Make it a Kick-Butt Christmas Day!

In our ongoing quest to suggest cool Christmas gifts for our faithful fans, we of Atomic Kommie Comics™ would like to direct you to, perhaps, the most unlikely of departments--Pop Art Martial Arts™
But, when you think about it, considering how Western-based, cops-and-robbers-oriented, and military-themed toys and gifts have been part of the Yuletide for generations (I'll never forget finding my first 11.5" GI Joe under the tree one Christmas morning!) it's only natural that martial arts-oriented gifts should also be part of the holiday season!
Beyond the fact that you can't shoot your eye out with a gi, (Note: Do NOT give ninja throwing stars to kids as a present!) all these themes are based on the concept of good triumphing over evil, protecting the helpless, and having fun doing it!
And, martial arts promote physical fitness! ;-)

We offer men's, women's, and kid's garb, as well as stuff to decorate your dojo.
And what a lineup...

The ORIGINAL StreetFighter!

Sister StreetFighter!

Lady Kung Fu!

Deadly China Doll!

Five Fingers of Death!

The Kung-Fu / Vampire classic Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires aka 7 Brothers Meed Dracula!

and, for those who want a Power Rangers-style look with rubber-suited monsters aplenty...
Infra-Man!

And, if you combine one of our items with a related dvd (like those conveniently-listed below), you'll have the Ultimate  Gift Set for the kung-fu movie maven in your life!

So, make it a Merry, Martial-Arts Christmas!
Ho, Ho, Ho, Hiii-Yahh!

Return of the ORIGINAL FanBoy PLUS: Discount coupon!

The Boy with the Most Comic Books in America!
Nope, it ain't YOU, Bunkie!
It's Koppy McFad! (or at least it was in 1942!)
In one of the first comics metafictions, Koppy was a kid who read comics and then daydreamed about being a superhero himself, including interacting with other comics characters, who were fictional characters in his world, as well as real-life villains like Adolf Hitler!
Debuting in the back pages of Shadow Comics, he quickly transferred to Army & Navy Comics, becoming so popular that the book was retitled SuperSnipe Comics as of #6!

(In fact his appearance in Army & Navy Comics was so important, it featured the only time Doc Savage and The Shadow appeared together in a story before the 1990s!)
Not content to merely fantasize about heroics, McFad donned a red flannel union suit and attempted to crush evil in his neighborhood, usually with embarrassing (but humorous) results.
BTW, you'll note that Koppy didn't start wearing his red underwear until he gained his own title...
Ironically, he outlasted most of the superheroes who inspired him, ending his title's run in late 1949.
Curiously, his adventures haven't been reprinted, resulting in his comics being among the most expensive on eBay and other venues!
So we've brought him back on a new line of collectibles including t-shirts, mugs, iPhone cases, and a 12-month calendar!
Since 1949, a number of comics characters obesessed with comic books have appeared...
Some, like Captain Klutz, have worn red woolly underwear, but most, like Flaming Carrot and FanBoy, don't.
But all owe a debt to the first FanBoy...Koppy McFad!
What could be a better Christmas present for the fanboy (or fangirl) in your life than a kool SuperSnipe kollectible combined with one of the related books listed below for a fan-dream gift set?

Plus, we're offering a discount on any items (including SuperSnipe, natch) totaling $40 or more from the Atomic Kommie Comics™ store...

*Save $5 off orders of $40 or more, excluding shipping charges, gift wrap charges, applicable taxes and custom duties. Coupon code SEASON40 must be entered at check out. Promotion starts on December 9, 2010, at 12:01 a.m. (PST) and ends on December 12, 2010, at 11:59 p.m. (PST). Cannot be combined with any other coupons or promotions and may change, be modified or cancelled at anytime without notice.

Video Fridays: THE GREEN HORNET in "Corpse of the Year 1 & 2"

Continuing our weekly feature "Video Fridays"...

