The Ghost of Gargantua

A trailer for Wild Bill Black's "The Ghost of Gargantua" is now on-line. "Ghost of Gargantua" is the sequel to Bill's ever-popular "The Amazing Colossal Woman." Long-time ZONErs may remember this post where I talked about filming that was going to take place at one of Tim Gordon's Tampa Cons. It did and much of it appears in the trailer below.

Here's some trivia before you watch:

* The screaming crowd scenes were filmed on August 20, 2006 using fans in attendance at Tim Gordon's con.

* At 2:09 in the trailer there is a close-up reaction shot of "The James" Howell. If you look closely at the collar of his shirt, you'll notice its red. The red was from fake blood. Earlier in the day, we had shot a scene of "The James" being attacked by a vampire in a hotel room. That scene will appear in a future Bill Black release.

* You may recognize the four mugs featured in the trailer and pictured below: starting at the top and going clockwise - 1] "The James" Howell - comic book and art collector, writer and director and all around great guy 2] me 3] John "The Master" Higashi - comic art collector, master of sketches, leader of the pack 4] John "Big" Beatty - comic book artist, king of nonsense, and my oldest friend [although not as old as Jim Ivey or Bill Black].

* John Beatty is wearing a patch in the trailer. It's a running gag that his character, "Patch," shows up in several of Bill's movies. This is his second appearance with a third soon to follow!

* John Higashi gets a close-up in the trailer where he yells "Godzilla." It was totally ad-libbed and brought down the house.

So sit down, relax, let your mind take you back to the days of drive-ins, Nightmare Theater and watch the trailer for "The Ghost of Gargantua!"

Wow! Bill Black!

Wow!

I've known "Wild" Bill Black for over 25 years and that's the first word that comes to mind when I think of him. Bill is one of those rare individuals who has a real enthusiasm for the things in life that he likes. And Bill likes a lot of things. Good Girl Art, Comics, Horror Movies, Old Time Westerns, Old Time Science Fiction Movies, and more. You know, the really cool things in life.

Not only does Bill enjoy all of these things but he takes an active part in them as well. Bill has made horror movies, worked as an artist for Charlton, Warren and Marvel, run conventions for the subjects he loves and more. But Bill is best known as the founder of AC Comics, the longest running "Independent Comic" company going today. AC Comics focuses on good girl art and westerns but that's not all that they do.

I just spent over an hour previewing the CD-ROM pictured to the left. It's packed with hours of material (over 1,000 "pages" and around 6,000 pictures)! I've known Bill for over 25 years and was learning stuff I never knew! If you enjoy the stuff that Bill does (and who doesn't?), then check out the CD! After you get a look at it I know that you'll say:

"Wow!"

The Black Sleep

Last night I was in the mood for an old-time horror movie. But what to watch? How about one starring Basil [Sherlock Holmes] Rathbone [as the mad scientist], Lon [The Wolfman] Chaney, Jr. [as one of the monsters], Bela [Dracula] Lugosi [as Rathbone's assistant], John [Dracula] Carradine [as a madman] and Tor ["Plan 9 from Outer Space] Johnson [as another monster]? Yep, "The Black Sleep" fit the bill perfectly!

What, you've never heard of "The Black Sleep"? I wouldn't be surprised. Unless you're a real aficionado of the horror genre, you probably haven't. I guess that's what makes it a cult film. The sad thing is, "The Black Sleep" is one of the better low-budget 50's horror films. So let's take a look at it...

The Pitch: "Frankenstein" meets "The Island of Doctor Moreau." A mad scientist [Rathbone] frames a former student [Herbert Rudley] for murder and then helps him escape the gallows. In return Rudley must help Rathbone with his evil experiments which turn his subjects into monsters.

The Good: The movie is introduced by Lon Madnight! Having Lugosi [in his final role] along with Chaney, Carradine, Johnson and Rathbone sharing screen-time is a hoot for any horror fan. Akim Tamiroff as Odo the Gypsy steals every scene he's in. The screenplay is more complex than most of the genre -- we have the mad scientist performing evil experiments, but he does so in hopes of learning a way to save his dying wife -- we have a framed hero who must solve a murder mystery in order to clear his name -- we have monsters chained in hidden cells below the castle, but they are victims of Rathbone's experiments -- at the same time the police are following leads leading to... a great climax with the monsters breaking free just as... ah, but that would be giving it away! [Be sure to keep watching after "The End" credit appears -- there's an added bonus!]

