Burger Chef was my favorite fast food chain restaurant as a kid. It even trumped the mighty McDonald's for my affection. Now, whether this was due to the quality of the food or the "Funmeals" (which predate the Happy Meal), I have no idea. Probably, it was a bit of both.
Somewhat amazingly, I still have some of my Burger Chef stuff from way back in the day. Some of the King Kong glasses (from the 1976 movie) are still in the cabinet in my mom's kitchen. I cannot tell you if I still have THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK posters, but I was the proud owner of all three back in 1980 (and they were wicked awesome). That was another thing Burger Chef had going for them - tie-ins to STAR WARS at its height. But they also had their own stable of characters, like Burger Chef and Jeff and an array of friendly monsters. In my record collection, I even have one of their flexi-discs featuring those characters.
Of course, Burger Chef did not survive the 1980s. I bet there are a lot of folks reading this that have never even heard of it. Many of our local stores were converted into Mr. Cook Restaurants, but that regional chain has since passed into memory as well. My personal favorite was the one on U.S. 171 (Martin Luther King Highway), where a motel currently resides. That one never became a Mr. Cook, and was torn down many years ago, but the memories still persist.
For more memories of this long lost chain, you can visit Burger Chef Memories and JSF's Burger Chef Tribute. I also found this collection of Burger Chef commercials which someone very thoughtfully strung together. You can glimpse a little of the KING KONG and STAR WARS themed promotions in them! Oh, and if you want to blame someone for this entry, blame David McRobie. I know I do, ha!
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Monday, April 9, 2012
The Fickle Finger Of Doctor Fate, Part 3
(Once again, I take too long to follow through on these things. Please see Part 1 and Part 2.)
Someone with more knowledge than your humble blogger once offered the theory that the changes in the Doctor Fate strip could be attributed to a new editor wanting to switch things up. This works pretty well when the shift from Whitney Ellsworth to Mort Weisinger (even though Ellsworth was still the "official" editor) signaled a new direction for the feature almost immediately. However, the arrival of Jack Schiff to replace a drafted Weisinger doesn't quite coincide with the next radical alteration in tone. It appears to have been in the works and Schiff just went along with it.
So what exactly was this "new" Doctor Fate being introduced in More Fun Comics #85 supposed to entail? Well, believe it or not, the hook was that he had been studying medicine in his spare time and was going to become a real (medical) doctor! Inza is delighted by this and puts forth the idea that she might become a nurse. Thus, in the span of one page, Kent Nelson goes from playboy to doctor, with barely any lip service given at all to medical school. Oh, and he also drops the cape from his heroic identity.
It's a BIZARRE change that appears designed primarily to give a little direction to a strip that had lost its way in the transition to traditional superhero feature. Certainly, the next few installments focus heavily on this new setting. It just seems like an unusual concession to literalism to make Doctor Fate into a medical doctor. Certainly, Dr. Mid-Nite in All-American Comics had those bases covered.
To make matters even more confusing, over in All-Star Comics on the All-American side, this new change in Doctor Fate was never reflected in the JSA. Fate still hung onto his cape and the business of being a doctor was never even alluded to as near as I can remember. What makes this even crazier is that Gardner Fox wrote both!
Be that as it may, Doctor Fate made the leap into superhero medical drama over the course of the next few issues. He went to work at the Weatherby Free Clinic and even gained a new supporting cast member in Dr. Roland. There were also prominent speaking roles given to a nurse (or nurses) that went unidentified. I suspect this might have been meant to be Inza, but it looks like they changed their minds about that detail. Inza did stick around, though she never became a nurse.
Then things get strange and sort of hard to explain. More Fun #89 has a story that had absolutely nothing to do with the doctor thing and never depicts Kent Nelson as a doctor. Old script pulled out of mothballs? Could be, especially since #90 has another medically-themed story. But then, in #91, we see the return of Mr. Who!
To backtrack, Mr. Who was last seen in #79. Another sequel was teased, but unlike the quick follow-ups in the early months of the half-helmet Fate, it didn't come. That is, not until a year later. #92 saw a return bout with the Clock, a minor villain who had previously appeared in #81. What was going on?
