Midnight movie madness : Pumpkinhead

Yeah, I also thought I could continue from my last ESSENTIAL ESSENTIAL FANTASTIC FOUR post but like always there are other things that have come up since Yesterday. So the big G - man and the surfer dude have to wait till next time.


By the way, the picture above is from the website of french artists Jean and Thomas Frisano and you should really check out all their beautiful artwork. They have done a lot of work for the french editions of the Marvel comics that are published under such names like STRANGE, NOVA and SPIDEY.


I still have some of the issues I bought when I was over there a long time ago on a foreign exchange program. They really saved my life and kept me sane when I was down there because my exchange partner was only interested in soccer and I was only interested in comics. So we didn´t have much in common and I´m not sure if our teacher picked me as his partner to dis me or because he didn´t find anyone else. The only one from the family to which I had a good relationship was the grandpa who knew some words in spanish and always invited me to a glass of wine.

But I still have the french comics I got there especailly the HULK comic that contained the BI - BETE story drawn by Sal Buscema and inked by Ernie Chan. It´s printed on glossy paper and still looks pretty good for its age. Man, I think I have this story in at least 6 different versions, the german pocketbook version,


the german floppy version, the french version, the spanish version in color


and the BIBLIOTEKA MARVEL version that´s in the manga format and in black and white.


And I bet if it was re - released as a new hardcover I would probably buy it again.

Now the next post will hopefully be about the Galaktus storyline that introduced his herald Gabriel and while doing the research I noticed that the german cover for the first issue of the saga was a bit different than the original cover. Here is the cover to FANTASTIC FOUR 120.


And here´s the cover to DIE FANTASTISCHEN VIER 117.


You may notice that the picture is larger and somebody obviously added the top of the buildings and the legs of the people. The composition of the picture works much better and the whole cover looks more open.

Maybe I´m a bit biased because that´s the version I´m familiar with ( coverprice 1,50 Deutsche Mark back when Germany used to have real currency ) but the original version looks a bit cramped and tiny. And don´t worry, I don´t need the covers for the next ESSENTIAL ESSENTIAL FANTASTIC FOUR post since I´m using the black and white pages for that. Which is appropiate. I think I might post some color pages to show how they compare to the black and white pages. But that´s it.

So. Pumpkinhead. Most VERTIGO readers will now be thinking about Merv Pumpkinhead, a supporting character from Neil Gaiman´s SANDMAN comic but this is not about him.


You know, it´s all Ami Dolenz´s fault. After my last movie related post about LOGAN´S RUN I thought I wouldn´t be doing another movie post so soon but as always life can be funny that way. Sometimes a certain theme or topic keeps popping up again and again and I´m wise enough now to listen when the universe is trying to say something. Now I called this post MIDNIGHT MOVIE MADNESS and not POP CULTURE ICONS since I´m not sure if PUMPKINHEAD is such a big icon of pop culture and because I started this post at midnight but I probably won´t be able to finish it before PUMPKINHEAD 4 - BLOOD FEUD starts which will be shown on PRO 7 at one o´clock tonight. A really weird case of sinchronicity since I just watched the first movie Today.

I mentioned the post about LOGAN´S RUN and in the post I put up a link for an extensive article about the movie from John Kenneth Muir's Reflections on Film / TV . You may remember - if you read the last post - that he was doing a LANCE HENDRICKSEN BLOGATHON and one of the movies mentioned there was - PUMPKINHEAD.

Now at that time I kind of remembered it in the back of my mind but there were other things to keep me occupied. So Yesterday I wanted to watch a bit from JAWS ( there was nothing better on tv ) but while zapping I chanced upon SHE´S OUT OF CONTROL with Tony Danza and Ami Dolenz who´s probably best known for her part in this movie.


In the movie she plays a girl that makes the transformation from ugly duckling to Playboy centerfold - much to the chagrin of her father - and this is also the movie where I saw my first bouncing action - before the term bouncing action was even invented.

Now besides having the voluptuous Ami in the movie it´s also pretty funny and Tony Danza is just brilliant as the father who suddenly sees his innocent daughter as the object of all perverts. Especially when he counterattacks by becoming the best friend of one of the candidates for helping his daughter lose her virginity - thus making him totally uninteresting for her.

