Sunday, February 23, 2020

A Science Fiction Sunday with Tom Peyer

Today Tom Peyer celebrates his 66th birthday so it´s time to step forward in time for another Legion tribute post. I always have the dilemma of two comicbook creators having an anniversary on this day but since our last post before the re - post of science fiction cult siren Jeri Ryan was about Marvel Comics TOMB OF DRACULA we are having the DC Comics post first and then the post on Doug Moench´s SHANG - CHI, MASTER OF KUNG FU.


But this post is about Tom Peyer. His name may not appear on a lot of best comicbook writers lists but he wrote a lot of books with the Legion of Super - Heroes during what is affectionately - and by some fans not so affectionately - called the Threeboot Legion as well as some of the ancillary titles like L.E.G.I.O.N. 94 or R.E.B.E.L.S. 95 which I enjoyed.


I did a special post for Tom Peyer in 2017 and last year and I still had a lot of covers left from that so making a new post should be a walk in the park.


I didn´t want to make it just about one of the many series he wrote so finding the right mix was a bit difficult. And since Tom Peyer worked on the Threeboot Legion and Alan Davis did a lot of the covers I was sorely tempted to do a post mainly with his art but decided against it. I already did a post on Mark Farmer and Alan Davis SUPERBOY`S LEGION but I hope I can do another Alan Davis / Legion of Super - Heroes post so I am only including one or maybe two original Alan Davis covers in this Tom Peyer post and only pieces where I got a second version of much better quality.


And now without any further ado here are some of the comics where you can find Tom Peyer´s wordsmiting and as usual I have selected covers because they feature characters who you might know from the movies or tv series. By the way, one reason why I wanted to make this post is that there is a new brilliant ( well, what do you expect from Tom Peyer ? ) book out by Tom Peyer but we will talk more about this after the covers.


Okay, regular followers of the blog might have noticed that I very seldom write about actual or even new comicbook series which is mostly due to the poor quality of most of the output of the big two. While Disney´s Marvel Comics have but completely given up any attempt of hiding their intellectual and creative surrender to the SJW crowd DC Comics at least seems to be interested in putting out good comicbooks for their readers.


Where independent comics are concerned most readers of the blog also know which titles I still read but there are not that many that seem to be worth the time, money and effort. Which is one of the reasons why I am such a big fan of true believers, one dollar comics or GRATIS COMIC TAG, FREE COMIC BOOK DAY and the newest sequel HALLOWEEN COMICFEST.


While other comic readers see these events as an opportunity to hoard as many comics as possible I soon started to see it more as a chance to try out new books I wasn´t aware of. Because what´s the use of getting those comic series on FREE COMIC BOOK DAY that I am reading anyway ?


So instead of just hoarding the usual suspects I started to look more for comics outside of my usual comfort zone. If I liked them I could add them to my list and if I didn´t like them at least I knew that they were not for me without having to spend money. I even wrote a few posts about the free comics I got ( one of which landed in my readers favorite top ten ).


And when the comics I didn´t like or didn´t want to keep became too much I started my BIG CHRISTMAS CONTEST which was only an excuse to give away free comics without people becoming suspicious. Anyway, while I haven´t given away any free comics the last few years I still participated in free comicbook events ( it seems there are more and more of these even coming to Germany and this Saturday is going to be MARVEL DAY ).


And last year there was a free comic that has become my new favorite comicbook. As you might have guessed it´s written by Tom Peyer and the title is DRAGONFLY & DRAGONFLYMAN and it´s the follow up or better prequel of THE WRONG EARTH. Which is why this recommendation is a bit difficult to make. Not because it´s not a good series, it´s a great series, but more because I am not quite sure in which order this has to be read.


But we will get to that. So what´s it all about ? Like a lot of my favorite movies, tv shows and comicbooks it all comes down to Flash Of Two Worlds. In this case we have two versions of a hero on different earths.


First we have Dragonflyman on Earth Alpha who is kind of a Adam West Batman kind of hero, very Golden Age - y and proper. Then we have Dragonfly which is the same hero but a more grim and gritty 90s vigilante kind of hero on Earth Omega. In the first story THE WRONG EARTH these heroes traded places and ended up - you guessed it, on the wrong earth.


And while this is not a new concept in comicbooks by any means Tom Peyer and artist Jamal Igle make it work in such a fashion that it´s pure genius. What could have been played just for laughs or a cheap excuse for violence and fisticuffs in the hand of a lesser creative team becomes a very relatable story about the human condition. It examines the question how much we are a victim of our environment and how much depends on our character as we see the Golden Age hero adapt to his new completely corrupt surroundings without giving up his ideals, morals and integrity.


On the other side we see Dragonfly come to terms with the humanity within him that he thought lost forever as he ponders what might have been if things turned out differently for him. An absolute must read.


