Frankenstein #1

This 1963 comic is a grail that I have been searching for for a very long time. It's something that I've wanted so much that apparently the price I paid surprised the heck out of my wife. I only paid $20 for it. Sure, the cover has been tattooed by some kid named 'Fred'. But it was in decent shape with vibrant colors and beautiful artwork by Tony Tallarico. Inked by Bill Fracchio. Still, being a notorious bargain hunter, giving up a portrait of Andrew Jackson was a surprise to my wife.

This issue is officially licensed by Universal Studios and it offers a quasi-faithful retelling of the 1931 classic starring Colin Clive and Boris Karloff. The first half of the book follows Dr. Frankenstein attempting to recreate life in his castle laboratory. He succeeds but the experiment is flawed because the scientist's assistant accidentally destroyed the normal brain that was to go inside the monster's cranium and instead replaced it with a criminal mind. 

Frankenstein attempts to control the beast. But when townsfolk end up dead, those who survive storm the castle. Armed with pitchforks and torches, the citizenry destroy the castle, seemingly condemning the scientist, his assistant and his creation to their dooms within the fiery confines of Castle Frankenstein. 

It's at this point that the book takes a huge shift away from the movie and goes to a place never explored by Frankenstein and his creation: New York! There had been several sequels made by Universal Studios that continued the story of Frankenstein. The monster would get a bride, fight the Wolfman and even meet comedians Abbott and Costello. But none of those adventures ever occurred in the Big Apple. So why the sudden change to the legend? For that answer, you have to blame the Comics Code.

Even in the early 1960s, horror comics were still a bit of a cultural taboo. Zombies, vampires and werewolves were forbidden by the CCA. Dell Comics had survived being bound by the code, even producing an impressive catalog of works without the Comic Code stamp by following a strict self-imposed code of quality and conduct. However, the Universal monster movies of the 1930s were seeing an impressive comeback on the TV airwaves as certain copyrights had expired, introducing the likes of Bela Lugosi, Lon Chaney Jr., and Karloff to a new generation of monster fans. 

Wanting to capitalize on the sudden monster mania, Dell licensed several characters from the Universal vault. This would allow for a one-shot comic book adaptation of the original films to be produced without outcry about violating the Code, as the movies were by-and-large based on works of gothic literature and European folk lore. But how could Dell continue to tell the stories of the Universal monsters as the many, many sequels were nearly 100% Hollywood fabrication? 

The answer was to turn the monsters into superheroes. In order to do this, Dell needed to set up each character to be able to start off their crime busting careers. For Frankenstein's monster, that meant having Dr. Frankenstein and his creation surviving the destruction of his lab by escaping through an underground tunnel and fleeing to America. While in the States, Dr. Frankenstein seeks to introduce his experiment to the world at a medical convention. In typical fashion, the monster goes berserk, wreaks havoc and seemingly perishes deep in the middle of Hudson Bay.

Everything seems set up for a successful new Frankenstein series. The first issue was in such high demand, a second print was issued in 1964. Only the second issue didn't see print for 3 years after the premiere! With Dell still owning the Universal license, Frankenstein and his cohorts become superheroes, with much of what happened at the end of the first issue retconned away. Instead of being set in the Big Apple, the Monster lives in the fictional burgh of Metropole City. No longer trapped under water, the monster is instead revived by a convenient thunder bolt proving that lightning does indeed strike the same place twice.

I didn't really mind the changes to the story. Artistic license has been a part of comic book adaptations of TV and movies since it's inception. I just thought it was really odd that we go from 1880s Central Europe to more modern 1930s when Dr. Frankenstein flees to America. I know that parts of Europe are known as the Old Country. But I thought only Dr. Frank N. Furter encountered time warps...

Love this book. So glad to own it. Despite the poor reception, I really want issues #2-4 of the super-powered Frank; as well as his vampire and werewolf compatriots. They're oddities. They're kitschy. And they're still on my wish list! But so are the other more traditional Universal Studios publications, including the Mummy, who for some reason never received the heroic treatment.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Marge's Little Lulu #166

I haven't really been a fan of Little Lulu. However, thanks to their addition to the Smithsonian Book of Comic-Book Comics and a classic treasury of holiday comics by YOe Books, I've warmed up to Lulu and her friends. 

