Kaidan

Kaidan means "ghost story," but here, it's short for Kaidan Kasanegafuchi which translates roughly as Ghost Story: The Depths of Kasane (Kasane is the name of a swamp). This 2007 film is one of at least half a dozen adaptations of the classic supernatural revenge tragedy Shinkei Kasanegafuchi, penned by rakugo (stylized monologue) performer Encho Sanyutei in 1859. Indeed, at the beginning of the film we see Encho himself telling the tale in the traditional manner. Encho's story is heavily influenced by Namboku Tsuruya IV's Kabuki shocker Tokaido Yotsuya kaidan (1825, another source for numerous films), and these tales, along with others, form the foundation of the traditional long-haired, vengeful lady ghost so prevalent in J-horror films of the late 90s and early 00s.

So it comes as little surprise that director Hideo Nakata (The Ring), seeing the phenomena he'd almost single-handedly launched a decade earlier beginning to wane, should return to the old well (as it were). Here we have a finely crafted, well-paced, traditional kaidan, masterfully mounted with just the right blend of stately grace and blood-curdling chills. Those new to jidai-geki (period drama) should have little trouble adjusting; the film is accessible, in similar 21st century fashion, to Yoji Yamada's samurai trilogy (Twilight Samurai, Hidden Blade, Love and Honor) and Kon Ichikawa's Dora-Heita -- except here there be ghosts.

The story involves two generations, with a sins-of-the-fathers theme woven throughout. Essentially its boy meets girl, but neither know that his father brutally murdered her father. He's a nice guy, but cursed by his wicked family karma to inadvertently cause the deaths of a lot of people, at least one of whom becomes that vengeful wraith with all the hair ... Kaidan should not be confused with Kwaidan, Masaki Kobayashi's 1964 masterpiece based on the ghost stories of Scotsman Lafcadio Hearn (at least one of which was a re-working of a story by Encho!).

Personally, my only other reference point is the B&W 1957 Kaidan Kasanegafuchi (Ghosts of Kasane Swamp) directed by Nobuo Nakagawa. Clocking in at a little over an hour, it actually utilizes more special effects than Nakata's version! The pace is also more frenetic than that of its 2007 cousin (the latter running at just under two hours), and the story much foreshortened. Tetsuro Tamba plays a villainous character who never shows up in Nakata's film, although several additional characters not in the Nakagawa version do. I'm guessing that Nakata's interpretation is more loyal to the source material and that Nakagawa did a bit of cutting (a la Olivier with Hamlet) for the sake of cinematic forward thrust.

Those familiar with my books will know I'm a sucker for Japanese period drama, as well as Japanese horror, so a film like this is right up my particular street. And it's an excellent interpretation of a kaidan classic. What's not to like?

Özgür Erman covers Batman 21

Original cover by Dick Sprang; DC 1944. Özgür Erman's website is here.

Our Army at War #220

Our Army at War #220 (On Sale: March 31, 1970) has an awesome Sgt. Rock cover by Joe Kubert.

Our Sgt. Rock cover-story is "Stone-Age War" written and illustrated by Joe Kubert. This story was reprinted in Sgt. Rock #318. Next is "The Last Soldier" by Robert Kanigher, Ross Andru and Mike Esposito. We end with a U.S.S. Stevens story, "The Idiot" by Sam Glanzman.

Edited by Joe Kubert.

Orphan Elliott covers Adventures into the Unknown 2

Original cover by Edvard Moritz; American Comics Group 1948. Orphan Elliott's website is here.

Lisa Hanawalt covers Fight Comics 20

Original cover by Dan Zolnerowich; Fiction House 1942. Lisa Hanawalt's website is here and you can purchase her original here.

Anthony Vukojevich covers Dungeon, Parade Vol. 2: The Day of the Toads

Original cover by Manu Larcenet; NBM 2007 (cover reprinted from Donjon Parade 3. Le Jour des Crapauds, Delcourt 2002). Anthony Vukojevich's website is here and you can purchase the original here.

Anthony Vukojevich covers Popeye 60

Original cover by Bud Sagendorf; Dell 1961. Anthony Vukojevich's website is here and you can purchase the original here.

