Keep an eye out for...

NEW comic Headlocked: Tryout from Markosia. Ask your local comic shop for ordering details.

I'll have a review up soon (I hope).

BPJr #2 is out now...on PDF

BPJr #2 - filled with big booties, Jack Kirby, Steve Gerber, wrestling, Deal Or No Deal and more T&A than is healthy - is finished and ready to be sent out…as a PDF.

Yes, Australia Post has finally battered me into submission. I can’t afford the ridiculous postal costs for what is essentially a vanity project/hobby.

So here’s how it goes. You’re on my mailing list. Please e-mail me at danhelen@idx.com.au and let me know how you want BP sent to you. There are three options:

1. Printable PDF: You can print this out at work or at home. As this issue was created in A5 format (before I changed my mind about having it printed), it’s laid out as if it was going on a photocopier. That means it’s a little difficult to follow in places. However, like I said, if you want to print it out so you can have a hard copy, then this is the best format.

2. Readable PDF: All 24 A5 pages will be sent to you in order, from 1 to 24, with no wacky page layouts to worry about.

3. Hard copy: If you don’t have access to a printer or you can’t read a PDF, then let me know and I’ll send you a hard copy. This is extremely limited as I printed only 20 copies to sell at the Newcastle Young Writers Festival. Any left over will be mailed out to people who ask for them. Once they’re gone, I won’t be printing any more. So get in early if this is the version you want.

Payment? I don’t know. How do you pay for a PDF? I’ll leave it up to you. I don’t think money’s the right thing to ask for. I’m always interested in reading cool zines, comics, magazines, books or seeing interesting DVDs. Burn me something. Hell, e-mail me something if you like.

However, if you want a hard copy, then that will cost US$5 (including airmail postage and handling). I’ll accept only Paypal (no cash, money orders or cheques will be accepted, sorry) and please use dlennard@acp.com.au when making payment. Thanks.

OK. Any queries? Drop me a line.

Oh, and although this is obvious, please state in your e-mail that you’re over 18 years of age. Thanks.

Cheers,

Dann Lennard

Editor

BPJr/Betty Paginated

Franklin Richards: Summer Smackdown!

IN THE cute opening yarn to this one-shot put together by Chris Eliopoulos and Marc Sumerak, The Thing has agreed to do a charity bout for the Unlimited Class Wrestling Federation (as first seen in his own solo series from the 1980s).

He brings along Franklin and his pet robot H.E.R.B.I.E. Unfortunately, The Thing's opponent Thunder is actually a super-villain seeking revenge against the Fantastic Four.

Luckily, Franklin comes to the rescue with a secret weapon stolen from his dad's laboratory.

Problem solved.

This is a nice one-shot - I'd recommend it to any parent who has kids.

HEADLOCKED news

HERE'S the info from creator Michael Kingston:

Jerry Lawler To Paint Comic Book Cover!

WWE Hall of Famer, Jerry “The King” Lawler has signed on to provide a cover for the critically acclaimed comic book series, Headlocked: The Tryout from AAM/Markosia and Visionary Comics Studio. Lawler’s fully painted cover will grace the first issue of the new mini-series, available now for pre-order in Diamond’s Previews and shipping in October. (Diamond Order Code: AUG083662)

Read the press release here.

The book is available for pre-order from July 30^th to August 27^th. Because Headlocked is an independent comic book, it's recommended you pre-order a copy as not all retailers order indy comics. And being that this issue features Jerry Lawler’s first published comic book work, this will definitely be a highly sought-after comic once it hits the shelves. Reserve your copy today at your local comic book store.

As a special promotion to help get people on board with the story, AAM/Markosia is putting the first issue, Headlocked: Work of Art online for people to read absolutely free.

For more information, please visit www.myspace.com/mike_kingston or www.facebook.com/pages/Headlocked/11313203558.

Etta Candy in Wonder Woman

WE'RE talking about the Golden Age Etta Candy here. The tubby lil' sidekick who said, "Woo! Woo!" a lot.

Anyways, in Thompson & Lupoff's The Comic-Book Book, there's an essay on Wonder Woman - "Of (Super) Human Bondage" - in which author and WW fan Juanita Coulson writes this curious passage:

"Etta Candy started as a six-foot lady wrestler. But perhaps that scene and others bothered [WW creator William Moulton Marston], because Etta rapidly lost a foot of height and turned into an unmenacing pudgy little [character]...forever eating and screeching, 'Woo! Woo!'"

So there you have yet another tenuous wrestling-and-comics link.

Fucken Jimmy Olsen

FUCKEN Jimmy Olsen as "Elastic Lad" fights "The Ugly Superman"? Holy fuck.
This was published in April 1968...and probably shouldn't have been.

Lothar wrestles in Mandrake The Magician

I READ about this little gem in the classic The Comic-Book Book (1973, reprinted 1998) by Don Thompson and Dick Lupoff. Dick O'Donnell's essay "It's Magic" enthuses greatly about Mandrake The Magician's earliest newspaper adventures, written by Lee Falk and illustrated by Phil Davis. He discusses one of Mandrake's earliest adventures, 'The Hidden Kingdom of Murderers', which first ran in US newspapers from February 3 to May 26, 1935.

Dick discusses one sequence where the magician's large Nubian manservant Lothar is forced to wrestle "the champion of the murderers" above a flaming pit. Naturally, Lothar wins. And Mandrake saves the doomed wrestler from a fiery death by levitating him to safety.

Amazingly, I found this art sequence (albeit, the Italian translated version) at the excellent Mandrake The Magician blog.

And here it is. Enjoy.