I found this 1963 Gold Key book at an antique store over the Summer. There were about 5 Little Lulu comics and while I had those good experiences recently with the property, none of those books were crying out for me to buy them until I got to the last book in the pile- THIS ONE! At 80 pages, there are about a dozen comics stories along with 2 prose tales, all starring Little Lulu. All but one story was set leading up-to or during Christmas. The lone story that wasn't a holiday tale did involve snow. Add the piece about 'Christmases Around the World' on the inside covers of this issue and the whole book was full of festive winter fun!

In the snow story and another set in the Arctic circle, Lulu tells little brat Alvin some of her patented fairy tales with a twist. Lulu's best friend Tubby has some dumb lucky with a dried-out Christmas tree and a missing 50-cent piece in a couple of stories. However, Tub is at his hilarious best when his detective alter-ego, the Spider, solves the mystery of Lulu's missing stocking. 

Lulu is known to be a little selfish and her greed almost comes to bear when she is gifted a new dolly for Christmas. However, Lulu overcomes her green-eyed monster when she runs into a poor little girl whose family can't afford gifts for the holidays, by giving her that prized doll. Yet even that story has a heartwarming twist.

The one thing missing from Lulu's 'Christmas Diary' is her battle of the sexes with Tubby. Tubby and his pals have a club house that bears a sign warning 'No Girls Allowed'. That sexist policy often sees Lulu leading her fellow girlfriends to challenge the boys segregation from the fairer sex. I'm guessing with Santa's arrival being so close at hand, the two best frenemies were able to put away their differences in order to not wind up with lumps of coal in their stockings. 

This was an enjoyable read. A fast read. I was probably done with it in less than a half hour. Yet, this was a nice way to enjoy the holidays set during a seemingly simpler, innocent time. I know of one more Christmas themed Little Lulu comic book out there. It's on my wish list and I hope to find it some day. If I'm lucky, there might be a few more Little Lulu holiday classics that I didn't even know existed. 

Onward to the hunt!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Quantum Leap #13 (2023 Comic Book & Graphic Novel Reading Challenge)

"Theorizing that one could time travel within his own lifetime, Dr. Sam Beckett stepped into the Quantum Leap accelerator and vanished. 

He awoke to find himself trapped in the past, facing mirror images that were not his own and driven by an unknown force to change history for the better.

His only guide on this journey is Al, an observer from his own time, who appears in the form of a hologram that only Sam can see and hear. And so, Dr. Beckett finds himself leaping from life to life, striving to put right what once went wrong and hoping each time that his next leap will be the leap home."

This was the introduction to the classic 90s sci-fi series Quantum Leap starring Scott Bakula as Beckett and Dean Stockwell as Al. Created by Donald P. Bellisario, Quantum Leap ran for 97 episodes (including a 2-hour pilot movie) on NBC for 5 seasons from 1989-1993. 

In this time travel based series, Sam Beckett traded lives of an assortment of people. During his adventures through time, Sam would become a woman, an elderly black man, a Navy Seal, a minor league baseball player, a young man with Down Syndrome and the notorious Kennedy assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald.  Every life that Sam took control over, he would have to correct some sort of mistake in the time line in order to get closer to going back home to his time period of year 1999.

From 1991-93, Innovation Publishing produced 13 comics based on Quantum Leap. The premise of unique circumstances behind Sam's leaps continued with the time traveller switching places with a death row inmate, part of a pair of identical twins and a department store Santa in the series' lone holiday comic. Issue #13 was to be released as a one-shot special titled 'Time and Space'. However, due to production delays, this project became what would be the series' final issue documenting Sam Beckett's 1963 experience of leaping into an extraterrestrial aboard an honest-to-god UFO.

Issue #13 ended with a soft cliffhanger. After saving a human couple who were abducted by the aliens, Sam leapt into the body of a toddler. Issue #14, which was titled 'Two Dweebs and a Little Monster', was to be the first of a 3-part trilogy in which Sam leapt into the bodies of youngsters. The first chapter would have Sam's host being kidnapped by a pair of bumbling brothers seeking to sell the child to baby brokers. But with NBC cancelling Quantum Leap and Innovation founder David Campiti's departure leaving the company in disarray, the comic adaptation was sacked. A promised annual with Sam leaping into the body of a heart surgeon in the middle of an operation with his patient flat-lining on the table, was also cancelled. 

