The day FRANK avoided his BOSS

FRANKLAZY BASTARD

World of Mystery #4 (Dec 1956).

Green Lantern movie review

Didn’t hate it. Which is probably the most I can hope for in a super-hero movie, that it isn’t too terrible.

Anyway, here’s a piece of art copyright Fred Hembeck featuring Nova kicking Hal’s butt, originally from RBCC #150 (1978).

Hmm. This art needs a script…

Panel 1: “Hey, Ring Slinger Lad! What’s this about you hitting on my girl Ginger? She’s only 16!”

Panel 2: “She looks 28!”

Panel 3: “Eat Nova-fist, jerk! Eat it through your heart!”

Panel 4: “Daddy!”

Yeah. That was more fun than the movie.

Code Name: Gilda

I’ve had the phrase ‘Weaponized Bio-Whore’ stuck in my brain for weeks and finally photoshopped it out of my head where it can cease wreaking havoc on my gray cells. This must be what Ellis, Morrison and Moore feel like sometimes.

Take me to…Teen Street!

As part of the Disney marketing machine supporting the film In Search of the Castaways starring Maurice Chevalier and Hayley Mills, 1962 also saw the release of the elder and younger star hosting a concept album called Teen Street. Featuring a romance theme the idea behind Teen Street was that teenagers are not only the same all over the world but similar from one generation to the next. The album is a bit myopic culturally and has the standard Disney idealization of what life is like.

The album showcases established recording stars like Disney-staple Annette Funicello and relatively unknown performers getting some exposure that is surely low-risk to the studio. Billy Storm and Gary Shortall both have some good entries to the album. Annette Funicello and the Sylte Sisters add no surprises with entries pretty typical for the young teen market sought by Disney. One song listeners may take exception with is The Wildest as sung by Shortall (22:02). While not his fault the tune sounds so derivative of Dion’s The Wanderer that lawyers for the Laurie label must have been high-fiving each other for months after the release, assuming Gary U.S. Bonds didn’t have his people all over it first. Pushover by Storm and Rovin’ Eyes by Shortall are good listens and I recommend them.

Disappointingly for most fans, Maurice and Hayley do not sing on this album. The soundtrack to Castaways would have been doing well enough at the time and Teen Street was undoubtedly using combined star power to promote sales. They serve only as hosts with Maurice doing most of the talking, introducing the songs in something of a cohesive narrative about young people finding love. The album is mostly referenced for the fun cover featuring Maurice and Hayley dancing on a cartoon street.

You can listen to the entire album as one file here: Teen Street

Here is the track list:

Side One
Teen Street – Group Vocal
Walkin’ and Talkin’ – Annette
Pushover – Billy Storm
Double Feature Movie – Sylte Sisters
Rovin’ Eyes – Gary Shortall
Cinderella Jones – Sylte Sisters

Side Two
Double Date – Billy Storm
Two Against the World – Annette
The Wildest – Gary Shortall
Good Girl – Billy Storm
Teenage Wedding – Annette
To Be Continued – Sylte Sisters

Lest We Forget

In the Brightest Day Aftermath mini-series The Search for Swamp Thing, John Constantine is puzzling out why the new Swamp Thing, this time around hosting the spirit of Alec Holland is acting like an Eco-terrorist and not the more neutral “Guardian of the Green” he is familiar with.

After returning from being exiled in space as an unintended consequence of an assassination attempt, ST attacked and killed almost all of those responsible for the attack. All of the deaths were ironic or horrific in nature a la The Specter but the following pages from Swamp Thing #63 (August 1987) are the most grisly.

Prior to “The Anatomy Lesson” the Swamp Thing was a character that things happened to. He was a spectator and often a victim. Afterwards he was a bit more pro-active and became less the warm and cuddly cabbage patch doll. This time the difference is that the spirit of Alec Holland might be a bit peeved at being murdered and is lashing out (even though Alec eventually found peace over the course of several stories). The result may be a nut-job spirit that needs to be exorcised from the Swamp Thing.

Gene Colan

Heard today of the passing of who is without a doubt my favorite comic book artist ever, Gene Colan at the age of 84.

At the right is a page from Tomb of Dracula #50 featuring the unlikely battle between the Lord of Vampires and the Silver Surfer. This page from ToD was the first original art I ever owned. When I saw it on a table at the San Diego Comic Con years ago I knew I had to have it. Gene Colan in that one page combined what I enjoyed most about horror and science fiction with effortless wild talent.

Thanks, Gene.

I, The Quitter

The roar of the custom tour bus shook the parking lot. Conservatives staggered to the left. Sarah’s eyes were a symphony of incredulity, an unbelieving witness to truth and reality. Quickly, she checked the beautiful swelling of her personal portfolio account where the money went in.

“How could you?” The Tea Party gasped.

Sarah had only a moment before talking to a corpse of a Presidential campaign, but she got it in.

“It was easy,” Sarah said.

Dance Craze

It was on this day minus a few days give or take one or two years ago that Will Ferrell did his best to ensure there ever being a hard-SF version of The Land of the Lost. It would be easier and more profitable to rip off the concept of LotL and package it as something new and original than use the Krofft characters ever again. Die in a gutter, Will!

Do the Sleestak!

The Mills Family

Hayley Mills, sister Juliet and parents John and Mary at poolside.

From Cosmopolitan (December 1962).

Trending topics

For the first time since I posted about the subject several years ago the search term “Supergirl Tentacle Porn” has dropped way down on the list of what brings people to the site. The new number one phrase that directs visitors to Lady, That’s My Skull is “Hayley Mills”*!

Specifically, they are landing on the Introducing: Hayley Mills entry featuring young Hayley as an infant in an uncredited screen debut!

Goodbye pervos, hello legitimacy!

Oh, and Snerls are cool.

* And thankfully not “Hayley Mills N**de”, either.