vintage
Vintage geek content from the archives of the geek, comic, and entertainment collections.
Rewatching... The Avengers: The Living Dead
Friday 24 February 1967 So this man walks into a pub… It’s a boozy old tramp, and he staggers out of the pub again into the adjacent graveyard. He clearly has a brilliant sense of humour as he laughs about absolutely everything, including when he falls over. There was a rather more hollow sounding ‘thud’ than expected at this point for a leafy cemetery. And his voice reverberates oddly for outdoors…and there’s not a hint of a breeze… Perhaps he’s laughing at the absurdity, but the smile is soon wiped off his face when the lid of a stone sarcophagus slides open and a ghostly man rises upright from within.
By Nick Brown9 years ago in Geeks
Rewatching... The Avengers: The See-Through Man
Friday 3 February 1967 Mad inventors and nutty eccentrics seem to have become a staple ingredient of The Avengers. This week’s combines both with an eccentric inventor. He’s called Quilby and is played by Roy Kinnear, who I know from such things as comedy. The series has gone all HG Wells as Quilby claims to have invented an invisibility formula and has sold it to ‘the other side’ (a Russian agent called Major Vazim).
By Nick Brown9 years ago in Geeks
Golden Age of Superhero Movies 1938 - 1988
There are more than the few and the proud as the genre is born with a KA-POW! Adam West's Batman's warm smile and the soaring theme of Christopher Reeve's Superman followed by a barrage of sequels were part of the birth of The Golden Age of Superhero Movies from 1938 to 1988.
By Patricia Sarkar9 years ago in Geeks
Top 10 Judge Dredd Stories
Set mostly after the Atomic Wars of 2070, the population of the USA is contained within three enormous mega cities, one on each coast – east, west and the Gulf of Mexico – and each home to about a billion citizens. The only thing that prevents civilization from descending into chaos and destroying itself is the savage arm of the law. Called the Judges, they are the police and they are the military. 2000AD also features many other characters in totally different scenarios, but its main star is one particular Judge, Joseph Dredd, who serves in the huge Mega-City One that covers the entire eastern seaboard.
By Scott Snowden9 years ago in Geeks
History of the Wilhelm Scream
Frequently used in situations where someone falls from a great height or is shot or possibly even blown up, its unique shriek usually reflects the unpleasant death of a sacrificial subordinate in a tense scene, thus serving as stark reminder to both the audience and the protagonists of the seriousness of their situation.
By Scott Snowden9 years ago in Geeks
Mel Brooks' 'High Anxiety' Is Still a Welcome Relief
Mel Brooks' filmmaking career has been a continual source of amazement and amusement for me. Highlighted in The Producers, the unique combination of sophisticated wit and Yiddish vaudeville that inhabit his brilliant comic mind materialized in Brooks’ brilliant yet often erratic films. The manic hilarity of the 2,000 year old man and the distinctly crazy sense of humor that established Brooks as a legendary comedy writer and presence transferred often in a visually shocking way. Mel Brooks' distinct method of transferring his madness into movies became his signature calling card.
By Mike Mavenful9 years ago in Geeks
Evolution of Children's Toys
It can be difficult to comprehend that there was even a time when toys were considered to be somewhat of a luxury item. In fact, prior to the 20th century, children had very few toy options available. The children from these early generations spent much of their time helping with simple household or outdoor chores. In those early times before there really ever was a legitimate children’s toy market; parents were forced to innovate their own objects for children to play with. Thus, some ancient cultures even resorted to using the remnants of animal carcasses to create balls, and many other entertaining objects like dice fashioned out of knuckle bones. As each century ran its course, toys continued to advance, and the evolution of children’s toys has progressed to a level that those previous generations could only have dreamt of.
By Patricia Sarkar9 years ago in Geeks