The Bad: What the experiments do to the subjects! Poor Bela is regulated to the role of a mute assistant -- he was in terrible health in his final days. The hero's name is Gordon Ramsay [and yes, it reminded me of him.]

The Ugly: Tor Johnson, Lon Chaney and the rest of the monsters! Also there's a great scare with a beautiful girl who's suddenly revealed to be one of the monsters!

In Summary: "The Black Sleep" is a welcome addition to any horror fan's library. The transfer is crisp and clean with excellent sound. The disc also includes trailers for other films in the AC DVD library [some you can see HERE], as well as the first chapter of a Blackhawk cliffhanger serial. "The Black Sleep" is another winner from Bill Black and AC DVD.

Meet Bill Black

Bill Black has been publishing comics since 1969. He's outlasted every other independent comic company and is still going at it. Want to know how Bill got to where he is today? Then check out this interview!

Bill has is best known for writing and drawing his own creations but has also published the work of big name artists such as Mike Zeck, Dave Dorman, Dick Ayers, Erik Larsen, George Perez, Greg Horn, Jerry Ordway, Pat Broderick, Paul Gulacy and Wm. Michael Kaluta to name just a few. Bill even gave Big Beatty his first professional job in comics...
...and believe it or not Beatty pencilled, Jerry Ordway inked and I scripted a story which appeared in the comic to the left!

Hard to Believe... Jock Mahoney

Hard to believe, but that's a photo of me that appeared in 1980 on the inside front cover of Bill Black's Fun Comics #1. Although it was 27 years ago, it seems like yesterday... ok, maybe not really yesterday, but definitely not 27 years ago.

OrlandoCon 1980. Bill Black, Jim Ivey, and Mike Kott were all friends of mine [still are in fact] and the main men behind OrlandoCon. That year Jock Mahoney was the media guest of honor.

Jock had a long, successful career in movies and on tv. He started out as a stuntman, but soon was playing the lead as The Range Rider, Yancy Derringer, Tarzan [in 3 movies], and in so many other roles. Jock was also Sally Field's stepfather!

Because of my connections with Bill, Jim and Mike, I was able to appear on stage with Jock when he did some demonstrations of how fights are filmed for movies. Jock was a great guest. He even posed with Bill and his wife Rebecca for the fumetti below. Hard to believe that it was done over 1/4 century ago...

Mallow-Con Report

That's Brenna Barry surrounded by Keith Mallow and Wild Bill Black. For some reason the guys seem much happier than Brenna. I wonder why? That photo and those that follow were taken yesterday at Collector's Comic-Con in Fort Pierce, Florida. Keith puts on the show and brought in Brenna, Bill and John Beatty as special guests. Keith and Big John always invite me along and since I enjoy their nonsense, I always make an effort to attend.

That's Aleissa [hope I spelled that correctly] and her boyfriend. Aleissa is one of John's returning sketch customers. This time she opted for a Batman and Beatty came through in style.

Jesse "Cadre" Hansen was set up selling prints and sketching!

Wild Bill Black brought in a bunch of his movies and showed us the latest trailer [which features me, Big John Beatty, James "The James" Howell, and John Higashi in a cameo - where's our IMDB listing?] for "The Ghost of Garganta." Bill also talked about plans for future movies as well as a possible syndicated horror movie package complete with a horror host [the excellent Lon Midnight]!

Big Beatty was sketching away and each one was a winner. He was in the ZONE [and I don't mean this ZONE... although he IS in it as well]. The Punisher sketch below got a lot of attention from fans, but it was the final sketch of the day, a Joker piece, that won the Best Beatty Sketch of the Show Award.

As always, Keith's shows are a lot of fun. His next one is scheduled for late October. If you can make it, you should!

Bill Black Takes It Off

He's never done it before, and he may never do it again... but....

My buddy, Bill Black is having a 50% off sale on all dvds in his catalog ordered through his on-line store. If you like old-time movie serials, tv detectives, old westerns and more, then click here and start shopping!

