Month: December 2016

Ken Meyer Jr.’s Ink Stains #6: Zeck, Sutton and More!

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If you’re a fan of fanzines, then you’ve got to check out Ken Meyer, Jr.’s monthly column Ink Stains.  Each month Ken (who is an amazing artist) posts… well, let’s let Ken explain…

I have a collection of over 200 fanzines from the 60’s-80’s that I plan to scan and talk about, one at a time. I hope to have some of the participants answer a few questions. Many of those participants are established comics professionals now, while some have gone on to other things. I will show a few snippets from each zine and give you a link to download a pdf of the whole thing, which I hope all of you will do!

For Ink Stains 6, Ken took a look at RBCC #135 from April 1977 published by James Van Hise.

RBCC #135 features a beautiful cover by Mike Zeck (as well as two other illos), an interview with artist Tom Sutton, art by Ron Wilbur, reviews, art ads (one from Doug Moench!) and more.

This is a fanzine that I actually owned.  Ah, the memories of the glory days of fanzines.  Thanks to Ken Meyer, Jr. for making these available!

The Great Race (1965) / Z-View

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The Great Race (1965)

Director: Blake Edwards

Screenplay: Arthur A. Ross from an original story by Blake Edwards & Arthur A. Ross

Stars: Tony Curtis, Natalie Wood, Jack Lemmon, Peter Falk, Keenan Wynn, Arthur O’Connell, Vivian Vance, Larry Storch, Ross Martin and Denver Pyle.

The Pitch: “Hey, let’s make a big budget comedy that’s a throwback to the old comedies!”

Tagline: THE GREAT LAUGH SHOW OF ALL TIME!

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

When the popular daredevil, The Great Leslie [Curtis] proposes a global car race, he finds himself pitted against his arch-rival the evil Dr. Fate [Lemmon].

The Great Race is a classic comedy that works.  There are sight gags, pie fights, slapstick and just good fun.  It’s a joy to watch and re-watch.

Rating:

Mr. Majestyk (1974) / Z-View

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Mr. Majestyk (1974)

Director: Richard Fleischer

Screenplay: Elmore Leonard

Stars: Charles Bronson, Linda Cristal and Al Lettieri.

The Pitch: “Hey, Charles Bronson wants to be Mr. Majestyk!”

Tagline: He didn’t want to be hero… until the day they pushed him too far.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Vince Majestyk [Bronson] just wants to get his watermelon crop harvested.  When a run-in with a local hood lands him jail, Majestyk stops a hitman’s escape.  Now the hitman and the mob are out to kill Majestyk.

Rating:

Paul Gulacy’s Cover for Americomics #4

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This is Paul Gulacy’s cover for Americomics #4.  

I actually played a small role in this piece coming about.  At the time I was buying and selling original comic art.  Through my best buddy, John Beatty, I had met many comic artists.  Paul Gulacy was one.  Bill Black, the publisher of Americomics was another.  I put Bill in touch with Paul and the rest as they say is history.

Ah, the glory days…

Source: The Bristol Board.

Mission: Impossible: Rogue Nation (2015) / Z-View

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Mission: Impossible: Rogue Nation (2015)

Director: Christopher McQuarrie

Screenplay: Christopher McQuarrie

Stars: Tom Cruise, Rebecca Ferguson, Jeremy Renner,  Simon Pegg,  Ving Rhames and Alec Baldwin.

The Pitch: “Hey, it’s time for another Mission Impossible!”

Tagline: Desperate Times. Desperate Measures.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

When a senate committee moves to disband the IMF, Ethan Hunt [Cruise] and his team go rogue in an effort to bring down a secret organization known as The Syndicate.

Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation has the right mix of action and humor.  Special props to Tom Cruise for the plane stunt.

 

Rating:

Dirty Grandpa (2016) / Z-View

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Dirty Grandpa (2016)

Director: Dan Mazer

Screenplay:  John Phillips

Stars: Robert De Niro, Zac Efron, Zoey Deutch and Dermot Mulroney.

The Pitch: “Hey, Robert DeNiro wants to play the Dirty Grandpa!”

Tagline: This is Jason. He’s a little worried about his grandpa.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

A young, soon-to-be-married preppy agrees to drive his recently widowed grandfather to Florida.  Lowbrow vulgar humor that’s not very funny ensues.

 

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15 Hardboiled Facts About “Cool Hand Luke”

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Roger Cormier and Mental_Floss present 15 Hardboiled Facts About Cool Hand Luke.  Here are three of my favorites…

1. IT WAS WRITTEN BY AN EX-CON.

While in the Merchant Marine, Donn Pearce was caught counterfeiting money and thrown in a French prison. He escaped, returned to the U.S., and became a safe-cracker. A waitress ratted him out and he spent two years on a prison road gang where he heard about a Luke Jackson—someone who was an excellent poker player, a banjo expert, and who had once eaten 50 boiled eggs for a bet. He wrote about him in his book Cool Hand Luke, which was published in 1965. Pearce sold the movie rights to Warner Bros. for $80,000, and got an additional $15,000 to write the screenplay.

But it was his first time trying to write a screenplay, and Frank Pierson was later hired to rework the draft. Pearce appeared in the movie as the convict Sailor and was the production’s technical adviser. He punched someone out on the final day on set and was not invited to the film premiere.

2. JACK LEMMON OR TELLY SAVALAS COULD HAVE PLAYED LUKE.

Jack Lemmon’s production company, Jalem Productions, produced the movie, so Lemmon had first dibs on playing the lead, but he recognized that he wasn’t right for the part. Telly Savalas was then cast as Luke, but he was in Europe filming The Dirty Dozen, and since he refused to fly, the production had to look elsewhere for the starring role to get started on time.

7. BETTE DAVIS WAS THE ORIGINAL CHOICE TO PLAY LUKE’S MOTHER.

Bette Davis turned down the chance to play Luke’s mother, Arletta, which was a one-scene role. It went to Jo Van Fleet (East of Eden) instead, even though she was only 11 years older than Newman. For her single day of shooting, Van Fleet sat on a tree stump, 200 yards from everyone else, looking over her lines. Harry Dean Stanton recalled that Van Fleet asked him to sing to her before her take, and it made her cry.