Power Records: Conan the Barbarian - Crawler in the Mists

A piece of my childhood I feel the need to share...enjoy. I am aware the audio is here on the blog. But this is a nifty little Youtube video someone has put together. Thank YOU!

The Mighty AQUALESE!!!

Pretty much going back to as early as I can remember I have always loved super heroes. I remember kids asking me “ Why do you like Super Heroes so much?” My answer was “ I just do. “ I had no answer …comic books, cartoons and super heroes just spoke to me. Kids love sports and know all the guys and stats other kids love cars and learned how to strip’em down and modify them and become mechanics…Kids love Motorcycles or motor cross or skating…I loved comics. We all have something don’t we?
I used to watch SPACE GHOST and BIRDMAN and the reruns of the 1960’s SUPERMAN, BATMAN and AQUAMAN cartoons and when the Super Friends came out I watched that. BATMAN the animated series in the early 90’s was a great show and BATMAN BEYOND was cool too. BUT..between all the BATMAN cartoons that ever came out…BRAVE AND THE BOLD was the absolute best!
Now let me get to the point…AQUAMAN…he became a prominent part of the series. He was a permanent fixture practically as he was in more episodes than just about anyone. But this version was not just any old version he was for all intents and purposes…HERCULES!! The way he spoke and his boisterous attitude and his bluster and even the beard. They played him up like the Original version of JACK KIRBY’S HERCULES from the early issues of JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY….I loved it every minute of it. He was the best version yet.
One episode titled “ The Sword of the ATOM “ from the last season had him utter the line “ HERCULES?...BY NEPTUNE! “ I was cracking up. I knew the similarity was deliberate and they let us know right there. I recommend anyone who is a fan of cartoons to go out and purchase the entire series of BRAVE AND THE BOLD on DVD wherever you can get it. It’s worth watching just for AQUAMAN alone!

The Brutal Blade of Bruno the Bandit : A review

The Brutal blade of Bruno the Bandit : A review.

I sat down to read my Bruno comics the other day and started reading of course with number one. Here we are introduced to BRUNO the bandit as he sets off on an adventure. The humor in the strip is what I would consider to be straight dead pan….as Bruno gets himself into scrapes against Gargoyles that were guarding the castle Bruno sets out to rob. They begin to argue and Bruno slips by.
I was amused by Ian McDonalds imagination and the world he set up where Medieval knights and demons and dragons co exist with telephones and TV sets…it leaves a lot to the imagination as well. My first out loud laugh was when the commentary stops and Bruno looks out of the panel at the reader and says “ Well? “ I was so totally not expecting that…of course Bruno outsmarts the Wizard and gets away…along the way he makes friends with Fiona…a micro dragon. Of course Bruno does not want her following him but eventually accepts that now he has a new travelling companion.
The character of Fiona is a charming one as she is intelligent and innocent all at once. Bruno attempts to get her to rob someone but her honest nature prevent this from happening. I enjoyed myself as I was reading the story because you can visualize the world they live in and can imagine it in the form of a Sid and Marty Krofft TV show from the 1970’s. The parodies and references to today’s court themed TV shows is worth the read alone.
What I thought was quite hilarious was Bruno’s curmudgeon of a Father ( Who has one arm by the way ) and Bruno’s bickering …it reminded me of when my Dad and I used to bicker back before he moved to Florida.
I’d have to say…I’d like to see more of Bruno . The collected strips are available in two volumes available through the A.I.M comics blog. ( aimcomics.com )
I think the series would do well in comic book format with splash pages and panel to panel continuity. I could totally see this comic book being a regular series or even a cartoon strip in syndicated papers.
I especially like the art work as it is clean and tight and not too much going on..it’s sweet and simple…like any good strip should be.
If you’re in the mood for a laugh or to just brighten your spirits I recommend “ The Brutal Blade of Bruno the Bandit “ go order volumes 1 and 2 today. Trust me…you won’t be sorry.

