Just a Little Bit Better

It always amazes me how much music I have forgotten. The other day I was listening to Sirius 6 (The 60s) and this song by Herman's Hermits came on. I was shocked that I knew the words yet hadn't thought of the song in at least 30 years. It must have been a pretty minor hit, but perfect Hermits music. Here it is live from the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk on June 29, 2007.

40 Years Ago Today From DC Comics -- Hawk & the Dove #6

Hawk & the Dove #6 (On Sale: April 24, 1969) has a nice cover by Gil Kane.

The full-length Hawk & the Dove strip, "Judgment in a Small, Dark Place." is written and penciled by Gil Kane and inked by John Celardo. One night Hank and Don get to their father's office just in time to scare off a would-be kidnapper. Hank chases the bad guy as Hawk, but loses him when momentarily blinded by a passing car. The judge is unharmed, but none of them got a good look at the attacker and the judge warns the boys not to worry their mother over the incident. The next day the boys return home from school to find their house in shambles and their mother unconscious on the floor.

She had only fainted and when she comes to she says she interrupted a man kidnapping their father. Hank once again takes off alone and scours the city as Hawk looking for information on his father. He does it by busting a few heads till he learns of a hood named Max Leland who was bragging that he was going pay the judge back. Hawk breaks into Leland's apartment and more head-busting ensues.

Meanwhile Don has been scouring his father's files looking for clues and finds a chart with a familiar face, a man named Karl MacArthur who died in prison. Don realizes that they had a part-time gardener named Arthur who looked a lot like MacArthur. Don leaves and as Dove tracks down Arthur's home in the country. Snooping around he finds Arthur is holding his father in a small cage in his basement.

Hawk has gotten from Leland a description of a man he says jumped Judge Hall before Leland himself got a chance. From the description Hank realizes it is their old gardener Arthur and heads out after him. By eavesdropping Dove learns that since his father died in a cell that Judge Hall put him into, Arthur plans on seeing that the Judge is given the same fate. Dove sees that all of the windows in the house are fitted with alarms so he shimmies up the nearby power poll to cut the electricity to the house.

From that perch Dove sees Hawk running toward the house and smashing through the door. Dove cuts the lights and a fight ensues in the dark. When the lights are switched back on Hawk makes quick work of Arthur. On the final page the Judge rails against the Hawk and the Dove for endangering his life, thinking for certain that he could have talked Arthur out of it eventually without any dangerous gun play.

Hank and Don leave for school and Hank laments that maybe their father is right, maybe they should give up being the Hawk and the Dove. Maybe the whole idea of being super-heroes was a mistake. The final caption reads, "Is this the end of the Hawk and the Dove??"

It was for this book anyway. Over the next year they would appear as guests in the Teen Titans and then disappear for six years only to show up in the Teen Titans again for a three-issue run. They would make eight appearances in the 1980s before disappearing once again. Was this a concept book that was too much concept and not enough book? Maybe, though I do recall a wonderful Hawk and Dove story in Brave and the Bold years later by Alan Brennert that seemed to bring merit to the idea of the two polar-opposite brothers. I always liked the book myself, always liked the characters.

This was John Celardo's second inking job for DC, but his first in 20 years! Celardo last worked for DC in 1949 inking a Johnny Peril story in All-Star Comics #48. He started his professional career contributing sports cartoons to Street and Smith publications in 1937. He soon turned to comics, and went to the Eisner-Iger studios.

There, he did Dollman, Wonder Boy, Uncle Sam, Paul Bunyan, Espionage, Hercules, Old Witch and Zero Comics, sometimes working under the pseudonym John C. Lardo. From 1940 he also worked for Fiction House, where he drew Hawk, Red Comet, Powerman, Captain West and Kaanga. After the War, he continued his work at Fiction House, illustrating Tiger Man, Suicide Smith and others.

In the 1950s Celardo succeeded Bob Lubbers on the daily Tarzan newspaper strip. In the 1960s he also took on the writing of the Tarzan strip and introduced many new characters from outside and inside the jungle, such as Red Chinese spies. In the late 1960s, he took over The Green Berets from Joe Kubert and Davy Jones from Sam Leff and Alden McWilliams.

John Celardo would ink this one story, pencil three others and then again disappear from DC. He returned to free-lancing and did such titles as Believe It or Not for Western. In 1973 he became comics editor at King Features and stopped drawing altogether. In 1977 he would return to DC and ink over 50 stories during a seven-year span. He returned to penciling in the 1980s taking over the Buz Sawyer newspaper strip

His inking on this Hawk and Dove story was very nice and silky smooth, an interesting contrast to Gil Kane's angular faces. I would have liked to see more of this combination.

Edited by Dick Giordano.

Duke Detained in Prague for Denying Holocaust

In part...

PRAGUE — Former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke was detained by police in the Czech Republic on Friday on suspicion of denying the Holocaust.

Police spokesman Jan Mikulovsky said the action was taken because Duke does that in his book "My Awakening," which is punishable by up to three years in Czech prisons.

Any crap this guy steps in is fine by me. Instant Karma's gonna get you, you racist motherfucker!

Bush proves Rove and Fox are lying about torture

Rove and Fox News are lying sacks and Bush proves it. How inept are the Republicans? They can't even lie correctly. This is truly a party of no ideas.

40 Years Ago Today From DC Comics -- Brave and the Bold #84

Brave and the Bold #84 (On Sale: April 22, 1969) has a nice Batman and Sgt. Rock cover by Neal Adams. I love the way that the figures' shadows form a Bat-signal on the ground. This is also the only cover I think Adams signed in this manner; not his normal signature at all. Lastly, this is the second version of this cover that Neal drew. Below you can find the original which was rejected by DC.

"The Angel, the Rock and the Cowl" featuring Batman and Sgt. Rock is by Bob Haney and Neal Adams. Joe Kubert inked page 19 of this story. When Bruce Wayne is called to the Gotham Museum to see the statue of the Archangel Gabriel smuggled out of Nazi-occupied France during World War II, because a man with a German accent called about it called to claim it. Bruce informs him that the real statue is still in France and the one in Gotham is a fake. They are then attacked by a man Bruce recognizes as Von Stauffen.

Bruce then recalls back to a day during World War II, when he was in London, and his friend, a British spy named Digby is killed in a bombing and so Bruce covered his mission for the British forces. Traveling into Nazi occupied France, Bruce meets up with Sgt. Rock and Easy Company along the way.

Investigating a strange amount of wine coming out of Chateaurouge, Bruce learns that it's occupied by Nazi's led by Von Stauffen. As a spy, Bruce is unable to learn what the secret is behind the wine, so he tries as Batman and comes to blows with Rock and Easy Company again who happen to be in the area. However, during their scuffle over a bottle of the Chateaurouge wine, they find that the Nazi's are smuggling weapon parts in the bottles to be used during the D-Day invasion. Batman and Easy Company then work together to stop Van Stauffer.

