Countdown to Halloween: Forbidden Worlds #52!

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Geek TV #7.3: The Banana Splits Adventure Hour - The Three Musketeers!

Concept: Animated version of the Dumas novels.

Total Episodes: 18

Original Air Dates: 1968-1970

Original Network: NBC

Geek Factor: 3

Characters:

D'Artagan (Bruce Watson): Newest recruit of the Musketeers.

Aramis (Don Messick): A Musketeer.

Porthos (Barney Phillips): Strongman of the Musketeers.

Athos (Jonathan Harris): Another Musketeer.

Tooly (Ted Eccles): A young boy who desperately wants to be a Musketeer.

Lady Constance (Julie Bennett): Ally of the Musketeers.

The Queen (Julie Bennett): Her Majesty.

Geek Pedigree: Bruce Watson also appeared as “Green” in the Star Trek Original Series episode “The Man Trap,” voiced Phineas Fogg on a segment of The Cattanooga Cats, and guested on Mission: Impossible and The Magician. Barney Phillips was also the voice of Shazzan the Genie, and had guested on The Wild Wild West and I Spy. Julie Bennett had guest-starred in The Adventures of Superman, and also did voices for a number of animated series, particularly the role of Cindy Bear on The Yogi Bear Show and Aunt May Parker in the 1997 Spider-Man animated series. Ted Eccles played Brad on Dr. Shrinker. Don Messick was the voice of Dr. Benton Quest and Bandit on Jonny Quest, Blip, Bronto and Zorak on Space Ghost, Multi Man of the Impossibles, Atom Ant, Shag Rugg, and Precious Pupp on The Atom Ant Show, Falcon 7 and others on Birdman, Gloop and Gleep on The Herculoids, Kuurgo on the 1967 Fantastic Four, Kaboobie the Flying Camel on Shazzan, Muttley and Professor Pat Pending on Wacky Races, and many other roles, but he's probably most famous for originating the voices of Astro and Scooby Doo! Messick also did voices on the 1978 Fantastic Four, Challenge of the Super Friends, Godzilla, the 1982 Spider-Man series. And of course, Jonathan Harris was in Lost in Space and Space Academy, and also did voices for the 1997 Spider-Man, Freakazoid, The Mask, BraveStarr, Visionaries, Rainbow Brite, Battlestar Galactica, and other shows, plus did a number of other TV roles... although I'd imagine he would have loved to have forgotten playing Basil Bitterbottom on Uncle Croc's Block.

Website: http://www.hbshows.com/site.php?c=./hb2/musketeers.htm is the Musketeers page for HBShows.com, and is probably as good as you'll find!

Notes: Did not really care as much for this as “Arabian Knights,” probably because Tooly was annoying.

Of Mice and Magic: The Cartoons #9

This week, we're looking at a few more Felix the Cat cartoons mentioned by Leonard Maltin in his book!

First up, "Whys and Otherwise," where you can see how Felix is being treated on screen as a film star!


Next, "Felix in Hollywood," where Felix encounters Charlie Chaplin!


And finally, "Comicalamities," where Felix interacts with his animator!

Countdown to Halloween: Toy of the Week: AHI Super Monsters!

Now, anyone who's ever read anything about Mego (manufacturers of the World's Greatest Superheroes 8" and 12" figures, Star Trek, Planet of the Apes, and more) will point at their failure to acquire the Star Wars license as being the downfall of the company, and certainly, that was the biggest mistake Mego ever made in doing business. However, the lack of foresight didn't begin and end with Star Wars, in my opinion... it began with the classic monsters: Frankenstein, Dracula, the Wolf Man, and the Mummy. Rather than pay the licensing fees that Universal was asking for, they decided to pass on it. Remco parent company AHI, on the other hand, knew a good thing when they saw it, and snapped up the license right away, leaving Mego to counter with their "Mad Monster" line (the same characters, but without infringing on Universal's designs). AHI produced their "World's Greatest Super-Monsters" line up completely copying Mego's card design for the Superheroes, and created a line of monster action figures that's in high demand! Above, you see their Dracula figure. You'll note that it doesn't really resemble either Bela Lugosi, Lon Chaney, Jr., or John Carradine, for that matter... so why pay the fee to license? Ah, you'll see...

