The Death Kiss!

I recently picked up a Bela Lugosi collection of public domain movies. I have many of them alas, but several I am missing, so it was well worth doubling (or tripling in some cases) up on some flicks to get the new ones.

One movie that was new to me was The Death Kiss. This movie is really a starring vehicle for David Manners, the hero of the classic Dracula with Lugosi just a year before. Also back in the cast is Edward Van Sloan.

This is a tightly written whodunnit with some pretty clever lines, some snappy banter, and a real clever peek into the makings of movies. The action takes place at a movie studio and the use of real sets gives the movie an immediate reality most such flicks are missing. It's a clever way to make up for smallish budgets.

The plot is pretty simple really. An actor is killed and his ex-wife, the heroine of the story is the main suspect. There's some very sloppy police work on display in this one, but it gives our man Manners lots of room to maneuver. He is very entertaining in this one, shifting quickly from concerned boyfriend to witty sleuth in moments.

Bela and Van Sloan play a studio manager and a movie director respectively. Their roles in this one are meant I guess their roles in the more famous Dracula. I won't say more than that. I think it's clear the makers of this one assume the audience has seen Dracula. Bela actually has a pretty minor part here, but it's good to see him in a role that's not intended to be bizarre.

There's a lot of comedy relief, and some call this a comedy. I wouldn't, it's got a somewhat too grim overall demeanor, but it's pretty good. A nice entertainment.

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A Boyette Bounty!

Here are some great covers from many companies by the late great Pat Boyette. Boyette had a style unlike anyone. It had its origins as did many in Caniff, but Boyette blended in gothic touches that made his work distinctive and memorable.

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The Unearthly!

I'll admit I picked this movie up for two reasons -- John Carradine and Tor Johnson. In fact it's the fact that Tor plays "Lobo", the same character he presumably played in the Ed Wood movies that first made me notice this movie at all. I just for my own amusement presume that this is the first Lobo movie and after this he hooks up with Bela as his lab assistant and whipping boy in those Wood epics.

So how does this rank in the "Lobo Trilogy"? It's pretty tepid. John Carradine is in fine form in this one, and the other actors are fine. The ladies are pretty and heroes are intrepid enough. The pieces are all here, but this thing rarely gets up and runs, preferring to amble or simply sit and chat at the clock ticks by.

Too little actually happens in this movie. A beautiful young woman played by Alison Hayes needs psychological help but her doctor betrays her and turns her unknowing over to a mad scientist played by Carradine who with his assistant Lobo and some love-struck nurse are kidnapping and murdering people to get glands that will presumably give people eternal life. In this cause the scientist has a lab full of his creations, mistakes during his research. The pitiful part is that we don't get to see this gang of freaks until the very very end of the movie. Most of the time on screen is taken up by an undercover cop played by Myron Healey running around gathering evidence I presume though he seems to know pretty much the whole scam from the get-go. There are zombie wannabes in this one, and some ersatz gravedigging, but by and large this is a rather dull little flick.

It's not a hopeless cause, but it's not got the idiotic charm of a Wood movie nor the sleek polish of a classic horror film. It's a bland in-betweener.

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Scooby Dooby Kong!

I love Kong swipes and this one is a good 'un!

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Femforce Shows Its Age!

I did something yesterday I haven't done in a few years, I bought a new copy of Femforce from AC Comics. The comic was a big favorite of mine for years but the price increases and the format changes have made me cool on it. I loved the continuity of stories that drew on material from well back into the Bronze Age of Comics, and I frankly like many of the well-crafted characters in this book. They are not just a bunch of bimbos, though some of them are bimbos. The personalities of the Femforce gals are distinctive and you can tell which of them is talking just by the dialogue, not something that happens in too many comics.

But yesterday I found Femforce #150 for $9.95 and I picked it up. The Femforce story seemed to dominate the issue and I'm a sucker for Bill Black's artwork and he contributed the cover. I can't say that the flipbook Gargantarama, a comic about various giant-women I guess, but aside from that I found the issue reasonably entertaining. The artwork was pretty decent throughout the Femforce story and that old snap of the team interacting was present in this one.

Will I get another issue? I don't know, as the Femforce content in upcoming issues seems minimized, but the new format at the $9.95 price and offered up three times a year is one I can more affordably support, so perhaps.

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Alfredo Alcala!

What can you say about a talent of this magnitude. I'm a comic book fan of the Bronze Age. That means I was weaned on the work of Kirby, Buscema, Infantino, Toth, Kane and other masters while getting a glimpse of upcoming talents like Wrightson, Windsor-Smith, Kaluta, Starlin, Staton, Byrne and the like. And while all this "local" talent was developing and finding its way, there burst onto the scene new names, with distinctily foreign qualities, but with undeniable talent. Immediately guys like Mayo, DeZuniga, and Redondo came into my view and I was rocked by the skill and craftsmanship. That was what I always felt about any of the foreign guys who took over on some book I followed, that despite there clearly being a different source for the inspiration of the art, there was no denying the professionalism and the sheer craftsmanship of each and every job. These fellows knew how to draw.

And at the top of that list of Alfredo Alcala. I first came to know Alcala as an inker on my favorite artist Big John Buscema, in the black and white recesses of The Savage Sword of Conan. This Alcala guy gave the lusty pencils of Buscema a gothic quality, making the pages appear almost like reliefs, cut into wood or metal. The linework was lush, detailed and it all contributed to the overall effect. I was astonished at the sheer work that seemed to go into each page, line after line after line after line all finding this detail and defining that shadow. Alcala elevated the work to something truly spectacular.


Then I started to find his work elsewhere and even some pencilling jobs here and there. I'll have to admit that I will always prefer Alcala as an inker as opposed to a complete artist. His work while impressive always seemed to lack sometimes the scope and heft he got from other layouts by Buscema and the like. His storytelling was never in question, but the romantic proportions of the characters weren't in his vocabulary when he drew it all himself. His people were more mundane, wonderfully rendered, but less opulent somehow.


I eventually saw Voltar, or pages from it and I amended my attitude somewhat. Clearly Alcala could draw with drama and power when the material demanded it. Voltar was the proof.

But the most fantastic thing about Alcala was still a secret from me. All those lush pages of linework were rendered it seemed at superhuman speed. The numbers I've read attributed to Alcala astonish even someone familiar with Jack Kirby. Alcala was a machine, cranking fantastic work at record speeds. The secret though really ain't one though, as I learned eventually about Kirby. It's speed sure, but it's mostly the steady beat of production, keeping the nose to the board and the pen or brush constantly working that created these legendary page rates. Alcala was a magnificent artist, he was a master craftsman, and he was a blue-collar laborer with a work ethic that shined through the long days and nights.

When Alfredo Alcala passed away it was indeed a sad day in comics. He was a master, and he was a very admirable man. I'm lucky to have been there to see the work he produced and to have appreciated him, at least a little bit, in his time.

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The Powers Of Kong!

Above is a luscious cover by Richard Powers. The book features several of his illustrations. To get a glimpse check out this link.

KING KONG ILLUSTRATED by RICHARD POWERS @ ATOMIC SURGERY BLOG

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