Flashing back to the present, Bruce is saved by the sudden arrival of Rock who knocks out Von Stauffen, who had been tracking Van Stauffer since after the war. This classic story was reprinted in Batman Illustrated by Neal Adams Vol. 1 HC and Showcase Presents the Brave and the Bold Batman Team-Ups Vol. 1 TPB.

Edited by Murray Boltinoff.

40 Years Ago Today From DC Comics -- Witching Hour #3

Witching Hour #3 (On Sale: April 17, 1969) has an interesting cover art combination: Mike Sekowsky and Nick Cardy and it creates a really nice, moody piece.

We begin with "The Turn of the Wheel" drawn by Alex Toth and Vinnie Colletta. That is followed by "The Death Watch" by persons unknown. We round out the issue with "...and in a Far-Off Land" drawn by Bernie Wrightson.

Edited by Dick Giordano.

Madden 2009

I remember the days back when I hated John Madden. I was a Kansas City Chiefs' fan and we had the dashing Hank Stram reigning over our sidelines and the Oakland Raiders, our sworn enemies, had the beer-gutted, wrinkle-shirted, disheveled John Madden storming up and down their sidelines, waving a rolled-up play-sheet in his fist as he screamed at refs, screamed at players and screamed at fans. Those old Chiefs/Raiders games were pure magic, a great rivalry that went on for years.

Then Madden retired and he became the voice of the game. I still hated him, but over the years that changed. I don't know if I mellowed or he did, but I began to listen to him and his big Bubba enthusiasm for the game was a contagious thing. Eventually, it seemed a game almost wasn't a game if Madden wasn't the guy in the booth sharing his insight. He loved big defensive guys who made big, hard plays and he made you love them too. He hated cheap shots and overpaid prima-donnas, but he also appreciated the high-paid stars. He's been slowing down a bit over the years, but he could still deliver the magic, like at this year's Super Bowl.

Me, I'll miss the guy.

Tea Partius Interruptus

What could possibly go wrong with an open mic at a right-wing nut job tea party? Ye-ow! The truth might accidently seep in!

40 Years Ago Today From DC Comics -- Star Spangled War Stories #145

Star Spangled War Stories #145 (On Sale: April 15, 1969) has another Joe Kubert Enemy Ace cover.

"Return of the Hangman" featuring Enemy Ace is by Robert Kanigher and Joe Kubert. This story was reprinted in
Enemy Ace Archives Vol. 2 HC and Showcase Presents: Enemy Ace Vol. 1 TPB.

Edited by Joe Kubert.

Rusty the Chinaman

Who said the GOP didn't have any new ideas?

AUSTIN — A North Texas legislator during House testimony on voter identification legislation said Asian-descent voters should adopt names that are “easier for Americans to deal with.”

The comments caused the Texas Democratic Party on Wednesday to demand an apology from state Rep. Betty Brown, R-Terrell. But a spokesman for Brown said her comments were only an attempt to overcome problems with identifying Asian names for voting purposes.

The exchange occurred late Tuesday as the House Elections Committee heard testimony from Ramey Ko, a representative of the Organization of Chinese Americans...

Brown suggested that Asian-Americans should find a way to make their names more accessible.

“Rather than everyone here having to learn Chinese — I understand it’s a rather difficult language — do you think that it would behoove you and your citizens to adopt a name that we could deal with more readily here?” Brown said.

Brown later told Ko: “Can’t you see that this is something that would make it a lot easier for you and the people who are poll workers if you could adopt a name just for identification purposes that’s easier for Americans to deal with?”

Reminds me of an old comedy act, I can't remember who it was, where the guy talked about Hawaii Five-O and wondered why Kam Fong used the name Chin Ho on the show and then speculated on two Chinese guys watching and wondering why Jack Lord bothered to use the name Steve McGarrett.

40 Years Ago Today From DC Comics -- Green Lantern #69

Green Lantern #69 (On Sale: April 8, 1969) has a cover by Gil Kane.

"If Earth Fails the Test -- It Means War" is by John Broome, Gil Kane and Wally Wood. Green Lantern returns from a space mission to find that the police in Evergreen City have invented three new devices to fight crime: a city-wide burglar alarms system, a radar-television to remotely view the crime scenes and a device that remotely traps criminals at the scene. While viewing the new system GL gets to see it in action when an alarm is tripped at the Central Jewelery Exchange. Blue bars are used to trap the criminals inside the vault, but utilizing a strange hand-held device they are able to bend the bars out of the way and escape.

Green Lantern heads out to round up the gang, which is led by the beautiful Kyra, who uses another device to deflect Lantern's energy beams. As he attempts to capture them, most of the gang, including Kyra, disappear, fading away before GL's eyes.

After taking the three captured members of the gang to police headquarters, Lantern receives a phone call from Carol Ferris, who tells him that she is getting married tomorrow and wants to know if there is anything he would like to say to her. Realizing that Carol is in love with Green Lantern but not Hal Jordan, he wishes her the best. He also realizes that he is both repulsed and attracted to Kyra and can't figure out why.

We back-track a week to see Kyra in her real, fairly hideous, alien form on her home-world of Hegor, where she is the leader of a student movement to "uproot the ancient ways of doing thing-- and breathe fresh life into our tradition-encrusted civilization." They have implanted the ideas for three new devices in the minds of certain officials on Earth, devices much like those used by the authorities on Hegor. They plan to go to Earth and commit thefts where they can train against the devices which will be used on their world against them during their revolution, without the knowledge of Hegoran authorities. Earth will become the testing ground for their revolution.

Back to real time and Kyra speaks to Hal through his ring, telling him she is in trouble, but when he follows the energy impulse back to Kyra it is a trap and Green lantern is stunned and captured. With the Lantern neutralized, Kyra and the gang continue with their training. GL is held in place by an alien machine which he attempts to destroy with an energy beam, but the more he uses his ring the more paralyzing radiation bombards his body and he is wracked by intense pain. Figuring he can withstand the pain for a short burst he wills his ring to make a concentrated pain-killer, which he swallows and then waits to take effect.

With the pain-killer in his system, Green Lantern is able to smash the alien device holding him captive and after a quick stop by police headquarters to find the location of the group's current cir me, GL tracks them down and battles them into submission. Once he has them captured Kyra explains their mission, which has been successful and tells him that their time on Earth is over. GL is unable to stop the entire gang from teleporting back to Hegor.

But Hal can't get Kyra out of his mind and realizes that he may be in love with her so he flies to Hegor and locates Kyra, seeing her as she really looks for the first time. Kyra tells him that thanks to the training they did on Earth the revolution was successful and that a coup was possible without a devastating war. Kyra also introduces Hal to Tarkro, the man she is to marry tomorrow. Hal returns to earth, spurned by Kyra, spurned by Carol, he cannot face his job as an insurance salesman and decides a change of careers is in order.

Edited by Julius Schwartz.

Two Crichton novels to be published posthumously

Reuters is reporting that two "novels by 'Jurassic Park' author Michael Crichton, one finished by him before his death last year and the other to be completed based on his notes, will be published posthumously, his publisher said on Monday."

