Scoundrel Time by Lillian Hellman

(pb; 1976: nonfiction. “Introduction” by Garry Willis)

From the back cover

“‘I cannot and will not cut my conscience to fit this year’s fashions.’

“In 1952, Lillian Hellman refused to name other people─although she offered to talk about herself─before the House Un-American Activities Committee. For this singular act of moral courage she paid dearly. Blacklisted, forced to sell her home, she watched as others sacrificed friends to save their careers. Now Lillian Hellman names names as she writes her most intimate, painful and moving memoir─her personal history of an unfortunate era.”

Review

Scoundrel is an excellent, smart, succinct, often quotable, and timely read about the abuse of power, shady political operators and those they victimize (as well as those who let themselves be victimized). Dashiell Hammett fans may also appreciate this further glimpse of Hammett, Hellman and their decades-spanning friendship. Worth owning, this.

Frank Frazetta’s Death Dealer: Tooth and Claw by James Silke

(pb; 1989: third novel in James Silke’s Frank Frazetta’s Death Dealer quadrilogy)

From the back cover

“Across deserts wrested from the savage Kitzaak Empire, into the deadly, steaming jungles of the Daangall, to the mysterious plateau of the Bayaabar, the land beyond dreams, goes Gath of Baal, the Death Dealer, in search of the legendary noon, beautiful Queen of the Cats. Yet among his companions, who serves the dreaded dark lord? Who plans treachery? Gazul, the bounty hunter, strangely linked to Gath’s past? Bilbaar, the young tracker, able to talk with animals? Fleka, the slave girl, sensuously serving whichever man is the strongest? Who will leave the Dangaal alive?

“In the jungles, the only law is the law of tooth and claw.”

Review

Caveat: possible (light) spoilers in this review.

In the three years after the events of Lords of Destruction, Gath─who knows his identity, but little about his past─has wandered the scope of wild lands, engaging in various and briefly mentioned adventures. Now, he is given a chance to discover something about his past when Gazul, a shifty bounty hunter, makes him an appealing offer to not only recover some of his memory, but fight Chyak (feline master of Noon, Queen of the Cats). The cost: Gath must help Gazul capture Noon, an elusive, animalistic being. Along for the ride is Bilbarr, Gazul’s earnest and brutalized servant boy, and Fleka, whose carnal charms are not as random as the back-cover blurb suggests.

While this vividly penned, Conan-esque series continues to be a pre-P.C., nightmare-for-feminists pulpy read, Gath’s character─still a harsh Barbarian─has become more socialized, matured since the events of the first two books. This is especially clear in Gath’s dealing with Bilbaar and Fleka, as well as his immediate post-Chyak-battle feelings about the saber-tiger he has defeated. Not only that, the writing in this third book feels tighter, more character-focused than previous Death Dealer entries.

Consistent with the other books, there is plenty of sensory-rich, icky action, death, betrayal, hypermasculinity and hypersexualized femininity (which is relatively subdued, compared to Prisoner of the Horn and Lords of Destruction). In short: if you don’t mind the above qualities and want a rough-and-tumble slaughterama fantasy adventure, this is a great work, whether you’ve read the first two books or not. Worth owning, this.

Followed by Frank Frazetta’s Death Dealer: Plague of Knives.

Sorcerer by John Minahan

(pb; 1977: movie tie-in novel, based on the third film adaptation of Georges Arnaud’s novel The Wages of Fear)

From the back cover

“Only one way out!

“They were exiles, criminals who couldn’t go home again, stuck in a hellhole called Porvenir where tomorrow promised only to be worse than today.

“Then the Corporation that controlled the area offered thema  chance to earn money and escape to a new life. Two ancient trucks full of unstable explosives must be driven through mountains and jungles to a remote oil field to blow out a raging fire.

“Would they drive through guerilla-infested territory with this volatile cargo, risking life itself for another go at living? They would kill for the chance to try.”

Review

Sorcerer, an intense, emotionally and physically gritty movie tie-in work, transcends its genre, making for a grim, covered-in-muck-and-sweat read that is not easily forgotten (like its source novel and resulting films). This is worth owning, even if you know the story─provided you do not possess a knee-jerk, inflexible “all remakes suck” mindset.

