#Philip Wylie

[surfingkaliyuga]

“The End of the Dream” Ron Walotsky 1972 Cover illustration for a novel by Philip Wylie.

[misforgotten2]

A book you very likely don’t have on your shelf #444

1956

[sesiondemadrugada]

Murders in the Zoo (A. Edward Sutherland, 1933).

[mariocki]

Murders in the Zoo (1933)

"Mr. Yates, never be afraid of a wild animal. Let it alone and it will leave you alone. That's more than you can say of most humans."

"You don't mean to say you really like these beasts?"

"I love them. Their honesty, their simplicity, their primitive emotions: they love, they hate, they kill."

[savage-kult-of-gorthaur]

THE UNSUNG LITERARY BASIS BEHIND UNIVERSAL'S "THE INVISIBLE MAN" (1933).

PIC(S) INFO: Spotlight on First Edition hardcover dust jacket cover art to "THE MURDERER INVISIBLE," written by Philip Wylie and published by Farrar & Rinehart Incorporated in 1931, New York, USA.

MINI-OVERVIEW: Mystery and science fiction novel of a man who can turn himself invisible and seeks to rule the world. Wylie freely admits indebtedness to Wells' novel "The Invisible Man" (which Wylie, unaccredited, helped write the screenplay for the 1933 Universal horror film).

EXTRA INFO: [Reference: Clareson, Science Fiction in America, 1870s-1930s 835. In 333. Bleiler (1978), p. 213. Reginald 15693. Hubin (1994) p. 882].

Sources: www.abebooks.com/first-edition/MURDERER-INVISIBLE-Wylie-Philip-Farrar-Rinehart/30864323096/bd.

[allurlsaregone-blog]

FANNY NICOLE BRODAR (Norwegian/ American b. 1971 Oslo, Norway)

Painter

Fanny Brodar: Pineapple tango

Photo: Juan David Cortes

Brodar is influenced by the playful works of Japanese art, as well as the works of artists like Rose Wylie and the simplistic yet expressive characters of artists like Philip Guston. She loves improvisational theatre, and the way she paints is similar; spontaneously from a thought rather than pre-sketching.

This allows the viewer to see hints of her process through exposed pencil marks, paint drips, and deliberate unpainted areas. Fanny starts her paintings by working flat on the floor, layering paint, and then drawing and doodling directly on the canvas turning it upright on stretcher bars or the wall. This also allows her to use her whole body when making the initial gestures.

She was born in 1971 in Oslo, Norway, grew up in New York, and currently lives and works in Maine.  (Text by Carver Hill Gallery)

[70sscifiart]

Podium II’s cover art detail for the 1973 edition of Philip Wylie's The End of the Dream (1972), via @SFRuminations

[ksiega-jesiennych-demonow2]

„Sukces to drabina, po której nie sposób wspiąć się z rąkami w kieszeniach.”

-  Philip Wylie

[mostsanescarletspiderfan]

The starman legacy is gigantic.

I always knew that the starman legacy was big but never really sat down to just count it you know? So today I did and holy shit it's fucking infinite, like it's not just a bunch of dudes going by starman and associates.

It's more like starman + phantom lady + star-spangled kid + girl of 1000 gimmicks/gimmic girl/gimmix?? + Manhuter + martian manhunter + brainwave + mist.

Here's the list of superheroes and btw this is by legacy and not family ties:

1) Ted knight - starman I

2) Sylvester Pemberton - star-spangled kid I, skyman I

3) Sandra Knight - phantom lady I

4) Dan Richards - manhunter I

5) Paul Kirk - manhuter II

6) Roh Kar - martian manhunter I

7) Arnold Munro - iron Munro I, gladiator one

8) Pat Dugan - Stripesy I , S.T.R.I.P.E I

9) Merry Pemberton - girl of 1000 gimmicks I

10) Doris Lee - starman II

11) The starman of 1951 - starman III

12) Mikaal Tomas - starman IV

13) Prince Gavyn - starman V

14) Henry King Jr - brainwave jr, brainwave II

15) Mark Shaw - manhuter III

16) Will Payton - starman VI

17) David knight - starman VII

18) Dee Tyler - phantom lady II

19) Jack Knight - starman VIII

20) Chase Lawer - manhunter VI

21) J'onn j'onzz - martian manhunter II

22) Courtney Whitemore - star-spangled kid II, star girl I, starwoman I (IX)

