MIDWOOD MELODRAMAS by Dave Goode

 

Back in junoir high school I was introduced to " adult paperbacks " by way of Midwood Books. A neighbor's older sister had a collection of these books from the 60s and he would lend them to me.Of course any teenage boy would be attracted to these books with their titillating covers of sexy women in various stages of undress in sexual situations. But I imagined it was the back cover copy with their lurid come ons that got the readers to purchase the books.

 

 

Later I would find out the publisher of Midwood Books was Harry Shorten. Shorten had been a collegiate and professional football star who had become a writer. Working at MLJ Comics as an editor and writer he helped to create such Golden Age characters as the Shield and the Black Hood. The Shield who predated Captain America is regarded as the first patriotic comic book hero. He would also create the award winning syndicated single panel comic There Ought To Be A Law. The Midwood Publishing House was active for over a decade from 1957 to 1968.

 

 

But back to the books themselves. By no means were they pornographic. A guilty pleasure of mine was the television miniseries SCRUPLES starring Lindsay Wagner. I liked it so much I bought a copy of the novel by Judith Krantz that the series was based on. I'm here to tell you that book was closer to porn than anything I ever read from Midwood. The stories inside were titillating. But not dirty. They were lurid melodramas along the lines of Hollywood potboilers like The Chapman Report (1962) and The Carpetbaggers ( 1964 ). They also had a series of lesbian books. Strangely enough they seemed to be written for straight men.The covers of course featured two or more half - dressed women. And the stories usually ended with the heroine in love with a man. So maybe it wasn't so strange straight men were a huge part of the audience for these books. A lesbian friend once told me she and her girl friends stopped reading these books before they got to the last ten pages when the heroine was " converted ".

 

 

Reading these books as a teenager I imagined some of these books being made into Hollywood movies after being cleaned up a little. If it could be done with The Carpetbaggers it could be done with the Midwood Books. On the other hand they could  probably have been more easily turned into grind house flicks.

 

 

 Love the comic cover below? You can grab this image on a t-shirt, poster, mask, sticker, magnet, etc: https://www.teepublic.com/t-shirt/12959303-alligator-man?store_id=140005 

 

THE STEVE REEVES MOVIE YOU NEVER SAW! by Dave Goode

 

I was watching the Gordon Scott sinew & sandal flick Goliath Vs. The Vampires again the other day. Also known as Maciste Contra Vampiro ( 1961 ) this is my favorite of the former Tarzan's peplum pictures. The hilight of the flick is arguably the battle between Goliath / Maciste and the villain who has taken the hero's form. For years it was rumored that the evil Goliath in long shots was portrayed by Steve Reeves himself. Not the case. But an understandable mistake. The actor was in fact Giovanni Cianfriglia who had worked as Reeves' body double in a number of costumed melodramas beginning with the landmark Hercules ( 1957 ). He would also appear as an extra and stuntman in other genre flicks. Most notably in Hercules The Avenger ( 1965 ) where he portrayed the Earth giant Antaeus to Reg Park's Hercules.

 

Of course Cianfriglia was better known to genre movie fans as the star of the masked wrestler movies Superargo Vs. Diabolicus ( 1966 ) and Superargo And The Faceless Giants ( 1968 ). I got to thinking again about a masked wrestler movie starring Steve Reeves. I've always said that such a movie starring Reeves , Gordon Scott or Mark Forest would be a great deal different from the masked wrestler movies of Mexico ( Mexiluchahero movies ). Where the heroes of those flicks are never seen without their masks. Any movie starring Reeves would have the hero going maskless for over half the film.

 

So imagine if you will a masked wrestler movie starring Reeves where body double and stuntman Cianfriglia portrayed the hero with the mask on. Reeves would play the hero in romantic scenes and such. Also maybe in scenes in a gym showing him training to show off Mr. Universe's physique. Which was the reason you went to a Steve Reeves movie to begin with. " Something visual that's not to abysmal. " This would make such a move similar to the classic Republic serial The Masked Marvel ( 1943 ). In that chapterplay stuntman Tom Steele portrayed the hero. No one else would wear the mask. He also did stunts for other actors throughout the movie. But strangely enough he received no screen credit. Not even as a stuntman.

