The Thrill Killers!

The Thrill Killers is far and away Ray Dennis Steckler's most normal movie, but that being said it still ain't all that normal. It's a noir thriller as such as shot on black and white it is totally appropriate both in style and content. The movie is filled with actors and "actors" who are a regular part of Steckler's team in these 60's flicks. Steckler often brings up John Ford, who famously used a steady cast in movie after movie and since Steckler is often relying on friends and amateurs to fill out the parts in his movies, many familiar faces show up time and again. The most common is his wife of ten years Carolyn Brand who is in most all his movies but like as not gets killed rather early because she carries so many other duties behind the scenes in these Steckler epics. 

One new face of sorts in this one is Liz Renay, a bombshell celebrity slash actress who shows up in a bunch of these low budget affairs. Apparently they waited until she got out of stir to make this particular movie. This is also the first time that Steckler worked with Ron Haydock who appears under the name "Lonnie Lord". Haydock was a fascinating chap in his own right who was a wannabe rock star and even wrote novels (admittedly of the porn variety) and comics (Warren magazine's Creepy). More on Haydock next time. 

This movie is about a psycho killer named Mort "Mad Dog" Click (played by "Cash Flagg" who is actually Steckler himself) who we see on a mini rampage and then we encounter three escaped nutters who are killers themselves, one being Mad Dog's  brother. They kill some folks and then threaten others, including wannabe actor Joe Saxon who must face reality to combat this bizarre threat. Lots of other Steckler regulars show up such as Erina Enyo, Atlas King, Jim Bowie and Titus Moede. 

This movie is remarkable in that it pretty much stays within the guidelines of one genre, though it does adopt something of a western feel in the final chase sequences. Steckler seemed to get bored with his own projects and often his movies switch up in the middle or start out being multiple things, which can make then hilarious and entertaining in a strange way, but not really good in a traditional sense. This one gets the closes to being a regular movie that I've seen from him. 

But like his previous movie, this one too ended up with a William Castle-like gimmick and after a color introduction about hypnotism there is a spinning wheel that signals that "maniacs" will soon be "on the loose" in the theater. The movie was apparently retitled The Maniacs are Loose! at some point. 

The next Steckler movie is a really unusual outing. It's called The Lemon Grove Kids Meet The Monsters and we encounter this oddity next time. 

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The Best Of The Three Stooges Comicbooks Volume One!

Like most everyone else in my generation I grew up watching the Three Stooges fumble job after job and bash themselves about  on a daily basis. In those halcyon days before children were transformed into precious objects to be protected from the whims of their environment, we were allowed to watch grown men bonk each other in the nose or pluck two fingers into one another's eyes. Like most of my generation we survived only to turn around and demand that our own children not be subjected to such degrading violent entertainment. What a crock! 

This collection from Papercutz (the first of two) features early issues of The Three Stooges by Norman Maurer. Maurer was a lifelong friend and colleague of Joe Kubert. The two grew up together and became comic artists together but Mauer eventually ended up in California and married to the daughter of Moe Howard, the notorious leader of the Three Stooges. One thing led to another and eventually Maurer partnered with Kubert brought a Stooges comic book to St. John along with Kubert's pet project Tor. 

Mauer produced seven issues of the comic for St. John, two of those being in the 3-D format. Sadly this Papercutz collection does not have the two 3-D issues, though you can find one Three Stooges story in Craig Yoe's 3-D collection from Yoe Books. 

What we get are exceedingly well-crafted stories by Mauer featuring the trio of Moe, Larry and Shemp. One of the stories "Up An Atom" will actually share plot details with one of the later Three Stooges feature films, specially The Three Stooges in Orbit. Maurer would produce four Three Stooges features and direct two of them at the end of the 50's and into the 60's. 

We also get a new feature called "Lil Stooge" about a single fellow who is disrespected by his peers and underestimated as well. His connection to the Three Stooges is unrevealed. 

In addition to the St. John material there are three issues of The Three Stooges from Dell, specifically issues of Four Color in which the daffy trio starred. It's notable that the photograph images of the Stooges for these issues were specifically posed by the team for Dell. 