Give-A-Show Fridays: Chad Valley 1974 Alice in Wonderland!

OK, so I decided to do the Chad Valley 1974 Alice in Wonderland Sliderama set in two parts (I'll be following it up with a two-parter based on Disney's Robin Hood next week). According to the wonderful Chad Valley Give-A-Show site (the owner of which has graciously allowed me to use his scans of the Chad Valleys slides) has this to say about the set:

Based upon the 1972 Joseph Shaftel film production of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, this set tells an entire story, rather than being a collection of 32 short snippets as seen in previous sets.

Hence, doing it in two parts! I would've done it in one, but it was longer than YouTube allows!



Before we get into part two, I should mention that the music (for the most part) on both parts came from a two-disc LP called "Alice in Wonderland, A Musical Fantasy." The album was independent of the version this set is based on, but I thought it worked!

Cool Stuff: Batman Stuff!

It's all-Batman this week!

And first item on hand to look at this week is this pair of rings from Argentina, year of manufacture unknown. They look kind of like vending machine items to me!

Cool Stuff!

This week's Cool Stuff begins with Aurora model kits, and the first one is the Superboy and Krypto kit! This, like many of the Aurora kits, has been reissued, and this one in particular is one I want!

Countdown to Halloween: Monster Trading Cards!

Okay, maybe this time I'll finish up the Creature Features cards!

By the way, I don't know if anyone's commented on this (since I'm working on these posts in July), but there's a lot of these cards with some new faces pasted into them... I don't know if it was likeness rights or what, but it's certainly bizarre!

The Indexible Hulk #9!

Issue: Avengers #2

Title: “The Space Phantom”

Credits: Written by Stan Lee, Drawn by Jack Kirby, Inked by Paul Reinman, Lettered by Art Simek

