NBC Saturday Morning Peacock Club Update

Way back on July 24, 2009 I posted a 1979 comic book ad for the NBC Saturday Morning Peacock Club and asked if anyone had ever joined it. Well, someone did. John from the Wary Meyers Decorative Arts blog joined the club in 1980. Check out his post here to see what NBC sent you for joining.

Happy 4th of July!

Did I post these last year? I don't remember and I'm too lazy to look.

The Mighty Marvel Bicentennial Calendar 1976.

This was one of my favorite calendars when I was a kid. You can see all the scans over at Rip Jagger's Dojo.

Happy Independence Day!

Fireworks: Famous Banner Assortment - Only $4.95

Get your Fleer Dubble Bubble Gum and fireworks kids!

This ad appeared in comic books in 1950.

Mmmerica!

Mmmerica! Land of the free and home of the bacon.

This shirt is availabe at TShirtBordello.

Rue Morgue Radio's Hymns From the House of Horror II

From the Rue Morgue website --

Last year's free, downloadable compilation album was so much fun to stitch together that we decided to try our monstrous hand at it again! Behold: Rue Morgue Radio's Hymns From the House of Horror II! It has a nice ring to it, doesn't it? Over the past year, a number of bands have caught our attention, so we asked some of 'em to lend us a song that we could pass along in the hopes that their macabre melodies will incite the same kind of incurable madness in you as they have in us. We received exclusive tracks, previously unreleased oddities, sneak peeks and killer cuts that, once mashed together with some fake grindhouse trailers (courtesy of RM staff and friends), makes for one hell of a horror set. Just don't drag your feet! Hymns II will only be available until July 31, 2011. After that, it's gone forever!

Click the link below for more info and the download link --

Rue Morgue Radio's Hymns From the House of Horror II

Christmas In July

Christmas In July has begun over at Ernie (Not Bert). Make sure you check his blog every day in July for some wonderful Holiday tunes.

Edited to add --

Joanna at the Christmas TV History blog is also having a Christmas In July celebration. All month she'll be featuring discussions about Christmas entertainments made in the 1990s.

Original Captain America Hitting DVD on July 19

From Superhero Hype --

The Very First Avenger Makes His Long Awaited Debut On DVD on July 19th

Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment’s “manufacturing on demand” (“MOD”) program is excited to announce its newest addition, CAPTAIN AMERICA, available on DVD as part of MGM’s Limited Edition Collection. Based on the bestselling Marvel Comics series, CAPTAIN AMERICA stars Matt Salinger (What Dreams May Come) as a crime-fighting superhero whose strengths and abilities may save the United States from nuclear destruction.

During World War II, a brave American soldier (Salinger) volunteers to undergo experiments to become a new super-soldier, codenamed “Captain America.” Infiltrating Germany to sabotage Nazi rockets pointed at the U.S., Captain America faces off with Nazi superhuman warrior Red Skull (Scott Paulin, The Right Stuff) who defeats the hero, throwing him into suspended animation. Frozen for 50 years, Captain America is found and revived only to find that Red Skull has changed identities and has targeted the President of the United States (Ronny Cox, RoboCop) for assassination. With America on the verge of utter chaos, it is up to one man to save the day!

CAPTAIN AMERICA also features supporting performances from Ned Beatty (Superman), Darren McGavin (A Christmas Story), Michael Nouri (Flashdance) and Melinda Dillon (Close Encounters of the Third Kind) and Kim Gillingham (“One Big Family”). The DVD will be available for sale on online retailers everywhere.

Monster Bash 2011 Recap

I managed to make it to the Monster Bash last Friday. Had a great time as usual. I was a little short on cash, but that's OK, I still bought some cool monster stuff. Here's my haul --

Horror Host Graveyard Trading Cards Series 1 and 2
Marvel Essential horror books --
Ghost Rider Vol. 2
Marvel Horror Vol. 1
Tomb of Dracula Vol. 2
Tomb of Dracula Vol. 3
Tomb of Dracula Vol. 4

Not too bad. I also got autographs from Dawn Wells and Caroline Munro. Later that night I attended a special screening of two horror related episodes of Gilligan's Island and a Q&A with Dawn Wells. It was really cool listening to Dawn's stories. She's very down to earth. But, the best part of the Bash was hanging out with Max the Drunken Severed Head. Max is a great guy and very generous. We walked around the dealer room and even went to his hotel room for some refreshments and great conversation. Thanks Max, I had a blast. I only wish I could have stayed longer. Make sure you follow Max on these sites --

Facebook
Famous Monsters of Filmland
Blogger

The only downside to the Bash was that they didn't have a t-shirt in my size. This is the second time this has happened. You'd think they would have XXL shirts. I saw a whole bunch of overweight monster kids walking around. Oh well, their loss. :)

Here's my pics --



Vampires in the hotel lobby.





Cortlandt Hull's The Witch's Dungeon




The lovely Dawn Wells





Me and the not-so-lovely Max




The also lovely Caroline Munro



Caroline Munro as Stella Star from the movie Starcrash. Now all I need is the Hoff's autograph.



Q&A with Dawn Wells.




Gilligan and the Skipper made a special appearance.

Gene Colan, R.I.P.

From Hero Complex --

Gene Colan, the comic-book artist best known for The Tomb of Dracula and his work with characters such as Daredevil, Batman, Iron Man and Howard the Duck, died Thursday in New York after battling liver disease and cancer.

The work of the Bronx, N.Y., native spanned 67 years and crossed multiple comics universes, with credits for Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, Eclipse and even Archie. His moody, atmospheric style stood in stark contrast to, say, the cosmic bombast of Jack Kirby or the kinetic realism of Neal Adams.

Colan will be most remembered for an era-defining achievement in 1970s horror comics; he drew 70 issues of The Tomb of Dracula,” written by Marv Wolfman, creating the vampire-hunter character Blade that would lead to the first Marvel film franchise. (“Howard the Duck” also made history in 1986 as the first Marvel feature film, although its achievements beyond that are debatable.)

In 2009, Colan illustrated a Captain America issue titled “Red, White and Blue-Blood,” written by Ed Brubaker. The book won the 2010 Eisner Award for best single issue.

“Gene Colan was like no other artist of his generation,” said Jim Lee, comic-book artist and co-publisher of DC Comics. “His ability to create dramatic, multi-valued tonal illustrations using straight India ink and board was unparalleled. The comics industry has lost one of its true visionaries today.”

A post on Colan’s website said the artist was “a fighter to the end, making plans on leaving the hospice” and pricing a VW Beetle.

Writer Clifford Meth wrote about his friend Colan’s death on his blog.

“He was a gentle and deeply spiritual man, a bright light in every context, and those who knew him at any level were enriched by his warmth and generous nature,” Meth wrote. “He was exactly the type of man who should be drawing superheroes for young people to marvel at. Exactly and precisely.”

The Incredible Hulk vs. "The Green Frog"

From the inside front cover of Porky Pig #70. Enjoy!