Mighty Men of American folklore - Paul Bunyan

" Well he rode throught the woods on his big blue ox , he had fists as large as chopping blocks at 500 pounds and NINE feet tall...that's PAUL "

That's the way the song went that country music legend Bobby Bear wrote. My Dad used to play that song on Sunday mornings to wake the kids up early so we'd get up and get ready for church. Mom would have pancakes ready or oatmeal and my Dad would be walking around singing along...." Talk about women the man is so lusty he needs a woman every hour just to keep from getting rusty , Talk about drinking the man is so mean he never drank nothing but kerosene a 5 gallon can and that aint all...for Paul "

Well there are many tales and stories surrounding Paul Bunyan about his size and logging and lumberjacking skills as he could swing his giant axe and take down a dozen trees in one fell swoop. Some stories he's a giant and he can tear out trees like weeding in a garden. Nobody ever really mentioned just how big Paul was except Bobby Bear.

He'd take a stack of flapjacks and swallow it in one bite. He had a pet named Babe...Babe was a giant blue ox...the only creature on earth who could give him a run for his money in a friendly wrestling match. He'd take on entire logging camps and swat away 2 dozen men in one smack nobody could take him down. He was a Mighty mighty giant of a man.

As Bobby's song went... Paul one day decided he did not want to live anymore " I'm gonna lay right down and die! " because he'd seen everything and done it all and this world was no longer exciting for him and he wanted to see what the DEVIL had going on down in HELL. SO he dug himself a giant hole and drank 25 gallons of kerosene and instructed his pals to bury him in as he willed himself to die. " So late one night when you hear a ghostly wail like someone chopping on the Devil's tail...that's Paul !"
Well as it turns out Paul got bored in HELL too...he burst out of the ground some weeks later where his friends buried him and called on Babe who came running and the two of them waltzed off in the mountains never to be seen or heard from again. Well he's still out there folks.

This tale like so many others was inspired by a real man too. A man named Paul BonJean...a French Canadian a giant of a man who really existed in themid to late 1800's. Paul was almost as true to the legend as anyone can be. He drank moonshine whiskey he made himself that was so strong nobody else could touch it...it was used sometimes instead of kerosene. He loved women too...he wenched and whored and had sired many a bastard child up in them there woods. He loved to fight too...six , 8 , 12 men could not bring him down but he fought for fun and recreation he never hurt anybody he just like to toss people around and laugh heartily while swigging moonshine from an oversized jug in one hand while dispatching opponents with the other. Sounds like enough to start a legend around. One day he had enough with the toying around of his lesser opponents and saw an ox in someones field...he charged it head on and wrestled that ox bringing it to the ground... got him good too as he was thrown in the air and tossed about like he'd never been tossed around by anything ever before. Wrestling the ox became a daily routine as the ox was the only competition he ever had. He was a champion logger and a big drinker and yes he loved his women. He'd done it all and had all the people in town hail and regard him as a hero of heroes. Then one day...he came walking down the street with that ox...on a leash. Thus...was a legend born.

Now I see a few comparisons here...to HERCULES. The BULL of MINOS...WOMEN , WRESTLING , DRINKING a fun loving HELL RAISER. If this story is true and the legend and myth were created around a real guy like this...I believe it. Paul Bunyan...SON OF HERCULES!

Mighty Men of American folklore - John Henry

Mighty Men of American folklore - John Henry

I'm just going to go with my heart here. I have always been fascinated with tales of the Mighty and Giant like powerful Heroes of American folk lore. John Henry the steel drivin' man was one of them. This Myth may be based on a real individual or it may not be. I'll leave you to determine this for yourselves.

Back in the olden days when Rail road crews were laying track across the land men had to carve out moutains by hand. Crews and crews of men with pick axes and sledge hammers would dig and dig out mountains and tunnels for the railroad until one day some dude come along and he got a steam engine pile driving machine and he wants to make things easier on men and leave all the smashing and crashing to his machine. But this is going to put men out of work and a lot of guys are simply none too happy with the prospect of losing their job. SO...in a challenge the DRIVERS ( That's what the men were called that did all the sledge and axe work ) put their biggest and mightiest and strongest DRIVER up to the task of banging out a tunnel in a race of MAN vs MACHINE !

