But I feel there are a few things I have to address before we come to the usual pages of original art selected by Yours Truly. The first thing I want to mention is David Micheline who was the writer on Todd McFarlane´s issues of AMAZING SPIDER - Man, who is very underrated and underappreciated.
I know that I sound like a broken record but I always try to use my posts to spotlight overlooked comic creators as well as take those that are overrated to task. And it´s true that David Micheline gets a lot of credit for his other comicbook writing like on INVINCIBLE IRON MAN where he was part of the legendary team of John Romita Jr and Bob Layton that saved the title from cancelation and had such groundbreaking stories like DEMON IN A BOTTLE. But he never gets a lot of acknowledgement for AMAZING SPIDER - MAN which he wrote from 1987 to 1994 which is the second longest run second only to Stan Lee. Besides this he wrote dozens of Spidertitles and co - created Venom, Carnage, War Machine and Ant Man Scott Lang. During his writing stint on AMAZING SPIDER - MAN such comic artists like Ron Frenz, Todd McFarlane, Erik Larsen and Mark Bagley became known so I think it´s time to give credit where credit is due.
Because going back and re - reading some of those issues ( as I had just gotten the AMAZING SPIDER - MAN : ASSASSIN NATION Epic Collection ) I had completely forgotten how much fun it was to read AMAZING SPIDER - MAN back in those days. Yes, a lot of the dialogue and fashion is very dated from Today´s point of view but at the time those issues came out it was very up to date. And combined with Todd McFarlane´s innovative art - not only in panel layouts - that had a completely new approach to drawing Spider - Man that made AMAZING SPIDER - MAN a must read title again.
Todd McFarlane also was one of the first artists who really drew Mary Jane like a supermodel and having her in skimpy clothing and bikinis surely helped garner more interest in teenaged comic readers around the globe.
But Mary Jane was more than just window dressing ( although she made the number two position in my COMICBABE BATTLE : SULTRY SPIDER - BABES countdown ). She was an integral part of the book not only with her support of Peter´s work but there was a big emphasis on her work and problems and she even had her own storyline with an obsessive admirer.
One last thing I have to mention are the german covers for these issues. I have written about the german covers from Condor Comics before and with DIE SPINNE they also changed a few things. Sometimes - like with AMAZING SPIDER - MAN 303 they just changed the background color.
I guess they thought the original background at night would be too creepy for the german readers and changed it to a much brighter daylight scene.
Well, with the cover to AMAZING SPIDER - MAN 320 they went one step further. Because not only did they change the background color from night to day they also put a different Spider - Man OVER the Spider - Man that was on the original cover ( And yes, Todd McFarlane was whipping out two AMAZING SPIDER - MAN issues a month during that time. Chupate esto ! ).
I don´t know if they made it because - once again - the cover looked too creepy or if they thought that Spider - Man was too small on the cover.
They super imposed Spider - Man on covers on a regular basis after all.
Anyway, that´s enough of an introduction for Today since I still have a lot of catching up to do until I reach the current date and let´s just hope we continue this before Todd McFarlane´s next anniversary comes around.
I wanted to include a video with Todd McFarlane and initially I had another interview lined up for this but then I came across Todd McFarlane´s Facts & Illusions. Apparently this is a panel he held at a comicbook convention which was taped and included in a special edition of Spawn number 1.
Since I never have been to a convention in Amerika and I haven´t seen that special issue anywhere in Germany I never knew this existed but now I can enjoy it thanks to the wonders of the internet. I remember when magazines used to include vhs tapes on a regular basis ( it was a big deal when CINEMA started including vhs tapes with trailers and interviews for the following year because everybody in Germany said it couldn´t been done ) and this tape would have helped me a lot back when me and my brother were still trying to break into the comicbook business. Somehow you always find this kind of important stuff when it´s already too late.
We start Today´s ( relatively ) short bonus section ( it is a relief to only have to cover one day in these posts lately, let´s hope it stays that way for a while ) with a pretty new addition to our cult siren list, wet dream Alexandra Daddario who turns 34. I have to say that I don´t know much about her aside from that she always pops up when I am looking for GIFs of other busty babes which might´ve something to do with her 34D chest.