23) Stormy Knight - Phantom lady III

24) Jacqueline Pemberton - Gimmic girl, gimmix

25) Jennifer knight - phantom lady IV

26) Kirk DePaul - manhuter V

27) Kate Spencer - manhuter VI

28) M'gann M'orzz - miss martian, martian manhunter III

29) Jacob Colby - skyman II

30) Mike Dugan - Stripesy II, S.T.R.I.P.E II

31) Sophia Becker - Phantom lady V

32) Patricia Dugan - starwoman II (X)

33) Ramsey Robinson - manhuter VII

34) Kyle knight - mist III

35) Thom Kallor - Starboy - starman XI

36) Farris Knight - starman XII

12 starmans, 7 manhunters, 5 phantom ladies, 3 martian manhunters, 2 gimmic girls, 2 S.T.R.I.P.ES, 2 skymans, 2 star-spangled kids, 1 brainwave, 1 iron Munro and 1 mist.

I say only superheroes because a lot of these people have supervillain relatives, it's also interesting to note that this the oldest super powered lineage in DC because Ramsey Robinson is the great-great-grandson of Hugo Munro the protagonist of the 1930 novel called Gladiator (one of the inspirations for superman) by Philip Wylie.

[darchildre]

In which modern life has made me terribly spoiled:

When I was a kid, I would read about obscure horror titles and think, "Well, I'll almost certainly never be able to read that, but I'll keep the title in my head and maybe someday I'll find it in a used bookstore." And then I'd be really excited if I did.

Today, after that last post, I thought, "Maybe I should actually read Philip Wylie's The Murderer Invisible," so I went to look for it. And I am now so accustomed to being able to get whatever weird obscure horror title I want from one of my libraries, or at least as a free/very cheap ebook that I was actually shocked and dismayed to find that this one wanted me to pay full price for it.

And now I have to decide if I want to pay ten whole dollars for a book I almost certainly only want to read once.

[thewarmestplacetohide]

Dread by the Decade: Island of Lost Souls

👻 You can support me on Ko-fi ❤️

★★★★

Plot: A sailor finds himself on an island where a mad doctor is blurring the lines between man and beast.

Review: Provocative and strange, Island of Lost Souls raises ethical questions, before providing its own deeply unsettling answers.

Source Material: The Island of Doctor Moreau by H. G. Wells Year: 1932 Genre: Sci-Fi Horror, Creature Feature Country: United States Language: English Runtime: 1 hour 10 minutes

Director: Erle C. Kenton Writers: Waldemar Young, Philip Wylie Cinematographer: Karl Struss Cast: Charles Laughton, Richard Arlen, Arthur Hohl, Kathleen Burke, Leila Hyams, Stanley Fields

------

Story: 4/5 - An intriguing exploration of unethical science hampered some by the reductive portrayal of the islands' occupants.

Performances: 4/5 - Laughton is a delightful mix of campy and sinister, balanced well by Hohl's somberness. The rest of the cast is sympathetic, with Fields' arc being my favorite.

Cinematography: 4.5/5 - Gorgeous use of shadows.

Editing: 4/5

Effects: 4/5 - Well employed fog and fire.

Sets: 5/5 - Good mix of real locations and sets that reflects Moreau's melding of nature and science.

Costumes, Hair, & Make-Up: 5/5 - The creature makeup for this film is very innovative. The hoofed man was especially great.

Trigger Warnings:

Moderate violence (mostly off-screen)

Misogyny (uncritical)

Disturbing themes of animal and human experimentation

Body horror

Torture and medical abuse (largely off-screen)

A character wants a woman to be raped

[krinsbez]

Pulpltober 2024 Roundup Days 2-5

OK, here we go!

Obviously, I was late for all of these, as have been several others, so I will update this if/when they get around to posting. I will be talking about stuff on the day they're for, not the day they were posting, and because I'm lazy, I will ignore my own extremely minimal contributions.

