And now part 2 of our ongoing series, part one is here.
Today we honour Mrs. Lenny, for having portrayed two of the most pivotal roles in all Superman-dom. First she was Lana Lang in the cult classic Superman III, a role she was enthusiastic about because she always favoured the underdog girls in any of comics' great love triangles. Lana is perhaps the Betty of the Lois-Lana-Superman triangle, though Lana's personality has historically been elastic. In the seventies she was out-Loising Lois as a conniver. But Annette's portrayal was pure sweetie-pie.
By itself this would have been enough to cement her as an icon of Superman fandom, but then she went on to be Ma Kent to Bo Hazard's Pa Kent in Smallville. Producers of the show, when considering her for the part, were amazed by her knowledge of Kryptonian lore. Annette is a super fangirl from way back.
Wow, this no-budget 1962 film is stunning. It looks like a b-film, and it is, but the concepts involved are quite interesting and challenging. Watching it reminds me a lot of what I always pictured when reading classic "hard" SF. People in futuristic rooms sort of standing there, uttering perfectly formed speeches about interesting ideas. Just one of the things going on in the film is that, in the future world where androids are commonplace, a woman has elected to live in "rapport" with one of them, a sort of marriage. Kinky!
Someone on IMDB wrote this movie is "Better than Star Wars!" I wouldn't go that far. It's always handy to invoke the name of Star Wars to get some attention. They are two quite different movies. This movie could certainly be seen as the missing link between Metropolis and Blade Runner. Reputedly COTH was Andy Warhol's favourite movie.
Eclipso's first words in this tale, right on the splash page, are "Ha! Ha! Ha! Flee, you puny fools!" That's how you know it's gonna be good.
Bob Haney is one of the most fun comic writer of all time, and this tale, from House of Secrets #81, supports that theory in spades.
Dr. Bruce Gordon, Eclipso's good half, completes "Operation Big Boy", going with the theory that if you can't beat 'em, create a giant version of 'em to beat 'em for you. He does just that, but the plan backfires, natch, when Eclipso is able to turn his "Maxi-Me" to evil, because good is dumb. Now Eclipso is able to strike fear, as well as possibly some amusement, though fearful amusement, with the sight of himself riding on the shoulder of his giant double.
Eclipso's a simple guy, and has always believed four giants are better than one, so he uses his moonstone gem to release three prehistoric giants that were caught in stone...or something. Rampages ensue and a good time is had by all.
Now, I'm not one of those people who constantly call attention to all the little known facts. Partly because it's alternately annoying or pathetic when people do that and try to make everyone else feel inferior, but mostly because when people do this they are really only calling attention to the fact that they know a lot of things that most people can get through life perfectly fine without knowing. Or to put it more simply, people who know all the trivia are probably trivial. However, I do like to do what I can to bring some recognition to people or things that in some way have made my life as a patron of esoterica more enjoyable.
This is Ursula Davis, whose mug has popped up in several films I have enjoyed in the past few months. She generally appears in Italian made movies of the sixties. The three I have seen her in so far have been Kong Island, Crypt of the Vampire and An Angel For Satan. Her list of film credits is fairly short, but then so is Tura Satana's. Quality, not quantity. She seems to always play the nice girl who is contrasted with a femme fatale. Here she is in what may be her greatest film, Kong Island, appearing at about 1:20. Kong Island weaves together a plot involving a mad scientist, mercenaries, gorillas who are radio controlled, a jungle girl, big sixties hairdos, dancing, a muscle man with glittering teeth, and of course Ursula. Unfortunately there are no midgets, but it's still a masterpiece in the Dementia Squad canon.
Of all the Hepcat Hermits and all the Groovy Pads in the world, his pad may be the grooviest. Certainly its outside appearance, similar to an Easter Island statue, is tres tres groovy.
Our man eschews the company of annoying nosy, noisy people (or sponges) in favour of getting home and playing some boss tunes on his clarinet. We can dig it.
It is implied that Squidward at one point had a girlfriend when in one episode he remembers good times he had at Make-out Reef. Many HH-er's remember a lost love.