The biggest problem of Quantum Leap wasn't the fan base. They were loyal and vocal. Even through season 4, some episodes drew audiences of up to 18 million viewers. NBC just didn't have faith in the show. The home of the peacock changed Quantum Leap's schedule 8 times in the show's 5 year run! Thus a major complaint from the fans were that they never could find the show!

The plug was finally pulled by NBC execs on May 5, 1993. In the episode titled 'Mirror Image', Sam leapt into his body. Only, he didn't return to his time period. Instead, Sam found himself in a bar in Western Pennsylvania on the exact day and time he was born. Facing a bartender who claims to be in control of Sam's leaps, Dr. Beckett is given a choice of going home or correcting the biggest mistake of his time travel career. Ultimately, Sam leaps to the 1960s, informing Al's then wife Beth, that Al is alive and imprisoned in a Vietnamese POW camp.

As a result of Sam's sacrifice, history is changed. Al and Beth remain married upon Al's freedom. The couple wind up having 4 daughters, one of which would be involved with Project Quantum Leap. Dr. Sam Becket (sic) never returned home. 

Speak about fan outrage! NBC received countless phone calls requesting at a chance to bring Sam home. A letter campaign was launched. For decades, Scott Bakula teased fans with hints of a feature-length movie to bring Sam Beckett home. Finally in 2022, the Quantum Leap project was revived, ironically on NBC. Only, Bakula was a no-show and sadly Dean Stockwell had passed away the year prior.

The spirit of Al Calavicci is alive and well in the new series as the backstory of the reboot tells of how Al never stopped searching for his friend. As mentioned earlier, daughter Janis, would have a troubled relationship with project coordinator Magic Williams; the now older Navy Seal that Sam had leapt into. Though new leaper Dr. Ben Song went back through the Project Quantum Leap accelerator to save his fiancee from an evil leaper, season 2 provides hope that Ben might run into Sam Beckett before returning to 2022 California. Right now, Scott Bakula denies being involved with the reboot. But Leap fans can dream. 

And yes, while I realize NOW that I read this book previously, I actually don't remember it! So, is it really a re-read???

Script by Christine Elaine Hantzopulos. Art by Luke Ross. 

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Completing this review completes Task #23 (A Time Travel Story) of the 2023 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.

Car 54 Where Are You? #6

Almost exactly one year ago I wrote up a top 10 list. It was of the 10 comic book series based on TV shows that I wished to own at least 1 book of. It took about 3 months from crafting that wish list that I finally found a copy of this comic I am reviewing today.

I'm in my early 40s. But I can say with certainty that Car 54, Where Are You? is one of my all-time favorite sitcoms. It used to come on Nick at Night back in the 80s or way early 90s and I thought it was such a hoot. It starred New Yorker Joe E. Morris as Officer Gunther Toody and Fred Gwynne (The Munsters) as his partner Muldoon. 

Together, they patrolled the mean streets of New York taking down bad guys, helping old ladies cross the street and more often than not getting the two confused. 

One of my all-time favorite episodes is when the old couple move into a building under the guise of opening a legit business. But in reality, they are thieves who hope to access the vault of the jewelry store on the other side of the wall to their property. But thanks to the help of Toody, Muldoon and the rest of their precinct, the crooks end up going straight thanks to all the business that they're getting. The great end gag was that on the other side of the jewelers, another pair of crooks have 'opened shop' and you know that the process will start all over again.

In this issue, Toody and Muldoon are assigned to fill in for the local truant officer. Meanwhile, a baby-faced bank robber has arrived in New York looking for his next score. But the patrolmen of car 54 mistake the baddie as a kid and they end up chasing the lad back to school!

This book read so very much like an episode of that classic early 60s show. I laughed so many times. And the artwork was very, very good. Quite impressive for the time period when the work was done so fast (and without much research) that you often couldn't tell the difference between Lassie and Timmy. 