I think Crichton went a little wonky in recent years, but I've enjoyed much of his work. Last week we watched Looker, his 1981 film about, well, things so pretty you can't take your eyes off of them. Think plastic surgery, computer enhancement, computer animation, mind control, subliminal suggestion on steroids and invisibility. Think of advertising products, advertising politicians and weapons.

I remember the film being much better than it is, Crichton being a much better writer than director, but I liked that he could take an idea and run with it to some pretty extreme places. I think Looker could be remade into a much better film, particularly if the political aspect was looked into deeper.

40 Years Ago Today From DC Comics -- Detective Comics #387

Detective Comics #387 (On Sale: March 27, 1969) has a cover by Irv Novick. celebrating Batman's 30th anniversary.

"The Cry of Night is -- Sudden Death" is by Mike Friedrich, Bob Brown and Joe Giella. this story was reprinted in Best of DC #2 and Detective Comics #627. "The Cry of Night is -- Sudden Death" is basically an updated version of of the "The Case of the Chemical Syndicate" from Detective #27, only from teenager Mike Friedrich instead of teenager Bob Kane. The plot follows the original fairly closely, only adding a conflict between Robin and Mel Lambert, Robin feeling Lambert must be guilty because he is such a disrespectful youth.

The back-up story is "The Case of the Chemical Syndicate" by Bill Finger and Bob Kane from Detective #27. This is of course the first Batman story. Commissioner Gordon receives a call telling him that Old Lambert, the chemical king, has been murdered. Gordon leaves for the crime scene bringing his millionaire friend Bruce Wayne. The prime suspect is Lambert’s son, but the boy claims to have found his father stabbed. A telephone call from Steven Crane, one of Lambert’s partners, reveals that Lambert’s life had been threatened.

Crane is also murdered by two thugs, who also steal a contract. They are confronted by a masked man on a rooftop, the Batman. Batman dispatches the hoods in short order, recovering the contract which leads him to the laboratory of another of Lambert’s partners, Alfred Stryker.

Stryker is being visited by the final partner, Paul Rogers. Rogers is knocked out and nearly killed by Stryker’s assistant, Jennings. Batman arrives in time to save the man and stop Jennings. Stryker also tries to kill Rogers to protect himself from the knowledge that he made secret contracts with the partners for control of the Apex Chemical Corporation. Batman rescues Rogers again, and knocks Stryker into a vat of acid, killing him.

Edited by Julius Schwartz.

40 Years Ago Today From DC Comics -- Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane #92

Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane #92 (On Sale: March 25, 1969) has a nice cover by Curt Swan and Neal Adams.

"The Unbreakable Spell" is by E. Nelson Bridwell, Curt Swan and Mike Esposito. Apparently Lois turns into a centaur in this one.

Edited by Mort Weisinger.

40 Years Ago Today From DC Comics -- Windy and Willy #1

Windy and Willy #1 (On Sale: March 20, 1969) has a cover by Bob Oksner. This is an updated version of the cover to Many Loves of Dobie Gillis #12 from 1962.

We have an untitled Windy and Willy story reprinted from Many Loves of Dobie Gillis #18 and written by either Lawrence Nadle or Bob Oksner and drawn by Bob Oksner. There are updates in the art to the clothing and hairstyles, something done in many of the romance comic reprints and the character names are changed to avoid copyright infringement.

Edited by Dick Giordano.

40 Years Ago Today From DC Comics -- Date With Debbi #3

Date With Debbi #3 (On Sale: March 18, 1969) cover where Debbi has the same dark eyes as last two issues, so I am going to guess that this is also the work of Samm Schwartz.

Inside Debbie stars in "The Brain Game" and "The Cave-Man Cometh" by persons unknown. Flowers stars in an untitled story drawn by Phil Mendez and we end with another Debbie story, "The Minor Becomes a Drum Major" drawn by Henry Boltinoff.

This is the first of only three stories Phil Mendez would draw for DC comics, one in this and the next issue of Date With Debbi and one in Kissyfur #1 in 1989.

Phil Mendez started a comic strip in the Mercury Shopper’s Guide at the age of sixteen and was hired by Dancer-Fitzgerald-Sample at the age of eighteen as an assistant art director on the General Mills account. Phil freelanced on comic books at Charlton in 1966 and DC in 1969. He worked as a storyboard artist, head designer and layout director for Totem Productions' Voyager (NASA).

In 1970 he worked at Disney Studios on the feature film Robin Hood. He then worked for Fred Calvert Productions and Ron Campbell Films on projects including Nanny and The Professor, Sesame Street and the IBM specials The Great Blue Marble.”

Mendez designed presentations and layout work for Hanna-Barbara Productions on The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Scooby-Doo, The Yogi Bear Show, Hong Kong Phooey, The Buford Files, The Partridge Family, The Banana Split Show and more. He was hired by Mark Davis in 1975 as his assistant to design attractions for Disneyland where he worked on Fantasyland rides, Epcot Center and concept work for future Disney Projects.

He started his own company, Phil Mendez Productions, in 1982 where he designed the original presentation and characters for An American Tail and “Rose Petal Place. He created the children’s shows Kissyfur and Foofur, and he wrote The Black Snowman which won the Martin Luther King “Living the Dream Award” in 1991 (to date the book has sold over 1.7 million copies.) You can see much of Phil's work on his website. You never know who you are going to find in these old DC Comics.

Edited by Dick Giordano

IBM in talks to buy Sun Microsystems

Because if there is one thing we need right now it's a computer company that is too big to fail!

By the way. Since apparently we can alter the rules of the TARP fund anytime we feel like it, I have a new retroactive amendment. Take the money and you are cut in half. Take the money again and you are cut into quarters, again and you are cut into eights, etc. Eventually you will be in small enough pieces to fail all on your own. Too big to fail means too big to exist.

Of Bozo, The Beatles, "Bad Day at Black Rock" and Mr. Magoo

Saturday the Los Angeles Times reported the death of Alan W. Livingston, the creator of Bozo the Clown and, as president of Capitol Records, the man who signed the Beach Boys, The Steve Miller Band and The Beatles.

Today they reported on the death of Millard Kaufman, the Oscar-nominated screenwriter of "Bad Day at Black Rock" and the co-creator of Mr. Magoo. And for those of you who think it is too late to try something new:

"I decided, knowing that nobody my age gets work in movies, and that I had to do something, otherwise I'd get into terrible trouble, that I would try writing a novel," he told The Times in 2007.

That was the year "Bowl of Cherries," which a New Yorker writer described as "equal parts 'Catcher in the Rye' and 'Die Hard,' " was published.

Kaufman's second novel, "Misadventure," is due out this fall.

Kaufman was 92.

40 Years Ago Today From DC Comics -- Showcase #82

Showcase #82 (On Sale: March 13, 1969) has a cover featuring Nightmaster by Joe Kubert. It also has added "Preview" to the appellation and a large DC logo. The irony of this is that this is one of the few three-issue tryouts that never went anywhere. And yeah, before there was a Conan comic at Marvel, DC tried sword and sorcery.

