Master of Kung Fu Monday with Paul Gulacy

It´s been a while since I´ve done one of those but I couldn´t think of a better occasion then Paul Gulacy´s 63rd birthday to resuscitate this.

Now Paul Gulacy has of course done many other books but this is the one where he first transformed into the artist we all know and love. Also I didn´t want to do another post that takes so damned long to make. I might do another one down the road about all the other comics but for the moment being we´re staying with SHANG CHI, MASTER OF KUNG FU.

Since I have started this series on the blog MASTER OF KUNG FU has gained more followers which was greatly helped by the fact that Disney has decided to make the entire series available in omnibus form. So far I haven´t gotten the first one because the cheapest you can get it at the moment is 88 Euro which is a bit above my usual omnibus price limit. I have bought only one omnibus at the regular price so far but that was a special case with SECRET WARS II. With MASTERS OF KUNG FU I´m much more of a Mike Zeck guy than a Paul Gulacy guy so IF I decide to buy one of the omnibus books at full price it has to be all Mike Zeck which will be the third book with issues 71 to 101. This should come out in March next year so the prices on the first two volumes might drop until that date.

Back to Paul Gulacy, while I like Mike Zeck´s art better he is no slouch either and in fact it was his signature habit of basing characters on well known actors and his brilliant storytelling and page layout that first shot the series to fame. In Spain there was a special edition of his issues of MASTER OF KUNG FU which is part of the reason why I haven´t run out to buy his omnibus because I still have those issues. Anyway, here is but a small selection of pages to illustrate his awe - inspiring craftsmanship.

Since all the Shang Chi links have been used up in previous posts we go directly to the entertainment block where our first candidate is Jennifer Lawrence celebrating her 26th birthday. She has successfully managed the difficult balancing act between receiving critical acclaim and gaining the regular movie goers approval with roles in Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle, The Hunger Games and the latest X - Men movies.

I already posted her tittilating appearance on The Graham Norton Show and since the other videos were just excerpts from that show here is a review / critique of X - Men : Apocalypse. It is in german so not all of my readers will be able to understand it but I wanted to post it because it is not often that you find a good critique which explains why a certain movie fails. And I have to concur : after Days of Future Past which gave us a new status quo everybody expected that the movies would finally go on with the stories but we get another reboot and another new status quo.

Enough already with the constant rebooting. The idea behind having a movie franchise is that you can concentrate on stories because you spent the first one introducing the team. But the X - Men keep assembling so many new mutant teams that you could mistake them for the Avengers.  



Speaking of celluloid cuties, Natasha Henstridge turns 42 who is best known as a spokesperson for the international safety belt association.

Only kidding. Of course her claim to fame is getting naked in Species or like I like to call it Spätzles as one of the sexiest aliens besides Jolene Blalock and Jeri Ryan. Since this movie and the following sequel are pretty well known I thought it would be pretty easy to find a GIF from the second movie but most were from her topless scenes in the first movie. Seems like most people won´t make an effort if there is no nudity involved. In any case, since I try to avoid nudity unless it is necessary I made my own GIF which is the reason why it took me an extra day to finish this post. 

Ben Affleck celebrates his 44th birthday and I think it´s a bit surreal how he went from being the guy who ruined the Daredevil movie to being the guy who was sure going to ruin Batman and ultimately the best on screen Batman of all times and the only guy who can possibly save the cinematic DC universe. From what you hear the reason why SUPERMAN V BATMAN wasn´t a bigger trainwreck is that Ben Affleck did massive re - writes of the script. Of course now Zack Snyder gets all the credit and will probably do his best to f - word up the next DC movie. It seems some people are just untouchable no matter how much they f - word up all their movies.

Since I still haven´t seen the movie - I have a hard time paying money for a movie I will not enjoy - I don´t want to post any of his interviews so here is an episode of The Graham Norton Show where he makes an appearance together with his co - stars Henry Cavill and Amy Adams. Since I haven´t seen it yet myself I hope there are not too many spoilers. 



