Like A Velvet Glove Cast In Iron by Dave Goode

I can remember back in the 90s there was a rumor going about of someone remaking the cult classic FASTER,PUSSYCAT! KILL! KILL! that originally starred Tura Satana. Rumors circulated that the plan was to star adult film actress Tera Patrick or Penthouse Pet of the Year (1993) Julie Strain as Varla,the character Satana played in the original. I thought the 6'1" Strain might have been interesting. She did star in a number of straight-to-video action and horror flicks. But I'm glad the movie never came about. Much like "there's only one Race Bannon". There is only one Varla. And that's Tura Satana.

 

 

 

 

 

 

  The original FASTER,PUSSYCAT! KILL! KILL!

was film auteur Russ Meyer's 10th movie and was released on August 6,1965. With a screenplay written by Jack(Jackie) Moran. The movie was made on a budget of $45,000 and told the story of three go-go dancers who go on a kidnapping and killing spree. Imagine if you will the "bad girls" from your high school killing Moon-Doggie and kidnapping and terrorizing Gidget. One of the cool things about this flick was it's star Ms.Satana using martial arts to overcome two of the men in the movie. Satana was a real-life martial artist (aikido and karate) and it was interesting to see her use those skills in a pre-kung fu mania movie.

I got to thinking some time back that FASTER.PUSSYCAT! KILL! KILL! mIght have made for a cool one-shot comic book during it's initial release. Something you can easily imagine being published by Myron Fass, with art supplied by Eric Stanton and the mystery inker (Wink,Wink.) who worked with him on Sweeter Gwen and a number of other " under the counter " soft-core comics. I imagine a book featuring four individual 8-page vignettes starring the movie's four female leads Varla,Rosie,Billie and their victim Linda that lead up to the events in the film. Followed by the adaptation of the movie.  Below is a my idea of how the first vignette would look ably illustrated by my good buddy and collaborator Vance Capley.

 

 

 

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The Men From M.A.R.S by Dave Goode

I was lucky enough to be a seven year old when Hasbro introduced their G.I.Joe action figure line. I was a charter member of the G.I. Joe Club. And since my older brother was a Marine at the time the first Joe that I had was a Marine too. The first accessory that my Joe had was a flamethrower with back-tanks.So when I wasn't fighting an imaginary war with my Joe I could strap his back-tanks on and pretend he was Commando Cody. Eventually I got three other Joes and I would use them to play M.A.R.S Patrol.

M.A.R.S PATROL,TOTAL WAR first appeared on the stands in 1965.It was published by Gold Key and was originally titled TOTAL WAR with interior art by the great Wally Wood. Wood may also have played a hand in the creation of the series. There is no denying that the first three issues illustrated by Wood were magical. But even after he left the series the comic was a great deal of fun featuring the art by the likes of Jack Sparling and Dan Spiegle.

The comics told the story of an invasion of all the nations of the Earth by an unidentified attacker. It was implied at first and later confirmed in the series that the invader was from another world.The opposition to this enemy from space were the men from the M.A.R.S(Marine Attack and Rescue Service)Patrol. An elite squad from the U.S. Marine Corps. The series lasted a brief 10 issues running from July 1965 to August 1969. But that was long enough to bring the feature cult status to Silver Age comic book readers.

One of the interesting things about the M.A.R.S Patrol was that during the era of the Civil Rights struggle the members of the M.A.R.S team were very diversified.There were two Euro-Americans in Lt. Cy Adams, the units field commander and Cpl.Russ Stacy. Then there was Sgt.Joe Striker, an African-American and Sgt.Ken Hiro,an Asian-American.









 





It would remind me a bit of the diversified members of the first American Native-American, a Euro-American, and an African-American.
Olympic Judo Squad from 1964.That squad featured an Asian-American,

This was a great series from a time when it wasn't  against  the rules for American youth to play soldier.

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Maciste and Tarzan...Have You Ever Seen Them Together? by Dave Goode

I've always looked at Maciste flicks as being almost the half-brother of the Tarzan movies. In the first Golden Adonis strip Vance Capley and I did together the pro wrestler turned sinew & sandal movie star notices the script for a movie he's starring in bears more than a slight resemblance to Burroughs' TARZAN AND THE CITY OF GOLD. TARZAN AND THE LOST EMPIRE is another Burroughs' tale that reads a lot like a Maciste adventure. And I can recall once seeing an European poster for a silent Tarzan movie in which they were selling Tarzan as "America's Maciste". 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Probably the most Maciste-like of Tarzan films is TARZAN'S THREE CHALLENGES starring Jock Mahoney.It's just too bad Gordon Scott was no longer playing the role of the Lord of the Jungle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gordon Scott who portrayed Tarzan in six movies would go to Europe after making two of the best Tarzan movies,TARZAN'S GREATEST ADVENTURES and TARZAN THE MAGNIFICENT,to star in peplum pictures. Most notably DUEL OF THE TITANS in which he and former Mr.America,Mr.World and Mr.Universe Steve Reeves play the twin demi-gods Romulus and Remus. Another favorite Scott movie from the genre is GOLIATH VS.THE VAMPIRES a.k.a Maciste contro il Vampiro.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's just too bad no Italian movie producer got the idea of filming an adaptation of TARZAN AND THE CITY OF GOLD starring Scott or some other peplum movie star. And with a Chelo Alonso or Scilla Gabel as Nemone,Queen of Cathne the titled City of Gold. Or maybe just changing the hero's name from Tarzan to Maciste.

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