Ami Dolenz also stars in STEPMONSTER, a funny comedy ( on which Roger Corman was executive producer ) that has a comic connection. Amy plays the busty main object of desire of our lead character in the movie.

In STEPMONSTER a boy finds out that the woman who is going to become his Stepmom is a monster called Kropotkin who will devour his father during the wedding night. And not in the way you read in those Dear Playboy letters. He tries to tell this but nobody wants to listen and those that do listen tell him it´s totally understandable to see his " new Mom " as some kind of monster. So he has to kill it himself.

Luckily there is a horror comic in the local comicshop about the Kropotkins and how to get rid of them. Now the Kropotkin monsters are totally invented for the movie and are not in any monster encyclopedia so don´t start looking. As is the aforementioned comic so there´s no need to annoy your local comic dealer. See, this is the first connection to comics in the movie. The second one is at the end of the movie when father and son talk about comics and which where their favorite heroes.

The son is a bit surprised when his father tells him that his favorite hero as a kid has always been Aquaman.


When asked why he says : As a kid you can´t bend steel and it´s dangerous trying to fly but anyone can swim underwater and pretend to be the king of Atlantis. I´m not sure if that was influenced by any parent gropus who wanted to put " don´t go jumping off any roofs pretending to be Superman " into the movie or not but it does make sense.

Another movie in which Ami Dolenz appeared is PUMPKINHEAD 2 and I´m not sure if I´ve seen this one. See, I knew we would come back to PUMPKINHEAD.


The 1988 horror movie was the debut of special effects maestro Stan Winston as director and has an impeccable Lance Hendricksen as the main character.

The role of Ed Harley fits HENRIKSEN like a well - worn, workman’s glove. Ed runs a small back road store. A humble sign declares " Harley’s Groceries " and it’s all kinds of charming when you notice the sign has been personally updated by hand to include " And Son. "


That´s just a short excerpt from the brilliant review you can find on KINDERTRAUMA which is, as the name says, a great blog about all those things that scared and traumatized you as a kid ( but you should have seen the movie before reading it since it contains some spoilers ). Although it wasn’t a huge success upon original release, PUMPKINHEAD’s reputation has solidified over the years and it’s easy to identify it now as one the stronger and more original ( not to mention atmospheric ) horror films of its decade that spawned at least 4 sequels.

I´m not sure about the one I just saw, PUMPKINHEAD 4 - BLODD FEUD but I think one of the movies was a tv production. As for the original movie if you haven´t seen it you should definitely check it out and sorry, no download link today since you should be able to find it in any good DVD shops. Not having one of the most original plots it´s still very entertaining and captivating mainly for the eerie mood it manages to convey and of course main man Lance Hendricksen. From all the PUMPKINHEADS movies this is the best one.


Now PUMPKINHEAD was one of the licenses DARK HORSE had together with TERMINATOR, PREDATOR and ROBOCOP. I have issue 1 of PUMPKINHEAD - RITES OF EXORCISM somewhere in the vastness of my comic collection but with the times I had to move from room to room I have no idea where it might have ended up.


For some reason I never got the next one and I´m also not sure if it told the story of the movie or not. I mainly got it for the art by the brilliant Shawn McManus.


The comic was supposed to be a four part mini - series but - at least according to my research - only two issues were published. The second one ended in a cliffhanger leaving readers with the prospect of a winged Pumpkinhead that would have appeared in the third issue. So, I can´t recommend the comic since I don´t remember too much of it but if you are a fan of Mr. McManus you should definitely give it a look.

And you should definitely give the first PUMPKINHEAD movie a look ( or watch it again like I did ). It´s a bit difficult to give a final verdict when you have only seen part 1 and 4 of a series but while the special effects are much better in the latter it doesn´t reach the horrifying mood of the first one. Even the old witch is much scarier in the first one. Lance Hendricksen also appears in part 4 so I´m making an educated guess that the writers at least tried to connect them somehow.

I can´t say anything about part 2 or 3 but if they are anything like part 4 heavy drinking before watching the movie is advisable.

pumpkinhead wikipedia / pumpkinhead imdb

Well, that´s all about PUMPKINHEAD and I hope we can continue with the Fantastic Four in our next post.


To close things out Today´s clip is - of course - the trailer to the original PUMPKINHEAD movie. Enjoy !



