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JAN ALAN HENDERSON
JAN ALAN HENDERSON

janalanhenderson.com is a cyber magazine focusing on the Golden Age of Entertainment, with an eye to the future of eclectic media. It is our intent to provide readers with reviews and articles on films, music, and literature which are classic, as well as exploring the outreaches of popular culture.

We hope you will be entertained, educated, and encouraged to explore these movies, books, and sound recordings. Some of this material is readily available, some will fall into the collectible category. Bearing this in mind, we hope you, the reader, will be enthralled by the material presented on this website.
JUST ADDED on this page: Forgotten Horrors No. 7 - Retooling George Turner's lost Tarzan comic.


Also, check out an interview with Robert Woods on GlassHousePresents.com: Carl's Corner with Robert Woods




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No. 4: Iger's Evil Twins
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Michael H. Price's Forgotten Horrors
No. 7: Retooling George E. Turner's Lost 'Tarzan' Comics

Back in the day when I used to visit George Turner at the American Cinematographer Club House in Hollywood, we would have lunch and go over our latest interests. George was an illustrator of the highest order, and during discussions he told me of his many adventures as an illustrator, as well as the Tarzan piece you now have before you, thanks to Michael H. Price. Like all of you out there in cyberspace, this is the first time I have seen it. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. George may be gone, but if Mike and I have anything to say about it, he will never be forgotten!

Enjoy!

Jan Alan Henderson

Fewer woids, more pictures: The overdue selection, here, is a backhanded restoration for a long-lost comic-book feature by Jan Alan Henderson's and my most influential mentor, George E. Turner (1925-1999). The accompanying text page (below) puts everything into context. The purported funnybook cover is, of course, a mock-up. Just so you know.

Michael H. Price




















To Be Continued ...

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Golden Moment

In today's contemporary entertainment there are few memorable moments. Most of the small screen fodder passes through a maze of fashion, techno wizardry, and computer driven SFX. Few have substance, emotion, or quality story telling.

On January 6th, 2010, there was a golden moment when Jack Larson returned to bless us with his talent on NBC's Law and Order, SVU. Playing the grandfather of a misguided lad who infects unsuspecting women with the HIV virus, he turns in a memorable performance. With depth that is rarely allowed on prime time television, Mr. Larson showed that (if anyone had any doubt) in all these years away from his former profession he has not lost the magic that drew all the Baby Boom generation to him as Jimmy Olsen.

His portrayal of Grandpa Dewey held this reviewer enthralled with its rich emotional pallet of pathos, remorse and redemption, and should remind all viewers that Mr. Larson is a treasure, and his work has been a gift to us all.

A golden moment, indeed.



Jim Marshall
Into the Lens
as a Matter of Trust

Trust Omnibust Books - 2009
Order Number V010373
www.omnibust.com


The saying goes, if you remember the 60s you weren't there. Another saying is, a picture is worth 1,000 words. In the case of Jim Marshall's photography, a picture is worth a million words. Even if you don't remember the 60s, his photographs are the time capsules to that magical renaissance time. This has never been more evident that in Marshall's new book from Omnibust Press, Trust

For the first time, his color photographs are featured in this coffee table book which showcases such diverse artists as Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, The Beatles, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, B.B. King, The Byrds, John Lee Hooker, Joan Baez, Fred Durst, Matt Sorum, Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Leon Russell, The Buffalo Springfield, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, The Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, and Led Zeppelin, to name a few.

There is so much visual history in Trust that the reader is drawn into these moments, which are annotated by Mr. Marshall with a sense of the event as well as its contemporary significance. Marshall spent hours, days, and weeks with his subjects, getting to know the ins and outs of these highly talented artists, which gives this collection of photographs (and all his work) an intimacy which is rarely found in today's digital age. it's no wonder his work is on display at the Smithsonian Institute.

For anyone with an interest in the last half-century of music, musicians, and the rich tapestry of culture, this volume is an absolute must. For the newcomer, Trust is an exciting virtual experience which will deliver hour upon hour of page turning entertainment and education. A perfect stocking stuffer for all!

Watch for a full career interview with Jim Marshall in an upcoming issue of FilmFax Plus, available at your local news stand in 2010!



Josie Cotton
Invasion of the B-Girls
Scruffy Records
www.scruffyrecords.com


It's that time of year. The jack-o'-lanterns are flickering, the apple cider is bubbling, the bowls of candy corn are laid out, and you're squeezing into your Halloween costume getting ready for the big blow-out on All Hallows Eve. Have you forgotten anything? Well, if you're going to party, you might need some spooky tunes, and we've got just the CD that will be the hit at parties throughout the land, Josie Cotton's Invasion of the B-Girls.