AC @ FX

If you're planning to attend the FX show in Orlando next month [January 28th -30th], in between getting autographs from movie and tv stars and sketches from comic artists; you may just want to try and get yourself one of the exlusive toys and collectibles available only at the FX Show!

My buddy, "Wild" Bill Black, publisher of AC Comics will debut three limited edition versions of a new line of action figure toys based on Bill's Femforce and major AC characters. These toys are 8 inches tall with full articulation, are created in the Mega style of the 1970's, and will actually wear a costume made of cloth which is applied over the plastic figure. The figures, produced by Cast-A-Way Toys, are planned for early 2005 release but the limited figures [Fighting Yank, Black Terror and Miss Masque] will be available ONLY at the FX show.

Bill's a great guy. If you make it to the FX show, please be sure and swing by Bill's AC booth and tell him, "Hi." He won't pressure you to buy anything, but after you meet him, I'll bet you may walk away with something... and it may even be one of his new action figures!

Happy, Happy to JBI

Yesterday I received an e-mail from my buddy, Wild Bill Black that several of Jim Ivey's friends were getting together to belatedly celebrate Jim's 82nd birthday. Although it was short notice, I worked it out so that I could get over and share in the festivities.

I first met Jim back in the mid-70's [the decade, not his age]. Jim was the owner of The Cartoon Museum in Orlando, Florida and the main man behind OrlandoCon. My buddy, John Beatty and I were still in high school, but would make the trek over to buy our comics and original art from Jim. Jim's shop was an amazing place. At the time there weren't many places that you could buy original art, but Jim's Cartoon Museum was wall to wall art. Kirby, Steranko, Barry Windsor-Smith, Paul Gulacy, John Buscema... and so much more. You never knew what you'd see or who you'd meet while at The Cartoon Museum. I can't begin to tell you how much time I spent there and I wouldn't trade one hour there for a day anywhere else. Beatty and I made the trek to Jim's at least once a week. Usually we'd end up playing cards but always having a great time no matter what we were doing. When I moved to Orlando to attend UCF, I'd go to the shop several times a week [my wife always knew where to find me]. We've stayed in touch over the years, but never as often as I'd like.

So today about 15 of us met to celebrate Jim's 82 birthday. Jim, true to form, had prepared cards for each of us [and true to form -- had enclosed a scratch off lottery ticket. Mine was good for a free ticket!]. Each of us had brought cards and gifts and a story or two for Jim. In fact, Jim looks shocked in the photo above... I hope it wasn't from something I said!

It was great seeing Jim again. It was also a lot of fun hanging with Wild Bill Black. Special props to "The AAB" for putting the plan in place. And once last shout out to Jim Ivey -- "Happy, happy, SIR!"

Comics, Movies, and Lon Midnight

This morning I headed over to the the Daytona Beach Comic and Toy Show. My buddy, Steve Myers, runs it and I knew that several other friends were going to be there as well. The plan was we'd all meet up at the show and then some of us would cut out for lunch. It was great seeing Bill and Reb Black, Nick Northey, Tim Gordon, Mark Gmuer, and Chris Hanson. I'd hoped to meet Jerry DeCaire, but he was running late and arrived just as I was leaving. John Beatty and his fiance Bella were also running late, and decided to just meet us at Uno's for lunch. When we left the show there had already been over 100 people through the doors, so it looked to be a success.

Lunch at Uno's was fun. How could it not be when you're sharing table time with Bill Black and John Beatty? Bill brought me some dvd's that I'd been wanting to see from his online movie store. The amount of product that Bill has available [ranging from horror to superhero to tv detectives to...] is amazing. I'm especially looking forward to the horror movies hosted by Lon Midnight! [That's Lon and me in the photo above. If you're not sure which of us is the horror host, it's the guy on the right.]

After lunch we all headed in different directions, but all plan to get together at Tim Gordon's August Show. Maybe we'll see you there!

Back Home from Tampa Con

Well, I'm home from Tampa. Although it was a quick trip, and I didn't get much sleep; I did get to accomplish my major objectives of assisting Bill Black with filming some scenes for two movies he's currently shooting and seeing my old buddy, Jim Ivey.