It looks for all the world that Schiff, Fox, and company had abandoned any notion of Dr. Fate being more than a page-filler by this point. The medical angle was dropped, and though some mention was made of it here and there, it never figured into a plot again. Kent Nelson was only sparingly shown as a doctor. Inza finally disappeared entirely, with #90 being her last appearance in More Fun. The page count shrank. Doctor Fate had finally fallen from being a cover feature to just being something to round out the book.
There is speculation that some of the last few Fate stories were not written by Gardner Fox, though he believed he wrote the whole run of the character. Given the tone shifts, it's not hard to imagine another hand somewhere in there. There's also the fact that an unidentified wizard is claimed to be the one who gave Fate his powers, rather than Nabu. Nevertheless, it's accepted that Howard Sherman DID finally depart, and he was replaced by Jon Chester Kozlak for the last few stories.
The handwriting was on the wall for Doctor Fate. When More Fun Comics shrank to 52 pages, was anyone truly surprised that it was Fate that was given his walking papers? More Fun Comics #98 (July-August 1944) was the character's last appearance until Justice League of America #21 (August 1963). He had lost what made him unique and just sort of puttered along until getting squeezed out. It would take the Silver and Bronze Ages to restore what made Doctor Fate a cool character.
Someone with more knowledge than your humble blogger once offered the theory that the changes in the Doctor Fate strip could be attributed to a new editor wanting to switch things up. This works pretty well when the shift from Whitney Ellsworth to Mort Weisinger (even though Ellsworth was still the "official" editor) signaled a new direction for the feature almost immediately. However, the arrival of Jack Schiff to replace a drafted Weisinger doesn't quite coincide with the next radical alteration in tone. It appears to have been in the works and Schiff just went along with it.
So what exactly was this "new" Doctor Fate being introduced in More Fun Comics #85 supposed to entail? Well, believe it or not, the hook was that he had been studying medicine in his spare time and was going to become a real (medical) doctor! Inza is delighted by this and puts forth the idea that she might become a nurse. Thus, in the span of one page, Kent Nelson goes from playboy to doctor, with barely any lip service given at all to medical school. Oh, and he also drops the cape from his heroic identity.
It's a BIZARRE change that appears designed primarily to give a little direction to a strip that had lost its way in the transition to traditional superhero feature. Certainly, the next few installments focus heavily on this new setting. It just seems like an unusual concession to literalism to make Doctor Fate into a medical doctor. Certainly, Dr. Mid-Nite in All-American Comics had those bases covered.
To make matters even more confusing, over in All-Star Comics on the All-American side, this new change in Doctor Fate was never reflected in the JSA. Fate still hung onto his cape and the business of being a doctor was never even alluded to as near as I can remember. What makes this even crazier is that Gardner Fox wrote both!
Be that as it may, Doctor Fate made the leap into superhero medical drama over the course of the next few issues. He went to work at the Weatherby Free Clinic and even gained a new supporting cast member in Dr. Roland. There were also prominent speaking roles given to a nurse (or nurses) that went unidentified. I suspect this might have been meant to be Inza, but it looks like they changed their minds about that detail. Inza did stick around, though she never became a nurse.
Then things get strange and sort of hard to explain. More Fun #89 has a story that had absolutely nothing to do with the doctor thing and never depicts Kent Nelson as a doctor. Old script pulled out of mothballs? Could be, especially since #90 has another medically-themed story. But then, in #91, we see the return of Mr. Who!
To backtrack, Mr. Who was last seen in #79. Another sequel was teased, but unlike the quick follow-ups in the early months of the half-helmet Fate, it didn't come. That is, not until a year later. #92 saw a return bout with the Clock, a minor villain who had previously appeared in #81. What was going on?
It looks for all the world that Schiff, Fox, and company had abandoned any notion of Dr. Fate being more than a page-filler by this point. The medical angle was dropped, and though some mention was made of it here and there, it never figured into a plot again. Kent Nelson was only sparingly shown as a doctor. Inza finally disappeared entirely, with #90 being her last appearance in More Fun. The page count shrank. Doctor Fate had finally fallen from being a cover feature to just being something to round out the book.
There is speculation that some of the last few Fate stories were not written by Gardner Fox, though he believed he wrote the whole run of the character. Given the tone shifts, it's not hard to imagine another hand somewhere in there. There's also the fact that an unidentified wizard is claimed to be the one who gave Fate his powers, rather than Nabu. Nevertheless, it's accepted that Howard Sherman DID finally depart, and he was replaced by Jon Chester Kozlak for the last few stories.
