Rambo by Matt Childers

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Matt Childers is “comic book artist, illustrator, designer, sometimes writer and most of all a storyteller.”  I first became aware of Matt through a story that he drew called Dick Ruby and the Case of the Little Green Men (written by Brett Harris).  That led me to other of Matt’s comics and commissions.  I was hopeful that Matt would be up for a Stallone sketch.  As you can see, he was.

I liked it so much, I immediately requested a Childers’ Jack Carter.  You’ll see that here next weekend.

If you’re a sketch collector, Matt gets my highest recommendation.

10 TV Show Revivals We Want to See

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Guy Vizard has come up with a list of 10 TV Show Revivals We Want to See.  From his list, I’d like to see the return of…

  • 3rd Rock From the Sun
    Starring John Lithgow, French Stewart, Kristen Johnston, Joseph-Gordon Levitt, and Jane Curtin, this show — about a team of extra-terrestrials sent on an observation mission to Earth and disguised as a mid-western family — was great. It ran from ’96-’01, and presented wonderful writing and performances every week. To bring back one of the funniest casts of all time would be a challenge, but oh so worth it. The Solomons could find a new reason or assignment to come back to Earth. Perhaps they escaped their home planet and are being hunted by The Big Giant Head? Maybe Dick just can’t forget the love of Mary and must return. Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s Tommy would have to be retired by now, which could be a great running gag. Think Frank from Always Sunny…, but in a 37-year-old body. It would be worth it just to get Jane Curtin back to continue to prove she’s one of the funniest actors of all time. So far, there has been no word of a revival of 3rd Rock.

  • MonsterVision
    Why this ever left in the first place is a downright mystery. Saturday nights on TNT, from 1993 – 2000, host Joe Bob Briggs (who began hosting in ’95) would introduce monster movies of all kinds, sometimes include guests, and pop in between commercial breaks for some quips and silliness. Always at least a double feature! For many, it was an introduction to the classics, like the original Clash of the Titans all the way to the obscure ones like Night of the Lepus. Usually on a theme or genre (sci-fi, slashers, kaiju, etc.) He would have a “Drive-In Total” review filled with the most important aspects of each movie like body count, number of breasts, explosions, drug usage, and any exceptionally brutal kills. If Mystery Science Theater 3000 can make a come back, then surely this can. Briggs still hosts his own live events in New York. Bring him back. In fact, we can all help bring him back. You can sign a petition on Joe’s website to help bring MonsterVision to the streaming service, Shudder TV.

  • Tales From the Crypt

    With the success of Black Mirror and the recently announced Twilight Zone reboot headlined by Jordan Peele, the time is right for this schlocky fright fest to return. M. Night Shyamalan has been trying to bring this classic (’89-’96) anthology series to TNT for a year, now. It’s been stuck in development hell. Apparently, the rights structure surrounding the series is “one of the most complicated… I’ve ever seen in my career” according to Turner Entertainment chief creative officer Kevin Reilly. They’re waiting to hopefully revisit the property after it all gets cleaned up. Too bad, but maybe it’s a blessing, as it should really be on a channel where they can show the gore that needs to be had. Bring hot new stars into fresh stories every week, and see them die in horrible ways. Surely young writers and directors would jump at the chance to work on some of these. Also, bring back John Kassir and his trademark laugh as the crypt-keeper, bad puns and all.

Three shows that didn’t make the list that I’d like to see revivals of include…

  • Justified: Who doesn’t want more exploits of US Marshall Raylin Givens (with occasional appearances of Boyd Crowder)?

  • The Shield: What is Vince Mackey up to these days?

  • The Strain: Take us back and tell the tale of others living through the Vampire Apocalypse.

From The Rock to Dave Bautista, Here’s the 10 Best Wrestlers-Turned-Actors

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Bradley Russell’s From The Rock to Dave Bautista, Here’s the 10 Best Wrestlers-Turned-Actors piece for GamesRadar was a fun read and it got me to thinking…

  • Shouldn’t Stone Cold Steve Austin have been rated higher than 10?

  • Hulk Hogan and Steve Austin both had their best performances in a Stallone movie!

  • Did you catch Kevin Nash’s cameo in John Wick?

