COFFEE TIME COMICS NEWS

10/30/06

Tobi, The Devil, and I

Check out the mugs on us. If it weren't for the devil in that picture I'm sure you all would have closed this webpage in fear by now. In case you're wondering, Tobias and I were dressed as Yakuza, as was our friend Chase. I guess we were a gang, and from the looks of it we got our asses kicked.

The picture above was taken at a Halloween party we had on Friday, and I've got to say, it was a pretty damn good time. I enjoy having a party every once in a while, but can only say they are successful some of the time. I always have a good time, it's just that there isn't always a symmetry going on between your guests that might not know each other too well. Maybe it was the costumes, or maybe it was the abundance of beer, but there was definitely a symmetry going on.

I love to have a good party. I used to do it a lot back in my younger days when my parents went away on vacation. They were different back then. I always wanted to have the biggest party going on and when I invited people I'd tell them to bring all their friends. As many as they wanted. Then you end up with about 200 people in your backyard. Then of course the cops would always break it up. I remember one time the cops came and I asked what the problem was, and the officer gave me a sort of dumbfounded look and said "Are you kidding me? You have a goddamn disco going on in your backyard."

I could keep going on about those parties, it's one of my good ol' sentimental type memories, but those are honestly better left to talk between old friends.

These days, I have a party and I don't care when people bring some friends, just as long as they don't bring all of them. I like a good loud party, but not too big, and not too often. Every couple months is good for me, and probably even better for my neighbors. I'm sure they dislike us enough for when we do have them. It also brings me to wonder when you stop having parties. Am I too old for this shit? I'm probably getting there. But hey, a good time is a good time and I'm still allowed those once in a while. I'm not really sure what too old is these days of people who try to stay young forever.

There is no Frankenstein recommend this week. There is still plenty out there, and plenty more that I've seen, but I feel like giving a couple of other films to keep in mind. When you hit up the video store tomorrow night, you might want to check out one of the following:

The Thing (Carpenter)- If you like horror films, you have probably seen this. I think it may be my favorite of all time. Scary, great effects, great atmosphere, and great characters. Plus it has Kurt Russell. He's awesome.

The Invisible Man: Claude Raines' voice is perfect for this role. I enjoyed his insane laughing.

Hellraiser: A gruesome and truly original vision. You gotta love the Cenobites. Thank you Clive Barker.

Mighty Joe Young (Original): Not really "horror", but it has some of the most exciting set pieces put to film. Seriously. and it has a lot of heart. And it's the first time we really get to see Harryhausen in action.

Land of the Dead: I love Romero. Love him. He is truly a hero of mine and I really believe he has created one of the coolest worlds in film history. Everyone has their favorite trilogy, and Night , Dawn, and Day is mine. I do believe that Land could have started a new one that we'll never see completed, and I do believe that people need to give this film a look. Not enough people saw it and I think it's because the fools at Universal put it out during the summer. There's no reason that resident evil movies should make more money than this, but then, there is no reason the success of anything should be judged by dollar intake. Go rent it. if you hate it, you can blast me on the message boards. It has flaws, but it is an original zombie film with its own world view. Thank you Romero, may you bless us with more Zombie carnage.

Ding Dong...

...the Double Shot is dead. If you want to check out our current Double Shot, go here.

Thank you to anybody who has ever voted for us. We really appreciate it. If you like us, you can keep doing so, and we will continue to appreciate it. The reason why we are retiring the Double Shot? Too much work with too little result. Don't get us wrong, we don't do things just for hits, but with the way things are going, we just aren't going to have the time to do something that 5 people actually see. I have a feeling it was just too early for us to do something like this, but by the time we get enough people voting, we won't need to do it. I feel it was a good place to experiment with style, panels, writing, and art. It was something where Tobi and I could have fun with different characters. There is one more, and that will also be viewable on Myspace starting November 1st.

Next January, when we launch the new site, the second volume of Coffee Time, and our new comic, the Double Shots will be made available in our archives. Thank you again to everybody who voted for it. We really do appreciate it and hope you continue to vote just because you might like us. I hope you aren't mad that we are just letting people see something that you worked for to get, but hey, you got to see it first.

Have a Happy Halloween everybody!

John

10/23/06

Horrors From Mexico

This week I took a look at Santo y Blue Demon contra el Dr. Frankenstein or to the English speaking folks Santo and Blue Demon Against Dr. Frankenstein, and the only true horror to be found was in how bad it was. This was my first Santo movie, and I will definitely watch more, but which ones, who knows. There are at least 60 different movies out there starring Santo, the Lucha Libre. I have to do a little research and figure out which ones are the crowning achievements in this genre of film, though I'm not sure any actually wear a crown. The are the Jesters of the court and happily wear masks. These films have been made since the 50's and I only started with this one because it involved Frankenstein, but not really. The Lucha Libre films are a mishmash of genres. They mostly fall under Sci-Fi, Horror, and Action, and always strive for B-Level greatness. What do I mean by Lucha Libre?