Debra Messing turns 48 and her career has a lot of ups and downs. Currently she is on tv with one of the worst tv show remakes The Mysteries of Laura which has absolutely nothing in common with the spanish original version except the name but she was also on one of the best sitcoms ever. No, I´m not talking about Will & Grace, I´m talking about Ned and Stacy. And since I already posted a video from that show as well as an episode of Los Misterios de Laura we can go directly to our next anniversary which also is about hit tv shows. Rob Thomas celebrates his 51st birthday and he is the writer on Veronica Mars and iZombie. Usually I would use this opportunity to post something about cult siren Charisma Carpenter but I did that in quite a few posts last month so I think I should give my readers a break. So let´s talk about iZombie.

It is currently on hiatus and while I want to know how they continue I´m also wondering if they will ever get around to introduce the broader aspects of the comic book. If I was 20 years younger I would probably pity the people who only watch the show and don´t read the comic because they miss out on a lot of cool stuff - not to mention Mike Allred´s great art - but now I would say it´s their own damn fault. There also is a new tv show about Vertigo´s Lucifer comic series but they already changed just about everything from the comic and I don´t need to watch another show where the main character is using his special abilities to help the police solve murder cases. I´m watching enough cop shows as it is. Also they are probably going to use the old trope where the prota is caught in a war between heaven and hell. Could we please have a bit of originality here ?

Speaking about cop shows, David Zayas turns 54 who is best known for playing Lt Angel Batista on Dexter, one of the best shows that uses the old trope of the guy who is more than he seems and uses his special abilities to help the police solve crimes. He also plays Sal Maroni on Gotham but the less said about that show the better. Instead let´s make the jump from tv shows based on comic book heroes who were inspired by pulp novels to fantasy writers who began their career writing pulp novels.

Wolfgang Hohlbein celebrates his 63rd birthday and he had his first big break writing Der Hexer for Bastei first published in Gespenster Krimi.

As you can see this cover has been used on quite a few books.

World famous Russ Meyer actress Uschi Digard turns 68 and the question is, how does one discuss Uschi ? The extremely busty, tan, always smiling, and endearing on - screen personality appeared in so many films of the 60s and 70s that the litany of her screen credits is only rivaled by the number of aliases she worked under like Ushie Plushie or Linda Lolli.

I don´t want to say that Busenwunder Uschi was predestined to work in skin flicks ( you can ask any german guy which word rhymes with Uschi ) but she began to develop extremely big breasts at a very young age. In an interview Uschi recalls : " When I started to develop at 11 I had to strap myself in, because it wasn't seemly to have breasts, and we all wore uniforms. By age 15 I was already a 40DD. " After such a beginning Uschi could only end up in movies but she began, oddly enough, in mainstream, with a cameo in I Love You Alice B. Toklas ! with Peter Sellers. She would do other bits in Hollywood flicks like The Killer Elite, Fuzz and Kentucky Fried Movie in the fake Catholic High School Girls in Trouble trailer.

After supporting parts in Cresse's The Scavengers and a handful of other productions and taking the men’s magazine scene by storm, Uschi Digard made her Meyer debut as the best thing about Cherry, Harry & Raquel !

A silent role in footage added to pad out the picture, she is one of the more memorable aspect of that lesser Meyer movie together with the lascivious Linda Ashton who plays the main character, nurse Cherry.

From 1969, Uschi didn't stop working and encountered just about every major producer and director of the sexploitation scene. She even worked in hardcore productions but she only appeared in soft scenes. Everyone who worked with Uschi loved her, a rarity in the sexploitation industry, and it's no surprise that she kept many of her co - workers as close friends for many years. Uschi worked with Russ behind - the - scenes more frequently than she did on - camera, acting as associate producer on Meyer's last two films, Up ! and Beneath The Valley of The Ultra - Vixens, before he worked her last nerve and she stormed out of his life for a spell ( as he forced many of his friends to do around this time ).

