LIFE Magazine's Flawed James Bond 50th Anniversary Special

LIFE Magazine has produced a 50th Anniversary special on 007...

..which I eagerly picked up.

I was severely disappointed with it on two counts.

1) Most of the pix are not from LIFE's amazing archives!

2) It's riddled with factual flaws.

Here's the most obvious...

page 51 "For some reason, in You Only Live Twice, James Bond did not pilot any kind of vehicle--first time ever."

Really?

I guess that's not James Bond in the cockpit of that mini-copter...on the POSTER?

Sure as hell looks like Sean Connery (aka James Bond: 007) to me!

That's the most obvious mistake!

I've found several other mistakes (and a number of omissions), and that's just a cursory run-through!

Sloppy work, kids.

For several years, I edited, wrote, and (if there was time in the schedule) designed the licensed movie souvenir books that were sold in theaters. This sort of inept fact-checking would've had me out of a job the second the licensors saw it.

Captain's Library: ROCKY JONES: SPACE RANGER "Forbidden Frequency"

With so much modulated energy (wi-fi, digital tv, am-fm, etc) floating in the ether...

...I'm truly surprised something like this hasn't come to pass by 2012!

Or...has it?

The concept of subliminal programming goes back to the 1860s.

Usually, it involves audio or visual stimulation beyond human perception, but in this case, it's an energy frequency that interferes with the human mind's function.

Queen Cleolanthe was the ongoing villainess on the Rocky Jones series.

Played with fun "bad girl" panache by Patsy Parsons, Cleolanthe both fought against Rocky and was uncontrollably-drawn to him.

From Flash Gordon and Princess Aura to Rocky Jones and Cleolanthe to James T Kirk and (insert Girl of the Week here), scantly-clad space babes just can't resist square-jawed Earthmen on tv and in movies!

(Not that I'm complaining...)

This story from Charlton's Space Adventures #16 (1955) was illustrated by Ted Galindo and Ray Osrin.
The writer is unknown.

Almost all of the Rocky Jones tv episode-compilation movies are available on inexpensive DVDs and two of them Crash of the Moons and Manhunt in Space were roasted on Mystery Science Theater 3000.

Rocky Jones will return in the near future... 

Captain's Library: PLANET OF THE APES "From Out of the Sky"

The Marvel Planet of the Apes mag and comic didn't do any strips based on the tv series...

...but the British hardcover Annual publishers did, as shown in this strip from the Planet of the Apes 1977 Annual!

Though this particular strip is b/w, some of the others were in color.

The writer is unknown, but the artist is John Bolton, who also did The Monster Club and One Million Years BC!

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Captain's Library: CAPTAIN VIDEO "Missiles of Doom"

It's been too long since we presented a tale of our blog's namesake...

...so here he is, back in action, doing what he does best; defending America with super-science, this time, from his arch-enemy, Dr Pauli!

This story from Fawcett Comics' Captain Video #5 (1951) was penciled by George Evans and inked by Martin Thal.

You'll note that the Captain and Video Ranger now look like actors Al Hodge and Don Hastings, who played them on TV, instead of the generic "handsome hero". 

(but Dr Pauli still doesn't look like actor Hal Conklin.)

And, the story is far more elaborate and far-reaching than anything ever shown on tv (or even the movie serial).

Only in the comic, unencumbered by financial or special effect restrictions, was the full, unfettered potential of the show realized.

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