Michael D Hamersky On Comics Presents His Take On:   Satchel Paige   Striking Out Jim Crow

TODAY'S FEATURE IS BLOG #3666 - First of all... Although this graphic novel bears his name, Satchel Paige is not the main subject of the book!

That's because James Sturm and Rich Tommaso actually tell the story of a retired baseball player.  It was this guy's one encounter in the Negro Leagues with Satchel that impressed upon him the idea that the Jim Crow laws that existed at the time might not apply to all blacks.

This gave the main character of this story hope for a future where his young son might live in a world where blacks and whites can live peacefully together.

So... Satchel Paige: Striking Out Jim Crow is actually a fictional piece of work, not a biography, like I was thinking it was by the front cover of this graphic novel.

The two authors have taken some already told stories about Satchel and created a visit by him to the fictional town of Tuckwilla, Alabama.

This graphic novel does lay out a simple story, yet conveying an even bigger theme involving the period in American history of 'segregation'.

I believe that the lack of color in the interior pages add to the hopelessness of the then current situation. There is black, white, and a greenish gold color used in those pages only.

With the blurb:  'The Center For Cartoon Studies Presents"... I'm figuring that the two authors were aiming to sell their graphic novel to the educational market as their main source of revenue.

So included are four pages of notes and footnotes that help to explain their illustrated pages.  I found those pages to be very interesting, and they would be helpful to younger readers who would be reading this graphic novel.

My comic book grade for this book is a Very Fine / Near Mint (VF/NM) 9.0 out of a possible 10.0 comic book grading scale.

You can find it for sale at this link: Satchel Paige: Striking Out Jim Crow

~ Michael D Hamersky

NOTE FROM Michael D Hamersky On Comics:  My thanks again to all of YOU reading this blog and our archived blog posts, now at 3,666 total posts in number!   I do appreciate your continued reading and support of this Blog!

BTW, You can 'follow' this blog by clicking the 'Follow' Button at this NetworkedBlogs app link!  We currently have over 2,752 'Followers'!  Thanks to ALL of YOU that have already clicked that button!  And for those of YOU that haven't yet... I would appreciate it if YOU would!!!

Note:  My online 'Loca8' Comic Book Shop (LCBS), carries many different genres of comics, magazines, graphic novels, and comic con promotional items. Possibly even copies of the item(s) that was mentioned here today...!  If I have it, you'll find under the BIG TOP of Comics, at Comic Books Circus.com, including the book 'Gotham City 14 Miles' that I am shown holding to the left. I'm 1 of 14 essayists in that book! !     

Web Page Note:  This blog post is written per the IE Browser standards.  Chrome, Safari, Netscape, Firefox and the other browsers serve the page up slightly differently, sorry about that!  The screen display resolution is best seen at the setting of 1024 x 768 on your laptop or desktop computer.  Note:  Your computer's resoulution may be set differently, but the above resolution is the most commonly used resolution at the time of this blog post. 

NOTE: All images and characters within this blog post are copyright and trademark their respective owners.

Comics Creators: If you are breaking into, or already work in the comic book industry or other pop culture productions, you are welcome to email or mail us press releases, news items, and updates that you feel would be of interest to our blog readers. Including YOUR own works! To mail printed items to us for possible review, send to:  Make It So Marketing Inc., PO Box 130653, Carlsbad, CA 92013

 Also, if you are a Facebook member, I would have liked you to send me a 'Friend Request'. However, I have reached the maximum limit of 5,000 Facebook Friends and Fan pages already, so I've added a New 'Facebook Fan Page' so that even more of YOU can 'Like' what I am doing, and be interactive with me and others there.  Here is the link to that 'Facebook Fan Page': Michael D Hamersky On Comics! Please click the 'Like' button on that page!

---------------            

      

In Addition, I started a YouTube Channel just before the 2011 Comic-Con International, where I am slowly uploading videos from conventions or other events that we attend that are also pop culture related.  You are invited to 'subscribe' to that channel also!  As found at 'HamerskyOnComics'!

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Michael D Hamersky On Comics Presents His Take On:   Comic Book Century   The History of American Comic Books!

TODAY'S FEATURE IS BLOG #3665 - This Book Is Supposed To Be......the History of the American Comic Book for a younger readership, say like the 7th - 9th grades.

It does cover a lot time periods in its' 112 pages, and since it does cater to the juvenile nonfiction category, it manages to at least briefly describe each period.

