Dispatch Ajax! Podcast
A Geek Culture Podcast - Two life-long Geeks explain, critique and poke fun at the major pillars of Geek Culture for your listening pleasure.
Dispatch Ajax! Podcast
Comic Books in Film Part 2
Get ready to rethink everything you knew about comic book movies. They're not a recent phenomenon! Join us as we explore the rich history of comics in film, starting from the late 1880s up to the groundbreaking release of "Batman" in 1989. Discover how early comic book adaptations shaped pop culture long before today's blockbuster hits and how the infamous "Seduction of the Innocent" almost derailed the entire industry.
Ever heard of Golden Bat, the superhero who predates Superman and Batman? We'll take you on a journey through forgotten classics like the 1950 tokusatsu film and other early comic book adaptations, recounting personal anecdotes and cultural impacts. We also delve into the significant influence of Osamu Tezuka, the father of modern manga, and the uncanny parallels between his work and Disney’s "The Lion King." Enjoy a nostalgic trip through characters like Prince Valiant, Sheena, Queen of the Jungle, and Dennis the Menace, as we discuss their evolution from comic strips to the silver screen.
Jumping into the 60s and beyond, we analyze iconic TV shows and movies like the Green Hornet, "Barbarella," and "Modesty Blaise." We also reflect on the enduring legacy of the Incredible Hulk, Little Orphan Annie, Swamp Thing, and Conan the Barbarian. Through all this, we stress the importance of supporting your local comic shops and engaging with the comic book community. From humorous insights to critical reflections, this episode promises a captivating discussion on the enduring influence of comic books in film and pop culture.
It's eight. This is why we can't do it. Yeah, you got to be a hard target, okay. That's just what I'm saying Wait, no, that was Jean-Claude.
Speaker 3:That was.
Speaker 1:Jean-Claude, I'm switching it up.
Speaker 3:You can't do that. That's not the premise of the thing. What?
Speaker 1:What you're saying. There's no body doubles here.
Speaker 3:Well, look, there might be a double impact, but there's no. This is why you can't do that. We have to stick to one or the other.
Speaker 1:Hey, I'm no cyborg, all right.
Speaker 2:I'll do what I want.
Speaker 3:I can't do it. I feel like this is under siege.
Speaker 1:Don't worry.
Speaker 3:We're in dark territory here.
Speaker 1:I've got a license to drive, so you don't have to give me that.
Speaker 2:No no, no, you can't do that. You cannot do that.
Speaker 1:No, his brain is exploding.
Speaker 3:You are breaking our rules. God, this is holy ground. You can't do that.
Speaker 1:Where we're going. We don't need rules.
Speaker 2:Gentlemen, let's broaden our minds. Are they in the proper approach pattern for today? Negative, all weapons.
Speaker 3:Now Charge the lightning field, please, for our audience and also, secretly, for me, exactly what is the premise of this miniseries. Is it about comic book history or is it about are you just giving background to certain comic book movies? Yes, okay, crystal clear. There we go.
Speaker 1:Essentially, this is the second part. Please listen to part one if you'd like to hear from the uh, I think late 1880s up until the 19 1940s, some here's a whole thing about the plight of the urban proletariat. It's uh quite engrossing well, someone's got to knock those bourgeoisie down a peg right.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I mean we finally got past feudalism. So I kind of woke up and was like, oh okay, now Industrial Revolution, cool, it's like the Borg always said yes.
Speaker 1:But no, this is the second part in the series talking about the history of comics, comic strips, the comic medium and its adaptation into film, and how important and how resilient it has been in the pop culture psyche from the very beginning of movies till today. We will stop before we get to today, but that is the idea, so that we can kind of dispel this myth that comic movies are the death of us and once we get rid of these things we'll rock it off into a grand new spectacle of filmmaking. Comic books have always been here in the film and they will always be here in some form or fashion, and this is just kind of laying out the history of that with sprinkling some other details. Uh, in the midst of all of that.
Speaker 3:I think we witnessed the peak saturation, at least of that genre.
Speaker 1:If we're talking about, say, per capita or even per dollar spent. If there are seven movies and one of them is a superhero movie, you know that's like how many movies. Or if, like, there were one hundred dollars spent and thirty dollars of those went to comic movies, you know that's probably about where we're at currently. It's tough because there aren't records of movie going numbers in 1910. Sure, lazy, it's because they weren't lazy that comics to film up on those uh early talkies, um up on the uh the reel-to-reels they were putting up. At that time comics were a major part of film absolutely.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's true, but I mean, but like as yes, you're right um, but again it just like post-Seduction of the Innocent, where comics were kind of stripped down of any depth, they were relegated to just being kid fair and the history and the prominence of comics was taken out of culture, never really to gain back what it was. It's grown in a different way from, say, the 80s onward, but it's always been relegated to second tier, low class entertainment.
Speaker 3:Yes, or kid oriented or dump down entertainment. I've made this example before, but I think it's mostly apt in this specific application that when I went to see Batman 89, I remember being in the audience and a bunch of drunk teenage kids were in the front row.
Speaker 1:They weren't turtles and ninjas were they.
Speaker 3:Well, they might have been one or the other.
