Belated Happy Birthday, Jack Kirby

Jack Kirby art featuring Thundarr, Ariel, and Ookla.

Happy Belated Birthday to one of my idols, Jack "The King" Kirby.

Remember--DC and especially Marvel Comics owe this guy BIG TIME!

Filmation Friday: Superstretch and Microwoman

Superstretch and Microwoman was part of the Tarzan and the Super 7 animation block that Filmation had on CBS circa 1979. This show was among the first cartoons I can remember where the main leads were African-American (this was back in the late 70's). These are humorous superhero adventures, with the main characters engaging in banter as they put the criminals away. I remember liking the show when I watched it as a kid. Here's an episode:







Enjoy!

Quick Thought I Had At Work: Mind Flayers and Zombies

Here's a quick thought I had at work:

The mind flayer is a classic AD&D monster that has terrorized campaigns around the world for decades. Different origins, variants and alternate versions of the mind flayer have been designed for various RPGs, especial since the illithids have been deemed as product identity by WotC. But I've never seen this one.

Mind flayers are an advanced form of undead that wield strange powers due to the brains they eat. 

The mind flayers once existed as any other race until they were infected by an ancient contagion. The contagion increased their psionic abilities but gave them an insatiable craving for the brains of other intelligent beings--including their own race. Mind flayers can no longer procreate normally. They reproduce by infecting a promising victim with some of their own flesh. The contagion takes over and the new mind flayer is brought underground to his or her new people.

This idea has some other possibilities:

1. There were mind flayers that were not infected by the contagion that corrupted the rest of their race. They may be hiding anywhere in the campaign world. They may be a hidden force of good, or a bitter enclave just as evil as their brethren. The other races will confuse them for their brain-eating brethren. Plus, other mind flayers have not tasted fresh mind flayer brain in sooooo long...
2. Some of the undead in the campaign may be created by the mind flayers as vehicles to get more bodies and brains. The zombies eat their victims, the viruses animates the bodies, and the mind flayers render the zombies to get the tender brains and flesh. Mind flayer zombies probably wouldn't be turned by a priest, and would be very creatively designed.
3. The relationship between mind flayers and necromancers can go in some interesting ways. They could be wary allies, traders in various resources, or bitter enemies. Powerful necromancers may know formulas that allow them to control mind flayers, or the contagion that changed them.
4. Mind flayers and the undead they create would probably be parallel to the undead created by other means, There may be wars with liches and vampires over their shared food source.

If anybody uses some of these ideas, let me know!

Mutant Future Inspiration: Zordax II: The Metal War and She (1982)

Here's a short film I heard of a year of two ago that is a tribute to 80's Italian post apocalyptic movies. Zordax II The Metal War is great Mutant Future inspiration, a bite size chunk of after the bomb type fun.



Here's the Zordax II page on Producer and Director Syl Disjonk's website.

Now here's two clips from a rarer movie, She starring Sandahl Bergman. H. Rider Haggard this is not. This is full throttle bats#!+ crazy 80s after the bomb movie fun! I had an old VHS copy but it got messed up, and it never was released on DVD that I know of. She is worth seeking out in whatever format you can find, because of scenes like this, presented below:







I'm sure that an enterprising Mutant Future GM can find a ton of ideas from these clips!

Filmation Friday: Back From Vacation!

Hello folks, I'm back from Winneconne and eating way to much at the Wisconsin State Fair. For Filmation Friday today I have two entries:

First, Glimmer is in trouble piloting a butterfly-like flyer from a She-Ra Princess of Power episode. Note the very Elvish Spelljammer design look to this vehicle.

Here is an episode of the Filmation  Journey to the Center of the Earth (1967)





See ya!

On VACATION!

I'll be gone for a week of fun, relaxation, and recharging, visiting my second hometown of Winneconne, Wisconsin. When I come back I hope I'll be over this posting funk and will put more stuff on the Amazing RPG Fun Pad. While I have been reading many of your blogs religiously, I just haven't had the gumption to type up some of my ideas. Everybody going to Gen Con, have a great time! Everybody staying home have a great time!

Will pay the Joesky tax later...