These comics are drawn by Pete Avalarado, like a Maurer a talent who worked both in comics and animation. These comics from 1959 and 1960 feature the final ensemble of Stooges with Moe and Larry being joined by Curly Joe. While these comics lack the depth of Maurer's wonderful rendering, they are briskly pace and rather funny. 

We get most of the third Dell outing by the Stooges but we will have to wait until the second volume to get all of it as well as more St. John comics by Maurer. Maurer will also be represented with his last Stooges comic work -- The Little Stooges from Gold Key. We'll get  to that in a few days. 

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Crime Alley - Family Man!

Family Man by Jerone Charyn and Joe Staton was published by DC Comics under their Paradox Mystery label back in the 90's. Paradox produced only four stories total in twelve digest-sized installments. The only one I was much interested in was  Family Man and that was because of the artwork of Joe Staton, the co-creator of E-Man and one of my all-time favorite artists. In this noir tale Joe gets to stretch his artistic muscles and offer up some gritty black and white artwork, which nonetheless has his lively style while straying far from his more warm and friendly work on things like Justice Society of America and Scooby Doo. 

Family Man is set "one hour in the future" and imagines a NYC which is overcome by crime and corruption. In fact in this story the mob is marginally more reliable than the city police force. This is the tale of two brothers, one named Alonzo who is a fearsome hitman for the Mafia, specifically the Furisoso family. His brother Charles is known throughout the city as a police chaplain and bounty hunter dubbed Monsignor. He wields enormous power and his motives are somewhat shadowy though he appears to be using former police officers to round up street gangs and collect them in the abandoned Yankee Stadium. There is also the mystery of who killed Alonzo's wife and children. 

The mobs are broken by and large as this story opens with only Don Furioso still breathing and in his case it just by a bit. Only the strength and menace of Alonzo seems to give enemies of the Mafia pause and he survives several attacks in this story which as grim as can be. There's the obligatory hooker with a heart of gold too, who seems to have feelings for both of the brothers. Mix in a corrupt police chief, a cowardly mayor, and some weird super-rich siblings who have their claws in everything as well as one another and you have a dire brew indeed. 

Jerome Charyn is apparently a well regarded author, but while that might well be the case, my recommendation for this book is because of the outstanding Staton artwork. This book is from Drew Ford's It's Alive outfit, and while I personally have some outstanding issues with Drew, I won't let it get in the way of pointing out a quick but compelling read. 

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The Sunday Funnies - Captain Easy 1936-1937!

Roy Crane's Captain Easy Soldier of Fortune - The Complete Sunday Newspaper Strips Volume 2 1935-1937 from Fantagrahics contains a somewhat less colorful and vibrant reding experience. The visual exuberance which had marked the earliest outings of the daring "Soldier of Fortune" in foreign lands among exotic flora and fauna and peoples gives way to a more familiar visual scheme. The stories are filled with plenty of derring-do and lots of danger, but somehow they come across as more humdrum, though still diverting and often funny. 

Cold of the Frozen North

From December 8, 1935 until April 19, 1935 we follow Captain Easy as he makes his way North into snowy regions where he has to fend off the henchmen of the villain Nikky Eskota. There are a number of hair-raising events as Easy and a lovely young woman use all types of transportation to get important items from the North into the South and then back again. 

The Hook-Nosed Bandit 

April 26, 1936 through August 8, 1936 brings us the story of the bandit who it turns out is Easy himself. He is confused for a villain and taken into custody by the local authorities but an old ally named Clipper Watson discovers his plight and takes steps to help him escape from custody. The duo are in and out of prison but eventually save a damsel and return her to her father, a wealthy man named Belfry. 

The Diamond Formula 

August 16, 1936 until December 13, 1836 brings us the story of Belfry himself who is an inventor and who has come up with a way to manufacture diamonds. This of course makes him a target of all manner of thieves as well as diamond merchants eager to protect their market. Easy follows Belfry back to America where they come up against some tough gangsters. 

Dinwiddy's Adventure

From December 20, 1936 through March 14, 1937 we follow the misadventures of a rich but timid man named Dinwiddy who is hungry for adventures and looks to Captain Easy to show him how one can be found. Easy helps him out and before long the complications and seeming dangers multiply quickly. 