Dick Giordano, R.I.P.

Dick Giordano died this morning. I was re-reading Hot Wheels #2 (March 17, 1970) for this blog last night, late as usual, and thinking what a stupid and utterly lame idea for a comic book this was. And what a magnificent series this turned out to be and the reason it was not the disaster it should have been was Dick Giordano. As editor he pulled together an amazing team, from the actually exciting scripts of Joe Gill and Alex Toth and Len Wein to the wonderful covers of Neal Adams and Alex to the even better pencils of Alex and Ric Estrada and later Neal and the glue that held the interior artwork together, some amazing, just dazzling, inks by Dick himself.

Dick Giordano had his hands on more of the comic books that I loved in those important early teen years than any other person in comics. The Marvel people had Stan Lee, but I never felt welcomed in by Stan. Dick Giordano on the other hand welcomed me into his books and seemed genuinely interested in what I and other fans had to say and he was nice enough to actually thank us at the end of each letter column for buying the book and joining in on the fun he had a hand in creating. I felt at home at DC because Dick Giordano made me feel that way.

I feel a hole in my heart the size of a child's wide-eyed enthusiasm. Thank you Dick, but this one is not going to be a very good afternoon.

And I sincerely mean that thank you. Thank you Dick, for the best series I ever read, the Skeates/Aparo/Giordano run on Aquaman, a series that was likely to go anywhere at any time and always do it with style and the greatest of artistry, Thank you for the Secret Six, the Mission:Impossible of comics that made me appreciate the non-super-hero books for the first time. Thank you for The Hawk and the Dove and the Creeper and the excitement that Ditko brought to DC if only for a little while. Thank you for the Teen Titans issues with the Wein/Wolfman controversy, Wonder girl's uniform, the sexiness of uniformless heroes, and the great artistry of Neal and Gil and George and of course and always Nick Cardy. Thank you for Hot Wheels, the greatest TV show/Toy/Comic book cross-over ever. Thank you for mixing a little more humor into the horror with The House of Secrets and even more humor in The Witching Hour, those early issues being more fun than chilling.

Thank you for knowing when to stay out of the way and let your writers write and your pencilers pencil and your inkers ink and for letting Nick Cardy create one amazing masterpiece after another. Thank you for bringing us Steve and Jim and Denny. Thank you for proving over and over again the pencils do not have to be weak to be improved by the inker. Thank you for some of the better parts of my childhood.

-Keller

Albert Calleros covers Hot Stuff 58

Original cover artist is unknown; Harvey Comics circa early 1960's. Albert Calleros's website is here and you can purchase the original here.

M. Jason Robards covers Showcase 55

Original cover by Murphy Anderson; DC 1965. M. Jason Robards website is here.

Detective Comics #399

Detective Comics #399 (On Sale: March 26, 1970) has a great cover by Neal Adams.

Our cover-story is "Death Comes to a Small, Locked Room" by Denny O'Neil, Bob Brown and Joe Giella. During a demonstration for cadets at the Gotham City Police Academy, Batman embarrasses Khan, a master of judo, karate and kung fu. When an enraged Khan comes after Batman with a steel identification bracelet across his knuckles, Batman decks him. In steps Arthur Reeves, the mayor's new Public Works Coordinator and soon to be a regular pain in Batman's backside.

Reeves wants to know what Batman is hiding behind that mask, why he isn't up front and out in the open. When Batman asks Reeves if that is what he believes in and Reeves answers in the affirmative, Batman lifts up Reeves toupee and quickly ducks out a window.

A month goes by and the incident quickly slides form Batman's memory till one night, 30 days later Batman is called to the site of Khan's training school which has been destroyed in a furnace explosion with Khan inside. Reeves shows up and accuses Batman of maybe causing the explosion to get back at Khan and Batman suggests that Reeves stick to sharing his fantasies with his barber.

