Cliffhanger! King of the Rocket Men, Chapter 12!

That wraps up our first serial... and yes, I realize that the amount of time between chapters was way too long! I'll adjust for the next one!

Toy Spotlight: Batmobile Toys, Part 1!

After last time around's pedal powered Batmobile, a single Batmobile toy couldn't do this time!


This one is a battery-powered Batmobile toy, manufacturer unknown!


This one is a mystery to me -- because my note on it says "Chopperm," and now I have no idea what that's supposed to mean now!


Johnny Lightning Batmobile Slot Car!


The classic Aurora Batmobile slot car, and probably the Holy Grail of Batmobile toys... with the possible exception of the pedal car from last time!

The Monkees, Season 1, Episode 5: "The Spy Who Came In From the Cool"

This episode of The Monkees was written by Gerald Gardner and Dee Caruso (who wrote a total of 21 episodes, more than anyone else), and directed by Robert Rafelson. Guests in this episode are Jacques Aubuchon as Boris, Arlene Martel as Madame, Don Penney as Honeywell, Booth Coleman as the Chief, Billy Curtis as the Midget, Arlene Charles as Genie, and Lee Kolima as Yakimoto. Songs in this episode are "Last Train to Clarksville" and "(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone" by Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, and "The Kind of Girl I Could Love" by Michael Nesmith. The first song appears on the album "The Monkees," while the latter two songs appear on "More of the Monkees." Also heard in the episode are "All The King's Horses" (by Mike) and "Satruday's Child." "All the King's Horses" was never released on the original Monkees' albums, as fans had to wait for Rhino Records to release it on "Missing Links 2," along with other songs unreleased in the 1960s.

The Indexible Hulk #32!

Issue: Tales to Astonish #76

Title: “I, Against a World!”

Credits: Written by Stan Lee, layouts by Jack Kirby, finished pencils by Gil Kane (as Scott Edward), inks by Mike Esposito (as Mickey Demeo).

Supporting Cast: General Ross, Major Talbot

Villain: King Arrkam

Hulk Intelligence: We're basically back to dumb brute Hulk, still using personal pronouns though!

Guest-Stars: Well, there's one at the end, but that would be telling!

Plot: Having arrived in the future thanks to having Banner's T-Gun used on him, the Hulk is surrounded by a group of future soldiers who recognize him immediately! The Hulk starts attacking, and the ruler of these men, King Arrkam, wishes to stop the Hulk, as they're already beset by someone they refer to as “The Evil One.” He orders Exploso-Ray Gunners to fire, but the weapon has no effect other than to make the Hulk mad! Next, the Delta Missile is called into play, and while it creates a huge explosion, the Hulk still stands! Next, Arrkam orders the Captivator, a sort of two-legged walking device that fires a ray that intensifies gravity around the Hulk, which actually causes him to fall to the ground! Back in the present, the soldiers are looking for a trace of the Hulk, and when a captain calls in saying the T-Gun must've been some kind of disintegrator, he's told it was known Banner wasn't working on any such thing! Talbot realizes if it was a disintegrator, some of the surrounding terrain would've been destroyed as well, but there was no such effect. Next, the deputy Chief of Staff arrives to question Ross about where the Hulk is! Ross is ordered to figure out what happened to the Hulk, or they'll get someone who can! Back in the future, the Hulk's gravity-affected body has somehow been put onto a cart so he could be wheeled into Arrkam's fortress. He's placed in a dungeon and left there. Shortly, the effects of the gravity ray wear off, and the Hulk realizes he needs to think, “Just like Bruce Banner woulda done!” Later, the Hulk is brought to King Arrkam, who tells the Hulk about the Evil One, and he tries to get the Hulk to help, but the Hulk won't hear of it. Arrkam orders his men to overwhelm Greenskin, but it does no good! They try bringing up a Paralyzer Howitzer to use, but the Hulk breaks out of the fortress before it can be trained on him, and leaps away, having sighted some tripod-like vehicles approaching. The Hulk figures they must belong to the “Evil One,” and figures that maybe this guy has a way to return the Hulk to the present! But when the Hulk lands on top of one of the tripods, the hatch opens to reveal... The Executioner!