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

Pop culture icons - Logan´s run

Today I was doing research for a post on another blog and while writing the post and adding more and more stuff I realized that this would also be an interesting topic for my comicblog. So, on this Labor Day ( at least it is Labor Day in Germany ) I want to talk a bit about LOGAN´S RUN.


RUNNING ALL THE TIME RUNNING TO THE FUTURE

The movie LOGAN´S RUN is based on the bestselling novel by William F. Nolan and George Clayton, the first part of a trilogy of which the following two ( written solely by William F. Nolan ) LOGAN´S WORLD and LOGAN´S SEARCH are not so well known. The classic sci fi flick explores the downside to the " youth cult " that´s so widespread nowadays where everybody is so fascinated with young people. The problem with this craze is that it totally ignores the fact that at that time you have no experience, you don´t think too far ahead, you don´t know how things really work and you make the worst decisions.

The basic plot ( I don´t think this is a spoiler since it´s from 1976 ) is that in a future people live in an utopia where they can have all they could ever whish for. Every desire or fancy lived out instantly without ever having to work. And New You can make you look however you want. The only catch ?

You are terminated - nicely - when you reach the age of 30. Which was altered from the original novel in which the age was 21. Some say this was changed because of actor Michael York.

He plays the main character, Logan 5 ( which could have been an influence in giving Wolverine his name ) a " sandman " who has to hunt down and terminate " runners " which are people who don´t want to die after turning 30. Well, life stops being funny when Logan turns 30 and finds himself at the receiving end of his fellow sandman´s raygun running for his life.

Before George Lucas's Star Wars ( 1977 ) changed the face and feel of cinematic science fiction forever, the Saturn Award - winning ( and Nebula - nominated ) Michael Anderson film, Logan's Run, was likely the standard - bearer for the genre in the malaise days of the 1970s.


In many ways, the bicentennial - released Logan's Run serves as a kind of critical " bridge " production of the turbulent disco - decade: blending the Dystopian qualities of such film predecessors as Soylent Green ( 1973 ) and Planet of the Apes ( 1968 ), with the elaborate, expensive visual effects of the Space : 1999 - Star Wars epoch.

This is from John Kenneth Muir's Reflections on Film / TV article about Logan´s run that has an extensive comparision betweeb the novel and the movie and explains why those who watch Logan's Run and deride it as cheesy or outdated have missed the point. It´s a good cautionary science fiction film, one that reminds us to hold Big Brother accountable.

cult movie review logans run

I haven´t read much on the blog but it´s written by John Kenneth Muir, the award - winning author of 22 books including The Encyclopedia of Superheroes on Film & Television, An Analytical Guide to TV's Battlestar Galactica and Horror Films of the 1970s. This week he´s in the middle of the Lance Henriksen Blogathon spotlighting this brilliant actor who really deserves wider recognition.

But there are also great articles to found there about other cult classics like THE WARRIORS, JAWS, TRON or BLADE RUNNER. So head on over ( hey, AFTER you have read this post ) and check it out even if that might mean that you will be busy with reading the blog the next months.

RUNNING DOWN A DREAM

Coming back to LOGAN´S RUN the movie also stars Peter Ustinov, Farah Fawcett and Jenny Agutter and I really have to give kudos to whoever picked that dress for her.


Now is it just me or can it be that the future used to be way cooler in the 70s and 80s ? At least the fashion was. And not only in movies, you remember the costumes of the girls on LEGION OF SUPER HEROES from that period ? Today they are rather dull and look more like biohazard suits that are 2 sizes too big but back at the disco aera, ay massita !


Another thing LOGAN´S RUN and the LEGION OF SUPER HEROES have in common is putting numbers behind names. We got Logan 5 and Brainiac 5 but I don´t know which one influenced which. Although it may have just been a thing at that time. Although as SUBZERO 2000 I really shouldn´t be the one to talk.

KEEP ON RUNNING KEEP ON HIDING

Speaking about comics and LOGAN´S RUN, it also spawned a comic comic adaption in 1997 that lasted 7 issues. Today the comic is best known for being one of the first works of comic legend George Perez who did the first 5 issues while issues 6 and 7 were drawn by Tom Sutton and continued the story from the movie.