Gordon and Batman have an appointment to get to, a séance of some sort to which they have been invited in an invitation that hinted at "solving a crime if we show." As they pull into the parking lot in Gordon's cruiser the car is strafed with machine gun bullets and crashes into a tree. As the machine gun-toting thug comes out to inspect his handy-work, Batman takes him out. Just then a man appears, "Big Dough" Joe Brunner a man sent to the pen by Gordon who is now out and wants to thank Gordon for setting his life straight. After he leaves Gordon wonders is "Big Dough" might not be behind the attack, but Batman says if he is, they know where to find him.

Inside the séance they meet the Great Dilbert--Medium Extraordinary who says he will "zummon spirits of dead!" He begins and the "spirit" has a message for Batman. The spirit seems to be speaking in Khan's voice and says that since Batman humiliated him in life he will humiliate Batman in death by killing Commissioner Gordon at midnight tomorrow. The lights go out and zee Great Dilbert has skedaddled. Batman says that Dilbert was a ventriloquist and wore a high collar to hide the movement of his throat muscles.

The next night Reeves tries to lock Gordon into a sealed vault for his protection, but one of the guards is actually Batman, who once again makes Reeves look life a fool. But the embarrassment just keeps on coming as Batman reveals that Gordon is not Gordon but actually the Great Dilbert. Pulling of Dilbert's mask and handing it to him Batman explains that "Gordon" was too clean shaven to have been on the job all day. Dilbert says that he might as well tell them where Gordon is really being held, but as he attempts to do so he dies from a poison on the outside of the Gordon mask Dilbert was holding. As he dies Dilbert says "D...do...j...jo..." and one of the guards says that it is obvious that the filler is "Big Dough" Joe Brunner, AKA Dough Joe.

Reeves sends men out to pick up Joe Brunner, but Batman has other ideas and heads back to Khan's training school, or dojo! There in a fireproof vault under the rubble Batman confronts and takes out Khan before he can harm Commissioner Gordon.

The back-up is Robin in "Panic by Moonglow" by Frank Robbins, Gil Kane and Vinny Colletta. Continuing from last issue where the moon rock turned geeky student Herb Stroud squeaky green and all, raising a panic within NASA, but leaving Robin with that not so subtle taste of hoax in his mouth. So much so that he went and checked out the shower Herb used, finding some funny smelling soap and a massive headache when someone slammed his head into a wall and stole the soap of questionable properties. When Robin comes around it is with the help of Zukov, the Russian exchange professor, whose hands have that tell-tell smell of gimmicked out soap.

The campus is quarantined by NASA so Robin needs a place to crash and Zukov offers his cottage guest-room. using a stolen stethoscope, Robin listens in as Zukov and some cronies hidden under his floor discuss their plan to make NASA look irresponsible for "polluting our glorious planet," losing public support and dropping out of the space race so that the Soviets can get their moon program on track and once again be the leaders in space. But first they want to get Robin out of the way.

However, when they kick down the door to his room, he has of course fled the scene and is heading for the science-hall to retrieve the lunar rock sample. After skirmishing with some of Zukov's men, Robin comes in through the roof, but gets his cape caught on a piece of broken glass, hanging him up in the air. Zukov shows up with a pencil laser gun he used to drill a hole into the glass case containing the moon rock, so that he could inject a secret gas that could be triggered by cosmic rays to turn the rock and Herb a lovely shade of green. Now he plans to use the same pencil to drill a hole into Robin's brain, but Robin slips out of his cape and collar and swings into the darkness on a batrope (or do we call this a robinrope?)

Shooting wildly after Robin's ever-moving voice, Zukov severs one of the legs of a Lunar Module on display and it crashes down on him with a satisfying KRUNCH! With Robin's information the NASA people are able to determine that Herb has been exposed to a Russian nerve-virus and they are able to give him an antidote in time to stave off the bitter green end. This story has been reprinted in Showcase Presents: Robin the Boy Wonder Vol. 1 TPB.


Edited by Julius Schwartz.

Adventure Comics #393

Adventure Comics #393 (On Sale: March 26, 1970) has a cover by Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson.

Our cover-story is "The Unwanted Supergirl" by Robert Kanigher, Winslow Mortimer and Jack Abel. The back-up is "The Girl Who Knew Supergirl's Secrets" by E. Nelson Bridwell and Kurt Schaffenberger.

