BADAZZMOFOs!: MUHAMMAD ALI, JERIMIAH JOHNSON and JONAH HEX

I frigging love Old Time Radio. And one of the best shows from the 40s and 50s, is Himan Brown’s mystery/horror opus INNER SANCTUM! It is only through the most deranged of animals… collectors, that these shows have survived to awe and thrill a new generation.

Do yourself a favor and pick up some CDs. Or better yet swing by this absolutely great site that I stumbled across called OTR NETWORK. All you’ll need is Real Player to listen to some of the most enjoyable audio dramas of yesteryear. Old Time Radio is so good, and there is so much of it out there, that I very rarely turn on my TV anymore. Great Stuff, the best of it is more involving and more entertaining than anything on the boob tube.

The site is:

http://otr.net/?p=isan

The guys at that site should be applauded for making these shows easily accessible to a new generation. Probably a good one to start with is “A CORPSE FOR HALLOWEEN” from 1949. It’s a solid B+. Listen to a few and see which ones you love, and drop me a line with your favs.

But be careful, with great stars from Richard WidMark to Boris Karloff to Peter Lorre, this series is very habit forming! The crack of the audio world. 🙂 .Highly Recommended!

Email me and will be happy to send you my OTR review list, of must listen shows.

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Okay onto some great reviews of items old and items new:

SUPERMAN VS MUHAMMAD ALI

First up, something I didn’t catch and should have when it came out SUPERMAN VS MUHAMMAD ALI. This DC Wonderfully over-sized treasury from the 70s was something I had no interest in, because I assumed it would be hokey. However upon hearing a recent, 2006 Neal Adams interview, where he points to this work as one of his favorites, I sought out a cheaply priced reading copy, and I have to tell… you Mr. Adams is right.

His artwork is stunning, and the story is actually not only good 70s style fun, but compelling and touching to boot. Plus the amount of work Neal put into this Treasury is amazing, as is the ability to play… spot the celebrity. 🙂 . Brilliant, brilliant artist at the height of his powers. And the story does Muhammad Ali right.

I didn’t see a writer credited (or artist, but Neal’s style is unmistakable) but I’m making a guess that it’s Denny O’ Neil. Great Stuff that I’m so impressed with, that I’m going to spring for a higher quality copy. Strongly Recommended.

KING SIZE BIG GUY AND RUSTY THE BOY ROBOT
Second I received the KING SIZE BIG GUY AND RUSTY THE BOY ROBOT way oversized treasury edition badly folded into my mailbox (bad packing job by the shipper, no backing board to keep it from being mangled in transit). But that aside, it was still in relatively good shape.

King Size

This is the second KING SIZE work that Dark Horse has produced, which basically takes a story by Frank Miller and Art by Geof Darrow and blows it up full size, sans color and word balloons so all you get hit with is pure Geof Darrow artwork… and the result is mind blowing. The level of detail in every single page is phenomenal! I think you can say Darrow is the most brilliantly detailed artist in the medium, without much chance of getting corrected.

It’s visually an amazing book to flip through, and Darrow is the only artist I know of who gets this lavish presentation/treatment and his work deserves it. You can repeatedly look through this book, and find new detail to focus in on each time. A simply astonishing level of work. Strongly, strongly recommended.

SHOWCASE PRESENTS JONAH HEX
I was never a fan of western comics in general or Jonah Hex in particular. I stumbled across a couple of issues of his 1980s series, and wasn’t too keen on it. Seem Bland with a capitol B.

But recent raves regarding the new series, as well as praise for his early 70s stories, made me interested in picking up the 500 page Jonah Hex Showcase from DC.

Showcase Hex

With the first story by John Albano and Dezuniga under my belt, I’m glad I did pick this book up. Inside I stumble onto an excitingly scripted, masterfully drawn tale, that is surprisingly mature and effective, and reads like it could have been scripted today, for an adult audience, rather than 30 years ago for a largely juvenile audience. It is a testament to these creators that they weren’t talking down to their audience.

John Albano, a creator I am not familiar with, in skant pages hooks me, on the character, the concept, and the ability of westerns to work. And Dezuniga, could be working today, drafting pages detailed and rich, and cinematic. 50 pages in and I’m absolutely blown away by Albano’s very mature scripts, and Dezuniga’s sublime line work. My conclusion? Run, do not walk, to get your copy today. Strongly Recommended! B+/A

SHOWCASE PRESENTS HOUSE OF MYSTERYShowcase Mystery
As other reviewers have stated the stories in HOUSE OF MYSTERY are nothing to write home about. Put finer they are generally mediocre ghost/supernatural tinged stories.But the saving grace of this collection is the absolutely gorgeous art by such masters of the medium as Berni Wrightson, Al Williamson, Neal Adams, Alex Toth.

The chance to see the penciled work of these geniuses is worth the price of the book, and worth dealing with for the most part, uninspired stories. The art makes this volume a keeper. B.

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And on the magazine front, had the chance to check out issue #7 of a magazine called BADAZZ MOFO.

There are a few things I like: comics, music, big breasted women, Black new-wave films (dismissively termed blaxploitation), martial arts,and music… and this mag manages to combine them all.

The Brain Child of editor/publisher David Walker, the magazine from cover to cover kept me pretty darn entertained. The reviews, even when I don’t agree with them, are entertainingly done. It’s a fun well laid out, very much tongue-in-cheek mag, complete with its own comic strip FUNKY TOWN, an interview with Will Eisner, and great contributions by Jim Mahfood, Rusty Beach, Paul Guinan, Eric Kilkenny, and David Walker.

All in all a smile-inducing read, and I’m definitely on-board for more issues. Strongly recommended. Hop over to the Editor’s website at http://www.badazzmofo.com/ and tell him I sent ya. And buy some product so he can afford to put out issue #8.

I’m addicted now. Must… have…. more… BADAZZMOFO! 🙂 .

p.s. speaking of supporting: if you find these reviews helpful, and are interested in buying any of the products listed, please use my handy, dandy links. That way you get a great item, and you also help support this site, and get more great reviews.

Okay enough yapping, onto more reviews:

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JEREMIAH JOHNSON-Jeremiah Johnson is one of my favorite films. Robert Redford’s most personal and textured work, it is a violent film that is not about violence, and a death laden film, that is not about death.

Jeremiah Johnson

Still and soft and textured, it’s a beautiful film about the moments of a singular life.

His Mentor: “You’ve come far.”

Jeremiah: “It feels like far.”

His Mentor: “Was it worth the trouble?”
By this time, the mountain-man life has cost Jeremiah the life of his wife, his adopted son, and a 20 year blood feud with Indians; where he has had to fight countless battles, wears countless scars, and has killed countless men.

Jeremiah: “What trouble?”

An eloquent, brilliant, truly existential film. About a man who becomes perhaps the spirit of vengeance, and then becomes more.

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