Entertainment Roundup for 2024

Not much to say about this year, but I certainly watched plenty! Saw a record number of films in the theater and plenty of live shows. Though it partly started last year, I also re-discovered to a degree network TV with shows like Ghosts, Elspeth, So Help Me Todd (since cancelled), and the return of the Law & Order mothership. Among the best overall on tv and streaming were Blue Eyed Samurai, Franklin, Julia, Time Bandits, The Mick (the latter three also since cancelled), 

I always say that I'm not a good bellweather for films since I don't see everything and have gotten a bit more discriminating about what I see. That said, among my favorites this year were Saturday Night, Fly Me to the Moon, Twisters, The Boys in the Boat, Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim,  and Brooklyn (though that film was a 2015 release. 

Films

Gone With the Wind – Culver Theater (12/30/24)
Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim – Howard Hughes Center (12/23/24)
Conclave – Monica Laemmle (11/29/24)
Wicked – Culver Theater (11/25/24)

Saturday Night – Culver Theater (10/13/24)
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade – Culver Theatre (8/26/24)
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom – Culver Theatre (8/19/24)
Babe – Culver Theatre (8/10/24)
Iron Giant – Culver Theatre (8/3/24) - rewatch
Deadpool & Wolverine – Culver Theatre (7/31/24)
Twisters – Bruin Theatre (7/20/24)
Fly Me to the Moon – Culver Theaters (7/13/24)
Fall Guy – Century City AMC (6/1/24)
Spy x Family Code White – Century City AMC (4/27/24)
Argylle – Culver Theaters (2/3/24)
Boys in the Boat – Culver Theaters (1/11/24)

Streaming Films/DVD/BluRay

Wham: Last Christmas Unwrapped – Netflix (12/29/24)
Music by John Williams – Disney+ (12/8/24)
Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story – Max (12/6/24)
School of Rock – Paramount+ (11/30/24) – rewatch
Dear Santa – Paramount+ (11/30/24)
March of the Wooden Soldiers – YouTube (11/28/24) – rewatch
Amelie – Max (11/6/24)
Dave – YouTube (11/4/24) - rewatch
See How They Run – HBOMax (10/21/24) - rewatch
The Party – Prime (10/16/24)
Snack Shack – Prime (10/15/24)
On Chesil Beach – Max (10/11/24)
Brooklyn – Max (10/10/24)
The Banker – Apple+ (10/4/24) - rewatch 

Go for Broke – Prime (10/1/24) - rewatch 

Django & Django – Netflix (9/12/24)
Big Fat Liar – Netflix (9/9/24)
Muriel’s Wedding – Netflix (9/6/24)

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Twenty-Five Years Ago this New Year's Eve...

Last Year Watch: Gone With the Wind

Last night, at the last minute, my wife and I decided to catch an 85th anniversary screening of Gone With the Wind at the local Culver Theaters, the last film in its 100th anniversary of MGM Studios film series (tickets were only $7 apiece!)

I've seen it twice on the big screen and numerous times on the small screen, but this was my wife's first time in a theater, though she's seen it several times as well. The very opening credits opens with a shot of the Selznick International Pictures sign then pans out to reveal its iconic studio building (seen at right)—the audience applauded because the theater we were sitting in is only a few hundred feet from that still-standing building. 

As such, I've also included below a photo I took of the building earlier this year—it's been known for many years as the Culver Studios, but has been home to RKO, Desilu and several others (there's a commemorative plaque nearby that lists them). It's now under long-term lease with Amazon Studios, which made renovations on the lot—you can see the Amazon logo from the street on top of many of the new soundstages. The building is easily visibly accessible from a pedestrian plaza that includes the theater, as well as new buildings and the historic Culver Hotel. 

Anyway, seeing the film on the big screen with an audience was terrific. A local film historian spoke a little before the film and it included a film introduction by TCM host Ben Mankiewicz. The showing included the music overture before the film begins and Intermission. The film also opened with a title card with its new disclaimer, concluding that it is presented as it was created, which I think is important to acknowledge and does not detract from the achievement of it as a film and work of art.

