Universal Dork

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  • Top 10 Rock Album Covers by Comic Book Artists?!

    There are some epic comic book artists out there in the world, true legends who produced some of the most iconic artwork of all time. I’ve always wondered if any big name comic book artists were employed by rock bands to make album covers? Let’s face it, one of the most important things as a musician is having an unforgettable album cover. So I did a little research of my own to see who, if any, throughout time had actually enlisted these talents! Here’s what I found!

    Mark Texiera: Public Enemy, Muse Sick-n-Hour Mess Age (1994)

    Texiera takes a break from the pages of comic books to spice up Public Enemy’s 1994 release with an awesome LP cover. This is a great example of how wise it is to hire a comic book artist to craft a freakin’ masterpiece cover for your band.

     

    Barry Windsor Smith: The Byrds, Preflyte (1973)

    Barry is easily one of the greatest comic book artists of all time, who the hell wouldn’t ask the guy to do the art work for their record? This one though was a real surprise I had no idea he dabbled in the music genre with his skills!

     

    Bob Camp: Newcleus Jam On Revenge (1984)

    Bob Camp did some great work with Marvel Comics in the eighties on titles like The ‘Nam, Conan the Barbarian and G.I. Joe. But what a lot of people forget is that he actually did this iconic cover art for rap supergroup Newcleus!

     

    John Byrne: Joe Satriani, Surfing With The Alien  (1987)

    Superstar comic book artist John Byrne’s rendering of the Silver Surfer was used for Joe Satriani’s most famous guitar rock album. Apparently no one talked to him about using the artwork and apparently he remains uncredited in the album liner notes!

     

    Todd Mcfarlane: Korn, Follow the Leader (1998)

    I’ve gotta say I’ve never liked Korn, at all.  In fact I can admit that I actually hate their music. But when I found out they hired Todd McFarlane to do the cover art for their album they won me over just a little bit..

     

    Bill Sienkiewicz: RZA, Bobby Digital in Stereo (1998)

    Getting Bill to do your cover artwork Is probably about the wisest thing you could do for your damn musical career. The guy is a living legend and one of the best cover artists in all comic book history!  He nails it for RZA!

     

    Richard Corben: Meatloaf, Bat Out of Hell (1977)

    Corben is responsible for some of the grittiest comic book art out there! He hits a home run here with Meatloaf’s ‘Bat Out of Hell’. Recently I had to come to my own conclusion about Meatloaf, and I find myself in the same frame of mind as I did with Korn. NOT A FAN! But still Meatloaf wins me over employing Corben to make this iconic album cover…

     

    Vincent Locke: Cannibal Corpse, Butchered at Birth (1991)

    Legendary gore artist extraordinaire, Vincent Locke is best know for his crazy artwork for 80s horror comic Deadworld. With his unforgettable awesome LP cover for Cannibal Corpse he essentially just drew a cover for Deadworld and slapped on their logo and somehow created a truly gore-tas-tic metal massacre masterpiece!

     

    Alex Ross: Anthrax, We’ve Come for You All (2003)

    Mr. Ross is a true legend and Anthrax made an excellent choice in getting him on deck to craft this beautifully mysterious album cover. Ross is in league of his own and this adds more proof of that bold claim.

     

    Jamie Hewlett: Senseless Things, The First of Too Many (1991)

     An amazing power pop punk album from the Senseless Things! This one was in heavy rotation for me when I was in high school. I didn’t make the connection until recently that this artist went on to produce the iconic Tank Girl comic book series!

     

    Brian Bolland: Beautiful Happiness (1988) 

    Who’d have ever thought that Brian Boland, comic book artist extraordinaire, most well known for Batman: The Killing Joke, was a punk at heart?  Easily one of my favorite comic book artists/cover artists of all time, this shows his true skill in crafting the ultimate punk rock compilation cover!


  • Comic Cover of the Week: The Hulk vs The Big Green Gamma Brain!

    Today I’m showcasing one of my favorite Incredible Hulk comic book covers, issue number 224, which features an epic battle with the Jade Giant versus the biggest brain in Marvel Comics, The Leader! I’ve always loved the dynamic between these two characters being pure brute strength with minimal brain capacity and one being a total weakling with gamma spawned super intellect. I’d go as far to say that The Leader is probably my favorite villain of The Incredible Hulk. He always had to use some sort of weird robotic contraption to actually battle The Hulk head on. This cover perfectly showcases their iconic rivalry with a beautiful cover drawn by Ernie Chan from 1978! Chan is one of my all time favorite Incredible Hulk artists & this in my opinion is one of his best pieces of cover work. I’d love to see something like this scenario materialize in the MCU in an incredible Hulk solo movie sequel which is long overdue…

  • The Craziest Movie Subtitles of ALL Time!