The handwriting was on the wall for Doctor Fate. When More Fun Comics shrank to 52 pages, was anyone truly surprised that it was Fate that was given his walking papers? More Fun Comics #98 (July-August 1944) was the character's last appearance until Justice League of America #21 (August 1963). He had lost what made him unique and just sort of puttered along until getting squeezed out. It would take the Silver and Bronze Ages to restore what made Doctor Fate a cool character.
Friday, April 6, 2012
Captain Satellite, Sketch Commission Style
Why look, here's another commission by Sean Moore! This time, it's Captain Satellite, the centerpiece of my little Owariverse. Sean gave Cap a "facing the future" sort of pose that I am really digging. Plus, he included the Multi-Gun! Who doesn't love retro ray guns, I ask you?
Sean has this piece on his dA account, too. Drop by, say hello, leave some feedback and take a look around. I suspect you'll like what you see!
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Not The Vigilante (Really)
So this image popped up on my Tumblr dashboard the other day, posted by a fella named Dudesmacdougal. It set off alarm bells immediately. For one, that cowboy looks suspiciously like DC's Vigilante. For another, that pulp magazine is called Leading Western? Seriously? If you're familiar with DC's Golden Age, you know that one of the books that featured the Vigilante was Leading Comics.
Obviously, someone was working us. This cover had to be a fake - a relatively recent piece of artwork. Someone had skillfully doctored it up and made it look vintage. Heck, I've been party to a few fake covers myself! The cover was awesome, but there was no way something so "on the nose" could be real.
I went looking for the artist. That's what I do when I find something unattributed that I think is cool. Trouble was, nothing really came up. I even tried searching for some of the "clues" embedded in the piece. No dice. All I found was the cover in someone's Flickr account. But I did learn that there really WAS a "Leading Western" pulp. Huh.
Out of curiosity as much as anything else, I joined the Western Pulps group. I brought the cover to them and asked them to clear up the mystery for me. If nothing else, they could confirm for me that there was no real pulp like this. Things didn't turn out the way I had anticipated.
Holy cow, it's real! Specifically, this is Leading Western V.2, #5 (Nov. 1946). That means that about one year after the Vigilante disappeared from the pages of Leading Comics (which switched to funny animals and ultimately evolved into Leading Screen Comics), an identical cowboy was featured on cover of Leading Western! The mind wobbles!
Is this just a crazy coincidence? Apparently, yes. The Vigilante was still a year away from his highest profile (starring in his own Columbia serial), so I cannot see this as being a deliberate allusion to the character. Or is it? The artist (still don't know who it is) could have conceivably modeled his cowboy after Vig. After all, it's a powerful look. But there's also a little fact about Speed Publications, Leading Western's publisher, that I either didn't know or had forgotten. "Speed" was an imprint that had been used by Culture/Spicy Publications after they needed to change their name due to some legal unpleasantries. Trojan (the name of the company by 1946) was owned by Harry Donnenfeld and Jack Leibowitz.
You know, the same two guys who then owned what we now think of as DC Comics.
Mysteries within mysteries. Still, it really does fill my heart with happiness to know the world is crazy enough that, somehow, this pulp magazine cover is totally real. I had it pegged as something modern, but am happy to be proven wrong.
EDIT: Commenter Joe Moore revealed that the cover artist is Joseph Szokoli. Given Szokoli's connections, it sure seems likely he was at least aware of the Vigilante. Furthermore, this painting is featured in Illustration Magazine #35 (Fall 2011), reproduced from the original art!
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Midnight Plane to Houston
Wait, don't I mean "Midnight Train to Georgia"? The song made famous by Gladys Knight and the Pips? That one, right?
No. But also, yes.
No. But also, yes.
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
"noisy annoying noisy room?"
Continuing our ongoing quest to sort out the assorted Chinese and Thai permutations of Japanese superheroes, today we return our attention to MARS MEN. As you may recall, it was an English language poster for that film which started this off in the first place. Confusingly, the poster came from Japan's Shochiku Company. That indicated the possibility that they were the ones who distributed the film abroad, possibly on behalf of Tsuburaya Productions.
