Thanksgiving Turkey SKATEMAN Conclusion

"Criminals are a superstious, cowardly lot...

....so my disguise must be able to strike terror into their hearts!"

Well, that didn't quite work out...

We Have Already Seen...

To avenge the death of his girlfriend by a biker gang, VietNam vet Billy Moon becomes a roller-skating vigilante...

And that's how the story ends, not even a epilogue setting up future issues!

We hope you enjoyed our Thanksgiving Turkey, and that you'll keep reading this blog as we start posting on a regular basis...

Thanksgiving Turkey SKATEMAN Part 1

The phrase "martial arts" encompasses a great many forms and techniques of combat...

...even, believe it or not, this hybrid form in a 40 year-old never-reprinted one-shot comic!

To Be Concluded

TOMORROW!

Written and illustrated by Neal Adams (with some inking by his Continuity Associates studio), this was intended as a tie-in to a feature film...which was never made.
When the notoriously-slow Adams couldn't meet the deadline for the contracted second issue of Ms. Mystic at Pacific Comics, he offered this project as a stopgap.
Trivia:
The comic sold 70,000 copies, more than almost anything on the stands today!
Kitchen Sink's 1991 World's Worst Comics Awards parody comic named Skateman the "Worst Comic Book of the Past 25 Years"!
Ms. Mystic #2 finally came out a year later, right before Pacific Comics folded!.

KUNG FU "End of the Game"

 We Just Witnessed...

...Kwai Chang Caine, fleeing from the Chinese authorities, stays the night at an abandoned temple local residents believe is haunted!

It's not!

Caine and Wei (the guy pretending to be the ghost haunting the temple), are now heading for the coast...

Writer Steve Moore and artist Paul Neary, created this never-reprinted story from Brown-Watson's Kung Fu Annual (1976), adapting the flashback sub-plot from an episode of the Kung Fu TV series.

Since I last saw these episodes in the early 1980s, I don't remember which one it was, and the supposedly-infallable Internet Movie DataBase wasn't much help.
If anyone does know, i'd appreciate them dropping me a comment with the episode title!

Please Support Pop Art Martial Arts

Visit Amazon and Buy....

Kung Fu

Complete Collection DVD

Halloween "Horror"??? KUNG FU "Haunted Temple"

It's Halloween!
And Kwai Chang Caine is still in the run inside China...

...in this tale adapted from the flashback segment of an episode of the 1970s Kung Fu TV series!

To Be Concluded On Dia Dos Muertos...Day of the Dead (aka Thursday)!
Writer Steve Moore and artist Paul Neary, created this never-reprinted story from Brown-Watson's Kung Fu Annual (1976), adapting the flashback sub-plot from an episode of the Kung Fu TV series.

Since I last saw these episodes in the early 1980s, I don't remember which one it was, and the supposedly-infallable Internet Movie DataBase wasn't much help.
If anyone does know, i'd appreciate them dropping me a comment with the episode title!

Please Support Pop Art Martial Arts

Visit Amazon and Buy....

Kung Fu

Complete Collection DVD

Halloween Horror LEGEND OF THE 7 GOLDEN VAMPIRES

Though it was a financially-unsuccessful experiment for either Hammer or Shaw Brothers...

...this 1974 film has developed a dedicated following in both the horror and martial arts communities!

Trivia:

Technically, this is the final Hammer Dracula film.

Though Christopher Lee doesn't play Dracula, Peter Cushing does play Abraham Van Helsing and the flick is set in the period of the original Bram Stoker novel and earlier Hammer films!
Both David Chiang Tai-Wai (Hsi Cheng) and Shih Szu (Mai Kwei) were well-established in Hong Kong both for their acting and martial-arts performances.
Sadly, their work in this film didn't garner the attention or interest of European or American studios, but they both had long careers in Asian movies and TV series!

Here's the trailer for the uncut, European version...

And here's the re-edited, American version...

Quite a difference, eh?

Now, a bonus treat (no trick), the audio for the HTF lp album using the dialogue, music and sound effects from the movie...plus new narration by Peter Cushing!
(Think of it as the podcast edition of the movie!)

Happy Halloween!

Please Support Pop Art Martial Arts

Visit Amazon and Buy

Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires

Blu Ray

(Which includes both the longer, international Golden Vampires version as well as the shorter American Seven Brothers Meet Dracula version!

Plus a new audio commentry and other related extras!)

Or

Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires

DVD

(Which also has both versions of the movie!

Plus the audio tracks for the out-of-print lp album which features new narration by Peter Cushing along with music, dialogue, and sound effects from the movie!) 

Paid Link

Halloween Horror LEGEND OF THE 7 GOLDEN VAMPIRES Part 2

We Have Already Seen...

Art by Brian Lewis

While lecturing at a university in Chunking, Professor Van Helsing mentions a legend about a Chinese village terrorized by vampires.

He is then approached by a student, Hsi Ching, who tells him the story is true, that the bloodsuckers still rule the region, and requests that Van Helsing aid in destroying the menace!

Van Helsing, his son Leyland, their financial benefactor, Vanessa Buren, plus Hsi Ching and his siblings (including his beautiful sister) begin their journey.

But, there are those who do not wish them to reach the village...

The comic adaptation was written by Steven Moore and illustrated by Brian Lewis (who also did the cover painting).

The movie went thru several incarnations in different countries with radically-different running times and titles including The Seven Brothers (and Their One Sister) Meet Dracula and Seven Brothers vs Dracula...

...and running times ranging from 72 to 89 minutes.

Plus some versions have scenes of topless virgins being drained of blood.
In others, the helpless women are clothed.

Next Monday...

More Kool Ghoul Kung Fu Goodies from This FLICK!

Please Support Pop Art Martial Arts

Visit Amazon and Buy

Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires

Blu Ray

(Which includes both the longer, international Golden Vampires version as well as the shorter American Seven Brothers Meet Dracula version!

Plus a new audio commentry and other related extras!)

Or

Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires

DVD

(Which also has both versions of the movie!

Plus the audio tracks for the out-of-print lp album which features new narration by Peter Cushing along with music, dialogue, and sound effects from the movie!) 
Paid Link

Halloween Horror LEGEND OF THE 7 GOLDEN VAMPIRES Part 1

What happens when the top horror studio and finest kung fu studio co-produce a film?

They create a cross-genre classic, that's (sadly) little-remembered today!

To Be Concluded NEXT WEEK!

In the mid-1970s, with diminishing returns on their once-popular horror films, Hammer Studios began experimenting with new elements to attract the audience back, including nudity and, in this film, kung fu!
It was also Hammer's first co-production with another studio, in this case, Shaw Brothers, who were already doing co-productions with several other European studios.
Taking elements of both European and Asian vampire lore, writer Don Houghton (no stranger to sci-fi/fantasy/horror material with credits including the Dr Who tv series and several Hammer Dracula films) created a cross-genre story that combines the disparate (and sometimes contradictory) elements of two cultures' myths and makes it work logically (for the most part).

Please Support Pop Art Martial Arts

Visit Amazon and Buy

Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires

Blu Ray

(Which includes both the longer, international Golden Vampires version as well as the shorter American Seven Brothers Meet Dracula version!

And, Plus a new audio commentry and other related extras!)

Or

Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires

DVD

(Which also has both versions of the movie!

Plus the audio tracks for the out-of-print lp story album which features new narration by Peter Cushing along with music, dialogue, and sound effects from the movie!)