Vampirella Archives Volume One

My copy Vampirella Archives Vol. 1 arrived in the mail yesterday. I was getting very worried that the local customs have impounded the book as it features a scantily-clad pontianak! Usually, my orders from Amazon.com take only 2 weeks to arrive but this one took an entire month. Anyway, I'm just glad that it finally arrived. The book is a wonder to behold. Issues 1-7 of the Warren Vampirella Magazine are reprinted in full in their original magazine-sized format (even larger than the Marvel oversized hardcovers - same sized as Dark Horse's Eerie and Creepy Archives). The pages are white, unglossy and thick while the entire book is very beautifully sewn together for durability and elegance. I'm thankful that Dynamite Entertainment bought over the entire Vampirella franchise from now defunct Harris Comics. Products like the Archive line alone is worthy of celebrations. As for the contents, I read the first four stories from issue one last night. The contents are all in stark black & white - even some uninked work (like the Neal Adams one). Vampirella is hardly featured in the book at all aside from her origin story written by Forrest J. Ackerman and drawn in the campy style of the late 1960s by Tom Sutton. She was more like the host of a horror TV show providing the intro and ending comments to each story - think the Crypt-Keeper from "Tales of the Crypt" but prettier and with more sex appeal!!! The rest of the stories in issue one were mostly written by Don Glut. I was particularly impressed by the art of Billy Graham (who penciled and inked some of my favourite Silver Age Marvel stories) on a vampiric-boat story with a very unpredictable ending. My favourite story so far is the werewolf tale illustrated by Reed Crandall in a very movie-esque fashion. The story said more about seduction, tragic romance and the werewolf myth than the entire volume of "Women Who Run With The Wolves".

I just placed orders for the next two volumes in the Vampirella Archives series. Can't wait to read the stories where Vampirella is the actual star - especially those written by Archie Goodwin and illustrated by the one-and-only Jose Gonzalez. :)

This video clip features artwork by Vampirella artists over the decades. So we get bubbly good-girl art by Adam Hughes, pouting and anorexic art by J. Scott Campbell, manga Vampirella, the Harris "Vampire Slayer" costume, and classic Jose Gonzalez artwork. Enjoy.

First Glimpse of New Wonder Woman Adrianne Palicki in Action

The clip is from an actual filming session for the upcoming Wonder Woman TV show featuring actress Adrianne Palicki in the title role jumping over cars and chasing after a felon. My wife noted the changes to the costume but says that she still can't stand Palicki. :)

My new animal art now ready to buy online.Meercat face....White horse running..Giraffe and Baby..Brown Horse and pony running..Two Donkeys

Now ready to buy as A3/A4 Mounted prints and cards
www.petergrayanimals.co.uk
so you can buy prints and cards of these new designs..
Drawn a Kangaroo and Roo this week as well..
:)

Baby Boomer blog has started..

Great news Spy (Rab Smith my internet friend..one day we will meet up!) has started a blog all about his super comic strip Baby Boomer which I've mentioned on here before..

http://zoomertoonsrabsmith.blogspot.com/

It has a great 30's/40's New York feel..good gags..and very Betty boopish..now to catch up on the rest of the blog posts..

Any new posts will show up here on the left on my blog list..or become a follower yourself..

The Thunder Strikes Again... For The First Time!

It's great being a Thor fan these days. What with the movie coming and tons of cool hardcovers, statues, action figures, video games, documentaries and bedsheets (?!?) devoted to the hammer-wielding Asgardian. Now, if you have followed this blog (and others that I write in), you'll know that Thor was my favourite character growing up. In fact, his was the only monthly comic that I collected religiously all the way until I was about 16 years old. (Actually, I still can't believe that we're really getting a real THOR movie! The closest we got as kids was that silly Thor and Hulk feature film...)

However, I found that I lost interest in the character since about 8 years ago. The last time I was really excited about Thor was when I picked up the Walt Simonson Visionaries TPB volume one in the early 2000s. I even bought several books on Norse mythology and then locked myself in the local YMCA for an entire weekend just reading about the Norse gods and frost giants and Ragnarok.

