Wake Up Calls! Things to Do To-Day --

My grand amigo Mike Dobbs aka G. Michael Dobbs is launching his new book today in Springfield, Massachusetts, the first in a series of book signings and events lined up for the winter months to promote Escape!

If you live anywhere near Springfield, MA, hustle over to the Central Library on State Street a little before 2 p.m. to get a seat -- then enjoy Mike's presentation/lecture on the subject of 1990s animated films and TV programming and Escape! How Animation broke into the Mainstream in the 1990s. He'll have a few pre-release copies to sell and Mike will also have order forms for you to pre-purchase your own signed copies, but Mike's talks on animation alone are well worth the trip.

Scroll down to Mike's January 22nd post on his blog for more details, and make time to visit the event if you live in the area!

And you've got just one more week to pick up The Coffin Joe Trilogy DVD boxed set from Fantoma, which I recommend highly to all horror fans and fanatics. This is essential viewing!

If you're a horror comics maniac, like me, you need it just for the sterling English-language mini-editions of the ultra-rare 1960s Zé do Caixão/Coffin Joe horror comics, which are amazing in and of themselves. These are unique to the Fantoma releases, and the boxed set features a comic that's not available otherwise (each separate release of the three films sports one comic each; the boxed set gives you a fourth!).

But the films -- well, they're even more astonishing, truly classic of international horror cinema and far more transgressive and horrific than any of Herschell Gordon Lewis's celebrated gore films.

As I announced earlier this month, this set of José Mojica Marins's stunning Zé do Caixão/Coffin Joe films is coming off the market on January 31st, when Fantoma's license expires and they have to pull the trilogy set off the market. Don't wait!

Here's my extensive January 7th Myrant writeup, loaded with pix and all kinds of links through which you can purchase your copy of the set from now -- don't hesitate, if you're the least bit interested and have the $$, this will become a dear item on eBay in short order!

OK, José, I gotta get back to work! Have a sizzlin' Saturday, one and all!