"Some Forbidden Fate" is by Denny O'Neil, Jerry Grandenetti and Dick Giordano. Thousands of years ago, the mighty warrior Nacht was driven from his other-dimensional world of Myrra by his rival Brom and the evil magician Farben. While Nacht's magic Nightsword inserted itself into a stone pillar, Nacht himself ended up on Earth where he settled down under his family name of Roke.

In 1969, Jim Rook, lead singer of the rock band called the Electrics, entered an abandoned store on Manhattan named Oblivion, Inc. and is magically transported to Myrra. One of Nacht's descendants, Rook reluctantly claimed his ancestor's Sword and became the new protector of Myrra – the Nightmaster. Although Rook really wantd to return to Earth, he finds himself in the midst on the conflict between Myrra's King Zolto and the evil Warlocks, when the Warlocks captures Rook's girlfriend, Janet Jones.

Edited by Murray Boltinoff.

The Lesson

Give a man a fish
And he will eat for a day.
Give a man religion
and he will starve to death
praying for fish.

40 Years Ago Today From DC Comics -- House of Mystery #180

House of Mystery #180 (On Sale: March 11, 1969) has another creepy cover by Neal Adams.

We begin with "Comes a Warrior" written and penciled by Gil Kane and inked by Wally Wood. This is the story of barbarian Rangarry and his search for an adventure that would immortalize his name. He finds an unnamed village haunted by demons and sets out on a quest to slay the dragon in a distant valley that is said to spawn the demons.

Next is "His Name is... Kane" by Mike Friedrich, Gil Kane and Wally Wood. Comic artist Gil Kane finds himself being sucked into the page he has just completed drawing, there to fight against demons. He remembers back to how it all began, how that cheapskate editor Joe Orlando wouldn't pay him until he finished his work. And what crap it all was, hack stories and even worse inkers.

Kane decides to go off to a quiet place to work on his own stories and takes a room from caretaker Cain at the House of Mystery, where he is soon interrupted by Joe Orlando again. In a fit of rage he kills the hapless editor only to find a small factory of creatures how drawing and inking and coloring his pages. Shrinking down into the pages he fights on against the demon editors and writers. Later Cain looks in on Kane only to find him gone, all that remains is his artwork...or is there something else there as well? Reprinted in Limited Collectors' Edition C-23 and Welcome Back to the House of Mystery #1.

This is followed by a Cain's Game Room page by Sergio Aragones and "Oscar Horns In!" as two-page text story by Cliff Rhodes illustrated by Joe Orlando.

Mext is "Scared to Life" by Marv Wolfman and Bernie Wirghtson. Lord Dufferin, the British Ambassador to Paris is vacationing in Ireland when a terrible moaning sound draws him out into the night and to his destiny. Reprinted in House of Mystery #226 and Showcase Presents: The House of Mystery Vol. 3 TPB

The book ends with another Cain's Game Room page by Sergio Aragones. Along with the previously noted, the entire book was reprinted in Showcase Presents: The House of Mystery Vol. 1 TPB

Edited by Joe Orlando.

Sunday Drawing

A weekend ago I was finally back at William Stout's studio for a little "worshiping at the throne of feminine beauty." It's been a long time since I was there; one thing after another has taken my time away over the last year or so and driving to Pasadena on Sunday mornings just seemed to slip away from my agenda. But I have put it back on and hopefully I can get there every other week if not every week.

Having been away so long I was a little rusty to say the least, but I started out using my pastels for some quick 10-minute drawings. Our model for the day, Sandy, has an amazing back and she poses it to the best of results. She is one of those models that, as she strikes a pose, she can take your breath away.

Most of my early pieces were pretty bad, the result of months away from life drawing and me not being used to working fast in pastels. I love pastels, but I love to take my time with them as well. As we transitioned into the longer 25-minute poses I moved back into my life drawing comfort zone, which is black and white charcoal pencil on gray stock.

I find it much easier to be fast in this medium. Things don't always turn out exactly how I want them, and I have a bit of a rough hand with the charcoal now and then, but there is a certain comfort in working this way. If certainly feels familiar.

The things I like about Stout's is the closeness of the model and the dramatic lighting his dark studio affords (OK, I also love the fellowship of the other artists there, a great bunch of extremely talented people). Without proper lighting a model can just sit there and your artwork just sits there, but this is never a problem at Bill's.

I missed this weekend, but I will be back next weekend and hopefully for many weekends thereafter. There is nothing quite as invigorating as "worshiping" at Stout's.

Something Very Special

Through the years my wife and I have looked at a number of homes for sale that we know we could never afford to buy. No, we are not habitual "looky loos," but we do like to occasionally stop by a house for sale and take a gander. Sometimes though, you have to be satisfied just looking at the ad in the newspaper. Usually this is when the house is a real mansion, complete with Olympic pool, tennis courts, bowling alley, disco, chauffeur's quarters and a price tag that would choke a race horse. Usually these homes are overly ostentatious and, if we were to be completely honest, nothing we would actually want to own.

But every now and then you see a home for sale that just takes your breath away, a home that, for one crazy moment to try and figure an angle of how you could afford to pay for it. We saw such a home in the Los Angeles Times today and for one stupid moment we looked at each other, thinking, "Is there any way this could be possible?" It has to be something special to make us do this. In this case it is something historic, something magnificent. The Millard House in Pasadena was built in 1923 by Frank Lloyd Wright, and it is just a stunner. If you have $7,733,000 it can by yours, you lucky bastard.

Take a long stroll through the whole The Millard House site, drink it all in and tell me you would not want to own this masterpiece. So much more than a house (actually two houses!), an historic place of pure beauty and a work of pure genius.

Horton Foote, R.I.P.

Horton Foote died this week. Foote's Tender Mercies is one of my favorite films of all time and I try to watch it every couple of years. In a cynical world it is a testament to the goodness of people and Robert Duvall is simply amazing as the alcoholic Mac Sledge, trying to turn his life around with the help of a good woman and her son.

In fact the Los Angeles Times ran a story today entitled Comfort films to warm recession's chill, about "movies you've seen so many times you can whisper the lines along with the actors, the images nearly as familiar as the faces of your friends." Two of the ten films were written by Horton Foote. Tender Mercies and To Kill A Mockingbird, for which Foote wrote the screenplay. Foote won Academy Awards for both films.

I love the scene the Times selects from Tender Mercies:

"Hey mister, were you really Mac Sledge?" a woman asks after spotting Duvall's character on a dusty small-town street. With barely a glance in her direction, he breaks into a wry smile and settles the cowboy hat a little lower on his head, "Yes ma'am, I guess I was."

Foote's immense talent made you feel you were in the small Southern towns these films depict.

With A Little Help

My brother Jack sent this to me the other day. As you may recall, I saw Joe Cocker last year in Florida and was blown away by his performance. I don't know if that was on my brother's mind when he sent this to me, who knows? What I do know is that this is laugh-out-loud funny! Take a look!