That's Brenna Barry, star of Bill Black's Gargantarama, and Jim Ivey [looking pretty content at 81] in today's header photo. I'll tell show and tell you more about the trip later this week. You'll also get to see some cool reports over at John Beatty's Blog. As for now, I need a rest!

The Man Who Turned to Stone

Longtime ZONErs know how much I enjoyed watching horror/monster movies as a kid growing up in Indiana... especially those shown by late night horror host Sammy Terry. For years I've been saying that someone needs to find a horror host and run a double feature of scary movies late on Saturday night. Although, no major network has stepped up to the plate, my buddy Bill Black has released a series of dvds that fits the bill [as in black].

Last night I watched "M is for Madman" the third in Bill's Crypt of Horror series. It's a double feature of "The Man Who Turned to Stone" and "The Brute Man" hosted by Lon Madnight. Madnight [whose name is a play on "London After Midnight" - the lost, silent horror film starring Lon Chaney] maintains the perfect balance of insightful trivia about the movie to be seen and bad puns. He's just what the doctor [or at least I] ordered. The production values on the dvd are top notch. The films are crisp and clear with excellent sound. The movies can be seen without the Lon Madnight openings and closings, but they're so much fun, who'd want to miss them? Priced at less than twenty bucks for two remastered movies and Lon Midnight -- you'd be hard pressed to find a cheaper evening of family fun.

So let's take a look at "The Man Who Turned to Stone"...

The Pitch: Mad scientists run a woman's reformatory and drain the "bio-electrical" life force from inmates in order to prolong their unnatural lives.

The Good: The special effects are surprisingly well done for a low-budget film of this era. You're slowly made to realize that the people in charge of the reformatory aren't just bad, they're...

The Bad: This isn't a classic horror movie -- it's bad in all the right ways. The hero kind of looks like Lee Harvey Oswald.

The Ugly: What happens when Eric doesn't get enough "bio-electrical" life force.

The Summary: "The Man Who Turned to Stone" isn't a classic, but it's better than you'd expect given it's lack of budget and notoriety. It's exactly the kind of movie that works when you're in the mood for an old time horror movie that you haven't watched a million times. I can't wait to watch it with friends/family who love scary movies.

Wild Bill Checks In

My old buddy [okay, he's not that old], Wild Bill Black dropped in to say that he's going to be a guest at Tim Gordon's August 10th comic show. Tim's shows are always a blast and having Bill there just adds to the fun. Wild Bill says that he'll bring some of his comics and dvds for fans to purchase. Autographs are free. ; )

Bill said that he'll also bring some trailers and film clips for the show's film room. But why wait, you can see the trailer for The Blue Bulleteer Captured by the Cloak by clicking here.

If you're able to make the show, you should. I can gurantee a fun time.

Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Roy Rogers...

My buddy, "Wild" Bill Black is a writer, penciler, inker, editor, publisher, chief cook and bottlewasher for AC Comics, an independent comic company that he created over 20 years ago. Bill has been favorably compared to Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Roy Rogers -- and that's just the comparisons that Bill uses when talking about himself!

Okay, okay... all kidding aside. Bill has been running AC Comics [the company that he really created] for over 20 years, but now he's bringing his comic creations to the silver screen... or at least your tv screen... if you have a dvd player.

Click HERE to read all about it.

I guess now Bill will add Roger Corman to his list of comparisons!

On Saturday, my son, Mike (far left), AC Comics CEO, Bill Black (second from the left), John Beatty (see him?) , and I drove to Tampa for a small comic convention. The main draw was Marty Nodell who created The Green Lantern but John Dell, Rick Magyar, Derek Aucoin and others were also scheduled to attend.

The con was on Sunday, but we went down early to avoid a long drive on the same day. The trip down was a blast. We entertained each other with stories, and literally laughed the whole way.

We went out to dinner... and planned to eat at a Chinese restaraunt called "The Crazy Buffet," but when we found out it was $21.95 per person [what are they? crazy?], we decided to find another place for chow. We ended up at another Chinese buffet and who do you guess was having dinner there? That's right, Marty Nodell who would be Guest of Honor at the convention the next day. We spent a bit of time talking with Marty and his lovely wife and then had a more reasonably priced meal.

