TERRIFIC TEAM-UP IMAGE: PRESLEY, HOLDEN & WIDMARK

 

BATMAN BLUE & GREY

The middle-aged unemployed have risen yet again from their basement headquarters to critique shots of Robert Pattinson's blue-and-grey outfit for The Batman: Part 2, some of which may be genuine and others modified for speculation's sake. 

A similar thing happened not long ago (though such is now pretty much forgotten) regarding David Corenswet's Superman attire. Remember that? Yeah, in the Kingdom of Geekdom, it was the incensed talk of the town for quite a long, irritating spell. 

I'm more concerned whether The Batman: Part II's plot clicks in regard to the first movie, as well as its offshoot, The Penguin. I'm also hoping no cast member makes a stupid-ass, self-righteous comment before the movie's premiere to spoil its luster. Nevertheless, this thing with the suit shall, too, pass, being more incidental than not in the long run, regardless of what the too-afraid-to-apply-themselves (like getting employed and taking on some meaningful responsibility) proclaim. In other words, to those who have their panties in a bunch, I'll pull from Shatner, who dared to exclaim, "Get a life, will you people?"

WISE WORDS:

 

JOHN CARRAIDINE: POE WITH PIPES (A CAPTAIN COMPANY DELIGHT)

When I was a mere lad, I purchased an Electric Lemon Record LP from Famous Monsters of Filmland's Captain Company: Poe With Pipes, narrated by John Carradine, with organ music by composer/musician/magician/mask maker/pro wrestler/circus clown Verne Langdon. (The LP jacket flaunted artwork by Ron [Alien] Cobb and liner notes by Forest J Ackerman.) 

I revisited the 1975 album after rewatching the Carradine-hosted Gallery of Horror, as presented by Sally the Zombie Cheerleader's School of Horror (see May 25, 2026 post), since Carradine's erudite manner brought his excellent, audio achievement to mind. 

The LP's haunting selections are listed below: 

1) The Conqueror Worm

2) Ulalume

3) Annabelle Lee

4) The Sleeper (Irene)

5) The Raven

6) A Dream Within a Dream

I've inserted a link to this nostalgic specialty, as lifted from the audio channel, Weird Wax. Ah, Poe, Carradine, Langdon--what a perfect, album brew!💀

FOR THE FUN OF IT:

 

LARRY JOHNSON'S THE MAN IN THE JAR

I thought Larry Johnson's Bart Rover was far-out (and it is!), but the writer/illustrator's graphic novel, The Man In the Jar, aka The Unincorporated Man, is on a whole other unconventional level. 

For this 58-page, full-color graphic novel (culled from Johnson's anthology series, Tales of Fantasy), we're introduced to French Revolution-era protagonist Andre Villon, who (in Kafka mode) turns into a gelatinous mass after tinkering with substances he's purloined from the mystic, Madame Boogala, one of Johnson's most noted characters. As a result of his discombobulated condition, Villon is relegated to a wash basin (in a manner akin to Basket Case's Belial) and tended to by his supportive family and villagers who see fit to accept him for who and what he is. 

The details of such are, in fact, relayed to readers by another popular, Johnson character, Doctor Charles Young, who explains how he discovered Villon in a hospital (in re-assembled form), where the poor man relayed his extraordinary circumstance. 

Villon's exploit unfolds with feverish dreams that entail psychedelic, cave drawings, an exotic deer man and the crafty magician Morpho, who comes to store Villon in a large, glass jar (similar to the peculiar "entity" in Ray Bradbury's famous fable, "The Jar"). This act isn't out of convenience or care, but rather that Morpho knows Villon's gooey constitution contains gold particles for an elixir he wishes to complete, which was appropriated by his protege, Boogala. 

In addition, Villon joins a quirky, traveling troupe and engages in creepy, transformational passages that invoke The Invisible Man, 4D Man and The Man With the X-Ray Eyes, plus an amorous interlude that can't help but turn bad. 

Johnson's artwork is bright and mind-bending, with the unincorporated Villon referencing the bizarre beings that once adorned science-fiction posters of decades past. In this respect, the story's visual content is guaranteed to please all those nostalgic Monster Kids. 

Indeed, Johnson has created a most unusual escapade, but one that always keeps its heart and soul upfront. Despite Villon's outrageous "physicality," he could be you or me, and because of that, The Man In the Jar works as an identifiable kind of weirdness, where the titular monster emerges more human than the humans he surrounds. 

One can buy Larry Johnson's The Man In the Jar at

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GYR3J1BR?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, DONNA (6/10): "BABY, YOU'RE THE GREATEST!"