Okay, then what´s the problem ? Well, you see, the new series DRAGONFLY & DRAGONFLYMAN is a prequel as we see these different heroes go up against the same villain and the most interesting part is the juxtaposition of their different experiences. Now when I didn´t know that the new series was a prequel to THE WRONG EARTH so I read it first. The thing is I am not sure if I should recommend reading THE WRONG EARTH after you have finished the new series. Yes, there is a major spoiler in THE WRONG EARTH that will definitely influence your reading experience with this.


On the other hand I don´t think I would be so engaged in the fate of the heroes if I had not read THE WRONG EARTH first. So that´s my dilemma but no matter which one you decide to read first I can´t recommend these books highly enough. They are not just for Batman fans or super hero comics fans but for all fans of good written and well drawn comics.


By the way, I forgot to mention that while the first series - which is already available in trade - was drawn by Jamal Igle he is only doing the covers for the new series. The interior work is done by Peter Krause whom regular readers might remember from this post about his art on Jerry Ordway´s brilliant THE POWER OF SHAZAM series. So that´s my recommendation for Today that has become a bit longer than expected.


As usual I would never expect my readers to give these comicbooks a try without any further information and you can find plenty of that online since everybody is raving about them. But just in case here is the usual assortment of links. First up we have the announcement of the new Dragonfly & Dragonflyman series on THE FANBOY FACTOR followed by an inside look at the new series plus an interview with Tom Peyer and artist Peter Krause on 13TH DIMENSION . We also have a preview of issue 1 of Dragonfly & Dragonflyman on THE BEAT , GRAPHIC POLICY has previews of issue 1 and issue 2 , a review of issue 1 and the solicitation and cover of issues 3 and 4 while you can find a review of issue 3 on MAJOR SPOILERS .


After this uncharacteristic recommendation of a current comicbook series that deserves more attention we come to the usual list of birthdays which Today is a bit unusual. Since we have two posts Today and I didn´t have a lot of birthdays in our Jeri Ryan cult siren re - post I am going to cover Yesterday´s anniversaries here and Today´s anniversaries in our next post.

We start Yesterday´s list of pop culture relevant dates with the late Reed Crandall known for two things, one of them being one of the contributors to the classic EC horror comics like Tales From The Crypt, The Vault Of Horror, The Haunt Of Fear, Shock Suspensestories etc. You know that with a blog name like Tales From The Kryptonian I just have to mention him.


While Reed Crandall worked alongside such contemporaries like Jack Davis, Johnny Craig, Graham Ingels, George Evans or Jack Kamen for some reason I don´t have much art by him which is why the post I wrote about him last year was about the other comic book he is known for : Quality Comics Blackhawk. Which most people associate with DC Comics. But the fighting force of World War II was originally a property of Quality Comics that was acquired by DC Comics along with Plastic Man, Doll Man or the Phantom Lady - about which you can read more in said post I linked to above.



From cult horror comics we come to a literal cult siren that would have had no problem serving as " troop entertainment " during World War II : Jeanette " Schnuckelchen " Biedermann who turned 39. She is one of Germany´s most popular and most desired born for porn pop singers / actresses thanks to her stunning 34C - 26 - 34 measurements which she displayed in various magazine shoots ( no PLAYBOY pics so far ) and her proneness to skimpy outfits on and off stage which has led to a number of wardrobe malfunctions that would´ve made other professionals like the living nubian blow up sex doll that walks a.k.a. the best body in showbiz, Janet " All Night - Don´t Stop " Action Jackson ( who has three solo posts on the blog plus three entries in my Justice League cast ) quit her career.
 

Janette only took them with a shrug and a smile since she has been on stage since she was six and those wardrobe malfunctions have only furthered her career. In fact one of the reasons why she is so popular is that she has often provided the highlights of those unbearable celebrity wannabe shows with her - sometimes - unintentional revelation of body parts which is the reason why she gets constantly invited to those shows.


It´s one of the reasons why she is the number one sexbomb germans want to have sex with in polls before MILF Sonya Kraus , Boobara Schöneberge or Verona Pooth and she was also voted " Woman of the Year " twice ( in 2003 and 2005 ) in the german edition of FHM. In 2006 she even won the category " Sexiest Woman in the World ". Jeanette even got the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany but I think for other reasons.


She´s also one of the few who has successfully made the transition from singing to acting and back. On one of the worst german soaps - which is also one of the most popular - Gute Zeiten Schlechte Zeiten ( good times bad times ) she played the role of Marie Bälzer from June 1999 to March 2004. She also did the voice of Susan in the german version of an episode of South Park and some other animation voices like in Over The Hedge.


From August 2008 until April 2010 she graced german tv screens as Anna Polauke, the main character of the telenovela Anna und die Liebe ( Anna and the love ? ) as well as appearing in various movies of which Callgirl Undercover ( or Lizzie und der Kommissar depending on which tv station is showing it ) stands apart from the rest if only for the few moments when she shows what she could really do with her huge porn star boobs.


Speaking of her music career, she has won lots of awards like the ECHO, the OTTO, Top of the Pops Award and her albums have gone three times gold and once platinum. She first went with a sexy image and she quickly became known as the german queen of fan service what you could see in her music videos which culminated in the music video to Rock My Life. I remember staying up after midnight many times to catch the short bits of Janette Bidermann taking a shower in a bathtub and tape it with the vcr.


