Friday, January 17, 2020

Man without Fear Friday with Ann Nocenti !

Time to take a break from bikini contests, bikini babes and wrestling divas and return to what should be my main focus : comicbooks and all things related to that. So it´s a lucky break that Today is Ann Nocenti´s 63rd birthday and longtime readers already know what that means : a hell lot of gorgeous DAREDEVIL art by one of my favorite artists, John Romita Jr.


Yes, I know that she edited DEFENDERS, FANTASTIC FOUR, THE INCREDIBLE HULK, NEW MUTANTS or UNCANNY X - MEN and wrote titles like CLASSIC X - MEN or LONGSHOT where she co - created the title character together with Arthur Adams ( about which I wrote in this post ) but as long as I have some art from her DAREDEVIL run those have to take a back burner.


Now while I have written about Ann Nocenti´s DAREDEVIL run many times last year was actually the first time I got to write a post in honor of her . Which is the reason why that post was more focused on her writing while this post is a bit more art - centric. Anyway, for my newer readers - and those who are too lazy to check out last year´s Ann Nocenti post - here are a few links to my older posts and I guess it goes all back to INFERNO.


INFERNO is one of my favorite Marvel crossovers which is why I started a series going through all of the various titles although I haven´t covered the DAREDEVIL part yet ( part 1 with my initial thoughts and AVENGERS issue 298 / part 2 about how the crossover was never published here in Germany and the forgotten Avenger Gilgamesh which was also my first attempt to write about AVENGERS issue 300 / my second attempt to write about AVENGERS issue 300 / the third and finally successful post about AVENGERS issue 300 ) . I hope we can get back to that topic some day.


Ann Nocenti´s DAREDEVIL was also one of the reasons why I bought the MARVEL VISIONARIES - JOHN ROMITA JR hardcover since it includes issue 253, a special Christmas story with the Kingpin. That was another series I started, pimping the MARVEL VISIONARIES hardcover since they were pretty inexpensive back in those days and they contain many key Marvel moments. I wrote a few post with a special attention to which issues in the hardcovers were important - especially for people who only know the Marvel characters from the movies - and while is was on hiatus for a long time I finally got to wrap up the MARVEL VISIONARIES - CHRIS CLAREMONT hardcover last November. I hope I can continue with this series this year.


As for John Romita Jr, I have just written too many posts where he is featured so I´m afraid that you´ll have to use the tag for this one. After all, that´s what it´s there for. Now as I said I have written a lot about this DAREDEVIL run so there is nothing more for me left to say. Which means we can get right to the John Romita Jr - not to forget - Al Williamson art.


We continue with a birthday from January the 15th and Michael Schanze who celebrated his 73rd return. He became famous in Germany with the children´s television show Eins, Zwei oder Drei which every kid at that time watched religiously so you don´t have to explain him to people of my generation. He has a long career and has worked with all the greats like sexy Wencke Myhre for whom I had the hots when I was still in school.



Because she was not only funny and had the tireless body of a playmate of the month when she was in her prime but her wardrobe could even rival Caroline Munro´s Sinbad outfit or the uniforms of the female members of the Legion of Super Heroes. Fashion went horribly wrong somewhere from being only one step above lingerie in the 80s to what women wear now.


I have no idea how she pulled it off but despite her stunning physique that made movie actresses jealous and always wearing mini skirts and plunging cleavages she never was typecast as a sex symbol in Germany.



Who definitely became a sex symbol in Germany is Dirndlbusenwunder Sandra Stumptner a.k.a. Antonia aus Tirol, thanks to her giant milk cans and her willingness to shake them like there´s no Tomorrow to further her career. I have posted a video of her before and I thought it would be appropriate to do an encore presentation because she also had a giant smash hit with one of Wencke Myrhe´s biggest evergreens about a bright red rubber dingy. Which is no wonder since Antonia has two huge boner inducing floating devices of her own which make all male viewers happy. 