40 Years Ago Today From DC Comics -- Adventures of Jerry Lewis #112

Adventures of Jerry Lewis #112 (On Sale: March 6, 1969) has a cover by Bob Oksner. Until I bought the old Neal Adams' issues last year, this was the only issue of Adventures of Jerry Lewis I had ever bought or read and the only one I bought from the newsstand.

We start with "The Flash Meets Jerry Lewis," which is the reason I bought this book. I remember liking this story, just not enough to spend money on Jerry every month. Next is "Wheeler Dealer Meets Jalopy Jerk" and we end with "Jerry-Flavored Ice Cream." Steve Rowe tells us that all the art inside is by Bob Oksner. There was a time when we could pretty much say with certainty that the stories were all by Arnold Drake, but with Drake's ouster along with all the other "old" writers, I have no idea who was writing the humor books for DC.

Edited by Murray Boltinoff.

If Only We Could Be So Lucky

Someone named Hunter has a wonderful piece over on the Daily Kos today. Here is just a small portion of it:

Does it feel to anyone else that we are in a national rut? That the entire economy of the United States has been predicated, for the last decades, on the following ingenious business cycle?

1. Someone -- probably Phil Gramm -- pushes for deregulation of a particular subset of a particular financial marketplace (see: energy markets, corporate insurance markets), or fervently insists that a newly discovered loophole in current regulations remain open.

2. Using the new loophole or deregulatory act, the companies that requested the financial deregulation in the first place make money hand over fist by exploiting that unregulated marketplace in increasingly sketchy ways (see: Savings and Loan crises, Enron, AIG). Someone who pushed for the deregulation -- probably Phil Gramm -- happens to have a relationship to one of the companies in question, and profits handsomely.

3. The unregulated financial sub-marketplace becomes so sketchy, so loaded with either implicit or explicit fraud, that it collapses under itself, taking the savings of millions of Americans with it (see again: Savings and Loan crises, Enron, AIG). Someone -- probably Phil Gramm -- calls on Americans to stop whining about it, it's just how the world works.

4. The government is forced to step in and repair the damage, but is restricted by the policy prescriptions of multiple somebodies -- usually including Phil Gramm -- to re-regulating the industry in the most minimal possible way, bailing out the companies that got themselves willingly into trouble through their own sketchy or asinine behavior.

5. A thousand other somebodies -- usually followers of Ayn Rand, the most communistic anti-communist to have ever lived, the woman who proposed that the rebellion against communism should consist of starting a commune, but being, you know, more selective about the membership -- chafes violently at the proposed fix in the process, because even in most gentle form it is far, far too harsh on those that created the problem in the first place. Rinse; repeat.

Are we becoming a nation intent on scamming itself, a nation that only values work or inventiveness when it is applied to new ways of squeezing more transactions between the same market endpoints, or milking out one more tenth of a percentage point in income by taking on thirty times that in risk?

It's not enough to produce energy anymore, or to transport it -- there's not enough profit in that. So any company worth it's salt, like Enron, knows the real money is in speculating on energy, not actually doing anything with it. Any Wall Street broker worth their salt knows that investing in a factory is an absurdist proposition, you want to invest in the companies that invest in the investors that financed the investment of that factory. What fool would want to provide actual healthcare, when all the actual cash is to be made in managing that health care by deciding what gets covered, and how much it should cost, and exactly how many files need to be moved how many times before your doctor will see even a dollar in cash from your visit six months ago, and how precisely your heath management company should invest that dollar in other marketplaces, during the ever-expanding length of time it is held between when the service is rendered and all possible paperwork has been exhausted and the dollar must, at long last, be forked over?

40 Years Ago Today From DC Comics -- Aquaman #45

Aquaman #45 (On Sale: March 4, 1969) has a cover that just leaves me gasping in admiration. This is just one of those perfect covers that Nick Cardy was known to create in these years where he was given free reign. First it is impeccably drawn, full of all the emotional impact Cardy can give it. The sun rising on the body of Aquaman, awash in the surf, the grieving woman, fallen to her knees, her face buried in her hands, the sun rising behind her head. Second, look at the coloring; with the exception of the woman's dress, the entire cover is done in Aquaman's colors, orange, yellow and green. If you always wondered what perfection in a comic book cover looked like, this is it.

"Underworld Reward Part 2" is by Steve Skeates and Jim Aparo. Continuing his search for Mera, Aquaman tracks down a kidnapped woman who was taken by the underworld because they think she was given information by the Sea King. Once the girl is safe, Aquaman tracks down the head of the mob in an underground lair. A fight ensues which leads to an explosion. Aquaman escapes through a window to the ocean. Disoriented from the explosion he is caught in a whirlpool like the one that masked Mera's disappearance. When he finally breaks free and reaches a nearby beach he is shocked to find Mera standing in front of him.

Meanwhile, Aqualad continues his battle against the Bugala. The men of Eldfur, who were supposed to help him, panic and abandon the fight. Aqualad is left to fight alone. Reprinted in Adventure Comics #496.

Edited by Dick Giordano.

McConnell gets taught a lesson

Oh god is this choice! The Republicans try to strong arm one of their own and get kicked in the stones for the effort.

In recent weeks, Senate Republican leaders have walked right up to the edge of declaring open war on (Sen. Jim) Bunning. Minority Leader (and fellow Kentucky senator) Mitch McConnell and others reportedly believe Bunning is likely to lose his reelection race in 2010, and so are trying to nudge him into retirement by sending signals that the party establishment will not back him.

Bunning has responded aggressively, threatening to sue the Senate Republicans' campaign arm if it doesn't fully back his reelection.

And now the latest: Bunning "reportedly said privately that if he is hindered in raising money for his re-election campaign he is ready with a response that would be politically devastating for Senate Republicans: his resignation."...

The implication, they said, was that Bunning would allow Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear, a Democrat, to appoint his replacement -- a move that could give Democrats the 60 votes they need to block Republican filibusters in the Senate.

"I would get the last laugh. Don't forget Kentucky has a Democrat governor," one of the sources quoted Bunning as saying.

"The only logical extension of that comment is, '(Make me mad) ... enough and I'll resign, and then you've got 60 Democrats,' " said another source who was present at the event.

A Democratic Senate aide told the Huffington Post's Ryan Grim: "Bunning has always been a loose cannon. It's just surprising that Mitch McConnell decided to light a match so close to him. With only 41 Republicans left, you'd think they'd be a little more careful not to actively alienate members of the caucus."

40 Years Ago Today From DC Comics -- Adventure Comics #379

Adventure Comics #379 (On Sale: February 27, 1969) has a cover by Neal Adams.

"Burial in Space" is by Jim Shooter, Winslow Mortimer and Jack Abel. Continuing from last issue, an alien arrives in Legion Headquarters to request aid. He finds five Legionnaires dying from poison and stops time to save them. He then meets seven other Legionnaires who are returning from another mission. To save their teammates the seven Legionnaires offer their assistance to the alien.