I have to say I never read those issues because I haven´t seen them on any comic conventions but I´d really like to check them out. Having read the ESSENTIAL FANTASTIC FOUR 8 just this month I´m almost sure the art can still hold up. The inks are by Klaus Janson and it´s written by Gerry Conway ( issue 1 ), David Kraft ( issues 2 - 5 ) and John Warner ( issues 6 and 7 ).


Maybe Marvel will finally release the trade as there is a remake of the movie on the horizon and many seem either to remember the comic fondly or always wanted to read it. Sounds like a certified hit. I mean how can you not make money with a robot whose midsection looks like a giant diamond ?


And I especially like the big cross on his chest so the enemies have a good target. Speak about a flawed design.

There also was a 6 issue series in 1990 by Malibu and like the series by George Perez I haven´t read it. But this time I´m not sure that I want to judging from the cover. On the other side it has an introduction by one of the original novels authors so it may not be as bad as it looks.


TRAMPS LIKE US BABY WE WERE BORN TO RUN

In 2010 Bluewater Productions published LOGAN´S RUN - LAST DAY ( the last day is the day when you reach the critical age when you time runs out ) a 6 issue miniseries that has since then been collected in trade form. It´s a new adaption with a foreword by the other creator of LOGAN´S RUN written by Paul Salamoff and art by Daniel Gete.


It will be followed by LOGAN´S RUN AFTERMATH and Bluewater Production plans to adapt SEVEN FOR SPACE, another well known story by Nolan, as a comic. Additionally Nolan is slated to create a new comic property for Bluewater.

Now I don´t want to write negative things about comics but I have to say that I´m not as impressed by the art as Dominic at FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND . While Daniel Gete has good storytelling his action sequences are lacking real dynamic and the main characters faces look rather stoic and emotionless in a lot of instances. Which could be intentional given the story. I think what bugged me most is that nagging feeling that the creators wasted a lot of potential with having such decompressed storytelling. There are whole pages without text where the writer could have fleshed out the characters a bit more.


Which brings me to my second complaint about the comic. For me, as a reader, it was very difficult to understand the motivation of the characters which kept me distant from them and make a lot of the actions and reactions seem totally arbitrary. The thing that interests me most in comics is how the protagonists think and since most comic writers have put a ban on thought balloons that can be difficult at times.


And speaking about difficult my third and last complaint about the book ( which is only a minor one ) is that in some of the flashback sequences that fills the reader in on the backstory of Logan´s world the yellow writing can be difficult to read. As long as it´s on black backgrounds it´s okay but if it´s against a light or yellow background it can be hard to read.

I know that this is an artistic decision since the prevalent color in the flasback sequences is yellow and this workd very well to set it apart from the sequences in present day but in some instances it would have helped to put a brown caption box around it.

Now, is it all bad ? No it isn´t. While the art has it´s flaws it´s easy to follow and at no time do you have problems to understand what is happening. I have read other comics with flashier art where you end up not knowing what exactly happened in the story. His layouts are effective and I really like his use of shadows and blacks.


In a lot of comics nowadays artists don´t use enough blacks and just let the colorist take care of that which in most cases looks like somebody just slapped 22 paged of anime cells together and sold them as a comic. No, I think that Daniel Gete will only become better from here. In fact his part is the better one in the series since the last two issues by Azim Akberal look just garish.

As for the writing, apart from having a lot of pages with little or no text Paul Salamoff really manages to introduce the reader to the complex society of the future pretty easily. And he also writes a fast paced story that even manages to intrigue somebody who knows the story from the movie. I have to add that it has been some time since I last saw the movie but I have to say I´m not sure if some of the plot twists were in the original novel or in the film. Or if they are new.

In any case I really liked the flashback sequences that give the reader the background on Logan´s world and there even were a few dramatic cliffhangers.


I wouldn´t give this trade to your average comic reader but for fans of the franchise it´s definitely of interest and I also would give it to civilians like my sister who might remember the movie.

And now to avoid any complaints about me being biased here are the reviews from FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND - as well as some other links - so you can make up your own opinion.

review of logans run last day 1 / review issue 1 on famous monsters

review issue 2 / review issue 3 / interview with writer paul j salamoff

issue 2 gets second printing / logans run last day at comic database

The topic of the movie is still relevant today so it´s no surprise that there is a remake slated for 2012. Maybe this time they stick to the original title in german as the first movie had the silly title ESCAPE INTO THE 23RD CENTURY. Which makes absolutely no sense since it´s NOT about time travel.