Speaker 1:It's hard to say. If it's not at least three of the four, then I don't really care.
Speaker 3:Well then, it's not a real outing, it's not, it doesn't count. In the actual writing there's an asterisk next to it. But they were obviously drunk, even though it was like I don't know, like one. In the afternoon Before the movie started they got up and mockingly singing the Batman 66 theme song, you know, because that was the last incarnation of Batman we had until 89. And so their only memory and their only impression of characters like batman were camp cheese sub. It wasn't cool, he was considered lowbrow or childish.
Speaker 1:But then, when that movie started, oh man, they shut the fuck up well, that's fitting because, for my intents and purposes, once we hit 89, I think things definitively change. Yes, I think the way that comic book films are approached, the way the medium is approached after that, and the viability of comics on film and what they can mean for the industry as a whole, I think, completely skyrockets to a different stratosphere. Which is why I think we don't necessarily need to get past that my history stopping up into that. We don't necessarily need to get in past that my history stopping up into that. So we kind of get a sense of how things used to be rather than how we've experienced it for the past 40 years. All right, so last time, on Dispatch Ajax, we had just finished up with the 1940s Captain America series. Now let's jump into the fire. There is a fire down below that we've got to get into my friends.
Speaker 3:We can continue with Steve Seagal, but that's a rabbit hole. We don't want to continue.
Speaker 1:No, mostly because we're going to get slapped. Yeah, but as long as we stay on the other side of the booth, we should be fine. Or a dangerous trap, Alright in 1945, Dale Messick created the intrepid young teenage reporter Brenda Starr Redhead.
Speaker 3:Sorry. Oh shit, I fucked that up, I gotta go to the bathroom real quick, do you really? No, no, I don't. Oh, okay, I just have a thing for redhead. Sorry, that's a joke.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, he's got a thing Sorry.
Speaker 2:Boner.
Speaker 1:He's got a boner. That's how they say it in Albania.
Speaker 3:In Canada it's called a boner.
Speaker 1:Ike being boner.
Speaker 3:That's kind of a deep cut Kind of, and the weird mashup too, but I'll take it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, actually she was created in 1940, but she made her big screen debut in 1945 in a 13-chapter Columbia serial directed by journeyman Wallace Fox, willie Fox, billy journeyman wallace fox um with the leading willie fox, billy uh star uh. Joan woodbury uh it had moderate to middling success. Uh, it did uh spawn a 1989 version. Uh, brendarr, which spoiler we'll talk about in a little bit more depth later on. Not this podcast, another podcast the future. Listen in the future is what I'm saying everybody.
Speaker 3:That's not really a spoiler. I guess We'll talk about that later. How about that?
Speaker 1:Yeah. Anyway, yeah keep going, yeah, anyway, yeah, keep going, yeah. Now let's get into a interesting. So a lot of genre was happening. Let us travel into Japan and talk about Ogon Bat, otherwise known as the Golden Bat, or also known as Phantom man.
Speaker 1:orantom us in various countries outside of japan now, this is japanese superior that's created by suzuki chiro and takeo nagamatsu, uh in the autumn of 1930, um, and originally appeared, uh, in kamishibai, which is paper theater kind of like you'd have imagine, like Sesame Street or someone's up here and he's next to like a little stage area, but there will be paper, kind of like a comic book page, and then they'll turn to the next page and it will be dialogue and they'll turn the next page and it will be a thing so like these paper cards paired with scripted performances by narrator.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's a little bit like pantomime, like Punch and Judy, but kind of also like a silent film.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, very much like that. Now, ogon Bat, or the Golden Bat by many, or at least by some, might be considered the world's first superhero, again coming out in 1930, that's eight years before the debut of Superman, and there was a live-action adaptation of the Ogon Bat. Ogon Bat, the Golden Bat, was a popular character in all of Japanese pop culture, including manga, anime, japanese films, as well as toys and posters. Same thing back to 1932. Hentai, why don't you dig a little deeper and see what you can find yourself?
Speaker 3:Well, I'll bet to get there.
Speaker 1:So the Golden Bat, the Phantom of the Skyscraper, is a 1950 tokusatsu film produced by Tokio Igae Hagio, former Toei. It's a lot going on in that title now, aside from stills that were supposedly taken during the film shooting. The original film is now considered to be lost. Media uh, there just aren't any prints of it left oh, so it happened to dr who too.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's uh, it's rough but just to give you an idea of what the film was, dr Ogata, the discoverer of the Ultron super atom, which produces a power far greater than that of the hydrogen bomb, is targeted by the evil QX gang and the leader, dr. Notso Not. Nazi, notso Not so bad. Hey, he's not so bad, he's nice, not so bad. Hey, he's not so bad, he's nice. The QX gang, wait, the QX gang.
Speaker 1:Oh no, Attempted to use this for a different purpose, however. Golden Bat, the monster of justice kick-ass name Fuck yeah had shown up to fight and stop their evil plan. Now, in 1966, toei made another live-action Golden Bat film After this one. The latter doesn't apparently share continuity with the previous film. Oh good I love that when that happens, but nobody can see the previous film anyway, so who cares?
Speaker 3:Oh, so now it's an Evil Dead scenario. Okay, eh.