On January the 16th cult movie director John Carpenter turned 71 who made such pop culture classics like Halloween, The Thing or Escape From New York with sexbomb Adrienne Barbeau. Besides the comic book movie Swamp Thing from 1982 and Creepshow which was inspired by classic EC horror comics like Tales From The Crypt Adrienne Barbeau was in another cult movie by John Carpenter, The Fog. Adrienne also showed her breast side as the bustier one of the Lamborghini Babes in The Cannonball Run.


Speaking about Cannonball Run, one of my pet pevees on this blog is celebrating all the brave actresses who turn insufferable dreck into bearable entertainment by taking their clothes off or at least show what their Mama gave them and who don´t get enough recognition for that .


Now if you have seen Cannonball Run you will remember the hot waitress with the extra - large double whoppers in the opening scene whose name is not in the opening credits, in the end credits or on any internet page ( and believe me fella, I´ve looked ). Well, just recently I found a clip with some scenes of Farrah Fawcett from the movie and her scene is also in there. So far I just called her The Busenwunder Waitress but now I can tell you that her real name is Vickie Reigle. Now in Germany Vickie is not really a good name for a woman - just ask german singer Nikki who had to suffer a lot of dirty jokes because of her name ( what rhymes with " Nikki ? " ).


The Fog also had JaMILF Lee Curtis who started her career with another John Carpenter movie : Halloween. Jamie quickly became famous for her impressive set of lungs as one of Hollywood´s scream queens although she later became quite literal famous for her impressive set of lungs as her boobs had busted out and she quickly got the nickname " freezeframe " because her hot scenes in movies like Trading Places or Perfect became the most paused on the vcr thanks to her 34C - 22 - 34 measurements.


Today she is best known for her steamy striptease on True Lies, the best striptease in movie history - at least according to a poll conducted in 2007.


Which is all the more impressive if you keep in mind that Jamie Lee Curtis was 36 at the time. So she did her best movie scene when her body was in remarkable shape - she exercised every day for this - and I cannot even begin to imagine how epic it would have been if she hadn´t kept on her underwear and gone full monty frontal nudity. Because James Cameron had seen her in A Fish Called Wanda and wrote the role of Helen Trasker specifically to see her nude body. A lot of other actresses auditioned for the role and while I could definitely see Demi Moore in that part ( who is the number one in my  Top Movie Stripteases thanks to her spectacular performance in Striptease ) or even Kim Basinger, Michelle Pfeiffer, Geena Davis, Rosanna Arquette, Madonna, Jennifer Jason Leigh and possibly Lea Thompson or Sharon Stone I thank God that it wasn´t given to Emma Thompson, Melanie Griffith, Debra Winger, Anette Benning or Joan Cusak.


I have already done a number of posts on JaMILF Lee Curtis : the original post which mostly contains pictures with links to animated GIFs , one post with all the pictures I could find , a re - posted version with a few GIFs added and the post I did on her in 2016 which has lots of spectacular GIFs.


Speaking of spectacular GIFs, the reason why I am mentioning Demi Moore - besides the opportunity to feature her - is I wrote a new version of her cult siren entry ( part 1 / part 2 ) with more GIFs of Demi girating her booty than you can shake .... okay, I´m not going to finish the sentence.


Today´s entertainment block leans towards german stuff but I just have to include one of the forgotten heroes of my childhood. In America he is best known as Gobinda from Octopussy but for me and anybody who grew up in Europe during the 70s Kabir Bedi who turned 74 Yesterday will always be The Tiger Of Malaysia. I despair because there are entire generations who have no idea who that is. Back then we had tv series like Sandokan, Arpad The Gypsy or Yao and tv was as cultural diverse as they are Today pretending to be but such shows are of course not politically correct.