Invention Exchange: Arrkam's Exploso-Ray Guns, Delta Missile, Captivator and Paralyzer Howitzer; the Executioner's tripod attack vehicles.

Reprinted In: Incredible Hulk Special #4, Marvel Visionaries: Gil Kane, Essential Hulk #1,

Notes: Adapted as episode 35 of the 1966 Hulk animated series. I have no idea why Stan decided to make the Executioner “The Evil One”!

Cover Redux!

Ok, this time I'm starting with Amazing Spider-Man #130 and the reprintin Marvel Tales #107... and aside from coloring and shifting the blurbs on the bottom, I can't see any changes... any of you spot anything?

Comic Reading Library: Billy the Kid #140!

Comic Book Ads!

And I'm still looking at ads from Marvel Comics' Private Eye #5 this time around! This page of ads (and we never see a page of ads like this any more, do we?) got my attention with the "Write Thrilling Love Letters" portion -- because even when I was much younger, I don't think people were writing love letters at all! Definitely a lost art, if you will -- although I suppose in this age where more and more people are finding relationships through dating websites, perhaps it's time to get books like these updated and reissued to benefit those who are writing emails?

Comics They Never Made!

Ready for some more fake comics?

Kirby Kovers!

First up in this installment of Kirby Kovers, it's Two-Gun Kid #57! Is it just me, or does it look like someone redrew the Kid's face on this cover? It just doesn't "read" to my eyes like Kirby's stuff. The design on this cover follows a circle, so that no matter where your eye starts, it's going to get drawn all through the action.

Fandom Library: The Amazing World of DC Comics #9!

Comic Reading Library: Big Valley #2!

CBT: The Amzing Spider-Man, a Book of Colors and Days of the Week!

Dog of the Geek: Commander K-9!

Breed: Martian Canine

Original Appearances: Looney Tunes cartoon “Hardevil Hare” (July 24, 1948).

Other Appearances: Also the Looney Tunes cartoon “The Hasty Hare” (1952), as well as comics, games, and guest-appearances in Looney Tunes: Back in Action and two episodes of Duck Dodgers (where he's identified as Commander K-9).

Biography: We don't know for sure when Marvin the Martian acquired Commander K-9. In fact, we don't really know for certain that K-9 is truly a pet, or if he's actually considered to be a subordinate to Marvin (given his clothing, that's a possiblity).

Powers: None that have been demonstrated.

Group Affiliation: If Marvin's part of some kind of Martian militia, K-9's likely part of it, too.

Miscellaneous: K-9 was missing from three of the five original cartoons with Marvin the Martian. Despite his relatively rare appearances, he's been featured in loads of merchandise!

Geek TV: Dungeons & Dragons!

Concept: A group of friends ride a Dungeons & Dragons ride at a carnival that magically takes them to the realm of D&D, where they assume new roles and battle the forces of evil, aided by the Dungeon Master, as they try to find their way home!

Total Episodes: 27

Original Air Dates: September 17, 1983-December 7, 1985

Original Network: CBS

Geek Factor: 9

Characters:

Hank, The Ranger (Voice of Willie Aames): The oldest of the kids, and a natural leader. He posseses a magical bow that shoots magic arrows of glowing energy that could be used in a variety of ways.

Eric, the Cavalier (Voice of Don Most): Spoiled child and big-mouthed coward. Eric always complains about what's going on. His magical device is a shield that can project a force field.

Diana, the Acrobat (Voice of Tonya Gail Smith): Outspoken and tomboyish member of the group, she possesses a magical staff that can shift in length from short to long. In the real world she's an Olympic-level gymnastics practitioner.