Lucha libre is a phrase used in almost every Spanish country which could mean professional wrestling or freestyle wrestling. - Wikipedia definition

Yes, Santo and Blue Demon are wrestlers and they wear masks.

And apparently, sometimes they play chess.

This movie has Irwin Frankenstein, who is 113 years old and the grandson of Victor Frankenstein, trying to figure out how to do brain transplant to save his wife, who he has frozen, from brain cancer. Now, I'm no brain surgeon, but if you take your wife's brain, and replace it with another woman's brain, won't your wife be your wife in body only and carry on the personality of the other woman? I guess it doesn't really matter because he never puts a brain in the frozen body of the wife. Instead the doctor gets sidetracked into trying to get Santo's brain into a very large zombie named Mortis. He wants Mortis to be able to have the skill of Santo's wrestling combined with his great strength. He has another zombie that he controls named Golem, which I guess would be the Frankenstein monster of this movie. He's a big black dude, and at the end of the movie they put him in a wrestling match against Santo, but to trick Santo, they switch Golem's brain into Mortis' body so that he doesn't have the same skin pigment...

I don't know what really happened in this movie. I don't truly understand what was going down. During the last twenty minutes my eyes were in open and close mode and May have missed stuff. Am I going to recommend this to you? Not really. If you like bad movies then I suggest you check it out. If you don't like bad movies, well then i don't know what's wrong with you. bad movies have their own personal charm to them and I love to watch a good bad movie every once in a while.

What did I like about this movie? Before going into it, I knew that the masked wrestlers never take their masks off, but the first time I saw them at a fancy restaurant having a serious conversation in their masks, i laughed really loud. It was great.

I love the Police Commander. he didn't leave his office and always looked upset about the murders Frankenstein was committing. He had two woman detectives on the case and he always treated them like they were fools, even though they were doing all the work.

The wrestling was fun. There were three separate scenes and it was basically like watching a wrestling match on TV, except TV films it better. The camera was pretty much stationary for the long matches. I don't know if the lack of movement showed the how low the budget was, or how unimaginative the director was.

The set design was awesome. it was super cheesy, and super creative. There was this big ass computer that would literally spit out results. they wouldn't print out of the machine, just drop out from it. Hard to explain, but so funny to see. Frankenstein's lab was really cool looking.

Besides al that, there were some good looking Latina girls. Rawr!

If you get a chance, type "Santo" into google image search. there are some really cool posters for these movies. There's one Santo movie called Santo En El Muse ode Cera that seems to actually have the old Universal Frankenstein monster in it. I'll have to look for that one on Netflix.

Double Shot

The last letter for the Double Shot is online. Vote and check out our Halloween special. During November, the Double Shot will only take one vote. You'll get the full code at once. No more voting 4 times. The same will be happening in December. Then in January, it's sad to say, but the double Shot will be cancelled. Tobias and I will be entirely too busy to do one. We will have two comics online at that point, and between promotion, running the site, writing, drawing, putting in the dialogue, and all the other stuff that comes with webcomics, there will be no time for the Double Shot. You'll have to vote solely on the idea of liking us. Weird.

Have a great weekend everyone.

John

10/16/06

The Terror Rises Again

The most obvious place to go next is with Hammer Films. For my money, they have the most successful franchise of Frankenstein movies. Yes, I love Universal, and without them there wouldn't be Hammer, but Hammer always took the core story and played around with it more than Universal. After Son of Frankenstein, Universal started making all of their horror films into monsterfests. They couldn't just be Dracula, Frankenstein, or Wolf Man, it had to be all of them. Although I dig that, it was a gimmick they kept doing again and again. At least they were better than that piece of shit Van Helsing. What a wasted opportunity to do something great and fun. That is a true case where too much budget for the special effects really screws the film. I don't think the people making it knew what they had their hands on. All those classic monsters...

I'm losing track again, but hey, were talking movies. It's what I do best.

So what do I like about the Hammer movies? For starters they always did things a little different. I'm not just talking about Frankenstein, but with every monster they touched they brought about their own look and style. They got the gothic look and feel down, and everything felt a little more authentic. Most likely because Hammer Films are British and they are a lot closer to the territory these monsters originate from.

What else? They have got to be the company that brought gore to the screen. Their gore os done in that Grand Guignol style that wants to show you something horrific and not shy away from it. Their brains are sloppy, their severed arms are meaty with bloody stumps, and detached eyeballs never looked better than coming from Hammer.

Hammer Films also have great actors like Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Oliver Reed, and Barbara Shelley. The world of Hammer is full of strange and funny characters. My favorite villagers and drunks definitely come from Hammer Films. And of course the women all wear those dresses that make their boobs pop out. Nothing wrong with that.