    I’ve been watching a lot of Hong-Kong movies lately from the 80s and good lord let me tell you, there are some amazing unbelievable subtitles to behold! So every now and again I’ll pause the screen to take a snapshot to capture some of these in ALL their insane glory! These first two exhibits come from an amazing action movie from 1989 called ‘Pedicab Driver’ starring Sammo Hung! If you’re a fan of wild, over the fucking top martial arts then check this out ASAP and keep an eye open for these unforgettable words of wisdom within the text of their glorious subtitles!

    Exhibit A:

    Exhibit B:

    WTF??????

  • A COBRA KAI Theory: Will KREESE Meet DUTCH in the Slammer?

    Ok so first off, Cobra Kai ‘Season 4′ was my second favorite of the series and I’m a HUGE Karate Kid fan. That means somehow the damn show is still fully on the right ass kickin’ track! So I ‘ve been thinking quite a bit lately about just where it’s plot might go, particularly wondering about it’s iconic villain John Kreese (played by the legendary Martin Kove) who has ****SPOILER ALERT**** just been arrested! 

     Of course this has led me down the wild rabbit hole of Cobra Kai plot ideas, as we heard in an earlier season that former Cobra Kai bad-ass bully “Dutch” was reportedly in prison. The show’s creators originally of course wanted to feature Dutch (Chad Mcqueen) in the reunion episode where Johnny and the rest of the old Cobra Kai gang went on their raucous booze-laden motorcycle road trip. However McQueen was not available to film any of the scenes due to prior engagements from his moto racing company which occupies the majority of his days these days.

    However, from what they’ve said, it still sounded to me like a Dutch appearance is NOT out of the question for possibly a future installment/season of the show. This would be the perfect opportunity for Kreese to enter the slammer to meet his former student Dutch for his official appearance on Cobra Kai?!

     How cool would it be for the fans to finally see Dutch again and even stranger witness the reunion between him and his former sensei in the flesh within the walls of dangerous prison life? I think this just might be a real possibility and I’m certain in my gut that the creators of the show might indeed have this planned out for a sweet surprise in season 5 (hey just throwing it out there!). There’s quite an interesting tale to be told if indeed Kreese gets locked up and even more so if his former Cobra Kai student is there with him!  It’s anyone’s guess at this point how that would go down..but you tell me, what do you think about this possible story arc?!  A season side story of Kreese in prison with Dutch would surely be a treat for us die hard Karate Kid fanatics!

  • Comic Cover of the Week: She-Hulk Savagely STOPS Traffic!

    I’m super stoked for the new She-Hulk series that will be coming out on Disney Plus!  From what I’ve seen so far it looks to be a  pretty good representation of the classic character we’ve all come to love. Back in 1980 the 2nd issue dropped of She’Hulk with a cover to remember from one of my all time favorites-John Buscema!  This might be my personal favorite covet of the classic Savage She-Hulk run! Whatta total bad ass babe!

  • WTF New Years Eve Hong Kong 90s Horror Gem: ‘Last Ghost Standing’!

    Wild and weird New Years flicks are not easy to come by. But god damn do I have one of the most WTF movies taking place on New Years Eve you will ever see to recommend! ‘Last Ghost Standing’ from 1999 is essentially a night in the life of a young couple on a New Year’s Eve date to a creepy theater that’s showing it’s very final picture before closing forever…

     It doesn’t take long however for things to get downright dirty, spooky and simultaneously zany when evil forces from the netherworld descend from from the depths of hell to kill everyone who has purchased a ticket to the final show at the theater. Basically a mix of ‘Demons’ and ‘Evil Dead 2’ with even more senseless comedy and insane goopy antics. Yes, this one dials the idiotic insanity up to 11 with a barely cohesive story holding this creature together by the withering tendons. I’d make sure you’re a few drinks in or stoned outta your gord before checking this one out on New Year’s Eve. You’ve been warned!

    It’s jam packed with awesome cheap-o B-movie fx & gross out moments a’ plenty.  Particularly a scene where a group of wild raver teens are attacked by a disgusting toilet poop monster in the restroom.  Barely any of this late nineties gem makes a lick of sense either, I think it’s all there just to give our eyes a visual feast  & at the same time make you lose a brain cell or two just from watching.

    Things get so out of control in the theater that they eventually have to call in a mock Jackie Chan type character with a fake prosthetic nose to come and try to settle the supernatural score with the demons. The funny thing is it would appear that the demonic forces in this movie aren’t fully satisfied with the state of modern cinema at the time and are ready to rip it’s existence entirely from our world.  The essential reason for their attack on the patrons.

