it twice this year and I don't think it will be all that long before I screen it again.

Rip Off

Finding Rocketman!

I'll have to say that yesterday was one of the more remarkable days in my very long comics collecting lifetime. I've prowled countless comics shops over the decades, discovering unknown treasures and finding long-sought gems.

But I've recently become aware of an Innovation Comics series called Rocketman - King of the Rocketmen adapted from the vintage Republic serial King of the Rocketmen. I picked that up not that long ago at long last on dvd and only a few weeks ago got the last of the trilogy Zombies of the Stratosphere. I've long owned the public-doman Radar Men on the Moon as do most folks I'd assume. There's a collection of TV shows too that I need to grab, but time will solve that also.

The series is one I've seen before but I'll confess to not being all that thrilled by it. It seemed a quiet companion to the Dave Stevens epic Rocketeer. Those were striking covers, but I never glanced beyond them.

Anyway, I decide I want these four books. I find them online but while they're cheap I don't want to pay a lot for shipping if I can help it. I take a chance that the books might be in the back issues of my local stores. So off I go yesterday to find them and I have darn good success finding issues #2, 3 & 4 of the series. But no #1 is to be found, just those three so I snap them up. I despair frankly, because I've been at this point many times, needing just that one issue to complete a set and not being able to find it at all. It's taken years in the past.

I resolve that despite costs, I will need to get it, as I'm not getting any younger. But I have one more store to check, and what do I find but #1 all alone. They have not another other issue of the series, just the one I need. And in no case did either store realize what they had. So I bought every single copy in the whole local area yesterday, and one can only imagine how long they've been sitting in those long boxes waiting for me to come and fetch them home.

Chris Moeller is the artist and writer of these four issues. They are fully painted and the storytelling tumbles apart in places. It's a bit difficult to follow, but some of the scenes are very nicely rendered. I'm very glad though that I'd waited to read this until after I'd seen the serial itself, as the changes are interesting and the only work in contrast to the original.

These aren't expensive books, but the oddball kind that can be murder to find. I feel unusually lucky to stumble across a complete set so readily. Oh and did I mention I got them all for well under their original cover prices. It was big fun, something I've not had in a comics shop in some time.

Rip Off