Recently, I picked up the "Acts of Vengeance" omnibus and reread the issues of Thor within that humongous collection. Those were the issues that I read as a kid. Tom DeFalco wrote them and Ron Frenz drew them. Thor (and the New Warriors) took on the Juggernaut. Thor shared a common existence with architect Eric Masterson, Hercules (weakened after the ordeals in the "Under Siege" storyline over in the Avengers title) stayed in Eric's house and befriended Eric's son, Kevin Masterson. Loki was masterminding the entire "Acts of Vengeance" on the Marvel-U and finally, Thor discovered the whole plan with the help of Dr. Strange. I found myself rekindling my love for those childhood tales...

Then came the JMS Thor Omnibus that I finally worked up the courage (and cash) to purchase yesterday morning. I have read many reviews praising the JMS run as the best since Simonson's legendary run in the 1980s. However, I have been hesitant in picking it up. I liked the art by Olivier Coipel in "Siege" where he drew Thor, the Warriors Three, Balder, Asgard, etc. But like I said, I just couldn't find it in me to read Thor again. Especially a Thor that I feared was nothing like the one that I grew up reading every month. Reading the first 8 issues collected in this massive volume (the 2 Fantastic Four issues that served as a prologue to the run and issues 1-6 of the new monthly series), I was pleasantly surprised to see how much I enjoyed the book so far. True enough, it does not really feel like the Thor that I used to know. The Thor I grew up with was more jolly and fun - while noble and classy because he spoke Shakespearean! JMS' Thor is more reflective of the times that we live in (as well as the backdrop of the Marvel-U of the past several years - namely, Civil War, Secret Invasion, Dark Reign, Disassembled, etc.) In fact, in one issue, JMS pushed the "relevance" card too far and had Thor visit the post-Katrina New Orleans. The issue really didn't work because whenever real-world events get pushed into comicbooks, the characters end up looking irrelevant, absurd and plainly out-of-place. Thankfully, JMS was smart enough to quickly move on to a really cool Thor vs. Iron Man scene that fans have been dying for since Iron Man and Mr. Fantastic did the dastardly deed of cloning Thor during "Civil War". It was hugely satisfying to see Tony at the receiving end of Thor's righteous wrath.

However, there is a deep sadness and loneliness in Thor throughout - like I said, the jolly giant thunderer I once knew really wasn't there anymore. JMS tried to inject in some humour using smalltown quirkiness - specifically the friendly but cranky citizens of Oklahoma (where Thor and the newborn Asgardians suddenly moved in as neighbours). This element worked at times when JMS was not going overboard but at times, it descended into self-referential humour that felt unneeded and distracting.

Another thing is that Dr. Don Blake is back but appears to have a separate existence from Thor - while sharing the same body. It's a bit confusing since we know that Don Blake really is Thor (like Sigurd Jarlsson during Simonson's run) and not like Eric Masterson or that bloke during Dan Jurgens' run. However, Don Blake has very little opportunities to shine at all. The irony is that, he displayed far more character and independent existence when he really was Thor but now that he has a separate existence, his personality is subsumed into Thor's! Or maybe what we really need is another love interest like Jane Foster to make Don Blake step out of Thor's shadow for a while. The most interesting thing to happen to Don Blake so far is that he's now a volunteer doctor with "Doctors Without Borders". Other than that, he's mostly a placeholder and we just wait for the moment every issue when he taps the walking stick and transforms into Thor.

All in all, the first part of JMS' run is worth a read. I've been told that things pick up from issue 7. Will write more once I've finished reading the whole book... :)

Porky Pig Wallpaper

Porky Pig Wallpaper 1

Porky Pig Wallpaper 2

Porky Pig Wallpaper 3

Porky Pig Wallpaper 4

These Are A Few Of My Favourite Things...

I skipped the long Trust Law refresher-lectures on Friday evening and the whole of Saturday. Took the family to see "Sucker Punch" on Friday evening. Also found a really cheap copy of "Keats" by Andrew Motion. The book was slightly damaged but I'm not complaining since the apologetic shopkeeper agreed to sell it to me for only RM18.00. A new biography of Keats is always a joy to read. I remember reading 3 other biographies in the late 1990s (Bateman, Coote and Gittings') when I was really nuts about the Romantic poets and wrote long dissertations on "Ode to a Grecian Urn", "Ode to a Nightingale" and "To Autumn". I was told that Andrew Motion enjoys a direct hotline to John Keats in heaven and his biography of the poet was even made into a movie.