The CD blasts off with an Intro of revving hotrods, smoke and fire surging into "Maneaters" from the wild and wacky flick, She Devils On Wheels. Josie and Gals ain't takin' no mess as they declare they ain't makin' no deals. You can smell the burnt rubber and asphalt oozing out of the CD player as the track comes to a screeching halt. But that's not all that's oozing out of that player, 'cuz here comes that amoeboid, super intelligent goop from space, "The Green Slime," that will bring the world to an end once and for all. Better the green slime than a bunch of Washington fat cats! Cotton's voice is smooth as silk on this cut, and the wah-wah guitar adds a sticky sonic fourth dimension that could be green ectoplasm from deep space.

Next up is Cotton's take on a tale of too many pills and too many frills from, where else, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. I remember first seeing this at a drive-in in Orange County, California as a young adult, and after the picture ended it was hard to tell if the audience got what this B-Cinema masterpiece was all about. The string arrangement and actor Peter Beckman's oral recitation enhance the piece to way beyond the B-Movie music level.

Kenny Lyon blows a mean harmonica on "The Girl in the Gold Boots," along with Geza's scorching lead guitar and Dave Kendrick's rock solid drumming. This is a testament to one and all that as long as Josie's wearing those gold boots, they'll be fit for rockin'.

"Run, Pussycat" from the film Faster, Pussycat Kill, Kill is an all-out rocker written by soundtrack kings Bert Shefter, Paul Sawtell, with Rick Jarraed and Donna DiMartino along for the rail ride of the century.

"Who Killed Teddy Bear?" is strictly James Bondsville. Josie does her best Shirley Bassey "Goldfinger" rendition that augments Stevie Black's lush pure 60s string arrangement. The only thing that's missing is Sean Connery walking into a hotel room to find a dead golden girl in his bed. Who Killed Teddy Bear? starred Sal Mineo, Juliet Prowse, and Jan Murray, and was released in 1965. There's some priceless cheesy organ riffs that are sure to please Farfisa fans. A jewel for the ears!

"Shiawaseo Yobou (Let's Try to be Happy)" is the main theme for the Toho classic from 1964 Ghidrah, the Three Headed Monster, and was Josie's inspiration for this CD of cult classics, and is sung in Japanese. A delicate little number from the Shobijin Fairies, asking the legendary Mothra to save Planet Earth. Where's Mothra when we need her!

"Black Klansman" from the Ted V. Mikel's K.K.K. exploitation film of the same name has a hurdy-gurdy organ with a fuzz guitar solo that reminds me of Cotton's eightie's selection, sung in that irresistible baby doll voice that made her world famous.

"Good-bye Godzilla" is from The Return of Godzilla and has almost a prog-rock vibe. I hope the big fella with the fire breath knows how hard Ms. Cotton has worked to give the old boy a great send-off. This one is sung in Japanese too, which adds so much to the cut.

"Maneaters" (the Ursula 1000 mix) is a techno reshuffle of the CD's opening cut, and could be a runaway hit in contemporary dance clubs.

This CD is a stand-out for fans of B pictures, and guaranteed to keep any party bopping. All we can ask for is MORE!


Available for purchase
www.josiecotton.com
iTunes Music Store

MOST EVIL
By Steve Hodel
with Ralph Pezzullo
Dutton Published by The Penguin Group, 2009

Some time ago, I wrote a review for GlasshousePresents.com (Jan's Angle) on Steve Hodel's 2006 edition of The Black Dahlia Avenger - A Genius for Murder. Three years prior, I had read the 2003 edition of the book bearing the same title in preparation for review in the now sadly defunct Cult Movies Magazine. In 2003 and 2006 I had the top of my head blown off by Mr. Hodel's investigation of his father's dark deeds. Now three years later, Steve Hodel with Ralph Pezzullo have presented more mind blowing evidence regarding his father's and other sensationalized serial murders. "The Chicago Lipstick Murders," The Jigsaw Murder," and the famed "Zodiac" killings are all re-examined in this articulately written book, and woven together with the crimes of Dr. George Hodel, "The Black Dahlia Avenger."

If this book had been penned by anyone else other than Mr. Hodel (a two decades-plus homicide detective), I would have been skeptical of the claims on the cover of this attractively packaged volume. But Hodel's credentials are so far above reproach, and his deductive reasoning is so spot-on, that within the first two hours of ownership I consumed sixty pages.

In this writer's opinion, Mr. Hodel is a true life Sherlock Holmes or Charlie Chan - but at the cost of losing his father to murder and madness.

Most Evil connects all these hideous crimes together, and reveals the motivation for the slaying of Elizabeth Short. I'm sure I'm going to be reading this book a second time, because not only is this work a compelling read, but the twists and turns and intricacies of Dr. George Hill Hodel's mind are not absorbed in a single reading.

While this book contains a mountain of circumstantial evidence against Dr. Hodel, his son realizes as a former homicide detective, that after Most Evil presents the case, law enforcement officials must follow through for a 'Case Closed' verdict.

Steve Hodel, at the end of this investigation, writes that he accepts his fate in all this. But one can only wonder what might have happened if Steve Hodel had discovered any of this information while his father was alive. We'll never know.

A 'Must Read' for true crime buffs.

For more information about Most Evil go to www.stevehodel.com


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