First, we need to back up and consider the Thai version of this movie for a moment. To do this, it's helpful to consult the Thai Wikipedia entry for it, which is under its original title ยักษ์วัดแจ้งพบจัมโบ้เอ. As best I can tell, ยักษ์วัดแจ้งพบจัมโบ้เอ is literally "Yak Wat Jang Wu Jumbo A" (spelling varies). However, the English name for that stone idol seems to be "Giant" or "Titan". The Japanese name for the movie (despite it never getting released in Japan) is ジャンボーグA＆ジャイアント ("Jumborg Ace and Giant"), while the Thai translation is given as "Titan and Jumbo A".
Regardless of what you call it, the Thai Wikipedia gives a premiere of March 16, 1974 for this movie. That's sort of intriguing, since that means it precedes both Chaiyo's Ultra and Rider films by months. Other sources list "April 1974", but the fact remains that the Jumborg Ace film came out before the more familiar 6 Ultra Brothers film by six months. Kinda surprising, if you ask me.
I found a clip from ยักษ์วัดแจ้งพบจัมโบ้เอ on Youtube that is subtitled for some reason. Though I don't think I still own a copy of MARS MEN, I can tell you that is definitely not a part of it. Believe me, I would remember. This clip is notable for having the worst English subtitles I have ever seen. Both David McRobie and Igadevil found this claim dubious until they watched the clip. See what you think.
If you still have functioning brain cells after that (and I understand if you don't), we'll proceed.
There is helpful information on MARS MEN at the end of the Chinese entry for SUPER RIDERS WITH THE DEVIL, just like there was for ROBOTER DER STERNE. If anything, this sub-section is slightly more helpful than the one on the Mach Baron movie. It tells us that MARS MEN (literally 火星人 in Chinese) was released July 4, 1976 and ran 94 minutes. It also lists the production company for it as 星華電影事業（香港）有限公司 (Star Chinese Film Industry (Hong Kong) Co., Ltd.?) and the releasing company as 太子電影事業有限公司 (Prince Film Industry Co., Ltd.?).
Some things jump out at me from this information. One, MARS MEN came out over two years after "Titan and Jumbo A". This blows a hole in my theory that it was part of an exchange between Chaiyo and the Taiwanese film company. An even bigger hole is created by the revelation that MARS MEN is also of Hong Kong origins, just like ROBOTER DER STERNE! However, I should point out that the Hong Kong company responsible for producing MARS MEN has a name that is suspiciously similar to the Taiwanese company responsible for the Super Rider movies. The presence of one of the Super Riders as the male lead does nothing to dispel the notion that something is going on here.
My best guess at this point is that MARS MEN was an arrangement with Tsuburaya Productions rather than Chaiyo. The existence of the Shochiku poster tips my inclination in that direction. The sizable gap between Thai and Chinese versions is another point. Tsuburaya had to know that Chaiyo's movies were not going to fly outside of Thailand and it took a HUGE demand for Ultra product for 6 ULTRABROTHERS VS. THE MONSTER ARMY to even get released in Japan 5 years after the fact. As for why Tsubraya attempted something with MARS MEN, that will likely remain a mystery for the time being. We can only surmise it wasn't considered a success, since a similar makeover for 6 ULTRABROTHERS never happened.
Finally, for the sake of completeness, I wanted to include a little background on a few folks involved with MARS MEN. This was complicated slightly by the fact that the movie is missing from the HKMDB, which was the resource I was using. However, I did some cutting and pasting and put together this li'l list.
MARS MEN
DIRECTED BY: Chan Huang-Man
(credited as "Chen Hong Mein" on poster; while having his fair share of directorial credits, he seems to be primarily an editor. For this film, that makes perfect sense.)
STARRING:
Man-Kong-Lung ("Wen Chiang Loon" on poster)
Wong Bo-Yuk ("Wang Pao Yu" on poster)
Yeh Hsiao-Yee ("Yeh Shao Ye" on poster)
Fang Mian
PRODUCED BY: Fu Ching-Wa
Our next entry on this journey will fill you in on the films that probably interest you the most. There will be answers, but paradoxically, even more questions, too!
First, we need to back up and consider the Thai version of this movie for a moment. To do this, it's helpful to consult the Thai Wikipedia entry for it, which is under its original title ยักษ์วัดแจ้งพบจัมโบ้เอ. As best I can tell, ยักษ์วัดแจ้งพบจัมโบ้เอ is literally "Yak Wat Jang Wu Jumbo A" (spelling varies). However, the English name for that stone idol seems to be "Giant" or "Titan". The Japanese name for the movie (despite it never getting released in Japan) is ジャンボーグA＆ジャイアント ("Jumborg Ace and Giant"), while the Thai translation is given as "Titan and Jumbo A".
