Halloween is coming, and Adele Mara has her costume picked out!
Do you know what you're going to be on the Big Night?
Thursday, October 6, 2016
Wednesday, October 5, 2016
Countdown to Halloween: 27 Days to Go!
Vampirella and friends are scoping out the area and deciding what parties to attend. How are your plans coming?
Tuesday, October 4, 2016
Monday, October 3, 2016
Countdown to Halloween: 29 Days to Go!
Sunday, October 2, 2016
Saturday, October 1, 2016
Countdown to Halloween: 31 Days to Go!
A frequent October visitor to Shades of Gray kicks off our Countdown to Halloween for 2016...
There are 31 Days to Halloween! Are you getting ready for the big night?
Friday, September 30, 2016
The annual Countdown to Halloween is about to begin!
This year's Countdown to Halloween will be hosted by Vampirella (with a bunch of her friends and colleagues pitching in). She's almost ready to go!
Wednesday, September 21, 2016
Princesses of Mars, Part 22
Thursday, September 8, 2016
NUELOW Games and Marv Wolfman
Through an arrangement with Marv Wolfman, NUELOW Games recently published a collection his "Love Witch" stories. These were originally published by Skywald back in the early 1970s. Here are a couple sample pages.
The book featuring the comics is titled, not surprisngly, "Love Witch." In addition to the two fantastic excursions into dark fantasy that is "Love Witch," the book features a third Wolfman fantasy story--"Cassandra of the Seventh Wind"--and an RPG section by yours truly that lets you bring Cassandra and the Love Witch's magic to d20 System campaigns.
"Love Witch," however, isn't the only work by Wolfman that graces NUELOW's line-up of titles. He also wrote the comics featured in NUELOW's "Monster Monster: Soul Drinkers" (which contains RPG rules by Andrew Pavlides that translates the creature featured in Wolfman's story to D&D 5th Edition), and in "Lady Satan 2004" (where you will find d20 System game rules that let players create characters who are the literal children of Satan, designed once again by yours truly). Here are sample pages from those books:
Click here to see additional previews of these three great titles, or to get your own copies of them.
They are part of NUELOW Games's ongoing effort to put unjustly forgotten comics for year's past in front of new readers. Each title includes the comics, together with all-new roleplaying game material and fiction inspired by them. Click here to see the complete line-up of NUELOW's comics/rpg hybrid titles. You may find your new favorite comics among them.
Art by Ernie Colon |
Art by Ernie Colon & Jack Able |
"Love Witch," however, isn't the only work by Wolfman that graces NUELOW's line-up of titles. He also wrote the comics featured in NUELOW's "Monster Monster: Soul Drinkers" (which contains RPG rules by Andrew Pavlides that translates the creature featured in Wolfman's story to D&D 5th Edition), and in "Lady Satan 2004" (where you will find d20 System game rules that let players create characters who are the literal children of Satan, designed once again by yours truly). Here are sample pages from those books:
Art by Pablo Marcos (from "Monster, Monster: Soul Drinkers") |
Art by Ross Andru & Mike Esposito (from "Lady Satan 2004") |
Click here to see additional previews of these three great titles, or to get your own copies of them.
They are part of NUELOW Games's ongoing effort to put unjustly forgotten comics for year's past in front of new readers. Each title includes the comics, together with all-new roleplaying game material and fiction inspired by them. Click here to see the complete line-up of NUELOW's comics/rpg hybrid titles. You may find your new favorite comics among them.
Wednesday, September 7, 2016
Wonder Woman Wednesday!
Friday, August 5, 2016
Fantastic Friday!
Wednesday, July 27, 2016
Princesses of Mars, Part 21
Wednesday, July 20, 2016
It's a Wonder Woman Wednesday!
Monday, July 4, 2016
Fireworks safety...
... means nothing--NOTHING!--to Rochelle Hudson! (Don't follow her lead... have a safe and happy Fourth of July!)
Wednesday, June 8, 2016
It's a Wonder Woman Wednesday!
Wednesday, June 1, 2016
Darro & Moreland bring value to an otherwise weak film
You're Out of Luck (1941)
Starring: Frankie Darro, Mantan Moreland, Richard Bond, Kay Sutton, Tistram Coffin, Janet Shaw, Vicki Lester, Paul Maxy, Alfred Hall, and Willy Castello
Director: Howard Bretherton
Rating: Five of Ten Stars
Friends, co-workers, and brothers-in-slackerhood Frankie and Jeff (Darro and Moreland) become involved in a police investigation of a murder linked to a gambling ring. Will they help Frankie's police detective brother (Bond) solve the case, or will they end up the next victims of the gunmen?