Speaker 1:Well, both are good. Por que no los dos, but por que no los dos? It was also later adapted into popular anime TV series in 1967, which was then released in various European and Latin American countries.
Speaker 3:No, no anime existed before it came to America Period.
Speaker 2:Oh, okay cool.
Speaker 3:The first anime was Vampire Hunter T end of story.
Speaker 1:It's Ninja Scrolls. I won't hear any different.
Speaker 3:It premiered on Toonami, and that's that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but it's fascinating that the Golden Bat may well be the first superhero in mass popular culture, at least in the form that we know them as superheroes.
Speaker 3:So you're saying this is pre-Superman. This is eight years before Superman, Right?
Speaker 2:right right.
Speaker 1:And long before Batman.
Speaker 3:But it's also in the Phantom era, correct?
Speaker 1:The Phantom.
Speaker 3:No, in that mysterious Phantom zone of time. That was pretty too old.
Speaker 1:Stop talking about that period of time. Technically, this is pre-The Phantom, so this is 1930. So the Phantom debuted in 1936. Okay, that's really really interesting. Pre the Phantom, so this is 1930. So the Phantom debuted in 1936. Okay, that's really really interesting. All right, and Shadow 1931. So again, that's a year after this.
Speaker 3:Wow, that's incredible yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, pretty cool. That's one of the things I found in my digging for this pod. Now, moving on, I found her in my digging for this pod. Now we're moving on Again. We'll talk about Black Hawk, a lesser creation of Chuck Quidra, Bob Powell and Will Eisner. Again, it created in 1940 for Quality Comics and later came to DC. It had a 1952 serial of the same name, directed by Spencer Gordon Bennett and Fred F Sears. I didn't know that it did.
Speaker 3:Now I want to see that. Well, I'll allow it. Send me to your forms in duplicate.
Speaker 2:In an isolated section of the Southwest United States, a hidden airport secret base of cleverly designed planes which appear conventional but are powered with super engines, headquarters of the Blackhawks, guardians of the peace who do not use guns but meet armed violence with superior skill and strength.
Speaker 3:Weird connection. First actor list out Superman's own, Kirk Allen oh.
Speaker 2:One of the main.
Speaker 1:Blackhawks An early example of actors playing multiple comic book roles. Next we'll get the 1954 Hal Foster Prince Valiant comic strip turned into a movie.
Speaker 2:Father, it's all clear. It's Baltar. I started watching Prince Valiant and it starts off with a voiceover and I'm like, oh my god, that's a really familiar voice. I know who that is. I refuse to look it up. It's Michael.
Speaker 3:Rennie Klaatu from the Day the Earth Stood Still.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's wild.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:He's got such a distinct voice. Prince Valiant debuted in 1937 as a full-color Sunday feature, and continues to this day, yes, but it was transferred to screen by Henry Hathaway and a young Robert Wagner as Prince Valiant himself.
Speaker 3:That's really funny because I actually went to when I was reporting. I was waiting for a Marvel panel in a smaller room. It was like sort of an experiment they were doing because I talked to a Marvel exec after that. It was like sort of an experiment they were doing because I talked to a Marvel exec after that. But I went with my dad and literally across the hall, anthony Bourdain was hosting his Jiro Dreams of Sushi panel and I'm sitting in a panel for the 75th anniversary of Prince Valiant waiting for this next panel to start. My dad literally falls asleep in his chair waiting. I'd say I was the youngest person in that room by four decades.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that doesn't surprise me at all. Yeah, yeah, I don't think I've seen a Prince Valiant fan under the age of 50. Minimum.
Speaker 3:Right, it's like trying to find a Civil War vet Like it's just not around anymore.
Speaker 1:Yeah, when you turn 50 as a white male, you have three paths you have World War II buff, you have Civil War buff, or you have Prince Valiant fan.
Speaker 3:Prince Valiant fan. Those are three options, that's it. That's it, two of which can be found on the History Channel.
Speaker 3:The other one, you have to be on a very specific basketball I'm sure now there's a streaming service just devoted for that just just for old men falling asleep, to prince valiant, which, by the way, they do riff on in space balls, which very few people, I think. For a lot of people our age. That was our first introduction to that, because my dad explained the joke to me when I saw that and I was like like oh, okay, and now nobody knows who the fuck Prince Valiant is, even though it's still going.
Speaker 1:Oh, yeah, yeah, no, again, it's still. Are you in your 60s or 70s as a white male? Then you get something in the mail that says do you know about Prince Valiant?
Speaker 3:Then this podcast is for you. Do you read Prince Valiant? Do you read Prince Valiant? Splits his head open, gets shot by police.
Speaker 1:In two or three generations Prince Valiant will just be a bedtime story that they say to their kids. But it wasn't a bedtime story in 1997 because there was another film made about Prince Valiant, directed by Anthony Hickox and starring Stephen Moyer in the title role there.
Speaker 3:The Stephen Moyer, the Stephen role there, the Stephen Moyer, the Stephen Moyer. Wow, what a get.
Speaker 1:Indeed. Another get, probably a little more sultry one this time, would be Sheena, queen of the Jungle, also created by Will Eisner and Jerry Iger in 1937. Now it got some screen time in a television series the same name. That ran from 1955 to 1956. So a season it was 26 episodes.