WELL I´M OLDER NOW AND STILL RUNNING AGAINST THE WIND

Besides the comic adaption there was also a shortlived tv series ( 14 episodes ).


Here´s intro clip from the tv series :



Normally I´m not too keen on including tv series in the posts but since I´m not sure if it ever was shown on german tv and it´s not available on DVD here I think some of my german readers might get a kick out of it.

Logan´s run - tv series

Episode 1 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / Episode 2 1 / 2 / 3 / 4

Episode 3 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / Episode 4 1 / 2 / 3 / 4


Episode 5 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / Episode 6 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 /  Episode 7 1 / 2 / 3 / 4

Episode 8 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / Episode 9 1 / 2 / 3 / 4


Episode 10 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 /  Episode 11 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / Episode 12 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / Episode 13 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / Episode 14 1 / 2 / 3 / 4

password : serienjunkies.org or serienjunkies.dl.am

NOWHERE TO RUN NOWHERE TO HIDE

Which brings us to our fourth comic about LOGAN´S RUN which is the annual from 1978 by Brown Watson.


It´s a bit obscure ( at least I found it by accident since it wasn´t listed at the grand comic database ) and it´s not a traditional comic in the sense that it also contains interviews and articles about the actors, games and text pieces with illustrations.


Now the illustrations are wonderful pieces of art and the style might look familiar to a few readers out there since it was done by none other than famous V FOR VENDETTA artist David Lloyd.


Besides providing 12 illustrations David Lloyd has 3 proper comic stories in the annual. The 3 page LOGAN´S WORLD, the 8 page CITY OF THE NIGHTHAWKS and SUNRISE......MOONSET another 8 page story in which our heroes encounter samurais. While the other two comics have just one color ( the first one blue and the second one green ) David used the full palette on this one.


In my opinion the art by David Lloyd alone is worth the price of admission although I´m not too sure how easy it is to hunt down. It´s definitely of interest for pop culture afficionados.

BE RUNNING UP THAT ROAD BE RUNNING UP THAT HILL

Coming back to Jenny Agutter from the movie ( before finally ending this post ), she starred in a few other movies like THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK or - better known by Today´s audiences - John Landis´cult horror movie AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON and it is with great pleasure that I can report that she is naked in quite a few of them.


As in LOGAN´S RUN which despite it´s PG rating has a breast count of 14 which is not bad. Jenny´s first costume was even skimpier but the movie company decided against it because the involved make up would have been too expensive. Sometimes you really wonder who makes these decisions.


Since the 1990s, Jenny has worked in sound recording, and she is a patron of the Cystic Fibrosis Trust. After a break from acting she has appeared in several television series since 2000, including the British series Spooks.

Despite it all LOGAN´S RUN is quite an entertaining movie and while there are some people who don´t like it it´s one of my favorite sci fi flicks and you should definitely check it out on one of it´s many reruns. You really could pick worse.

Today´s research links are quite a long list and I want to thank all of them for helping me make this post.

the world of logans run website / logans run wikipedia

logans run movie imdb / logans run on the daily pop

logans run movie review with a bit of trivia

logans run tv series imdb / logans run tv series gallery


logans run comic database marvel / logans run comic database malibu

an american werewolf in london imdb


jenny agutter wikipedia / jenny agutter imdb / official website

As for Today´s clip that is - of course - the trailer to LOGAN´S RUN.



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

Essential ESSENTIAL FANTASTIC FOUR

It´s been a while since my last post because it seems that the title of my last post has become a selffulfilling prophecy. After 5 years the question is - now what ?


Five years is a long time and this blog has gone through a few changes in the topics and posts since it´s humble beginnings in 2006. While I originally just wrote about whatever crossed my mind or comics that I found some material on, lately I have put a bit more thought in my posts. I know, that often doesn´t look like it but I think the blog and the quality of the posts have profited from it.

On the other hand there are dozens of topics and series I started which I didn´t continue. So, since nothing else tickles my intellectual fancy right now I thought about writing about one of my favorite lines at Marvel, the ESSENTIAL line. I have often recommended them but so far I don´t think I have done an extensive post about them. Just this week I have acquired ESSENTIAL FANTASTIC FOUR 8 which I was thinking about buying as a birthday present for my brother but then I liked it so much I got something else for him.

