Swamp Witch

I am of course familiar with Jim Stafford's eccentric hits like "Spiders and Snakes", "Wildwood Weed", and "My Girl Bill", and rather like them. But this past weekend was my first encounter with his first hit song, "Swamp Witch". It is amazingly atmospheric and spooky, and I cannot understand why it has been allowed to fall into obscurity. Perhaps because it doesn't fit with the later theme of his career? I dunno, but "Swamp Witch" is a song that genuinely gave me the creeps as I listened to it. Good stuff.

Tomb of Darkness #18 (January 1976)

My interest in 1970s-era Marvel monster reprint comics is perhaps unreasonable, since they are usually kinda terrible. They do sport outrageous covers that promise wonders that the interiors rarely deliver, so that's a point in their favor. I dunno, I like that they encapsulate the "Marvel Age" when it was at its most exciting to me personally, while still being self-contained. The hodge podge of interesting artwork from previous decades compensates for the fact that the stories are...well, often not well-thought-out to be charitable.

Tomb of Darkness #18 arrives in our hands from the year 1975, no matter what the publication date says. It leads with something very interesting, a reprint that was less than 7 years old at the time. My understanding of the so-called "7 year rule" was that there was supposedly enough turnover for reprints to be considered unseen by a lot of readers after 7 years. Yet, here we have a Roy Thomas/John Buscema story that ran in Chamber of Darkness #3 (February 1970). The splash looks like a very inadequate stat, so there is probably some alterations there. The rest of the story is fine from an art standpoint, but is a bit lacking as an actual story. There are some of Thomas' trademark ideas, and it is somewhat self-aware of its deficiencies, but I would call it a more forgettable tale from one of my favorite writers.

(Quick aside: Chamber of Darkness and Tomb of Darkness are not part of the same numbering, though it seems like they should be. Chamber became Monsters on the Prowl, while Tomb continues from the title Beware.)

Next to the plate is a Jack Kirby/Dick Ayers story about the Sphinx being an alien robot named Shagg. Yes, really! It is delightfully over-the-top, with both Paris and New York getting absolutely leveled over the course of 7 pages. What makes it even more wonderful is the utterly preposterous wrap-up of the story, which honestly must be seen to be believed. And remember: "Cosmo-Gamma Electro-Magnetic Waves! That's the answer!"

The third and final story is...well, it may be one of the oddest stories I have ever encountered for a mystery book. It's just so tame, and doesn't even really seem to fit the theme until the very end. I don't want to say that much about it in case someone cares about being spoiled, but gosh, what an anomaly. Checking out the date, it appears to be from the very early days of the Comics Code, and maybe that explains it. Certainly, I can't think of a more sanitized horror comics story.

I know I tend to be hard on these old comic books sometimes, especially viewing them through the prism of being an adult in the 21st century. But the truth is, they entertain me more than almost anything else, huge flaws and all. That's priceless, and it's why I keep doing these reviews.

Things My Dad Would Never Believe About Me, Part 27

My dad loved him some Westerns. Me? Eh. I enjoy the iconography of cowboys (especially in strange contexts, like sci-fi settings or Japan), but the Western genre isn't one that has ever appealed to me. There's nothing wrong with it, but it's just not my thing.

In recent months, I've been delving into quotes on Facebook and Twitter, for reasons that may eventually become clear enough. Some of them really hit home for me personally. One in particular got my attention so much that I made a cover photo for it to put on my Facebook. I identify very strongly with this sentiment, and have actually experienced it. I may even be experiencing it right now.

The irony is that this quote is from Louis L'Amour, best known as an author of Westerns. Somewhere, Dad is laughing his ass off at me.

Happy Birthday Bridgette Monet (aka Dana Cannon)!

Today is a special day, though you are forgiven for not realizing it. June 28th is the birthday of former adult film star and one-time PLAYBOY model Bridgette Monet, aka Dana Cannon! And for the record, neither of those are her real name.

Bridgette Monet made a big impact on me when I saw her in the pages of PLAYBOY back in 1984. She was so wholesome and obviously intelligent (the pictorial promoted her as a "college girl" after all), and yet she made sex films. It was eye-opening to me, especially coupled with the accompanying article. It was one of several that de-mystified the porn business for me at a very early age. Bridgette made no apologies about what she did, but she also made it clear it was on HER terms.

