On This Date: March 28

1941: Republic Pictures releases Adventures of Captain Marvel, based on the Fawcett Comics character. The 12-chapter serial, which stars Frank Coghlan, Jr. and Billy Batson and Tom Tyler as Captain Marvel, holds the distiction of being the first live-action film adaptation of a comic book superhero.

1969: Brett Ratner was born in Miami Breach, Fla. In 2006, he directed X-Men: The Last Stand.

On This Date: March 21

1946: Timothy Dalton was born in Colwyn Bay, Wales. Prior to joining Her Majesty’s Secret Service for three outings as James Bond, he portrayed Prince Barin in the 1980 version of Flash Gordon, produced by Dino De Laurentiis. He also took on the role of the suave Basil St. John in 1989 adaptation of Dale Messick’s Brenda Starr and that of Nazi spy Neville Sinclair in the 1991 pulp adventure of The Rocketeer.

1958: Gary Oldham was born in New Cross, London, England. His resume includes two BAFTA Awards,  Academy- and Emmy-Award nominations, and three turns as Gotham City’s most honest cop James Gordon in Batman Begins (2005), The Dark Knight (2008), and the upcoming The Dark Knight Rises.

1962: Matthew Broderick was born in New York City. Long after his days as Ferris Bueller, he played security guard John Brown who winds as a high tech policeman in the 1999 comedy Inspector Gadget.

1962: Rosie O’Donnell was born in Bayside, Queens, New York. The actress-turned-talk show host brought Betty Rubble to life in The Flinstones (1994).

(Image: Timothy Dalton as Prince Barin and Ornella Muti as Princess Aura in Flash Gordon, Universal Studios)

Some Dirt on Gravel

Now that the Deadpool adaptation appears to be MIA, Tim Miller might actually make his directorial debut with Gravel based on Avatar Press’s supernatural action series by Warren and Mike Wolfer.

Those Rascally Kids

Though you’ve likely never heard of it, Reg’lar Fellers was a staple for readers of newspaper comics in the 1920s and ’30s. Created by Gene Byrnes, the strip ran from 1917 to 1949 and centered on the shenanigans of a group of young friends including Jimmy Dugan, the Duffy brothers (Puddinhead and Pinhead), Angie Riley, and Jimmy’s dog Bullseye, who sported a black circle around his left eye. The success of the series’ gaggle of kids formula, which proceeded Hal Roach’s first Our Gang silent film by five years, led others such as Ad Carter’s Just Kids, Joe Simon and Jack Kirby’s Newsboy Legion, and Will Eisner’s Hilde and the Kid Gang to emulate the approach. 

Despite the strip’s longevity, it was only adapted into one 60-minute, live-action film. Released on September 5, 1941, Reg’lar Fellas, directed by Arthur Dreifuss, features Buddy Boles as Jimmy, Malcolm Hutton as Puddinhead, Billy Lee as Pinhead, and Janet Dempsey as Angie. Carl Switzer (a.k.a. Alfalfa of Our Gang fame) also appears as Bump Hudson, a new boy admitted to the crew. The plot is itself reminiscent of a Roach comedy: the kids play music, built their own amphibious tank, save an old lady’s fortune from a pair of conniving thieves, and help her and her estranged son’s family reconcile. And that sure beats sitting around the clubhouse pining for a penny or two to buy some licorice.

(Image: Reg’lar Fellers, April 3, 1926, Gene Byrnes)

Duh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nah-Batman!

Batman ended its 120-episode run on this date in 1968 with “Minerva, Mayhem and Millionaires.” Guest star Zsa Zsa Gabor played the villainess Minerva, who attempted to do away with the Dynamic Duo and rob the Wayne Foundation.

On This Date: March 13

1898: Henry Hathaway is born in Sacramento, Calif. He would go to direct the 1954 adaptation of Hal Foster’s Prince Valiant starring Robert Wagner.


1950: William H. Macy is born in Miami, Fla. The prolific Academy Award-nominated actor played the underwhelming superhero the Shoveler in Mystery Men (1999) and dog food maker Don Twombly in Marmaduke (2010).


1985: Emile Hirsch is born in Topanga, Calif. He portrayed the fast driving title character in the 2008 film Speed Racer.


1999: Lee Falk, creator of The Phantom and Mandrake the Magician, dies in New York City. Both comic strips have been adapted into live-action moive serials and feature films, with Mandrake being eyed for another big screen appearance.


(Image: Emile Hirsch in Speed Racer, Warner Bros.)

Some Kids Never Grow Up

Today marks the 61st anniversary of the debut of the Dennis the Menace.* Cartoonist Hank Ketchum based the comic strip’s mischievious five-and-a-half-year-old Dennis Mitchell on the antics of his own young son Dennis. The young Mitchell’s proclivity for causing trouble (often unintentionally) leaves his parents, Henry and Alice, rolling their eyes and long-suffering neighbor George Wilson ducking for cover.