Before that, she had maybe her all - time best role as SuperSoul, Stuart Lancaster's Austrian mail - order bride who bangs him all over Lancaster's farm ( with loud exaggerated panting and in ludicrous positions ! ), then sets her eyes on Charles Pitts. You get to hear Uschi speak in german here ( one of the multitude of languages she speaks fluently along with italian and spanish ) and her knack for comedy is undeniable; she also plays a nude telephone operator who speaks in Dutch ! Another no - show in Jimmy McDonough's Meyer tome, Uschi has apparently disappeared. Though she was a public figure on the Internet back in the late 90s, selling autographed photos from her own website, the page promptly disappeared a few years later and none of her co - stars, directors or close friends have been able to find her! Wherever Uschi is, I hope she's living well and is happy and content, because she doubtlessly deserves it.

No other blog makes jumps between so different topics and so we come from german speaking sexplotation stars to german author, essayist and tv presenter Roger Willemsen who sadly passed away in February only 60 years old. At the end of his career he became a victim of his own ego very much like Alan Moore but I liked his early interview and he was a witty and charismatic guy with one of those voices you just can´t stop listening to. I´m always trying to kill two birds with one stone so instead of all the various interviews of him you find on YouTube here is his appearance on Pelzig hält sich, one of the best german kabarett shows.



It´s been a while since I had the opportunity to post a Dami Im video so here´s her flawless rendition of Best Of You by the Foo Fighters.



It has already become a tradition to include a Yaya Han video in all the MASTER OF KUNG FU MONDAY posts so you know it has nothing to do with the fact that I got to mention Russ Meyer in this post although Yaya Han could have easily starred in one of his movies with her incredible 40Ds.

Which makes finishing my big Yaya Han post extremely difficult because every time I continue I get all worked up and have to stop to prevent the post from becoming NSFW. So to help you over the dry spell until my Yaya Han post is finished here is one of two new videos I found just in time.



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Re - posted pop culture icon Tura Satana

Today I spent most of the day finishing up my FLASH FRIDAY post from Saturday. Nevertheless I wanted to honor Tura Satana´s birthday so here is my post from 2011 when she passed away on the 4th of February.

Since this is a re - post I decided to shorten it a bit but you can use this link to read the original post with all the pics, GIFs, links and videos. I know I´m risking it a bit because readers tend to riot if the boob factor is too high on my posts but this is about art - pop culture art and stuff.

Russ Meyer´s most famous movie ( if you never heard of Russ Meyer you still know this movie ) is without a doubt FASTER PUSSYCAT ! KILL ! KILL !

Of course Tura Satana plays the lead : Varla, boss of the three - go - go - dancer gang of rough riding, hard drinking, hard f - wording amazons.

As there is very little nudity but a lot of violence in the movie I could see it when I finally discovered Russ Meyer. And I have to say, Tura´s voluptuous cleavage did quite an impression on me.

She´s one of the iconic cult sirens of the world and as other people are quite more eloquent in this case it may be forgiven that I quote from them. We will miss you, Tura.



Now for those who never heard of the movie, what´s it about ? I think FOR THE DISHWASHER says it best :

Bisexual Go - Go dancing vixens with extremely large ( and real ) breasts who drive really, really fast cars, beat men up, and at times thrill kill. That's pretty much all I can say about Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!

Wait! It's got a catchy theme song.



Lori Williams plays Billie the blonde with the hourglass figure


For more read the full faster pussycat entry

review of die satansweiber von tittfield

FASTER PUSSYCAT ! KILL ! KILL ! ( or DIE SATANSWEIBER VON TITTFIELD how it is called in german ) has inspired tons of movies and some scenes from the movie even appeared in Jean Park´s music video SOUL TWISTER - the only music video which was directed by Russ Meyer. Or so I read online.



Here are two articles about Tura ( more would be too depressing but there are some links further down ) : Tura Satana obituary - Actor best known for her role as a go - go dancer in Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!


The actor Tura Satana, who has died aged 72, lived a life as eventful as the plots of the lurid B-movies that made her a star. Almost 6ft tall and trained in martial arts, she specialised in a kind of tough charisma that has rarely been matched on screen.

She was best known for her role in the Russ Meyer sexploitation movie Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! ( 1965, tagline: " Superwomen ! Belted, buckled and booted ! " ). As Varla, the leather - clad leader of a gang of thrill - seeking go - go dancers, Satana was given an opportunity by Meyer to perform her own stunts and choreograph fight scenes, as well as to adlib dialogue. She responded by channelling a kind of controlled rage, stating in an interview: " I took a lot of my anger that had been stored inside for many years and let it loose. " Made for $45,000, the film became a cult classic, inspiring directors including Quentin Tarantino.

