Saturday, September 23, 2017

WONDER WOMAN '77 MEETS THE BIONIC WOMAN

cover for issue 1
Wonder Woman '77 Meets The Bionic Woman



 
WONDER WOMAN '77 MEETS THE BIONIC WOMAN
Writer: Andy Mangels
Artist: Judit Tondora
Colors: Michael Bartolo & Stuart Chaifetz, Roland Pilcz
Letters: Lois Buhalis & Tom Orzechowski, Kathryn S. Renta
Publication Date: 2017
Published by Dynamite Entertainment
 
 
Well, obviously I couldn't let this one slide. Now that the final issue is out, lets take a look at WONDER WOMAN '77 MEETS THE BIONIC WOMAN, shall we?
 

Sunday, September 17, 2017

LYCANTHROPE

lycanthrope poster




LYCANTHROPE (1999)
Directed by Bob Cook 
Written by Bob Cook
Starring Robert Carradine, Christopher Mitchum, Michael Winslow, Jeffrey Alan Chase, Rebecca Holden, and Dalia Garcia


Oh, I didn't want to do this. I mean, I really didn't. But even tho I had a regular two-day weekend this time around, I've been distracted by "real life" things - Dad's fine, by the way - and haven't read or watched anything decent to natter on about. 

I did, however, watch this a few weeks back. So, in the tradition of "I watch bad movies so you don't have to," let's get this week's entry out of the way....


Saturday, September 09, 2017

Various and Sundry

Another one-day weekend so something of a grab-bag tonight....

Hurricane Irma is on everyone's mind around here right now. The predictions keep pushing it westward, which is good for where I'm at but doesn't do much for those in its path. Keep your heads down, people. Especially you, Dad.

(Amusing Irma note - at work they passed around a business card with the phone number we're supposed to call to make sure they aren't closed or on a delay or whatever when there's "inclement" weather. I laughed when I got mine because in the years I've been there, thru snow and ice and what have you, I only remember the recording being changed for us twice. If the roof is on the building, they expect us there. And if it's not, they probably expect us to be there to clean up.)


Been replaying the first Mass Effect for the umpteenth time. I can't help it. I love my Shepard.

Calico Shepard
Commander Calico Shepard



I've gone thru the original Mass Effect trilogy multiple times over the years. I'm also about halfway thru my second run of Mass Effect: Andromeda.

That game got a lot of hate - enough that EA and Bioware have effectively abandoned it now (except for some multi-player stuff - big whoop). I think they gave up too easily. Between the sour feelings about the end of Mass Effect 3 and the general dismay that the new games wouldn't have Shepard, they really had to expect a ton of criticism. I'm not going to deny there were some issues on launch, but I'm not sure I've played a big game where there weren't. Even the original trilogy has issues that haven't been fixed to this day. Oh, well...I still liked it. I'll play it at least one more time after the current run. I may not love my Ryder, but she's a lot of fun and grows on me a little more every time I crank it up. In fact, now I'm wanting to get back into it when I finish this.

Pathfinder Cici Ryder
Pathfinder Cici Ryder


Book-wise, I've recently read Carrie Vaughn's BANNERLESS.

Bannerless by Carrie Vaughn





I'm a big fan of Vaughn's writing in general, and enjoyed this a lot, too. On the face of it, it's a post-apocalyptic murder mystery, but it's also a small, deeply personal look into the life of the Investigator, Enid. This isn't a Mad Max sort of world, where everyone scavenges whatever they can thru any means necessary. Possibly because in this instance the Fall, as it's called, was something of a quiet apocalypse. No big war or alien invasion or super-virus. Just a society that was hit by more and larger storms and other events until it was too much. One day the power went off and just never came back on. And right now, with Irma bearing down just weeks after Harvey and Jose' waiting in the wings, with the western half of the country seemingly on fire...it doesn't sound like that far-fetched a scenario.


That should have bored anyone reading this enough for this week. If you're in the path of one of the storms or fires or plagues or whatever else is out there, watch out for yourselves and each other.

Friday, September 01, 2017

R.I.P. Richard Anderson

Richard Anderson
Richard Anderson
August 8, 1926 - August 31, 2017

It seems like half of the entries since the first time I restarted doing this have begun with me talking about how THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN and THE BIONIC WOMAN are two of my favorite TV shows of all time. Richard Anderson as Oscar Goldman, head of the OSI and friend to our two bionic heroes, was a big part of that. 

Along with Martin E. Brooks, Anderson was one of the small group of actors to play the same character on two different shows at the same time. They went one better than that by playing the same characters on different shows airing on different networks when THE BIONIC WOMAN switched from ABC to NBC. And with the final bionic reunion movie airing on CBS, they scored a trifecta.

Aside from his bionic adventures, Anderson also appeared on, well, everything it seems like. Several episodes of THE BIG VALLEY with future bionic-buddy Lee Majors, most every other western around, PERRY MASON, THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E., MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE.... Oh, heck, too many to list. Check his IMDb credits out yourself and be impressed.

Special mention should be made about his role in the second Kolchak TV-movie, THE NIGHT STRANGLER, as it pitted him against Darren McGavin who would be Steve Austin's boss Oliver Spencer in the first Six Million Dollar Man TV-movie shortly afterwards. Anderson's Goldman took over in the second SMDM movie after McGavin was committed to the Kolchak TV series.

I had the good fortune to meet Anderson (along with Lee Majors and Lindsay Wagner) back in 2015. I wrote about that convention trip here. He'd just turned eighty-nine before the convention, and I have to admit he looked it. During the panel, when Lee Majors made a comment about not knowing when or if the three of them would be together at another convention, I have the feeling I wasn't the only one thinking he was referring to Anderson. Still, he was getting around under his own power, manning his autograph table and talking to fans and generally handling the weekend better than I would've in the same situation, even at my slightly younger age. 

I had a few minutes with him and was able to tell him how much I've enjoyed his work over the years and shake his hand and he seemed genuinely pleased. I'm sure it meant more to me than to him, but I'm glad that so far I've not had to worry about that "never meet your heroes" business. Even tired from all the con stuff, he still had a twinkle in his eye and came across as a good guy and a class act.

Rest in peace, pal....