Mr. Tentacles keeps his pad clean and tidy. He takes pride in it. He enjoys artistic pursuits. Though not meeting much success in the art world, he still keeps at it, enjoying it for its own sake. He is a capable employee at a job where his brilliance goes unrecognized, but whose necessity he nonetheless recognizes, as it pays for the Groovy Pad. Squidward Tentacles, your heroism lives on to those of us in the Dementia Squad.
Here are the steps to becoming an effective comic movie critic:
-Read many or all the comics the movie will be based on. If you read them all when you were twelve, that's even better. Retain your idealized memory of them. -If you read them recently, mentally boil all the comics down to what you consider their best moments. -As you are doing this, dispel from your mind any memory of those moments in the comic you felt were silly, ie, villains of the month who weren't Badass! -Now, expect the movie will basically comprise exact duplications of those "best" moments. -Do not for a second consider the possibility comics engage the imagination in a way in which movies do not. -Expect a two or three hour movie to effectively convey at least a 12 issue arc. Preferably, 100 issues. -No matter how many lines of dialogue were in the comics that some might consider silly, expect every line in the movie to be Ibsen. Remember, you've blocked out all that silliness. -Expect the movie to be an exact recreation of what you imagined. Otherwise, it's total crap. -There is no room for the filmmaker's own creativity. You are paying to see something that is exactly how you imagined it. It makes complete sense why someone would want to pay to see something they already imagined. -Make sure you know effective adjectives for later describing elements of the film. Right now, "Amazing' and "Horrible" are in vogue. So if is someone says a movie you disliked is "good" say it is "horrible". "Horrible" trumps any positive adjective when describing a comic movie, except "amazing". If you say a movie is "horrible" but the other person says it's "amazing" that is an adjective stalemate. You might then go on to say the movie is an "abortion", but it's not certain right now how effective that is. (It does at least show what a logical and analytical person you are that you compared a comic book movie to one of the most traumatic events that can possibly happen. Good job.) -of course, "It sucks!" is another compelling argument. -No matter how many issues of the comic showed the characters involved in whimsical situations, if the characters in the movie become involved in whimsical situations, it is required while watching that you bury your face in your hands and let out a loud groan for all to hear and be impressed by your sense of realism.
We now begin a regular feature, which should serve me well when feeling especially lazy, in which Hepcat Hermits honours those performers who have played not just one but two roles from DC Comics. This is not to slight Marvel, despite the fact that DC is generally my preferred brand, but is simply because Marvel's relatively short supply of live action material, though it is of course rapidly catching up.
Which brings me to the rules that I am arbitrarily imposing on the feature just so the scope doesn't get too out of hand.
Featured honourees will have to meet the following criteria:
1) Both roles will have to be of a character originally appearing in the comic. And so, someone like Lynda Carter must be excluded, despite the fact she played Chloe's mother on Smallville, since Chloe herself only exists in the Smallville universe aka Earth-Welling.
2) At least one role must be live action. The second role may be animated, but must be a different character. So Adam West is excluded, for despite appearing in both live action and animated form as Batman, he appeared as the same character.
And now, without further ado about nothing, we come to today's honouree, none other than the granddaddy of 'em all, loveable Lyle Talbot! Who appeared as Commissioner Gordon in 1949's Batman and Robin, and as Luthor in 1950's Atom Man vs. Superman. Great DC resume: two household names. Born in 1902, Talbot also starred in many films and serials of all types including Commando Cody: Sky Marshall of the Universe, as well as many television roles. His last performance was on an episode of the eighties Newhart. Aside from his comic book performances, perhaps most noteworthy to those of the Dementia Squad is that he appeared in Ed Wood's masterpiece, Plan Nine From Outer Space. He is also the narrator of Mesa of Lost Women.
Superman has Perry White. Batman has Commissioner Gordon. Guys who help the heroes.
Spider-man has J. Jonah Jameson. The Hulk has Thunderbolt Ross. Guys who try to kill the heroes.
Those poor Marvel guys. Their father figures are psycho dads! I guess it says something about Marvel coming up in a time of disillusionment with authority or something. I dunno, I'm just in it for the giant robots and talking gorillas.
