The 1975 Fantastic Four Radio Show... Featuring Bill Murray?

Thanks to my main man Joe Fletch I was sent a really cool link to the Youtube page of Mr. Walther PPK that features numerous episodes of the long forgotten Fanatsic Four radio show from 1975. These stories are often word for word read from the pages of the comic books, and there is some really cool stories here featuring characters like Sub Mariner, Ant Man, and many others. But one of the coolest things has to be the casting of a pre-Saturday Night Live Bill Murray to voice the Human Torch! This is an added plus, but truth be told all the voices bring a great set of stories to the audio ear... this is a great way to acclimate younger children to comics and build up their familiarity with the characters for the future. You can watch all the episodes by clicking here (25 episodes in all), and after the jump you can see Part I & II of Attack of the Mole Man featuring Mr. Ghostbuster himself....

Part I:





Part II:

Remember That Time That Tommy Lombardozzi Designed Character Cut Outs For The Fantastic Four Movie Premiere?

I have a friend that works as a producer at MTV. Back in the Spring of 2005, when I was pretty new at doing freelance illustration, he had asked me if I wanted to do drawings of the Fantastic Four that would adorn the set of their upcoming Fantastic Four movie premiere special. Of course I said yes!


The idea was that my drawings would be blown up, life-sized, and then made into big placards that would accompany the actors playing the specific parts. I was excited because I was going to be able to go to the filming of the show and meet "The Commish" himself, Michael Chiklis! (I was also a fan of his because he played Belushi in the not-very-good adaptation of Bob Woodward's Belushi biography, 'Wired'. I didn't like the movie, but I thought Chiklis did a great job.) Plus, I'd get to meet that sweet piece, Jessica Alba. MING!

Click after the jump for more of the story and the pics...



Anyway, I worked on the drawings for a few weeks, went to the MTV art offices here and there, and finished up. The art director liked 'em, so, all was good. I got paid (a pretty good sum that got chopped in half after they took the fucking freelance taxes out! Crap!) and I awaited the next step.

Several weeks later, they called me and told me that they'd decided to use photographs of the actors in character instead of my traditionally drawn comicbook-style FF. Made sense, I guess... but I didn't get to go to the show. Bah. So, in the end, I made a few bucks and got this not-very-exciting story out of the experience. Well, enjoy the drawings, kids.

There are two Things... which one do you prefer?  

~TL

The New Ultimate X-Men Look Pretty Cool.... But What Is The Human Torch Doing Here?

The first preview pics of Marvel's new Ultimate X-Men #1 (it comes out in September) comic has hit the web, and all I can say is that i am intrigued and confused at the same time. In like the look of the characters (except for Iceman rocking a fitted hat while in ice form... whats up with that?), but I am intrigued by the choice of characters they chose to focus on. The Human Torch? Whats he doing in the X-Men? Also, I like the retro yet futuristic look of Wolverine's costume. Plus, I always love the good old yellow costume on Logan. he looks very Bruce Lee/Game of Death or /Uma Thurman/Kill Bill in that getup. Kitty Pryde, Rouge, Colossus, and Iceman make for some familiar faces as well. The book will be written by Nick Medina and drawn by Paco Medina. the cover art is done by the awesomely talented Kaare Andrews. Thanks to MTV Geek for the preview. Tell us what you think in the comment section below.

***Click Read more below to see some panels from Ultimate X-Men#1***