HOPC Forum

Mike Henry's turn as Junior in Smokey and the Bandit is what I will remember him for I'm afraid (fondly though I should add!!).
He is also a good villain in Rio Lobo - although in terms of 'toughness' he is destroyed by John Wayne in one particular scene:

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCy4g3tEVsM[/video]

(https://youtu.be/VCy4g3tEVsM?t=1h34m48s).

I remember reading years ago that John Wayne was actually an incredibly strong man in his time - probably a throwback to his football days, but I was just as amused by reading his 'tricks'; the trousers always a couple of inches too short to make him look taller, the shirt sleeves rolled back for the same reason, the cavalry shirts for a visible 'v' taper.

I used to do a bodyweight exercise I called the 'John Wayne Punch' because the range of motion was so great!

Oh, and the Doc Savage movie is well worth watching - it is very much in the Flash Gordon vein, but very watchable!

Richie.

Internalfitness wrote:Mike Henry's turn as Junior in Smokey and the Bandit is what I will remember him for I'm afraid (fondly though I should add!!).

Mike.jpg

He is also a good villain in Rio Lobo - although in terms of 'toughness' he is destroyed by John Wayne in one particular scene:

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCy4g3tEVsM[/video]

(https://youtu.be/VCy4g3tEVsM?t=1h34m48s).

I remember reading years ago that John Wayne was actually an incredibly strong man in his time - probably a throwback to his football days, but I was just as amused by reading his 'tricks'; the trousers always a couple of inches too short to make him look taller, the shirt sleeves rolled back for the same reason, the cavalry shirts for a visible 'v' taper.

I used to do a bodyweight exercise I called the 'John Wayne Punch' because the range of motion was so great!

Oh, and the Doc Savage movie is well worth watching - it is very much in the Flash Gordon vein, but very watchable!

Richie.

The campy movie from 1980 with Sam J. Jones as Flash Gordon & Max von Sydow as Ming the Merciless, and the awesome theme song by Queen?

When America entered the war in 1941, the comic book heroes were not that far behind all promoting their readers to buy war bonds (and in the case of "Sparky" Watts, even being paid in war bonds), but those heroes were already big, buff and strong beyond belief. What if you were someone who wanted to get involved and were basically laughed at for being such a wimp. That was the problem facing Steven Rogers.

Born in the 1920's on the Lower East side of Manhattan, he wasn't exactly heroic. Indeed on the one occasion he did try to protect someone (by using a dustbin lid as a shield) he got pummelled into the ground for his efforts. Yes, he was brave and wanted to serve his country but, well 5ft 1 and 102lbs isn't exactly going to cut the mustard is it? That's where Dr. Josef Reinstein (aka Abraham Erskine) came into play. Now, he was a very clever person indeed, as he was a German biochemist and physicist who had spent much of his early life studying the human species. During this time he develops a diet and exercise program along with a serum and "vita-rays" which would transform an ordinary person into a "super soldier". "But hold on a moment, he's German!" is bound to be your thoughts and yes, he was, but when he saw Hitler test a so called "death ray" on a human subject, he defected to the United States (hence the need to cover his tracks). He then recreates his serum and presents it to the United States army and they decide to test it on Mr. Rodgers.

And boy, does that make an impact!




Standing now 6ft tall, weighing close to 220lbs and, thanks to said treatment, gifted with strength that makes him a powerhouse, he is promoted to the rank of Captain and simply called Captain America and the army cannot help but rub their hands in glee. However, if only military operations were that simple. See that person on the right? That's Heinz Kruger, a German spy, who has been told to try and stop the production of the serum (which he does by killing Dr. Erskine, which does the trick as he committed the formula to memory). But he doesn't win, because the newly empowered Steve gives chase causing Heinz to trip over some wires and electrocute himself (meaning that Steven is the only person to become a super soldier) and before he can recover he is sent out into the field.

Nice write-up on Captain America, one of my favorites.