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The retitled film (its source material is called The Wages of Fear) that spawned this movie tie-in book was released stateside on June 24, 1977. William Friedkin directed it, from a screenplay by Walon Green.

Roy Scheider played Jackie Scanlon (“Dominguez”). Bruno Cremer played Victor Manzon (“Serrano”). Francisco Rabal played Nilo. Amidou played Kassem (“Martinez”).

Ramon Bieri played Corlette. Peter Capell played Lartigue. Karl John played “Marquez.” Friedrich von Ledebur, billed as Fredrick Ledebur, played “Carlos.” Rosario Almontes played Agrippa. Chíco Martinez, billed as Chico Martinez, played Bobby Del Rios.

Joe Spinell played Spider. 

Essential Marvel: Man-Thing, Vol. 1 by various authors and illustrators

(pb, graphic novel; 1971-75, 2006, collects Savage Tales #1, Astonishing Tales #12-13, Adventure into Fear #10-19, Man-Thing #1-14, Giant Sized Man-Thing #1-2 and Monsters Unleashed #5, 8-9)

From the back cover

“Whosoever knows fear will see just how much there is to know in this compilation of staggering swamp sagas! Explore the heights of the cosmos and the depths of the soul with the mindless Man-Thing! Guest-starring the Fantastic Four, Ka-Zar, Daredevil, Korrek the Peanut Butter Barbarian! And featuring the first web-footed steps into adventure of Howard the Duck!”

Overall review

Man-Thing, Vol. 1 is a great comic book collection, with impressive artwork, surprisingly nuanced lead characters as well as solid, moralistic and ecology-friendly storytelling. This is especially impressive because of how willing the creators of this comic series are willing to indulge in wild and mostly effective break-the-Man-Thing-mold writing.

A few of the issues feel like single-shot filler tales, but they are still entertaining and the artwork visually exciting. There are also the inevitable 1970s sexist, hippie and corporate greed stereotypes, along with some heavy-handed thematic overreaches (which further the egregiousness of the stereotypes), but these issues are relatively few, given how many issues are contained in this anthology.

Despite the above caveats, this graphic novel is worth owning. Followed by Essential Marvel: Man-Thing, Vol. 2.

Issue / story arcs

Warning: possible spoilers in this issue breakdown.

“Savage Tales – ‘. . .Man-Thing!’” (#1): In the Florida swamps, a scientist (Ted Sallis) discovers that his not-quite-developed super-soldier serum is intended for horrific misuse in horrible ways by his employers. He tries to escape his laboratory/camp (Project Gladiator) with the only serum sample to keep it away from them. Complications and deaths ensue, leading to Sallis becoming the Man-Thing.

“Astonishing Tales – ‘Terror Stalks the Everglades!’” (#12): Ka-Zar and his sabretooth tiger (Zabu) join Dr. Barbara Morse and Dr. Paul Allen in their swampland search for the missing Ted Sallis. Those who helped bring about Sallis’s Man-Thing transformation in “Savage Tales” #1, a nefarious agency known as Advance Idea Mechanics (AIM), try to sabotage that search, kill the search party and Man-Thing.

“Astonishing Tales – ‘Man-Thing!’” (#13): Picking up from the cliffhanger finish of issue 12, Ka-Zar and Man-Thing fight, realize they have a mutual enemy (AIM agents), sort of team up, and set out to rescue Ka-Zar’s fellow search party members (Dr. Barbara Morse and Dr. Paul Allen) from AIM soldiers. Of course, betrayal complicates this already violent conflict, further flavoring this pulpy tale.

“Fear – ‘Cry Monster!’” (#10): Man-Thing rescues a swamp-abandoned baby from his terrible father.

“Fear ─ ‘Night of the Nether-Spawn!’” (#11): After two teenagers (Andy and Jennifer Kale) open a portal to a hell-realm with a book “borrowed” from their grandfather, Man-Thing tries to send a demon back to its home. The book: Tome of Zhered-Na.

“Fear ─ ‘No Choice of Colors!’” (#12): A black fugitive (Mark Jackson) flees into the mucklands to escape a racist cop (Wallace Corlee). Both encounter Man-Thing, whose sense of fairness and justice is briefly challenged by the violent conflict.