78 Years Ago Today...

As many people know, the comic strip that initially inspired my own work is Milton Caniff’s Terry and the Pirates. Caniff created the strip for the Chicago Tribune New York News Syndicate and worked on the strip from 1934 until 1946. He left Terry to create a new adventure strip, Steve Canyon, for full ownership and creative control.

On this day, Dec. 29, in 1946 (a Sunday like today!), Caniff ran his final strip—reproduced below, it’s a beaut and an amazing culmination of his work on Terry. Caniff had announced that he was leaving Terry many months before, but made a point not to let up in the home stretch. (Canyon would debut on January 13, 1947.)

I’m partly running this because I missed the opportunity to mark the 60th anniversary of Terry's debut on October 22, 1934. Building on some groundbreaking work by others—most notably Roy Crane (Wash Tubbs) and Caniff’s studio-mate and friend, Noel Sickles (Scorchy Smith)—Caniff started a whole school of cartooning whose style influenced several generations of cartoonists.  I’ve included a strip from Caniff’s first year to demonstrate how much he had grown artistically. At the point of oversimplifying, much of it was based on the use of heavy black, chiaroscuro/impressionistic effect, rather than for decorative purposes.

In issue 25 of Rob Hanes Adventures, I paid homage to Caniff, as well as to Terry and Canyon, and to many of his peers and their characters, by having him travel back in time to the 1940s and team up with dopplegangers of the soldiers of fortune and other characters from the era. And I carried over this tribute in my recent holiday greeting where a sign in the image reads, “Ring Out the Old, Ring in the New” as Caniff cleverly did in the final panel he drew in the Terry strip on the eve of a new year. 

Cartoonist George Wunder picked up the reins on Terry and continued the strip to its end in 1973. Canyon ended its run with the passing of Caniff in 1988.

REVIEW: Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim

I hadn’t really planned to see The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim in the theater, but I had some time to kill yesterday and decided on the spur of the moment to check it out—and I’m glad to say I enjoyed it! (This review is spoiler free btw.)

Made as an anime film by a noted Japanese anime director, the animation in the trailer didn’t particularly impress me which partly tamped down my enthusiasm to see it, but it was better than I anticipated. There was great attention to detail in the film, from the intricate costumes (not easy in hand animation!), to the lighting and the creation of a grounded environment that enhanced the mood and drama. And though not overused, it was interesting to spot where computer animation was utilized; at times, it looked like they even used some rotoscoping, mostly in a few long shots with figures (which frankly gave me a sense of deja vu with the Bakshi films—I'm not kidding).

Of course, it helps that the film is very much part of the Peter Jackson/Lord of the Rings universe, so the filmmakers had full access to and use of the film trilogy’s visual and production designs, as well as Howard Shore’s score. And though Jackson wasn't very involved in the development of the film, one of his writing partners on the original trilogy, Philippa Boyens, a Tolkien obsessive well before the films, helped develop the story. Scenes in the film clearly evoke the film trilogy, particularly in the staging of some scenes/battles, and the use of many of the same locations and settings from the original movies (particularly, The Two Towers)—down to camera angles—very much connect this movie with Jackson's films. So audiences get to see Rohan’s capital city of Edoras, Isengard, and Helm’s Deep, exactly as they looked and were shot in Jackson's films.

That said, the story is a bit circumscribed, taking place entirely in Rohan, 200 years before the events of the trilogy, involving a civil war among its tribes/factions that encompasses vengeance, ambition, pride, spurned love and historical grievances. In addition, they have made a young woman—a princess, daughter to the Helm Hammerhand, King of Rohan—the main protagonist. (Helm is voiced by Brian Cox, a great choice since Hammerhand is a true badass lol.)

My only slight disappointment was that since the film is entirely focused on Rohan, there are no elves, dwarves, hobbits or even Gondorians in sight. But you get to see a few Middle Earth creatures, such as the elephant-like Mumakils. (I’ll keep it at that, to say more would be spoiling!) There are a few shout outs/references to the trilogy, but they are actually very sparing and the film very much tries to be its own story.

