Blog From The Monsterverse

After more than fifty years, iconic horror film star Bela Lugosi will live again as the undead host of a new horror comic book!

The Monsterverse is proud to announce BELA LUGOSI’S TALES FROM THE GRAVE, a full-color anthology in the classic EC and Warren tradition, presenting weird and fantastic tales to keep you awake long into the night. In a special arrangement with Bela G. Lugosi, son of the famous actor, Bela Lugosi will act as host and commentator for each terror tale.

Comics professionals Kerry Gammill and Kez Wilson are returning to the field for this special series. As editors and publishers, they will be bringing the finest artists and writers available to the book. In fact, the very first issue will feature a cover from Basil Gogos, perhaps the most famous monster artist of all time. Marvel/DC alums Gammill and Wilson will also be contributing their own considerable talents to several stories throughout the series.

Look for BELA LUGOSI’S TALES FROM THE GRAVE to premiere in early 2010.

Horror artists and writers interested in contributing to the project may contact info@monsterverse.com for more information.

[NOTE: This report is obviously out of time order, but Kezilla thought it would be timely due to the release of two of the films on DVD today.]

At FXRH’s place, it was just him, me and Kezilla this time. I think we’ve only had one other meeting where there were just three of us.

Dinner was early –- those chicken strips and French fries from that great place FXRH goes to (I think it’s just called ‘Chicken and Rice’ –- of course, we never get the rice… that would be too healthy). He also picked up a strawberry cheesecake for dessert.

We started with the last thirty minutes of the new Blu-ray edition of THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY (1966, but not released in the U.S. until 1968, which always plays havoc with my movie timeline) with commentary by Christopher Frayling. This was from the point where that loveable murdering bandit Tuco (Eli Wallach in one of the greatest performances of all time) frantically searches for my grave (yes, the name on the grave is “Arch Stanton”) and the lure of $200,000 in buried gold, and we continued on through the final shootout to the end. Obviously, I love this movie dearly since I not only use the pivotal Arch Stanton name, but also his skeletal remains as my avatar.

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At Kezilla’s place it was everyone in attendance except for Oldmanster.

We started with the first two episodes of THE BIG BANG THEORY, a CBS sitcom that started in 2007 that I had never heard of, which shows you how out of touch I am with recent network television fare. It’s evidently a pretty popular show, too. The premise has a beautiful girl (Kaley Cuoco) move into an apartment building right across the hall from two extremely brainy nerds (Jim Parsons and ROSEANNE’s Johnny Galecki) named Sheldon and Leonard (yes, that’s an intentional gag), then follows Leonard’s attempts to get into her pants.

What impressed the hell out of me about the show is how well-defined the characters are and how the writers go out of their way to pepper it with extremely intellectual discussions, genre trivia and obscure references. For example, in the second episode Sheldon, Leonard and their two equally geeky best friends get into a complex argument about whether or not Superman could have saved Lois Lane from the helicopter sequence in SUPERMAN (1978) without defying the laws of physics. When someone points out that Superman’s super powers defy those same laws, the comment is brushed off by Sheldon with, “I don’t have a problem with that…” or something. It was genius.

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There were no meetings for two weeks after the last one. I was out of town in Virginia the first weekend (seeing my good old pal Ed Dennis and the gang at Screen Archives Entertainment), then everyone was just sort of busy the next. But it was back to serious business on January 30 with everyone in attendance at FXRH’s place except Oldmanster Reed and TV’s Steve.

Before the meeting, FXRH and I picked up a pound of great sliced barbecue beef along with six chopped beef sandwiches (for $5!) from a place called Riscky’s. Add some creamy cole slaw and jalapenos and it was a typically Texan meal. Oh, and a Key lime pie, of course.

First up was the opening title sequence to THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER (1937), the Errol Flynn version from Warner Bros. The reason we watched this was because Ryan and I had gotten a great gig to write the liner notes and music analysis for the upcoming Tribute Film Classics re-recording of the Erich Wolfgang Korngold score for the film. Ryan wrote the overview of the production while I tackled the cue-by-cue notes.

I’ve never done this kind of thing before and I can tell you that I now have a very healthy respect for good cue notes. It’s not easy. I had to watch the movie about forty times in bits and pieces, comparing those scenes with the advance tracks I was given, then write it all up with a concise synopsis of the movie itself. Man, it took forever –- especially since I had never even seen the movie and was not the least bit familiar with the score.