So their Frankenstein films are my favorite because anything can and will happen in a Hammer Film.They are as follows:

The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)

The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958)

The Evil of Frankenstein (1964)

Frankenstein Created Woman (1967)

Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969)

The Horror of Frankenstein (1970)

Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1974)

They have great titles, don't they? The only two I haven't seen are Frankenstein Created Woman and The Horror of Frankenstein. The Evil of Frankenstein is the only one where the monster resembles the Universal creature. The movie I'm going to recommend is The Revenge of Frankenstein. Now of course you should see Curse(which has Cushing and Lee on screen together for the first time) first, but Revenge is probably the best.

It starts with our Victor being brought to death under the guillotine. We see it rise up slowly, but then there is some ruckus and it comes slicing down, but we're not completely sure what happens.

The next time we meet Frankenstein is years later where he practices medicine fixing the ails of the rich to fund his free clinic for the poor. Of course, the real reason he has the free clinic is to get limbs. It seems he always has a reason to chop of their arms or their legs. Soon he takes a young doctor, Hans, under his wing and they continues with Baron Frankenstein's research.

What is most interesting about this film is that the "monster" is not actually a monster. A man named Karl who has a paralyzed body saved Victor from the guillotine in order for him to grant him a new body. Victor and Hans take the mans brain and transfer it into another body. hans seems pleased with he results until he finds out that he will be constantly under the eyes of doctors throughout the world for research reasons. Karl has been stared at his whole life as a cripple, and he's tried of it. This is only the spark that brings about the monster inside him.

Peter Cushing is the best Victor Frankenstein ever. Though he isn't completely true to the novel, the writers definitely got down how driven he is, how much of an outsider he really is, and how egocentric he can be. The ego moments are some of his funniest. I wish I could remember some lines.

The movies itself touches on themes of vanity, and the good ol' "playing god" theme. It's well acted across the board and it has all that lovely set design you can expect from a Hammer film. Also it is directed by Terrence Fisher who is widely known as the best Hammer director. he has workmanlike precision, keeps the film moving, and never gets too fancy. Oh, and the laboratory sound effects are cool.

I could honestly go on forever talking about Hammer, but I'm sure many of you have left this news post already. here are some further recommendations: The Brides of Dracula, The Plague of the Zombies, The Mummy, The Curse of the Werewolf, and Taste the Blood of Dracula.

Don't they have the best movie names?

The third Double Shot letter is up. GO VOTE!

Enjoy this weeks comics.

John

10/9/06

Fronkensteen!

I can't believe the novel "Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus" is almost 200 years old. I love that a book can last that long, still be relevant, and still continue to inspire. What a perfect name to choose too. I'm thinking of getting an Emperor Scorpion as a pet, and if I do I'm definitely naming it Frankenstein. Of course my girlfriend is threatening to leave me if I get one, but I'll deal with the stupid dog she plans on getting so I think we're even. Her dog won't have a name as cool as Frankenstein. She'll probably name it something lame like Steve.

I'm off topic.

It's really amazing how many movies are out there with that name in the title. Even more amazing is how many of them are crap. Quite possibly just a bit more amazing is how the Universal version of the creature is and always will be considered the definitive version. The image of the flat-headed monster is so imprinted into our minds that it's easy to forget the whole look was created by make-up man Jack Pierce and not exactly what the creature would look like, and not necessarily what he has to look like. The Universal series will always be the most remembered Frankenstein films, and this is where the movie recommendation for this week comes in: Son of Frankenstein.

Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein will always be the more popular, Bride the best, but I'm a big fan of Son and I don't think it's mentioned enough. The 2 most important reasons are Bela Lugosi as Ygor, and Lionel Atwill as Inspector Krogh. This was the first time Ygor actually made an appearance in these films. Victor Frankenstein always had assistants, but they were named Fritz and Hans, and nowhere near the character Ygor is. The writer, Willis Cooper, gives him a depth, and a history, but it is Bela that makes him such a sinister character. You at moments love his dark sense of humor and can almost sympathize with him, but for the most part you know the man is evil.

The other great character, Inspector Krogh, will be more remembered by most for being lampooned in Young Frankenstein. He is stranger than any character that has ever appeared in any of the original Universal films. He has a fake arm that he constantly moves around by shifting his body back and forth, and he has an odd disposition. The way he carries himself through scenes where he is confronting Victor Frankenstein's son Wolf makes it seem as though he is trying to intimidate the truth out of him with oddness. It's hard to explain. he speaks a great line in the film when he is confronting Wolf von Frankenstein about his father's mistakes. Wolf is trying to make Krogh understand that he is not his father, and Krogh replies with "You can change the name, but you can't erase the brand."

There's a lot of truth to that line.