The rest of the evening was spent laughing and planning things that will probably never take place [short films, comics, etc.], debating the difference between a farmer and a cowboy [Clint Eastwood vs Roy Rogers for example], watching Evander Hollyfield turn an opponent into the Elephant Man, and basically acting foolish. What a great time... we were up until well after 1 AM and I can't remember laughing so much or so hard in recent years.

We were up early to be on time for the show which was well attended but very hot. A tightly packed room without any place to sit and talk made it seem even hotter. Marty was there and swamped by fans looking for original art, autographs and pictures. The other artists came in, but only one was sketching. I enjoyed talking to John Dell, Derek Aucoin, and Rick Maygar [who may do a Stallone piece!]. I also met Randy Martin who had several really nice sketchbooks full of commissioned sketches of Edward Scissorhands! My son found a few comics for his collection. At around 2PM we decided to head home [after a brief stop at Bill's to check out his autograph collection]

Overall it was a fun experience, but anytime Mike, Bill, John and I get together we have a great time. Oh, and in case you're wondering... John isn't the guy in the Spider-Man suit... John took the picture.

Captured by The Cloak

My buddy, Bill Black, CCABW [Chief Cook and Bottle Washer] at AC Comics has decided to take the plunge and regularly produce movies based on his comic book characters. Bill has jumped in with both feet and fan reaction has been extremely positive. Bill is currently finishing production on The Blue Bulleteer: Captured by The Cloak. You can learn more about it HERE.

Tampa Con, Here We Come!

In just a couple of hours I'll be heading down to Tim Gordon's Tampa Comic Book and Toy Convention. Tim holds the show three times a year and it's always a fun time. Although the show is on Sunday, "Big" John Beatty, "Johnny Star-Warz" Higashi, "The James" Howell and I go down the night before. It's always a blast with these guys and the convention is like an added bonus.

This trip could turn out to be even more fun than most since our buddy, "Wild Bill" Black is going to film some scenes for one of his movies. Bill is a guest at the show and decided that while he was in Tampa he could combine work with pleasure [or in Bill's case pleasure with pleasure]. He's even enlisted "The James" to play the role of a 70's lounge singer who gets attacked by a vampire!

Then tomorrow we'll head to the show. It's got a pretty impressive guest list for a small one day convention. There will also be a costume contest, door prizes and a film room. I'm really looking forward to seeing an old [as in longtime, not because he's 81] friend of mine, Jim Ivey.

If you're within driving distance of Tampa, come on over and join us. If you want to hook up with our group, more than likely I'll be wearing a StalloneZone shirt, or just look for a 70's lounge singer who was bitten by a vampire.

Tampa Was a Blast!

Last weekend, Big Beatty, John Higashi and I made our way to the Tampa Comic Book and Toy Show.

As many of you know, it's my favorite little convention. But if Tim Gordon continues to put on such great shows, it won't be little much longer. It's held three times a year and has added the Tampa Indie Film Fest to a program which already includes celebrites signing autographs, artists sketching, a costume contest, prize drawaings... there's ALWAYS something going on to interest everyone.

Beatty, Higashi and I drove down the night before. It's become a tradition that we go down a day ahead of the show, hang out with other collectors and eat dinner at a place called Sweet Tomatoes.

This time Randy Martin joined us for dinner. Afterwards we went over to his place to hang out. Randy has thecoolest Edward Scissorhands art collection that you can see if you click HERE.

The next morning, Beatty, Higashi and I headed over to the show. Higashi was on a mission. His goal was to get to Ethan Van Sciver to add to a sketch that he'd started a few shows ago, and to set up a commission with Pablo Marcos. My plan was to meet Pablo Marcos and possibly get a Stallone sketch from him. Beatty was there just to stir up some fun.

Higashi started getting that predator look in his eyes and I knew that soon he would be in full con mode. The doors opened and the crowd headed in. As we were walking to the artist area, I saw Randy Martin had set up and so I stopped to chat with him. Higashi continued to make his way to Ethan's spot center stage.

