Goro Naya

Goro Naya has died.

The truest testament to Naya's skills as a voice actor is that it didn't matter if you understood Japanese or not. His voice had POWER! And that power will be missed.

Your Bulgarian Galactus

This is another thing that I felt fell through the cracks last year and didn't get the attention it deserved. Your eyes don't deceive you: that is Galactus on the cover of an unrelated foreign science-fiction book. No one seems to know for certain if the image is a swipe or wholly original. At least, I haven't run across anyone that knew.

This came from here, and it turns out to be BULGARIAN. Kabuki Katze did some poking around on it, and it is a collection of SF short stories originally written in English and translated into Bulgarian. The title is "Сборник - Английски фантастични разкази", and Google offered "Corpus - English Fiction Stories" as the meaning for that. So yes, this is your chance to read the likes of H.G. Wells and Michael Moorcock in Bulgarian. Or should I say Хърбърт Уелс and Майкъл Муркок?

The book is from 1986, and the art on the cover is credited to Венцеслав Веселинов (Wenceslas Veselinov). My top Google match for that name is a dentist, so I don't know much about him yet. The mystery of Bulgarian Galactus persists!

He Has A Point

C. Elam: Poison and Great White might as well be the same band.
Gonzo Rev: In an alternate universe, they are...
C. Elam: I can't prove that they aren't.
Gonzo Rev: No one can...

The Smartest Thing I Said In 2012

In a Twitter discussion with Cyberpilate, we had the following exchange.

El Enmascarado con Estilo

Mil Máscaras

Huracán Ramírez
‘Cause every girl’s crazy ‘bout a sharp-dressed luchador!

Wonder Woman, PBR Champion

“AND I stole that guy’s hat! Yee-Haw!”

Comic Cavalcade #17, October-November 1946, cover by Everett E. Hibbard. Image via GCD.

The Phantom Empire Trailers

Two trailers for the 1935 Mascot serial "The Phantom Empire." The first trailer appeared at the end of Chapter #2 to urge kids to keep coming back each week for more. They did!

I originally watched this Gene Autry serial one chapter at a time on the late, lamented “Matinee at the Bijou” program on PBS. It made a huge impression on me. An underground kingdom! A death ray! Robots with hats! And standing in their way? A singing cowboy.

It’s really awesome.