The popularity of the strip led to a number of live-action adaptation beginning with the eponymous television series that ran 146 episodes from October 4, 1959 to July 7, 1963. Jay North, eight years old when the show premiered, portrayed Dennis for all four seasons. Interestingly, the Wilsons’ home had been built in the late ’30s for the Blondie film series. The character returned to small screen 24 years later when the television movie Dennis the Menace: Dinosaur Hunter was released in 1987 with Victor DiMattia in the title role.

In 1993, Warner Bros. released Dennis the Menace written by John Hughes of The Breakfast Club and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off fame and directed by Nick Castle. The film stars Mason Gamble as Dennis, Walter Matthau as Mr. Wilson, Joan Plowright as Mrs. Wilson, Robert Stanton and Lea Thompson as Henry and Alice Mitchell, and Christopher Lloyd as the villainous Switchblade Sam. Dennis the Menace Strikes Again, a direct-to-video sequel with an entirely new cast, followed five years later. Justin Cooper takes on the lead with Don Rickles and Betty White playing the Wilsons. George Kennedy, Brian Doyle-Murray, and Scott ‘Carrot Top’ Thompson also appear. A Dennis the Menace Christmas, a second direct-to-video sequel, appeared in 2007 with Maxwell Perry Cotten, Robert Wagner, and Louise Fletcher.

*A similarly titled British strip (now known as Dennis & Gnasher) appeared in the comic book Beano around roughly the same time as Ketcham’s creation.

(Images, top to bottom: Dennis the Menace by Hank Ketcham, November 30, 1951, King Features; Jay North as Dennis and Joseph Kearns as George Wilson in Dennis the Menace television series, Sony Pictures)

Marvel Movie Marathon

On May 3, there will be a special one-day screening of six live-action Marvel Comics films leading up to and including The Avengers at select AMC Theatres across the United States.

Don Markstein 1947–2012

Writer, editor, and founder of the web encyclopedia Toonopedia Don Markstein passed away on Wednesday, March 7. With roughly 1,800 articles, the online resource remains a testament to his love of the history of comics and cartoons. He will be sorely missed.

A Nose for Crime

Platinum Studios looks set to develop a future film or television series based on Devin Hylton’s 2006 comic book Undercover Clown.

(Image: Undercover Clown, Dean Motter)

Return of the Latino Cartoonists

On May 4 and 5, the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco plays host once again to the Latino Comics Expo. Among the artists attending will be Javier Hernandez, creator of the supernatural hero El Muerto. Wilmer Valderrama portrayed the character in the 2007 live-action film El Muerto (alternatively titled The Dead One), which also features Angie Cepeda, Joel David Moore, Tony Plana, Tony Amendola, and María Conchita Alonso.

A Bit of Direction

It appears that Warner Bros. may be close to settling on a director for its adaptation of the vampire romance Undying Love from Image Comics. Directing buzz has also surfaced recently regarding a film focused on Spider-Man baddie Venom.

Captain! My Captain!

The month of March marks the 71st anniversary of Captain America Comics #1, and the debut of the magazine’s red, white, and blue title character, published Timely Comics (predecessor of Marvel Comics). Created by writer Joe Simon and artist Jack Kirby, Captain America springs to life after a patriotic young man named Steve Rogers volunteers to be a test subject for a super solider serum that enhances his underdeveloped body to the peak of physical perfection. Armed with his newly acquired strength and nearly indestructible shield, Rogers soon finds himself battling costumed thugs and Nazi villains including the Red Skull, who would become his arch nemesis for decades. As a founding member of the superhero group the Invaders, Cap and his sidekick Bucky battled along side the Sub Mariner from Atlantis and the original Human Torch against other Nazi baddies like the vampire Baron Blood and Master Man (a Nazi version of himself). Near the war’s end, Cap became frozen in ice in the North Atlantic only to be revived years later by the superhero team the Avengers, which he would go on to lead. He remains one of the pillars of the Marvel Universe and a champion of truth and justice.

Rock On

Dwayne Johnson is slated to star in two upcoming films: one based on the graphic novel Hercules: The Thracian War by Steve Moore and the other based on Ciudad from Oni Press.

Auctioning Off America (Captain America, That Is)

On April 14, the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo presents the Captain America, The First Avenger Auction. Fans will be able to bid on dozens of movie props and costumes including “Dum Dum” Dugan’s POW outift, a Hydra motorcycle, the Cosmic Cube, and a certain red, white, and blue shield.

Back in Black

A new trailer for Men In Black 3 debuted today. The film opens on May 25.

The Sailor and the Prince

Fantagraphics has new collections, slated for release this spring, of two classic comic strips that were later made into live-action movies. The sixth and final volume of E.C. Segar’s Popeye will be available in April. Robin Williams portrayed the spinach-chomping sailor in a 1980 film directed by Robert Altman.


Volume five of Hal Foster’s Prince Valiant appears in May. The Arthurian hero was played by Robert Wagner in a 1954 outing directed by Henry Hathaway and by future True Blood star Stephen Moyer in a 1987 adaptation.


(Image: Popeye Vol. 6: “Me “Li’l Swee’Pea,” Fantagraphics Books)

A Valiant Debut

The Valiant Comics character Bloodshot takes a step closer to appearing on the big screen.