Retro Fan #30 January 2024 (magazine review).
Of all the American imports to the UK, one we never got was ‘The Brady Bunch’. Mark Voger interviewed mother Carol Brady actress/singer Florence Henderson (1934-2016) twice while she was alive, and the result is here. Although it’s not explicitly stated, the fact that her later roles were playing against type was to get around being typecast.
We did get ‘Top Cat’. It was very weird seeing all the American credits in the UK opening and then the flash-up title ‘Boss Cat’ so as not to confuse with the UK catfood product, which is still going today, although I didn’t spot the connection initially. Even now, I can still perform a convincing impersonation of Choo-Choo saying, ‘Right, TC!’ Writer Will Murray’s piece has a lot of pre-production art and, at last, a photo of the voice cast. It truly stirs up memories and extends beyond its initial 30 episodes.
Author Katherine Kerestman, a devoted fan of Barbie, delves into her 1959 creation and how it revolutionized the doll market by focusing on adult dolls instead of baby dolls. It wasn’t totally original, as her creator Ruth Mattel came across the Bild Lili doll while in SI’m not sure if I agree with Kerestman’s description of the Bild Lili doll as resembling Betty Boop based solely on the size of her cheeks, as they don’t seem overly exaggerated based on online photographs. However, I can see some similarities being used more with the Sindy doll made in the UK by Pedigree than with Barbie.with Barbie.
Shaun Clancy interviews actor-comedian Murray Langston about his career as the “Unknown Comedian’, mostly wearing a stiff paperbag over his head. This interview primarily focuses on how to break into Hollywood in the 1950s, demonstrating that persistence pays off, despite the fact that I’ve never heard of Murray Langston, as his shows were never broadcast in the UK.
However, while writer Scott Saavedra recounts the rise and fall of ‘Mr. Misty’ drinks, we never had a variety of them.
There seems to be a run of things here that I haven’t come across, including the animated ‘Frosty the Snowman’ (1969–1972), and writer Rick Goldschmidt goes over his history based on the song from 1950. I’ve always thought any theme, whether music, film, or TV series with a yuletide bent, was likely to have a long life. Frosty still pops up in the USA.
Under the Super Collector title, ‘Michael Knight’ goes over how he converted his two Trans-Ams to resemble the ‘Knight Rider’ car. He does make a good point that a lot of its technology, sans turbo-boost, has crept into modern-day cars.
Writer Andy Mangels dedicates a significant portion of his text to presenting the ‘TV Comic Ads’, which are essentially promotional materials found in comicbooks for Saturday morning shows. I’ve seen a few of them, but I’m surprised that he didn’t include the two-pager featuring Frankenstein Jr. and The Impossibles.
Scott Shaw is a writer! Dell Comics explores the superhero/horror character world by applying it to Frankenstein, Dracula, and Werewolf, achieving remarkable results. I am aware of these characters, but I’m uncertain whether I would be interested in pursuing them. You do have to wonder what goes through some company heads in terms of what will sell.
Although there is a large section of this issue of ‘Retro Fan’ that I’ve mostly only vaguely heard about, I have come away better informed.
GF Willmetts
August 2024
(pub: TwoMorrows Publishing. 82 page magazine. Price: $10.95. (US). ISSN: 2576-7224. Direct from them, you can get it for $10.95 (US))
check out website: www.TwoMorrows.com and https://twomorrows.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=98_152&products_id=1703