 

 

ALLIGATOR MAN by Dave Goode

 

Frank Merrill ( born Otto Adolph Poll ) was the 5th actor to portray Edgar Rice Burroughs literary hero Tarzan of The Apes. He had doubled for the original screen Tarzan , Elmo Lincoln , in the serial The Adventures Of Tarzan ( 1921 ). Later he was cast as Tarzan in Tarzan The Mighty ( 1928 ) and Tarzan The Tiger (1929 ). The latter movie was partially filmed in sound. And Merrill became the first screen Tarzan to deliver the victory cry of the Great Apes. Merrill had been a national gymnastic champion specializing in the Roman rings , high bar and rope climbing. Famously Merrill was a runner - up to legendary bodybuilder Charles Atlas for the title of " The World's Most Perfectly Developed Man ". At 6 ' tall he was a bit taller than your average gymnast. And he had a 44 inch chest , 16 and a half inch bicep , 14 inch forearm , 22 inch thigh with 15 inch calves at a bodyweight of 185 pounds.

 

I first learned of Merrill when DC Comics began publishing a Tarzan comic book in the 70s. In the early issues there were features on the Tarzan movies. One of these had a brief bio of Merrill that said after his career playing the Lord of the Jungle was over he performed exhibitions wrestling alligators. I however never saw any reference to this second career anywhere else. But it got me to thinking about the idea of an alligator wrestler playing the role of a Tarzan - like jungle hero.

My buddy Vance Capley and I were talking on the phone the other day about introducing a character for an upcoming GOLDEN ADONIS comic we've been working on. Here's a first look of Amos Moses , The Alligator Man.

 

Love the comic cover below? You can grab this image on a t-shirt, poster, mask, sticker, magnet, etc: https://www.teepublic.com/t-shirt/12959303-alligator-man?store_id=140005

 

 

 

So It Wasn't Just Stan Lee by Dave Goode

The other day I happened to be watching an episode of the classic television western Wanted Dead Or Alive starring Steve Mc Queen. The episode titled " Black Belt " featured Robert Kino as Sammy Wong , a Chinese karate expert hunted unjustly for the murder of his employer. The 1960 second season episode was written by John Tamerlin. And was proof that Stan Lee wasn't the only one that got it wrong.

The Invincible Iron Man's arch - foe the Mandarin was introduced in Tales Of Suspense No. 50 ( Feb. 1964 ). And from the get go was depicted as being a " karate master ". Of course in retrospect being Chinese it was more likely that he would have been a master of the Chinese fighting art of kung fu. But back in 1964 most Americans probably thought that kung fu was something you ate with egg roll. You can reason all you want with any fanboy theory you can come up with why the Chinese villain was using a Japanese fighting style. But the simple truth is that when Stan handed the original story over to Don Heck to draw he most likely said to the artist " let's make the bad guy an expert of that new fangled karate stuff everyone is talking about. He's so good at it that he's able to break iron bars with it. "

This is what most people at the time thought karate was. Breaking wooden boards , bricks and blocks of ice with the side of your hand while shouting a popular American greeting. And the Mandarin's tameshiwari ( breaking ) skills were so great he actually posed a threat to an adversary who wore armor that could resist cannon fire. Of course the Mandarin had significant back - up in his 10 power rings. Each one had a seperate super power.

Tales Of Suspense No. 86 ( Feb. 1967 ) featured my favorite throwdown between Iron Man and the Mandarin. The Golden Avenger removes his gauntlets to give his opponent a taste of good old western styled fisticuffs. Pretty cool stuff until you realize that though Iron Man took off his gloves he kept on the rest of his armor. Which of course protected him from the Mandarin's karate chops ( shuto blows ).

SHE MADE EVIL LOOK HOT !!! by Dave Goode

SHE MADE EVIL LOOK HOT !!!

by Dave Goode

I remember watching THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM ( 1961 ) At about twelve years of age and being totally captivated by Barbara Steele. She has less than 20 minutes of screen time. And her voice is dubbed by another actress. But she damn near steals the picture. Not an easy feat considering this Roger Corman production stars a way over the top Vincent Price. In her brief time on screen she is sensual , seductive and more than a little bit sadistic. In short she made evil look hot.