  • Does anyone besides Bradley Russell think that Jesse Ventura’s best move was The Running Man?  Ventura was in Predator!

  • Dwayne The Rock Johnson is #1 and should be.  I also want to see for the record that Johnson’s crime film Faster is very under-rated.

While Russell’s list is a good one, there has been a major oversight.  Terry Funk was left off!

How could any list of Professional Wrestlers Turned Actors omit the man who played Franky the Thumper?

The 10 Best Horror Movie Franchises

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Grant Hermanns at ComingSoon.net listed his choices for The 10 Best Horror Movie Franchises.  If you click over you can see when the franchise started, how many films it spawned, how much the franchise has earned and a bit about each series.

Here’s Hermann’s choices:

  • The Conjuring
  • The Evil Dead
  • Final Destination
  • Friday the 13th
  • Halloween
  • Hannibal Lector
  • Insidious
  • Nightmare on Elm Street
  • Saw
  • Scream

I can’t say I agree with all of them.  Also, I wonder why…

  • Alien (and sequels)
  • Predator (and sequels)
  • … Of the Living Dead

…didn’t make the list.  What other horror films failed to make the cut, but should have?

 

ACK! ACK! ACK! MARS ATTACKS CO-CREATOR LEN BROWN LOOKS BACK ON THE ICONIC TRADING CARDS

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Mars Attacks trading cards came out in 1962.  The set consisted of 55 cards telling the story of a Martian invasion of Earth.  Although designed for children, the cards depicted humans and animals being killed by the Martian invaders in graphic detail.  If the only Mars Attacks you know is Tim Burton’s comedy, then you’re missing out.

Josh Weiss, from Syfy.com, recently interviewed Len Brown one of the co-developers of the Mars Attacks cards.  Check out ACK! ACK! ACK! MARS ATTACKS CO-CREATOR LEN BROWN LOOKS BACK ON THE ICONIC TRADING CARDS.

Why Frank Miller Is Revisiting the World of 300 With His New Xerxes

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Abraham Riesman recently spoke with Frank Miller to discover why Why Frank Miller Is Revisiting the World of 300 With His New Xerxes.  Here are a few tidbits…

Did you go back and reread 300 in preparation for Xerxes? I know a lot of creators don’t like looking at their old work.
Oh, I have to refer to it. I’m very, very proud of 300. I look at it and I don’t think, Well, what would I do differently? I simply accept it as what it is. It was very much a product of the time I did it, but it was the best story I ever had my hands on, and I did my very best by it.

But the Athenians can hold their own in the battlefield. Honestly, in junior high, I mostly just learned about them as paragons of democracy and culture.
They were brilliant in battle and they were a culture that succeeded on every level. The Spartans, essentially, became so culturally paranoid that they kind of ceased to exist because they didn’t read. They built for war while the Athenians built for progress. What we have from the Greeks is basically Athenian: the art, the learning, the culture, the sense of democracy.

Any interview with Frank Miller is worth a read especially when it contains (more) preview art.

Lawrence Block’s Eight Million Ways to Die Adapted & Illustrated by John K. Snyder III

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John K. Snyder III has adapted Lawrence Block’s Eight Million Ways to Die into a graphic novel and it is looking great!  There have been 17 novels about Block’s unlicensed detective, Matthew Scudder, and Eight Million Ways to Die is a great place to start.  Here’s the skinny…

In crime-ravaged 1980s New York, a troubled ex-cop turned unlicensed detective takes on his most dangerous case, hunting down a serial killer-hitman, and ultimately coming face-to-face with his deadliest enemy…

Matthew Scudder is dying, one bottle at a time. A young prostitute named Kim Dakkinen is dying too, her life measured out in tricks. She wanted out, had asked for Scudder’s help, but suddenly she wasn’t dying anymore, she was just dead. The former cop turned P.I. promised to protect her, but he failed. Now his atonement is to find her killer. But the secrets in the dead hooker’s past are dirtier than her living, and searching for a killer in a city where everyone’s a victim is a good way to make the role permanent.

 I’m a huge Lawrence Block fan and his Scudder novels are my favorite Block yarns.  I’m looking forward to Snyder’s adaptation.  If you’re still on the fence, check out this interview with Snyder where he talks about bringing the novel to life!