Speaker 3:It didn't run from anything, it had a season.
Speaker 1:It crept around on the small screen for all 26 episodes. It showed up for one season for all 26? Uh, it showed up for one season, but it then did have a film in 1984 starring tanya roberts, of a view to a kill or beastmaster fame.
Speaker 3:Oh, not bridget nelson.
Speaker 1:No, no like you would say that's uh, I think she was sonya eating it in the red variety at that point it's true next we have dennis the menace, who first appeared as a comic strip and in comic books in 1951, but came to the small screen with highly successful television series that ran four seasons, from 59 to 63, a total of 146 episodes.
Speaker 3:You know my father. His nickname when he was a kid was Dennis the Menace, not just because his name's Dennis, but he did a lot of let's call it mischief. He burned down their house at one point.
Speaker 1:Well, Mr Weatherby was a piece of shit, so he deserved that. So was Mr Wilson. Mr Weatherby, that was Archie, wasn't it? Yep?
Speaker 3:The fact that we both instantaneously knew these things is part and parcel of why our only recourse and outlet for being people is this show Hi, only friend.
Speaker 1:Skip across the screen.
Speaker 3:Is Mr Wilson a dumbass?
Speaker 1:Dennis also had a couple other well, we'll say, poorly received feature films.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, Was that Macaulay Culkin? No, it was.
Speaker 1:Sunkid, I'm thinking of Richie. Rich, you were thinking of the rich man.
Speaker 3:He's a boy.
Speaker 1:You know who's not a boy Osama Tezuka. In fact, osama Bin Laden. Not Bin Laden, but Tezuka is considered to be the father of modern manga.
Speaker 3:Are you sure Osama considered to be the father of modern manga? Are you sure that Bin Laden wasn't the father of modern manga? Because I remember that stash and stuff that the CIA found. Oh no, he just watched a lot of Hentai.
Speaker 1:Never mind Potato to made him. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, it's true. Yeah, love Tom and Jerry. Now, he's not the sole creator, but he was quite prolific and innovative in both his output and what he wrote about how. So Don't ask stupid questions, skip my fault. Look it up, it's called the Intertubes.
Speaker 2:Look it up Now.
Speaker 1:Tezuka was widely influenced by early works of Walt Disney, specifically Bambi in 1942 and Snow White in 1937. In fact, mein Kampf, that's why Thumper has that little mustache. Oh, okay, and you have the Tenth Dwarf, who just keeps zig-hailing the whole time. He's always in the background.
Speaker 3:That was probably. Nobody knows what happened to the Eighth and Ninth Dwarves, but I'm guessing that they were returned.
Speaker 1:That is a literal conspiracy that never happened.
Speaker 3:It's like all the movies previous to Leonard, part 6.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Where's my part? Four truthers, huh, where are you at? Make your small change movie about that, about Ghost Dad? Yeah, but he was influenced by the large eyes, which kind of gave him a bit of that style that has proliferated through manga ever since. Maybe, 1950 to 1954, manga series Jungle Emperor Leo and its subsequent anime adaptation Kimba the White Lion 1965 to 1967, was the first anime produced in color.
Speaker 3:Kimba the White Supremacist.
Speaker 1:Ironically so. The adventures of the White Lion Kimba is a story of the lion who seeks to succeed his father as king of the jumble. King of the jumble. Of the jumble, the jumble uh, king of the jungle, the jumble. That's the, the jumble. Yes, uh, he had to get around the word scramble first can we just say like okay, come on.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so simba yes, there was controversy ever since, because a lot of people mostly rightly point out that the Lion King from 1994 and how many other versions they've had ever since, there's a new one coming out in 2024. What, yeah, live action sequel. Again, I don't know how it can be live action if there's no actual live animals or people in it. 100% correct. I don't get it. It doesn't make any sense to me?
Speaker 3:Well, it doesn't make sense at all. No. The sequel to the last remake, so-. Are those also going to go direct to video? No, this is a prequel. This is a prequel of how-. Oh my God, what was Simba's?
Speaker 1:father's name, mufasa. This is Mufasa's story story of how he watched anime about a white lion and he started writing down the script.
Speaker 3:I guarantee you that how they got away with it was because it's just hamlet. Everything else is coincidental.
Speaker 1:Our source material is hamlet, which is in public domain it's also a hey, here's, uh, at that time, an obscure animated film from 1965. Who's going to know? Come at the King, come at the Lion King. Yeah, and they got away with it, and I don't think there's been any. I'd have to look up. But again, hey guys, go check it out. If you didn't know, do your own research. The Lion King is essentially a ripoff of Kimba the White Lion. One. Go see Kimba the White Lion. There are plenty of differences, granted, but it's a little too on the nose to overlook.
Speaker 3:It's still obvious. Yeah, and also, if you didn't know, it was Hamlet. Please read Thor.