Presto, The Magician (Voice of Adam Rich): Albert, aka Pretso, suffers from low self-confidence and nervousness. His magical hat can produce pretty much anything, but it doesn't always seem to be what's desired or needed – although when the whole group is in danger, it does tend to produce exactly what's needed.

Sheila, the Thief (Voice of Katie Leigh): When Sheila raises the hood of her magical cloak over her head, she becomes invisible. Often shy and nervous, she is brave when her friends are in trouble.

Bobby, the Barbarian (Voice of Ted Field III): The youngest of the team, he is impulsive and ready to battle. His magical club can be used to trigger earth quakes.

Uni, the Unicorn (Voice of Frank Welker): Bobby's pet, a baby unicorn. She can sort of speak, mostly mimicking Bobby just after he speaks. She has the potential for the natural unicorn ability to teleport.

Dungeon Master (Voice of Sidney Miller): Friend and mentor to the group, his advice is often cryptic and doesn't always make sense until the group's finished their current adventure. It seems that Dungeon Master has the power to return them home himself (and in the unmade series finale, he does just that).

Venger, Force of Evil (Voice of Peter Cullen): The main antagonist, and Dungeon Master's son. Venger is an evil wizard who seeks the kids' weapons to increase his power.

Shadow Demon (Voice of Bob Holt): Venger's personal spy and assistant.

Tiamat (Voice of Frank Welker): Venger's arch-rival, avoided both by the kids and Venger.

Geek Guest-Stars:

Listen carefully, and you might hear the voice of Diane Pershing coming from assorted characters; she was the voice of Isis in Tarzan and the Super 7, the voice of Dale Arden in the animated Flash Gordon as well as doing Dale's voice (and Dynak X) on Defenders of the Earth, and was later heard on She-Ray, Princess of Power as Netossa, Spinderella and others, Poison Ivy on Batman: The Animated Series, The New Batman Adventures, Gotham Girls, Static Shock, and Justice League. Georgi Irene also did some assorted voices on the show, she was seen in Galactica 1980 as Super Scout. Another miscellaneous voice actress was Jennifer Darling, who played Peggy Callahan on The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman, guest-starred in an episode of The New Adventures of Wonder Woman and The Incredible Hulk, and later provided voices for a number of other animated series, most notably Madame-O on Bionic Six, Virulina in Visionaries, several characters on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and the Scarlet Witch in Iron Man (1995-1996).

Geek Pedigree:

E. Gary Gygax, who invented Dungeons & Dragons, was an executive producer on the show, and received some writing credit. Series director John Gibbs also earlier directed episodes of The Transformers and Muppet Babies, was an animator on Doctor Dolittle (1970), Super President, Here comes the Grump, What's New, Mr. Magoo?, Spider-Woman, was an animation or sequence director on Spider-Man (1981-1982), G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, The Incredible Hulk (1982-1983), Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, and The Transformers. He later was supervising director on G.I. Joe (1985), Jem, and Defenders of the Earth.

Prior to writing episodes of Dungeons & Dragons, Jeffrey Scott had written episodes of The All-new Super Friends Hour, Challenge of the Super Friends, Scooby's Laff-a-Lympics, Dynomutt Dog Wonder, Spider-Woman, World's Greatest Super Friends, The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show, Spider-Man (1981), Thundarr The Barbarian, Super Friends, and Pac-Man. He later wrote episodes of DuckTales, James Bond Jr., Muppet Babies, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and many others.

Writer Michael Reaves had previously written episodes of Isis, The New Archie/Sabrina Hour, Space Sentinels, Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle, Super Friends, Blackstar, Space Stars, Flash Gordon, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, The Incredible Hulk (1982-1983), Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, and would later write episodes of Ewoks, Droids, Teen Wolf, Transformers, Centurions, Star Trek: The Next Generation, The Flash, Batman: The Animated Series, and many, many other shows!