“Fear ─ ‘Where Worlds Collide’” (#13): Man-Thing, Andy and Jennifer Kale (issue 11) are drawn into a netherworld via the Mists of Maalok, where Thog, demon overlord, rules. It is a world of illusion and temptation─will Man-Thing kill the teenagers to regain his human form, or will he remain true to his natural convictions?

Also: Man-Thing battles the Cult of Zhered-Na and a sand demon. The metaphysical elements of the Man-Thing’s natural abode are revealed.

“Fear ─ ‘The Demon Plague!’” (#14): Man-Thing, Andy and Jennifer Kale (issues 11 and 13), along with their grandfather (Joshua Kale) find themselves in danger from Kale’s fellow cultists (Cult of Zhered-Na). The reason: a missing spell book, the Tome of Zhered-Na, “borrowed” and destroyed (in this realm) by Andy and Jennifer in issue 11.

Also: a murder-madness plague spreads throughout humanity. The Mists of Maalok reappear─a netherworld portal─are again opened by Kale’s cult, and Man-Thing and Jennifer, who have a psychic link, are brought through it to the world of Sandt. There, an evil enchanter (Dakimh) tries to ensure that the earthly demon plague engulfs humanity. The only person slowing its spread: Man-Thing!

“Fear ─ ‘From Here to Infinity!’” (#15): The murder-crazed/demon-sourced plague spreads further into our world (issue 14). The history of the Cult and Tome of Zhered-Na are revealed by Joshua Kale. His granddaughter, Jennifer, and Man-Thing are swept into another mystical realm by the enchanter Dakimh (issue 14), who may not be as “evil” as initially thought. Jennifer and Man-Thing’s mission: retrieve the Tome of Zhered-Na, the only thing that can stop the four-issue cycle of madness and destruction.

“Fear ─ Cry of the Native!’” (#16): Man-Thing is caught between a construction crew bent on ousting some of the swamp’s denizens (a group of Native Americans) and the Native Americans, who have dug themselves in for fight. The Kale family (Jennifer, Andy and Joshua) make a brief appearance in this issue.

“Fear ─ ‘It Came Out of the Sky’” (#17): After Man-Thing opens a crashed, gleaming spacecraft, he frees Wundarr─a superman with a childlike mentality, also the last surviving member of the planet Dakkam. A misunderstanding births a brief brawl between them, one that spills out into the streets of nearby Citrusville, Florida. Meanwhile, Jennifer Kale─her psychic link to Man-Thing still severed─has wake-up-screaming nightmares.

“Fear ─ ‘A Question of Survival!’” (#18): A drunk driver (Ralph Sorrell) crashes into a bus, causing it to crash near the edge of the swamp. Bus-crash survivors─Mary Brown (a nurse), a wounded boy (Kevin Kennerman), a hot-headed ex-POW (Jim Arsdale) and a callous war protester (Holden Crane)─try to make their way to safety through the swamp with Sorrell, all the while screaming at each other. Man-Thing watches all this, the men’s self-interest and clashing rage about the Vietnam War making his head hurt, even as he tries to help Mary get the boy to relative safety (at the Schist Construction Camp, site of various Man-Thing battles in previous issues).

Also: Jennifer Kale’s nightmares become shriek-worthy daytime visions. Jaxon, her date-mate─last seen in issue 13─also makes an appearance.

This issue is, not surprisingly, comic book-simple and anachronistic with its extreme “microcosm” statement about Vietnam, a blessing or a curse depending on the reader’s perspective.

“Fear ─ ‘The Enchanter’s Apprentice’” (#19): Jennifer Kale and Man-Thing’s shared nightmare of an alternate dimension (Sominus), where a battle of unlikely foes and allies takes place, becomes a surrealistic reality when Dakimh the Enchanter (last seen in issue 15) takes them there, so that they might prevent a disastrous collision of worlds. Cliffhanger finish to this one.

