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Blamo!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And off we go to the races with another week of the fastest growing all-ages column on the web, From Friendly Ghosts To Gamma Rays! And do we have a packed column for you this week.

For starters, last week the column went up a day late, so if you missed out, last time here we took a peek at the DVD release of Gene-Fusion, based off the comic book, and had a chat with its producer Shaun McLaughlin; check it out here!

News in brief, our friends at Zenescope will be releasing an all-ages mini-series spin-off of their Grimm Fairy Tales comics titled Grimm Fairy Tales’ The Library. The plot will follow “A teenage Sela Mathers as she and her younger brother discover an ancient and magical book inside a condemned library. The book unleashes a powerful spell as the two accidentally unlock characters and worlds from the other books within the Library. Both heroes and villains such as Hercules, Frankenstein and the Wicked Witch of the East, are soon unleashed and the two kids find themselves in a race against time to reverse the spell before the villains can wreak havoc on Earth.” Sounds like a good time to check it out, coming this July!
Out On Stands: Richie Rich #1
Publisher: Ape Entertainment
Once upon a time, the comic character with the most titles ever wasn’t Superman, it wasn’t Spider-Man, it was Harvey Comics’ Richie Rich. He graced dozens of titles, had his own cartoons, even his own live action movie, eventually. However, like most Harvey characters, after Harvey went under in the mid-1990s, he has been forgotten by time, now just a pop culture reference and destined to be only in reprints…until now, that is. Ape Entertainment’s Kizoic line for all-ages has unleashed a new Richie Rich mini-series to the joy of fans new and old. The comic is split into two stories. The first is “The Binn Under the Bay,” in which Richie and the gang go on the search for some sunken treasure. Adventure is abounding in these pages, as well as a new look for the Richie Rich gang, all new designs aimed at appealing to today’s young reader. The second tale, “Of Demise and Men,” is penned by classic Richie Rich writer Sid Jacobson, with art done in the classic Richie Rich Harvey Comics style that so many fans know and love (a very smart move on the team at Ape’s part).
Richie Rich is the nicest surprise I have run into this year in all-ages comics. For starters, it’s great to have him back in comics. So many trips I go to the shop and miss him, Casper, and others. The second part is that the writing on both Richie Rich adventures is great, so we can’t go wrong there. Now, the art will be something to debate among fans, however, as mentioned Ape does the first tale in a modern redesigned style and the second in classic style. I think this is the best move they could have done to please old fans while drawing in new ones. My only complaint with the art on the second tale is that, although it’s in the classic style, I wasn’t thrilled with the coloring and it looked too much kids-coloring book-like; just give us bold colors like Harvey used to and your title will be flawless. That little complaint aside, I am thrilled with the return of Richie Rich and hope Ape Entertainment will keep rocking him (and maybe other Harvey characters) past this mini-series. Out on stands now, buy it today!
Out On Stands: Small Art Series
Publisher: Silber Media
Silber Media has this amazing line of comics called Silber minis. They are comics that are literally a little bit bigger than a match book and range anywhere from 20-40 pages. A few of us here at ComicAttack were sent these little gems, and I absolutely think they are some of the coolest things out there. However, many of these miniature books of joy are not totally kosher for kids, so I can’t cover the vast array here in my column (however, Josh on our team here is working up a really nice article that you can read all about, so stay tuned to our site), but there is a line of them that is everyone-friendly and that is the Small Art Series.
The Small Art Series are several small 10 or more page books in all color which show off an array of art, all in a theme. Poems or themes connect a series of paintings in these pages, many of which are interesting to look at. The books “American,” “Climb,” “Awake,” and “Why Birds Sing” all have this fantastic freedom of modern art feel to them, with colors woven over a canvas to our delight, giving us reflections on the poems that set each book up. “Miscellaneous” gives us several poems and paintings, each one unique and wonderful in their own way. This reviewer’s favorite, and the final title in this collection we received to review, was “Professor Horton,” which is a direct homage to classic Marvel character Dr. Horton, who created the original Human Torch (now referred to in the Marvel universe as the Torch). The interesting thing in “Professor Horton” is that, although we do get a hint of the Torch, we really get paintings trying to convey the emotions behind such a creation and what it means, and not just some homage-paintings.
These are different, I’ll give you that. The Small Art Series is literally that, though, folks – an art series. If you love art, paintings, and museums like I do, then this is your bag right here. For those who prefer a more narrative story telling, this won’t be for you, although I enjoyed them so I encourage you to give it a try.
Something To Watch: Santo Contra Los Asesinos De Otros Mundos
Any regular to our column here knows by now that I love watching all sorts of superheroes from across the globe, and some of my favorite moments on film have been the wrestling superheroes of Mexico like Santo, Blue Demon, Mil Mascaras and other lucha libre. Your something to watch this week that I command you to enjoy for your viewing pleasure is once again a trip back across the border for Santo Contra Los Asesinos De Otros Mundos (Santos Vs. The Killers From Other Worlds).
Made in 1971, this classic Santo flick in color has Santo in one of his more James Bond-like roles, as he is called to duty to fight against an evil organization who has been using a creature exactly like The Blob to kill people (which may remind some viewers of how 70s film Sugar Hill used zombies at command to kill people, although this film beats it to the punch by a few years). Although there are no scenes at the wrestling arena of Santo hard at work in his matches, we still get a ton of fights, including a nice match up with Santo fighting some weird gladiator guys, followed by a guy in a bio-hazard suit with a flame thrower. Of course, what steals the show in this solo-Santo adventure isn’t even Santo himself, but the blob creature! Yes, Santo has fought wolfmen, vampires, mummies, and more, but certainly the blob creature in this film is hands down one of the coolest on screen monsters he has had to come up against. It literally is a film that has a little bit of everything, and I’m OK with that, because where in some luchador films it can be hit or miss, they do it good and do it right in this one, giving us a fun sci-fi adventure film that can be watched more than just once (and almost gets better with each viewing). Santo Contra Los Asesinos De Otros Mundos is available on DVD (you can find it pretty cheap online if you can’t find it at your local stores).
That’s it for this week! We’ll see you again next, and remember in the mean time, Rodan loves you!

Drew McCabe
drew@comicattack.net