Star-Lord (Marvel Comics Super Special No. 10)

'Star-Lord'

Marvel Super Special No. 10

Winter, 1979

 

The 'Marvel Comics Super Special' comic magazines ran for 41 issues, from September, 1977 (the famous 'Kiss' issue, allegedly using the band members' own blood in the printing process) to November, 1986. The Super Specials were one-shots, designed to be on newsstands for several months in duration, and intended to capitalize on newly released feature films. They also showcased newer comics franchises that Marvel was intent on promoting (such as the Pini's 'Elfquest').

 

By the start of 1979, with its willingness to promote 'adult' content and its use of process color on 'slick' paper stock, Heavy Metal magazine had thoroughly revolutionized comic book and graphic art publishing in the US. 

 

Marvel's editors were well aware that HM had captured a large segment of the comic book demographic, and were anxious to try and recapture that demographic. This was not an easy thing to do; for all the attention given to properties like the Chris Claremont X-Men franchise, compared to HM, Marvel's publications seemed staid and pedestrian.

 

Thus it was that late in 1978 / early 1979, Marvel issued a 'Star Lord' Super Special, reviving a character first introduced in 1976 in an issue of Marvel Preview. Marvel editor Rick Marschall, in his introduction to the Star-Lord story (titled 'World in a Bottle') clearly was messaging to the HM readership, boasting that the issue was a 'landmark,' offering '.....mature art, color as has never been seen in American comics.'

Unfortunately for Marschall, 'World in a Bottle' is hampered by virtue of being composed by Marvel's house writer Doug Moench. 

 

His script has the gauche, awkward quality of an adolescent struggling to generate content for an audience of adults. The script relies on a frantic, overloaded presentation of sci-fi cliches combined with overwrought narration. A pneumatic blonde chick named Aletha is provided to demonstrate the book's 'mature' sensibility, and for Fanboy Titillation Purposes.

 

The artwork, by Marvel veterans Gene 'The Dean' Colon and Tom Palmer, does as much as can be done in trying to leverage the best from standard CMYK printing. But this simply can't compete with the process color used in HM.

 

The backup story, 'To Sleep, Perchance to Die,' is written by Marc Darcy. It's another cliche-heavy storyline that falls short of the level of sophistication seen in HM.

'To Sleep' does feature some good artwork by Ernie Colon. But the coloration has a dated quality that fails to impress.

This issue of the Super Special closes with a two-page text essay by comics historian Maurice Horn: 'SF in Animation.' I can't say it's a topic that's all that exciting to me, but as always, Horn demonstrates his knowledge of pop culture, at a time when there was no such thing as looking stuff up on the internet..........

While Marvel should get some kind of recognition for trying to advance the caliber of its comic books magazines / Curtis publishing imprint with 'Star-Lord,' the fact is that the company needed something better if it was to favorably compare to HM. And that of course led to the release of the first issue of Epic Illustrated in 1980. 

Is 'Star-Lord' worth getting ? In my opinion, no. Even fanboys of the modern-day 'Guardians of the Galaxy' franchise likely won't find much to get excited about with this issue of the Super Special. 

Revisiting the Repo Man soundtrack

 

Last year was the 50th anniversary of the release of the film Repo Man, a great depiction of the New Wave / punk culture of the 1980s, and one of my favorite comedies.

 

To commemorate the anniversary, the free weekly tabloid Phoenix New Times had an interesting article on how the soundtrack for the film was assembled. 

 

The article features observations from the director, Alex Cox, and actor Dick Rude (who played 'Duke'). 

 

According to Cox,

 

Universal hated the film and didn’t want to release it, but their parent company was MCA, and when the [soundtrack] started selling well, the head of MCA Records called his opposite number at Universal and enquired, in menacing tones, ‘Is there a movie which goes with this?'” he says.   

If you are a Repo Man fan, the article is well worth reading !

 

And the soundtrack can be listened to here.

Book Review: Dance of the Dwarfs by Geoffrey Household

  

Book Review: 'Dance of the Dwarfs' by Geoffrey Household

 

 

4 / 5 Stars

‘Dance of the Dwarfs’ first was published in the UK in 1968; this Penguin Books paperback edition (257 pp.) was issued in August, 1979. It was one of more than 20 novels written by the UK author Geoffrey Household (1900 – 1988). Most of Household's fiction was in the suspense and spy thriller genres, but a few titles ventured into science fiction and horror. 

According to IMDB, a low-budget 1983 film, shot in the Philippines, titled Jungle Heat, starring Peter Fonda and Deborah Raffin, loosely was based on Household's book. The reviews of the film are not complimentary (".....this puddle of cinematic up-chuck.....").

'Dwarfs' is set in Colombia in 1966. It opens with a Preface regarding the death of Dr Owen Dawnay, a British agronomist who ran an experiment station in a remote region of the country. While his death reportedly occurred at the hands of Marxist guerillas of the Colombian National Liberation Army, his diary has been recovered from the ruins of his home, and this diary sheds a different light on his demise. The novel then launches as a first-person narrative derived from Dawnay’s diary entries.

Dawnay is revealed in his unfolding entries to be something of an eccentric ‘Mad Dogs and Englishmen’ character, with a keen interest in the ecology and fauna of the great South American tropics that lie within a day’s ride of his estancia. It is on one of his excursions into the jungle that Dawnay spies something very intriguing: bobbing up and down among the foliage are what appear to be ‘dwarfs.’

The area cattlemen, and Dawnay's Colombian mistress, are adamant that venturing into the jungle, even in the daytime, is taboo:

 

Now that we understand each other, promise me you will never go to the trees !

 

And when it comes to the 'dwarfs,' or duende,

 

It is forbidden to speak of them.

 

Despite these warnings, Dawnay is fixated with determining what sort of entity the ‘dwarfs’ are, and in so doing, puts himself into great danger. 

I won't disclose any spoilers, but I will say that ‘Dwarfs’ is an interesting mix of adventure and horror story. I found the novel to be slowly paced at its outset, but as you get further into the narrative, the plot gets more and more engrossing. Author Household does a capable job of positioning the reader as an over-the-shoulder companion to Dawnay's forays into the strange and unsettling immensity of the Colombian landscape, a landscape that is as much a character in the novel as the human participants.

 

(I do caution those who might be interested in reading 'Dwarfs' to be wary of other online reviews, as these give the plot away.)

When The Cars met Styx

 

This will draw blank looks from those under 55, but.........

Starting in the summer of 1978, The Cars began a nationwide tour in support of their debut album. One of the acts they opened for was Styx. According to 'The Cars: Let the Stories Be Told,' by Bill Janovitz (p. 160, Da Capo, October 2025),

They liked the guys in Foreigner, but Styx, not so much. “They were such assholes,” David says, laughing. "There were a couple of times I tried to say hello to them, and they just didn’t even want to say hello to me. We’re in a hallway, and I don’t know, they’re waiting to go on. We say, ‘Hey, how are you guys doing ?’ They completely ignored us ! And Elliot goes, [cartoonish voice] ‘Oh, nice to meet you !’ Then, as we observed them on the tour, they were just wimpy guys. They weren’t cool at all. I didn’t like their music either, but still. So we made fun of ‘em after that, especially Elliot. They were meek.”

Ric said, “I can’t fuckin’ handle [Styx]. All we did for two weeks after that was to sing to each other in fake-operatic voices.”

How can you not love The Cars even more after hearing this.......!

Book Review: Forbidden Acts edited by Nancy A. Collins and Edward E. Kramer

Book Review: 'Forbidden Acts' edited by Nancy A. Collins and Edward E. Kramer

5 / 5 Stars

'Forbidden Acts' (390 pp.) was published by Avon Books in October, 1995. This was a time when there still was momentum (as a publishing phenomenon) to the Paperbacks from Hell, especially for all-original story anthologies like this one.

The contributors to 'Forbidden Acts' include old splatterpunk hands like John Shirley, Philip Nutman, Nancy A. Collins, and Rex Miller, and more traditional horror authors, such as Karl Edward Wagner, Christopher Golden, and Douglas E. Winter. There are a bunch of newer authors, too, so you could say that 'Forbidden' has a good representation of both established and new talent.

Interestingly, 'Forbidden' stays well away from the splatterpunk label, preferring to present itself as a collection of tales focused on 'erotic' horror. Readers should expect content that is more or less pornographic, with a Special Sauce of bloodletting and degradation.........

My capsule summaries of the contents:

Introduction, by Joe Bob Briggs: it seems inevitable that Briggs - the good ole boy alter-ego of Nice Jewish Boy John Irving Bloom - should provide an Introduction to at least one Paperback from Hell, as by '95 he had cemented his position as an influencer for lowbrow pop culture. The problem with his Introduction is that in summarizing the stories, Briggs gives away spoilers. A bad move, on his part ! 

Light of Thy Countenance, by Alan Moore: by '95 Moore was enjoying considerable fame in literary circles as a comic book writer, and he was getting invitations to contribute to anthologies like this one. Unfortunately, instead of crafting a well-organized short story, Moore elects to give us an 18- page, run-on, stream-of-consciousness prose poem about how TV is the Deity of Modern Man. Yep, it's truly as bad as it sounds........why Collins and Kramer included this entry is beyond me. Maybe they were trying to be nice ?

The Contract, by Brian Herbert and Marie Landis: by the mid-1990s Brian Herbert was riding high on his rote commercializations of his late father's 'Dune' franchise. Here, he teams up with cousin Marie Landis. 'Contract' is about a Federation agent whose investigation of the status of a long-lost Terran settlement leads to fraternization with an attractive female colonist. It's a decent enough story. 

Blood Knot, by Steve Rasnic Tem: the first-person narrator has three daughters who may, or may not, be vampires. Or serial killers. Or..... it may just be all in daddy's imagination ! A standard-issue 'weird horror' tale from Tem, a tale that's too oblique to be successful.

Interrogator Frames, by Rob Hardin: following her time as the subject of decidedly unethical and immoral experiments, Rachel has become the sort of girl who really, really likes pain incorporated into her erotic activities. Can she find a boyfriend with the same proclivities ?

The Real World, by Brooks Caruthers: dissipated slacker Barry has a vivid hallucination about Hell; it's a place where the same group of hipsters perpetually are going to one party after another. And waking with bad hangovers. Or...... is it really a hallucination ? This story was overwritten and underwhelming.

Choke Hold, by Lucy Taylor: Angelo is a loathsome little punk who indulges in autoerotic asphyxiation. Needless to say, this story is not going to have a happy ending. It does have an undertone of snide humor that I found very appealing. One of the better entries in the anthology !

Blackpool Rock, by Philip Nutman: Darren Franks, an American who earns a living as an Elvis Impersonator, has a gig in the down-at-heels UK resort town of Blackpool. Darren doesn't like Blackpool very much, but things get even worse when he's kidnapped. 

Nutman is in good form here, with a well-plotted tale that mixes sarcastic humor with affection for the ramshackle outposts of British culture. Although it has little if any 'erotic' content and no splat, it's another of the better entries in the anthology.

Forgotten Promises, by Edward E. Kramer: teens get revenge on a malevolent teacher. This story's plot twist likely would ruffle political feathers, nowadays...........

Coming of Age, by Douglas Clegg: Scooter and Joe reminisce over the fun time they had as boys, back in 1960. Rather, Joe thought it was a fun time. And Joe now is in a 'special' hospital.......author Clegg obviously intended this story to be an exercise in pathos, but I detected a note of subversive humor. But maybe I'm just an uncaring and un-empathetic person..........

High Heels from Hell, by Mike Lee: the kids from the Smashing Pumpkins song 1979 engage in acts of sex and violence in the punk rock milieu of Austin, Texas. An interesting premise, undone by overwriting and rather thin plotting.

The Energy Pals, by Howard Kaylan: Kaylan, who is best known as a member of the 1960s pop band The Turtles, shows he can deliver a humorous story; in this case, a takeoff on the 'Power Rangers' craze of the 1990s. Good stuff !

The Agony Man, by Ron Webb: unconvincing tale of an art fart who likes to sculpt pieces depicting alienated girls, particularly alienated girls with a fondness for S & M.

Brainchild, by Rex Miller: in the first two pages of this story, a crack addict gives birth to a baby so horribly deformed that the doctors and nurses attending the birth spontaneously vomit and faint. Now, that's splat ! 

I laughed out loud at Miller's rub-it-in-your face attitude. The eponymous Brainchild is a homage to M.O.D.O.K. from Marvel comics. Miller asks the question: what happens when a man with a powerful intellect, trapped in a malformed body, gets horny.....?!  Another great entry in 'Forbidden Acts.'

Furies in Black Leather, by Nancy A. Collins: decadent excitement awaits Rolf at the hands of Mistress Alexis. And some splatterpunk, too !

You Hear What Buddy and Ray Did ?, by John Shirley: two thugz stage an orgy in a wealthy man's house; things do not end well. Definitive splatterpunk, no apologies or excuses.

Playing Dolls, by Melissa Mia Hall and Douglas E. Winter: fifteen year-old Laurie is a snotty teen who likes to torment her parents. And what better way to do so, then having sex with her boyfriend Chad while the parents are out of the house ? This story is too dumb to be very rewarding.

Facets of Solitaire, by Christopher Golden: in a particularly hellish version of New York City, a woman named Erika Raven has the abilities and attitude of the She-Hulk. Which can mean trouble for a drug-dealer named Morgan...........

The Picture of Jonathan Collins, by Karl Edward Wagner: Mr. Collins believes he may be immortal. Discovering the truth means subjecting himself to use and abuse (I mean the 'biting the pillow' kind).

This story, one of the last Wagner wrote, is unabashed gay porn. It's not something he and his friends and supporters liked to talk about publicly, but Wagner apparently supplemented his income by writing porn / sleaze novels. Whether he was as prolific as his contemporary Andrew J. Offutt, is unclear.............

Happy Couple, by Danielle Willis: the 'happy couple' are Elizabeth and Miranda, who live in junkie squalor. The physical degradation of drug addiction is well-communicated. 

Author Willis also published a 1996 short story, 'Tiffany's Shitty Night.' The title alone makes it a great story. If you've read 'Tiffany's' (it was included in a 1996 anthology titled 'Noirotica') let me know what you thought of it !

Mysterious Elisions, Riotous Thrusts, by Kathe Koja and Barry N. Malzberg: Koja was a major figure in the weird horror movement that first flowered during the Paperbacks from Hell era. In this tale, a divorced woman's ex-husband comes calling, in the morphology of something very unpleasant. As often is the case with weird horror, the prose is overly figurative, and whether things are 'real' or not, is subjective. Still, 'Mysterious' has a kind of warped appeal.......

Stations of the Cross, by David Aaron Clark:  It's bad enough that Mistress Medusa has to work on Christmas Eve, but the day's visitor to the squalid 'dungeon' has an unsettling quality about him. This story is a dud; it's a plotless exercise in pornography, with splatterpunk touches intended to let the reader know that author Clark is a Transgressive Artiste.

Summing up, it's the contributions from Taylor, Nutman, Kaylan, Clegg, Miller, and Shirley that led me to grant 'Forbidden Acts' a Five-Star Rating. It can't be coincidence that these stories are infused with warped humor, and don't take themselves too seriously. I mean, at a certain point, being over-the-top edges (knowingly or unknowingly) into parody, and the best authors know how to handle things, and maintain their poise, when this ensues.  

For a different take on some of the contents of 'Forbidden Acts,' readers are directed to the M. Porcius Blog, although be warned, there are spoilers.

At the library sale October 2025

At the Library Sale

October 2025

Earlier in October it once again was time for the yearly library sale, held down the road in Charlottesville. As is traditional, I attended the first day of the sale, which is 'members only.' There was quite a crowd, as the book sale has become well-known to area residents, and Dealers.

 

Over the years, the Dealers have emerged as something of a problem. The book sale staff post rules and regulations for the Dealers to follow......

On the first day of the sale, Dealers are prohibited from bringing in smartphones and scanning titles to see their resell value. This means that the Dealers must 'guesstimate' the value of a book. So, they aggressively grab boxes of books, purchase them, and then stagger out to the parking lot where they sit in their cars, pull out their smartphones, scan their inventory, and see if they can make their margin.
 

It takes skill and commitment to stand elbow-to-elbow with the Dealers and thrust out an arm to grab a promising title, before they vacuum it up..........

Along with books, the sale also features a healthy selection of vinyl and CDs, puzzles, and board games. Poking around the LPs yields some pop culture strangeness......
 

Along with the hardbacks and paperbacks in the sci-fi section.........

............without fail, you can find some L. Ron Hubbard novels. These never seem to get picked up......
 

So, I was able to come away with some nice hardbacks and paperbacks, including some older Stephen King stuff:

This, all for $30. You never know just what you'll find, at the Library Sale.......!

Trick or Treat from the Journal of Luke Kirby

'Trick or Treat'

from the Journal of Luke Kirby

2000 A.D. Annual, 1994

The character of Luke Kirby debuted in 2000 A.D. comics, in the April 23, 1988 issue ('Prog' No. 571). The story was set in the UK in 1962, when Luke is a schoolboy, sent to live for the summer with his Uncle Elias, in the seemingly pastoral and peaceful countryside.

 

Luke discovers that his family lineage features more than a few wizards and warlocks, and in due course, is introduced to the basics of magic (and by extension, the supernatural).

 

One of the more engaging Luke Kirby stories first appeared in the 1994 2000 A.D. Annual, and features a script by Alan McKenzie, and art by John Ridgway. It represents the Luke Kirby franchise's attitude towards the intersection of the 'modern' world, with the hidden world of the occult.

 

 

 

 

Book Review: Damon by C. Terry Cline, Jr.

Book Review: 'Damon' by C. Terry Cline, Jr.

1 / 5 Stars

 

'Damon' first was published in 1975 by G. P. Putnam's Sons. Fawcett Crest issued this mass-market paperback edition in 1975.

 

The premise of 'Damon' is simple: a four year-old boy is a Bad Seed. The novel documents his transgressions, along with efforts by his caretakers to determine if the boy's behaviors are of pathological, or supernatural, origin.

 

In the novel's opening passages we are introduced to Damon Daniels, the only child of high-achieving parents Melba and Edward. Damon's family lives in a nice home in a rural area outside Decatur, Georgia. We learn that Damon has a high IQ, along with some peculiar traits: he can read minds, and he can cause rose bushes to wither and die with a simple gesture. His parents, dumbfounded by their son's behavior, consult with eminent psychiatrist Kyle Burnette. 

 

Burnette subjects the rather truculent Damon to a variety of physiological and psychological tests and assays. These reveal a 'hormonal imbalance,' a condition which may explain the boy's predisposition to certain shocking behaviors. Burnette observes that Damon regularly lapses into catatonia, during which he displays the voice and mannerisms of adult male, in particular, an aggressive, sex-obsessed, and malevolent male.

 

Is this a case of demonic possession, a la 'The Exorcist' ? Author Cline surely was aware that he was treading on well-known fictional ground by proceeding in such a direction. Accordingly, the narrative in 'Damon' distances itself from 'Exorcist' territory by evading the supernatural, and instead dithering through clinical and diagnostic activities. These are related with a pedantic attitude, much in the manner of a Michael Crichton novel. 

Interspersed with the medical discourses and lengthy conversations between Damon and his psychiatrist, are episodes in which Damon Behaves Badly. Even by the relaxed, 'groovy' sensibility of the 70s, these have a disturbing quality and plainly are designed by author Cline to emulate, and even surpass the transgressive sensibilities of 'The Exorcist.' Indeed, I doubt any modern-day publisher would agree to publish 'Damon' unless some of the content is removed. As the back cover blurb, attributed to Publisher's Weekly, states: 

If The Exorcist contained its fair share of shocks, sexual and supernatural, Damon outdoes it.

   

By the final fourth of 'Damon,' even the titillation of shapely Nurse Betty Biting the Pillow starts to pall, and boredom sets in. I anticipated that author Cline would have a contrived, underwhelming denouement in store. Without disclosing spoilers, that is exactly what the novel delivers ! The denouement is dumb.

 

Is 'Damon' a must-have for collectors of Paperbacks from Hell ? Decidedly, no. Its one of those novels where its transgressive qualities only can ropel the narrative so far, for so long, before the plotting stalls and sputters. It's a One-Star novel.

 

For another review of the book (contains spoilers) from another underwhelmed reader, I direct readers to the Trash Fiction Champion blog.