Though I’ve loved the books since I first read them and, of course, the films (even the ill-fated Bakshi adaptation), I must confess that I have found The Rings of Power series on Prime to be a slog and too drawn out. (This is a complaint I’ve had with most of the Star Wars series as well, so make of that what you will—I’ve bailed on almost all of them.) In contrast, being a tight two hour film, The War of the Rohirrim has a narrative urgency that kept things moving and engaging, and swept me up. But your mileage may vary on whether the film will actually fulfill one's need for a Lord of the Rings fix.

All in all, though I went in with fairly low expectations (in fact, I was prepared to be disappointed), the film completely surprised me and I found it very entertaining and well executed.

Once Upon a Mattress at the Ahmanson

Falconry at the Getty

CAPS Farewell

Back in September, I mentioned that CAPS (the Comic Art Professional Society, founded in 1977) had announced that it was calling it a day. 

Earlier this week, as promised, the outgoing Board organized a farewell meeting and gathering at the Animation Guild in Burbank, CA, where the group had held its monthly meeting for many years. In truth, given the low participation of recent years, I wasn’t sure what the turnout would be like. Due to the pandemic, in-person meetings had disappeared and Zoom meetings gradually attracted less and less participants—I attended one Zoom CAPS meeting where it was literally just me and another member (though we had a great time!). I also volunteered in an effort to create an in-person component of the meeting where some members could gather together at a site to Zoom in on the meeting with others, but this also didn't gain any traction.

But happily, people turned out in fulil force. In fact, it reminded me of a CAPS meeting from the old days! It was the first time the group had gathered together in person since before the pandemic, with longtime and more recent members in attendance. I saw people I hadn’t seen in years and, in at least one case, more than a decade. Some new members told me that, having recently joined, this was the first time they had ever attended a meeting and seen so many other members!

The centerpiece of the evening’s program included the participation of two of the three founding members via Zoom—Sergio Aragones and Mark Evanier (the third founding member, Don Rico, passed away in 1985). There was lots of reminiscing, expressions of appreciation and laughter. 

In its later years, a highlight of the group’s activities was an annual banquet that featured the presentation of the Sergio Award, named for founding member Sergio Aragones. Since there were several statues left, the award’s namesake was given the honor to present the remaining trophies to deserving members of the group—in this case, he made the awards to members who were there at or near CAP's founding and played key roles in raising the group's profiles, often serving as early presidents: Mark Evanier, Scott Shaw, Bill Stout and an honorary one to Stan Sakai. (Though I'd seen the award statuette at banquets in the past, I'd never held one. As show in the photo below, after the meeting, I took the opportunity to inspect it up close. I also picked it up and found that it was surprisingly heavy!)

While everyone expressed regret for the group’s demise, people were clear eyed and philosophical about its passing. Pandemic aside, the industry has changed greatly in recent years and the group's demands made it difficult for working professionals to commit the time and effort needed to sustain the group and its activities. And with so many opportunities like multiple comics conventions, shows and other activities that give people a chance to see each other, perhaps CAPS’ time had passed. 

The event also reminded me of another reason I found CAPS so beneficial—after socializing with other pros, talking shop and sharing work, I always left meetings feeling incredibly energized. That feeling was there when I drove home afterwards as well. It was the perfect send off for CAPS. 

(That said, no doubt due to the positive energy at the event, people raised the possibility of the group getting together again in the future in some form in more informal ways—so we’ll see!)

A Thanksgiving Day Tradition

New Scanner!

Mourning in America

I generally avoid politics on my social media accounts, but here are my thoughts about this recent presidential election.

Whenever a candidate becomes president elect, they usually reach out to the other side, providing reassurance that they will be president for all Americans. Of course you can never please everyone, and this isn't always how it plays out, but it is a great U.S. tradition that acknowledges our diversity and differences of opinion. Not that I listened to anything Drumpf (his real family name) has said since the election, but I assume it's just to promise retribution on his enemies and anyone who voted against him. It was the theme of his whole campaign. Aside from his very public convictions, bankruptcies, shafting of other businesses, etc., this is the core of his "character."

