Thursday, January 12, 2017

Interlude : a few things about my last posts

I know you expected to finally get the often advertised THORSDAY WITH ERIK LARSEN post - or at least the story why it was not on the blog when it should have been months ago - but there are a few things in regards to my latest posts that I have to write about first before I can get to that.


The reason why I did the whole NICK KNATTERTON re - post was that I finally found the movie Die Abenteuer des Nick Knatterton - Der Raub der Gloria Nylon ( The Adventures of Nick Knatterton - The kidnapping of Gloria Nylon ) on YouTube. Of course I found out that the movie has actually been released on DVD and Blue Ray AFTER I finished the posts.

You can even get them from amazon. Now I have finally had time to watch the movie and I don´t know if the picture quality is as weird in the DVDs and Blue Rays as in the video I got from YouTube or if that is the bad Super 8 version that is mentioned in the customer reviews as part of the extras. It is kind of wonky and the background seems to move in a lot of shots.


While the movie itself manages to retain a lot of the things that made the comic successful the producers apparently thought they had to dumb it down a bit in an effort to appeal to a broader audience instead of the adult readership it was intended for. While the costumes and casting is spot on - especially where Knatterton´s characteristic nose is concerned - it is a shame that actors of the caliber of Günter Pfitzman and Gert Fröbe don´t get to show what they are capable of. Another missed opportunity comes with Maria Sebaldt who plays the seductive gang leader Virginia Peng and who´s corrupting curves are criminally underutilised. She clearly deserved more screen time with a few hot outfits like a tiny bikini or a see - through nightie. Here the producers of the film were more chaste as the original comic where that was one of the main appeals for the reader. 


All things considered I think the movie is interesting for fans of Nick Knatterton and old black and white oddities and I recommend watching the YouTube video before buying it. And I would not wait too long with that because the Elvis video I had included in the post - Viva Las Vegas with Ann - Margret - has already been deleted and I had to replace it.

Speaking about waiting too long, I hope all readers interested in getting Epic Collection Moon Knight - Shadows of the Moon or Amazing Spider - Man : Cosmic Adventures did so because both of them are now at 42 EUROS which is two bucks more than you pay at your regular comic book store. So far I have not had the time to read them but as expected the Moon Knight trade is all Bill Sienkiewicz greatness. As for the Spider - Man trade there is far more Gil Kane than I expected as well as work by such greats like Todd McFarlane, Mike Zeck and even Steve Ditko. Now as I said, the regular amazon price is 42 EUROS but if you still want to get the trades you can get them from the new and used books section also for 26 EUROS.


Now you are probably asking yourself : if I can get them from the new and used books section for the same price why were you pimping them so heavily before ? There are two reasons. Firstly, books you order from the new and used books section can take up to four weeks until they arrive while you get bargain books after a few weekdays just like the regular books. This might not make much difference for some people but I am one of those customers who cannot wait until his order arrives. I am really nervous and I find it difficult to concentrate on other stuff - which you might have noticed through some of my posts - in the meantime. So if I order something I prefer to have it sooner than later. The second reason is that while it does not necessarily have to be so this is still the new and used books section and one thing experience has taught me is that what some people consider to be " new " regular comic fans might see as " used " while what some people describe as " used " might be more along the lines of what your local comic book shop might label as " poor condition ". So the bargain books are in a much better state - generally speaking.


Of course there have been exceptions and most of the books I ordered from other dealers through amazon have arrived in pristine condition but there have also been cases where even the low price I paid for these books were too much because they would have ended up in the dollar bin or the trash can. Okay, I don´t want to unnecessarily discourage readers but I want to point out my reasoning and also remind you of the dangers.

That said since both trades are in the new books and not the used books part it should be okay to order them. I also want to mention another Epic Collection, or better one of THE best Epic Collections EVER in the bargain book section Avengers - Under Siege. I know that I always tell you this or that is the best Epic Collection but that is because they have some really great stuff. And it doesn´t get any better than this. One of the best, if not the best - period, Avenger stories of all times by one of the most epic creative teams to chronicle the exploits of Earth´s Mightiest Heroes. I have written about this story ad nauseum and there will be another post on it as soon as I get to my NUMBER 1 JOHN BUSCEMA AVENGERS COVER OF ALL TIME post. And if you still don´t know how Airwolf the combo of Roger Stern, John Buscema and Tom Palmer is you have probably missed all my previous posts on Big John´s best covers for the Allmighty Assemblers. 


Currently it is at 29 bucks in the bargain book section which may or may not go down a few bucks in the next days but if you don´t want to wait you can get it from the new books section for 25 which is not a bad price for a trade with 14 issues of AVENGERS, one crossover issue of ALPHA FLIGHT and an AVENGERS ANNUAL that usually goes for 40 bucks. Older comic collectors out there might already have all the issues but like me they might want to get it in pristine condition and shining color in a nice package that sits readily on the shelf to re - read whenever you want. And all the younger or newer Marvel fans who are wading through the ALL NEW, ALL DIFFERENT and Disney NOW stuff it might be interesting to see what the Avengers really are supposed to be. This is the gold standard.