It´s no secret that Janet Jackson was predestined to play a stripper not only because of her incredibly fit and flexible pornstar hardbody which could have earned her a fortune as one of the biggest super stars in the adult entertainment industry but also because she has some incredible stripper moves that make real striptease pros envious . Which nasty Miss Jackson more than proved in Jermaine Dupri´s music video Gotta Getcha where Janet plays one extremely busty stripper dressed up as a school girl or teacher . I don´t know if the script explicitly said " busty stripper " but with her huge DD melons it´s the only kind Janet can believably portray.


And to top it all off the erection projection performance of Janet Jackson in that video is so explicit that it never aired on german music television.




Some months ago I found a Making Of from that video and I have to say I´m not sure how I feel about the fact that originally Janet was supposed to play a nymphomanic dominatrix but they skipped that because it would hit too close to home according to Janet herself. Say what ? So Janet is a nymphomanic dominatrix in the privacy of her own bedroom ? Daiiiiimn !


I always knew that Janet was a sex freak ( Janet admitted to joining the Mile High Club and is a well known size queen ) and although the rumors that Bobby Brown banged her in the 80s might not be true it is much more believable that she used Justin Timberlake as her sextoy and dumped him after a month of steamy sex marathons . According to Justin it took Janet an hour to get in my pants after we first hooked up and she was so wild in bed that I didn´t know how to handle it. I was falling in love with Miss Jackson but during our get - togethers she only wanted to have sex.


I don´t think of myself as sexy but I am a very sexual being, I always have sex on my mind. I feel very comfortable with it and I think it´s great if a guy has a good sized package. I know the effect my body has on guys so I sometimes use it to get especially well hung guys into my bedroom where I tie them to the bed and bang their brains out in a marathon sex orgy.


I go completely crazy and make them squirt again and again until they are completely drained. I regret doing it but I´ll turn around and do it again. 


Cardi B also put her stripper skills to good use co - starring with Jennifer Lopez in Hustlers which also helps her get more recognition for strippers since she wants everybody to know that strippers have nothing to be ashamed of. Cardi B makes no apologies for who she is and she wants other women to do the same no matter what the world thinks of them.


And since both can spread their legs better than a fillipino prostitute I´m curious to see who´s better at doing the splits. Daimn, rehearsals for this must have been epic with all the guys constantly having giant erections thanks to natural born stripper super stars Cardi B and Jennifer Lopez.


You know, what would have been even better would be to get Cardi B and Jennifer Lopez in the same movie with Janet Jackson making the stripper trifecta complete. Then we could have a threeway super splits sex battle to settle who can spread their legs best and also who has the basst butt.


I wish I could give you my review of " Hustlers " or a quick encapsulation but the BlueRay doesn´t drop in Germany until the 11th of April and this is not a movie you want to see in a full movie theater with an audience.



Sci fi cult siren Jeri Ryan celebrated her 52nd birthday who played the inflatable DD Borg playmate with the big melons and a skin tight bodysuit sexborg Sex With Nine on the otherwise forgettable Star Trek : Voyager.


I´m sure there were thousand of Star Trek fans who wanted to be ass - imilated by her. Or better tit - imilated by this bodacious Borg sex drone.


Jeri´s breasts were so huge that they made her skintight suit darker and darker so you couldn´t see them as good but to no avail. Seven of Nine is THE cyborg sex machine every sci fi fanboy wants to have multiple borg - gasms with ( she´s a literal sex machine who is not only built like a porn star with Jeri Ryan´s hardbody, as a cyborg she has a lot of stamina and endurance and she also can take a lot of punishment so you don´t have to be gentle and you will get a lot of mileage out of this cyber sex amazon ).


Jeri tried her best to make us forget the shortcomings of the writing but couldn´t compensate for a plethora of always darker bodysuits that tried to hide her porn star physique. Since I have re - posted Jolene Blalock´s cult siren entry more often than Jeri Ryan´s cult siren entry I have re - posted Jeri Ryan again after I gave her post the old once over last year .


Our last birthday shoutout goes to Joachim Witt, one of the best known artists during the movement of Neue Deutsche Welle who turned 71.



You can find one birthday relevant to german culture in my Jeri Ryan post from 2017 and keeping with the science fiction theme of this post going our cartoon video of the day is the first episode of Astro Boy - in english, german, spanish and french. Just in case one of the videos gets deleted.






When I was looking for videos for Osamu Tezuka´s anniversary in November I could not find one and now that I was looking for something completely else I found a lot of them. I only found an episode of the original Astro Boy in english and I am including it to show the differences between the two versions. Apropos, even when you only watch one version of the new episodes you should check out the intros because not all are the same.



Another unexpected find is The Solarnauts, an unsold 1967 british tv pilot.



New to the blog ? Everything you need to know about TALES FROM THE KRYPTONIAN : top ten posts / more posts of interest / best of the best


You don´t have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading.

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