Don´t worry, it was another essential, ESSENTIAL THOR 4 which not only contains great artwork by Jack Kirby but also a lot of issues by the incomparable John Buscema. After John Buscema had died I had expected that Marvel would do something special as a tribute to one who.....to say it frankly was one of the reasons why Marvel still exists.


John Buscema was one of the artists who defined the look of Marvel for future generations, not only through DRAWING COMICS THE MARVEL WAY but also through his innumerable comics. This may be common knowledge to some readers out there but I just wanted to mention it for the few civilians who may have stumbled upon my blog by accident.

I also mention it because John Buscema is one of the artists in ESSENTIAL FANTASTIC FOUR 8 and - with two exceptions - the sole artist in ESSENTIAL FANTASTIC FOUR 6 about which this first post will be. Maybe I can wrap it all up in this post but if this post follows the usual pattern here on TALES FROM THE KRYPTONIAN this could expand into a number of posts like with the CLASSICOS DC - THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD I did a while ago.

Now before I come to the actual review of ESSENTIAL FANTASTIC FOUR 6 I have to say why I wanted to write about a comic of the big two instead of choosing a smaller publisher who could use more recognition. In my latest post I put up a link for an episode of Comic Geek Speak about Marvel in the 60s which reminded me how amazing and incredible and astonishing Marvel used to be. We all love to take a stroll down memory lane and reminiscence about the comics of Yesteryear. And with the latest happenings in the world´s greatest comic I thought it appropriate to speak about happier times with Marvel´s first family.


One thing I miss ever after reading my first issues of BIBLIOTECA MARVEL - the spanish mangasized version of the essentials - were the introductions. In the spanish version there is always one foreword, an introduction and a prologue that enlighten the reader about what happened at Marvel and in the world of comics at the time the stories came out, some background information about the writers and artists of that particular issue, why the stories are special and a look ahead to the next volume. It always feels like you bought something really special - with every issue !

The american version doesn´t have that but it has more issues in one volume ( the spanish version has about 8 issues ) and it is printed in the original format. The paper is not as good as in the spanish version ( even Gene Colan commented on the superb paper quality of the spanish edition in an episode of Comic Geek Speak ) but it´s okay and for all inkers, aspiring inkers or inking afficionados I can only recommend the essential line because you can see all the inks without the color.

Which is one of the reasons it took me so long to write about the essentials. So far I mostly found coloured pages but even if I knew how to turn them black and white it wouldn´t be an accurate depiction of the pages you can find in the essentials.


There are some instances where they didn´t find good original pages and had to use the black and white copy of colored pages. But mostly it´s just the pages without color. Which - by the way - doesn´t look very good if ther original pages are not inked but just the penciled pages inked digitally. One of the reasons why I mostly don´t like digital inking and still get the feeling I just paid for an unfinished comic.

Now selling comics in black and white is not easy, especially in Germany - at least it seems that way. Which is the reason why I´m pimping the original essentials instead of the german version. Because there is no german version. In America there is Marvel´s ESSENTIAL line, in Spain and Italy there is BIBLIOTECA MARVEL which prints the material in mangasized tomes for 5 or 6 bucks ( I think I have already written a bit about that ) but there seems to be no demand for big chunks of comic reading material for a good price in Germany.

Or it may just be a case of the market only offering what it wants to sell instead of what readers want to read. This may be a lot of speculation on my part but I have the impression that in Spain the comic market tries to have most of the old classics available for the readers at a reasonable price.


Almost all of the works of such legends like John Buscema, Sal Buscema, Gene Colan or Jack Kirby are available in cheap poket books for everyone to read.

There are also some editions available in german but always highpriced collector editions with limited print runs and glossy paper. In Germany all comics have to be printed on paper that you could use to swat a fly and then wash without any visible marks. Don´t laugh, I did it with an issue of U - COMIX once and it´s still in pristine condition. Now we may ask if all the comics are printed in color because nobody would buy it in black and white or if everybody just buys them in color because there are no black and white editions.