Edited by Mort Weisinger.

Action Comics #388

Action Comics #388 (On Sale: March 26, 1970) has a cover by Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson. I remember falling for this cover gag and trying to count everything that was wrong on it.

Our cover-story is "Puzzle of the Wild World" by Cary Bates, Curt Swan and George Roussos. I think the answer to the cover question was that nothing was wrong, that on the planet it was depicting, everything was normal, but it has been a while and I might have that wrong. As I have mentioned earlier, I sold most of my Weisinger books in the late 70s.

The back-up Legion of Super-Heroes story is "Sun Boy's Lost Power" reprinted from Adventure Comics #302 and created by Jerry Siegel and John Forte. After attending the dedication of a Sun Boy statue, Sun Boy finds that his powers of heat and light have stopped working. With the help of the Legionnaires, he tries to recharge himself by duplicating the accident that gave him those powers, but to no avail. After his powers briefly return in an entomologist’s office, he invites Ultra Boy and Superboy to concentrate their heat vision powers on him, still with no effect. Heartbroken, he resigns from the Legion, just as Kranyak, his old foe, breaks prison and comes after him.

More worried than before, Sun Boy realizes what it will take to recharge his powers, and deliberately walks into the blast of a Kryptonian flame-beast. With his abilities restored, he defeats Kranyak, and rejoins the Legion. He then explains that he needed the heat-energy of a living being to restore his power, and the Ultra Boy and Superboy present are robots, sent to take those heroes’ places while they celebrate Pete Ross’s birthday in the 20th century.

Edited by Mort Weisinger.

Johnny Ryan covers Galactic Breakdown aka Space Battleground 666 #1

Original cover by Keenan Marshall Keller; Drippy Bone Books 2010. Johnny Ryan's website is here and you can purchase the original here.

Robert Goodin covers Yogi Bear 23

Original cover artist unknown; Gold Key 1966. Robert Goodin's website is here.

Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane #101

Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane #101 (On Sale: March 24, 1970) has a cover by Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson.

We begin with our cover-story,"The Super-Reckless Lois Lane" by Leo Dorfman and Irv Novick. The back-up is "The Anti-Superman Lois" from Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane #13 and drawn by Kurt Schaffenberger. Lois Lane goes undercover as blond-haired Sadie Blodgett to get a story. Two members of the Anti-Superman Gang see her and decide to use her in a plot to kill Superman, by having her impersonate Lois Lane. The crooks train her to be Lois, while she plays dumb. The crooks pull off their scheme, but Lois had tipped off Superman. He foils their plan and captures them.

Edited by Mort Weisinger.

Girls' Love Stories #151

Girls' Love Stories #151 (On Sale: March 24, 1970) has a cover attributed by GCD to John Rosenberger, but is obviously the work of the great Nick Cardy.

This issue begins with our cover-story, "The Wrong Kind of Love" drawn by John Rosenberger and Vince Colletta. Next is "Love Thief" drawn by Joe Giella. We end with "Confessions, Episode 5" drawn by John Rosenberger.

Edited by Joe Orlando.

Date With Debbi #9

Date With Debbi #9 (On Sale: March 24, 1970) has a cover by I don't know.

We have four Debbi stories this issue, "The Hitchhiker," "Debbi's Secret Weapon," "Not Worth a Scent" and "Where the Action is." No creator information is available on this book.

Edited by Dick Giordano.

Three Deadly Beauties at the Japan Society

It's things like this that make me want to move to NYC tomorrow: Mad, Bad ... & Dangerous to Know: Three Untamed Beauties (March 31 - April 18) features 13 films starring Ayako Wakao, Meiko Kaji or Mariko Okada. I've written about all these fine, fine, super-fine actresses in the past, but have only managed to see half these pictures. If you're looking for action, these are the women to see, although you'll likely get more than you bargained for -- they're fierce!

BTW, if you just read the previous post and want to see Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion, it's playing Saturday, April 3. Wish I could go!