So I hope nothing but ill will for this cretin. And I say this noting that, as partisan as I am, I have never felt that any candidate running for this office has ever been as incompetent and ill-suited for this office as this POS. 

Get ready for the sh*t show world, it's gonna be a bumpy ride. Fortunately, I have family, friends and my comics work to distract me from dwelling too much on what’s going to happen in the coming years. But I don’t know what the hell has happened to this country.

Tintin Tribute – Rob Hanes Adventures #26

In the next issue of Rob Hanes Adventures (#26), Rob gets dragged into the billionaire space race when he’s sent on assignment to an orbiting space station under construction. More details to come!

However, while working on the story, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to pay homage to the classic Hergé Tintin cover for Destination Moon! (The booster rocket’s checkerboard pattern is a nod to the same pattern design on Tintin’s Moon Rocket.)

Several other classic comic strips also went into space—not sure yet whether I’ll reference any of the others, though the Dick Tracy Bucket Air Car is high on my list! 

[Pictured below: Dick Tracy strip excerpt from July 30, 1965, by Chester Gould; splash pages from the Spirit on the moon Sunday insert sequences from August 3 and August 31, 1952, story and art by Will Eisner, Jules Feiffer and Wally Wood.

Remembering Greg Hildebrandt

Great Signing at Pulp Fiction Culver City

More Capsule Reviews

Brooklyn

I’ve wanted to see this film, starring Saoirse Ronan, since its release in 2015. After I missed it in theaters, it never seemed to show up on one of my streamers (yes, I probably could have rented or purchased it digitally, of course). But recently, I happened to be on Max, looking for something to watch, and there it was.

My patience was rewarded—set in the 1950s, it’s a quiet but emotional and touching film, about a young woman who immigrates from Ireland to the U.S.—specifically, Brooklyn where she is aided by an Irish immigrant community—in search of opportunities for a better life. She meets a young man and marries, but briefly questions her decision when she returns to Ireland for a visit.

There is nothing earth shattering or deeply traumatic here—and though people have their foibles, most mean well—but it nevertheless is a wonderfully warm human drama about a young woman's immigrant experience.

Long Way Round

After recently seeing Ewan McGregor during his recent appearance at the L.A. Comic Con, I was inspired to watch the first season (from 2004) of his travelogue series, Long Way Round, where he motorbiked around the world with chum and fellow actor Charley Boorman, after the series came up during his panel conversation.

The series reminded me of a wonderful book, Lone Rider, by Elspeth Beard, that I read and reviewed here several years back, who undertook a similar journey, alone and much less heralded, as well as other excellent travelogue shows like Michael Palin’s journeys and even the original British television series, Top Gear, that frequently embarked on journeys to places both touristy and remote. 

It’s a fascinating series, partly because time is spent on the logistical planning for the trip. And there are some amazing moments, particularly as they traverse areas with literally no roads, sometimes with the help of random Russian truckers. 

I partly enjoy these shows because I’ve found them to be beneficial for the “globe trotting” aspects of my comics work, showing remote, nearly inaccessible places and first hand experiences that don’t come up in ordinary research, that sometimes even inspire my stories.

My Adventures with Superman (Max)

Finally finished the second season of My Adventures With Superman—thought it was terrific. When I went into the first season, I thought it was going to be an episodic villain-of-the-week series, but it turned out to be more ambitious than that with a season-long arc involving Superman learning about his Kryptonian/alien identity. Season 2 builds on that as Superman learns more about his roots, deals with the fears that the public (and government) have for him, and the show opens up into space and science fiction.

I don’t know whether season 2 was based on any of the recent comics, but frankly, I thought the story arc was impressive enough on both an emotional and thematic level to serve as the basis of a full-length live action Superman film, bringing in Supergirl, Brainiac and even touching on the existential threat AI potentially poses to civilization. 

Bad Monkey (AppleTV+)

This series has been a fun watch. Set in the Florida Keys, this black comedy crime drama features a diverse cast of characters, many with their own secrets, flaws and agendas, but all driven by a central mystery set up in the very opening scene involving a severed arm. Although the “mystery” of that arm is revealed early in the series, the twisty storyline never loses its momentum.

