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Radio Of Bronze - The Thousand-Headed Man!

Bob Larkin
After a break of nearly eight months, I finally got a nice block of time to listen to the second of two Doc Savage adventures adapted for National Public Radio in the 1980's. The first was reviewed in this post way back in February. I finally got around to listening to Will Murray's adaptation of Lester Dent's "The Thousand-Headed Man" this weekend.

James Bama - Detail
This story is an exceedingly popular one, and it was chosen by Murray partially because it was also the story singled out by movie producers back in the 1960's for a proposed Doc Savage movie starring Chuck Conners. The project did not develop ultimately but did result in a Gold Key comics adaptation. I took a look at that comic here.

Walter Baumhofer
The story from 1937 pits Doc and his assistants against a gang of thugs seeking a mysterious treasure in far-off Asia. There they find a hidden ancient cult which seeks to keep its secrets with the sacrificial deaths of any who happen along. It's a whopping good story, with lots of chances for action and many opportunities for Doc to show off his physical skills.

James Bama
The radio adaptation is pretty close to the original but does alter the last part of the story somewhat by adding Renny as a partner to Doc as he uncovers the mysteries of some distinctive temples. In the novel Doc prowls alone, but it was decided that giving Doc someone to converse with would make the discoveries seem more natural to the listener and less artificial. It works quite well for me as Renny is a favorite of mine and gets too little attention in the adventures.

This adaptation is a bit shorter than "Fear Cay" and I think that helps the pacing a bit. There is no sense that the story lags even a little bit. If you haven't sampled these I highly recommend them. They are first rate entertainments. For more information see this link.

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The Many Ghosts Of Pat Boyette!

For a few brief months in 1973 it seems, the editors at Charlton handed creative control of the covers for many of its ghost books to veteran talent Pat Boyette. In the issues of Ghostly Tales and Ghostly Haunts for May Boyette not only painted the covers but redesigned the logos for both books. He did the same for the June issue of Ghost Manor. Even the price of twenty cents is given a specific look for all three of these special issues.

Here is another comic with this distinctive Boyette styling, this issue of Haunted though pre-dates the others above by several months.


These changes are exceedingly moody and rather handsome to my eye, but they were also exceedingly short term. The very next issue for all three titles saw these changes disappear and brought a return to what had been before. Maybe it was never a wholesale change, but merely an experiment. Perhaps the sales on these issues were terrible. But it's intriguing to wonder what might've happened to the whole look of Charlton's Bronze Age ghost books if Boyette had been allowed to give the line such a distinctive style.

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The Art Of Noel Sickles!

Here's a special prize I got hold of yesterday for a special price. Scorchy Smith and The Art of Noel Sickles was on my long list of books I might like to have some day but likely would never find for a nice enough price. But I found a damaged copy going for about $7 bucks and since the book is normally $50 I knew if I didn't snap it up I'd regret it. The damage is pretty severe to the binding, but the interiors are untouched and from the outside the book looks fine.

What I've got is three years of Scorchy Smith continuity along with a massive amount of information on the career of Noel Sickles. This is a great looking collection. When I'll get around to reading these is anyone's guess, but the strips look fantastic as does much of Sickles other artwork well featured in this giant book.

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No Thing To Be Found!

Frankly I've always been a bit surprised that a really good DVD of the the classic Howard Hawks movie The Thing From Another World (officially my favorite sci-fi flick) has not come onto the market. The one that is available has been so for years and is a bare bones offering.


I own the movie a few times on VHS, getting a super cheap one ages ago back in the stone age of video, and then updating with a new black and white copy and the colorized version many years ago now. I've not gotten the DVD because I figured the week after I dropped a dime on it, they'd come out with a really cool version with all the fringe benefits. I'd love to hear a solid commentary on this movie.


Then I heard about the prequel that's due to be released to theaters about any time and I assumed that would be the launch date for a new version of the classic. But I cannot uncover it if it exists. I guess I'll just have to cave in at last and get the one that has been lounging on the racks all these years.

Sheesh!

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The Last Of The Full Grown Concerts!

It's that wonderful time of the year when Webb Wilder fans gather in Bowling Green, Kentucky for Webb Fest. The band plays a fantastic concert in a really fine venue and fans are on hand for special goodness. I'm heading out later this morning to meet up with my daughter who is going to take in the Webb Fest VI festivities with me. Before tonight though, we have many a thing a do and it should be a very very fine day.

Here's a newer Webb song which is a bit softer than his classic stuff, but still a great tune.



And here's a more typical rockin' song.



UPDATE: It's after the concert as I write this, and it was another enjoyable year. The band was in fine form and the sets this year were very traditional with most of the classic tunes getting some airplay. The energy of the crowd did seem a bit down and the band seemed a bit weary by the evening's end, but I know I enjoyed the pure music as much as I ever have. Great seats and some wicked cupcakes!

Thanks to all who made it possible. See you next year!

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Return Of The Living Dead!

When the movie Return of the Living Dead hit the theaters way back in the 80's I was distinctly not interested. That kind of movie did not appeal to me back then, and I have to say that while I've warmed to the zombie concept since, it's still not the my favorite horror genre by any stretch. I find the gore which dominates many of these productions not so much nauseating as dull.

That said, when I found a collection of movies (the same set that featured Swamp Thing) the other day and found this older zombie fest on it, I was not displeased. Dan O'Bannon was the director and as I discovered William Stout was the production designer. Both men were featured on the commentary track of this movie and did some interviews to support the effort. O'Bannon has since passed away but happily William Stout is still very much around. Here's a link to his website.


One bit of trivia that Stout mentions is that it was the cover to Alien Worlds above from Pacific Comics which got him this gig as designer. O'Bannon liked Stout's talent for drawing decayed zombies, but wondered if he could handle technology and the space suit showed him he could.

I found the movie not what I expected. It was a comedy, which helped immensely, and the connection to the classic zombie original Night of the Living Dead was cleverly done. I liked the fact the movie was stocked with solid veteran actors able to handle the shifts from fright to fun, but next to them unfortunately was a gang of younger actors less nimble.

By nimble, I don't mean lack of physical skills, but their range is and ability to do the subtle shifts required to keep the viewer in the story is less developed. Some of the kids do some great gags and one young lass spends nearly all of the movie mostly naked, her perky butt wiggling through several tromps across the rain-soaked screen.

The story is a hoot, and I must confess the relentless way the zombie threat slowly but surely develops is internally sensible and once unleashed it's clear the zombie threat will likely not abate. The ending isn't all that shocking nowadays, nor at the time of release I'd suspect. It does tie in nicely with the nihilistic finale of the original Romero flick, at least thematically.

Overall, I find I liked this movie more than I found things to cringe over. I don't feel lesser for having ignored it all these years, but it's nice to finally get a glimpse.



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