The Legionnaires return to the alien's home planet Seeris where an army of brutes is attacking. The people of Seeris have vast mental powers, but lack the physical force to repel the invaders. The Legionnaires attempt to defend the city, but their own power is not enough to repel the attackers. The Legion inspires the aliens to resume physical activity and defend themselves. Finding strength in numbers, the aliens are able to defeat the invaders.

The Legionnaires return to Headquarters after being told that the aliens have cured everyone there. Unfortunately they discover that Invisible Kid and Shrinking Violet found their apparently dead teammates and sent their bodies into space. Ultra Boy saves the Legionnaires by using the Miracle Machine to revive them. The identity of the man who poisoned them is then revealed as small-time crook Alek Korlo. Reprinted in Legion of Super-Heroes Archives Vol. 9 HC.

Edited by Mort Weisinger.

Zatanna

One picture is worth a 1,000 words.

Jindal's Katrina Lesson

Bobby Jindal's folksy little tale of how he learned during Katrina that government is not the answer, which made no sense to me when he said it given that the lesson of Katrina is that a badly run, uncaring, Republican government will abandon poor people in an instant, turns out to be Bobby Jindal's folksy little lie. Yeah, he is the voice of the "new" Republican party!

40 Years Ago Today From DC Comics -- Hawk & the Dove #5

Hawk & the Dove #5 (On Sale: February 25, 1969) has a great cover by Gil Kane as The Dove gets all un-Dovey on us!.

"Death Has Taken My Hand" is written and drawn by Gil Kane. Sam Hodgins, a man who once saved Irwin Hall's life, is accused of robbery. Hawk and Dove discover that the two witnesses against him are members of a hot car ring. When Hawk is critically injured, Dove horrifies himself when he abandons his pacifism and beats the supposed killer unmercifully. Dove then sees that the killer is Hodgins.

After Hank Hall has made a full recovery, Hawk and Dove are back in action. They pursue an unnamed crook into a building where they encounter the Teen Titans. The story then continues in Teen Titans #21 in a neat Giordano crossover, one part written by artist Gil Kane, the other written by artist Neal Adams.

Edited by Dick Giordano.

Happy Fat Tuesday!

Laissez les bons temps rouler!

Failure IS an Option!

As someone who has money in AIG and would be personally screwed if they go under, this is, none-the-less, re-fucking-diculous! These people need to fail and the people who caused their failure need to be placed behind bars for gross financial negligence and out-and-out thievery. They have already squandered $85 billion of our money; it is time to bring out the thumbscrews and find an inventive place on the male body to attach them.

Yeesh, and people scream about the auto companies! Die AIG! DIE!!!!!!

My Oscar Picks

Didn't have time to do this yesterday as we finished The Duchess just 15 minutes before the awards began. Had I a vote, this is how I would have done it:

Picture -- Milk (the close second would be Rachel Getting Married which wasn't even nominated)
Director -- Gus Van Sant, Milk
Actor -- Sean Penn, Milk (the close second would be Mickey Rourke)
Actress -- Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married (Kate Winslet had this in the bag till I saw Hathaway's remarkable performance yesterday morning)
Supporting Actor -- Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight (he made the picture)
Supporting Actress -- Viola Davis, Doubt (the best acting of the year, period.)
Animated Feature -- WALL-E (caveat: did not see Bolt)
Art Direction -- The Dark Knight (maybe the hardest category)
Cinematography -- Slumdog Millionaire
Costume Design -- The Duchess (caveat: did not see Australia)
Film Editing -- The Dark Knight
Makeup -- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (caveat: did not see Hellboy II, though we have the DVD ready to play)
Original Score -- No winner, the worst list of nominees ever (caveat: did not see Defiance)
Original Song -- No winner, the best song being The Wrestler by Bruce Springsteen
Sound Editing -- The Dark Knight (another tough category)
Sound Mixing -- WALL-E (ditto)
Visual Effects -- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (tri-itto. Anyone of these films could be declared the winner and I would have few qualms)
Adapted Screenplay -- Frost/Nixon (though The Curious Case of Benjamin Button the script is so much better than the short story of the same name)
Original Screenplay -- Milk ( with In Bruges and Frozen River in a close tie for second. Caveat: did not see Happy-Go-Lucky)

We saw 21 nominated films this year (our best year yet) and still so many caveats. Maybe trying to see all the nominees was a silly thing to attempt, but I got to tell you we saw a lot of great films we would never have seen otherwise. It was so enjoyable in fact that I am certain we will try it again next year.

We watched Frozen River tonight. What a great little film. So very surprising to say the least. I love watching a movie that I have no idea where it is going and this one is just full of surprises. Also, it is so very hard to pull off a film of all original characters, but Frozen River pretty much does just that. You have not seen these characters before in any other movie.

This makes the fourth Actress nominee we have seen (only Anne Hathaway is left) and the third Original Screenplay. When I see a few more films I will give my pick in those categories. Melissa Leo is wonderful though in this tiny film about what mothers will do for their family. I guarantee you have never seen a movie with this ending and, I'm not going to spoil it, but this is one of the few nominated films this year that, for me at least, had a happy ending.

Our yearly Oscar quest continues...

40 Years Ago Today From DC Comics -- Superboy #155

Superboy #155 (On Sale: February 20, 1969) has a cover by Neal Adams.

"Revolt of the Teen-Age Robots" is by Frank Robbins, Bob Brown and Wally Wood. Superboy is called to an island in the South Pacific to stop an erupting volcano. He succeeds in stopping the eruption, but his actions open a series of fissures in the ocean floor that threaten the mainland. The Boy of Steel summons his robots to help seal the fissures, but one of the robots is hijacked when teenaged ham radio operator Mousey Malcolm accidentally stumbles upon a secret control frequency.

Malcolm uses the robot for selfish purposes such as impressing Lana Lang. Meanwhile Superboy is forced to clean up the damage caused when his robot didn't complete his assignment. Malcolm soon hijacks Superboy's other robots and sends them to attack the real Boy of Steel. Superboy is forced to destroy his own robots.

Superboy then pretends to be a robot under Malcolm's control. When Malcolm attempts to use him, Superboy fakes a malfunction leaving the hijacker to wish the real Superboy could rescue him. The Boy of Steel then reveals himself, and Malcolm apologizes for his misbehavior.

Edited by Murray Boltinoff.

The Visitor

I watched The Visitor tonight. My wife had seen it months ago, so it was me watching it alone. Good movie, great acting on Richard Jenkins' part. This rounds out the Actor nominees and I can now speak with some knowledge on the subject. You can't beat Sean Penn, period. However, I don't know how the Academy is going to vote. are they going to hold Penn's recent win for Mystic River against him? I hope not, but if they do then Mickey Rourke is the next best thing to a winner. Both actors were above and beyond the rest.

Our yearly Oscar quest continues...

40 Years Ago Today From DC Comics -- Star Spangled War Stories #144

Star Spangled War Stories #144 (On Sale: February 18, 1969) has a cover Joe Kubert.