Love Exposure

Four hours just fly by in this epic tale of transgression and teenage love. Director Shion Sono, who gave us the fantastic Suicide Club (2001) and the fantastically awful Noriko's Dinner Table (2005), spins a yarn that, at its core, follows the standard boy-meets-girl formula while continually spiraling off into areas like child abuse, transvestitism, religious mania, castration, incest, tosatsu (up-skirt photography) and hot schoolgirl-on-schoolgirl action. Except that it doesn't feel like that. What I mean is, the film is morally balanced in such a way that all of the perversity of modern life seems to diminish, to take its proper place in the face of true love. The beauty and power of love, whether earthly or divine, is what Sono is concerned with here, and all the other weird stuff that people get up to is presented as silly or pathetic. How refreshing!

Sono also returns to a theme explored in Noriko's Dinner Table, that of makeshift/dysfunctional families. In the world of these films (as well as Suicide Club to a degree), the Japanese family unit has been irreparably damaged, and it's up to individuals to reconstitute it, however badly or perversely. In the case of Love Exposure, the young male protagonist Yu (pop idol Takahiro Nishijima) winds up in a family situation in which the girl of his dreams, Yoko (Hikari Mitsushima, another pop idol), has become his "sister." Her "mother" (really just an ex-lover of Yoko's dirty daddy) is going to marry Yu's dad (Atsuro Watabe), a Roman Catholic priest. What's that you say? Catholic priests can't marry? Yes, this is one of many conflicts that arise in the film between contemporary Christianity and affairs of the heart (and groin).

Love Exposure enjoyed a rapturous reception on the 2009 international festival circuit, scooping up awards at the Berlin International Film Festival, Kinema Junpo Awards, Fant-Asia Film Festival and others. It's without a doubt Sono's finest work to date and could well stand as his magnum opus.

I don't want to say too much more, as this is the kind of film that's best approached with a minimum of preconceptions. I will suggest a prerequisite, however: Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion. The main character in this seemingly unrelated exploitation classic from 1972 will figure largely in Love Exposure, and a familiarity with her will only serve to enhance your enjoyment of this amazing picture.

Tom Neely covers Frankenstein Comics 18

Original cover by Dick Briefer; Prize Comics 1952. Tom Neely's website is here and you can purchase the original here.

Chaw

As giant, killer wild boar movies go, I can safely say the Korean Chaw (2009) is the best since the Australian Razorback (1984). While more derivative (think Jaws except with a giant, killer wild boar), Chaw is certainly more funny and upbeat than its sleazy and lugubrious Aussie cousin (although the latter's monster is pre-CGI and, thus, better). I suggest a double feature, with Razorback first; Chaw will serve as the palate-cleanser (to get the taste of dusty, rotting offal out of your mouth -- yuck!).

So you've got a frustrated Seoul cop who's transferred to a provincial post out in the boondocks. He thinks it's going to be all fishing and afternoon naps. Boy is he mistaken. Seems there's this huge ... well, you know. Cue the Jaws prototypes (town leaders who downplay the danger for the sake of tourism, professional hunter who's tough but ultimately not up to the job, the aforementioned cop, a scientist) and away we go. Aside from these stock characters, the townies are a hoot, and the whole business is infused with a uniquely Korean comic sensibility. (Don't ask me what "uniquely Korean" means -- just a vibe I've picked up from watching a lot of Korean movies.) Broad, and at times brutal, the gags are nevertheless consistently hilarious and I laughed out loud more than once.

The grand finale appears to be an homage to the final scene in Razorback, albeit with a different climax. All in all an entertaining hoot. You won't be snorting at this boar-fest!

Vengeance Trilogy

I remember when the only way you could see one of these pictures was on an import DVD (my original copy of Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance is a region-3 disk out of Hong Kong). How gratifying, then, to have a box set like this, boasting a whopping eight disks! There's also a glossy collector's booklet featuring production stills and essays by Hollywood insiders like Eli Roth and my boy John Kreng (Fight Choreography: The Art of Non-Verbal Dialogue).