The ad on the back cover for a Car 54 board game and a pair of hand puppets was so cool. It was worth a couple of the extra dollars I spent on this book. 

I would have liked more Car 54. No. I am not being ungrateful for owning the one issue. There was a back-up story in this comic but it had nothing to do with the TV show. Instead, it's about this moppet name Marisa and all the mischief she gets her dad into after a recent snowfall. 

Car 54 had an amazing cast of characters. Al Lewis, who would go play Grandpa on The Munsters along with Fred Gwynne. Charlotte Rae who would become Mrs. Garrett on Diff'rent Strokes and The Facts of Life. Plus Nipsy Russell, Ossie Davis and Paul Reed. I had rather that 6 pages of Marisa be changed to a short about one or more of the impressive ensemble.

Man, this was a great read. Brought back a ton of memories. But above all, it provided some laughter and joy during a time in world history where there's very little job to be found.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

They Made A Christmas Album?- Advent 2018: Day 12

From playing SongPop2, I know that rugged actor Lorne Greene sang a number of country tunes. However, I had no idea that he got the rest of the Bonanza gang to do a Christmas album! So let's all saddle up our horses and head on down to the Ponderosa to meet today's featured artists- The Cartwrights. 

The long-running Western was known for a variety of holiday themed episodes. There's the one where on Christmas Eve, Adam finds an abandoned baby in the snow. And who can forget the one where Little Joe founded an abandoned waif in the snow on Christmas Eve! Or what about the one where Hoss finds an abandoned child in the snow during Christmas! Or how about when Starbuck crash lands on a planet and finds an abandoned Cylon in the snow--- sorry, wrong Lorne Greene series.

Regardless, Christmas was not a good time for children on the Ponderosa...

This 1963 album, Bonanza: Christmas on the Ponderosa, featured a dozen songs. Some were traditional carols like Dan Blocker's rendition of Deck the Halls. There were other not so old fashioned tunes on this record as well like Michael Landon's rockabilly Santa Got Lost in Texas. All of the original cast sing on the record; even stick-in-the-mud Parnell Roberts (Trapper John M.D.) did a song. But he did it alone and did not participate in any of the Cartwright family offerings. 

Oddly enough, this wasn't the only holiday album done by the cast of Bonanza, nor was it the only record produced by series producers either. No less than 3 other albums featuring Greene, Landon and Blocker were recorded. I just hate that Hop Sing wasn't in on this!

I had a hard time deciding which song to pick. I wanted to go with one that I know has been done on the show, O Come All Ye Faithful. Yet, it was no longer available on Youtube. So, I offer this 10 minute mix of song samples from the record. Be sure to keep a count of the number of unattended children featured on this video! 

For some, this is God awful stuff. The actors on this album weren't the best singers. Yet, I have seen numerous reviews of fans claiming that it just isn't Christmas without listening to this record (and later CD) at least once a year. I think the fondness of this recording has more to do with the time it was released: Christmas, 1963. 

The nation had just suffered through the longest Thanksgiving weekend in history with the death of John Kennedy. I think people turned to records like this innocent fair for solace and it became an annual tradition for American families.

Though not my cup of tea, personally, I would much rather listen to this any day that 5 seconds of that horrid Duck Dynasty 'music' I shared a few days ago...

Enjoy!

The Nurses #2

The Nurses was a CBS medical drama that ran from 1962-1965. Due to another show from ABC with the same name, the show changed it's name to The Doctors and the Nurses. The show starred Zina Bethune as intern nurse Gail Lucas. Her nurse mentor was played by Shirl Conway.

I found this Gold Key comic during my annual pilgrimage to the 301 Endless Yard Sale. I paid $2 for it and when I saw it, I knew I had to have it. In fact, I think the comic book called out to me. Yet for all that, I know nothing really about this book, other than what I researched. 

I know nothing about the show's stars or really the show itself. Except, that I remember my mother telling me a very long time ago that she loved the series. She claimed that it was one of several TV shows that inspired her to become a nurse. So, I really did have to have this comic book you see.