I always thought she was one of the vampire chicks, from these shows girls love like My Bleeding Vampire Diary, My Secret Teenage Vampire Love, Vampire High School Teens or Vampire High School Host Club but after reading her imdb entry I must be mixing her up with some other girl.
I still haven´t watched True Detective so I can´t say if Mr. Skin was right in voting her nude scene the best of 2014 but she definitely has the two breast reasons to watch the newest remake of Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
Deja Vu, the strange feeling you have seen or experienced something before. In this case I could have sworn I had already written about the Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie with Alexandra Daddario before but either I only planned to do it and then completely forgot about it or I never came around to do it. In any case, it was a bit difficult to find the right movie because right after it there was another remake. Maybe it´s just me but I have the impression that they are remaking this movie every few years.
Anyway, since I mentioned the movie I should also share my two cents.
First up I was very surprised to find an uncut german version - or at least a german version that is less cut than the american version - as Germany loves to cut and re - cut movies. The movie itself it was entertaining, the gore scenes were not too gratuitous ( which can ruin the best horror movies ) while the scenes with Alexandra Daddario could have used a bit more of gratuitous nudity. Don´t get me wrong, her scenes are great but for a movie that is clearly directed at an adult viewer it is weird that you can see more naked Alexandra Daddario in a tv series. The story was a bit unusual which some horror fans may have disliked but I found it refreshing and honestly, how many times do we want to re - live the same story ?
I said that the plot was a bit unusual and with that I mean that I did not expect it but on the other side there has been a trend in movies lately - not only in horror movies since the same happened in Joker - to paint criminals and monsters as victims and putting the blame for their crimes completely on others. This is a trend I don´t really care for because at the end of the day the genesis of a villain - or monster - is not that different.
Both experience a traumatic situation, the difference is that the villains take it as an excuse to do bad things while the heroes rise above the hate and try to make the world a better day. So I´m not buying the whole it´s not my fault I am just a victim of circumstance schtick, you still have a choice. In any case, despite my general dislike of these kind of stories I enjoyed the movie and while I won´t say it´s the best horror movie ever made it´s a good watch for a rainy day or a long lockdown afternoon.
There are some cult sirens that I write about on a regular basis while I only get to mention others once a year. With Alexandra Daddario it´s the latter and I made a resolution to watch more of her movies but unlike the Texas Chainsaw Massacre neither the Baywatch remake nor The Layover were very enjoyable. I mean, I watched the Baywatch movie on tv and I still wanted my money back afterwards. And speaking about Deja Vu I also thought that I had already posted this deleted scene from Rampage.
Another birthday shoutout goes to somebody who´s better known to people of my generation, german pop culture icon Elisabeth Volkmann best known for Klimbim where she starred alongside blonde sexbomb Ingrid Steeger who celebrates her birthday on the first of next month.
While Ingrid always played the nymphomanic sexbomb next door - or at least her slutty sister - with the killer body but not much brains Elisabeth was the smart but totally kooky ( is there really no better translation for überkandidelt ? ) aristocrat with the playmate - worthy measurements.
I thought I had to take Elisabeth Volkmann out because while there are some episodes of Klimbim on YouTube they are all in bad quality. There also are only two full episodes of Zwei Himmlische Töchter and I already posted them. But then I went over Elisabeth Volkmann´s resume - which is longer than my arm - and lo and behold, she also was in an episode of Die Rote Meile or like it was later called Die Rote Meile - Club der starken Frauen ( The Red Mile - The Strong Women´s Club ) for whatever reason.
The series was named after the red light district of St. Pauli in Hamburg and was a sequel to The King of St. Pauli. It follows the lives of strippers, prostitutes and their pimps but they are all portrayed like regular people not like in american tv series where people from this walk of life are always portrayed as bad people. I remember an episode of a series about beach cops on bikes ( that sounds as action packed as it was ) with people from the porn industry and they also made them killers because all people in adult entertainment are horrible people. Anyway, I watched every episode of Die Rote Meile because they had a very easy concept : one strip in every episode which was not interrupted by commercials. I don´t know if they could do that Today as they put commercials into everything.
