Tagged: Flash Gordon

Frank Frazetta: An Appreciation

Frank Frazetta: An Appreciation

Frank Frazetta ushered in a new era of cover painting with heavily muscled heroes and lush, voluptuous women, evolving the pulp magazine style for more contemporary audiences. His work proved influential to writers, artists, and musicians for decades.

Best known for his series of covers featuring Conan the Barbarian on the Lancer paperbacks of the 1960s, he went on to create moody and evocative paintings for the Warren Magazines.

A child of Brooklyn, his artistic talents were evident early and by age eight, he was sent to the Brooklyn Academy of Fine Arts. He was mentored by Italian painter Michael Falanga who died before he could send young Frazetta to perfect his craft in Europe.

As the school closed in 1944, Frazetta sought ways to earn a living and drifted into illustrating comic books with several memorable Buck Rogers covers for Famous Funnies. He also drew several Shining Knight stories for DC Comics and displayed range with numerous funny animal stories as well.

By the 1950s, Frazetta was lending his talents to EC Comics, where he, Al Williamson and Roy Krenkel formed a powerful triumvirate, capable of masterful science fiction or fantasy stories.

Frazetta was hired by Al Capp to assist him on the popular Li’l Abner comic strip and he went on to also work with Dan Barry on Flash Gordon. The artist harbored his desire for a feature of his own and sold the short-lived Johnny Comet to the syndicates.

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Review: ‘Al Williamson’s Flash Gordon’

Review: ‘Al Williamson’s Flash Gordon’

Al Williamsons Flash Gordon: A Lifelong Vision of the Heroic

Flesk Publications, July 2009, $29.95

While Al Williamson did not create the legendary science fiction character, in many ways he inherited Alex Raymond’s artistic legacy. The artist was born in 1931, three years before [[[Flash Gordon]]]memorably hit the Sunday newspapers.

Raymond is considered one of the finest illustrators to work in syndicated comics, along with Hal Foster, with a photorealistic style that brought his world of Mongo and its varied denizens to life. While Buck Rogers was the first SF strip, Flash Gordon was the best as the stories were epic in scope. The landscape of Mongo was unlike any realm seen in comics before and through the years that special feeling evaporated in the hands of others. Until Williamson.

In 256 pages, we are treated to the three stories produced for King Comics in the 1960s, the short-lived imprint from King Features Syndicate in addition to the his adaptation of the unfortunate 1980 film that looked better than it played. There’s also Williamson’s last major series work, the miniseries produced for Marvel in 1994. The King material is exceptional because it was the first time original material had been produced for comics with the characters actually resembling their strip origins . It’s lush and fast-paced with Williamson actually writing the first story. His long-time collaborator, Archie Goodwin, one of the most respected people in the field…ever, wrote several stories and Larry Ivie also contributed a tale.

Williamson’s style was very much like Raymond’s and his settings and characters felt just right. The deering-do is quick-paced and while the stories tread familiar ground, they are still head and shoulders above much other science fiction in comics. The three stories, brief as they were, earned him the National Cartoonist Society’s Best Comic Book Cartoonist award. His movie adaptation didn’t win awards but earned him a new generation of fans who may have only known his name in association with the legendary EC Comics.

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Watch: The Mercury Men!

Watch: The Mercury Men!

The neat things that come in your inbox… with all the feel of a pulp version of the Outer Limits episode “Demon With A Glass Hand” combined with a little bit of Flash Gordon and The Day The Earth Stood Still, we present to you The Mercury Men:

Starz and Sony sign multi-year deal

Starz and Sony sign multi-year deal

  • News
  • January 13, 2009

Starz Entertainment and Sony Pictures Entertainment have signed a multi-year extension of their existing agreement which grants Starz the exclusive pay TV rights to all Sony Pictures theatrical releases into the next decade.  Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Under the deal Starz has the exclusive pay TV rights to exhibit the Sony Pictures films on all of its platforms.  Additionally, Starz continues to have the rights to interviews with talent and use behind-the-scenes material from Sony’s releases that can be aired on its services while the films are in theaters.

Films under this deal should include The Grudge 3, 2012, and The Green Hornet. It’s unclear to me if this will affect movies that Sony is only listed as distributing, like Dan Milano’s Me And My Monster;  Flash Gordon, due out in 2010; and Spider-Man 4, due out in 2011, or films that they’re helping to fund, like Tintin. As we know more, you’ll hear more.

Jim Krueger Joins Ardden With ‘The Stand-In’

Jim Krueger Joins Ardden With ‘The Stand-In’

  • News
  • November 25, 2008

Ardden Entertainment announced The Stand-In, a new title to be written by Jim Krueger (Avengers/Invaders). Described as a four-issue spy thriller mini-series, the project twill be illustrated by Alex Cal (The Amazing Spider-Man Family).