Haji plays Rosie the exotic wildcat

Satana was born Tura Yamaguchi in Hokkaido, Japan, where her part - Filipino father acted in silent films and her mother was a circus performer of mixed Native American and Scottish heritage. The family moved to the US in 1942, but Tura and her father were interned for two and half years in the Manzanar relocation centre for Japanese-Americans in California.

The family were eventually reunited and settled in Chicago. At a time when anti-Japanese feeling was still prevalent, the young Tura suffered constant bullying at school. One evening, just before her 10th birthday, she was sent out by her mother to buy bread. On the way home she was raped by a gang of teenagers. The five youths were never prosecuted, although in interviews she claimed that over the course of the next 15 years, she tracked down each of her assailants and exacted an unspecified revenge.


Her father responded to the attack by teaching her the martial arts akido and karate. Tura was soon afterwards sent to reform school as a result of her frequent delinquency. When she was 13, her parents arranged for her to marry a 17 - year - old family friend, John Satana. The marriage lasted nine months, by which time Tura was appearing in Illinois nightclubs as a burlesque dancer and a nude model – her act combined martial - arts displays with the usual tassle - twirling.

Moving to Los Angeles, Satana dated Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra before being spotted performing at the Follies theatre and offered a role in the television series Hawaiian Eye. Her martial arts skills led to bit parts in shows such as The Man From U.N.C.L.E. and she appeared in Billy Wilder's Irma La Douce ( 1963 ) and alongside Dean Martin in Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed? ( 1963 ). In the former she played a prostitute and the latter, a stripper.

It took the softcore king Meyer to fully recognise Satana's potential, even if he did not exactly cast her against type. After Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!, she appeared in two more films, The Astro-Zombies ( 1968 ) and The Doll Squad ( 1973 ), before she was hospitalised after being shot in the stomach by an ex-boyfriend.

She had abandoned her burlesque career when changes in California licensing laws led many club owners to require dancers to perform topless. Satana gave up acting to become a nurse and, later, a police radio operator. In 1981 she married a former policeman, Endel Jurman. Soon afterwards, she was injured in a serious car accident.


For much of her later life, she worked in hotel security in Reno, Nevada. She was a canny businesswoman, trademarking her image, which appeared as an action figure, a Halloween mask and on T - shirts. She was also a good - natured regular at cult film conventions and, despite having a pacemaker fitted in 2003, seemed as tough as ever. Indeed, in one interview she recounted what had happened when an over - enthusiastic fan hid in her hotel room after a signing: " He went flying across the room and wound up with a broken arm, busted nose and badly twisted leg. The house detective carried him out. "

Jurman died in 2000. Satana is survived by her daughters, Kalani and Jade, and her sisters, Pamela and Kim.

Tura Satana, dancer and actor, born 10 July 1938; died 4 February 2011.

Tura Satana, Cult Actress, Dies by Dave Itzkoff


Tura Satana, the actress whose authoritative presence, exotic looks and buxom frame commanded the attention of viewers of Russ Meyer’s 1965 cult movie “ Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! ”, died on Friday evening in Reno.

The death was announced by her longtime manager, Siouxzan Perry, who said the cause of death was believed to be heart failure. Ms. Perry said Ms. Satana was 72 when she died, though other sources listed her birth year as 1935.

Born Tura Luna Pascual Yamaguchi in Hokkaido, Japan, to a father of Japanese and Filipino descent and a mother who was Cheyenne Indian and Scots - Irish, Ms. Satana spent part of her childhood in the Manzanar internment camp near Independence, Calif., before her family settled in Chicago.


Her Asian background and looks and the fact that she developed early led to frequent harassment and assaults, and she led an itinerant lifestyle, working as an exotic dancer and nude model. She even posed for erotic photographs taken by Harold Lloyd, the former silent comedian, who suggested she pursue an acting career.