So, let's take it from the top.

2-Doc Savage/Sci-Fi Superman. All theme today, with two entries.

-First, we have @themailedfist-blog who went Theme, posting several arts of and some thoughts on a character I am not sure counts as a Pulp Hero, but I'm not going to argue with Judge Joseph Dredd!

-Next, we have @haldrada-art, who gave us an original art of Hugo Danner, the protagonist of Philip Wylie's pulp SF novel Gladiator and one of the primary inspirations of Superman.

3-The Green Hornet/I’m Your Villain. Three posts.

-@themailedfist-blog went theme again, with some thoughts and art of a character I wish I knew more about, Captain Blood!

-@skjam returned after a one-day hiatus by posting some thoughts and linking to a review of some media for the day's Character, The Green Hornet.

-@haldrada-art gave us a lovely original art of not only The Green Hornet, but his sidekick/partner Kato!

4-El Santo/Champion of Justice. Again, three posts. All Theme, and I'm only familiar with one of them.

-@themailedfist-blog gave us some arts of Robert E. Howard's Sailor Steve Costigan, and also came in some trivia about the character I didn't know, which is always neat.

-@skjam Gave us some thoughts, a link to a review, and several videos relating to a character I was only vaguely aware of, Tiger Mask.

-@haldrada-art is still working on his entry for the day's theme, but shared a WIP of his original art of Flash Gordon! (will RB this when he posts the completed version, etc.) (also a bonus WIP of the entry for the previous day)

5-Vampirella/Monster Hero. Two entries, both Theme, which seems to be happening a lot this year, huh?

-@themailedfist-blog as his custom, posted arts and thoughts about Abe Sapien!

-@skjam laid down some thoughts and linked a review about Felifax, plus a bonus link to a review of the novel Tigerman by Nick Harkaway.

Thank you everyone who has participated so far, feel free to join in the fun if you haven't yet, and let me know about anyone or anything I may have missed!

[misforgotten2]

The novel that supposedly inspired the creation of Superman.

A book you very likely don’t have on your shelf #363

1949

[gameraboy2]

Witchcraft Is Hurting You by Philip Wylie Redbook, August 1956 Illustration by Fred Siebel

[pandoramsbox]

Sci-Fi Saturday: Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe

Week 19:

Film(s): Buck Rogers (Dir. Ford Beebe and Saul A. Goodkin, 1939, USA); Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (Dir. Ford Beebe and Ray Taylor, 1940, USA)

Viewing Format: DVD and Streaming

Date Watched: 2021-10-08, 2021-10-22, and 2021-10-29

Rationale for Inclusion:

So far we have covered adaptations of some of the foundational literary works of science fiction, but this week we move onto two influential franchises that originated in the funny papers: Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon.

To some degree, I know that I am doing both characters a disservice by lumping the two together, as the general public tends to view them interchangeably, but the motion picture serials featuring the characters were both produced by Universal Studios and shared actors, behind the camera talent, and props. In fact, Buster Crabbe stars as the title character in both Buck Rogers (Dir. Ford Beebe and Saul A. Goodkin, 1939, USA) and Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (Dir. Ford Beebe and Ray Taylor, 1940, USA).

The Buck Rogers in the 25th Century A.D. comic strip was first published in 1929. Modern day former aviator Buck Rogers ends up getting trapped in a cave while carrying out a surveying job, where a strange gas renders him unconscious and keeps him in suspended animation until he awakens 500 years later in 2429. In the future that Buck awakens in, the Mongol Reds have conquered the United States forcing Americans into rebel organizations to fight back to retake their country. Buck is supported in this strange new world by love interest Wilma Deering, plucky boy sidekick Buddy Deering, and scientist Dr. Huer. Together they fight forces led by Killer Kane and his lady Ardala.

Flash Gordon was created in 1934 in response to the popularity and commercial success of the Buck Rogers strip, and with an initial plot lifted from the 1933 Edwin Balmer & Philip Wylie novel When Worlds Collide, which itself would be adapted into a motion picture in 1951. During the present day, polo player and Yale graduate Flash Gordon, his love interest Dale Arden and scientist friend Dr. Hans Zarkov use Zarkov's newly invented rocketship to prevent planet Mongo from colliding with the earth. In the process, they run afoul of Mongo's malevolent ruler Ming the Merciless. Their adventures later include various kingdoms on planet Mongo and later planets.

