Free A Comic Book Today!

It's a terrible thing to find comic books in captivity. They yearn to be free, to be in the hands of those who are eager to enjoy the four-color majesty they present. So it's nice that once a year, those who keep the books in captivity allow them to interact with the larger population, to show the books and the people that they ought to be together more.

Joking aside, Free Comic Book Day from a fan's perspective is a damn fine idea. I like to get some free books and I rather like seeing so many kids in comic book shops, lairs reserved in the modern day to aging hipsters, nerdy geezers, and the dreaded "teenager". To see actual children, little boys and girls happy to get their mitts on a comic book is just plain cool.

This year I only picked up two books, the offerings from Fantagraphics (always good and this year featuring Don Rosa) and Hermes Press (their second Buck Rogers offering with a wide array of Buck from different eras). Now that publishers have gotten so savvy about making FCBD a launching pad for upcoming storylines, we see fewer vintage offerings from the bigger houses, but it's the old stuff which makes me eager to get off my butt and trek to the store despite some very large crowds.

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Dojo Cubed!

I ran across this curious creation here. I don't know what to make of it, but felt the need to include this peculiar treatment of the classic Judomaster image here at the Dojo. For more of this "cubism" check this out.

Whether the Dojo keeps up the daily pace it's demonstrated in years past is in some question, but we'll see.  In this sixth year, I'm considering backing away a bit, but experience tells me I likely won't.

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Reptilicus!

Rocke Mastroserio

Reptilicus is a guilty pleasure; here's my review from a few years ago. Produced in the wake of the success of Godzilla, this Danish entry into the monster sweepstakes is one of those movies that is beloved for its zany treatment and for its mildly ridiculous monster.

Looking much less ridiculous on the comic page though, Reptilicus was adapted by Charlton Comics. The story, which cleaves reasonably closely to the original story is below.  The comic story was written by Charlton iron man Joe Gill after the screenplay by Ib Melchior based on the story by producer Sid Pink. The pictures are by pencil artist Bill Molno with Vince Alascia on inks. The late great Rocke Mastroserio provided the exciting cover!

Today marks the end of the fifth year and the beginning of the sixth for the Dojo. Thanks to all who have shown up here and contributed or merely perused in the last half decade. It's all appreciated.

And now Reptilicus!

Charlton produced one more issue of Reptilicus, again featuring artwork by Bill Molno though the script is uncertain, it was likely Joe Gill yet again.

Dick Giordano

After the second issue, Sid Pink took issue with Charlton and they had to change the name of the series to "Reptisaurus" and it continued for six more issues. Unlike Gorgo and Konga, Reptilicus was not blessed by the artwork of Steve Ditko and so alas is often overlooked and has not been reprinted in any reliable format.

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Spy Smasher!

At long last I have gotten to see the Republic movie serial Spy Smasher. I've long read that this was perhaps the best serial ever produced. The Fawcett comic characters were served quite well by the serials of the time, with Captain Marvel being another serial which is held in extremely high regard. After seeing this epic adventure I can attest that it is a cracking good yarn with some of the absolute best action I've ever seen in any serial, or any movie actually.

Spy Smasher is played by serial veteran actor Kane Richmond who does a masterful job of filling in a costume which is remarkably accurate to the comic. Admittedly the costume is one of the easier ones to recreate, but it's always nice to see fidelity to a source when it's feasible. Spy Smasher battles Nazi spies, specifically a mastermind named either "The Mask" or "M1" depending on the circumstance. This villain is a Nazi U-Boat commander who communicates with a network of domestic henchmen who perform various villainous acts in the twelve chapters of this story.

And each chapter is an absolute hoot with some creative threats to democracy well established and eliminated thanks to the bravery of Spy Smasher Alan Armstrong and his twin brother Jack. The weakness in this serial is that while the individual chapters are as exciting as can be, the overall story is exceedingly episodic without a strong unifying thread which builds throughout. The villain is no mystery, which is the usual chicanery that ties the chapters as in Captain Marvel, but this time we get the visual trick of two heroes who look exactly the same. It comes into play in several chapters and is ultimately key, but is not necessarily a core thread throughout.