Her breakthrough role came in “ Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! ”, a Meyer exploitation film that, in stark opposition to the director’s later works, featured no nudity. In that film, Ms. Satana played Varla, the leader of a gang of go - go dancers who kidnap a couple, murder the boyfriend and force the girlfriend to follow them on further lawless adventures.

Ms. Satana’s portrayal of Varla as a brazenly violent but unapologetically feminine woman who frequently upbraids the men who dare to ogle her — when a gas - station attendant tells her he believes in “ seeing America first, ” Varla replies, “ You won’t find it down there, Columbus ! ” — earned her a cult following that endured long after the drive - in era.



In later decades, the influence of Ms. Satana’s no - nonsense attitude could be seen in pop - cultural artifacts ranging from “ Xena, Warrior Princess ” to Quentin Tarantino’s “ Kill Bill ” movies.

Ms. Satana is survived by two daughters, Kalani and Jade, and two sisters, Pamela and Kim, according to Ms. Perry. Ms. Perry said a memorial service was being planned for around July 10, Ms. Satana’s birthday. Now let us not forget to celebrate Tura´s life so here is her entry at CINEMA CULT SIRENS which I quoted - something I do whenever I´m not the expert in movie babes :


Still today, Tura Satana's influence can be glimpsed in popular culture, even if the people inspired have no clue as who she really is. An unique figure in American entertainment, I can find no other celebrity that could compare.

Her main contention to glory is of course Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!, classic cult-movie directed by Russ Meyer. But why not start at the very beginning ? Fasten your seat belts, though, because this could be a memorable rollercoaster ride.

Tura Yamaguchi was born in July 10, 1935 ( or is it 1938 ? ). Sometimes after the end of WWII, after moving to Chicago, she was raped by five thugs. This prompted her to learn martial arts, mainly karate. She soon became main honcho of a gang of teenage girls. Tura admits to having been a rebellious juvenile delinquent, as many teased her about her oriental heritage ( the war was still fresh in many memories ). In fact, the father was from Japan and the Philippines and the mother was American Indian and Scots-Irish. She kicked everyone's ass in reform school ( but also learned how to knit ! ). At 13 years of age, she got married ( a fixed union by the two families involved ) with a guy of 17! This relationship would of course not work out.


Tura became soon after an exotic dancer in Los Angeles. The single thought of enjoying the sight of a very young and big-breasted Oriental hoochie-cooching on stage seemed to dissipate the patriotic elan of many American males: she turned out to be a real success. In that time, dancers traveled from city to city, to propose a more elaborate production than the ones seen in these more sordid times ( no lap dances or Champagne Room nonsense ). It's a complete tragedy that no existing film footage of Tura performing her craft with real passion exists. Here are some famous names that Tura worked with in those years: Rose Le Rose, Maxine Martin The Skyscraper Girl, Tempest Storm, Candy Barr and Stunning Smith the Purple Lady. Hummmm..........

At 19, Tura became pregnant, but she would still dance for the upcoming eight months! In general, a typical week of work earned her around $15,000. She still thinks that this experience was the best school she could ever learn in, even if she sometimes found guys hiding in closets in her hotel rooms. Fearless, she disposed of them in her own personal fashion. Of course, like many starlets of the era, Tura began a relationship with Elvis, for a few months, as the King lived his life to the fullest. Oddly, his future spouse, Priscilla Presley would begin later to display a Tura look ( hair, makeup, etc. ) !


We now arrive at the start of the sixties; this is when Tura finally exposed her fabulous figure on film. There were some television appearances on Hawaiian Eye, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., The Girl From U.N.C.L.E., The Greatest Show On Earth with Jack Palance, Valentine's Day, Burke's Law, etc. For the movies, she played a dancer ( what else? ) in Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed? ( 1963 ) with Dean Martin and Elizabeth Montgomery. The same year, she could be seen as a Paris prostitute in the musical Irma La Douce with Jack Lemmon and Shirley Maclaine. 

She came back in 1965 as a dancer in Our Man Flint, a riotous James Bond spoof starring James Coburn.

It's very soon after that the role of a lifetime came her way: Varla in Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! Seeing this as an opportunity to play a real character instead of being mere decoration she accepted the challenge. 