Despite being created second, Flash Gordon was adapted into a motion picture serial first in 1936. Motion picture serials, or chapter plays, had existed since the silent era and made the transition to sound. The two-reelers, 15-20 minute episodes, were screened along with newsreels, cartoons and stand-alone shorts as part of a motion picture theatrical presentation culminating in the screening of a feature film. Audiences had to return to the theater each week for the next installment, with serials lasting 12 to 15 chapters. The format ceased to be by the mid-1950s due to television becoming the preferred mode of distribution of episodic moving image entertainment. The serials did, however, become known to new audiences when they too ended up broadcast on television in subsequent years.

Since Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon were both action oriented, episodic comic strip narratives, they were perfect candidates for serial adaptation. In addition to Flash Gordon (Dir. Frederick Stephani, 1936, USA), Flash and friends appeared in the serial Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars (Dir. Ford Beebe, Robert F. Hill, and Frederick Stephani, 1938, USA) before the serial we watched for this survey, Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe. The reason for the selection of this Flash Gordon serial was ease of access as well as having the comparison of an already established hero in a serial versus one that required an origin story, as was the case with Buck Rogers.

It was always a given that one or both serials would have been featured on this survey, as these space operas have influenced, and been parodied and homaged by, subsequent sci-fi films and television shows from their creation to the present day.

Reactions:

My partner either did not know or had forgotten that the vertical title, chapter and prologue scroll frequently associated with Star Wars (Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope, Dir. George Lucas, 1977, USA) had originated with these sci-fi serials. His reaction of "that's where that comes from!" was fantastic to witness.

I, meanwhile, was amused to note that amongst the production elements that both Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe share are excerpts from Franz Waxman's score for Bride of Frankenstein (Dir. James Whale, 1935, USA). Perhaps Universal Studios took a comment made by the reviewer for the Winnipeg Free Press to heart when they noted that the laboratory equipment in Bride of Frankenstein would have been more appropriate in Buck Rogers? More than likely the score was used for the same reason preexisting sets, props and stock footage were used in both of the Universal Studios produced serials: to save money.

In fact, props and costumes used in Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars were used in Buck Rogers, and then the "chamber of death dust experiments" from Buck Rogers was used in Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe.

The saminess between the serials resulted in us only watching half of each one. Not even the daring cliffhangers could bring us back after a certain point. Buster Crabbe plays Buck and Flash as essentially the same character despite the differences in their back stories and skill sets. The recaps at the top of each episode also made the serials hard to watch in rapid succession. Since the serials were created based on the understanding that people would wait a week between episodes, and may not have seen the proceeding episode or episodes, content overlaps quite a bit between installments. In their original edits, serials were not meant to be watched in one sitting.

Another grating aspect for modern audiences is the Yellow Peril influence on the way the villains are named and portrayed in the serials, especially in Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe. Befitting of a sci-fi narrative that heavily borrowed from preexisting content, Flash Gordon's arch enemy Ming the Merciless (Charles Middleton) is based on the supervillain Dr. Fu Manchu. Like his inspiration, in the moving image adaptation Ming is portrayed by a white actor in yellowface. This insensitive tradition would continue in future adaptations well into the 1980s. 

Those criticisms aside, after having seen Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon parodied in everything from a Daffy Duck cartoon to Star Trek: Voyager, we expected the serial episodes to be a lot more cheesy and kitschy than they were in and of themselves, and in the context of the survey. The plots, settings and costumes are certainly ripe for the exaggeration that followed, but the originals aren't as over the top as the popular imagination would have you expect.

Buck and Flash will return to the survey in their own feature films in 1979 and 1980 respectively, thanks to the success of Star Wars making retro, space opera cool again in 1977.

[nature-played-a-trick-on-me]

Watching outlander and I choked when I saw Philip wylie oh my god I'm in tears this episode will be fun