Dig: Robot Torture! Witness: An alien slave girl forced to dance and then fed to a monster!
Feast your orbs on: A bikini girl in chains!
Aim your peepers at: A space hero who has been turned into a coffee table top!
Dare to lay eyes upon: The Planet of Man-eating Teddy Bears!
Encounter: A flying motorcycle chase! Confront: A Galactic Emperor cackling evilly as he shoots lightning from his fingers! All these, and other lurid pleasures await!
This is essential reading for today's discerning Hepcat Hermit. A guide to the comics of the 1960's. For the Hepcat Hermit, the sixties are sort of an cultural home base. A good deal of our favourite movies, music and comics were made at that time. It's a focal point.
Full of lavish illustrations, trivia, and goodnatured jibes about the era's excesses - for want of a better word, because without those "excesses" it would not be the era it was. Those excesses are just enough for me. Maybe I should say "necessities". Sections on fave rave topics such as Herbie Popnecker, Zatanna, and of course talking gorillas. Always, always talking gorillas. As Samuel Johnson once meant to say, a man who is tired of talking gorillas is tired of life. And as Samuel Jackson once said, "English, motherf**cker! Do you speak it?" To which Grodd replied, "Yes, dirty human."
Thanks to the Hepcat Honey who gave me this as a gift! It is cherished.
Check it out: They both just sort of hover there and have those circles. Jupiter is obviously an undercover Death Star. It looks exactly like the Death Star would under several billion tons of, I must say, pretty cheap make-up.
Another case in point: Ever seen Jupiter in the same room as a Death Star? No you haven't.This one's pretty well sewn up, let's face it.
The so-called blogosphere has been abuzz lately about Archie's wedding to Veronica. It's been decried as publicity stunt. How evil! That a comic company should want to sell comics!
The thing that cracks me up is people writing things like, "I haven't bought an Archie comic in years, but why would they do this?" You just answered your own question.
I don't know how many times people who don't collect comics have looked at new ones I bought and been aghast by changes made to the characters in the twenty years since they bought their last issue. People expect comic companies will just keep going, magically doing the same thing for years even if all their old readers have gone away. It is nice that comics excite the imagination to the extent that people feel that comics are immune to reality, but unfortunately it's just not true.
"I want it all to stay the same, but I don't want to have to pay for it! I don't want to have to do anything, it should just all be there for me!"
I think one of the worst fates which can befall a novel is that it become revered to the point where it's shrouded in a mist of intellectualism and is totally daunting to the neophyte reader. Then it becomes the dreaded Book That Is Often Discussed But Seldom Read. Brrr! I'm pretty sure no one sits down at a desk for years on end, crafting and composing, for their work to meet that fate.
Such is the unfortunate case with James Joyce's Ulysses, which is really a fun and accessible book, it has just had now almost 90 years for it to gain a reputation as labyrinthine tome. New readers are already psyched out before they open it.
In many ways, it should be the most accessible novel. It is much like our own lives, here 105 years after the day on which it takes place, June 16, 1904. It has people engaged in mundane activities such as nasal spelunking, making tea, and so on. In some ways it's the novel about nothing, except that it reveals how behind "nothing," much is going on. Everything is going on. It is in the monent, and in all moments, just like the minds of any Hepcat Hermit. For many of us, much of what's really going on is in our heads. It has one of the easiest plots to follow, in that it takes place over a day, as most will be aware of. So it's not some crazy long Russian saga, not to mention any names. It slows life down to its actual pace. In other words, the story is moving about as fast as you're reading it.
Some people are probably initially confused by the Stream of Consciousness technique developed by Joyce to express the stray thoughts entering the minds of the characters. But the confusion is part of the technique, because if you could suddenly hear the thoughts of other people, they'd almost certainly be confusing. Think about what you've thought about in the last minute, and how much sense it would make to someone suddenly peering in.
However, there is enough direct action to be able to follow what is physically going on, so that even if the reader doesn't understand everything in the thoughts, there is a line to pursue. The meaning of some of the thoughts that seemed esoteric at first become clear later. This rewards rereading, and it's always good to read a book that will mean even more the second, third, fourth time.