At the center of it is a demoted and suspended police detective, played by series’ lead Vince Vaughn, whose distinctive persona and improv chops serve to elevate and distinguish the character and the series. In some ways, Bad Monkey is a shaggy dog story that is as much about the journey and character arc of suspended police detective Andrew Yancy as the mystery—indeed, the final payback of the main villain, almost a deux ex machina ending, seems almost like an afterthought and could easily have felt like a bit of a cop out and unsatisfying, had the other loose ends had not been tied up so satisfyingly.

Jeeves and Wooster

I recently re-watched the British Jeeves and Wooster television series. My wife and I discovered the series when it first aired in the 1990s, which not only introduced us to the world of P.G. Wodehouse, but also made us fans of the series’ leads, Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry. Fry and Laurie were already known in Great Britain—particularly due to their comedy sketch show, A Bit of Fry and Laurie—but this series introduced them to American audiences. Indeed, we were so taken by the series, with both actors so perfectly cast, that we became fans and delighted in following their careers. 

Though the series ran four seasons of six episodes apiece, there were a few episodes I didn’t recall. Watching the series in their entirety made the reason fairly obvious—the PBS series didn’t air about three of the episodes, partly I’m sure due to the use of black face in some of the episodes (including the finale). Nevertheless, the series—capturing an era that  never really happened—remains a delightful and hilarious watch.

The Feminine Mystique 1

This is part of a series of posts about the characters, storylines and universe of Rob Hanes Adventures, under the label RHAUniverse… 

Here are a few of the women Rob has crossed paths with in the series (with more to come!)

First up is Tiffany Lance, reporter from Find Magazine whose pursuit of a story often takes priority over her personal safety, as well as, occasionally, her friendship with Rob. Though her reporting and his troubleshooting work often put them at odds, off the clock and on the road, they’re FWBs—and, as long as a story isn’t involved, the one person Rob can trust. 

First appearance: “The Assassin” (collected in The Rob Hanes Archives trade paperback), where Rob is hired to protect her from a hired killer but she mistakes him as the hitman. Most notably, she wrote a cover story about Rob for an issue of Find magazine (RHA #13). She’s slated to return in upcoming issue 26!

Caroline Cromwell (nee Wilde) is Rob’s unrequited crush—a spoiled heiress Rob met on one of his earliest assignments, who showed her true mettle when the chips were down. Though Rob eventually develops feelings for her, her family marries her off to crooked Anthony Cromwell, a narcissistic two-bit grifter from an otherwise prominent family, after they squandered her trust fund. Out of a misplaced sense of duty, she remains committed to the marriage and redeeming Cromwell. 

First appearance: Way back in Rob’s first published story, “Meet Rob Hanes,” collected in The Rob Hanes Archives. Usually appears whenever Cromwell pops up on Rob’s radar, involved in yet another criminal scheme. Fun fact—Caroline and her story arc were inspired by a similar love triangle involving the characters of Pat Ryan, Normandie Drake and Anthony Sandhurst in Milton Caniff’s Terry and the Pirates (in the RHA universe, Cromwell is Sandhurst’s grandson).

Lorelei Thornfield, niece to the two Lady Agathas, is yet another spoiled rich girl. Though her adventuresome aunts dote on Rob and often try to match her with Lorelei, she remains immune to Rob’s charms. 

Lorelei and her aunts first appeared in “The Two Lady Agathas,” also collected in The Rob Hanes Archives. They returned in “Death on the Moors” (RHA #7), a drawing room murder mystery. Most recently, she appeared solo in issue 23. Fun fact—Lorelei’s look was initially inspired by actress Mia Sara (Ferris Buehler’s Day Off). 

Still to come: Isabel Corbeil; Irina Taushina, Suzette French; Julianne Love, Katya Vilnius, and Madame Minx! 

Live from New York!

We saw the film, Saturday Night, over the weekend and thought it was terrific. 