The cover is not the most appealing one for a mainstream reader in my opinion.  It features what appears to be a mad scientist and a dectective / crime scene.

However the interior pages do cover the beginnings of comic books, the superheroes taking off, the comics going to war, the Comics Code Authority stamp, and other major periods for comics. That was  the strong point to this book.

My only problem with the text, was that it had a few errors in the history it told. For some reason these errors keep getting repeated when the history of comics is told. Taking out those few errors, the book is well documented and sourced with several features at the back of the book for reference.

Other than that, the book had enough photos and pictures of the creations the text was about or the period it was referencing to. Stephen Krensky did a good job in the interior pages to interest the reader into learning more about the history of comic books from the 1930's to the 2000's.

This would be a pretty good book for a library to have in the juvenile nonfiction section, or for someone looking to get a young reader interested in the history of comics and possibly collecting them. The cover may not appeal to young girls however.

My comic book grade for this book is a Very Fine (VF) 8.0 out of a possible 10.0 comic book grading scale.

You can find it for sale at this link:  Comic Book Century: The History of American Comic Books (People's History). 

~ Michael D Hamersky

NOTE FROM Michael D Hamersky On Comics:  My thanks again to all of YOU reading this blog and our archived blog posts, now at 3,665 total posts in number!   I do appreciate your continued reading and support of this Blog!

BTW, You can 'follow' this blog by clicking the 'Follow' Button at this NetworkedBlogs app link!  We currently have over 2,752 'Followers'!  Thanks to ALL of YOU that have already clicked that button!  And for those of YOU that haven't yet... I would appreciate it if YOU would!!!

Note:  My online 'Loca8' Comic Book Shop (LCBS), carries many different genres of comics, magazines, graphic novels, and comic con promotional items. Possibly even copies of the item(s) that was mentioned here today...!  If I have it, you'll find under the BIG TOP of Comics, at Comic Books Circus.com, including the book 'Gotham City 14 Miles' that I am shown holding to the left. I'm 1 of 14 essayists in that book! !     

Web Page Note:  This blog post is written per the IE Browser standards.  Chrome, Safari, Netscape, Firefox and the other browsers serve the page up slightly differently, sorry about that!  The screen display resolution is best seen at the setting of 1024 x 768 on your laptop or desktop computer.  Note:  Your computer's resoulution may be set differently, but the above resolution is the most commonly used resolution at the time of this blog post. 

NOTE: All images and characters within this blog post are copyright and trademark their respective owners.

Comics Creators: If you are breaking into, or already work in the comic book industry or other pop culture productions, you are welcome to email or mail us press releases, news items, and updates that you feel would be of interest to our blog readers. Including YOUR own works! To mail printed items to us for possible review, send to:  Make It So Marketing Inc., PO Box 130653, Carlsbad, CA 92013

 Also, if you are a Facebook member, I would have liked you to send me a 'Friend Request'. However, I have reached the maximum limit of 5,000 Facebook Friends and Fan pages already, so I've added a New 'Facebook Fan Page' so that even more of YOU can 'Like' what I am doing, and be interactive with me and others there.  Here is the link to that 'Facebook Fan Page': Michael D Hamersky On Comics! Please click the 'Like' button on that page!

---------------            

      

In Addition, I started a YouTube Channel just before the 2011 Comic-Con International, where I am slowly uploading videos from conventions or other events that we attend that are also pop culture related.  You are invited to 'subscribe' to that channel also!  As found at 'HamerskyOnComics'!

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Michael D Hamersky On Comics Presents His Take On:   ELVIS:  The Ed Sullivan Show!  The Classic Performances DVD!

TODAY'S FEATURE IS BLOG #3664 - I just came across the above pictured DVD and immediately sat down and watched it on my laptop.

Why?  Well, here's one reason: Blog #3319.

I've not seen all three of the performances below at one sitting.  Yes, there are clips, kind of grainy, on video, but this is was the first DVD that I saw that had all three appearances of Elvis Presley and his group on the Ed Sullivan Show.  

So what does this DVD have?  Here's a promo:

"Share the excitement of Elvis Presley's earthshattering introduction to the nation in this collection of iconic performances from "The Ed Sullivan Show," and experience for yourself why Elvis became the legendary King of Rock and Roll! Appearing on the show Sept. 9, 1956, Elvis sent shock waves through a repressed nation with his soulful singing, wild hip gyrations and raw energy, attracting a record-breaking TV audience of more than 60 million people. Presley returned on Oct. 28, 1956, continuing to provoke ecstatic screams with hits such as "Don't Be Cruel," "Love Me Tender" and "Hound Dog." In fact, these exhilarating performances were so explosive that Elvis was filmed above the waist during his final Sullivan show appearance on January 6, 1957!