With nothing but a hammer in each hand JOHN HENRY showed up to work that day ready to rip into a mountain. The race was on as the Steam driven pile driving modified locomotive and the Mighty JOHN HENRY the STEEL DRIVING MAN went toe to toe. The story goes...JOHN HENRY beat that steam engine that day but...he then expired and died collapsing while holding onto both his hammers in his blistered and bloody fists. The starin was just too much for him as he was more than likely dehydrated exhausted and probably had several broken blood vessels in his heart and brain from exerting his mighty muscles for so long a period of time while facing off against the MACHINE. Just the story alone is amazing. Can a man actually triumph is such a fashion?

It's been said that according to legend the myth was derived from an actual living breathing person. This man was a convicted criminal and put to work on the railroad as part of his penalty. But his hard work and mighty frame had people in awe as he wielded two hammers to do his work just like the legend says. So much so that a legend was built around him. The John Henry of myth was a former slave who had gotten work at the railroad because of his size and strength. There are stories and films and songs about him and you can look up all the particulars on the web if you're so inspired. But Mighty men like this....I do believe did and do exist. This legend is a truly inspired one in that it encompasses all the elements of a trail of HERCULES ~ JOHN HENRY ...a MIGHTY SON OF HERCULES!

Doc Samson -

I found this Doc Samson drawing on the web by Herb Trimpe and wanted to share. Being in that Samson is another comic book hero inspired by some type of mythology and used to create a new super hero. Samson got hios power by intentionally exposing himself to gamma radiation he was successful in his endeavor to give himself HULK like strength but his power is only about 2/3 of the HULKS...so as for being a match for HERCULES...forget it Ol' Herc would put him down in seconds. The reason Doc ever gave the HULK so much trouble is becasue he's famous for his sneak attacks and diversions. Or getting a whole bunch of super strong hero types to attack the HULK at once. ( Including HERCULES ) Yep...the HULK got knocked out in that encounter. But not before he knocked them all around pretty good.

Kevin Sorbo ( Hercules ) overcomes adversity

By Kimberly Potts - LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) -

"Hercules" star Kevin Sorbo has revealed for the first time that while filming his hit series in 1997, he suffered three strokes that left him "depressed and frustrated" and with a bad attitude for the two years it took him to recover.
In a Neurology Now magazine interview that teases Sorbo's new memoir "True Strength," the actor says his health troubles left him partially blind and grasping "the backs of chairs and counters for an arduous five-yard trip to the bathroom."
"I went through two years of hell before I began to feel like myself again," says Sorbo, 52. "I was depressed and frustrated and had a bad attitude."
Sorbo, who worked out rigorously to play "Hercules" and perform his own stunts, was exercising in the summer of 1997 when, out of the blue, he began to feel pain and cold sensations in his left arm and hand.
Doctors checked him out and found nothing seriously wrong with him, and he resumed working out. The pain continued, however, and while lifting weights one day, he experienced severe pain down his shoulder. Again, a chiropractor checked him out and found nothing seriously wrong.
But on the drive home from the chiropractor appointment, Sorbo experienced blurry vision and dizziness. He arrived home safely and decided to "sleep it off," but awoke the next morning with slurred speech and found himself barely able to walk.
A trip to the ER finally pinpointed the cause: Sorbo had an aneurysm near his shoulder, which had been causing blood clots. Two of the main arteries into his hand were completely blocked, and after he underwent surgery, an MRI test showed Sorbo had suffered three separate strokes before he was diagnosed.
Doctors told him that given his age at the time -- 38 -- and his physical fitness, he was a medical anomaly. They said the chances of him experiencing both an aneurysm and multiple strokes had been one in 75 million.
"My illness made me special in a way that I never wanted nor expected," Neurology Now quotes him as saying. "I'm not Hercules; I'm a mere mortal with human limitations and problems. But I am determined to not behave like a victim anymore."
Sorbo, who guest-starred on an episode of "Hawaii Five-0" last season, is developing a new TV series, "Legendary." In the comical Syfy project, he would play Kevin Sorbo, who is recruited by a "Hercules" fan to battle underworld monsters in Los Angeles

Official /Unofficial disclaimer : I did not write this article this article is not mine I got it off of Yahoo news and fealt like I should share. It is after all HERCULES related news !