Supporting Cast: Rick Jones, Teen Brigade

Villain: The Space Phantom

Hulk Intelligence: Uncouth loudmouth

Guest-Stars: None

Plot: An Avengers meeting is supposed to start, but Ant-Man and the Wasp haven't arrived yet, giving Thor an opportunity to harangue the Hulk about the Hulk's fashion sense (he's wearing purple trunks, and nothing else). The Hulk (who's started referring to himself in the third person) tells Iron Man to get Thor off his back, so we see there's already tension between the neo-Avengers! Before the two musclemen can come to blows, Ant-Man and the Wasp show up, and the meeting begins. Meanwhile, in space, an egg-like object approaches the earth, changing shape into meteor form (while thinking) before landing safely on the planet's surface, where it changes into its normal shape of... the Space Phantom! He plans to destroy the Avengers as preparation for an invasion by his race. He then changes his form into a passerby, sending that person into Limbo since “two identical bodies cannot co-exist.” In this disguise, the Space Phantom enters Avengers Mansion, not knowing he's being watched by a TV on top of the meeting table. The Hulk decides to take care of this unwelcome visitor, but the Phantom simply takes his place, sending the Hulk to Limbo! Then, disguised as the Hulk, he enters the meeting room, even more belligerent than the Hulk had already been. Soon, the Phantom starts the Avengers fighting amongst themselves, first by battling Iron Man (although their fracas is interrupted by Thor), and then bursting out of the mansion and walking the streets (including passing by the man he's replaced earlier, but he gets that guy to shut up before he can tell too many people what happened to him). Suddenly, Rick Jones is there, telling the Phantom (whom he thinks is the Hulk) that he'll take him to the secret lab. Rick notices the “Hulk” is acting strange, but still climbs on his back so the “Hulk” can leap to their destination. When Rick mentions the Hulk isn't acting like himself, the Phantom realizes that Rick suspects, but he isn't worried about Rick, being drunk with the Hulk's power. The Space Phantom tells Rick who he is, transforming back to himself (and bringing the Hulk back from Limbo) for but an instant before resuming the Hulk's (and sending the Hulk back to Limbo). The Phantom leaps away, but not too far away is a multiple anti-missile missile gun, invented by Tony Stark, which is about to be tested. The Phantom leaps through the site, stealing the weapon and accidentally triggering it, sending missiles everywhere. When Tony Stark learns of this, he dons his armor immediately to face off against the person whom he believes is the Hulk! In fact, as they face off, Iron Man tells the Phantom that he always thought it was a mistake allowing the Hulk to join the Avengers! Though the Hulk's body is stronger than Iron Man's armor, Iron Man shoots an electrical charge through the Phantom's body, causing a sharp sensation of pain. While the real Hulk would've fought back through the pain, the Phantom flees, deciding to change his form into that of a wasp, instantly bringing the real Hulk there, although Iron Man didn't notice this. Instead, Iron Man puts on an expanding device that resembles a hammer onto one arm, and prepares to attack! Meanwhile, Rick Jones has gone to the Teen Brigade to call Giant-Man (Henry Pym's new identity, just recently revealed in Tales to Astonish #48), and Rick tells Giant-Man about the Space Phantom. Giant-Man and the Wasp head out to deal with the situation. Later, as Iron Man battles the Hulk, Giant-Man and the Wasp arrive to break up the battle, explaining that there's no reason to fight (not that this lesson was learned, as pretty much every first-time meeting between Marvel superheroes would usually result in them fighting each other). While Iron Man's ready to make nice-nice again, the Hulk's pretty pissed off, even dismissing the Wasp's mention of sensing an evil presence there! The evil presence is revealed as the wasp the Space Phantom changes into, which attacks the Wasp. Giant-Man picks up on this with his cybernetic helmet and runs off to the scene of the attack, followed by the Hulk and Iron Man. Soon they arrive at Tony Stark's factory, and split up to search. Giant-Man finds the Wasp, but then the Space Phantom realizes that Giant-Man's form is better to borrow! The Phantom then grabs the Wasp, but then the Hulk arrives, and the two begin to fight! The Wasp, released, goes off to find Thor. Giant-Man and the Hulk battle through the factory, destroying a moon tractor as the fight goes on to where Iron Man is (well, they send it flying at Iron Man, who destroys it himself)! Since Iron Man is toppled by this, the Space Phantom decides to change form to Iron Man! The Hulk tells Giant-Man, just returned from Limbo, to grab the Phantom! Meanwhile, the Wasp arrives at Dr. Don Blake's office, where she'd been told before to go if Thor is needed. When Dr. Blake gets the message, he sends the Wasp out of the room so he can transform into the Thunder God, and then the two of them head off to the battle! When they arrive on the scene, Thor realizes that “Iron Man” must be the current form of the Phantom, since he's fighting both the Hulk and Giant-Man. The Wasp slips into a gap in the armor and disables a few devices to help her teammates out, and then escapes the armor just before Thor's hammer bears down on him! Quickly, the Phantom uses a magnetic wave to send the hammer back, which Thor catches and then the Thunder God calls up a torrential downpour that instantly causes the “Iron Man armor” to rust! But then the Space Phantom decides to take on the identity of Thor! However, since Thor is not human, this results in the Phantom being sent to Limbo, and Iron Man to return! The Hulk tells them he didn't realize how much each of them hate him until now, and decides he doesn't need any of them, and quits the Avengers! The remaining Avengers wonder what the Hulk will do next!

Invention Exchange: Tony Stark's anti-missile missile gun and moon tractor.

Reprinted In: Marvel Super-Heroes Special #1, Giant-Size Avengers #3, Marvel Masterworks #4, Marvel Masterworks: The Avengers #1, Avengers Classic #2, Avengers: Assemble (Family Dollar exclusive), Essential Avengers #1.

Notes: Adapted as episodes 22-24 of the 1966 Hulk animated series. It was later established that the Limbo that the Space Phantom sent the people he duplicated to was the same Limbo that Rom, Spaceknight dispatched Dire Wraiths to. I have no idea how the Phantom's power could possibly allow him to duplicate Iron Man's armor, it doesn't seem to really fit! Thor told the Phantom that the Phantom's power only affects humans, but of course, it also affected that wasp, which is definitely not human!

Famous Monsters #26!

Comic Book Advertisements!