Regardless of what you call it, the Thai Wikipedia gives a premiere of March 16, 1974 for this movie. That's sort of intriguing, since that means it precedes both Chaiyo's Ultra and Rider films by months. Other sources list "April 1974", but the fact remains that the Jumborg Ace film came out before the more familiar 6 Ultra Brothers film by six months. Kinda surprising, if you ask me.
I found a clip from ยักษ์วัดแจ้งพบจัมโบ้เอ on Youtube that is subtitled for some reason. Though I don't think I still own a copy of MARS MEN, I can tell you that is definitely not a part of it. Believe me, I would remember. This clip is notable for having the worst English subtitles I have ever seen. Both David McRobie and Igadevil found this claim dubious until they watched the clip. See what you think.
If you still have functioning brain cells after that (and I understand if you don't), we'll proceed.
There is helpful information on MARS MEN at the end of the Chinese entry for SUPER RIDERS WITH THE DEVIL, just like there was for ROBOTER DER STERNE. If anything, this sub-section is slightly more helpful than the one on the Mach Baron movie. It tells us that MARS MEN (literally 火星人 in Chinese) was released July 4, 1976 and ran 94 minutes. It also lists the production company for it as 星華電影事業（香港）有限公司 (Star Chinese Film Industry (Hong Kong) Co., Ltd.?) and the releasing company as 太子電影事業有限公司 (Prince Film Industry Co., Ltd.?).
Some things jump out at me from this information. One, MARS MEN came out over two years after "Titan and Jumbo A". This blows a hole in my theory that it was part of an exchange between Chaiyo and the Taiwanese film company. An even bigger hole is created by the revelation that MARS MEN is also of Hong Kong origins, just like ROBOTER DER STERNE! However, I should point out that the Hong Kong company responsible for producing MARS MEN has a name that is suspiciously similar to the Taiwanese company responsible for the Super Rider movies. The presence of one of the Super Riders as the male lead does nothing to dispel the notion that something is going on here.
My best guess at this point is that MARS MEN was an arrangement with Tsuburaya Productions rather than Chaiyo. The existence of the Shochiku poster tips my inclination in that direction. The sizable gap between Thai and Chinese versions is another point. Tsuburaya had to know that Chaiyo's movies were not going to fly outside of Thailand and it took a HUGE demand for Ultra product for 6 ULTRABROTHERS VS. THE MONSTER ARMY to even get released in Japan 5 years after the fact. As for why Tsubraya attempted something with MARS MEN, that will likely remain a mystery for the time being. We can only surmise it wasn't considered a success, since a similar makeover for 6 ULTRABROTHERS never happened.
Finally, for the sake of completeness, I wanted to include a little background on a few folks involved with MARS MEN. This was complicated slightly by the fact that the movie is missing from the HKMDB, which was the resource I was using. However, I did some cutting and pasting and put together this li'l list.
MARS MEN
DIRECTED BY: Chan Huang-Man
(credited as "Chen Hong Mein" on poster; while having his fair share of directorial credits, he seems to be primarily an editor. For this film, that makes perfect sense.)
STARRING:
Man-Kong-Lung ("Wen Chiang Loon" on poster)
Wong Bo-Yuk ("Wang Pao Yu" on poster)
Yeh Hsiao-Yee ("Yeh Shao Ye" on poster)
Fang Mian
PRODUCED BY: Fu Ching-Wa
Our next entry on this journey will fill you in on the films that probably interest you the most. There will be answers, but paradoxically, even more questions, too!
Monday, April 2, 2012
Holy Smokes! New ROJ Episode 2 Notes!
It is my profound regret that doing these updates for Return of Jetman usually fall so low on my list of priorities that it even shocks me when they happen. Oh well, we're still in the home stretch as far as getting everything done for the site. I guess that's something, huh?
As you may have gathered, I've just posted the notes for New ROJ Episode 2. Even today, almost 7(!) years later, there are a lot of things in this episode that I think are a lot of fun. Maybe reading the notes will inspire you to check out the episode again? That's my hope anyway.
No promises, but I'd like to at least get the notes for the next three episodes scheduled. We'll see how that works out.
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