Category: Comic Books

TCM West is showing “Who Was That Lady?” Good question, because who’s the blonde in the middle of this scene? Why, it’s B-movie bombshell Joi Lansing.

Joi appeared in “Superman’s Wife,” one of the more memorable episodes of “The Adventures of Superman” that, as a kid, I was always particularly excited to see.

And who was that guy on the left, from the same movie? It’s an uncredited appearance by my mother’s old friend, Vincent Beck playing, of course, a Russian, as he would later do in episodes of “The Monkees” and “Gilligan’s Island.”

“Down the Batpole Robin! And up! And down! And up!” I admit I didn’t get the joke the first time I heard it when I was a kid.

Tom Hiddleston is always fun to watch as the master of mischief, Thor’s nemesis Loki.

I don’t know how much general interest there is in a biopic of Hank Williams, but the British actor sure does seem to be the right choice to play the country music legend.

It’s been over a month since Marvel Comics artist Herb Trimpe, the master of groovy teeth^*, died suddenly while out jogging, which is probably how I’ll go, eventually. Herb was a top-notch comic book artist, with a distinctive style and as good an ability to design a page and tell a story clearly as any artist. He was noted for his long run on the Hulk, during which he co-created Wolverine, a character that has been very good for Hugh Jackman’s bank account.

After a stint in the Air Force, Herb was a Marvel mainstay for almost 30 years, until 1996, when Marvel stopped giving work to its veteran artists, in favor of younger talent. (Joe Sinnott retired from full-time artistic duties in 1994.) A few years later, Herb wrote an op-ed about his struggles in The New York Times that received a lot of attention. He kept going by teaching, doing commissions, and drawing sketches at conventions, like the one I embedded above. Herb was a great guy to know, and he is missed personally, as well as professionally.

^*Inside joke with Denro

If you aren’t up for watching the Avengers movie, this is just as good, and a lot shorter. Watch it now, before Disney has it pulled!

I’m still waiting for some sort of official release of these cartoons. Four years ago Marvel announced they would be available for streaming on Netflix, but it didn’t happen.