    If you’re a horror fanatic and looking for something truly bizarre on New Year’s Eve today, this is definitely going to deliver the goods right to your damn doorstep. It’s silly, gross and a lot of frenetic fun & I can certainly guarantee you’ve never seen anything like it before! Happy 2022!!

  • Who Knew Judge Dredd Loved Christmas SO Much?!

     

     

  • FROSTBITER: Hyperactive Holiday Horror Viewing Straight Out of the 80s!

    Wow!! We’re getting SO close to the big day-yes Christmas 2021 will soon be here, so why not mix it up this year with some weird holiday shit instead of the same old cinema? It can be ruff finding new snow packed holiday flicks each season to rock out to. But I think some of the usual holiday suspects need a break this year. I mean you can only watch ‘John Denver and The Muppets Christmas’ special so many times right? That being said here’s a fave of mine that’s got the chops to get the bloody holiday party started right!!

    ‘Frostbiter: Wrath of the Wendigo’ is non stop craziness & a ton of fucking fun. This sweet little indie Michigan based snowbound horror flick was filmed way back in 1988 but sat on the cold dusty shelves for nearly a decade. It wasn’t released until 1996 when Troma decided to finally unveil this little gnarly beast out there to the general public. I’m not always the hugest fan of Troma stuff but this one was an independent production first and then only distributed by them later & good on them for doing so. It’s a snowy, low budget, splatter gem in the same arena as ‘Evil Dead 2’ and just as genuinely ambitious.

    It also stars Ron Asheton, famed guitar legend of The Stooges, who had a short but sweet run in some pretty excellent little horror movies during this time period like ‘Legion of the Night’ & ‘Mosquito’. Both of those most definitely deserve a watch if you haven’t seen them yet! Frostbiter doesn’t skimp any of it’s excellent cheezball horror fx here either, it has a bunch of ridiculous puppets, bad ass stop motion monsters, gooey slimey gore and buckets of the red stuff.

    None of this can be taken too incredibly seriously as the general spirit of the movie is pretty playful and IMO the perfect pick for a group of rowdy drunk holiday party goers. Though not an outright “Christmas” movie it does have some holiday leanings that fit it firmly in the specific genre quite nicely. First it all takes place in the fictional town of Bedford Falls, where ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ is set and even features segments of that particular film throughout. Secondly it’s clearly filmed in the frigid cold forests of the midwest and is jam packed with plenty of snow. We get a wild gang of redneck hunters all together in a dusty cold cabin where monsters spawn from pots of chili!

    t’s got a pretty cool soundtrack as well that features an exclusive song about said chili! To make matters worse these these moronic hunters thankfully manage to awaken the evil spirit of the famed native american beast of the Wendigo! Yes & for a budget of ten thousand bucks this one is way more slimey fun than It has any right being.

    I really did appreciate how much effort was put into this thing with all of the wild and crazy z-grade special fx pulled out of the rickety tool box. Sure it’s clearly a bit of an Evil Dead rip off, with this frantic tale taking place similarly in a snowy cabin in the woods as well. However it’s got enough of its own identity and charm to put itself uniquely into a category of its own.

    If anything it’s most definitely worth it for its wild wintery finale when the Wendigo rears its gigantic head in a bonkers stop motion animation showdown. Oh yeah, spike the eggnog hard and roll yourself a nice fat one to pass around cuz this one will deliver the damn goods this Christmas for a ravenous gang of cinemaniacs!  The perfect party movie & likely a new holiday season ritual,  This movie needs way more attention and most definitely a fancy ass blu ray release!

     

  • Marvel Comics Holiday: In Between the Pages of the 80s!

    I have so many great memories of being a kid back in the eighties. Many of those memories involve my comic books that I took with me everywhere. I’m not going to lie, I was a Marvel Comics kid & easily my favorite superhero was The Incredible Hulk.

    The other night I was paging through one of my old beat up comic books and ran across a cool holiday advertisement in between the pages. This brought back a whole bunch of memories of some of these Christmas themed advertisements from yesteryear that I used to see all the time in my favorite comic books.

    Here’s a few of them that will bring a little bit of Christmas cheer likely if you’re around my age, oh the sweet memories of being advertised to….

     

     

     

  • Holiday Comic Cover of the Week: The THING vs Evil Xmas Toys!

    We keep getting closer and closer to Christmas this year So of course we have to check out some groovy holiday comic book covers of years gone by! Today we take a look at ‘Marvel Two In One’ number 74 from 1981. It’s a special Christmas issue that of course features The Thing battling the Puppet Master’s evil toys during the during the holidays! This is a sweet cover as well drawn by Frank Springer and it really harkens back to the Golden Age of comics when they were just a damn good time to read!