Speaker 1:Now, coming back to America, we have the Green Hornet Now. Originally this was a radio program conceived by George W Trendle back in 1936. George W Bush, but made its debut in comic form in 1940 and became the subject of at least two Universal serials Serials Ford and Beebe and Ray Taylor's the Green Hornet, 1940. And the Green Hornet strikes again, 1941. It's not just a clever name, Not just he was back and greener than ever. If you don't know, the Green Hornet, a wealthy man becomes a crime fighter, aided by his sidekick Kato.
Speaker 3:His problematic sidekick yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and because of the success of Batman, william Dozer, the producer, tried to recreate some of that with the Hornet kind of updating that, and then had Van Williams and some guy named Bruce Lee starring as Kato. Again, lasted only one season, 1966-67.
Speaker 3:But there's a great scene about this in Dragon, the Bruce Lee story, where he and his wife are at a wrap party for the end of Creed Hornet and it's announced that the show's cancelled. But he's the only one not disappointed, because he has pitched Kung Fu, which does not end up well for him. Yeah.
Speaker 1:But long after his death, unfortunately, warrior, which is now currently streaming on netflix at this exact moment maybe not when you're listening to the podcast I'm watching it right now yeah, warrior is great. It's a great tv show I told you it was good.
Speaker 3:I told you it was good. No, I saw this years ago. I said I was watching it. You said I was looking into that. Is it good? I was like, yeah, you should watch it. It was just kind of a standard fair conversation, but still, that's how it happened. I think I was watching it. Who is it that has better memory?
Speaker 1:Let's just step back, okay, you do have better memory, but you also have plenty of false memories. So it's a little bit of column A, column B Everybody has false memories folks, we're never gonna get to the bottom of this. There's no way we could possibly know so instead, we should talk about barbarella. It sounds like we recorded any of it. Yeah, yeah, go back to the tapes oh, I'll go to the tapes.
Speaker 3:I'll scour the tapes you know what?
Speaker 1:I'm gonna go to the mattress and see how that works out for you, so uh, barbarella.
Speaker 3:So anyway, barbarella anyway. So what about barbarella for you? So Barbarella.
Speaker 1:So anyway.
Speaker 3:Barbarella.
Speaker 2:So anyway, what?
Speaker 3:about Barbarella. That's the new anyway here's Wonderwall.
Speaker 1:So Barbarella was a comic character serialized in the French magazine V V Magazine by Jean-Claude Forrest in 1962. It was later produced in its own standalone features, but in 1968 there was a classic film adaptation by roger vadim starring jane fonda there you go you know, maybe go check it out, because this is kind of a travels through a galaxy on adventures and, you know, kind of wild sexual. You know, um, it's a gas man, it's a gas, it's a bonkers still um. They're remaking, they're making a new vision of barbarella. I don't want it.
Speaker 3:I think we should just leave it alone.
Speaker 1:That is one of the horniest movies I have ever seen and that's dealing with the epaa back then I haven't seen it since I was a kid, but I just remember like I feel like everything was phallic and and scantily clad well, and tits were out all over the place.
Speaker 3:And not only that, but the villain at the beginning of the third act, um, has kidnapped her and put her in this torture device that he has. He plays keys on the organ that will make her climax to death is the premise uh, I'll have what she's having to watch it for that scene alone, because she's such a sexual dynamo spoiler alert that she breaks the machine. That's right, they would get away with that today.
Speaker 1:Yeah well, maybe someday we'll cover it. Spoiler alert Spoiler alert yeah, Sidney Sweeney currently is cast in the Titch the Royal Barbarella in the theoretical Barbarella remake. Give it a shot, okay, oh, it's gonna get at least one shot, that's for sure.
Speaker 3:I'll give it a hot shot, for sure ah, we're despicable I'll shoot it all over that. Just go on, yeah no, no, no no, do tell skip. I know you beat my interest.
Speaker 1:Please explain my eyebrow isn't the only thing that's raised right now. So when you're masturbating, there's this Perhaps a bit more of an enlightened feminist narrative would be Modesty Blaze, British comic strip character created by Peter O'Donnell and Jim Holdaway back in 1963. On the other end of the spectrum completely. So it ran as a daily feature up until 2001. She and her sidekick, Willie Garvin, travel the globe and search for action and adventure, Don't we all, Don't we all?
Speaker 1:And in 1966, director Joseph Losey brought Modesty Blades to the screen person of Monica Vitti, with Terrence Stamp in the role of Willie Whoa cool.
Speaker 3:Yeah, kneel before this, odd Kneel before Willie. Yeah, well, a lot of people have.
Speaker 1:If you're doing it right, there was also a 1982 pilot pro series for this and a 2003 direct-to-video feature.
Speaker 3:That's where we get a lot of these things later on, as this stuff goes on, yeah, it starts really exploding the options for the potential media venues.
Speaker 3:It's funny because that doesn't exist anymore. There is no direct-to-video anything. Yeah, there is, it's just direct-to-streaming. Well, sure, but okay. Well, so when we say direct-to-video, direct-to-video means that it is a lower quality movie that they didn't think could possibly make money in theaters, so they went directly to home video. Right now, today. Well, for a while it was just the sci-fi channel that had those, or like TNT, but today direct-to-streaming could be a huge summer blockbuster. It doesn't have to be the Tomorrow War or whatever.
