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| Banks Robinson, Mac Barnes |
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Banks and his protege Mac taking it easy in Banks's booth.
At left is a CGC graded copy of the publisher Martin Goodman owned "Atlas" comic
Venus #10, 1950 but without the Atlas Globe logo. Technically, to be an Atlas comic the comic should have the Atlas Globe logo on the cover which was the symbol of Goodman's distribution company, the Atas News Company. The Atlas Globe logo was first used on Goodman's comics in November 1951. But, comic fans for convenience just call all of Goodman's comics from the 1950s Atlas comics. This cover does have the "K" logo which stands for Kable News which was another distribution company Goodman used through 1952 but didn't own.
The CGC label says "horror and science fiction stories begin." The first 9 issues of
Venus did feature fantasy (Venus was the Roman goddess of love come to Earth) and some horror elements but with this #10 issue science fiction covers and stories mostly took over the title until the last issue #19, 1952. The Comics Grand Database interestingly doesn't recognize any change in content between the first nine issues and issues #10 - #19 as their description "Genre: fantasy-supernatural; romance; superhero"
is used for all 19 issues.
I bought the Atlas Era hardcover volume which has the first nine issues of
Venus which I haven't read yet since the stories are mostly romance. I was waiting for the second volume which would have the science fiction and horror stories but of course Marvel knew I was waiting so they cancelled the entire Atlas Era line of books before any second volume could appear. |
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I have a large library of movies on Blu-Ray and DVD discs. One of my favorite film genres is the historical epic set in medieval or ancient times. Here's Banks with a nice selection of Dell comic adaptations.
El Cid, 1961 starring Charlton Heston and Sophia Loren is one of the better epics with lots more battle scenes than most of these type of movies. The dialog and dramatic scenes are also much better than average. I saw it in the theater in 1961, had a laser disc copy and now have it on Blu-Ray.
King Of Kings, 1961 starring Jeffrey Hunter as Jesus. I had it on laser disc and now on Blu-Ray. It's not one of the better Biblical epics but it's ok and does have some good supporting actors - Frank Thring, Viveca Lindfors, Hurd Hatfield, Ron Randell.
Hercules, 1959 starring Steve Reeves I saw in the theater in 1959 and loved it. I haven't seen it since (not even on TV) and there is no non-bootleg DVD. I'm waiting patiently for a Blu-Ray release someday.
Alexander The Great, 1956 starring Richard Burton and Fredric March is one of my favorite movies since I like Richard Burton and the movie is fairly accurate with pretty good battle scenes. I had it on laser disc and now on Blu-Ray. Some good supporting British actors like Peter Cushing, Claire Bloom, Niall MacGinnis, Stanley Baker, Harry Andrews.
The Story Of Ruth, 1960 with male stars Tom Tryon and Stuart Whitman has lots of familiar faces of actors I like: Thayer David, Victor Buono, Les Tremayne, Jeff Morrow, Eduard Franz, Viveca Lindfors. I never saw this movie until just recently when I bought a DVD copy off ebay. The picure quality was good, the sets and costumes in the movie are opulent looking, just not much battle action. I'm satisfied until a Blu-Ray comes out eventually. |
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| Lewis Forro, Banks Robinson |
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| Photo courtesy of Mac Barnes. Mac did a good job of capturing my bald spot in all its shiny magnificence.
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