Set in the 90 minutes leading up to the premiere of the very first episode of Saturday Night Live, the story is told with an energy and edginess that captures the chaos behind the scenes as an unproven producer, and a largely unknown new generation of performers and writers, prepare to bring a new comic sensibility to network television and the pop culture landscape. 

SNL debuted when I was 13 years old and I started watching it with that very first season. (Monty Python’s Flying Circus began airing on PBS in New York City around the same time, so I was at the perfect age to discover these shows.) 

Given my memories of SNL in its early days, it’s amazing to see the actors capture the essence of those original cast members, sometimes simply with a look or a line delivery that gave me deja vu—the entire cast is outstanding from top to bottom. Seeing the re-creation of bits from those early seasons, or the first inklings of classic skits backstage, also triggered my memories. 

The film viscerally conveys what was at stake for those involved in the show and how groundbreaking it was at the time. Producer Lorne Michaels' journey as he battles the old guard at the network and struggles to define the show forms the spine of the story, but the arcs and challenges of many of show's cast members are portrayed as well. The film ultimately ends with great energy, immediately segueing into a nifty end credits sequence—I was buzzing when we walked out of the theater! 

Saturday Night is also a solid film that stands on its own. While both my kids know and watch SNL, they’re 21st century babies and don’t know much about the history of the show. But they’ve seen Saturday Night with friends separately from us, and they and there friends were wowed. 

By the way, a great companion piece to this film is a season-by-season history of SNL being serialized at the Saturday Night Live Network YouTube Channel that we've been watching. Below is the first episode.

L.A. Comic-Con

Though I didn’t table at this year’s LA Comic Con, I received a pro badge and attended with two goals: To watch the premiere of the documentary on cartoonist and longtime friend/colleague Mike Vosburg and to catch actor Ewan McGregor on the main stage, both on Saturday. And mission accomplished!

The documentary, Recipe For Talent: A Visit With Mike Vosburg, produced by the Dads from the Crypt Podcast, is primarily a visit and interview with Mike at his home, where he shows off his impressive collection of art by cartoonists and illustrators he admires. (I’ve visited with Mike and it’s great to see the pieces up close.)  Though the documentary’s jumping off point is Mike’s work drawing the Tales from the Crypt comic book covers that appeared in the opening credits of each episode of the 1989–96 television series, it also covers his broader career, both in comics and particularly in Hollywood, as well as his influences, and his love of comics and films. Mike is a great storyteller, so the documentary is always engaging. (Mike won an Emmy working on the Spawn animated series, so you get to see that at the house as well!)

Ewan McGregor appeared at the convention’s main stage in the late afternoon. Although the convention center has meeting rooms that are used for programmed panels throughout the show, what I love about L.A. Comic Con’s guest appearances is that their main stage for big panels and interviews is simply on the convention floor—so no waiting in line or trying to get into a full room. As I posted last year, I saw Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Billy Boyd, and Dominic Monaghan together on stage celebrating the 20th anniversary of the completion of Lord of the Rings film adaptation trilogy, which was a great thrill.

McGregor was great fun, sitting down one on one with an interviewer. He has a great sense of humor but also gave thoughtful responses. While he he talked about and told funny anecdotes about working on Star Wars, his other work came up during the interview too, such as Trainspotting, Moulin Rouge and Down With Love (a personal favorite). Among other interesting tidbits:

• One of the greatest differences between the original prequels he first appeared in and the Obi Wan series he appeared in was the use of The Volume filmmaking process in place of traditional green screen—The Volume is a 360-degree immersive panel display that allows rendered 3D backgrounds to be projected in real time.
• 
  He still loves musicals and would do one if offered—there are just not that many that are made.
• Asked about his Apple+ travelogue series where he and companion Charley Boorman, have traveled immense distances on motorbike, he said it initially began because, after completing a movie, motorbiking was a way to decompress and get back into the groove of doing things himself, versus being catered to in all aspects of his life while shooting a film. (Due to this interview, I began watching the show!)
• He said he was surprised to find out how much he enjoyed talking and connecting with fans at conventions like the L.A. Comic Con. He hadn't done conventions until recently, with the release of the Obi Wan series. When he was first asked, he reluctantly agreed, not believing it would be his cup of tea. But once he did, he came to greatly enjoy it. (Actor Hayden Christianson also made an appearance at the show on Sunday, with both doing signings that day.)
• Asked what advice he had for young actors, he mentioned that they should become familiar with older films. In follow up, he was asked what films and actors he enjoyed—he mentioned Jimmy Stewart and '70s films, and personal favorites like The Great Escape. 