Saturday was a day filled with activities. I began the morning with my own studies of Evidence Law (completed three essays). That assuaged my guilt for skipping classes so I took the family out for lunch. We had sandwiches at Subway - I'm getting really addicted to Subway sandwiches but I really wish they cost less here. After that, my wife finally picked up the full Scoutboy uniform for Bertie and I bought the 7A drum-sticks for Moira. We then did some groceries and came home to watch "Secret of the Heart" - the TVB series from the late 1990s starring Gallen Lo, Felix Wong, Amy Kwok, Kathy Chow, Ada Choi, Nick Cheung, Sunny Chan, Paul Chun, Jessica Hsuan Hester and many others. Astro is showing this series now and I got to catch several episodes during my dinner breaks at work. Got smitten by the marvellous plot and characters all over again so I picked up the DVD set. In the evening, we prepared a sumptuous meal made up of Korean ramen noodles, chicken fingers and BBQ pork.

Sidney's Stately Home from Buster and Monster fun

Buster and Monster Fun 25th March 1978

Theres nothing like a old house full of secret passageways..and fighting off intruders like the olden days ..and I'm sure he finds treasure hidden away in the end and can restore the home to former glory..

http://www.bustercomic.co.uk/sidney.html
The Buster website doesn't know the artists name...my guess its Mike Western?
Whoever did draw it..they did a great job...

Dogs Do Wallpapers

Dogs Do Wallpapers 1

Dogs Do Wallpapers 2

Dogs Do Wallpapers 3

Dogs Do Wallpapers 4

Dancing With Sisyphus

I had breakfast with Sisyphus yesterday morning. Ended up missing my lectures for the day. Haven't met him for many years. "What have you been up to?", I asked stupidly. He answered, "What else? Still rolling my rock up the mountains daily." It's always great to talk to Sisyphus. He's about the only one left who's still honest. He acknowledges... no, embraces the absurdity of life and even manage to find a little joy in it at times. Camus was wrong. Sisyphus was not tragically absurd. Beckett was right - there is great comedy in absurdity. Sisyphus tells me about how he's giving the middle finger to the gods who cursed him every time he rolls the rock up the mountains with glee and reckless abandonment. The rest of the folks around us are too stupid to laugh because they are too busy being serious about everything (cue in Sotong-Boy, Tomahawk Girl and the pastor who is soooooooo afraid of losing friends!).

I told Sisyphus that I just rediscovered the truth of eternal recurrence and that I'm having a great time reliving my adolescence. He smiled stupidly and started patting his rock like a kindly and benign parent. We started talking about old CDs from 1991. I took out "Two Rooms - Celebrating The Songs Of Elton John And Bernie Taupin". Played "Crocodile Rock" by the Beach Boys and Sisyphus started dancing. Anything with "rock" appears to turn him on immediately. Problem was, Sisyphus couldn't stop something the moment he started doing it. So after the 78th time replaying Crocodile Rock, I started feeling embarassed. At the same time, I was apprehensive about turning off the CD player. You don't offend someone with a huge rock in his arms. Also, have you seen the muscles on the guy? He's spent about 6,000 years rolling that stupid rock.

After that, Sisyphus and I had durians. I was surprised that he could describe the differences between D28 and D88 durians. Apparently, the old bloke really picked up a lot of knowledge over the years of rolling the rock up the mountains. He even told me about how he'd stop for a snack sometimes when the rock rolled down the mountains. The gods looked down and got impatient. He'd open up durians, snack on the tasty fruit and spit the seeds at the skies. But the gods couldn't do anything to him. After all, he continued in his labours with the rock immediately after the snack.

In the evening, Sisyphus and I had coffee together while I told him about my recent misadventures with Sotong-Boy and Tomahawk Girl. He appeared disinterested. I guess even hearing about the antics of such nincompoops was terribly boring to him. Imagine that - it's really quite difficult to imagine anything more boring than rolling a rock up the mountains for all eternity. Several minutes later he explained, "It's not that I'm not interested in them. I just think that they couldn't be bothered to be interested in themselves. Otherwise they will notice the absurdity of their own existence and probably go off to skin a cat or smoke a pipe instead." With that, Sisyphus took out a pipe and lighted it. A girl in the next table stood up and stretched her slim body. Sisyphus whistled like an old lecher. I dropped a quarter into the jukebox and selected Rod Steward's cover version of Elton John's "Your Song". Sisyphus walked over and asked the girl for a dance.