Enemy Ace stars in "Death Takes No Holiday" by Robert Kanigher, Neal Adams and Joe Kubert. Alex Toth had asked to do an Enemy Ace story and Joe Kubert, being under the gun with his new editor duties on top of his existing artist duties readily agreed. Now Alex Toth had a reputation for taking liberties with scripts, so when Kubert gave Toth the Kanigher script, he instructed Toth not to change the story, which Kubert had already read and edited.

However, Alex Toth being Alex Toth, when Kubert got the artwork, it bore little resemblance to the Kanigher script. In Bill Schelly's Kubert biography "Man of Rock" Kubert says he told Toth: "...beautiful story, but it's not the one that Bob wrote...I will not publish it." This caused a rift in the friendship Kubert and Toth had developed over the years. I have seen versions of this cover where the box in the lower right corner read "Special Issue Story Illustrated by Alex Toth."

As for the Alex Toth Enemy Ace artwork, it was destroyed by water damage after Toth kept it in the trunk of his car for months.

Like last month's Teen Titans book, this is another case where Neal Adams came in and saved an editor's butt. Also according to "Man of Rock", Adams offered to help Joe out saying "It would be a great honor for me if you would allow me to pencil this book. You have a very, very tight deadline, you have other stuff to do (and) my schedule is not bad." After seeing the finished result, Kubert said of Adams' work here "It was like somebody had crawled into my mind."

Thanks to Steve Rowe and Sharon for helping me out on this one. It really helps to have readers who know their comics! Reprinted in Sgt. Rock #14, Enemy Ace Archives Vol. 2 HC and Showcase Presents: Enemy Ace Vol. 1 TPB.

Edited by Joe Kubert.

Doubt

We saw Doubt today, one of the best films of the year by far and of course not nominated for Best Picture. They had to overlook some excellent films to make way for the only OK Slumdog Millionaire. This adds one more to the Actress nominations with Meryl Streep doing here expected great work. She is terrific as you would expect, but still not going to beat Kate Winslet in The Reader.

This also finishes out the Supporting Actor nominees with Philip Seymour Hoffman, who is wonderful as usual, but not going to win when compared with Heath Ledger.

More importantly though, this finishes out the Supporting Actress nominees adding the sublimely cute Amy Adams and the amazing Viola Davis, who give the best acting performance of the year in any category. If she does not win it will be the biggest mistake of the Oscars. In about seven minutes on the screen she is absolutely riveting, stealing her one real scene from Meryl Streep. Watching it I was reminded of that video of Cass Elliot watching Janis Joplin sing Ball and Chain at the Monterey Pop Festival and her one-word response. "Wow!"

This movie is getting very little press, but man is this great acting all the way around. If you can;t find it at the theater, see it on video when it comes out. You will be amazed.

Vicky Christina Barcelona

Well we watched Woody Allen's Vicky Christina Barcelona tonight, which only has one nomination, but it is a big one: Penelope Cruz for Supporting Actress. We still have to see Doubt to have all the Supporting Actresses covered so I can't say who I would vote for yet. Cruz doesn't show up until about 40 minutes into the picture, which we really enjoyed. Maybe you have to be a Woody Allen fan to appreciate his writing and if you are this is vintage Allen, full of characters who spend their time on screen in self analysis of their lives and their loves and as that it was thoroughly enjoyable.

Having only seen Tariji Henson in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Marisa Tomei in The Wrestler, I don't think Cruz's part was in the same league. Yeah, it was fun, but nothing like the work Tomei did. I'll have more to say after we see Doubt.

Our yearly Oscar quest continues...

40 Years Ago Today From DC Comics -- G.I. Combat #135

G.I. Combat #135 (On Sale: February 13, 1969) has a Haunted Tank cover by Joe Kubert.

We begin with the Haunted Tank in "Death is the Joker" by Robert Kanigher, Ross Andru and Mike Esposito. This was reprinted in Showcase Presents: Haunted Tank Vol. 2 TPB. Back-up stories are "Kill the Green Beret" drawn by Ed Robbins and "The Hound and the Hare" drawn by George Evans.

Ed Robbins was a DC artist in the early 1950s working exclusively on the Gang Busters book. This was Robbins' first story for DC in 13 years. He would do five stories in all during 1969 before once again disappearing.

Edited by Joe Kubert.

More Scum!

These people need to lose everything they have and spend the rest of their lives in prison, preferably a cold, dark, dank one. It's called justice and now that Gonzo and his ilk are history maybe we can get some in this country.

Scum!

As Sam Stein points out on the Huffington Post, two "Wall Street firms that received at least $60 billion in government bailout funds will be rewarding their financial advisers with controversial retention payments, the terms of which one senior executive described as "very generous" in audio obtained by the Huffington Post."

"There will be a retention award. Please do not call it a bonus," said James Gorman, co-president of Morgan Stanley. "It is not a bonus. It is an award. And it recognizes the importance of keeping our team in place as we go through this integration."

They take our money but they have no concept of "owing" the American people anything; it's still "party time" as far as this Wall Street scum is concerned. Someone needs a serious bitch-slapping!

40 Years Ago Today From DC Comics -- Leave It To Binky #66

Leave It To Binky #66 (On Sale: February 11, 1969) has a cover by Bob Oskner.

"(Binky, you don't mind carrying my compact...)" is a reprint from Leave It To Binky #33, "(Hello, Mrs. Baxter!)" is also reprinted from Leave It To Binky #33, "(Hi, Peggy! -- Oh, hello Binky!)" is a reprint from Leave It To Binky #34 and "(How do I know you're under ten?)" is a reprint from Leave It To Binky #33.

Edited by Joe Orlando.

Hello, My Name Is Granny Goose

Soap actor Philip Carey died last week in New York. I never watched the soaps so had not seen Carey since the 70s when I would watch reruns of of one of my favorite westerns, Laredo where Carey played Texas Ranger Captain Edward Parmalee. What I liked about Laredo, beside Carey were the stars, the great gravelly-voiced Neville Brand as Reese Bennett, Peter Brown as Chad Cooper and the tough and buff William Smith as Joe Riley. Tough guys doing a tough job in the old west.

But what I most remember Philip Carey for was a series of commercials he did for Granny Goose Potato Chips. Wearing his cowboy hat Carey would look at the camera and say, "Hello, I'm Granny Goose" and then hold up a bag of potato chips and continue his spiel. Cracked me up every time I saw it.

So long Granny.

Revolutionary Road

Another in a long line of downer films getting all the award heat, but man, what a excellently made movie. Kate Winslet may just be the finest actress alive right now. See this film and The Reader together and just be in awe of her range. Leonardo DiCaprio and third Titanic wheel Kathy Bates are also excellent. Michael Shannon is only on screen for a short while, but you see immediately why he is nominated for Best Supporting Actor. We are now only short Philip Seymour Hoffman's turn in Doubt to have all the Supporting Actor noms and then I can make my choice, though Heath Ledger will be wining.

Also very good is David Harbour as an infatuated neighbor, but everyone is out shined by Winslet, who won the Golden Globe here but is not even nominated for the Oscar on this fim.