Speaker 1:Yeah, what was that Rock, wonder Woman and Ryan Reynolds film that was supposedly like the number one film in the world?
Speaker 3:The Rock, ryan Reynolds and Wonder Woman.
Speaker 2:Okay, let me push that, oh, okay.
Speaker 3:Yeah, okay, good yeah.
Speaker 1:I'm just saying it was a straight-to-streaming yes, but it was like Straight-to-streaming isn't the same thing as directed video.
Speaker 3:It really isn't. Now you will get the same things sometimes, but you're going to see that more on Amazon Prime or Tubi than you are on Netflix or Hulu or whatever.
Speaker 1:You didn't have a made straight to VHS for a $200 million budget, exactly which is what Red Notice was.
Speaker 2:Especially because of the pandemic and the decline of theaters, but before that the whole gestalt of direct-to-video is not the same thing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the market's been mashed together with something that used to be an outlet for smaller venue films.
Speaker 3:I don't know the exact equivalent, maybe Straight-to-2B, maybe straight-to-2B, yeah, something like that, a 2B original that's more direct-to-video than anything else. And even then, though, there's some pretty good ones and some high budget ones. I watched a really good one, uh, like two nights ago. That I I thought was solid. Does it have a name? No, no, nameless, nameless film, invasive for a 2b original. I was like, wow, this is really well crafted. I, I, it's, it's kind of a whatever movie, but for that it was a masterpiece. Hmm, you know, it's like one of those like every now and then you get a Manskito, you know. No, you know what it is actually. What it literally is like is Sci-Fi Channel always had the worst. That, right after the VHS era ended, sci-fi channel was the place you went for that, for direct, what we used to call direct video. Genre bullshit, right, blood surf or whatever. It was what we watched that time.
Speaker 3:You know that kind of thing, but then every now and then they would get a fucking battlestar galactic times they are.
Speaker 1:Something probably went to direct-to-video at some point. In 1952, tezuka again created Astro Boy oh man as a manga and then get on to a black-and-white TV series, to full color, to computer-animated 3D film and then remade in 1980s as a color TV series which ran for 52 episodes.
Speaker 3:Okay, the way you said that made it sound slight. It was black and white show and then became a 3d animated show in 1952.
Speaker 1:I'm very confused as to when that happened. It's ahead of its time, yeah apparently it's an outlier, yeah donald trump had his time machine, went back, okay so when did it become a 3d animated series? Well, it became a 3d animated film.
Speaker 3:Oh, I'm sorry.
Speaker 1:And that's 2009.
Speaker 3:Okay, All right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's gone through multiple versions, absolutely Updates.
Speaker 3:Make a joke about it. Yeah, the rest is developed, do you think? Yes? Where, george, he's locked out in house arrest and he wants to escape, and he makes a reference to Astro Boy being able to fly off with a pair of rocket pants, which aren't a thing, and they make a joke about it not being a thing. That's where he gets the idea to put a bunch of balloons on a chair.
Speaker 1:Well, he probably makes that reference because Astro Boy, the TV series, was so successful that it became the first anime to be broadcast overseas, with English dub version airing in the United States from 1963 until 1966. Wow. Another popular anime adaptation was Gigantor 64 to 66. Yes, and then again 93 to 97. Awesome, yeah, that was the American version of Misutero Yokama's manga Tetsujin 28 Go. It's about a 12-year-old boy who controlled a giant flying robot, gigantor.
Speaker 3:Or Iron Giant, whatever. Anyway, quick anecdote my friend Andy, his brother, he's one of those guys you'd ever run out of stories to tell about because he did all sorts of crazy shit. I remember we went to a movie one time that he had seen several times before but wanted me to go to. I don't remember which movie it was, but there is a moment where a female main character takes her top off and shows her, you know, full frontal, her hoo-hahs, her, yes, her chugalos, um, her tater tots. We call them a gathering when they're together. He kept waiting for something to happen and he kept being like okay, here it is, wait, just wait, wait, wait for it, wait, wait, wait and then go silent. And then the woman takes her top off and then there's a long pause and then he just turns to me, goes, I call the left one gigantor. I was like, okay, cool, that's why he took me to the movie. Well, found it good, sir, just a sidebar, cool, that's why he took me to the movie.
Speaker 1:Well-founded good sir. Just a sidebar. You know it wasn't a sidebar. That was Speed Racer who also came out in 60, 60, 68.
Speaker 3:Very popular with American viewers. Speed Racer, also known as Mach Go Go Go. That's funny. You can't get more poorly translated, Because Speed Racer sounds like a poorly translated name.
Speaker 1:But then hold on to your apps for this show Also a super cool name the Danger colon Diabolique, made in 1968. Directed by Mario Bava. Now, this was based on Diabolique, created in 1962. One of the most popular series in the history of Italian comics, consisting over 900 volumes. And led to the birth of the most popular series in the history of Italian comics, consisting of over 900 volumes, and led to the birth of the fumettinieri comic subgenre. Now, if you don't know fumettinieri, which most people don't, which most people don't, essentially it's black comics, whoa whoa whoa.
Speaker 2:That's kind of short for it.