The new title will chronicle the adventures of Dexter Laumb, a talented but troubled and out-of-work actor who’s desperate for money.  When he’s offered a job to "stand in" for a low level Senator who has double-booked two events for the same evening, Dexter is excited by the prospective paycheck and thinks the job will be a breeze.  Hair dye and make-up transform Laumb into a virtual double of Senator Joe Murphy.  However, he soon realizes that he’s bitten off more than he can chew when he’s partnered with one of the Senator’s senior aides, beautiful but acid-tongued Jennifer Forsythe.  The two quietly go at it like cats and dogs while Dexter acts the part of the Senator, schmoozing and boozing as necessary.  However, when a bullet rips through Dexter’s shoulder and the crowd scatters, he soon finds himself on the run with Jennifer, attempting to unravel the truth behind the assassination attempt, and finding himself in the middle of a conspiracy with earth-shattering consequences…

Brendan Deneen, Ardden’s co-publisher, said in a release, "It is a huge honor to be working with one of the most successful comic book writers currently working in the medium.  I’ve known Jim for years and we’ve been trying to find something to work on together that whole time.  The Stand-In is the perfect collaboration and I feel privileged that he’s publishing it through Ardden."

A zero issue will be released at the New York Comic-Con in February.  The issue will feature a story that takes places before the events of the miniseries.

Ardden Entertainment debuted earlier this year with a new take on Flash Gordon, written by Deenan.  Additional titles are expected to be announced between now and the convention.

‘Hancock 2’ Charged with Bringing Sony Profit

‘Hancock 2’ Charged with Bringing Sony Profit

  • News
  • November 19, 2008

The Los Angeles Times notes that Sony has profited handsomely from its investment in MGM, earning huge profits from Casino Royale and expects a similar payday for Quantum of Solace.  After that, MGM regains full control of Bond so the studio needs fresh cash cows.

Looking ahead, the Times counts off forthcoming films based on The Green Hornet, Flash Gordon, and Preacher are worthy candidates. Closer to home, they are preparing a sequel fro the original super-hero tale, Hancock, which brought in huge dollars and little buzz.

Among the films mentioned, The Green Hornet, starring Seth Rogen and Stephen Chow, and to be directed by Chow, will be arriving first, in summer 2010. They’ve pencilled in Spider-Man 4 for summer 2011 but the other projects are still in development so the studio can’t start counting on profits yet.

Flash Gordon will be the first feature film featuring Alex Raymond’s classic hero since the 1980 disaster and will be directed by Breck Eisner, known more for his schlock horror efforts. Preacher, though, will be directed by Sam Mendes (Road to Perdition) so comes with greater hopes.

Sony entered into a financing agreement with MGM when the studio was once again facing financial failure.  As a result, by investing in Casino, Sony actually earned more than MGM, netting as much as $100 million in profit. MGM and Sony parted ways after the latter failed to meet sales targets for DVDs from MGM’s library. The deal allowed Sony to participate in Quantum but that will be all.
 

Review: ‘The Flash Gordon Serials, 1936-1940: A Heavily Illustrated Guide’

Review: ‘The Flash Gordon Serials, 1936-1940: A Heavily Illustrated Guide’

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The Flash Gordon Serials, 1936-1940: A Heavily Illustrated Guide
By Roy Kinnard, Tony Crnkovich, and R.J. Vitone
McFarland & Co. Publishers, August 2008, $55

Growing up in New York during the 1960s meant that Sunday morning we were treated to two choices: Sonny Fox on Channel 5’s [[[Wonderama]]] or the zany Chuck McCann who hosted a show that seemed to be a little bit of this and that.  Included among them were the old movie serials from the 1930s.  Among the most aired and best remembered were the ones starring Buster Crabbe as Flash Gordon. Imagine being 6 or 10 years old, and being introduced to these breathless adventures taking place on other worlds in digestible chunks that made you anxiously await the following Sunday.  It was merely a taste of what an earlier generation experienced in actual movie theaters.

Those serials,[[[Flash Gordon]]], [[[Flash Gordon’s Trip to Mars]]], and [[[Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe]]], have remained memorable not only to me but to other generations of adventure fans.  Finally, we have a book that looks into how these were made and who made them. The writing triumvirate of Roy Kinnard, Tony Crnkovich, and R.J. Vitone bring their expertise and affection to the McFarland book which was just published.

The authors detail how Universal came to option Alex Raymond’s lushly illustrated comic strip and what happened as regimes changed and budgets tightened.  While among the best serials ever made, Universal soon left the field to Republic and Columbia which is a shame. The storylines, sets, miniatures and acting were all a cut above.

 

 

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A Salute to House Peters, Jr.

A Salute to House Peters, Jr.

  • News
  • October 4, 2008

We here at ComicMix pride ourselves on being not only a comic book site, but also a pop culture site and so we cannot let the passing of House Peters, Jr. go by without noting it. The actor, born January 12, 1916, died from pneumonia on October 1.