“Man-Thing ─ ‘Battle for the Palace of the Gods!’” (#1): Man-Thing, Jennifer Kale (apprentice to Dakimh the Enchanter) and Korrek (issue 19) battle the strange-mix army of the Congress of Realities, led by the Nether Spawn, in a shifting, hallucinatory realm. Daredevil and Black Widow make a fun, two-second appearance in this tale of colliding, surreal worlds. The Nether Spawn last appeared in “Fear“ (issue 11).

“Man-Thing ─ ‘Nowhere to Go But Down!’” (#2): Man-Thing protects a bummed-out “loser” (Richard Rory) and a hippie nurse (Ruth Hart) from a biker gang who are pursuing Hart. Man-Thing must also contend with a deadly house of laser-bouncing mirrors, designed by a mercenary (Hargood Wickham, nicknamed Professor Slaughter), who has been hired by F.A. Schist (owner of F.A. Schist Construction), which has been trying to build an airport in the swamp since issue 16─only to see its construction goals consistently thwarted by Man-Thing.

“Man-Thing ─ ‘Day of the Killer, Night of the Fool!’” (#3): A murderous, spandex-wearing nutjob with a messianic complex (the Foolkiller) heads to the murklands to kill his next three targets: F.A. Schist (construction company owner), Richard Rory (issue 2) and Ted Sallis─now the Man-Thing!

“Man-Thing ─ ‘The Making of a Madman’” (#4): The Foolkiller’s backstory is revealed as well as Richard Rory’s history with the aforementioned nutjob, whose stalk-and-kill mission, started in the previous issue, ends in a way he doesn’t expect.

“Man-Thing ─ ‘Night of the Laughing Dead!’” (#5): A clown (Darrel) commits suicide, reuniting Man-Thing with Richard Rory and Ruth Hart (issues 2-4), and introducing Ayla Prentiss (a carnival high-wire artist), as well as new villains (Mr. Garvey, carnival owner, and his freak-tall thug, Tragg), who want to kill Man-Thing and his allies.  Cliffhanger finish to this.

“Man-Thing ─ ‘And When I Died. . .!’” (#6): Darrel the suicidal clown, with the aid of supernatural “critics,” forces the characters of issue 4 to reenact key events of his life in a deadly “play”─actually a trial for Darrel’s soul.

“Man-Thing ─ ‘The Old Die Young!’” (#7): F.A. Schist and his employees finalize the razing of his construction camp, ending a yearlong campaign to drain the swamp and “build an airport”─in actuality, a cover for Schist’s seeking of the Fountain of Youth, which he has not given up on. Man-Thing engages ageless, ancient Spaniards (who benefit from said Fountain) in combat, and makes a startling, possibly fatal, discovery about his relationship with the Fountain. Cliffhanger ending to this.

“Man-Thing ─ ‘The Gift of Death!’” (#8): F.A. Schist and Professor Hargood Wickham (a.k.a. Professor Slaughter) find the Fountain of Youth that Schist is so fervidly seeking. Man-Thing, being treated by the Fountain’s kindly, five-hundred-year-old guardians, is caught between them and Schist, who─in a violent twist─gets his misguided, monstrous wish.

This issue has a touch of heartbreak to it because of Man-Thing’s near-return-to-humanity, not the first time he’s had a near-miss with resumed humanity.

“Giant Size Man-Thing ─ ‘How Will We Keep Warm When the Last Flame Dies?’” (#1): Robed cultists (the Entropists) attack Omegaville, an environmentally friendly, experimental commune in the swamp. Helping─manipulated by─the Entropists is the “Golden Brain” of Joe Timms (a.k.a. the Glob, last seen in issues 121 and 129 of “Hulk”), who goes through serious mental and physical changes. Mixed up in all this, of course, is Man-Thing.

“Man-Thing ─ ‘Deathwatch!’” (#9) to “Nobody Dies Forever” (#10): A swamp rat (Ezekiel Tork) and his dog (Dawg) are terrorized by the incarnate jealousy and frustration of Tork’s wife, Maybelle. Man-Thing helps Tork and Dawg fend off her shadow self’s variable-form attacks.