Speaker 1:Now, this comes from Crocanera, which is an Italian name for crime news. So it's noir, not black. Yes, it's among the early inspirations of film noir, french feuilleton and Italian horror films. So they kind of bound these all together and heroes of the fumadineri were kind of more anti-hero or villain than traditional heroes.
Speaker 3:It's off the coattails of Italian neorealists. That makes sense.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, so it's. You know it's much more adult for adult readers, with exploitive themes and characterized by violence and sexual references, all the kid friendly stuff. Yeah, yeah indeed. And Diabolique was the pioneer in this particular realm and, like I said, had a movie made about in 68 by mario bava. Now we'll jump into the ec era where we get freddie francis's tales from the crypt from 1972 ec, which is what dc.
Speaker 3:Coward said wc, ec, ec ended up being dc. Yeah, did it. Yeah, I thought that was like quality comics well, they absorbed a lot of stuff, but the company was EC Publications in the 1960s was eventually absorbed into the same corporation that later purchased National Periodical Publications, which is later known as TC Comics.
Speaker 1:Gotcha. Yes, tales from the Crypt also had a TV series from 1989 to 1996 on HBO, very popular at the time. Yeah, and then a few feature films Demon Knight, 1995. Or Delua Blood. Or Delua Blood from 1996. Which is probably the least successful of all EC adaptations.
Speaker 3:With Dennis Miller and a super soaker full of holy water. Yeah, that's all you need to know. At least the other one had Billy Zane.
Speaker 1:Oh man, what a fucking pair of failures. The movies, not the people.
Speaker 3:Not Billy.
Speaker 1:Zane, not Billy Zane.
Speaker 3:You seem to have said Christopher Walken, for some reason.
Speaker 1:I had Billy Zane up my ass.
Speaker 3:For three years. That's what happened to Billy Zane.
Speaker 1:That's why he?
Speaker 3:started shaving his head.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it makes the cleanup all that easier.
Speaker 3:We just slip right in.
Speaker 1:Now, about this time, you're going to get some of your forays into TV for some characters, some Marvel characters in particular, Like your Amazing Spider-Man, which again 1977, on cbs as a live action version of that character, which doesn't hold a candle to the japanese version, by the way.
Speaker 3:No, no, which is much cool, which is nothing to do with spider-man, really.
Speaker 1:That was 41 episodes airing on tokyo channel 12 from 1978 to 1979 so so a shorter period of time. Wow, overlapping also Interesting. Yeah, that is interesting. But you also have probably the more popular version of that, which would be the Incredible Hulk starring Bill Bigsby in 1978, which did lead to a movie. I believe it was at the trial of the Incredible Hulk. I didn't look this up going off the dome.
Speaker 3:There were multiple movies, and the movies are where they started introducing other Marvel characters, which is interesting. So the trial of the Incredible Hulk featured William Catt as Daredevil.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 3:So the Trial of the Incredible Hulk featured William Catt as Daredevil and the Death of the Incredible Hulk, one of them, features.
Speaker 1:Thor, I believe that one has both of them in it, doesn't?
Speaker 3:it Does it. I know the Death of the Incredible Hulk is a different film than the Trial of the Incredible Hulk, but they did a bunch of made-for-TV stuff there. At the end it was kind of like Columbo. It wasn't really a series, it was more just like a sequence made for TV movies.
Speaker 1:Yeah, there was also supposed to be a third film starring She-Hulk, just like the other two had featured both Thor and Daredevil, and as early as July 1989, it was still firmly expected to come out and be made with Iron man under consideration for a follow-up. But it did not happen.
Speaker 3:Bill Bixby died not too long after that right, so I mean that's probably.
Speaker 1:He was struggling with cancer at the time. That is true.
Speaker 3:I mean, like how do you go on after the death of the Incredible Hulk, the next death of the Incredible Hulk. Just kidding. Incredible Hulk Part 2. Sorry, we weren't paying attention, he's still alive.
Speaker 1:I mean, if they did the comics version, he kind of can't die, so he can just keep on going.
Speaker 3:Was it the Hulk?
Speaker 1:man You're thinking Hulk the End.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:But they've done more with Indestructible Hulk. They do a lot of divining power from an alternate reality thing it's actually really cool, I would wholeheartedly recommend it.
Speaker 3:Sounds like some spider totem bullshit to me.
Speaker 1:Hey, it may not sound good on its face, but Sure okay, I mean I'd give it a shot.
Speaker 3:obviously Big Hulk standouts are the End Future Imperfect by Peter David, where they introduce Maestro and Banner.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think Immortal Hulk is worthy to be in that, really yeah.
Speaker 3:Okay.
Speaker 1:Because I hated World War.
Speaker 3:Hulk, I thought it was stupid.
Speaker 1:Yes, I think the idea of World War Hulk is great, but it was neutered and that's a thing for a different time. But Immortal Hulk is well worth checking out. Okay, perhaps not as big as the Incredible Hulk. We have Little Orphan Annie, who was first created by Harold Gray Namely not as big as the Incredible Hulk Created by Harold Gray in 1924. It ran continuously in newspapers around the world up until 2010. Now John Huston tried to take a stab at Annie Film-wise not with a knife. That didn't go so well. There was also a TV movie version in 1989 and a 2014 theatrical version that we'll say had moderate success.
