Retro Fan #33 July 2024 (magazine review).
The opening article for this edition of ‘Retro Fan’ is a piece by writer Herbie J. Pilato about ‘The Six Million Dollar Man’ and ‘The Bionic Woman’, taken from his book on the subject. He’s done a second update of the book, although I did read the first. I’m surprised that the author didn’t divide the material into two separate articles, each covering a different series. The title, ‘The Rouge Seven Million Dollar Man’, could have benefitted from a brief editorial review. Both Lee Majors and Lindsay Wagner’s cover photos are included, but the actress, who is more attractive when smiling, seems like a bland choice.
I think I would have preferred more detail about the stories than guest stars. The fact that Gary Lockwood appears in both the later films and two of the Six Mill episodes leaves a lot of room for interpretation. The story content did have a more extended SF range, with alien encounters and certain trips into space, for example. I’m probably being a little more harsh than I should because there’s so much to be covered and so much missed. The term ‘bionics’ has surpassed both series and now serves as a global term for functional prosthetics, leaving a lasting impact.
Writer Scott Saavedra looks at the sweet success of Twinkies and Hostess cakes in America. In the UK, we only read the advertisements in American comicbooks because we perceive them as a continuation of the story rather than a marketing campaign. Seeing the history of these things and their shelf-life, it looks like a lucky missed particular sugar rush. As a diabetic, I wouldn’t touch them anyway, but it’s fascinating to see their history of rise and fall.
Writer Mark Voger examines the American film and animated contributions to the World War II battle against the Nazis and the Japanese. I’ve heard of most of these films and have even seen some, but Mark Voger’s analysis goes into much more detail. You should read this for yourself. I would add, in contrast, that the British film equivalent tended to include the home front, discovering spies and musical rousers like Gracie Fields, so it’s clearly a national thing.
Beginning writer Andy Mangels’ initial focus on the Fantastic Four in Saturday morning animation led him to explore their entire media career, including live action. You would think that the 1994 Corman film, which is on many people’s, including myself, bucket lists, would have had an official release by now. Looking at the FF’s history, it can’t be any worse than some of the series that have been released, and it at least looks visually interesting on a low budget. The real question is, why hasn’t the FF achieved the same level of success on screen? Much of it can be attributed to the treatment and the challenge of fitting so much into a single film. The FF would probably work better as a live-action TV series.
This time around, all the articles have been given more pages, providing more space. Writer Will Murray’s look at westerns on TV shows how much they dominated American TV. We didn’t get all of them in the UK, although I was probably too young to catch some of them. The appeal of the western genre, despite its unlikely status as adults-only TV, likely stems from its unique realism that sets it apart from the mainstream. Murray only goes up to the early 1970s, but I hope he won’t forget the odd ones, like ‘Kung Fu’ and ‘Paradise’, that popped up later. Probably his most telling point is that TV westerns came in all kinds of varieties.
Writer Mike Piggott looks at the ‘Hot Wheels’ toys. These toys came into my life after I had outgrown them. In the UK, I was more of a Corgi and Dinky fan when they released genre vehicles, but my elder brother had a Matchbox collection. I think I was surprised when they changed their wheel system to match ‘Hot Wheels’, but now I understand why.
Writer Peter Bosch looks at Modesty Blaise in newspaper strips, novels, and film. He neglects to mention that Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, who went on to achieve great success, portrayed the villain Miklos in ‘My Name Is Modesty’, and actor Raymond Cruz later made an appearance in ‘Alien: Resurrection’, demonstrating that someone was paying attention to their careers. I’m uncertain about the quality of Neville Colvin’s artwork. I have three days’ worth of strips from his ‘Death in Slow Motion’ on my wall, which clearly demonstrate his exceptional drawing skills. If he had been that bad, Peter O’Donnell wouldn’t have kept him on until Colvin’s retirement, given that other artists had been dropped. Unlike America, there isn’t a large pool of newspaper strip adventure artists to choose from, even less so now. Romero died earlier this year, so there are no more links to the original comicbook strip.
This time around, I’ve noticed that I’m reacting a lot more and critically to the articles, but that’s also a good sign. When it comes to the media, especially aspects you’re familiar with, you don’t stay a passive reader. Read and enjoy some nostalgia.
GF Willmetts
September 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=1773