This also brings us closer to having seen all of the Art Direction and Costume Design films,

Our yearly Oscar quest continues...

The Wrestler

A happy-go-lucky film this is not but Mickey Rourke is simply brilliant as Randy 'The Ram' Robinson. A brutal film and Rourke give it a deserved brutally honest performance. You really have to see this one.

These things that have comforted me, I drive away

This place that is my home I cannot stay

My only faith's in the broken bones and bruises I display

Bruce Springsteen's title-track pretty much sums up 'The Ram' and Mickey Rourke's career and this close connection between the two is one of two reasons Rourke will not be gathering up an Oscar later this month.

The second, and more important reason, is that Sean Penn is absolutely mind-numbing brilliant as Harvey Milk in Milk (of course I have still not seen Richard Jenkins in The Visitor so I could be talking through my ass). It's a great year for moviegoers when there are so many amazing performances to watch and surly Rourke's tour-de-force deserves acknowledgment. Unfortunately for 'the Ram,' this is one match he is going to lose.

Marisa Tomei is also very good in this picture as a stripper 'The Ram' wants to have a relationship with. Only the second of the Best Supporting Actress nominations we have seen and I'll need to see more before I render a verdict on this category.

Our yearly Oscar quest continues...

40 Years Ago Today From DC Comics -- Unexpected #112

Unexpected #112 (On Sale: February 6, 1969) has a nice cover by Neal Adams.

Johnny Peril stars in "The Brain Robbers" by George Kashdan and Jack Sparling. "Burn, Match, Burn" is by Dave Wood and Artie Saaf and "The Corpse That Didn't Die" is by Dave Wood and Pat Boyette and was reprinted in Unexpected #162.

Dave Wood's (AKA D. W. Holtz and D. W. Holz) first writing for DC was in Big Town #1, January 1951. In the early '50s he also wrote a number of Strong Bow stories for All-Star Western and Foley of the Fighting Fifth for All-American Western and Western Comics. He wrote for numerous issues of Rex the Wonder Dog beginning with issue #1 and pulled a long stint on the DC war books, All-American Men of War, Our Army at War and Star Spangled War Stories.

For World's Finest Comics he wrote Green Arrow, Tomahawk and Batman/Superman stories. He also wrote Batman stories in Batman and Detective Comics and Superman stories in Superman. For Mystery In Space he wrote Adam Strange, Space Ranger and Ultra the Multi-Alien (Dave's creation) and for Strange Adventures he wrote Star Hawkins and Animal Man (Dave's creation). Dave Wood also wrote a number of Dial H for HERO stories for House of Mystery and the Martian Manhunter for House of Secrets.

In 1968 he made the rounds of the Mort Weisinger books doing Supergirl in Action Comics and the Superboy and Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen features, but by 1969, Dave was relegated to this single Murray Boltinoff mystery title, where, except for a fill-in back-up story in the Boltinoff-edited Challengers of the Unknown (a story most likely written for the Unexpected), Dave would finish his career at DC.

Before coming to DC, Dave wrote Blackhawk stories for Quality from 1940-1949 and wrote Bombshell for Lev Gleason. During his time at DC Dave also wrote adventure stories for Harvey Comics and between 1958 and 1960 wrote the daily syndicated strip Sky Masters of the Space Force drawn by Jack Kirby and Wally Wood.

I don't know why Dave left DC or what happened to him after he left DC except for a single story he wrote that appeared in Creepy Magazine in 1971. This was the time when the old guard of writers were being pushed out and Dave Wood was most likely just part of that push. Dave's stories in Unexpected would appear regularly for the rest of 1969, then in three issues in 1970 then one issue in 1971, 1973, 1974 and finally in 1975.

Edited by Murray Boltinoff.

40 Years Ago Today From DC Comics -- Challengers of the Unknown #67

Challengers of the Unknown #67 (On Sale: February 4, 1969) has its first Neal Adams cover and it is a nice one.

"The Dream Killers" is by Robert Kanigher and Jack Sparling. Tino reports to the other Challengers that he is being chased in his dreams. They aren't worried until he begins bleeding in his sleep. Prof builds a machine that allows the team to view Tino's dream and allows them to see his pursuers.

While Prof works on another machine that will allow the team to enter Tino's dream, the Challengers learn that other people in the city are also plagued by the same dreams. When Prof's work is complete, the Challengers enter Tino's sleeping mind and discover that an alien brain is responsible for the nightmares. They destroy the brain allowing Tino and the other victims to sleep normally again.

The back-up is "Ace:The Beast in the Bomb" also by Robert Kanigher and Jack Sparling. The Challengers track a renegade scientist to an underground labyrinth of caverns. When they split up to search Ace is knocked out and a bomb is attached to his head. The other Challengers rush him back to the city only to discover that the bomb is linked to his heart. Ace is placed into an ice bath and his heart stops. The bomb is safely removed, and Ace is revived. The Challengers then return to the caverns with the bomb. The scientist accidentally triggers it, killing himself, but the Challengers aren't harmed.

Edited by Murray Boltinoff.

Elevation and Milk

They latest ad for Milk in the Los Angeles Times has this quote from Roger Ebert:

A week ago I wrote a blog entry about the newly researched human emotion called Elevation. that describes a feeling of intense happiness, leading often to tears. It explains why I rarely cry at a "sad" movie, but am often deeply moved by a movie about goodness. I wondered how much Elevation influenced Academy voters when they marked their ballots.

Of course I can't know how deeply anyone else felt about this years nominees. I'm going to try predicting the winners entirely on the basis of my feelings. No "reasoning." No scuttlebutt. Not even any discussion of the other nominees. Just Elevation. Here goes:

Best film: "Milk." I was truly shaken by how deeply I was moved by the closing shot of the candlelight parade down San Francisco's Castro Street, the memorial to the murdered Harvey Milk, who had started here and become the nation's first openly gay public official.

I was touched first of all by the idea, the sight, of the parade. I assumed it was done with special effects. These days we have, sadly, learned to mistrust all unlikely events on the screen, assuming they're done digitally. Only gradually did I realize the shot was reality, film taken at the time. All those thousands, as far as the eye could see. That's when I lost it.

They were marching not only for the spirit of Harvey Milk. They were marching for all the lives he touched— including a closeted Mormon teenager named Dustin Lance Black, who later would write this screenplay. They were marching for pain in the past, and hope in the future.

Of the five nominees, "Milk" was far and away my personal leader in Elevation. I think it worked because Gus Van Sant's direction, Sean Penn's performance and Black's screenplay earned the right to that final shot. It didn't exploit it, it deserved it.

Oh Boy!

When I was a kid growing up my older brothers and my sister had a large stack of 45s that I would go through and play. There was one that I really liked but it was the only one by this artist who I had never heard of so I asked my brother who the Crickets were. That was when I first learned of Buddy Holly and the tragedy of Clear Lake, Iowa. This was the song I would listen to over and over.

The Day the Music Died

Fifty years ago today we lost Buddy Holly. What a shame.



Such a shame.