Lost at Sea

March 21, 1937 through May, 9 1937 gives us tales of Benjamin Barton, another utterly rich man who seeks to get away from his domineering wife and the strife of modern living. He contracts with Easy and the two fly away and are reported missing. But they are on a secluded island Barton has prepared for just such a getaway. 

The King of Kleptomania 

From May 16, 1937 to November 14, 1937 we meet a hobo with the impressive name of Kron Prinz Hugo Maximillian Von Hooten-Tooten, Defender Extraordinary, Light of Heaven and Heir-Apparent to the throne of Kelptomania. It turns out he really is despite early well-justified suspicion he's bogus, but Easy follows this chap all the way to Kleptomania where he attempts to help regain his throne, one he is poorly qualified for. 

The Firing Squad

November 21, 1937 to May 15, 1938 brings us the last story in this collection and reunites Captain Easy with his longtime ally Washington Tubbs. The two of them are arrested a few times and end up facing a firing squad, but I can say they both pull through. Most of this adventure has the duo dodging bullets, spies, and even some tough looking gangsters. 

After the blazing beginning the Captain Easy Sunday page has a steady rhythm filled with lots of adventure and increasingly a lot of humor. This collection also includes an introductory essay by artist Paul Pope as well as other nifty material from editor Rick Norwood. 

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Joe Kubert's TOR - Volume Two!

In the second volume of Joe Kubert's Tor we get the final three St. John issues of the classic comic book. The 3-D fad nearly killed off St. John Publishing before the general calamity of the unfortunate early 50's fear-mongering thinned out the comic stands for other reasons. But before they went down, Joe Kubert and Norman Maurer pressed on. In Kubert's case, he came back with a somewhat more restrained product, less gleeful with a slightly more serious approach to the material. The light-hearted "The Wizard of Uggh" by Norman Maurer is gone for the pages of Tor (which is now actually called that) and while "Danny Dreams" continues it is also given a slightly more serious tone as the titular hero becomes trapped in his dreams of prehistoric times. For Tor's part, there seems on Kubert's part a desire to have his hero fight fewer dinosaurs and instead confront conflict with is fellow man more often. The dinosaurs become more of a background in the world in which Tor's evolved moral attitudes struggle to find a place. 

Beneath one of the greatest covers in all of comic book history issue three of Tor in the World of 1,000,000 Years Ago gives the reader three robust Tor adventures. The first has Tor venture onto the "Isle of Fire" where he finds a tribe of people much put upon by pale-skinned giants who seem to come from under the Earth. All that a volcano too. The second Tor tale is a two-page text yarn in which Tor battles for control of men eager to get away from a dangerous mountain snowfall. Every issue of Tor also has a nifty one-page visit with Joe Kubert and Norman Maurer who talk in this issue about theories of evolution and what inspires the tales in Tor. The third Tor story begins with a new gimmick dubbed "Panelrama" which merely means a two-page splash. In this story Tor protects a child from sacrifice and discovers a tribe of all women. He even battles a sabre-tooth tiger in this one. We get two more pages with infor on dinosurs before the book closes with another installment of "Danny Dreams", this one drawn by Alex Toth. In this story Danny again falls asleep and finds himself in prehistoric times, but when he seeks to wake up he discovers to his dread that he cannot. 

The pentultimate issue has a nifty cover too, but not a match for the previous one in dramatic effect. Tor's little ally Chee-Chee does get some good attention though. Tor finds a tribe suffering from extreme drought and a gang of men who are trading water for control and slaves. The heavens open in time to save them those who deserve it. Joe and Norman are back and this time the subject is how mankind faces up to extreme danger with is creativity even in times like the present filled with atomic threats. Tor makes an ally in the second story when he finds common ground with a mercenary named Barta in a struggle against some deadly '"Lizard Men" in the depths of a cavern. After a stunning panelrama splash Tor must fight for his life against a pack of wolves on the frosty peaks of rough and tough mountains. Always he must also struggle against people who are afraid and unreliable as well. The text piece this issue is about the bounty of the sea. Two more dinosaur pages before we get another "Danny Dreams" story, with Danny still in prehistoric past and this time he creates what we know today as the "Piltdown Man". Kubert has taken the artistic reins on this feature as well as the Tor stories. 