SPECIAL FEATURES: Remembering Ed and Elvis; Why Ed Didn't Host Elvis' First Appearance; Elvis and Ed: Intros and Promos; Caught on Celluloid: The First Moving Pictures of Elvis Presley; Special Elvis Moments; Jerry Shillings Home Movies; Documents from the Graceland Archives; Documents from the Sullivan Archives."

Okay... That would be enough for me to at least rent this DVD, if not buy it!

I found the screen quality of the videos to be very good, and so was the sound quality!

I had not seen all three shows with all of the performances before in one sitting.

Kind of reminded me why I had a very large Elvis Presley record collection at one time!

If you haven't seen this DVD, you gotta check it out!

I give this DVD a Very Fine / Near Mint (VF/NM) 9.0 out of a possible 10.0 comic book grading scale!

Here is where you can purchase this DVD either New or Used! Elvis Presley: The Ed Sullivan Shows: The Performances

BTW, here is the link to where Elvis stories can be found in comic books! 

~ Michael D Hamersky

NOTE FROM Michael D Hamersky On Comics:  My thanks again to all of YOU reading this blog and our archived blog posts, now at 3,664 total posts in number!   I do appreciate your continued reading and support of this Blog!

BTW, You can 'follow' this blog by clicking the 'Follow' Button at this NetworkedBlogs app link!  We currently have over 2,752 'Followers'!  Thanks to ALL of YOU that have already clicked that button!  And for those of YOU that haven't yet... I would appreciate it if YOU would!!!

Note:  My online 'Loca8' Comic Book Shop (LCBS), carries many different genres of comics, magazines, graphic novels, and comic con promotional items. Possibly even copies of the item(s) that was mentioned here today...!  If I have it, you'll find under the BIG TOP of Comics, at Comic Books Circus.com, including the book 'Gotham City 14 Miles' that I am shown holding to the left. I'm 1 of 14 essayists in that book! !     

Web Page Note:  This blog post is written per the IE Browser standards.  Chrome, Safari, Netscape, Firefox and the other browsers serve the page up slightly differently, sorry about that!  The screen display resolution is best seen at the setting of 1024 x 768 on your laptop or desktop computer.  Note:  Your computer's resoulution may be set differently, but the above resolution is the most commonly used resolution at the time of this blog post. 

NOTE: All images and characters within this blog post are copyright and trademark their respective owners.

Comics Creators: If you are breaking into, or already work in the comic book industry or other pop culture productions, you are welcome to email or mail us press releases, news items, and updates that you feel would be of interest to our blog readers. Including YOUR own works! To mail printed items to us for possible review, send to:  Make It So Marketing Inc., PO Box 130653, Carlsbad, CA 92013

 Also, if you are a Facebook member, I would have liked you to send me a 'Friend Request'. However, I have reached the maximum limit of 5,000 Facebook Friends and Fan pages already, so I've added a New 'Facebook Fan Page' so that even more of YOU can 'Like' what I am doing, and be interactive with me and others there.  Here is the link to that 'Facebook Fan Page': Michael D Hamersky On Comics! Please click the 'Like' button on that page!

---------------            

      

In Addition, I started a YouTube Channel just before the 2011 Comic-Con International, where I am slowly uploading videos from conventions or other events that we attend that are also pop culture related.  You are invited to 'subscribe' to that channel also!  As found at 'HamerskyOnComics'!

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Michael D Hamersky On Comics Presents An Update On:   Secrets Behind The Comics!  By Stan Lee!

TODAY'S FEATURE IS BLOG #3663 - My A few years back I blogged about this book that was written and published by Stan Lee.  (See this archived blog post.)

I wanted to mention that I came across it again while reading on the internet, and wanted to bring to your attention that there is a more recent printing, this time from November of 2011 from Pure Imagination.

The cover price is $20, and can be found at several online resources.

So now there are even more chances for you to pick up a reprint of this famous book by Stan (The Man!) Lee!

~ Michael D Hamersky

NOTE FROM Michael D Hamersky On Comics:  My thanks again to all of YOU reading this blog and our archived blog posts, now at 3,663 total posts in number!   I do appreciate your continued reading and support of this Blog!

