FAN BOY FANTASY MOVIES by Dave Goode

When I first imagined a Mighty Samson movie based on the Gold Key comic book from the Silver Age I stunt casted Clint Walker or Denny Miller as the mutant superman of a post apopaletic future. Largely because of their physical stature. But since this was a fantasy anyway I reimagined Kirk Douglas in the role. After all the paintings on the covers of the comic books have Samson resembling Douglas as he appears in the movie THE VIKINGS ( 1958 ). Peter Cushing would be perfect as the scientist Mindor. And rounding out the cast as Sharmaine , Mindor's daughter and Samson's love interest , would be 60s fan boy favorite Deanna Lund. Of course the real star of the flick would have been Ray Harryhausen's special effect mutant monsters.

Sam Katzman was the type of producer you could imagine making movies based on the stories found in " men's sweat magazines ".The man who cast Johnny Weissmuller as Jungle Jim after the former Olympic champ became too old to be a believable Tarzan would see the potentialof casting Steve Holland as a jungle adventurer. Especially after realizing he could use the covers of the sweat mags as posters. Just write in a scene to match the action of the cover illustration.You could do the same with the WW Two covers Holland posed for as a two - fisted American fighting man.

Steve Holland was also the model for Jason Striker , the martial arts hero for a series of books written by Piers Antony and Roberto Fuentes. The series came out in the 1970s when everyone was " kung fu fighting ". And at the time I thought Jason Striker , the black belt judoka and karateka would have made a good subject for a series of movies. But not starring Holland. Though the covers featuring Holland would make great posters. The person playing Striker would have been American karate and kick - boxing champ Joe Lewis.

HAVEN'T I SEEN YOU SOMEPLACE BEFORE? by Dave Goode

HAVEN'T I SEEN YOU SOMEPLACE BEFORE?

by Dave Goode

When I first got into Mexican psychotronica I couldn't help but notice how freely some illustrators borrowed from American and European pulp imagery. The most notable example was the poster for SANTO VS. THE MARTIAN INVASION (Santo El Enmascarado Del Plata Contra La Invasion De Los Marcianos). An outright swipe of the poster for the cult sci-fi flick ROBINSON CRUSOE ON MARS (1964).

Then of course there were at least two Blue Demon comic book covers that were , shall we say , "influenced " by Tower Publications DYNAMO No.3 with art by Wally Wood & Dan Adkins.

And UNDERSEA AGENT No. 4 with cover art by Gil Kane. The first time I saw the Blue Demon covers I definitely got a feeling of deja vu all over again. And there are plenty of other examples. You could write a book.

 (editor's note* Galactus is from Silver Surfer #1...but the pose of Kaliman is from another Silver Surfer appearance...but we cannot figure it out...let us know in the comments below if you remember where this pose is from- VC)

Our very own Vance Capley has done cover swipes...check it out! 

 

 

Guess what? You can order Judo Comics at the link below: 

http://www.lulu.com/shop/dave-goode/judo-comics/paperback/product-22908356.html

DOUBLE DUTY PEPLUM POSTERS by Dave Goode

As someone who "likes movies about gladiators" I've imagined for years comic book adaptations of Hercules and Maciste movies with cover art by Frank Frazetta and interior art by Wally Wood. An alternative to Frazetta paintings for the covers would have been the posters from the movies themselves. In fact the poster for the Steve Reeves flick HERCULES UNCHAINED was used as the cover for the Dell comic book adaptation of that movie.

One of my favorite sinew & sandal sagas was the movie best known to American audiences as ATLAS IN THE LAND OF THE CYCLOPS (Maciste nella terra dei ciclopi). The flick stars Gordon Mitchell and the incredible Chelo Alonso. Sadly it's one of the few films from the genre where La Alonso doesn't perform an exotic dance.

In any case several posters for the movie would have made great comic book covers. MACISTE EL COLOSO reminds me a bit of one of those Will Eisner splash pages where he incorporates the logo into the illustration.

These posters would have made great covers for novelizations of these movies as well. Or even for new stories. I'm surprised there weren't more paperbacks about gladiators during the peplum movie cycle. Considering the implied sexual going ons in these films, it's remarkable how Midwood Books never published a paperback or two on the subject.