And we're still looking at ads from Gold Key's Hanna-Barbera Fun-In this time around, looking at ads from issue #5! First up is this Johnny Lightning 500's ad featuring winning race car driver Al Unser! I do find it interesting that they claim that their non-motorized car is faster than Mattel's Hot Wheels Sizzlers, which was a fairly short-lived variation with a motorized Hot Wheel. The biggest problem, as I recall, with the Sizzlers was that you had to charge them up by plugging them into this "gas station" that you'd put a couple of D batteries in, and then the charge would probably run down before you were really done playing.

Countdown to Halloween: Adventures into Terror #10!

To read this issue, click below!

CBT: 1968 Disneyland Coloring Book, Part 1!

This week's edition of Children's Book Theatre features the first part of a 1968 Disneyland coloring book, featuring the adventures of two nameless children as they have fun at Disneyland, joined by Mickey Mouse! Despite the cover image, they don't really interact with the Pirates of the Caribbean ride characters (although something like that, with them actually having adventures as part of the attractions, would've been interesting).

Kirby Kovers #8

First up this week is the cover to Fantasy Masterpieces #4, one of Marvel's reprint titles of the Silver Age. What makes this an unusual entry in this series is that it is a reprint title, which typically just used reproductions of panels or splash pages from the stories within (look at the Cap panel on the lower left corner -- definitely more of a vintage style to it). I recall reading somewhere the reasoning for having Kirby do a new piece of art for this cover, but forget the details. One of the great things about this is that I've looked at this cover over and over again in the past, but this is the first time I've noticed that Cap's body is contorted into what should be an extremely painful position! If you don't see it, look at the legs compared to the torso and Cap's belt buckle. The thing is, the image is just so dynamic, you don't pay attention to things like that!

Countdown to Halloween: Monster Monday!

This week's Monster Monday begins with two Mexican lobby cards, two US posters, and a still from Daughter of Dr. Jekyll!

Dog of the Geek: Fleegle!

Breed: Beagle

Original Appearances: The Banana Splits Adventure Hour (Hanna-Barbera, 1968-1970)

Other Appearances: Banana Splits comic book, a variety of merchandise, Saturday Superstar Movie “The Banana Splits in Hocus Pocus Park” (1972), Internet Web Series (Cartoon Network, early 2000s), new website (2008).

Biography: Fleegle is more or less the leader of The Banana Splits Club, and played the guitar. Despite his efforts, things tended to go out of control with bandmates Bingo (a gorilla who played the drums), Drooper (a lion who played guitar), and Snorky (an elephant keyboardist). The Splits were rivals of the Sour Grapes Gang, who delivered messages via the “Sour Grapes messenger girls,” who would dance into the clubhouse wearing purple minidresses, pink leotards and black go-go boots, intimidating the Splits until they gave the message to Fleegle. No matter who played the messenger girl, she was always called “Charlie.” The Splits were also visited by the Dilly Sisters (an actual musical act from Mexico) who would play guitars and sing “The Mexican Hat Dance” or “Ta-ra-ra Boom-de ay.” Fleegle also served as reporter for Banana Splits News. Fleegle had an alter ego called “The Great Fleegali,” whom would attempt to perform magic tricks unsuccessfully.

Powers: None

Group Affiliation: The Banana Splits

Miscellaneous: Jeff Winkless (billed as Jeffrey Brock) portrayed Fleegle in costume; the voice was provided by Paul Winchell. In the 2008 version, Bill Farmer did the voice. Fleegle's costume (as was the rest of the Splits) was built by Sid and Marty Krofft.

Countdown to Halloween: Monster Trading Cards!

This should finish off the Creature Features cards!

Puzzle Sunday!

Last week's solutions:

I guess you'll figure out the maze on your own, eh?

This week's puzzles:

Fandom Library: Rampage #1!

As many of you know (certainly Manic Man, for one), until relatively recently, Marvel Comics weren't published in the same format in the UK as they were in the USA. Often, there would be color covers on the UK books, with black and white interiors. Some of the books would be monthly, some weekly (were there any biweekly books?). Because of the formatting, sometimes a story would be split between two issues, with a new splash page for the second part created. And sometimes, there would be a title that was completely different from anything Marvel did in the USA, for purposes of creating a nice variety of features inside. Here's Rampage #1!