FOR THE FUN OF IT:

 

RICK "SPINE" MOUNTFORT'S MOTOR MONSTERS AND HOT ROD HELLIONS COLORING BOOK

Rick "Spine" Mountfort's illustrations hold the magical means to deliver one to a simpler period when monsters weren't the real-life fiends who now dominate the scene, but rather make-believe examples of oddities, misfits and rebels. 

Mountfort's 25 Years of Spine-tingling Artwork celebrated such specimens (see November 2022 post), and now, he gives his fans another nostalgic angle, cut from the Ed "Big Daddy" Roth cloth: Motor Monsters and Hot Rod Hellions ... and color it if you want to book. 

That's right. It's an honest-to-gosh coloring book or if one so chooses, a 117-page, black-and-white gallery to enchant the eyes, with the fun-filled sort of wild weirdness that brightened so many of our childhoods. 

Some of the featured characters are inspired by legendary favorites, such as the Frankenstein Monster, the Bride of Frankenstein, the Wolfman, the Mummy, Dracula and (by jingo) Al Lewis' Grandpa, but others are original, bulbous-headed specimens who slobber, sneer and steer, with fearsome fangs, clutching claws and big, buggy eyes. 

Of special note: Mountfort's Barfo the Clown is among the manic menagerie, and there's even a comic strip dedicated to him inside, spotlighting his revved-up looniness. 

Do yourself a favor and order this one. It'll not only race you back in time, but (in keeping with its artistic mastermind) tingle your spine! 

https://www.amazon.com/Motor-Monsters-Hot-Rod-Hellions/dp/B0H1WCL4SG

WISE WORDS:

 

AIRSHIP 27 PODCAST (JUNE '26): A NEW PULP FLIGHT

Ron Fortier and Rob Davis have taken to Airship 27's symbolic sky once again, with an exciting, June podcast.  

For this episode, we're introduced to Sinbad: the New Voyages, Vol 9, which contains two novellas, "The Devil Ahead, the Devil Behind," by Fred Adams Jr, and "Sinbad and the Forbidden City," by Richard C. Wright; Barry Baskerville, Vol #10: The Rare Coin by Richard L. Kellogg; and the late Jaime Ramos' ambitious, horror-suspense creation, Streets of Golgotha, to which he contributed, along with Nancy Hansen, Teel James Glenn, Lee Houston Jr, Wayne Carey and Bobby Nash. 

In addition, our hosts graze what's on the Airship horizon, including Harding McFadden's sequel to Edgar Rice Burroughs' Beyond 30 and new volumes for The Musketeers, Sherlock Holmes, Bass Reeves and The Purple Scar. 

Tune in at 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8Iwr91I4QY

TERRIFIC TEAM-UP IMAGE: ELVIS MIDNIGHT GLOBE

 

ROBIN HOOD BREAKS BAD (AN EXTENDED ASSESSMENT)

Someone told me that, in her humble opinion, Robin betrayed his pitch at redemptive sincerity during the end of Michael Sarnoski's The Death of Robin Hood. He did this, she claimed, when he informed Little Margaret how he and her father, Little John, met. Now, it's up to interpretation whether this sentimental encounter (carried by popular myth) even occurred in the context of the movie's reality, but it's clear that Hugh Jackman's bandit-bowman wanted the lass to embrace the uplifting account. Whether it's true doesn't matter since, by simple implication, it's designed to inspire her to make proper pacts and do righteous deeds, in the manner of Robin's accepted legend.

I don't have a problem with that, since the traditional tale (popularized ever further by writer/illustrator Howard Pyle) defines right from wrong, good from bad. (It doesn't switch the variables for some nefarious ruse.) What irks me are those lurking within Sarnoski's movie who might know the unsavory truth but find it fine as it stands.

The Death of Robin Hood, therefore, mirrors the modern practice of elevating miscreants to an ungodly fault. With this comparative observation, the movie acts as a warning, thanks to its flipside characterization. 

By habit, pompous pundits tend to blur the lines regarding bad acts, but even that practice is growing less common. Bad is bad, and that's good, or so the cretins proclaim, which again, I must stress, is the point of Sarnoski's experimental revision. (And I might add, this precise point, whether spurred by accident or plan, goes against the muddy perceptions of The Boys, Gen V and Preacher, which make it seem there's little or no distinction between the extremes: utter malarkey if ever there was. At least The Death of Robin Hood has the damn decency to draw a line in the sand.)

Some stories are open for interpretation. The Death of Robin Hood is one, and I've offered my estimation of its goal. I do believe my assessment is sound, based on the movie's pensive progression and the examples (the entitled brutality) it presents. Robin's recollection of Little John, as relayed to Little Margaret, doesn't contradict or ignore this; if anything, it reinforces (rather than merges) the great divide. Feel free to disagree, but until someone can convince me otherwise, I see no cause to purge my view. 

PINUP TIME: MARILYN MONROE IS NELL