TREASURYCAST #23 - BUCK ROGERS GIANT MOVIE EDITION
Bidi-bidi-bidi! Rob welcomes Greg Arujo to talk about the 1979 treasury-sized BUCK ROGERS GIANT MOVIE EDITION!
Check out images from this comic by clicking here!
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Opening theme by Luke Daab: http://daabcreative.com
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Thanks for listening! Go big or go home!
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Great show, guys! This was one of the few treasuries I owned. And it’s always good to hear Greg – one of the best guests yet.
More Jose Delbo!
Great show. Wow, a TreasuryCast adaptation of Film and Water.
I don’t recall seeing the comics as a kid, but I definitely remember seeing the movie in theatres and watching the TV show too. I also had the Buck and Twiki action figures, and possibly Wilma too. I didn’t have any of the ships.
I also remember checking out the original 1920s-1930s newspaper strips in a collection at the local library. I was vaguely disappointed that they didn’t resemble the Gil Gerard canon. I certainly had some vague of sense of his literary pedigree. Perhaps my parents read the early comics.
I don’t think the original Buck comics have held up — certainly not in comparison to their much superior knockoff Flash Gordon. I’ve recently been researching a 1930s Canadian comic strip Robin Hood and Company, and while it’s no Prince Valiant, it is distinctly better than the Buck Rogers strips that appeared on the same page. (And I was amused to find a book on Canadian comics had the same “better than Buck Rogers” assessment I did.)
The artist of this treasury Frank Bolle used to draw the Robin Hood comics for Magazine Enterprises back in the 1950s. Partway through the run they switched from being a generic Robin Hood to being officially licensed from the 1950s TV series. The comic book sheriff was fired and replaced by a sheriff (with the same real name, oddly) that resembled the TV actor Alan Wheatley.
Here are some examples of Bolle’s earlier work:
https://www.boldoutlaw.com/rhbal/52poach.html
https://www.boldoutlaw.com/rhbal/sirrobin.html
Nice show, as usual. Enjoyed the discussion of a book I never knew existed; for me, this was also a case of learning something new. Namely, I knew that the Whitman logo was slapped onto a lot of comics published by other companies – mainly DC books in those drugstore/dept. store 3-pack bags in the late ’70s – but I never knew that there were opposite cases, when a Dell/Whitman book had a Marvel logo slapped onto it. Fascinating.
By the way, to answer a question that you both raised in the show about the reason why Buck, Twiki and Dr. Theo were in old Chicago in the TV version of the movie: it was pretty much the same reason as in the movie, i.e., Buck saying he wanted to go out and explore. However, in the TV version there is an entire scene preceding it in which Dr. Theopolis and Twiki come to Buck’s place the night before and the doctor insists on accompanying him. So basically, no, it’s not a punishment, because just like in the cinematic release, it precedes Buck being accused of spying for the Draconians.
Also, you guys noted it would have been cool seeing Chaykin draw this story, esp. given the prospect of seeing his portrayal of Wilma Deering. While I agree that would have been super-cool if Chaykin had drawn the story back then, he did do a Buck Rogers mini a few years ago. I haven’t read it, but I’ve seen some images from it online, and here’s a link to the cover of the fourth issue – the redhead is apparently Col. Deering.
Oh, and I’m surprised that no one has attempted to do a fanvid “Steve Rogers in the 21st Century” to the TV series theme. I guess no one feels up to the challenge of stepping into William Conrad’s shoes to redo the opening narration.
All my treasuries are DC or Marvel, so obviously this is one I don’t have. I enjoyed listening and finding out more about it.
I don’t know when this was recorded, but I did give you an iTunes review about a month ago and I did notice another review that is newer than mine. Mine wasn’t about any particular episode, but the show in general.
Keep up the great work!
OH, I did mean Marvel or DC characters….I saw this was a Marvel publication, but I meant I had mostly Super Hero stuff, although I have DC’s House of Mystery, Ghosts and Bible treasuries.
I enjoyed this tie-in to your recent Film and Water episode. Having the two episodes really helped to compare and contrast the adaptation with the source material. Especially since I was unaware that the treasury adaptation even existed.
That being said, what really blew my mind was Greg’s suggestion of a treasury adaptation of Dune! I would buy that in a heartbeat. I love that crazy movie, regardless of how far it strays from the novel. Back in the day, I even owned a Stilgar action figure from LJN’s Dune Action Figure line. Great idea, Greg!
This odd Marvel/Gold Key-Whitman mashup could be strangely similar to what Marvel and Archie are doing with the digests now. Whitman was pretty ubiquitous as a kid. They had coloring books EVERYWHERE, so I recognized the smiling “W” when I saw it on my DC multi-packs, even if it still confused me.
The cover seems much more Gold Key-esque for sure.
Fun episode! Thanks for the Buck double feature!
Chris