The feature disks all have commentaries (three different ones in the case of Oldboy) and, this being an eight-disk set, there's a veritable smorgasbord of extras. Since Sympathy opened to less than favorable reviews (following director Park Chan-wook's more crowd-pleasing Joint Security Area, its ultraviolence was off-putting to audiences), its extras disk is the leanest. That said, we're talking several making-of featurettes, cast interviews, storyboards, stills, trailer and a profile of director Park Chan-wook by Brit talk show host Jonathan Ross. Yeah, that's the "skimpy" extras disk.

By the time you get to Oldboy, it's insane. Oldboy was such an international phenomenon that, in addition to the standard array of DVD extras, there are featurettes about the phenomenon itself (like Le Grand Prix at Cannes, a short documentary about the splash the film made at the renowned French film festival). There's a solid two disks worth of extras for Oldboy including five making-ofs, interviews, deleted scenes and a 3-hour video diary.

Sympathy for Lady Vengeance (or simply Lady Vengeance as it is called here) is similarly well-endowed with additional features, as well as an alternate, director's cut version of the film.

I reviewed all three films in the Vengeance Trilogy in Asia Shock, so I'll leave it to you to check that out for my own critical take. Upon obtaining this new box set, I took the opportunity to watch these films again, and seeing them all together I came away with a greater appreciation for the first film, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance. In retrospect I think it is probably the finest of the bunch. I found greater appreciation for it's subtle, artistic touches in contradistinction to the manga-esque outrages of Oldboy (as great as they are).

In any case, do I really need to tell you to go get this box? If any one box contains the essence of "asia shock," it's this one.

Yoko Furusho covers Spectacular Spider-man 256

Original cover by Luke Ross; Marvel 1998. Yoko Furusho's website is here.

Joy Kolitsky covers What If? 16

Original cover by Gary Kwapisz; Marvel 1990. Joy Kolitsky's website is here and you can purchase the original here.

Michael Kenny covers Fat Freddy's Comics & Stories 1

Original cover by Gilbert Shelton; Rip Off Press 1983. Michael Kenny's website is here and you can purchase the original here.

Dustin Harbin covers Richie Rich 141

Original cover by Warren Kremer; Harvey Comics 1976. Dustin Harbin's website is here and you can purchase the original here.

Brian Ralph covers Thor 137

Original cover by Jack Kirby and Vince Colletta; Marvel 1967. Brian Ralph's website is here.

Jeremy Tinder covers Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures 6

Original cover artist is unknown; 1989 Archie Comics. Jeremy Tinder's website is here and you can purchase the original here.

Three Mouseketeers #1

Three Mouseketeers #1 (On Sale: March 19, 1970) has a cover by Rube Grossman.

Here is a series I don't recall ever even seeing on the stands, reprinting stories from Three Mouseketeers #1 of 1956. The stories featureing the Three Mouseketeers are "Brave Deed," "Temper, Temper," "Air-Minded," "The Explorers" and "The Problem." The final story featues Dizzy Dog and is "Say It with Music." All artwork is by Sheldon Mayer.

Edited by Dick Giordano.

Swing With Scooter #27

Swing With Scooter #27 (On Sale: March 19, 1970) has a cover by Henry Scarpelli.

This issue begins with three Scooter stories: "Double Trouble," "Gift Package" and "Sylvester's Meat is Dutch Treat." It ends with two Malibu tales: "Weird Do We Go from Here?" and "It's Only Fate -- Not My Date." I have no creator information.

Edited by Joe Orlando.

Sam Henderson covers Harvey Comics Library 1

Original cover by Marvin Bradley and Frank Edgington; Harvey Comics 1952. Sam Henderson's website is here and you can purchase the original here.

Recharging

:: Long hours and changing sleep schedules is taking a toll. No energy for anything other than watching television and snoozing so I'll just post a funny comic book panel (From Beware #11, August 1952).

:: It'll be about a month until I can afford to buy the next chapter of Futura. So should I wait for the real thing I can scan or post the awful, low resolution microfiche copy I found online?

:: Zzzzzzzz...

Michael DeForge covers Plastic Man 40

Original cover attributed to Alex Kotzky; Quality Comics 1953. Michael DeForge's website is here and you can purchase a screen print of his cover here.