It should be remembered how often we watch movies where there are flashback sequences where all is not explained, but we are conditioned to be aware all will be explained eventually, and this is a reason for following the story, not for giving up on it. Bear in mind, when the novel came out, movies were in their infancy, there was not as much to feed one's appetite for weirdness. Many of the novel's sequences can be appreciated in the way one appreciates a trippy dream sequence. You may not know what it's all supposed to mean, but it's interesting. Something else that comes to mind is song lyrics. Many lyrics may be "inside," ie their meanings known only to the songwriter, if even that, but we'll still enjoy how they sound. Speaking of trippy dream sequences, here's a beaut, from The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed Up Zombies.
One of the fun things about the book is that after a reading it for a while, you might go out into public and spontaneously and discreetly (or obviously, it's up to you) start making up SoC for people you see on the street. It's a way for Hepcat Hermit to amuse himself while out in public. As they glance at you, what are they thinking? Or just go ahead and read it in a public place, looking up occasionally at life as it passes as it is in the novel. As we see in the photo, Marilyn knows what time it is. Maybe you'll run into a Cool Chick who's also reading Ulysses.
One of its main characters has one of the neatest names in lit, Stephen Dedalus. This is Joyce's codename for himself. The inspirations for much of the book is Greek mythology. This might seem pretentious, but the point is that really the truths of mythology are implicit in every day events, similar to the sorts of themes Joseph Campbell would write about later. I mean, here's a cartoon that incorporates Greek mythology, and you don't think that's pretentious, do you? No, it's awesome and amazing and fun. Here Mighty Hercules battles a different Dedalus.
For every mad scientist there must be an equal and opposite burlesque dancer.
This flick starts with a chick, a dancer, being jilted by a guy. Distraught, she drives her car down an embankment and ends up in an accident that scars her for life. Or is it for life?
A mysterious scientist, hearing of her plight, sends his lovely assistant to tell the chick that there's hope, and so she goes to his mysterious house to undergo the mysterious treatment. Which works...for a while...
The mad scientist's just a schoolboy at heart, and soon falls for his lovely patient. Unfortunately he finds that her treatment is not permanent, and the scars start coming back in some wonderful special effects transformation scenes. He realizes that he needs to kill young women to steal their life essence to restore her beauty, natch. In the world of mad scientists, beautiful women are the earth's most valuable natural resource. He has too much of a conscience to do kill, but turns to mad science for the solution and puts it to the test tube. He whips up a concoction that turns him into a soulless monster to make it all go easier. It also gives him fangs and quite a bushy bushy hairdo.
Meanwhile, she is tired of being cooped up despite his promises he will let her go after a final treament. The man who jilted her has been missing her and drowning his sorrows in other dancers, but now comes to realize she's alive. There is then some cat and mouse as the police go question the mad scientist, leading to a climax in a greenhouse. He just wanted to be loved!
It's a gothic science fiction romance/melodrama with much to recommend it, though it's not as exciting as some I've watched recently and some parts drag. A lot of the drama is oddly compelling, however. Here's the trailer. Interestingly, this includes a scene of her dancing. The copy I watched did not.
Hepcat Hermits dig Zatanna. She's a brunette and she wears fishnets in her civilian and superhero identities. This story is about the the Atom's first meeting with Zee and is illustrated by Gil Kane. If you like Gil in his more basic sixties style as opposed to the the more choppy style of later, this one's for you.
The thing I find particularly cool about this story is that Fox was clearly mixing together a love of fantasy with a love of science fiction by teaming a science based superhero with a magic based one. Zatanna recruits the Atom's help in trying to find her father. (This was an ongoing storyline of several sixties DC Titles, now compiled in Zatanna's Search, which contains this story.) Together they go to a world inside a single atom of a book of magic Zee has. That's so rad! They find a dangerous cat by the name of the Druid, who sics all sorts of nasties on them and drains Zee's magic. What's interesting to me is that with her magic drained, Zatanna's top hat falls off. This backs up my theory that Zee keeps it on during battle using magic. Her spells are spoken backwards, so likely she says, "Tah yats no!" It's important to bring this up as there is an unfortunate tendency lately to have Zee just walking around without her hat. Booooo!