Even if they did not go totally topless - sometimes they had pasties on - I was glued to the tv watching such ultimate sexbombs like Yasmina Filali.
Daimn, that girl really has the prototype of the heart shaped ass. Longtime readers know that 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 . And there were some on Die Rote Meile as I found out when I tried to find the names of the best strippers. Yes, only the " real " actors are mentioned in the cast meaning those with a speaking part which tells you which place some women still occupy in Today´s society. So if anybody out there knows the name of the living blow up sex doll with the big melons below put it in the comments.
Anyway, one of the best strippers of the regular cast is Sylvia Leifheit who has a secret identity in the series as she plays the typical devoted wife by day, secret stripper by night. Sylvia made me realize two things : firstly, while I usually don´t go for skinny chicks she is just oozing so much sex appeal that I would do her in a minute. And second, hair color can really make a difference because her character in the series is actually a blonde and despite having the same figure as a blonde she´s kind of a - meh - looking girl while as Luna with the black wig she´s a real firecracker !
A few years back I got the complete first season of Die Rote Meile on DVD at amazon at a pretty decent price and I´m glad I seized the opportunity because it really goes for ridiculous prices now. I can really recommend this show and Sylvia Leifheit alone is worth the price of admission.
Speaking about being worth the price of admission, while there are no episodes of Die Rote Meile on YouTube there are quite a few of Klimbim - even if the quality is not the best - and all who feel nostalgic about it and want to re - watch this ( or anybody who hasn´t seen it and wants to experience one of the best tv programs to ever hit german tv screens ) there is a complete DVD box out that you can get for under 30 EUROs.
And you can find more celebrity birthdays from March the 16th in my bonus round post for Todd McFarlane´s THE INCREDIBLE HULK from last year which is all about his rematch with Wolverine and a few more in this DEJA VUE post about cover homages to THE MIGHTY THOR 126 from 2017.
We are returning to the topic of today´s post with a look at the Spider - Man movie by James Cameron that almost happened which might have ushered in the wave of comicbook movie adaptions a whole lot earlier.
Lately I have tried to include at least one full movie in this section besides any other movie related videos because of the lockdown but I coudln´t think of any spider films besides Tarantula and I didn´t want to include Brandon´s Cult Movie Review of the film. Don´t get me wrong, I love his in - depth movie analysis but I don´t like to have two videos with guys talking in a row because that gets boring for my readers. So I typed in " Tarantula " in the YouTube search machine and I almost would have gone with the classic 1958 horror movie Earth vs The Spider when I came across 2 Lava " Lantula ! ( that is the real title ) which features not one, not two, not three but four cast members from the Police Academy movies : Steve Guttenberg, Michael Winslow, Marion Ramsey and hot Leslie Easterbrook.
Longtime readers may be already tired of this but it seems that nowadays I can´t write a new post without mentioning hot sexbomb Becky Mullen .
Besides appearing as Sally, the farmer´s daughter on the first season of GORGEOUS LADIES OF WRESTLING and various guest appearances on every major tv show ( of which her most memorable is an episode of MARRIED WITH CHILDREN opposite Pamela Anderson ) Becky also was in various erotic midnight movies including SINFUL INTRIGUE with Chona Jason.
With all that said german audiences know her best from taking her clothes off on TUTTI FRUTTI . But her biggest contribution to american culture still is HARD HUNTED and there are two other actresses from Andy Sidaris movies who appeared on TUTTI FRUTTI, Sandra Wild and Carolyn Liu . I wrote more on this in my Andy Sidaris edition of Casting the JLA movie .
Andy Sidaris was probably THE BEST director of action movies for adults and his cast is a WHOS´S WHO of playmates : 40DD Playmate Of The Month November 1984 Roberta Vasquez , hot 34D Page 3 girl turned sex therapist Ava Cadell , 41D Penthouse Pet Of The Year 1993 Julie Strain , Samantha Phillips, 34D Playmate Of The Month May 1994 Shae Marks , 36D Penthouse Pet Of The Month February 1993 Julie K. Smith , 34C Playmate Of The Month September 1993 Carrie Westcott or Dona Speir to name just a few.