Fact is that when the TOMB OF DRACULA was newly released in Germany I had to buy the essential edition because not only was it much cheaper ( the german version is 7 tomes for 20 bucks each which puts the complete set at 140 EUROS while the 3 american tomes cost 47 bucks ) but the color destroyed a lot of the wonderful inks by Tom Palmer.


If you really want to appreciate the art of Gene Colan and Tom Palmer on this series you should definitely get the black and white version. And it´s a great read.

Everyone who says that comics were not better in the 70s should read them and experience an almost literate art of writing comics. Today everything is decompressed and most writers are against using caption boxes but reading those issues you realize how much you can express with words that cannot be told with pictures. Back in those times comics really had a combination of the best of words and pictures. Reading comics today I often get the impression that while the new comic writers have made advances in writing believable dialogue and storytelling they have lost that literary quality that comics used to have.

Now if you´re still with me I want to stay a bit in Germany, or to be more exact in Germany during my youth. Because one of the reasons why I chose to write about ESSENTIAL FANTASTIC FOUR 6 which I bought some months ago instead of volume 8, my most recent buy, is that it contains the bridge between the latest issues that came out when WILLIAMS was doing the Marvel comics in Germany and the later editions of CONDOR. Which some readers in Germany still refer to as the dark age. When WILLIAMS ceased publishing, their last issue of DIE FANTASTISCHEN VIER was issue 124 which contained WHERE THE SUN DARES NOT SHINE by Roy Thomas and John Buscema and left us readers with a cliffhanger.


On the last page the Thing is attacked by it´s own teammates who see him as a monster and for several years the german readers had no idea if Ben Grimm ever survived this issue.


There has been a special edition of the missing issues in the meantime but here´s your chance to read them in the original version.

And yes, I know. A lot of my readers out there will now resort to the argument that I only think that those comics are better than what comes out Today because I read them when I was young and that´s just the nostalgia taking over. I have debunked that urban comic legend a few times already but let me remind you that I have read over a dozen essentials so far and a lot of them were stories I had not read previously. Like the TOMB OF DRACULA issues. I only read two or three of them when they came out in Germany so the big bulk of stories were new for me and I read them for the first time. Still I found them better than a lot of the new stuff.

So this may not have anything to do with nostalgia. Now don´t get me wrong. I´m not saying that all the new stuff that comes out is dreck. There are some great books coming out that stands toe to toe with the classics. But there also are great comics from the 80s, 70s and 60s that are above and beyond a lot of stuff that comes out now. So call it campy, simplicistic or throw - away - literature but unless you have really tried it - you don´t know what you´re missing.


And speaking about throw - away - literature : one of the reasons why comics are not as widely read as in former decades may be the collectability. While better production values have greatly improved the lifespan of comics it has also prevented them from being the mass medium they used to be. Comics used to be produced cheap ( like the essentials - see, it´s all connected ) so you read them and when you were done you threw them away or gave them to someone else to read. Now, tell me : when was the last time you gave your comics to someone else ?

Today we don´t lend them because we are afraid in which condition we might get them back. If we get them back at all. I for myself prefer to just give them away instead of having to suffer how they look when I get them back. Which is a not - so - subtle hint at my 5 year anniversary contest in which I give away free comics to all readers who sent me their address. It´s still open and while I have already sent out a few packages there is still some good stuff left.

One of the main reasons why I got ESSENTIAL FANTASTIC FOUR 6 was THE SAGA OF THE OVERMIND or like it was called in Germany DIE SUPERHIRN SAGA.


There are a few spoilers ahead so if you haven´t read the story and think about getting the essential you should skip the next paragraphs till the link section.

What is interesting is that while the story ran from issue 113 to 116 in the original edition the german version ran from issue 109 to 113 of DIE FANTASTISCHEN VIER. They needed one more issue so they had to make up this dreadful cover.


As far as I can tell it´s redrawn using three different pictures as reference for Reed, Ben and the Over - Mind of which I have been able to identify two :



FROM BEYOND THE STARS SHALL COME THE OVER - MIND, AND HE SHALL CRUSH THE UNIVERSE

THE SAGA OF THE OVERMIND, written by Stan Lee and Archie Goodwin with pencils by John Buscema and inks by Joe Sinnott, is a 4 part story which in my opinion shows to which heights this title can aspire. One of the reasons why I still remember it is that - apart from being one of the best stories I read when I was still a young lad - it was the topic of a conversation I had with Robi during my last visit to the COMIC ACTION in Essen. Not only one of the nicest professionals you will ever meet in the german comic community, Robi has a real passion about comics and an understanding of how to write great comics that is rivaled by few.

