MR. LOBO PRESENTS CINEMA INSOMNIA'S 25TH ANNIVERSARY MARATHON, THIS SATURDAY

To honor Cinema Insomnia's 25th Anniversary (which takes place officially on Wed, 7/29), Mr. Lobo is presenting another magnificent, misunderstood movie marathon on Twitch, OSI74/Roku and Amazon Fire this Saturday night (7/25), commencing with a party preshow at 9 pm. The preshow will feature Sally the Zombie Cheerleader; Eric (Yella Fever) Sabo; devoted Insomniac, Edgar Sparingy; and filmmaker Tate (Pizza Guy 8) Hoffmaster, among other joyous guests.

Frankenstein vs the Creature from Blood Cove is the big headliner, followed by The Last Man on Earth, Plan 9 from Outer Space and Hardware Wars.

Indeed, that's quite a misunderstood cluster and one guaranteed to instill fun, fun, fun!

Be certain to leap in this Saturday night to experience every exultant ounce of this commemorative event! 

WISE WORDS:

FAREWELL, MIKE PRESTON

As Pappagallo, you struck an empathetic chord in Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior and took a villainous turn in the 3D epic, Metalstorm: The Destruction of Jared-Synn. 

In addition, you starred as Alex Shaw in the series, Hot Pursuit, with guest shots on Alien Nation, Highlander, Superboy, Airwolf, The A-Team, Baywatch Nights, The Scarecrow and Mrs. King, Hunter, Ellen, Fame, Perry Mason, Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer, Renegade, Homicide, Jake and the Fat Man, The Celebrity Game, The Getaway (video game), the soap operas, Bellbird and Punishment (the latter two as a regular) and hosted In Melbourne Tonight.  

You were featured, as well, in DC's Steel, Blade in Hong Kong, The Long Journey Home, Exile, Maybe This Time, J.O.E. and the Colonel, Climb Up the Wall, The Caribbean Mystery, Barney (1976), Duet for Four, Harry's Hong Kong and The Last of the Knucklemen. To boot, you were a damn good singer and even charted several hits. 

Your craggy persona was unmistakable; your emotional range contagious. You were easy to like, Mr. Preston, and just as much a formidable foe. You were, therefore, all that any entertainer could aspire to be: a man of many aspects ... a performer extraordinaire. 

FOR THE FUN OF IT:

 

R.I.P. MITCH BYRD

You were a big-time, Green Lantern guy, in particular when it came to that irascible Guy Gardner, and though DC may have been your most associated hub, other publishers were quick to employ your skills, including Chaos!, Crossgem, Aircel, Malibu, Image, Dark Horse and Marvel. 

Your art (your fine penciling) was always intricate and ornate, as your renderings of Batman, Superman and their families demonstrate, and your sensational style even helped shape the shapely Lady Death and Shi, escalating heartbeats and libidos alike.

Many consider your contributions to Generation X and Starman the pinnacles of your success. Others favor Predator, RoboCop and Starship Troopers, which further clinched your pop-cultural veneration. Still others exalt your breakout triumph, Cat and Mouse, which continues to tower over most indie titles. And then there are your cherished, sideline projects, with salutes to The Rocky Horror Picture Show and The Giant Leeches. 

Your legacy is secure, Mr. Byrd, enough that it's become unbreakable. It'll outlast us all, in fact, guaranteeing enchantment for generations to come: the true sign of an indelible artist ... the defining mark of artistic genius. 

FOR THE FUN OF IT:

 

LARRY JOHNSON'S THE COMPLETE LEW BROWN, VOL 3

By gosh! Artist/writer Larry Johnson has outdone himself  again with The Complete Lew Brown, Vol 3: an outstanding compilation featuring his humble but resolute, Tales of Fantasy alter ego. This curation may be my favorite in the trio, and that's saying a ton, considering how much I admire the earlier editions. (See May & July posts for the proof in the pudding.) 

For this (215-pg, black-and-white) edition, Johnson tosses Brown into specific, science-fiction scenarios, including a jaunt where the investigative reporter and his scientist friend, Gabrielle LeGrande, face a Clonus Horror factory run by the diabolical Dr. Derma (who's a clever merging of Shazam!'s Dr. Sivana and Albert Dekker's Dr. Cyclops); a chance encounter with LeGrande's Uncle Joseph, a man who's battled monstrous rodents (with special appearances by the mischievous Madame Boogala and the shrewd Dr. Charles Young, no less); a heartfelt remembrance by Brown and his neighbor, Joe Carbone, regarding a beloved space show and the toys it inspired; Brown re-imagined as super-scientist Lou Braun, on a mission to purge a bioengineered chemical that morphs people into cockroaches; an attack by Tibero, an alien tree-creature (formed in the From Hell It Came vein); Brown and his brother Freddy's far-out, family entanglement with Venusians; the discovery of a This Island Earth-type, camera-obscura tele-screen; and Brown's hearty brush with a tempting, dimensional vixen. 

There are also two literary offerings in this volume: "A Passage In the Darkness," written by Michael Tuz, which is an effective, "House of Usher"-esque piece that unveils a Bostonian cult's subterranean realm, and "The Under People," a quirky fable that places our protagonist among mysterious, maintenance workers. 

The tales invoke The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, Tales of Tomorrow and that ol' George McFly favorite, Science Fiction Theatre, with a smidgeon of Star Trek, if only to inject some cosmic kick.   

Of course, what makes the tales captivating are Brown's credible reactions to his incredible circumstances, which are sometimes amusing and sometimes disconcerting, but no matter the expression, the results are appealing, thanks to Johnson's swift pacing, vibrant artwork and stimulating imagination.

All three Lew Brown volumes are available on Amazon, so why not take the inquisitive leap by tapping the links below?

Vol 3: 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0H6NL454N?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title

Vol 2:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0H4NW6435?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title

Vol 1: 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GXTLP6HM?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title