#Movie serial

[mindless-cinematic-trash]

The Crimson Ghost

[retrotariotr]

[mycroftholmesian]

Right to the Point, My Dear Holmes! 🗡️🔎 💚

[chernobog13]

Superman (Kirk Alyn) giving a little demonstration of how bulletproof he is.

[usstrekart]

"Bride of Chaotica!" (S05E12, Stardate UNKNOWN) is dumb fun. It is a holodeck gone wrong episode that layers in high-concept sci-fi that isn't explored too deeply with some "I really don't want to be here" moments from the Captain sprinkled in for good measure. It's popcorn Trek, enjoyable and not too deep.

I tried to emulate the feel of a classic serial poster with this poster.

[doppleganger-rental]

Come January

[silveragelovechild]

Batman and Robin, a 15-chapter serial released in 1949 starring Robert Lowery as Batman.

[nerds-yearbook]

Appendix: Some of the Sci-fi/fantasy roles of Buster Crabbe

Tarzan - Tarzan the Fearless (1933)

Flash Gordon - Flash Gordon 13 ep serial (1936)

Flash Gordon - Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars 15 ep serial (1938)

Buck Rogers - Buck Rogers 12 ep serial (1939)

Flash Gordon - Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe 12 ep serial (1940)

Brigadier Gordon - Buck Rogers TV series (1979 - 1981)

Sheriff Kowalski - The Alien Dead (1980)

[abuddyforeveryseason]

I dunno... talk about a small head.

Still, not bad, all things considered. I've been trying to draw stuff that looks more modern, with lighter penstrokes and a style that's a big closer to cartoon animation than to vintage comic and manga art.

I guess that stuff is more popular because comics and manga no longer have the limitations of printing technology that prevented the art from looking rougher and more dynamic - and avoided the "rubber stamp" look of thick lines and square panels.

But because so much of what I read is from that early era, I got used to it - or, even if it's a modern book, it's going for a nostalgic look like that.

But I'm tired of superheroes, anyway. This is the first summer in a long ass time I won't be watching any new Marvel movies. And, although it's understandable that people are sick of it, it's kind of a shame because it was interesting watching that type of worldbuilding evolvnig every year - and it was something that was carefully constructed, too.

Of course, in a way, what happened to Marvel movies is the same thing that happened to Marvel comics - they kept trying to keep things from stagnating and ended up with something that no longer had the charm of the early stuff.

And it doesn't help that a lot of older people were complaining about superhero franchises killing cinema. Although, really, the only real superhero franchise is the MCU. DC tried to copy the model with the Snyder movies, but those never really got a lot of traction, and the good DC movies were the ones that tossed the franchise idea out the window.

In many ways, the movies I'm excited about nowadays aren't so much part of a shared universe, but ones released by the same production companies - A24, Blumhouse, 2AM, Miramax, Focus and whatnot.

But, I still think that, 20 years from now, people will miss the Marvel model. It was fun going to the movies to see how the story developed, must've been what it was like to go watch Republic serials every month, like my grandpa used to do when he was a kid.

He was a big fan of Zorro Rides Again. They'd release one chapter a month, through the whole year, and kids would buy a ticket to "the movies" to check it out - meaning, they'd get a ticket to see five different things, running on a loop: A newsreel, a cartoon, an episode of the serial, an A-movie and a B-movie.

Must've made for quite an outing. It's hard to imagine, now, that anyone would have the time (or the patience) to be in a movie theater for like five freaking hours to see the whole thing. And it was really cheap, too.

But, lest I also turn into another of those old guys complaining about kids these days and their short attention spans, I'll just remind everyone that they can watch all those episodes at once, for free, thanks to the magic of Public Domain:

[pulpsandcomics2]

The House of Terror (1928) Ten episode movie serial

[the-mandolorian]

A movie serial, was a short subject originally shown in theaters in conjunction with a feature film. They were related to pulp magazine serialized fiction and were extended motion pictures broken into a number of segments called "chapters" or "episodes". Each chapter was screened at the same theater for one week, and ended with a cliffhanger, in which the hero and heroine found themselves in a perilous situation with little apparent chance of escape. Viewers had to return each week to see the cliffhangers resolved and to follow the continuing story. Serials were especially popular with children, and for many youths in the first half of the 20th century.

Serials dated back to 1912 but reached their zenith in the late 40s. Three major studios produced the greater number of serials: Columbia Pictures, Universal Pictures and Republic Pictures. Many serials were Westerns, since those were the least expensive to film. Besides Westerns, though, there were films covering many genres, including crime fiction, espionage, comic book or comic strip characters, science fiction, and jungle adventures. Although most serials were filmed economically, some were made at significant expense.

I fell in love with movie serials when they were rebroadcast on early television. Many have been released in home video formats and are available on the net. At last count my collection of movie serials numbered 73 so yes I am a fan.

[retrotariotr]

Flash Gordon is a 1936 superhero serial film. Presented in 13 chapters, it is the first screen adventure for Flash Gordon, the comic-strip character created by Alex Raymond in 1934.

[raynbowclown]

Adventures of Captain Marvel

[chernobog13]

Leonard Nimoy (left) in his first role as an alien. He played Narab, a Martian who is one of the Zombies of the Stratosphere (1952).

[mankabrosstudios]

This Date In Manka Bros. History - December 17, 1937

‘El Pantalon’ - the mythical Flamenco dancer who brings candy and justice to small Spanish villages - debuts as a serialized movie series and is an immediate hit. This spawned future spin-offs including radio, television, comics and feature films.

[doppleganger-rental]