And hearing him explain the greatness of the SAGA OF THE OVERMIND and anlyze it in every aspect of storytelling is really a unique experience.

Beware the Over - Mind. With these ominous words, uttered by the watcher begins a story that will lead the members of the Fantastic Four to their limits - and beyond.


Because the Over - mind is more powerful than the Fantastic Four. He´s stronger than the Thing, his mental powers are greater than Mr. Fantastic´s intellect and neither the Human Torch´s powers nor the ones of the Invisible Girl´s are a match for him. In fact, after their first encounter in which he totally schools them he decides that they are no danger for him and he erases their memory of him. So not only have the FF forgotten who he is and have to find out who the Over - Mind is but even if they find out - how shall they defeat him ?

For the Over - Mind is the collected brainpower of a billion people, last of the Eternals of Eyung, a last resort weapon in their war against the Gigantans ( a race of giants as the name implies ). Hurled into space in suspended animation the Over - Mind landed on earth to begin the revenge of the Eternals. Which, by the way, are not related to earth´s Eternals who appeared in later stories. It seems when Stan liked a name he stuck with it.


Even after learning the history of the Over - Mind from the Watcher Uatu the Fantastic Four didn´t have much chances against the Over - Mind. What is a bit strange is how the Watcher once again helps the Fantastic Four despite his oath of non - interference. Okay, he doesn´t actively help them but he gives them their initial warning and provides them with much needed intel. It has always varied from writer to writer how much the Watcher does or does not interfere. Something we will discuss again when we come to volume 8 of the Fantastic Four Essentials.

After Reed becomes the slave of the Over - Mind Sue enlists the aid of Doctor Doom but even with his added strength they fall before the might of the Over - Mind. In the end it is the Stranger who defeats him by shrinking him and exiling him on a nameless particle of dust. As it turns out the Stranger is the last surviving Gigantuan who had a score to settle. In later stories this was never mentioned and I think he became just another one of Marvel´s galactic entities with a mysterious past. He was in INFINITY GAUNTLET where he opposed Thanos togehther with the Living Tribunal, Champion, the Gamemaster, the Collector and others.

But back to the Overmind Saga : of course the Fantastic Four are a bit miffed because they were basically pwned by the Over - Mind ( he even made Reed his bitch who almost killed Sue ) but then the Watcher appears and explains that ultimately their part was the most vital.


By fighting courageously, unflaggingly, they forced the Over - Mind to expend his full power thus alerting the Stranger to his presence before he could conquer other worlds and ultimately become more powerful than the Stranger. In losing their battle they won, like the spartans in Frank Miller´s 300.

So, a great story with all the usual ingridients that made the Fantastic Four such a huge success with great art that´s really worth to read. And which you won´t find in any trades. Unlike the Kree Skrull Saga or the Trial of Galaktus the Saga of the Over - Mind was never on any best of lists.


And this are only 4 of the 27 issues reprinted in this volume. As this post has become rather long - with all the usual sidetracks by yours truly - I think it´s about time to wrap things up here and hopefully talk a bit more about this in the next part. Then we will speak about another unforgettable story in which we witness the coming of Gabriel, the return of Galaktus and the end of the world.

over - mind profile and history / over - mind wikipedia

Since we´re on the subject of the Fantastic Four, a while ago I posted a picture of a megahot cosplay massita dressed as Susan Storm.


I have gotten a few comments asking who that is and I can now confirm that her name is Marie - Claude Bourbonnais. She´s a model and you have probably seen pictures of her on actiongirls or other websites on the net. As for the hot babe who is dressed up as Loki I still have no idea who she is. Here is a link for Marie - Claude Bourbonnais pics as Susan Storm.


She also has done some cosplay as my favorite heroine, Power Girl - she obviously has the right body for it - so I couldn´t resist posting this video.



Our second video isn´t Fantastic Four - related. It´s a fanmade POKEMON APOKALYPSE trailer. Now I know what you´re thinking, and normally I wouldn´t be caught dead doing anything Pokemon related since I think it conditions kids to participate in cockfighting. But I would pay to see this.



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