Damn...that's depressing. I loved his Batman art in the 70s.

FREMONT, Calif. -- Marshall Rogers, a comic book artist who brought a film noir feel and an architect's eye to Batman comics in the 1970s, has died. He was 57.

Mr. Rogers died unexpectedly in his home last weekend, according to his sister.

Mr. Rogers took over work on Batman for Detective Comics in 1977, creating editions prized by collectors.

Born Jan. 22, 1950, in Flushing, N.Y., Mr. Rogers studied architecture at Kent State University in Ohio. His training showed in his realistic, detailed renditions of Gotham City, collaborators said.

Together, writer Steve Englehart and Mr. Rogers produced only six issues, but the works became favorites with Batman fans.

Mr. Rogers also drew other characters, including the Silver Surfer, Mister Miracle, Dr. Strange, Iron Fist and G.I. Joe. AP

COMIC REVIEW: Fell

PERTH artist Ben Templesmith is one of the leading horror comic artists in the world today, so it's natural he adds a foreboding look to Warren Ellis's gritty crime book Fell (published by Image).
This ongoing series (currently up to #7) is worth supporting, not least for its brave attempt to do self-contained stories at a cheap-arse price (US$1.99/AUD$3.50). Sure each story’s only 16 pages long, but there’s DVD extras-style stuff from Ellis at the back of each issue and its quality I’m after, not quantity. Det. Richard Fell has moved to Snowtown, a godforsaken city that’s full of human scum and misery: drug-fuelled killers, evil nuns wearing Richard Nixon masks, shit-injecting psychopaths...it's all happy-go-lucky stuff.
Fell’s cases are based on true stories, according to Ellis. If that’s the case, then it’s one sick fuckin’ world we live in. I adore this comic to death.

Here's an excerpt of an interview I did with Ben last October where he talks about Fell and his love of Warren Ellis's work.
What comics did you read growing up?
Ben: I was a typical comic book fan, reading a lot of the big Marvel and DC superhero books till I reached puberty and got more into the darker, more mature books from imprints like Vertigo. Warren Ellis’s Transmetropolitan set me on the path to decent comics.
And now you’re working with him on Fell.
Ben: That’s one of the reasons why I jumped at it.
Fell, which is probably my favourite title at the moment…
Ben: Oh, cool! Thankyou…it’s all Warren’s fault, not mine.
The art has a bit to do with it, I suspect. Fell’s set in a hellish, crime-riddled suburb called Snowtown. Have you told Warren about the “real” Snowtown, the bodies in the barrels case in South Australia?
Ben: I did and he mentioned he already knew it.
Will we see a storyline based on the case in a future issue?
Ben: Maybe, maybe. He’s one of those guys who’s always on the Internet, researching and finding all the disturbingly odd little stories from around the world.
What would be your dream art assignment, apart from what you’re doing at the moment? If you could be given any comic character or popular culture icon?
Ben: Well, I am kinda doing exactly what I wanna do right now so I’m very lucky. Working with Warren Ellis was the last big ambition I had. I dunno, I’d like to maybe do a Batman story eventually, one day, if they’d let me. But I’m quite happy doing my own stuff.
You’re living the dream, as it were.
Ben: I am living the dream.
If you could collaborate with anyone else in the world?
Ben: Warren was it.
So there’s no-one else?
Ben: No-one else I’d be a complete fanboy over. I’d more want to work with them because they were, like, friends and stuff. ’Cos I’ve got to know quite a few people, too. But Warren is the one person I’d be on my knees as a gushing fanboy for.
And you got it?
Ben: Yeah, I got it. [Laughs]