A few minutes later, I headed over to the stage area. Higashi was waiting for Ethan to arrive. I said, "Hi" to Marty Nodell and his son. I was just hanging out waiting for Big Beatty to mosey over when Cindy Morgan walked up to me and introduced herself. Cindy was a guest of the show and is best known for her role as Lacey Underall in Caddyshack. She asked if I was with the show. I told her I wasn't. As luck would have it, Tim
Gordon [who runs the show] was passing by. He stopped and was able to answer Ms. Morgan's question. There was a bit of small talk and then she excused herself to set up. Tim and I spoke a bit before he went on stage to introduce the guests and welcome the crowd.

I decided to head over to the film room when suddenly Captain Battle and his Battle Team appeared.

His Battle Team was filming fan reaction as he walked through the crowd meeting and greeting young and old alike. I shook hands with the good
Captain and was awarded his first dvd movie. I'll write more about that soon.

In the film room, Beatty and I watched a retrospective on Irwin Allen. Allen was first known for his tv shows, Lost in Space, Voyage to the
Bottom of the Sea, The Time Tunnel, and Land of the Giants. He then went on to become the King of Disaster Movies with The Posideon Adventure, and The Towering Inferno. Higashi came in. He'd been successful in getting Ethan to add more to his Star Wars piece. The three of us watched a short film called Contact from Beyond. The people who made the film were in the audience and the crowd enjoyed the experience.

That's the look that Wild Bill Black had on his face when he saw Beatty and I re-enter the convention hall. Bill was talking to Marty Nodell and had made the trip to Tampa just to hang with Marty for the afternoon. It's always great to see Wild Bill, who is busier than ever with his comic and dvd businesses.

I spent some time talking with Jesse "Cadre" Hansen and Mitch "Bubba the Redneck Werewolf" Hyman. It's always a blast speaking to these guys as they love what they're doing and their fan base continues to grow. Beatty came over to see some new stuff that Cadre had created. When Beatty gives praise, you know it's earned. He and Mitch talked about Beatty doing a cover for a future issue of Bubba -- so that looks like it's going to happen.

Then is was time for the costume contest. It's surprising to me, because of the size of the show, how many really good costumers are always there. You have to admit that it adds something to a show, when you see characters walking around and they look like who they're supposed to be. The winner was a guy dressed as The Shadow -- at the last show he came as Marv. In the picture above, that's me with The Scarecrow from Batman Begins and Kevin from Sin City.

The only thing left to do was for Higashi to set up his Star Wars commission. That's Pablo and his lovely wife pictured above. Higashi and I were in line as Pablo sketched for fans. Higashi asked me if I was going to try for a Stallone sketch. Because of the time factor, I said that I didn't think so. We watched as Pablo completed a beautiful Vamperella sketch... then a Zombie pencil sketch... and then a Conan. Man, each sketch was a beaut. Higashi set up his commission which
Pablo was doing as a take-home piece. I then arranged to have a Stallone sketch done and mailed with Higashi's. I don't know which character Pablo is going to do... but you can be sure, it'll be sweet.

Sadly it was time for us to get on the road. Higashi had been able to get Ethan to add to his piece and Pablo to commit to a commission. I had been able to arrange for a Pablo sketch as well. We'd been able to visit with old and new friends, see some fun films, check out some wild costumes, and just have a great day. Tim's next show is in November. If you're able to make it, I can promise that you'll have a fun time. Heck, you may even get to be in a picture with Steve, Big Beatty and Wild Bill!

Jock Layin' the Smackdown

Chris Mills [the creator of one of my all-time favorite crime comics, Gravedigger] wrote yesterday about being a fan of Jock Mahoney. Nearly a year ago I posted about Jock being a guest at OrlandoCon and how I was lucky enough to appear on stage with him. Then I remembered that my buddy Bill Black had sent me a photo of Jock giving me a knuckle-sandwich. So thanks to Chris for tweaking my memory and Bill for forwarding the picture.

PS - Regular ZONErs can probably guess who it is sitting under all that curly hair. LOL!

"Z" and Wild Bill

I love getting mail from my buddy, Jim Ivey. He doesn't use a computer so it's snail mail only. The great thing is, that Jim always includes a doodle or two. His most recent letter contained caricatures of me and Bill Black. Jim used photos from his 83rd birthday bash for reference. You read that right, Jim's 83 and still full of "prunes and macaroons" as he often says.

I not only hope I have as much energy as Jim when I'm 83, I wish I had it now.