He Was Legend!

The sad news is out that Richard Matheson has died at the age of 87. When I got my mitts on The Omega Man, the papeback edition of Matheson's tale originally titled I Am Legend, in grade school it altered my understanding of the world. It was one of the earliest science fiction books I ever read and remains perhaps the scariest story I've ever stumbled across. It's been adapted officially three times and likely another when it served as the unofficial inspiration for the original Night of the Living Dead. Here is a review I did several years ago.

His screenplay for The Night Stalker helped elevate this humble horror noir movie to cult status. His impact as writer in the pop culture of the late 20th century cannot be overstated. In a modern world run amok in the undead, Richard Matheson had an immense amount to do with shaping the best of that. Many if not even most of the great scares of our time were in some way developed from the typewriter of Richard Matheson. 

Rest in peace.

Rip

Once Upon A Time In Cold Space!

The cult show Firefly has long been on my get-it-if-I-find-it-at-the-right-price list, and a several days ago that happened. I picked up the dvd collection of the fourteen episode series for a nice price and brought it home to enjoy. I'd seen the show through pretty much once watching it on the Science Channel during some marathon or other, so I'm pretty familiar with the characters and the mileau it establishes. It proved to be extremely entertaining this time through also, helped some by the commentaries which give some background to how the show was developed and what it hoped to accomplish. The series was infamously cancelled by Fox but succeeded wonderfully on dvd, enough so to result in a movie. More on that later.  

Briefly we have a western set in outer space in the relatively far but not unrecognizable future. The Earth has been abandoned and mankind lives in a single solar system loaded with inhabitable planets and moons thanks to vigorous terraforming. The inner planets or "The Core System" are the domain of the main society run by The Alliance, the government which is a odd future blend of the United States and China. The outer planets are the frontiers on which this saga unfolds as we follow a single small smuggling/trading ship dubbed "Serenity". That ship is of a class called "Firefly", hence the name of the series.

Serenity is owned and operated by Captain Malcom ("Mal") Reynolds and his longtime war buddy Zoe Washburn. The pilot is Zoe's husband known as "Wash" and the engineer is a girl prodigy named Kaylee. Also on board is a hired gun named Jayne Cobb and a high-society prostitute named Anara. These folks are joined by passengers, a preacher with a past named "Book" and a sibling pair, Dr.Simon and River Tam. River has secret, she was kidnapped by the Alliance and her considerable brain was operated on giving her some significant mental and physical gifts. The Alliance wants her back, and so the whole group end up on the run, more than usual, setting up the premise of the show.

It's a Joss Whedon show, so needless to say there is a lot of clever banter, which to my mind gets somewhat tiresome after a bit. The strength of the premise overcomes some of the weaknesses in delivery, which were the consequence sometimes of time and money restrictions, the classic television problem. Oddly I found that often my favorite bits were those they cobbled together at the last moment, suggesting that the series might just be a bit overwrought in concept. That's my final analysis alas. The series is entertaining enough, but the weight of the back story quickly builds to a point which overloads the whole.

The biggest strength of the show is its attempt to blend Western imagery with Sci-fi imagery, creating a neat and entertaining synthesis. The fast draw with ray guns is huge fun, as are the occasional appearances of actual horses. There are some tasty villains and our heroes themselves range a bit in moral clarity. Fans of the show fell in love with those characters and demanded they return after the abrupt disappearance. 

That fan support and the producers' hard work resulted in the movie Serenity which picks up the story developed in Firefly and brings it to a satisfying conclusion. Without spoiling it for those who might not have run across it, the mystery of River Tam is that she holds a secret the Alliance fears will undermine their legitimacy as a government and send a merciless operative to get her back and end her threat. Also there are space savages called "Reavers" who rape and pillage across the edge of the system. These are brutal cannibals who seem bereft of human feeling. It's to be noted there are not aliens in these stories, only humans which are plenty thank you.

This movie is a resourceful finale to a series which had significant promise and being a finite presentation with a somewhat bigger budget is able to overcome some of the weaknesses inherent in the series. The biggest mark against any Whedon project is the high degree of snark which permeates a script, and while it overwhelms episodes of the series, it seems more under control in this film.

I'm glad I was able to at long last put this story completely under my belt. It's a worthwhile saga, though not a perfect one. I give it a strong recommendation.

Rip Off

Monarch Of Monster Isle!

Kona, Monarch of Monster Isle, like Turok began as an installment of Dell's Four Color series. After one issue though it was immediately launched as an individual title and went on to become one of Dell's most successful series. The cliched premise of a group of misplaced modern folk aided and abetted by a robust and benevolent prehistoric muscle man kicks off this tale, but soon the series moves somewhat beyond this and Kona traveled all over the planet. The series apparently had a cliffhanger aspect which proved popular and brought the fans back.

No less a draw was the typically fine artwork by veteran Sam Glanzman. The covers, most of them by Vic Prezio were also attractive reasons to pick up an issue. Later Glanzman did the covers himself save for one offbeat issue done by Gil Kane. The series lasted from 1962 to 1967, a healthy Silver Age run. This series deserves collection, it deserves to be seen and appreciated by modern audiences.