Who you might wonder?  The actor was the model for Proctor & Gamble’s Mr. Clean, an icon that has gone largely unchanged.

The actor also had an early role as a Sharkman in the original 1936 Flash Gordon serial.

His son Jon Peters said in a release, "he always played the heavy. Even though he wasn’t happy about being cast in those roles, he worked really hard at it."

Peters’ credits include roles in The Twilight Zone (1960), Target Earth (1954), Port Sinister (1953), Red Planet Mars (1952), The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), King of the Rocket Men (1949), and Batman and Robin (1949). It wasn’t until he starred in a series of commercials as Mr. Clean that he gained familiarity with household viewers.

He was largely a villain westerns and crime shows, earning a Golden Boot Award in 2000 for his lifetime contributions. He was often seen on the Roy Rogers and Gene Autry television series

The actor stopped performing in 1967 but wrote an autobiography, Another Side of Hollywood, in 2000. There, he talked of being raised by actor parents during the silent film and early talkie days.

Mr. Clean was developed in Puerto Rico for P&G and was introduced in 1958, rapidly becoming the number one household cleaner. In 1962, a contest was held to give him a first name and the winner was Veritably.  A complete set of Mr. Clean commercials, including Peters’ efforts, were donated on the products’ 24th anniversary to the UCLA Film Television and Radio Archives.

He is survived by his wife, Lucy Pickett (whom he married in 1946); his two sons, Bob and Job; daughter Kathy; and four grandchildren.

Review: ‘Flash Gordon’ #1

Review: ‘Flash Gordon’ #1

Full disclosure: I had edited a [[[Flash Gordon]]] comics series at one point in my life. It was the third greatest nightmare in my professional life. Not the part about working with the talented and understanding Dan Jurgens; Dan’s a class act and a fine storyteller. No, working with King Features Syndicate was akin to Sisyphus’s task, except the big rock was a huge boulder of shit and pushing it up that mountain happened in the dead of the hottest summer in the innermost circle of hell. And I’ve lightened up on this over the years, too. And so, on with the show.

There may be no greater icon in comic strip history than Flash Gordon. Sorry, [[[Buck Rogers]]]. You came first but Flash had better art and story, and a much, much better villain. Creator/artist Alex Raymond is generally regarded as the greatest craftsman in the field; so great, in fact, that after Dave Sim recovered from producing 300 consecutive issues of [[[Cerebus]]], he started up on a series called [[[Glamourpuss]]] that, oddly, is all about Raymond’s work.

Flash was the subject of what is also generally regarding as the three greatest movie serials ever made due, in no small part, to the performance of actor Charles Middleton as Ming The Merciless. And he had all the other media tie-ins: a radio series starring Gale Gordon (yep; Lucille Ball’s foil), a teevee series staring future Doc Savage model Steve Holland and a teevee series on Sci-Fi last year that was completely unwatchable, various animated series, a movie feature and another one in pre-production and numerous comic books by people including Archie Goodwin, Al Williamson, Reed Crandall, and Wally Wood, and licensed items. When Raymond went off to war, he was replaced by a series of artists nearly equal to him in talent: Austin Briggs, Mac Raboy (my favorite), and Dan Barry.

There’s a reason why Flash Gordon attracted such top-rank talent. Sadly, that’s also the same reason why Flash Gordon is an icon and no longer active in our contemporary entertainment: nostalgia. Flash Gordon was a product of his times, a wondrous visionary made irrelevant by real-life heroes such as Laika the dog, the first living being to orbit the Earth, and Yuri Gagaran, the first human being to orbit the Earth. Only Yuri returned alive, but I digress.

Science fiction was rocked to its core. It took talent like Harlan Ellison, Michael Moorcock, and Gene Roddenberry to re-purpose the genre, to focus more on the social aspects of the genre and extend those concepts out into the future. If you’re going to make Flash Gordon work in the 21st century – or the last four decades of the 20th, for that matter, you’ve got to distill the concept down to its essence and rebuild according to the mentality of our time.

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The Boys Gain Screenwriters

The Boys Gain Screenwriters

  • News
  • August 27, 2008

Matt Manfredi and Phil Hay will adapt The Boys for the big screen according to The Hollywood Reporter.  The Columbia Pictures’ project is based on the Garth Ennis/Darick Robertson series which first launched at WildStorm and quickly moved to Dynamite Entertainment.

According to THR, “The book follows the adventures of a CIA squad, known informally as ‘the boys,’ whose job is to keep watch on the proliferation of superheroes and, if necessary, intimidate or eliminate them.”

The movie is one of many comic book properties currently being developed by producer Neal H. Moritz who also has The Green Hornet, Flash Gordon, and Luke Cage on his To Do list. Also attached as producers are Kickstart’s Jason Netter and attorney Ken F. Levin.

The screenwriting team has had success in Hollywood with a mix of projects ranging from the ambitious Crazy/Beautiful to the action adventure misfires Aeon Flux and The Tuxedo.

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