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I like watching HELL’S KITCHEN. I also enjoy going to my local WAFFLE HOUSE. Here’s the best of both worlds.

Kezilla

HE’S A ROCKET MAN…
A top secret rocket-pack, technology spawned by the scientific genius of Doc Savage, has disappeared. It’s up to the Man of Bronze and his Iron Crew to recover the device before it falls into the wrong hands and can be turned against the United States. Then come the reports of the high flying adventurer known only as The Rocketeer. Will he be friend or foe?

In 1982, Dave Stevens introduced us to The Rocketeer.  The adverntures of Cliff Seecord began as a backup feature in various Pacific Comics publications.  They told the tale of Cliff finding the fabulous rocket pack that hurtled him through the skies, and of it’s inventor, a strange mysterious figure of glistening bronze skin and golden eyes, who was curiously never called by name.

Click the cover for a better view of the Rocketeer’s first adventure told from Doc Savage’s point of view.

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After a really long hiatus, Oldmanster Reed finally rejoined us (“Tonight – on a very special Monster Kid meeting…”), so it was all of us except The Kid, who was again out of town for a convention.

Needless to say, there was a lot of conversation since we hadn’t seen the old one (who looks younger than most of us) in so long. Oldmanster had flown up to Utah for Christmas and lost his breath the minute he stepped off of the plane due to the altitude, so he spent the whole vacation indoors dealing with that. Then he gets back home and immediately develops pneumonia, so he spends a week in the hospital. Man, did we feel for him…

But it wasn’t long before all of that was forgotten and we were into a heated debate – me and Ryan on one side, Reed on the other. This was of earthshaking importance, too: John Barry vs. David Arnold as the best James Bond film composer. We’ve argued this before, so why do it again? Because it’s passionate and makes us feel alive, I guess. Certainly, no minds were changed.

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One by one New York’s most dangerous criminals are being turned to stone, victims of the aptly named but mysterious Gorgon. In desperation, the remaining criminal masterminds do the unthinkable: they go to Doc Savage for help. Suspecting a more diabolical plan at work, the Man of Bronze unexpectedly finds himself pitted against a foe of mythical proportions.

I’ve done so many Harryhausen inspired covers how could I not include one of Our Lady Of The Snakes from CLASH OF THE TITANS. Click on the cover to take you to the Doc Fantasy Cover Gallery for a better look. More details on this cover after the jump.

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When I picked up The Beach Party at the Threshold of Hell (2006), presented by National Lampoon, I was half expecting the usual lamebrain, college drunk boy type of programming the label sank to long ago. On the other hand, something told me that this one would be different from other NL films. And the fact is, this isn’t like any other National Lampoon movie.

Threshold, as I shall call it for the sake of brevity, is a post-apocalyptic science fiction comedy. A holocaust in 2074 has forced the population of the U.S. to live underground for twenty years. One of the survivors is Tex Kennedy (Kevin Wheatley), only a wee lad when he was dumped in a bunker for his own protection by his robot bodyguards Yul (Chandler Parker) and Quincy (Paul Whitty). Over those long, lonely years Tex listened to the radio broadcasts of the King of America, Clark Remington (Daniel Baldwin), and emerged into the sunlight with a mission to find the King of America’s proclaimed successor Benjamin Remington (Bill English). The rest of the movie details his trek on foot into the heart of darkness, the Threshold of Hell, a ravaged landscape of beaches where he confronts Cannibal Sue (Jamie Bullock), jealous heir Vincent “Jackle” Remington (Lea Coco), Yorick (Alex Reznick), and Marcellus St. Joan (Ted Schneider) in his quest to bring the good news to New America’s decimated population.

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Only one man was brilliantly evil enough to set the Man of Bronze against the Master of Darkness!  Once again Doc Savage finds himself pitted against the deadly Dr. Fu Manchu, the lives of those most dear to him hanging in the balance. But this time he has a powerful ally against the Devil Doctor. . .
THE SHADOW!

As a follow-up to the Fantasy Doc Cover, THE SHADOW GAMBIT, I did the sequel which features a villain fitting for these two pulp juggernauts.  This is the kind of Doc Savage/Shadow crossover I’d really like to see.  And being an equal opportunity mash-up artist, I gave Christopher Lee’s Fu Manchu the spotlight this time.  Click on the cover to take you to the Doc Fantasy Cover Gallery for a better look. More details on this cover after the jump.

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