Not so notorious

THIS is a long-overdue review...
Helen and I finally watched The Notorious Bettie Page on an imported DVD late last year.
The film claims to be an authentic look at Bettie’s life up until she became born again in 1959 and seems to based, in part, on Richard Foster’s controversial biography.
I thought it was good but not great, although Gretchen Mol is brilliant as Bettie – she captures the pin-up queen’s sexy-but-innocent essence perfectly (and she gets nekkid a lot... see above).
However, I found the movie to be pedestrian and lacklustre – and I was disappointed Notorious whitewashed Bettie’s growing religious mania (and ended in the early 1960s, thereby avoiding all the mental illness and attempted murder issues that occurred later in her life).
I dunno...maybe I expected more as I’m such a huge Bettie fan. I’ve talked with other people who’ve seen the movie (and who knew very little about Ms Page’s life) and they seemed to love Notorious.
So it’s probably just me.
I’d still recommend the DVD to people, particularly for the bonus feature: an extremely rare colour film loop of Bettie stripping naked (below).

VALE: Captain America (1941-2007)

THEY fucking killed Captain America?! You bastards!

Jesus Christ! I'm so sick of Marvel and its continued sodomy of their own mythology.

I expect this sort of behaviour from DC - those corporate cocksuckers have been fucking with their comics universe since the original Crisis On Infinite Earths in the mid-80s. Since then, it feels like DC has had crises on an annual basis - basically an excuse to "revamp" old titles (by relaunching them with a new No.1), rework/update superhero origins, kill off a few minor heroes, revive a few minor heroes and tell all the teenage nerds out there that "things will never be the same again". Until next year, right muthafuckas?
That's why I finally gave up on DC with this 52 Weeks bullshit (although I was already pissed off with them for their unnecessary revamping of Doom Patrol courtesy of John "I'm a whore and a hack" Byrne.

Since the ill-fated penis-pulling egotism surrounding wunderkind Rob "I'm a cunt" Liefeld's Heroes Reborn abortion in the mid-90s, it felt as if Marvel had pulled themselves back from the brink. They'd revived their superheroes (again) but this time it felt right. I got back into my all-time superhero team The Avengers (vol.3, written by Kurt Busiek and illustrated by George Perez) and kept tabs on some of the other titles.

There seemed to be some very talented indy writers and artists joining Marvel (Richard Corben, Mike Alldred, Garth Ennis, etc) and it seemed as if the head honchos at the company were committed to producing great comics.

Things changed when Brian Michael Bendis started writing The Avengers in the "Avengers Disassembled" storyline. Look, I have no problem with Bendis - I think Alias and Powers were/are great comics. But this storyline - where he destroyed The Avengers and killed off a bunch of long-running characters smacked of controversy for controversy's sake.

Of course, Bendis then segued into The New Avengers and I kinda enjoyed it - it was a far more mature, 21st century look at what it takes to be a superteam in today's complicated world.

But this was where things went increasingly awry. The head honchos at Marvel clearly decided it was time to shake up/revamp all the Marvel titles (a la 52 Weeks). They'd already done the House Of M series (which I thankfully avoided, despite Bendis' involvement), but decided to follow it up soon afterwards with another Bendis-written "universe-shattering" event, Civil War.

Anyone who follows comics will know the ins and outs of this latest series, so I won't go into details. I avoided the whole mess - buying a house and having a baby on the way meant money was tight, so I had a good excuse for not buying the one zillion spin-off titles Civil War spawned.

Being divorced from what was happening in Civil War, I was stunned to read that the conclusion of the series was Captain America's assassination (at the hands of the Red Skull). Sure, I'm pissed that an iconic superhero has been killed, but I also think it's kinda cool. This is a genuinely shocking moment...or, at least, it should be.

But as we know in the world of comics, death is not permanent. Death is meaningless. Hell, in DC they killed Superman off in 1996 and he's still flying around today. Bendis himself murdered Antman, The Vision and Hawkeye during the "Avengers Disassembled" storyline and they're all back in one form or another.

How long will it take for Cap to return to Marvel Comics? Well, the man behind the mask - Steve Rogers - may be dead, but I bet someone wearing his uniform will be back in his own comic within the next few months. That's how Marvel operates and that's why they suck dead donkeys' balls.

Y'see, the only reasons why they've killed Captain America are to create some mainstream publicity, spike some extra sales, then relaunch Cap in a new series (with a new No.1 to entice dumbass collectors). It's so fucking cynical it hurts.