“Giant Size Man-Thing ─ ‘Of Monsters and Men!’” (#2): Vivian Schist, widow of F.A. Schist─who died in issue 8─and his less-than-enthusiastic daughter (Carolyn) search for the presumed-dead construction company owner. Vivian swears vengeance on Man-Thing for his presumed crimes, and at her behest a high-tech, clever trap is set for the anomalous creature. Man-Thing gets unwanted freak-show trip to New York before his inevitable, raging return to the swamps of Citrusville, Florida.

“Man-Thing ─ ‘Dance to the Murder!’” (#11): Richard Rory, last seen in issue 6, meets Sybil Mills, an escapee from a group of masked kidnappers, whose mysterious aspects are easily espied.

“Man-Thing ─ ‘Song-Cry of the Living Dead Man!’” (#12): A mentally ill man (Brian Lazarus) fights an ineffectual battle against his personal traumas, which have taken on the form of a money-demanding mob. He meets Sybil Mills (from issue 11), who helps him battle his weirdly realized tormentors, along with a more-confused-than-usual Man-Thing.

“Man-Thing ─ ‘Red Sails at 40,000 Feet’” (#13) to “Tower of the Satyr!” (#14): Man-Thing, trapped aboard seafaring ship in the Bermuda Triangle, is drawn into a conflict between undead pirates, a curse-adept satyr (Khordes), modern sailors, and a scientist with a forgotten, relevant-to-the-above-situation past (Dr. Maura Spinner). This is one of the wilder storylines in the series, one whose tone─read with the current liberal outlook─falls into a sexist groove: it’s a woman who causes many of these problems, and, at repeated points, acknowledges that. The plot is out-there, but so is the character of Man-Thing, so─aside from the sexism─this is an otherwise fun, definitely-written-in-the-1970s story arc.

“Monsters Unleashed! ─ ‘All the Faces of Fear!’” (#5): Ellen Brandt, Ted Sallis’s traitorous, greedy girlfriend─last seen  in Amazing Tales issue 12─is a day away from having her face-covering bandages removed from her (a result of Man-Thing scorching her face). She is also having nightmares about Sallis/Man-Thing, wrestling with her guilt over her actions, mixed with a burning sense of revenge toward Man-Thing. She takes her doctor, Leonard, to the Man-Thing-trashed A.I.M. (Advanced Ideas Mechanics) camp, site of her former employers, who bribed her to betray Sallis. There, she and Leonard confront her emotionally befuddled nighttime tormentor, with─surprising to her─results.

“Monsters Unleashed! ─ ‘Several Meaningless Deaths, Part 1’” (#8): Christopher Dale, fleeing New York City and memories of his girlfriend’s murder, ends up in the Everglades, near Citrusville, Florida. Also a victim of writer’s block, he’s trying to break through that. Then a sixteen-year-old girl, named Elaine (like his dead girlfriend) pounds on his front door. She’s fleeing her murderous father, who mistakenly thinks he’s Ted Sallis, and in a further mistake, thinks Sallis raped his daughter Elaine. Of course, violence ensues and Man-Thing makes his inevitable appearance.

This is a mostly-text-with-some-illustrations work, an entertaining and Man-Thing-familiar story.

“Monsters Unleashed! ─ ‘Several Meaningless Deaths, Conclusion” (#9): The mostly-text-with-some-illustrations story is wrapped up, in a satisfying, Man-Thing-true way.

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The resulting movie, Man-Thing, aired on the Sci Fi Channel (now the Syfy Channel) on April 30, 2005. Brett Leonard directed the film, from a screenplay by Hans Rodionoff. Leonard also played a supporting character, Val Mayerick.

Conan Stevens, billed as Mark Stevens, played Man-Thing. Matthew La Nevez played Kyle. Rachel Taylor played Teri. Jack Thompson played Schist. Rawiri Paratene played Pete Horn.

The Butterfly by James M. Cain

(pb; 1946)

From the back cover

“In this story of incest and mistaken identity set in the coal-mining hills of Appalachia, a man estranged from his family for many years finds himself fatally attracted to his daughter when he meets her for the first time as a grown woman.”

