Master of Kung Fu Monday with Gil Kane !

It´s been a while since I have done one of these posts and in light of the upcoming SHANG - CHI : MASTER OF KUNG FU omnibus books I thought I could extend Gil Kane week a bit longer and post his covers for the series.

For the last few days I tried to post more DC covers by Gil Kane because in my last Black and White post only 6 out of the 26 I posted were DC.

But something else always came up and prevented that. Like on Saturday when I was all ready to go - especially since it was Robi´s birthday - but then I went looking for some original art and spent the day and most of the following Sunday putting all the stuff I found in order. So to make a boring story short after getting every piece of Gil Kane art available on the internet I have divided it up into theme groups so there will be several posts appearing in the next few weeks. Like this one right now.  

Speaking about the omnibus books, I´m still not sure if I should get volumes 1 and 2. I would like to read it all but art wise I´m much more interested in Mike Zeck´s art than anything else and I don´t know if volume 2 is worth spending so much money for 8 issues of Mike Zeck art.

Even with the lower prices at amazon volume 1 is still at 88 bucks which is just a bit above my price range. The 2nd volume doesn´t come out until September but I don´t know how low the price on that one will go. If it does get lower at all. Right now there are two really very reasonably priced omnibus hardcovers at amazon.de, STAR WARS : THE ORIGINAL MARVEL YEARS OMNIBUS 1 for 70 Euros and 2 for 75 Euros but I´m not sure if I really want to read those that urgent or if that´s the nostalgia kicking in. I thought about getting one of them as a belated birthday present for my brother but once I got my hands on them I would probably keep them for myself. I don´t think the way he behaved lately he really deserves them. But at the moment I´m a little tight with money anyway.

The problem is that I fear this is another instance of a once in a lifetime opportunity like with the X - MEN : INFERNO hardcover that was offered at half price and I didn´t buy it just because I had bought the trade a few months earlier. The thing is the hardcover had some additional content and now that I have the X - MEN : INFERNO PRELUDE and X - MEN : INFERNO CROSSOVERS this is the one that would complete the set.

So I´m checking daily if those omnibus books are still at that price and hoping I can order them at the right moment. In any case I will probably order volume 2 first because it has not as much Carmine Infantion art in it and as it is in the bargain books section the price may go up again pretty soon as volume one is in the regular book section. The price on that may also go up again but probably not as quick as can happen with the second volume. You see I haven´t really made up my mind yet. 145 Euros is a lot of money to spend but if you get 250 dollars worth of comics that´s not so bad and I would only need volume three to complete the series. Which may also be at a more reasonable price once the first two volumes have sold enough. And if I buy the books and don´t like them after reading I can always use them as collateral and exchange them for other omnibus books like the SHANG - CHI : MASTER OF KUNG FU.

But that´s all speculation so let´s continue with the Gil Kane covers before I go completely off topic and have to write another post for this.   

Gil Kane did three more covers for the series but since those are some of the fabled GIANT SIZED issues they will be featured in a Giant Sized post - maybe two. Marvel really only did these specials from August 1974 to December 1975 and the vast majority of the covers were by Gil Kane.

I couldn´t do a MASTER OF KUNG FU MONDAY post without mentioning Old Groove from the brilliant DIVERSIONS OF THE GROOVY KIND who started it all and since I´m not sure I posted this here is his latest post in that series, The Phoenix Gambit - Part I : Temples of Time from MASTER OF KUNG FU 59 by Doug Moench, Mike Zeck ( this was his first issue ) and John Tartaglione. For those of you craving more kung fu entertainment there is also a post on The Sons of The Tiger and White Tiger and one with the first adventure of The Sons of The Tiger from DEADLY HANDS OF KUNG FU, which will be also reprinted in an upcoming omnibus. Man, this is the year for enthusiasts of Bronze Age Marvel martial arts series. And speaking about enthusiasts of Bronze Age Marvel martial arts series, Joe Linton at THE PERIODIC FABLE has a three part essay on the innovative storytelling in MASTERS OF KUNG FU by Paul Gulacy ( part 1 / 2 / 3 ).