I've enjoyed Captain America comics since I was a kid - the early Kirby-drawn tales in Tales Of Suspense in the 60s (and even King Jack's goofy run in the mid-70s), his ongoing presence in the various incarnations of The Avengers and his new/old adventures in The Invaders.
Hell, I even loved the early 80s stuff written by Mark Gruenwald and drawn by Paul Neary, featuring the menace of supervillain killer Scourge.

I've been with Cap for more than 35 years of comicbook reading - and I feel betrayed by Bendis, his boss Joe Quesada and Marvel in general for their calculated, manipulative treatment of his death.

Quite frankly, except for the occasional non-continuity related miniseries, I can't see myself buying another Marvel title. What's the point? Everything I invest time and interest in is ultimately made worthless by some suited hack who thinks it's all about the almighty dollar and improving the bottom line.

Well, fuck them. And fuck whatever pseudo-Captain America returns in a month or two.

As far as I'm concerned, the REAL Captain America is dead.

RIP, Steve.

These are movies I'd like to see...

The Glamorous Life Of Sachiko Hanai

IF ANY kind person reading this blog has DVDs of the following, please e-mail me at danhelen@idx.com.au. I'm happy to trade or buy. Or if you wanna give me a burnt copy out of the goodness of your heart, then that would be greatly appreciated, too.
The films I'm after are:
* Blood Trails (2006, dir. Robert Krause, Germany/USA)
* Frostbite (2006, dir. Anders Banke, Sweden)
* The Glamorous Life Of Sachiko Hanai (2003, dir. Mitsuru Meike, Japan)
* Broken (2006, dir. Simon Boyes & Adam Mason, UK)
* Killer Killer (2006, dir. Pat Higgins, UK)
* Dream Deceivers: The Case Of James Vance vs. Judas Priest (1992, dir. David Van Taylor, USA)
* Bubblegum Music Is The Naked Truth! (2005, dir. Kier-La Janisse, 2005)
* The Kids Are United (aka Kids Like You And Me) (1978?, dir. ??, UK)
* Live Freaky, Die Freaky (2003, dir. John Roecker, USA)
* Pigs! (1972, dir. Marc Lawrence, USA)
* Rock And Roll High School (1978, dir. Allan Arkush, USA)
* Cool As Ice (1991, dir. David Kellog, USA) starring Vanilla Ice
* Ladies & Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains (1982, dir. Lou Adler, USA)
* The Gary Wilson Story (2003, dir. Michael Wolk, USA)
* Blackballed (2004, dir. Brant Serson, USA)
* Barbecue: A Texas Love Story (2004, dir. Chris Elley, USA)

I know these films all exist as they were all shown at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in Austin, Texas in the past two years.

Except for Killer Killer (which I read about on IMDb.com while looking up info on Broken) and Cool As Ice (which I just really wanna see, but it's really expensive to buy the original video on eBay and it hasn't been released on DVD).

BETTY PAGINATED #30 is out...soon

YEP, the last ever issue (most likely) of my zine is being printed next week and will be available for sale soon. I feel, honestly, that this is MY BEST ISSUE EVER!!!

This is the BIG comics issue with plenty of four-colour reminiscing. It also features some amazing art by the likes of Gary "John Law" Chaloner, Lili "Mucha Lucha" Chin, Jason "Deep Fried" Yungbluth, Frank Strom, Brad Foster and many other very talented people!

Plus exclusive interviews with Ben "30 Days Of Night" Templesmith, X-rated legend Vanessa Del Rio, "Nature Boy" Ric Flair and much more!

BP #30 is only US$10/AUD$10/5 pounds! E-mail me at danhelen@idx.com.au for postage details. Or send the cash to Dann Lennard, PO Box A1412, Sydney South, NSW, 1235, AUSTRALIA. Alternatively, you can pay via Paypal but you must add a US$1/AUD$1/50p processing fee to the total (and use "dlennard@acp.com.au" when making payment to me).