Review

Butterfly is a tautly penned, immediately gripping work, with its characters’ emotions and actions starkly stated, its pace and descriptions masterful and its taboo theme effectively flavored with mystery and story-altering twists. Those who might shy away─like I did─from reading this because of possible incest ickiness should consider letting go of their reservations, because Cain tastefully keeps Butterfly within acceptable thriller/mainstream guidelines, while flirting with familial perversion. This is one of the few books I have read where the word perfect is applicable, given its balance of elements and no-words-wasted delivery.

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The resulting film, Butterfly, was released stateside on February 5, 1982. Director Matt Cimber co-authored its screenplay with John F. Goff (billed as John Goff).

Stacy Keach played Jess Tyler. Pia Zadora played Kady. Lois Nettleton played Belle Morgan. James Franciscus played Moke Blue. Anne Dane played Janey.

Edward Albert played Wash Gillespie. June Lockhart played Mrs. Gillespie. Ed McMahon played Mr. Gillespie. George “Buck” Flowers (billed as Buck Flowers) played Ed Lamey. 

Stuart Whitman played Rev. Rivers. Orson Welles played Judge Rauch. Paul Hampton played Norton.

Star Trek: The New Voyages 2 edited by Sondra Marshak and Myrna Culbreath

(pb; 1977: fan fiction/science fiction story and poem anthology)

Overall review

New Voyages 2 is a good, mostly entertaining collection of fan fiction. I didn’t enjoy it as much as I did the first volume, but it was still a worthwhile read.

Stories

“Surprise!” – Nichelle Nichols: The Enterprise crew try to set up a surprise birthday party for James Kirk while he, to their frustration, roams around the ship. Fun, ultra-flirty and chatty tale─it’s overlong and wanders a bit, but still largely entertaining.

“Snake Pit!” – Connie Faddis: Christine Chapel─nurse/secondary doctor on the Enterprise─must, with a knife, fend off many snakes in a pit where she and downed-by-poison James Kirk try to avoid becoming weather-predictive sacrifices for a Vestalan tribe, the Hualan. Outstanding story, nice to see Chapel in an unusual-for-her situation, beyond her role as a healer.

“The Patient Parasites” – Russell Bates: Kirk, Sulu and McCoy match wits with a technology-thieving, difficult-to-defeat machine (Finder), whose deeper agenda is even more devastating. This teleplay is entertaining, flows well and is a standout read in this collection.

“In the Maze” – Jennifer Guttridge: Kirk recklessly disobeys Star Fleet orders and further risks getting himself, Spock, Bones and several other crewmen killed or worse when he illegally investigates an out-of-place technological building on a backwater planet. Well-written, entertaining tale that bringing to the fore Kirk’s underlying, sometimes-childish-and-selfish umbrage nature.

“Cave-In” – Jane Peyton: Back-and-forth-structured dialogue poem, did not read it. (Not into Star Trek-themed verseworks.)

                                                   

“Marginal Existence” – Connie Faddis: The crew of the Enterprise encounter sleeping aliens and hostile robots. Solid, pedestrian-for-the-series piece.

“The Procrustean Petard” – Sondra Marshak and Myrna Culbreath: Several crew members of the Enterprise are gender-switched and trapped in planetary orbit with a ship full of Klingons, led by fan-favorite Kang. While it runs too long and is occasionally awkward, it is an often-entertaining read.

“The Sleeping God”: Kirk and co. come face-to-face with a galaxy-destroying mega-computer while transporting super-powered mutant (Singha the Sleeper). Good, chatty story.

“Elegy for Charlie” – Antonia Vallario: Another unread poem.

“Soliloquy” – Margarite B. Thompson: Another unread poem.

The Night of the Ripper by Robert Bloch

(pb; 1984)

Review

Night is an entertaining, intriguing procedural thriller about (yes) Jack the Ripper, where an American doctor (Mark Robinson) and Inspector Frederick Abberline─with help from others─track down the infamous killer as he racks up a Whitechapel body count.

Ripper has it all: fully fleshed, interesting characters and suspects; suspense and tabloid-vivid gore (often via characters’ dialogues); thriller-taut, masterful pacing and corkscrew twists; time-appropriate, historical-crossover characters (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, John Merrick, Oscar Wilde); and a tale wrap-up that is simultaneously satisfying and a little unsettling. Worth owning, this.