The last song for the evening was "Sloop John B" by the Beach Boys. Sisyphus boogied like it was 1969 all over again. With the end of the song, he declared, "I feel so broke up, I wanna go home..." He went back to his rock and mountain. I went back to my own absurd but endlessly fun existence.

Good Morning Blue Hippo

Just changed my Facebook profile pic to that of a Blue Hippo. A pastor wrote to me this morning and warned me against alienating people - in response to my criticisms of Sotong-Boy and Tomahawk Girl. I've been told that blue is calming and that hippos are cuddly (though I've never personally tried to cuddle one at the zoo). Being a blue hippo should pacify some folks with tender sensibilities so that they don't alienate me too much. :)

On Sucker Punches and Real-Life Suckers

I'm a sucker. Yes, I admit it. Why else would I spend such an unhealthy amount of time this week at war with members from a church that I used to frequent? It all started with this self-promoting e-mail sent out to church members by a deacon saying how he wanted to dress in black and stand opposite the church on a public road to hold up a placard saying, "Respect the Bible". Now, I have left this church for more than a year already (and I'm glad to have done so) but apparently I'm still in their mailing list. Hence, the unfortunate incident on Monday morning that I had to be greeted early in the day by such a vomit-inducing self-promoting e-mail. Like the sucker that I am, I responded with a mail containing only a few lines about why the Bible is really something to be read and studied rather than protested over in reaction to the trivial political maneuvers in recent times (clue in the ongoing "Alkitab" fiasco in these parts). The response from the loving church members and pastor towards this unloving idiot who write dissenting mails was staggering to say the least. First, Tomahawk girl (if she looks like one and behaves like one, then she is one) wrote me a very long mail accusing me of everything from Pharisaism (didn't she know that I flunked Hebrew?) to obnoxious and rude (sounding exactly like my Primary Three teacher) and morally dubious (a dissenter is always dubious but she's wrong: I'm not just morally dubious, I'm literally a crank!!!). The pastor wrote and said that what I wrote was "highly inappropriate" and in the true spirit of the Sanhedrin, ordered that I should refrain from doing so immediately and that I am to have a meeting with him. Whenever people speak with little or no authority (after all, authority comes from authenticity - not communal conformity), they bully with power. The latest mail from the more soft-spoken second pastor that I just read a minute ago is very reflective of the character of the writer - soft-spoken and humble but I'm still branded as a mocking alienist (which goes to show just how much this guy knows me!!!). Of course, I responded with a final mail requesting myself to be deleted from the mailing list and making a joke out of the whole episode. But like I said, I'm a sucker. Why tell jokes to people who have forgotten how to laugh and how to cry? Conformity is saintliness, disagreement is the mark of the morally dubious. The entire episode was so amusing that it gave my family and me some much-needed comedic relief. Everyone protests about *something* these days. Everyone needs to be "heard" so they find an issue that they are "struggling" with. Next, comes the black t-shirts and placards. Protesters think that they are independent thinkers when they are usually only playing into the hands of politicians (read: they are stooges or better still, "sotong" in these parts of the world).

Michael Foley could have been my long-lost brother. In fact, I wished that he was so that I didn't need to grow up as the only boy in my family. After all, both he and I laugh at the same issues and read pretty much the same books (although I don't think he's too fond of comic books). I think it's got to do with my stupid war with the church this week. When I was in Borders with my wife, we both found this book by Foley on the absurdities of our age so apt. Foley doesn't laugh at others so much as he does at himself. Anyone who's read my mail to the church would see that I did the same. But I guess that self-deprecating humour is lost on the humourless. Ah, for the days of Voltaire or Twain again. But then, our age probably affords us far greater opportunities to point out absurdities and laugh at them. Camus and Sartre would probably not survive as long in the 21st century to philosophise about the absurdism of it all - they'd probably choke and die reading a self-promoting mail by a deacon with bad hair and facial complexion (you should see his ties!!!) carrying a placard! Anyway, Foley's book is a much needed read for people who need to develop some honest, self-deprecating sense of humour. Problem is, it's quite unlikely than the glum "reformed" folks will ever read this (after all, it's not recommended by the pastor who is a sales agent for P&R Publishing only) - and I suspect that they will fail to see the humour in comparing the size of testicles between that of a gorilla and those of chimpanzees!