It's Hornet vs Hornet as an evil impostor with a duplicate Black Beauty (but no masked chauffeur) is wreaking havoc on the Daily Sentinel, attacking delivery trucks (killing a driver) and tossing a grenade into the paper's newsroom!
Who's behind it?
That's what Britt Reid has to discover before more people are injured or killed by this lethal "Green Hornet"!
The second two-part episode has lots of twists and turns as suspects are uncovered, revealed as red herrings, and then killed by the Hornet doppelganger!
Side Notes:
This is the second, and final, appearance of Barbara Babcock as Britt's on again-off again girlfriend, Elaine Carey, who previously appeared in "Frog is a Deadly Weapon".
There were two fully-functional Black Beauties built for the tv show. Both were used in the chase sequences. (Here's a link to a kool website detailing the history of the tv show autos.)
The clip provider has dropped the end credits of part one and the opening credits of part two, as well as the title cards for the second part to make the clips "flow" better as a story
BTW, I've noted the broken links in earlier blog entries due to removal of videos by YouTube.
I'll be editing in alternate links over the next week or so...
Here's the 18th and 19th episodes of The Green Hornet...

Unwrap Undercover Girl this Christmas!

Spies have always been popular in fiction.
Girls have always been popular in fiction.
So, it stands to reason that girl spies would be popular in fiction, right?
Not quite...
With the notable exception of Modesty Blaise, female secret agents have not been able to hold the spotlight, despite several high-quality attempts to crack the glass ceiling of spydom!

In comics, the short-lived 1950s Undercover Girl series from Magazine Enterprises was probably the best of the femme-spy genre.
Featuring art by luminaries like Bob Powell, Gil Kane, and Dick Ayers, the series detailed the adventures of government agent Starr Flagg against spies, saboteurs, and criminals.
Starr could shoot and fight (And, as you can see from the art, ride a motorcycle, one-handed yet!) as well as any male agent, but could play helpless and innocent to throw the baddies off-guard until she could kick serious butt!

Since she has no super-powers or outlandish gimmicks, we at Atomic Kommie Comics™ titled her "The Heroine ANY Girl can be!™" and made her one of the feature characters in our Heroines™ line with three different covers, as well as her classic retro-style logo on a variety of goodies including tops, shirts, mugs, and many other tchochkies.
What grrrl from 6 to 60 wouldn't want to find something featuring Undercover Girl under her Christmas tree or in her stocking?

Under the Evergreen is...SUPER GREEN BERET!

Never failing to capitalize on a pop culture trend, '60s comics publishers, noticing the popularity of the hit single Ballad of the Green Berets (by Staff Sgt. Barry Sadler and Robin Moore) quickly produced comics series featuring the elite Army unit.
Most were standard war comics, but one stood out from the rest for sheer weirdness...

What do you get when you combine...
1) Green Berets and the VietNam War
with...
2) Teenagers...
and
3) SuperHeroes?
Why,
SUPER GREEN BERET,
of course!

Green Beret Roger Wilson saves a Vietnamese monk from a wild boar, and in return the grateful priest attaches a pin to his beret which makes it glow.
Home on leave, Roger gives the glowing beret to his teenage nephew Tod Holton, who discovers that, when he puts it on his head and salutes, he's transformed into a super-powered adult dressed in a soldier's uniform!
(It's sorta like the Golden Age Captain Marvel, a teenager who said the magic word SHAZAM and was transformed into a super-powered adult, albeit with his teenage mind.)
Using his new-found powers of teleportation, telepathy, telekinesis, transmutation, time travel, invulnerability, and super-strength, Tod decides to fight Enemies of Our Country, mostly in present-day Asia, but also travels through time to the American Revolution and World War II, during his two-issue run!
Yes, it's as hokey as it sounds!

We at Atomic Kommie Comics™ felt that we couldn't let such an outrageous character and concept be forgotten, so, as part of our War: Past, Present, & Future™ line, we incorporated Super Green Beret as a light-hearted example of 1960s funkiness to contrast with the seriousness of our World War II and Korean Police Action material (plus we wanted an excuse to make some kool SGB collectibles for ourselves)!

So stick a Super Green Beret collectible under the tree or in a stocking for your loved one!
It's the next best thing to an original 11.5" GI Joe!
(And I should know, since I received one of the first Joes at Christmas, many years ago!)

BONUS: A FREE Christmas present for you: an online reprint of both issues of Super Green Beret!
You gotta see it to believe it!