Previews and Reviews that are Z's Views
Each week JoBlo.com posts a feature called Awesome Art We’ve Found Around the Net. I always enjoy what JoBlo finds because with each post they list the artist’s name and a link to more of his/her art.
That’s where I saw this Rocky poster by Stuart Holroyd. Click on the pic above to see a bigger version.
It was reported today that Jan-Michael Vincent died on February 10th of cardiac arrest in Asheville, North Carolina. Vincent was 74 and hadn’t acted in nearly two decades due to battles with drugs and alcohol and the results of two car crashes (1996 and 2008) that left him with damaged vocal cords and an amputated leg. It was a sad end to a career that started with such promise.
I first took notice of Jan-Michael Vincent when he appeared as Link in the Danger Island segments of The Banana Splits. Vincent then had the starring role in the TV movie The Tribe. A couple of years later Vincent co-starred with Charles Bronson in the theatrical release The Mechanic. He followed that up with a starring role as The World’s Greatest Athlete from Disney.
With his good looks and easy manner, Vincent was on the verge of a long career starring in theatrical films. Sadly, it just wasn’t to be. Still Vincent had a strong presence and starred or co-starred in films such as Baby Blue Marine, White Line Fever, Big Wednesday and Hooper (with Burt Reynolds). His best known television projects included The Winds of War mini-series and a starring role in the tv series Airwolfe.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to Jan-Michael Vincent’s family, friends and fans.
Check out Bruce Lee’s vintage screen test!
If you’re in the mood for some martial art madness, check out the poster and trailer for Master Z: IP Man Legacy starring Max Zhang, Michelle Yeoh, Dave Bautista and Tony Jaa.
Thanks to SYFY Wire we can watch and listen to John Romita Jr. as he draws Batman!
Eric Beetner’s new novel, All the Way Down, reads like a cross between Game of Death, Die Hard and The Raid: Redemption. It’s an action-packed page-turner. Beetner talks about All the Way Down and a more in an interview by Matt Phillips at Medium.
Today we have a magic trick famous for fooling Winston Churchill who had the magician repeat it 6 times!
Bruce Lee fans probably know that Lee tried to sell a tv series about a Chinese warrior in the old west. Although the series never sold, the Kung Fu tv series was sure close… and sadly Bruce Lee didn’t get the lead, David Carradine did.
Thanks to Cinemax, Warrior, based on the writings of Bruce Lee is coming soon. Today we have the poster and first trailer. If I had Cinemax, I’d tune in.
Legends of the Dark Knight: Michael Golden is a book that quite a few readers are going to want. If “Michael Golden” in the title isn’t enough to get folks to reach for their wallets perhaps the fact that it will be a hard cover reprinting rarely seen stories featuring Batman drawn by, you guessed it, Michael Golden!
The 1970s stories starring Batman featuring the slick artwork of Michael Golden are collected for the first time, including appearances by the Demon and Man-Bat. Golden is renowned for his design skills and unique interpretation of Batman and other heroes, as seen in these early stories, written by well-known comics writers including Dennis O’Neil, Gerry Conway and Mike W. Barr.
Collects shis collects stories from Batman Family #15-20, Batman #295, #303, DC Special Series #15, Detective Comics #482, Batman Special #1, Batman: Gotham Knights #22. It also collects the covers from Detective Comics #625-626, 628-631, 633, 644-646, Batman #484-485, Showcase ’93, Nightwing#66-77 & #129-130 and the Man-Bat entry from Who’s Who in the DC Universe #12.
Legends of the Dark Knight: Michael Golden is available for pre-order now.
When I saw that Giovanni Valletta, an artist on the John Wick comic series was taking commissions, I jumped on board for a couple of head sketches (John Wick and Jack Carter). Because it took a little longer than expected to get the art to me Giovanni added more to the art and threw in some prints as well. That’s customer service!
The Dirty Dozen is a classic. If you agree, then you’re going to want to check out Slaughterhouse Twelve: Robert Aldrich’s The Dirty Dozen at Cinephilia and Beyond.
Click on the link and you’ll find…
If you’re of a certain age, then the photo above of Jonathan Frid as Barnabus Collins will bring back a lot of great memories. Frid became a cult hero playing a vampire on a soap opera called Dark Shadows.
What’s interesting is that Dark Shadows started out as a typical soap opera. Because the series was facing cancellation, Curtis decided he had nothing to lose and brought in a vampire! Ratings soared and the series spawned two movies, comic books, novelizations, trading cards and more.
One of the great things about the internet is that you never know what will turn up. Today we have a splash page from a very rarely seen story written and drawn by Mike Zeck. The Sub-Mariner story, Conquest, appeared in the 1976 Omnicon Convention Program book.
I remember when I first read Conquest back in the late 70’s, thanks to my best bud, John Beatty. Mike’s story, in just 3 pages, perfectly captured the strength, power, majesty and mindset of Prince Namor.
Click over to The Bristol Board and check out Prince Namor, The Sub-Mariner in Conquest written and drawn by Mike Zeck!
Two new Hellboy posters came out today. My favorite of the two is above. You can see a bigger version of it and the other new Hellboy poster at IMPAwards.
Thanks to SYFY Wire we can watch and listen to legendary artist, Walt Simonson as he draws Ragnarok!