Speaker 3:Well, there was also the was 2021. Nbc aired a live version of the theatrical production.
Speaker 1:Ah yes, Annie Live Right. Yeah, it was 2021.
Speaker 3:Did you know that Annie as a concept is a secret neoliberal critique of FDR?
Speaker 1:Hmm, I can kind of see that neoliberal critique of FDR. Hmm, I can kind of see that.
Speaker 3:So Daddy Warbucks is called that because they didn't like that FDR was giving money and supplies to the UK during World War II.
Speaker 1:That's why it's originally called Daddy Warbonds.
Speaker 3:Yeah, basically it's a complete neoliberal response to the progressive fdr administration. That daddy warbucks is supposed to be the manifestation of how they thought he was ruining america because he I don't know like helped save everyone or whatever. So, just like they always had an armed coup against FDR, it's a safe country. Anyway, keep going.
Speaker 1:Interesting Armed coup. I'd like to hear more about that sometime. Very similar to FDR was Swamp Thing created in.
Speaker 3:That's true. Yeah, they both, famously, are in wheelchairs. They both had polio.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. He was created in 1971 and had a we'll say underground hit film in 1982, directed by Wes Craven. Yeah, story Ray.
Speaker 3:Wise and Adrian Barbeau Get wise. The Adrian Barbeau bot Indeed.
Speaker 1:It also had the return of Swamp Thing in 1989.
Speaker 3:That one is hard to watch. But, it had Heather Locklear in it. Oh Right, sure, but I know one of them is kind of like the Island of Dr Moreau. It's kind of a direct ripoff.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I think maybe that one also might be plucking some key elements from another title we'll be talking about in a minute.
Speaker 3:Okay.
Speaker 1:But before we get there, we want to touch on the famous, perhaps biggest fantasy, especially sword and sorcery kind of character, created in 1932. That is Conan the Barbarian Fuck yes. By Robert E Howard. It was picked up in 1970 to be a comic book by Marvel and ran for 275 issues, ending in 1993. Then going to Dark Horse and other places and coming back to Marvel, where I think he last I saw he was an Avenger. So there's that?
Speaker 3:What the fuck.
Speaker 1:Don't worry about it.
Speaker 3:Well, I thought he was supposed to do other. I thought he bounced around more than just that.
Speaker 1:So during the 70s there were also the magazine format, but I believe they were Right.
Speaker 3:Marvel.
Speaker 1:They were Marvel, I think, maybe under the Eclipse banner.
Speaker 3:No, I don't think they were Eclipse, but they did run under the magazine format, which is a thing we should get into in another episode.
Speaker 1:But I thought they had Dynamite or somebody, it doesn't matter yes, but post marvel it mostly went to dark horse for a long time and then dynamite entertainment got the rights. Okay, now it's odd because the main, like conan, is back with marvel and so they're reprinting dark horse stuff and old Marvel stuff and whatnot Weird. But there's also the comics that are Conan in every way except name. You mean Cole, I mean like actual, just called like the Sumerian and it's literally Conan with other Conan characters, telling Conan stories, but not allowed to call him Conan.
Speaker 1:Wow, that is fascinating. Conan did have a pretty big film.
Speaker 3:Which fucking rules to this day?
Speaker 1:Yes, very awesome, one of my favorites of all time. There's also the follow-up in 1984. Sup Conan the Destroyer. It's not good, it's not as bad. Okay, I was literally just re-watching it the other day because I got like the the 4k special editions came out. Of course he did uh, I was, I just had it on because it's like chamberlain taller in the 4k version yes, yeah, okay, yeah, they're also there's a running number count on his belt.
Speaker 1:Um, you have to like you. In regular hd you can't see in 4k, you see the numbers ticking off.
Speaker 3:It's kind of like when you remember when you worked at the library and you had to have that the counter thing, yeah, yeah, review coming in and out, that's exactly Ding Ding and you have. You know, he doesn't even have to be there.
Speaker 1:No, it's incredible, there was also similar. There was also similar. The Red Sonja film came out in 1985, also had a Conan-esque character played by Arnold Schwarzenegger, but not allowed to call him Conan because they did not have the rights to Conan the Barbarian. Did he even have a name?
Speaker 3:Yeah, he was Kalidor. What the fuck is that bullshit? That's a planet in Dune. What the fuck are you talking about?
Speaker 1:Yeah, the planet became sentient. Came to life in 1985. Like ego. But again, we hope you've enjoyed. Please do spread the word. If you are liking, Come get us next pod, gentle listener, and until that time, Skip. What else should they do?
Speaker 3:They should probably, especially after this episode.
Speaker 3:well, first of all, clean up after yourself to some sort of reasonable degree, you know filthy savages I know seriously, but make sure you support your local comic shops and retailers this is important and make sure you have, of course, paid your tabs, tipped your waitstaff and your delivery drivers. Tip your waitstaff and your delivery drivers, but make sure very specifically, like jake said, to like, subscribe, share and download all of these things, because this is how we get seen. From dispatch ajax we would like to say godspeed, fair wizards whoa with the sickness well, I'm down, hey are you down with that sickness.
Speaker 1:Please go away.