Well, the Atom ends up figuring out a solution that involves no magic. He's a pretty crafty little guy. Also significant about this story is that the Atom has adapted his size changing device to be controlled by his fingers putting pressure on his palms. Sound familiar? Yes, clearly Ray Palmer had been reading some Spidey tales. No sooner does he make the change than he finds himself in a situation where his old controls on his belt would have spelled certain doom.
Every shot is extraordinarily well executed. It's a Silver Age beauty, and Kane's surreal subatomic trip is comparable with Ditko visuals. I was enchanted.
This one's got it all, kids! A haunted castle, overdubbing, a mad scientist lab, a torture chamber, creepy organ music composed by Mr. Ennio Morricone, ghosts, dreams, hallucinations...well it's a smorgasbord.
This is about a chicky-baby who sleeps with a dude, but then her everloving hubbykins dearest, who's an evil mad scientist natch, catches her and declares it a no-no. Hubbykins takes wifey down to the torture chamber of their cozy castle and it's on like Chakha Khan. Tortures them to death just for funsies. Suddenly the evil Doctor realizes he just screwed himself out of her will because she willed all her stuff to her step sister who's in a looney bin.
Hubbins finds out that step-sister's attractive, in fact looks just like his dead wife which is a crazy coinkedenk until we find out that she is played by the same actress, sensashe Barbara Steele, except she's blond. So he marries her to get at that sweet, sweet inheritance, after she's been declared well enough by her doc.
Meanwhile Hubbins was never exactly an angel as far as marital fidelity goes, as he was sleeping with a maid whose youth and beauty he restored with his mad scientist skills - as a sort of side project to all the torturing and murder. She natch is not too happy that Blondie's set up shop at the Fun Palace, but everloving Hubby says chill, we'll give her hullucino-jens so she gets good and insane, once they lock her up in a looney bin we'll have the castle all to ourselves, just us and the corpses. This leads to a whale of a good time in the old castle tonight!
Barbara Steele is a wonderful horror actress. I'm sorry I'm not making the Rue Morgue horror festival this year in Toronto, she's a guest and so is Roger Corman. Jump back!
...was born at a very young age. He was born yesterday. He is a certified hepcat hermit. Resolutely so. He eschews the company of most people. He collects comics and records, reads books, watches movies and finds parties very boring. Which dovetails neatly with never being invited.
Do ya like scantily clad cavegirls with fifties hairdos?
And now part 2 of our ongoing series, part one is here.
Wow, this no-budget 1962 film is stunning. It looks like a b-film, and it is, but the concepts involved are quite interesting and challenging. Watching it reminds me a lot of what I always pictured when reading classic "hard" SF. People in futuristic rooms sort of standing there, uttering perfectly formed speeches about interesting ideas. Just one of the things going on in the film is that, in the future world where androids are commonplace, a woman has elected to live in "rapport" with one of them, a sort of marriage. Kinky!
Of all the Hepcat Hermits and all the Groovy Pads in the world, his pad may be the grooviest. Certainly its outside appearance, similar to an Easter Island statue, is tres tres groovy.
Here are the steps to becoming an effective comic movie critic:
See: A monster party palace like no other!
This is essential reading for today's discerning Hepcat Hermit. A guide to the comics of the 1960's. For the Hepcat Hermit, the sixties are sort of an cultural home base. A good deal of our favourite movies, music and comics were made at that time. It's a focal point.
The so-called blogosphere has been abuzz lately about Archie's wedding to Veronica. It's been decried as publicity stunt. How evil! That a comic company should want to sell comics!
Dementia Squad Law:
Hepcat Hermits dig Zatanna. She's a brunette and she wears fishnets in her civilian and superhero identities. This story is about the the Atom's first meeting with Zee and is illustrated by Gil Kane. If you like Gil in his more basic sixties style as opposed to the the more choppy style of later, this one's for you.
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