BTW, You can 'follow' this blog by clicking the 'Follow' Button at this NetworkedBlogs app link!  We currently have over 2,752 'Followers'!  Thanks to ALL of YOU that have already clicked that button!  And for those of YOU that haven't yet... I would appreciate it if YOU would!!!

Note:  My online 'Loca8' Comic Book Shop (LCBS), carries many different genres of comics, magazines, graphic novels, and comic con promotional items. Possibly even copies of the item(s) that was mentioned here today...!  If I have it, you'll find under the BIG TOP of Comics, at Comic Books Circus.com, including the book 'Gotham City 14 Miles' that I am shown holding to the left. I'm 1 of 14 essayists in that book! !     

Web Page Note:  This blog post is written per the IE Browser standards.  Chrome, Safari, Netscape, Firefox and the other browsers serve the page up slightly differently, sorry about that!  The screen display resolution is best seen at the setting of 1024 x 768 on your laptop or desktop computer.  Note:  Your computer's resoulution may be set differently, but the above resolution is the most commonly used resolution at the time of this blog post. 

NOTE: All images and characters within this blog post are copyright and trademark their respective owners.

Comics Creators: If you are breaking into, or already work in the comic book industry or other pop culture productions, you are welcome to email or mail us press releases, news items, and updates that you feel would be of interest to our blog readers. Including YOUR own works! To mail printed items to us for possible review, send to:  Make It So Marketing Inc., PO Box 130653, Carlsbad, CA 92013

 Also, if you are a Facebook member, I would have liked you to send me a 'Friend Request'. However, I have reached the maximum limit of 5,000 Facebook Friends and Fan pages already, so I've added a New 'Facebook Fan Page' so that even more of YOU can 'Like' what I am doing, and be interactive with me and others there.  Here is the link to that 'Facebook Fan Page': Michael D Hamersky On Comics! Please click the 'Like' button on that page!

---------------            

      

In Addition, I started a YouTube Channel just before the 2011 Comic-Con International, where I am slowly uploading videos from conventions or other events that we attend that are also pop culture related.  You are invited to 'subscribe' to that channel also!  As found at 'HamerskyOnComics'!

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Michael D Hamersky On Comics Presents Our Take On:   Prometheus  The Theatrical Film of 2012

TODAY'S FEATURE IS BLOG #3662 - My wife, Tina Lo Sasso, attended the special panel at the 2011 Comic Con International: San Diego for this film.   In addition, she attended the special panel at the 2012 WonderCon in Anaheim recently for this film.  So she was waiting to view this film on the Big Screen!

Here is her 'Take' on the film, and then mine follows.  The film just opened this past Friday, June the 8th!

Tina:  Review: Prometheus

So much has been rumored about whether Prometheus is a prequel to Alien that it would be tough to review Prometheus without mentioning Alien. So first let me say: I LOVED Alien.

For me, Alien ties with The Omen (which almost made me spend all my babysitting money on steak for our family's German Shepard/Doberman Pinscher) as the scariest movie I've ever seen. Alien did what great Hitchcock movies do: terrorize you with unrelenting suspense and a quick flash of violence. I had no idea what Alien was about when my best friend from high school said her brother and his wife were going to the movies, we should go with. It took two hours, a ton of ice cream and cheesecake in a Jersey diner to calm us down afterward. Of course, the whole time I kept wanting to check under the table top for whatever might be stuck to it.

So, yes, I'm an Alien fan (not the franchise, only the original), and I was not disappointed with Prometheus.

Is Prometheus a prequel? Not exactly. Is it as scary? Not for me because you see far more of the alien creatures than you do in Alien. Was it as great? No, but Prometheus is a terrific grown-up Summer movie. Like any great Summer movie, it transports you to another world and makes you scream, squirm, shield your eyes, and your neighbor's. And, since it's a grown-up movie by Sir Ridley Scott, you also get a breathtaking alien environment, really cool space craft that doubles as a "W" hotel, the best android since -- well, ever, and plenty of grown-up discussions about the origin of life, the meaning of God, and parent-child relationships.

Does Prometheus have a Summer movie feel-good ending? Not by my count. But, if you thought Contact with Jodie Foster had a feel-good ending, you'll love this one. I suspect most people going to see the movie and expecting Alien will be disappointed with the ending. It's strange and unsatisfying. The very last scene will remind Marvel fans of the secret after the credit sceens Marvel uses to tout their next flick in the franchise.