 

The Spy Smasher serial is a wild and raucous romp with some stellar action. Republic is properly renowned for its fisticuffs and this one might be the best I've ever seen with the stuntmen supplying some of the most nimble and athletic battles I've witnessed on screen. (And all done in camera. Amazing!) Add to that some really dangerous leaps and motorcycle riding and you have a hectic but satisfying adventure.

One clever irony is that the spies use a television station (led by serial vet Tris Coffin) to spy on the government officials, especially since TV is what killed off the serials in the end. Television a tool of the Nazis? No commentary there of course.

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Teenage Cave Man!

Teenage Cave Man  starring Robert Vaughn is a movie that's been on my bucket list for some time. The title alone makes it appealing in its own strange way. You have to want to see what that's all about.

What is is all about is a small society of cave dwellers (the cave is the famous Bronson Cavern) who are restricted in their goings and comings by a collection of "laws" that prohibit their exploration of the seemingly much more fertile lands beyond their limited range. Admittedly those lands have dinosaurs, but those dangers are offset by a more bountiful food supply.

The "Teenage Cave Man" wants to explore, despite what his elders tell him and ultimately ignores the pleas of his parents to be a dutiful member of the society and goes off to find out what lies beyond the river. He finds battling dinosaurs and some of the worst movie quicksands ever, which sadly gobbles up one of his buddies. This death means he himself should die, but he doesn't immediately.

He ventures forth again into the forbidden lands, this time followed by his dad and other cave dwellers intent on his punishment. But they are all surprised to find a mysterious creature who theoretically can unleash death with its mere touch. What happens then makes this movie much much more interesting.

Spoilers follow so unless you have already seen the movie or never plan to, do not read.

The twist is a simple one, but not one I ever saw coming. The mysterious creature is actually an impossibly old human being who along with twenty-three of his colleagues survived the atomic war which devastated the world and reduced the population to a mere handful who eke an existence like their Cro-Magnon ancestors. He is the last of his group who have been given extremely long lives due to radiation and who have watched over the survivors from a distance hoping they will find a successful way to rebuild society. The world is seems has been destroyed and rebuilt many times.

End of spoilers.

 It's a neat twist, not uncommon in stories I've read, but nothing in this movie prepared me for this turn of events. I immediately liked the movie better, which is pretty dreary most of the time, because the payoff is so good.

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The Viking Women And The Sea Serpent!

The Viking Women and the Sea Serpent is a hoot of a movie. Roger Corman directed this gaggle of low-budget glamazons who seek out their long-lost mates and stir up a whopper of a low-rent adventure.

The tale begins with a decision for the woman of a Viking community to leave together to find their menfolk who have been absent for three years. There are some intrigues among these mostly blonde bombshells, but together they and the lone man get aboard a decidedly unconvincing ship and sail out into the sea.

Almost immediately they encounter the titular sea serpent who seems to guard a whirlpool. Their tiny ship is lost and they wash up on the cost of a barbarian tribe who mostly have dark hair and who have the men captured and enslaved. This sets up the primary conflict in the story as the dark-haired barbarians led by a duplicitous king are shown to untrustworthy and cowardly and superstitious. The blonde-haired Vikings on the other hand are show to trustworthy and brave and superstitious.

One of the Viking women also has dark hair and she proves to be unreliable, turning on her fellow Vikings a few times in the story.

There are a number of fun scenes in this movie. A few sacrifice sequences which are pretty entertaining and the sea serpent itself ain't too horrible for a movie of this caliber, though his screen time is pretty minimal.

The movie is pretty sleepy through most of its running time with a bright spot here and there and yonder. The acting is incredibly uneven with rank amateurs mixing it up with evident pros. The whole thing reminded me sort of an episode of Star Trek kind of, at least the blonde versus brunette thing did.

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Frankenstein Alive, Alive -- Still!

I was exceedingly happy to stumble across the third installment of Bernie Wrightson's Frankenstein Alive, Alive! series. This  "sequel" to the original Mary Shelley story began with a bang two years ago then limped along for a second chapter months later and then disappeared with a whimper. I don't know what the frequency of these will be, but hopefully more often than once every few years. It's good stuff though, vivid Wrightson on arguably and ironically his most vivid characterization.

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