"You're Out of Luck" is a fun little mystery/comedy that is another showcase for the talents of Darro and Moreland. It's not quite as good as "Up in the Air," mostly because the way Frankie and Jeff become involved in the murder investigation, and remain involved, feels forced at every turn. The film is further weakened by the fact the paltry budget is made on shows multiple times on the screen through recycled and thinly disguised sets and cheaply done effects used in place of location shots. There's also the issue that the story feels a bit haphazardly put together and overcrowded with characters--most of whom serve no purpose in the story whatsoever. (Darro's character is given two possible love interests, neither of which do anything for the story nor his love life, and his cop brother's girlfriend likewise does nothing for the story. These characters are so pointless that I don't remember any of their names and I had a hard time telling two of them apart while the film unfolded.)
The film's weaknesses are almost made up for by Moreland having some of the best quips of any of the films he made together with Darro... and by Moreland once again being the smarter of the characters (even if no one ever listens to him). The film is completely carried by the charm of its two leads and the feeling that a true, warm friendship exists between them, and even that barely manages to drag it up to a low 5 rating.
If you're a big fan of Darro & Moreland, "You're Out of Luck" is worth checking out, but it may not be worth going too far out of your way for; look to see if you can find it in a DVD multipack. If you're not familiar with their work, "Up in the Air" is a far better place to start.
Starring: Frankie Darro, Mantan Moreland, Richard Bond, Kay Sutton, Tistram Coffin, Janet Shaw, Vicki Lester, Paul Maxy, Alfred Hall, and Willy Castello
Director: Howard Bretherton
Rating: Five of Ten Stars
Friends, co-workers, and brothers-in-slackerhood Frankie and Jeff (Darro and Moreland) become involved in a police investigation of a murder linked to a gambling ring. Will they help Frankie's police detective brother (Bond) solve the case, or will they end up the next victims of the gunmen?
"You're Out of Luck" is a fun little mystery/comedy that is another showcase for the talents of Darro and Moreland. It's not quite as good as "Up in the Air," mostly because the way Frankie and Jeff become involved in the murder investigation, and remain involved, feels forced at every turn. The film is further weakened by the fact the paltry budget is made on shows multiple times on the screen through recycled and thinly disguised sets and cheaply done effects used in place of location shots. There's also the issue that the story feels a bit haphazardly put together and overcrowded with characters--most of whom serve no purpose in the story whatsoever. (Darro's character is given two possible love interests, neither of which do anything for the story nor his love life, and his cop brother's girlfriend likewise does nothing for the story. These characters are so pointless that I don't remember any of their names and I had a hard time telling two of them apart while the film unfolded.)
The film's weaknesses are almost made up for by Moreland having some of the best quips of any of the films he made together with Darro... and by Moreland once again being the smarter of the characters (even if no one ever listens to him). The film is completely carried by the charm of its two leads and the feeling that a true, warm friendship exists between them, and even that barely manages to drag it up to a low 5 rating.
If you're a big fan of Darro & Moreland, "You're Out of Luck" is worth checking out, but it may not be worth going too far out of your way for; look to see if you can find it in a DVD multipack. If you're not familiar with their work, "Up in the Air" is a far better place to start.
Wednesday, May 18, 2016
Princesses of Mars, Part Twenty
In Memory of Darwyn Cooke
Artist/writer Darwyn Cooke died from lung cancer on May 14, 2016. Highlights of his career, spent mostly on titles from DC Comics, include relaunching Will Eisner's signature creation The Spirit in a monthly series, and the Selina's Big Score graphic novel, one of the best Catwoman stories ever told. Here's a small gallery of his work.
Friday, May 13, 2016
Fantastic Friday!
Once per month, I'm going to be posting portraits of the Fantastic Four until I run out of good ones. (Marvel may have cancelled their series, but they will forever be the First Family of Comics.)
As befitting with a day as dire as Friday the Thirteenth, today's post guest-stars their greatest foe--Doctor Doom! All selections this time out are by John Byrne, who was the main creative talent on one of my favorite periods of the Fantastic Four.
As befitting with a day as dire as Friday the Thirteenth, today's post guest-stars their greatest foe--Doctor Doom! All selections this time out are by John Byrne, who was the main creative talent on one of my favorite periods of the Fantastic Four.
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