British actress Steele became a cult film star starring in Italian gothic horror flicks beginning with the landmark BLACK SUNDAY  (1960 ). She had a certain look that was hard to describe. So I'm not going to try. But there are film historians who have compared La Steele to both Sophia Loren and fellow B - Movie queen Martine Beswick. Darn good company.

In a lot of her roles she was a seductive temptress using her beauty to entice her victims. But she was also good playing the " damsel in distress ". Sometimes she played both roles in the same movie. Often found chained to walls in a nightmare castle 's dungeon.

The thing I never understood was why while making horror flicks in Europe no peplum movie producer thought to cast her as the female lead in a muscleman movie. There are some publicity pics of her with Kirk Morris preparing for his role of Maciste in THE WITCH 'S CURSE ( 1962 ). It 's just too bad she never got to play the evil queen in a Maciste movie herself. Perhaps in an outfit similar to the one she wore in THE CRIMSON CULT (1968 ).

I STILL SAY HE WOULD HAVE MADE A GOOD TARZAN ! by Dave Goode

More than a few Tarzan fans consider Russ Manning to be one of the best Tarzan illustrators. I know that he's one of my Top 5. He drew both Edgar Rice Burroughs' Lord of The Jungle and his own creation , Magnus the Robot Fighter , in much the same manner.

They both seemed to be built along the lines of legendary heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali. At his best the Greatest stood about 6 ' 2 " or 6 ' 3 " and weighed about 215 pounds with a bicep that measured less than 16 inches around. You read that right. Less than 16 inches.

Miles O ' Keefe who starred in TARZAN THE APE MAN ( 1981 ) opposite Bo Derek as Jane was also built along the same lines. O ' Keefe and Derek reminded me quite a bit of the Tarzan and Jane drawn by Manning. Super - models of the jungle. But look at O ' Keefe. Is he bigger than Johnny Weissmuller ? Or just more defined ? As I keep saying " Muscular. But not overly bulky ". He looks like a decathlete.

Which brings us to Bruce Jenner. Snicker if you need to. That's right. Get it out of your system. But back in 1976 when he was winning the Olympic decathlon in record setting fashion I thought the 6 ' 2 " 194 pound

Jenner would have made a pretty good Tarzan.

Maybe not the Tarzan of Burroughs. But in the fashion of many of the movie Tarzans. And of course he would have been following in the tradition of other Olympians who played the role like Johnny Weissmuller , Buster Crabbe , Herman Brix and Glenn Morris.

MARVEL'S THREE AMIGOS by Dave Goode

My favorite moment from the second season of the television series AGENT CARTER came in the third episode titled " Better Angels ". It was the scene where Howard Stark (Dominic Cooper) , the MCU's answer to Howard Hughes is directing a Kid Colt movie. The Kid is portrayed by Walker Roach who had previously played a voice actor portraying Captain America on a radio show in the season one episodes " Bridge and Tunnel " and " Valediction ".

As a Silver Age kid and fan of B-Westerns and television westerns I always imaginined movies starring Marvel Comics' Top 3 western heroes. Kid Colt , the Two - Gun Kid and the Rawhide Kid. Characters who actually started out in the Atom Age of Comics when Marvel was known as Atlas Comics. But may have had their best run during the Marvel Age of Comics in the swinging 60s.

Stunt casting would have been fairly easy for these flicks. Especially during the 50s. John Ericson as Kid Colt. Or maybe Ty Hardin. And maybe Van Williams or Peter Brown as the Two - Gun Kid. Casting the Rawhide Kid may have been more difficult because of his physical stature. Or lack of. For years I imagined Audie Murphy. But a few years back someone suggested to me Nick Adams as the short in stature gunfighter with a chip on his shoulder. And I thought that would be perfect. One other choice would have been Vic Morrow.

The characters would have been great as stars of Warner Brothers television westerns. They could have appeared on alternating weeks. And the heroes from the Warner Brothers corral were known for their crossover storylines. Much like the Marvel Comics gunslingers.