 Rip Off

You'll Believe A Man Can Punch!

Here is my obligatory review of DC's movie epic Man of Steel. This latest Superman movie is pretty impressive.

The new guy fills the costume out very nicely and frankly none of me minds the changes made to the classic look since those changes are largely reflected throughout the design of the Krypton and the movie in general. Superman (called that just once in the movie as I recollect) looks proper. The guy sure has the pecs for the part, as my daughter, who eagerly went to the movie with me, will attest. I went to see a Superman movie, she went to see a Henry Cavill movie. That's a strong recommendation that this flick will do very very well, as if that weren't already apparent.

Some mild SPOILERS beyond this point. 

What I was most impressed with was the fighting, which was blisteringly quick, so fast often that you could barely detect it, which communicated the feel of super speed excellently. The Kryptonians flick human soldiers aside like flies and that really showcases the struggle against Kal-El when it comes. There is a brutality to the villainy which gets under your skin, makes you feel threatened a person. Human beings barely register to Zod as something to be concerned about, and likewise his troops. We are truly considered insects in this one, and that's scary.

There is a lot of fighting in this one, and clearly seemed to be a remake of sorts of the classic Christopher Reeve Superman II. The battle on the streets of Smallville between the Phantom Zone villains and Superman was outstanding, though I have to think the death count in the small town was staggering. Likewise when the battle shifts to Metropolis the numbers of regular folks killed must easily be in the thousands. This is a very brutal comic book movie, one of the most brutal I've seen.

The 9-11 comparisons are obvious and for many folks I'm sure quite rugged to endure. I've read that some consider the scenes which evoke that tragic day too close to the bone, and I can see why. I was a bit startled myself at some of the choices. It does though add some emotional power to the story and makes the battle something we can apprehend more clearly. There's little aloof and above the fray about this movie. 

I loved how Snyder and Goyer structured the story so that the obligatory origin elements were embedded into the modern story. It solved to a very great extent the classic problem with a first Superman movie, the fact that Superman doesn't appear until late in the narrative. Since most folks know the gist of the origin, it's neat to see the storytellers here play with it in interesting ways. I found myself pleasantly surprised by how classic elements were revised and reinvented in this one -- for example the Fortress of Solitude, the link between Kal-El's rocket and the Phantom Zone, and how Lois seems never for a moment dimwitted about the identity of the Man of Steel. Smart and fun.

Mild SPOILERS endeth here.

This is a blockbuster, both literally and figuratively and I enjoyed myself thoroughly. Oh and don't waste time sitting for a teaser, there isn't one. Sigh.

Rip Off

Stoned Age Warrior!

Naza Stone Age Warrior was another of Dell's time-lost warriors. Set in the "Stone Age" it follows the eponymous hero as he battles a wide range of "enraged beasts" as we are told explicitly on the last two issues. There was some attempt to be true to the time period in the early issues but that gave to way to more exotic and outlandish threats as the series ran its course from 1964 to 1966. The artwork in all the issues was by the reliable if not always exciting Jack Sparling and the scripting handled by Turok mainstay Paul S. Newman. The early painted covers appear to be by Vic Prezio. Later there's a Gil Kane tucked in there alongside the rest by Sparling himself. Sparling even stuck his signature onto a few of them, a real departure for Dell. I've picked up a few Naza comics in the discount bins and they are adequate comics for this period of Dell, reasonably well crafted but somewhat bland.

Rip Off

Toka On This!

Now that's a vivid collection of covers. Toka Jungle King was the last of Dell's "jungle" push, which began with Tarzan of course and soon included Turok Son of Stone and later Kona Monarch of Monster Island. At about this time Dell and Western split with the latter making off with Tarzan and Turok, leaving Dell with Kona. They added Naza Stone Age Warrior. Toka was the last to be added and featured work by Frank Springer. The first two covers are painted by Jack Faragasso, but Springer is responsible for the all the exciting images for the remaining issues. Toka was an Aztec warrior torn four hundred years after his time and apparently confronted a host of very different menaces. This would make for a very entertaining collection indeed.

Above is some original artwork by Springer. While he wasn't everyone's cup of tea, Frank Springer was an artist who managed to have his hand in some really innovative things over his long career. Aside from standard comics work like Toka, he replaced Jim Steranko on SHIELD, worked on a bunch of wonderful satires for National Lampoon, and was even part of one of the early independent comics, The Adventures of Phoebe Zeit-Geist. Springer was a member of the famous Berndt-Toast Gang.

Rip Off

Tarzan In La-La Land!

That's a powerful rendering of ERB's Lord of the Jungle. Rich Corben has the ability to blend power and an odd grace in his distinctive work. His figures are rarely on model, nor especially true to human anatomy, rather being extravagant images of pure potency. "Robust" is the word that comes to mind.

This Tarzan art served well as the cover for the Burroughs Bulletin which headlined a Corben story featuring Tarzan's meeting with the wickedly lovely Queen of Opar, the alluring La.

Below is that meeting.

Not exactly what ERB had in mind. But it sure is memorable. It sticks, and that's what Corben is so very very good at, making art that stays in the mind and kindles the imagination.

Rip Off