And then, I ended up watching "Sucker Punch" in between lectures and wrestling with issues on Evidence Law. I liked Zack Snyder a lot and this felt like a must-watch. It's fun, noisy and perfectly designed for the generation of idiots (namely, mine) that grew up on MTV, video games, manga, superhero comics, RPGs and other mental junk food. My friends in college asked me what it was like and I blurted out - "It's Inception with boobs!" They then said, "Well, we liked Inception and we absolutely LOOOOOVE boobs... so we'll definitely watch it!" Of course, you also got some added bonuses in the form of dragons, killer robots, giant samurai warriors, machine guns, Nazis, samurai swords, explosions, asylums, lobotomies, etc. :)

Oh yes, I also snagged "Absolute Sandman Volume Two" from Borders - along with Foley's book on absurdity and several Wayside School storybooks (for the kids). My wife was holding the Green Lantern Omnibus for me but like the sucker that I am, I went to the counter and asked to browse through the Sandman book. It felt like 1996 all over again. I fell in love with Gaiman's writing after picking up "A Game of You" in 1996. Then my wife and I read "The Doll's House" and "Seasons of Mists" (our favourite one together) but my personal favourite remained "A Game of You" (perhaps because it was my first Gaiman - kinda like your first kiss or your first marijuana or your first experience of Hendrix). Anyway, both "Seasons of Mists" and "A Game of You" are inside this huge Absolute edition. Furthermore, I gave away all my Sandman TPBs to another Gaiman-fanatic in Singapore long ago (he even stood in line amidst ugly-as-sin Goth girls to get Gaiman's signature). I flipped open the huge volume and I was enraptured by the beauty of the work again... almost like the first time. It felt different - maybe because of the larger format and recoloration. It felt authentic - unlike the lot of X-Men that I just sold off. Soon, Green Lantern was forgotten and I ended up paying for the volume of Sandman!

For reasons too profound for mortal minds, I walked away from Gaiman for the past 7-8 years. I'm really a little apprehensive about rereading his works again. It's like reading Tolkien when you're 16 and then a little scared to reread Tolkien when you're 32. Will the same magic still be there? Will I still dream of being whisked away to The Dreaming like I did in 1996? Will I still laugh and cry with Foxglove and Hazel? Will I still shed a tear for Nada, Morpheus's lover trapped in hell? In 1996, I read Clive Barker and Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. Now, I read law, books on absurdism and write stupid letters to annoy church pastors. I'm a different sucker now (still a sucker but just a different sort of sucker! - a sucker of a different sort?!?). Anyway, I'll tell you how I feel only after I finish this huge hardcover... Apprehension is still there but mixed (and overpowered) by a huge dose of excitement and anticipation... :)

Tom Bannister's amazing comic work for DC Thomson

Desert Island Dick and Olly its amazing how these writers kept these Topper stars fresh for so many years..



The Mother looks very like Pop in a wig!! No wonder they had twins!
Here are two of the best and funniest comic strips by Tom from the Beezer...
Pop Dick and Harry not forgetting Towser!
and Colonal Blink, Aunty and Rover..



Great use of the large format...a great looking down shot in that last panel..


I love how the horse Pedro is a character in his own right in Figaro..Tom often used this device to good effect..





Al Change the last new character by Tom in the now smaller size Topper..a very interesting concept..done in the safety of a comic rather than real life!


Beano Book 1962 the inside book front and back covers..







The only time Tom drew for The Beano..




Heres where the pet which Tom is great at drawing took centre stage..
I love how he sometimes draws his characters talking to the reader..

http://www.comicsuk.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=127&t=4093
See at comicsuk forum Rays great piece on Tom from The Comic Journal. thanks to Phoenix.
Also at the same post is some nice scans showing Tom putting his name and a likeness..wonder if he did have that kind of beard? thanks to Niblet!

Ray is and hopefully resuming later doing a post on the top 100 strips in Topper and Beezer showing which character had the most appearances...

http://www.comicsuk.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=3987

Tom's work is well worth looking at again..it has a new perspective reading it as an adult..it really reached different ages his strip..