We start Today´s birthday roundup with one that is already over but it´s an important one. Like I have already mentioned last Saturday german comic legend Robi a.k.a. Horst Brack, der Bestrafer celebrated his 56th birthday. He has written scripts for tv shows and hit movies like The Miracle of Bern - although I think he never got as much credit as other people who were less involved and who got interviewed all the time. Right now the movie has been adapted to the musical format and it´s one of the biggest shows although I doubt there´s any money going Robi´s way. For the hungry comic masses Robi is best known for writing countless comics like the underground cult series MENSCHENBLUT or HORST.

Longtime readers may remember that I announced the german website of HORST as well as two more as I was doing the translations to english and spanisch . But because of various reasons, health problems, computer problems, software problems and all this tedious life stuff I did my last translations in June 2010 but the old stories are still there to read.

I don´t think there is a printed edition in english or spanish available ( hence the two blogs ) and for my german readers who don´t know the comic I can only recommend to get the original issues although most of them are in black and white. There was a new edition released by PANINI that collects the complete works in four trades but for some reason they thought they had to change the text. Which normally happens with new editions of foreign material - each publisher has to do his own translation - but with german comics ? Anyway, don´t worry if you can´t find the old issues. Besides this all stories have new lettering that makes it easier to read, the colors look gorgeous and there is plenty of bonus material.

Another hit series by Robi is ALRAUNE, beautifully drawn by Toni Greis and I don´t have to explain this series to german comic readers because everybody has this - at least the male part of the comic community.

Somebody once said this is the kind of porn comic that has such good writing you read it with both hands. And the art is so hot you wish you had a third hand. The 8 issue series has been collected in two hardcovers which are totally worth the money because for the first time all the pages are in color. I have both volumes and you can find it at the homepage of Schwarzer Turm or at good comic stores just don´t go to amazon because the price for it is ridiculous. Anyway, I don´t think there are more issues of LUNA coming out and usually I would say I´ll get the latest gossip in Erlangen but with the new health problems ( now the other knee is wasted ) and my non existent comic budget this may be the first time I won´t attend. The last time was pretty bad with my injured knee and I was practically a young god compared to my current state of health. So happy birthday Robi and much success from here if we don´t meet in Erlangen. 

We´re staying in the adult entertainment section with our first birthday of Today which is PLAYBOY´s Miss November 2000 Buffy Tyler. The buxom blonde ( 36D - 24 - 34 ) of german descent turns 38 and besides appearing in PLAYBOY videos she was in the movie Frostbite and the Howard Stern Show. I remember her because back at that time I was still buying and reading the PLAYBOY magazine on a semi regular basis. Ah, the good old times when there were plenty of naked women to be found in PLAYBOY. 

We have two DOCTOR WHO related birthdays, the first is David Tennant who has his 45th regeneration. He is of course known as the most popular Doctor in New Who and his long stay on the role has set the standard for all who followed ( no pun in - tennanted ). Currently he is on Broadchurch and Alias where he plays the evil Purple Man Zebediah Killgrave. I have started watching that show with my mother but after a few episodes she lost interest. I guess she like the action spectacle like Agents of S.H. I. E. L. D. more so I´ll have to finish it on my own. The second birthday is Eric Roberts who turns 60 and although most people prefer to forget it he portrayed the Doctor´s nemesis The Master in the movie with the eight Doctor Paul McGann. I was looking through the videos and I picked this one because it was the last time I was really surprised by a regeneration.



Today talk show host Conan O´Brien also celebrates his 53rd anniversary and sometimes he really has the best job in the world because he gets to interview such gorgeous women like Angie Harmon who - surprise - would love to play She Hulk in a movie. Although I´m not sure Disney would let her play her as a drinking, promiscuous, behind kicking gun toting chick.




Since there are not a lot videos about Shang - Chi on YouTube here is one with the master Bruce Lee after which Paul Gulacy modeled his version.



Since I will probably not write about Mangas inthe next future here´s a rather long documentary ( over one hour ) for my german readers.



Okay, you know this was coming. There can be no post about this kind of subject without the obligatory Yaya Han video. She´s the best, looks absolutely stunning and always comes up with great new cosplays.

I really thought I had to post one of the few bookmarked videos I have left but just then I came across this new one from FANTASY BASEL 2015. Yaya´s part is a bit short for my taste but perfect as always. She nails it. 



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