McGregor was great interacting with the audience. I even got in on it—when talking about actors and films he admired, he spoke at length about the 1979 film, Breaking Away, and proceeded to tell much of the plot. At one point, he forgot the state the movie takes place in, so I yelled out, “Indiana!” which he immediately picked up and repeated lol. (I would have remembered this anyway, but I also visited the city where it was shot—Bloomington, where Indiana University is located—for a friend’s wedding in the ‘90s.) 

While there, I also saw a bunch of friends exhibiting, many of whom you’ll see among the photos. This included Craig Miller, Barbra Dillon, Javiar Hernandez and Tone Rodriguez.

Click here to see the full photogallery.

Comics at Amoeba

Batman in Hollywood

Rogues Gallery 1

This is the second in a series of posts about the characters, storylines and universe of Rob Hanes Adventures.

Your hero is only as good as your villain and with 25 issues (and change) under my belt, there have been some memorable vilains over the years, both big and small…

Chief among Rob’s antagonists is the shadowy international crime lord, the boss of crime bosses, Nicolai Korda. Of no known state or origin, Korda is a mysterious figure who only works from the shadows…

Introduced in “New World Order” (collected in volume 0 of the Rob Hanes Adventures trade paperback collection), Rob did not learn of his identity until “Hostile Takeover” (available in the same collection). Since then, Rob has encountered Korda in Hong Kong (“Image is Everything” in RHA #3), North Korea (“Rob Hanes and the Pirates”/RHA #11), and most recently on the high seas in RHA #23 (“The Taking of the Peregrin”).

Their most offbeat face-off occurred in “Crime Takes a Holiday” (RHA #13), when Rob, while on vacation in the South of France, runs into Korda and suspects him and his henchmen of some nefarious plot…but to say more would be a spoiler, so I’ll keep it at that!

And wherever Korda is, his capo and right hand man, Clemson, is not far behind. Pasty skinned with bleached white hair accented by a black streak, he is perpetually behind a pair of wraparound shades. Though he is always seen at Korda’s side and doing his bidding, on one occasion he broke with Korda to surreptitiously give Rob a lead to help bring into custody a corrupt nuclear scientist attempting to sell nuclear secrets to rogue states (“The Hunt for Octavius Jebru/RHA #6).

Stay tuned for more!

Re-visiting Three Days of the Fanboy

Here’s a blast from the past that I came across on a friend's Facebook page, unloading a (rare?) Rob Hanes audio adventure released on cassette in 1994. 

Performed as a classic radio show, it was the brainchild of college buddy Bob Westal, who wrote and directed this audio comedy-drama that was recorded at a tiny home-based recording studio in North Hollywood. It’s a completely tongue-in-cheek audio adventure, involving Rob being hired to protect a rare comic book and going down the rabbit hole of high stakes comic-book collecting!

It’s a bit dated (Paul Tsongas anyone?), but perhaps its main claim to fame is that it led one of the principal players of the “WCG Mystery Theatre Players”—Scott Brick—to a successful career as an award-winning, hall of fame audiobook narrator. As well as being a talented actor, Scott is a huge fan of old time radio (as well as comics), so this gig was right up his alley and he really sets the tone. I should add that Scott is a friend from college, as are Bob and the other members of the “WCG Mystery Theatre Players” who appeared in the show, including Terry Delegeane.

Though I later converted the master recording into digital format and made it available on CD (burning copies as needed), it’s now available for streaming free on YouTube (link below). Though it’s solely audio, I did add opening titles at the beginning and a full end credit sequence in the last couple of minutes. Accompanying this post are photos from the recording session.