Becky Mullen´s post is a spin - off that used to be in one post with Janet Jones Gretzky , best known for appearing in a white swimsuit in Police Academy 5 - Assignment Miami Beach and real live Power Girl Leslie Easterbrook who had the most famous scene in Police Academy 4 - Citizens on Patrol in which she emerges from a pool in a wet t - shirt.
The post also included 80s cult siren Monique Sluyter and the Tutti Frutti girls but that part got too long and I had to give it a post of its own which I re - posted in 2016 in a new and better version . She was a candidate from my JLA movie casting series - as Fire a.k.a. Beatriz da Costa in the Andy Sidaris Special - and before getting her solo post she was regularly in all the annual re - posts of italian mega soccer MILF Simona Ventura . But the living blow up sex doll from the Netherlands was not only in PLAYBOY multiple times she also was a big factor in my obsession on blondes with giant breast like Power Girl with her impersonation of Marilyn Monroe .
And I just wrote a spin - off post with all the usual links to Janet Jones Gretzky and real live Power Girl Leslie Easterbrook who had the most famous scene in Police Academy 4 - Citizens on Patrol in which she emerges from a pool in a wet t - shirt. And while the obligatory Andy Sidaris actresses / playmates / sexbombs like Roberta Vasquez , Ava Cadell , brunette Cynthia Brimhall, Dona Speir , Julie Strain , Shae Marks , Julie K. Smith and Samantha Phillips are mentioned the main part is about blonde brabuster Monique Sluyter and the obligatory plethora of Tutti Frutti girls .
Now usually I just include a short part with them in the posts but this time I did a somewhat longer version so I could include all the new download links I found while writing this post. I just recently included a whole slew of new ones but those are just for compilation and mixes while these new ones are not only for entire episodes - which are always ultra rare - but for german episodes which are even rarer . Some of them even include my favorite Tutti Frutti girl ( whom you can see just below ).
Coming back to Lavalantula, Steve Guttenberg and Michael Winslow play actors who play cops in this movie - how meta - and there even is a sequel called 2 Lava 2 Lantula, this time without MILF Leslie Easterbrook but with Martin Kove best known as Cobra Kai founder John Kreeve in the Karate Kid movie series and the new Cobra Kai tv series whom I just mentioned in my second MAKING A SPLASH : WILL EISNER`S THE SPIRIT post . Enjoy !
You might have noticed that I didn´t get into much detail about Todd McFarlane´s very effective panel layout during his run on Amazing Spider - Man and the reason is his techniques are explained at length in this video.
Keeping the Spider - Man theme going I can´t finish the post without the best Spider - Man movie I have seen in the last 15 years. Which would have been better if they had included Spider - Man 2099´s Miguel O´Hara and the real Spider - Girl, May " Mayday " Parker instead of Spider - Gwen, whatever the heck that manga girlie nightmare was and some of the other unimportant versions like Spider - Man Noir. But I guess that was where the marketing guys came in and they had to keep the best stuff for a possible sequel and push the franchises they want to sell to the readers.
So because she is persona non grata at Marvel the real Spider - Girl gets shafted, even though she WAS in the Spider - Verse story, and Spider - Gwen gets more screen time than all the other spiderheroes combined.
But it´s still better than the Spider - Man movies after the second Sam Raimi film. At least if you don´t like one of the many heroes you can tell yourself it´s an alternative version that doesn´t count. Because the real Peter Parker Spider - Man is not in this movie. With all these defaults and missed opportunities it´s a testament to the creative people that it is still such an enjoyable piece of entertainment that not only stays true to the comics it adapts the art onto the screen in a way you have never seen.
For Today´s music video we are going with another classic song from my misspent youth, Skandal im Sperrbezirk by the Spider Murphy Gang.
I know that we technically already have a cartoon video but as a bonus video for all those like me who miss Saturday morning cartoons here is Space Ghost in an episode I think is called The Sargasso Sea Of Space.
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Great Galaxies !
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