For a comic book adaptation from the 1960s, this is actually one of the better ones. I've been learning that when a TV show inked a deal with a comic book publisher, there was very little time to mock up issues- nor was there very much info on what to go on. For example, when Marvel got the rights to Star Wars, several characters hadn't even been cast or designed yet. That's why Jabba the Hutt looks like some weird great turtle dude instead of a slug. When Gold Key, the very publisher of this comic book, got their hands on Star Trek, they colored all of the uniforms wrong and supposedly made Uhura and Sulu white in one issue by mistake.

I am wondering if knowing next to nothing about this series was what made it a good read. I didn't have any background knowledge in this series to be upset if there were any mistakes. The artwork itself looked really good, like of a young Neal Adams quality. Plus, the stories themselves were very interesting and engrossing. 

There was also a pre-9-1-1 story about a pair of men called the Rescue Crew who have to save a man having a heart attack from a ship leaking gas. But in order to move the man, they have to use Oxygen, which is highly flammable. It was a very creative story for 1960s drama comics. Unfortunately, I can't find further info on that series either and I really would like to find more of their exploits. 

A great gem of a comic. It was retro. It was in really good shape. Plus it's kinda fueled my new addiction- finding comic books of movies and TV shows from the 50s-70s.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

All-New X-Men, Volume 4: All-Different (Marvel NOW!)

Let's start with the cons, as we can cover that fast. In previous reviews of books in this series as well as Uncanny X-Men, I've been eagerly anticipating the team-up between the original X-Men and the Guardians of the Galaxy. Already, I've read Uncanny X-Men volume 3 where the team has been whisked away to the furthest reaches of the universe and then volume 4 where the team has returned. So, I thought this volume of All-New X-Men would tell me that missing story.

(HEAD SLAP) I forgot, I hadn't got to the point when the original X-Men joined up with old Cyclops' team.  Issues 16 and 17 are reprinted in the Battle of the Atom trades, so, the conflict that leads the original X-Men to leave the Jean Grey school isn't covered in these books.

No worries, the Guardians are coming.

Now let's get to the good stuff.

2013 was the 50th Anniversary of Uncanny X-Men #1, so this volume is jammed pack with anniversary special events. First, the time stranded mutants face an enemy heir of their eventual replacements- The Giant-sized X-Men. When the clone of Wolverine, X-23 is rescued by a group religious zealots with hi-tech armor by the original team, they all come face to face with the son of William Stryker and learn who is the mysterious benefactors of his legacy of hate.

God Loves, Man Kills was a ground-breaking graphic novel published in the 1980s. It introduced William Stryker to the Marvel Universe and changed the scope of mutant persecution from people who were different from to branded them spawns of Satan. It's a philosophy that's carried over in such X-Men storylines such as Age of Apocalypse, Onslaught, and more.

Then, it's a reprint of X-Men: Gold. Many of the writers, artists, and inkers from the 50-year history of the X-Men join forces to pay homage to some of the most popular incarnations of the team. The main story is written by the man who literally brought the team back from the dead, Chris Claremont, in a story that pits the 80s X-Men up against a Sentinel android factory. X-Men co-creator, and comics legend Stan Lee (along with the late Jack Kirby) crafts a lighthearted tale starring the original team. The Simonson's craft a prequel to Giant-Sized X-Men #1 starring Banshee and Starfire on the streets of Memphis.

All of these stories were really well crafted. But it was the final story that bummed me out a little bit. In the short story closer by Fabian Nicieza, Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr are about to celebrate a new day in mutant- human relations when Magneto begins to claim he's having trouble remembering little details.  We soon find out that this utopia is actually a psychically induced rouse by Professor X to neutralize his longtime foe. I didn't like this story because 1) I'm not sure if it's canon or an imaginary tale and 2) it just seems out of character for Prof. X.

Aside from this lousy tale, volume 4 was excellent. I loved the story. The addition of X-23 was clever and throws a nice twist into the Cyclops- Jean Grey- Beast love triangle. And the art was fantastic with an uncanny cover gallery that included some 50th anniversary cover variants.

So, I didn't get my X-Men Guardians team-up. But what I did receive was another great volume by Brian Michael Bendis full of 50 years of the mutant legacy  not of a professor but of a Man and a King.

Worth Consuming.