Besides those two great characters, the movie has secret passageways, great set design, great lighting, landscapes of dead trees, 1930's scientific hooey about cosmic rays, and a great song that Ygor plays on his flute/horn instrument. Not really sure what it is. Also, Basil Rahthbone does a very colorful job as Frankenstein's son.

The biggest problem in the film is the fact that Boris Karloff as the monster has almost nothing to do. He is a mere puppet of Ygor in this film. It's really a waste of Karloff's talent. In Bride of Frankenstein the creature speaks, but for some reason they took his voice away in this one. It's not that Karloff needs to speak, but he doesn't even really get a moment to express the creature's suffering silently. There is one moment with a mirror, but I have a feeling that by the third film, the monster knows what he looks like and he's not going to freak out over it. I guess what it all comes down to was there was no real storyline for him. Somewhere down the line he should have realized that he was being used, or some truth should have come out about who he was, and we should have felt his rage. There's also a little story with the creature and Wolf Von frankenstein's son, but nothing is really made of it. In a way the creature is almost purely an image in this film, but what a striking image it is. They gave him a new outfit in this one and I do prefer it to his others. He's got this wool shirt on and it makes him really stand out. The creature is as badass as ever.

It can almost seem like I'm not recommending it towards the end there, but it really is a good movie and there are a lot of reasons to watch it. Put all three in your Netflix and have a marathon. You might want to check out some of the other Universal frankenstein movies, but this is really where they stopped being good. the others are fun, but you probably have to be an old school monster movie fan to watch them.

Not too much in Coffee Time news this week, but the second letter for the Double Shot is up, so don't forget to help support us and get that.

Enjoy this weeks comics.

John

10/2/06

I Likes Me Some October

(skip this and go directly to Coffee Time news here)

I've always been a fan of Fall, and October has always been the best month of the year. At least on the East Coast, more specifically in New England. Out here in California, seasons don't really exist. It doesn't look or smell like Fall, there's no piles of leaves in yards, I haven't put on a hoodie or a knit hat yet and probably won't for a few weeks. I guess you can say I'm nostalgic for something I haven't experienced in years. Even little things, like for some reason Black Sabbath sounded better when you played them during Fall. We all know the most significant part of the season is of course Halloween. There was a couple years I didn't do anything for this fun holiday. It was that time in between youth and adulthood, but when Halloween kicks back in, it's just great to have it back. We're having a party over here at Coffee Time Headquarters that should be a pretty good time. We're gonna get some decorations, a bunch of beer, and we'll have to download some spooky music. I'm still not totally sure what I'm doing yet, but I have a pretty good idea. Why don't you all stop by the forums and I'll get a Halloween thread going. We'll tell some stories.

I'm going to take this opportunity of Halloween spirit to recommend some horror movies to you. I'll do one per news update this month. And they are all going to be Frankenstein films. Why? Because Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is one of my biggest influences. Not only do I love that book, but I love the movies based on it. Shit, I love movies based on the Universal movie that's hardly based on it. I love the themes and I love to see people tackle them in different ways.

The first recommend will be Subject Two, and it is probably going to be the only recent film on the list. This is a very low budget film and not a straight adaptation of Frankenstein, but a modern variation on its themes. A misunderstood medical student who searches for knowledge beyond the bars of education heads to a secluded mountain laboratory to assist Dr. Franklin Vick(that name is the lamest thing in this movie). Unsuspectingly, he becomes the guinea pig in a series of experiments that bring him closer and closer to complete meltdown.

If you aren't a fan of low budget films, then this is not for you. It's a very small film having only about 5 actors in it. The location is great and a nice change for this type of story. It actually makes more sense than most "mad scientist" films in that it takes place in a very secluded snowy landscape. I thought the acting was pulled off pretty well. Don't expect to recognize anybody, well not for a couple years at least. I can definitely see some of these guys getting into bigger things.

I thought the finished product was a pretty good piece of filmmaking. Could a better modern Frankenstein be made? Most definitely, but right now I'd say that Subject Two is it. Worth the look for those who want something a little different.

So there you go. That's the first October recommend.

Double Shot

Tobias and I have decided that this months Double Shot will be the last time you need to vote four times. Starting in November, you'll put in one vote, receive a code, and your comic will be unlocked. I don't know if we were asking too much before, but it wasn't working. Maybe it was too confusing. I understand that it's easy to forget these things. I don't really mind doing it either, because I think it will really help. We would have started this month, but we would have had to have the comic ready right now. Not gonna happen.

Thank you to all who have voted previously and received the Double Shot, and thanks to all who tried. This is the last month we'll put you through the torture of having to vote a lot. November's will sort of be integral to the storyline, so maybe that is a good place to start with the one time voting.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is my mother's birthday. She's a great woman. We should all be so lucky to have a mom like her.

Dad, make sure you keep an eye on her today. I know you guys will be at the casino. Don't get too crazy.

Enjoy the comics folks.

John