As the war progressed it was almost as if every Tom, Dick and Harry was getting superpowers to help with the war effort. The Flash was being doused with chemicals during a thunderstorm and discovered he was the fastest man alive, a biochemist stumbles across a vitamin that makes him the strongest man alive for an hour at a time and becomes known as Hourman, The Green Lantern finds a lantern that when crafted into a ring gives him superhuman powers, which is all very well and good but what about someone who could never hope in a million years to be as big and strong as these heroes and yet wanted to do his bit in the war? Enter Billy Batson.

Billy really has had it tough. Homeless, through no fault of his own, he's a newsboy whose interest in a mysterious stranger leads him to a secret subway tunnel, inside of which is a subway car with no visible driver takes them to an underground tunnel with seven statues depicting the Seven Deadly Enemies of Man (Pride, Envy, Greed, Hatred, Selfishness, Laziness and Injustice). And who is this mysterious stranger? A wizard by the name of Shazam. Now, this wizard was an exceptionally old wizard (having been born in Ancient Egypt) and, well, to be honest he's fed up with humanity that is until Billy comes along. He can't put his finger on it, but he believes that Billy has the best of human nature in him and so he gives him the abiltly to become a man who has the wisdom of the king of Israel Solomon, the strength of the Greek god Hercules, the stamina of Atlas forced to separate the sky from the ground, the power of Zeus the king of the Greek gods, the courage of Achilles the Greek military leader and the speed of Mercury, the messenger of the Greek gods. As you can imagine Billy is rather taken away by all this and doesn't want them at first, but when the wizard tricks him into saying his name, he becomes transformed into Captain Marvel. However, his first transformation comes at the cost of the wizard's life as a stone balanced above his seat crashes down and crushes the wizard to death, but his ghost advises the Captain that whenever a brazier, a type of barbeque used in ancient times, is lit he will pass on vital information.

Well, this certainly puts a new spin on things and before Billy knows where he is, he becomes a news reporter for a local radio station (very handy for finding out about things that shouldn't be going on) and soon gets involved with the likes of Superman (which whom he has a very friendly relationship with)

Harry Hayfield visits the Tarzans ...

[img][/img]I was knee deep in comic books as a kid . Obviously it had a lot of influence
on what I doodle . As I developed a certain style I found it easy to apply . A picture = etc. I found it a nice way
to make some friends (and an occasional enemy) . As my pals often say , " Sticks , shut up and DRAW " LOL .

Throughout the war, superheroes soon became a dime a dozen with some very strange ways of getting their powers. They were either involved in an experiment with a atom smasher (American Crusader), drinking an untested chemical to prevent it falling into enemy hands (The Human Bomb), or finding an ancient Egyptian formula that just happens to enhance the human body to it's ultimate form (Liberator). Thankfully after the war, things started to calm down a little and more reasonable methods of superpowers came around in the form of science. And in the case of Dr. Hank Pym, science was very handy.

Dr. Pym was a biochemist and discovered as part of his work a rather odd set of subatomic particles. One that can make things very, very small and one that makes things very, very big. Well, being the curious professor he tries them on himself and ends up getting trapped in an anthill and decides, after reversing the process to destroy the serums that he had placed the particles in. Then over time, he begins to wonder and so builds a suit so that he can study ants at very close quarters and decides to call himself "Ant-Man", after studying ants for a few years he tries the other side and turns into a literal "Giant Man" and boy, is that description apt. He stands 12ft tall, is estimated to weigh about two tons and by association has strength that surpasses literally everyone on the planet. Another example of the clever clogs getting all the benefits of a big brain.

Good thread Harry. If you all get a chance refer to :
Don Markstien's toonopedia.com . Incredible ...

The campy movie from 1980 with Sam J. Jones as Flash Gordon & Max von Sydow as Ming the Merciless, and the awesome theme song by Queen?

That's the one - they both went for the 1930's serial feel - and pulled it off pretty well!