From the small screen we make our way to the big screen with Caroline Munro who celebrated her 71st birthday and who should not be mistaken with Carolyn Monroe whom readers of this blog may have seen in some posts where I mentioned Bart Sear´s ultimate version of Power Girl .


Caroline Munro is a cult siren really deserving the title since she starred in everything from Bond movies like The Spy Who Loved Me to sci fi flicks like Starcrash ( which I had the misfortune to see and can only recommend for Caroline Munro fans because of her skimpy wardrobe ) to horror movies like The Abominable Dr. Phibes and Dr. Phibes Rises Again to Hammer productions like Dracula A. D. 1972 and Captain Kronos - Vampire Hunter to tittilating sword and sorcery classics like The Golden Voyage Of Sinbad .


Which is where I first saw her. I went to the cinema in Kornwestheim to see it and Caroline´s supple cleavage - which she showcased in a variety of very tight fitting outfits - was a big part of the appeal of that movie.


You can find more celebrity birthdays from January the 10th up until January the 16th in my post on issue 6 of Mark Waid and George Perez´ brilliant run on THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD and for those lucky enough to have not seen Starcrash yet here is Brandon´s review of the cult movie. Which is less painful and more entertaining than watching the real thing.



Today we have belgian comic artist François Walthéry who turns 74 and who was heavily influenced by Franquin´s art. Walthéry started out at the famous comic magazine Spirou assisting Peyo on The Smurfs, Johan and Peewit ( a comic about a knight and his varlet in which the smurfs first appeared as supporting characters ) and Steven Strong or Benni Breakiron ( a comic about a super strong boy who loses his powers every time he catches a cold ) but he is best known for his comic Natascha which tells the adventures of a sexy air hostess. Since Natascha was one of the big comicbook series of my youth I featured it as part of my WORLD´S GREATEST COMICS series so I don´t have to go into further detail here.



This is where we wrap up the celebrity birthdays for Today but you can find more anniversaries from January the 15th up until January the 17th in last years Ann Nocenti DAREDEVIL post . Now I don´t have a cartoon video for Natascha since the comic was never adapted in animated form but while looking for one I came across a video that has two hot air hostesses for the price of one with Roxana Munoz and Gisela Molina.



Who would have been perfect for the title role in a live action Natascha movie is brabusting Fräuleinwunder Ingrid Steeger who was in her prime during the famous german cult show Klimbim which I think aired roughly around the same time the Natascha comic first found it´s way to Germany.


I am not the only one who must have thought that Ingrid Steeger was predestined for the role of sexy air hostess with her body that won´t quit because she did indeed play that part - alongside german mega sexbomb Iris Berben - in Zwei Himmlische Töchter ( Two Heavenly Daughters ). Sadly there are only two episodes on YouTube and I already posted both of them . But instead I have an ever rarer find : an episode of Susi, a series with Ingrid Steeger I never knew existed and which is not available on DVD.



Speaking of tv shows and flying, I DID find a tv series that is based on a franco belgian bande dessinee, Les Aventures de Tanguy et Laverdue which is called Mick Tanguy in Germany. The tv show was called Les Chevaliers Du Ciel ( The Knights Of The Sky ), had 39 episodes that ran in three seasons from 1967 to 1969 and achieved cult status in France.



There was a movie in 2005 called Sky Fighters which I mentioned in a post about movie adaptions of franco belgian bande dessinees back in 2008.



Now I didn´t find a cartoon based on Natascha or any other comicbooks that involve flying but I found something much better. Another series from my childhood : The Mole, a czech series about the adventures of a mole and since there was absolutely no dialogue to translate it was imported to a few countries including Germany where it became famous as part of the childrens tv show Die Sendung mit der Maus ( The Show With The Maus ).



We are bringing things full circle with an look at Ann Nocenti´s Daredevil - which is the reason why I didn´t write so much about it in this post.



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1 comment:

Terry Hooper-Scharf said...

Nice to see lovely pencil and finished artwork. Nostalgia doesn't cover it!