Back to the post from last week in which I pimped the Epic Collections, I was talking about all the books I´m excited about in 2017 but because I got so wrapped up I did not get to mention a few Marvel omnibus books.

I know, for a guy who always keeps an eye on the price tag and moans about how expensive and unaffordable comics Today are I have managed to buy quite a few of these omnibus. In fact I have currently 13 in my possession. The thing is I didn´t pay the regular cover price for 12 of these because otherwise I would not have been able to afford them. And the one where I did pay the full cover price is one where it is reasonable because the hefty book clocks in at almost 1,200 pages. A little bit above 1,200 pages is the ALPHA FLIGHT BY JOHN BYRNE OMNIBUS HARDCOVER which is scheduled to be available in shops around the 14th of February.


Now my brother might say that I always buy the same comics over and over again - which is true to some extent - but while I have most of the issues of John Byrne´s ALPHA FLIGHT run I don´t have the complete run in the original american version. I have some issues in english ( in fact the first american comic I ever bought from a railroad station newsstand - or rather the international press newsstand - is issue 20 ), volumess 2 and 3 of ALPHA FLIGHT CLASSIC but the rest are spanish Vertice translations. 


So not only would this be the first book that contains all of John Byrne´s issues for ALPHA FLIGHT that is more than just old issues glued together with a cheap cardboard cover. It would also contain five issues of X - MEN as well as two issues and an annual of THE INCREDIBLE HULK and various other series where Canada´s first superhero team made an appearance.

With a regular price of 100 bucks - 84 with the amazon pre order price guarantee - I will probably have to wait until it is available for a reasonable price at the new and used books section though. Which might not be such a bad thing because one month later, on March the 14th the omnibus I have waiting for a long time comes out : SHANG - CHI, MASTER OF KUNG - FU, volume 3. It´s on baby, this is 100 percent full on martial Mike Zeck ! 


So far I haven´t gotten any the omnibus because I´m not that big a fan of Paul Gulacy´s work and I already read some of his MASTER OF KUNG - FU issues when they were re - published in Spain decades ago. I´m geared much more towards the great Mike Zeck but he didn´t draw much of the material in the second volume and in those few issues he really hadn´t hit his stride. Which is where the third volume starts and with issues 71 to 101 it has the bulk of Mike Zeck´s output up to his last issue. The late, great Gene Day did half of the double sized 100th issue and took over the penciling reigns with issue 102 and that will be the final MOKF omnibus. So volume 3 is the one I definitely am going to buy even though I probably will also have to wait a while until it is at a fairly reasonable price - for me.

Once again it´s time to wrap things up for the day but after all this talk about books that haven´t come out yet I wanted to pimp a book which you can get right now. Sorry, this is strictly for my readers in Germany. When I talked about all the books coming out in 2017 that got me giddy like a little asian school girl the first book I mentioned was the hardcover edition of BATMAN AND THE OUTSIDERS by Mike W. Barr and Jim Aparo which comes out at the end of February and contains the first 13 issues of the book as well as their first story from THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD 200 and their crossover issue with THE NEW TEEN TITANS. Well, as I said, I am not a person which has patience among their virtues so I got issue 98 of the official DC graphic novel collection by Eaglemoss, which is BATMAN UND DIE OUTSIDER. With only the first 4 issues and the short story from THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD 200 it is one of the thinnest books from that line but totally worth it. Since this series is no longer available through comic book shops you will have to look for it at your local newsstands.


We start our luckily very short video block with another teens reaction video in honor of Mel C´s 43rd birthday. My, how time flies. Not only has it been 20 years since the Spice Girls but look at them react kids all grown up. By the way, I´m totally calling dibs on the hottie in the green t - shirt.


She looks like a young Mel B. Come on, I can´t be the only one who thinks she´s hot otherwise they wouldn´t have put her in the preview picture.



Since I probably have to win the lottery to afford this here is my only chance to post this review of the first Master of Kung Fu omnibus.



Now since I mentioned Shang Chi in this post you were probably expecting another Yaya Han video but there have been a lot of her videos on the blog lately so to avoid my readers getting oversaturated I thought I should give one of the many other talented cosplayers out there a chance. And since I wanted to keep with the asian theme I chose Vivid Vivka with her alternative version of Jubilee. Daimn, talk about fireworks. Why is it that nobody at Disney came up with the brilliant idea of Burlesque Boobilee ?



I already had this video in an earlier post but had to take it out again because of a celebrity birthday video I had to include. So here it is again.



Our last video also ties in with the whole martial arts theme of the post. Since I already posted an episode from Samurai Champloo here is the video I was looking for when I found it. I have heard a lot of people rave about it but I have never seen an episode. The first one looks promising but I won´t give you my verdict until I have seen a few more episodes.



New to the blog ? Everything you need to know about TALES FROM THE KRYPTONIAN : top ten posts / more posts of interest / best of the best


Black Lightning always strikes twice !

No comments: