Saturday Morning Ad for ABC 1971

Here is an ad that was shown to tell kids what to expect on ABC on Saturday Mornings.

Showcase Presents Aquaman

Well I have just about finished reading Showcase presents Aquaman. I have always liked Aquaman. However, for my generation he was always used if you only needed to communicate to fish. If no fish were around then he was useless. These stories were first published before my time so it was fun to read them for the first time. The stories were educational and adventurious. I never knew that giant puffer fish floated upside down on the surface of the water. Aquaman and Aqualad could get those fish to do some amazing things like having the electric eels to attach to the ignition of a boat and lime up so the can shock the crook to drop his gun and not shoot a person. The favorite of mine was Topo one of Aquamans pet Octopi. With the big soulful eyes that Nick Cardy gave him you could not say no to him. If Aquaman had his own cartoon today Topo would be a high selling action figure.
Whenever I read any stories that Aquaman was in with any of the JLA he just seemed to be there. They tried to give him more to work with by having him take hard water and throw it at the crooks but that was later and not in any of these stories. While many of the stories had him fighting monsters from the deep and a few from deep space my favorites are the slice of life stories. They usually had Aquaman befriending a lighthouse keeper or helping an honest politican of local seaside town get elected so he can run the crime boss out. These I am sure are the stories that helped him get the reputation of being a good neighbor that has stayed with him till a few years ago. At that time they had him loose one of his hands and grow a beard. He came off as being angry and in need of mental and emotional help. That is not the way I want to see Aruther Curry. This book shows how to portray him. I hope anyone who handles his new adventures gets him back to his roots.
Now to put in an unabashed plug (as opposed to an abashed plug.) If you like DC superheros then you may want to read about Black Lightning. You can find out more about him and the books and merchandise that is available on him by going to Black Lightning Limited. It is a sister site to this one here. Check it out and I hope you like what you see. Maybe one day DC will see they have enough pages with his first 2 series and the many backup and team up stories that they can put out a 500 page Showcase of his adventures. I think it should be put out now as it would be a great introduction to the new mini-series they have coming out.

Filmation's Green Lantern

Captain America Dead!!! I Don't Believe It.

I really don't believe it. With issue #333 of Captain America they tried to replace him with Super Patriot and we know how well that went over. DC Comics killed off Superman and a few months later he was back. It turned out that was a publicity stunt and this will too. Steve Rogers always has been and always will be Captain America. The hero is more then just the uniform. Marvel I think just wanted to get headlines in the papers and they got them. This time next year Steve Rogers will be Captain America again.

Plastic Man Ad

This Day in Music History: Olivia Newton-John and Have You Never Been Mellow

On March 8, 1975 Olivia Newton John had the #1 song in the country with “Have You Never Been Mellow.” Many of her early hits started out on the country charts and she seemed to be on her way to becoming a big country artist. This was a surprise to Olivia. “Appalachia? I’ve never heard of it. I sing easy listening, middle of the road music…I sing new songs, old songs, country songs. I didn’t think I would be considered a country singer. I was hoping for a hit record, no matter what it was.” This is what she was telling interviewers back then. It was quotes like this that angered some members of the Country Music Association who had just voted her the 1974 Female Vocalist of the Year over Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton, Tammy Wynette and Tanya Tucker. Johnny Paycheck said “We don’t want someone out of another field coming in and taking away what we’ve worked so hard for.” He and some others left the CMA over this to form the Association of Country Entertainers.
This upset Olivia but she continued on by opening shows for Charlie Rich and playing livestock and rodeo shows. It was later that she concluded she was really a scapegoat. Dolly Parton told Olivia that the press blew the whole thing out of proportion.
Her next album really started out as a single. She was going to Nashville to record 4 songs and one of them would be the single. However, on the way she and her producer found 3 more great songs and the single turned into the album ‘Don’t Stop Believin.’ The title track was the single and a top 40 hit. The album was her 6th gold record.
Olivia had wanted to do a TV special and ABC helped make the dream come true. When she had one broadcast on November 17, 1976. She had lots of singing and dancing and her guest were big stars of the day such as Elliot Gould, Lee Majors, Rona Barrett, Ron Howard, Tom Bosley and Lynda Carter.

Click on the video below and see her preform the song live back in the 70's.

The Voices of Marvel circa 1965

Take a look at this if you want to see the faces of those behind the 1960's Marvel Comics. You can see and hear Dick Ayers, Wally Wood, Don Heck etc. Also, you can see Steve Ditko but not hear him.

Mark Evanier on Jack Kirby

Here is one for all the Jack Kirby fans out there.

Justice League Promo

Great promo for a Justice League movie that will never be.

This Day In Music History: Barbra Streisand and Love Theme From 'A Star Is Born' (Evergreen)

On this day in music history March 5, 1977 Barbra Streisand had the #1 one in the country with Love Theme from ‘A Star Is Born’ (Evergreen). It was at the top of the charts for 3 weeks. Barbra co-wrote the song with Paul Williams but it had a rough beginning. She was getting a little depressed as many singers had started writing their own songs and all she did was sing. One day Jon Peters, one of the films producers, found her crying about it and he told her that if she put her mind to it she could write a song. At the time Barbra was taking guitar lessons so she could play the guitar in the film. She was getting bored and started fooling around with the chords. What came out eventually became the song for the movie. So Evergreen was, as Barbra put it, born out of absolute impatience.
The movie was even harder to make. It was the third time this story had been told. The e second time with James Mason and Judy Garland was so well thought of that many didn’t think it should be filmed a third time. Fights on the set and over the script added fuel to the fire. Barbra and Jon Peters pressed on with their version of the story.
Whereas Mason and Garland’s story took place in the movie industry, Kristofferson and Streisand’s story was in the music industry. Kris Kristofferson is a rock star on the way down and Barbra Streisand is a rock star on the way up. A concert scene was filmed on a very hot day at a real Peter Frampton concert. After doing many takes and several hours in the sun the over 70’000 crowd of people were getting very hot. They started asking for the film production to stop.
Barbra calmed them down and preformed her songs “People” and “The Way We Were.” Then she told them “Now I’ll sing a song for you that I wrote myself. I hope you’ll like it.” Uneasily she launched into the world premiere of the song “Evergreen.” The crowd gave their approval of the song and boosted her confidence. She told them “I’m glad you like it because that’s the first time I ever sang that song in front of people.”
At Oscar time the film was snubbed in almost every category. It was only nominated for best song. The Grammys were kinder. The song won the award for Song of the Year and Barbra won for Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Female.

You can click on the video above and see Barbra and Kris sing the song from a scene in the movie.

Things Kids Teach You Even Though You Would Rather Not Know

A king size waterbed holds enough water to fill a 2000 sq. foot house 4 inches deep.
If you spray hair spray on dust bunnies and run over them with roller blades, they can ignite.
A 3 year old's voice is louder than 200 adults in a crowded restaurant.
If you hook a dog leash over a ceiling fan, the motor is not strong enough to rotate a 42 pound boy wearing Batman underwear and a superman cape. It is strong enough, however, to spread paint on all four walls of a 20 by 20 foot room.
You should not throw baseballs up when the ceiling fan is on.
When using the ceiling fan as a bat, you have to throw the ball up a few times before you get a hit.
A ceiling fan can hit a baseball a long way.
The glass in windows (even double pane) doesn't stop a baseball hit by a ceiling fan.
When you hear the toilet flush and the words "Uh-oh", it's already too late.
Brake fluid mixed with Clorox makes smoke, and lots of it.
A six year old can start a fire with a flint rock even though a 36 year old man says they can only do it in the movies.
A magnifying glass can start fire even on an overcast day.
Certain Lego's will pass through the digestive tract of a four year old.
Play Dough and Microwave should never be used in the same sentence.
Super glue is forever.
No matter how much Jell-O you put in a swimming pool you still can't walk on water.
Pool filters do not like Jell-O.
VCR's do not eject PB&J sandwiches even though TV commercials show they do.
Garbage bags do not make good parachutes.
Marbles in gas tanks make lots of noise when driving.
You probably do not want to know what that odor is.
Always look in the oven before you turn it on. Plastic toys do not like ovens.
The fire department has a 5 minute response time.

Spider-Man Opening

Here is show that I hope comes to DVD soon. Maybe it will with the release of the movie Spider-Man 3!