Results: an aggressive female character ( for the time ), very sexual in a different way, enjoying some very quotable dialogue. Let's note that Tura executed all her stunts and fights herself. With great relish. The movie's success was not instant: a cult would form in the years to come from word of mouth. There even was a rock band in the nineties named Tura Satana. Some lines from Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! were heard in White Zombie tunes. Even the Cramps were inspired by the movie ( and particularly by Tura ).

Astro - Zombies in 1969 was her first horror film. Sadly, it's pretty shoddy. Director Ted V. Mikels ( who still lives to this day in a castle with ten women ! ) saw Tura on stage and enjoyed the fact that she beat up a female patron who just threw her an ashtray by jealousy. So she played a spy named Satana, sharing the screen with veteran John Carradine, who took a shine to her during shooting. But the film remains juvenile and disappointing ( but can be enjoyed for a few laughs ), even with super - sexy Tura wearing a slit skirt and smoking languidly.

Her last film for a while was from the same Mikels, The Doll Squad ( 1973 ), famous for supposedly inspiring the creation of TV sensation Charlie's Angels.

The Doll Squad, in fact, presents the right - doers of a group of female adventurers battling it out with a megalomanical intend of ruling the world ( and why not ? ). Soon after this shoot, tragedy struck as Tura was shot down by a former possessive lover with a gun. Needless to say, there was a forced period of convalescence. Tura became employed in an hospital, then found work as a dispatcher for the LAPD!


In 1981, she broke her back in a car crash, which resulted in two years in and out of hospitals and many operations. She was married to a retired L.A. cop and has two daughters. She has her own website and fan club. In 2002, Tura made a comeback to movies in Mark of the Astro - Zombies, alongside Brinke Stevens, Liz Renay and John Carradine's disembodied head ( ? ).

Her humor and honesty in interviews are pure delight. If only she could have shot more films. If many still think of Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! as a Ed Wood kind of filmaking ( which it isn't ), how can we not admit that it was ahead of its time, still today ? Can you find me a similar production with three female characters with so much presence? I can only think of The Heroic Trio, but still at another end of the spectrum.


In my brain, there are many classic cinematic images : Greta Garbo's closeup in Queen Christina, Charlton Heston parting the Red Sea in The Ten Commandments, King Kong at the top of the Empire State Building, Toshiro Mifune in any scene in Seven Samurai... and Tura Satana in Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! whupping the butt of that stupid guy in bermudas. I demand her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Now.

One of the reasons why I shortened the post a bit is to be able to include Today´s birthdays which start with Jessica Simpson´s 36th anniversary.

Since I already posted her best video - her mega sexy appearance on Jay Leno´s Tonight Show - and I don´t want to post a random movie clip I want to post a video with Jennifer Lawrence instead. She is also a hot blonde and her revealing way of laughing is similar to Jessica´s.

Jennifer is wearing a dress with a very generous cleavage and she´s very jiggly. There is a video just with her part but since the other guests are James McAvoy, Johnny Depp and Jack Whitehall here is the full episode.



Today´s second celebrity birthday is colombian - american actress, comedian, producer, tv host and model Sofia Vergara who turns 44.

Normally I try not to put two videos from talk shows into one post but since this one is a bit shorter than the previous one and it´s the only one of Sofia Vergara I had left from a previous post I´m making an exception.



We always seem to have a Doctor Who related video in our posts lately and Today it´s Jackie Lane. She celebrates her 75th birthday and she´s best known as Dodo Chaplet who became a companion to the first Doctor, William Hartnell. Usually I opt for a video with the actual person who celebrates the birthday but since I could not find a good one with Jackie Lane here is the first episode of The Celestial Toymaker. This is one of the stories that were destroyed and had to be reconstructed and in this case they did a cgi version. You can find the other parts on YouTube.



Scientific pioneer Nikola Tesla is our last anniversary of the day and since the only video that I have bookmarked which kind of ties in to this is also Doctor Who related I had to look for another one. You can find a lot of documentaries and movies about his life on YouTube so I picked this one. It´s not too long and it can help you decide if you want to know more.



Last but not least since there is no specific comic relation in this post here is a video from the tv program Panorama about comic books.



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