What Joe Sinnott was to Marvel, his friend Joe Giella was to DC. Joe passed away yesterday at age 94.
Mark Evanier has this remembrance.
DC 94 yr. GIANT, Joe Giella
Category: Comic Books
Walmart Beats Amazon!
I’m miffed at Amazon for ending Kindle magazines and newspapers. Even before that announcement I was annoyed to see the only place taking pre-orders for the Max Fleischer’s Superman (1941-1943) Blu-ray set isn’t Amazon, it’s Walmart.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Max-Fleischer-s-Superman-1941-1943-Blu-Ray/1574573807
Update: Amazon now has a listing, but Walmart’s price is $4 less.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BXQM8FTK/
Update: Amazon’s price now matches Walmart’s.
The Music Man of Steel
A tip o’ the Dog Rat toupee to my best buddy Denro, for tipping me off to this 1975 ABC-TV production of the 1966 musical, It’s a Bird… It’s a Plane… It’s Superman. Lesley Ann Warren plays Lois Lane. She would have been good in The Rocky Horror Picture Show if Susan Sarandon hadn’t played Janet in the movie.
Coming in May will be an official Warner Blu-ray release of the 1940’s Fleischer/Famous Superman cartoons. It’s being reported that the original negatives have been scanned for perfectly super image quality. The cartoons will also be available to purchase for online streaming.
The Original Copyist
Another preview for the Roy Lichtenstein documentary, WHAAM! BLAM!
WHAAM! BLAM! Trailer from James Hussey on Vimeo.
The director called [David] Barsalou’s research a “goldmine,” and added the film wouldn’t have existed without his work.
https://www.thereminder.com/localnews/chicopee/barsalous-research-featured-in-new-documentary/
Hand Hold
The decades-old expression “Talk to the Hand” was considered a dismissive, impolite gesture. Which of course didn’t stop my boss from using it on everybody who reported to him.
I’ll use the cover of The Flash #163, the first issue of the title I ever bought, to say “talk to the hand.” I’m not doing it to be impolite, but to say I’m going to stop blogging for a while.
There isn’t a technical problem with the site like last time, and in fact my hosting plan is about to renew for another year. But circumstances being what they are, I need to put the blog on hold and focus on some personal matters.
My Favorite Martian
After watching Invaders from Mars recently, I looked for my post from November, 2017 about “IT’s ALIVE!”, an exhibit of horror movie posters and artifacts at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, MA.
The blog post was nowhere to be found because, I realized, I’d never written it. Recalling what was going on five years ago, it’s an understandable oversight. Having retired (at a relatively young age) earlier that year, I was traveling to Phoenix every month to fulfill my power of attorney duties on behalf of my father.
I wasn’t able to attend “IT’s ALIVE!” until shortly before the show closed. That was just a couple of weeks after my father’s death and, upon returning home, being diagnosed with melanoma skin cancer. So, more than five years after the fact, here’s a link with more about a fun exhibit that I enjoyed very much, especially under the circumstances.
https://www.wbur.org/news/2017/08/11/its-alive-metallica-guitarist-pem
These photos aren’t very good quality, having been taken with my old LG flip-phone. A highlight of “IT’S ALIVE!” was this original Martian Mutant costume from Invaders of Mars.
The pole conveniently hides the mutant’s infamous zipper, while revealing its butt crack.
I was particularly impressed to see original paintings by Frank Frazetta. As with the Mona Lisa, they’re smaller than you’d expect.