Prometheus is no Alien, but it's an intriguing film. If you want to scared - and to think - go see Promentheus. It's less about horror and aliens than about being careful what you wish for.

Rating: A Very Fine (VF) 8.0 out of a possible 10.0 comic book grading scale.

~ Tina LoSasso

Michael:   This film does not have a comic book / graphic novel tie-in to my knowledge.  There is an 'Alien/ Aliens' film tie-in though, which you can read about in the Wikipedia entry for this film.  However I must state 'SPOILER WARNING'!

As stated above... Tina has been eager to see this film at the Big Screen, since first seeing the special panel at the SDCC in July of 2011.  I didn't get a chance to see it with her, though.

I'm just 'so-so' with the Alien / Aliens films.  The same with the comic books.  Not one of my favorite films series to watch.   So I'm a little surprised at Tina's wanting to see this film, as she is usually not into horror films.

As for myself, I found the storyline of the film to actually be pretty good, once the beginning was over with.  The storyline made sense to me, and the ending made sense also...

As for the cast:

Noomi Rapace as Elizabeth Shaw did a pretty good job in this role.  I found her to be a decent / good main character.

Michael Fassbender as David:  As the android, he played the part very well.  Good casting!

Guy Pearce as Peter Weyland:  Kind of weird casting...

Idris Elba as Janek:  The ship's captain, and actually... Good casting here also!

Logan Marshall-Green as Charlie Holloway:  Just couldn't connect with him in the film...

Charlize Theron as Meredith Vickers:  The only 'Big' name in the cast, but she came across kind of stiff in her role.

There were others in the cast, but just didn't make a big splash in the film to me.

This film was kind of so-so to me while watching it.  Again, I'm not a Big Fan of the Aliens films, but I didn enjoy one Aliens related scene in the film.   I'm glad that Tina enjoyed seeing this on the Big Screen, but I have to give it only a Fine / Very Fine (FVF)  7.0  out of a possible 10.0 comic book grade.

~ Michael D Hamersky

NOTE FROM Michael D Hamersky On Comics:  My thanks again to all of YOU reading this blog and our archived blog posts, now at 3,662 total posts in number!   I do appreciate your continued reading and support of this Blog!

BTW, You can 'follow' this blog by clicking the 'Follow' Button at this NetworkedBlogs app link!  We currently have over 2,752 'Followers'!  Thanks to ALL of YOU that have already clicked that button!  And for those of YOU that haven't yet... I would appreciate it if YOU would!!!

Note:  My online 'Loca8' Comic Book Shop (LCBS), carries many different genres of comics, magazines, graphic novels, and comic con promotional items. Possibly even copies of the item(s) that was mentioned here today...!  If I have it, you'll find under the BIG TOP of Comics, at Comic Books Circus.com, including the book 'Gotham City 14 Miles' that I am shown holding to the left. I'm 1 of 14 essayists in that book! !     

Web Page Note:  This blog post is written per the IE Browser standards.  Chrome, Safari, Netscape, Firefox and the other browsers serve the page up slightly differently, sorry about that!  The screen display resolution is best seen at the setting of 1024 x 768 on your laptop or desktop computer.  Note:  Your computer's resoulution may be set differently, but the above resolution is the most commonly used resolution at the time of this blog post. 

NOTE: All images and characters within this blog post are copyright and trademark their respective owners.

Comics Creators: If you are breaking into, or already work in the comic book industry or other pop culture productions, you are welcome to email or mail us press releases, news items, and updates that you feel would be of interest to our blog readers. Including YOUR own works! To mail printed items to us for possible review, send to:  Make It So Marketing Inc., PO Box 130653, Carlsbad, CA 92013

 Also, if you are a Facebook member, I would have liked you to send me a 'Friend Request'. However, I have reached the maximum limit of 5,000 Facebook Friends and Fan pages already, so I've added a New 'Facebook Fan Page' so that even more of YOU can 'Like' what I am doing, and be interactive with me and others there.  Here is the link to that 'Facebook Fan Page': Michael D Hamersky On Comics! Please click the 'Like' button on that page!

---------------            

      

In Addition, I started a YouTube Channel just before the 2011 Comic-Con International, where I am slowly uploading videos from conventions or other events that we attend that are also pop culture related.  You are invited to 'subscribe' to that channel also!  As found at 'HamerskyOnComics'!

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