I have a lot of respect and admiration for Bridgette. She was really ahead of her time in a lot of ways. She disappeared from the scene in the mid-80s and has returned to a life away from the spotlight of her former career. I am reasonably certain the woman who was once "Bridgette Monet" is happy with the life she has built since those days, and I wish her all the best in it. Maybe I could say more, but that's for the lady to share if she ever decides to go public with some of her details.

It's Bridgette Monet's 55th birthday, and considering how people view her former field, you have to call that a success right there. But Bridgette hasn't just survived - she's thrived. Happy Birthday, Bridgette!

A Farewell To Casey Kasem

(Photo via Crystal Price KFOX 14)
I don't talk about every passage from this mortal coil that impacts my life, but this is too big to go unmentioned. I've talked a lot about AMERICAN TOP 40 in these parts the last few years, and I've been a faithful follower of the 1970s rebroadcasts during that time. This weekend was no different, and probably at the same time I was listening Sunday morning, Casey Kasem passed away at the age of 82.

This was not a surprise. If anything, it's something we were all expecting. The very unfortunate circumstances about his life and welfare the last few years have been discussed elsewhere, and are not something I want to dwell on besides acknowledging their existence. Instead, I want to focus on the positives of his life and career.

I first became aware of Casey Kasem as a personality from the AMERICA'S TOP 10 TV show, which was an extension of what he was doing on the radio with AMERICAN TOP 40. If Kasem had only worked in radio, he'd still be a legend. But he did plenty of acting and voiceover work, too. Casey was most famous as Shaggy from SCOOBY-DOO, but he was also Robin in SUPER FRIENDS and other shows, Mark in BATTLE OF THE PLANETS, and really too many other voices to list. There is something oddly comforting about his delivery, and when I hear him, it's like an old friend stopping by for a visit.

Casey Kasem wasn't a perfect human being by any means. But he had an iconic career, and by any measure, his was a life filled with success. Rest easy, Mr. Kasem, as you finally reach those stars.

Princess Nikatonia by Discworldfan

Princess Nikatonia (Art Trade) by discworldfan on deviantART

Well, this one could've knocked me over with a feather! Our delightful friend Nicky Flamingo has adopted Princess Nikatonia (based on her, as you may recall) into her stable of original characters. This is mostly so she can show her off and offer her as a potential subject for art trades. But I gotta tell you, given how awesome Nicky's own OCs are, I wasn't expecting any art of Nikatonia to crop up anytime in the near future.

COLOR ME WRONG! "Discworldfan" stepped up to the plate and delivered a FABULOUS rendition of Princess Nikatonia! I mean, just look at it! I am really tickled to see this, especially since commissions have been a lot fewer in the last year or two.

Thank you both so much!

It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over

Considering I have spent far too much time blogging about why I'm not blogging, I have been struggling with this post and this decision for awhile. May was kind of a tipping point for me in a lot of ways, and it has caused me to re-evaluate what I'm doing here and why. So let's just get to it.

Going forward, this blog is going to be updated sporadically at best. I'm going to try to post at least once a month - I mean, I usually find something I need to talk about at length. There may be more than one post. It's all going to depend on my feelings and time, not because of any responsibility I feel to fill this blog with fresh content.

There are still plenty of topics to discuss and explore. I still want and (dare I say it?) need to blog sometimes. But I've let myself become imprisoned by the notion I needed to have something here, even when I don't feel like it. And as of right this second, I don't feel like it. I'm tired and dealing with a lot of real life things that could very well shape my future. Sitting down and trying to figure out how to compose a semi-coherent blog entry is not a high priority right now.

I love this blog. I love doing this blog. And I'm sorry to all the people who follow this blog about the fact that it's been sort of spiraling down the last few months. I think an occasional burst of blogging is better than closing this place entirely. Don't you?

If you'd like to keep up with my public flights of fancy, there's always Twitter. I'm also still doing image blogging at OWARI 2.0 and Continued Next Week! when the mood strikes.

I appreciate all of you who read and follow this blog. Remember, it's not an end, but a new beginning.