Every now and then, we here at ComicMix like to look at books and movies beyond our normal pop culture purview to examine people who helped build the foundations of modern storytelling. We were reminded of this when 20^th Century Home Entertainment sent us a Blu-ray edition of The Apartment for review. This 1960 release, out now, won five Academy Awards including Best Picture, and is a brilliant assemblage of director, performers, and story.

The movie comes from Billy Wilder who directed, produced and co-wrote the screenplay (with I.A.L. Diamond) and  is a bit of settling old business. Back in the 1940s, he wanted to deal with adultery but the Hays Production Code forbade that so he finally got his chance in this story, partly inspired by Noel Coward’s Brief Encounter.

The story features Consolidated Life Insurance’s C.C. Baxter (Jack Lemmon), who has been lending his conveniently located apartment to his superiors — Dobsich (Ray Walston), Eichelberger (David White), and Vanderhoff (Willard Waterman) — for clandestine affairs. His generosity has resulted in a variety of undeserved promotions that brought him to the attention of company president J.D. Sheldrake (Fred MacMurray) who now wants to use the place to bed elevator operator, and object of Baxter’s affection, Fran Kubelik (Shirley MacLaine). The film then explores how Lemmon can win the girl without losing his job while regaining his sense of dignity. (more…)

New Pulp Author Martin Powell sent us the following announcement.
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Okay. I’m spilling the news. Wild Cat Books has given me their official nod to announce that my THE HALLOWEEN LEGION will return in a brand new prose novel set for release before October 31, 2012.

A fresh new idea galloped into my brain yesterday while I was taking Trudaloo the beagle for her walk and by the time we got back home I’d thought the whole thing through. I can’t wait to start writing …the new book.

So, along with the graphic novel, already in progress, to be published by Sequential Pulp/Dark Horse Comics, my little group of Trick ‘R Treatin’ weirdos will be returning in THE HALLOWEEN LEGION Book Two, “The Night of the Living Fossil”, from Wild Cat Books. I’m very thrilled that the cover and interior chapter headings will be illustrated by the multi-talented Ver Curtiss.

And don’t forget, my critically-acclaimed THE HALLOWEEN LEGION Book One has been nominated for three Pulp Ark Awards, including Best Novel, Best Author, and a much-deserved Best Cover nomination for the amazing Danny Kelly.

Available in print and Kindle editions. Order yours before the next full moon!

http://www.amazon.com/Halloween-Legion-1-Martin-Powell/dp/0983953201/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8

http://www.amazon.com/THE-HALLOWEEN-LEGION-ebook/dp/B005U8345K/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1318238625&sr=1-1
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The Halloween Legion ™ Martin Powell. Logo by Ver Curtiss.

[[[Wally Wood: Strange Worlds of Science Fiction]]]
Vanguard Publishing, Trade paperback, 224 pages. $24.95
Introduction by J. David Spurlock

A friend of mine owns the original art to a page of what he (and I) consider the zenith of Wally Wood’s creative genius, “The Mad ‘Comic’ Opera” (MAD #56, July 1960, written by Frank Jacobs). It is a lush piece of work, a cartooning tour de force that causes wide eyed disbelief on the printed page and gasps of astonishment when viewed in its larger, original form. “The Mad ‘Comic’ Opera” is an amazing moment in time, a moment that offered Wood a piece of work which allowed him to show off everything he had learned in his preceding dozen or so years as a comic book artist.

There is not a false note or creative misstep in a single panel of this six-page feature, not in layout or story telling, not in his use of Duotone to bring depth and dimension to the black and white page, and certainly not in his ability to do pitch-perfect parodies–albeit as “real people”–of the comic strip characters populating the story The operatic death scene of Dagwood Bumstead alone would have been enough to cement a lesser artists’ reputation; in the hands of Wally Wood, it was just one panel among some three dozen bits of perfection.

Wally Wood may never have been better, and, in his later and sadder declining years, he often operated at a level that was, in comparison to “The Mad ‘Comic’ Opera,” heartbreaking but which, viewed on their own, were still better than three-quarters of what anybody else was doing. It is also no secret that Wood frequently employed assistants and ghosts to help him turn out the volume of work he produced, but their use was no concession to quality or creative control. As Michael T. Gilbert wrote in the article “Total Control: A Brief Biography of Wally Wood” from Alter-Ego Volume 3, #8, “In the ’50s he mainly worked with Joe Orlando, Harry Harrison, and Sid Check. In later decades he was assisted by Dan Adkins, Ralph Reese, Wayne Howard, Larry Hama, and Bill Pearson, to name a few. No matter. The end result was unmistakably Wood. Helpers or not, the quantity and consistent high quality of the pages were unbelievable. He was always in control of the final product.” (more…)

20^th Century Home Entertainment continues to explore their library, releasing Blu-ray editions of popular and important films. Recently, two of Woody Allen’s best films were released and are worth a second look.

Allen as a comedian was a witty, smart writer and performer, coming from a literate line of humor that was in rapid decline by the 1960s. In some ways, he was the bridge between that era and today when men like Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert carry the mantle. His early films were very funny and as a director, he was learning the ropes, figuring out what worked while entertaining the masses.

That culminated in Annie Hall, his 1977 serious comedy featuring his then-paramour Diane Keaton. The movie was a quantum leap in sophistication, partially from the smart script co-written with Marshall Brickman, but a most self-assured hand behind the camera. Allen shows a maturity as a filmmaker that proved to audiences and critics alike he was more than just a funny and funny-looking guy. The movie went on to earn four Academy Awards including Best Picture (besting Star Wars), Best Actress, Best Directing and Best Screenplay. (more…)

The U.S. version of BEING HUMAN has roiled into its second season on SyFy. We talk to series stars Sam Witwer and Sam Worthington on what’s the next stage of their transformations, plus D&D Back in a big way and BONE moves closer to the big screen.

The Point Radio is on the air right now – 24 hours a day of pop culture fun for FREE. GO HERE and LISTEN FREE on any computer or mobile device– and please check us out on Facebook right here & toss us a “like” or follow us on Twitter @ThePointRadio.

When I was a kid around 12 years old I met another kid around the same age while at the library. This was a big deal because I was black and he was white and I had no white friends, so at the time this was an historic meeting for me at the time.

We were both at the same table at the library both working on a book report. We regarded each other only with sly looks while trying to avoid eye contact with each other. I lived in a housing project and I just knew that David lived in the real nice houses that were not to far from the projects in distance but light years away in lifestyle. For about an hour we played that cat and mouse “look, don’t look” game.

We played that game until David put away his notebook and replaced them with a stack of comics that could choke a horse. I’d never seen that many comics outside of my home. Never had I seen anyone carry that many comics around.

Then I noticed something incredible. All the comics were brand new. I’ve carried comics around with me on many an occasion: grandma’s house, dentist’s office, car trip (which I only did once because I can’t read in a car; it gives me the worst headache, even now) or to a friend’s house to trade.

Whenever I’ve carried comics around, they were never a stack of new comics – never. At 12 I don’t think I’ve ever brought more than three comics at one time. Not that I didn’t want too; I just could not afford it. Now, here in front of me were at least 30 brand new comics that this snot nose white kid was showing off.

I did not want to stare but I could not help it. I was mesmerized by the wealth of comics this kid had in his possession.

I hated that kid.

I hated that I had one comic on me that had no cover.

I hated that I wanted to ask to read some of his.

(more…)