The final St. John Tor comic sports an energetic cover with Tor face to fang with a mighty sabre-tooth. The first Tor story has him come up against a mystery of meteors which seem to fall in only one valley on regular basis. He must seek that mystery and stop the medicine man who is using it to spread fear and keep power. Tor also meets and saves two boys named "Tik" and "Tok".Joe and Norman are back for a single page and this time the subject is what parents can expect from comic books and that they should use reason to find good ones. More treachery is afoot when Tor uncovers a plot by a devious couple to take power over a tribe but then these prove to be unfaithful. In a story which has the strongest Tarzan feel so far, Tor battles against a powerful tribe of apes. The "Panelrama" splash for this is mighty indeed. "Avenging Waters" is the text story this time and in it of all places we find Tor rescuing some of the same people who exiled him. They forgive him and welcome him back but Tor decides he's found his mission in life. It's a nice way to tie up the story since it will be come time before we see Tor again. After two more dinosaur pages we get the last "Danny Dreams" story and this time Danny finds a tribe of pygmies who also are quite sensitive to sound. He uses that knowledge to battle a giant and by the story's end Danny has awakened and is in the modern world again. 

This volume also sports an introduction by Kubert as well as another essay by Roy Thomas with background on the comics inside and more. Not to be missed is an extensive section with art by Kubert produced for Alter Ego and other fanzines as well as cartoons and elsewhere featuring his powerful caveman Tor. There is one more volume and in this one we leave the 50's and jet into the 70's and beyond. 

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Girl Fridays - Galaxina!

How I have existed on this planet and not seen Galaxina until now is a stunner. When this low-budget science fiction-comedy flick hit the screens I was gobbling up sci-fi with a robust appetite, but somehow or other this one never got on the menu. Maybe I thought it was a porno or something, but nevertheless this movie is a fun little flicker to enjoy if you adjust your settings down. 

The main attraction is the tragic star Dorothy Stratten and it's not too much to say that this is merely a vehicle to show off her considerable talents -- both of them. Wrapped up in a skintight white costume with a Power Girl cut-out at the bosom this strapping bombshell holds your attention when she slithers into the scene. 

She spends much of the first half of the movie mute, since being an android with the sole purpose to act as maid and butler to a gang of offbeat space cops she has little use for language. Later she gets feelings for Thor, one of the gang played by Stephen Macht and so reprograms herself to speak though going all the way will require a stopover at the local space station for new parts. 

As you might well know Stratten was murdered by her husband and manager soon after this movie was released. Galaxina is by far her most famous role outside the fold-out pages of Hugh Hefner's magazine, and there's no doubt she's an aloof beauty. I cannot judge from this outing really if her acting career had much distance, but as the titular star of Galaxina she performs exceedingly well. 

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Damn Dirty Trading Cards!

I rather enjoy these book collections of classic Topps trading cards from decades gone by. The latest one I picked up was this one dedicated to the Planet of the Apes. In a spritely essay by Gary Gerani we learn that Topps was a little late to the PotA party and these cards did not hit the shelves until a full year after the films release. Which was a virtue in a way since the editors didn't have to sweat spoiling the surprise ending of the first movie. 

This set of Topps cards from 1969 is a smaller assortment than normal and for a very odd reason. In these early days the notion of cross-promotion of a film was hardly unheard of, but not yet the marketing powerhouse it would become with films like Star Wars and after. So Topps had to negotiate with star Charlton Heston individually about using his likeness and he for some reason limited them to nine cards. Since he was the main character the editors at Topps decided to make this set only forty-four cards since they didn't want to make it seem he was a minor character. 

Oddly folks like Roddy McDowell didn't have the same option since their features were obscured by make-up. So this set landed and did some small business but not enough to see Topps try anything for the myriad sequels. They did scare up a set for the TV show but alas the CBS show was canceled just as the cards were hitting the shelves. 

The had much greater success when they got the rights to Tim Burton's revised Planet of the Apes and came forward with a wide range of cards. This book has them all included though I confess limited interest in the Burton images. It's a fine flick and all, but that first was a barn burner. 

I'm most happy to add the Planet of the Apes tome to take a place alongside earlier efforts featuring Star Trek and the legendary Mars Attacks. 

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