A Day of Posts

I'm going to be posting off and on all today and tomorrow -- bits and pieces, followups to prior posts, and some just plain weird shit.

Let's start with a Friday morning dose of weird shit, shall we?

I'm loving the Mondo Macabre DVD releases of Turkish flicks (particularly the double-features!), and here's hoping they soon get to Killink in Istanbul, which looks to put the rest of the pack to shame. (Special thanks to the ever-vigilant Jean-Marc for bringing this gem to my attention.)

Is it Killink or Klinik? I'm not sure, but I do know if Todd McFarlane is serious about mounting a proper rip-off of Marvelman/Miracleman in our lifetimes and getting his MM to the big screen, he'd best be talking Turkey right now and getting that Turkish co-production underway pronto. Forget Bryan Singer -- only filmmakers like Yilmaz Atadeniz could do Todd's MM justice.

Here's the scoop:

Killink Istanbulda (Killink in Istanbul)
1967/70'/Siyah Beyaz B&W
Yönetmen (Director): Yilmaz Atadeniz
Oyuncular (Cast): Irfan Atasoy, Pervin Par, Yildirim Gencer, Suzan
Avci, Muzaffer Tema

While trying to find the secret formula of a ray weapon, Klinik (sic) in skeleton costume-faces meets "A Flying Man" - a mixture of Captain Marvel and Superman. The movie is considered to be closer to the patterns of the European anti-hero trend than to the American super-hero due to the limited amount of sado-eroticism it includes.

Ya don't believe me? Well, quick, click over and scroll down to

Killink in Istanbul!

(Man, I would love to see the rest of the films listed on that site -- Tarzan in Istanbul is an almost mythic 'lost treasure' in my addled cine-wish-list!)

Fave First Morning Email of the Day, and Links to Bissette Interviews on Taboo and Bizarre Adventures

This from Richard J. Arndt:

"Guys, you might want to take a look at the country singers' reaction to Katrina. When a conservative president can get Faith Hill, 'Miss Beautiful Soccer Mom" to get angry enough to ignore her own fan base and descibe the federal efforts in Louisiana & Mississippi as "Bullshit" then I think you've lost a major part of your power base. The fall elections may turn out to be very interesting."

Amen!

BTW, if you haven't had enough of my blathering on this blog almost every dog-day, bop on over to Richard's website -- crammed to the brim with comics creator and publisher interviews -- and check out Richard's interviews with yours truly. Heck, check out everything Richard's been up to, which provides as comprehensive an overview of the 1970s-90s horror comics and indy comics scene as I've found anywhere, in print or on the web.

If you're going for the whole enchilada, click on

Richard Arndt's Amazing Comics Biblio/Interview Site

If you're on a diet or have just a smidgin' of time to tally, then you can find the interviews with yours truly at:

Richard Arndt's Marvel B&W zine Index & Interviews (with Bissette, Tony Isabella, Walt Simonson & Tim Conrad!)

(Note: This is a huge document that may take some time to load completely - scroll to the final pages for the interviews; I'm about at the bottom of the barrel, malingering like the Fluke-Man in the chemical toilet in that great X-Files episode.)

The Taboo Index & Interview

Note, too, Richard's kind writeup of Steve Perry and my story "A Frog is a Frog" in his biblio entry for Bizarre Adventures #31:

"‘A Frog Is A Frog’ is the second best {following ‘In The Silence Of The City’ from The Haunt Of Horror #1} B&W horror story Marvel published.  A young boy, wrapped up in gory fantasies {including this very issue of Bizarre Adventures}, slowly realizes that his best friend is a budding serial killer. Bissette was only a few months away from taking over Swamp Thing and his dark, creepy artwork is absolutely perfect here. Perry’s dark, dense script is equally fine, expertly detailing that love all boys undergoing puberty have of the perverse, which is just as easily depicted in comics as it can be in books, movies or videogames, and then paralleling that oddly normal and understandable love of the good kid with the truly perverse sickness and bloodlust of his pal. There’s also a twist ending that manages to be gentle, right, comforting and chilling at one and the same time.  This story is a genuine horror and comic classic and well worth seeking out for the true horror fan."

Thanks, Richard! What a sweet way to start a Friday...